Photo Friday

How you will find my kitchen around 4:30 almost every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday...

Olé Posolé

I guess I should call my past few posts, "The Soup Series." Now that the weather is cooler, we eat soup once a week. This is one of my new soups. It taste a lot like chicken tortilla soup but still has a different flare about it - like hominy. How often to you eat hominy? Me - I eat it about once a year. So I can check it off the list for this year.


Easy Chicken Posolé
(from last month's Real Simple)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
kosher salt and black pepper
1 32-oz container low-sodium chicken broth
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 dried ancho chili, thinly sliced, or 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken meat
1 15-oz can (yelow) hominy, rinsed
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and 1⁄4 teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Add the broth, tomatoes, and chili and bring to a boil. Stir in the chicken and hominy and simmer until heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. (I think you should let it cook longer than that so that all the flavors develop better.) Serve with the lime - and you do need it. It makes a difference in the flavor. We also added some cilantro and cubed avocado for extra yummies on the top.
   

Photo Friday

I found chicken leg quarters on sale for 48¢ a pound and even though it wasn't on my grocery list for the week, I couldn't pass up the deal. They were in an 8 lb bag so I guess we will be eating them for a while.

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Eating Our Way Around the World

To say we were excited to be taking our little culinary journey would be an understatement. With children, we don’t get elaborate sit down dinners often. We also don't get to travel as much as we would like and one of our favorite aspects of traveling is all the different dinning experiences available. Our friends, Dawn and Paul (who have 3 kiddos) were thrilled to join us in our excursion. The babysitter had all of our children and our itinerary was set. The goal was to include three ethnic cuisines in one evening through a progressive dinner - a dinner and a destination in one evening. I would have liked to have covered more territory, but three countries were about all we had time for: Vietnam, Brazil, and Turkey. My original plan was to have appetizers in one country, main course in another and dessert in our last destination, but everything looked so good that I threw caution to the wind and we had a sampling of almost everything at each restaurant.

Van Lang, a Vietnamese restaurant, was our pick for the first course. It is a small restaurant in a strip-mall and I would have never known it was there except it was recommended by a friend. It is your typical small ethnic restaurant with somewhat kitschy Asian art on the wall and a tv blaring an Asian game show in the background. Luckily our friend also suggested a couple items to try, because the menu was a book. I could have sat there all night looking at it.

See. I told you it was nothing fancy.

We first sampled the green papaya salad. When I think papaya, I think of a sweet fruit, but this wasn't all that sweet. It was crisp and sweeter than lettuce, but nothing like fruit. It is shredded into long strings and served with shrimp and boiled pork as well as sides of chili paste, tamarind sauce and crunchy shrimp shells. It was possibly my favorite dish of the evening. All the items combined made the perfect bite. (Have you seen the movie "The Mirror has Two Faces"? If so, you know exactly what I mean. )

Extraordinary. Possibly one of my all-time favorite dishes now.

After the first round, the dinner quickly took a turn for "Bizarre Foods" as our very own version of Andrew Zimmerman convinced us to try Pho Tai soup - but not just plain ol' Pho Tai soup but Pho Tai VoVein soup. For all you Vietnamese whizzes out there, you know that is a beef noodle soup topped with thin sliced steak and beef balls (and I don't mean beef meatballs - do you know what I'm saying?) This comes with a plate of toppings : lime, basil, bean sprouts, jalapenos (or some other hot pepper) and some mystery herb - lemongrass maybe? The soup (liquid) itself was delicious. I wasn't too crazy about the "balls" part. It had a flavor very similar to greek gyro meat, but a much rubberier texture - and the texture got me.

The BIG bowl of beef ball soup. You may never look at me the same now.

Our last selection was actually Korean and recommended by our waiter - LiBi. We ordered Galbi, a classic Korean barbecue (and that was how they spelled it.) This was a hands-on project as you build what I would describe as lettuce wraps. They brought a plate of grilled pork and a pair of scissors, as well as plates of rice, romaine lettuce and sweet chili paste. We cut our pork into small pieces and placed them in the middle of a lettuce leaf with some rice and the chili paste. LiBi said it was his very favorite dish there and I can see why. Though the separate ingredients are nothing extraordinary, the combination made it something special. And I think the fact that you have to assemble it makes it more of an experience rather than just eating dinner. And I can now check off something from my to-eat list--bubble tea. They had all kinds of bubble teas. I had a thai-iced bubble tea with my dinner. I don't know that I would order it again, but it was fun. We really needed an hour or two to digest from this meal, but time constraints did not allow, and we pushed on.

Making us work for our dinner. Using the kitchen shears is a great way to cut meat
(as well as herbs and pizza I hear.)

I had visited the Brazilian restaurant, Cafe Bossa Nova, once before with a friend during lunch and knew that I had to bring Mason back with me sometime. That time had not arrived yet so when this opportunity presented itself, I immediately knew that this would be my choice for our second course. Even if we only had their Brazilian Cheesy Bread, it would be worth the trip. It's not like we had to go through airport security.

The focal artwork in our dinning room.

Surprisingly, the small two room restaurant was not packed on a Saturday night at 6:30. It is very quaint with local art on the citrus colored walls, and candles and flowers on the tables. The mood was more formal than the other places we visited but that could be expected for the neighborhood. I wanted to share some of the cheesy bread with my friends. It is made from Yucca root flour so it is a gluten free treat. That was not why I ordered them, but is an interesting side note. They are light and taste a lot like cheese straws. Since we had such good luck with asking the waiter on the first leg of our journey, we went ahead and got Lorenzo's recommendations. We knew we were doing something right when he recommended the two things we had discussed ordering. We split an order of Crepes de Frango (chicken crepes) with a side of black beans and the Camarao Na Abobora. The first dish was the agreed favorite there - chicken crepes baked in a creamy cheese sauce and served over rice and julienne mixed veggies. The crepes seriously melted in your mouth. The later entré was so unique we wanted to try it - baked shrimp in pumpkin with coconut milk, and fresh spices. I hate to say it, but this was probably the least favorite dish of the night by all. It was good but nothing like the rest of our meals.

The crepes and pumpkin shrimp, but no one could steal the show from the black beans
no matter how flashy the rest of it was.

Ironically, the star of the show had to have been the side dish we ordered, black beans. They are so simple but absolutely delicious. I think if I go back I will order the dish with black beans, rice and over easy eggs. I asked Lorenzo how they cooked their beans and he was gracious enough to share that it was dried beans with a lot of salt, bay leaves and done in a pressure cooker. "That's all," he said. Pure genius. I may have to go back tomorrow for some just talking about it. Dessert was then on the brain but we knew there was another leg of our journey ahead, so we saved it for our next destination.

Very modern interior.

Istanbul, my choice for our third course, is a new Turkish restaurant in town. I like to support new local restaurants and this fit within my international cuisine tour perfectly. I have not heard a word from anyone about it, so this was a gamble but I enjoy trying new things. The restaurant was packed though it was much smaller than the other two restaurants we visited. It had an awesome Turkish skyline mural and very modern pendant lighting - a very posh setting.

Turkish coffee. Pinkies out!

The coffee drinkers in the group ordered some Turkish coffee to accompany our eats. I had no idea when ordering why Turkish coffee was any different, but after asking the waitress and doing a little personal research, I have learned that it is prepared by boiling finely powdered roast coffee beans in a pot, with sugar (if requested), and serving it into a cup, where the dregs settle. It is not filtered. I got mine with "high" sugar and I drank all of its 2 oz, but prefer my good ol' filtered coffee. There was some SERIOUS sludge at the bottom of the cup. After enjoying all that Vietnamese, Korean, and Brazilian treats, appetizers and dessert were about all we could handle. Mason and I chose the cheesy cigars and Paul and Dawn chose the Baba Ghanoush.

Baba Ghanoush with olive oil and a tomato on top - served with pita bread.

Had we had not already eaten two meals, I think this would have been better. The cigars were simply phyllo dough rolled around cheese and fried to the GBD (Golden-Brown-Delicious) standard. The Baba Ghanoush - pureed smoked eggplant, blended with tahini, garlic, salt and lemon juice and topped with olive oil - had a very smokey flavor. I generally gobble up Baba Ghanoush, but this one did not strike me. Have I mentioned that this was our third meal of the evening? Nothing was really tasting right so I will need to go back and try it again for a fair assessment. For dessert we ordered Baklava, Noah's Pudding, and Profitoroles. I'm not sure Baklava needs much explanation. I don't know very many people that don't drool at the mention of it. For those of you missing out, it's flaky layered phyllo pastry stuffed with nuts and coated with syrupy goo. It's heavenly. Those Greeks knew what they were doing! Profitoroles are cream puffs drenched in Turkish chocolate sauce. We couldn't find anything special about the actual puffs but the sauce was not like an American chocolate sauce, less sweet and thicker, a bit like a pudding.

Mystery Dessert, Noah's Pudding

The Noah's Pudding was the surprise delight of our desserts. We ordered it because it was weird, and we not expecting to like it at all. It was thicker than Jello but thinner than pudding and a light dirty brown color. If the saying is true "you eat with your eyes first", we were nauseated. Even Dawn said, "This has eyeball written all over it," referring to our Bizarre Foods tendency earlier in the evening. But after getting past the gelatinous texture, it was really good and very sweet. It has a floral, honey like sweetness with bits of dried fruits, nuts, and an occasional bean. It is very odd but I would order it again.

Over and over we discussed how much fun it was to get out of our comfort zones. We go to the same handful of restaurants over and over - because they are good and dependable. But it was so nice to branch out and try a new place as well as new (and crazy) foods. We would have never gone to these places and had these experiences except for this opportunity and we are more rounded individuals for it - in more ways than one!

Photo Friday

I made these muffins again and finally shared them with my sister. She was very appreciative.

Roasted Chicken and Corn Chowder

The weather switch has flipped, and the days and nights are on the cool side. Nothing takes the chill off like a big bowl of soup, but I get really tired of making vegetable beef soup, mexican chicken soup and chili. This was my hand at a new soup. It was gooood.

• 5 slices bacon
• 2 cups shredded/chunked roasted chicken (you can use the grocery store rotisserie or just stick some chicken in the oven tossed with some olive oil, S&P until your house smells fantastic - and the juices run clear. I used 2 leg quarters.)
  
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (any color)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1 potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
  
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt & pepper
  
• toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, green onions

1. Cook bacon in a large pot over medium heat until browned and crisp; drain on paper towels and crumble when cool. Reserve 2-3 tablespoons bacon drippings.
2. Saute onion, bell pepper, carrots and garlic in hot bacon drippings; cook 3 to 5 minutes until onion begins to soften. Add chicken and potato and cook 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Add chicken broth, frozen corn and cream-style corn. Combine corn starch with milk and stir into soup.
3. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat and simmer at least 15 minutes. Add salt, pepper.
4. If you want this a smoother consistency, pour half of it in the blender, liquify and add back to the soup pot. (This makes it a little less chunky and more smooth, but if you don't care, it won't hurt anything to skip this step.)
   
5. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese, sprinkle with bacon and green onions and eat.

Happy Birthday Mason

For Mason's birthday I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. This was the requested cake.


Valentine's Day Cake
(I call it that because it is the cake I make in celebration of valentine's day. The first year we lived here, I worked for a florist during the valentine's rush. We actually got off early that day and Mason had gone to Camden to visit his grandparents. I had a free afternoon. Flurries were falling and I wanted to surprise mason with something special when he got home, so I whipped this up. Ever since then, I make this every year. It gives me warm fuzzies thinking about that day. It was a day full of surprises. )

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING(recipe follows)
• 1/2 c strawberry jelly. jam or preserves
• 1 lb fresh strawberries (optional)
  
• 16 oz milk chocolate chips (optional)
  
• 2 tbsp vegetable shortening (optional)
  

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Top one layer with the strawberry jam.

Frost with the frosting listed below.

"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

This step is completely optional but if you want to make it extra special you can top the finished cake with chocolate covered strawberries. I bet you thought you couldn't make these but they are simple as pie.

Wash and dry well all your strawberries. Leave the stems on. Wrap a plate, cookie sheet or cutting board with plastic wrap or parchment paper.

Melt your chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp of shortening in a double boiler. (That is a pot with boiling water with a bowl over it. You don't want the water to touch the bowl, but the steam and heat created to melt the chocolate.) Dip your strawberries by their stems in the chocolate and let the extra drip off. Place on your plate and don't move them until the chocolate sets. When finished, set all the covered strawberries on top of the cake or save and serve each one with a piece of the cake.
People will think you paid a lot of money for this from a fancy bakery. Then you can say, "Oh I just whipped this up this afternoon."