Sweet Potato Pie, y'all!

Guys, guys, guys, guys! I made this pie. (Pictured before whipped cream). YOU SHOULD MAKE THIS PIE. Pecan CRUST. Pecans in the crust! The whole thing is just killer. Plus you're probably already roasting sweet potatoes at some point this week, just throw another one in there. You can use buckwheat flour in the crust and make it gluten-free, too. DO IT.

Meal Plan, Thanksgiving Week 2015

Meal planning for a holiday week is like woooooo what's in the fridge?

Sunday: chicken and orzo with lemon and olives

Monday: leftover kale/polenta stew, Josie will eat the end of the orzo from Sunday and probably a meatball or two from the freezer, or, like, peanut butter on a cracker? She's unpredictable these days.

Tuesday: Mac and cheese maybe? Something quick and easy and pasta focused for speed; I'll throw in some veggies. We have a bunch of sauteed mizuna in the fridge, plus kale, broccoli raab and peas in the freezer. Josie will not like the vegetables, but will enjoy the clementine for dessert.

Wednesday: sandwiches in the car. Josie gets to eat a real dinner at dinner time, but it's probably going to be a highlight real of favorites (citrus fruit! cheese stick! kwak-uhs!) just to get some calories in her before the drive to Maine during which she will (fingers crossed!) sleeeeeep.

Thursday: Turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, STUFFING, gravy.

Friday: sandwich with almost all of the above plus mayonnaise and lettuce (I don't tend to put green bean casserole on my sandwich, but you do what you feel, dude).

Here's a picture of my big kid, taken by our friend Fredo last weekend:

Chicken and Orzo with Lemon and Olives

Followed this recipe. It was delicious, and I'll definitely make it again. Used a cut up chicken because that's what we have, and it worked beautifully, but I think my chickens are extra fatty and the orzo was maybe a touch greasy. Since I cook stuff like this in a cast iron-ish dutch oven I bet I could skip the oil next time and just brown the chicken in it's own rendered fat. It wasn't quite up to temp (poultry to 165 for safety, kids!) after 35 mins in the oven, so I took the lid off and left it in there another 10 minutes, which helped with the crispy skin situation. Side of roasted broccoli was thoroughly enjoyed by grownups and ignored by willful toddler. Whatever kid, more for me!

Sloppy Josies (Vegetarian Sloppy Joes)

My friend Liz (who calls these Sloppy Junes after her toddler) recommended this Eating Well recipe, and since I already had a bunch of pinto-ish beans cooked (I think they're actually tiger's eye beans?), I made a non-slow-cooker version. I started by sauteeing an onion, a pepper, some garlic, and two carrots, then adding 1 tbsp chili powder, 8 oz tomato sauce, a blorp of tomato paste, 1-2 tbsp soy sauce, some molasses, some honey, and maybe a tablespoon of dijon mustard (I was pretty proud of this one: I swished some water in an almost empty mustard container to get the very last bits out *and* add the water to the recipe). I also added the end of a cabbage, thinly sliced, which I really enjoyed, plus the last 2-3 cups of cooked beans, and the last cup of roasted butternut squash. I simmered it all together for like half an hour and added some more seasoning in the form of soy sauce. I wish I had thought to add worcestershire, but that would have rendered these not-vegetarian, and also I forgot. Served over some old sub rolls I unearthed from the depths of the freezer. Josie ate beans beans beans and also some of the bread.

Buckwheat Crepes

I made these regular old crepes into buckwheat crepes (which means they're *fancy* and have a nice dark color) by using half buckwheat flour. I am clearly a culinary genius. We wrapped them around some roasted butternut squash, wilted arugula, and fontina cheese. Josie wants you to have some.

From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

2 eggs
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2-3 tbsp butter, melted
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water

Mix it all up in a blender, rest at least an hour (or overnight). It will look too thin; resist the urge to add additional flour. Gently mix it up with a spoon before cooking if it's been resting overnight. Cook in a crepe pan (duh) in butter, adding a ladleful of batter to a hot buttered pan and swirling it to make an approximate circle. Flip when the surface looks dry. Serve wrapped around other tasty stuff.

Savory Oatmeal

Just a friendly reminder that savory oatmeal is a thing (cheddar, thyme, roasted cherry tomatoes from the freezer), and is delicious. And you can #putaneggonit. Pictured here before hot sauce.

Pre-Thanksgiving Week Meal Plan

Here's the plan on this last full week before Turkey Day Travel!

Sunday: salmon curry, oven fries
Monday: steeeeaaaaaak, cauliflower salad
Tuesday: crepes with roasted butternut squash, fontina cheese, and arugula
Wednesday: miso polenta kale soup
Thursday: beans from the crockpot
Friday: TBD, maybe takeout from Tasty Momo because all my neighbors have been ordering it and it looks freaking delicious. Hooray for dumplings!



Last night I made a simple salmon curry following this recipe, more or less. It's... fine. I mean, it's tasty, and I love the salmon pieces from the farmer's market because they're SO CHEAP: $4/8oz. But I wish I knew a little more about Indian cooking so I could improvise. After polling my mama friends, I learned that this is a very basic North Indian curry, but I'll increase the spices and play around a little more next time. I also didn't have any curry  leaves, but I threw in some curry powder, which I know isn't even remotely the same thing.



HOWEVER. I also made these oven "fries" and holy hot damn they are so delicious. It is a very very good thing that they take 45 mins to make, because otherwise I would want them all the time. Next time I will cut them a little thinner.

Here's the whole plate, with a side of yogurt. We enjoyed the Citizen Cider (hopped!) Full Nelson along side.

Chicken and Dumplings

One of my all time favorites for leftover roasted chicken! I use the basic White Lily recipe to start, but always add veggies. More or less as follows:

Sautee a couple of leeks or a small onion and a carrot or two in butter till just soft. I didn't have any celery, but use it if I do. Add another blob of butter, then add a quarter cup of flour, cook for a minute, add 5.5 cups chicken stock (or a mix of stock and water). Bring to a simmer.

For the dumplings, mix two cups of self rising flour (or two cups AP flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp kosher salt) with 1/2 cup chicken stock or water, knead just to bring together. Flatten into a disc on a floured surface, cut into strips. It's really tasty to add chopped herbs if you have extra.

Put dumplings on top of liquid, cover, and cook 15 mins or until dumplings are cooked through. Add half a bag of frozen peas, leftover chicken, half a cup of milk, and plenty of pepper, and stir. Takes a few minutes for the peas and chicken to warm up, but it's always way too hot to eat immediately anyway.

It's cottage pie week! (Meal Plan Post)

Here's the fridge as of yesterday mid-naptime! I hadn't yet cooked the cabbage for Wednesday night but it's done now. This week we are having:

Sunday: dinner out with family at the Marliave (I had prosciutto wrapped rabbit, Adam had pan seared trout, and Josie had.... french fries. And bread. Sigh.)
Monday: cottage pie (shepherd's pie but made with beef instead of lamb) for A+J, I have a work dinner
Tuesday: Peter Berley's lemon-thyme tofu, farro with peas and parmesan, roasted kuri squash
Wednesday: lamb chops, cabbage sauteed with horseradish and caraway seeds, roasted beets (and let's be honest, I'mma cover the whole mess with sour cream
Thursday: fridge clean out/leftovers/soup from the freezer if need be because
Friday: ALL THE TEX MEX TUCSON HAS TO OFFER

....ahem. We're going to a wedding! It's gonna be fun.



Here are my two cottage pies - I made two because we had friends move in next door (hooraaaaay!) and I was being neighborly. I had thought we'd eat ours Saturday but we went to a different neighbor's early afternoon halloween party and gorged on cheese and crackers and pudding cups. It is more veg than meat, but: sauteed (in batches) 2 onions, 4 big carrots, 3 medium turnips, 2 packages cremini mushrooms, then 2 lbs ground beef, seasoned with worcestershire sauce, s+p. Spread in baking dish, cover with (total 5lbs) mashed potatoes. Topped with a little (not enough) shredded cheddar. Easy enough and food for days!



This is my friend Elana's favorite lemon thyme tofu, a recipe from Peter Berley's "The Flexitarian Table" that I cribbed from here. I snagged a couple peaces for QC before it got packed into the fridge and I like it but think it may warrant a sauce of some sort. We'll see.