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Homemade beanie weenies, yes please-y

It was a close thing when our power was out after the derecho that I almost made this week’s recipe of homemade beanie weenies hobo-style on a campfire. My sweetie rightfully reasoned, however, that the canned food would keep; the hot dogs and other freezer meat wouldn’t.

Beanie weenie ingredients.

We had the campfire (read: firepit) going and were T-minus about 20 minutes from having a meat feast when the branches were removed from our power lines and the refrigerator started running again. Many people haven’t been as lucky. 

While I was slightly bummed I was spared from making this on open flame, especially since the recipe even called for a campfire dinner, I must admit that it was nice to have the power back, the ability to control the temperature on the stove, and use my fancy Le Creuset and not worry about ruining its beautiful lilac finish. So, I opted for an indoor dinner. Plus, fewer biting bugs were a bonus! 

What I found is not only a delicious, if sorta trashy, meal but also my favorite baked beans recipe to date. 

The meal, while it worked perfect for the little skillet, did not leave any room for leftovers, and was rather hot dog-y. However, I am considering doubling it up, so I can have a better beans to hot dogs ratio, and just more of these yummy beans. 

The recipe was adapted from a Country Living recipe that just called for beans but had hot dogs with buns as part of the meal. Me, I saw hot dogs and beans and immediately knew I needed homemade beanie weenies. Frankly (pun most definitely intended), if we didn’t like it so much, there may have been leftovers. 

*drool*

Here’s what I did: 

Ingredients

  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 15 oz. can small white beans, drained and rinsed
  • 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained 
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 T. molasses
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 t. red wine vinegar
  • 2 t. Worcestershire sauce
  • 6 hot dogs, cooked and sliced (I cooked them in oil in the Le Creuset before cooking the beans, but you can cook the hot dogs however you prefer) 

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a 9- to 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, garlic, molasses, and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down. (I covered the skillet for part of the time to reserve some sauce, but I don’t think it was as necessary as I assumed it might be.) 

Add the hot dogs, and cook for another 5 minutes or so until the hot dogs are reheated and the flavors have slightly combined.

Remove from heat. Stir in the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and enjoy! 

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Fat, fluffy focaccia

Since the pandemic began, apparently people have been getting into bread baking. Not only are there the news stories but I have the anecdotal evidence that my sweetie had trouble finding active dry yeast during one of his recent weekly grocery trips.

However, for once, I was ahead of the curve. I have been making bread on the regular for years. And since my sweetie did go to a second store for the yeast, I am back in business now after nearly using up my stash when I made pizza a couple weeks ago.

I do get why it’s picked up in popularity, as it’s often cheaper especially than some fancier breads, and it’s a good distraction for a few hours. Those brave souls who nourish sourdough starters — which I did for a while during my bread year and beyond but didn’t survive the move to Ames — are even giving themselves ongoing time commitments.

What I’m saying is, like Oprah, I love bread.

Rosemary and olive focaccia bread ingredients.

One of my favorites is focaccia. What’s not to love about a lot of olive oil, and for me, the addition of olives and/or rosemary. While I’ve made this many times before, I couldn’t recall ever making it in a small skillet.

Thankfully, the wonderful Serious Eats had a no-knead (even better!) recipe that was designed for a 10-inch skillet. I figured my 9-inch Le Creuset would work after reading the directions. It did, but barely. I ended up with a much poofier loaf than anticipated; however, another thing I did wrong among expert breadmakers is I neglected the preferred weight measurements and instead went with the also provided cup measurements. In the end, I needed more water than the recipe called for, which likely means I used too much flour and ended up with a bigger loaf than I would have otherwise.

I could beat myself up about it … but in the end, there’s just more bread to love.

Though I’m sure weighted measurements are preferred (and given) for all but my additions, this still-somewhat-lazy baker would probably worry mostly about the flour and the water measurements in weights.

Crispy, crunchy bread.

Here’s what I did, adding my own tweaks:

Ingredients

  • 500 g. bread flour or all-purpose flour (~3 ¼ c.)
  • 10 g. kosher salt (~2 ½ t.)
  • 4 g. active dry yeast (~1 rounded t.)
  • 400 g. room temperature water (1 ½ c. plus 3 T.)
  • 68 g. olive oil (~5 T.), divided
  • ~3 sprigs rosemary, divided
  • ½ c. pitted kalamata olives, chopped
  • Coarse sea salt

Directions 

Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the water and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains, about 2 minutes (if you measured by cups, you may need to add additional water to combine). Add about 1 ½ T. (20 g.) olive oil and stir to incorporate, using hands if necessary to work into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

Remove plastic wrap (but keep!), and add about 2 sprigs worth of rosemary leaves, chopped if desired and all the olives. Then, use a lightly greased bowl scraper to fold the dough over itself by lifting and folding the edge of the dough toward the middle. Turn bowl and repeat the motion another 5 times (which should also help combine in the rosemary and olives). Re-cover with the plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Repeat the folding process one more time, and re-cover with the plastic wrap.

Then, refrigerate for at least 18 hours and up to 3 days.

To bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour, and then transfer to a work surface, and shape holding it with well-floured hands, tucking the dough underneath itself and rotating until it forms a tight ball.

Add about 2 T. (27 g.) olive oil into a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet and spread the oil over the entire inner surface using your hands. Transfer the dough to the pan, turn to coat it in the oil, and then position seam-side down. Spread gently with your hands to mostly fill the pan. Cover tightly and let rise at room temperature until dough is soft and puffy, about 1 ½ hours to 2 hours.

Heat oven to 500 degrees and position the rack in the lower third of the oven, when the dough is nearly ready.

Use your fingertips to gently press and stretch the dough to evenly fill all corners of the pan, lifting up the edges of the dough to let air bubbles underneath escape, and then create small dimples in the top of the dough. Drizzle the remaining 1 ½ T. (20 g.) olive oil over the top of the dough, and then sprinkle with coarse sea salt and the leaves from the remaining sprig of rosemary.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the skillet about halfway through the baking. (It seems hot, and I deviated from the directions here since I didn’t have a baking stone, but it works with some light charring on top but perfectly golden on the bottom; however, keep a closer eye on times given the high heat.) Remove from heat and let the focaccia cool in the skillet for 5 minutes, and then use a spatula to carefully remove the focaccia from the still-hot skillet and transfer the bread to a wire rack. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving, and enjoy!

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This is hell, time for purgatory eggs

Another week of self-isolation, another simple recipe for the end times.

My sweetie found this simple egg dish from the Add a Pinch blog that managed to use ingredients we mostly had lying around the house. We did end up needing to get more eggs by the time I worked up the energy to make it, but so much of the dish called “eggs in purgatory” includes household staples that make this a simple and tasty breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.

Eggs in purgatory ingredients.

As is typical when I try to poach eggs, I overcooked them. I pretend that one day I’m going to solve this but I have eaten eggs where the whites aren’t quite done and I would rather eat hard yolks for an eternity than have to eat underdone eggs ever again. So, I will live with my choices.

However, for you dear reader, know that 9 minutes is likely waayyyy too long; three minutes definitely was still too short, so somewhere in between is probably good.

Other than that (not very) helpful advice, the only other key is to use a good tomato sauce as it makes up most of the flavor. I ended up using a straight up pre-made pasta sauce, particularly arrabbiata, so if you have that on hand, it’s even better. Oh, and a good bread to serve this with makes this dish go from good to great.

So simple, so good.

Here’s what I did, slightly adapting the recipe:

Ingredients

  • ~1 T. olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 ¼ c. tomato sauce or pasta sauce (the more flavorful the better, but whatever you have on hand will work)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
  • ¼ t. red pepper flakes (I didn’t measure but did not use a lot as arrabbiata is already semi-spicy)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • ¼ c. fresh parsley, chopped, divided
  • 4 eggs
  • ¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
  • Toasted bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Drizzle olive oil into a 9- or 10-inch skillet set over medium heat. Once the skillet warms, add the onions and cook about 3 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

Then, stir in the tomato/pasta sauce, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper. Add about half of the parsley and cook for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and flavors to meld.

Break eggs into each quarter of the skillet on top of the sauce (the recipe, of course, says to place it into a small bowl first, but I’ve never dirtied another dish *embarrassed face*). Top with the grated cheese and any additional salt and pepper, as desired.

Cover the skillet and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are done to desired level (see note above for how long-ish to do that). Remove from heat, sprinkle on the remaining parsley, and any additional cheese, and enjoy with a fancy bread!

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But there’s time now … for caramelized onions

I still can’t get over the fact that since the caucuses have ended, my weekends seem freer. Sure, I’m doing my damnedest to fill them up still, but it’s nothing compared to the anxiety of door-knocking, waiting for door knocks, ignoring the multiple calls and texts a day, and all the ways that I worried about the results. (Going to resist a joke about being careful what I wish for here, but needless to say, it’s not like the weeks since have been any smoother for this recovering political reporter.)

So, with an entire extra day of my weekend to do nothing but clean, go to the library, and talk to my mom, I decided it was a good use of my time to once again try to caramelize onions. It has never once turned out the way it looks on TV and in magazines, but it has continued to taste pretty good. This time was no exception.

Surprise, caramelized onions ingredients include mostly onions.

Also, thanks to a picture-filled guide from Food & Wine, I had more guidance, and a good use for my finished product in a quiche.

That’s right. This is a two-fer.

Caramelized onion quiche ingredients.

However, I quickly disposed of the quiche recipe provided and substituted my own version that mirrored something my sweetie had made before. I learned the joys of adding walnuts to a pie crust, of the potentially overwhelming flavor of moldy cheese, and of the fact that a braiser is an amazing pie dish (As a long-time pie lady, I will remember that last one!).

Even if the onions overcooked, didn’t get as moist, and blackened the bottom of my pan, it really only sped up the process of cooking the onions (and reminding me again to adapt!), and they tasted fine. My only regret on the onions is halving the recipe that means we ended up with just enough left over after the cup that went into the quiche to add to the top of two veggie burgers.

For the quiche, I skipped the 1 c. of diced ham, and replaced it with walnuts and Gorgonzola, about a cup-ish of each. However, the 4 oz. of Gorgonzola was a tiny bit overwhelming for me, even as my sweetie adored its flavor. In addition, I added some parsley and some pepper, and tested adding about a half cup of ground walnuts into the pie crust for extra walnut flavor.

The crust was an extra joy, and I have plans for doing that again already. Everything else was also a joy, though YMMV with the Gorgonzola.

It actually couldn’t have been a better way to celebrate the day off than to spend it in the kitchen making something this special.

Couldn’t resist eating some before taking a picture. Oops.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients 

For the caramelized onions

  • 2 lb. yellow onions, halved and sliced vertically
  • 2 t. vegetable oil
  • 2 t. salt
  • ~¼ to ½ c. water

For the quiche

  • 1 pie crust (my typical is 1 ¼ c. flour, 8 T. butter, 1 t. salt, ice water to form; with this I used ¾ c. flour and added ½ c. ground walnuts… but any crust will due)
  • 1 c. caramelized onions
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • 2 to 4 oz. Gorgonzola (use according to your love of Gorgonzola; 4 oz. was a bit much for me)
  • 1 c. chopped walnuts
  • 2 T. chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

For the caramelized onions

Heat the oil in a 9- to 10-inch skillet or braiser on the stove top over medium-high heat. Add half the onions, turning to coat them in oil. Cook for about 2 minutes, and then add the remaining onions by the handful, using tongs to continue to coat the onions. The pan will be kind of full, but the onions will reduce, and continue to reduce. Once the onions are added, continue to cook for about 3 more minutes, adding salt to draw more moisture out. Reduce heat to medium, cover the skillet (braiser), and cook about 10 more minutes, when hopefully a pool of liquid will have collected (it didn’t for me). Remove lid, and continue to cook the onions, folding them over each other and scraping the bottom of the pan as necessary. Cook until liquid has evaporated, about 35 minutes. (If like me, there’s not much liquid, just keep stirring and cooking and gauge by color, not by time.) Scrape the bottom of the pan and shape the onions into a patty; add water as/if they stick to the pan, until the browned bits are loosened as much as possible. Keep cooking, stirring often, until the onions look the color of bourbon (that’s from the recipe but good advice!), up to another 35 to 45 minutes, as needed. Remove from heat and use/serve as desired.

For the quiche

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll out the pie dough to fit in a 9- to 10-inch braiser, or skillet. Lay the dough into the braiser/skillet, pressing around the edges, and shaping the ends as desired. Poke with a fork, layer with pie weights or aluminum foil and dried beans. Bake for about 15 minutes, until parboiled.

Meanwhile, in a large boil, mix together the eggs, cream, onions, gorgonzola, walnuts, parsley, and salt and pepper.

When the crust is ready, remove pie weights, and pour in the egg mixture.

Carefully place braiser/skillet back in the oven, and bake for about 35 minutes until the eggs have set and the top is browned, and enjoy!

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Bless you, bing bread

As I scoured for recipes that may work in my little Le Creuset, I was so grateful to come across the first one that I noticed that specified an exact size for a skillet. Now, sure, it said 10 inches, but 9 inches is close enough for comfort.

So, I tried my hand at bing bread.

Bing bread ingredients.

In addition to its specified size, it is bread (good) stuffed with potatoes (good), scallions (good), bacon (amazing), and cheese (amazing), and then slightly fried and also baked. It was also supposed to incorporate sesame oil, which I love, but I forgot to put it in the rolled-up dough, and stupidly thought it’d be OK to add it with the frying oil. Don’t do that. It didn’t ruin it, but it didn’t help any either.

If I make it again, and I will make it again, I will be remembering to brush the dough with sesame oil and skimping on the frying oil. Also, I need to remember that a smaller pan is going to reduce cooking time.

Since this makes two bread rounds, I was lazy and made one in my Le Creuset and the other in the 10-inch Lodge skillet, and (I am loathe to admit) the larger pan definitely worked better. However, I think it’s mainly because I failed to account for the fact that smaller pans could cook faster.

While the fried side of both definitely looked a bit charred, they both ended up tasting just fine. I think the extra oil mostly made the edges a little chewier, but it didn’t taste burnt at all. Proof that presentation isn’t everything, especially when you have bacon and can top it with sour cream butter.

Deliciously decadent. And not too burnt.

Here’s what I did, following the thankfully specific Bon Appetit recipe:

Ingredients

  • 2 ¼ t. active dry yeast (1 package)
  • 2 T. plus 2 t. honey, divided
  • 2 ½ t. salt, divided
  • 2 c. plus 2 T. warm water, divided
  • 4 c. all-purpose flour, plus more for coating
  • 1 large potato, baked and diced
  • 3 T. vegetable oil, divided
  • 1 lb. bacon, cooked (I baked mine on a grate) and diced
  • 2 T. toasted sesame oil, divided (sort of optional since I mostly forgot, but it is delicious)
  • 8 oz. white cheddar, grated (about 2 c.)
  • 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
  • 1 T. soy sauce
  • 2 T. sesame seeds, divided

For sour cream butter (not strictly necessary but recommended)

  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 2 T. sour cream
  • Scant 1 t. salt

Directions

Combine the yeast with the 2 T. honey, 2 t. salt, and 2 c. warm water in a large bowl, and whisk to dissolve the honey. Let sit until the yeast activates and becomes foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add 3 c. of water and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form, adding flour (up to about another cup) until a shaggy ball begins to form. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 50 to 70 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bacon and potatoes if you haven’t already (I did mine early and just chopped while I waited). Also, while waiting, whisk together the soy sauce, 2 t. honey, and 2 T. water in a small bowl until the honey is dissolved.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Once dough has doubled in size, gently push it down and transfer to a floured surface, kneading and adding flour as necessary until a sticky, smooth dough is formed. Divide the dough in half, and cover one half in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out while you prepare the first.

Roll out the half of a dough into about a 13-inch round that’s about ¼ inch thick. Brush with 1 T. sesame oil (don’t forget!), and then sprinkle on the round half the potato, bacon, cheese, and scallions. Roll dough up like a jelly roll, and then pinch ends and seams together to seal. Then, squeeze and press from the center toward the ends to elongate the roll slightly and even out the thickness. Then, starting from one end, coil like a rope to form a large spiral. Flatten the spiral to form a 9-inch round.

Cover the round and repeat with the remaining dough, using up the rest of the sesame oil, potato, bacon, cheese, and scallion.

Heat a 9- to 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 T. vegetable oil, swirling to coat. Carefully place one spiral in the hot skillet, and brush with the soy glaze. Cover with lid (or aluminum foil) and cook until the underside is golden brown between 5 and 10 minutes. Uncover and carefully flip bread over. Brush the browned top with soy glaze and sprinkle with 1 T. sesame seeds. Transfer to oven and cook, uncovered, until underside is also golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack and let cool 15 minutes.

Repeat with second round (or use 2 9- to 10-inch skillets), and don’t forget the glaze and seeds. Once cooled, cut into wedges and serve with sour cream butter, which can be made ahead, and enjoy! To make butter, whisk 1 stick room temperature butter, 2 T. sour cream, and scant 1 t. salt.

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Chicken soup for the solstice

As we wind down the year, I have to admit 2019 has not been the best. There have been some highs for sure but, man, the daily slog of life has taken its toll this year.

But as we approach the shortest day of the year, and then the day after when the sun shines a little more each day, I’m reminded to be grateful for all the little things that add up to big stuff.

This week that meant taking a mental break from the news. My podcasts were mostly pop culture and holiday themed. My television viewing mostly consisted of Rifftrax and MST3K. The little bit of news that did seep through included the fact that we finally impeached the motherfucker.

One other thing that helped keep my mind off of it all was the days-long process to make the most epic of comfort foods, chicken noodle soup.

Chicken noodle soup ingredients.

Don’t let the “days-long” scare you. The first day was making a broth, which was about 5 minutes of effort and an hour of down time, and can be done in advance (I often make it and freeze for future use). The second day was baking a whole chicken, which was about 10 minutes of effort (including deglazing) and 1 ½ hours of down time, which can also be done in advance.

The last day was a little more labor intensive (I watched most of the Grumpy Cat Christmas movie while I cooked), but that included some cleaning, my required blogging pictures, and some dawdling. Still, picking apart a whole chicken takes time and so does chopping the extra vegetables that make my ideal chicken noodle soup.

The recipe is based off of a very fancy Saveur recipe that I’ve made before but I added some things to make it fit my ideal of the dish. Including the fact that it is mostly a chicken noodle stew by the time I’m finished. I still kept their parts, just also added some of my own.

There’s a little bit of broth poking through. Right?

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, about 3-4 lbs.
  • 2 T. olive oil, plus more for sauteing
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 12 c. chicken stock, divided
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 3 c. frozen corn kernels
  • 1 t. crushed saffron threads
  • 12 oz. egg noodles (I had a 14 oz. package and threw in the whole thing plus an additional cup of broth)
  • Crusty bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9 x 13 inch dish (a Dutch oven would probably work, but a casserole dish is what I used), rub the chicken with the olive oil and then season well with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken until golden brown and tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Carefully transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the oil, etc, in the baking dish.

Once dish is slightly cooled, pour 2 c. of the stock into the baking dish and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom. (I waited until both broth and dish were pretty cool, and still had no problems, and then poured it into a separate container than the rest of the broth before bringing the whole dish together the next day.)

Once chicken is cool enough to handle or the next day, pick meat from the chicken and tear or chop into bite-sized pieces. You can discard the skin and bones, or freeze them, like I do, for a future chicken stock.

When ready to complete the soup, saute the onions, celery, and carrots in a little bit of oil for about 5 minutes in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Then, pour in the remaining 10 cups of stock and add in the 2 c. from the deglaze (which will look like gravy if you’ve refrigerated it overnight, like I did) as well as the chicken pieces. Add the corn and saffron to the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and continue to cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until the stock is slightly reduced.

Add the egg noodles and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until cooked through. Season the soup with more salt and pepper, if desired. Enjoy, and happy holidays, dear readers!

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She’s got to have gumbo

With this post, I have only two more weeks with the Dutch oven, and I’ve had those last two recipes planned for a little while now.

The only question was what to do for my third to last post of the year. And as I searched through my list, and knowing that I had a recent shipment of Cajun meats, there really could only be one answer: Gumbo.

Gumbo ingredients.

Ever since I first tried this stew/soup, this Midwestern gal has loved every bit of it. The meat, the vegetables, the fat, the roux, the way the flavors combine, and the way it all comes together in a beautiful presentation.

I’ve made it several different ways over the years, one time cheekily making it vegetarian by using fake chicken meat and sausage. My typical method, though, involves actual chicken and andouille sausage.

But this time I’d ordered some tasso ham (and, of course, some andouille sausage) from my favorite D’artagnan along with some other meat I need for my last Dutch oven meal of the year. And I happened to have about a pound of shrimp in my freezer. I’d never made it with seafood or ham but gumbo is nothing if not adaptable.

Readers, I think it was my finest attempt yet. Of course, I probably say that every time (OK, the vegetarian one was not the best). It’s just amazing.

It doesn’t look delicious, but trust me, this is some of the best tasting food in the world. And I have leftovers.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • ½ c. oil/fat (lard or butter are my preferences)
  • ½ c. flour
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 ½ bell pepper, chopped
  • 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 10 oz. okra, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 quarts chicken stock (preferably homemade, and most stocks would work … maybe not beef)
  • ½ T. paprika (I like a combo of smoked and hot)
  • Cayenne pepper, to taste
  • 2 t. garlic powder
  • 2 t. oregano
  • 1 t. celery seeds (optional)
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 lb. peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced
  • ~1 lb. tasso ham, chopped (or other ham)
  • 1 bunch scallions, sliced, for serving
  • Chopped parsley, to taste, for serving
  • Cooked white rice, for about 6 servings

Note: The spices can be substituted with creole seasoning if preferred.

Directions

Brown the sausage and ham in your Dutch oven. Then remove the meat but keep as much schmutz as possible.

Add the oil/butter/lard to the Dutch oven and melt or warm (I’m partial to a mix of bacon fat and butter). Slowly add the flour and whisk to form a roux.

Cook the mixture until it’s somewhere between golden brown to coffee brown, depending on desired thickness and flavor profile. (This link provides a good explainer on how to make a roux and the pros and cons of cooking shorter or longer.)

Add the bell pepper, onion, and celery, and cook for about 5 minutes until slightly softened, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, continuing to stir.

Add the okra, herbs, spices, salt and pepper, and then slowly add the stock, stirring frequently. Add back in the sausage and ham. Bring to a boil, then cover, and simmer for about an hour.

Prepare the rice while the soup cooks. Just before serving, add the shrimp, and cook for about another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice the scallions and chop the parsley. Spoon rice into a bowl and then ladle on the soup. Top with scallions and parsley and enjoy!

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Christinia’s Test Kitchen: Putting the scotch in butterscotch this Thanksgiving

As I’m starting to think about what vessel to use for next year’s cooking adventures, I realized that I haven’t always used my wonderful Dutch oven to its full potential. That is, I’ve often made the types of things you *expect* to be made in a Dutch oven but not those things that you don’t.

This week presented the perfect opportunity to remind myself that it can do just about anything.

Now, traditionally I make my pudding (or custard) in a tall, skinny saucepan, but honestly, there’s no reason that it can’t be made in Dutch oven. In fact, the wider surface area helped with getting the mixture to boil and bubble better and cause less trouble.

So, I gave it a shot with this fantastic sounding butterscotch pudding recipe in Food & Wine’s Thanksgiving edition.

Butterscotch pudding ingredients.

I mentioned last week, I’m a traditionalist when it comes to Thanksgiving, so my typically dessert consists of bourbon pecan pie and either pumpkin pie or some similar variation (basically, anything that calls for pumpkin spice–even though I mix my own–whether it’s a pumpkin souffle or sometimes a sweet potato pie). Sure, there’s no harm in extra dessert, but I wasn’t expecting I’d make this if it weren’t for the excuse presented by this year’s travel plans.

What I learned is, uh, the scotch you use matters, even if the vessel didn’t so much.

I am (now) a big scotch person, after my sweetie and I took our highlands honeymoon. So, when the recipe called for actual scotch (rum as a substitute, but it’s not called butter*rum* pudding), I looked at my vast collection of decent scotches, picked the cheapest (still a nice one), and one of the strongest, and then learned that scotch is pretty much the only flavoring agent so the peaty-ness stuck.

Of course, because I like that scotch (a Laphroaig), I still enjoyed it, but I was not expecting its exact flavor to permeate through all the cream, egg, and butter. It did. If you are a scotch nerd like me, this translates to recommending that you probably don’t use an Islay or islands whisky and instead stick to a safe Speyside. If you’re not a scotch nerd, just consider if you actually like that scotch (or rum) flavor and want to taste a lot of it.

It’s also mixed with a sour cream-based whipped cream and gingersnaps so there’s a lot of flavors to mix and the scotch did not overwhelm all the other flavors; still, it was present. We honestly did enjoy it quite a bit, even with its stronger flavor, but for those who don’t love scotch, be sure to pick one you *do* like, or I guess, go with rum.

Happy Thanksgiving from me to you, and enjoy!

Here’s what I did, sticking to the recipe (which thankfully I have the print version of, as the online version is missing a key ingredient. Side note: Employ and Pay copy editors!!):

Ingredients

For the pudding

  • 1 ½ c. heavy cream
  • 2 c. whole milk, divided
  • 1 c. packed brown sugar (it calls for dark, I believe we had light)
  • 1 ¼ t. salt
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • ¼ c. cornstarch
  • 2 T. dark rum or scotch (again, consider it is going to flavor the pudding so pick something you like)
  • 2 t. vanilla extract
  • 1 stick (½ c.) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

For the whipped cream

  • 1 c. heavy cream
  • ½ c. sour cream (or creme fraiche, but sour cream is cheaper and easier to find)
  • 3 T. powdered sugar
  • ½ t. vanilla extract

For serving

  • 2 c. gingersnaps, crushed

Directions

For the pudding

In a large Dutch oven, stir together the heavy cream, 1 ½ c. milk, brown sugar, and salt in a Large Dutch oven. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking often to dissolve the sugar.

Meanwhile, in a large heat-proof bowl, mix together the egg yolks, cornstarch, scotch/rum, vanilla, and remaining ½ c. milk, and stir until combined. Once the mixture in the Dutch oven is at a simmer, add about half of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture, and whisk to combine, before scraping the entire mixture back into the Dutch oven.

Continue to cook the pudding mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes bubbly and thickens, about 2 to 3 minutes once bubbling starts.

Pour mixture into a clean heat-proof bowl, and gradually add the butter pieces, whisking or stirring to combine after each addition. Press wax paper or plastic wrap directly on the pudding mixture once all the butter is incorporated, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to overnight (or up to 3 days).

Before serving, combine all the ingredients for the whipped cream (cream, sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla) in a bowl for a stand mixer with whisk attachment or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer and whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Then, crush the gingersnaps.

To serve, add about ½ c. pudding to a bowl or glass, top with about 3 T. crushed gingersnaps (I didn’t measure), about ⅓ c. whipped cream, and then sprinkle another small handful of gingersnaps on top. Repeat with remaining bowls or glasses, either all at once, or as serving, and enjoy with some scotch perhaps, or more importantly with the friends and/or family that make you thankful. Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!

 

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Ghoul-ash!

I know it’s a day past Halloween, but I couldn’t resist a terrible pun. That’s right, I made goulash, or ghoul-ash for the spooky set.

Goulash ingredients.

My friend and gaming buddy Jenny made goulash in a crock pot earlier this year for one of our epic Pathfinder games, and I immediately fell in love. And, more importantly, I thought that it would be an amazing dish for my Dutch oven year.

It just took about half a year to get to it. Thankfully, she was able to track down the recipe and then remember what she actually did for the most part, and then, I took that and adapted it yet again and added some ingredients she omitted and some ingredients from another recipe.

Authentic Hungarian it probably is not. But Jenny’s recipe was so good I wanted to eat it again, and none of the other recipes were nearly as inspiring as hers.

Also, spooky it is not. I just happened to make it this time of year. Maybe it’s just dressed up as a ghoul? I tried. Sorry.

There was so much. There was so much paprika. It was great. Sorry it’s gone.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 oz.) box rotini (or medium pasta), cooked according to package directions
  • 1 ½ lb. ground beef, lean
  • 2 T. vegetable oil
  • 2 medium onions, diced
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
  • 4 to 5 T. paprika (a mix of smoky and spicy if you’ve got it, or whatever you like, to taste)
  • 2 cloves garlic (I used the jar stuff)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 8 oz. shredded cheddar

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, brown the meat in a large Dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat, about 10 minutes. Add the oil and onions, carrots, and bell pepper, and cook another 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add the diced and crushed tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, paprika, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil, which shouldn’t take long.

Remove from heat, and stir in the cooked pasta and cheddar.

Cover the goulash, and bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

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Lazy, lovely layered lasagna

I was scrolling through Twitter one fine day keeping up on the shitshow that is our current American political system when I was distracted by something not actually terrible, an Epicurious video.

The short clip I watched without sound was a recipe for slow-cooker lasagna. I thought it sounded amazing, except, you know, I wanted to make it in my Dutch oven.

Lasagna ingredients.

Now, I’ve made lasagna a lot and I have a couple of favorites, so instead of watching the video again, I just sort of guessed/remembered/assumed what I should do to put together my own dish.

Except for the fact that I did a terrible job of evenly distributing my filling, the lasagna was amazing. I mean, most times I make lasagna, there’s too many noodles to fit but this time, oof, I really distributed poorly for the layers. But all was not lost. I just made sure to take from the better filled areas and the less filled areas and made it work.

However, if you, dear reader, try the same, be sure to go light on the filling as you roll up the noodles.

Now, having made lasagna a few different ways during my time, starting with the traditional-ish, I have to say my favorite is still actually the sheet pan recipe because I like my lasagna crispy. But if you really like the saucy bits, this one is for you. And either way, good lasagna is good lasagna, so this was quite good.

BRB, there’s more in the fridge.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

  • 1 box lasagna noodles, cooked to package directions
  • 32 oz. jar of arrabbiata sauce, or red pasta sauce to your liking
  • 1 (15 oz.) tub ricotta
  • 3 c. mozzarella, shredded, divided
  • 1 c. Parmesan cheese, shredded, divided
  • 4 oz. feta, crumbled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 (10 oz.) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
  • 10 oz. marinated artichokes, chopped
  • ½ T. basil, chopped
  • ½ T. dried oregano
  • ½ T. dried rosemary
  • 1 t. red pepper flakes, optional
  • Pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together the ricotta, 1 c. mozzarella, ⅓ c. Parmesan, egg, spinach, artichokes, and the herbs and spices, until well mixed. EVENLY spread the mixture onto about 14 lasagna noodles, more if necessary, and roll the noodles lengthwise.

Poor about ¼ of the sauce onto the bottom of a Dutch oven. Add about half the rolled noodles to the Dutch oven; sprinkle with 1 c. mozzarella, ⅓ c. Parmesan, and half the feta, and about half the remaining sauce. Place the remainder of the rolled noodles on top, and then top with the remaining sauce, and cheeses.

Cover the Dutch oven and bake for about 30 minutes; then, remove from heat and remove the lid. Bake another about 20 to 30 minutes, uncovered, until the cheese is browned on top. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!