Last Week In The Kitchen: Oct 31 - Nov 6th

Posted on by
Reply

Chicken Noodle Soup w/dumplings & sourdough bread

My father in law was visiting from out of state and I wanted to welcome him with some comfort food. Homemade chicken noodle soup definitely fits the bill for. The key to this soup? A really solid stock. Like stick to your bones/cure any illness/what our great grandparents made kind of stock. And of course a few secret ingredients. :)

Poached Eggs Over Lentils

I love this recipe. Simple. Hearty. Filling. Bacon. Ooozing egg yolk. A meal that can be eaten at any time of day and made with any kind of lentil or dal. I used urid split in place of lentils this time around. Oh and word of advice, there is such a thing as too much bacon. Also watch your salt because of the bacon.

Recipe link: Poached Eggs Over Lentils

Pumpkin Pear Soup

Ever end up only needing a small bit of canned pumpkin for a recipe and end up with almost a whole can left? That is how this soup was born. That and the need to use things up in the fridge. Ah necessity, the mother of invention. Anyways, this is a delightful soup that is lightly sweet from the pears and brown sugar and spiced with garam masala. The pumpkin balances things out to keep it nice and savory. I was actually hoping to share the recipe with you this week but yours truly never took the final shots. And yeah… there is no soup left.

Eggplant Involtini

This was an interesting healthy take on Italian food. It’s grain free, vegetarian, and packed with flavor. I really enjoyed using the eggplant in place of pasta. Made for a much lighter dish while still getting to enjoy melty cheese.

Recipe link: Eggplant Involtini

Penzy’s Kind Heart Gift Box

Posted on by
Reply

I love spices. Especially Penzy’s Spices. This isn’t much of a secret.

Penzy's Kind Heart gift box

See Penzy’s does this awesome thing with their catalog. Several times a year they affix a coupon for a free spice. Usually it is a new spice blend of sorts that they want everyone to try. Free spices? Sure!

The Thanksgiving 2011 catalog has a particularly awesome coupon for the Kind Heart Gift Box.

Penzy's Kind Heart gift box

The box includes four spice blends, a kind heart sticker, and tip cards.

Penzy's Kind Heart gift box
  • 33rd & Galena
  • Arizona Dreaming
  • Mural of Flavor
  • Forward!
Penzy's Kind Heart gift box

Despite the tip cards reminding me of Monopoly properties, they give quite a few different ideas on how to use each spice. Also included is a thank you card as a way of thanking the recipient of the box for their kindness.

Penzy’s really stepped it up this year with this gift box. The packaging is done really well and it is a great selection of spice blends. It is also priced just right, $7.95 till the end of the year, making it a perfect way to show someone you care this holiday season without spending a fortune.

So do yourself a favor and go get on Penzy’s mailing list.

Note: This post is my personal opinion. I have no association with Penzy’s nor was I compensated to write about this. I can’t help but write good things about products I love and use.

Last Week In The Kitchen: Oct 24 - 30th 2011

Posted on by
Reply

Winter Minestrone - Italian Food Forever

This soup has it going on and is incredibly healthy. The combination of vegetables really shined. I didn’t make too many modifications… subbed out the potatoes for sweet potatoes as I was out of regular and did not add the beans… I was out of canned. Chose kale as my greens. And I didn’t bother topping it with the olive oil or pesto. All I needed was several grates of pecorino ramano cheese and we were good to go.

Recipe link: Winter Minestrone

Light Chicken and Pea Curry - I <3 Curry by Anjum Anand

I adapted this a bit from the original which called for tofu in place of the chicken. While the tofu version is great, tofu isn’t something I have on hand regularly and I was particularly in the mood for its lightly spiced broth. Served it up over a small bit of red rice.

Cookbook link: Light Chicken and Pea Curry

Cauliflower & Goat Cheese Soup - Scandi Foodie

This recipe had me at goat cheese. Simple and savory!

Recipe link: Cauliflower & Goat Cheese Soup

Cauliflower Goat Cheese Soup

Cheddar, Bacon, Chive Drop Biscuits - Adapted from Two Peas And Their Pod

Things had been a bit healthy lately so I decided biscuits were the perfect accompaniment to the cauliflower soup. I used the base of the biscuit dough and added in a couple slices of chopped bacon, about ½ cup of chopped Welsh cheddar, and a bunch of chives.

Recipe link: Cheddar, Bacon, Cive Drop Biscuits

Roasted Apple Bread - King Arthur Flour

My interest was piqued with the idea of roasting apples and tossing them in bread. Apples tossed in cinnamon and sugar and ever so slightly roasted? NOM! The bread turned out okay. Not great, but still being eaten. I think this recipe could use some work.

Recipe link: Roasted Apple Bread

Sourdough Bread

Extra Tangy Sourdough bread - King Arthur Flour

It had been too long. This is one of my staple sourdough recipes. It makes me happy. Nuff said.

Recipe link: Extra Tangy Sourdough Bread

Meat Loaf with Mashed Potato’s - My own general creation

I honestly don’t think I have ever made the same meat load twice. I always start with a pound of beef and a half pound of sausage… but from there? Never the same. Wasn’t too happy with my spice combination this time around, but it was still quite edible.

Jam - The Freezer Kind

Posted on by
Reply

Summer is upon us and with it comes an abundance of fruits. This usually translates into me buying more than I Will and I can possibly consume. But that is exactly what jam is for!

Freezer Jam

I did a foray into [small batch jam][filling] several months back with results that were kind of “meh” for jam standards but worked perfectly for a filling. So I decided to step up my game and give freezer jam a try. The result?

Freezer Jam

Never buying store bought jam again!

It was also ridiculously easy to make.

Continue reading →