Childhood Memories

I have a fondness for sense memories that involve food.  As I strolled through the market doing my grocery shopping yesterday I had a sudden craving for tapioca pudding. This creamy snack reminds me of afternoons at my Grandma's house. It's a total comfort food. I had to get some. I like the combination of creamy custard and the little snap of the tapioca pearls (I know people hate this for the same reason!).  I wandered to the Jell-O aisle (have you been there?! It's CRAZY!) and bought a box of Island Brand small tapioca pearls.  

I decided to put my own spin on the flavor by adding some warm spices.

Here are the directions according to the package.    

1/2 cup Tapioca
3 cups Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp. Vanilla. 

Combine Tapioca, milk and salt in a 1 1/2 quart pan. Stir until boiling. Simmer 5 minutes, uncovered, over lowest possible heat, add sugar gradually. Beat eggs, mix in some of the hot Tapioca mixture very slowly to equalize the temperature of the two mixtures (to avoid curdling). Return all to pan. Bring to a boil, stir 3 minutes more over lowest possible heat (or longer to achieve pudding consistency). Stir constantly. Cool 15 minutes then add vanilla. Serve warm or chilled.

Instead of adding the vanilla after the pudding cooled, I added in the final stirring/cooking stage.  I also added: 1 tsp each of cinnamon, cardamom, freshly grated nutmeg.  I topped each serving with a few chopped almonds

I let the pudding sit and cool a little to firm up.  But, I like to eat it warm.  It's almost a good substitute for ice cream in the winter!  

Found Winter "Stew"

Sunday brought unexpected snow and sub zero temperatures, so leaving the house to go do my regular grocery trip wasn't gonna happen.  When dinner time rolled around I scrounged the fridge for ingredients I could throw together.  I found...

2 chicken sausages
half of a red pepper (already chopped... bonus!)
some red onion (also already chopped... hooray!!)
1/3 bag of baby spinach.

With the snow and temperatures falling, I couldn't think of anything else to do with those chicken sausages but make but comfort food.  Beautiful magazine photos of sausage and white bean stew in rustic bowls popped into my head.  This dish seemed intuitive to me though I've never made it before!  Luckily a quick search of the pantry yielded one can of white beans!  I was in luck.

Next I thought about what I could create to bring a creamy element to the dish without the use of actual cream or cheese (to keep things on the lighter side). I experimented with making a little sauce or gravy (it worked!!).
Here's what I did...

For the sauce:

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1-2 Cups chicken broth

in a medium sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat and slowly whisk in the flour.  it will mix into a crumbly mixture.    
next, slowly add about 1 cup of the broth, whisking continuously until flour lumps dissolve. reduce heat to med-low and whisk/stir.  (when my sauce was thick enough to coat a wooden spoon I called it done.)  scrape sauce from pan, put into measuring cup or bowl and set aside.

For the rest:

2 chicken sausages, sliced into small discs
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/3 bag baby spinach, chopped to small pieces
1 can white beans drained and rinsed
olive oil, salt, and pepper

in a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil.  add onions and peppers to the pan on med-high heat.  cook until onions are soft.  add sausage.  cook for about 5 minutes, then add beans and stir.  next, add the previously made sauce and begin to stir it all together.  add more broth if you think the liquid is too thick. lastly add the spinach until it begins to wilt.  season all with salt and pepper. serves 2.

Another Quinoa Bowl Idea

Happy New Year!!

This week I finally feel like I'm getting back on track after the weird schedules of Christmas and New Years plus winter blizzard/snow day craziness!  Was it just me or did it seem like there were more Christmas cookies around than usual? It was wonderful to be able to spend time with family and friends, but I'm also grateful to be getting back to a normal schedule, though I'm still on semester break from school.  On Sunday I planned, shopped and have been cooking again!!

I haven't been using a lot of recipes lately.  Either out of just convenience or instinct, I'm not sure which it is yet, I've been doing more ingredient combining rather than following others written recipes.  A couple recipes I know quite well by now as they've been popping up at the table many times this season (for instance: butternut squash soup, roasted Brussels sprouts, and black bean soup).

Here's a dish I made last night.... a tasty quinoa bowl that comes together quickly.  I like to use quinoa in a dish where I might use rice and vice versa.  Lately I have been just throwing things together that sound good.

On Winter evenings  I find myself just wanting to eat something steaming hot that comes in a big bowl and can be eaten with a fork or spoon rather than the sandwiches, salads and grilled items that are so good in the warmer months.

What ingredients would you put in a quinoa or rice bowl?  

ingredients:
1 c quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 C vegetable broth or water

1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 C frozen corn
a handfull or two of raw spinach
1/4 lb. pork sausage
1 C black beans, drained and rinsed

salt, pepper, olive oil

condiments:  hot sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream (salsa might also be good!)

Set the water/broth on the stove on high heat, then rinse the quinoa.
Add quinoa and heat to boiling.  Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low.

Prep other ingredients.

Heat olive oil in large skillet and add onions, salt and pepper.  Cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add sausage breaking it up into small pieces.  When sausage begins to brown, Add corn and beans.  Stir and cook on medium heat.  Add spinach last right before plating.  Cook until lightly wilted. Season with salt and pepper and add hot sauce if desired.

Check on the quinoa.  It should be done and the water should almost be gone.  Keep covered and if it's done turn off the heat, if not quite done, keep it on low for a few minutes more.

Mix quinoa and other ingredients in a large bowl.

Serve with toppings such as cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, or salsa... perhaps avocado!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Comfort Food

So now that Thanksgiving's long gone, you might be wondering what to do with all of those cans of pumpkin that you bought when they went on sale for 39 cents.  Is that just me?  Here are two delicious pumpkin ideas that will stave off those pumpkin pie* cravings once pie season has faded.

*Actual pie.  Made from the Thanksgiving 2012 issue of Bon Appetit.  
Delicious, simple to make and doesn't use canned milk.  

DIY Pumpkin latte or pumpkin chai:
If you'd rather not shell out $4 for a pumpkin spice latte, or it's past the limited time season, make your own!

ingredients:

2 Tbsp. canned pumpkin

1/2 C milk

1/2 C black tea or coffee

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

a pinch of nutmeg

1 Tbsp honey

heat milk on the stove or in the microwave.  don't let it boil!  add pumpkin, spices and honey to either a traditional blender or a large enough container to fit an immersion blender. blend and froth for a few seconds until thoroughly mixed.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin oatmeal:  Breakfast that tastes like pumpkin pie... that is actually good for you?  Ok.

ingredients:
1 package instant oatmeal ( I am really enjoying the Mom's Best Chai Spiced or just Mom's Best Plain ) or your favorite hot cereal

2 Tbsp canned pumpkin

1 tsp maple syrup

1-2 Tbsp milk

1/8-1/4 C water

spices* such as :"pumpkin pie seasoning" or your favorite combo of nutmeg, ground ginger, ground cardamom, cinnamon
*I don't use the seasoning when I'm using the Chai Spice oatmeal because it's already seasoned.

Optional:  raisins, nuts, berries, etc.

boil water.
in a bowl, combine oats, pumpkin, maple syrup, milk, and seasoning if using.
slowly add boiling water, pouring over the pumpkin to make it creamy until cereal reaches desired consistency. add optional toppings.  stir then cover for about 3 minutes.
I like to microwave mine for about 20 seconds right before eating it because I like it really hot!  Warning, this is an addicting, sweet and easy breakfast.  I have eaten it several days in a row!

Tastes great with coffee and Bon Appetit magazine!

Weekly Menu

This week I was inspired by the cold temperatures that's are starting to be more normal than just a random occurrence.  The menu consists mostly of Fall and Winter comfort-food favorites from the binder of recipes.

The triumphant return of my favorite Black Bean soup!  so many people I talked to read and tried this recipe last year!  I can't wait to taste it again.  With corn bread on the side.

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Baked salmon with wild rice and frozen peas
I use frozen salmon, take it out of the freezer in the morning and it's good to go in the evening.
I will season it with grated ginger (about 2 teaspoons), soy sauce and olive oil (just a drizzle of each on each salmon piece).
Bake at 400 for roughly 20 minutes

Vegetable and quinoa bowl:  broccoli, frozen peas, onions, carrots and peppers-- perhaps some warm spices like cumin and cayenne!

Weekly Menu February 13-18

It's Winter.  I'm taking 12 credits this semester. And, I work. It's a busier than usual week at my house. So, let's use the crock pot!  This week's menu includes two soups to warm us up... and should be relatively easy to prepare with limited time.  In planning the menu this week I browsed food gawker and came up with recipes from some other food blogs out there.  I also "phoned a friend",  actually we Skyped, for a recipe.  I love hearing about others' go-to recipes..

chunky tortilla soup with black beans

slow cooker squash stew with chickpeas

salmon Patties and steamed broccoli (one of my go-to meals)

Jordan's go-to baked fish with veggies.

    

Goes well with white fish such as sole, tilapia, etc.  Cut up a few medium sized tomatoes, one good sized zuchinni, chopped onion.  throw in about half a can of chickpeas and throw it all in a baking dish, drizzle all over with olive oil, cumin (go heavy on the cumin!), paprika (also consider using turmeric, coriander, garlic, and/or fennel) and a little bit of cayenne pepper, cover and throw in the oven, 450° for about 35 min. 

I mostly blog about dinner here, but thought I'd include a breakfast or snack recipe for a sweet, cinnamon quinoa.  I'll probably try it sometime this week.  

Have a great week everyone.

Sunday Night Dinner

Perfect Winter Sunday Night Dinner.