Blanquette de Veau (White Veal Stew)

This. was. amazing. It takes time, not a weeknight meal by any means--so worth it, though.  This is a traditional French dish, one that somehow I had never managed to get around to trying in France until my most recent trip there.  The version I had was one made at home, by a wonderful family I was lucky enough to stay with for a second time in one of my very favorite places in France.  It was made with chicken (blanquette de poulet) and was a bit quicker version; still wonderful nonetheless.  It can be made with other meats as well--this version is with veal, as the title indicates.  I used a recipe from a cookbook that is titled French: Delicious Classic Cuisine Made Easy (by Clements and Wolf-Cohen).  It is a book I bought a long time back at Borders (when that store still existed), and from the discount section, no less.  I modified only a little here and there to this recipe.  Next time, I shall have baguette on hand to mop up the amazing sauce...

Ingredients:

3 lbs. veal shoulder, cut into pieces (the original calls for boneless; I accidentally got bone-in and still used it (with bones) and all went well)
2 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth
3 cups homemade chicken stock
1 medium to large onion (mine was in-between), studded with 2 cloves
4 carrots, sliced, divided
2 small or 1 large leek (I had a rather large one), light green and white parts sliced (dark green parts discarded)
1 garlic clove, halved
bouquet garni (I tied together some thyme, rosemary, Italian parsley, and a fresh bay leaf)
1 T. black peppercorns
5 T. butter, divided
1/2 lb. white mushrooms, quartered if large (mine were)
1/2 lb. pearl onions, outer layer peeled
1 T. superfine sugar (I am betting you could sub regular granulated; I had the superfine, so I used it)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. heavy cream or crème fraîche (I opted for heavy cream, as didn't feel like a trip to special store just for the latter)
pinch of ground nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste (original recipe calls for white pepper, but this is just for appearance)

Instructions:

1. Put the veal in a large pot (preferably a Dutch oven).  Pour the chicken broth and chicken stock over the veal to cover and turn on burner to medium-high heat.  Bring to boil and skim off any foam that surfaces.

2. Add the studded onion, ONE of the sliced carrots, the leek(s), garlic, bouquet garni, and peppercorns.  Lower the heat to medium-low, cover pot, and simmer for 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, in a frying pan/skillet, melt 1 T. of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until golden on edges.  Transfer to a large bowl.

4. Lower heat slightly (like just above medium; original recipe does not call for lowering and I think it was actually a little too high; next time, I plan to lower at this stage) or remove pan from heat for a minute.  Add another 1 T. of butter to pan, melt, and then add pearl onions.  Sprinkle with the sugar, along with 6 T. of the veal cooking liquid.  Cover and simmer for around 10 minutes, or until onions are tender and liquid has evaporated, shaking pan to toss onions occasionally.  (I think I made it to about 8 minutes before the liquid appeared to be completely gone.)

5. Transfer the onions to the same bowl as the mushrooms.

6. Once the veal mixture is done simmering, use a slotted spoon to transfer only the veal to the same bowl as the mushroom and onions.

7. Strain the cooking liquid into a large bowl.  Discard the vegetables and bouquet garni.  Wash the pot and return it to medium heat.

8. Melt the remaining 3 T. butter.  Sprinkle flour over the butter and whisk together; continue whisking constantly (mixture must NOT brown!) for 1-2 minutes.

9. Slowly whisk in the reserved cooking liquid.  Increase heat slightly and bring to boil.  Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes, until smooth and slightly thickened, stirring occasionally and skimming foam if needed.

10. Add the remaining carrots and cook for 10 more minutes.

11. Whisk the cream into the sauce and simmer for a minute.

12. Return the reserved meat, mushrooms, and onions to the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes, skimming as needed and stirring occasionally.

13. Season with pinch of nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  If you had bone-in meat, remove bones before serving.  Ladle into bowls and enjoy a bit of heaven :)

Roast Chicken Stuffed with Cheese, Mushrooms, and Spinach

This recipe looks deceptively quick when reading it...then again, I am not a speedy cook, as I like to be sure I'm getting everything correct (this does not play in my favor, as you can imagine lol).  At any rate, this recipe was delicious and I will make it again...with some slight changes: 1. add the ingredients for the stuffing a little of each at a time instead of individually, 2. make when I can leave the windows open and not set off the smoke detectors, and 3. leave out the destroying of a basting brush (note to self: get a new basting brush, preferably silicon or other heat tolerant material...)

Here is a link to the original recipe:
http://www.saveur.com/article/recipes/pollo-relleno-chicken-stuffed-with-manchego-mushrooms-and-spinach

(I chose this pic instead of the plated one because this isn't quite so beautiful plated.)

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (4 1/2-5 lbs.)
kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper, to taste
4 T. unsalted butter
5 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz. sliced quesadilla cheese (or provolone), cut into smaller pieces (like 1"x 1")
6 oz. thinly sliced white mushrooms (I actually used slightly more and had trouble fitting them in)
5 oz. fresh spinach, stems removed/cut off

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 450°F (I used 475°F as the original directions called for, but had to turn it down to 450° after 45 minutes because it was just creating too much smoke, and I think 475° is too much anyway.)  Season chicken all over with salt and pepper (I also seasoned cavity.)

2. Combine all the minced garlic and 1 T. of the butter in a small bowl. Slide fingers under the skin of each breast of the chicken to make a pocket.  Divide the garlic mixture among the two pockets and do your best to distribute it evenly in the pockets (this was not easy, in my opinion.)

3. Alternating between the three, stuff the breast pockets with the cheese, mushrooms, and spinach (I stuffed one at a time originally and it made getting the end parts in more difficult).  Once the pockets are filled, stuff remainder into the cavity.

4. At this point, the original recipe calls for trussing the chicken with a trussing needle.  Trussing just means closing up the cavity, basically, so, lacking the fancy needle, I opted to simply use cooking twine and some metal poultry pins that I had on hand.  I also looked up a video on YouTube of how to truss a chicken without a needle; I tried to follow the method shown (it looked so easy, much like so many Pinterest projects lol), but with the major amount of stuffing, it didn't work out quite like the video.  Unsexy as it is, I did manage to get it as closed as I could.  You then place it in a 9"x13" baking dish, with the breast side up, and top with the remaining butter:

5. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, basting occasionally.  As I did this, I mentioned before that a couple of things happened.  The butter spatters all over, which is what caused my oven to smoke (it's a self-cleaning model) and the smoke detectors to deafen us three times.  After the first time, I lowered the rack from middle to next one down (lower 1/3). After the third time, I decided it could not hurt to tent it with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.  I think it worked well, but the pan still got quite messy.  Despite my effort of needle-free trussing, some of the filling escaped at around the 1 hour mark; I don't think this hurt anything.

6. Carve and serve with desired sides, enjoy!  I chose chips and salsa, thus why my plate is full of chips :)

S'mores Cookies

This is a recipe I made only once before and not again since, as the last time it was quite the messy experience.  Who knew that marshmallow creme would be so sticky haha? Don't get me wrong, the cookies were very delicious and I wanted to do them again (obviously).  Another factor that usually keeps these off my list is the need for ingredients I do not typically keep on hand (marshmallow creme and Hershey's kisses). This time, I was determined to make it go better...and I succeeded!
Link to original recipe:
http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/smore-cookies-please/

The picture shown here is not the full batch--which, for the second time on a Midwest Living cookie recipe now (in my experience), yielded much more than indicated.  This would have made ~71 cookies, but I didn't bake the last 3 as I didn't want to run the oven for just 3 (and there are cookie dough lovers in my house, so... :))  Nearly twice as many as the 42 it seems to think one will get.  And I made them a little large this time, as I was trying out my new cookie scoop--a 1.5 T scoop, which is a little large for these.  So, point here is, be ready for lots or reduce!

Ingredients:

4 c. regular/old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. finely crushed graham crackers (about 1 package when there are 3 in a box; I used Honey Maid brand)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/4 c. milk
1 T. vanilla
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme, scooped out into a 1 GAL size Ziploc-type bag (yes, you need to use that size or you will have the mess problem I talked about!)
~70 Hershey's kisses, unwrapped (make sure you have more, just in case)

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine first 7 ingredients (oats through salt).  Set aside.

2. In mixing bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds.

3. Beat in brown sugar and sugar.

4. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla.

5. Add as much of the oat mixture as you can with the mixer, then rest by hand (I was able to get it all in with mixer).

6. Chill batter for at least 1 hour, but not more than 4 (no idea what happens if you go longer, just repeating what the original says.  I went 2 hours this time.)

7. Heat oven to 375°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

8. Scoop/spoon out 1" dough balls and place 2" apart on sheets.

9. Bake for 8-9 minutes; they will still look a little unset in middles.

10. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack.  Working quickly, use the back of a spoon to make a small dent in the middle of each (I'm not sure this was really necessary, but did it anyhow).

11. Snip a small corner (about 1/4 inch or slightly larger) off of the Ziploc bag with the marshmallow creme in it.  Pipe a small ball of creme onto middle of each cookie.

12. Press a Hershey's kiss, tip down, into middle of each creme ball.  Return cookies to oven for 2-3 more minutes (if you go too long, the marshmallow creme will begin to harden a bit).

13. Cool on sheet for 1 minute before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.  Get some milk and enjoy!

Pecan Crusted Pork Noisettes

This a great weeknight recipe--comes together fast and is very good.  Not quite as good as the pecan crusted tilapia I posted back in August--just a nice second place in the pecan crusted category :)  I only modified the amount of pork tenderloin; there was only just enough coating for the amount I used, think a whole pound of tenderloin would come up short.  Served with rosemary potatoes (yep, family favorite!)

Link to original recipe:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-crusted-pork-noisettes

Ingredients:

1/3 c. coarsely ground pecans
1/3 c. panko
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. water
1 large egg
3/4 to 7/8 lb pork tenderloin (I didn't weigh, just know it was a little under 1 pound), sliced into 6 and pounded to 1/4" thickness
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 T. butter

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine pecans and panko on a small cookie sheet that has edges (original recipe indicates a jelly roll pan; I found that my smallest sheet worked just fine).  Bake for 5-10 minutes (I think I went just under 6), until pecans looked toasted (not burnt!)

3. Place crumbs in a shallow dish or plate.  Place flour in a shallow dish or plate.  Combine egg and water in a shallow dish or plate.

(Yes, I forgot to get the other two in the frame--you can see them at the edges lol)

4. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper (I actually didn't measure), then dredge in flour.  Follow by dipping in egg mixture, then coat in pecan mixture.

5. Melt half of the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add half of pork to pan.  Cook 2 minutes on each side.  Repeat for second half of pork.

6. Place cooked pork on pan used in second step (or another one if you feel like more dishes ;))  Bake for 5 minutes.

(Forgot to get the after baking shot before everyone else took their servings!)

7. Serve with favorite side and enjoy!

Skillet Chicken with Bacon in White Wine Sauce

Mmmm this was ever so tasty.  True, it's hard to go wrong when it comes to a dish that has bacon in it, but it's certainly not a given that it will be great.  I only modified slightly from the original; one of the additions is based on the comments sections of the post (the mushrooms).  Served this with fried potatoes, everyone raved and enjoyed a lot!

Original recipe link:
http://pinchofyum.com/skillet-chicken-bacon-white-wine-sauce

Ingredients:

3 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into small pieces
1/2 c. flour
salt and pepper, to taste
1 T. herbes de provence, divided
1 1/2 to 2 lb. bone-in, skinned chicken thighs
1 T. olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
8 oz. white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
1 c. chicken stock

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium to medium-high heat (I used the setting in-between these).  Cook bacon for 5-6 minutes, until just starting to become crispy.  Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper-towel lined plate (leave bacon drippings in pan).

3. In a shallow dish or plate, mix together flour, salt, pepper, and 2 tsp. of the herbes de Provence.  Dredge chicken thighs in the flour mixture, then cook in the bacon drippings until golden brown on both sides but not cooked through (I think I went about 4 minutes each side).  Remove thighs from pan to drain on same dish with bacon.

4. Add olive oil and remaining 1 tsp. of herbes de Provence to pan.  Add shallots and mushrooms to pan and cook until slightly browned, around 5 minutes.

5. Add white wine to pan slowly and stir to scrape up browned bits in pan.  Add chicken stock and let cook for 5 more minutes.

6. Return chicken and bacon to pan and place in oven.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Check and flip chicken every 10 to 15 minutes.

7. After removing from oven, serve with favorite side and enjoy!

Onion Rings

This is yet another recipe from my junior high cooking days :)  The original version makes a TON of onion rings, so I reduced it to serve as one of the sides at my most recent family Christmas dinner.  The recipe comes together very quickly, thus there are not many pictures with this one. These are best served immediately.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet red onions (or mild white onions, if you prefer), sliced 1/4" thick and separated into rings
1/2 of a slightly beaten egg
1/3 c. milk
1 T. canola oil, plus much more for frying (amount depends on size of your deep fryer)
1/3 c. plus 2 tsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. Pour enough canola oil into fryer to achieve ~2" deep.  Heat oil to 375°F.

2. Mix egg, milk, 1 T. oil, flour, and salt together in a small bowl until just combined.

3. Using a fork, dip the onion ring slices in the batter, then place in the fryer.

4. Fry rings in a single layer, about 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown in color.  Remove and place on a cooking rack over a paper towel or cookie sheet to drain.  Salt to taste.

5. Serve immediately and try not to eat too many ;)

Peanut Brittle...

...aka the tasty mess.  Right up to the end, this candy was going along great.  There simply must be a better solution to the last part.  My mom and I made this together; in the last step, it was all over both of us, the counter, the sides of the counter, and probably the neighbor's yard.  It took waaaayyyy more work to get it pried up and broken apart than I've ever experienced.  Even so, it did taste great, so our efforts were not in vain :)
Link to original recipe:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/traditional_peanut_brittle.aspx

Yes, this is what the end looked like lol.  Thus, as I stated above, I hope to find a better way to do the last part.  I know I made brittle a long time ago and do not recall having such a problem (nor did my mom).

Ingredients:

vegetable oil for the spreading area
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. water
3/4 c. light corn syrup
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. raw peanuts (Spanish or blanched)
2 T. unsalted butter, softened

Instructions:

1. Generously oil a large marble slab (18"x18" at least) or inverted baking sheet (I chose the latter, as I do not own a marble slab.) and a thin metal spatula.  When I find a better solution for this, I will post it.

2. Sift the baking soda and salt onto a small piece of waxed paper or parchment.  This is to make it quick and easy to add these when the time comes.  Set aside.

3. Have the vanilla measured and ready to go as well.  (It says to measure into a small cup, but I think if you have the right kind of measuring spoons, you could just measure and set aside.)

4. In a 4 qt. (or larger) heavy-bottomed saucepan/pot, combine water, corn syrup, and sugar.  Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, around 8-12 minutes (mine was just under 9).

5. When the mixture is nearly clear and beginning to boil, increase heat to high and stop stirring.  Carefully attach a candy thermometer with the tip not touching the bottom of pan.  Cook undisturbed until temperature registers 265°F (around 8-10 more minutes).  At this point, stir in the peanuts.

6.  Continue cooking, now stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 305-310°F (around 5 minutes longer).  Remove pan from heat.

7. Immediately stir in butter, then vanilla, then baking soda/salt mixture.  The consistency of the mixture will change rapidly and look creamy/foamy.  Stir only until the mixture is of an even consistency.

8. Quickly pour the mixture onto the oiled/prepared surface.  The directions now indicate that you should use the oiled spatula to pry up the edges of the hot candy and loosen edges and bottom.  **This is where it did not go so well; despite the spatula being well-oiled, it kept trying to stick and pull some of the candy in strings.  My mom used another spatula at the same time and we had to fight the candy to get it off the pan by the end, as it was not coming up quickly enough.** If you can get it pried up, stretch the candy slightly as you go (be very careful not to burn your fingers doing so!) and turn the whole mixture over (this never happened for us).

9. Let the candy cool for 1 hour and then break in pieces.  Or, if it turns out like ours did, it will already be in pieces lol.  Enjoy!