Smother Me With Some Comfort--It's Cooooold Out There!

Too. Cold. To. Type. Witty. Intro.

Smothered Kielbasa with Barley
adapted from Cooking Light January/February 1998

This was a very loose adaptation because I couldn't bear the thought of going outside to get ingredients from the store. Seriously, people, it's Arctic here in the desert today. I don't think it ever got above 45F. I suffer.

I've never made the original recipe, which called for chicken thighs, bell pepper, mint, and some other changes, and is raved about by the ladies on the Cooking Light chat board. I liked my Southwest version just fine! If the addition of cinnamon sounds too exotically Moroccan for your tastes, you can leave it out without missing it.



Serves 4

cooking spray
1/2 of an onion, sliced vertically
1 poblano chile pepper, charred, peeled, and diced
12-oz turkey kielbasa, sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup uncooked pearl barley
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes -- drained
a few handfuls of baby spinach, for serving (optional)

1) In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, saute the onion, pepper, kielbasa, and spices for 5 minutes or until the onion is starting to soften.

2)Add the broth and wine and bring to a boil. Add the barley and tomatoes, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

3) Uncover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Check to make sure the barley is done (it should be soft but chewy). Serve over spinach, if desired.

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Aahhh, comfort food. It cures what ails you after a day in the ER. Here you go.

Menu
Baked Spaghetti Squash
Turkey Meatballs

Spaghetti Squash
makes 8 servings



I was inspired by a recent knockout side dish at The Big Orange, which, I'm sure, was laden with top shelf olive oil and years-aged Parmesan cheese, most likely the reasons I couldn't stop shoveling into my mouth. Nevertheless, I endeavored to replicate it tonight, since I had a lovely specimen taking up valuable counter-space. And as an added bonus, we didn't have to fight for parking.


My version, while admittedly not as rich, was nonetheless respectably delicious.

1 spaghetti squash, halved (please don't cut off a finger doing this)
2 T cilantro, minced
2 T olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 oz sharp cheddar cheese, diced or grated
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced

1. Place the squash halves cut-side up in a glass dish and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 10-12 minutes or until flesh can be easily shredded with a fork.
2. Remove the seeds and use a fork to scrape the squash into an 8x8" baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Toss with the squash until evenly distributed.
4. Cover with foil and bake at 425F for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Serve topped with meatballs and marinara sauce.


Turkey Meatballs



makes about 35 small meatballs

20 oz ground turkey
6 T fresh breadcrumbs (another opportunity to use up Thanksgiving leftovers...I used leftover stuffing)
1 T minced onion or dried onion flakes
2 T salsa
1/4 c fresh cilantro, minced
1/4 c fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp garlic powder
cooking spray

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into 1-inch meatballs and place in cooking-sprayed baking dish.
2. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Meatballs in Tomato-Cheese Sauce

I've been obsessed with cheesy-saucy-Italian ever since a rep brought food to our office from the Garden of Sin (also known as Olive Garden, whose existence is a travesty which I will leave for another rant). Chicken Alfredo, You complete me. And my waistline. Here is my attempt to fulfill the craving while simultaneously using up some stuff in the fridge.

Menu:
Turkey Meatballs
Tomato-Cheese Sauce
Garlicky Spinach
Leftover Turkey Meatball Soup

Turkey Meatballs



Makes 28 meatballs

1 lb lean ground turkey (93% lean)
1 egg
2 T A1 Sauce
1/4 c rated Parmesan Cheese (I confess to using the canned stuff...I'm not proud)
2 T plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp each of garlic powder, dried oregano, dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp each of red pepper, salt, and black pepper
1/4 c red wine

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Combine the turkey with the remaining ingredients except for the wine. Shape into 1-inch meatballs and place in a single layer in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3. Pour the wine over the meatballs and cook for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through.


Tomato-Cheese Sauce



makes 1 cup

2 T flour
1/4 c chicken broth, warm
3/4 c skim milk
2 oz shredded cheese (I used a combination of Parmesan, provolone, and sharp cheddar)
1/2 c tomato puree
pinch salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg
1/4 c red wine

1. Heat the flour over low heat in a small saucepan. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth to form a paste. Do not let it form a solid clump or it will never smooth out.
2. Gradually whisk in the milk and stir constantly over medium heat until thickened.
3. Whisk in the cheese and stir until melted.
4. Stir in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, wine, and tomato puree.
5. Pour over meatballs.


Garlicky Spinach

serves 2

3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
cooking spray
salt, pepper
10 oz spinach

1. Heat the garlic, red pepper, salt and pepper in a large pan over medium heat for 30 seconds.
2. Add the spinach, cover, and cook until bright green and wilted, about 7 minutes.


Meatball Soup

Meatball leftovers made a great addition to this quick soup the next day for lunch, and another reason to use the leftover can of tomato puree.

serves 1

1/4 of an onion, sliced
1 cup kale, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1/2 cup tomato puree
4 turkey meatballs with tomato-cheese sauce (I had packed them together in one container the night before, so it was probably 2 tablespoons or so of sauce)
1 cup spinach, chopped
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tsp grated parmesan cheese

1. Spray a soup pot with cooking spray and heat the onions over medium heat until translucent.
2. Add the kale and saute for 2 minutes. Add the broth and water and bring to a boil.
3. Stir in the meatballs and tomato puree and cook over medium heat until the meatballs are heated through.
4. Stir in the spinach, cook until bright green and wilted, about 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and add the balsamic vinegar, adding more as needed to taste.
6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese before serving.

Adventures in Spinach, Part 3; or, July 4th! In Miniature!

Today we honored America's birthday with the traditional fare of burgers and pie. But since it was just the two of us (much to Sparkle's dismay), we scaled things back and had tiny versions of the classics. Well, maybe not classics, but we got the gist of it.


Wrigley likes sliders. And Pie.

Menu:
Stuffed Lamb Sliders
Turkey Sliders
Lemon-Ginger Salmon Sliders
Parmesan Spinach Cakes
Grilled Corn
Grilled Broccolini
Peach Pie-lets with Brie
Lime Mousse Espresso Parfaits

Stuffed Lamb Sliders

Sliders are perfectly bite-sized burgers that allow for a lot of variety without having to eat your weight in meat. These sliders are stuffed with a cube of smoked cheese that melts inside while it grills, creating a delicious, gooey surprise bite. I used smoked Gouda, but any smoked cheese would work. I served these in a miniature whole wheat pita with sliced tomato and grilled onions.



makes 10 sliders

1 1/4 lb lamb leg, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks
1 T ground cumin
1 t garlic powder
1 t half-sharp paprika, or cayenne pepper to taste
3 oz smoked Gouda cheese, divided
10 miniature pitas or slider buns



1. Working in batches, pulse the lamb with the spices in a food processor until uniformly chopped.
2. Divide the meat into 10 portions. Place a piece of cheese in the center of each patty and wrap the meat around it.
3. Grill or pan-fry to desired degree of doneness. Serve while hot.


Turkey Sliders

An easy alternative to beef at a BBQ.



1 lb lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/4 c plain bread crumbs
1 T chili powder
2 t garlic powder
1 t smoked paprika
1 T Worcestershire sauce
10 slider buns

1. In a large bowl, combine turkey, egg, crumbs, spices, and Worcestershire sauce until just incorporated. Form into 2 oz patties.
2. Grill or pan fry until done. Serve immediately.


Lemon-Ginger Salmon Sliders

A repeat of a recipe I made last week (found here). This time I used canned salmon and decreased the egg whites to make a drier mix. These were rather delicate and needed some gentle handling on the grill. I used a grill pan; I think would have lost them through the grates otherwise. Served in mini pitas with lettuce and tomato.



Parmesan Spinach Cakes
from EatingWell.com

Ding ding ding!!! We have a winner!!! This was Part 3 of Adventures in Spinach, and Nate approved mightily. I halved the recipe to make 4 cakes, and he ate THREE!!! Success, victory, excitement!

These were very easy to make and looked pretty, too. They were a little fragile coming out of the muffin pan, but a little finessing with a butter knife did the trick. I've posted the recipe as written, which makes 8 cakes.



12 oz fresh spinach
1/2 c part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper



1. Place spinach in a food processor and pulse until it is roughly chopped.
2. Combine spinach in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Spray 8 cups of a muffin pan with cooking spray.
4. Preheat oven to 400.
5. Divide the mixture among the 8 muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until set.
6. Cool for 5 minutes, then remove by running a knife around the edge of each muffin and lifting gently.


Peach Pie-lets with Brie

Who wants a whole pie sitting around the kitchen after a party, taunting you with its buttery, fruity, sinful dance moves? Well, OK, I know, secretly we ALL want to munch on that pie for days. But in the interest of continuing to have pants that fit, we must find ways to have our pie and NOT eat it, too (or at least, not eat it and eat it and eat it...).

Enter the pie-let.



I found this recipe on the Cupcake Project blog a few days ago and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. Peach pie? Yes! Brie? HECK YES!

Having just licked the crumbs from my plate mere moments ago, I am indeed thankful that there are only a few pie-lets in my house right now and not a whole pie, as I'm not sure I could stop myself.




I halved the recipe, but followed it as written otherwise. I'm going to repost it exactly as Stef wrote it on her blog. The filling made way too much, and now I have to think of a way to use up those lovely peaches coated in cinnamony-sugary-goodness. Maybe a crisp later in the week?



The pie crust was super-easy.



Don't be afraid of pie crust, you can do it.



And you don't even need a rolling pin (as I discovered when it came time to roll...I could have sworn I had one, but the heel of my hand worked just fine). Just remember to keep it all well-chilled and it will treat you right.



Pei-let. Brie. I'm already dreaming about my second helping.

Crust
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1 c (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
4 egg yolks
grated rind of one lemon

1. Clean your counter well and pour flour onto the counter.
2. Make the letter O with the flour and put all of the other ingredients in the middle of the O .
3. Using your hands, work the center ingredients into a paste and then knead in the flour. If necessary, dip your fingers in water while you are working to help the dough stick together better.
4. Roll the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

Filling
5 c sliced peaches (about 8 peaches)
2 T lemon juice
1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt

1. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.

Put it together:





Unbaked pie dough (see above)
Prepared peach filling (see above)
4 oz Brie cheese

1. Remove half of the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Use a 3 1/2 inch diameter circle cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. If you don't have a cookie cutter that width, see if you have a glass you can use or experiment with different widths.
3. Put cupcake liners into cupcake tins. (I did not do this and it worked fine)
4. Press the center of your circle into the bottom of a cupcake liner and work the rest up the sides. It should come about 3/4 of the way up the side.
5. Fill the pie crusts with slices of the prepared peach filling.
6. Dot the top of the peach filling with small pieces of Brie
7. Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes.




Lime Mousse Espresso Parfaits

When I asked Nate what kind of pie he wanted for the 4th of July, he said Key Lime. Then he told me about a fond memory he has of eating key lime pie and drinking an espresso, and how the flavor combination was really great. So I got to thinking, what if I made a key lime espresso concoction and avoid the trouble of lugging out the espresso machine? I thought the flavor combination sounded weird, but that's what he asked for.




It took me about 0.2 seconds to find this beautiful blog, which had the perfect recipe for espresso (insert fruit here) cake. I can't even pretend that I made something as eye-catching as the mango mousse cakes in the photos, but I can vouch for the tastiness of the end result. I used Stephanie's recipe for the cake layer, the syrup, and the gelatin layer exactly as written, and I subbed a delectable lime mousse for her mango cream. I bet it would also be killer with mango, or --ooh!-- raspberry! Ooohhh. The possibilities are endless.



This was an all-day affair due to the many different parts that make it up. I was also delayed at one point because the Kahlua bottle I bought the other day still had the absolutely-impossible-for-a-mere-human-to-remove security cap on it (so THAT'S why the alarm went off when I walked out of the store...), necessitating an emergency trip to the store so Nate could convince one of the stand-up teenage cashiers to let him into the goods.




The cake layer was very light and delicate, almost spongy, which soaked up the syrup nicely. The mousse was out of this world, and I could not stop sneaking tastes of it all day. The gelatin layer on top set up really quickly and gave the dessert the intense coffee flavor it wanted.



I could not find espresso powder anywhere. I used instant coffee granules, and that seemed to work fine.

For the lime mousse filling, I used Julee Russo and Sheila Lukins' recipe from their book, The Silver Palate. I cut the recipe in half, and cut the butter in half again. Otherwise, I followed the recipe.

Oh, and I couldn't find Key Limes ANYWHERE. I honestly don't know that there is a significant taste difference between regular (Persian) limes and Key limes. I used regular limes, and it was still great.

Cake:
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
2 t instant espresso powder
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)
3/4 cup sifted cake flour (75g)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9 baking pan with parchment paper and then grease and flour the paper. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine chocolate and boiling water. Stirring constantly, cook for five minutes until chocolate thickens into a pudding-like consistency.
3. In a mixer bowl using the whisk beater, whisk together the eggs and sugar on high for five minutes until triple in volume.
4. Fold in the flour to the egg mixture in two parts. Then, fold in the chocolate mixture.
5. Pour the batter immediately into the prepared pan.
6. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
7. Line six 3" cake molds with parchment paper or plastic. Cut out six 3" rounds of chocolate cake and place at the bottom of each mold. (I used 3" ramekins and cut the cake with them)

Syrup:
1 oz. sugar
2 oz. water
1 oz. Kahlua or Godiva liquor
1 t instant espresso powder

1. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat, cover tightly and let cool completely.
2. Once cooled, stir in the liquor and espresso powder.
3. Brush the syrup liberally onto cake rounds.


Lime mousse:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 eggs plus 1 egg white
1/2 c sugar
7 T fresh lime juice
grated zest from 3 limes
1 c heavy cream, chilled

1. Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until light and foamy. Add the mixture to the melted butter. Cook gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes a custard, about 8 minutes. Do not overcook or the eggs will scramble.

3. Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the lime juice and grated zest. Cool to room temperature.

4.Using an electric mixer, whip the chilled cream until very stiff, almost, but not quite, to the point where it would become butter.

5. Stir the lime custard into the whipped cream until just incorporated. Chill for at least 4 hours.

6. Divide the mousse among the ramekins and smooth over the cake layer.

Espresso jelly:
2 t gelatin powder
2 T water
1 cup whole milk
2 t instant espresso powder
3 T sugar (45 grams)

1. Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, espresso powder, and sugar just until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the milk mixture from heat and stir in the gelatin until it completely dissolves. Let cool at room temperature.
4. Once the combination has cooled, pour a small layer into each cake mold or ramekin, on top of the lime mousse. Refrigerate until set, about an hour or two.



"Fireworks: I do not like them!"