Polenta Pie

I received The New Moosewood Cookbook for Christmas this year and this is the first recipe I've decided to try. We all love polenta, so hopefully this is a winner.

1.5 cups coarse cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups cold water
2 cups boiling water
a little olive oil

Ingredients for filling:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup thinly sliced bell pepper
10 mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons dried basil (or 2 tablespoons fresh basil)
1/2 teaspoon oregano
fresh black pepper
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
2 small, or 1 medium, ripe tomato, sliced

1. Combine cornmeal, salt, and cold water in a small bowl. Have the boiling water on the stove in a saucepan, and add the cornmeal mixture, whisking. Cook about 10 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently. It will get very thick. Remove from heat, and let cool until you can handle it.

2. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 10-inch pie pan. Add the polenta, and use a spatula and wet hands to form it into a smooth, thick crust over the bottom and sides of the pan. Brush the surface with olive oil, and bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

3. While the crust bakes, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add the onion, and saute for 5-8 minutes, or until it begins to soften. Add bell pepper, mushrooms, and zucchini, and saute just a few minutes more.

4. Turn up the oven to broiling temperature. Sprinkle half the cheese onto the bottom of the baked crust, then add the tomato slices. Spread the sauteed mixture over the tomatoes, and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Broil until brown (about 5 minutes) and serve hot.

Review - This was pretty good. Even though I took it out early, I think I might have overcooked the crust. It was a tad crunchy on the bottom. I used a 9x13 baking pan instead of a 10-inch pie plate, so I probably should have decreased the cooking time more than I did. Jay said this was a little bland and would be better with a layer of pesto on the crust. I think he's right. Josie ate her square (and three servings of spinach salad, yeah I'm bragging). Eli chewed on a piece of zucchini and then spit it out. Poor guy had 5 teeth coming in, so he's not the best judge.  The veggie combo was great. I'll make this again, but add the pesto.


Please excuse my photography skills. I've never taken pictures of food before. You wouldn't think that taking a picture of something that can't get up and run away would be hard, but it is. Hopefully my photography skills, along with my cooking skills, will improve throughout the year.

Saying goodbye to meat, well kind of

Last year the Air Force decided to throw us all for a loop and moved us down to Texas. I'm going to use that as my excuse as to why I didn't keep up with this blog. Well that and taking care of two kids is a lot harder and more time consuming than one. Can you believe that?

Over the course of the last year I watched Food, Inc., read a few food books and a ton of articles and have decided that we're done buying meat from the grocery store and restaurants. I have decided to buy beef from a local ranch that raises grass-fed, pasture-raised, antibiotic-free, growth hormone-free cattle and keep our meat consumption down to once a week. As it is right now we eat very little meat, so this transition shouldn't be too tough and the occasional pack of bacon is sure to help. I won't lie. I love bacon and have no plan to give it up entirely.

So there it is. I plan to try at least one new vegetarian recipe every week and post the review online. I'll leave up my recipes from last year in case anyone is interested in using them. Maybe I'll try to revamp them and make them meat-less. Who knows? I'm kind of crazy like that.

No Knead Whole Wheat Rolls

I love homemade bread. Ok, who am I kidding? I love bread. Period. This recipe is so great because, start to finish, it only took about an hour. This was the first recipe to pop up when I googled "whole wheat rolls." It came from another blog: http://realmomkitchen.com

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning (You could probably leave this out if you’d like)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the remaining ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes (dough will be sticky). Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir dough down. Fill muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray half full. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 8-12 minutes.

3. Bake at 375° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.

Review - Excellent! If you omit the Italian seasoning these would be great breakfast rolls as they are slightly sweet from the honey and molasses. 

Low Fat Caesar Salad Dressing

I'm cheating a little this week. This isn't a new recipe. My mom gave it to me years ago. I think it came from Cooking Light, but don't quote me on that. It's a wonderful dressing. I love Caesar salads, but won't eat them because of the fat content in the dressing. This dressing has very little fat and it comes from the olive oil, so it's the good, heart-healthy fat. 

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

3/4 tsp. anchovy paste

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp. lemon juice

3 tsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. Worcestershire

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 cup plain, non-fat yogurt

Whisk together all ingredients. Toss with romaine and grated Parmesan cheese right before serving. 

Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich

A friend introduced me to Ree Drummond's Pioneer Woman blog. LOVE IT! She refers to her husband as Marlboro Man and this is, as the title suggests, his favorite sandwich. 

1 large onion 

1/2 cup butter
2 pounds (to 3 Pounds) Cube Steak
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
Tabasco Sauce
4 whole French/deli Rolls 

Instructions

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside.

Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry’s. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides. Add 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, 5 to 6 shakes Tabasco, and 2 tablespoons butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine.

Butter halved French rolls and brown under broiler.

To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll, cut in half, and devour!

Review - These sandwiches were incredibly easy to make. I really enjoyed them. I think I sliced the meat a little too thick, which made it hard for Josie to eat. Little mouth needs little bites. My only complaint again comes from my cookware. I need (not want, need) a cast iron skillet. My non-stick Calphalon is not cutting it anymore. Oh to dream....

Here's the link to Ree Drummond's website. Everything about it is fabulous. She's incredibly witty. Her recipes are great. The pictures will make you drool.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Black Eyed Pea Soup in the Slowcooker

1 pound dried black eyed peas
1 pound spicy sausage
6 cups chicken broth
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
4 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
Tabasco sauce

Soak your beans overnight. Drain and pick out the undesirables (broken, discolored beans) in the morning.

Use a 5 to 6 quart slowcooker. Add diced vegetables and beans to slowcooker. Add sliced sausage. Pour in broth, and stir in Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for about 6. Before serving, use a stick blender to smash up about 1 cup of beans. If you don't have a stick blender, scoop out 1 cup of beans, blend them in a traditional blender, and add back to the soup. Don't blend too much---just enough to get the broth thicker and creamy-looking. Add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Review - Wonderful winter recipe. But it's spring time right? Ok, I'll admit it. Even though I'm posting this under Week 12, I really made it weeks ago. I've lost track of what I made when. I'm just proud of myself for keeping up with my resolution and it's almost April. Go me! Back to the soup...Josie called this "black eyes," which in toddler talk came out sounding like "black guys." Jay and I got a nice chuckle out of hearing our 2 year-old say, "I want more black guys." Mature, I know.

Overnight Oatmeal

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 1/2 cups water OR 2 cups apple juice and 2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup dried fruit
spices (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg)

The original recipe calls for using a 2-quart slow cooker, but I only have a 6-quart, so I just plopped a smaller casserole dish into the slowcooker. Voila. Smaller slowcooker.

Grease inside of stoneware or casserole dish. Add all ingredients into dish. Stir. Cover and cook overnight for 8 hours. Stir once or twice while cooking. If you have a newborn, like I do, getting up once or twice at night to stir shouldn't be a problem.

Review - I ate WAY too much of this oatmeal! It was so good. I'd never made steel cut oats before. The texture is wonderful. I chose raisins as my dried fruit, because it's all I had on hand, but I'd like to experiment with other fruits (cherries, cranberries, etc.). 

Second Review -  I've made this several times now with different seasonings and dried fruits. My favorite has been dried apricots, with all spice and cinnamon and topped off with a little honey and soy milk.