Rhubarb Barbeque Sauce

A super short entry with a super simple but scrumptious thing!   A couple nights ago I cooked some boneless pork chops on the grill.  I discovered that I didn't have any bbq sauce.  So I made some.

1 cup chopped rhubarb (in enough water just to cover)

I simmered that until it was soft (about 10 minutes).

Then I added:
1/4 ketchup (Trader Joe's organic)
1/4 cup brown sugar
a palm of black pepper
5-6 splashes of Frank's hot sauce

I brought it to a boil and then hit it with an immersion blender.

I think I might not be buying bbq sauce anymore!   

Quinoa and Vegetable Stuffed Peppers

Today was one of those non-stop Saturdays.  Early this morning I cooked up a batch of quinoa in my rice cooker and set it to cool in the fridge for this evening's culinary experiment.  (Now I know that not everyone likes quinoa and often it's because they think it looks weird.  Well, it does.  But it tastes yummy and is a good healthy thing to put in your belly.  So...close your eyes!)

Then I headed off to one of my churches.  (Have I mentioned that I am a minister to two small churches as well as a music teacher?)  I spent the morning painting the dining room ceiling...pink.  No, not really pink.  It was this really fabulous ceiling paint that goes on pink and turns white when it dries.  Fabulous invention!  Then it was a race home at noon to run errands like buying the hubby a new gas grill for Father's Day, a new ceiling fan for my bedroom, and all the seeds and seedlings for this summer's garden.  Oh, and groceries. Home again, home again and the garden got almost completely planted.  Will have to finish tomorrow.  

Now this is a cooking blog, so...here's what I made for dinner in Mamma Church's kitchen.  

I had bought two really lovely green peppers at my favorite vegetable stand called The Green Spot on KMD between Oakland and Waterville.  And when I say lovely, I mean lovely!   I cut the tops off and cleaned out the insides.

I diced up:
1 white onion
1/2 red pepper
the tops from the green peppers
a few mushrooms
some garlic

All that was sauteed for a few minutes in some olive oil.  Then I stirred in about half of the quinoa that I had cooked.  It was probably about a cup.  (The rest is in a baggie in the fridge for another adventure.)  To that I added some chopped fresh basil and a bit of Italian seasoning.  This mixture got stuffed into the lovely green peppers, topped with a small can of tomato sauce and a good handful of shredded mozzarella on each one.  The baking dish (yes, it was a vintage piece of Pyrex) was covered with foil and then baked at 350 for about an hour and 10 minutes...about how long it took to finish putting the seedlings into the ground.  

I had also purchased a few bunches of teeny weeny baby beet greens and steamed them for a side dish. 

Dinner was served in my favorite room of the house in the summer...the porch!  A lovely way to dine and a pretty darn tasty (and healthy) meal! 

A cold rainy day and a leftover rotisserie chicken....

It's a cold, rainy, nasty, dreary day today.  (Seriously?  It's June!)  I knew I wanted to make something hearty and warm and delicious for dinner.  An inventory of the fridge left me less than enthused.  But I did find the last of a rotisserie chicken that we'd bought on Sunday.  My husband had been eating off it all week for his lunches...chicken and raw veggies.  (Who is this man and what has he done with my husband?)  So there wasn't a lot left.  Fortunately, I have a pretty well-stocked pantry.  So here's what I did.  I guess you'd call it a chicken and white bean chili.

I put the chicken (bones and all) into a pot and boiled it for about 30 minutes.  This loosened the chicken from the bones for picking and made a light stock.  Probably there was about a cup and a half of chicken.  

I heated a bit of olive oil in my cast iron Dutch oven and added:
1 white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 heavy TBLS of chopped garlic

I let that cook for about ten minutes and then added the chicken and two cans of Trader Joe's white beans (drained).  I probably added about 2 1/2 cups of of the stock.  I seasoned it with 1 TBLS chili powder, 1 TBLS dried cilantro and 1 tsp cumin.  Then it just simmered, deliciously, on the stove on low for about an hour.  (And it really smelled fabulous.)

Might I say that it tasted fabulous too!  Very filling and satisfying.  I topped each bowl with a spoonful of low fat sour cream.  And there is some left for lunch tomorrow. 

Needing to get back on track....but needing it to taste really good, too!

Well...I've sort of been on a food vacation the last couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago, it was a vacation vacation with lots of vacation food.  Last week, it was just crazy busy with very little time to cook.  So this week...back on track!
On Sunday I purchased a whole pork loin.  It weighed about 7-1/2 pounds.  I cut it up into two roasts and six chops.  

Tonight's dinner was a variation of a recipe I saw on Facebook called Crock Pot Parmesan Honey Pork Roast.  (Tuesday is often a "crock pot" day since I teach until 6:30.)

The recipe called for a 4-pound roast.  (Seriously?  There are two of us!)  So I suspect the one I had was about a 2-pounder.  And this is what I did...

The roast went into the crock pot at about 1:30 on low.  I mixed up a mushy goo made with:
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup honey
1 TBLS dried basil
1 TBLS chopped garlic
1 TBLS olive oil
and a heavy TBLS of low-sodium soy sauce

That got all mixed together and slathered on the roast.  I put the lid on and cooked it until about 7:15 on low.  (So about 6 hours.)

(My poor students.  The smell was really yummy and probably made it hard to concentrate on piano lessons since my teaching space is off my kitchen!)

When the roast was done, I took it out and let it rest on a board under some foil.  I mixed a heavy tsp of cornstarch with a little water and mixed it into the "juice" in the bottom of the crock pot.  Then after about ten minutes, I shredded the pork and drizzled it it with the sauce and served it with a side of Trader Joe's frozen green beans.   It was YUMMY!

 Note:  Remember, please that I am NOT a nutritionist.  I do look at nutrition information on recipes however.  This one said that a 5-ounce serving with about 3 TBLS of sauce would be about 330 calories.  I used about half the amount of honey and olive oil that it called for.  So perhaps it was less.  Regardless, it was a very satisfying way to get back on track tonight.  

Fiddlehead and Cheddar Quiche

I love the "seasons" of food.  I especially love Spring when things like fiddleheads and rhubarb are abundant!  Cooking with local, seasonal food is a lovely thing.  I suspect there won't be a lot of rhubarb pies coming out of Mamma Church's kitchen this year, but I'll try to find some good, healthy ways to use rhubarb.  Maybe one pie!  

This week we had our first good batch of fiddleheads.  We had them steamed with a wee bit of butter with dinner two nights in a row.  I had about 1 1/2 cups of them (cooked) leftover in the fridge yesterday.  And yesterday was also our big Spring Concert at school.  (Did I mention that I'm a music teacher?)  So time was at a premium.  Early in the day I baked a fiddlehead and cheddar quiche that could easily be warmed up for a quick, late supper.  Here's the result!

The recipe.....first you gotta make a crust.  Ok, you don't have to make a crust.  You can buy one.  Or you could make this crustless too.  Just generously spray your pie plate with cooking spray or brush with a bit of butter or oil.  I confess.  I never used to make pie crust.  I never made pie because I totally failed at crust!  But I finally found a fool-proof recipe and method for rolling it out.  Now...it's a piece of cake!  

The recipe was published in an old Marjorie Standish cookbook that I got as a wedding gift some 32 years ago.  This will make a two-crust pie.  I use it for one-crust too as I like a nice, tall fluted edge for a quiche.  yes, you waste a little, but the measurements are spot on with this recipe and I have it committed to memory!  And it makes transferring it to the oven so much easier before it's baked.

Here is the recipe:
1 3/4 cup flour (I use King Arthur UNBLEACHED All-Purpose.  I have made it with whole wheat pastry flour, but just use a bit more water.)
a pinch of salt 
1/2 cup oil  (I use canola oil for sweet pies and olive oil for savory pies.)
Stir just to mix...don't go crazy.
Add 3 TBLS cold water and stir just to bring everything together.  And you know, a hand is the best tool for this.  The dough should "clean" the sides of the bowl and form a ball.

I roll my crust out between two sheets of waxed paper.  No need to add extra flour which can make a crust tough.  Loosen it from both pieces of paper and roll onto your rolling pin and into your pan.  Trim and flute and it's ready to fill.

You can fill with just about anything.  Generally I use up stuff.  Veggies or meat and about 6 oz. of whatever cheese you have to just fill the pie shell.

For this quiche I used:
About 1 1/2 cups cooked fiddleheads
6 oz. shredded extra sharp cheddar
a bit of black pepper

That all gets dumped into the pie shell.  Then I whisked 6 eggs and 1 cup skim milk.  Yes, skim.  Relax.  It works out just fine.  Pour that over the filling.

Then bake the quiche for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees until the top is golden and it loses it "jiggle-ness."

It reheats well.  Great for any meal!
 

Same day. Healthier dish.

So after an afternoon of dipping marshmallows in dark chocolate and all sorts of delectable toppings and baking a Texas peanut butter cake (all for the "Dessert for Dinner" fundraiser), here's what's for supper in Mamma Church's kitchen.  And trust me, it's much healthier!

I modified a recipe that I found in a new Gooseberry Patch cookbook.  I took two boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and pounded them thin between some layers of plastic wrap.  Using my favorite cast iron skillet, I melted about 2 TBLS of butter.  The chicken was peppered and dusted (and I do mean just dusted) with flour and then cooked for 3 minutes on each side.  The chicken was pulled out of the pan and left to rest on a cutting board.  While the skillet was still hot I added 1 more TBLS of butter and a couple more "dusts" of flour and scraped the pan.  Next I added 1 cup of low-sodium, fat-free chicken stock and 1/3 cup of lemon juice and about heaping tsp of chopped garlic.  That all got stirred and simmered until it was "saucy!"   The chicken was sliced and placed back in the pan and topped with about 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms and an 8 oz. can of artichoke hearts.  Once that was all heated through, I served it with some baby brussel sprouts.  

I will be honest (as I promised I would be).  It was good, but not by favorite new dish so far.  The hubby liked it.  But I thought the lemon was a bit overwhelming and might cut back on it next time.  (It's odd, too, because I love lemon!)  I think I might skip the artichokes as well and simply pile on some baby spinach at the very end of cooking.

But all in all, a fairly quick, tasty and good for the body meal!
 

 

Not so...um...healthy. But for a good cause!

Yes, yes.  I know.  This is a blog about healthy cooking and healthy eating with real food and real expectations.  This post?  Not so much.
Tomorrow my Youth Group kids are hosting a fund-raising event for their mission project "Imagine No Malaria."  The event is called "Dessert for Dinner."  It will feature a buffet of tasting portions of a wide variety of sweet treats.....baklava, red velvet cupcakes, French meringues, decadent brownies, apple pie, peanut butter cake just to name a few!  Mmmmm.....
I have made these little treats.  Simple and oh so sweet.  Just marshmallow lollipops dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in English toffee bits, chopped pecans, or sprinkles.  Easy and fun!

A note:  For dinner tonight, it will be healthy and I'll post later!  Trying a new dish.....a lemon garlic chicken with artichokes and baby spinach.