New Years Goal 2015- Something for the mind, body, and soul

We don’t like resolutions.

But we do like to think of goals of how to better ourselves in the next year. Something to strive for, giving a little room for set backs, but with enough motivation behind it to drive us through the year. The old saying “practice makes perfect” is getting a facelift, because no one is perfect. “Practice makes permanent” as our pastor just taught us last Sunday, are words to live by!

This year The Chef and I are slightly continuing our goal from last year, only with more oomph. We are going handmade and homemade, baby! Down to the wire as much as we possibly can. We are going to try to figure out how to make as much of our own food instead of buying processed, packaged foods.

We did pretty good last year, with making our own pizza, ice cream, pasta, mascarpone cheese, and various other things. But the problem was, we didn’t plan properly. We would make things here and there when we had time and thought of a new recipe to blog, and then when it was inconvenient, we would go out and buy the product. What’s that about?

Oh yea. I had no motivation.

This year I want to strive to make (and pre-make) as much of our food as we can. Also, keeping track of our grocery bill each month to see how much we’re actually saving. And on the way I really want to talk and learn more about what preservatives, gmo’s, fillers, and other unnecessary chemicals are being used in store bought items and how they effect our body.

We want to be healthy, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to use sugar, heavy cream, and butter, but we want to be wholesome in how we eat, in monitored portions. Because it’s not always what you eat, but how much. Moderation is key.

Obviously there are going to be things we can’t make, because unless The Chef is hiding the fact that he can crap an egg, I think we’re going to have to go the buying route. Where we are saving money on not buying convenient food, we’ll be putting it into better quality (organic, gmo free) products wherever we can.

There are going to be failures of recipes (oh so many…), and I know I’m going to want to quit. Please stand by us and be patient as we learn.

We are so excited with the changes and goals we are setting. Here we come 2015!

– The Everyday Chef and Wife

Garden Veggie Quiche For Anytime of the Day

When I (The Wife) was growing up my mother made quiches on rotation, but instead of having it in the morning, we had it for dinner. Not until I married The Chef did I realize that quiches are generally served for breakfast/brunch. Blew my mind! But to this day, every time I think of quiche, I think of dinner, even though I will eat quiche for breakfast if that’s what’s served.

Quiche is such a simple yet elegant dish. There are endless possibilities to throw in. As long as you have eggs, pie crust, a bit of cheese (if you so choose), and an imagination, you will more than likely have a fabulous quiche.

I chose to get rid of some of our garden veggies that keep replenishing. I grabbed out our mandolin and shredded half of a yellow squash, a third of a huuuge zucchini, 1 1/2 big heirloom tomatoes, and just a little bit of onion.

Preheat the oven to 350˚.

I made my go-to pie crust and instead of rolling it out, I pressed it in. I have been seeing this method on various food videos and I wanted to try it out to see if it was something worth continuing. End result: it’s less messy on your counter tops, you don’t have to wash the rolling pin, but it was basically the same. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to try it. Rolling or pressing, just get that crust in there! 🙂

I layered it in a flower pattern, changing veggies on every level. It was really quite gorgeous. I continued until the veggies reached about 3/4 of the way up the pie pan.

I took about 5 eggs and about 1/4 cup of milk, a couple cloves of chopped up garlic , 1/4-1/2 tsp salt, a pinch or two of pepper, and a few shakes of dried thyme. Whisk it all together until well combined. Pour into the pie pan over the veggies. It’ll sink down more and get into all the cracks and crevices by itself, so don’t worry about that. Top with a good layer of some good cheddar cheese. Pop in the oven and bake for 40-45 min until the cheese is melted and the middle isn’t wiggly. Pull it out and let it sit for about 10 minutes before dishing up.

I made this for The Chef, and my two friends who came over, and everyone went back for seconds. The pie made like Houdini and disappeared. I’d say that’s a pretty successful healthy dinner. Or brunch if that’s your kind of thing. Another Chef tested, wife approved meal! Or Wife tested, Chef approved… Basically, I made it and he liked it.

Ok poll, who has quiches at breakfast/brunch and who has it for dinner? I’m kind of interested in seeing if I was just raised weird. (Love you ma! I agree with you; quiches at night 😉 )

What is your favorite quiche filling? Any crazy ones?

-The Wife

Quinoa Risotto Taco Salad

I feel like quinoa has shot up over the past few years. Growing up I never heard it muttered, and now everywhere you look quinoa is taking center stage. It’s awesome actually because not only is it yummy to the thousandth degree, but the healthy benefits are crazy good for you. That’s a win-win-win in my book.

The Chef inspired me to not only make quinoa, but to cook it as you would a risotto. I for one have never made risotto, but I’ve seen him make it multiple times. I was inspired! I grabbed my economy sized bag of quinoa and ran! If this was going to taste anything like ground beef, I was for it. Any excuse I have to use a ground beef substitute, I’m for it. I have not taken the role of a vegetarian, but meat is definitely not my favorite food. (Except burgers…. I looove me some burgers!!)

Dice a medium sized onion and place it in a large skillet drizzled slightly with oil. Cook over medium high heat until onion start to caramelize. Add in 1 cup of uncooked quinoa. Toast slightly. This creates another flavor profile, ever so slightly to the quinoa.

Add in a cup or two of vegetable stock. (You can use any stock you prefer, but if you’re doing quinoa, you might as well keep it legit vegetarian right?) The stock is going to cook into the quinoa, as well as evaporate out, so we will be using about 6-7 cups of stock. (As a cheat, you can use a couple cups of water if need be. But you should use mostly stock. We threw in some plain ‘ol water and it didn’t diminish the flavor.) Once the quinoa soaks up the majority of the stock, add in more until fully cooked. To test, get a spoon a try it out. It should be al dente. Not too crunchy, but still a touch of firmness. This will take close to 35 minutes or longer.

Once the quinoa if cooked, add in your spices. For taco seasoning use:

2 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
A couple shakes of paprika
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

* This is all to taste. You can add more or less if you’d like to fit your taste buds.

The hard part is over! You have quinoa risotto taco “meat”. Sprinkle on some drained and rinsed black beans, avocado, tomatoes, cheese (if you prefer or you can go vegan and omit it completely), and whatever other taco toppings you like! It’s that easy folks.

Next we are going to try this in some tortilla shells! I. Can’t. Wait.

Sounds like something you’d try? Test it out and let us know what you think!

-The Wife-

 

Baked “Smashed” Potato & Grilled Avocado with Mustard Cream Sauce

Want an easy lunch or perfect side to any dinner? For only $9.99 + shipping and handling, this amazing product will be yours. But wait! If you call within the next ten minutes….

Ok sorry, I didn’t know how else to start out this blog post… And seriously $9.99? Try  more like $.99…

First step: Turn your oven on to 350˚.

Pop in your favorite kind of potato (we used red skins). Poke it a couple times with a fork so it lets out the steam. Let it cook till a fork easily slides through (35-40 min).

While it’s cooking heat a grill pan on med-high heat with the ridges rubbed down with oil. Once it’s sizzling, place the cut and seeded avocado onto the pan. Let it grill for about 3-5 min. For perfect sear marks, DON’T lift up to check the bottom. Just go with your gut. If you must, do it carefully.

The gorgeousness of a grilled avocado is how it obtains another level of creaminess. Holy crow it’s just delicious. It makes it look like it just came out of a restaurant menu, and who wouldn’t want that?

When potato is fully cooked, use the back of a cool pan, potato smasher, or if you’re the hulk, your face. Press down until the sides explodes and it’s flat on top. Place avocado on top of potato and drizzle with mustard cream sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

We have had requests to hav ultra healthy recipes, so if you would like to have a healthier variety, instead of mustard cream, try pesto, EVOO and garlic salt, dijon mustard and oil, or any light in fat toppings you prefer.

:Recipe for the Mustard Cream sauce if you do want to try it (and I think you should…):

1/2 C. cream (this makes quite a bit, so don’t think you’re about to put 1/2 C. of cream on your healthy potato..)

1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

3 drops of Frank’s Hot Sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until you get a slightly thicker texture. (A quick spin in a blender/food processor will work too.)

You can determine how ever much to put on your dish. If you feel like it needs a little bit more “moisture” put some EVOO (instead of butter)  on the potato. The avocado does add quite a bit to the creaminess factor, but everyone has their own preference. Make it as healthy or unhealthy as you want! YOLO! …Oh lord…

Let us know what toppings you decided on! Did you mix any of the ideas? Get creative!! But let us know so it can inspire others too!!

Happy tummies everyone!

The Everyday Wife…. Ha…

Artisan Bread – Because Everyone Wants to Impress Without the Mess

All my life, I have loved bread. I could literally survive off of bread, and bread alone. (And pasta… Let’s not forget heavenly pasta.) I remember some of the best bread I had was my grandfathers homemade “whatever” bread. He basically got out the bread machine, put in ingredients until it looked right and hit start. (Normally I don’t promote this with baking, since baking is so particular with measurements, but in this case it worked.) Whatever he did, it worked. My sister and I would devour that bread before it could properly cool. One of my favorite sights is a bakery with fresh artisan bread so perfectly thrown in a basket. Their “devil-may-care” order makes it look so delicious. I want to take a whole loaf and with my bare hands rip it apart, hearing the mouth-watering crackle of the flawlessly browned crust. Um, ok. Moving on before this gets out of hand…

Even with all my pleading, I know my bank statement would be yelling at me if I gave into every whim to buying every perfect loaf of bread. I knew I needed to find an alternative. I’ve used a bread machine for probably half my life, and don’t get me wrong, I love it. But it’s not as satisfying as the hard, chewy crust that the artisan breads express. I did some research and found that the solution is in most of our cupboards. A dutch oven!

Cast iron is one of the best tools for baking breads, pizza doughs etc. They retain heat so well that it’s a perfect tool to get a crispy outside with a soft center. Having a lidded dutch oven, basically turns your oven into a mini brick stove. (Any thick lidded casserole dish will work, but I feel cast iron is one of the best-Le Creuset or something similar, Lodge, etc.)

So you are dying to know how to create this beautiful beast right? Hold on to your hats folks. Because it’s so simple… This recipe was taken from, and slightly modified from the blog, Frugallivingnw.com (Link here). I believe they got the recipe from My Bread by Jim Lahey. It’s seriously a keeper.

~Artisan Bread Ingredients~

6 C. Bread Flour (you can use a.p flour but you will not have the same results. Bread flour gives your bread more structure and stability. It’s not a doughy like regular a.p flour. That being said, I prefer bread flour but don’t feel the absolute need to run out and buy some…), plus more for covering space to work with dough.

1/2 tsp active dry yeast (this seems like a small amount but you are letting it rise for much longer than usual)

1 Tbsp salt (I modified this from the original recipe. I wanted a tad more flavor and I figured it was only 1/2 tsp more to make it one easy measurement)

2 2/3 C warm water (the original recipe calls for cold water but I activate my yeast in the warm water)

In a large glass bowl, combine warm water and yeast. Allow yeast to activate (a good couple minutes and a few stirs- it’ll look like cloudy water).

Put flour on top of water, once it’s ready. Put salt on top of the flour. *Side note: It’s important to allow the yeast to activate with the water before allowing the salt to touch it. Salt can actually kill the yeast, which won’t let the dough rise properly, if at all.*

Mix together until a sticky ball forms. (Not wet, but well incorporated.) Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 12- 18 hours. It’ll be pushing at the top of the wrap, bubbly and slightly darkened in color.

Once risen, lay out parchment paper (or a big cutting board like we did in the pictures) and cover heavily with flour. Remove the plastic wrap and with a bowl scrapper, spatula, or floured hands scrap out the dough from the bowl onto the parchment paper. Taking the edge of the dough, fold it on top of itself and knead it towards the center. Quarter turn and repeat.

Once it’s a tighter ball, pick up the dough and grab the top part (where you were just folding into) twisting together, pulling the dough even tighter. Carefully turn the dough over and onto the parchment paper once again,making sure there’s enough flour down so it doesn’t stick- seam side down. Cover with a non-terry cloth towel. Let rest/rise for another 1 1/2- 2 hours. (This depends on how warm your kitchen is. If it’s cooler, place the dough on top of your oven when you turn it on to preheat. This should give it a good spring up.)

During the last half hour of second rising, turn the oven on to 425˚F. Put in the dutch oven–lid as well. When the oven and dutch oven are pre-heated/dough has risen, take out the dutch oven, and remove the lid. Put your hand fully underneath the parchment paper (with the dough in the center), and carefully flip dough into the dutch oven–seam side up (this gives it a gorgeous natural design). Before attempting this, know that flour will be thrown about, so get off as much excess flour from the paper as you can. 

Cover with the lid and pop it in the oven for 35-40 min. Remove lid and bake for another 5-10 min. Pull the dutch oven out of the oven and lift the dough (with oven mitts because it’s HOT!) onto a cooling rack.

Be amazed.

Listen to the crackle.

Let it cool.

Eat and enjoy.

You seriously can’t beat that.

*Side note: Even though warm bread from the oven is positively delicious, cutting into it too soon will give it a gummy texture. So use a little will-power and hold out until it’s almost completely cooled*

And I have to put it in here because I love how frugallivingnw.com added up the cost of making this (including energy/gas) and it totals to about $.70. SERIOUSLY? $.70?!? Come’on…

You’re welcome.

The Wife

Vegan and Gluten Free Crispy Brussels Sprout Chips

You probably thought about skipping this blog because you’re thinking “Um, who would eat those? They taste weird, they’re dry/soggy, they are used as punishment at dinner time when you’ve been a less than perfect child.”  Brace yourself to throw every stereotypical tid-bit that you’ve ever heard about brussels sprouts away. Far far away.

When prepared correctly they are earth-shattering. You will wish that Lay’s sold them by the Costco sized bagfuls. They make you discover that your hands are better used as shovels to transport food to your mouth. All without making you feel guilty afterward… Maybe a little shameful that someone just witness something so lacking of couth. Wait until they taste it for themselves.

I’m not a potato chip kind of girl, (mostly because I know once I start, I won’t stop till I’m the size of the blueberry girl in Willy Wonka) but with these scrumptious little crisps, I would eat these on a daily basis. Maybe hourly basis. The ONLY negative thing about them, is they take a little to prepare. You have to take the leaves off the base of the sprout. And when you want ALOT (because you will), it takes quite a few brussels sprouts.

• I would say you shouldn’t go less than 2 lbs of brussels sprouts. They tend to shrink when they roast.
• Preheat your oven at 375˚
• Shed the leaves off the body of the sprouts. To start them off, cut the bottom of the sprout off. This will loosen a few layers. Keep cutting off the bottom to peel off more leaves. When it gets to be a tiny ball and the leaves no longer come off, cut in half.
• Having the leaves either in a bowl or zip-lock (gotta loves those baggies), toss in olive oil until they are lightly and evenly coated.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Bake for 12 min on the first side, then flip over chips with heat safe spatula. Cook for another 12 min. This side sometimes get done sooner than the other side. To be safe, I would check at 10 min. We want them a nice medium brown.

Put in bowl and devour! These are still good room temperature too. Don’t put any leftovers in the fridge. They will no longer be crispy. I’d be surprised if you have leftovers though… Good for you if you have that much will power.

This is a great, healthy alternative to popcorn, chips or other fried fattening snacks. They take care of any salty cravings you might have without expanding your waist line. Try them as toppings on different dishes (mac and cheese, baked potato, salads, etc.).

Try them out on someone who turns their nose up when they hear the word “brussels sprouts” and see if you can break the horrible reputation these little beauties have regrettably gained. I won over my mother, who never speaks a bad name about a vegetable but hated brussels with a burning passion. Thank goodness for food pioneers or we’d still be eating steak and potatoes every night. Or T.V dinners. That’s another rant for another day.

Enjoy to your hearts content!

The Everyday Chef and Wife

Grilled Corn and Heirloom Tomato Soup

We are starting off on the ground running! A little over a month ago, my husband decided to follow his lifelong passion of running his own business of being a personal chef/caterer. It has been quite the looooong process, filled with multiple phone calls to the various branches of government, licensed kitchens, and health inspectors, trying to get all of our ducks in a row.

After a full two months, all of our ducks are quacking and waddling behind us. Lets hope they stay there…

Now, our days are full of recipe hunting, marketing tactics, self-promoting, finding presentation platters and bowls, cooking, and photographing. On one hand, it’s some of the hardest work I’ve ever done. On the other, it’s so much fun that it sometimes doesn’t even feel like work.

For our first recipe post, Jason came up with this SCRUMPTIOUS soup recipe. When I tasted it, my taste buds exploded! There were so many levels of different flavors that just molded together perfectly. It was a warm soup. And yes, warm as in temperature, but more so in the emotional sense of warmth. Like, cuddling up in a blanket-in a darkened room-with fireplace glowing with hot flames, warmth. It was thick, but it didn’t leave you feeling heavy afterwards. All at the same time, tasting like the last hints of summer. The coolness of the cream basil made the soup creamy and smooth, giving it a nice finishing touch. The crispness of the fried green tomato added texture, while evoking the tomato profile imbedded in the soup.

Seriously, an amazing soup.

Oh and it’s good for me? Perfection.

So, you want to know how to do it right?