Lessons of the Heart

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of introducing the heart to three adorable young ladies!  We listened to the heart with a stethoscope, found our pulse, dissected a sheep heart and talked about what makes for a healthy heart.  I didn't feel it quite right having these girls here right after school without a snack, but I also wanted the snack to be heart healthy so I looked for an oatmeal cut-out cookie recipe that I could cut into heart shapes.  I found this recipe and want to make sure to keep it on file!  I made just half of the recipe so I had just an egg white and I also used part whole wheat flour and did NOT pack the brown sugar!  The cookies were huge hits! (As was the whole heart experience!)

Iced Oatmeal Cut-Out Cookies

• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1½ c. flour
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1½ c. old-fashioned oats (cut with a knife)

Pre-heat oven to 350°.  Prepare parchment covered baking sheets; set aside.  

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add egg and mix well. Add flour, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder and oats and mix well.  Dough is VERY sticky so make sure work surface is very well floured and roll out with well floured rolling pin.  Cut out with well floured cookie cutter.  Place on prepared cookie sheets and bake 7-9 minutes or until golden brown.

White Icing

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. corn syrup
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp. water

Mix all together and pipe onto cookie with a #4 tip.  Start with outline and then fill in until smooth.

Cinnamon Icing

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. corn syrup
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
•  5 drops cinnamon extract
• 2 tsp. water

Mix together as for white icing, adding drops of water if needed to get a creamy consistency.  Ice cookies in same way.

A different take on the Sunday Pot Roast

We bought 2 pot roasts the other day because there was a Buy One, Get One Free sale happening.   Kent wasn't too sure he wanted just the same ol' roast recipes again, so he found this one.  It was really interesting and we decided it was a keeper, too!  I made Cheddar Jalapeño Biscuits to go with this and later Kent used some leftover gravy on a leftover biscuit to expand his biscuits and gravy repertoire as well!

Braised Chuck Roast with Roasted Pepper Sauce

1 (3-pound)  chuck roast (arm, shoulder or blade)
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups diced sweet onion
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
2 poblano peppers, roasted, skinned, seeded and diced (sometimes sold as Pasilla Peppers)
4 garlic cloves, roasted and minced
2 cups heavy cream (I used half-n-half)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup grated aged Manchego or Romano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
 Other cuts that you can use for this recipe:
» Chuck Roast
» Shoulder Clod Roast
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy bottom pan. Brown beef on all sides; pour off drippings. Add 4 cups broth to pan. Cover tightly with foil or lid and braise 4 hours until fork tender.
2. While the roast cooks, place remaining 2 tablespons olive oil in medium fry pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until transparent; add peppers and garlic; saute 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze pan with remaining broth and reduce by half. Add cream and reduce by half again. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove roast from pan and allow to rest 15 minutes.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup sauce onto each plate. Top with 3 ounces beef. Garnish with cilantro and cheese.

So, a couple of changes we've thought that might also work with this: 1.) use anaheim peppers instead of poblano; 2.) use sour cream for half or less of the heavy cream.  Reading through this now, I realize we forgot the cheese on the top at the end!  Oops!  The meat will literally fall apart done like this!  Enjoy!

A Fall Flavor

Old-Fashioned Gingersnaps

2 c. flour

 2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. dark molasses (not blackstrap)

1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 c. sugar

3 Tbsp, peeled and grated fresh ginger

1 large egg, beaten

Turbinado sugar

Position oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment and set aside.   

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, the 2 tsp. ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together butter, molasses, brown sugar, sugar, 3 Tbs. fresh ginger, and egg.  Add the flour mixture.  Stir to combine.  Cover and chill 1 hour.  (I did not do this step!)

Place turbinado sugar in a small, shallow bowl.  Make small balls out of dough and roll in turbinado sugar.  Place on baking sheet (2" apart).

Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are crisp and centers are still chewy.  Switch baking sheets between racks and rotate them front to back halfway through.  Remove from oven.  Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

These are so good!!  I didn't have near enough fresh ginger, but it was still very good and the turbinado sugar adds a nice dimension to the cookie!!

Hello!

Does anyone even read blogs anymore?  Does anyone read THIS blog anymore?  I wouldn't blame you if you didn't because it's not been updated in so long!!  I practically just use it as a recipe reminder anymore myself!  :-)  But let me see, SOOOO much has happened since we last met.  Sheesh!  I'm not even sure WHEN we last met.  I guess I might have told you about Riana  -- and that was back in January already!  We had a good winter and then came spring quarter.  Things really started to wind down for Tiana and I when it came to school.  In the wind-down things really wound up with scheduling, though!  For the first time since I started school I had a 5 day a week class schedule with lots of extras going on for a couple of classes.  I had 2 microbiology labs a week and in order to do my final project, I also had to do some extra work because my bacteria decided not to cooperate with me!  I also took a photography class that really demanded a lot of time.  BUT in the end, both Tiana and I managed to graduate!  We took a long trip out to Montana and visited some ghost towns and Craters of the Moon.  We came home to have Tiana's tonsils out and then think about getting her ready for her grand adventure to Australia. She's now in Australia and seeming to enjoy it.  She's gone to visit two of our former exchange students and is now with one of them for awhile.  Here's a little glimpse of our summer.

My new Go-to bread

One day I was wanting to make some little sandwich baguettes and looked for a recipe that might be a bit faster than the all day one that I've used before.  I found this one and I love it!

Hot, Crusty French Bread

1 c. warm water
1 pkg. yeast
about 3/4 tsp. salt
approximately 2½ c. flour

In a large bowl, combine water with yeast and salt.  Let sit for five minutes.  Stir in flour until the dough is stiff enough to knead.  Knead dough until smooth and elastic.  Place dough in a greased bowl; cover.  Let rise until doubled.  (TIP: heat water in microwave for about 5 minutes while kneading and then place bowl with dough in warm moist microwave.  Will take about 30 minutes to double!!)  Form dough into a French-style loaf and place on greased baking sheet.  (Dust baking sheet with cornmeal if desired).  Place immediately in COLD oven (bread will rise while oven preheats).  Set oven to 375° and timer for 30-40 minutes.  Makes one loaf or 4 small sandwich sized baguettes.

Potato Jalapeno Gratin

Got this recipe from AllRecipes.com and LOVED it!!  Do NOT seed the jalapeno peppers.  It wasn't spicy at all and I left all of the seeds in.  I also would suggest maybe some Cheddar for a different flavor profile.  I also used 1 c. cream and 1 c. half-and-half, as if to lighten the recipe a bit!!

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick 2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese 3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced (wear gloves)

1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste 2 cups heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon paprika

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2.	Spread 1/4 of the sliced potatoes into the bottom of the casserole dish, followed by 1/3 of Gruyere cheese, and about 2 tablespoons of minced jalapeno peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat the layers 2 more times; top casserole with last 1/4 of the sliced potatoes. Pour the cream evenly over the casserole. Sprinkle top with paprika.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven until the casserole has browned and the potatoes are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Hello and a recipe

Hello!  It's been awhile again!!  Sooo much going on, not enough time to tell about it!!  So, let's see, back in January we welcomed Riana into our home for 10 extremely short days!  Almost immediately after she arrived we took off for her requested weekend in Canada.  I took my parents to the airport on Friday morning (they were off to help Justin and his family and we took care of Pixie), and that afternoon we took off for Vancouver, B.C.  EVERY meal up there we made sure we partook of poutine, as seen in this picture.  Ok, so not breakfasts, but the rest!

Sadly, Riana's time here was far too short and we had to say good-bye.  Thankfully, it is only temporary because she and her family are returning this coming winter, and Kent and I may just happen to Australia in summer 2014!!!  Tiana should already be there if her plans go through the way she's hoping they do!  

Other than having Riana with us, life has pretty much been the same as it has been now for the last couple of years.  I do my school stuff, Tiana does her's and Kent's along for the ride.  Speaking of rides, Tiana's learning to drive, so that's Kent's other job -- taking her out for practice time!  I'm trying to find time to do some walking with a few classmates, too, so that has been good.  I'm thinking today may be a bust, though!  Bummer because I need it!  I'll see what learning I get done soon!

So, tonight, although we won't really be eating together, I'm going to make these Sauerbraten Klopse.  They're one of Tiana's favorites, so I'll share them, and she'll know where to find the recipe if she craves them Down Under. I'll be serving these with Spätzle and a salad.

SAUERBRATEN KLOPSE

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. dry bread crumbs

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

2 Tbs. oil

1 c. water

1/2 c. vinegar

3/4 tsp ground ginger

1 bay leaf

4 Tbs. brown sugar

2 tsp. flour

2 Tbs. water

Mix beef, milk, crumbs, cloves, allspice, salt and pepper.  Form into meatballs.  Brown meatballs in hot oil.  Drain off fat.  Add 1 c. water, vinegar, ginger, bay leaf, and brown sugar.  Cover and simmer 1/2 hour.  Skim off fat.  Remove meatballs and keep them warm.  Mix flour and water.  Slowly stir into the pan juices to make gravy.  Pour gravy over meatballs.  Serve with Spätzle.

Have a good day!