'Tis the Season to Be Busy

How has it been a week since my last post? I have been cooking, I have been eating...and yet every time I sit down it is not in front of the computer but instead at the end of a day filled with activities whether they be work, school or Christmas related! As a matter of fact, as I write this my husband is at Christmas play practice and my son is down for a nap and I just pulled the last dozen of four of sausage balls made for my husband's office and once the little guy gets up, we are making cookies for my office. Whew!

But the holidays should also be a time for reflection as we celebrate the wonderful gift the world was given. I look forward to the time with family and friends, the time off of work and the simple pleasure of good food and company. As the year winds down, my posts may be infrequent but I will continue to share what I learn and love about food. Take advantage of the Christmas season to make something for a neighbor or a friend. Break bread with a family member you haven't spent time with in a while. Donate your extra canned goods to your local food bank. There is no mystery as to why the holiday season brings on food...it brings us together.

Merry Christmas in advance dear readers...I look forward to many more holidays and celebrations to share with you!

Steal of the Week: Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis

This might look like a lot of ingredients...but I promise every single last one of them is worth it! Including the fresh breadcrumbs, which I made from an orphan slice of whet bread. And all of this (except the ground sirloin not pictured) was for another Cooking Light recipe that not only I, but the rest of my family got excited for: Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis. 

All of the ingredients come together VERY easy, and although with traditional meatloaf recipes I am always hesitant to make a "free form" loaf outside of a pan, the six mini-loaves the recipe called for were easy to make and retained their shape beautifully:

My family are HUGE meatloaf fans so the thought of them each getting their own loaf was highly attractive. I also followed the recipe to the letter, even using the ketchup which I am admittedly not the hugest fan of. However it really worked in the recipe, even as the topping the recipe calls for...as the final product clearly shows:

My one learning moment was probably that I didn't dice my cheese small enough, thus the excessive spillage in the pan. However, that also created a lot of cheesy goodness inside the loaf. Both husband and step-daughter had two and served with instant mashed potatoes (hey, Betty Crocker makes some good ones and a mid-week meal is hard enough!) and the ever popular corn, and you have a meal that hopefully brings back good childhood memories. 

I see a lot of potential in "gourmeting" these up a bit for company but in the meantime, we have another recipe tested and approved by my family. 

Meatless Monday: Brownies on the Lighter Side

I have often made the statement that "I don't bake" right? For years I have stood by my mantra of being a cook and not a baker....but after hearing Tom Colicchio chastise many a chef on Top Chef for a similar mantra, I decided I couldn't stand on that principle anymore. So I have started slowly, cheating with mixes and taking baby steps to doing some real baking. I have a huge chocolate fan on my hands, also known as my husband, and a step-daughter also with mad-love for the baked good, so I have been experimenting a little more each week.

Recently, when I saw the Cooking Light recipe for classic fudge brownies I had to give it a go! And having recently purchased my first digital kitchen scale, I was determined to follow the recipe to the letter. Actually one of the reasons I have shied away from baking has been the lack of creative freedom I always thought it had, Now I am learning there is still room for changes and creativity, once you get the basics down pact! Even with this recipe I made a few changes (like no nuts for my no nuts in brownies gang) and felt good about the results.

The recipe and Cooking Light as a rule always recommends that for the best light recipes, you have to have quality ingredients where it counts. In this case, I went high quality chocolate:

And because it was baking, I worked really hard to prepare a proper mise en place:

One big change I made was to substitute half of the sugar for Splenda. I wasn't brave enough to make a full substitution but thought the half and half would work out well. I also substituted dark chocolate chips for the chopped chocolate portion of the recipe. The batter seemed a good consistency and into the oven it went:

Now here was a case of me not reading the ENTIRE recipe before proceeding. I missed the pan size portion of the recipe. Their recipe calls for a 9x9 but at the bottom mentions you can use an 8x8 but need to cook them about 5 minutes longer. Missed that completely so it is entirely possible I pulled these out three times before they were done! But they did come out looking good. The real test was going to be my two chocolate treat experts. Husband demanded a second one after inhaling the first.

This is the picture of my step-daughter when I joked about taking the brownie from her:

So this recipe is a keeper...and I look forward to perfecting it a bit. Personally I thought they were a little too fudgy but the experts all chimed in that they were perfect as is...maybe I will just make a batch with nuts for me sometime!

Appetizer Alert: Sausage and Cheese Puffs

'Tis the season for pot lucks and parties! After Thanksgiving it's like the entire calendar bursts at the seems with events and activities leading up until Christmas and then extending until New Year's Day. If it's not stuff at church or entertaining people at your home, your office is asking you to sign up to bring something. These sausage and cheese puffs (commonly called in my house "Sausage Balls") are easy and delicious and were a given when I was growing up whenever my parents threw a party. My mom wrote the recipe down for me years ago, and while I know it came from either Bisquick or some other source, I still credit my mom for keeping them in fashion all these years!

Sausage and Cheese Puffs
1 pound hot or sweet Italian sausage
1 pound shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 cups of biscuit mix (like Bisquick)
3/4 cup of water

Preheat oven to 400. If you purchase your Italian sausage in links, remove it from the casings. I have used various types of sausage over the years including pork roll sausage in various flavors. My husband likes it when I make it with the hot sausage. Last time I made them I made one batch with regular pork roll sausage and one with Hot Italian sausage. This recipe is different from others I have seen because it asks you to cook the meat until no longer pink (about 8-10 minutes) until it is crumbled. Then you make sure to drain the fat. A slotted spoon over to plates lined with paper towels always do the trick for me.

Once the sausage has cooled completely, spoon it it into a large bowl and add the cheese, biscuit mix and water. Mix with a fork just until blended...do not over mix!

Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on large cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake 12-15 minutes or until puffed and browned.

Remove and cool on wire racks. 

These can be made ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated. They also freeze very well. While good warm or even at room temperature, they are best hot. I have also experimented with different cheeses and add-ons (like green chilies!). These are a go-to for me just like they were for my mom. And these two batches that I made for my office? Were gone in two hours!

Wordless Wednesday: BACON!

Try Bacon - Ladies Ringed Tee by TheCookCrook
Browse Try T-Shirts

Monthly Menu Planning - December Menu

I can't believe that Thursday is December 1st!! Everyone says time flies when you have kids, but I think 2011 went by with supersonic speed! The menu is probably a little over-ambitious this month with it being the holiday season and subject to change with Christmas parties and such, but I like being prepared!

I am definitely trying a few new recipes this month and bringing back some favorites. It's chilly and rainy where I am tonight...so tonight it is chili for dinner!

Happy menu planning!

Meatless Monday: The End of Thanksgiving

Sick of turkey yet?

Even if I did cook a 14-pound turkey for just me, my husband and son and then inexplicably also cook enough sides for as many people as a 14-pound turkey could feed..I do enjoy Thanksgiving because it is THE holiday dedicated to eating. As the below photo shows:

Did I mention this was for just me, my spouse and our 4-year old?

Anyway, there is turkey pot pie filling in the crock-pot while we speak , augmented by leftover veggies. Speaking of veggies, with it being Meatless Monday I thought I would share some vegetable dishes starting with 3 different broccoli preparations from my favorite Cooking Light::

Cheddar Beer Sauce Broccoli

Broccoli with Red Pepper and Toasted Garlic

Lemon Parmesan Broccoli

I made my broccoli for Thanksgiving in the spirit of their lemon broccoli but having used all the lemons during my other prep and cooking I improvised with leftover lemon Caesar dressing…quite good!

Next it’s a good time to revisit those mashed sweet potatoes because since according to my husband I made 3 pounds of them, I had leftovers I used in a sweet potato cheesecake:

Finally I direct your attention to my new favorite easy and tasty appetizer/side item: spicy saltines! These went fantastic with a good friend’s famous white chicken chili at the recent college football tailgate. Literally there are 4 ingredients: 1 ¼ cup canola oil, 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper, 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix, 1 box of saltines:

Have a great post-Thanksgiving week everyone! Next blog will be the December menu…only 27 days until Christmas!

Wordless Wednesday: Part II Turkey Has a Bath

Wordless Wednesday: And so it begins....

Sunday Supper: Mom's Chili

I learned to make chili from my mom and a few years ago she gave me her recipe. She can't remember where she got it from but it's the chili she has cooked for years and I get to share the recipe with you!

Mom's Chili

Ingredients

• 2.5 lb ground chuck
  
• 2 cups chopped onion
  
• 1 chopped green pepper
  
• 2 cloves garlic pressed
  
• 3 Tbsp chili powder
  
• 1.5 tsp oregano
  
• 1 tsp basil
  
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
  
• 2 tsp ground cumin
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 2 tsp salt
  
• 2 cans whole tomatoes, undrained
  
• 2 cans tomato sauce
  
• 1 can tomato paste
  
• 2 cans kidney beans, light and dark or both same
  

Cooking Directions

1. Cook meat until no longer pink and then drain. 
2. Reserve meat and add onion and green pepper to pan. 
3. Next add garlic and all remaining spices. 
4. Stir in the ground beef and the remaining ingredients except beans. 
5. Bring to a boil. 
6. Simmer 1 hour and then add the beans.
7. Cook another 15 minutes.
   

Simple right? Now me being me and The Cook Crook after all, I don't actually follow this recipe to the letter. In fact, since Sunday's meal was in fact chili, I started it this morning before we all headed to church. Once I browned my meat and reserved it, I sauteed both red and yellow onion and omitted the green pepper all together. My husband likes spice so too the mix I added some fresh chili peppers from this handy kitchen helper:

I live by these little tubes now!

Anyway, I then added 1 can of diced tomatoes and green chiles and a new product made by Hunt's that is tomato sauce seasoned for chili. The only change I made to the spices in mom's recipe was I cut back to 2 tablespoons of chili powder instead of 3 to account for the seasoned sauce. With no other tomatoes or suace added, this by itself would make wonderful hot dog chili!

Today the chili went into the slow cooker and I added the remaining ingredients and if you were in my house right now, you would definitely smell chili! Nothing like it when it cooks all day and those flavors come together!

I love chili and have won a few chili competitions just by experimenting with my Mom's basic recipe. Have any chili tips to share? Let me know! And as always send in your "cook crook" moments as I would love to share them.

The Reality of Putting Yourself Out There

One week with no blogging makes a food writer crazy! I had every intention of sitting down and composing a bunch of different pieces but the world outside of food blogging wasn't having it. First it was preparation for and the running of an arbitration for my paid profession. Then my car suddenly dies one morning, was thankfully jumped and started, but then needed $7000 in repairs. Yep, that was my week.

But life is funny...and the world often seems to sometimes equal itself out. When I came home Wednesday from my ill-fated trip to the car repair place I realized I had missed a call on my cell phone. It was from a young lady named Katie calling from Master Chef. Yes you read that right. They are taking applications for Master Chef Season 3 and I one night in a whirlwind of inspiration decided to apply. So my application had made it through and here she was inviting me to the Open Call casting in Washington DC on Saturday.

Then I had a decision to make. I have had an experience with a reality cooking show and although a local based competition, once you cook under the pressure of 1 hour or 45 minutes there is nothing like it....and you find yourself wanting to do it again but on the other hand, the competition was Saturday and I had an unreliable car and what was I going to make, and when would I drive up for a 10am start, and where would I stay and what would it be like..and...and....

And my friends. My fabulous friends who are my family. My friends told me I would be crazy not to go. My dear friend Kandice offered to drive. My friends Jim and Jennifer offered up a place to stay the night before at Bigglesworth Manor (their home which deserves the name by the way). Other friends offered up places to stay and ideas and someone to watch my son and there was so much support that even if I tried to talk myself out of it, they wouldn't have let me.

So Friday afternoon Kandice and I drove up to Northern Virginia and stayed the night with our good friends of Bigglesworth Manor and I made a dish that I thought represented me: meatloaf with a basil and roasted tomato sauce and a side cauliflower smash with roasted garlic. The sauce was Kandice's idea... remember that roasted tomato and basil spread? Well Kandice said I had to find a way to use it so I did. And it made a fabulous sauce when thinned out with Fresca...I kid you not.

This dish was made and tasted and then remade at 7:00am the next morning. The components were packed up and stored in a newly acquired  Rachel Ray "casserole keeper" and we headed to the venue. While I can't give a lot of details, I can tell you I got there a little before 9am and was number 275. I got to shake Chef Gordon Ramsey's hand and he told me, "Good luck". I go to meet some home cooks just like me, one who was really cool and I hope gets on the show and others who scared me with the food they brought.I also got to stand in line for 6 hours until it was my turn to present my dish and make an impression on a show producer in less than a minute but I also got to spend that entire time with my dear friend Kandice...and at the end we were still friends!

It was a great experience and even if I am not called on to compete to be the next Master Chef I am glad I put myself out there. My good friend Zack often says that when you put yourself out there, the Universe has no choice but to respond. I think he's definitely right. This may not be the opportunity meant for me, but there is one out there. In the meantime I will continue to write this blog that I love and cook for my friends and family and eat at great places and share those experiences with you.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt

Quick Meal: Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breasts

I think every cook, when faced with a cooking disaster finds herself retreating back to familiar tried and true dishes or at the very least a simple one. I bring this up because the long string of successful dishes came to an end on Sunday when I tried to make a stuffed pork tenderloin. When I am fully over the trauma, it will be its own post as I have never said this blog was about cooking perfection (remember that roast chicken?). In the meantime, when it came to the night I had set aside to use chicken breasts, I was not in the mood to do anything particularly adventurous.

I wasn't feeling like anything pan-fried and shockingly had no interest in Mexican or pasta. A quick scan of the fridge revealed prosciutto and that I still had parmigiano-reggiano. So enter my quick meal: prosciutto wrapped chicken. For a side,the pantry revealed some sweet potatoes left over from our last Farmer's Market trip and I knew the mashed sweet potatoes would be a success.

I salt and peppered two chicken breasts and wrapped each one in three pieces of prosciutto.

I heated some olive oil in a stainless oven proof pan and placed the chicken in the pan, seam side down:

After about 5 minutes on each side, I shaved some slices of parmigiano-reggiano on top of the wrapped chicken and slid them into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes:

I let them rest and served them with my potatoes that I had prepared while they had been cooking.

Quick, easy and pretty good. Hubby suggested adding more cheese, preferably on the inside. I agreed on the cheese and thought maybe some tucked in rosemary or other chicken-loving herb would be great. With a meal successfully accomplished, I think I can now go off experimenting again...just not pork tenderloin anytime soon!

Friday Night Bites: Driscoll's Moments Cooking Demonstration

Tonight I am excited to be joining my first virtual cooking/tasting event! Driscoll's berries is using social media to host a live cooking demonstration with Chef Rick Rodgers of Williams-Sonoma and Bon-Appetit fame.  In preparation and support of the event I am preparing the Brie with Honeyed Raspberries and Pistachios. I am sure it won't look as beautiful as the picture as the photo Driscoll's provided, but I have no doubt it will be delicious. You can register for the event at www.driscollsmoments.com and Tweet tonight's hashtag #DriscollsMoments. Below is the recipe for the brie and hope to Tweet you later!

Holiday Warm Brie with Honeyed Raspberries and Pistachios

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Servings: 4 to 6

Number of Ingredients: 7

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shelled pistachios

1 wheel (13.3 ounces) ripe Brie, box reserved, top rind sliced off,

cheese chilled

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary

1 package (6 ounces or 1 1/4 cups) Driscoll’s Raspberries

Water crackers or baguette slices for serving

Preheat the oven to 350˙F. Spread the pistachios on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring

occasionally, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a plate.

Place Brie, in its box, on baking sheet. Bake until warm and the top

is softened, but not until cheese is oozing, about 15 minutes.

Transfer cheese in box to serving platter.

Stir honey, vinegar, and rosemary in a medium skillet over medium

heat just until warm. Add raspberries and pistachios and gently fold

in with a rubber spatula.

Pour raspberry mixture over warm cheese. Serve at once, with the

crackers for spreading.

Reader Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

I obviously have a great love for social media! I love how it connects me with old friends, keeps me connected with current ones and helps me connect to new people as well. When I started this blog, I really didn't just start it for me as I liked the idea of sharing food ideas with others but as I am the Cook Crook, I also wanted readers to share with me too!

Enter friend Michele, who I met through Facebook as she is the dear friend of one my sister-in-laws and of course knows my husband and the rest of his immediate family. She sent me a quick an easy recipe for cookies since I constantly lament about my lack of baking skills (I am working on them!) Her recipe for cake mix cookies was so easy I couldn't wait to try it! Here is her recipe as she told it to me.

Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 Box of cake mix (any flavor - we used carrot cake this time around)
  
• 1/2 cup solid Crisco (I used the stick!)
  
• 1 tablespoon water
  
• 2 eggs
  

Mix the ingredients by hand or in a food processor.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

They should still be a bit gooey in the middle when you take them out.

Let sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then cool on a wire rack.

From Michele: "I dipped the chocolate ones in some powdered sugar before baking so they looked pretty...these also freeze really well...I put a few in a snack size bag and the kids put them in their lunches when they pack them and they are defrosted by lunch."


My family loved them as did my office. Good thing the grocery store recently had 10 boxes of cake mix for $10. Can't wait to try other flavors.Thanks Michele!

MacGyver Night: Let Him Eat Quiche

When I plan the monthly menu not only do I account for when we have activities that will have us out of the house, or nights we pre-determine for dinner out, I also factor in nights my husband will not be home for dinner. Usually it’s only 2 nights month, the nights he volunteers for the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad and is on duty from 6PM to 6AM. This month he had an out of town trip for work so I planned for two nights of meals for just me and my son. I will be honest in that nine times out of ten I take advantage of the opportunity just to take my little guy to a local fast food chain because we do it rarely and sees it as a special treat when Daddy isn’t home. Every once in a while I have the ability to leave work a little early and do something fun like make pizzas:

Now back to the nights I thought my husband was out of town. Turns out the second night he was coming home and with traffic and such he’d be home by 7PM and was not stopping for dinner. I realize this at4:00PM. I am home. I am not going back out to store. He is not going to be happy with the meal of cheese and crackers I had planned for myself. Sounds like a MacGyver night right?

I look in my fridge and realize I have 8 cans of Reduced Fat Pillsbury Crescent rolls. Let me explain the crescent roll surplus by adding the only thing that I like more than couponing is getting bonus Box Tops…crazy obsession I know but I find it fun! Anyway, crescent rolls in hand I decide using them to make a crust would be quick and easy…and make a great base for a quiche! I cannot explain how my brain leapt to quiche other than to say that next to 6 said cans of crescents were a dozen eggs and a half of block of Gruyere cheese. I also knew there was prosciutto and scallions in the house….sounds like everything I needed for a quiche to me!

Being I never made quiche with crescent rolls I looked for some quick tips and found 2 ideas from cooks.com : Zucchini Crescent Quiche and Chicken Quiche. I didn’t have heavy cream or even half and half on hand but I did have reduced fat buttermilk on hand. I did use fresh ground pepper and dried mustard. I also prebaked the crescent rolls like one of the recipes suggested. I will say I had a little more difficulty rolling it into one piece of dough than I thought I would but I was finally able to get it into dish like I liked it.

My mixture for the filling:
2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
6 ounces of freshly shredded Gruyere cheese
½ cup of green onion tops and bottoms
2 teaspoons of dried mustard
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
3 ounces of sliced prosciutto (I cut into bits using kitchen shears)

I poured it into the prepared crust and baked for 20 minutes.

 

It as extremely flavorful! The cheese, prosciutto and onion went very well together and the crust had a nice lightness to it. I think it will be easy to experiment with different combinations of ingredients. I mean, I DO have 7 more cans of crescent rolls after all!

And yes, real men DO in fact eat quiche!

As American as Apple Pie..that I didn't bake

When I read via AltDaily Food that another local food blogger had this inspired idea to host an Occupy event in the blog universe I was intrigued. When I visited her blog, Backstage Baking I was even more interested when I read that she wanted other food bloggers to post about apple pie along with the various Occupy and 99% movements. In her words: “Apple Pie: As American as Revolution”

Inspired I eagerly posted on her blog  about how I had this new pie crust recipe to try (courtesy of  my newly arrived and first issue of Fine Cooking) and how I was so excited because now it's cold, and it's fall and I should be baking...and...and

We had a loved family member visiting from out of town, the oldest had soccer, the littlest was tired and cranky, and hubby and his sister were at a race and I was out of all-purpose flour (wait, how am I out of flour?) Life happens. And that is sort of how I feel about the Occupy movements and the idea of the 99%. I don't think the politicians and Wall Street sat in a room and said let's figure out how to screw people...they made policies they thought would make them money, sure. They made assumptions about how markets and Global economies would operate...and then life happens. There are people who don't have good intentions. There are those who make bad decisions who make things hard on the rest of us. There are those who stand on the sidelines and wait for change to happen and there are those who decide to try and make a difference.

I will probably never pay off my student loan debt. My kids will probably have to take a few loans themselves. I made some bad financial choices when I was younger that I am paying for today..I don't blame anyone directly but I also think things need to change. We need to help one another. Be neighbors again. Be good stewards of our Earth and cloud parent all of the world's children so no one is neglected, unloved or unfed. And sometimes we just need to follow-through with what we said we would do, no excuses.

Now if you excuse me, I have a pie to bake.

Friday Night Bites: Recipe Re-Do - Turkey Burgers

It takes me a while to "finish" a recipe. Even when I find something I (and the family) really like, I still tweak it a bit each time I make it until it either becomes second nature or the recipe is at the best place possible with no other substitutions or changes needed. Take the turkey burgers I made with the kids for instance. They were delicious but I knew I could make a few changes here and there. Rachel Ray's recipe calls for red peppers but this time I used green and I upped the cumin and chili powder quotient a bit since no one shies away from spicy. I also changed how I cooked them:

For me, the grill pan made a huge difference versus the non-stick skillet Rachel suggests. I used some super thick cut bacon this time around (baked in the oven of course!) and I made sure to use the family's favorite cheese. We added grapes and some sweet potato fries:

Eaten in a flash. My step-daughter prefers turkey burgers to regular burgers now and the flavor and moistness of these burgers make them a good choice for even the current non-turkey burger lover.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope your weekend is full of yummy food!