New Year's Day Brunch of Champions

On New Year's day we fixed a simple breakfast consisting of Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast and green smoothies (for detox control, you know). The french toast was fantastic and it got me thinking...

Wouldn't it be nice to host a New Year's Day brunch one year? Yes it would. The menu? A sweet Cinnamon & Sugar Breakfast Bread Pudding (recipe below) and a savory & cheesy bread pudding, both of which could be prepared the day before, along side some good quality bacon/sausage, fresh fruit, and mimosas & bloody marys. Because, well, you know.

Cinnamon & Sugar Breakfast Bread Pudding
adapted slightly from Pioneer Woman
Serves 8-12; recipe can easily be halved

Bread Pudding:
- 1 loaf crusty Sourdough or French Bread, torn or cut into bite-size pieces
- 8 whole Eggs
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 1/2 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
- 3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 stick Cold Butter, cut into pieces
- Fruit (thinly sliced peaches, apples, or pears or canned crushed pineapple) - optional

Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan with butter.

Mix together eggs, milk, cream, brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store in fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from fridge, place fruit on top if using, and sprinkle crumb mixture over the whole thing. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more bread pudding texture. Bake 1 hour or more for a firmer, less liquid texture.

Scoop out individual portions. Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.

The greatest crock pot recipe ever

How is it I haven't shared this one with you yet? It is magical and something you just can't mess up. Really. Go out, pick up the ingredients, and make it at once. At once, I say!

Chili Verde Pork Burritos

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 - 4 slices pickled jalapeno, plus 1 - 2 t. juice from jar (or more of each to taste)
3 lb +/- pork roast, with or without bone, fat trimmed, seasoned with salt & pepper all sides
1 jar salsa verde from Trader Joe's
large tortillas
frozen tater tots
shredded monterey or pepper jack cheese
sour cream or plain greek yogurt
fresh avocado slices

Directions:
Place onion, jalapeno, and juice in bottom of a crock pot. Add seasoned roast. Pour about 2/3 of the salsa on top and cook on low for about 8 hours.

An hour or so before the pork is done, remove bone if applicable, shred the meat in the pot, and stir to combine with the juices. Finish cooking for remaining time so the meat can absorb most of the sauce.

Assemble burritos by placing a small handful of baked and seasoned tater tots (like 5-7) in the middle of the tortilla. Add some shredded pork, cheese, sour cream, avocado, more salsa and jalapeno slices if desired. Roll up tightly and devour.

* I like to separate the broth from the pork (skimming off all excess fat) and freeze both if there are any leftovers.

**Here's another shredded pork crock pot recipe we gravitate towards. Next time I might serve it with this cole slaw (scroll to bottom, or pause to savor yet another shredded pork recipe).

Sopaipillas: a tribute to Dad on Father's Day

Growing up, I spent Wednesday nights and every other weekend at my Dad's place with my little brother*. Meals were always elaborate and always served a little later than traditional times because Dad really did go all out, taking the whole protein+carb+veggie combo very seriously.

Often for breakfast he would whip up a fresh batch of sopaipillas (recipe below) and serve them warm with honey & butter along side eggs, sausage or bacon (always a little over-done, which is now the only way I'll eat them), coffee - a wonderful treat for a 6th grader - and good orange juice. And, if we wanted, some strawberry or chocolate flavored milk. Hey, I didn't say it was healthy.

Anyway, maybe because its Father's Day, or maybe because we spent several hours yesterday with some New Mexican foodies who chatted with us about the ins & outs of sopaipillas, I made a half batch this morning for the first time using his recipe.

Great sopaipillas start with thinly rolled out dough and, once fried, fit in the palm of your hand, are hot, and have billowed up to be perfect little pillows of crispy dough. Mine almost hit the mark, maybe not on the billowing aspect but definitely on the flavor one. Practice will surely make perfect.

*Said brother is now exactly one foot taller than me, logging in at 6'-5" tall. Still my little bro.

Sopaipillas
a southwest, native american, and south american tradition
yields approx. 3 dozen

4 c. flour
1 T. baking powder
2 t. salt
1/4 c. shortening or butter
1 1/3 c. milk or water
vegetable oil for frying

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening; add milk and mix to make a soft dough. Knead for about five minutes or until smooth. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into four portions; keep covered except when rolling out. Roll each portion 1/8" thick (basically, as thin as possible) and cut into 3x3 squares or 2x4 rectangles. Cover while rolling and cutting remaining dough.

Heat about 1 inch of oil in a heavy frying pan. Fry 2-4 at a time, turning once, until brown and puffy. Drain and serve immediately.

If desired, dust with chili powder, powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar. Or serve with honey.

Home cookin'

The oven has been on for hours. It has been intimate with a double batch of chocolate chip cookies (112 cookies!) and is now getting acquainted with mustard-baked chicken with a pretzel crust and mustard roasted new potatoes. Because a meal can never have enough mustard or cookies, right? Riiiiight?

One day in, Memorial Day weekend is looking mighty fine. Plus the sun decided to come out and say hello at the last minute. And we have a top-to-bottom clean apartment. And we're tackling the basement tomorrow with gale force. I love this stuff.

PS - If you haven't heard, the mister got a job! Part of the cookies we made today will have a brief stint in the freezer before heading on to his place of business Tuesday to be presented to his new cohorts. Isn't that nice?

Homemade baked DONUTS

Last night we had dinner with old friends. On the menu:
- salsa-baked goat cheese (this one is worth its weight in gold, folks)
- an amazing salad with avocados and mango
- chicken mole served with wild rice
- margaritas
- chocolate and cinnamon-sugar donuts

Our contribution was the donuts. I used Heidi's tried & true recipe for baked donuts, and the only change I made was to use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour. This is one of those recipes where you don't even notice the whole wheat flour. I'd say you also don't notice they were baked instead of fried. She suggests tossing the donuts in cinnamon sugar. We made half of them that way and dipped the other half in a chocolate glaze (recipe below).

Chocolate glaze for donuts:
1. Melt 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 3T. butter over low heat, stirring frequently.
2. Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar and 3T. milk.
3. Dunk top half of donuts in glaze and cool on wire rack. Glaze will "set" after a few minutes.

Farewell, I leave you with an appetizer

I am off to the southwest for a week to see family and visit some friends. In my absence, I leave you my current favorite appetizer combo, as presented to us by the Waterfront Depot restaurant on a recent trip to the coast:

- good crackers or sliced baguette
- fine quality manchego cheese, sliced
- thin slivers of roasted bell pepper
- pitted olives
- olive oil for drizzling (Ryan loves any excuse to drizzle olive oil)

To make it a meal I'd add some fresh fruit, like lil' cuties, a bar of high-quality chocolate, and a glass of wine.

Bon appetit to you, bon voyage to me!

Food inpiration

I should be cleaning now. Seriously. Or grocery shopping. Or at least resting since I've had the cold from hell (or possibly bronchitis) since last Friday and have missed a substantial amount of work during a very busy month for us at FFA and right before a week-long vacation.

Alas, I am doing none of those things. Instead, I'm being thoroughly inspired by a new-to-me blog and by a cookbook I recently checked out from the library.

blog: Stonesoup
Stonesoup is, how shall I say, an exceptional site devoted to delicious, healthy, and inspired meals all made from five ingredients or less. Jules, the author, is a retired food scientist turned professional blogger for her site, and I am a huge fan. She covers the minimalist's kitchen (Part I & II) and the minimalist's pantry, has free ebooks available for cooking and baking, sells a more comprehensive five-ingredient recipe guide, and has an on-line cookery school. What are you still doing here? Go, go check her out ASAP!

book: Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express
Mark Bittman has done it again. Kitchen Express is a cookbook for those of us low on time but high on expectations for a good but quick dinner (20 minutes or less!). His recipes are organized by season and written in simple paragraph form, as in one paragraph for each recipe. We have a few of his recipes on the meal plan for dinner next week, including Potato Cumin Curry and Chicken Piccata. Aside from the short & easy recipes and the whole organized-by-season approach, which I wish more cookbooks would do, I am especially smitten with the Menus he lists in the back of the book for things like Weeknight Dinner Party, Better-Than-Chinese Take-out, Romantic Supper, and Picnic or Roadtrip. This is a book that might find a permanent home here in the McKenna household.

OK, now I'm going to tackle the kitchen. Really. I love to clean. Just love it.

Soup squared

Note to self: Try these two soup recipes asap and report back.

Superbowl delites

Our contribution to the Superbowl snackfest tomorrow:
- homemade soft pretzels
- pizza balls
- Kellogg's Crispix Mix Sweet Minglers

Other recipes we've tried that would be apropos:
- shredded BBQ pork tacos with cole slaw
- taco cups
- quick & easy beef stew
- artichoke dip
- seven-layer dip

Recipes and menus recently spotted on other blogs:
- Game Day Grub (I want to go over to this guy's house. Seriously.)
- meatball subs with caramelized onions
- maple bacon party mix
- Superbowl Party Tips
- game day dip
- spicy shrimp & cool avacado quesadillas
- and let's not forget, Pioneer Woman has a whole category devoted to Superbowl recipes

Homemade soft pretzels: hoo-boy!

The value of homemade pretzels can not be over-emphasized. Go make them at once if you know what is good for you. And thank you Abby for paving the way and then blogging about it.

My first attempt left room for refinement in the shape department but produced possibly the best darn pretzels we've had. I also set aside some dough to wrap chicken apple sausage in, and then treated the bundles as if they were pretzels by boiling and baking them. The result: bagel dogs, of course.

I'm tempted to try this dough for bagels, hamburger buns, and pizza. Next week, for the Superbowl, I might make some more and serve them with mustard and port cheese, which, by the way, I also have Abby to thank for introducing me to.

Homemade pretzels: divine, pure and simple

Rythm & poetry in ice cream: a recipe by Ryan

So this morning I was telling Ryan about a recipe I came across over at Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen site for banana split ice cream cake. In a flash moment of brilliance and inspiration, out tumbled this recipe from Ryan, who was quoted saying there needs to be rhythm and poetry in ice cream desserts. He is so right. As a bonus, this one qualifies as a five! ingredient! recipe!, which we all love.

Bananas Foster Ice Cream Cake
- 1 graham cracker pie crust
- enough fresh banana slices to evenly layer the bottom of the pie crust
- ice cream of your choice, softened, in keeping with the bananas foster theme (we're thinking classic vanilla or praline or caramel swirl)
- 1 jar Mrs. Richardson's butterscotch sauce or Hershey's caramel sauce at room temperature
- whipped cream for garnish

Assembly:
Layer the sliced banana as the bottom layer on the pie crust. Spoon out enough softened ice cream to fill the crust almost to the rim (leave about 1/4 - 1/2 an inch); it may be worth covering the concoction at this point and freezing until the ice cream is frozen again before moving on to the next step). Pour enough butterscotch or caramel sauce over the ice cream to cover completely. Garnish with whipped cream and freeze until ready to serve.

Note: this recipe hasn't actually been tested, but you KNOW it has to be good!

Ohmygosh I made PASTA

For Christmas my mom sent me a pasta press attachment for my KitchenAid. Tonight, in a moment of spontaneity, I pulled it out from under the tree and gave it a whirl.

I am happy to report pasta is super easy to make and is instant gratification for those of us who thrive on quick, easy, and successful projects. Oh yeah, it tastes great too - thick and chewy and, well, fresh. This stuff would be perfect with a hearty homemade ragu, me thinks. Thanks mom!

New favorite (vegan!) sandwich

It'll take you back to childhood:

Magical combination of ingredients

two slices sandwich bread

+ peanut[or other nut]butter

+ chopped & cold crunchy celery

+ raisins

Assembly

You know what to do.

Football Sunday Grub

Just like Deb of Smitten Kitchen fame, on Sundays in autumn I strive to be a Good Football Wife by cooking up something appropriately manly for game time.

Today I think I hit the nail on the head (or kicked the ball through the uprights?) by serving shredded BBQ pork tacos with cole slaw and pear-apple pie.

Inspiration came from our family friend Rhonda, who made the shredded BBQ pork for dinner one night during a recent canning weekend, and once I tasted it I just knew it was a top candidate for football Sunday supper. Half of its appeal is how SIMPLE it is, the other half is how DELICIOUS it is. Rhonda serves hers on soft sesame seed buns with mayonnaise and BBQ sauce and a side of cole slaw. We like ours on corn tortillas with pepper jack cheese & a wedge of lime. The side of slaw is not an option.

Shredded BBQ Pork
1. Layer the bottom of a crock pot with 2 stalks chopped celery and 1/2 chopped onion.*
2. Take 1 pork roast (I think mine was approx. 3lbs.), rinse with water, pat dry, and sprinkle liberally with salt & pepper before placing it in the crock pot over the veggies.
3. Pour about 1/2 bottle BBQ sauce on top of the pork (don't add any more liquid than this).
4. Put the lid on and cook on low for 5-6 hours.
5. Pull out the pork, which should be cooked through at this point, place in a large bowl, and shred the meat with forks. I promise you it wants to be shredded and will almost do the work for you.
6. Spoon out the thick & savory liquid from the crock pot and slowly add it to the shredded pork. The goal is to have a moist but not soupy consistency.
7. If there is any liquid left over, set it aside in case you need to add more at serving time. Put the shredded pork back in the crock pot to keep warm (but not cooking) until ready to serve.

*If you like it spicy, add a few slices of pickled jalapeno, diced, to the mix.

Enjoy. And Go Giants! (thank you for your victory tonight - the McKenna clan will sleep better with a win under our belts)

Party in a bowl, aka delish diner for one

My culinary prowess has taken a backseat since Ryan headed back east. I've been eating a lot of the same thing, and trying to fit in as much fiber and veggies as possible. Exciting stuff, right? But tonight I landed on a gem of a meal. Its so simple it should qualify as a five-ingredient recipe, but so quick to pull together and versatile it doesn't really even require a recipe at all. Here it is in all its glory.

Pasta Party in a Bowl
Put a pot of salted water to boil and, when its time, add 3/4 c. pasta. While the pasta is cooking, add the following to a cereal bowl: a little butter, some minced garlic, lemon zest, fresh chopped rosemary, pine nuts (toasted if you have the time), red pepper flakes, sea salt, and pepper. If you have some fresh or frozen veggies on hand add those to the pasta pot to blanch in the last few minutes of the pasta cooking. When the pasta is done, drain thoroughly and add the pasta to the cereal bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil, mix everything up until the butter is melted, and dive in.

Easy schmeezy and quite delicious. I'll gladly return to this meal tomorrow night and the next!

Side note: The drizzle of olive oil at the end really is important. Tonight, several days after I first had this, I forgot the oil and everything except the pasta lumped together and 'twas no good.

Additional afterthought: Having had this several times now I'm thinking there is a more elaborate version of this dish that might be better. I haven't tried it yet, but follow me. Roast a head of garlic and put the soft cloves in a food processor with 1/4c. room-temp butter, 4 oz. shredded parmesan (or more because, you know), zest of one lemon, several branches-worth of rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Add some olive oil, zip until smooth, and then toss with cooked pasta & veggies (four servings worth) to coat. Top with pine nuts.

I'll stop here.

Tomato Carrot soup with Orange

Did I up & make a promise recently to deliver some posts about where in the world we've been lately? I did? Well, I'll get on that soon enough, I suppose. But for now, allow me to present to you a delicious soup recipe. You see, the great Northwest is experiencing what I hope are the beginning signs of autumn, and I say soup is just what the doctor ordered when the days are tinged with a slight damp and overcast chill.

Here goes! Oh, the recipe is inspired by and adapted from Soule Mama's kitchen and the tomato orange soup at Elephant's Deli here in Portland (Oregon, that is).

Carrot-Tomato Soup
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
5 medium sized carrots, diced (or fewer if you want a more subtle carrot flavor)
3 cloves garlic, minced
zest of 1 orange (this should be enough orange flavor, but reserve the fruit in case you want to add some juice later for more! citrus!)
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes, with juice
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 cups chicken/veggie stock
½ cup milk or cream

Melt the butter and olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots, and cook until the vegetables begin to get soft (15 minutes or so). Toss in the garlic and cook for about 1 minute (don’t burn the garlic!). Add the orange zest to the mix, and then pour in the tomatoes. Incorporate all ingredients before adding the stock.

Bring to a boil and then simmer on low until the vegetables are all tender (another 15 minutes or so). Puree the soup if desired with an immersion or regular blender.

Before serving add a splash of milk or cream, and enjoy.

Slow cooker baked beans

Summer is fast approaching, even if you live in the great northwest, where it feels like a crisp and brisk autumn has settled in and we'll never see the sun again.

A staple at any BBQ is baked beans, and I think I've landed on a simple, tasty, and healthy recipe that does not start with two large cans of pork & beans (I searched high & low for recipes that use dried beans and as many "whole" ingredients as possible).

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. dried navy beans or any small white bean, soaked over night, rinsed, and picked over for duds & rocks
- 1 red onion, peeled & diced
- 6 slices uncooked bacon, chopped
- 2 slices pickled jalapeno, diced*
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/4 c. molasses
- 1/2 c. cider vinegar
- 1/2 c. prepared barbecue sauce
- 1 T. prepared mustard
- 2 1/2 c. water
- salt & pepper

Directions:
Place the beans in the slow cooker. Add the onions, bacon, and jalapeno.

Mix the brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, barbecue sauce, and mustard together and pour over the beans. Add the water.

Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, or until beans are tender. Season liberally with salt and pepper after the beans have finished cooking.

*I didn't add the jalapeno when I made this recipe, but I would in the future for a little kick (but the goal isn't to make them spicy because there already is a lot of flavor going on here).

A new love

Let me introduce my favorite new dessert: Talenti Gelato.

It is, truly, the most deliciously creamy, sweet, frozen, store-bought dessert I have ever had. Ryan brought home the Belgium Milk Chocolate last night, and it is more betta than any other chocolate ice cream I've tasted. No, I haven't been to Italy to savor the real deal, but what I will say is this little tub of goodness blows Wendy's Frosties clear out of the water.

Other flavors I'm excited about: Caribbean Coconut, Mediteranean Mint, Tahitian Vanilla Bean, and White Chocolate Raspberry.

They also have sorbets, which aren't as fun, but these look good: Sonoma Strawberry, Hill Country Peach Champagne, and Malaysian Mango.

As a fascinating side note, I've been doing very good laying off the dairy this year for the most part, but I find myself very willing to indulge in this stuff.

A new favorite dinner

So last night I made those taco ramekins/cups (first mentioned here) and they were magnifique, if I do say so myself. Original inspiration came from this recipe, which I modified significantly. The only thing I'd change about my version is the name. Any ideas?

Taco Cups
- 9 frozen Rhodes white dinner rolls, fully defrosted

- 1 lb. ground beef

- 1 packet taco seasoning

- 1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed

- 1 1/2 c. frozen corn

- 1/2 - 1 c. salsa

- 1/2 c. each sour cream, mayonnaise, and shredded cheddar cheese - mix together & set aside

- garnish: 1 small can diced green chiles, pickled jalapeno slices, or sliced black olives

Special equipment: (9) 7 oz. ramekins or 2 large muffin pans (6 cups per pan, 6 oz. capacity each)*

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease ramekins/muffin pans.

On a floured surface, roll each dinner roll into a flat circle about 1/8" thick or about 5" in diameter (approx.). Stack and set aside.

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add in the taco seasoning, beans, and corn. Mix well and heat through.

Place one flattened dinner roll into each ramekin/muffin cup, pressing the dough against the bottoms and sides of the cups. If the dough doesn't reach all the way up the sides, that's OK! Mine didn't. Fill the ramekins/muffin cups about 3/4 full with the beef mixture. Spoon 1 -2T. salsa into each cup over the beef mixture, and top with several spoonfuls of the sour cream mixture. Garnish with chiles, jalapenos, or olives.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and the sour cream mixture has melted. Let rest for a few minutes before serving.

*Since I just have one large muffin pan (and no ramekins) I made six "cups" and saved the rest of the beef filling for tacos later in the week.

Food plan

This week we're trying a few new things in the menu planning department.

for Breakfast
- green smoothies with a banana, orange, frozen berries, carrots, & kale or spinach

for Lunch
- oatmeal with walnuts & dried fruit

snack options
- homemade pop tart (yes I did, made with half whole wheat flour, half all-purpose flour and strawberry all-fruit as a filling)
- banana bread
- yogurt

for Dinner (goal: make meals with enough leftovers for the following night)
- beef bourguignon served with boiled new potatoes
- taco ramekins (if these are good I'll report back), served with chips & salsa
- peanut butter & bacon sandwiches on banana bread with a side of fresh fruit

Isn't that interesting? Now, what are you eating this week?