Foodie Pen Pals - March 2012

Hello out there :)

This month I was the lucky recipient of a Foodie Pen Pal shipment from Lisa of The Splattered Apron!

Silly me, I enjoyed many of the goodies before I thought to snap a picture!

I received some little packets of Justin's almond butter, sweet potato chips, decaf tea, smoked sea salt, a yummy chocolate shortbread candy bar, a granola bar, and a lovely note from Lisa. Thank you Lisa!

I sent some of my favorite Ohio goodies to my pen pal Sarah. 

Life has been a little nutty lately, throwing us some interesting surprises, but I haven't forgotten about my resolution to blog a few times a week this year. I'm not giving up, and I'll be back around soon :)

Smoky Turkey & Black Bean Chili

The winter of 2012 has been so bizarre so far... It's February and I've been regularly going to work coat-less a few days each week. I have 2 pairs of boots and rarely need to wear them... I am out of windshield wiper fluid in my car, but have not found the need to refill since my car never ices over... 

Strange.... It almost makes me nervous in a way. Like a blizzard is just around the corner. It seems like the last two winters have been so heavy with snow, it was constantly on the ground and built up around roads and parking lots. But this year, it's blue skies and puffy clouds!

Anyways.... Of course it is still chilly outside, and I've been craving chili often! I have developed and tweaked and re-tweaked my recipe over the past 3 years or so, and I have to say I may have come up with the winning recipe. It is chili so it is ALWAYS easy to make substitutions when you don't have an ingredient on hand or when you're feeling creative. But the recipe below is my formula for my favorite version. 

This is BEST served the day after it is made, on top of a halved baked sweet potato, and then garnished with sharp white cheddar cheese, plain greek yogurt, and cilantro. The BEST winter meal. 

KJ's Chili

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, mashed and finely chopped

3/4 lb. ground turkey

4 oz. tomato paste

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1/2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 bay leaf

A handful of chopped cilantro

Spices - 

1 tbsp. chili powder (must be chipotle or ancho, I enjoy both equally. chipotle it hotter!)

1 tbsp. paprika

3/4 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 ground coriander

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. cayenne IF you want it extra, extra spicy

Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, stirring frequently, for about 5-8 minutes. Add all of the spices except for the bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently and scraping pan, for about 3-5 minutes until fragrant. Add the ground beef and cook, stirring and scraping pan, until the beef is cooked through and no longer pink. Add 1/2 tsp. salt. 

Add the tomato paste and incorporate completely. Add the diced tomatoes, bay leaf and 1 cup water. Increase the heat to medium high, lower the heat once it comes to a boil, and simmer the mixture until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar, worcestershire, and beans and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Stir in the handful of chopped cilantro. 

This serves about 4 people as a main course. It's a great amount to make for 2 if you want thick leftovers the next day!

What I Bookmarked this Week...

This was a pretty good week. I chopped off all of my hair (!!!) and I wrote a play (!?!?). In other words, I took some risks. It was fun :)

I bookmarked some yummy stuff. Can't wait to try!

Whole Wheat Banana Bread Snack Cake   How Sweet It Is

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cupcakes   Baked Bree

Bourbon Layer Cake with Bourbon Ganache and Milk Chocolate Buttercream   Love and Olive Oil

Smoked Salmon Quiche

My first quiche in my new tart pan (or first quiche ever, for that matter) :) Awfully pretty, isn't it? My mom gave me a tart pan for Christmas, something I've been wanting to get for awhile now, and this is how we broke it in.

I was very happy with how this recipe turned out. It has a homemade flaky butter crust that is so simple to throw together. It does need some time to chill in the fridge, so it's a great Saturday brunch menu item, or in our case, Sunday dinner. And this recipe is pretty healthy, at least as far as quiche recipes go. I used whole milk instead of half and half or cream, and whole eggs including whites, rather than mostly yolks, like many recipes called for. We also used smoked salmon, chives, and a bit of parmesan cheese. 

Here is our dough ball, ready to go in the fridge and chill. We simply put  1  1/4 cups whole wheat flour, 1/3 tsp. salt, and 7 tbsp. unsalted butter into a food processor. Make sure the butter is ice cold and cut into small cubes. Pulse for about 10-20 seconds until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Slowly add about 2-3 tbsp. ice water and pulse until the dough comes together and pulls away from the bowl. Dump out onto some lightly floured parchment paper, and with lightly floured hands bring the dough together and form into a disk. Work the dough as little as possible. Wrap the disk in the parchment and chill for an hour. 

After the hour, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface, making sure to make the diameter large enough to fill your pan. Gently lift the dough and press to fit into your pan. Cut off the excess dough around the edges and chill for another 30 minutes. 

Line your raw dough with parchment and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 13-14 minutes. Remove beans/weights and parchment and continue to bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. 

Cool the dough while you put together your eggs. 

Basic Quiche Recipe

3 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/4 tsp. salt, pepper to taste

Pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup cheese of your choice

3 oz. meat of your choice (we used smoked salmon, but cooked bacon, ham, or chorizo would be excellent)

Handful of herbs 

Arrange the meat on the bottom of your tart pan on top of the crust. 

Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cheese, and herbs in a medium bowl. Pour into the prepared crust. 

Bake until the crust is golden and puffed, about 34 minutes. Allow to set and cool for about 10 minutes before serving. 

We served this with simply dressed spinach topped with pine nuts. It was really great with a cup of tea for Sunday dinner. 

We are currently addicted to watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix during dinner... 

I should probably get through this season so that I can move on to more productive activities! Perhaps reading.... or writing more.... Definitely more blogging! It's on my list of New Year's resolutions. Yes, I made a list. I thought I'd print it out and hang it on the fridge, as a daily reminder... Now I just need to quit forgetting to print it out... :)

Anyways, until next time... Enjoy!

What I Bookmarked and What I Failed to Photograph This Week...

We had a busy week! Our friends/landlords who are living overseas were in town for the holidays and we spent some time with them. We also had our Wednesday night dinner group over to our house this week. We made a really fantastic pot roast...... and it was gone before I could even think to snap a picture :( A shame too, it looked beautiful and we used a bunch of our new serving platters and flatware that we received as gifts at our wedding. 

Blurgh!!

But I DID make a few things that I was able to snap a few pictures of, to come later this week...

In the meantime, I bookmarked some amazing links this week!

Hush Puppies   Spoon Fork Bacon

Steak au Poivre   A Fit and Spice Life

Butternut Squash Hash with Mexican Chorizo and Eggs   Pinch My Salt