Lentil Chili

Healthy, hot, filling, and delicious!  This is an amazing vegetarian recipe from Wegmans.  And to prove how delicious it is, I made it for my husband.  He told me it looked funny.  I told him to take a bite.  Next thing I know I was having to keep him away with one hand while I snapped this picture with the other.  He devoured every bit set in front of him!  It's that good.  So, what are you waiting for??

To make this even better, make the veggie stock yourself - just simmer some onions, carrots and celery for a few hours!

Ingredients

1 c red lentils
2 c water
2 T olive oil
1/2 c diced onion
1/4 c diced celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tomato, diced
2 c veggie stock
2 c water
1 1/2 T tabasco
1/8 t tumeric
1/8 t cumin
1/8 c cayenne
1/8 c chili powder
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 green pepper, finely diced

Combine lentils and 2 c water in a pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Remove from heat.  Puree half the lentils and liquid.

In another pot, heat olive oil.  At medium low heat, add onions, celery and garlic.  Stir, cooking for five minutes.  Add tomatoes and cook another five minutes.  Add stock, water, tabasco, and all other spices.  Bring to a simmer.  Add all of the lentils (whole and pureed) and stir well.  Cook 10 minutes.  Add green pepper and cook another five minutes or until lentils are tender.

Berrymisu

Who doesn't love tiramisu?  Well, my mom for one.  And many people who do not like the taste of espresso.  Now, I'm actually one of those espresso-haters, so I was a tiramisu-hater for the longest time.  Until my friend made tiramisu using the Best Recipe Ever.  Seriously, if you make tiramisu any other way... well, you shouldn't.

However, sometimes I'm in the mood for some mascarpone-cream goodness, but not for the traditional espresso and chocolate.  So I took tiramisu and gave it a fruity twist.  This is a great change for a hot summer and the sweet cream and tart raspberries complement each other perfectly.

Ingredients

1 c peach nectar or other sweet fruit juice

6 T brandy

6 large egg yolks

3/4 c granulated sugar

Pinch of table salt

1/2 c heavy cream

16 oz mascarpone cheese

6 oz raspberries

2 sleeves ladyfingers (more if you get the smaller kind)

Combine 2 T brandy with the fruit nectar in a shallow bowl.  Set aside.  Put egg yolks, sugar and salt in the mixer.  Beat at medium-high for four minutes.  Egg mixture should be pale yellow and frothy.  Add the cream, stirring well.  Hold bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for five minutes or until the mixture reaches 160.  Pour into another bowl and cool to room temperature.  Back in the mixer, add the mascarpone and 1/4 c brandy to the egg and cream mixture.  Beat at medium or medium high for about 3-4 minutes, until smooth and thick.  Puree 4 oz of the raspberries and stir them into the mascarpone mixture gently.

Dip the ladyfingers one at a time into the fruit juice, rolling quickly (2 second total!).  Line the bottom of the pan with dipped cookies.  Spread 1/2 of the mascarpone mixture over top.  Sprinkle on the rest of the raspberries, pushing them gently down into the cream.  Repeat with another layer of ladyfingers and another layer of cream.

Cover and refrigerate.

Herbed Hen Pasta

The upcoming challenge involves using only what is currently in our pantries, so here's my proof of what I have at the moment.

More later!

Update:

September's Challenge: We all need to be prepared in the event of a disaster.  You have stuff in your pantry and fridge/freezer.  If a disaster should strike today and you have no access to going to a grocery store but your stove/grill is still working, what would you make with what you have on hand?


For this one, I went with a one-pot meal, easy to do even if we can only use our little camp stove.  I feel a bit uncreative using pasta, but hey, it works and it's easy.  This is a nice simple dish that's pretty as well as flavorful, and different every time depending on what spices you use.


Ingredients

1 game hen (or chicken)
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 onion, diced
Your favorite herbs and spices
water
1 T olive oil
1 box pasta
1 can diced tomatoes
4 T pesto
grated parmesean

Take the olive oil and gently brown the onions and garlic in a saucepan.  Add in the herbs and spices, the hen, and about 1/2 c water.  Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until bird is cooked through, adding more water as needed.  Remove hen and set aside to cool.  Once it has cooled sufficiently, shred the meat.

Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta.  Stir in the shredded hen, tomatoes, and pesto.  Top with grated cheese.

Coconut Curry Rice and Beans

It's time for another HH6 post again!  This month's challenge:

With the mercury continuing to rise this month, let's once again give ourselves a break from the stove. Create an original 5 ingredient slow cooker recipe. Salt and/or pepper do not count as one of the 5 ingredients.

I made it just in time.  I was planning on doing this challenge while I was on the east coast vacationing with my family, but thanks to Hurricane Irene that didn't happen.  Now this particular challenge was a bit difficult, simply because I never ever limit my ingredients.  I'm very much a throw this and that into a pot sort of cook, especially when it comes to spices.  So I decided that instead of making a meal for me, I'd aim this one at my brother, who is just moving into his first apartment.  Like all young adults, money and time are a bit tight, so having easy, cheap meals is a plus.  I was going to make this with chicken, but he's vegetarian, so I switched that out for beans.

Ingredients

1 c brown rice

1 can pinto beans

1 can coconut milk

1 c water

2 t curry powder

1/2 c peas

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients except for peas into the crockpot.  Cook on low for 4 hours, adding the peas in the last 30 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Tomato, Garlic, and Ancho Chili Bread

Today, I was bored.  And when I'm bored, I bake things.  Now, I really need to get a sourdough starter going so that I can finish off the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, and I intend to start that tomorrow, but today I needed instant gratification.  At first I considered a variation on BBA's Potato Rosemary bread, being as it is fantastic, but I didn't have the time to do the pre-ferment, nor did I have potatoes or rosemary.  What to do??

Then I came up with this idea, after looking through my refrigerator.  It would be amazing, using some ingredients that needed to be used or they would go bad.  The spiciness of the chili would compensate for the lack of a pre-ferement.  All I needed to do was come up with the formula.

I was not certain this would work.  I've never dared to come up with a formula all on my own.  But I was hungry.  So I went for it, and the results were all I could wish for!

From the beginning, I intended for this to be a wet dough, cooked in a pot like the famous No-Knead Bread.  As it happens, I seem to be lacking in oven-safe pots.  So I ended up treating this more like a ciabatta, and it worked out!

Ingredients

1/2 head garlic
olive oil
12 grape tomatoes
1 ancho chili, diced
3 c flour
3/4 t salt
1/2 t yeast
1/4 c hot water
1 c water

Preheat oven to 350.  Wrap garlic in tinfoil with a spash of olive oil and roast for 40 minutes.  Add the tomatoes when there is 20 minutes left.

Let garlic and tomatoes cool.  Peel garlic and dice.  Skin tomatoes and dice.

Combine flour, salt, garlic, tomatoes, and chili in a stand mixer.  Separately, mix yeast and 1/4 c water.  Wait 10 minutes or until yeast is frothy.  Add to flour mix along with 1 c water.

With paddle, blend for 1 minute.  Switch to dough hook and mix for 5-8 minutes or until dough is well blended.  Dough should be quite sticky, clinging to bottom and sides.

Transfer into greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour.

Stir down.  Place bed of flour on counter and transfer dough.  Fold loosely and spray with oil and cover.  Rise again, 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 515.  When oven is hot, carefully transfer dough to baking sheet.

Bake 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 425.  Bake 10 minutes, then turn 180 degrees, continue baking 10-15 minutes or until loaf registers 205.

Vegetable Stew with Turkey

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to win a copy of Vegan Family Meals from Saraplicious! Kitchen.  Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am the FARTHEST thing from a vegan that there is, but I was really excited about this book as a chance to learn how to make veggies tasty.  Both The Husband and I are focusing a lot more on our diet and getting the proper amount of veggies is usually a struggle.  If this recipe is anything to go by, I think our struggles might be over!

As soon as the book showed up in the mail, I was off to the grocery store.  I decided to try a variation (meat good!) on the book's South American Veggie Stew.  One of the best things about this recipe is how simple it was to make.  I didn't have to spend hours chopping and dicing, or prowl through six stores to find some weird ingredient.  Easy-peasy, and amazingly delicious!  The dried fruit gives the whole thing a sweetness that I never would have expected.  So, here is my decidedly non-vegan variation on Ms. Gentry's theme.

Ingredients

6 dried apricots, chopped
6 dried plums, chopped
2 c warm water
2 T olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can plain diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
a handful of baby red potatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 c corn
1 can kidney beans
Roasted turkey, cut into bite-size pieces
pepper to taste

Soak the dried fruit in the water for 3-24 hours.  Strain, reserving both fruit and liquid.  Heat the olive oil in a pot and sautee garlic and onion until translucent.  Add tomatoes and sauce, stirring well.  Cook for three minutes, then add the potatoes and the liquid from the fruit.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 12 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the bell pepper is tender.

Gazpacho My Way

Here's the HH6 challenge for July: Since it's getting hotter and hotter as we head into full summer, the challenge is to cook a meal without using heat - oven, stove, microwave, anything.  Bonus points if your meal isn't a salad!


The first thing I thought of making was ceviche.  Unfortunately, we're in the desert now, and the only fish I could find was, well, trash.  I knew this would happen, but really, when I saw the local commissary marketing snow crab legs as king crab, I was still shocked!  So, ceviche was out.  Then my husband suggested gazpacho.


Now, mind you, I have never tasted gazpacho.  The Husband, on the other hand, spent a significant amount of time in the sandbox with the Spanish.  He sang so many praises of this dish that I decided to give it a try!


Upon tasting it, though, he declared that this was "not really gazpacho" but that it was still "very good," which he proved by downing copious amounts of it, so I guess I'll chalk this one up in the win category.


Hint: it's also delicious on toasted bread!


Ingredients


3 tomatoes, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/4 onion
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
dash cumin
a bit of cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
1 can jalapeno diced tomatoes


Place all ingredients except diced tomatoes in food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Still in tomatoes and chill for at least four hours.