Today's Special: Turkey Recipes

With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, I'm sure you're all getting your brains and bellies ready for some turkey. Whether you'll be cooking a turkey or just eating it, here are some recipes I've tried out that are definitely worth your time.

Good Eats Roasted Turkey

This was my first real turkey and I have to say it turned out really well! I think the brining made a huge difference in how moist the meat turned out, so don't skip that part! There are a couple changes I think would make this recipe even better. I don't know that I'd spend the money on the candied ginger the brining calls for as I don't think it really affected the flavor. Also, the recipe has you start at 500°F then you cover the whole turkey with tin foil and finish it at 350°F. The only problem with finishing it out this way is the tin foil basically steamed the skin so it wasn't crispy anymore. Next time I would remove the foil maybe 15-20 minutes at the end of cooking and bump the temp back up to 500 deg. to crisp up the skin and give it just a bit more color.

Turkey Stock

This was also the first time I've ever made my own stock. To do this, I picked the turkey carcass clean and saved it in the fridge until the next day when I could make this. I also saved the raw turkey neck from the turkey cavity. This was very simple to do and although it took a while to cook, it was something I didn't have to sit there and watch. For those of you who have never made stock before, it will solidify (unlike the store-bought stuff), so don't be all freaked out thinking you did it wrong. It'll turn back into a liquid as soon as you heat it up again. This made approximately 6 cups, so not a ton, but definitely a great thing to have on hand!

Turkey Soup

I made this soup once before with Seth's wild turkey. It was just as good this time around and maybe even better having used the fresh turkey stock I'd just made. The recipe says to add salt to taste... I added at least 2 tsp. This is one of my favorite soup recipes.

Turkey, Brie, and Apple Grilled Sandwich

Ok I know I probably don't need to say anything about this sandwich given the name of it (and hello, look at the picture.... Mmm) but this was so good! The recipe says to use apricot jam (or a couple other types), and I tried it that way. It was good with the apricot jam, but I thought it was even better using Dijon mustard. And don't be stingy with the apple... cut nice thick slices or you won't be able to taste it.

If you have any turkey left at this point I would be very surprised. If so, lucky you! You can eat more of this stuff! Now some of you are probably like, "Yeah this is great and all, but I don't have to cook a dang turkey. I'm on pie duty." What's that you say? PIES? Pies just happen to be my specialty. Don't believe me? Check these babies out.

Today's Special: Butternut Squash Apple Soup, Garlic Soup, Beef with Snow Peas, Sausage, Mushroom, & Spinach Lasagna, and Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese

Butternut Squash Apple Soup

New Recipe. A couple weeks ago I made some butternut squash gnocchi and had a ton of squash left over. So, I froze it. And used it for this recipe! I honestly just made this to use up the extra squash and didn't have super high hopes for it. BUT, I really liked this a lot! The recipe says to use salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg to "season to taste." I HATE IT when recipes say that without giving you a starting point as to recommended amounts. But, I delved in and seasoned and tasted away and the final product was just what I was hoping for... a nicely seasoned soup that didn't taste sweet. I think it's hard to use cinnamon and nutmeg as a savory ingredient... usually they give more of a dessert quality to a dish. So, in order to help you make this, I will give you the amounts I used for the seasonings: 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 2 1/2 tsp. salt. You may want to start with 2 tsp. salt, just to be safe. So anyway, this recipe was definitely a winner and it's ORANGE! Perfect for Halloween dinner! (I totally didn't plan that.)

Garlic Soup

New Recipe. I didn't realize how much time this was going to take to make... at least an hour I think. But, the end product was really good. I think I like this more than the garlic soup I've made in the past... more flavor and a thicker consistency. I used half and half instead of the heavy cream and it was still really delicious. This was good as a light dinner with salad and french bread. It didn't make a whole lot... maybe enough for 4 people... maybe. This would also be good in place of a dinner salad... if you are one of those ambitious people who have several courses to a meal (I'm not). Oh, I also used Jarlsberg cheese instead of Gruyere because I couldn't find any of that.

Beef with Snow Peas

New Recipe. If you're looking for a fast recipe this week, this is your winner! It took me maybe a half hour and that included all the prep work and cooking the brown rice (pressure cookers are awesome!). The sauce was perfect and the beef and snow peas were so delicious! The extra addition of crushed red pepper made it that much better. This is the first Asian-y beef  recipe I've made that has turned out to my liking. I really haven't had much success with this category of food... it's very rare for me to make something and actually like it as much as the stuff I get at restaurants. It's nice to have found another winner!

Sausage, Mushroom, and Spinach Lasagna

New Recipe. Now, I am really picky with my lasagna. Usually I only like the kind I make with my sauce recipe and my mom's lasagna recipe from when I was a kid. But I thought I'd try this one out because #1 It looked a lot healthier and #2 Who doesn't love sausage, mushrooms, and spinach? I made this exactly as written using the Italian flavored ground turkey, but I also used an oven-ready pasta. I was a little worried about the pasta not getting cooked through and/or the lasagna being too dry. Oh, I also added 2 cloves of garlic to the turkey mixture. So, this actually turned out really good. I didn't think it tasted healthy at all and the oven-ready pasta worked just fine. It wasn't the fastest meal ever because of the hour long bake time, but it was well worth the effort.

Homestyle Macaroni and Cheese

Old Favorite. Have I said how much I love this stuff? Seriously the best homemade mac and cheese I've had by far. Ok wait, I lied. Rachel made some for us once and it rocked too. But other than that... every other homemade mac and cheese I've made or eaten pretty much sucks. The Dijon mustard in this is what gives it an extra punch of flavor. It only calls for 1 tbsp., but I usually double that because I love it so much.

Today's Special: Pot Stickers w/ Soy Dipping Sauce, Chicken Wellington, Kelly's Chili, and Deep-Dish Apple Pie

I resisted the urge to raid my "new recipe" feeds on Google this week and dug out the old-fashioned cookbook. These are definitely some of my favorite recipes!

Pot Stickers with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce- These pot stickers rock my world. It's a little time consuming to make all the individual folded pouches, but so worth it. Also, do not skip the dipping sauce, it'll take you five minutes to make it and it's amazing! I usually make double batches of these because it's more common to find 48 packs of the won ton wrappers (usually in the produce section) and a full pound of ground pork.

Chicken Wellington with Creamy Mushroom Sauce - So remember a couple weeks ago when I made Crap in Rolls? Well think of this as its more sophisticated, incredibly delicious older sister. The recipe calls for 8 small chicken breasts, but I used 4 large ones and cut them in half. I also pounded out the chicken to a uniform thickness to make sure they cooked evenly (I don't have a mallet... just used the side of a can of beans!). Also... I have a confession to make... I completely forgot about the corresponding Mushroom Sauce this time around. Which was fine... they are totally awesome on their own. HOWEVER. I have made the Mushroom Sauce before and it is awesome. And I would have made it this time had it not completely slipped my mind. Oh, and the recipe says to take the puff pastry out of the freezer 10 minutes before you use it. I'd say make it more like 20-30 minutes. But seriously... this looks really fancy but it's not hard at all to make!

Kelly's Chili- I'm not usually big on chili. In fact it's typically one of my least favorite "soups." But this chili is so good! It always turns out with the perfect amount of heat and it doesn't have a lot of beans in it. In fact I add an extra can of beans to make the meat/bean ratio a little better. I made this for a work party once and everybody loved it. And Seth and I were able to make it through an entire crockpot full of this stuff before it went bad, so that's saying something!

Deep-Dish Apple Pie- This week a friend of mine at work gave me a bag of homegrown apples so of course I had to make a pie! I love making this pie because it always turns out delicious. And look how beautiful! This isn't exactly a fast recipe to make (what apple pie is?) but it's well worth the effort. I use an apple peeler thingy which helps cut down the prep time a lot. A food processor is also a very useful tool with this one.

Today's Special: Beef Bourguignon, Autumn Chicken Stew, Fish Sticks, Squash Gnocchi, Cheesy Chicken & Rice, and Cinnamon Bread

Beef Bourguignon- New Recipe. After making this recipe I can now claim I've flambéed something. Check that off my list of things to do before I die! I have to admit it was a little scary, but all turned out well and I didn't burn any of my hair off. This tasted like a fancy beef stew. Actually Seth and I called this "Alcoholic Beef Stew" because of all the liquor involved... a full bottle of wine and 1/2 c. cognac. Wow. I think next time I'll try making Julia Child's recipe so I can compare. Anyway, two thumbs way up for this one.

Autumn Chicken Stew- New Recipe. I love making seasonal recipes for obvious reasons.... ingredients that are not only cheaper than usual, but tastier as well. It's a win-win situation. The only reason I was skeptical of this recipe was the addition of not one, but two granny smith apples. I thought the resulting flavor would be too sweet for a "stew." Nay nay. This was some good eatin'. Seth thought the apples were potatoes. And he  raved about how much he loved the parsnips (a close cousin to the carrot) and I agreed. Why are parsnips not a common cooking component? Ok ok I know I'm getting carried away with the alliterations. Let's just cut to the chase. This was awesome. You should make it.

EatingWell Fish Sticks- New Recipe. Ok I could not make fish sticks without referencing this episode of South Park. With that out of the way, these were incredibly easy to make and tasted really good. Seth especially really liked these. This was also my first time using Panko bread crumbs which are supposed to be crunchier than regular bread crumbs. I think it worked! I couldn't find the whole wheat Panko bread crumbs, so I just used 1 cup of the regular ones. Oh and don't forget the tartar sauce!

Chickpea, Spinach, & Squash Gnocchi- New Recipe. Doesn't this look so beautiful with all those fun colors? Sadly, the beauty of this dish was only skin deep. It was heart breakingly bland and there wasn't much depth to it. Oh well, guess I don't have to chop up all that squash again.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice- Repeat. This isn't a gourmet meal by any means, but it requires very little prep and it tastes pretty good! Spend five minutes putting it all into a pan, throw it in the oven and do something else for an hour while you wait for it to cook. Oh, and don't forget to cover this with tin foil, otherwise your rice will be crunchy. (Yes I've made that mistake before...)

 

Bonus: Cinnamon Bread

I'll admit I'm a rookie when it comes to making bread. I honestly just guess my way through it. But I love homemade bread. I'm usually just too damn lazy to make it because let's be honest... it's very time consuming. I decided to try this recipe because it looked awesome and because there were step by step instructions on the Pioneer Woman's blog complete with pictures. How could I screw it up if there were pictures? I couldn't!

So I made this bread one Saturday morning when I woke up at the butt crack of dawn because my body is now used to my early to bed early to rise dork schedule and I can't sleep in past 7am even if I want to. The one thing I really hate about bread recipes is I always have to add a ton more flour than it says to get the right texture and it sort of freaks me out. This recipe said to add 1/4 c. extra flour after kneading for a few minutes if it was too sticky. I ended up adding probably a cup or more.

So I finally got the bread all made and it turned out ok. However, I don't think I rolled it tight enough so it was kind of floppy after slicing. Also, I overcooked it a tad, so after it cooled it was dry. I was a little disappointed. BUT... I sliced it all up and froze it and I plant to unthaw it this weekend and make it into cinnamon french toast! That should save it! At any rate, it looks beautiful. Kinda makes me want to bake bread more often.

Today's Special: Ranch-Parmesan Chicken, Korean Chicken & Peanut Noodles, Crap in Rolls, Beef Stroganoff, and BLTs

Ranch-Parmesan Chicken- New Recipe. I made this on the spur of the moment because I hadn't gone to the grocery store yet. It turned out surprisingly good. Not healthy in the slightest, but good!

Korean Roast Chicken (new recipe) with Peanut-Ginger Noodles (repeat)- The Korean chicken turned out surprisingly well. I actually used boneless skinless thighs and it worked just fine. It did reduce the cooking time to 45 minutes. I'd probably let these marinate longer if I were to make them again. And the noodles? What can I say? This is my favorite peanut sauce/noodle recipe I've tried. And it's super easy.

Crap in Rolls- Old family favorite. OK so there's a story to this one. These things are actually called "Chicken Rolls." We pronounce it more like "crap'n-rolls." My now brother-in-law JR was coming over for his first Sunday dinner at the Holley home. When asked what we were having, Corinne said something like, "I don't know... crap in rolls or something." And he still came over. Bachelors sure are desperate for a home cooked meal. Don't worry, they're better than they sound. And my mom still gets pissed off when we called them Crap in Rolls.

Crap in Rolls

Rolls
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 can mushrooms
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 cans Refrigerated Crescent Roll dough (16 rolls)

Sauce
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
Milk

Combine chicken, lemon pepper, cream cheese, mushrooms, and celery. Roll out dough. Spoon mixture onto dough (about 1 rounded tablespoon each), roll up, and seal. Dip in melted butter and then into bread crumbs. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To make sauce combine cream of chicken soup with enough milk to thin to desired consistency and heat. Spoon over hot rolls.

Makes 16 rolls.

Beef Stroganoff- Repeat. Comfort food at its best. I always add mushrooms to the meat/onions when they're sauteing.

BLTs- Repeat. So I'm pretty sure the name is self-explanatory of the recipe for this one. Unless you want to get all technical and say it doesn't include the mayo or bread. But come on. If you don't know how to make a BLT, there's no help for you. Quit now.



Today's Special: Pressure Cooker Meals

So about a week before my birthday my mom called me to chat. Sometime during the conversation she asked me what I wanted for my birthday present:

Me: Um.... hmmm.... I know I want lots of stuff... let me think for a second.

Mom: Corinne got a really cool 3-in-1 steamer/pressure cooker/slow cooker. She really likes it.

Me: I know there's something I wanted I just need to think for a second.

Mom: Has she told you about it? It's really amazing.

Me: Wasn't there some sort of fishing thing I needed?

Mom: So I have one of these 3 in 1 pressure cookers too. It's really amazing. It's ELECTRIC.

Me: Wait, what?

Mom: Yeah it's an electric pressure cooker.

Me: Really? Does it work good?

Mom: Oh yeah. You can just type in the amount of time you want it to go for and after it's done it shuts down to a "warming" mode. It's a steamer too. You can cook rice in it and use it as a slow cooker. And it has a delay cooking option.

Me: I've never even heard of such a thing! I need one!

Mom: You can think about it if you want and let me know.

Me: Nope I've made up my mind. I need a 3 in 1 electric pressure cooker for my birthday.

Mom: Ok, if that's what you really want.

Isn't my mom so geniusly talented at getting me to want stuff? It was like some sort of Green Beret tactic of making me ask for the thing she already had in mind. Those are some serious skills.

So I use my pressure cooker on a regular basis, but usually just to cook potatoes or frozen chicken breasts. But now that I had this new fancy contraption, I had to expand my mind and use it as intended... a quick one dish delicious meal producer.

I scoured the Internets and found a handful of recipes that sounded enticing and thought I would share them with you in this week's theme: Pressure Cooker Meals. Enjoy.

Corned Beef & Cabbage: This was by far my favorite meal of the week. It wasn't exactly fast at about 90 minutes, but much faster than a regular corned beef meal and definitely tasty. Plus since I didn't have to watch the pressure cooker at all, I was able to fit in a pre-dinner run . I don't know if the recipe producer had a giant sized pressure cooker or what, but I wasn't able to fit all my veggies in the pot. I will definitely be making this again.

Navy Bean Soup- This one took a little preparation to soak the beans overnight, but it was hardly time consuming or difficult. I couldn't find a 3 lb. ham shank... only a bunch around 10 pounds, so I thought maybe it was supposed to use ham hocks instead. So that's what I used. They look really disgusting but the soup turned out great. I cooked mine a little bit longer as I noticed the recipe says to cook it at 15 psi and the high setting on my pressure cooker is 9 psi. Oh, I also ended up using both my regular pressure cooker and the electric one because this made a ton of soup. If you only have one regular sized cooker, I suggest cutting the recipe in half. This was a very good soup and one I would make again. If you've never tried Navy Beans (aka White Beans) you're missing out. They are very buttery and delicious!

Ham with Vegetables- While this wasn't a gourmet meal by any means, it was a good solid meat and potatoes type meal and it was fast! If you like ham and vegetables, this would be a nice addition to your weekly menu.

BBQ Ribs- I picked up some pork baby back ribs on impulse when I saw they were on sale. Turns out you can cook them in the pressure cooker too! I think they could have used a few extra minutes in the cooker as the meat wasn't quite as tender next to the bone as I would have liked, but the sauce was great! I cut back on the sugar by 1 full cup as suggested by other reviewers and doubled the cayenne pepper (they were not spicy in the slightest). I may like this recipe even more than my regular standby. Awesome!

Today's Special: Smoked Salmon Burgers, Cobb Salad Pizza, Spaghetti w/ Clams & Corn, Grilled Pork Loin, & Red Velvet Cupcakes

Smoked Salmon Burgers- New Recipe. These turned out really good. The avocado mayo mixture was tangy and went well with the salmon. If you don't like fishy stuff, smoked salmon is not for you. I think regular grilled salmon would work well as a less-fishy substitute.

Cobb Salad Pizza- New Recipe. This was my first time using one of the refrigerated pizza doughs. I thought it was pretty good and would use it again. The pizza was good but the lack of sauce made it so the toppings fell off really easily. I'm not sure what I'd do to remedy that as regular pizza sauce wouldn't taste that good. I know it's not exactly healthy, but maybe ranch dressing or something like that would work. It may also work a little better to shred the chicken instead of cutting it into cubes because then the chicken's center of gravity would be lower and it wouldn't topple over the side of the pizza slice so easily. There are a lot of physics involved in cooking.

Spaghetti with Clams and Corn- New Recipe. I should've listen to the reviews on this one. There were only a couple reviews, but they all said this was too bland. I thought, " How could it be bland with all those onions and fresh herbs?" Somehow it was. It wasn't bad by any means, just not that great either. Too bad.

Grilled Pork Loin- No recipe. So I just bought a pre-marinated pork loin at the grocery store and threw it on the grill. Made some Rice-a-Roni and there's dinner!

Red Velvet Cupcakes- New Recipe. I made these and brought them to work for a birthday treat and all those guys raved all day long about how they were the best cupcakes they'd ever had in their entire lives and what did I do to them to make them so delicious and what's in the frosting and on and on and on. So they were good. Even though I don't like Bobby Flay and think he's a douche.

Today's Special: Steak & Potato Kebabs, Grilled Portobello Sandwiches, Salmon Panzanella, & Curried Chicken w/ Mango Salsa

Steak & Potato Kebabs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce- New Recipe. These turned out really good. The meat was cooked perfectly and wasn't chewy. The potatoes were cooked through and the poblano peppers had a much better flavor than regular green bell peppers. I also really liked the cilantro sauce. It had a very fresh flavor and complimented the meat and veggies really well. Plus kebabs always look so pretty! I would definitely recommend this one.

Curried Chicken with Mango Salad- New Recipe. I thought this turned out pretty good. It was a very light, summery meal. I think I liked the mango salad more than Seth did. The chicken was probably the best part. The outside was nice and crunchy and had a good flavor. I was surprised the yogurt based sauce held up so well. I thought it would burn under the broiler. This was probably the least favorite meal of the week, but by no means bad.

Salmon Panzanella- New Recipe. I actually have no idea why I made this recipe. When I looked at it and saw the salad with bread chunks, cucumber and such, I didn't think it looked all that great. But somehow I made it anyway and I'm telling you, this was fantastic! It really blew me away how good it was! It was extremely easy to make and somehow the flavors all blended together really nicely and it just worked! Seth kept digging into the salad with the giant serving spoon and eating it while the salmon was cooking. Another bonus was that it used up some of the whole wheat rolls I'd bought for the portobello sandwiches earlier in the week. This one is definitely a keeper!

Balsamic Grilled Portobello Sandwiches with Goat Cheese and Roasted Peppers- Repeat. Wow wow wow. Even better than I remember. These may even knock out the Vegetarian Reubens with Russian Dressing as my favorite meat-free meal. So easy and so much flavor! The recipe says to let the mushrooms marinate for 1 hour, but both times I've done 30 minutes and they still turn out great. This is possibly my most favorite sandwich ever.

Today's Special: Fish Tacos, Beer Can Chicken, Tijuana Tortas, Dry-Aged Steaks, & Banana Pudding

Fish Tacos- New Recipe. I saw Alton Brown make these on Good Eats the other day and thought they looked really good. I made kind of a cheater version though. I didn't make my own tortillas and I didn't make my own sauce. I did however make the fish/marinade like he did. For my cheater version I used soft flour tortillas and some store bought spicy ranch dressing for the sauce. My ranch dressing wasn't that spicy though so I added a couple chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (I had some leftover in the fridge... doesn't everybody?) and blended it up, which he does in the recipe. It takes 24 hours to make the sauce his way and I just don't plan ahead that much. Anyway, I really liked these and thought they turned out really good. I'll have to try making that sauce one of these days to see if it's worth it.

Beer Can Chicken- New Recipe. I love making whole chickens. Mainly because I think they look funny when I'm prepping them for cooking. I feel like I'm giving a little chicken child a bath and a rubdown! HA! I also like to make whole chickens because they are just so darn cheap. I got a 4 lb. chicken for $2.38. Awesome huh? Anyway, as far as this recipe goes, I really liked the flavors (have I mentioned how much I love fresh thyme?) and it was very simple to prepare. The chicken turned out incredibly moist. The skin wasn't quite as browned as I would have liked so in the future I'd start it out at a higher temp to brown it and then back it down to keep the meat moist. This was a great basic recipe that has potential for a lot of tweaking/customizing. Also, the recipe says you can use a small mason jar filled with chicken stock instead of the beer.

Tijuana Tortas- New Recipe. Good not great. Probably won't make them again, but not bad for a vegetarian meal. (I have never actually had a regular torta so I have no idea how these compare, sorry Rachel.)

Dry-Aged Ribeye Steaks- New Recipe. Another Alton Brown recipe (he used Porterhouse steaks though). Although I thought these turned out well, I don't know that it was good enough to warrant days worth of prepping. It was fun to try but I doubt I'll do it again.

Southern Banana Pudding- New Recipe. This tasted a lot like banana cream pie but without the extra step of making a crust. If you make this, don't get impatient like I did and eat it an hour after you make it. It uses layers of Nilla Wafers which need time to soften in the pudding. I didn't want to wait to try it out and the cookies were really dry. This was much better the next day, so make sure you plan ahead. It won't be worth it otherwise. Also, I used an 8x8" (2 quart) pan and only had enough pudding and such for 2 layers, not 3 as it states in the recipe. The recipe says to use a 1.5 quart pan so maybe I would have had enough for 3 if my pan had been a bit smaller. Not that it really matters as far as taste is concerned. Anyway, I thought this was a good, easy dessert.

Today's Special: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Balsamic Grilled Portobello Sandwiches with Goat Cheese and Roasted Peppers- New Recipe. Wow these turned out so good! Seth mentioned at least 3 times during the meal how awesome they were. Very easy to make and healthy to boot! This is definitely a keeper.

Penne with Mushroom Sauce- New Recipe. This was a bit disappointing. I didn't think the brown sauce looked very appetizing on the pasta and it was surprisingly bland.

Sauerkraut Chowder- Repeat. Man I love this stuff. Have I mentioned that before?

Today's Special: It's All Good

Balsamic Grilled Portobello Sandwiches with Goat Cheese and Roasted Peppers- New Recipe. Wow these turned out so good! Seth mentioned at least 3 times during the meal how awesome they were. Very easy to make and healthy to boot! This is definitely a keeper.

Shaker-Style Smoked Chicken Thighs and Grilled Corn-on-the-Cob- New Recipe. This turned out really good despite the fact that I didn't actually do any of the smoking as stated in the recipe (too lazy, too hungry, and no wood chips). Also, just as a tip for all you chicken barbequers out there: use chicken thighs! Chicken breasts have to be cooked "just-so" on the grill in order for them to not turn out dry. Chicken thighs keep their delicious texture and are more forgiving if you overcook them a little. Plus, thighs are much cheaper and quite frankly I think they taste better too. I was able to pick up 2 pounds of chicken thighs for only $2.50 and easily removed the skin myself (you can buy them boneless and skinless).

If you've never grilled corn on the cob, it's time you had. You can get fancy with putting butter and such inside the husks beforehand, but I always just throw the corn on the grill (husks still on!) and rotate them every 5 minutes or so. They're done when all sides start to blacken a little. Mine were done at the same time as the Shaker chicken this time around. Oh and if you don't want to burn your flesh off but still want hot corn to eat, shuck the ears while wearing oven mitts, works pretty good!

Cassoulet-Style Chicken Thighs- New Recipe. I'm always a little wary of these crazy bean recipes, but somehow they turn out surprisingly good! I think white beans are my favorite. They have a great creamy texture and a nice mild buttery flavor. My food processor was my best friend when I made this. I used it to turn 2 pieces of wheat bread into crumbs (and blend the oil into them), chop the onion, and mash up the beans. That food processor saves me so much time. Anyway, this recipe is a keeper!

Mama Hanson's Fish Stew- New Recipe. One day Dad Hanson raved to me about this "tomato based fish chowder" Mama Hanson had made. He said, "It's the best chowder there is to be found and all gourmet fish places should hang their heads in shame." I knew I needed the recipe. Mama Hanson is a soup/stew guru so I felt very privileged to gain access to this recipe. It didn't actually come with instructions, just a list of ingredients, so hopefully I made it right. I thought it turned out very well and was even better the next day (which is usually the standard for soups).

Mama Hanson's Fish Stew

 2 tbsp. olive oil

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 large onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced thinly

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups chicken broth

1 (28oz.) can diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp. basil

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 bay leaf

1/8-1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 lb. cod fillets, cut into 1" pieces

1/2 lb. white fish, crab, or shrimp

2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large stockpot. Add green pepper, red pepper, onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.

Add chicken broth, tomatoes, basil, thyme, turmeric, bay leaf, and crushed red pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes (for thicker stew, leave off lid).

Add all fish/crab and continue to simmer until fish is cooked through (about 5-10 minutes more). Garnish with parsley and serve.

Serves 4-6