I made this prior to the baby being born to stock in our freezer, but am only getting around to posting it just now. This recipe comes from Reader's Digest. My husband, being French, loves cassoulet. I don't think that I've ever had a true 'French' cassoulet. But I figured I would try this to see what he thought... and he told me that it was nothing like a French cassoulet... so don't make it hoping to replicate a real one. But we enjoyed it nonetheless.
For the smoked bacon, we used President's Choice's Italian pancetta, which is as close as we can find in Canada to 'lardons', which are typically used in a cassoulet in France. I also used 6 boneless chicken breasts instead of the 12 thighs, as I didn't have any thighs. It worked well, but the chicken needed to cook for an hour before putting on the bread crumbs instead of for 30 minutes.
If I were to make it again, I might just leave off the bread crumb toppings altogether and put in a full can of chopped tomatoes.
2 tbsp. olive oil
60 g smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
12 skinless chicken thighs (bone-in)
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can (250 mL) chopped canned tomatoes
4 C cooked white kidney beans (2 540 mL tins, drained and rinsed)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 C dry white wine or chicken stock
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
Topping:
1 1/2 C bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves (or chopped fresh rosemary)
1. Heat oil in a deep wide skillet. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove and reserve. Discard all but a few tablespoons of oil from the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and brown well - about 5 minutes per side. Remove from pan.
2. Add onions and garlic to pan and cook 5 to 8 minutes, until browned. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add beans and heat thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, wine or stock and thyme. Add chicken pieces back to pan. Sprinkle with bacon. Cover and bake 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Farenheit.
3. Meanwhile, combine bread crumbs with garlic, olive oil, salt and herbs. Sprinkle over the cassoulet. Bake, uncovered, 15 minutes longer until bread crumbs are crisp.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Bob had forwarded me a list of random odd food-related tips when I started this blog and I'm only getting around to sharing them with you just now (figured it was now or never with baby less than 2 weeks away...). I haven't tested any of these out to know if any of them work... but here goes...
1. Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it.
2. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
3. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and will not mold.
4. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
5. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
6. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if you want a stronger taste of garlic.
7. When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
8. To warm biscuits, pancakes or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
9. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
10. To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it with 1/2 an inch of apple cider vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever (this one's for you, Heidi!).
11. To get rid of ants, place small piles of cornmeal where you can see the ants. They eat it, take it 'home' and can't digest it, so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed.
This recipes comes from the January/February 2005 edition of Cooking Light magazine. I had ripped it out way back then, and only got around to making it for the first time this week. The only thing is that I think I'll have to half the recipe next time, because there's no way that the two of us will get through all of this in a week... I'll also probably cook it a little less than the recommended 35 minutes, as I found it a bit overcooked and too crunchy. We've been enjoying it with either milk or yogurt mornings or for a snack.
4 C regular oats
1/4 C slivered almonds
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 C water
1/3 C honey
1/3 C maple syrup
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 C minced dried apricots (I used dried cherries, as I had no apricots)
1 C raisins
1. Preheat over to 325 degrees Farenheit.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine water, honey, syrup, sugar and oil in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Pour over oat mixture; toss to coat. Spread oat mixture on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray (or parchment paper). Bake at 325 degrees Farenheit for 35 minutes or until golden, stirring ever 10 minutes. Place in a large bowl; stir in apricots and raisins. Cool completely.
Yield: 6 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup).
Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Note: for a nut-free version, omit the almonds and substitute more dried fruit.
I had been talking to Heather about this recipe and promised her that I'd get it up on my blog before the baby comes. So I made these to accompany dinner the other night. This recipe comes from the June 2004 edition of the Betty Crocker Grill It! magazine. Although the recipe below says to cook these on the bbq, I tend to make them in the oven by cooking them at 450 degrees Farenheit for 35 minutes, turning them halfway through.
For some odd reason, I've never used the fresh cilantro, even though this is an ingredient that I rarely leave out of recipes. They're pretty good without, but I'm sure they'd be even better with the added flavour of the cilantro. I made a double batch and kept leftovers in the fridge to heat up with dinner all week.
12 unpeeled small red potatoes, cut into fourths
2 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted (I use 1 tbsp. butter/margarine and 1 tbsp. water)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. peppered seasoned salt
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
1. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat. Place potatoes in large bowl. Add remaining ingredients except cilantro; toss to coat. Place in grill basket.
2. Cover and grill potatoes 4 to 6 inches from medium heat 10 to 15 minutes, shaking basket or stirring potatoes frequently, until tender.
3. Sprinkle potatoes with cilantro; toss to coat.
Make 4 servings.
I scrounged the internet for this recipe one day awhile back after Katie had been talking to me about making chocolate hazelnut biscotti (which still sound better than these, but anyhow...). These are quite yummy nonetheless. And I've never been someone to even really like biscotti in a café or whatever. But these are a nice change. I've only ever made the dried apple/cinnamon variety, though the original recipe sounds good too. Or I was thinking that dried cherries would also be a nice alternative, though I've never made them.
2 C white flour (I use whole-wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C unsalted butter
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C dried blueberries
3/4 C unsalted bleached almonds
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar with a mixer. Add the butter and mix until crumbly.
2. Add the egg, milk and vanilla and mix again. Mix in the blueberries and almonds.
3. Form two rolls, each approximately 25 cm (10 inches) long. Place the rolls on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cook for 35 minutes.
4. Take out of the oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
5. Cut diagonally with a sharp bread knife. Slices should be 2 cm (3/4 inch) thick. Place the slices on the baking sheet again and cook for 25 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit, turning the biscotti halfway through cooking time. Let cool.
Variations:
- chocolate chip and pistachios
- dried apples and cinnamon
- white chocolate chips and orange zest, etc.
For whatever reason, I find that I'm making a ton of recipes with ground beef these days. Which is a bit odd, as we don't typically eat a ton of beef. But they're all recipes that freeze really well, which is perhaps part of what is guiding my choices of meals to make for post-baby days. I am going to try to make some other chicken and vegetarian meals before the baby comes so that we'll at least have some variety to choose from. But the freezer is slowly getting packed and I'm running out of containers to freeze things in, so we'll have to see...
This is another childhood recipe. It's yummy, filling and freezes super well. In winter, I often serve it with a bun of sorts and a soup or salad. But my husband likes it served on top of homemade oven fries... maybe in an attempt to re-create chili fries?? Which I don't think either of us have ever had... but anyhow... it's his little creation.
I remember making this when living in France years back, when I was really just learning how to cook. Jerome didn't have any chili powder, so I figured that I could just substitute cayenne pepper... clearly anyone who knows anything about spices knows that this was not a good idea. It was probably the spiciest chili I've ever had in my life... Anyhow, here's the recipe:
1 lb. ground beef
1 C chopped onion
Brown in a frying pan, transfer to a large pot and then add:
1 lg. can tomatoes
1 7 1/2 oz. can tomato sauce
2 cans kidney beans, drained
2-3 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 bay leaf
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
