Turmeric-Black Pepper Chicken with Asparagus*

I HAVE NOT MADE YET!

Recipe taken from NYT cooking.

Ingredients:

-1/4 cup of water

-3 Tbsp honey

-3/4 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste

-kosher salt

-2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

-1.5 tsp ground turmeric

-1 pb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch piecds

-1 Tbsp coconut or canola oil

-12 oz asparagus, trimmed and thinly sliced on an angle

-1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar or soy sauce

-1 lime cut into wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl/measuring cup, stir together water, honey, pepper, 1/2 tsp salt.  Set aside

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, turmeric, 1 tsp salt.  Add the chicken and toss until coated.

3. In a medium 10 inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high.  Add chicken and cook until turmeric is fragrant and chicken golden brown on both sides.  2-3 min per side. 

4. Add asparagus, season with salt, stir to combine and cook until crisp-tender 1-2 min.

5. Add honey mixture and cook, stirring until chicken is cooked through and sauce thickened, 2-3 min.

6. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar.  

7. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with lime squeezed over top.

NYE cocktails

Per our tradition, Eric and I stayed in for NYE. We watched the Venture Bros movie.  We worked on the patronum lego while semi-watching Indiana Jones 4 - such a bad movie.

We each made 2 cocktails.  Eric made some really nice drinks with Prosecco.  One was with lemon sorbet. Yum

Eric got me some bitters, so able to make an Old Fashioned, which he liked.  Want to try it out with some maple syrup or honey instead of sugar next time.

Old Fashioned (recipe from GimmeSomeOven.com)

Ingredients:

-1 tsp granulated white sugar

-1 tsp water

-3-4 shakes Angostura bitters

-2 oz bourbon

-1 Luxardo cherry (didn't have)

-orange peel

Directions:
1. Add sugar, water, bitters. Use muddle (or end of wooden spoon) to combine until sugar is nearly dissolved.

2. Add large ice cube

3. Add bourbon

4. Stir vigorously for 10 sec until liquid chilled (forgot to do)

5. Gently twist orange peel directly over glass in order to express its oil into cocktail, then add

Sundaze in Miami (taken from @cocktails on IG)

So Eric said it was top 5 drinks I've ever made?? Could have been the edible talking for him.

Doubled ingredients for 2 servings.

Ingredients:

-0.5 oz fresh lemon juice (half of lemon)

-0.5 oz agave

-2 oz pineapple juice (used pineapple/orange juice combo)

-0.5 oz Campari

-1.5 oz gin

Directions:

-Shake everything together and service with ice

Rosemary cocktails

Rosemary Greyhound Cocktail (from tasteslovely.com)

Made some cocktails for UFC. Eric really liked this one.  Should do more drinks with grapefruit.

Ingredients:

-2 oz vodka

-1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

-4 oz grapefruit juice

-sprig of rosemary for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake together and serve

Rosemary Gin Fizz Cocktail (from inspiredtaste.net)

A little more alcohol forward.  

Ingredients:

-2 oz gin

-1/2 oz fresh lemon juice

-1/2 oz rosemary simple syrup

-3 oz club soda

-1 lemon slice + rosemary sprig for garnish

Directions:

1. Shake gin, lemon juice, rosemary simple syrup

2. Strain into glass

3. Add club soda

4. Garnish with lemon slice and rosemary sprig

American Ghoulash in crockpot

Saw a recipe and similar to chili in cooking.

Used modified recipes from slowcookergourmet.net, dearcrissy.com, and simplyhappyfoodie.com 

The kids were in town so for 8 meals, used 2 lbs of ground turkey and 1 full bag of macaroni. 

Eric said too much macaroni and thought green beans would have been good to go with it.

He also felt not flavorful enough, so maybe more salt, Italian seasoning, fresh oregano, Worcestershire sauce?

I added a can of garbanzo beans but didn’t like it with it.

Avocado was good topping

Ingredients:

-Ground turkey (1-2 lbs)

-garlic cloves

-1 yellow onion, diced

-Serranos - used like 6 diced

-3 bell peppers, diced

-green beans (eric said to add)

-2 bay leaves

-1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

-1 Tbsp dried oregano - Eric said next time use fresh oregano

-1 Tbsp paprika (forgot because didn't see)

-salt (2 tsp)

-pepper (1/2 tsp)

-1.5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

-1 can diced tomatoes

-1 can tomato sauce (16 oz)

-Chicken broth - probably used 1 cup

-elbow macaroni

Directions:

1. Brown turkey with cloves and serranos

2. Stir in all ingredients except pasta.  

3. Cook on low 4-6 hrs in crockpot

3. Cook elbow macaroni separately (because didn't fit in crock pot).  Add in at end.

Cheese Puffs

From delish.com

Very good and easy to make.  Bready and cheesy.  More bready than a Brazilian cheese puff.

Eric said it was too peppery, so add less next time or none.

Cook to eat with Italian dinner.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water

4 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1 tsp freshly ground white pepper (optional)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/2 cup freshly grated Gruyere, plus more for topping

Direction

1. Preheat oven to 400 deg and line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, salt, sugar, and white pepper and bring to a boil.  Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough forms.  Continue to cook until dough pulls away from the pan and forms a ball, and a film develops on the bottom of the pot, about 2 minutes

3. Transfer dough to a bowl and continue to mix with a wooden spoon to cool slightly, 1 minute.  Beat eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth and fully incorporated after each addition.

4. Fold in gruyere

5. Transfer batter to a piping bag or use a small (2 tsp capacity) cookie scoop to create small, inch-wide mounds on prepared baking sheet (needs to be all same size), about an inch apart.  Top with more gruyere and bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 min

Butternut Squash Pasta with Homemade Sausage

Initially had recipe from skinnytaste.com, but I joujed a recipe from NYT better. Eric liked and said he would have again!
Homemade sausage recipe joujed from thebigmansworld.com (added fennel)

Ingredients:

-2.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4 inch pieces (weighed 3 lbs)

-2 garlic cloves (used whole head)

-olive oil

-salt and pepper

-3/4 packed cup fresh sage leaves (used 1 bag from store which was more like 1/4 cup)

-3/4 cup chopped walnuts (used an old bag, but could use more at least 1 cup)

-1 lemon zested (about 1 Tbsp) (+ half a lemon juice)

-1 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable stock

-1 pound short pasta

-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

-VEGGIES: 1 yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 bunch of asparagus

Homemade sausage:

-2 lbs ground turkey 

-2 tsp salt - used big 1 tsp salt

-1 tsp pepper - use more

-1 tsp dried sage - use more

-1 tsp garlic powder - use more

-1 tsp brown sugar

-1 tsp fennel - use more

Directions:

1. Peel and dice squash. Bake for 400 degrees with olive oil, salt, pepper for 35 min. Turn halfway.

2. Place squash + garlic + 1 cup of stock in blender until smooth and thick (stored in fridge)

3. Boil pasta al dente.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water aside. (stored in fridge)

4. Zest lemon onto plate + juice half of a lemon (set aside)

5. Grate parmesan cheese onto plate

6. Cook veggies in oven

7. Used large saucepan - heated avocado oil - added sage for about a minute. Then added walnuts + salt.  Cook until sage leaves are lightly browned and crisp.  Transfer to paper towel on plate.  Add zested lemon and mix

8. Cook ground turkey + spices.

9. Add pureed squash + lemon juice + pasta water + parmesan cheese. Can add more salt/pepper.

10. Sprinkle with sage/walnut/zest mixture. Didn't add extra parmesan.

Notes:

-Had about 3/4 cup walnuts in a bag, but could do more - try a full cup

-Only used juice from half a lemon, but try the whole lemon. Good lemon flavor from the nuts/zest.

-Use more spices for the sausage - I had sprinkled more on top of the ground turkey, but not sure how much

-try mixing spices in with turkey to marinate and store in fridge in bowl

Ginger Lemongrass Soup with Coconut Milk

Recipe modified from CookingOnTheWeekends

I thought it was pretty good. Eric said he liked it a lot.

Able to use the lemongrass from the garden

I added a lot of jalapeno, but because it was cooked, not as spicy as I would have liked.  

Try serranos next time. And if still not spicy enough, red pepper flakes.

Used the cuisinart and added the cooked ginger/lemongrass/garlic/jalapenos to the chicken.

I also added veggies.  I think subsequent days, it was not as good on reheat.  Eric agreed.  

Maybe zucchini got soggy, so try snap peas next time? Would also consider adding cherry tomatoes

Added scallions like recipe, but don't think it was a good add esp if using cilantro

Try marinating chicken beforehand

Ingredients

-Lemongrass - 4 stalks (I used a lot more)

-Ginger - 1/2 cup roughly chopped

-Garlic cloves - 3 cloves smashed (I used a lot more)

-jalapenos - use serranos next time!

-8 cups vegetable stock (used 4 or 1 box)

-1 1/2 cups coconut milk (preferably not light) - I used 1 can 

-1 TBSP red curry paste

-VEGGIES: bell pepper, onion, zucchini....maybe use snap peas/cherry tomatoes next time?

-chicken 

-cilantro, thai basil, lime to taste

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken - didn't do before, but would use the red curry paste, lime, other seasonings

1. Prep lemongrass - cut, peel, and smash with knife

2. Infuse lemon grass, chopped ginger, garlic cloves, serranos to pot with coconut milk + stock

3. Boil, bring heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45 min.  Turn off heat and infuse for another 45 min

4. Strain liquid in separate bowl - pick out lemongrass and half the ginger - cuisinart the rest

5. Cook chicken with the cuisinarted stuff + jalapenos/serranos

6. Cook veggies with the coconut liquid