Rhubarb Lemon Jam

I made this rhubarb jam a couple weeks ago. My pictures and my jam weren't quite as rosy and my water tends to leave a white film on my canning jars, so please, look at the photos from the link instead of my own. In fact, I'll post mine just so you can see how much paler my rhubarb was and how much my canning bath films up my jars. Anyone have a good solution for that? I fear it's our water.

In any event, it was a nice way to use up the bagful of rhubarb I'd bought. I actually found it at a garage sale and the woman sold me an entire grocery bag of it for $3! I couldn't believe my luck! The jam is super easy to make, doesn't require pectin, (which I adore!), and is great either on ice cream or on a bagel with cream cheese. It also makes a pretty killer PB&J, if you're into that sort of thing - which we are. If you halve this recipe, you could probably just use it all right away and not worry about canning it. I think it should be good in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.

Since you can access the recipe on their site and I didn't modify anything, I'll just let you mosey on over to leitesculinaria.com and check it out for yourself. It's one of my favorite recipe sites.

Oh, and p.s. Yes, I did use a plastic IKEA plate to test my jam on...don't judge.

Italian Meatloaf

There are certainly a gazillion meatloaf recipes out there and I have tried a lot of them. I think the best one was from my friend Zimmy but I lost that recipe and he's too lazy to send it to me again so I've been trying different ones along the way. (I'm pretty sure he's going to read this - he should RESEND IT!)

Fine Cooking had a whole feature on what I like to call "the meatloaf" in their Feb/March issue. I used the article as a starting point and worked with what I had and what I've found successful in the past. I had beef and some hot italian sausage in the freezer which I'd never combined before but I love anything with a little kick to it so decided to go for it! It made the biggest meatloaf I've probably ever seen, but I brought some to a friend and we had it for dinner/lunch a couple days so all was good in the world. This really is a pretty good comfort food for long Minnesota winters...

Italian Meatloaf:

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup milk

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1.5 lb ground beef

.5 lb hot italian sausage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and Pepper to taste

6-8 thin slices bacon

1/4 cup bbq sauce (I used Famous Daves Bold and Sassy)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium low heat. Cook onion, celery and carrot until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and simmer until almost dry, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool until warm but not hot.
3. In another bowl mix together the oatmeal, milk, Worcestershire sauce and fresh parsley. Stir until well combined and saturated.
4. Combine meat and eggs with the vegetables and oatmeal mixture. Season with salt and pepper and
using your hands, gently mix all the ingredients until just combined.
5. Transfer meatloaf mixture on a 9 x 13 baking pan and shape into a 4 x 10 rectangular block. Spread your bbq sauce over the top and lightly down the sides of the meatloaf and then criss cross the bacon strips over the meatloaf, trimming or tucking under if needed.
6. Bake 45 - 55 minutes or until done. Broil about 3 minutes to crisp up the bacon, if needed.
7. Let the meatloaf rest for 10 minutes and then cut into 1" slices and enjoy!

Mojo Chicken and Sticky Rice for Pete...

A good friend asked me for a chicken breast recipe this week and I have to say that they are the hardest thing for me to cook. I don't know why, but they just don't really do it for me during the winter months. Maybe because I really only love them marinated and grilled? I don't know. I often just make cutlets with them but other than that, I'm not all that creative with Chicken other than hotdish and enchiladas...


Anyway, I ADORE this recipe. Made it the first time 10 years ago and it's one of my favorite meals. It came from the cookbook, Bowl Food, which is also one of my favorite cookbooks. You should check it out!

Although this recipe is best when grilled, I've also made it indoors in a grill pan and even a regular frying pan - just make sure to drizzle a little olive oil in there and get it nice and hot before you start cooking.

Mojo-Marinated Chicken:

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh OJ
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato or canned, drained
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
2 Tbsp chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp green curry paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
4 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Combine the oj, oil, tomato, lime juice, vinegar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, curry paste, and turmeric in a blender or food processor and process until blended.
2. Place the chicken in a large glass baking dish. Pour the marinade over the chicken and turn the chicken to coat it. Cover and refrigerate for at least 5 hours, and as long as 8.
3. Preheat a grill until hot. (If cooking indoors, go ahead and set the stove for medium to medium high heat and lower the cooking time to 12-15 minutes.)
4. Drain the chicken, reserving the marinade. Arrange the chicken on the grill grate and cook until cooked through, about 20 mn total time, turning once. Slice into 1" thick pieces. Season with salt and pepper, then transfer to individual serving bowls.
5. Just before the chicken is done, bring the marinade to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil for 3-4 mn. Drizzle over chicken and serve.


Mango Coconut Rice:

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
2 cups sticky (pearl) rice, rinsed, drained and air dried (I've also just used regular rice and it worked out fine - just a little different texture)
3 cups water
1 cup unsweetened canned coconut milk
(NOTE - I use the whole can of coconut milk which I think is about 1.5 cups and then just use water to make up the difference otherwise what do I do with 1/2 cup of coconut milk?)
salt/pepper to taste
1 cup diced ripe mango
1/4 cup chopped scallions

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the shallots and saute' until translucent, about 5 mn.
2. Add the rice and stir for 5 mn. Add the water and coconut milk, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, until all liquid has been absorbed, 15-20 mn.
3. Remove from the heat and fold in the mango. Spoon the rice into individual serving bowls and sprinkle with the scallions.

Pita Bread

My daughter is in love with pita bread so we've been making it a lot lately at home.

I based my recipe off one in The Bread Bakers Apprentice Book and love it.

3 cups regular flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
1 pkt instant yeast (about 2 - 2-1/2 tsp)
4 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 - 1-1/2 cups water, room temperature

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, yeast,. honey, oil and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need all the water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.
2. Sprinkle flour on the counter and transfer the dough. Knead for about 10 mn or until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover it with plastic wrap.
4. Ferment at room temperature for 90 mn, or until the dough doubles in size
5. Separate the dough into 6 oz pcs (about 1/2 cup) and roll out into 9" circles, about 1/4" thick.
6. Preheat oven to 500 with  a pizza stone on the bottom most rack
7. Bake pita just until they inflate and form a pocket. Count to 10 and then remove them from the oven

Fabulous!!!

Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps

I love lettuce wraps. They make me happy. They make me SO happy in fact that I can't remember to take pictures of them before I gobble them up.
Here's a super easy recipe for how to make them!

Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps:


Ingredients:
1 Head Bibb lettuce or other full leaf lettuce. Iceberg even works well here.
1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Vegetable Oil
1 lb ground pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
Any other vegetable you'd like, diced (sometimes I add mushrooms, green beans, etc. )
1/2 cup hoisin, divided
1 tsp honey
juice from 1 lime
cilantro for garnish
green onion for garnish
sesame seed for garnish
chopped peanuts for garnish
peanut sauce (optional) to serve

Directions:
1. Seperate lettuce, rinse and drain. Set aside.
2. Mix 1/2 hoisin, honey and lime juice. Set aside for serving with the wraps.
3. Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in large pan over medium heat, add ground pork and cook until no longer pink. Drain and set aside.
4. Heat remaining olive oil in the same pan and add garlic and onion. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5. Add onion, red pepper and any other veggies you like and stir, 3-5 minutes
6. Add water chestunts and 1/4 cup hoisin, stir to combine and add pork back into mixture. Heat through.
7. You can either serve the garnishes on the side or sprinkle them all on top (what I do!) and serve alongside the lettuce wraps. Fill each cup with mixture and either the peanut or hoisin sauce.

Delicious!!

Owl Ring Holder

I have a weird personal dislike. I hate lotion, I hate the feeling of anything squishing between my fingers. This is probably why I rarely make anything that requires me to handle raw meat, although I suck it up and do it because I know that sometimes it's really worth it.

Recently, I discovered these really neat little ring holders that a friend of mine from college makes. They're made specifically for when you have to slip a ring off your finger (gross meat!) when you're cooking!
I seriously love this idea and am getting one for my kitchen. Plus, I sort of have a thing for Owls...

Here's a picture of my favorite one and a link to her etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Saltydapleco

Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup with Tarragon

I had 2 bags of frozen broccoli in the freezer and we don't really love it around here. I like the fresh, but the frozen stuff usually ends up a little mushy so I figured we'd try to make soup. I found this recipe on epicurious.com and thought I'd mix it up with my beer cheese soup. Seriously, I basically just winged it and it turned out pretty good!

Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup with Tarragon:


Ingredients:
4 Tbsp butter (1 stick)
2 - 12 oz bags frozen broccoli, defrosted
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup flour
1 - 12 oz can beer (I used miller lite since it was all we had...ATK recommends Miller High Life!)
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup whipping cream
8 oz cheddar cheese, finely grated
4 oz american cheese, finely grated or cut into small cubes.

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent but not browned, 5-6 mn. Add the garlic and cook another minute.

2. Stir in the flour and cook until golden, about a minute.

3. Slowly whisk in the broth and beer. Bring to a simmer, then add all but 1 cup of the broccoli.

4. Bring entire mixture to a simmer and reduce the heat to low and simmer gently (do not boil) until the broccoli is soft, about 20 mn.
5. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until completely smooth (safest done off the stove). 

6. Return soup to the stove, add the cream and simmer over medium low heat about 5-10 mn.

7. Whisk in the cheese a handful at a time, until smooth.

8. Add the remaining broccoli and simmer until cooked through, about 10 mn

8. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with homemade crackers!