Please excuse the above word play.  If I waited until I actually had a picture of what came out of my crock pot, it could be a while before I shared this recipe with you.  And that would be a shame.  So yes TIE + CHICKEN + (STOOP – P) = THAI CHICKEN STEW.

For those of you wondering what the hell a stoop is, here in Baltimore many of the rowhouses don’t have a front porch.  They have a set of steps, or a stoop as we like to call it.  My apologies if that colloquialism left anyone at a disadvantage in deciphering my  pictogram.  But hey, you learned something new about Baltimore AND you’re getting a recipe.  That’s a total win.

I need to come clean right now and say that this recipe came from an America’s Test Kitchen cookbook.  I’m still not subscribing to Cook’s Illustrated, and never will again, but during a recent trip to the bookstore, I saw that ATK had a brand new crock pot cookbook out.  I know that my crock pot is good for more than overnight oatmeal and butter braised onions, I just didn’t have a wealth of crock pot recipes I was interested in making to get more out of it.  So I swallowed my indignation and handed over $26.95 plus tax to buy the damn book.

So far, the results have been pretty good.  Thai Chicken Stew was a hit.  Beef Pot Pie (minus the crust) was superb.  Mole Chicken Chili was too spicy, but full of promise.  The biggest beef I have with the recipes, specifically the chicken ones, is that ATK developed them to cook for approximately four to six hours on low.  That’s great if I want to free up time on a weekend for things besides cooking.  But it really doesn’t help me one bit during the week.  I’m gone for at least ten hours on a work day; I can’t work a four to six hour cook time into that schedule.  So until I mange to confound the laws of space and time, ATK and their crock pot recipes will only be put into the weekend line up.

But that’s not to say that the leftovers won’t find their way into the rotation on a Monday or Wednesday.

Thai Chicken Stew

Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

BAH Tip:  I have started to keep my Thai chiles in the freezer.  Instead of trying to stem, seed, and dice the buggers, I use my microplane to grate them directly into my bowl.

BAH Note:  The recipe can be prepared through the end of cooking the chicken, transferred to a dutch oven, and then refrigerated.  When you’re ready to finish, simply transfer the dutch oven to the stove top, reheat, and continue with the recipe.  I used this method and found that the chicken fell off the bone with the mere stir of a wooden spoon.  IF the leftovers had survived for longer than a day, I would have added some more chicken broth and dropped some cooked egg noodles in for the most luxurious chicken soup.

• 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 Thai or jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and minced (See Tip above)
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 stalk lemon grass, bruised
• 1/4 cup Minute tapioca
• 3 pounds chicken thighs, bone in or boneless, skins removed
• 1 cup frozen butternut squash cubes
• 1 can coconut milk
• juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine the carrots, onions, chiles, ginger, and vegetable oil in a medium bowl and microwave for approximately 10 minutes until the vegetables soften.  Transfer the vegetable mixture to your slow cooker.

While the vegetables microwave, season your chicken thighs with salt and pepper and set aside.

After the vegetables have been transferred to the crock pot, stir in the broth and tapioca and add the lemongrass.  Place the chicken in the crock pot, cover, and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours until the chicken is done.  About 30 minutes before the chicken is done, add the frozen cubed squash to the slow cooker.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and once it has cooled slightly, shred it into pieces.

Allow the liquid in the crock pot to settle then skim any fat from the surface and remove the lemongrass.

Pour the coconut milk into a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until it is hot.  Stir the lime juice, fish sauce, and brown sugar into the hot coconut milk and then add it to the crock pot.  Return the chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine.

{printable recipe}

This is the tale of two muffins.  Two bran muffins.  On the surface, they are completely identical.  I used the exact same recipe for both batches of muffins.  So what could possibly be different about them?  I’ll give you a hint, it has everything to do with how I baked them.

One muffin was baked in my big oven.  400 degrees for 20 minutes.  The other muffin was baked in my Advantium.  380 degrees for 16 to 18 minutes.  One muffin was made on a lazy afternoon.  The other muffin was made after a long day of work.  Can you tell which is which?

I typically avoid baking on weeknights because I’m tired, I’m cranky, and it’s tiresome to have to haul out all of the pots and pans that live in the oven in order to heat it up and bake something.  But after the Advantium arrived, I wanted to challenge myself to see if its super powers could make baking accessible to me during the week.

The proof is in the picture.  The muffin on the right is from the batch that I made on a Thursday night.  It helped that the recipe I used was minimally fussy and didn’t require me to break out the stand mixer, let the batter rest, or otherwise allow me to get sidetracked from my muffin mission.  It also helped that I halved the original recipe and only baked up a dozen of these on a weeknight.  Sometimes the smaller capacity of the Advantium totally works to my advantage.

So the two muffins may look the same, but how did they taste?  If I hadn’t known which batch of muffins of which, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you which came out of the big oven and which came out of the Advantium.

Weeknight baking mission accomplished.

Bran Muffins

Adapted from The Muffin Myth

BAH Note: There’s nothing fussy about these muffins.  They are full of wheat bran which I was readily able to find in the grocery store.  Look for Bob’s Red Mill brand.  I think they are the bran muffin equivalent of a blank canvas…sturdy and up for the job but they aren’t out to wow you.  So you might want to add in some fresh fruit and spices you like to give them a little something special.

Advantium Tip: To modify the recipe below for use in your Advantium, place the metal cooking tray on the turntable (instead of the glass tray) and install the wire rack in the bottom position.  Select Convection Bake from the menu and set the temperature to 380 degrees.  You will want to start checking for doneness after about 15 minutes.  Depending on how full you’ve filled your cups, the muffins should be done in approximately 16 to 18 minutes.

• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat your oven to 400 degrees and line approximately 18 muffin cups with liners.  Mix the applesauce, brown sugar, eggs, milk, water, and vanilla together in a large bowl.  Combine the wheat bran, flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in another bowl.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill your muffin cups (the muffin myth said she got 12 out of the recipe but I made mine a bit smaller and got about 18) and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are firm.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning the muffins out on a wire rack to cool completely.  Leftover muffins can be wrapped in plastic and frozen.

{priable recipe}

Disclaimer:  As part of my partnership with GE, I received an Advantium oven.  All opinions posted about my Advantium experience are my own.

You may feel like you’re experiencing a bit of deja vu seeing that photo.  Yes, you saw it when I talked about the quick bread frosting I made with the new Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Butter.  You even got the recipe for the frosting.  But I didn’t really talk about what was under the frosting.  And that must be addressed.

Back in October I was introduced to this pumpkin bread by my friend Mary.  She stopped by for a visit and brought along a wee loaf of it for me to enjoy.  Now let me say that a visit from friends is an absolute pleasure.  But when they also come bearing gifts lovingly made with their own hands….multiply that by infinity.

After only one bite I was badgering Mary for her recipe.  And she told me that she had found it on allrecipes.com.  A few google moments later, I pulled the recipe up on my phone and had her confirm that I found the right one before I could continue in any kind of normal conversation.

A few weeks later, I went about making the pumpkin bread not knowing the chain of events that it was about to start.  First, I used it as the delivery vehicle for the quick bread frosting as part of the Kerrygold competition.  Then, I took some to work for a birthday celebration….congratulations, you’re a year older, please have a slice of quick bread.  I also delivered a loaf to the folks at the coffee shop who get my morning caffeination needs met Monday through Friday and to my chiropractor and his staff for taking such good care of me after the latest fender bender.  Lastly, I sent the rest of the batch off to the Headquarters staff of my sorority to thank them for all of their support in the last few months.

Yes, I was using butter, sugar, and pumpkin to express my thanks and appreciation.  Or in the case of the competition, to share my #butterlove…it’s what I do.  And I do it for the joy that I receive from the act of expressing my gratitude or sharing my love of something with others.  It’s as simple as that.  But sometimes, that gratitude has a way of being returned to me.  Take the Headquarters staff.  They had no idea that a lovebomb was coming their way.  When it arrived, it made them feel special.  And it could have ended there with their enjoyment of the pumpkin bread and cookies.  But they took a moment to sit down and write me a note to tell me how much they enjoyed the treats and to thank me for thinking of them.  It made my heart smile.

And then, most unexpectedly, my chiropractor asked me whether I sell any of the things I bake because he had 16 guests coming for Thanksgiving and wanted to include the pumpkin bread in their holiday meal.  If I hadn’t been so relaxed and dreamy from the adjusting he was doing, I would have probably laughed because it has never been my ambition to do the cooking and baking as my profession.  On the contrary, I do it as a bit of personal therapy.  So I told him that what I don’t keep for our personal enjoyment I give away.  And then I asked whether I could give him a batch of pumpkin bread for his Thanksgiving.  Because really, is there a bigger honor than being asked to share something I have made with someone’s family for Thanksgiving?  In that moment, I felt the Universe beaming my gratitude back to me.

I can’t promise you that this pumpkin bread will bring you fame or fortune.  But it just might bring you a bit of gratitude when it’s least expected.

Pumpkin Bread

Adapted from allrecipes.com

BAH Note: Go ahead and bake up two batches like I did…the quantities below make a single batch. Because according to Mary, the loaves freeze beautifully.  So even if you plan on giving most of it away, stash a well wrapped loaf or two in your freezer for your own enjoyment.   You  will likely need to mix each batch separately, unless you’ve got a ginormous mixing bowl.  And be sure that you’re using canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.

• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour six 3×5 disposable aluminum loaf pans and set them on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water, and sugar until combined.

In a separate bowl, using a clean whisk or a fork, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until they are just combined.  Pour the batter into the loaf pans and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating your pan halfway through the cooking time, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer the loaves to a rack to cool completely before wrapping in several layers of plastic wrap for freezer storage.

{printable recipe}

Filed under: Baking, Breakfast/Brunch, Cooking, Food, Photo, Recipe, Sweets, Tips and Tricks Tagged: Gratitude, Pumpkin Bread ]]> http://bonappetithon.com/2011/12/12/pumpkin-bread/feed/ 13 pmf1852 Pumpkin Bread with Kerrygold Frosting Low Res http://bonappetithon.com/2011/11/09/kerrygold-grilled-cheese/ http://bonappetithon.com/2011/11/09/kerrygold-grilled-cheese/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:00:12 +0000 Wendi http://bonappetithon.com/?p=4813 Continue reading →]]>

Today’s tip on using Kerrygold’s Premium Spreadable Butter solves a common problem.  It’s been a hectic day.  And at the end of it, your plan for a slow cooked meal has fallen apart and you can only muster enough energy to pull together a quick dinner before running off to the next drop off, recital, or meltdown.  You have to make a choice.  You can reach for dinner out of a box or through a drive through window.  Or.  You can reach into the fridge.  You’ve got bread, sliced turkey from the deli, and cheese…all the makings of a grilled cheese.  Only you didn’t know this morning before you left the house that all hell was going to break loose and you would be making dinner on the fly.

That’s the problem that Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Butter solves.  Straight from the fridge it easily goes onto the slice of bread that will become the foundation of your grilled cheese and the answer to your dinner dilemma.   In about the same amount of time it would have taken you to corral the kids, get them into the car without starting World War 3 about who gets to sit in the front, and hand over a wad of cash for fast food processed burger patties and formed chicken pieces, you can bite into warm, melty grilled cheese goodness.

Kerrygold Grilled Cheese

BAH Note: I personally have the luxury to let my grilled cheese cook low and slow in the frying pan.  But if you need to hurry things up a bit, raise the heat under you pan but be sure to check that it isn’t browning too fast.  You don’t want the outside to char before the inside gets good and melted.

• Sliced Bread
• Major Gray Chutney (optional but highly recommended)
• Sliced Turkey (or ham if that’s your thing)
• Kerrygold Aged Cheddar
• Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Butter

Butter one slice of bread and place it butter side down into a cold frying pan.  Spread a thin layer of chutney, if using, on to the top of the bread.  Layer the remaining ingredients in the following order: slices of cheese, turkey (or ham), slices of cheese.  Spread a layer of chutney onto another slice of bread and place it chutney side down on top of the sandwich.  Butter the top side of the bread.

Turn your burner to medium or medium low and cook until you begin to hear the butter sizzle and see it bubble at the edge of the bread.  Use a spatula to carefully peek at the bottom piece of bread and adjust your heat down if necessary to keep the bread from scorching.  When the bottom is nicely browned, carefully flip the sandwich over and cook until the other piece is bread is browned and the cheese has melted.

Enjoy as is or dip into a bit of chutney spooned onto your plate.

Official Disclosure: Kerrygold provided me with their Premium Spreadable Butter and Premium Spreadable Reduced Fat Butter to use in developing these tips as part of a contest.  The opinions, and #butterlove, expressed here are my own.

Since jumping into the world of the food blog, I have made wonderful discoveries.  Lentils.  Beets.  A virtual community of gifted storytellers.  These are all good things.  But maybe the one closest to my heart is Kerrygold and their line of products.

If you search through the blog, and scroll through my Twitter stream, you’ll find examples of my public adoration of all things Kerrygold.  The cheese.  The butter.  The customer service.  Not only do they make quality products but they treat their customers right.  I have conducted my own personal #butterlove campaign to share my love of Kerrygold with the world.  And now I have a chance to be a part of Kerrygold’s campaign to introduce two of their new products to you.

Turns out the folks at Kerrygold have worked their #butterlove magic and produced new premium spreadable butters.  Let those words sink in for a moment.  Kerrygold.  Premium. Spreadable.  Butter.  That means straight from the fridge, you can have Kerrygold goodness gliding onto your slice of bread or melting into the craters of your waffle.  How do I know this?  Because I’ve tried these new butters.  I’ve used them in sauces and spreads.  I’ve taken it out of the fridge one moment and licked it straight off of my fingers the next.

Butter has always had a special place in my world.  Growing up, there was always a dish of butter out on the table.  And because we put it on everything, the butter could sit out and not risk going rancid.  We simply never let it stay around long enough to turn bad.  But when I started cooking for myself, and later The Mistah, I couldn’t sustain that level of butter consumption.  So my sticks lingered in the fridge where they stayed cold but got rock solid.  There was no quickly buttering an untoasted slice of bread for a spaghetti sauce sandwich.  And making any recipe that required my butter to be pliable and yielding required me to remember to take it out of the fridge well ahead of time so that it could soften.  I can’t tell you how many sticks of butter I melted in the microwave because I forgot to set out the butter or how many I’ve mangled trying to get the thinnest slice off as possible.  And that’s just wrong.

Now, thanks to the folks at Kerrygold, I have more options.  And so do you.  The premium spreadable butters are available in regular and reduced fat varieties.  I know what you might be thinking…that reduced fat means reduced flavor.  While I’m not a certified butter expert, I’ve had plenty of buttery experience over the years to  hone my taste buds.  When I tasted them both side by side straight from the container, I couldn’t tell the difference between them.

So how exactly am I involved with spreading the word of Kerrygold Premium Spreadable #butterlove?  By taking their two new products and highlighting ways that you can use them in your own kitchen.  Not only do I get to discover new ways to love Kerrygold, and share them with you, but I am also competing against other bloggers to come up with the best usage ideas for the products.  Even if none of my ideas win a prize, I’m honored that the folks at Kerrygold chose me to participate in this competition.

Today’s tip is Kerrygold Quick Bread Frosting.  Imagine that you’ve just made a double batch of your favorite quick bread….say pumpkin.  Of the twelve mini loaves that came out of your oven, ten of them are to be given away.  So you slice off a piece of one of your loaves, for quality control purposes.  It’s moist with a nice mix of spice.  But you want to fancy it up a bit.  With nothing more than some Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Reduced Fat Butter, whipped cream cheese, and powdered sugar you’ve got a quick and easy frosting that takes your quick bread over the top without toppling the scale the next time you step on it.

Kerrygold Quick Bread Frosting

BAH Note:  I worked on a very small scale to make only enough frosting for my immediate consumption but you could easily scale this up to make a larger batch.  I used a ratio of 6:1 (6 teaspoons cream cheese [or 2 tablespoons] to 1 teaspoon butter) but you use what tastes best to you.  Want a firmer frosting?  Add more powdered sugar.  Want something thinner that you can drizzle?  Stir in some half and half a teaspoon at a time.  This frosting is your friend, it wants you to be happy.

• 1 teaspoon Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Reduced Fat Butter
• 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Combine the butter and cream cheese in a small bowl (think cereal bowl here, not ramekin).  Use a fork to cream them together until smooth (this should take all of about 30 seconds).  Add the powdered sugar to the creamed mixture and mix with your fork until fully combined.

Official Disclosure: Kerrygold provided me with their Premium Spreadable Butter and Premium Spreadable Reduced Fat Butter to use in developing these tips as part of a contest.  The opinions, and #butterlove, expressed here are my own.

Filed under: Cooking, Food, Photo, Tips and Tricks Tagged: #butterlove, Frosting, Kerrygold, Kerrygold Premium Spreadable Reduced Fat Butter ]]> http://bonappetithon.com/2011/11/08/kerrygold-quick-bread-frosting/feed/ 22 pmf1852 Pumpkin Bread with Kerrygold Frosting Low Res http://bonappetithon.com/2011/10/19/chicken-and-lentils/ http://bonappetithon.com/2011/10/19/chicken-and-lentils/#comments Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:00:53 +0000 Wendi http://bonappetithon.com/?p=4433 Continue reading →]]>

Here is how I derail my South Beach experience.  I take a perfectly fine, SB friendly recipe, and I monkey with it.  The chicken and lentils recipe that you’ll find on page 284 of Supercharged has no mention of chicken thighs.  And it certainly does not include 2/3 of a cup of Israeli couscous.  That was all my doing.

I take full responsibility…for every delicious bite of it.

Chicken and Lentils

Adapted from South Beach Supercharged

BAH Note: Regardless of whether you make the SB friendly version of this or my super special version, do yourself a favor and double the recipe from the get go.  This is one of those dishes that you enjoy more as leftovers.  So make enough to stash some in the freezer for later.

BAH Tip: If you’ve made some of those butter braised onions, substitute them for the chopped onion in the recipe.  Omit the olive oil and just begin by heating the onions and herbs in the pot.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon each dried basil and dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 pound chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
• 1 (15 ounce) can lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 (14.4 ounce) can chicken broth
• 2/3 cup Israeli couscous

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion, basil, oregano, and a pinch of kosher salt and cook until the onion softens, stirring occasionally.  Add the tomato paste and cook for another 3 minutes.  Stir in the chicken broth and scrape up any bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken, lentils, and diced tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in the couscous and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

This winter has been especially frightful.  I can’t even begin to image what it has been like for people living in the midwest or northeast who have been utterly beaten down with snow.  I survived Snomageddon 2010 and know the misery that comes when the forecast calls for accumulations measured in feet instead of inches.  Y’all have my sympathies.

While I can’t personally help you dig out from Snowpocalypse 2011, I can offer you a recipe that will have you imagining a land of picnics and potlucks, warm breezes and sunny skies, and flip flops and halter tops.

Don’t forget to take along some imaginary sunscreen.

Lemony Seafood Pasta Salad

Adapted from Pam Anderson’s Perfect One Dish Dinners

BAH Note:  If you showed up to a potluck at my house with this dish, you would earn a special place in my heart.  I kept tweaking the dressing because the lemons I used were extremely sour.  I had to add agave nectar to balance the extreme puckering produced by my produce.  Feel free to add a minced clove of garlic to the dressing to turn up the flavor. And if you like your dressing with more olive oil, add it.  I purposely scaled the olive oil down to suit my tastes (Pam’s recipes calls for 1/2 cup).

BAT Tip: When you cut up the raw shrimp, you want the pieces to be approximately the same size as the scallops so they cook in the same amount of time. And yes, as unconventional as it may seem to cook your seafood with your pasta, it works beautifully.

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound small pasta
• 1/2 pound bay scallops
• 1 pound raw shrimp, peeled, and cut into bite size pieces
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, cut into halves
• 7 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• dried oregano

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, and garlic (if using).  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  Set the dressing aside.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions until it is just al dente, approximately 10 to 12 minutes depending on your pasta.  Add the seafood to the pasta pot and cook for one to two minutes until the shrimp and scallops are just cooked and opaque.  Drain the pasta and seafood without rinsing and transfer them to a large bowl to cool slightly.

Just before serving, mix the tomatoes, feta, and oregano into the bowl with the pasta.  Add the dressing and stir to combine.

{printable recipe}

Today we’re going on a journey of the imagination.  Look at the photo above.  Now close your eyes and imagine quick and easy drop biscuits topping that bowl of appley, chickeny goodness.  That, my friends, is some simply delicious pot pie.

Now, you may have mixed feeling about pot pie.  Those frozen hockey pucks with cardboard crusts and thin, bland filling.  Dear friends, make no mistake, that is not potpie.  If the prepackaged variety is all you’ve ever known, this recipe may change your mind, and your life.

Before you start saying “I can’t make potpie, it takes too much time” or “I love potpie but I have an irrational fear of making dough”, take a moment.  Imagine a potpie that doesn’t require a rolled crust or an all day commitment.  Does that sound too good to be true?  Believe me when I say that it’s for real.

If one recipe could justify the purchase of a cookbook, this is it.  Because if you never made anything else from Pam Anderson’s Perfect One Dish Dinners, her Chicken Pot Pie alone is worth the list price.  With a minimal number of ingredients and the tiniest amount of effort, you too can enjoy potpie as it should be.  Rich and creamy, hearty and filling, in no time flat.  Just imagine the possibilities.

Chicken Pot Pie

Adapted from Pam Anderson’s Perfect One Dish Dinners

BAH Note: I halved the amount of chicken Pam calls for in her recipe because I prefer a high ratio of sauce to chicken in my potpies.  But that’s just me.  I also reduced the amount of flour in the sauce by half because I kept ending up with lumps.  That could have just been me also.  Please don’t be tempted to substitute onions for the leeks.  It just won’t be a good trade off.  I was quite wary of the leek for the longest time…until I used them in this recipe.  What I learned is that the leeks provide a subtle flavor and are the perfect complement to the apple and sage.  I also learned that when you don’t have the ingredients on hand to make the quick drop biscuit topping, you leave it off and call it Chicken Stew. I made this in a 5.5 quart dutch oven.  You could also bake it up in a 9×13 baking dish or two 9 inch pie plates, but I like keeping the number of dirty pans to a minimum.

BAH Tip: Leeks are deceptive.  They may look clean on the outside while the inside is full of gritty sand.  You don’t want that in your dish.  To remove the sand, cut the dark green tops off the leeks and then slice the leeks in half lengthwise.  If there isn’t much sand inside, place the halves under running water and separate the layers to rinse the sand away.  For particularly sandy leeks, fill a large mixing bowl with water, slice the halved leeks, and place the slices into the water.  Use your hands to swish the slices around so that the sand falls to the bottom of your bowl.  Use a slotted spoon or your hands to carefully remove the leek slices from the water, leaving the gritty sand in the bowl.

Base

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 12 ounces evaporated milk
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 large leeks, washed thoroughly (see tip above), light green and white parts only, chopped
• 2 large apples, quartered, cored, and sliced thinly (Granny Smith is especially nice for this)
• 2 to 3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken or turkey
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 teaspoons dried sage

Biscuits

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 stick of butter, frozen
• 1 cup buttermilk, cold

Place oven rack in lower middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Microwave the chicken broth and evaporated milk in a large microwave safe bowl for 3 to 4 minutes until it is just steamy.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add the leeks and apples and cook for 7 to 10 minutes until they are just tender.  Transfer the leek and apple mixture to a large bowl.  Add the shredded chicken or turkey to the bowl and set it aside.

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter in the now empty skillet set over medium heat.  When the foaming subsides, whisk in the flour and sage and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until golden.  Slowly add the warmed milk, whisking until smooth, and simmer, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.  Add the chicken mixture back to the pot and stir until it is combined.  Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  Top with biscuits and bake until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling bubbles, approximately 30 to 35 minutes.

To make the biscuit topping, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cheddar cheese in a medium bowl.  Using the coarse side of a box grater, carefully grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture and mix quickly with your fingertips to blend evenly.  Mix the buttermilk into the dry ingredients with a fork until the dough just comes together.  Use your fingers to pinch small rounds of dough and place on top of the filling.

{printable recipe}

Today’s Food Memory comes from Jenny Yu of Use Real Butter.  URB was one of the very first blogs I started reading when I jumped onto these here interwebs, back when I could manage the blogs I read in my browser’s Bookmarks.  While the bookmarks have been replaced by Google Reader, one thing that hasn’t changed is my admiration for Jenny.  She cooks.  She writes.  She takes stunning photos.  And she has a spirit that inspires.

I had the opportunity to meet Jenny last summer at a food blog conference.  It was a thrill to finally be able to meet her in person after being a fan of her blog for so long.  Successful, yet approachable, gracious and encouraging, I consider Jenny to be one of the leaders of this crazy tribe to which I belong.  She understands the power of food and community.

When I read her Puffy Hearts post last month, I knew it was a story that I wanted to include in the Food Memories series.  But what would Jenny say?  I’ve had people say no before but the only way anyone ever says yes is if I get over my fear of rejection and ask.  So I did, thinking that it would make a perfect post for Valentine’s Day.  And I was elated when she said yes.  Evidently, this was the post that The Universe wanted me to share with you on this day of love.

My thanks to Jenny for allowing me to share with you her memory of snow days, special pastries, and Shaun Cassidy.

Puffy Hearts and Rings appeared on Use Real Butter on 10 January 2011.  While I’ve done my best to capture the beauty of the Puffy Heart that came out of my kitchen, you really need to click that link and see them through Jenny’s lens.

Puffy Hearts and Rings

When I was a little kid growing up in Virginia, snow storms would catch me by surprise. The only way I knew anything was in the works was when Kris would stay up late tuning the radio to find out if school would be closed the next day. On those very rare snow days we would stay home playing games, running around the house like maniacs jumping off the stairs, building forts, watching television, lip syncing Shaun Cassidy while standing on top of the coffee table, and sledding down our steep driveway. I have a lot of good memories of Kris.

Living in Colorado, we can get snow as early as September and as late as May. It snows in our mountains in June and July too. Even though it is a common occurrence I still get excited – I just don’t lip sync Shaun Cassidy from the coffee table anymore (I have that very coffee table in our great room). These days I suit up and head out.

After we return from a ski – be it at a resort or in the backcountry – it’s Kaweah’s turn to play in the snow. When she was a wee pup in Ithaca, New York, we’d take her out into the snow and find the deepest drift to drop her in. She’d expend an enormous amount of energy bounding about in the snow and would sleep all night long at home. Yay! Now in her golden years, Kaweah doesn’t wander as far into the snow nor does she handle the cold as well as she did in her crazy years (years 0-10). She sleeps much of the day and all of the night.

As a kid, I never remembered being cold when I played in the snow. Maybe that’s because as kids, we’re crazy people? I would barely recognize myself today, grabbing a warm hat, gloves, boots, jacket, sunnies, chapstick, sunblock… While thinking back on those snow days of my youth, I grew nostalgic for my mom’s baking projects. She wasn’t much of a baker, but she did have a handful of sweets she could make for potlucks and parties. What I loved most were these things called puffy hearts and rings.

Have any of you heard of puffy hearts and rings? I just knew it was an involved process for my mom because I’d watch her patiently shape the dough into hearts and rings with two spoons as I bounced up and down singing “puffy hearts and rings!” in anticipation of my favorite treat. It was a super sticky dough and she only made them once or twice a year – usually around the holidays. I can close my eyes and recall the properties of that dough. I knew the taste and texture of the baked pastry, the icing, the almonds. The flavor was almonds. I am a complete sucker for almonds.

One morning I woke up and said to myself, “It’s cream puff dough.” I pieced together what the puffy hearts and rings were from memory and set about recreating them. Cream puff dough would most certainly be a sticky mess to shape into hearts and rings. I opted to pipe the dough into the desired shapes. Then there was the icing: confectioner’s sugar and milk or cream. Since I’m lactose intolerant, I used water instead. The flavor was most certainly almond extract. Then a little coloring – they were always pink hearts and green rings.

When the puffs were done baking and cooling, I iced each one and sprinkled slivered toasted almonds over the icing while it was still wet to make sure the almonds adhered. I bit into one. This is what I remembered – almond flavor, sweetness, the egginess of the soft dough. I liked it. I had Jeremy try one just to be sure that it wasn’t just me and my nostalgia that thought it tasted good. We have another fan and I have happily brought an old memory back to life.

Puffy Hearts and Rings

BAH Note: I scaled Jenny’s recipe down by half because I thought 2 dozen puffy hearts might be a little much to handle.  In hindsight, I wish I would have made more.  The puffs are tender and light while the frosting is the perfect balance of sugar and almond.  I got six very large hearts out of the dough and The Mistah and I polished them away in just a few hours.  While Jenny’s recipe has you mixing by hand, I entrusted the dough to my stand mixer.  You do what makes the most sense for you.

BAH Tip: If you’re artistically challenged, like I am, trace the outline of hearts in pencil on your parchment.  Then flip the parchment over and pipe the dough into the outlines.  When I went to decorate the hearts, instead of dipping them into the glaze, I filled a small sandwich bag with my frosting, cut one corner off and then piped away.  I started with an outline, let that set up for a few minutes, then went back and filled it in using a toothpick to carefully drag the frosting so that the entire outline was filled.

• 4 oz (1/2 cup) butter
• 8 oz (1 cup) water
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsps water (or cream/milk)
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• food coloring (optional)
• almond slivers, toasted (optional)

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Heat oven to 400°F.

Heat one cup of water  and the butter in a medium saucepan over high heat until butter is melted and the liquid is boiling. Remove the pan from heat and add the flour all at once. Stir until the dough forms a ball. Add eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each addition until the egg is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth and satiny.

Scoop the dough into a piping bag with a medium plain tip (about 1/2 inch in diameter). Pipe rings and hearts on the parchment with enough room for expansion (2 inches of space in between). Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden in color. Remove from baking sheets and let cool completely on cooling racks.

Mix the powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of liquid, and almond extract in a medium bowl. Add food coloring as desired. I split mine in two batches and color one pink and the other light green.

When the puffs are cooled, dip them face-down into the icing or drizzle them with icing. While the icing is still wet (it dries very quickly here) sprinkle almond slivers over the icing and gently press them into the icing.

Makes about 2 dozen (depends on how big your puffs are).

{printable recipe}

Macaroni and cheese and I have a long history together. I grew up with the blue boxed variety and then moved into the realm of frozen cheesy pasta goodness.  Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but in a pinch both Stouffer’s and Trader Joe’s have a mighty fine frozen mac and cheese product.  And I suspect that someone, somewhere, has passed one of these off as homemade.  I’m not saying I’ve ever done that.  I’m just speculating that it has happened.  The thing about that is as easy as frozen mac and cheese is, homemade is not much more work.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Can I boil water?
• Can I carefully measure out hot cooking water?
• Can I pour cream into a saucepan cook it down?
• Can I shred cheese?
• Can I mix together pasta, cream, cheese, and cooking water?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, you can make macaroni and cheese.  And not just any mac and cheese.  This is Michael Symon’s mac and cheese (MSmac).  With no disrespect to the recipes I’ve tried from Martha, Ina, and Deb, this might just be the best mac and cheese I’ve ever made.  Why is that?

First: I prefer stovetop mac and cheese over one that is oven baked. MSmac goes directly from stovetop to plate so my mac and cheese needs can be met in no more time than it takes to make the sauce and cook the pasta.

Second: I don’t want to spend $$$$ on three, four, or five different cheeses.  MSmac calls for one cheese and while it’s fancier than American or Cheddar, it won’t break the week’s food budget.

Third: MSmac has a rich, silky cheese sauce.  There are no lumps, clumps, or globs to dampen my mac and cheese enjoyment.

Fourth: MSmac has bacon.  Does that really require an explanation?

Fifth: There really isn’t a fifth reason since bacon trumps anything else I could say.

I first discovered MSmac thanks to Alice at Savory Sweet Life.  She wrote about it and I knew that it would not be long before MSmac and I found ourselves alone together.  It was our destiny to find one another across the Intewebs.  And let me tell you, destiny does not like to wait.  Now that destiny has brought me together with MSmac, I don’t know what could ever tear us apart.  This is what I want when all the little things in my day go wrong.  This is how I want to console myself when the Universe is conspiring against me.  This is my definition of comfort food.

Perhaps MSmac is right for you?

Disclaimer:  Side effects of MSmac are mild to moderate and include eating it straight from the pot and licking cheese sauce off of serving utensils.  Consult professional help for sauces requiring 30 minutes or more to reduce.

Mac & Cheese

Adapted from Chef Michael Symon

BAH Note: I’ve scaled this down because having the full recipe’s worth of this in my house is dangerous.  In my opinion, this is best served as a side so you can enjoy a smaller serving and not feel completely wicked.  But it can just as easily be your main course.  You’ll want to be sure to use a nonstick saucepan and watch your heat so that the cream doesn’t scorch or boil over.

BAH Tip:  I’m bad at guestimating when liquids have reduced, so to check I carefully poured the hot cream into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup to gauge my progress.  It’s really about the volume of the cream more than it is about how long it takes.  Just be patient and don’t rush the process.

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/4 pound bacon, fried, drained, and crumbled
• 1/2 pound short pasta
• 4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

Bring cream and rosemary to a low boil over medium heat in a large saucepan.  Keep at a low boil, stirring frequently, until reduced by half and thickened, approximately 25 minutes.

While the cream is reducing, cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid before draining the pasta.

When the cream has reduced, add the pasta and grated Gruyere and stir to combine.  Add pasta water until the sauce is as loose as you like.  Stir in the crumbled bacon, taste for seasoning, and add salt to taste.

{printable recipe}