Magic Pot "Rice-a-Roni"

I am quite pleased with myself! I created some sort of Rice-a-Roni/Hamburger Helper dish in six minutes in my magic pot. Quick, easy, yummy!

IP Beefy “Rice-a-Roni”

2 tablespoons butter
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 oz. spaghetti, broken into pieces
1 cup long grain rice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon beef soup base
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon ground celery
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 3/4 cups water

Add the butter to the IP, then sauté the ground beef, onion, garlic, spaghetti, and rice until the onion has softened, the beef is no longer pink, and the pasta starts to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and then cook on manual for six minutes. Let release naturally.

A Sweet Tea Pie Experiment

I bought two frozen pie crusts to make a birthday pie for a friend, but I didn't have room in the freezer to store the other crust. So what else could I do but make another pie? There was recently a whole pie episode on a show I watch called "Food Porn," and they featured a bakery called The Pie Hole in L.A. that makes an unusual item called Earl Grey Tea Pie. They didn't give an exact recipe, but they showed the steps of the process. Of course, I thought, "I could make that!" So I did. The pie has a bittersweet ganache layer and roasted/salted pistachios on the bottom, an Earl Grey-infused white chocolate mousse filling, and it's topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream and more chopped pistachios.

And I must say, I am so pleased with myself and how my Earl Grey Tea Pie experiment turned out so beautifully! It's light as feather (how could it not be, as it's mostly comprised of whipped cream?) with a little dark chocolate bitterness and some pistachio crunch on the bottom, and the tea flavor in the white chocolate mousse filling is more subtle than I had feared. The only thing that would perfect this pie is a homemade crust, which I will be sure to do next time.

Earl Grey Tea Pie
(Source: inspired by The Pie Hole's signature pie)

one 9-inch pie crust*, blind-baked and cooled

1 cup half-n-half
4 Earl Grey tea bags
1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup roasted and salted pistachio, roughly chopped (divided)
3/4 cup chopped white chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

While you are baking and cooling your pie crust, bring the half-n-half and the teas bags just to a boil, remove from the heat, and let the tea steep for at least an hour until the half-n-half is a tan color. Remove the tea bags and discard.

Bring the infused half-n-half back to just before the boiling point. Add 1/4 cup to the bttersweet chocolate chips, and the other 3/4 cup to the chopped white chocolate (in separate bowls). Whisk until smooth. Spread two or three tablespoons of the bittersweet ganache into the bottom and up the sides of the baked and cooled pie shell. Sprinkle on two tablespoons of chopped pistachios. Place the pie shell in the fridge while you continue with the rest of the pie.

Whip two cups of heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Don't worry about tiny bits of tea in your ganache--I like how that looks--but if larger pieces have escaped the tea bags, strain it through a mesh strainer.) Once the tea-infused white chocolate ganache has cooled to room temperature and has been strained (if necessary), whisk in one quarter of the whipped cream, then gently fold in another quarter of it. Remove pie shell from the fridge and add the white chocolate mousse filling.

Gently fold in the powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste to the remaining whipped cream, and then top the pie with that mixture, and the other two tablespoons of chopped pistachios. Chill at least two hours or, preferably, overnight.

*I used a frozen pie crust, But according to the "Food Porn" pie episode, The Pie Hole's two-crust recipe is as follows:
3 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup cold water

Mix ingredients until it feels "like a baby's bottom" then chill. Roll out, fit into a pan, weight down, and blind bake for 20 minutes until GB&D.

A Taste of Stockholm's Funky Food Truck Culture

When my friends picked me up from the airport in Stockholm this past summer, the first place that they insisted upon taking me was to the food trucks that set up on the weekends along the river in Södermalm (which means "South Island" and is not at all unlike hipster Brooklyn, NYC).

You have a wealth of cuisines from which to choose, it's very inexpensive, and then you sit on these bleachers in the sunshine while you dine. It's all quite a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon!

Beyond the food trucks, there's also an eclectic flea market that you can browse your way through after lunch.

Though my friend, Jen, decided on Greek fare, her husband, Mats and I opted for--ironically--"New York Style" Chicken and Rice from a fabulous truck (complete with operational disco ball!) calling itself the Funky Chicken.

The dish was comprised of yellow rice, grilled chicken marinated with Mediterranean flavors, a refreshing yogurt sauce, and a spicy harissa hot sauce, garnished with flat-leaf parsley, and served with a side of "sallad" (cole slaw) and a piece of crusty bread.

The chicken and rice was so delicious, and it reminded me very much of the halal chicken that you get from food carts in New York City. (Funny that I traveled all the way to Sweden to enjoy New York cuisine!)

Since my visit, I have reflected fondly and often on that dish, so much so that I had no choice but to try and copycat it--or something close to it--at home. And here was my recreation! Pretty close in both looks and taste, I'd say! I need to make some minor tweaks, but I was pretty proud of my first attempt.

Before I get into the recipes, I have to share a funny epilogue to my Stockholm food truck tale. The following weekend, we returned to the food trucks on Södermalm, and despite all of the wonderful choices of things to eat, I found myself back at the Funky Chicken, this time to try their "award-winning" triple cheeseburger. But as is my way, I had to put it together in a way that even the chef didn't know how good it could be.

Actually, I made them quite angry by asking if they'd put some of the harissa sauce, yogurt sauce, and slaw on my burger. They balked at this request, but with some persuasion on my part, the cook finally agreed to give me the condiments on the side. But the guy told me that I would DESTROY the burger if I put that stuff on it. (That's a direct quote.) What he failed to realize is that they could be making money hand over fist if he sold the Mediterranean Burger that I designed! It was frickin' DELICIOUS! They didn't understand who they were dealing with! I KNOW THINGS!

Instant Pot Yellow Rice
(Source: Adapted from Budget Bytes)

2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups uncooked long grain jasmine rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf

Add the butter, garlic, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon and rinsed rice to the IP. Sauté over medium heat for a couple of minutes, or just until the garlic has softened. Add the chicken broth and bay leaf to the pot. Put the lid on and cook for four minutes on manual. Let release naturally, then fluff with a fork.

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken and Dill Greek Yogurt Sauce
(Source: Adapted from The Mediterranean Dish)

For the Dill Greek Yogurt Sauce:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, stems removed
1 1/4 cups plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt, to taste

Combine the minced garlic, fresh dill, yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, black pepper, and cayenne pepper, and whisk together. Season with salt. Transfer to a small container, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour or until ready to use.

For the Grilled Chicken:
10 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (or substitute cinnamon)
1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium size red onion, sliced
1 large lemon

In a large bowl, mix together the minced garlic, yogurt, spices and olive oil. Toss in the whole chicken thighs and the sliced onion. Cut the lemon into eighths, squeeze the juice into the bowl, and also add the rinds in. Mix everything together making sure to thoroughly coat the chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours or overnight.

When ready, heat a gas grill to medium-high. Place the chicken thighs on the grill. Cover for 5-6 minutes, then turn the chicken over and grill for another 5-6 minutes covered. (You can also use a grill pan or pan-fry them in a skillet if weather does not permit outdoor grilling.)

Harissa Tomato Sauce
(Source: Adapted from Abel and Cole)

2 garlic cloves
1/2 onion
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
harissa, to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
salt and black pepper, to taste

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion. Finely grate zest from the lemon and juice it.

2. Warm the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and onion. Stir and cook for one minute until the pan smells sweet and spicy.

3. Add harissa, lemon zest, sugar, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Bring to the boil. Turn the heat down. Cover with a lid. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until the sauce is a little thicker. Stir every so often while the sauce cooks.

5. Remove the bay leaf, and use a stick blender to puree the sauce until smooth.

6. Add the lemon juice to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Swedish Cabbage Sallad
(Source: Adapted from Key Ingredient)

1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cabbage, very finely shredded
1 carrot, shredded
5 teaspoons white wine vinegar
5 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)
1/2 teaspoon basil (optional)

Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage. Let sit for 15 minutes or so, then squeeze as much liquid out as you can. Combine vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Stir in the cabbage and shredded carrot. Refrigerate until ready to serve. (It's better the next day!)

Note: This salad is somewhat different than the one I had at the Funky Chicken, and that was intentional. This recipe is for what the Swedes call "pizza salad," which as the name suggests, is apparently served with pizza in Sweden.

Adirondack Game Night

This past summer, my friend Vicky was on the hunt to find an old-fashioned, hand-cranked, ice cream machine to make ice cream with her little grandson, but she struck out. So for Christmas, I found one online and made a gift of it. Last night, she decided that she wanted to give it a test run--in the middle of winter, no less--and have a few people over to her cozy cabin deep in the Adirondack woods for game night and homemade ice cream. FUN!

Vicky dishing up the good stuff!

Old-fashioned wooden ice cream bucket, as befits her cabin-in-the-woods lifestyle.

Mmmmmm....hand-cranked ice cream with real vanilla beans!

We were asked to bring our favorite ice cream toppings. Our friend Mia brought sprinkles!

Vicky and her beautiful Mennonite stove.

My friend Sally insisted that we pose in front of the stove for a selfie.

Mia the Care Bear (and youngest in our group) won the 80s Trivial Pursuit game.

More games! More fun! YAY!

Instead of bringing an ice cream topping as assigned, I decided to bring broccoli cheese soup that I made in my magic pot, sort of an homage to Panera's Broccoli-Cheese Soup. It looks a little thin in this photo, because I added some extra broth for travel out to Vicky's house, as I knew it would thicken up en route. And indeed, it was quite thick and hearty when I reheated it on the wood stove and we finally ate it. Also, I blended it almost smooth because I was hiding the vegetables from one of the finicky guests. But feel free to leave it chunkier if you prefer.

Instant Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup julienned carrots

1 (16-ounce) package frozen broccoli

3 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups half-and-half

8 ounces (2 cups) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

16 oz. sharp cheddar-flavored Velveeta, cubed

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

Add the olive oil to the IP insert on sauté mode and cook the onions for a few minutes until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the julienned carrots, frozen broccoli, and broth. Cook on soup mode for five minutes. 

Meanwhile, on the stove top in a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half, and keep whisking and cooking until thick and smooth. 

Do a quick release when the vegetables are done cooking. Using a stick blender, purée the soup to desired level of chunkiness or smoothness. Stir in the prepared white sauce and both the shredded cheddar and cubed Velveeta. Turn the pot on low sauté, and keep stirring occasionally until the cheeses have completely melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

P.S. PLEASE don't start about the Velveeta! If you don't like it, don't use it. I would use four cups of shredded cheddar (total) instead, though of course, it won't have the same consistency. Your choice.

O, Amherst, Where Art Thou?

My friend Jamie is a real renaissance man. Besides being an amazing musician, he's a fabulous cook and gardener. His specialty is his homemade hot sauces (with chilies he grows himself) that are delicious, but might actually blow your head off. Tee hee.

But to the matter at hand, we used to have this great little burrito shop in our town that made many different kinds of interesting burritos, all charmingly named after different cities. But unfortunately, they have changed locations and owners a couple of times, and the joint is just not what it used to be. The menu has changed, too, and a lot former favorites are no longer available. One of Jamie's hobbies, like mine, is to try an retro-engineer restaurant items to be made at home. So Jamie decided to try and replicate his favorite burrito known as "The Amherst." Then he posted about it on Facebook, and though I had never tried that one, it looked and sounded so good, that I wanted to make my own version.

On the old restaurant menu, "The Amherst" had chicken salad, cheddar jack cheese, cucumber-dill cream cheese, and tomatoes, and then it was grilled, panini-style. Jamie leaves off the tomatoes, adds rice and bacon and, of course, some of his special hot sauce. As for the one I made, I started by mixing softened cream cheese (8 oz.) with about 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, two small dill pickles (instead of raw cucumbers), 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, and black pepper, to taste. I spread some of this on a large flour tortilla, then added a handful of shredded colby jack, and about a quarter cup of black Japonica rice (1 1/2 cups of rice in a scant two cups of water with a good pinch of salt for 24 minutes on Manual/high in the Instant Pot), Next came prepared chicken salad (Sam's Club makes a decent one with white meat--or you can make your own, of course) and chopped tomatoes. I chose not to grill mine, but I did drizzle it with sriracha. YUM and YUM!

A Cozy Bowl of Cross-Cultural Comfort

So I was watching a rerun of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives one night, and Sammy's Bistro in my old stomping grounds of Park City, UT made this crazy bowl of Indian/Southwest fusion comfort food that they called the Savory Chicken Bowl with Rice. There wasn't a recipe on the Food Network web site, so I watched the demonstration a few times, and thought to myself, "I could probably recreate that...or something close to it." And I made it in the crock pot to boot!

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the Savory Pulled Chicken Curry Bowl with Jasmine Rice, Tomatillo Aioli, and Crispy Tortilla Strips. I know, it sounds like all kinds of bizarre, but it's soooooooooooooo good! And it's even gluten-free, for those who care about such things. This is one I'm going to make again and again.

Savory Pulled Chicken Curry Bowl with Jasmine Rice, Tomatillo Aioli, and Crispy Tortilla Strips 
(Source: adapted from Sammy's Bistro, Park City, UT via the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives)

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Curry:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, peeled and minced
4 lbs. boneless/skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons yellow curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 quart chicken broth
salt, to taste

Tomatillo Aioli (stir together the following ingredients to combine):
1 cup prepared tomatillo salsa (mild)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves

steamed jasmine rice

chopped fresh cilantro leaves

crispy tortilla strips (corn tortillas sliced thinly, fried in vegetable oil in a large skillet until golden then drained on paper towels and sprinkled with salt)

In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, poblano peppers and onions. Sauté until the vegetables are tender and just starting to turn golden. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute or two. Scrape this mixture into a slow cooker. Brown the chicken thighs in the same--unwashed--skillet (in two batches to avoid crowding the pan and steaming the meat). Add the chicken pieces to the slow cooker.

Sprinkle in both curry powders, the paprika, onion powder, and pepper. Deglaze the skillet with the chicken broth, scraping up all the browned bits (the fond, if you will). Pour over the veggies, chicken, and spices, add a couple good pinches of salt, and give everything a stir. Cook for about three hours on high or six hours on low, or until the chicken is tender enough to pull apart with two forks. Check seasoning and add more salt if needed.

Serve chicken curry drizzled with tomatillo aioli over steamed jasmine rice, sprinkled with chopped fresh cilantro, and garnished on top with crispy tortilla strips.

Crunchy Cookie Chips: The New Crack

Has anyone purchased this product in the stores, Cookie Chips? Oh my word! They are SO good and SO addictive! My favorite is cinnamon/snickerdoodley variety, but I also enjoy the chocolate chip--so much so, that I thought I'd make an attempt to copycat them. I don't that I'm all the way there, but I've made a good first attempt.

I started with a recipe for thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies that I found on the Food Network's web site. However, the first batch that I baked off came out more chewy than crispy, almost like a tuile or Florentine cookie. They even had those characteristic tiny holes of a lace cookie (see picture--less flour on the left, more flour on the right). They were yummy, but not what I was going for.

So with each successive batch, I added in a little more flour until I got the desired result. The problem is, that the proportions of ingredients changed as I baked off the cookies, so I can't say exactly how much flour should be included in the final amended recipe. (OOPS!) I am guessing it would be about 3 1/2 cups total. Also, there is no need freeze the dough ahead of time. Just mix and bake! Finally, those flat disks of high-quality chocolate would be the best choice if you can find them, but otherwise, I would recommend using mini chips, as standard-size chips tend to puddle in the middle of the cookie.


Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Source: adapted from Sugar High via Food Network)

2 cups packed light brown sugar 
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature 
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 
3 whole eggs 
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1 pound dark chocolate or chocolate chips (I recommend mini-chips)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat. In a stand mixer, cream the brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about five minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Mix in 1/3 cup of water and the vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking soda and add to the butter mixture. Mix on low until the flour mixture is incorporated, and then mix in the chocolate pieces. Scoop out the dough onto the prepared cookie sheet and freeze for an hour (you can skip this step with no negative effects). The cookies will spread, so limit 4 cookies for each cookie sheet to give ample room. 

Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. Remove from the oven and cool. Remove the cookies with a flat spatula to prevent breaking. 

Cook's Note: The recipe does yield a lot of dough, but it's a great freeze and bake cookie. Once you have scooped all the dough and placed them into the freezer, you can pop them into a zip top bag and just bake off as many as you want when you need to! 

Glazed and Confused

I was running dangerously low on my beloved Bayou Bourbon Glaze with no Tastefully Simple parties in the foreseeable future. I thought about ordering a bottle from someone on eBay, but the glaze is eight bucks a bottle--which is bad enough--and then the shipping was another seven bucks! This is always the point at which I say to myself, "Screw it! I'll make it myself!" And so I did, just like the copycat of Garlic Garlic that I produced a few weeks ago.

I consulted the ingredients on the back of the TS bottle, and began my experimentation. The first batch was mighty tasty. My roommate even said she preferred it to the original, except for one thing--too salty. So batch number two had half the soy sauce. It tasted perfect, but by the time it sat in the fridge overnight, it was thick enough to glue on roofing shingles. So I melted it back down, thinned it out with some water, and TA-DAH, it was perfect. Annnnnd...I've just saved you eight bucks a bottle! #yourewelcome

Gina's Bourbon Blast Glaze

1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups water
1 large onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons Tabasco (or hot pepper sauce of choice)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened and syrupy, about 30 minutes.