Today was the maiden voyage of the slow cooker and, as predicted, I made way too much chili. Looks like two lunches next week will be chili and I will have to force the boyfriend to eat more chili! Considering there is leftover corn bread, I don't think he will complain too much.
What recipe did I use? Well, I used the patented "Merry has a bunch of ingredients so she's going to toss them into the pot with some spices and see what happens" recipe for chili.
For those who want measurements, I'll break it down.
Chili!
Warning: I have a 7 quart crock pot and this almost filled it. If you want to feed a lot of people, this is good. If not, you should do what I should have done and use half portions.
1 lb ground turkey- trying to eat healthier
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil to get the turkey going
1 medium onion
2 bell peppers- whatever colors you like- I used orange and red because I had it in the fridge
2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, hand crushed in a bowl... it's fun. If you're looking for something for the kids to do....
2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained. Mine happened to be organic because that's what was at the store.
1 T dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin- I don't really like cumin but to me it isn't Mexican flavor if I don't use it. It's potent stuff though so for me a little goes a long way. Really add it to whatever taste you like.
Plenty of salt and pepper
Some water, as needed.
Note: I don't like spicy. Well, I like it more than I used to. But I don't like red chilli flake on everything. If you want to bump up the capsasin factor, add in some hot sauce or red chilli flakes.
First thing's first, I like to cook whatever meat I'm using before adding it to the crock pot. You get that nice flavor and it's easier to break up in the pan. Toss in the olive oil and the turkey or whatever meat you're using and let it brown up, seasoned with salt and pepper, of course. Add in the garlic about halfway through.
Note: You can use whatever meat you like. But if you're using ground meat, keep an eye on how much fat drips out of it. I have had sloppy joes cooked with fatty ground meat and the fat wasn't drained out and it was hard to eat. If you aren't using 90% lean, keep an eye on it and drain as necessary. Some fat is always good for flavor but excess is... well... excess.
While your meat is browning up, cut up your peppers and onion into nice, big dices. If you want your chili soupier, cut them up smaller. I like it big so I cut it as such. As Nadia G. of Bitchin' Kitchen says, "Schkoff the lot in the pot."
From this point on, it's all about dropping it in the pot. Put in the tomatoes, beans, cumin and oregano in the pot. The chili needs some water to get it going. If it's too dry and looks like a pile of stuff with no liquid, add in the liquid. At the very least, I like to rinse out the tomato cans and put the vaguely tomatoey water in with everything. Give it a good stir and set the pot to low if you're leaving for the day. I started mine late so I bumped it up to high all afternoon. This was around 2 and we ate around 6. So four hours on high or all day on low. If it doesn't look like it's coming along and you have some time when you get home, bump it up to high. I have definitely done that.
A note about the ceramic inserts... This is my second crock pot. The first one had a mishap. See, I was trying to make chili and I wanted to set it in the morning without doing any work. So I cut up everything and tossed it in the fridge overnight...
I cooked the chili the next day and it was fine... except that the ceramic liner had cracked. I had forgotten that cold hard things like ceramic don't like getting hot fast.... I couldn't find a new liner and tossed the whole crock pot. It was only a 15 dollar pot but still... felt pretty bad about it....
My advice? If you cook your meat first, I wouldn't have a problem if the premade mix sat on your counter overnight. I'm from the old school "I can bend what the FDA has to say for the sake of good food" philosophy. So 8 hours of cooked food sitting on my counter when I'm going to slow cook it and boil it away the next day is fine by me.
Serving options? I like lots of cheese. I added in probably much much more than I should have. But cheese is delicious. I also picked up a box of corn bread and it was delicious. It was a surprise to open the bag and find actual bits of corn in it. But it was pretty awesome.
So what's up for the new year for Merry's Kitchen?
I'll be starting off the new year with a new, authentic cuisine. The dish? Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions and Honey from Claudia Roden's Arabesque (Knopf, 2008). The boyfriend bought me this book for our anniversary last year and it is full of recipes from Morocco, Lebanon and Turkey. This particular recipe is from Morocco and is filled with sweet and savory influences. I'm very excited and bought my first vial of saffron (6 bucks for .7 grams of the stuff) and am very very very excited to try it out! It will be served with a side of couscous and some vegetable. I'm still trying to figure out what vegetable it will be, but it will be simple to complement the strong flavors of onion (shallot, actually), cinnamon and honey.
Can you tell I'm really excited?
I'm hoping to try more recipes and get more adventurous in the kitchen and try new flavors and techniques. I believe my New Years Resolution is "To be more fabulous." Food, fitness, life... sounds good.
Unless something amazing happens in my culinary world tomorrow, I'll see you all on the other side!
30 December 2010
25 December 2010
Merry Christmas!
The presents have been ripped open, I have gone to visit everyone and I have come back with my bounty and now I have a chance to sit down and write about it.
Apparently my family has caught on to my love for cooking and I have noticed a trend.
For example, last year, my mom bought me a Sunbeam stand mixer. The year before hand she got me a nice set of carbon steel knives, some mixing bowls and some nice wooden cutting boards. Last year, my boyfriend's mom got me a square cupcake tin. Last year my older sister got me the Martha Stewart cupcake book. I call this awesome.
This year, let's talk about books first. My older sister got me another cupcake book called Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Whereas the Martha Stewart cupcake book deals more with recipes and subsequent decoration and display, Hello, Cupcake! deals more with the art of cupcake decorating. While I haven't read through it all the way, the techniques seem really simple but the construction seems complex. I will definitely have to experiment more.
My second gift from my older sister is probably going to be some of my favorite reading. What did she get me? Good Eats: The Early Years. I read the intro and the interview Alton Brown did... with himself. Oh yeah. I'm really excited about it.
And did I mention that my mom found 8 Good Eats DVDs from 2003? Yeah. I'm going to be swimming in Alton factoids. It's a Good Eats Christmas.
But let's talk about hardware, as AB would say.
Last night, I knew I was getting it but I forgot about it as I was opening it. Ben's mom got me a 7 quart Crock Pot... TM. It's huge. Says on the box it can feed up to 9 people. Pretty interesting since there's only two of us but hey, I'm all about setting something in the morning and then having a good meal ready when I get home.
And from my mom? A really nice Kitchen Aid blender. Before this morning, I had a pretty crappy 15 dollar Ostler blender that gets stuck all the time. I call that sadness. This one is pretty awesome. And I'm really happy about it. More smoothies and purees and soups and blender sorbets for meeeee!!!!! And anyone who comes over. Oooh, I can make frozen booze.... SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!!
So I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my three or four followers who probably have better things to do than I, sitting on my couch, next to my boyfriend, watching Mythbusters and generally chillaxing at the end of this phase of the holidays.
Happy Holidays from Merry's Kitchen!
Apparently my family has caught on to my love for cooking and I have noticed a trend.
For example, last year, my mom bought me a Sunbeam stand mixer. The year before hand she got me a nice set of carbon steel knives, some mixing bowls and some nice wooden cutting boards. Last year, my boyfriend's mom got me a square cupcake tin. Last year my older sister got me the Martha Stewart cupcake book. I call this awesome.
This year, let's talk about books first. My older sister got me another cupcake book called Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Whereas the Martha Stewart cupcake book deals more with recipes and subsequent decoration and display, Hello, Cupcake! deals more with the art of cupcake decorating. While I haven't read through it all the way, the techniques seem really simple but the construction seems complex. I will definitely have to experiment more.
My second gift from my older sister is probably going to be some of my favorite reading. What did she get me? Good Eats: The Early Years. I read the intro and the interview Alton Brown did... with himself. Oh yeah. I'm really excited about it.
And did I mention that my mom found 8 Good Eats DVDs from 2003? Yeah. I'm going to be swimming in Alton factoids. It's a Good Eats Christmas.
But let's talk about hardware, as AB would say.
Last night, I knew I was getting it but I forgot about it as I was opening it. Ben's mom got me a 7 quart Crock Pot... TM. It's huge. Says on the box it can feed up to 9 people. Pretty interesting since there's only two of us but hey, I'm all about setting something in the morning and then having a good meal ready when I get home.
And from my mom? A really nice Kitchen Aid blender. Before this morning, I had a pretty crappy 15 dollar Ostler blender that gets stuck all the time. I call that sadness. This one is pretty awesome. And I'm really happy about it. More smoothies and purees and soups and blender sorbets for meeeee!!!!! And anyone who comes over. Oooh, I can make frozen booze.... SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!!!!
So I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my three or four followers who probably have better things to do than I, sitting on my couch, next to my boyfriend, watching Mythbusters and generally chillaxing at the end of this phase of the holidays.
Happy Holidays from Merry's Kitchen!
19 December 2010
It's Soup!
So yesterday I covered stocks. Now that we have our handy stock (of your choice) on hand, we can build our soup. Let's work on a tortellini soup.
Tortellini soup is something I learned from my friend Nedra, the queen of throwing things together and making dinner. It's great for colds and a quick dinner.
As I said earlier, browing = flavor. It's why marshmallows taste better when they're toasted. Most everything has some sort of sugar in it. Browning is the burning of those natural sugars. Nom nom nom.
So what do we brown? There are a couple of options here.
Your absolute basic base for a soup is carrot, celery and onion. That's what we call a Mirepoix. Swap out the carrot for green bell pepper and you have the Cajun Trinity. It all really depends on your taste and what you're going for.
For argument's sake, let's start with the mirepoix. Quick tip: I find that I don't use a whole heart of celery or a whole bag of carrots. We aren't really raw veggie people in my apartment. And I don't like wasting the money just because it's more cost effective to get a whole bag of each. My solution is to buy pre cut snack carrot and celery sticks. As I said, I know that buying the whole celery and the bag of carrots is cheaper per pound and that there's no shame in cutting it by myself. But isn't it more wasteful to spend 4 bucks and throw most of it away or spend 3 bucks and use the whole container? It's your call but until I have to make bigger pots of soup, I'm going with the pre cut container.
Once you have your mirepoix, toss it in a pot with some oil. Season with salt and pepper. This is where I add in my dry herbs. Dry herbs still have lovely essential oils and have a longer shelf life so I always have some on hand. The oils work best with other oils so this is the best time to toss it in when most of the liquid in the pot is oil. This is also when you want to add some garlic. The cold veggies will keep it from burning.
Now add your stock. I have used either beef or chicken. It's your call based on whatever you have on hand. Boil until the carrots are nice and soft. I always work based off the carrots since they take the longest to cook.
Now add your tortellini and boil until the tortellini is cooked. Use whatever tortellini you have on hand. I like the dry cheese stuff myself. If you're using the dry stuff, boil it for about half the cook time. Once the timer goes off, cut the heat and set the timer for the remainder of the cook time. The pasta will still cook in there without the heat. Why did I suggest this? Because boiling soup is not tasty. If you cut the heat, it will be cool enough to eat once you're done.
Top with some parmesan and call it soup!
I have a bunch more soup recipes for all y'all so stay tuned this winter and I'll share some with you. I'll hopefully be getting a crock pot for christmas so I can't wait to share those recipes with you.
Happy eating!
Tortellini soup is something I learned from my friend Nedra, the queen of throwing things together and making dinner. It's great for colds and a quick dinner.
As I said earlier, browing = flavor. It's why marshmallows taste better when they're toasted. Most everything has some sort of sugar in it. Browning is the burning of those natural sugars. Nom nom nom.
So what do we brown? There are a couple of options here.
Your absolute basic base for a soup is carrot, celery and onion. That's what we call a Mirepoix. Swap out the carrot for green bell pepper and you have the Cajun Trinity. It all really depends on your taste and what you're going for.
For argument's sake, let's start with the mirepoix. Quick tip: I find that I don't use a whole heart of celery or a whole bag of carrots. We aren't really raw veggie people in my apartment. And I don't like wasting the money just because it's more cost effective to get a whole bag of each. My solution is to buy pre cut snack carrot and celery sticks. As I said, I know that buying the whole celery and the bag of carrots is cheaper per pound and that there's no shame in cutting it by myself. But isn't it more wasteful to spend 4 bucks and throw most of it away or spend 3 bucks and use the whole container? It's your call but until I have to make bigger pots of soup, I'm going with the pre cut container.
Once you have your mirepoix, toss it in a pot with some oil. Season with salt and pepper. This is where I add in my dry herbs. Dry herbs still have lovely essential oils and have a longer shelf life so I always have some on hand. The oils work best with other oils so this is the best time to toss it in when most of the liquid in the pot is oil. This is also when you want to add some garlic. The cold veggies will keep it from burning.
Now add your stock. I have used either beef or chicken. It's your call based on whatever you have on hand. Boil until the carrots are nice and soft. I always work based off the carrots since they take the longest to cook.
Now add your tortellini and boil until the tortellini is cooked. Use whatever tortellini you have on hand. I like the dry cheese stuff myself. If you're using the dry stuff, boil it for about half the cook time. Once the timer goes off, cut the heat and set the timer for the remainder of the cook time. The pasta will still cook in there without the heat. Why did I suggest this? Because boiling soup is not tasty. If you cut the heat, it will be cool enough to eat once you're done.
Top with some parmesan and call it soup!
I have a bunch more soup recipes for all y'all so stay tuned this winter and I'll share some with you. I'll hopefully be getting a crock pot for christmas so I can't wait to share those recipes with you.
Happy eating!
18 December 2010
Stock Options
When it's winter, I go with soup. You really can't go wrong with soup. It's low calorie, simple to make and warms you up when it's cold outside.
And what's the basis for soup? Liquid. Stocks, mostly. There's also broth. But what's the difference?
The difference between stock and broth is how you treat what you're boiling. A stock involves browning the meat and veggies, adding herbs and spices. A broth is simply the veggies and the meat. Most people use stock. Browning= flavor. Remember that.
Me? I like stocks. Most people do. But what choices to make? There's stock, broth, boullion, home made, store bought... the list goes on.
Obviously, home made stock is the best. Here's how you make it. Be warned, I've never done this.
To make a stock, you take whatever vegetables or meats you want the essence of- chicken, beef, whatever. Let's say a chicken for a good example. Take a chicken, hack it up- the flavor is in the bones so make sure to expose them and cut through them. Nadia G of Bitchin Kitchen (my new favorite cooking show) suggests asking your butcher for leftover chicken bones for extra flavor. You brown it if you're making stock, add veggies and herbs and all of that varies from taste to taste, recipe to recipe. Then you add water to cover and simmer it forever. Then strain everything out and you're left with a nice broth full of goodness.
Word to the wise- whatever meat you just simmered is now pretty much useless. Whatever flavor the meat had is now in the water. Discard it. Use fresh meat.
But I work, coach middle school boys and volunteer. And I'm lazy when I'm not doing those things. So to the store it is!
Boxes, cans, cubes, packets...? Okay, I see that more help is needed.
Cans are great for specific recipes when you know you're going to be using the whole thing. Boxes are handy because they're resealable. As you can imagine, it makes cooking a lot easier and with a lot less waste. Boxes typically give you 4 cups worth of stock. So if you're making risotto just for yourself, you aren't wasting anything.
But I'm even lazier! I don't buy boxed or canned stocks. I like boullion cubes. Boullion cubes is basically stock super concentrated into a solid. Add water and one cube gives you one cup of stock. And each container has about 24 cubes. And they have a ridiculous shelf life. Need stock? Boil water, add cubes. It's how I roll.
A similar product available at my grocery store are concentrated stock packets. Same thing, really.
Then there's the whole sodium issue. Most all stocks and broths have reduced sodium varieties. A lot of people like to work with them because then they can control the salt content. I'm lazy and I like salt personally. I also don't have heart problems. Use your own judgement call on that one.
I'll be doing a post on soup soon to follow up this post. I have a few recipes I'm excited to share!
Any questions? Email me at merryskitchen@gmail.com!
Keep on cooking!
And what's the basis for soup? Liquid. Stocks, mostly. There's also broth. But what's the difference?
The difference between stock and broth is how you treat what you're boiling. A stock involves browning the meat and veggies, adding herbs and spices. A broth is simply the veggies and the meat. Most people use stock. Browning= flavor. Remember that.
Me? I like stocks. Most people do. But what choices to make? There's stock, broth, boullion, home made, store bought... the list goes on.
Obviously, home made stock is the best. Here's how you make it. Be warned, I've never done this.
To make a stock, you take whatever vegetables or meats you want the essence of- chicken, beef, whatever. Let's say a chicken for a good example. Take a chicken, hack it up- the flavor is in the bones so make sure to expose them and cut through them. Nadia G of Bitchin Kitchen (my new favorite cooking show) suggests asking your butcher for leftover chicken bones for extra flavor. You brown it if you're making stock, add veggies and herbs and all of that varies from taste to taste, recipe to recipe. Then you add water to cover and simmer it forever. Then strain everything out and you're left with a nice broth full of goodness.
Word to the wise- whatever meat you just simmered is now pretty much useless. Whatever flavor the meat had is now in the water. Discard it. Use fresh meat.
But I work, coach middle school boys and volunteer. And I'm lazy when I'm not doing those things. So to the store it is!
Boxes, cans, cubes, packets...? Okay, I see that more help is needed.
Cans are great for specific recipes when you know you're going to be using the whole thing. Boxes are handy because they're resealable. As you can imagine, it makes cooking a lot easier and with a lot less waste. Boxes typically give you 4 cups worth of stock. So if you're making risotto just for yourself, you aren't wasting anything.
But I'm even lazier! I don't buy boxed or canned stocks. I like boullion cubes. Boullion cubes is basically stock super concentrated into a solid. Add water and one cube gives you one cup of stock. And each container has about 24 cubes. And they have a ridiculous shelf life. Need stock? Boil water, add cubes. It's how I roll.
A similar product available at my grocery store are concentrated stock packets. Same thing, really.
Then there's the whole sodium issue. Most all stocks and broths have reduced sodium varieties. A lot of people like to work with them because then they can control the salt content. I'm lazy and I like salt personally. I also don't have heart problems. Use your own judgement call on that one.
I'll be doing a post on soup soon to follow up this post. I have a few recipes I'm excited to share!
Any questions? Email me at merryskitchen@gmail.com!
Keep on cooking!
11 December 2010
Cilantro
What is cilantro and why am I posting about it? All will be revealed.
Cilantro is a green herb that looks a lot like flat leaf parsley. It's used a lot in Mexican, Thai and Indian food. The coriander seed grows from this plant. In fact, the leaves are often called coriander as well in Britain as far as I can tell.
For most people it tastes like a generic green herb, again, just like parsley.
Note I said "for most people." To me, it does not taste so.
It tastes like soap.
Yes, that's right, it tastes like soap. Need an illustration? An anecdote then.
Around the age of 12, my family started discovering mexican food. So we started taking trips to Don Pablos where you get a complimentary bowl of chips and salsa. Sweet. Wonderful. Great.
Well I dig into it and keep getting this flavor of soap. I'm asking everyone at the table if they cleaned out the bowls right. My mother says it tastes fine, stop worrying about it. But the flavor persisted. No one had an answer. So I learned to stay away from the salsa.
It was only just before college when I learned what was going on.
According to an NPR article, the answer is either super taste or under smell. In super tasters, they can taste bitter stronger than everyone else. In under smellers, they can't smell the good aromas of cilantro before the bad bits kick in. In truth, it's all in your genetics. My youngest sister has the same feeling about cilantro that I do with the same comment of "The salsa at Don Pablos tastes like soap." I can even smell it in the grocery store. Yuck.
So I stay away from places that use fresh cilantro which limits my dining choices. I tend to stick to fajitas, quesadillas and Taco Bell. No burritos for me. I'm okay with it. It's my burden.
But what gets me riled is Bobby Flay. I don't like him to begin with but a little while ago I was watching one of his shows because he was on and I had nothing to do. He chopped up a huge bunch of cilantro, like he does, and started talking about it. He importuned the audience to give it a shot. "Even if you've had a bad experience with it in the past, give it a try. It's a cool herb and you might like it."
You can't try genetics over again.
Cilantro rant done. :)
Do you have any comments on cilantro? Cooking? An undying dislike for Bobby Flay? Send me an email at merryskitchen@gmail.com.
Until next time!
Cilantro is a green herb that looks a lot like flat leaf parsley. It's used a lot in Mexican, Thai and Indian food. The coriander seed grows from this plant. In fact, the leaves are often called coriander as well in Britain as far as I can tell.
For most people it tastes like a generic green herb, again, just like parsley.
Note I said "for most people." To me, it does not taste so.
It tastes like soap.
Yes, that's right, it tastes like soap. Need an illustration? An anecdote then.
Around the age of 12, my family started discovering mexican food. So we started taking trips to Don Pablos where you get a complimentary bowl of chips and salsa. Sweet. Wonderful. Great.
Well I dig into it and keep getting this flavor of soap. I'm asking everyone at the table if they cleaned out the bowls right. My mother says it tastes fine, stop worrying about it. But the flavor persisted. No one had an answer. So I learned to stay away from the salsa.
It was only just before college when I learned what was going on.
According to an NPR article, the answer is either super taste or under smell. In super tasters, they can taste bitter stronger than everyone else. In under smellers, they can't smell the good aromas of cilantro before the bad bits kick in. In truth, it's all in your genetics. My youngest sister has the same feeling about cilantro that I do with the same comment of "The salsa at Don Pablos tastes like soap." I can even smell it in the grocery store. Yuck.
So I stay away from places that use fresh cilantro which limits my dining choices. I tend to stick to fajitas, quesadillas and Taco Bell. No burritos for me. I'm okay with it. It's my burden.
But what gets me riled is Bobby Flay. I don't like him to begin with but a little while ago I was watching one of his shows because he was on and I had nothing to do. He chopped up a huge bunch of cilantro, like he does, and started talking about it. He importuned the audience to give it a shot. "Even if you've had a bad experience with it in the past, give it a try. It's a cool herb and you might like it."
You can't try genetics over again.
Cilantro rant done. :)
Do you have any comments on cilantro? Cooking? An undying dislike for Bobby Flay? Send me an email at merryskitchen@gmail.com.
Until next time!
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