Ringing in the New Year in Style

For many years, we tried going to parties or out with friends on New Year's Eve but eventually, the Grillmaster and I realized that staying at home was our best bet.  However, in spite of the comfortable clothes (okay, pajamas) and watching television, we have developed some simple but exceptional menus.  Here is a great choice for a "romantic" dinner.  I put it in quotes because we were deep into parenthood when our attitudes about New Year's Eve developed.

So how about serving some fresh artichokes and grilled wild salmon?  Sound better than what you get at a party?  This is an easy menu.

First the artichokes...I rarely cooked them although I often cook with them because of the mystery surrounding the preparation.  Here is a sinfully simple way to bake fresh artichokes.  They are delicious and you look like an expert.

Select two medium to large artichokes in the market.  Look at the stems.  They should still look fresh and should be 2 to 3 inches long.  The outer leaves should be a dark green to reddish color.  Trim off the spines at the top of each leaf.  This will give you the classic appearance you are use to.

Cut each artichoke in half, length-wise, and remove the choke ( the fuzzy stuff)

Use a spoon to scrap out the balance of the choke and the smallest leaves.

Liberally douse the cut artichoke with lemon juice.

This prevents unattractive browning.  

Put 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and about 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings in a plastic quart bag. Place each half individually into the bag and coat all surfaces with the mixture.  Then place them, cut side down in a baking dish that has been lined with foil.  The foil needs to be sprayed with cooking spray before you add the artichokes.  Mix about 1/4 cup basil pesto with 1/4 cup water and pour over the artichokes.  Seal with foil.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour as needed.

Chop the lettuce and shredded carrots and then rinse in cold water and let it drain in the colander.  

Marinate the thawed Salmon in a mixture of 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, to which you have added about 1/2 tablespoon of Italian Seasonings.

Sit down with your sweetheart and have a glass of wine, or beer.  Have a nice conversation.  Put the kids to bed, or start a movie for them.

After the salmon has marinated for 20 to 30 minutes, heat to 400 a grill or grilling pan.  Check your artichokes for doneness (soft enough to eat?). If the artichokes are done, turn off the oven and place the salmon on the grill, skin side down.  After two to three minutes, turn the salmon over and pour the remaining marinate over the fillets.  Add about 3 tablespoons water to the grill and cover with a domed lid.

The salmon is done when it begins to be flaky and is no longer translucent.

Plate the salads individually.  Add dressing as desired. Put the salmon and artichokes on a plate.  No sauce should be needed.  Add some warm bread and a dry white wine.  

Enjoy your dinner at home.

Don't forget that it is always Midnight somewhere.  Happy New Year.

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Oh, how my life has changed... I used to love snow days so I could sleep in, watch movies and then order take out.

Now on a snow day, I somehow end up getting up earlier than on a normal work day (how do kids know?!?) and getting all jazzed about trying those recipes that I've pinned on Pinterest or dog eared in one of my favorite cookbooks. Most of them are exactly what I expected, but this was a big surprise. It was super easy, I only had to buy one ingredient (!), smelled great and tasted as good.  I also had plenty left to freeze, which is also a plus.

I made tons of adjustments to the original recipe, so I'm just posting my version.

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken (I used 2 freezer packs of breast cutlets from Costco-since it was all white, I added about 1/2 tbsp of butter, but you could leave that out)

1 1/2 cups carrots chopped

2 1/2 stalks celery chopped

1 onion sliced

2 squirts of ginger from a tube (the recipe called for 2 peeled 1/4 inch slices-who has time for that?)

1 tsp freeze dried oregano (recipe called for 3 stalks rosemary-but I subbed oregano in)

6 cups chicken broth (Recipe called for 4, but my soup got really thick so i added 2 more cups broth + 2 cups water the last hour. I used bullion cubes so I can quick make some more if I need to)

1 cup white wine (TJ box special!!!)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups egg noodles (plus an extra handful or 2 if you want more noodles)

Instructions

Put everything except the noodles into the crock pot. Cook on low 8 hours.

Shred chicken and return to crock pot.

Add egg noodles and more water/broth if needed and continue cooking on high 20-30 minutes or until noodles are done.

I served it with biscuits and it was a huge hit! My husband said it was the best chicken soup he'd ever had. My 14 month old son ate 2 bowls and sad, "mmm mmm mmm!" and my 3 year old voluntarily tasted it. That's a pretty big success in our house. Enjoy!

Cold Weather Comfort Food

Just about the only thing I like about cold weather is that most evenings, I can serve a hearty soup or stew for supper.  My absolute favorite is 15 Bean Soup.  I made this the first time using a dried bean mix.  Now I usually purchase all fifteen of the beans. ( Technically though, one or two aren't really beans.) One cup of each and you are good for a year since it takes three cups of the dried beans to make a batch.  You can freely sub a different bean if one on this list isn't available at the grocery.

Fifteen beans (more or less)

Northern, Pinto, Large Lima, Black-eyed Peas, Garbanzo beans, Small white, Baby Lima, Split Green Peas, Pearl Barley, Kidney Beans, White Kidney Beans, Dark Red Kidney Beans, Pink Kidney Beans, Small Red beans, Black Beans, Yellow split peas, Lentils, Navy beans.  You could also add Quinoa if you like.

Or you can buy  the beans pre-mixed called HamBeen's. Just skip their  smoke seasoning. It is full of salt you don't need and the flavor is decidedly artificial. 

To start the dry beans, 

Rinse 3 cups beans in colander and discard any debris. Also throw away broken beans.

Place the dry beans in a large pot and cover with water. Soak over night.  Rinse, cover with water and soak for an additional several hours. Or  skip the over night step and put the beans and about 5 to 6 cups of water in your slow cooker and set the timer for four hours. Now your beans are ready to cook in the soup.

Place the beans in a large stock pot and add one large onion, coarsely chopped, three stalks celery, sliced, one large carrot peeled and chopped. Add about1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic and several real ham hocks if you can find them. I always save the bone from spiral cut hams to use, one bone per batch  Also add one can diced tomatoes or if you like spicier soup, use a can of Rotel tomatoes with chilies. I like to add about 1cup of diced ham but this is optional as the stew is already full of flavor and protein. Increase the heat to boiling and add about 2 quarts water.  Simmer for an hour or two until the beans are cooked and serve.  I like a splash of vinegar in mine but the Grillmaster prefers Tabasco in his. This is a complete meal so just add some bread or crackers if you like.

My Favorite Things

(Kathleen's older daughter, Elissa, here)

I love The Sound of Music and enjoyed watching the remake last night.  As a musician, I am friends with a lot of people who had critical reviews of it.  I enjoyed it, I though it was entertaining and refreshing that NBC dedicated an entire prime time to a special without profanity, sex or violence that isn't an athletic event!  Without completely meaning to, I ended up cooking a dinner that is inspired by The Sound of Music, hence the title "My Favorite Things."

I really love Mexican food, so taco night is a common occurrence in the V casa. I also really love to repurpose leftovers.  It is a great source of pride to me how little food my family wastes.  And today was a snow day-who doesn't love those?!?!  And nothing says "snow day" like taco night... Right?

Tonight's taco night was a classic leftover creation.  I used homemade tortillas and hot sauce leftover from our Thanksgiving trip to my husband's hometown of Lamesa, TX.  I had a sweet and spicy pork roast left over from earlier this week (that recipe is in an earlier blog post).  I broiled the veggie portion of the "fajitas two ways" recipe (also featured in an earlier post).  I decided to do that because I had a baggie of sliced bell peppers that I would have packed for lunch... But it was a snow day, and I don't want to waste that either, so I sliced an onion and voila!  I had a delicious side dish.  

I even grated some Monterey jack sandwich cheese that I let sit too close to a warm dish and it melted too much to put on sandwiches.  Yep, I could've tossed it, but by now I'm sure you're starting to understand the extent to which I hate to throw away food.  Plus, it was a slightly creamier cheese thn what I normally serve, so it was a nice treat for my kids.

Add some guacamole (a staple in our house) and you're good to go!

The only part of my meal I actually made new tonight was the seasoned black beans-So at my Mom's encouragement I'm sharing that simple recipe tonight.

I've got a recipe for nearly every variety of beans you could want... but until recently my husband swore that he did not like black beans.  Then I came across this recipe for seasoning black beans.  It is actually a small component of another recipe I found on Pinterest, but the beans are hands down the best part of that recipe.

Seasoned Black Beans

Ingredients

2 cans black beans

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 seeded and minced jalapeño (I use Trappy's jarred jalapeños)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

Instructions

Sauté vegetable oil, garlic and jalapeño in a medium pot for one minute. Add cumin and sauté one minute more.

Add the black beans, stir and heat through.  Depending on the texture you like, you can cook it with the juices from the can, or rinse and drain the beans.

It's that easy!!!  Seriously, they are so good.  Take my freshly seasoned beans, plus my repurposed leftovers, and you're all set.  The only thing missing is a delicious local brew and a family to eat with :-).

Look at all those delicious leftovers...