Proof That Junk Food Is Bad for You

I have immediate proof that junk food is bad for you. Sometimes when I do grocery shopping, I'll pick up a frozen pizza for supper. I did that tonight. When the pizza was done, I grabbed the closest potholder that was sitting on the cupboard. I didn't realize that it had been sitting is some water. Instantly, when I grabbed the pizza, I felt the pain. I tried to hold on, but I ended up dumping the whole pizza back in the oven upside down. I burnt my left thumb badly enough that I've got a blister, and my right forefinger hurts but no real damage. I should have taken a picture of the mess, but I didn't even think of it, and it's already cleaned up. Ok, I could have easily done this when cooking from scratch, but then I would have felt terrible because of all the work I put into it. Now I just feel dumb.

Snow Day Poached Chicken

Cooking and blogging are the best things in the world to do on a snow day...ok, along with sleeping, eating, reading, and watching movies. I've been poaching chicken for so long, I can't quite remember where I got the recipe. I think I got it from Martha Stewart's Every Day Food, which is no longer published. I don't know about the rest of you, but generally speaking, I'm a dark meat gal. White meat tends to be dry and chewy. Frankly, I think it would be easier to swallow wood pulp than chicken breast the way it is usually prepared. But there are some things for which white meat is just more appropriate. I always have some on hand for such things as chicken salad, chicken pot pie, casseroles, or even just creamed chicken. And poaching chicken is not hard at all.

I remember, according to the recipe, you need a straight-edged skillet. I don't know why this is necessary, but apparently it is.

And I just happen to have the right pan for the job. My dad gave me this cooks skillet years ago, and I use it exclusively for poaching chicken.

What's nice about this recipe is that you don't have to cut things small and dainty. You can just use big chunks. What you include are: some onion, peeled and crushed garlic, some chunks of celery, carrots, a good heaping teaspoon of salt, peppercorns, thyme, and sliced lemon. This time, I didn't have any carrots, which really shocks me. I almost always have carrots. But I did have thyme because of the Butternut-Leek bisque, so I was able to add it, which I rarely do. I really don't like celery. Undoubtedly the healthiest vegetable of all, and of course, I dislike it. But it does belong in some dishes, so when I buy some, I quickly chop it up and throw it in the freezer; otherwise, it'll spoil by the time I get around to using it. The only ingredient I won't leave out is lemon. I don't know if it adds all that much flavor, but I love the smell. I also think the original recipe said to use so much chicken broth with the water in the poaching...I never do that. It doesn't seem to make much difference. So you add enough water that the chicken breasts will be completely covered in water. And of course, we need chicken breasts. My pan is very big, but you can only put so much chicken in to properly poach it. About one full chicken breast will do it. But if you use those gigantic chicken breasts from Fareway, only a half at a time.

Maybe I should explain the term "poaching." Poaching means to cook in a hot liquid just below boiling. With chicken breast, you want to bring the water and other ingredients to a boil. Add the breasts. Let the chicken cook like that for 3 minutes, turning once in the middle.

Then after the 3 minutes, cover it and turn off the stove...you may want to remove it from the burner if you have an electric stove. Leave it in the pot this way for 9 minutes. Then flip and cover and leave it another 9 minutes. Then check the temperature. It should be 165 degrees in the middle.

I killed my digital thermometer making yogurt, so until my new digital thermometer gets here, I have to use this old clunky analogue one. But I've never had trouble with temps while poaching. Either use the chicken or refrigerate immediately. Do not leave it in the water. It'll continue to cook and you'll have that same old dried out chicken breast. This is the most succulent and moist chicken breast I've ever had. If you're grilling chicken, it's also a great way to guarantee you've got your chicken done. Poach it first and then just put it on the grill for that nice grilled flavor and you're guaranteed it's not undercooked.

Creamy Butternut-Leek Bisque

My first bite of this Butternut-Leek Bisque was a bit disappointing. It seemed flat and bland, but as I ate more, it seemed to grow on me. It's earthy and hearty. I can imagine eating it with a sandwich on a snowy cold day. And I think the quinoa actually adds to it, though it made me a bit nervous as I was cooking it. However, I may have enjoyed cooking it more than I am enjoying eating it.

I haven't cooked with a lot of leeks in my time. I knew that they had to be thoroughly washed because they are often filled with sand. I really enjoyed cooking them until they were tender. I love how that green popped out and made me feel as though spring was immanent.

The next step, toasting the quinoa with the leeks made me a little nervous. I've never cooked with quinoa, and I've never really enjoyed it when I have eaten it. The tricky part with toasting it was that it kept sticking to the sides of the pot. I was supposed to stir it constantly and I found myself continuously scraping the sides.

What I really liked was when I added the squash and the colors just really popped. The pale orange with the soft, but bright green of the leeks was just downright pretty. This picture does not do it justice.

I should have taken a picture of it, but the bisque quickly lost that prettiness when the quinoa plumped up. Oh well.

One thing I did learn, it's time to get a new blender. This blender was old and used when I got it, which I can't even remember. It was probably an old one of Mom and Dad's or something. It did the job it was supposed to do, but it practically needed defibrillation by the time it was done.

Overall, I'll probably never make this recipe again. I've had better butternut squash soup, but it was an interesting process. It's added to my experiences and my knowledge of cooking.

Roasting Peppers

Recently, I saw a video on Facebook for a recipe...I don't even remember what the recipe was for, but it included roasted peppers, and when I saw how they did it, I went a nuts. It's great they were roasting them because peppers' outer skins are a bit bitter, but after they roasted them they scraped at them with a knife, which isn't cool and certainly not necessary. So, I decided to show folks what I think is the best way to roast a pepper.

One of the selling points for my house was that the stove was gas. I grew up with a gas stove, and I don't think I've had one since, until I bought this house. I love the control with gas. Gas cooking allows me to easily roast peppers. I just turn on the stove and throw a pepper on it.

I let it get nice and charred on one side and then I just flip it around a bit.

It doesn't take much work, and my house sometimes has an interesting smokey pepper scent because of it. Once it's good and charred all over, I put it in a bowl, cover it, and refrigerate it for a couple hours. The one in the picture I refrigerated for a couple days. It didn't matter.

The refrigeration does something to it so that when it's time to use, all I have to do is put it under running water and rub the skin away

The flesh of the pepper is so tender all I have to do is gently pull it open, and seed it right there in the sink. All that's left is patting it dry and slicing it up.

Peppers can be roasted in the oven, and of course, on the grill. But I love the convenience of just popping it on the stove. My family is always raving about a bean dip I make. I've given them all the recipe, but they say I make it better than they do. It's simply because I take the time and roast the peppers. It might seem a bit fussy, but it really does make a big difference.

Chicken and Dumplings

Years ago, my brother and sister-in-law gave me a rotisserie. They really didn't have a choice. They found out that I kept borrowing Mom and Dad's. I haven't used my rotisserie in ages, but I did last night, and it made the tastiest, most succulent chicken of all time.

As usual, I ate the legs and thighs. I confess. I'm a dark meat gal. That left the rest of the chicken to deal with. So, today, I am making chicken and dumplings using the recipe I found at http://blog.kingarthurflour.com/2013/12/10/chicken-stew-with-dumplings/. We have an ice storm coming this way. I think this comfort food would be appropriate, and if there is school tomorrow, I can take what's left over for lunch.

My very German Grandma Amy...Grandma Devereaux, used to make delicious chicken and dumplings. I remember it well, but I doubt there's a written recipe to be had from any of the relatives. I'm pretty sure my grandma just whipped it together, so I had to rely on someone else's recipe. I doubt Grandma used Thyme or even parsley as this recipe calls for. I know she would have used buttermilk because I remember she drank the stuff (Yikes!)The only other time I remember having it was Dad made pheasant and dumplings once. I don't remember ever having it as an adult. I hope it's as good as I remembered. Things rarely are. We'll see.

It turned out beautifully. My only change would be to reduce or eliminate the thyme in the stew. And I was impressed that it took such little time and work. Of course, I had the cooked chicken on hand and frozen veggies are easy to cook up. I did end up using the yogurt in the dumplings (because as you know, I have it on hand) although I initially was going to use instant buttermilk, but it was one solid rock. It wasn't worth the effort of trying to break it up into usable bits.

If you're counting carbs, this isn't a recipe for you, but if you need comfort on a cold, stormy, winter's day, I say go for it.

Yogurt Cultures

Now that I've been making my own yogurt for awhile, I've made some decisions about yogurt cultures. When I say, "Yogurt Cultures" what I'm talking about is the original yogurt I used to start my own yogurt. It's like sourdough bread, there has to be a starter. I've tried basically three different brands: Fage a Greek style yogurt from A&E, Noosa a Colorado, by way of Australia yoghurt (That's how they spell it), and Siggi's, an Icelandic yogurt. Fage wasn't to my liking at all. It just tasted off. And wasn't "Fage" a disease from one of the Star Treks? If I'm wrong, well there's a reason I thought this. Noosa wasn't bad at all. I just preferred Siggi's. I'm sure this preference was simply a result of one bacteria over another.

In trying out these different cultures, I've developed a bad habit. To get Fage yogurt down, and I hated to just dump it out, I added a little honey to it. Now I'm still adding honey as well as fruit to my yogurt. However, I add less to Siggi's than I did to Fage, a lot less. See what you think.

I've got plans for another couple of entries, so keep watching. I still haven't gotten over to Spirit Lake to get those leeks. I'll be writing about other things. Never expect me to stick to a plan.

The Rack

Over a year ago, I was having problems with my dishwasher. I finally decided to get rid of it and revert to washing my dishes by hand. It hasn't been too bad. I just know I have to wash dishes every day. I have a system. I'm a soaker. I start with the plates and glasses. I put them in super hot soapy water and I leave them to soak. By the time the water cools enough for me to handle them, they're pretty much clean. All I have to do is give them a quick wipe, another really hot rinse, and plop them in the dish rack to dry. And then on to the next batch. What that means is that there are almost always dishes on the cupboard. Up until recently, the dish rack where they were drying was quite disreputable. It was one of those plastic-coated wire things. I hated it. No matter how much I'd try to clean it, it still looked like hell. Finally, I gave up. I was a bit worried that the new bamboo rack that I ordered would be too small. Oh my gosh, was I wrong. It can hold twice as much as the old one, and the silverware container holds three times as much. And the dishes dry better. There's enough space between each that most of them are dry in a matter of minutes, especially the glass and ceramics. Plus, I think it looks pretty awesome. So, I would easily recommend it to anyone who is considering such a purchase. I've had mine now for probably about three or four months. Doing dishes is no longer quite as loathsome as it used to be.

Mmmmm Moroccan Stew

First "official" day back at school and I'm sitting here writing my blog. It's not as bad as it sounds. I've been coming in a couple of hours for three or four days, and I'm pretty much ready to go for classes tomorrow.

So this is my lunch today. It turned out really well even if I didn't get all the chickpeas picked out earlier (see previous entry). And it absolutely smells divine. If you've never had Moroccan food before, this is a great recipe to try first. It has those Moroccan flavors, but it's not very scary at all. There's just something about the combination of cinnamon and cumin. I like it much better than cumin by itself.

Rather than making it in a slow cooker, I would probably cook it on the stove top in the future. I'm not much of a slow cooker cook. I also feel I've have more control if I could make it on the stove top. I'm all about control. If you missed it, the recipe is on the previous entry.

Picking Chick Peas

My friend, Laura Hoffman, had a bunch of us over for New Year's Eve Day. She served several stews including a Moroccan stew that I absolutely fell in love with. I begged her for the recipe. Seriously, I probably made a total fool of myself, but I loved this stew. I hadn't planned on it, but when she sent me an email today with the recipe, and I realized I had the ingredients, I decided I was going to try it right away. I think it would be great school lunch. The stew calls for onions, garlic, diced butternut squash, tomatoes, chickpeas, and assorted spices. I'll give the full recipe below. Well no problem. I got the onions and garlic sauteed, and the squash all cleaned up. I added the tomatoes and the vegetable broth...and the chickpeas. And like any good cook, I stirred them all together. Then I went back to the recipe to get the exact measurements for the spices, and gasp! I wasn't supposed to add the chickpeas until it had all been cooked. Of course! It made sense once I thought about it because the chickpeas would have cooked to mush if I put them in the crock pot for six hours. What was I going to do?

I realized I had only two options: go ahead and cook it with the chickpeas in the pot, or pick out the chickpeas one by one. I'm someone who when I make a mistake crocheting, even if I made the mistake many many rows back, I will still pull it apart and do it over. So, yeah, I picked most of the chickpeas out. I'm just glad I hadn't put the spices in yet!

It's funny. I don't know the etymological story behind the names for chickpeas, but when I was picking them out, in my mind, they were being called by their other name, garbanzos. I don't know, but I think garbanzos sort of sounds like a swear word, don't you?

I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow.

UPDATE: I've decided that I'll probably make several of the things I suggested in my last post, but not the sea bass. Do you know how much sea bass costs? It's not in my budget. I think the first thing I'll make is the squash soup (It's that time of year). However, I need to get over to Spirit Lake sometime to get the leeks, so it'll be a while before I get to it.

Moroccan Slow Cooker Stew Ingredients 1 spray(s) cooking spray

1 small uncooked onion(s), chopped

1 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced

1 cup(s) uncooked carrot(s), baby

1 medium uncooked butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes*

1 cup(s) canned crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup(s) vegetable broth

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

15 oz chickpeas (15 oz), drained and rinsed

1/2 tsp table salt

Instructions

Coat a small skillet with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 5 minutes.

Place squash in a 3-quart or larger slow cooker (crockpot). Add sauteed onion and garlic, carrots, tomatoes, broth, cinnamon, cumin and red pepper flakes.

Cover and turn on to low heat; simmer for 6 hours.

Add chickpeas and salt. Stir, cover and heat for an additional 5 minutes.

Yields about 1 1/3 cups per serving.

What do you think?

Now that I'm back blogging, I realized that I don't know what to cook or to write about. I want to stick with light meals because I do want to get in better shape. The elliptical will help, but I need to get my diet under control. I'm not good at dieting when my food is restricted to the same old thing. So, I pulled out old copies of my favorite cooking magazine, Cooking Light. I found a few recipes I might like to try, but I thought maybe you guys could help me decide what to choose. Maybe you can even share with me one of your favorite light dishes that I can give a whirl. The recipes I came up with are as follows (they are all linked to the recipe): Sea Bass with Citrus Salsa I don't know how hard it's going to be to find Sea Bass, though. Pork Tenderloin, Pear and Cranberry Salad And there are several soups: Butternut-Leek Bisque (shown above), Slow Cooker Beef and Sweet Potato Chili, Easier Chicken Noodle Soup with cheese-filled tortellini, and Hummus Soup. I wonder about the hummus soup. I love hummus, but as soup, it sounds pretty intense.