Coconut Milk Hot Chocolate

I was craving hot chocolate this evening and decided to try something different. Not wanting to make it with my vanilla soy milk, I googled coconut milk hot chocolate and quite a few links popped up! (Not to say I used any of them.) A lot of the recipes are vegan and I don't have all the ingredients necessary. So I made mine as simple as possible.

Ingredients

• 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (or to taste)
• 5 tbs cocoa powder

Heat up the coconut milk in a pan on medium heat but do not bring to a boil! Stir in sugar til dissolved and stir in cocoa powder til incorporated. It is very thick so be patient with mixing. Warm til desired temperature, pour into your favorite mug and enjoy!

The coconut milk gives it a very nice rich, creamy texture. If you like things sweeter, add more sugar or vice versa. I do not recommend drinking the whole thing by yourself as it is very rich.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake (part II: Mini cupcakes!)

I made this spiced pumpkin cake recipe about 3 weeks ago and it turned out well. I offered to bring it to the Thanksgiving family gathering I'm heading to in less than 12 hours. I suppose I always try to make the cake into mini cupcakes at some point. (Did it for the olive oil lemon cake). I mostly do it because I think they are cute but it's also easier to serve in moderate portions.

I realized this evening how I forgot to add the sugar earlier last time. Upon reading the recipe I realized that the list of ingredients were not listed in groupings. Most recipes are user friendly and list ingredients according to when they are added. The sugar was no where near the butter. Not that it is an excuse on my part, just an observation. Batter came out a lot smoother this time. I also added a tad more pumpkin.

I didn't want to take several hours making these in the only cupcake pan I have, so I put the rest of the batter into a bread pan. Suppose I'm not willing to sacrifice enough for my art yet. :-)

When dealing with the glaze, make sure to work fast before it sets or else it will not glaze evenly on the cupcake. How cute are these!?!

Count your many blessings...

I won't be cooking or baking in the near future. Something is now wrong with my right thumb joint and I cannot bend it at all. When I try sharp pains shoot through it. Another thing I took for granted! It's amazing how often we bend our thumbs even in the slightest ways to accomplish everyday tasks. Can't hold a knife properly to cut anything. Good thing we still have Grandma's trusty automatic can opener so I can still eat! :) Doctor at school couldn't help me so he's sent me off to the ER to get it tested for an infection in the joint. I really should start looking into insurance. My body doesn't seem to be holding up well!

About 7 hours later I'm told it is a ganglion cyst and I see a hand specialist on Thursday. I just want the pressure and swelling to go down now though. Advil will be my friend for a few days.

Thursday evening I'm told there is calcification in the bump. If it doesn't heal itself in 3 weeks, the doctor will cut it out.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

The weather is starting to get cold and rainy and what better way to celebrate that fall is finally here than by baking something with pumpkin. My mom sent me a link associated with realsimple.com so I browsed the site and came across this cake recipe for Spiced Pumpkin Cake.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the pan
• 5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup whole milk (We have 1% in the fridge so that is what I used.)
  
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

I do not have a pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice at home so I made my own.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3 teaspoons ground allspice

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in air tight container. Of course you can add more of what you like or less. I added a bit more cinnamon because the allspice was a little strong for my liking.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. I used the wrapper from my butter to grease the pan. Instead of flour I sprinkled a sugar and cinnamon mixture. This is a trick I use when I make friendship bread. I figured it couldn't hurt because cinnamon and sugar taste way better than just plain flour.
   
2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the pumpkin puree, milk, and molasses (the mixture may appear curdled). Reduce the mixer speed to low; gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just combined (do not overmix). I will be honest here... I started to combine the wet ingredients when I noticed something wasn't looking right. It finally dawned on me that I forgot to cream the sugar and butter! I had put the eggs into only butter. After the eggs were in a gloppy mess with the butter I added the sugar and it was saved. Since the recipe warns it may appear curdled I figured it was ok. Can you imagine what it would have tasted like without the sugar? I don't even want to think about it.
   
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely. It is a rather sticky, thick batter. I cooked it for about 57 minutes before taking it out to cool.
5. In a bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the cake. Let set before serving. I've tried making glazes in the past and after this recipe, I've learned that I'd been adding too much liquid. Of course you can make it whatever consistency you like, but mine had always been a little on the thin side. But why a glaze you ask when cream cheese frosting is usually traditional? I am not a fan of cream cheese frostings and I like that a glaze is lighter and dairy free. The tartness cuts through the richness of the cake.
   I took the cake to a pot luck this evening and it was a hit! I brought the plate home empty, which is always my goal. It's an easy recipe that yields great results.
   

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops -- America's Test Kitchen

I'm borrowing the America's Test Kitchen cookbook from a friend. (I promise I'll give it back Rachel!) Greg saw this recipe made on TV and wanted to try it himself. We've made it a few times now and I realize I've never posted about it! It really is the juiciest pork chops I've ever had.

Items in red are directly from the recipe.

Serves 4
Ingredients
For the brine
1/4 cup of Table salt
4 cups of water
4 center-cut boneless pork chops , 6 to 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat

For the bread crumb coating
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread , torn into 1-inch pieces
1 small minced shallot
3 medium garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

For the dredging
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons
3 large egg whites
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. This part is important because it helps the chops remain juicy while cooking and you want it dry so the dredging will stick to the pork chop.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3 1/2 cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Do not turn off oven.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley. I pulsed the garlic and shallots in the food processor, removed them, and then pulsed the bread. Much faster than mincing the garlic and shallots by hand! We used dried thyme and we didn't have parsley so we omitted that ingredient. We've used these crumbs for a chicken cordon bleu coating and it turned out great. Simple yet tasty, these bread crumbs can be used in various recipes. The book says the crumbs can be stored up to 3-4 days in an airtight container or frozen up to a week.

3. Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining. Sometimes it takes a minute or two for this concoction to come together. It eventually does.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops. Using our hands caused the crumbs to clump a little but it's not the end of the world. We've misplaced a wire rack so we ended up placing the chops directly onto a cooking sheet. Obviously the bottom wasn't as crisp as the top but it wasn't an issue for us. We used all the breadcrumbs for the 4 pork chops.


5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 145-150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving. There's always residual cooking after taking an item out of the oven. We baked it to 145 and it turned out great.

I cooked up some potatoes and onions and heated some baked beans as the sides. You can make the bread crumbs a day before to save on time if you want to make this on a week night. Like I said earlier, these are the most juicy pork chops I've ever had and the aroma from the bread crumbs baking fills the house which gets your appetite ready for a great meal.

The Art of Chewing

I'm amazed at how I can take little things for granted until I'm no longer able to do them. Do you ever think about the act of chewing? Seems pretty straight forward. You put food in your mouth, you chomp up and down and then swallow. But do we ever really ponder how all the glands and the tongue and teeth work together?

I have a severely swollen lymph node or salivary gland on my left jaw just under/behind my left ear. Chewing food is excrutiating. It's day 4 into this 'journey' and it's starting to get to me. My last real meal was Sunday night. I've been drinking protein shakes since Monday. I tried eating a grilled cheese sandwich on Tuesday night to no avail. I gummed oatmeal for dinner last night. All I really want is a nice juicy cheeseburger. The boys have had to fend for themselves since I can't eat food, I'm not cooking. The doctor has me on penicillin as he isn't quite sure what it is. Wish me luck that it goes away soon!

A Twist on a Classic: Butternut Squash, Ground Turkey Lasagna

I bought a butternut squash a few weeks back from Trader Joe's and have been kicking around ideas in my head on what to do with it. At first I really wanted to make a soup because I had a fabulous cup of butternut squash soup from Erik's Deli not too long ago. Thinking how I would even make this at home, I came to grips that I do not have the proper equipment to even puree anything so the idea of a soup went out the window.

The thought of incorporating it into a lasagna popped into my mind. We have ground turkey meat in the freezer so I went to the grocery store to buy remaining ingredients. Since squash and turkey meat are healthy, I went with wheat lasagna noodles opposed to the regular kind.

Ingredients

• 1 lb butternut squash
• 1 package wheat lasagna noodles
• 2 tbs olive oil
• a small onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
  
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 tbs of sage
  
• salt & pepper (to taste)
  
• 1-16 ounce container of non-fat cottage cheese (use any kind you like)
  
• 4 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese (use any kind you like)
  
• 2-28 ounce bottles of Prego 'Heart Healthy Italian Sauce' (Feel free to use your own sauce! It was on sale and went with the theme of the meal. I did not use all the sauce but one jar isn't enough)

The very first step is to cook the butternut squash.

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  
• Split the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, pour on some olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  
• I placed it cut side down on a baking sheet for 30 minutes.
  
• Half way through I turned it over and cooked for another 30 minutes.
  
• Depending on the size of the squash, times may vary.
  
• I didn't cook it until it was all the way squishy (for lack of a better term). I wanted it to be able to hold up to the lasagna after being incorporated.
• Take out the squash and let cool before handling.
  
• Once it is cooled, scoop out the 'meat'. I used half of it for this recipe (came to about a pound) and I saved the other half for a snack at a later time. As I do not have a food processor, I took a potato masher and smashed up the squash.
  

At this point, it is time to start prepping the other ingredients.

• Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles as instructed on the box. (I used 12 noodles and it was all I needed.)
• Add olive oil to a pan and heat up.
• Add onions and sweat down before adding the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
  
• Toss in the meat and break it up with a spoon as not to get big chunks. (Unless that's what you want.)
• Let the meat cook for a few minutes before adding the sage.
• Ground turkey is relatively healthier than ground beef so the meat didn't really have to be drained. I used a spoon to scoop out excess moisture.
• At this point I incorporated the butternut squash and let the flavors marry while the noodles finished cooking.

Once meat and noodles are cooked, it is time for assembly!

At this point, I have one phrase for you: mise en place (everything in place). Before attempting to cook, I want everything I will be using (equipment and ingredients) at my disposal. My room may be a disaster area, but when it comes to cooking and baking, I want all my ingredients out and ready for use so I don't have to stop in the middle of doing something to grab an item I forgot.

I have the jars of sauce open, the cottage cheese open, the mozzarella cheese dumped into a bowl so I don't have to reach into the bag (assuming you buy your cheese pre-shredded), the sides of my 9x13 inch pan sprayed down and the noodles drained while my oven is preheating to 350 degrees. (Depending on how fat the layers are, you may want a 2nd smaller square baking dish to accommodate the leftover ingredients.)

To begin assembly:

• Start with a half to one cup of sauce on the bottom of the pan. Some people really like a saucy lasagna and others do not. Put as much as you like, just make sure to cover the bottom.
• Lay down 3 noddles to create the noodle layer.
  
• Next layer on a third of the meat mixture, a third of the cottage cheese and a cup of the mozzarella cheese. Do not worry about what the layer looks like as people are only going to see the final product once it is cooked.
  
• Spoon on some more sauce and continue the same steps as before. (Noodles, meat mixture, and the cheeses)
  
• At this point I put on sauce, layer on 3 more noodles, and then top with some more sauce. One more cup of the cheese goes on top.
• (There is leftover ingredients that would not have fit into the 9x13 pan. I put the remaining ingredients into a smaller, square pan and made a mini lasagna.)
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes until that top layer of cheese becomes nice and bubbly.

When the timer goes off, remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes. If you cut into it right away, it could be a soggy mess as it didn't have time to set.

Even though only a few people ate it, they all seemed to really enjoy it. The rustic feel of the squash (from being mashed) added a layer of texture to the dish.

I had a killer headache the afternoon I made this and with that distraction, I forgot to take any pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it that it was amazingly good. :-)

Greek Chicken Salad

I was at work one day and got the hankering for Greek Salad. I know it isn't traditional, but I wanted to make it a little heartier so I added chicken to the mix and I do not care for bell peppers so I left it out. An aunt has an abundance of tomatoes from her backyard, so this was a good way to use them. The beauty of salads is that you can add as much or as little of what you like.

Ingredients

• Whole rotisseried chicken
• 1/4 of a red onion
• 1 can of olives (we have black on hand so that's what I used. You can use any kind as Kalamata is traditional)
• 3 large tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 4 ounces feta cheese
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1 clove grated garlic
• black pepper
  

Take all the meat off the chicken and place bite size pieces into a large bowl.
Dice the red onion into small pieces.
Cut up the olives.
Dice the tomatoes.
Peel and chop the cucumber.
Place feta cheese on the top.


In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic and pepper until emulsified. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

I decided to put the salad into a pita and it tasted great! Definitely hit the spot.

Fenton's Creamery and Restaurant

Last night I went with a few friends to a creamery in Oakland, California. Being lactose intolerant, I knew I'd be sorry in the morning for this splurge of dairy. But I figured I've been behaving myself lately (in regards to dairy) and figured it would be a nice treat to myself before school starts. I've always heard good things about it. Fenton's serves items from a crab melt to Cobb salad to a dessert called The Saddleback Brownie.

My friend Jessie and I both had the small 'Old Fashioned Sundaes.' The sundaes were very good. They were served in a goblet that is placed on a small plate to hold all the fudge and toppings that drip off the ice cream. It contains a generous scoop of ice cream topped with one topping of our choice, whipped cream, almonds and a cherry. Jessie went with the traditional vanilla and I went with Mint Cookie ice cream. After scarfing down my sundae, I realized I would have been completely content with the petite size.


Our friend Dave got the Banana Jr that was anything but junior! A banana slice was buried under 3 heaping scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream which was covered in pineapple, strawberries and hot fudge. With additional toppings of whipped cream, almonds and a cherry. Needless to say, it is not a diet friendly dish.

They've been around since 1894 so they must be doing something right.

Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

Having church earlier now leaves me more time in the afternoon to make a Sunday dinner. A neighbor dropped off an eggplant earlier in the week so that was the inspiration for tonight's meal. I asked Lindsie what she would do with it and she sent me a link to a recipe for Baingan Bharta.

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (could not find cumin seeds at the regular grocery store so used ground cumin instead)
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (grated a half inch nub of peeled ginger and 2 cloves of garlic in place of the paste)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (used a 6 oz container)
• 1 fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped (we used serrano because we had a few left over from Lindsie's Thai curry dish)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2. Cut eggplant in half and place cut side down on a medium baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender. Remove from heat, cool, peel, and chop.
3. If serving with rice, start the rice before you continue. Rice should be done around the same time as the curry.
4. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in cumin and onion. Cook and stir until onion is tender.
5. Mix ginger garlic paste, curry powder, and tomato into the saucepan, and cook about 1 minute. Stir in yogurt.
6. Mix in eggplant and serrano pepper, and season with salt.
7. Cover and cook 10 minutes over high heat and stir periodically. Remove cover, reduce heat to low, and continue cooking about 5 minutes.
8. Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Next time I will double the recipe because this was enough to serve myself, Dean and Greg with no second servings. It was a tasty meal for cooking with eggplant for the first time. I think Dean is starting to get used to our vegetarian dishes. :-)

Double Chocolate-Almond Biscotti

While Lindsie was in town, we actually baked together! I think she wanted to show she can care about baking. We have not had success in the past.

When I was in SF a few weeks ago, I bought this marvelous book from Ghirardelli Square.
So naturally we picked a recipe from here. Page 46 has the 'Double Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti' recipe. Since we do not have hazelnut on hand, we went with almonds.

Double Chocolate-Almond Biscotti

Should make 48 cookies, but we cut ours a little bigger.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa
4 ounces Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate baking bar, finely chopped (We used semi-sweet chocolate chips chopped because that's what we have on hand)
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
   
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, ground chocolate and semisweet chocolate.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla, and stir until well-blended. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until a dough forms (it should adhere to the beaters), 2 to 3 minutes. Fold in the nuts. It is a sticky batter.
4. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. On the prepared cookie sheets, using lightly floured hands, shape each portion into 1 1/4-inch-by-12-inch logs.
5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the logs are firm to the touch. Let cool on the cookie sheets for 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
   
6. Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees.
7. Transfer 1 log to a cutting board and with a serrated knife, cut in half, and then into twelve 1-inch-wide cookies. Repeat with the remaining log.
8. Return cookies to baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp.
   
9. Transfer the cookies from the sheet to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Store at room temperature in a tightly covered container. This step is very important because the cookies will not stay crisp for too long if left out or not tightly covered.

I had a few with my herbal tea and it was great! They still had a crunch after dipping but not completely hard to chip a tooth.

Another year has passed

Julie left this earth 2 years ago today. To remember her, Greg and I made black olive pizza from scratch. Turned out pretty good.

Here is the link to the pizza dough recipe. I made a small change to the dough this time. I added 4 cloves of minced garlic to the double batch. (2 cloves if you are only making one pizza.) It wasn't overpowering and was a nice addition to the Italian seasonings. We made the sauce from a can of diced tomatoes, garlic, onion and a few seasonings. We cooked it down and then smashed it a little with a potato masher. Sometimes less is more and in pizza, that couldn't be a better motto.

Stay tuned to see what we do next time to change up the pizza a little bit. :-)

Happy Birthday Uncle Dean!

Today is Dean's birthday. To celebrate, we had people over last night for what was supposed to be a 'play cards and eat cake' night. Ended up just being a 'eat snacks and chatting fest' but I think everyone had a good time.

Birthday boy!

Not wanting to be overwhelmed with serving an actual dinner, I kept it to finger foods and guests could help themselves.

We had veggies (zucchini, cauliflower and celery), spinach dip, olive-cream cheese tea sandwiches with pumpernickel bread and herbed goat cheese bruschetta.

Our kind neighbors brought over a cheese and salami tray which was great because it fit in beautifully with the spread.

Dean thought there should be a picture of me so here it is.

For dessert we had German Chocolate Cake. We made it for Dean last year and he requested it again this year. We had a few issues last year (over beating the egg whites and the frosting never set up) but practice makes perfect and it turned out great! Next thing I need to work on is how to decorate.

The recipe called for 3 9" round pans. We only had 2 and used a square pan for the third.

This year I cooked the frosting for 30 minutes instead of the 12 minutes which was the suggested time on the recipe. It set up beautifully and I was so happy not to have to frost the cake with a slotted spoon again!

It was moist and the frosting held up well on the cake.

I placed the square layer on the bottom so even with a round cake, if someone wanted a corner piece, they could have one! :-) A Carrie original.

Happy Birthday Uncle Dean!!

Cioppino

Dean requested Cioppino for his birthday meal. I've heard of the dish but never had it myself so I was up for the challenge of making it. I went online and found this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for Cioppino. It was fairly easy to make and very tasty!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced (it was labeled sweet anise at the store)
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large shallots, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 5 cups fish or chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
• 1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 pound scallops
  
• 1 1/2 pounds assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2-inch chunks

Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, shallots, and salt and saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.


Add the garlic and 3/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and saute 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish or chicken stock and bay leaf.

Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Add the mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes

Add the scallops, shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open).

While at the grocery store, the check out lady asked what I was going to do with the fennel. She said she never cared for the flavor of black licorice but tried fennel once and became a fan. I too had never tried fennel because I am not a fan of black licorice but was excited none-the-less to try it out in this recipe. She wished me luck with the meal and added that Cioppino is not complete without a nice crunchy bread to soak up the juice. Luckily we had bread left over from Dean's party from the night before.

Greg and I bought the seafood at Costco the day we made the recipe. Next time we need seafood, we'll go to Ranch 99 for our seafood needs. Half the mussels didn't open or they were already cracked when I went to wash them off. Very disappointing to say the least.

Overall it turned out great. I will definitely try this meal again and change up the seafood ingredients to add a different taste to the dish.

Crock-Pot Chicken Adobo

Erika's cousin Rick made Adobo with chicken while I was at their apartment a few months back. It was so good, I tried to recreate it at home. Needless-to-say, I am still trying to perfect it.

What is Adobo you ask? According to Wikipedia, it is a Filipino cooking process which involves stewing in vinegar but is a term with Spanish origin which means to marinate or season. Typically, pork or chicken, or a combination of both, is slowly cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns.

In my first try to recreate it I used pork. I don't think I let it boil long enough for the meat was a tad tough. For try #2 I used chicken. Most recipes I saw online (and what her cousin did) call for using the whole chicken cut up with the skin still in tact. I was trying to make it healthier so I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts. It wasn't bad but still not what I had experienced at Erika's.

Since the meat in previous tries have been a little dry, I decided to try my luck with the crock-pot. I mean seriously, what doesn't cook well in a crock-pot, right? Once again, I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts and added some veggies into the mix.

Crock-Pot Chicken Adobo

• 2 zucchinis
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 4 crushed cloves of garlic

1. I washed and cut up the zucchinis and carrots and placed them on the bottom of the crock-pot. (If you have onion, throw some onion into the mix. I used vegetables I had on hand.)
   
2. Next I cut the chicken breasts into inch sized cubes and placed on top of the vegetables. (Chicken thighs or legs would work beautifully.)
   
3. I mixed all the remaining ingredients and poured it over the chicken. (Some recipes recommended marinating the chicken in the soy sauce/vinegar concoction over night.)
   
4. Cover with the lid. At this point you can set the crock-pot on low (6-8 hours cooking time) or high (4 hours cooking time). I set mine to high as I put it all together in the afternoon and wanted it for dinner.
5. An hour and a half into the cooking time I stirred the contents of the crock-pot as to ensure the chicken didn't cook into one huge mass and to help the liquid incorporate into the chicken.

As side dishes, I cooked some rice and oven roasted some corn on the cob. The corn was quite simple. I poured some olive oil onto husked cobs and sprinkled on some salt, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. You can add whatever seasoning you like. I put it in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. At this point I rotated the corn and cooked for another 20 minutes.

I am pleased with my third attempt. Greg mentioned the liquid was a little strong for his liking if eaten by itself, but complimented the rice nicely. As for myself, I like vinegary things so the liquid tasted great.

Trying to recall what Rick had done and referencing a basic recipe online, I always try to make recipes my own. This time I did that by adding ginger, mustard and pepper flakes and veggies to the recipe. If you notice, the spices are about half the ingredients needed for a pickling spice mix. Looking at a pickling mix recipe, cloves might make a nice addition for next time to this recipe...

When I finally figure out how to make it in a regular pot, I'll post my success. :-)