Sweet Love and Ginger

Condiment

Recouping with an Early Summer Abundance Bowl

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Despite the craziness of our July Fourth holiday we still manage to indulge.
Some of us really enjoyed the John Daily’s, maybe even a little too much; we
won’t talk about that though, I was having a good time. There was also lots of
food, as there always is at these kinds of things. Hamburgers, hotdogs,
sausages, bowls and bowls of creamy macaroni and potato salads, brownies, baked
beans, a friends signature cocktail meatballs, chips upon chips and dips are
just a few of the things on the list of indulgences.

After all of the cocktails and heavy food both Chuck and I were in
need of something with a little more freshness to it; you know something with
some green.
Luckily when we got home our gardens were over flowing. There was broccoli
that desperately needed to be cut, radishes that needed pulling, more lettuce
than we could ever hope to eat, and peas galore. There were even a few tomatoes
ready to be eaten, but they didn’t make it out of the garden, my tummy couldn’t
wait.
With all this fresh bounty I decided to make a very simple meal,
with mostly raw ingredients. I really love the concept of these wonderbowls
that Sarah from My New Roots has been posting; just using whatever you have on
hand, that is in season, and fresh and tossing it together into a big bowl for
the taking.

I made some wild rice with half water and half vegetable broth to
add some heft, and a bit of saltiness to the bowl; we wanted this thing to be
filling after all. I also added an apricot that I picked up from an organic
farm stand at a rest stop on the highway. There are some benefits to having to
take a day trip here and there for work. I also got some dried corn and kale chips
and dilly beans (so good!).
Chuck claims that it doesn’t need dressing but I’m sure there is a
few who would disagree. So I’m adding the recipe for the simple dressing that I
made, despite us not using it. The cool thing about this dressing is that it
can very easily be used as a marinade on chicken or seafood as well.
Simple Garlic and Ginger Dressing
½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp honey (or agave syrup)

Whisk all ingredients together and serve. Will
keep in the fridge for about a week.

Sunday Dinner: Asian Style

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A few Sundays ago, if you follow me on instagram you know I made
a boat load of wontons. What you don’t know is that I made an entire Asian
inspired Sunday dinner that day. I meant to post it last week, but life got in
the way, it happens.

Regardless, I spent a peaceful afternoon watching New Girl and
folding these little babies. I used this recipe pretty much to a tee (Check this
girl out she knows what’s up), because let’s be honest I have no clue what I’m
doing here with most Asian flavors, aside from soy sauce. The one main difference
is that I followed the instructions on the back of the wontons package to
create the shape you see. These came out magnificent! I loved them! Like totally
completely loved them, and have big plans to make them again in the future,
maybe with a few more changes/additions. I did however get uber fancy and make
my own dipping sauce.

Wonton Dipping Sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve.
In addition to these guys I made Korean Style Beef in the crockpot.
It was totally inspired by this recipe, also from Damn Delicious, she’s
totally my new food blog crush can you tell? Anyway I wanted to make something
that was clean, so I took her photos, and general idea and made it my own. It
came out AWESOME! I am seriously proud of this one. It’s super easy and healthy
what more can you ask for? It’s definitely going into the I-have-to-work-too-late-to-cook-anything
rotation.

Clean Crockpot Korean Style Beef

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp raw honey
1 tbsp sesame sauce
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp ground ginger
2 lbs lean beef roast, trimmed of visible fat
10 mini sweet peppers, sliced thin
1 cup broccoli florets (optional)
Sesame seeds for garnish

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, red
pepper flakes, and ginger. Place roast in slow cooker and pour the mixture over
the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove the
roast from the slow cooker and shred the beef before returning it to the pot
with its juices and mini peppers and broccoli florets. Cook on high for another
30 minutes. Stir well and serve immediately. 
To round out this meal I also added a little side salad of
bagged Asian slaw, simply because I felt more vegetables were required, and
after making all of the wontons I knew I would be to fried to make something
else.

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did. I’m also wondering what your favorite kind of take out is. I would really like to come up with some more easy, and clean takes on traditional take out so please give me some ideas!!

Leftover Chicken Croquettes with Smoked Cheddar & Squash Soup

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You may have noticed I have been into posting whole meals. I feel like it’s more real this way. Everything I post here is usually made right before we eat it. Occasionally I will make something ahead so I can get a good picture of it but it’s always eaten for dinner later or lunch the next day, besides some things just taste better after a few hours of sitting in the fridge, soups and stews especially.

What I’m getting at is that I hope you don’t mind that I do this sometimes. You know, bombard you with 3 or 4 recipes in one post. This is how we eat, what we eat all together I thought it might be helpful for people trying to come up with dinner menus, weeknight meals and other combinations. Plus I also get really excited about some of these recipes and combos and want to share them all at once.

This collection of recipes seems a little off at first glance but I’m telling you all the pieces fall nicely into place. The croquettes were developed out of necessity I have an abundance of leftover chicken, and we are kind of getting sick of chicken soup these days. My step mom Miss Amy has made these same croquettes before with turkey so I figured the same could be done with chicken. Now what do you serve with such a thing?
Squash soup of course! Chuck just really wanted it, and I really wanted Maple Walnut Salad Dressing, which goes so well with the smoked cheddar and apples, so let put it all together. What goes better together than soup and salad anyway?

The croquettes need liquid, whether it be gravy, salad dressing or some other kind of sauce it‘s definitely required because they  are kid of dry
without it. They are a pretty blank canvas which I like because I wanted to taste more of the dressing; however you can jazz them up by adding some chopped up veggies or spices to the mix.

 

Leftover ChickenCroquettes
5 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
2 cups cooked and minced chicken (you may want to use a food
processor)
½ cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat, and whisk in flower.
Cook for 1 minute, whisking continuously.
Add milk whisking until well combined and cook for 1-2 minutes, until thickened then remove from heat and allow to cool. In a large bowl combine the chicken and cooled sauce, mixing well. The combination should be sticky, if it doesn’t start to form clumps then add a few bread crumbs a pinch at a time.
Sift together breadcrumbs, parsley and salt in a shallow dish or plate.
With your hands create hockey puckshaped disks. Coat the disks with the bread crumb mixture and place in a greased baking dish.
Bake for 30 or so minutes or until the croquettesbegin to turn a golden brown color.


Maple Walnut Salad
Dressing
¾ cups chopped walnuts
3 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp pure maple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl or jar, then whisk or shake well to combine.

Squash Soup with Smoked Cheddar
and Apple
 1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium roasted butternut squash, flesh only
 ½ cup apple cider vinegar
 4 cups Low Sodium vegetable broth
 1 medium apple, peeled and diced
 1/3 cup apple smoked cheddar
In a large thick bottomed sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat and sauté onion until it begins to soften and become translucent.
Add squash and broth to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes then with an immersion blender or in batches blend until smooth.
Over medium heat add apple and smoked cheddar and cook for 5-6 minutes stirring regularly.
Adjust seasoning and serve warm with extra cheese for garnish.

 

 

A Real Dinner Party at Our House

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I want to preface this by saying that our lives are far from glamorous. Chuck and I live in a modest apartment on a dead end road, and aside from being fairly small it is also laid
out pretty horribly. It is warm and charming with lots of updated windows, and cute molding, but everything is pretty boxy and cut off, which makes entertaining hard. Don’t worry we manage. The kitchen is eat-in style, though there isn’t much room for the two of us at the table let alone any guests. We make it work, and improvisation is key. And since cooking for my friends is something that I have always loved to do and simply cannot stop doing; regardless of how impossible it may seem.

I try to have everything close to ready if not already done before anyone arrives; along with the kitchen table clear, because that has to serve as the buffet. The small fold-able table that does triple duty as dining table, craft space, and beer die set up is pulled out just before we are ready to eat, otherwise it’s cumbersome presence takes up too much of the living room. Chuck and I usually take the couch as it is a little low for table eating as well as maneuvering in and out of. We handle it. Then out comes the plates and cutlery stacked neatly on the counter, it has to be self serve because that folding table doesn’t fit everything.

It works, and I haven’t had a complaint yet. Of course that could be because all of our friends are also living in modest, horribly laid out apartments, so they get it.

 

 

Last weekend Chuck and I entertained our friends Alicia and Wil. She was gracious enough to bring chocolate covered strawberries for desert as well as a good white wine. Here is what the menu Looked like: Salad with Lemon Shallot Vinaigrette, Simply Roasted Chicken with mashed potatoes and Gravy as well as Braised Cabbage & Carrots.
Though it sounds like a lot it was all pretty easy to prepare, basically I popped the chicken in the oven, peeled & while they boiled prepared the cabbage & carrots. When the chicken came out in went the veggies, and I made the gravy and mashed the potatoes; which gave the chicken plenty of time to rest before being carved. The salad was just greens rinsed and spun, and the vinaigrette made the day before. From start to finish it took probably 2 hours to prepare, and there was plenty of time to mix a few
drinks, chat with Chuck and take Brody outside 4 or 5 times (he really likes the snow) in between. The perfect end to the week.

 

Simple Roasted Chicken
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 whole 4 lb chicken
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ tablespoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Remove the chicken from all packaging (including giblets) and pat dry with paper towels.
  3. Rub the outside with oil, spices and place breast side up in a shallow roasting pan. (Optional: tie the legs up with kitchen twine and fold the wing tips under.)
  4. Place chicken in the oven and cook for about an hour and 20 minutes, or until the skin is golden and crisp. When poked with a knife or fork in the thickest part of the thigh the juices should run clear. A thermometer also inserted into this part of the chicken should read 165.
  5. Remove the chicken to a platter and allow it to rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.
  6. Carve the chicken and serve.

 

Quick Chicken Gravy

1 cup drippings from roast chicken pan
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 springs thyme
Broth as needed

In a small sauce pan heat drippings over medium heat. Whisk
in flour and spices and cook, allowing the mixture to reduce slightly and
thicken. If it is too thick add broth or water by the tablespoon, whisking
until blended each time.

 

Braised Cabbage & Carrots

3 tbsp butter
5 strips of bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 head of cabbage, shredded
4 large carrots, peeled & chopped
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup vegetable broth or water
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. In an oven proof skillet melt butter
with bacon, and then add cabbage, and carrots, tossing lightly. Stir in the
remaining ingredients and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes stirring
occasionally until carrots have reached desired doneness. Serve warm.

 

Lemon Shallot Vinaigrette

2 tsp grated lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 large garlic clove, crushed
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well
combined. May serve immediately, or be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week.

 

 

Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing

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Creamy Pesto Salad Dressing

I know that you know I made homemade Caesar dressing recently for my Chicken Caesar Burger, which I ended up eating the entire rest of the week. But what you didn’t know is that I’ve been kind of obsessing about creamy dressings since. Having always been a vinaigrette person this was a whole new ball park for me, but I was able to come up with a few really great recipes that I think I will be using in the future.

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