Lamb and chorizo cassoulet

Serve this with something green!  And with a roll.  Even though you'll get more than enough starch from the beans, you'll definitely want something with which to sop up any sauce left on your plate or in your bowl.  We put it in a bowl and treat it like a really really thick stew.

Lamb and Chorizo Cassoulet

Olive oil
8 oz lamb
4 oz chorizo
Onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 c dry white wine
8 oz tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
2 t fresh thyme leaves
3 cans (15 oz) white beans (like great northern or small white)

Turn on the oven to 300 and set rack on lowest level.  Cut the lamb into cubes and the chorizo into thin diagonal slices.  Brown in a Dutch oven in olive oil.  Remove meat and set aside.

Saute the onions and garlic until barely tender.  Add the wine and scrape up browned bits.  Stir in the tomato sauce, herbs, and white beans.  Return the meat to the pot, nestling it part way into the bean mixture.  Cover with foil and the lid and place in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.

Beef and broccoli stir fry

This one is so easy that I almost hesitate to share it.  Almost :-)

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

4 parts hoisin sauce
1 part Asian chill-garlic sauce
2 parts soy sauce
Up to 4 parts water


2 heads of broccoli
2 - 3 carrots

Vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak, sliced, or other lean sliced steak
1 T fresh ginger, minced
Sesame seeds for garnish

Mix the hoisin sauce through the water and set aside.  To make enough sauce to thoroughly coat the amount of vegetables and meat listed here, start with 1/4 c hoisin sauce.

Cut up the vegetables into bite-sized pieces and steam them for a few minutes until tender.  Set aside.  Heat some oil in a wok and brown the meat quickly.  Remove and set it aside.  Add the vegetables and the ginger to the pot and stir fry until heated through.  Add the meat and the sauce mixture and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, just a few minutes.  Divide into bowls and garnish with sesame seeds.

Carbonara with ham and peas

Pasta Carbonara can be simple or complex, but we just prefer it totally overloaded with good stuff.  I recently made it with left over ham, but left over chicken would be good too.

Pasta Carbonara

1 lb spaghetti
Salted water

3 cloves of garlic
Bacon grease or oil
1/2 c white wine
1 lb of diced pre-cooked ham or chicken
3 eggs
1 1/2 to 2 c grated Parmesan cheese


Start the water for the pasta.  In a small skillet, saute the garlic until light gold and then add the wine.  Simmer for a few minutes until slightly reduced.  Add the meat and heat through.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and cheese together.  Add the hot ingredients from the skillet and stir together.  Cover with plastic and microwave on medium for a few minutes, stirring, until the eggs have set. [Note: it is not traditional to do this, but I cannot eat eggs that are undercooked without a trip to the emergency room]

Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.  Return the pasta to the pot, stir in the cheese and meat mixture over very low heat, and add a bit of pasta water to make a moist sauce.

Tuscan garlic chicken pasta

I found this recipe in an issue of Cook's Country, and chased it down online here at Food.com.  I made a few modifications, adding the lemon juice and the pasta water to the skillet in order to reclaim all the browned bits from the chicken.  Other than that, I followed it exactly!

French-style chicken in a pot

I've been a fan of slow-cooked, braised, or crock pot chicken for forever.  So when I saw Cook's Illustrated showing off how to stack everything for the whole meal into the Dutch oven properly for braising, I was sold.  Get this...the stuffing goes into parchment tubes that you roll and twist, and it gets cooked right along with everything else!

Make your favorite stuffing first and twist it up.  Set it aside.  Brown the chicken (I brined mine for 1 hour beforehand), and set it aside too.  Place your root vegetables and aromatics in the bottom of the pot.  Add enough broth to stop 1/2 inch short of the top of the vegetables.  Place the stuffing rolls and the chicken legs (if using...I didn't) in the next layer, and rest the chicken breasts on top.  Cover with foil and the lid and pop it into a 300 oven for 60 to 75 minutes.

CI has you using skin-on chicken and then discarding it just before serving.  I decided to pass on the skin, and that's one of the reasons I chose to brine my birds.  

Traditional whole wheat bread

I have mentioned before how much I love my bread machine, but I also love love love making bread the traditional way when time allows.  I use the sponge method, which means that back in the day, I was letting the sponge rise for 45 minutes, and then letting the bread rise three more times!  Well, I've recently come to the conclusion that the more efficient yeast available today (the only thing I can easily get without a special trip) doesn't do as well with four total risings.  I am ashamed to admit that I've cut back to three total.

But you know what?  My bread really hasn't seemed to have suffered.

So even though I've tried other methods...no-knead, rapid rise, and bread machine...my all time favorite is this adaptation of the traditional method.  Your mileage may vary.  Just sayin...

Whole Wheat Yeast Bread
Makes 2 standard sized loaves

Sponge:
3 c lukewarm water (85 - 105 degrees)
1 1/2 T dry yeast (2 packages)
2 - 4 T sweetener (brown sugar, honey, molasses)
1 c dry milk powder
3 c whole wheat flour
1 c white bread flour

Part two:
4 t salt
1/3 c fat (oil or butter)
2 c whole wheat flour
1 c white bread flour
Up to 1 c white bread flour for kneading

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.  Stir in the sweetener and milk powder.   Stir in the flour one cup at a time, using a brisk circular folding motion.  Beat the whole mass well for about 100 strokes.  Cover with a wet linen towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm spot.

Fold in the salt and fat.  Fold in the additional 3 cups of flour until the dough begins to come away from the side of the bowl.  Knead on a floured surface, using up to 1 additional cup of flour.  Knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl.  Spray the surface with cooking spray if desired and cover.  Allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.  Punch the dough down and fold it into a ball.  Remove from the bowl onto the kneading surface (most likely no more flour will be needed).  Cut into two pieces and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Knead lightly and shape into loaves.  Place each into a sprayed loaf pan if desired.  Allow to rise for 45 minutes.  Brush the tops with an egg wash or milk if desired, and bake at 350 for about an hour.  Remove from the pans to cool.

Cook's best friend

This came to me in an email with no attribution.  Anyone know who created it?