furlinedteacup

almost aioli

I am not one to make mayonnaise from scratch. Thus I give you: an almost aioli that will be close enough for most folks...

In a small ramekin or glass bowl, mix together the following:

• 2 heaping soup spoons of mayo
• a splash (1 tsp?) of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, grated w/a small hand grater
• juice of half a lemon
• two twists of pepper from a pepper grinder

Use a fork to blend the ingredients together. Cover w/plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Very tasty on baguettes, as a sandwich spread or for dipping your artichokes leaves in.

Roasted Chicken and Veggie Soup

My significant other is down for the count battling some sort of yucky illness. This clearly calls for my making a gallon or so of my roasted vegetables and chicken soup for dinner. Roasting the veggies is an extra step that adds to the preparation time, but it also adds to the depth of taste, making it well worth it in my opinion.

For Roasting
1 Napa cabbage, cut into wedges
2 cups plum tomatoes chopped or a can of San Marzano tomatoes
15 smallish russian banana fingerling potatoes, chopped
3 small eggplants, chopped into small chunks
1 large red onion, diced
6 medium size red carrots, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts. seasoned with salt and pepper

For the Soup
1 head of garlic
1 TBSP olive oil
1 can canellini beans
1 64 oz carton vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine

Arrange the veggies and the chicken into as many baking/roasting pans as required to hold them in a single layer (you can roast in batches.) Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, and add some optional chopped up fresh dill (to taste) then pop into 375 degree oven for 30-45 minutes (pull out vegetables when they start to brown, cook chicken until cooked through and skin is golden.)

Brown 5 chopped cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add all roasted vegetables plus 2 cans of canellini beans, 64 ounces of veggie stock, and one cup of white wine. Bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Freezes well.

Potato+Leek+Artichoke Casserole

We had a nice bit of Fall weather in September, before the Indian Summer fell upon us and made the apartment unfit for cooking. While it was still cold enough to use the oven, I did some side dish experimentation, and made this truly delicious casserole to accompany pork chops.

Potato, Leek and Artichoke Bake

• 1 TBSP olive oil, plus 2 TSP or a mister
• 3 Leeks (white and light green portion only), thinly sliced into half moons and rinsed of all dirt.
• 1 14oz can of atichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3.5-4 oz cream cheese
• 2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 medium russet potatoes, thinly sliced (via mandolin)
• salt and pepper to taste

I adapted this from a recipe in Everyday Food. I omitted the celery and changed up the cheese including decreasing its amount, and bumped up the amount of leeks.

Preheat oven to 425. Brush 1 1/2 quart baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat; add leeks. Cook 8-10 minutes until softened. Add artichokes, broth and cheese, and stir until combined. Remove skillet form heat, add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Arrange half the potato slices in overlapping rows to act as the base for your casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Top with the artichoke mixture, making sure to evenly spread it out across the potato slices. Layer with remaining potatoes. Mist with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake 40-45 minutes until mixture is bubbly and edges of potatoes are crispy and golden in color. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

The leftovers from this made a great addition to my lunch as well. Reheated for 2 minutes in the microwave at work.

Following a Weekly Meal Plan

The past month has been terrible from a "you are what you eat" standpoint. Being incredibly busy at work, vacation, then coming back to even longer hours at work has meant we've been doing a ton of eating out. And not a ton of healthy seasonal cooking at home.

This is why yesterday I pulled out all the items in my pantry cupboard to take stock of what we had on hand, and then made a week's meal plan that made good use of what we had on hand. I should note that I had no idea I had 8 cans of enchilada sauce in that cupboard. This is one of the primary drawbacks to using a deep, tall shelf next to the stove as a pantry, but when you're a renter in a high price city, you make do.

Here's what I came up with to help thin out the cupboard, and stop eating out so much:

• Sat: mus sa mun curry with beef over rice
• Sun: bean and beef enchiladas
• Mon: chicken stir fry
• Tues: Bean and cheese quesadillas
• Wed: lasagna (make sauce ahead on Sunday)
• Thur: pork chops
• Fri: eat out for dinner

I also made sure we had a ton of yogurt and healthy cereal for breakfast, and plenty of tasty yet healthy snacks to keep me away from the cheese. This reminds me I really need to figure out how to make my ideal spicy trail mix. I love that stuff.

Today, I'm doing some prep work (making pasta sauce and a chicken+bean soup), making some sides (bean salad, potato salad, corn muffins) and mixing up chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough for the freezer. That sounds like a fine way to spend a Sunday don't you think?

Easy Pasta Sauce

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 a red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 a white onion, coarsely chopped
• 15 baby carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 15oz cans tomato sauce
• 2 TBSP garlic, minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Add the olive oil to a stockpot and heat on medium. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until they become partially translucent. Add in the carrots and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in tomato sauce, reduce heat, and simmer on low for 1 hour.

I'll be using this for my lasagna this week.

Chicken and Black Bean Soup

• 1 32 oz container Imagine organic chicken broth
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 a red onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 a white onion, coarsely chopped
• 15 baby carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast fillet (i.e. half a chicken breast)
• 1 TBSP garlic, minced
• 1 Tsp poultry seasoning blend of your choice

Pour chicken broth into stockpot and heat on medium high and bring to a boil. Sprinkle chicken breast with your favorite poultry seasoning and salt and pepper then add to the hot broth and poach, removing once meat is white all the way through. Cool chicken until it is at room temperature, then shred into bit size pieces. While your chicken is cooling, reduce heat to low and add in your separately olive oil sauteed onions, garlic and carrots (I did mine at the same time for the pasta sauce then split the total cooked mixture in half). Add back in your shredded chicken and simmer for an hour.

Makes 4 servings. 5 points plus per serving.

Ranch Chicken Marinade

This recipe was inspired by my colleague sharing this recipe for Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kebabs. My version is pared back to a quantity suitable for dinner for two, and to reflect that rosemary is not a favorite herb in this household.

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
splash of lemon juice
splash of red wine zinfandel vinegar
two twists of pepper from the pepper mill
1/2 tsp sugar
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast (a little over 1 lb) chopped into small chunks

Combine all but the chicken in a small bowl and whisk together until combined. Let stand 5 min while you chop up the chicken. Place chopped chicken in a ziploc bag, and pour marinade over the top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour prior to cooking chicken by your preferred method.

 

Our Easter Eats: Spicy Lamb Roast and Strawberry Gooey Bars

As planned, I made Jam Hands' gooey bars for easter dessert. I couldn't find lemon cake mix though, so they became strawberry gooey bars, since that was the one fun flavor I could find at Target. They looked incredibly festive. No photos of them, unfortunately, as I never did figure out a good way to capture their yumminess in a photo without making a mess.

And yes, I made dessert first. Because it was a lot less daunting than making a lamb roast for the first time.

I used Charles Phan of the Slanted Door's lamb marinade, at my colleague Melita's suggestion. I love spicy sweet combinations, and knew from the get-go that I was going to love this marinade.

I modified mine slightly to be as follows:

2 large shallots, peeled and chopped
1 small jalapeño, stemmed and chopped (left the seeds in)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons fish sauce

I combined all the ingredients in a bowl then used my pestle to smash them all together nicely. I placed my Boneless lamb leg roast into a ziploc plastic bag, poured the marinade over it, then sealed the bag up and left it in the refrigerator to soak it up for about 2 hours.

I preheated the oven to 375, and baked the lamb, having poured the marinade over the top of it in the baking dish, until it was no longer pink in the center, which was about an hour and a half. I served with a tamrind chutney, some sour-cream laden mashed red potatoes, and some Roederer sparkling wine.

Glad that I finally tried my hand at lamb. It wasn't any trickier than any other meat I've roasted thus far. Too bad I can't make gyros at home...

Red Velvet Cookies

I finally got around to making those red velvet cookies I saw over on Fake Ginger's blog.

After making them today, I would call these more like devilishly chocolate chip cookies more than red velvet, truth be told, but I did really like them. I'm less excited about having ruined my manicure with the red food coloring.

I made a couple of tiny tweaks to the recipe, trying to get more of a red velvety taste, and to account for the original recipe's comments regarding amount of wet ingredients.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg

In a liquid measuring cup, add together:
1 teaspoon red food coloring
1 tsp lemon juice
fill up to 1/4 cup line with heavy cream

In a large bowl, sift or stir together:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375. Cream the butter and sugars in an electric mixer. Mix in the egg. Pour in the cream mixture, scraping down the sides to get as much of the red coloring into your bowl as possible. After this is just mixed in, add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. You will have a fairly thick dough.

Use a cookie scoop to form your cookies. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies start to firm up.

Yields 38 cookies.

Tea and Sympathy

Over the past few days, the news has alternately made me angry and disappointed. Disappointed overall in the lack of empathy I'm seeing folks have for others who lack their privilege. And angry to see those smugly assured they will never be poor, or female and pregnant raising a child alone, and thus can not imagine why we should provide social support for those who need it.

When I've seen folks in my twitter feeds being hateful, I've unfollowed. When I've seen thoughtful posts such as the one I linked to above, I have shared them. I am only one person, but I try to do what I can.

Most of what I can truly impact is, of course, my own immediate surroundings. How I behave, my empathy for others. And of course, my baked treats. For as long as I can remember, I've used baking as a way to show those close to me that they have my love and support. (And I've contributed a fair number of treats to charity bake sales.)

This is why today I am finally getting off my butt and making my blueberry scones. I'd wanted to bake them for my team for Christmas, but I battled a nasty cold for most of Christmas, and colds and baking do not mix. So there you have it -- Christmas in February: Frog Hollow jam and scones from me. It's a small gesture, but one from the heart.

Recipe adapted from the Ritz Carlton Book of Afternoon Tea, a gift many years ago from the fabulous Miss Mitzi.

• 3 cups flour, self-rising
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp Baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter (8 TBSP)
• 1 1/3 cups 2% milk
• 1 cup dried blueberries (Substitute a cup of Guittard milk chocolate chips if you are not a blueberry fan)

Butter 2 cookie sheets or spray with cooking spray; set aside. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F (220 c.) Sift dry ingredients together. Add butter, cutting in or thumbing in, until butter is integrated throughout, as tiny flakey crumbs. Slowly pour in milk, stirring in with a knife until just combined. Add blueberries, and stir in. You will have a very sticky dough. You may roll out the dough on a floured board to a 1 cm (1/2 inch) thickness and cut with a 2" pastry cutter into rounds, or use a floured ice cream scoop to make the balls of dough equal sizes and drop onto your cookie sheets. Personally, I prefer the drop scones, as you get some crunchy bits on top.

Bake 12-15 minutes until they are golden on top. makes 20 drop scones, or 24 rolled scones. 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus points per scone.

Cheddar Apple Pork Meatballs

1 lb. ground pork

1 cup reduced fat mexican blend cheese

1 medium onion, grated

1 medium apple, grated (I used honeycrisp)

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg, whisked

salt and pepper to taste

garlic powder to taste

I adapted this recipe from a recent Everyday with Racheal Ray issue, lightening it up a bit. Pork and apple is such a classic combo, and the cheese makes the meatballs a little different (and tasty).

In a large bowl, stir together all of your ingredients, saving the egg for last to bind it all together. Spray cookie sheet with non stick spray. Form pork mixture into 16 equal sized meatballs, and place onto cookie sheet. Broil for about 10 minutes. If you are doing WeightWatchers, it's 3 PointsPlus per meatball.

I served these with egg noodles tossed with 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream and 2 TBSP butter.

One of my favorite new recipes in some time. I froze the remaining meatballs for a future dinner.

Giants Cocktail

During the second game of the World Series, my significant other concocted an easy and delicious cocktail that I've christened the Giants Cocktail in light of its orange hue and its inspiration. Taste-wise, if you loved Orange Julius as a kid, you'll love this cocktail.

• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup vanilla ice cream
• 3 ounces vodka
• 1 tsp vanilla syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces Grand Marnier
• 7 ice cubes

Combine the ingredients in a blender and blend for 20-30 seconds until frothy. Serve in the chilled cocktail glass of your choice. Makes 2 drinks.

Holiday Star Cookies

Holiday star cookies, originally uploaded by almostgold.

Starting in on the frosted+sugared cookies now.

 Merry Christmas Cookies

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream vegetable shortening, sugar, egg, honey, and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Sift in flour, baking soda, and salt; stir until well blended. Refrigerate dough at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Lightly grease cookie sheets.

On a lightly floured board, roll dough 1/4-inch thick and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutters.  Place 1-inch apart onto prepared cookie sheets. 

Bake 8-10 minutes. Ice with your favorite royal icing technique. I like to slather them in frosting then cover them with colored sugar. 

Share with those you love.

Faux Slaw

For the longest time, coleslaw kind of grossed me out. It was always this weirdly slimey mess of vegetables you'd get on the side of your turkey club sandwiches at diners. And not something I wanted to eat.

But at some point, I had some really good tangy, crunchy cole slaw. Probably from East Coast West deli or Max's Opera Cafe. And now, every so often, I get the craving for it. But just for one serving. Last night, I came up with a faux slaw that acted as a coleslaw stand-in snack while I played on the computer.

Faux Slaw

• 1 handful shredded purple cabbage
• 1 handful shredded carrots
• 1 handful broccoli slaw
• 1 TBSP Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
• 3 or 4 turns of the pepper mill

In a small salad bowl, combine the veggies, add the salad dressing, combine until well-coated. Finish with the pepper. Fast, easy, tasty, and a little lower-calorie than a traditional coleslaw.

Surviving Thanksgiving Week

Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays. But the catch has always been getting through the week without having to go buy a new pair of jeans due to overindulging. Keeping that in mind this year, I planned some easy and low-cal casseroles to get us through the week, and leave me to freely indulge in all my turkey day favorite dishes.

First though, I need to do a shout out for my favorite side dish at this year's Thanksgiving dinner table: Martha Stewart's Sweet Potato and Sage Casserole. And yes, I brought home a hefty glad storage container full of it.

Black Bean and Corn Casserole

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz corn kernels
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1/2 cup ricotta
• 1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed/drained
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 12 tortilla chips, crumbled

Preheat oven to 375. Spray your casserole dish (shallow and wide works better than a deep round for this) with your non-stick spray of choice (I use an olive oil spray.) Using a non stick pan on medium heat, cook the onion, garlic and bell pepper, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until both are softened. Remove from heat and stir in the corn.

Whisk the eggs and egg whites, milk, hot pepper sauce and ricotta together in a large bowl. Add the beans and the cooked vegetables. Spread evenly in your casserole dash, top with the cheese and the crushed tortillas. Bake until browned and bubbly. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and freshly ground pepper on top. Serves 6.

Turkey Tetrazzini

• 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
• 1/2 cup frozen corn, defrosted
• 1 lb ground turkey breast
• 8 oz fettuccine, cooked per package directions, drained
• 1 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup ricotta
• 1/2 cup mozzarella
• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375. Spray your casserole dish (use a deep round if you want it more creamy, a shallow and wide dish if you like the crispy noodles) with your non-stick spray of choice (I use an olive oil spray.) Season the ground turkey with garlic powder, salt and pepper then brown in a non stick pan. Set aside.

Whisk broth and milk together in a medium-size saucepan. Stir in one tablespoon of butter. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until thickened and boiling (8-10 min.) Add salt and pepper, remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and ricotta.

Add your noodles, vegetables and turkey to the cheese sauce. Stir together until everything is coated with the sauce. Pour into the casserole dish. Top with the mozzarella. Bake until browned and bubbly (20-30 min.) Serves 6.

Another Super Summer Salad: Apple and Carrot Salad

Summertime heat makes me crave cold food all the time. I've been trying not to use that as a reason to eat potato salad 3 meals per day. This refreshing salad is fast and sinple to make, and low in calories, making it a great addition for your lunch bag or a pre-dinner snack.

• 2 large apples (1 granny smith and 1 fuji or other red apple makes the prettiest salad) cored then cut into matchsticks with your mandolin or grated
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 cups carrots, grated
• 1/4 cup(s) chives, chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Toss apples with lime juice. Add remaining ingredients. Makes 8 servings. 1 pt each for those of you on WW.

Seven-Layer Brownies

Since we are off to the fair today, I have snacks on the brain. Thus once a twitter friend was trying to decide on some brownies to make, I felt prompted to share my friend Carolyn's recipe, which I wheedled out of her when we did a holiday cookie exchange several years ago.

These are truly the most fabulous 7 Layer Brownies I've had, and so simple to make.

1. Melt 1 stick of butter in 9"x13" pan, then add the following layers:
2. 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
3. 1 cup of grated coconut
4. 3/4 of a 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
5. 3/4 of a 12 oz bag of butterscotch chips
6. 1 cup chopped nuts (Carolyn used pecans)
7. Pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk over the top

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Refrigerate for nugget style brownies.

I mean, how can any recipe that starts off with melting an entire stick of butter *not* be fabulous???

Potato Salad, Two Ways

Potato salad has been the quintessential summertime food to me for as long as I can remember. The highlight of any picnic as a child was cold fried chicken accompanied by my mom’s creamy potato salad.

So when the most recent heatwave turned our otherwise lovely apartment into an oven, I cracked open my 5 lb bag of red potatoes and got boiling.

After chopping about 3 lbs of the potatoes into bite-sized chunks, I tossed them into salted boiling water. I let them boil about 10 minutes until the average size pieces were cooked through (tested by spooning one out, cooling it with water, and tasting it.) At this point I tossed in some French green beans that I snapped in half and cooked for another 2 minutes.

After pouring the potatoes and green beans out into a footed colander and letting cool about 5 minutes, I split them into two bowls with roughly the same potato to green bean ratio.

In the first bowl, I added three heaping serving spoons of sour cream, 1/4 of a large red onion roughly chopped, and a teaspoon of grainy mustard, plus salt and pepper then stirred til combined. We used this as a side for our fried chicken.

In the other bowl, which had about a potato more in it, I added three heaping serving spoons of mayo, 1/4 of a large red onion roughly chopped, 1/2 cup of solid salami chopped into small chunks, 2 cups of shredded cabbage, a teaspoon of grainy mustard, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar plus salt and pepper then stirred til combined. I took this salad for lunch, and had small portions as an after work snack all week.

Sorry for the lack of photos on this, but potato salad is one of those foods that looks so wrong, but tastes so good.

Mini Bluberry Muffins

Made these babies again today.

In my fabulous mini muffin tray. MMMM. 

I love that I can just use these silicon pans without prep -- no liners, no buttering each cup. And they make perfect teeny muffins that even the dieting ladies at my office will eat. That's what I call a win/win.

Non-related, this place has been devoid of photos for the last few months due to my fabulous new computer. Leopard broke my ancient copy of Photoshop. And though I tried to find a free or chea or lite photo app, I ended up not taking pictures out of annoyance at not being able to play with them the way I like to.

But last week, I gave in and bought Adobe Photoshop CS4 . And I love it. Worth every penny.

Nilla Wafer Pudding

It has already been established within these pixels that I do love white trash 70s food. It is the comfort food my mom made while I was growing up, so I can't help it.

Tonight, I'm making Nilla Wafer pudding.

INGREDIENTS

1 box Nilla Wafers
1 box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk for the pudding
2 bananas

ASSEMBLY
Make pudding. Line small round dishes with Nilla wafers on sides and bottom. Slice rounds of bananas and cover the bottom layer of Nilla wafers with them. Pour 1/3 of the pudding over the top. Make a layer of Nilla Wafers on top of that, then bananas, then pudding, repeat again.

BAKING
Pop into a 350 degree oven and heat until warm throughout (15-20 min). Enjoy the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow.

Easy Pulled Pork

I love pulled pork. If I see it on a menu, I am compelled to order it. Despite this love, and my frequent making of roasted pork tenderloin, I had never tried to make it at home prior to last week.

I'd ordered a pork tenderloin from the grocery delivery but ended up with a pretty sturdy looking roast rather than the slim tenderloins I was used to. So I decide to throw caution to the wind and make some slow roasted pulled pork.

Here's what I did...

Preheated oven to 300 degrees.

Prepared large glass baking dish by coating the bottom with olive oil. Placed roast in the pain. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Poured can of coca cola over the top. Placed in oven. Turned meat over after a half hour. After another half hour, returned meat to its initial position, and added in some tiny creamer potatoes cut into bite-size chunks (sprinkled olive oil over them and salted them), and added 2 apples, cored and sliced into 8-pieces each. Baked another 45 minutes or so.

Served all the above inside pitas, with sour cream and white cheddar cheese on top. Simply yum. It is a real pain to clean up the pan afterward, but it's tasty enough to merit it.

 

Mmmm Chili

San Francisco had been cold and blustery for a week or two when I decided I was going to spend last Sunday making chili. Of course that meant it cleared up and we had sunny warm weather all weekend. But no matter-- I made the chili anyway. I am stubborn that way.

Start making your chili 3 or so hours before you wish to be eating it.

• 1 red onion diced
• 1 shallot diced
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
• 12 small carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into small chunks
• olive oil
• 2 cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can white canellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 lb. beef stew meat
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 1 draught can Guiness or other dark beer
• Chili sauce to taste
• Taco seasoning or mixed chili seasoning to taste

Start browning your ground beef and your stew meat in separate skillets. Meanwhile, dice your onions and garlic, and add them into a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, that has had olive oil added to it. Dice your remaining vegetables and add them to the stock pot, adding additional olive oil if necessary to coat the additions. Reduce to low heat until your meat has been browned and drained.

Add 1 package of taco seasoning or same amount of chili seasoning (2-3 teaspoons) to the ground beef, plus 3/4 cup water, and simmer for 6 or 7 minutes (until liquid is reduced to thick coating on the meat.) Cut the beef stew pieces into bite-sized pieces.

Add all meat to the stock pot, plus the beans, and stir. Pour in chicken broth and 2 teaspoons chili sauce, stir again, and increase to medium heat. Add in a teaspoon or 2 of chili or taco seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to keep chili simmering. Check every 15 minutes or so and stir. Once the liquid has substantially reduced, add in the can of beer. Simmer another 30 minutes, then taste and add in more chili sauce to taste.

Once you have a dense, dark mass of chili in the pot, with most of the liquid removed, you are ready to eat. Garnish with sharp cheddar, sour cream and diced onions. Makes 4-5 servings.

Buttermilk Pancakes

OK, I have to admit it -- my made from scratch pancakes are always made with Bisquick, unless I am using sourdough starter. For whatever reason, they just turn out better (and save me from washing measuring utensils.) Here's my recipe.

Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups bisquick
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk

In a bowl, mix the ingredients in the order listed, until combined. Heat a grill until a few sprinkles of water on the grill sizzle. Ladle 2 full spoonfulls of batter per pancake onto the griddle. Cook on 1 side until it is brown (the top should have bubbles and no longer be liquid), then flip and cook other side until brown. Makes about 4 large pancakes. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Taco Pie

A recipe in the current Everyday with Rachael ray magazine inspired me to make a quickie taco pie last night. It's like a pizza, but with tortillas and taco fixings as toppings. My version has very little prep, and is ideal for a night when you want to pop something into the oven for a half hour and sit down to some comfort food.

• 1.5 lb cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 lb chorizo, crumbled (i.e. slice off the sausage casing and rip the meat into chunks)
• 1 jar taco sauce (I used Fronterra)
• 1 red onion
• 2 cans refried beans (I used the taco bell ones, for nostalgia's sake)
• 6 thick organic flour tortillas (can double up 2x regular soft taco tortillas)

Preheat oven to 375. Coat large baking sheet (one with a lip is preferable) with butter. Layer your tortillas to fill the baking sheet, overlaping as necessary. Put a few fork pricks into the tortillas to keep them from puffing up while baking. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese on the tortillas. Bake for 10 min.

Crumble or thinly slice your chorizo. Slice your onion into thin, bite-sized individual slices.

Remove your "crust" from the oven. Apply a thin layer of cheese, then the refried beans, onions, chorizo. Drizzle taco sauce across the pizza, keeping in mind how hot the sauce is, and how much of it you would want in a mouthfull of pizza. Top with the rest of the cheese. Bake 25-30 minutes. Let sit for a minute, then cut into individual plate-sized pieces. Makes 6 servings.

Lazy Sangria

Yes, my theme this week is making yummy food stuffs when you are feeling far too lazy to do much of anything in the kitchen.

Over the weekend, I made sangria for a gathering of about 20 people. It was one of the tastiest, and easiest, varaiations on my usual sangria recipe.

1 bottle of Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvee zinfandel
24 oz of cherry cider (I would have preferred cherry apple cider but couldn't find any)
3/4 or so of a bag of Trader Joe's pre-sliced apples (about 3 fuji apples worth)
1 pint of strawberries
3 shots of white rum
2 shots of grand marnier
1 lime sliced into thin circles
1 teaspoon sugar
Lots of ice

Clean and quarter ripe strawberries, and place in a a large ziploc bag. Add shots of Grand Marnier and rum, plus sugar. Seal bag and refrigerate for 2 or more hours prior to making the sangria. Pour liquids into a large punch bowll. Add fruit and stir. Add a few handfulls of ice. Drink and enjoy your afternoon.

Roasted Goodness

This has been a busy week at work, leaving me exhausted when I get home...which doesn't lend itself to highly complicated cooking projects. But the lure of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is still there. My trip there yesterday sent me home with pork tenderloin, chorizo, more berries than we can eat in the next few days, apples, nectarines, baby potatoes, ACME bread, and my favorite dark purple/red dahlias.

Last night, despite the heat and being tired, I dipped into this cache and made a roasted pork tenderloin with roasted baby potatoes and apples, served with a Kenwood pinot noir. Takes about an hour including prep and baking, but most of that is oven time, making this an ideal dinner for a lazy night.

Heat oven to 450. Rub pork tenderloin with spicy mustard (I used a Sierra Nevada porter mustard), then coat with your favorite pork breading/seasoning/bread crumbs. Place in large glass baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes.

In the interim, wash and core your apple (I used a fuji), and cut into 8 wedges. Wash the pound of baby potatoes and pat dry. Atfer the 20 minutes of pork roasting has passed, remove pork from oven and reduce heat to 400. Place apples into the sides of the baking dish; sprinkle them with a little brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the baby potatoes whole, and drizzle olive oil over them. Salt and pepper the pork and the potatoes. Bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove pork from pan and let rest for 5 minutes. Remove potatoes, and place in a bowl. Add thin slices of butter and a large spoon of sour cream, then pepper. Toss the potatoes until covered with this mixture. Slice the tenderloin into 1 cm thick round slices. Plate with the apples partially covering the pork loin slices. Enjoy!

Spring Bean Salad

This past weekend, I had a veggie friend over for dinner and made this salad as part of our dinner. Best to make it on a weekend as it is a little prep-intensive.

• 1 lb fava beans, shelled, blanched, and shelled again
• 1 can/jar white beans
• 1 small red bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1small red onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Sautee onions and garlic in oil for 3 minutes, then add bell pepper and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes or until soft. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook for 25 minutes or until beans have absorbed most of the liquid. Strain and serve hot or toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and pepper and refrigerate for 1 hour to serve cold.