Saturday, December 29, 2012

New Frontiers: Collard Greens

I am starting my New Year's resolutions early this year. First, I am committed to trying new recipes and preparing foods I traditionally have prepared for me. Second, I am going to use more local produce. Third, I am going to work on working off the poundage I have put on, but that's for another post! But back to my first resolution. Although I do love cooking I have let my fear override my willingness to prepare things I have  loved to eat but let someone else cook. But when I picked up last week's CSA, I found collards in my bag of veggie awesomeness. I needed to cook them. I wanted to cook them. Could I convince myself to do it?

Fast forward to a much needed break from work, having been off since the 21st of December. I have been newly revitalized to cook a lot more being home. I have had time to peruse recipes, think about what I want to get out of 2013 culinary wise and do some serious menu planning. Visiting my parents on Christmas Day, I mentioned the collards I had to cook. My 82-year old grandmother chimed in with her sure fire method: cook them with some cabbage and add red pepper. Conveniently, my CSA also came with Chinese cabbage.Well, that was enough to make me commit.

I bought a piece of country ham for seasoning and set to work. First, I cooked four slices of bacon in a stock pot and drained them, reserving some of the drippings. To the drippings I added half of a chopped red onion, some red pepper flake (about a tablespoon), some cayenne (about a teaspoon) and a little olive oil. Just once the onions started to soften, I added  the ham piece and gave it some quick color. next I added 4 cups of my homemade chicken stock. I brought this up to a boil. Then I added all of my collards in batches and then all of the Chinese cabbage in batches as well. Each time I added a bunch of leaves, I ensure I wilted them down before I added the next. Finally, I added 2 cups of water, covered the pot, reduced the heat to a simmer and let sit for 2 hours.

They came out FANTASTIC! I served them with crumbled pieces of bacon on top. My mother-in-law said she had never had them before, and really enjoyed them. Hubby, who turned his nose at the idea of them, gobbled them up too. They were spicy and salty and, wonderful!

This is what I needed to convince me my New Year's resolutions were not at all unreasonable or unreachable. I am very excited about what's around the bend!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Cook Crook Creation: Brownie Awesomeness

Merry Christmas! Unbelievably I am sitting in a quiet house right now on Christmas Eve while my boys are off doing some last minute shopping. I still have some baking, cleaning and cooking left to do, but had to share this fabulous treat recipe for those of you who need some more sweets for your holiday menu or maybe a last minute gift! I created these one night in a panic to make something delicious for my husband's co-workers for Christmas. I had brownie mix but did not just want to make plain old brownies. I stumbled upon a fudge recipe that had a pretzel crust and thought why not a pretzel crusted fudge brownie? And then, not wanting the top to be outdone, decided to make the brownies with a cream cheese swirl. Hubby walked into the kitchen while I was "inventing" and asked me what I was making....my answer was Brownie Awesomeness!


Brownie Awesomeness

Crust:
1 ½ cup crushed pretzels
1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
Brownie:
1 package fudge brownie mix (I used the Duncan Hines Family size)
¼  water
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
Cream Cheese Swirl:
6 oz. softened cream cheese
1 egg
¼ Tsp vanilla
1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix crushed pretzels, butter and sugar in a medium bowl and then spread into a 13x9 baking dish. Press the “crust” evenly into the bottom of the dish and bake for 8 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.

Prepare brownie mix according to the package directions for “fudge like” brownies: add the brownie mix, water, oil and eggs into a large bowl and mix well. In another bowl, add the cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar and beat well with an electric mixer until smooth.

Gently spread the brownie mix on the pretzel crust. Using a spoon, add dollops of the cream cheese mixture across the surface of the brownies. Then using a knife or small spreader, gently swirl the cream cheese into the brownie batter until all of cream cheese is incorporated. Swirl in opposite directions to get desired look.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least one hour on a cooling rack. Slice with a sharp knife into 6 columns and 4 rows.

I wish you and your family the merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Simple Things

December has been a crazy month. Work is wrapping up for the year and I finished my last class for school. My last class...ever! Before I knew it, we were a week away from Christmas!

In the last few days, time seems even more precious. I am a food writer, not a social issues one so I will only say that my reaction to the tragedy in Connecticut was akin to the nesting I did when I was late into my pregnancy with my son. I wanted to clean and cook and ...even bake. The holiday time makes that all seem more reasonable of course but I knew I suddenly wanted to squeeze out a million memories and tackle dust bunnies because I felt powerless to do anything else.

Tonight was our yearly tradition of cookie making. My step-daughter will be with her mother until the New Year so we did it tonight and because it was a school night and a work night we did use a mix. But who cares? We made egg yolk paint that I used when I made cookies with my parents. I let them cut their choice of shapes (notice the Star Wars ones) and paint whatever they wanted.

Rebecca's Cookies
Josh's Cookies
Favorites were chosen for lunch boxes and for Santa. My son was covered in flour and when he went to bed my dear girl wanted to help me make candies for my office and wrap gifts for my co-workers. I got a little choked up as I looked at my sleeping boy and said good night to my teenage girl. I am no longer in a rush. Every moment counts. It is the simple things.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Dinner by Bestie

My best friend Steph and I met in college working in a not-to-be-named chain steak place. We roomed together after college and admittedly I never cooked as much as I do now. Fast forward 15 years. We are both married, with kids, busy careers and we live 3 hours apart. We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like so when she was in my town for a conference, I jumped at the chance to spend time with her.

We Christmas shopped. We had a girls night out with some of my other friends. We went to Whole Foods for lunch and then drinks. Then when it turned out she was free for dinner on Sunday, we decided on a home cooked meal.

She helped with the menu, asking me for ingredients for the goat cheese kisses and volunteering to make them and then requesting baby bok choy as a veggie. The weather was so warm we agreed grilling would be a great option for our main dish. I brought up the shrimp skewers I love and she suggested steaks to go with. Finally I decided on parsnips for our starch (a purée for sure!). I grilled the baby bok choy too....

This plate is the result.

Just as delicious as it looks. I loved cooking with her and I loved cooking by suggestion. Come back anytime Steph. I am happy to cook but next time I am buying!