holler at your girl

hold up world- its time for a howe girls do stuff first. we are LIVE BLOGGING this months cooking task. i hopped on a plane on wednesday night to visit meg in boston for st. pattys day. as it stands now, we have visited 7 of the 87 irish pubs in boston. so this months cooking challenge plays into this perfectly...british isles. so today we are undertaking the task of making shepherds pie and roasted cauliflower with cheddar cheese sauce, and as an added bonus, were making an app!

right now, meg is looking over her cauliflower recipe. liam is prepping the shepherds pie, and whit- our cousin who bravely joined us today for the st. pattys day parade as well as the harpoon tour, is making the app. so well start there.

todays british isle app is bread and, wait for it, evoo and balsamic vinegar!!! so whit just finished perfecting the dip, and the bread is cut. and im going in for the kill....AND ITS A WINNER!! perfecto!!

so now its a bit calm. meg is moving things around to chop "stuff" and liam is sipping on his pbr tall boy. seems pretty calm in the kitchen right now. and now hes left his spot, trying the app. and again, winning. duh.

so meg needed some steamer thing to steam the cauliflower and didnt have one- she she just dropped those bad boys into a pot of boiling water. game time decision that i think will eventually work out- well just have to see.

liam is now sauteing the 99% fat free turkey breast on the stove. meg is joking about making me do dishes. ha. I'm not going to lie, this is getting kind of boring and i wish that dinner would just be done. oh- but meg just offed up some cheddar. and I'm back in the game! its ok- not what i would have chose, but that's why I'm blogging and meg is cooking. now shes shredding that chedda.

and now were talking about brackets. and pardon my french, but my bracket is f*cked. seriously. who picks gonzaga to go to the final four?? vs. Louisville? ha. anyways.

whit is now cutting up some dubliner cheese to snack on. girl is all over the app portion of this meal. now meg is measuring things in order to make the cheese sauce. interesting to note- little piggy is also grabbing some of the shredded cheddar out of the bowl and she waits. now discussing atheism- and wondering if mary and joseph really just punked the world to make their parents ok with her being pregnant at 14??? hm. good call meg.

and now meg's chatting w grams. i get it. meg wants to be the fav. but sucking up in front of 2 other grandkids?? party foul. anyways. movement from liam. he's mixing meat with spices and frozen veggies. and he's doing a great job. gold stars all the way around. now he's mixing in the gravy. this sh*t is riveting. meg now wants more beer. which deserves its own paragraph.

so we went to the harpoon brewery this afternoon. its basically and all you can drink learn-a-fest. but we walked out with a growler of this oyster beer. its like a dark beer, but better. yeah, thats all you're gonna get from me. it was all you can drink.

now meg is cutting cheese to layer in the shepherd pies. even though i said that was gross. so well see how this turns out. but i'm thinking were on our way to a cheese overload. its ok. and now were moving on to the cheese sauce for the cauliflower. after reading the recipe- i'm kinda convinced that its actually the same cheese that grams makes at her house, but i guess we wont find out until we taste it.

Recipe Quandry

We Howe Girls have definitely slowed down - cuisine creation appears to be a challenge. Not pointing fingers at any particular girl, but JJ has been awfully quiet!


This month, the cuisine style is British Isles and I am completely at a loss. Besides my husband's favorite roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, I have no idea what to make.


Ideas?????

You Say Clafooti, I Say (to be read with French accent) Clafouti!

Marmie came to visit me in Boston this weekend and we seized the opportunity to make our February Julia Child's recipe together.  After much searching of Mastering the Art of French Cooking we settled on Clafouti a la Liqueur (cherry flan with liqueur). We needed a main course to go along with our dessert so we surfed the pages of the internet for easy-to-make french dinners.  We decided on poulet sauce chasseur (chicken and mushroom sauce, www.easy-french-food.com/chicken-chasseur.html) and brussel sprouts with brown butter and sage (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/brussels-sprouts-brown-butter-sage-10000001031590/index.html).  We also made mulled wine to keep us warm and toasty (http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/11/crockpot-mulled-wine-recipe.html).

Mulled Wine

Unfortunately for us cherries were neither in season nor in stock at our local food co-op.  So we thought we had remembered reading that one could substitute raspberries for cherries.  We bought a few bags of frozen organic raspberries, gathered the remaining ingredients, and headed home to get our cook on.

Shallots and Garlic Smell Good!

Reviewing the recipe upon our return, we discovered our friend Julia never mentions raspberries in the clafouti section.  But in the spirit of Ms. Child, we decided to just go with it! Armed with a few bottles of white wine, french music on Pandora, and Julie and Julia at the ready so we could watch while things baked and cooked, we whirled and twirled our way around the kitchen. Below is the recipe for Julia Child's Clafouti a la Liqueur, substituting frozen raspberries for the cherries.  We are adding some pictures of the whole process.

Bon Appetite!

Plating the Poulet

Brussel Sprouts and Sage

Clafouti a la Liqueur


*Follow the recipe for the clafouti.  Let the "cherries" stand in 1/4 cup cognac and 1/3 cup sugar (1/4 if using raspberries) for one hour prior to baking.


1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
3 cups cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
powdered sugar

Preparation

In a blender blend the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour. Pour a 1/4 inch layer of the batter in a buttered 7 or 8 cup lightly buttered fireproof baking dish. Place in the oven until a film of batter sets in the pan. Remove from the heat and spread the cherries over the batter. Sprinkle on the 1/3 cup of sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about for about 45 minutes to an hour. The clafouti is done when puffed and brown and and a knife plunged in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, serve warm.

Clafou-tini!

Mmmmmm!

Comfort Food - new definition

Life brings lessons when you don't expect them. I was so excited with the concentration on Comfort Food for January. For so long, comfort food has meant the food that brings me home. The food that makes me sigh with contentment and takes me on a wonderful journey back to my childhood and home.

What I didn't realize was how much comfort I would need over the past few weeks.

The loss of friend and friends of loved ones made me crave comfort - soft quilts, warm food and encompassing hugs.

I looked to comfort food all month to bring me peace. Food such as this delectable mac and cheese from the Adirondack Brewing Company. in Lake Placid, New York.

Honestly - it made me want to cry with joy.

This month, I've lovingly prepared zesty stuffed peppers, tarragon and lemon roasted chicken, onion-filled meatloaf. I've dined on KFC chicken dinners (with really great mashed potatoes and gravy), Big Macs and Mighty Taco burritos. These were the meals that made me feel happy, content, cozy...I would make it through these crunching times.

I have been looking for comfort food to comfort me. What can I make this month for our comfort food recipe? What comforts me most? Me. Me. Me.

And then one day I looked out the window and saw this:

Three of the people I love most. My dear husband and two grandsons who spent most of a very cold day building a sled run in the back yard. The were in need of warmth and COMFORT! And it came to me that comfort food isn't only what comforts us, but it is also what we can create that comforts those we love most in life.

Whether it's a ginger-pear martini or a warm pot of chili - comfort food is what we make for others - my new definition.

So I searched the pantry and decided a spicy chili would be perfect. First, I gathered the raw ingredients:

lb 1 inch chunks of beef2 lbs of ground beef
stewed tomatoes

my favorite chili seasoning mix (no - it's not cheating!)

onions
kidney beans

lots of love

And it all became this

Comfort food is the food that comforts those we love.

love marmie

Slow-Cookin' in January

I was so excited that we had comfort food as our dish for January.  I have been meaning to buy a crock-pot for quite some time and it was the perfect motivation!  The Sunday after New Year's I headed to the closest Bed, Bath, and Beyond with my coupons in hand and bought me one fine slow cooker.

Now, the big question, what to cook?  Originally I had talked to JJ about hosting dinner parties for every meal.  But I was so excited to use my new toy that I just found a recipe that day and got cookin.  I decided on A Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili with Sweet Potatoes from Real Simple magazine.  For those of you who don't know, Real Simple magazine offers the most amazing recipes.  (They can also be found on their website, realsimple.com)  The beauty of these recipes is that they are easy, have few ingredients, and taste amazing!

For my chili, I made a couple of adjustments.  I didn't have cocoa powder at home so I omitted it.  It tasted just fine without it.  The fire-roasted tomatoes I bought had garlic in them, so I also reduced the amount of cloves I used from 4 to 2. I loved the nice little kick that the sweet potatoes gave this meal.  I bought a bag of blue tortilla chips to scoop up remaining chili bits.  The result...sooo comforting!  Here are some pictures of my dish and the recipe below.

The spread

Slow Cookin'!

I heart comfort food!

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 20m | Total Time: 8hr 20m

Ingredients

• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 28-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 medium sweet potato (about 8 ounces), peeled and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
• sour cream, sliced scallions, sliced radishes, and tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

1. In a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Add the tomatoes (and their liquid), beans, sweet potato, and 1 cup water.
2. Cover and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chili has thickened, on low for 7 to 8 hours  or on high for 4 to 5 hours (this will shorten total recipe time).
3. Serve the chili with the sour cream, scallions, radishes, and tortilla chips.

That's a Wrap!

Four hours left of 2010 on the East Coast!  I just returned home after visiting Marmie and then a couple of days with JJ.  It was a knitting bonanza!  I needed some easy projects to whip up after that darn fox so I searched through patterns on Ravelry.com for anything requiring the use of chunky yarn, big needles, and basic techniques. 

My first day of vacation I knit a brown cowl, based on a Lion Brand yarn pattern and then I tried something only slightly more challenging and knit JJ a pair of fingerless mitts.  JJ knit beside me and turned out this cute beehive hat.  Here is a picture of JJ and I in all of our winter creations.  I am wearing a cable knit hat JJ made a few weeks ago, as well as my brown cowl.  JJ is wearing her beehive hat and the new mitts.

 

This year I am grateful for family, for knitting, and for lots of red wine! I can't wait to start cooking.   Happy New Year!  Cheers!

The New Resolution - HOWE Girls Cook!

In 2010, we Howe women took on a New Year's Resolution to knit, knit, knit. The goal was simple- to summon delightful creations from our fingers and to encourage, drag, and pull each other to new levels! Now, as 2011 approaches we are proud to say we have reached our goal! Alas, the Howe women never rest. Encouraged by our success we have decided to learn a new talent. This year we will take on the task of cooking. Don't worry, the knitting will continue as we learn HOWE to do new stuff!

The Plan
Our goal is to expand and challenge our cooking repertoire.  Each month we will focus on various cuisines - check out the calendar to the right!  With freedom to create any type of dish within each cuisine, the only rule is to create something never attempted.  Our posts will contain pictures of our culinary creations, as well as the recipes and lessons learned. We will slice and dice our way to 2012!

Bon appetite!