Tasty Trifecta

"I hope you have a child who acts just like you!"

I'm fairly certain we've all heard that at some point in our lives. Unless you're a perfect angel. While my mom never came right out and said those words, I have a feeling she thought them quite often. Like when she opened my bedroom door to carefully place my laundry on my crumpled bed, never fully entering the room for fear of getting lost in the sea of clutter. Or when she would carefully tailor her menu to suit my absolutely insane pickiness. My brother was the "good" kid who ate everything. Even the weird stuff. He even ate broccoli. Without cheese!

Well, it happened. As Richard and I struggle to keep clutter at a minimum (not good for 2 clutter-nuts to marry - oops), we now have two children who help add to it all. My precious little princess is just as picky as I used to be. We're lucky in that she loves fruit, yogurt, and even non-fried fish. But she's just as much into texture as I am. No mushy anything. If it's crunchy or spicy, she'll dive right in. 

This blog is serving as my diary of exploration into the world of new. Mostly new recipes. I get bored and frustrated cooking the same things over and over. The picky eater in me is slowly disappearing. While there are still quite a few foods I won't touch, I'll at least give most of them a try. Two items from last two days' menus, especially yesterday's, pushed my boundaries. The third served as a little reward.

First, I give you Tortellini-Chicken Soup! 

Look at all those healthy ingredients!

See that green stuff and the pinkish stumps in there? That's Swiss chard! Do you see the carrots?!? There's also onion and garlic, as well as the obvious chicken & tortellini. I have never ever had Swiss chard. And carrots, for me, need to be almost mushy. I even ate the leaves! Give me a minute while I come down from my self-congratulatory high. This was a hit, and heated well as leftovers for lunch today. For the kids, I just gave them the chicken, carrots & pasta. Giving a two-year-old broth...not a good idea. 

This recipe was adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine. They're pretty stingy with their recipes. If you don't get the magazine, you basically don't get the recipes. The original called for turkey. Well, I wasn't about to cook an entire turkey to make soup, and they don't exactly sell rotisserie turkeys at Ingles or Walmart. So, chicken it was. I also didn't put in any fennel, as I already have tried that & don't like the bitterness of it. Oh, and I actually forgot to buy kidney beans, but will surely add them next time. I was so proud of myself for getting the chard that I forgot the beans! Anyway...here's the recipe:

2 c each: sliced carrot, diced onion, diced fennel bulb, diced Swiss chard stems (don't throw out the leaves, but DO wash them, for sure)

2 Tbsp minced garlic

4 tsp dried Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 c dry Marsala

1-2 Tbsp chicken base (like Better than Bouillon)

12 c low sodium chicken broth

4 c roasted turkey (or chicken)

3 c (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini (dried works)

8 c chopped Swiss charred leaves, rinsed (1 bunch)

1 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Grated Parmesan (I happened to have a fresh block - YUM)

Sweat carrot, onion, fennel, chard stems, garlic, Italian seasoning, pepper flakes, and nutmeg in oil in a large pot over  medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Deglaze pot with wine and simmer until nearly evaporated; stir in chicken base. Add broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Add turkey/chicken, tortellini, chard leaves, and beans; simmer, partially covered, until tortellini are cooked through, 8-10 minutes. 

Stir in lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve with grated Parmesan.

For dessert, I had an assistant. Kiersten got all dolled up in her apron and chef's hat and helped make the brownie base. She even used her mini spatula to stir the dry ingredients as I mixed up the wet ingredients. This recipe is from Cooking Light magazine, and they are much more generous with their recipes, thank goodness. The whole looking down & up of writing out a recipe can be dizzying, especially after midnight. Even for a night owl/insomniac like myself.

This recipe calls for 2 Tbsp of evaporated milk to be added to chopped chocolate. It came out WAY thin. I tried again this afternoon with just 1 Tbsp, and it was too thick. Goldilocks found that maybe 1 1/2 Tbsp will make it just right.

The aroma's from tonight's main course are still lingering. While the side dishes of rice & black beans were pretty mundane, the feature, Coffee-Rubbed Flank Steak (from Food Network Magazine), made us feel like we were living above our means. The original recipe called for skirt steak, but I had flank steak, so that's what I used. We were not disappointed. It wasn't until after she had eaten all her meat that we told Little Miss Picky what went on it. Her reaction, "And I ate it!" Insert proud parent moment here. Oh, and the pic of the steak, too...

I didn't add a pic of the onions, but boy did they add a layer of depth to the flavor.
I skipped out on the peppers out of sheer laziness.

And with this entry done, I'm off to La-La land for a little while, till I'm dragged out of bed to make my kindergartener's hair presentable for school, with the promise of a fresh pot of coffee made by my husband. Seriously...he makes my own pot, since he gets up WAY early and knows I'm a snob and don't like coffee if it's been in the pot for over half an hour. I really do have an awesome husband. 

Cinnamon Rolls (or CinnaNOM rolls)

Bakeries. I have to say that bakeries are probably one of my weaknesses. Any time I'm in the vicinity of a mom and pop store, especially bakeries, I want to rush right in, then take my sweet time perusing the place. This is most likely why I love Asheville and the area so much. The motto around town is "Buy Local."

That said, every morning last school year when I was teaching, I would pass by the Fletcher Village Bakery. It had recently replaced a bakery I knew and loved, and I was hesitant to give it a try. But one morning when I was passing, I had not had breakfast, and my stomach told me to turn. Now. So I did. It was the beginning of a love affair that made my husband jealous. Jealous, because he could not partake in such freshly-baked goodness the way I could. My favorite indulgence was their scones. More specifically, their cheddar-green onion scones. Let it be known that I generally dislike green onions. But this buttery, flaky, brown-cheese-edged wedge of heaven made me forget that little fact. And occasionally I'd surprise my husband with a chocolate croissant or a cake. Their chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream especially proved to be a big hit. 

One day, on one of the last workdays of the year, I took my daughter with me. I decided to treat her to breakfast there. She stood, wide-eyed, as she tried to make her decision. She excitedly pointed to a cinnamon roll that was almost the size of her face and said, "I want THAT!" We paid for our order and headed to the school. I messily cut up half her roll and she dove in while I tried not to make obscene noises over my scone. When she was done, I got up to put away the second half, and she informed me that she wanted to eat that half, as well. And she did. Thus began HER love affair with baked goods. Cinnamon rolls, more specifically. I then confided to her that I once worked at the bakery of a steakhouse and actually had made cinnamon rolls. From that moment on she constantly asked if I would make them for her. This week, as a special breakfast for her first day of Kindergarten, I decided to surprise her with them. Needless to say, it woke her from her foggy sleepy stupor when daddy showed them to her. I stayed up SUPER late to make them, because I started late, and it was a 4-hour process. But boy, was it worth it!

(The corner piece missing was my tester. You can't just make 

these and wait until the next morning to test how they truly are. 

You have to try them warm!)

I got this recipe from Cuisine at Home magazine. What I love most about them is that they don't taste at all yeasty. The icing is vanilla glaze (it actually calls for vanilla bean paste, but I'm on a budget here & used vanilla extract), but I'm sure you could change it up for anything else. They also have a variation to make them as sticky buns, with a caramel glaze and nuts. I'll be making those for her birthday weekend, when my mom comes up. She's a sucker for caramel. 

One other note: if you know of ways to make this gluten-/vegan-friendly or just lighter in general, add it to the comments! I'm always looking for variations on baked goods when I take them places!

Cinnamon Rolls with vanilla bean frosting

(serving suggestion is 12, but I made about 22)

Dough:
1 1/4 c whole milk 
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 c old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c cold water
4 c AP flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp table salt
Filling:
1 1/2 sticks softened unsalted butter (12 tbsp)
1 c packed brown sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp table salt
Frosting:
4 tbsp softened unsalted butter
8 oz powdered sugar (2 c)
2 tbsp whole milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (same amt of vanilla extract works)
1/4 tsp table salt

Heat 1-1/4 c milk, shortening, and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a small saucepan over med-low until shortening is melted; transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer. Let mixture cool to 100-110 degrees (this takes forever! I ended up putting the bowl in a sink of cold water - just make sure the shortening doesn't begin to congeal). Whisk in yeast & proof until foamy, about 5 minutes. If it doesn't proof, check the date on the yeast. 
Soak oats in hot water until all water is absorbed
Add 2 c flour & eggs to the yeast mixture & mix on low using paddle attachment until combined. Switch to dough hook & add remaining 2 c flour, oats, and 1-1/2 tsp salt. Mix on low until incorporated, then increase speed to med & mix until dough pulls away from the bowl, about 7 minutes. 
Transfer dough to a bowl coated with nonstick spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours (mine took 90 min). Lift edges of dough away from bowl & press air bubbles out with your hands. 
Combine filling ingredients.
Coat a 9x13 pan with butter (I used cooking spray). Transfer dough to floured surface and gently press to remove any air bubbles. Divide dough in half and roll one piece into a 10x16-inch rectangle. 
Spread half the filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Starting at the short end, roll dough, jelly roll-style, into a log. Repeat rolling & rolling with second dough half. Freeze logs 10 minutes to firm. (Note: I started rolling the log on the LONG end to get smaller rolls.)
Slice each log into six (or 12) rolls and arrange in prepared pan. Cover with a towel & let rise until puffy, about an hour. Remove towel.  
Heat oven to 375. Bake rolls until brown, 30-35 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the frosting, beat all ingredients with a mixer until combined. 
Cool rolls in pan for 10 minutes, then top with frosting.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family & friends have!! 

Laura

"It's a new dawn, it's a new day...."

...it's a new blog for me, and I'm feeling semi-good. Since it's looking like I won't be teaching this year, I'm going to try to devote my time to other work. Namely, trying out new recipes, crochet patterns, sign painting and, hopefully, teaching myself to sew. Maybe throwing in learning to knit won't hurt, either. Anything to generate some income and keep myself from going crazy.

My goal is to post some new venture of one of the above each week. I want to challenge myself somehow. And if that challenge doesn't come from teaching music to teenagers, then it will come from expanding my repertoire of crafts and cooking/baking! And who knows...maybe I'll rediscover my love of writing while I'm at it. Once I get my Etsy shop up and running (it has the same name as this blog - see how easy I made it for myself?), I'll link it here.

Here's to a new start!!