Black Bean Quinoa

Here's a yummy dish I stumbled into. I've had every intention of eating Quinoa before, but just hadn't gotten to it since we had cut back on carbs. Now I'm sorry I hadn't eaten it more, but I certainly intend to now!

I purchased a giant bag of it at Costco. The directions recommended toasting in before cooking; so I did. In a small skillet I toasted one cup of quinoa and it smelled like roasted peanuts....mmmm. 

After toasting it I gave it a quick soak to remove some of the powdery-ness.I cooked 1 cup quinoa with 2 cups of liquid (one cup of chicken broth and one cup of water). Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cover. Cooking will take about 15 minutes and you will notice the grain will be translucent and sorta spiral out of the hull. 

Cool, then toss in 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 chopped medium tomato, 1/4 cup of chopped red onion, 1/8 cup of roasted red peppers, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp fresh lemon zest for brightness and salt to taste. Serve at room temperature. In addition...if I had fresh parsley, I would have added that too. (I think it needs a little green, don't you?)

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Breakfast Special - Guilt Free Huevos Rancheros

Using the FF Refried beans and the Ranchero Sauce you made, here is a guilt-free Huevos Rancheros recipe that you can feel good about on a weekend morning!

This recipe does not use any tortilla. Just spread 1/4 cup of warmed beans on your plate. You can add a sprinkle of cheese if you like; however, I did not. Add a cooked egg on top, or two cooked egg whites. Top with the Ranchero sauce and a dollop of low-fat sour cream. If you have it, add some chopped avocado. Done!

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Samantha B. 

Make your own Egg Foo Young

This is such an easy and tasty meal. Basically, this is an Asian savory pancake with lots of veggies. Instead of syrup, you serve it with a light gravy.

I added chicken to the gravy and mixed in baby bok choy, scallions, thinly sliced mushrooms, red peppers, and bean sprouts into the pancake. You can use whatever veggies you have really. I think you will like it, and it only takes about 30 minutes. 

1 doz. eggs (or 1/2 doz. if you want to make fewer pancakes)
2 chicken breast, boneless, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup scallions, diced
1/4 cup Asian mushrooms, thinly sliced (like shitake, but you can use button mushrooms if you need to)
1/4 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1 large squirt of hot chili paste
1 inch chunk of fresh, peeled ginger

In a skillet, brown the chicken breast pieces, lightly season with salt and pepper, but this will go into your gravy which will have plenty of flavor. When cooked through, remove from heat and set aside.

Start your gravy by bringing the chicken broth, soy sauce, chili sauce and fresh ginger to a simmer. Reserve a small amount of broth and mix in your cornstarch or arrowroot. You want to do this so that the thickener doesn't clump up in the sauce. Whisk in thickener and chicken, simmer until thickened.  Keep warm.

Preheat skillet or griddle to make pancakes, spray with non-stick spray. In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs well and then whisk in veggies.  With a ladle spoon on egg mixture. The egg will start to spread out, so with your spatula, keep the pancake from getting too large, folding the ends in on itself. Pancakes are done when the edges are crispy and brown. Set aside and make remaining pancakes. 

Serve with chicken gravy, steamed white or brown rice. I made a cold soba noodle salad with mine. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Fresh Ranchero Sauce & (Figure Friendly) Refried Beans

Two of my favorite recipes. They are both so easy and so good! You can top a burrito, huevos rancheros, chile relleno, and more with this sauce. 

Fresh Ranchero Sauce
(makes 3-4 cups of sauce, double ingredients for a larger batch)

3 large red bell peppers
2 Anaheim chile peppers
2 jalepenos
2 large tomatoes, tops sliced off
1 medium size onion, tops sliced and skin removed
1 small bunch of garlic, most paper removed and top sliced off
2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

Set your oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil and for good measure, spray with non-stick spray. Divide the whole peppers, tomatoes, whole onion, and garlic cloves between the two baking sheets. 

Roast for 40 minutes, keeping an eye on the garlic and jalepenos.If they get too dry you won't have any flesh to remove and add to the sauce. If you need to, remove those sooner. The peppers will be darkly roasted. 

Once you remove the peppers from the oven, transfer them into a plastic storage bag. They will be hot, so you can let them cool for a minute, but do not wait too long, because you want them to be hot and steam in the bag. Let rest for 20 minutes, then peel skin and remove seeds from peppers, scrapping flesh into a blender or food processor. 

Cut onion in half, add to the peppers with tomatoes and garlic. Blend or process until pureed. Add the mixture to a sauce pan and stir in the chicken broth, simmer on low heat until mixture thickens, about 20 minutes. Salt to taste. 

Figure Friendly Refried Beans
(makes 4 cups of beans)

1 large/tall can of pinto beans (use black beans or canary beans too if you like)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp vegetable oil
salt & pepper

Add your beans with liquid to a blender, pulse for a few seconds leaving some large and some small pieces of bean. Set aside. Add oil to a skillet and then add onion. Cook onion on low until tender, at the cumin and mix. 

Next add half of the beans and bring to a rapid boil, stirring constantly. When most of the liquid has been evaporated, add another small portion to the skillet and continue until all the beans have been added and cooked down. Season to taste. 

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Samantha B.

Braciole

Braciole

During one of my latest trips to the grocery store, we picked up some flank/flap meat. Our first intention was carne asada. But this morning I felt like doing something different with it. My first thought was to roll it up with a spinach mixture and broil it.

Well, while I was rolling through a few channels mid-morning. I came across the cooking show, 'Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.' She was making Braciole. I am familiar with it, the recipe usually calls for raisins, which is why I haven't made it before. If you don't know, raisins are my husbands kryptonite. He hates them!

So much to my surprise, this recipe did not call for raisins and I had almost everything I needed! I made my list and headed to the store for a few things; excited to try something new and delicious!

Traditionally, Braciole is made with a low quality meat such as round steak. It doesn't have to be an expensive cut of meat because you will be cooking it for a few hours in a wonderful tomato sauce.

I arrived home and set out to start my prep work. This dish needs to simmer in the sauce for a few hours, so off I went to make the stuffing.

The stuffing....dear lord, the stuffing! I started off the stuffing with some chopped pancetta, while that crisped up on low heat, I chopped two onions to get the sauce and the stuffing going. I added the onions to both pans with about 3 tbsp of olive oil. While both onions were sweating in separate pans (with a pinch of red crushed pepper in each pan), I chopped my mushrooms and fresh spinach. 

One thing I changed in this recipe was the bread. The chef used a day (or so) old half piece of crusty Italian bread. She cut off the crust and then cubed the bread. Next she added about a half cup of milk and tossed to soak and soften the bread. I decided to cut that way back and I used ¾ cup of breadcrumbs and then added a few tbsp of milk. While the onions are sweating, I chopped mushrooms and fresh spinach.

Once the onions and pancetta are ready for the stuffing. Add in 2 cups of sliced button mushrooms, add a good pinch of salt and continue to cook on low until the mushrooms are soft and cooked. Turn off the heat and stir in your spinach. You want it to just wilt but not over cook. In a few minutes I removed from heat and added to the breadcrumbs. I then added ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese and ¼ cup of Provolone cheese. Mix well....and then, taste it!

At this point I sorta lost my mind. The stuffing alone was AMAZING! I had not had much to eat this day, but I think I made up for it while sampling the stuffing. Holy cow, if I could explain the smells and tastes coming from my kitchen at this point I would. YUM-MY! Let's just say....I would eat this stuffing out of the trash! I'm not really surprised, I've used Procuitto in my Thanksgiving stuffing for the last few years and it's always delicious. I do think I might use this stuffing in other things...like turkey breast.

So after the stuffing was ready, I prepared my meat. If you were using round steak, then you'd want to pound out that meat very flat so that you can stuff and roll it. I was using skirt steak, so there wasn't much for me to do. I cut the meat to size, spread the stuffing mix, and then rolled it up. 

Snag: I forgot to buy toothpicks, but if you have them then use them to close up the meat rolls so the stuffing doesn't fall out. I highly recommend this! (My stuffing fell out a little while I was browning.) You could also use kitchen twine. Just remove the tooth picks or twine before serving. 

Next, brown the rolls in olive oil and then add to the tomato sauce to cook. Cover and cook on low for one hour, then check the tenderness of your meat. Cook them until the meat is fork tender, rolling them around in the tomato sauce.

For my side dish I roasted zucchini and drizzled some of the tomato sauce on them as well. Feel free to top with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Samantha B.

Julia Child's Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Stuffing and Tarragon Sauce

Roasted Chicken with Tarragon Sauce and Baked Cucumber

What can I say about Julia Child's recipe for Casserole Roasted Chicken with Tarragon Sauce? First off, it's ridiculously amazing. The first time I made this recipe I knew I would be making it again and again. If you are familiar with Julia's recipes, you know that nothing she did was quick and simple; however, you also know it is WELL worth the time and effort you put into it. This recipe is not what I would call “low-fat.” If you are very conscious of your calories you might only want to make this dish once or twice a month or perhaps just for special occasions; however, you can make it a little lighter (I'll explain later). I think it's the epitome of a Sunday dinner. This recipe you want to follow exactly as you can. So I'm posting all the instructions....and it's a long one! I really wish I had taken a photo, but I didn't. :( 

This time I stuffed the chicken with a mushroom stuffing. This stuffing is almost identical to the duxelle used in beef wellington. You want to make the stuffing first so you can cram it into that bird and roast it.

Ingredients for stuffing:

¾ lbs. Finely minced fresh mushrooms

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

1 ½ tbsp minced shallot (shallots are a small oval-shaped brown onion, I strongly suggest that you find them, but you could use green onion if you need to.)

Chicken gizzards, including liver, minced. (If you are really opposed to this you can skip it, skip the kidneys or just add the chicken liver. Really, every ingredient adds depth and flavor that will blow your mind – so I recommend including it.)

¼ cup Madeira wine or port

¼ cup dry breadcrumbs

3 tbsp cream cheese

½ tsp fresh or dried tarragon

2 tbsp minced parsley

¼ tsp salt

1 big pinch of pepper

Trussing tools

In a large skillet, saute the mushrooms in 1 tbsp of butter and oil with shallots for 5-8 minutes, scrape out into a mixing bowl and set aside. Saute the gizzards in 1 tbsp of butter for 2 minutes, add to mixing bowl with mushrooms. Pour the wine into the skillet and boil down rapidly until it has reduced to a spoonful, scrape into mixing bowl.

Blend the remaining ingredients into the mixture and season to taste. Let cool, then stuff into chicken loosely. You will want to prepare your chicken first, so see the beginning instructions for the chicken to do so. Skewer the vent and truss the chicken. If you are unsure as to how to truss a chicken, you can visit this site for a tutorial: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/chickenturkeymore/ss/trusschicken.htm

Ingredients for Roasted Chicken:

1-3lbs. Roasting chicken (cleaned and ready to cook)

2 tbsp of butter

3 tbsp of butter (if necessary)

6-8 sprigs of fresh tarragon or1/2 tsp of dried tarragon

1 heavy fireproof covered casserole dish, large enough to hold the chicken. (This is what I use: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CI755-30CR-Enameled-Casserole-Cardinal/dp/B0017HMKW6/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1343664614&sr=8-6&keywords=enameled+cast+iron - - - The price of these casserole dishes varies from $100 - $350 (Le Creuset being on the high end) This is an investment into something that will last a very long time and can be used for multiple recipes.)

1 tbsp oil, more if necessary

½ cup sliced onion

½ cup sliced carrots

3/4 tsp salt

Okay let's get this started!

First make sure your chicken is washed well and dried. Season the cavity of the chicken with salt, pepper, and l tbsp of butter. Insert half the tarragon leaves or sprinkle with dried tarragon. If you are stuffing your chicken, now is the time to do it. Truss and rub the skin with 1 tbsp of butter.

Set the casserole dish over med-high heat with 2 tbsp butter and the oil. Lay the chicken in, breast down. Brown for 2-3 minutes, regulating the heat so the butter is hot but not burning. Turn the chicken, browning on all sides. Try not to break the skin. Use a towel or wooden spoons to turn. Make sure the chicken is nicely browned on all sides, particularly the breast and legs, this will take approximately 15 minutes. Add more oil if necessary while cooking to make sure the bottom of the casserole has a film at all times.

Remove the chicken and set aside. If the butter has burned, discard and add fresh butter (3 tbsp). Cook the carrots and onion for approximately 5 minutes, cook without burning. Add the salt and the remaining tarragon to the casserole, removing it from the stem. Sprinkle the chicken with salt one last time and place it back in the casserole breast side up and baste with the butter from the casserole.

Reheat the casserole on the stove top until sizzling, then place in the oven at preheated at 325. Roast for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you stuff the chicken, add 15 minutes to your cook time. You know the chicken is done when the legs are easily pulled from their sockets and juices run clear. Remove the chicken from the casserole and remove trussing.

The home stretch: this is a long process so far, but the sauce will complete this fantastic dish!

Ingredients for Brown Tarragon Sauce

2 cups brown chicken stock, or 1 cup canned beef bouillon AND 1 cup canned chicken broth

1 tbsp cornstarch blended with 2 tbsp of Madeira or port

2 tbsp fresh minced tarragon

1 tbsp softened butter

On the stove top, add the stock or bouillon and broth and simmer for 2 minutes scraping up up the brown bits and roasting juices. Skim off all but 1 tbsp of fat. Blend in the cornstarch mixture, simmer for one minute then bring to a rapid boil until sauce thickens. Taste and season accordingly, adding more tarragon if you think its needed. At this moment you will probably want to drink the sauce by itself as I did!

Lastly, serve the sauce along side the chicken and stuffing. As an additional side, you can serve with brussel sprouts or asparagus. I went a step further and used the Baked Cucumber recipe of Julia Child's as well. I thought it was lovely, but cucumbers are not everyone's cup of tea. If you are interested in trying the recipe for baked cucumbers, please let me know and I can add it to this blog. Also very lovely is braised celery. These sound slightly odd at first, they did to me at first. But give them a try, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Bon Appetit!

Introduction

Hello all!

I have recently started a new chapter in my life. Having decided to pursue my educational goals full-time as well as my other passion in life - cooking! So I resigned from my job and I'm on my way. 

Since I have been off work I have done A LOT of cooking. I started off wanting to cook and blog about it every day, but with housecleaning, laundry, etc., it didn't quite work out exactly the way I planned. But I do have several already written. So now I will be adding my cooking ventures one or two at a time. And hopefully I will soon be caught up. 

As you read my blogs, you will notice that I sometimes will use a recipe and follow it exactly. Other times, more often that not, I just "do." If I see something I want to make, I get the general understanding of what I need and then go for it. Sometimes I won't be happy with the way it turns out, but most of the time I love to throw 'caution into the wind' and it usually works out for me! 

When I do follow a recipe to specifics, I will recommend that for others too. Certain recipes have to be followed to be able to get the best taste and texture possible. 

Thanks for reading!
Samantha