Curry Lentil Stew with Cilantro Oil

This Curry Lentil Stew is a twist on the traditional middle eastern red lentil soup with lemon. I realize it is not necessary to improve on the original, which is simple, perfect, and beloved, especially by vegetarians, but this soup is different. I gave it an Indian spin; adding ginger, curry, and saffron and then went new world with some potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomato, and hot sauce. The result is spicy and sweet layered on earthy, rich lentils and potatoes with a finish of fresh lemon and cilantro. This is a healthy vegetarian meal that doesn't remind you of it with every bight; it layers on the flavors, hits all the right buttons and leaves you fully satisfied.






















the recipe:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 sm onion, chopped
1 lg stalk celery, minced
1 lg carrot, minced
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup tomato sauce, or chopped fresh tomato
1 cup pureed sweet potato
3 quarts cold water
3 tsp Sriracha Chili sauce
4-5 threads saffron (optional)
1 cup red lentils
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tsp sugar
salt
3 - 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

cilantro oil:
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
salt

serve with:
lemon wedges
Sriracha Chili Sauce


Heat Vegetable oil in Dutch oven, over medium heat. Add chopped onions, minced carrot and celery, and saute until gently caramelized: about 15 minutes. (Lower heat and scrape bottom of pan if necessary to avoid burnt edges) Add garlic, ginger, curry powder and cumin and saute 1 or 2 minutes. Add tomato and sweet potato puree and caramelize about a minute then add water, hot sauce, saffron and lentils. Bring to a boil and skim foam off surface. Lower heat and simmer 1 hour, skimming often. Add sweet potatoes, potatoes and sugar, and liberally season with salt. Simmer 2o minutes skimming often. Add lemon juice and adjust seasoning to taste.

Meanwhile, in blender, puree cilantro, olive oil, 1 clove garlic and a pinch of salt until smooth. Force through a sieve with a wooden spoon and reserve. (You will have extra cilantro oil for another use)

Ladle soup in warm bowls and drizzle with cilantro oil (alternatively, sprinkle with olive oil and chopped cilantro) Serve with with lemon wedges and hot sauce on the side. Serves 4-6

(Just to throw in one more twist; It is also surprisingly very good with polish kielbasa. Just chop the cilantro, omit the olive oil, and add sliced kielbasa in at the same time as the potatoes.)

Broccoli Cheddar Frittata/Tortilla

Italian frittata and Spanish tortilla - two different names, but a very similar concept. These omelet like dishes are nearly the same (most people think of them interchangeably), but there are some subtle differences, mainly: a frittata has a higher ratio of eggs, contains really any vegetable meat or cheese you can think of, and is finished in the oven. While a Tortilla is just as much a potato dish as an egg, and is made completely on the stove top.

I actually first came across the Italian frittata while working at a Provencal French Restaurant in Brooklyn. We made it for weekend brunch, and it was very popular and very good, though I'm not sure how very french it was? I loved how quickly it came together and how easy it was to customize, (much like an omelet), which makes it a natural for brunch. But I did not really adopt the concept in my home cooking until I came across its cousin the Tortilla a couple years later.

The first time I had a Spanish Tortilla was actually in Spain. I was, like many, a little perplexed by the name. At the time I was on a long backpacking trip and I craved anything familiar. This was not what it claimed to be, but it was delicious! It was much better then an American tortilla, and as I cut into it I realized it was a relative of the more common frittata. This one had eggs, onions, and layers and layers of thinly sliced potatoes.

I was reminded of my trip to Spain by this months issue of Gourmet Magazine, which has an article on the Camino do Santiago: our excuse to be backpacking across Spain. It made me think of the foods we ate in small bars and cafes all across the country: of course tapas, but also tortillas, empanadas, bocadillos (simple bar sandwiches of baguette and Chorizo or Ham), Caldo Gallego (cabbage potato soup), Ensalada Mixta (kind of a paired down Nicoise salad), olives, freshly baked bread, great inexpensive wine, and of course sweet flaky breakfast pastries and Cafe Con Leche.

For my frittata/tortilla I borrowed some techniques from both dishes: thinly sliced tortilla style potatoes, with frittata style veggies. I fried the potatoes much like a tortilla, but finished it in the oven like a frittata. The finished product was a great balance of moist tender eggs and toothsome veggies with the welcome tang of Cheddar and jalapeno. However you make this southern European stroke of genius, whether you call it a frittata or a tortilla, it is easy, flavorful, and satisfying.




















the recipe:

5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 sm onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lg potato, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cup broccoli, cut into small florets
2-3 tbsp pickled jalapenos, chopped
1/2 cup extra sharp cheddar, cut into 1/4" cubes
8 eggs
fresh ground black pepper
salt

In small bowl, whip eggs season with salt and pepper, and mix in cheese and jalapenos. In oven safe 10" skillet (cast iron works great), heat vegetable oil on medium-high. (you want the oil hot so your veggies cook without absorbing too much oil) Add potatoes and fry, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli, onions, and a generous pinch of salt. Continue frying mixture until potatoes just begin to brake up when stirred: approximately an additional 5 minutes. (If potatoes start to brown, lower heat slightly) Add garlic and fry 1 minute. Scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom and evenly distribute potatoes and broccoli in pan.



















Pour egg mixture into hot pan, let bottom set 30 seconds, then lower heat as low as possible. Cook until outer edges are set: about 10 minutes. Broil in oven until top is lightly browned: 3-5 minutes. Run a knife along the outside of the pan, and let rest about 5 minutes before loosening bottom with spatula and sliding onto serving dish. Serves 4.

Three Cheese and Vegetable Pot Pie

It was Oscar night, and we made a household event of it. We all like movies but not usually award shows. Naturally we turned to the number one way to easily make something fun; turn it into a competition. (Any occasion to do so is seldom passed up at my house.) The family filled out ballots predicting winners in the top categories, and decided on a prize of handmade caramel candies. Spoiler: I tied for first! (which is good, cause I'll readily admit I hate losing, also caramel is my favorite sweet.)

I decided to make something special for dinner. I had some great cheese, fresh veggies, and a lot of people to feed. I considered the usual starches: potato, pasta, bread...., in the quantity I needed, they just didn't seem red carpet to me. I wanted something impressive, but not too frilly. Then it hit me: pastry crust... pot pies.. Giant Pot Pies! There is something awe inspiring about a whole pie, and it seemed a perfect dinner for a Sunday in February. And I have to say these Cheese and Vegetable Pot Pies were a smash hit with all the critics in my house. (sorry, I just had to do it)


the recipe:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 sm onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, 1/2 stalk minced, remainder sliced
2 carrots, 1/2 carrot minced, remainder halved (quartered if large) and sliced
1/2 lb mushrooms, 3 minced, remainder sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
4 cups milk
1 sm bay leaf
1 tsp. thyme
1/3 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/3 cup extra sharp Cheddar, shredded
3 tbsp Parmesan, shredded
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
salt
1 9" double pastry crust


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large heavy skillet or dutch oven, saute chopped onion and minced celery, carrot, and mushrooms with a pinch of salt in vegetable oil over med heat until well caramelized: approx 15 min. (Lower heat and scrape bottom of pan as needed.) Add garlic and saute 1 min. Dump out and reserve caramelized vegetable mixture (or push to the side of pan) Add butter; stir in flour and saute 1 -2 min. Whisk in milk until smooth, then stir in caramelized veggies, bay leaf and thyme. Simmer a few min. until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Add sliced veggies and simmer until nearly tender. Stir in shredded Gruyere, Cheddar, Parmesan, parsley, and lemon juice. Remove bay leaf. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Poor into prepared pastry crust, crimp edges with fork for "authentic" pot pie look. (brush with an egg wash if you want a shiny surface) Bake 35 -45 min. until center is golden brown. (If the edge begins to get too brown, use pie crust shield) Let rest 10 min. before serving. Serves 6-8 people.



















I was surprised at how filling these were. I'm not kidding when I say, one slice is enough, the most ravenous could maybe put down two. The buttery crust and rich cheesy filling are decadent and satisfying. Serve with a salad, and you have a meal.

Oven Fries

These Oven Fries taste as good as french fries, without requiring a nap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking french fries, that most beloved of junk-foods. But; add these Oven Fries to your fry repertoire and you could be eating fries morning, noon, and night - these fries are actually food. The inside is soft and moist and the outside is crisp and well seasoned. In a side by side comparison both fries are neck and neck. The Oven Fries compete by... well, by not competing, actually. These fries taste different. Where all french fries pretty much taste the same, (and pretty much taste like fry oil), these actually taste like potatoes: crunchy, salty, fatty potatoes! For some this may be a negative, but, if you actually like the taste of a quality potato, they might even be better. So, especially if you've gotten yourself a few pounds of some fancy potatoes, (you really should buy organic, the regular ones are pesticide sponges) and actually want to taste them, cook up a batch of these.

I hypothesize: (my friends know this theory well) french fries eaters fall into one of two camps: Square or Pointy. Take your plate of regular cafe french fries; you have a mix of fries cut from the center and the outside of a potato. Now; I contend: one either likes the the square fries from the center or the pointy ones from the outside; the slightly soft, or totally crisp. Personally, I like "square fries", so these are my ideal fry. Crispy on the outside (especially the edges) but soft and moist in the middle. If you want a crispier fry (I personally can't imagine why) you can easily roast these a bit longer, edging them into "pointy fry" territory.

Oven fries make a great blank canvas for your favorite spice or herb mixture. I usually use olive oil, salt, fresh ground black pepper, and a little Cajun seasoning. (I wouldn't necessarily title these Cajun fries, but if you doubled the amount of Cajun you could call them that.) They would also be great with chopped herbs, "taco seasoning", Parmesan cheese, even curry. I can't really think of anything that doesn't go well with potato. These also invite you to experiment with dips. Nothing much beets french fries and ketchup, but lots of condiments go well with fries - the obvious: ketchup and mustard, also hot sauce, BBQ, steak sauce, mayo, and sour cream. A few combos that come to mind are chipotle mayo, spicy ketchup, or herbed sour cream.

Some of the tricks to fool-proof fries are, first: size. In order to get a crisp fry without a deep fryer, you have to roast them for a pretty long time in the oven. You could get away with cutting these a bit smaller, but too much smaller and you risk a dry fry. Secondly, the fries must be spread out in a single layer. It helps if you can give each piece a little bit of space to encourage the moisture to evaporate. You'll also want to roast them at a high temp. to speed evaporation, and ensure a crisp fry. Though it does not help in your mission for crispness, you should season your potatoes before you bake them, or you will have a flavorless interior. Season the potatoes right before you throw them in the oven, or the salt will leach out liquid and wash all of your seasoning off the outside of your fry.




















the recipe:

3 lbs potatoes
1/3-1/2 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp Cajun seasoning
salt
fresh ground pepper


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Thoroughly wash potatoes and remove any blemishes. Cut lengthwise into cm. thick slices. Cut these slices lengthwise again into cm. sticks.

In a large bowl sprinkle with olive oil and stir to lightly coat each peace. Liberally season with salt and pepper and stir in Cajun seasoning.



















Spread on lightly oiled sheet pan, (line with foil for drastically easier clean up) and roast for approx 1 hour. (If using two pans, rotate at least once.) Once potatoes have crisped enough to be moved easily, about 45 minutes, flip with tongs or spatula and continue roasting to desired crispness, approx. 15 minutes.

Curry Chicken Salad

This is, with out a doubt, the best chicken salad I've ever made. (It's also the only time I recall making something with saffron that tasted like saffron, and tasted good!) Its subtle, but full flavored. The first flavor you get is chicken, then just enough curry to know its there, followed by nutty almond, cut occasionally by a burst of sweet raisin, with on unexpected finish of saffron. These starring ingredients wouldn't work without the foundation of complex vegetal flavor: the peppers adding sweetness, the onion: bite, and the celery: freshness. I was pleasantly surprised by the great texture of this salad. The veggies happily play a supporting roll, unnoticeable except to give some structure.

I think some of the keys to its nuanced flavor are, first: the curry powder. While no universal recipe exists, there are two obviously different categories: British/Indian and Jamaican styles. I say style, because Curry Powder is a western invention. In India they generally use fresh ground aromatics and spices for their sauces. Curry powder was brought to the UK and then to the Caribbean, where it was further altered to suit local tastes and ingredients (most notably allspice). In the past I had used a Jamaican style curry powder, (which I do use in my Curry Tuna Salad). This time I used an Indian variety, (Maharajah Curry Powder from Penzy Spices), that had one unique addition: saffron, which turned out to go beautifully with the second star of this dish and my favorite element in the salad; roasted almonds. The combo was a huge success. The floral nature of Indian curry powder and saffron was perfectly balanced by the rich, toasted, nutty flavor. (A similar effect could be achieved by adding a couple of threads of saffron to your favorite Indian curry powder blend.)

I know most people don't own saffron, but haven't you always wanted a reason to buy some?


the recipe:

1 1/2 cups shredded poached chicken
2 tbsp. onion, minced
1 sm. stalk celery, sliced
1/3 orange or red bell pepper, small diced
2 tbsp. raisins
2 tbsp. roasted almonds, chopped
1/2-2/3 cup mayonnaise
1-2 tsp. Indian curry powder
2-3 threads saffron
fresh ground black pepper
salt

In small bowl, add saffron to curry powder and crush thoroughly with the back of a spoon, (or crush with mortar and pestle.) In Larger bowl, Mix chicken, onion, celery, pepper, raisins, and mayonnaise (you may need more or less mayonnaise depending on the moistness of your chicken). Season with salt and pepper, and gradually add your curry powder blend until you can clearly identify your chicken salad as curry, but no more. Let rest for ten minutes or more for flavors to marry. Stir in almonds, taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve on soft dense wheat bread with green leaf lettuce. Makes two sandwiches.

Sicilian Orange Salad

As the end of citrus season approaches, (fall through spring) I thought, I better make my favorite citrus dish: a savory orange salad. I think I first saw this salad on Lidia's Italy on PBS(love that show, love PBS). I did a little Googling and found out this is a traditional Sicilian dish: Nzalata D'Aranci Pattuali, usually made with a local, slightly tart variety of orange, or blood oranges.



















This salad is a really good example of the importance of balance in cooking. There are only a handful of ingredients, and a pretty unexpected combo, but the effect is both refined and accessible. I know a lot of people will look at the pile of onions on top and think "no way", but I promise the flavor of the onions is completely mellowed and balanced by the oranges. The sweet tart juice from the fruit combines on the plate with extra virgin olive oil and fresh ground pepper, creating, in essence, a simple vinaigrette.

I used regular Spanish onions here, but red onions taste the same, and look stunning with regular orange-oranges. I would be curious to try sweet Walla Walla or Maui onions, though I worry they would be overpowered by the citrus. I also put in a few lemon and lime slices, which isn't for everybody. I like the extreme tartness. But I wouldn't put them in if your serving this to friends or family and are unsure of there preferences. I think the only citrus fruit I haven't tried in this salad is grapefruit, which would probably be good. One of my favorite renditions was with Meyer lemon (a sweet mellow lemon), awesome!




















the recipe:

3 oranges
1/2 onion
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
salt

Using a sharp knife remove the peel and pith from oranges. Slice oranges and onions crosswise into approx. quarter inch. slices. (If oranges are on the dry side reserve half of one orange and squeeze juice over top. If you are unhappy with the flavor of your oranges, a little sugar usually helps) Arrange orange slices on a serving platter and top with onion slices. Drizzle liberally with olive oil, and grind over top a generous amount of black pepper. Sprinkle directly on onions a pinch or two of salt.



















We actually unknowingly bought these beautiful pink oranges. They look just like any other orange on the outside, and taste like a regular orange, but have a slightly grapefruity smell, and light salmon color.

Red Wine Sangria

Inspired by a gift of a beautiful citrus juicer, and a longing for warmer days, I'm making the classic Spanish punch: sangria. This is not a definitive sangria recipe, if such a thing exists. I like to think of this as a "winter sangria". The deep grape flavor and tannic wine balanced by the bracing citrus juice make this a complex and richly flavored punch.

When I think of sangria, I recall sticky fingers and empty plastic cups, their bottoms filled with messy chunks of stained fruit. Appetizing, I know. Most think of sangria as sweetened wine, a mix of chopped fruit thrown in, and sometimes juice and/or liquor. In general this produces a pretty good tasting liquid, but a dissident mix of fruit with no relation to the wine. Not to mention, No one ever seems to know how to fish these floating chunks from their drink (maybe a desert spoon/crab fork hybrid?), and once you've either fished them out with aforementioned sticky fingers, or dumped your little cup of chunks on your face, you realize they don't taste good. The often out of season fruit is either too tart or the wrong flavor to really create a balanced and delicious beverage. The best recipes I've seen abandon this catch all approach and instead think of the fruit as a flavoring agent rather then a fruit salad slash eating challenge.

Obviously the first question is which wine to use. I scrounged around and found an open bottle of Cabernet that nobody really liked all that much. Cabernet is great for Sangria, and I get a warm feeling whenever I'm able to use up something that wouldn't be used if I didn't come to the rescue. ("have no fear wrinkly carrot, I won't abandon you")

The flavors that work best in sangria, (and in most cocktails really) are citrus. I had Oranges, lemons and limes on hand, I'd never used limes before, but I love lime flavor so I thought I'd give it a try. There is often a lot of sugar in sangria, usually making it sickly sweet. I wanted to avoid this by using mostly fruit juice, and a little honey to sweeten my drink. I didn't have any liquors to fortify this concoction, or really quite enough fruit juice to balance the wine, I couldn't think how to make this into a yummy drink, then inspiration struck. (Depending on ones viewpoint, this is either genius, or blasphemy.)

Grape soda! (Don't worry, the effect is subtle and well balanced.) I know soda is a bit of an indulgence, but use a natural brand(high fructose corn syrup doesn't belong in any recipe), and grape juice would work too. When you think about it the amount of sugar in a couple of cans is much less then in most sangria recipes, with some flavor and fizz. Also, this punch comes with a significant nutritive punch, so I say indulge.


the recipe:

1 bottle dry red wine
2 cans natural grape soda
1 lime
2 lemons
3 oranges
4 tbsp. honey
ice

Halve citrus fruits and cut a handful of decorative slices from the center. Squeeze juice from fruits into bottom of pitcher, and stir in honey. Add in fruit slices and pour in wine. Marinate at least a few hours in the fridge. Put ice in glasses or add to pitcher. Pour in grape soda, stir and serve.



















We didn't have any ice around, but we're "lucky" enough to live in the snowy north. the combo of the crunchy snow and slightly fizzy sangria was delicious.

The sunny side of Christmas

I am aware that it is well past Christmas, and most people only want to think of spring flowers and melting snow, but I was packing up my things to return home to Brooklyn from visiting my family in Wisconsin, and I just had to document my serious hall. I am really lucky to have a family full of foodies.



















I have read both books, "In Defense of Food", by Michael Pollan, and "Happy in the Kitchen", by Michel Richards. I really like them both. Michael Pollan is one of my favorite authors, not so much for is writing style, which is good, but because he is writing insightfully on the most important topics surrounding food and culture today. And "Happy in the Kitchen", is one of my favorite cookbooks I have ever read. It is beautiful and inspiring. I'll try and give a full review of both in the near future.



















My brothers girlfriend actually made the cutting board for me. I love it! it will make a really great cheeseboard for a party. Or I could cut multiple loaves of bread or fritatas or.... well the possibilities are endless, it's such a great shape, and size, and its good looks make it a natural for serving.

What do you think, out of all the objects here, I would want to use first............?

You've guessed it, this sunny yellow beaut.

























If you don't already know, this is the prettiest citrus juicer you've ever seen. Just looking at it makes me think of lemonade and margaritas. Ah, spring will be here soon...... I can make it..I can make it..
























I've used this style of juicer before, and it works great. What is best about it(other then how pretty it is), is its ease of use, pop in a halved citrus(cut side down), and squeeze, no seeds, no sticky hands, and you can just keep cooking. It also does a good job of getting a lot of juice from your fruit, just remember to tip it to get all the juice from the inside, before you dump out your rind. (If your trying to make a nice pulpy orange juice to go with your breakfast, I would recommend a reamer style, as this type(often called a squeezer or press) smashes the fruit, leaving it relatively intact.)

I love finding kitchen tools at stoop sales or flea markets, but I hate to say, you would probably have to buy this new. In the past they were mostly made from aluminum, which is not really a good idea with acidic foods. Plus the new enameled ones come in some gorgeous colors.

I just have to make something using this before I pack it up, and, I realize, not everybody is such a geek about cooking paraphernalia, so I will follow this post with a recipe. I can't really muster the right enthusiasm for such unabashedly summery drinks as lemonade or margaritas. But I think a nice alternative would be Red Wine Sangria, like a warm-up for the warm up to come.

Ahh.... I can feel the sunny warmth and spring breezes already.

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

Medicate the delicious way, no side effects! It's nearly spring, and everybody I know has a cold. With the exception of me and my mom of course. I never get sick, (yes, I know, I'm asking for it) and Moms never ever get sick, they don't have the time. But the boys are sick, especially my Dad, so I am making him Chicken Noodle Soup; The unadulterated classic.

















Channel your inner depression-era homemaker and spend half a day in the kitchen, you'll have the satisfaction of one of the world's great comfort foods, and if you play it right, you'll have the makings of many additional meals for pennies. Comfort, and money are hard enough to come by these days, I say, take it where you can get it.

One chicken and a few common veggies, gives you a giant pot of soup, moist poached chicken, and a jug of homemade stock. Also, I wrote this post, did three loads of laundry, ironed, cleaned and listened to 4 episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on NPR, Not bad for half a days work.

















the ingredients:

1 whole chicken(about 4-5 lbs)
4 lg carrots
4 stalks celery
1 lg onion
6 cloves garlic
2 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp. dried thyme
5 black pepper corns
1 tsp. vinegar
3 tbsp. vegetable oil(or chicken fat)
2 tsp. sugar
2 cups egg noodles
fresh ground black pepper
salt

the process:

Rinse chicken, inside and out, and cover with cold water in a seven quart stock pot. Clean and peel your carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and add the scraps to the stockpot. Add herbs and spices, cover and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, skim foam off surface, and reduce heat as low as possible, cover and simmer for an hour and twenty minutes, skimming surface periodically.

Remove chicken to a platter and strain stock through a wet paper towel lined sieve. Add stock back to pot. When cool enough to touch, remove chicken from carcass and reserve. At this point you have clear chicken stock and poached chicken. (This a useful process to keep in mind for times when you aren't making soup and want chicken for chicken salad or chicken/stock to use in recipes. You can also use this stock for the recipe, and have a lighter cleaner looking and tasting soup. Just make a separate, additional batch of darker stock from the bones.)

You can make a richer stock by adding the bones and scraps back to the stock pot. Add enough additional cold water to fill your stock pot and a tiny splash of vinegar, (which helps to extract the flavor and vitamins from the inside of the bones.) Bring to a boil and skim surface. (skim the fat from the surface along with the foam, don't worry you will end up with plenty of yummy fat in the finished soup) Reduce heat to low and simmer for about another hour, skimming surface as needed.

If you want to make a really dark stock, it is worth the extra effort to roast the carcass for a while in the oven before making a stock out of it. (If you are going to save the bones for another day, you might as well do this.) I usually like my Chicken Noodle Soup rich but not too intense, and so use the lighter bone infused stock. If I'm not making this soup, which I prefer a little on the light side, I often make the dark and rich roasted chicken stock. If I'm making a more Asian style soup or one with delicately flavored ingredients, I use the clear stock.


















Slice 2 carrots and 2 stalks celery into approx 1 cm. thick slices. Mince remaining carrots and celery, and dice onion. Heat 3 tbsp. oil in dutch oven over med. heat. Add minced and diced veggies and 1 tsp. salt, saute until brown, about 15 minutes. Scrape the bottom occasionally and lower heat if necessary in order to get an even deep brown, without burnt edges, which don't dissolve into the broth in later steps. Don't rush this step, this is where you start to layer on some serious flavor.

















Deglaze the pan with about 4 quarts of your homemade chicken stock. Add the sugar and a few large pinches of salt, just enough to help you gauge the flavor of your stock. If it seems weak, boil it down a bit to concentrate the flavor. Salt and pepper to taste then add your sliced veggies. Once veggies are soft, about 15 minutes, taste again and add salt as needed. Add noodles and about 2 cups shredded poached chicken; simmer about 10 minutes. Skim surface, adjust seasoning, and serve in warm bowls. Add some fresh crusty bread and call it lunch, eat three bowls and call it dinner.



tips:

Skim when ever possible, you'll get a clear and clean tasting broth.

Salt as you go along not all at the end, you want the ingredients to be flavored through, not just the broth.

Don't rush, soup is all about the layering of flavors.

Mom's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

I have to admit, I'm not that great a baker. I seldom admit to being bad at things, but when I taste the creations my mom effortlessly puts together on the weekends while also cleaning the whole house, doing the laundry, the taxes, being fashionable, wrangling grandkids, etc. etc., I realize that I'm a total novice. The up-side of this is, at the moment, I can leave that department to the other, more talented, people in my life. Luckily for me, I'm currently visiting my fam in northern Wisconsin, and so have easy access to my Mom, the best baker I know, I've already taken a mental note to write down a handful of amazing deserts that I will later try to replicate on my own. Plenty of fodder for future posts. I promise to mix in posts from my friends that have desert skills along with my less skilled attempts. We'll see maybe I'll surprise myself, or delude myself, either works.



















These are Healthy!
These have oatmeal in them, so there healthy,.. really,.. I promise. And they have chocolate: full of healthy antioxidants. And honey.. and peanut butter!! Wow, these could stand in for lunch.

Ok, I'll clarify, these are heart healthy, not in the way you think, although I believe I made a convincing case. But, in the way that I feel happy after eating them, which is why French people are so healthy, that and booze.

Oh, and butter, also plenty of that in these puppies. The combined effect is like a mix between a peanut butter/oatmeal cookie, and a toffee bar(another great Mom recipe to come) I know it sounds like a lot of different flavors, but they come together magically, yes I said magically, make them and you'll see. First your tastebuds are hit with the combined effect, most noticeably chocolate, and peanut butter, with on underlying richness. From that richness than emerges the flavors of butter/toffee, oats, honey, vanilla and even a little bit of a salty finish(something I can't get enough of in deserts) Each flavor makes a convincing case for being the star, but no one flavor ever wins, and the struggle is delicious. The texture is chewy, crumbly and moist. This complexity makes these bars dangerous. Unlike a more one dimensional treat, You can eat them pretty much unendingly, just ask my Dad.

These are not the kind of desert you will get at a fancy restaurant, but the kind you make for a potluck, or at your house when its cold, you have a great movie or show to watch, or your friends are coming over to play. The kind you make in a big sheet to share with your favorite people.

Mom says she got this recipe way back in the day along with a jar of honey from a farm stand. I believe they were called Grandma's Peanut Butter Bars. The bare bones recipe she received has been tweaked and expanded over the years, and so I've renamed them Mom's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars. Here is the recipe I've put together from watching the master at work.





















This is my mom's collection of recipes, I love the wood grained notebook.


the recipe:

1 1/2 cups plus 1 tbsp. butter
2 cups light brown sugar
2/3 cup honey
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups oatmeal (quick oats)
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup peanut butter (natural works great)
1 1/2 cups chopped milk chocolate, or milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 18" jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and grease with butter. In a saucepan, heat butter until just melted, add honey and vanilla. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, oatmeal, flour, salt and baking soda, add butter mixture and stir until just incorporate. Gently spread on to lined pan, leaving a 1 cm gap along the outside edges. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Do not over bake. Remove from oven, let rest a few minutes to set up. Spoon small dabs of peanut butter over the surface, when softened, spread. Sprinkle on chopped chocolate, wait a few minutes to soften, and cut into 60 bars. Drag knife smoothly through chocolate to create a swirled effect.
Note: this is obviously a very large batch, but is required when your dealing with boys with large appetites. If you are not feeding a lot of people(or my family), you could easily make a half batch in a 9 x 13" pan.