hotdish

I must be a little home sick because I’ve been craving comfort in the form of the one-pot wonders the Minnesotan’s like to call “hotdishes”.  To the rest of the world, they are casseroles.  While aimlessly perusing the internet, I stumbled upon this Cooking Light recipe for Chicken Tamale Casserole, (I like to call it “Tamale Hotdish” for my peeps back home) and knew immediately it would soon be on my menu.

It was a snap to put together.  Check the recipe for the specifics, but basically it was a box of corn muffin mix, some cheese, a can of creamstyle corn, green chiles (I’m lucky enough here in Charlotte to find the REAL frozen variety…the rest of you might have to resort to canned), cumin, an egg, and milk.  Bake that for 15 minutes and then poke holes into it with a fork.  (Mine were kind of like craters because the mixture was so soft).

I topped this with enchilada sauce, shredded rotisserie chicken and more cheese.

Popped it back in the oven for another 15-ish minutes.

Topped with some sour cream and green onions for a pop of color.  Divine.  I can’t wait until we’re reaquainted over leftovers.

I can imagine making a vegetarian version of this with black beans and veggies…and kind-of-can’t-wait-to-make-it-again.  And again.

****************************************************************************************************************

And now for a 30 second rant:

Someone once told me that after a short 3 days of inactivity, you start to lose fitness.

I hate that person.

Because I fear they’re right.  Although, in my case it’s been more like 3 weeks (or maybe a little more…I don’t want to think about it).  Basically I’ve been on a roller coaster since somewhere in late September.  Traveling, a bustling social calendar, getting engaged, wedding planning, work…well, it’s all led up to lots of fun, but very little fitness. 

On Monday I got back on the horse and hit my [formerly] regular weight lifting class.  We had a sub because apparently in the time I’ve kicked weights to the curb, my teacher trained for and completed an Iron Man.  I fear for next Monday, knowing she’s in Iron Man shape. 

Sub or not, the class was hard.  I’d like to think it’s because I’m fighting a slight cold…but the reality is…I’m not what I used to be.  And so I start…again.

*******************************************************************************************************

In happier news:  I’m in love with North Carolina this fall.  I mean…it is freakin’ gorgeous here.  The weather has been sunny and in the mid-60′s…and this is what I get to look at every day.

I think Bob Ross would agree…happy little trees.

(Source)

back in the kitchen

After a couple weeks of lots of celebrating, traveling, and basically running myself ragged, this week my focus is returning to normalcy. 

(Within reason).

Which is why I dug a quick and tasty dinner out of the archives.  I took a Mediterranean Cooking Class with Heidi Billotto earlier this year and remember going crazy over this dish.  Now that I realize how amazingly easy it is, I’m kicking myself for having not made it at home sooner.

I started by roasting spaghetti squash for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Cut the squash in half (you don’t even have to scoop seeds) and put face down on a baking sheet.  And forget about it…until it looks like this:

Let the squash cool so it’s easier to handle.  In the mean time, I cranked the oven to 400 degrees and put 3 tablespoon’s of olive oil in a baking dish.  I put the baking dish into the oven to heat the oil.

While that was heating, I prepped my fish (grouper, but you could use snapper, cod or probably any white fish).  I seasoned both sides with salt and pepper and some crushed fennel seeds .

(Note to self:  register for a mortal and pestle…not that I wasn’t successful crushing the seeds without it, but it would have been more fun).

When the oil was nice and hot, I took the baking dish out of the oven and put my fish in.  (It sizzled!)  To that I added 1/2 cup Sauvignon Blanc (or any dry white wine) and 3/4 cup of sliced greek olives (probably a little less because I couldn’t stop nibbling on them).

Back into the oven for 6 minutes.  Then, I topped the dish with diced tomatoes with basil (mostly drained), salt and pepper, and put into the oven for 4 more minutes.  You could also use fresh cherry tomatoes here, but they weren’t exactly looking stellar at the store, so I opted for tried and true (canned).

While the dish finished baking, I scooped out the seeds from my squash and with a fork pulled up the strands of spaghetti squash.

The grande finale.

Delightful.

I am looking forward to getting reacquainted with my kitchen this week.

nesting

On the heels of my fiance’s proposal, I was overcome with a “nesting” instinct.  I was leaving town for a few days and decided to spoil him a bit with a home cooked meal that would promise excellent leftovers.

It started with sauteed onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms.

Then I added 2 Tablespoons of flour and about a 3/4 cup of white wine.  I cooked the mixture until most of the wine had reduced.

Then, I added about a cup of chicken stock, fresh thyme, some baby yukon gold potatoes I had cooked separately, and some rotisserie chicken.

(I actually stopped at this point and refridgerated this mixture until the next day).

The next day it was time to assemble the pot pies.  I briefly reheated the mixture and added a couple of splashes of 1/2 and 1/2.  Then, I loaded ramekins with the chicken pot pie filling.

Topped with regular pie crust.  (The store bought kind…I’m not Super Woman).  And an egg wash and cracked black pepper.

Into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  And voila!

No wonder he wants to marry me.

fall feasting

My quick attempt at making beef stew started by dumping 1.5 lbs of stew meat (seasoned with salt and pepper) into the crockpot.

I added 1.5 onions and 2 stalks of celery. 

In cooking, I think it’s so important to season each layer as you go.  By the time it’s cooked, the flavor is usually dead on.  It could be just in my head, but I feel like seasoning as you go creates a depth of flavor…as opposed to a final shake of salt and pepper at the end.

The next layer was chopped carrots, parsnips and baby yukon gold potatoes.

And because the boyfriend and I are mushroom crazy, I added a package of baby portabellas.  Then, I nestled a bundle of thyme in the middle of the mixture.  I poured in a generous 1.5 cups of red wine and about 1.5 cups of beef broth.

Then, I covered it all, cranked the crockpot to “High” and left for work.

5 hours later my nose was met with notes of comfort food permeating the air.  I inspected my mixture and knew I had to thicken the sauce a bit.  I had seen some crockpot stew recipes calling for adding flour to the raw ingredients, but I kept having nightmares of coming home to clumpy stew, so I held off.  I decided to make my own thickening mixture on the stovetop by cooking some flour up in a few pats of butter.  I added beef stock and worcestshire sauce to the mixture and let it thicken up into a nice gravy-like substance.  Then, I dumped it in the pot o’ stew.

Mixed everything around and let it marry together for about 30 more minutes on the ”Low” setting.

Confession:  While I waited I decided to whip up a batch of Oatmeal Cookies.  Correction…a batch of “Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies” (seen on the Veggie by Season blog…but a Smitten Kitchen recipe).

Let me pause to say…

A-mazing.

Between the beef stew and the smells of cinnamon radiating through the house…I was seriously ready for a Fall Soiree.  There was really only one thing missing at this point.

I love this Pumpkin Ale.  I find most pumpkin brews to be on the sweet and somewhat nauseating side.  This ale has just the right amount of spice to make me feel like I’m drinking Autumn.  Delish.

I only had a super small serving of stew to make way for my beer and cookies, but it was DELICIOUS!  The only thing I may switch up next time is holding back on a few carrots.  I’m not sure I’m a “cooked carrot” fan, in general but I love the pop of color.

Luckily, there’s lots of leftovers.