Cheddar, Bacon & Potato Frittata

It's hard to believe another week has flown by, and yet here we are, almost to the weekend again.  We had a tough time getting organized this week-we managed to get out the door to work and school okay, and home again in one piece, but meals were just a little catch as can.  Sunday night I turned the last of the roast beef and gravy into a kind of poutine (Hey, if you call leftovers something cool and top it with cheese & the kids eat it, everybody wins.  Monday night, Emily's usual cooking night, arrived and she had not made a recipe choice, so sweet & sour pork was the easy option.  Tuesday's blizzard like conditions, and again no decision about dinner meant frozen pizza. I suggested carrot lentil soup, which she really likes, but she wanted to make something new.  Ever the culinary explorer....she was scanning my cookbooks and magazines finding things like tamales (I wasn't going to start scouring for those ingredients!) and deconstructed stuffed peppers.  Neither of us like peppers I pointed out, to which she argued we could leave them out.....but stuffed peppers without peppers is just what exactly?  I encouraged her to go back to the Kraft magazines, those recipes are pretty accessible and easy to adapt to what we have on hand.  Within minutes she found this recipe which sounded like it would fit the bill nicely.
Wednesday morning while I was making breakfast I scrubbed a few potatoes and baked them in the microwave which eased one step, as they would be more than adequately cooled by evening.
Emily was busy at her other chores when I got home; the breakfast dishes were done and she was cleaning the bathroom.  Turns out she really wanted to go to the book fair at school.... Ah, the impetus of bribery.  I told her we could maybe go after supper, and before I had my boots off she was slicing those potatoes.
Rather than buy bacon bits I chopped up the last quarter package of bacon in the fridge and started frying it, adding in half an onion, since we didn't have the requisite green ones.  And then I was shooed out of the kitchen, assured she could do it on her own.
I was called back once; Emily was having a hard time slicing the potatoes thinly.  I pulled a better knife out of the drawer and made short work of them before being summarily dismissed again.
Until she dropped an egg.
I waved off her apologies and began pouring salt over the mess.  Emily told me I was just making a bigger mess.  "Just watch," I told her.  "This is really cool."  I let the salt and egg sit while she beat together half a dozen more eggs with milk and some Miracle Whip and assembled her frittata, topping the sliced potatoes with bacon, onions and shredded cheese and pouring the eggs over it all.
Once it was in the oven I picked up the dust pan and whisk broom and swept the whole mess in to the garbage.  She was awed.  It's a pretty cool trick....sometimes the stuff you seen on the internet is actually useful!.

The frittata took longer to cook than what the recipe suggested, but I find this pretty common when baking eggs.  I don't know why.  We gave it an extra 10 minutes, and in the end, hungry, I put it in the microwave for another 5.  Still it was very tasty, although I thought it needed seasoning.  Nonetheless once today's lunches were packed there was nothing left of it.

Cheddar, Bacon & Potato Frittata

1 lb new red potatoes, cooked, cooled & sliced             6 eggs

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar                                              1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup cooked, crumbled bacon                                    1/3 cup salad dressing (like Miracle Whip)

3 green onions, sliced                                                     1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Place potatoes in a greased 9" pie plate.  Top with cheese, bacon & onion.

Whisk eggs and milk until blended.  Add salad dressing and pepper; mix well.  Pour over potato mixture.

Bake 25-30 minutes, until centre is set.  Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.

Chocolate Drop Sugar Cookies

I know, I know, no posts for a week, then two back to back.  What can I say?   Emily decided she needed to bake so she had lunch box treats for the coming week and since I rarely write about her baking I figured it was a fine idea.  In truth she was baking cookies, and making the occasional cake mix or banana muffins long before I had her making dinner on a weekly basis.  Learning how to make her favourite chocolate chip cookies was an easy first step.
She was looking for something new to try today so I suggested a couple of chocolate cookies in my little notebook where I write down recipes I have tried and decide are worth keeping.  She didn't like the sound of the Chocolate Crinkles because of the peppermint extract, although they are a lovely option for Christmas (note to self!).  I was a little surprised when she opted for these because of the corn flakes in the mix.  When I have made them in the past she has balked about eating them.  But I said nothing and let her start measuring and mixing.
She did need help with a few things; combing the cocoa with sugar & warm water to make a chocolate syrup to flavour the cookies, and with stirring in the corn flakes, as the batter is very thick.  She left out the nuts-she doesn't care for them, and they are verboten at school (which also precludes all our favourite peanut butter recipes)
We wound up with 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies, about 4cm in diameter (give or take, precision is certainly not her thing when it comes to spooning out cookie batter, but they do keep well.
They are chewy and chocolaty and should be a lunch time treat.

Chocolate Drop Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, creamed                              1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar                                       2 1/2 cups flour

2 beaten eggs                                           1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons sugar                                 1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cocoa                                 2 cups corn flakes

6 tablespoons hot water                           1 cup chopped nuts*

Preheat oven to 350 F. Add first amount of sugar and eggs to creamed butter gradually.  Dissolve second amount of sugar and cocoa in hot water and add to the creamed mixture.  Stir in the vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, add to creamed mixture.  Blend well.  Stir in corn flakes and nuts.

Drop by heaping teaspoonsful onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10 minutes.

*Emily was going to substitute white chocolate chips for the nuts, she thought the colour would be a nice contrast, but we were out.  She stirred in about 3/4 cup of regular chocolate chips instead.

Sweet Potato Brie Mac & Cheese

First off; my apologies for the late arrival of this post.  I'm still adjusting to the schedule and demands of my new job, and Peter was here this past week for several days and I would rather have tea & play cribbage with him in the evening than pursue the solitary pleasures of writing.  It was a crazy, busy week...I'm not complaining mind you.  After such extended idleness busy is a marvelous, if unsettling thing.
Emily has done very well getting herself off to school in the mornings, and in helping out with a few extra chores when she gets home.  I may have to consider a small raise in her allowance.  We'll see how long it lasts or if the novelty of independence wears off.  With Christmas and its inherent busy-ness looming her help will be even more critical....and I'll be honest, I'm thrilled to hand off a few chores.
Emily decided to cook Monday night again, so we picked up the necessary ingredients Sunday while we were grocery shopping.  While I was making Sunday supper I cooked a couple of extra sweet potatoes so the sweet potato puree was ready for Monday night; one less step, and one less pot to wash.  One of these days Emily will no longer use every possible utensil to make dinner, but until then whatever I can do to quietly ease the mess I will do.
Monday evening I set Emily to shredding a block of old cheddar cheese (the sharper flavour is important, so even if medium or mild cheddar is your go to, buy the old or sharp for this recipe) while I began cutting the rind off the Brie I had purchased and we waited for the water to boil to cook the pasta.  Once the water was boiling Emily measured in a generous portion of pasta. We like medium sized shells for this, the shell holds the sauce beautifully.
While the pasta cooked Emily measured pureed sweet potato and milk into a pan, blending them and bringing the mixture to a simmer.  When it began to simmer we reduced the heat to low and stirred in the shredded cheddar, brie and cream cheese until the cheeses were all melted.  She then stirred in a little nutmeg and some salt & pepper.  By this time the pasta was done and drained, and was added to the sauce and heated through.
While Emily was stirring all of this together I reheated some meatballs leftover from the previous weeks Sweet & Sour Meatballs (I had too many for the sauce) and sliced up some leftover chicken.  The dish really is a stand alone meal, but I thought a few add ons couldn't hurt.  I probably should have made a salad or steamed some broccoli too, but we never quite got that far.
In any case dinner was delicious.  The pasta was rich and creamy, and a little tangy.  I confess it is not an inexpensive dish, but is a wonderful indulgence, a grown up version of macaroni and cheese.

Sweet Potato Brie Mac & Cheese

8 oz uncooked macaroni or other pasta                     1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup sweet potato puree *                                         1/2 cup double cream Brie cheese, rind removed,  1 cup milk                                                                    cubed  

2 oz cream cheese (about a 1/4 cup)                          pinch ground nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to the package directions, drain

Meanwhile whisk together and heat sweet potato puree and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until just starting to simmer.

Reduce heat to low and stir in cheddar, Brie and cream cheese, stir until fully melted.  Stir in nutmeg, season with salt & pepper.

Stir in the drained pasta, mix thoroughly combined,  If the sauce seems a bit soupy at this stage remove the pan from the heat and let it stand a few minutes.  It will thicken as it cools.

Serve with extra nutmeg if desired. 

*To make the sweet potato puree bake or boil a large sweet potato until tender.  Once it is cool enough to handle, peel it and mash it with a fork.

                                                              

Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

Winter arrived yesterday with a decided vigor.  Sunday the sun was shining and the temperature a balmy 16, yesterday we woke to wet and sloppy snow, although the temperature did hover above zero for most of the day.  Yuck.  I wish I could afford to winter someplace warm.  I think Australia would be nice, since our winter is their summer & I could live in perpetual summer time.  Ah, if only.
Emily returned home from her dad's Sunday evening, brimming with stories, and eager to cook Monday night.  I told her about a recipe I had tripped over on line over the weekend, and she thought it sounded really good.  I found it and she decided it would be a fine dinner.  Monday morning she decided she wanted mashed potatoes and gravy as a side, which sounded fine to me, and a plan was laid.  I headed out for work and she was off to school.
I stopped on my way home for chicken breasts and potatoes, and then for a nice bottle of wine.
I laid the chicken between pieces of cling wrap and showed Emily how to use the meat mallet to flatten the pieces out into lovely flat fillets, which she then dredged in flour, salt and paprika an browned quickly in a frying pan.  Once the chicken was browned she placed it on a baking pan and I showed her how to deglaze the pan with lemon juice, scraping up all the tasty little brown bits and reducing the volume of the juice, which we then poured over the chicken.  Once the juice was drizzled liberally over the chicken she sprinkled the breasts with lemon zest and brown sugar.  The pan then went into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
In the meantime I had talked her into mashed potatoes with the skins on, not wanting to take the time to peel several smallish potatoes.  Instead we scrubbed and quartered then and put them on to boil.  Once they were tender Emily was all too eager to dive in with the potato masher.  I added butter, milk, salt & pepper and helped her mash them well, although with the skins you cannot get them as smooth and fluffy as you do peeling them.  But the skins are full of nutrients, they look very rustic, and they taste great.  And you don't spend 20 minutes or more peeling them.
Emily made a packet of onion gravy and decided not to prepare the broccoli that was in the fridge.  We were out of frozen mixed vegetables so she opened a can she found in the cupboard, one rescued from the trailer when we cleared out all the canned goods before freeze up.

Dinner was very good, although Emily thought the chicken was perhaps too lemony.  I like lemon flavour a lot, but I think a little less juice might have been better.  And perhaps a little more sugar to balance the sour lemon.  It was certainly quick and easy to make, although it looked and tasted like there was a lot more effort involved.  It was also relatively light, with only a brief dredging of flour and only a few minutes in olive oil to brown it.

Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil                            

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

juice of 2 large lemons (3-4 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. 

Combine the flour, salt & paprika in a shallow pan, coat the chicken with this mixture.  Drop each chicken breast in the hot oil and brown on both sides.  Remove to a baking dish.

Pour the lemon juice into the pan and stir to deglaze.  Pour the lemon juice over the chicken breasts.  

Sprinkle with lemon zest and brown sugar.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

One Pot Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

The sky is looming grey this afternoon as I write this post.  It seems as though November arrived bringing much more autumnal weather with it.  The weatherman and the calendar both say snow is in the offing, but I remain in denial even though the air smells like snow.  I would like to hold off the descent into winter a little longer.
We had taken a brief hiatus from Emily's cooking days, I had taken a temp job with Elections Canada that had me working until 6 most evenings, so we needed meals that were quick and easy, or could be assembled in advance and take advantage of the oven timer.  With the election well behind us now, and Halloween done we can return to some semblance of normalcy again until Christmas's unerring and wonderful chaos makes its presence known.
Emily decided Sunday that she would cook Monday night again, accepting easily my suggestion of this recipe which I happened across while looking for inspirations last week.  I have made it before and it is easy and perfect for a chilly fall evening.
After school Monday Emily invited a friend over, and the two of them decided to make dinner together.  It was amusing to listen to Emily set her friend to various prep tasks, acting very sure of herself.  Talk about the blind leading the blind!  Still with a little assistance they were quickly underway.  I think they used about a third as much garlic as they should have, and Emily forgot to add the white wine (apple juice) to the pot.  We were short of linguine and substituted fettuccine noodles instead, so it took a little longer to cook.  When all was said and done there was pumpkin puree spattered all over the stove top, but dinner was a hit.  Emily's friend took some of the leftovers home with her for lunch too, along with a copy of the recipe.  I think they both had fun, and at the end of the day that's what matters.  

I neglected to take a picture in the midst of the chaos in my beleaguered kitchen, you'll have to take my word the dish is a rich,creamy concoction, a wonderful orange colour.  A green salad would have completed the meal perfectly, but the dish was hearty and filling on its own.  Who said pumpkin was only for pie?


One Pot Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

8 oz. linguine pasta                                 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 cups vegetable broth                             1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 cup pumpkin puree*                             1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry white wine**                       1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil                            4 oz fresh goat cheese (chevre)***
1 cup finely chopped onion                    1 small bunch parsley, chopped 
3-4 large cloves garlic, minced

Add all the ingredients except the goat cheese & parsley to a large, heavy pot
Place the pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil.  As soon as it comes to a boil set a timer for 9 minutes.  Stir and toss pasta as it cooks, frequently at first and then constantly as it begins to thicken. After 9 minutes the pasta should be done & the sauce thickened slightly.  If not continue cooking until the pasta is done.  Remove from heat.
Crumble the goat cheese into the pasta, stir gently until melted and combined. Let stand 5 minutes.  The sauce will thicken more as it sits.  Stir and taste, add more salt & pepper if needed, garnish with parsley.

*A can of pumpkin puree is 398 ml, but I use the whole can.  What are you going to do with less than half a can of pumpkin?

**Apple or orange juice is an adequate substitute for white wine. A splash of lemon juice will help replicate the acidity if you do not have wine to cook with, or prefer to drink the wine yourself

***Sour cream can be substituted for the goat cheese (about a 1/2 cup)