Food Lush

A Suitably Impressive Meal

By Erica

We had my folks over for dinner last weekend to thank them for all the help they gave us when I fell and janked-up my ankle. I wanted to make something nice, but not fussy. It's not like one of them gave me a kidney or spleen or anything. For something like that, I'd have pulled out all the stops. 

I decided on Sweet and Tangy Pork Chops, with a side of Sweet Potato Gratin from our very own Jess. (Sidebar: Every single time I make these potatoes, I have to get on the twitter and tell everyone how good they are. EVERY TIME. I am not kidding; these things are to die for. Please make them so that you can tell everyone how good they are, too. Then everyone in the world will make them and when they try to tell someone how good they are, the reply will always be "Duh. I know. I make them all the time, too.)

For dessert, I went with Pumpkin Crunch Cake. It was fantastic. The only thing I'll change when I make it next is too use less pecans. I went ahead and used 1 1/2 cups per the recipe, but I found it to be too much pecan, not enough cake. I think I'll try one cup next time. 

The great thing about this meal is that it's easy to spread out the work over the course of a day so that you're not busting ass trying to get everything done at the same time while your guests are there. I made the cake around noon and just covered it with foil until dessert. I sliced all the sweet potatoes during my kids' afternoon nap and then assembled the gratin and popped it in the oven just as I started the pork chops. They were done at the same time. I threw in a tray of crescent rolls, too, because they cooked at the same temperature as the gratin. Score!

After dinner, I threw my mixer bowl into the freezer and then cleared the dishes. We chatted for 15 or 20 minutes and then I made some whipped cream for the cake. (I barely sweetened it because the cake is plenty sweet (and rich). The whipped cream gave it a nice contrast without being cloying.)

My guests were suitably impressed with the meal and no one felt like it was "over the top." Most importantly, it was all delicious and everyone asked for seconds. Even my 4.5 year old. 

{Photo credit: pipandebby.com}

Fall Drinks

By Erica

Fall.

Am I right? Pumpkin recipes! Honeycrisp apples! Caramel on anything that will sit still long enough to be coated! Halloween candy! One of the things helping to fuel my obsession with all things Fall, is Pinterest. It seems that in other parts of the country, Fall weather shows up BEFORE Halloween. Who knew? So, while it's still in the 90s here in Texas, I look at all the delicious recipes that would turn my house into a sauna if I was to turn on the oven. 

Currently, I'm drooling over these amazing looking drinks that I've found on my "research sessions" scrolling through Pinterest. (Shut up. It's totally research. At least, that's what I'm telling my husband.)

L'Orange Pumpkin Carver 
1 ½ parts Grey Goose L'Orange Flavored Vodka
¾ part maple syrup
½ part Canton Ginger Liqueur
1 tsp pumpkin butter
1 part fresh lemon juice
Garnish with apple chips

In a cocktail shaker add all ingredients. Add ice. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is frosted and beaded with sweat. Strain into martini glass and add apple chip garnish.

Pumpkin Pie 
1 oz. Malibu Rum
3/4 oz. canned pumpkin pie filling
1/2 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. with cold milk
Garnish: sprinkle of cinnamon

Mix ingredients in blender with ice and blend thoroughly; Pour into graham cracker-rimmed highball glass and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

 

Winter Fruit Sangria
6 dried Calmyrna (light) figs, sliced
6 dried apricots, cut into slivers
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup brandy
2 Tbsp. honey
1 750 ml. bottle Rioja or Merlot
110-oz. bottle club soda

In a saucepan stir together the dried fruits, brandy, and honey. Cook over medium-low heat until simmering. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Add wine; stir. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. To serve, strain sangria into a pitcher. Add ice cubes and club soda; stir gently. Makes 8 servings.

Jack-O-Lantern

1 oz Hennessy VSOP Cognac
1 1/2 oz orange juice
1/2 oz ginger ale
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
Orange wheel and lime twist for garnish 
Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Strain into a lowball glass over ice. Float an orange wheel topped with a lime twist on top.

 

Any of these tasty beverages is sure to keep you warm and toasty when the nights start getting colder!

{All images via Pinterest.com}

Chipotle: Another Restaurant Reproduction

By Erica 

I live in a very small town about 40 minutes from Dallas, 40 minutes from Fort Worth and an hour from Waco. While I adore living in my town, the lack of restaurants is sometimes disheartening. We have some really great locally-owned restaurants that not only offer fabulous food, but also have prices that make going out to eat actually feasible.

The thing I miss most of all are the chains. I know, I know. A food writer who isn't waxing poetic about locally grown, organic, fair-trade restaurants?! Burn me on a pyre of Cooks Illustrated if you must, but I will speak my truth! <insert fist pump here.>

One of my favorite not-really-fast-food chains is Chipotle. Unfortunately for my tummy and Chipotle's bottom line, the closest locations are at least a half hour from my house. This means going as often as I'd like an impossibility. Let's be honest here; I'd eat a burrito bowl five nights a week if there was a location in my town. I'd cut somebody for a chicken burrito bowl right now, as a matter of fact.

I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy to have these types of thoughts about corn salsa.

While the Chipotle menu items are extremely tasty, they are not extremely complicated. Which means they're perfectly suited to reproducing at home. I've got chicken breasts roasting away in the crock-pot right now and tonight I'll make some garlic black beans, and some cilantro lime rice. I've got corn salsa, sour cream and monterey jack and cojito cheese all ready to go. This will be the first time I've tried these particular recipes so I'll update soon to let you know how they turned out. You know, in case you're considering shanking the guy in the cube next to you with your letter opener because he got a barbacoa burrito for lunch and you didn't.

{Image Source: www.chipotle.com}

What To Feed a Toddler. AKA: Feeding the Beast

By Erica

My son is now 15 months old and feeding him has begun to stump me on a daily basis. He's all about feeding himself and will barely tolerate any assistance. Have I mentioned that he's not so good with the spoon or fork, yet? He gets them to his mouth reliably, but more often than not, there is no food left on the utensil as it's all on his high chair tray. So, we've got the awesome combination of fierce independence and complete ineptitude. (That's like the international motto of childhood, right there. I'm going to stitch it on a pillow.)

I recently gave him some very yummy things from Ella's Kitchen, and while he loved the taste and being able to feed himself, he mostly ended up squirting the whole pouch out on to the tray and playing with it. I'm running out of ideas for things to give him to feed himself. He's not picky (yet) and will eat just about anything besides green beans and bananas.

Have you any ideas to share with a fellow stressed out family chef?

Trashy Treats

By Erica

One night last week before bed, I was craving something sweet. "Craving" as in, I AM GOING TO DIE WITHOUT IT. I don't keep prepacked sweets in the house because I will eat them all as soon as I buy them. I dug around in the pantry and came up with whole wheat Ritz, a container of whipped vanilla frosting and decorating sugar. I applied a thin(nish) layer of frosting on a Ritz, sprinkled on some sugar and topped it with another Ritz. The combination of salty and sweet was perfect. 

The next night, I made a couple of treats for my husband so that I could garner all praise due my culinary mastery. We talked it over and agreed that the only thing that would make them better is dipping them in chocolate. Because, come on. What isn't better dipped in chocolate? 

This was the perfect project for my four-and-a-half year old daughter to help with. She is an expert sprinkler and always asks to put the "lids" on her cheese and cracker sandwiches. Also, she is the most adorable kitchen helper ever.

I divided two sleeves of Ritz into tops and bottoms on a sheet of wax paper. I applied a thin(nish) layer of frosting and set them in front of my girl. She spink'd 'em up and affixed the lids. Once all the sandwiches were assembled, I plopped them one at a time into the melted chocolate and used a fork to flip them over to ensure they were entirely coated. (FYI, I used a large bag of semi-sweet chips for this. I was afraid the milk chocolate variety would be too sweet and tip the balance of sweet and salty too far.)

Once the sandwiches were coated, I sort of flung them back and forth a lot on the fork so that I could be sure that EVERY surface in my kitchen was covered in chocolate. Also, to drain the excess off the sandwich.

I laid the chocolate-coated treats back in front of my daughter and she topped them with another sprinkle of decorating sugar. 

I then moved the sandwiches, wax paper and all, to a couple of baking sheets and put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Then, we tasted them. You know, strictly for Quality Control Purposes.

While my kid was thrilled with the results, my husband and I were less so. The chocolate ended up overpowering the whole thing. We're thinking that maybe adding a thicker layer of frosting would help. So if you make these, slather it on, ok? And if you live on the surface of the Sun in Texas, you may want to store this in a zip-top bag in your fridge because they will melt just sitting out on the counter. True Story.

Homemade Childhood Favorites

By Erica

My kids are very typical with their love of snack foods. Ok, let's be honest, I love the snack foods, too. Four of the staples we almost always have in the house are graham crackers, goldfish, vanilla wafers and fig newtons. Because who doesn't love those things? People without taste buds, that's who. In an effort to make more healthful choices, I've learned to make all of these favorites. There are tons of versions of these recipes out there on the internets, so here are the recipes that I like the most.

Alton Brown from Good Eats on the Food Network has two of the recipes on my list; graham crackers and vanilla wafers. He doesn't try to reinvent them, just improve the flavor and nutritional content over the processed versions. And these both taste MUCH better than the boxed versions and are surprisingly easy to make. Not as easy as throwing a box in your cart, but come on. You're going to have to expend a little bit of effort.

Food.com has my favorite recipe for fig newtons. To be fair, I must tell you that I've only ever made these with fresh figs, but I'm sure dried is what the commercial version uses, so don't feel bad about using them. This recipe gets some comments from users about the difficulty of working with the dough, but I didn't have any problems. 

Finally, there's goldfish. I adore Smitten Kitchen and her recipes and this one does not disappoint. I don't own a goldfish cookie cutter, but approximating the shape with a sharp paring knife really isn't that hard. When my kids are older and the shape isn't so integral to their enjoyment of the snack, I'll probably just make squares with a ravioli cutter wheel. 

So, what are some of the favorite snack foods in your house? Have you ever thought of or tried making them yourself? Do share, please!

How to Pick the Perfect Melons

By Erica

We are fruit eaters in my family. A hefty portion of my weekly grocery budget goes to fresh produce and I get so! angry! when I buy crappy fruit. I've made it a point over the last few years to learn the best ways to tell ripeness for our favorite fruits. I will share with you my tried-and-true tips in the hopes you never have another rock-hard peach or overripe watermelon. 

This week, let's talk melons. When buying a watermelon, please know that the flesh of a seedless melon tends to be much firmer and will stand up to being cubed or balled much more so than a seeded melon. If you're only after slices for a picnic or BBQ, then by all means, spend less money and get a seeded melon. When purchasing either type, you want to look for a nice, bright green melon that has a large and VERY OBVIOUS yellow spot on one side. This is the place where the watermelon lay on the soil as it ripened. That part doesn't get any sun, and therefore doesn't turn green. If the watermelon doesn't have that spot, then chances are it wasn't left to ripen on the vine and will be much less sweet than one that was left long enough to develop the spot. Also, look for one that seems heavier than it should be for it's size. Watermelons get juicer as they ripen, so the more water it has in it, the heavier and sweeter it will be.

Cantaloupes are one of the easiest melons to pick. All you have to do is smell the stem end. If it smells like Cantaloupe, it's ripe. No smell? Not ripe yet. Honeydew is another common melon in the summer and is also fairly easy to discern between ripe and not yet ripe. Look for the roundest Honeydew you can find and with smooth, waxy flesh. If it's a little fuzzy, it's not ripe. 

Casaba melons are an awesome summer fruit. Casabas are a mild melon that lasts forever before you cut it. Ok, not really forever, but much longer than Cantaloupe and watermelon. When buying Casabas, look for a slightly soft stem end and lots of ridges. Like the yellow spot on watermelons, ridges only form when Casabas are left to ripen on the vine. Also make sure the skin is waxy and not fuzzy, which is the same thing you look for in Honeydews.

The last type of fairly common summer melon is the Santa Claus melon. Just like with the Casaba, you want to find one with a softened stem end. You also want one that's firm and pretty evenly mottled with green and yellow. Too green is b-a-d-n-e-w-s. 

Next week we'll talk stone fruits!

{Photo credit: produceoasis.com}

Real Whipped Cream - So much better than fake

By Erica

Our Father's Day menu yesterday included strawberry shortcake. I opted to make it all from scratch, seeing as it's not a very difficult recipe, and was once again blown away by REAL whipped cream. 

{Photo credit: infobarrel.com}

First of all, it's so incredibly easy to make. Dump the cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a mixer, turn it on and find something else to do. (I cleaned up the kitchen and loaded the dishwasher.) By the time I was done, so was my whipped cream. Besides being ridiculously easy to make, it tastes so much better than the stuff in the can or the tub. It's certainly not fat free or light, but it's so worth it.

Whip yourself up a batch and let me know what  you think!

In Search of Seasoned Popcorn Recipes

By Erica

We love seasoned popcorn in my house. Specifically, we love Popcorn Indiana seasoned popcorn. And even more specifically, my favorite is the Bacon Ranch flavor. 

Hello, gorgeous. Get in my belly.

The rate at which we consume these bags of deliciousness prompted my husband to wonder aloud at the feasibility of making our own seasoned popcorn. I've made caramel candy corn before, but never anything savory. 

Have any of you attempted to make your own seasoned popcorn? Can you share tips and recipes? PLEASE? Although, the owners of Popcorn Indiana products would probably rather that you didn't help me. I'm pretty sure my business alone is keeping them in the black.

{Photo credit: popcornindiana.com}

A Quinoa Virgin No Longer

By Erica

Saturday night, I made my first ever batch of quinoa. I've read recipes for so many wonderful dishes, that I decided to make the entire box and portion it out for three different purposes.

First on my list was dinner for that night. I wanted to make a vegetarian meal that my Native Texan Husband (aka Mr. Meat and Potatoes) and my four year old would both eat. I decided to ease into quinoa and make a relatively simple and non-threatening meal. (As though quinoa is threatening, right? "You lookin' at me, cous-cous? YOU LOOKIN' AT ME?!") I made the quinoa according to the package directions and while it simmered, I opened a can of chickpeas, drained them and dumped them into a mixing bowl. I added about 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 1/2 of ground turmeric and a healthy pinch of kosher salt. I stirred it around and decided it needed some brightening. Since I didn't have any fresh cilantro in the house, I decided to squirt on some lime juice. 

Once the quinoa was finished, I removed half of it from the pot and then stirred in the chickpea and spice mixture to the remaining quinoa. I tasted it and found it to be a little bland, so I added an additional 1/4 teaspoon of cumin and turmeric and another pinch of kosher salt and it was perfect. I served it in bowls with low-fat feta cheese for sprinkling on top. It was absolutely delicious and I was so smug knowing that I was feeding my family something so full of protein and goodness without any processed nastiness. I told my husband I felt like some kind of crunchy hippie, but in a good way. Not a patchouli-smelling hippie, but a cool vegan one. 

 
(Image credit: http://sugarcrafter.net)

The second application I decided on was for adding it to my son's baby food. He's got four full teeth and two more that have just broken through, so he's into chunkier foods these days. He had sweet potato puree with a healthy scoop of plain quinoa mixed it. He wolfed it down and I briefly feared for my life when the bowl was empty. So, I used my handy ice cube tray and loaded it up with quinoa and threw it into the freezer. I'll add it to his veggies and even to applesauce for breakfasts. 

And speaking of breakfast, there was enough quinoa left for me to try a little breakfast version tomorrow morning. I plan to sprinkle on some cinnamon and brown sugar and toss on a few almond slices, fresh strawberries and a splash of vanilla soy milk. 

(Image credit: http://cookieandkate.com)

I'm still kind of stunned that a $3.00 box of quinoa made a whole dinner (with leftovers) a tray of baby food cubes AND a serving of breakfast cereal. I will definitely be keeping my pantry stocked with this Mother Grain from now on.