Beef Stock Success!

I'm not sure if I shared by past beef broth failures.  I wasn't aware that beef broth was not made the same way that chicken broth was.  Oops.  

Our apartment smelled like decomposing animals for about a week after that.  

Nasty. 

This time, however, I was armed with the frozen scraps of my dad's rib roast, a thick marrow bone, and Kelly the Kitchen Kop.  Well, not in person, but still, she helped... by writing a post....

Anyway.  I started by defrosting my dad's frozen bones.  

RIB bones.... 

from a cow...  You know what I mean. 

I roasted the marrow bone at 400 until it started to smell really good.  After discarding the grease and choppping off the extra fatty parts, I added it to the crock pot with a sliced up carrot, some celery, an onion, and some potato bits (from a future post).  Then, it was seasoned with roasted garlic, sea salt, oregano, and too much parsley.

I somehow always forget that the parsley jar doesn't have a shaker top.  I shake it as if it's going to come out slowly and lose about 1/4 of the jar before I realize that is it POURING out.  Good thing I like parsley.

The ingredients were then covered in water and cooked overnight.  In the morning I strained it and froze it into 2 cup baggies.  The house smells good, like beef stew!!! Whoo hoo!!!

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Green Bean Supreme!

Apparently my literary genius has allowed me to progress from alliterative titles to rhyyyyyming!  Go Me!

John and I are actually away for the weekend (remind me to thank Blogger for allowing posts to be written in advance and posted later!).  Since we are frugal and like to eat well, we packed lots of things to munch on....

Kiwis...

Pears...

Bread...

Granola...

Oranges...

Bananas...

Granola Bars...

Peanut Butter...

Almond Butter...

You get the picture, I'm sure.

In addition to all of that, because that is just not enough for 3 days, 2 nights, I made a green bean dish.  This dish is special to me, because it was one of the first "grown-up" dishes I made in my first apartment.  I made it for a dinner party in 2006 with chicken, but it is good without it, too.

It is seriously SO EASY to make.  It was perfect for this trip because it keeps well and can be served cold.  

First, snip the ends off some green beans.

Next, boil them until the are bright green.  When they are, plunge them in cold water to stop them from cooking.

While the beans are cooking, mix up the sauce.  It is 1/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  I don't like to taste pepper, so I exclude it.  Feel free to follow suit. 

If you juiced your oranges, drink the excess.

Then, mix it all together.  It is fun topped with slivered almonds!

This recipe was also posted on Two For Tuesday at A Moderate Life

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Clams Oreganata and Asparagus Macaroni

We stuck with our meal plan well this week!  On Wednesday night we had Clam Oreganata and a cool asparagus macaroni invention.  It was actually pretty boring, but SO GOOD!  I just realized I say that about lots of the things we make over here.  Hmm.  That's a good sign.  Anyway, on to the clams!

Step 1:  Clean clams.  Little neck clams were on sale for 3 dozen/$10.  We are only 2 people, so we got a dozen.  Only 1 was bad (open before it was cooked) so I scrubbed up 11 clam-o-s.

Step 2:  Cook clams.  Stick the clams in a pot with a small layer of water and boil the water.  The steam will cook the clams.  When they open, they are ready.  If they don't open, don't eat 'em.  We lucked out, they all opened!  Don't forget to save a little of the cooking water to add to the stuffing!

Step 3:  Chop clam insides.  Actually, the real 3rd step is to get the clam bodies out of the little shells.  I didn't take a picture of that because my hands were all clammy.  I just stuck them in the food processor and pulsed it a few times. 

Step 4:  Make stuffing.  I started with about a 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, and then added lots of garlic powder, parsley, oregano, and sea salt.  Then I streamed in maybe a 1/2 cup of olive oil.  As it mixed, I added the clam cooking water to get it to the right consistency. 

Step 5: Fill shells.  This is the fun step!  Scoop up the stuffing, make it into a ball, and add it to the (rinsed) clam shells.  I put the little balls in the shells, and then smushed them down when it was time to cook them. 

Step 6: Serve with awesome macaroni with roasted asparagus in a lemon butter sauce.  This was easy.  Cook macaroni and roast asparagus.  When you pour the macaroni into a colander, use that pot to melt lots of butter.  Then add in the juice of a lemon.  Chop the asparagus and add that into the pot.  When it is mixed in, put the macaroni back in the pot.  This is great because it only uses one pot, and because you can reheat it on the stove when you go back for seconds.  Because you WILL go back for seconds!!!

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Fun-Do!

Continuing with our efforts to spice up weeknight dinners, John and I recently had a fondue dinner!  Some people knew that our first date was at a fondue restaurant, so we have received a few fondue sets we had not yet put to good use.  I guess the assumption is that fondue is just for parties or something.  NOT TRUE!

The main course was a cheese fondue LOOSELY based upon this recipe.  It was another one of those moments when the stars align and the ingredients happen to be in the house.  The ONLY change we made was to use wine as the liquid.  

First, let me just say... Shredding the cheese in the food processor was SO EASY!

I am so glad we have it now!

We had been given a large chuck of regular commercial cheese, which we don't usually buy.  It was perfect for this because I somehow would have felt guilty for meting down that much good cheese.  Weird, I know.  I did spice it up with a little bit of an herb rubbed raw cheddar and fresh mozzarella.  Now that I know how easy and delicious this was, I feel ready to use GOOD cheeses in it.

Once the cheese was shredded, it was added to the other ingredients:

...and prepared for melting.

The only other prep work was getting the dippers ready.  We used carrot sticks, celery sticks, roasted potatoes, roasted asparagus, bread cubes, leftover roasted chicken breasts, and mushrooms. 

The cheese was slowly melted and enjoyed!

I must admit that it kind of turned into a ball of cheese instead of a sauce, but we didn't care.  It was good. 

For dessert, we mixed home made peanut butter, sugar, and a little grass-fed milk together and enjoyed it with bananas, strawberries, pineapples, and rice krispie yummies. 

That was probably the best part.

Lesson learned?  Don't wait for a party!  Fondue is Fun!

This was also posted at the Nourising Gourmet Pennywise Platter

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Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto

John and I value home cooking, but sometimes it is hard to create different meals while working. This usually results in dinners becoming, well... boring.  Since the wedding, we have been trying to set good habits for the rest of our marriage.  One of these habits is planning and cooking fun, wholesome meals, even though we have to work.  

Cut to... Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto!

A long time ago I bought Arborio Rice with the best risotto-making intentions.  I stumbled upon this recipe and miraculously had EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT in the house, including things to make a fish-asparagus broth and a little bit of white wine!  SCORE!

To make this happen on a weeknight, I did all the prep work and set all of the ingredients in the morning.  

 I even laid it out in the order it would need to go into the pot!

This bowl had the onions, asparagus, and LOTS of butter, as you can see.  It went into the pot first, and cooked until the butter melted and the onions were translucent.  I love that word.  Transluuuucent.

Once the onions were transluuuucent, the rice was added.  

John took about 700 photos as I poured the rice in.  Last time I ask HIM to snap an action-cooking shot.

The rice cooked for a while, and then the wine was stirred in.  

When the wine evaporated, the broth was added in slowly, a little at a time, until it was all absorbed.  At that point, the chopped shrimp and asparagus tips were added to the mix.

 When everything looked cooked, some more butter and lots of grated Parmesan Cheese jumped into the pot.  I was too lazy to grate all the cheese, so some is chunky.

That's okay, too!

Words cannot even begin to describe this meal.  It was beyond restaurant quality.  It was all ingredients I had at home.  I knew EXACTLY what was in it.  It rocked.

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Quick Veggie Post!

I'm cleaning out my photos to make room for some of the cool new recipes that will be showing up shortly.... 

This gem is a roasted veggie medley.  It includes beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, yellow squash, and brussel sprouts with a light balsamic glaze.  We included brussel sprouts since neither of us had ever really tried them.  John hated them.  I wasn't too crazy about them.  I ate mine (and John's), but I wouldn't eat it again.  If anyone out there has a good recipe for brussel sprouts, I'll try again!

This is a strainer full of random greens (radish greens, carrot greens, and swiss chard) that was then mixed with these

to become my signature greens-with-garlic-onion-oil mix. 

Stay tuned.... come cool food excursions will be up in the next few days, including risotto and fondue!!

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Quickie Pizza Friday

I'm short on time, so I'm just throwing this out there.

What happens with you spread Whole Wheat Pizza Dough with leftover garlicky black beans and raw broccoli...

and then bake it at 425.

 

You get amazing pizza.  Yeahhhhhhhhh ..........

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Pizza Friday and Snack-y Saturday

Whew!  What a crazy week!  In between all of the snowstorms I've barely had time to breathe, let alone cook!  

In spite of all outdoor inconveniences, I managed to make Leftover Pizza on Friday and a yummy cauliflower snack on Saturday. 

Remember last week?  I know it was a loooong time ago.  Here.  I'll refresh your memory.  I made roasted veggies on Sunday.  Then, I reused them on Wednesday.  Well, after all that there was STILL a tiny bit left.  So, in brilliant Pizza Friday tradition...

I rolled out the dough...

 

Slathered it with Ricotta...

 

Added the rest of the roasted veggies...

And baked it at a ::NEW  BAKING TEMPERATURE!:: of 425.  

 

It made the crust amazingly brown and crispy!

 

Why did we never think of that before?!

On to Snack-y Saturday.  When I made allll of that roasted veggie deliciousness, we discovered that there was a BIT too much cauliflower.  And broccoli.  A huge serving bowl full.  I utilized the raw cauliflower in a recipe.  Of course, now I can't find the exact recipe.  But it was really good, trust me. 

 

I remember that I sauteed 2 pans full (1 layer in each pan) of lightly salted cauliflower with 1 1/2 tbs coconut oil in each.  I left it sitting on each side until they were brown.

 

Then I stirred in the sauce.  It had water, garlic powder, honey, diced onions, and a bunch of other things in it.  I am going to try to find the recipe asap and post it. 

 

I just kept stirring it all until there was no liquid left. 

It was so easy, as long as the cauliflower is cut, cleaned, and dry.  

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Roasted Veggies

This dinner was supposed to be Roasted Veggies with Pirogies, but I got carried away with the veggies.  

We cut up pumpkin and butternut squash,

 

cauliflower and broccoli,

and then zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant.

 Each was tossed with Grapeseed Oil, Kosher Salt, and Italian Seasonings.  

The hard part was timing each set of veggies.  

The orange veggies went in first, with some baby onions. 

 After about 15 minutes, the broccoli and cauliflower went in, with a head of garlic.

 After another 10 minutes, the last sheet went in. 

 They all cooked together for another, maybe 20 minutes.  

  

  

Then they were all mixed together in perfect harmony.

Yum.

Oh, and for dessert?  A Macintosh Apple sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon.  

 

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