Saturday, August 22, 2020

All Day Cassoulet



My dad was a very frugal shopper; he loved finding a bargain and could calculate the unit cost of an item in his head long before any of us could have produced the answer with a calculator (if we had had pocket calculators back then). He died before the advent of warehouse clubs, so I've taken his place, scouring the aisles for the best deals in town.

I don't feel like shopping today--I don't need to. I know I already have enough stored in my pantry to last through just about anything (even a pandemic). Let's see, there are 20 pounds of chicken tenders in the freezer, 10 pounds of onions, a dozen cans of diced tomatoes, several pounds of chicken sausage, and an untold amount of dry beans. Mmmm sounds like cassoulet.

Cassoulet is a rich, slow-cooked bean stew or casserole originating in the south of France, containing meat and white beans. The dish is named after its traditional cooking vessel, the cassole, a deep, round,  earthenware pot.
Cassoulet (Photo courtesy CreativeCommons)

All Day Cassoulet

Ingredients
  • 2 cups Great Northern or dried navy beans (see Note below)
  • cheesecloth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig rosemary
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 celery stalk
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken sausage (I like Aidell's), sliced
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
  • 1 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup of dry white wine
  • 4 cups coarsely torn fresh bread (preferably from a crusty, rustic loaf)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

NOTE: There are two ways to prepare dried beans. The first, and the one you are probably most familiar with, is to sort them (there COULD be rocks hiding in there), place them in a pot, cover them with water and let soak overnight. I don't know about you, but I don't often (ever?) plan that far ahead. If cooking beans means that I need to prepare the night before, cooked beans will not happen in my house. There's another method—an easier method, and it works just as well. Sort the beans, place them in a cooking pot (with a lid) and cover them with water. You want the water to go about 2 inches over the top of the beans. Bring to a full boil over high heat and boil for one minute. Turn off the heat, put on the lid, and let them sit for one hour. No peaking! OK, now you're ready to proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Instructions

First, prepare the beans:
  1. Cut a square of cheesecloth, about 6-8 inches. Place the bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme in the middle of the square and tie them up with string/kitchen twine. You want the herbs to flavor the beans, but you don't want them (especially the rosemary leaves) to get lost in the broth. This little bundle is referred to as a bouquet garni (yes, it's French!). 
  2. Push the cloves into the onion; place the onion, celery stalk, and carrot in the pot. Add enough cold water to cover to about one inch above. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer gently until beans are tender throughout but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes. Discard the onion, celery, carrot, and bouquet garni. Set the beans aside—DON'T drain!

Next, the meats and vegetables:

  1. While the beans are simmering prepare the meats. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken tenders for about 5 minutes, or until browned on all sides. Don't overcrowd the pan or the chicken will steam and not brown. It's best to cook in small batches. Remove the browned chicken pieces to a plate and set aside.
  2. To the same pan add the sausage and cook for about 5 minutes or just until it begins to brown and caramelize. Remove to the same plate as the chicken.
  3. Now add the diced onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes translucent and begins to color. Toss in the garlic slices and cook for an additional minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

Now, get ready to assemble the casserole:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
  2. Using a skimmer, remove half of the beans from their pot and place in the bottom of a dutch oven. The next layer is one-half of the tomatoes.
  3. Next, the chicken, sausage, and onions followed by the remaining tomatoes and the remaining beans. Add enough cooking liquid so the beans are almost, but not quite, submerged. Reserve the remaining liquid.
  4. Bake s-l-o-w-l-y:
  5. Transfer pot to oven and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Check the liquid every 30 minutes to make sure it is no more than 1/2 inch below the beans, and add liquid or water as necessary. Do not stir.
  6. After the cassoulet has cooked for 2 hours, toss bread and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over cassoulet, and return to oven until beans are tender and bread is golden 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  7.  Before serving, let the cassoulet stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to cool and allow the beans to absorb some of the liquid.

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Leftover Cereal Bread




I like Cheerios, Puffed Wheat, and Raisin Bran. My husband prefers Honey Bunches of Oats and Frosted Mini-Wheats. Our daughter likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch. We have lots of boxes of dry cereal in our pantry and at times there are lots of almost-empty boxes. Each has just a handful of flakes or crispy bits--not enough for a bowl.

So, what to do with the leftovers? My frugal German heritage won't let me throw them away. So I devised "Leftover Cereal Bread."

(Photo Credit: Image by Aline Ponce from Pixabay)


Leftover Cereal Bread

Ingredients
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups dry cereal (any kind)
  • 1 cup oatmeal (not instant)
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • *1/4 light corn syrup
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 envelopes active dry yeast
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • about 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions
  1. Mix the water, cereal, oatmeal, oil, molasses and corn syrup in a large bowl. Cool to lukewarm. Stir in the yeast until dissolved; let stand 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, then 3 cups flour or enough to make a stiff dough.
  2. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Turn out on lightly-floured surface; knead 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Divide dough in half. Place each half in a greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Cover and let in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (1-2 hours).
  3. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 1 hour. Remove from pan; cool on racks.
     *if using mostly sweetened dry cereal, substitute 1/4 cup water

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Chicken Piccata




I love the taste of lemon. It's such a clean, bright flavor and is a great salt substitute. (If you use a squeeze of lemon, you'll put away the salt shaker, I promise).

Lemon makes me think of summer--lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon bar cookies, lemon in salads and sauces. And lemon with chicken; specifically chicken piccata. 

Is this a "carb"? Technically, I'm not sure, but with the lemons in there (fruit) am I stretching the paradigm a bit too much to share this with you today?

Here's the link to my recipe as featured on Delishably.

Photo courtesy https://www.cookipedia.com.uk_wiki

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes




I love potatoes. It doesn't matter what form they take. I'm an equal opportunity potato lover—rustic mashed, creamy mashed, scalloped, au gratin, fried, hash browns, baked, boil (and adorned with chives and melted butter), or leftover mashed potato patties. If I'm honest (like now) I will admit that sometimes I make extra mashed potatoes just so I can create these fried potato patties a day or two later.

(Photo Credit: Image by locrifa from Pixabay)

Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Ingredients (makes 6 patties)
  • 2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons grated Cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup baking (biscuit) mix (such as Bisquick, Jiffy, etc.)
  • 1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Mixed and ready to be shaped into patties

Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
  2. Scoop up into generous 1/3 cup portions. (I used a baking ring, but this is optional) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should be able to get 6 patties from these ingredients).
  3. Place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
  4. Place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan; heat to medium.
  5. Place patties in a preheated pan. Saute on one side until brown, about 5 minutes.
  6. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes until browned and heated through.

Shaped in ring mold and ready for a 30-minute chill in the freezer


French Onion Chicken and Pasta

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