Trail Mix, Remixed = Granola on the Cheap

I like granola every now and then - it's great on yogurt and fruit, and makes a nice little breakfast when paired with almond milk. But it's kind of expensive. 

Upon discovering the forgotten remnants of five bags of trail mix intended for Greg, I figured there's a way to make something good out of these leftovers instead of tossing them. So, I picked through them all and saved the best stuff for a stellar batch of granola. Voila! - trail mix, remixed! 

I made this recipe from about 15 recipes - switch up your ingredients however you like. The basics are oats, nuts, seeds, fruits and a binding ingredient. Spices are up to you.

You'll need:

3 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 cup (approx.) of raw almonds/cashews/hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup (approx.) of seeds - pumpkin (green ones), flax, chia, sunflower, etc. 
1/3 cup (approx.) of shaved coconut
1 cup (approx.) of dried fruits - raisins, cranberries, dates
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey 
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
pinch of nutmeg

To make:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In large bowl, mix together oats, nuts, seeds and coconut. In small bowl, mix sugar, syrup/honey, oil, vanilla, salt and spices. 

Drizzle over dry ingredients and mix well. Place on large cookie sheet lined with nonstick baking pad or parchment. 

Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring gently a few times, until it's golden and smells incredible. 

Remove from oven, cool for a few minutes and then put in a big bowl. Add fruits and mix gently. Let it cool completely before putting it in a container (I just throw it in a large zipper bag). 

Enjoy!!

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Pantry turkey sausage-sweet potato egg-topped hash

If you're craving a ton of flavor, a few nice nutrients and a satisfying dish for any meal, here's an easy one to try. And for the most part, this uses what you already have on hand. Even better. 

For this hash, you'll need:

1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 of a red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion (any kind), diced
2 cloves of garlic
4 links of breakfast turkey sausage, or two large links of regular turkey sausage, sliced
About 4 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
3 sage leaves, finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Eggs - one per serving
Mustard for serving

Method

Steam sweet potatoes in a covered bowl in the microwave with a bit of water (a few tablespoons), about 4 minutes. Drain. 

Heat large heavy-bottomed pan to medium, and drizzle in a few teaspoons of olive oil. 

Saute onions, garlic and red pepper for about 3 minutes, until they become slightly translucent. Add turkey and saute until it begins to caramelize. Add sweet potatoes, herbs and salt and pepper. If mixture is dry, add a few tablespoons of chicken broth. 

While the hash finishes cooking, fry or poach an egg for each serving. Plate hash, top with an egg, crack some nice black pepper over the top and pass around a good quality mustard. 

I recommend this locally-made one from Revival Market - it's sweet enough and crunchy from the whole mustard seeds. YUM!!

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Found a use for leftover kolaches

Before the syrup

Those leftover kolaches don't need to be chucked, after all.

A highly popular pastry in Texas, kolaches are of Czech origin. The 'real' kolache is actually a wedding pastry filled with fruit - never meat. What we call the kolache in Texas is actually a klobasnek, which is essentially a little hot dog and cheese baked inside a rather large, sweetish airbag of fluffy dough. 

Kolaches are a twice a year occurrence for us. When Greg is given the green light to fetch said treats, he buys too many. Which in turn means there will be one or two strays which are popped in the fridge and promptly forgotten. 

Last night, in my usual bout of insomnia, I thought - why not slice up the remaining kolaches and make them into Czech French Toast? And - whattaya know - it worked.  

Czech-ish French Toast

2-3 leftover kolaches, sliced diagonally in 1/2" slices
2 eggs, beaten 
1 T milk or half and half
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
Shake of cayenne pepper 
Shake of nutmeg
Maple syrup

Beat together egg through nutmeg, dip kolache pieces in mixture and do your thing as you would French toast. 

Drizzle over the maple syrup and enjoy! 

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Breakfast quesadilla: Cheesy Sweet Potato Mushroom Hatch-adilla

I needed something other than a smoothie for breakfast. Searching through the fridge, I spotted a sweet potato and some Cheddar. Hatch chiles are always in good supply in the freezer, and I'd picked up some yummy Hatch onions too. With mushrooms and turkey bacon on hand, it just seemed like a good idea. 

Cheesy Sweet Potato Mushroom Hatch-adilla

• 1/2 a small to medium sweet potato
• Scant 1/4 cup of sharp Cheddar, grated
• About 2 Tbsp. of diced Hatch chile onion (or green onion)
• 3 mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 a small Hatch chile, roasted and diced small
• 1 piece of turkey bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3 Tbsp. of your favorite bbq or jerk sauce
• Two flour tortillas (get the ones made in-store)

Punch tiny holes in sweet potato and cook in microwave (5 mins. on full power for a smaller one). Let it cool a bit. 

In large fry pan, put a little coconut oil (or spray) and saute mushrooms and onions just slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Build your quesadilla by spreading on a little bbq sauce, then placing in the pan. Now pile on flat spoonfuls of sweet potato. Dot with mushrooms and onions, Hatch chile, turkey bacon and Cheddar. Spread remaining sauce on the other enchilada. Put the top on, and toast your enchilada, flipping once carefully. 

Enjoy - it's a little weird but really yummy! 

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Hatch chile remoulade - an August treat

It's August. You know what that means, right? It means Houston is wicked hot with that humid 'air you can wear.' And our very furry dog pouts all month long. 

But apart from that, it's HATCH CHILE TIME! Being married to a dude from New Mexico means that I've now taken on board this annual tradition of sourcing, roasting, peeling and freezing as many Hatch chiles as our constitutions and patience allow. 

We've learned a few things from our mistakes:

• Drag out a big fan and point that sucker right on the person manning the grill (the person not manning the grill is in charge of beverages)
• Get hot chiles - they're better
• Be ready to roast them ALL at once
• Plunge them into ice cold water as soon as you've blistered the skin
• Let them sit for a while so the skin is ready to part with the rest of the pepper
• Remove the tops and skin, give them a final rinse and drain, and freeze them in small portions

The night we roasted our chiles, I made a nice little remoulade which we smeared on some shrimp hatch chile burgers, and used as dip for our sweet potato oven fries. Delightful! 

Hatch Chile Remoulade

2/3 cup mayo (use a good brand or make your own)
2 tsp. of ketchup 
1/4 tsp. of Sriracha (or less)
1 hatch chile, roasted/peeled/diced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
A few dashes of Van Roehling's Campfire Dust, or seasoned salt plus pepper 

Mix everything together, then adjust any of the ingredients to your liking. 

Let it sit for a bit. Use on sandwiches, add to macaroni or potato salad, mix in your crab cakes, or whatever your imagination dictates! 

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Pineapple coconut chicken curry with basil

It was time to get back into the kitchen. We've been chaotic playing catch-up with projects and people, so I insisted on dinner made at Cocina Candelaria. Here's my modified version of a super-easy weeknight chicken dish.

Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 tsp. of your favorite curry powder blend 
1/2 tsp. of salt (I used a flaked sea salt)
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips 
1/2 of a large ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
1 large serrano chile, minced
1 can coconut milk
1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
About 6 large basil leaves, torn 

To make:

Put chicken, curry powder and salt in a large ziplock bag and smoosh around to marinate. Overnight is best, though you can just leave it on the counter for a bit to come up to temperature and let the flavor begin to sink in.

Heat large pan to medium-high and add your oil of choice. I used this lovely coconut oil since it's so popular and it fit thematically anyway.

Saute chicken until it caramelizes, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Turn heat to medium and cook it for another 3 minutes. Remove and put in covered dish. 

Now turn the heat back up and saute red pepper, pineapple and serrano. You'll know when it's done because the pineapple will begin to caramelize and it will all smell great.

Add chicken and its juices back to pan. Add coconut milk and brown sugar; stir gently. Let it bubble. If needed, add cornstarch-water mix to thicken.

 

Serve over brown rice, with fresh basil torn over the top. YUM!!

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The I-don't-have-time-for-this leftover soup

Soup du jour

I probably make soup three times a year. It's not really Greg's thing, for whatever reason. He doesn't even like tomato soup with grilled cheese! That's just inhuman if you ask me. 

Half inspired by Corey's leftover ham soup recipe and half inspired by whatever I had on hand, I threw together my version in the slow cooker and it turned out great. Even though I make soup three times a year, and consume ham once a year. Oh, and the ham was in a Food Saver bag in the freezer labeled "Christmas 2011." Yep, we love that Food Saver.

I-don't-have-time-for-this Hammy Kale Soup

You'll need:

• 2 cups diced cooked leftover ham
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 medium potatoes (your fave kind), peeled if you like and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 large or 8-9 baby carrots, sliced into about 1/8" slices
• 5 or 6 big leaves of curly kale, cut into narrow ribbons
• About 5 cups of good chicken or veggie stock 
• 1 1/2 tsp. Herbes de Provence
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. pink Himalayan salt 
• A few grinds of pepper

Kale and carrots? I'm in!

To make:
Heat large frying pan to medium, add a glug of olive oil and add the ham. It needs to start to carmelize, about 8 minutes. Add onion and garlic, and saute for about 5 minutes to soften the onions.

Dump mixture in the slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients, stir gently. 

Cook on high for four hours or low for six or seven hours. 

And that's it!
  

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Meatless Monday: when a frittata is in order

Happy Meatless Monday! Even restaurants have jumped on the MM bandwagon, featuring a special Monday-only meatless menu. It's a good idea to go meatless most days, but in the name of marketing, Monday stuck. Here's a fab frittata recipe for you to try:


You'll need:

5 eggs plus three egg whites, beaten (can do all egg whites)
1-ounce Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons butter
2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced (purple, red or Yukon gold work well)
About 10-12 of your favorite mushrooms, quartered into rustic chunks
3-4 stalks of asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces (or 1/2 of a medium zucchini, cut into rustic chunks)
3 green onions or one medium shallot
2 small Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

To make:

Preheat oven to broil setting.

In medium size bowl, using a fork, blend together eggs, Parmesan, pepper, and salt. Heat 12-inch non-stick, oven safe saute pan over medium high heat. Add 1 tsp. butter to pan and melt. Add mushrooms and asparagus (and shallot, if using); saute for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and saute for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Melt the remaining 1 tsp. butter (or less) in pan. Add sliced potatoes, covering bottom of pan and going up sides a bit. When light brown, flip potatoes and let them brown on the other side. Add back in the veggies, then carefully pour egg mixture into pan and stir with rubber spatula. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the egg mixture has set on the bottom and begins to set up on top. Sprinkle with parsley. Optionally, add more cheese to top.

Place pan into oven and broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly browned and fluffy. Remove from pan and cut into 6 servings. 

Feel free to switch up the vegetables around a theme (Southwest, curry, herbs and greens) - the possibilities are endless!


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Spicy crispy roasted kale

When living in England, I'd love ordering the crispy seaweed featured on the menu of nearly every Chinese restaurant. It was umami goodness, and fun to eat! The only possible downside was that the probability of ghastly green bits clinging to your smile afterwards hovered at about 43%. 

It was about a year later that I learned crispy seaweed isn't really seaweed at all - it was KALE. And back then, kale was hardly popular. In fact, any kale not consumed through a Chinese restaurant was probably lining a serving platter at a hotel, providing an ornamental buffer between the tray and fruits or cheeses or vol-au-vents. 

Now that we've discovered that a superfood in what was a coy backdrop, it's nice to have a few go-to recipes to give this leafy veg a starring role on the plate. Here's one that is consistently a hit. Make it right before you're ready to enjoy it. 

Spicy Crispy Roasted Kale

• 1 bunch of your favorite kale
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar 
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt 
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• About a Tbsp of olive oil

To make:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Mix spices in small bowl or zipper bag. 

Wash and pat dry kale. Shred into large bite-sized pieces in a large bowl. Add a small amount of olive oil to coat, then add spice mixture and mix well. Add more oil if needed.

Spread out onto a large baking sheet in one layer. 

Roast for 7-9 minutes, mixing it once during roasting to redistribute. Kale should be crunchy and light (since you're baking out the moisture). 

This is a great side for a lobster bake, anything with potatoes, or mac and cheese. 




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Labor of love: roasted butternut squash lasagne

It all started with an innocuous instant message. "Ping - hey, W., do you have a good vegetarian entree idea I could make for the family? Nothing too spicy. Just good." 

"Oh, there is this great butternut squash lasagne I made a while ago - I remember it was really great."

A short while later, I'd looked up said recipe and the reviews to see how to modify it. Many said it was time-consuming but yummy. Okay, no worries. 

What was I thinking? On the plus side, everyone gave it a big thumbs-up. On the minus side, I spent about three hours making this thing. I had to restrain myself from polishing off a bottle of wine while cooking, just to cope with the number of pots and pans this lasagne generates and the waning daylight.

If you want to really impress both the herbivores and omnivores in your life, this is it. Just be patient. Really patient. 

Note: I modified the original recipe from Epicurious to make it fill a 10"x15" pan. The recipe is for a 9"x13" and uses 9 lasagna noodles, and doesn't include onions or spinach. All I changed to make it for a bigger pan was to use 12 noodles, and added spinach and onions.  

Weigh the butternut squash when purchasing

What you need:

• 3 medium onions
• An 11-oz. package of baby spinach (the big box, preferably organic)
• 3 pounds butternut squash, quartered, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 9 1/2 cups)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  1/2 stick (1/4 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 12 sheets dry no-boil lasagne pasta (7- by 3 1/2-inch)     
• 1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan (about 5 ounces)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
• Fresh ground pepper 
• Dash of nutmeg

To make:

Make rosemary infusion: put milk and rosemary in a medium pot, and simmer on very low for about an hour. More time, more flavor. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and set aside.

Caramelize onions: peel and halve the onions, slicing into 1/8" slices. Heat a medium size covered pot on medium-low; melt 2 tablespoons of butter and optionally a slosh of olive oil. Throw in the onions and let them cook for about 45 minutes until medium brown, stirring every few minutes so they don't burn. Add a dash of salt and pepper about halfway through cooking.

Make sure you fully caramelize the onions

Roast squash: toss cubed squash in large bowl with oil and a dash of salt and pepper. Spread onto two large sheet pans and roast in a 425°F oven for about 25 minutes, stirring a couple of times to ensure it doesn't over-brown.

Steam spinach: put enough water in a Dutch oven to cover the bottom and bring to boil. Empty the entire container of spinach into it, cover and let steam for about 3 minutes, stirring once, just to wilt it. Drain immediately in colander. Sprinkle with a dash of nutmeg.

Baby spinach is a must

Make roux and finish sauce: in a large heavy saucepan cook garlic in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Stir in flour and cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in milk mixture in a stream until smooth. Return pan to heat and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, about 10 minutes, or until thick. Stir in squash and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to break down the squash slightly. Sauce may be made 3 days ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.

The sauce with squash before assembly

Reduce temperature to 375°F. and butter a baking dish.

Put it together: pour 1 cup sauce into baking dish (sauce will not cover bottom completely) and cover with 4 lasagne sheets, making sure they do not touch each other (break up the 4th one to piece it into pan). Spread half of remaining sauce over pasta,  sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan and layer on spinach. Make 1 more layer in same manner, only this time with onions instead of spinach, beginning and ending with pasta.

 

Top it off with Bechamel: in a bowl with an electric mixer beat cream with salt until it holds soft peaks and spread evenly over top pasta layer, making sure pasta is completely covered. Sprinkle remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan over cream. 

Cover dish tightly with foil, tenting slightly to prevent foil from touching top layer, and bake in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake lasagne 10 minutes more, or until top is bubbling and golden. Let lasagne stand 5 minutes.

Garnish each serving with rosemary. Bask in the compliments. Drink some wine. Swear to never make it again. Make someone else do the dishwashing while you have more wine.

Ta-daa! Dee-lish

  

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Christmas cookie ninja: frosted sugar cookies

This year, our kitchen (aka: moi) didn't churn out the usual 60-plus dozen cookies - there just wasn't enough time. Making fewer Christmas cookies means careful editing. An opportunity!

For me, the rolled sugar cookie best encapsulates Christmas cheer. You can decorate however you want: super simple or funky fancy. I like vibrant frosting colors and fun sprinkles, personally. It gives the cookies a certain allure, and almost guarantees they'll disappear ahead of other types of cookies.

Use a toothpick to move around and swirl the frosting

What you need:

•     1 1/2 cups butter, softened
•     2 cups white or cane sugar
•     4 eggs
•     1 tsp vanilla extract
•     5 cups all-purpose flour
•     2 tsp baking powder
•     1 tsp salt

To make:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (my preference) or silicone pad.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Underbake vs. overbake so the bottom and edges aren't too browned. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

•     1 cup confectioners sugar
•     2 tsp milk (plus more to thin out frosting)
•     2 tsp light corn syrup
•     1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix ingredients together until very smooth, adding a bit more milk as desired to thin it. This batch will be enough for at least half of the cookies. I divide it into four or five little containers to color each, and leave one white. This frosting dries quickly, so I usually just do two batches and mix up new colors.

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Dessert delivered with a straw

Couldn't be bothered to garnish it

I was craving something sweet. I don't really do desserts, but after some scrounging around, I created a grown-up goodie in a glass, rated M for Mmm, yummy. It's amazing what you can create with stuff in your freezer and fridge. 

When any kind of fruit is getting pretty ripe, freeze it on a tray with parchment or silicone sheet in non-touching pieces for a few hours, then add to your large Ziploc bag of handy fruit pieces. I freeze every kind of berry, grape, mango, pear - nothing is safe from my freezer drawer. Oh, and bananas - at any given time I usually have about 12 of them ready to be pressed into service. 

Let's call this Grown-up Go-to Dessert in a Glass. 

Put in a blender:

1 1/2 frozen bananas

3/4 cup or so of frozen pineapple chunks

1/3 cup of coconut water

1/3 cup of coconut rum

2 tablespoons of half and half

1 liberal dash of cayenne pepper (optional)

Blend, and add more coconut water if needed to thin it out. 

Pour into a glass of your choice, throw in a straw and go to town. Nighty night. 

Bonus Tip: always have straws on hand, even if you're not a straw household. You never know when you or a guest will need them for drinks or crafts or during hurricane season.

 

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North meets South slow cooker chili

North Meets South Chili

Between the cooler days in Houston and our powerhouse Texans, I was inspired to celebrate with - what else? - a batch of chili, of course. 

Since the number of available chili recipes probably exceed the number of mosquitoes in the Buffalo Bayou, I decided to forage in the freezer, fridge and pantry to create my own version of North meets South chili. The northern part is the tomato focus, ground turkey and beans. The southern part is the vinegar and brown sugar. There's also a Southwest flavor from the hatch chiles. 

The result?  Different tasting but really, really addictive. Greg asked me to blog this one so other folks who want to break out of the usual can give this a try. Oh, and the cornbread muffins are just a basic recipe with very little sugar. I like thinner batter, as you bake these at a screaming hot 450 degrees and they look like popovers when they bake. They're slightly crisp on the outside.

Feel free to increase quantities of spices or herbs - just be careful with oregano as too much of it will make everything bitter. If you don't want to make this in a slow cooker, no problem - just reverse the recipe by cooking the turkey first, and just throw in everything else and let it simmer for as long as you can stand it.

North Meets South Slow Cooker Chili

...8+ servings

Use the freshest ingredients you can find

What you need:

• About 1.5 pounds of ground turkey or TVP, browned 
• 2 large stalks of celery, thinly sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped in the food processor
• 1/2 a large Vidalia or Bermuda onion, chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp Van Roehling Sizzlin' Oak Steak seasoning (order here) or 1-2 tbsp of 'Better than Bullion' beef base or 3 beef bullion cubes
• 2 bay leaves (dried)
• 3 hatch chiles, chopped (we roast our own but canned will work)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste 
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (or fresh if possible)
• 2 tsp chili powder, divided
• 2 tsp cumin, divided
• 2-3 tbsp vinegar
• 1/3 cup of your favorite beer (any type except a sour or weissen is fine)
• 1/3 cup water (or more)
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 to 1 1/4 lb ground turkey 
• Salt and pepper as desired

How to make:

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker from the above except brown sugar, turkey, salt and pepper, using one teaspoon of cumin and one teaspoon of chili powder and reserving the rest. 

In a large pan on the stove top, gently cook and break apart turkey. Add remaining cumin, chili powder and brown sugar. Cook until no pink remains, but don't allow turkey to brown. Add to slow cooker.

Cook on low for 5 hours or more, turning to warm once the flavors have combined. 

Top with your favorite garnishes and enjoy!

Van Roehling seasonings rock

 

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