Let's Drink to Our Health

Been juicing. And man, is it fun. It's like a burst of life, in a cup. Plus, the colors! We've been really sticking to the basics. Apples, carrots, beets, kale, oranges. This morning I did a strictly veggie blend. It's like a garden in your mouth! Beet, carrot and kale. YuMMMmmmmmy.

Stock City

We reviewed stocks last class which prove a nice refresher. I was saying last night, doing something for second time helps immensely. As it is almost 100 times easier for you know your flow. For this fact, I am a fan of practice; it does indeed make perfect.

The Brown Stock consists of the front two roasting pans (for you roast the mirepoix and the bones and add a tablespoon or so of tomato paste) and the back right stock pot (filled with the roasted bones) you add the roasted mirepoix and tomato paste mixture to the bones in the large stockpot and let simmer for 6-8 hours. The bones in the brown stock mixture come from beef or veal. Strain the mixture when done and you have yourself a brown stock.

The White Stock is the pot on the lower left corner. Which requires less work than the brown stock. You boil the bones (beef, veal or chicken) and skim for impurities. Then you add the mirepoix and seasoning sachet and bring to a simmer for 3-4 hours and strain.

Here is the Vegetable Stock. It consists of mirepoix and leeks, fennel, turnip and white wine. Bring all the veggies to a sweat at the bottom of the pot. Add the white wine. Add the water and seasoning sachet and bring to a boil. The veggie stock only requires a good 30-45 minutes of simmering. Strain and prepare for serving.  

Chard and Bean Soup

A girlfriend mentioned a white bean and kale soup being all the rave in her fine city of Portland, OR. So I thought, why not give it a try! Loving to get creative and throw together a soup, I substituted the kale for chard because I had a bunch of red chard needing a home, and fast. It was nice too because the red stalk of the chard gave the vegetable broth more of a red hue which typically can be obtained by a dash of tomato paste. I threw in  extra items found in the fridge (a half a head of Napa cabbage, carrots etc...) and gave it a bit of a Minestrone flare with the addition of a macaroni noodle.

Chard and Bean Soup

Two cans of White Canellini Beans (large white beans?) and drained

5 large stalks of Chard

2 portions of macaroni noodles (1 cup perhaps?)

2 large carrots chopped in half moons 

2 large celery stalks chopped in half moons

1 medium onion, medium dice

1/2 a head of Napa cabbage

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large box of vegetable broth (32 oz)

32 oz of water

Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat (saute) the celery, onions, carrots and garlic in the bottom of the pan with a little bit of oil. Add the broth and water. Bring to a boil, add the macaroni and simmer. Add the cabbage. After 10 minutes with the macaroni cooking, throw in the chard and the drained canned beans. No reason to let the chard and the beans stew in the hot broth because you don't want the chard to wilt and loose it's nutrients plus the beans are already cooked. Top soup with a lil shaved Parmesan and enjoy:)

Ribs, Round 2

It seems a lot of meat is being had on our part here! Unusual too, especially because we recently were vegetarians, for about a year. For some reason our shopping list has been consisting of meats. Meats, meats, meats! We've strayed from our usual purchases of salmon and other fish, vegetables and tofu. Foods which typically dominate the menu. I've chalked it up to the cold winter so far, and our bodies craving meats, hibernation, etc... Whatever is going on with this shift of menu, I'm listening to my body and feeding it what it wants because I'd like to think the body knows what it needs.
Cody's Ribs
Apple Juice
A rack of ribs
and Famous Dave's BBQ Sauce (Devil's Spit)
Bake at 350 for about an hour and a half, until done. Rub the ribs in the BBQ sauce. Pour the apple juice below the ribs (which are elevated on a rack of sorts). Bake and enjoy! The apple juice serves as a sweetener for the ribs, a sweetener and a liquid that keeps the ribs moist. Cody has used a can of Coke before! A tip he learned a couple years back from a friend's father. I was skeptical at first, "coke?!" I questioned. However, it works well for a tasty falling off the bone rib. And the Famous Dave's brand is DELISH.

Super (bowl) Wings!

With no interest in watching football, the boyfriend and I made chicken wings to be somewhat festive on this super Sunday evening. We baked the wings in a homemade chicken wing sauce (with a side of blue cheese dressing for dipping and Brussels sprouts for the vegetable). Cody did most of the cooking here for I don't love chicken but man, do I love some chicken wings every now and then. It was nice to discover how simple it was to make wings. Plus, the beauty of making them at home is you don't deep fry them, as they do in restaurants. Therefore, a tad bit healthier! Not as crispy but still delicious. Definitely a simple appetizer when entertaining. A good lazy, Sunday, enjoy with a beer, food!

Cody's Chicken Wings and Sauce

1 Franks Red Hot bottle (16-20oz)

3 large cloves of garlic

3/4 a stick of butter 

1 tbs of Cayenne powder

2.5 lbs of Chicken wings (bout 20 pieces)

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until done. Mix the Frank's, the garlic, the butter and the cayenne in a sauce pan on heat. Douse the chicken wings in the sauce and lay on a baking sheet. Bake and serve with yummy Marie's blue cheese dressing with added blue cheese crumbles and celery and carrot sticks!

Have to Share... The Eclair!

Pastry class was intricate and delicious on Thursday evening. We made eclairs! Now, would I ever try to recreate the eclair in my own home, I am not sure, for it was almost too in depth for such a small little treat. You make the pastry, the cream filling, the chocolate Grenache topping and the white chocolate drizzle design. However, only three eclairs are left from the lot and I'm certainly (certainly!) savoring them. They were DELICIOUS. The homemade pastry crust is what sealed the deal for me. MMmm!

Garbage Salad

Only calling it "garbage" because it hails from all things needing-to-go, in the fridge. This was a Nicoise inspired (because of the noodle addition) salad. Just a thick, heavier, meal of a salad. In the end, it was a bit like a cold macaroni egg salad. The reason I'm sharing this salad at all is because it was the egg, feta and avocado mixture that creamed together wonderfully and came as a delicious surprise to the palette! I have used avocado as a creamy substitute before but the egg and feta alongside the avocado only heightened the salad that needed NO dressing whatsoever.
Garbage Salad
1 Avocado
Feta
2 Hardboiled eggs
Greens
Diced red onion
1/2 can of black beans
3 tomatoes chopped
1/2 bag of whole wheat macaroni