René of the Day // 11.5.11 // What's in season?

Not talking fashion here, folks. We're talking produce. I absolutely love grocery shopping. Once you get past the people who are abusing the usage of the motorized carts and the screaming children, it is my zen. So many fun products and choices.... as someone who loves to cook, it's like a painter picking out colors for a masterpiece.

It can be argued that cooking "seasonally" makes the most wholesome, healthy and wise meals. By buying produce in season, it reduces the cost of goods purchased and many times make it easier to buy local. I won't dive deeply into those ideas, I'm sure you can find much more detailed information regarding it on other blogs. But I digress, I thought it would be helpful to share a list of items to keep on your grocery list and recipe searches for the next few months as we go through winter.

In Season Fruits and Vegetables: Winter

• FRUITS
• Grapefruit
• Kiwis
• Lemons
• Mandarins / Clementines
• Oranges
• Pears
• Tangerines
• VEGETABLES
• Beets
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Chicories: Belgian Endive, Curly Endive, Escarole, Raddichio
• Fennel
• Kale
• Leeks
• Parsnips
• Radishes
• Sweet potatoes
• Turnips
• Winter squash

René of the Day // 10.26.11 // Chicken Avocado Soup

A few months ago, the gals at work introduced me to SkinnyTaste.com. This divine little mecca of good taste and low calories has become a go-to for delicious, guilt-free recipes. In my attempt to conquer a lot of soup recipes in the chilly seasons this year, I had to make this healthy, brothy soup. I die for avocado and most of the ingredients are items I keep on hand in my kitchen. A big batch of this was easy to whip up in my beloved red Le Creuset stock pot and it lasted for at least a week for lunches and dinners.

Read the full recipe here.

[Photo to follow.]

René of the Day // 10.7.11 // Autumn Soup

Continuing my challenge for making food fit for the forecast - a new soup every week in the fall/winter - I had to cook the recipe I tasted during the Iron Chef: Pumpkin Challenge at work. When I requested the recipe it didn't come with a name so I've appropriately named it "autumn soup." I'm loving the opportunity to use my big red Le Creuset stock pot so much and if you don't mind having leftovers (it's always better the next day) or eating the same thing for an entire week, it's a very convenient, healthy and cost effective way to plan dinners. And for me, it's therapeutic. The chopping relieves stress, the creation is exciting and the enjoyment of the end product is rewarding.

I had quite a bit of this soup to share so I bought cute little plastic stemmed cups at The Party Source and brought some of the batch to our Junior League Provisional small group get together and it received rave reviews - it's definitely a new fall favorite for my recipe arsenal. 

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 medium apples, thinly sliced

1 large white potato, diced

1.5 cups chopped, peeled butternut squash, fresh or frozen

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 cup apple cider

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto or bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Chopped chives, for garnish (optional)

Crusty bread, for serving (optional)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large pot over medium-low heat and add the onions, apples, potato and squash. Season with salt and pepper and cook until onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in sage and flour. Add cider (pour yourself a cup and add rum, ha) and cook over high heat, stirring until thickened. Add broth and milk, cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring until potato is soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto or bacon and cook until crisp, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Add cheese to soup and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Puree in blender in batches until smooth (carefully - VERY hot off of stove and can easily blow the lid off). Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with prosciutto or bacon, more cheese and chives, if using. Serve with bread, if desired. 

Notes: 

Purchase pre-chopped butternut squash if possible. I've seen it in the produce section before and thought it was a lazy option - until I tried to cut one up. I literally bruised myself. I threw it in the oven to soften and even then, it was a beast to get through. Kroger didn't have any in the frozen aisle, but it's worth searching around to save the time and pain. 

Add a teaspoon or two of curry powder. It gives great color and an additional flavor profile.

Enjoy!

René of the Day // 9.27.11 // Spicy Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup

I've vowed myself to a "Soup Challenge." Forget du jour. I'm hoping that each week through the chilly season (perhaps just autumn, we'll see if I make it through winter), to make a different soup recipe. I love the idea because they're generally inexpensive to make, healthy, fun to cook, taste great as leftovers and last for the week - plus they can be frozen for thawing and enjoying later if I get sick of it after a few days. Plus, I love using my big red Le Creuset stock pot! My other goal with is to share the websites from which I collect a lot of my favorite recipes. I'm often asked for them after posting on Facebook or Twitter and I'd love to share my resources.

My first soup of the season came from the Serious Eats weekly e-newsletter. I've been in a habit of unsubscribing from a lot of emails lately but this is one that I never delete. Each week it features around 10 delicious recipes - from unique (Dr. Pepper ribs) to classic, usually gourmet and never overly difficult or expensive ingredients. When I saw the recipe for Spicy Ginger Chicken Noodle soup it caught my eye because I love making Asain-inspired dishes at home. I keep soy sauce, sriracha, mirin, honey, ginger, sesame seeds and other staples on hand so it's usually a quick trip for produce and I'm good to go. One thing I've started to do for certain recipes like soups is buy the little bags of Tyson cooked chicken chunks - I know my mother would scold me for wasting money and being too lazy to cook and diced the chicken, but it saves at least 30 minutes.

This soup turned out to be so delicious and lasted Saturday through Thursday - a winner! The only thing I'll omit next time are the sugar snap peas - whenever I cook with them, I get annoyed. You have to peel them or the stringy thingy on the back of the bean shreds and the little knob on the end is hard and it makes them a pain to chew. So I picked them all out.

Get the recipe here. And check back for another soup each week!

René of the Day // 9.8.11 // Quack

On New Year's Day, MR went duck hunting for the third time in his life. Cliché as it may be, third time was a charm. The first two trips, he and Elrod and Vale came home without any game. But on the first day of this year, they were successful.

I love duck and I tend to think of it as a "special" food. It's not going to end up in a gunky casserole or flash fried on a fast food menu. It must be prepared and cooked carefully. We had decided to stay in for New Years Eve at MR's new apartment in Cookeville, TN (superbly classy) and just enjoy the evening without waiting in line for drinks with drunks or paying an astronomical amount for a glass of cheap champagne and a sparkly blower thingy. woo-hoo. So I went to Findlay Market and bought duck breasts and towed them to Tennessee in a cooler... along with a fabulous yellow bottle of Veuve Cliquot. We made a maple orange glazed duck breast with homemade beer bread and mashed sweet potatoes - it was a wonderful meal to ring in the new year. Then we finished our champagne through a Wii tournament - which I won and am patiently awaiting my prize - dinner at The Celestial in Cincinnati.

But I digress - I spent a nice amount of money on duck and the boy turns around and kills them for free the following morning! Perhaps the meal fueled his victory. I find it ironic. But we had driven to our friends the Elrod's house and spent the night and the boys got up at the ass crack of dawn to go hunting. A few hours later, the sun was up and I could hear the boys in the backyard. I'd stayed in bed, careful not to wake Missy, who was 11-months pregnant. I looked out the window and saw feathers flying by the stone wall in the backyard so I got dressed and ran downstairs to congratulate them on their manliness. Elrod showed them how to cut and clean the breasts and they packaged them up for freezing. I've been telling MR for months that we need to cook them before they get funky in the freezer - I wasn't going to eat any foul fowl... so this past weekend, we decided to pull them out and enjoy them before the next New Year rolls around.

Originally we planned to make the classic duck recipe, a la orange. But after a full work week and a 4 hour drive, I didn't feel like spending 3 hours making a meal. We love to sit on the deck with drinks in the evenings and I hoped to spend most of my evening doing just that. We used a Bobby Flay Food Network recipe for Asian-spiced duck breasts with ginger-chile glaze. MR was a great sous chef and took care of the grilling and made the chili-garlic noodles as I mixed the spice rub and concocted the spicy glaze - ooh, was it spicy! It paired well with cold Yuenglings. I was thrilled with how much he enjoyed it and honestly, it was the best cut of duck I've ever tasted. It was natural from the woods of Tennessee so it wasn't oily or greasy... lean, not tough. We make quite the team - he kills, I cook. We'll see if the boys' next hunt is as successful! (I've never cooked a turkey before.)

I snuck a photo of the boys cleaning the duck from the bedroom window.

René of the Day // 8.24.11 // Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancakes

I don't "know" Bruce, but Kristin’s mom introduced me to these sweet potato pancakes one weekend when I crashed at their house in Loveland. They are absolutely delicious and remind me of a great Southern brunch. The mix can be bought at Fresh Market and will last you for quite a while if you use them a special treat as I’ve chosen to. They’re very easy to make – just mix with water, let sit to rehydrate and dollop onto the griddle. Wonderful with a bowl of grits. I tend to prefer savory over sweet for breakfast foods and these tip toe the line between the two quite nicely. Butter and syrup are not even required to make them enjoyable. I also love the nostalgic bag that the mix is packaged in. They have certainly become a favorite for mornings when I have the urge to cook a big breakfast or to cook a batch on Sunday and grab one out of the fridge every morning before work. Ooh or an awesome main course for breakfast for dinner nights… and a decent diet staple, too. Try them already.

 

René of the Day // 8.15.11 // Summer Salad

After a week of gorging and drinking myself 5 pounds heavier in England and a significant decrease in the daily temperature in Cincinnati, I've prepared myself to embrace the late summer loveliness and get "back on track." Yesterday after a 2 mile trail walk with Findlay, I started thinking about how much I miss cooking. Searching for recipes, scanning my pantry ingredients, writing my shopping list and making an adventure for the meal. I love to grocery shop - granted, I go alone, I take my time, I explore new foods and can make all the decisions based on my palate - a small luxury of a young unmarried woman without roommates.

I decided to bring some fresh produce back into this house. After traveling, having MR in town and late nights at the office, I haven't done this in over a month! One of my favorite places to find recipes is Epicurious.com - plus they have a great iPhone app to access when you don't have time to jot down a grocery list. I looked over recipes I'd added to my list to make and found this wonderful summer salad - watermelon, feta & arugula salad with balsamic glaze.

Watermelon is so cheap this time of year! I paid less than $1.50 for half a melon. And I usually modify most recipes I make - so for a little protein and additional sustenance, I grabbed the grilled and diced Tyson chicken packets - I know my mom would scold me for wasting money on these, since boneless skinless breasts are much more cost effective but I couldn't beat the convenience this week, with plans on my calendar every evening. A package of arugula, a package of feta and I was set - I keep whole black pepper to grind, sea salt and balsamic on hand in my pantry.

So simple - chopped everything, threw it in a big red bowl and stirred - absolutely delicious! Crunchy, tangy, sweet, salty, bright... a lovely combination of fresh flavors, beautiful colors and great textures. And as with most foods made with balsamic, I think it will be even better tomorrow after a night marinating in the fridge. And the best part - it includes servings of fruit, veggies, protein & dairy. This has easily become a fast favorite - it would be perfect for a party or BBQ.

View the original recipe here.