The Perfect Meal for Monday

We love red beans and rice here. So good it makes your heart sing. My whole life I've heard that you eat red beans and rice on Mondays, so that's what we do. (It's a good, slow cooking, not much attention, meal for washday.) And, don't let it fool you. This sounds (and might look) like a winter dish, but it's completely appropriate in the summer, too. Just use your crockpot for the beans (or buy canned).

First, you cook the beans. These were cooked with a ham bone, so that's why you can see some of the fat in the broth. If you aren't a fan, you can chill the beans, then take the chilled fat off the top. Or be lazy like me. It's all good.

Beans take 2-3 hours to cook stovetop. Or like I said, use your crockpot. I do all day on low, half a day on high (how's that for exact?). Once the beans are cooked, use a wooden spoon to mash about 1/4 of them into the broth. It'll make the whole bean dish thicker.

I prefer the contrasting texture of smooth beans and vegetables that still have some body, so I add everything else at the end. This is 1/2 lb andouille, onions, a bell pepper, and celery (the trinity). Cook all that up, then dump it into the pot of beans.

Serve over white rice (and don't be like me--at least take the time to wipe off the rim of the bowl). The perfect slow cooked Monday dish while you do laundry (you do your laundry on Monday, right??).

I'm linked to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam today!

Italian Wedding Soup

My sister-in-law is married to a real "Eye-talian" as my grandmother used to say. Her inlaws make gravy on Sunday afternoons, celebrate the feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve, and her children count meatballs as their favorite food. Leslie had no choice. She had to figure out how to get her husband the flavors he loved. So, as a result, she is a really good Italian cook. This recipe is one of her husband's favorites.

My children also love it. I think they love the meatballs the most. It starts with really, really small meatballs. I used a pound of ground beef, plus 1/2 pound of pork, and these are the meatballs I ended up with. I counted them, and it was 120 meatballs. That is a lot of balls! My children loved them, of course, so it was worth it (and the soup is darn good! We loved it, too).

Italian wedding Soup

8 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded chicken
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 T Italian seasoning
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped into bite size pieces
1 package frozen spinach
2 t dried dillweed
salt and pepper
1/2 pound small pasta--anything works here. Corkscrews, broken spaghetti, elbows, ditalini

Mix ground meats, Italian seasoning, bread crumbs, and egg together until well combined. Form into tiny meatballs and set aside. In a large soup pot, saute onion until softened. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth, chicken, carrots, spinach, and dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then drop in meatballs. Simmer 10 minutes. Add pasta, and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through and pasta is done.

**sometimes I make the pasta separately, especially if I think that I've made enough soup for leftovers. If the pasta is already in the soup, the leftovers aren't as good as if you store it separately.

Today, I'm linked to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Check it out!

Sausage gravy

One of my favorite breakfast for supper meals is biscuits and gravy. I didn't grow up with this meal (it's not that common in the very deep south, and my mother isn't a huge fan of white gravy), but I discovered it in my late teens, and I've been a convert ever since.

We haven't had the meal in oh so long, because I was scared to try it without milk. But, my cravings got the better of me, and I decided to go for it last week. It turned out really well.

I started with homemade sausage, just because I'm more likely to have ground pork in the house than breakfast sausage. For sausage, I just season the meat and allow it to sit for an hour or two. I use salt, pepper, cajun seasoning, and garlic, but you can use whatever seasonings you like.

Once the sausage is browned (and I prefer bigger pieces, pretty well browned, but again, that's a personal preference), add flour to make a roux. This sausage was a little dry, so I added about a tablespoon of oil to make it come together.

And, then, I added soy milk. I seasoned with worchestershire sauce and nutritional yeast. I've found these flavors work really well with the soy milk, sort of taking away any funny soy flavor.

I served this gravy over store-bought biscuits (still working on a good dairy free biscuit recipe), with scrambled eggs. Breakfast for a king!

In our house, Sunday nights are almost always breakfast for supper. It's good (for me, at least!) to have such an easy meal to make at the end of a busy weekend. And who doesn't love breakfast for supper? Put it on your menu this week! It'll make everyone smile.

Pork Roast

It's the dead of winter. Which means one thing. We want what we can't have. Of course. In my house, we love some barbecue. Smoked all day, until it's tender and falling apart. Really, nothing could be better. And my husband does a fine job of it. But, for us, barbecuing season is over around Christmas. January and February just prove to be a little cold to tend a fire for several hours. Come spring, we (who am I kidding? Mike) will be back out there barbecuing with the best of them. But, for right now, we make due with this great recipe from the Lee Bros.

It starts with a heavy pot with a well fitting lid. I use this beloved pot from Le Creuset. It's a bouillabaise pot, and it's perfect for everything you can think of. I use it to stir fry, to deep fry, to braise in the oven. I use it for stews and soups, for boiling peanuts. You name it. I've cooked it in this pot. It's my favorite kitchen equipment, and I'm glad that Mike splurged on it one year for Christmas.

But, I digress. First you get a pot.

Brown the pork butt on all sides. This takes about 8-10 minutes per side, so it's not quick. But, it's well worth it for the flavor it brings to the table. This is a really big butt. I think it was about 7 pounds or so.

Once all sides are browned, place the butt so that the fatty side is up. This will help baste the meat during cooking, keeping it moist and flavorful. I pour flavored vinegar in as the braising liquid.

And now the tedious part. Baste. And baste some more. Cooked low and slow, basted forever and a day. The meat will turn out like this. Beautiful brown and crispy on the top, moist and flavorful inside. It will shred with 2 forks, very, very easily.

Serve with your favorite sauce. Winter barbecue. It'll put a little summer on your table, even with nastiness outside.

Oven Roasted Pork Butt
The Lee Bros Southern Cookbook
One large (at least 3-3.5 pound) pork butt, skin on, bone in
1 teaspoon oil
2 cups vinegar barbecue sauce
1 T cane syrup or sorhum (optional, but good)
1/2 cup chicken broth (optional again)
1/2 cup apple cider (optional)

Remove butt from fridge 2 hours prior to cooking to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Sear each side of the butt until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes per side, in a hot pan with the oil.
Pour the barbecue sauce over the meat, and heat until the sauce simmers. Transfer to the oven, cover, and bake, basting every 15 minutes, until a meat thermometer registers 175 degrees, about 3.5 hours.
Optional part: transfer 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid to a saucepan. Add the molasses, broth, and cider, and bring to a simmer. Simmer vigorously about 6 minutes, until reduced by half. Baste the shoulder the the syrup, return to the oven, and turn the heat up to 425. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes more.
Lazy girl option: uncover the pork, turn the heat up to 425, and cook for 15 more minutes.
Remove the pork from the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes. Carve or pull the pork, and serve with your favorite sauce.

Vinegar sauce
2 cups white vinegar
2 T chili powder (use whatever you like; I like ancho for this)
1 t pepper
1 T salt
1 t sugar

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, put all the ingredients. Shake until well combined. This sauce will keep forever in the fridge.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Lots of great ideas there.

Bowl of yum

I am in love with the flavors of spicy, bitter, and sweet. Yum. I can't get enough.

As it frequently does, this recipe started with beautiful greens. I'm normally not a fan of kale, but this was really pretty at the market, and it was better than usual. Although, really? How can anything go wrong when quickly cooked in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes? That would make a shoe taste good.

I marinated some pork in chipotle (just boneless pork loin, sliced thin, rubbed with a mashed chipotle, and allowed to sit for a couple of hours). I pan fried this in a tablespoon or so of oil.

Oven roasted some sweet potato cubes. I let these go just a hair long, but they were fine. Just chop, toss with a little oil, salt, and pepper, then roast at 400 for 30 minutes or so.

We mixed all this together, topped with hot sauce, cilantro, onion, and chopped jalapenos. A burrito in a bowl, if you will, with cheap, in season ingredients.

This combination totally works. You must try it soon. So good.

Today, I'm linked to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday. Check it out.

Thai Red Curry

My littlest one is a rashy little fellow. We've tried lots of stuff, but I'm at the point where I think it might be my diet. So, I'm experimenting with being mostly dairy free for now to see if that clears it up.

And nothing makes you want macaroni and cheese, cream soups, and ice cream more than avoiding dairy. Of course.

But, I'm trying to experiment with other flavors to make this easier. This was a very easy meal pulled out of Moosewood Simple Suppers. It utilizes a very handy convenience product, Thai red chili paste. Sure, I could make my own, but for now, I'm going to spend my time on other stuff.

It's just a basic stir fry. For this one, I used boneless pork loin, cut very thin (my boys called them "worms"), plus broccoli, green beans, onion, red pepper, and bok choy. When I took my last Chinese cooking class, they were talking about how, in Chinese food, you try to cut all the pieces of the dish in the same shape (in this case, long and skinny). Try it. It makes the dish very pleasing to the eye, and it really does add something to it.

Once everything is cooked, you add the sauce. Which couldn't be simpler. Red curry paste and a can of coconut milk, to taste.

Thai Red Curry
adapted from Moosewood Simple Suppers
1 lb boneless pork, sliced thin
1 large onion, sliced thin
1 T oil
2 T (to taste) Thai red chili paste
vegetables of choice--the original called for snow peas and tomatoes; I used broccoli, green beans, red pepper, and bok choy
1 14-ounce can coconut milk (I used about 3/4 of this)
1/2 t salt
2 T lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

In a skillet or wok on high heat, sear the meat, in two batches if necessary to not crowd the pan. Remove from the skillet.
Add the oil to the pan, and when hot, add the onions, then the other vegetables. Stir fry until crisp-tender. When the vegetables are almost done, add the curry paste and coconut milk, salt and lime juice. Bring to a simmer and add the cilantro. Taste and add salt if needed (it might). Serve hot over jasmine rice.

As usual, I'm linked to Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday. Check it out!

Sopes

I've mentioned it before, but in my house, tacos are THE beloved food. I get tired of the regular ole' crunchy taco shells with ground beef, though, so in order to keep everyone happy (including me!), I mix it up frequently.

This week, I spotted these sopes at our local grocery store. We used to eat them frequently, but I hadn't seen them in several years, so it was a treat to find them.

They are flat discs, sort of like fat tortillas, with a raised edge.

You pan fry them in a tiny bit of oil, until the edges are crisp and brown. Then, I topped with cheese. It would be good with beans, but my nursling hates beans, so I've sworn off them for a few months. But, if you have no nursling, try the beans.

On top of that, I added some carnita meat (just slow cooked pork butt, crisped in a cast iron skillet). But, they are versatile, just like tortillas. Add whatever you like.

And topped with tons of fresh pico de gallo. One of my favorite tastes of summer.

Only one thing left! Dig in! These were so good. If you see them in your grocery store (on the bread aisle, next to the tortillas), definitely try them.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam. Check it out!