Oktoberfest: Beer-Braised Vegetables

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cabbage, carrots, celery, food, foodie, Oktoberfest, onion, potatoes, recipe, side dish, vegetables

I made these veggies to go with the Hänchen Schnitzel last night. The sun sets earlier, so I couldn’t get a very good pic for my daylight was gone! At least Oktoberfest helps ease the transition into longer nights and shorter days.

Oktoberfest: Beer-Braised Vegetables

Beer-Braised Vegetables Ingredients:

4 potatoes, 2 handfuls baby carrots, 4 celery stalks, 1 sweet white onion, 12 oz. to 24 oz. of beer (I use Franziskaner hefeweiss), fresh dill weed, fresh cracked-black pepper, fresh-ground sea salt

Beer-Braised Vegetables Directions:
Heat pan over medium heat. Cube, cut, slice veggies and put into hot pan. Stir constantly, as vegetables brown. Add in beer, dill, salt and pepper and stir. Cover and allow to simmer until vegetable are tender. Remove from heat and serve hot!

Any medley of vegetables could work for this dish, have fun with variations… I sometimes add cabbage and a golden apple.

*Drain juices and reserve to make a hefeweiss pan gravy.

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Potato & Spinach Curry

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curry dish, dinner, food, foodie, lunch, meal, postaday2011, potato, potato curry, potatoes, recipe, side dish, side dishes, spinach, supper, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

There are tons of herbs and spices you can use in any curry. I like to play around with different tastes, so even if the main ingredients are the same, the flavor can be completely different. Hubster loves potatoes, but not spinach; mixed together as a curry though and he loves it. I would eat this dish as a main dish, Hubster prefers it as a side.

Potato & Spinach Curry

Ingredients:
3 large potatoes, 1 bag of fresh baby spinach, olive oil, 3 bay leaves, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, 1/4 tsp. red chili powder, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, 1/8 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1/8 tsp. coriander, 1/8 tsp. ground fennel,  pinch of cardamom, pinch of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Bring water and 2 bay leaves to boil in a medium sauce pan. Peel and cube potatoes, lightly boil in water for about 4 minutes In a frying pan add all herbs and spices (except salt) and dry roast over low heat. Add potato cubes, olive oil and tomato paste and cook until potatoes are Remove from heat and make sure potatoes are well coated. Allow dish rest for a few hours (you can skip this step if you don’t want to wait). Reheat potatoes and toss in spinach leaves until wilted. Serve hot over basmati rice.

What is on your menu tonight?

Hubster’s Beef Stew

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beef, beef stew, carrots, celery, crock pot, dinner, food, hearty meal, lunch, meat & potatoes, meat and potatoes, postaday2011, potatoes, recipe, shallots, slow cooker, supper

Monday… does anyone really love Monday? I don’t and especially after DST Spring ahead… Tonight, I needed to whip Hubster up something hearty, simple and easy. Once again, something I could just prep and forget… This is personally my busiest month at work.

Hubster's Beef Stew

 

Ingredients:
cubed steak, 2 shallots, 2 Tbsp. butter, 4 cubed potatoes, 5 sliced carrots, 1 bunch celery (chopped), 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. celery seed, 1 tsp. mustard seed, 2 c. white wine, water, fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt.

Directions:
Melt butter in stock pot, add shallots and meat and brown. Add wine, bay leaves, celery seed and mustard seed, bring to a boil. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, salt pepper and cover with water. Place lid on pot and simmer for a few hours. Discard bay leaves. Serve hot.

Hubster doesn’t like gravy in his stew, but you can take the broth and thicken it with cornstarch or flour.

Tonight, my meat & potatoes man had his meat & potatoes and ate it too…
Serve over alone, over rice, with biscuits or bread. Hubster had his stew with a big chunk of Irish Soda Bread. I used a semi-sweet whit table wine for this recipe.

What are Mondays like for you?

Chicken Corn Chowder with Rivels

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chicken, chicken and rivel soup, chicken corn chowder, chicken corn soup, chicken soup, chicken soup with dumplings, corn, dinner, dumplings, food, parsley, potatoes, rivels, soup, sweet corn

I’m Back In The Kitchen
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to cook. With a few weeks of late night packing and now unpacking, I haven’t been in the kitchen much. That is mentally draining on me, since I enjoy preparing food so much. Last weekend I finally got the kitchen unpacked, and got a few frozen things to make quickly. It’s just not the same, but it was better than eating out every night. This weekend was the first I’ve been able to actually go grocery shopping and get fresh ingredients. Despite that I’m feeling very sick today, cooking makes me feel more human. Mix in the cold temperatures (it was sleeting yesterday), my choice was obvious. I made something quick and comforting to eat tonight, chicken corn chowder.

I often see chicken corn soup that looks exactly what I expect chicken noodle to look like.  There are similarities, but the differences should be more complex. So I prefer my chicken corn soup graduated to a chowder, and my chowder with rivals.

Chicken Corn Chowder with Rivels

Ingredients:
whole chicken, water to cover, 3 bay leaves, 1 c. chardonnay, 1/2 shallot minced, 1 handful fresh chopped parsley, 4 c. fresh corn kernels, 4 small red potatoes, 1 pint heavy cream, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, double batch of rivels.

Directions:
Place chicken, bay leaves and chardonnay in stock pot and boil until done. Remove from heat and allow chicken to cool. Discard bay leaves, bones, skin, fat and cartilage. Cut potatoes into small cubes and add to stock pot. Turn heat on and bring to a boil. Once potatoes are soft add minced shallots, chopped parsley, corn, salt and pepper, allow to simmer. Turn heat to low and drop in rivels, simmering 5 minutes. Mix in heavy cream and simmer two minutes. Remove from heat, serve hot.

*The corn was picked from my neighbor’s garden this summer, I had a few extra ears to cut down and freeze the kernels. Using fresh corn instead of canned or store frozen make a magnitude of difference.

*Get the recipe and directions for my rivels in this post.

What was for dinner at your house tonight?

St. Patrick’s Day – Boiled Cabbage, Neeps & Tatties

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boiled cabbage, carrots, dinner, ethnic cuisine, Ethnic Food, neeps and tatties, potatoes, recipe, Scottish recipe, stemmed vegetables, supper, tradition, turnips

St. Patrick’s day is the one day when I’m continually asked if I’m Irish; acquaintances, co-workers, even strangers. This must be the one day a year everyone notices my fair skin, freckles, green eyes and the reddish tint in my hair. I smile and inform them my family is Scottish… The most common responses I get? “Same thing,” “Close enough,” or “Oh…” followed by a blank stare. So even though it’s an Irish holiday, I’m making a Scottish dinner. Afterall, same thing? Close enough? Who can tell the difference?

St. Patrick's Day

Tonight’s Dinner:
Boiled cabbage
Stemmed neeps, tatties and carrots
Baked ham (I couldn’t find a turkey ham, so I baked a regular ham for Hubster)

Ingredients:
1 head of cabbage, 6 red potatoes, 3 turnips, 4 carrots, 1 small onion, 2 Tbs. mustard seeds, butter, fresh chopped parsley, water, salt, ham

Directions:
Cut cabbage into 6 wedges, cube potatoes and turnips, slice carrots and mince onion. Bring 1 qt. of water, mustard seeds and onion to a boil. Add cabbage. Place steamer right above cabbage parsnips, potatoes and carrots. Boil and stem veggies until tender. Drain cabbage from the water. Toss neeps, tatties and carrots with a dab of butter and fresh parsley. Serve veggies with a hot baked ham (just kept it simple, rubbed it with salt and baked it).

*Try adding two slices of bacon or a small chuck of the ham to the water while boiling the cabbage. I sometimes will add a strip of turkey bacon, if there are no vegetarians partaking in the feast.

*Vegetarians should add a tsp. smoke flavoring to the water.

What’s your favorite St. Patrick’s Day tradition?

Sweet Potato Chips

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chips, health food, healthy snack, healthy swaps, potato chip, potato recipe, potatoes, recipe, snack, sweet potato, sweet potato chip

One of Hubster’s weaknesses  is potato chips. I decided to make him a slightly healthier snack, by making my own.

Ingredient:
Sweet potatoes, olive oil, fresh ground seas salt

Directions:
Slice sweet potatoes into thin slices (I cut them in half and used my food processor to slice them). Lightly mist slices with olive oil (I used a plastic spray bottle from the dollar store).  Lay slices on a crisper sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with seas salt. Bake at 250°F until crispy, thinner slices take about 45-55 minutes.

Sweet Potato Chips

*Next time I’m planning to toss the chips with chili powder before baking them.

*I would also like to make these using blue russet potatoes, but I just can’t seem to find them in my rural area.

*Use herbs to create any flavor potato chip you like.

What’s your favorite flavor potato chip?