Superbowl Party Food | The Savoury Team

February 1, 2011 by Rebecca 6 Comments

You know what’s coming Sunday. I know what’s coming Sunday. I’m just going to pretend that it’s National Finger Food Day because I’m not a big fan of the you-know-what-bowl. Dip bowl? Yes! Soup bowl? Undoubtedly. Chip bowl? And how! Superbowl? Meh. The Evil Genius and the Minions, however, adore all of the aforementioned bowls including the superlative one. And so it always has been and always will be a big deal around here. I cook accordingly.

I have, over the tenure of my marriage, developed some pretty mad finger food skills to match the festive mood. I have also, over my tenure as Foodie With Family, recorded quite a few of them here. So many, in fact, that I figured it was high time to do a little round up of my own. I found so much of it that I had enough to do split into three categories. Since we’re being all footbally*, we’ll divide it into: The Savoury Team (hearty party food), The Sweet Team (desserts and other sweet treats), and our Halftime Show (snacks). These dishes are all at the top of our list of foods that make us unspeakably happy while leaving one hand free for the remote. As an added bonus, they can all be either cooked or prepped ahead of time to reduce the amount of time you spend off the couch during the big game.

*Footbally. It’s a word, right?

Here is a list of sixteen of my best, most festive Superbowl worthy savoury, stick-to-your-ribs gnosh. All of these come highly recommended from our crew to yours.

Meat Lovers

Pretzel Wrapped Smoked Sausages with Cranberry Mustard

Chewy soft pretzels wrapped around miniature smoked sausages. Seriously. Can you think of a better finger food? I sure can’t. This is my family’s all-time, most-requested, best-loved, favorite snack/birthday/special occasion/pretty-please-mom-and-or-honey food. When served with homemade Cranberry Mustard, it achieves a whole new state of addictiveness and -dare I say it?- elegance.

Slow-Cooked Cuban Pork

Let me reintroduce you to one of my all-time favorite recipes from here at Foodie With Family: Slow-Cooked Cuban Pork. This takes a little bit of advance planning, since you cook it overnight in the slow-cooker and let it chill before pulling it apart and reheating, but don’t let that put you off. It’s one of the most satisfying, simple and reliable recipes we’ve ever published here. It’s all that and a bag of chips. You can serve it the way we love best (the Cuban Pulled-Pork Tacos pictured above), stir it into soup, or try another of our favorites…

Barbecue Pulled-Pork Sliders

Tangy, slow-cooked pulled pork dressed in Carolina or Kansas-City Style Barbecue Sauce served on crusty garlic rolls. Yes, please. I don’t even want to tell you how many of these my husband can eat in one sitting.

Chicken and Pork Potstickers

Crisp on the bottom, filled to bursting with a savoury chicken, pork, garlic, ginger, and savoy cabbage filling. Life can’t get much better than having a big, fat plate of these steaming chicken and pork potstickers in front of you. Well, okay. You could improve the scenario by serving with chili garlic paste, soy sauce and sesame oil, like we did here. I don’t even want to tell you how many of these I can eat in one sitting. It ain’t perty.

Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Sandwiches

Speaking of stuffed things (both foods and me), these are high on the request list. If you can picture the flavor of a barbecue bacon cheeseburger cooked sloppy joe style then stuffed into a neat little package of soft, deep brown potato bread you’re on the right track. Happily, they can be made and frozen ahead of time for game day or snack attacks.

Sticky Chicky Bones

I’m reaching really far back with this one, but what Superbowl roundup is complete without chicken wings? These remain our favorite chicken wings. Packing an Asian flair with Sriracha and sesame oil, they’re sticky with honey, garlicky, gingery, and just slightly citrusy. Try them out this weekend. You won’t be disappointed.

Corn Dog Bread

I know I’m not the only person in the world with a bonafide food crush on corn dogs. It’s just not possible. They scream party to me. Why not elevate them to a little something better than we’re used to getting at the county fair? My version is an ever so slightly sweet buttermilk cornbread with flavorful slices of quality franks (we prefer all-beef Kosher franks), chopped onions and candied jalapenos. Cut into squares and serve with the usual corn dog accompaniments; mustard and ketchup. And since I brought up ketchup, let’s play Yooper word association. I say ketchup, you say…

Yooper Pasties

All self-respecting Yoopers will have a platter full of piping hot pasties at their Superbowl parties. It’s winter, after all, and there is nothing that warms and fills you like a Yooper Pasty. What you have here is a flaky pastry crust filled with lean beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and rutabagas flavored simply with black pepper and salt. The great debate north of the Big Mac -other than Lions or Packers- is whether to serve a proper pasty with ketchup or gravy. I’m in the ketchup camp. Where are you?

Spicy Chicken and Cheese Calzones

Ah calzones. When I was introduced to them, I thought of them as Italian pasties. Because I was cultured like that. In the years since, I have come to appreciate them as a wondrous thing all on their own. Crispy, chewy, pizza-like crust wrapped around melted cheese, tender chicken and crushed red pepper flakes make up my favorite take on the calzone. If you make them large, one will fill you to your tippy top. If you want to keep nibbling with no guilt, make mini-calzones. It’s a scientific fact that if it’s small you can eat more of them and consume less calories. Tell me I’m right. Now.

Ham and Swiss on Onion Rye Pizza

This pizza is, in a word, outstanding. The onion rye crust is pre-baked, making the process of baking a pizza faster than phoning for take-out. It goes without saying that a homemade pizza tastes infinitely better than 3/4 of the pizzerias out there, so what are you waiting for? Channel your inner pizza chef and throw down this rye crust topped with balsamic caramelized onions, shaved ham and Swiss cheese.

Ham and Cheese Bites

Did someone ask for more ham? I thought so! These crusty, herb-topped, butter-brushed rolls hide tender ham and gooey melted cheese and are served with a Dijon mayonnaise. I have been known to eat far too many of these, too.

Bacon and Swiss Rye Muffins

Is it a muffin? Is it meat? Is it a sandwich? Is it cheese? YES! It is. Oh, it is. This is a savoury bacon and swiss laden rye muffin. I’ll leave you alone with that thought for a moment.

Are you back? Good. Now make yourself some of these. You should be kind to you.

Soup’s On!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Just in case you wanted the perfect soup to serve with those Ham and Swiss Rye Muffins, look no further. Loaded Baked Potato Soup is exactly what it sounds like; a glorious baked potato base, pureed with chicken stock and butter, topped with all the things you love best on a baked potato. Who cares about snowstorms when you have a tureen (or in our case, a vat) of this soup on the table?

Taco Soup

Eminently kid- and budget-friendly, think of this soup as a basic black dress. Serve it plain or loaded with as many taco toppings as you can fit on without the bowl collapsing under the weight. Forget Coco Chanel’s advice to remove one accessory. Add it on, honey. Go all Liberace on this soup. It can handle it.

Vegetarian and Universally Beloved

Falafel (Fried Savoury Chickpea Fritters)

Don’t you dare think vegetarian food is boring. Not in the presence of these splendid chickpea fritters. Crispy and deep brown on the outside, impossibly light and bread-like on the inside, you’ll not be able to eat just one. That’s a guarantee.

Mediterranean Hummus Pizza

What can I say about this that you can’t see from the picture? Not a whole lot, but trust me when I tell you that this cold appetizer pizza will keep everyone happy, not just the vegetarians. A pre-baked pizza shell is topped with creamy hummus, wafer thin English cucumbers, red onions, olives, crumbled feta cheese and chopped parsley. Don’t you feel happy just thinking about that?

I’ll meet you back here later this week for our Halftime Show and The Sweet Team. Superbowl will never be quite the same again…

Filed Under: Party Food, Uncategorized Tagged With: Appetizers & Snacks, buffet food, hors d'oeuvres, party food

We have a winner! (Wii Just Dance Kids results)

December 6, 2010 by Rebecca 3 Comments

Hey there, we have a winner in the giveaway for a brand-spankin’ new copy of Wii Just Dance Kids. Looks like Sharon and her crew will be baking AND jiving this Christmas.

Sharon

December 2, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Really looking forward to baking for everyone, me included! Cant wait to make the chocolate toffee crunchies (even for breakfast!). Already compiling recipes for the holiday season. My 4 kids love to help too!

Sharon, please email me your mailing address and Ubisoft will get this to you in plenty of time to dance off those cookies. Not that I’m implying you’re eating too many cookies. This is what’s know as projection. I’m projecting. Onto you. I think I need to bake some cookies.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Grandma’s Famous Cornbread Stuffing

November 17, 2010 by Rebecca 9 Comments

…Kind of.

I call this Grandma’s Famous Cornbread Stuffing, but in reality this is my version of her recipe. It’s not precisely how my Grandma makes it, but it’s close. I’ve added fresh sage to the required powdered sage, sautéed the onions and garlic in a generous amount of butter instead of putting them into the stuffing raw, dropped in a few more dry bread cubes and made the beaten eggs mandatory. One thing is certain; this is the be all and end all of stuffings. This is what other stuffings long to be. This is the apotheosis of stuffing-hood. We’re talking about moist but crisp-on-top-and-around-the-edges sweet cornbread, herb-saturated, onion and celery laden dressing. In short, it’s pretty darned good*.

*This stuffing comes fully endorsed by my step-mom, Val, who helped me test this stuffing this afternoon. If you have an image of two very happy women sitting at a table with a pan full of hot cornbread stuffing and a couple forks you have it about right.

But there’s something else about this stuffing -or dressing, whichever term you prefer- that you need to remember. You cannot smell this without feeling like there are generations of Southern Grandmas cooking Thanksgiving dinner just for you. There is no way to taste it without feeling a big warm hug from my little sweet Grandma. And me. You’ve been warned.

Grandma’s Famous Cornbread Stuffing

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Ingredients:

4 cups crumbled cornbread (For the love of the South, don’t use a super sweet cornbread here. Please. I prefer my Grandmother’s Buttermilk Cornbread recipe. You can read it here.)
3 cups dry bread cubes (Homemade bread is best. Any type will do, but herb-laden choices make stuffing that is particularly flavorful.)
3 1/2 cups chicken or turkey stock (Again, homemade is best, but a low-sodium store bought broth will be good, too.)
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon powdered sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
freshly ground pepper and kosher salt, to taste

Melt butter over medium-low heat in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan or skillet. Add celery and onion with a good pinch of salt and stir well. Cook gently, not allowing the celery and onion to color, until the vegetables are nearly translucent, about 6-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Gently grease a 8″x8″ baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to toss together the crumbled cornbread, dry bread cubes, minced fresh sage, powdered sage, and poultry seasoning. Toss in the softened celery and onion. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Crack the eggs into another mixing bowl and whisk until evenly colored. Add the chicken or turkey stock and whisk to combine. Pour the liquid mixture over the bread mixture and use a wooden spoon to gently toss it until everything is evenly moist. Scrape the contents into the prepared pan and slide the pan into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes in the pan or until the internal temperature of the stuffing is 160°.

*You can freeze this stuffing ahead of time. To do so, cool the stuffing on a rack until the pan is cool to the touch. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until it is cold through. Wrap the pan with foil and freeze. To reheat: Remove pan from the freezer at least 24 hours, but no more than 48 hours, before you plan to serve it. Remove the foil and plastic wrap, replace the foil, and reheat in a 350°F oven until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. Remove foil for about 10 minutes of baking if you wish the top to become crisp.

Grandma’s Famous Cornbread Stuffing

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: Side

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 8

Crunchy on top and moist throughout, this is the cornbread stuffing I grew up eating and the one I will always turn to for special occasions. This is a true classic!

Ingredients

4 cups crumbled cornbread (For the love of the South, don’t use a super sweet cornbread here. Please.)
3 cups dry bread cubes (Homemade bread is best. Any type will do, but herb-laden choices make stuffing that is particularly flavorful.)
3½ cups chicken or turkey stock (Again, homemade is best, but a low-sodium store bought broth will be good, too.)
3 large eggs
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon minced fresh sage
1 teaspoon powdered sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
freshly ground pepper and kosher salt, to taste

Instructions

Melt butter over medium-low heat in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan or skillet. Add celery and onion with a good pinch of salt and stir well. Cook gently, not allowing the celery and onion to color, until the vegetables are nearly translucent, about 6-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Gently grease a 8″x8″ baking dish and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use your hands to toss together the crumbled cornbread, dry bread cubes, minced fresh sage, powdered sage, and poultry seasoning. Toss in the softened celery and onion. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Crack the eggs into another mixing bowl and whisk until evenly colored. Add the chicken or turkey stock and whisk to combine. Pour the liquid mixture over the bread mixture and use a wooden spoon to gently toss it until everything is evenly moist. Scrape the contents into the prepared pan and slide the pan into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes in the pan or until the internal temperature of the stuffing is 160°.

Notes

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

Filed Under: Holiday Food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Uncategorized Tagged With: Buttermilk Cornbread, Southern Cornbread, Thanksgiving

Coming Wednesday…

November 15, 2010 by Rebecca 5 Comments

Hey folks! I haven’t forgotten you. No, no, no. I’m just enjoying a visit from my Dad and stepmom extraordinaire, Valerie. And I have two kids with birthdays this week. Yeehah!

Check back in with me on Wednesday for my Grandma Shaffer’s World Famous (in my mind) Cornbread Stuffing. Trust me. It’s worth the wait!

In the meantime, look back in my archives at this sweet baby. Have you met my Hot Chocolate on a Stick?

It’s an awfully good time of year to whip up a batch or four of these to give away. Have one more look. Hello gorgeous!

See you Wednesday!

Mucho Smoochos,
Rebecca

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt

June 17, 2010 by Rebecca 8 Comments

Hot days require cold things to eat. That is the law in my house. I decreed it. And so it was written.

There is nothing quite like ice cream to relieve the heat from the inside out, but The Evil Genius is still on his crazy “I want to be healthy!” kick. And so, loving wife that I am, I’m trying to mess with him. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not shooting down his healthy diet attempts, I’m just trying to make him think that I am. It’s complex. Let me explain.

I have finally found the holy grail of diet-friendly desserts; frozen yogurt. Yes. I knew frozen yogurt existed before, and I had even tried it and liked it. But my problem was that every time I made it at home (with this notable exception) it tasted like, well, yogurt. And while yogurt is a pleasant thing most times, when I’m biting into something that looks like ice cream, I want it to taste like ice cream, too. When I made my Blueberry Frozen Yogurt last month, it was a revelation. It was frozen yogurt that tasted so much like ice cream that it totally confused all the menfolk in my house. The boys thought I was teasing them by calling it frozen yogurt. The Evil Genius thought I was trying to secretly fatten him. It took another round of blueberry frozen yogurt, with them watching me make it, to convince them that it was really that healthy for them.

But when they were really and truly convinced it created a new, more insidious problem. They nagged me for it constantly. They wanted more, more, more… As much as I love food, I get a little fickle if I have to prepare the same thing three times a week. (Unless by ‘prepare the same thing three times a week’ you mean unwrapping individual bite-sized dark chocolate bars.) I had to move on from Blueberry Frozen Yogurt. The next step was a natural. My favorite ice cream flavor is Fill-in-the-blank* Cheesecake. Clearly that was the next candidate for health-i-fication.

*Fill-in-the-blank= strawberry or blueberry. Either will do!

Happily, the first attempt at Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt was a grand slam home run. Using 2% milk fat Greek yogurt and American-style Neufchâtel* cheese, I churned up a perfect creamy, healthy version of Cheesecake Ice Cream swirled with a fresh ruby strawberry coulis. Go on. I know! Seriously, it was cheesecakey. It was fruity. It was smooth. And it didn’t taste even remotely healthy! I call that a success!

*American-style Neufchâtel cheese is often sold next to cream cheese in the dairy section of grocery stores. It is packaged identically to cream cheese, and usually says “1/3 less fat than Cream Cheese” or something like that on the label. It is, in most cases, interchangeable with cream cheese in recipes. This case is no exception! You get the flavor and the creaminess imparted by cream cheese with less impact on the old rear. And goodness knows I do enough to pad that area already.

And wait until you hear my secret ingredient; balsamic vinegar. For those of you who have eaten a drizzle of balsamic vinegar over fresh strawberries this will not come as a shock, but if you’ve never had the combination before I should probably set your mind at ease. It doesn’t taste like vinegar on strawberries. Balsamic vinegar has an amazing ability, in small quantities, to make strawberries taste more like strawberries than ever before. It transforms regular strawberries into the most intense tasting berries you’ve ever had. It -in short- performs miracles. But unlike a stage mother, it fades into the background and doesn’t call attention to itself.

It’s hot out. I think you need some frozen yogurt. I think you deserve this.

For a photo-free, printer-friendly version of this recipe, click here.

Strawberry Cheesecake Frozen Yogurt

Yield: About 2 quarts of frozen yogurt

Ingredients for the cheesecake frozen yogurt:

4 cups 2% milk fat Greek Yogurt
8 ounces (1 brick) American-style Neufchâtel cheese (do not soften ahead of time)
3/4 cup cold milk
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the Strawberry Coulis:

3 cups whole, hulled strawberries, frozen or fresh
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Add all of the ingredients for the coulis to your blender carafe. After positioning the lid on the carafe, turn the blender on and process until smooth. Pour into a measuring cup, jar or squeeze bottle with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate until needed.

Rinse and dry the blender carafe and lid. Add all of the ingredients for the cheesecake frozen yogurt to the carafe. Place the lid on top and process until smooth. Pour into a bowl or container. Cover tightly and refrigerate for one hour prior to churning.

Freeze the ice cream mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions included with your ice cream maker. It takes about 25 minutes in my ice cream maker.

Something to keep in mind is that this frozen yogurt, unlike most ice creams, churns up fairly firm. Listen for signs that your ice cream maker is struggling. Turn it off immediately if it is. If it is not quite as hard as you’d like it, you can always pop it in the freezer for a bit prior to serving.

To create the strawberry swirl:

Use a wooden spoon to transfer the churned frozen yogurt from the ice cream maker to a storage container. Squirt, pour or dollop strawberry coulis by the tablespoonful over the frozen yogurt. I use about 1/2 cup of the coulis. Store the remaining coulis in the refrigerator.

Use two butterknives to cut and swirl the coulis into the frozen yogurt.

Smooth the surface of the swirled frozen yogurt with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.

Cover tightly and freeze for 10 minutes prior to serving. If you freeze longer than 10 minutes, you may need to leave the container out on the counter top for some time prior to scooping.

Serve on cones or in a bowl topped with chocolate covered graham crackers and drizzled with more coulis.

And if you have a 12 year old who is art-directing the photography of your frozen yogurt, you can hang on a minute or two while he scours the yard for the perfect flower to decorate your dessert. “Voilà!,” quoth Liam, “It’s perfect!”

Filed Under: Desserts, Uncategorized Tagged With: dessert, fro-yo, froyo, frozen yogurt, Frugal Food, kid friendly, party food, quick and easy, vanilla ice cream

Q&A: Foodie With Family style.

June 14, 2010 by Rebecca 11 Comments

I’ve gone back and forth on whether to do this post for a while, so let me put it in reverse for a bit and explain. A friend of mine suggested that I run a regular Question and Answer post here on Foodie With Family. She also told me I was like a 100 year old lady who knew everything. This was meant as and accepted as a compliment. I. love. old. ladies.

I’ve used state-of-the-art photo editing to give you an idea of what I’d look like at 100. To see the effects of my hours upon hours of work, scroll down after viewing what I look like now…

Are you ready?

This is what I will look like at the ripe old age of 100.

But there I go again. I know that I have a un-curb-able tendency to go off on wild tangents. And sometimes those tangents take me away from points that could do with some answering. For instance, I’ve put ‘measure uncooked rice into a clean, dry container’ more than once. Why?

Allow me to set the scene:

I’m standing in the kitchen measuring cups of dry rice into the rice cooker.

Talking to self: “One… Two… Three…”

Liam enters the room: “Hey Mom! What time will dinner be?”

Me: “Sixish.” (Thinking to self “ACK! Where was I? Oh yes… Four…”)

Liam: “How many pieces of fish can I have? Please say two or three or four!”

Me: “Liam! I’m trying to count! I can’t remember how many cups of rice I had in here!”

Liam staring deep into my eyes and speaking hypnotically: “Forty five. You had twenty three. I believe you said twelve.”

I gave him the stink eye, dumped the rice back into my container, banished my son from the kitchen and started over.

Now, if I had added liquid to the rice first, I would’ve sat around the cooker biting my nails wondering whether I was going to end up with fluffy rice, glue or little pebbles. Leaving aside the fact that it’s bad form to add water to the pot or cooker before you add rice (because there is a fool proof method for determining how much water should be added to any amount of rice) I don’t like to combine stress with my cooking. It’s bad for the digestion.

I have to say, it’s not as though I don’t get questioned enough during the course of a day. As a homeschooling mom of five little boys, believe you me I get the questions. My boys’ questions, however, tend to stem from situations like me applying lipstick in the morning.

Leif: “MOM! Is dat da kind of lipstick where you put your lips in your mouth and take them back out?”

(What?!?)

Liam: “You’re putting on lipstick? Are we going somewhere?”

Me: “We’re not going anywhere.”

Liam: “Then why are you putting on lipstick? Is someone coming over?”

Me: “No one is coming over and we’re not going anywhere.”

Liam: “Then why the lipstick? Something’s fishy!”

Aidan: “Mom’s putting on lipstick? Where are we going?”

Ty: “You’re not going to kiss me are you?”

Rowan: “I wanna kiss!”

Liam: “Something’s going to happen. She put on lipstick.”

Ty: “I tell you she’s going to kiss us.”

Leif: “Did you take your lips back out yet?”

(What?@!?!@?)

Aidan: “No. That’s not her ‘going somewhere’ lipstick. That’s the boring stuff. Are you almost done, Mom? I hafta go to the bathroom.”

Ty: “She looks like she’s ready to kiss! RUN!”

Everyone but Rowan: “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYEEEEEEE!”

Rowan: “Hi Mommy. Can I have a kiss now?”

I wouldn’t mind questions that a.) came from adults and b.) didn’t make me question my personal grooming habits.

So here’s the skinny. Is there something I started to explain and didn’t finish that you’re itching to know? Do you have a recipe you’ve been searching for high and low? Do you have a question about any of my recipes? Do you want to know why I insist on saving the root end of onions? Do you want to know what my all-time favorite food (favorite kitchen tool, favorite candy bar) is? Do you want to know the simple, cheap, no-elbow-grease way I clean baked on crud from pans? Have at it! Fire away!

And no. I’m not going anywhere and I’m not going to kiss you.

Smooch.

Filed Under: Instructional, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Uncategorized Tagged With: Q&A, questions and answers

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

May 3, 2010 by Rebecca 9 Comments

The following is a partial re-print of my column that appeared in today’s Record-Eagle.

~~~ ~~~

The Evil Genius oftentimes has been asked, frequently in my presence, how he avoids weighing 500 pounds eating my cooking. His response has been to grab his belly, moan a little bit, and say “I could easily!” He slid a little into uncomfortable weight territory over the winter and thus has declared himself to be on a health kick. He’s been riding his bike, playing more sports with the boys, watching his food intake and (gasp!) skipping dessert most nights.

All well and good, but the dessert thing I’ve found distressing. I am a baker. I am the sugarplum fairy, for crying out loud. Desserts are what I do. I have always been a little (read: a lot) snotty about healthy desserts. “You want a healthy dessert? Eat an apple!” But even more urgently, he had a birthday coming up soon. Birthdays equal mega-desserts. I didn’t want to serve my husband a cup of granola for his birthday.

My dearly beloved’s disturbing new edict left me with two options; pout or learn to make some spectacular and healthy desserts.

Healthy desserts it was.

In order to compensate for my lack of buttercream and caramel sauce, I went for big, bright fruit flavors and low carbs to accompany them.

I kicked off my healthy dessert experiment with blueberry frozen yogurt. And guess what? The guys couldn’t tell that it was frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. (Sadly, yes, that is my benchmark of success for a healthy dessert. Does it taste healthy? If so, toss and start over.) The conversation went something like this:

Boys (in unison): “Mom, can I have more blueberry ice cream?”

Me: “It’s frozen yogurt.”

Boys (in unison): “No it isn’t. It’s blueberry ice cream. Can I please have some?”

Me: “Yes, you can have a lot. Because it is frozen yogurt.”

Boys (in unison wearing “I-Know-Better-You-Trickster-You” facial expressions): “OK, can I have another scoop of the blueberry (air quotes) frozen yogurt (more air quotes) right now?”

Husband (hesitating after the first bite with spoon suspended over bowl): “Are you sure this is low calorie? It feels fattening. It tastes like your regular desserts. Should I be eating this?”

Well, score one for me. I guess that maybe this old dog can learn a few new tricks. And I sheepishly admit that perhaps, maybe, I was ever-so-slightly, just-a-wee-bit wrong about healthy desserts. But I reserve my right to bust out a cheesecake, custard or poundcake smothered in buttercream every now and again. On that, I will not bend.

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt is as creamy as ice cream thanks to thick Greek yogurt, but if blueberries aren’t your thing, you can easily substitute with an equal amount of peaches, strawberries or raspberries. If you do, be sure to adjust the flavoring (vanilla, Crème de Cassis, Grand Marnier) to agree with whatever fruit you’ve used.

You have two options; you can strain the blended yogurt base to remove the blueberry seeds for a smooth and creamy frozen yogurt or you can go a little more rustic and leave them intact. Either way, it’s delicious. If you have a one-quart ice cream maker, you can easily halve this recipe.

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of this recipe minus my tendency to blather, click here!

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

3 cups Greek yogurt (whole or 2 percent)
1-½ cups sugar
6 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon Crème de Cassis, Grand Marnier or pure vanilla extract

Add yogurt, sugar and blueberries to your blender and blend until smooth. If you’re using frozen berries, it may take a little coaxing to get them all blended. If it doesn’t “want” to blend, shut off the blender and move the contents around a little with a wooden spoon or spatula. Remove the spoon, replace the lid and blend again.

If a smooth product is desired, pour and force the yogurt base through a stainless steel, fine mesh strainer. It will take a while, so be prepared! I like mine strained because I think frozen blueberry seeds are not so pleasant on the old teeth. If you like a more rustic yogurt with bits of blueberry and seeds throughout, skip the straining. Either way, you need to refrigerate the yogurt base for 2-4 hours prior to freezing.

When you remove the yogurt base from the refrigerator, run a whisk through the mixture quickly to make it easier to pour. (The yogurt base has a tendency to firm up in the refrigerator so that it’s almost a Jell-o like consistency. Running the whisk through it will loosen it up a bit.)

Pour the yogurt base into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. (In my Cuisinart ice cream maker, it took 25 minutes and was ready to serve immediately.) Transfer to a freezer-safe container with a lid. This makes about two quarts.

If you have any yogurt left over, store it tightly packed in the freezer with a piece of plastic wrap laid directly on the surface of the frozen yogurt.

To serve as we did for The Evil Genius’s birthday, lay a warm crepe on a plate. Add a scoop of blueberry frozen yogurt to the bottom left corner of the crepe. Fold the right half of the crepe left over the scoop of yogurt. Fold the top quarter down over the scoop. Top with a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar or a dollop of blueberry compote or blueberry sauce.

Of course, you can skip all that folderol and pile the scoops on top of a cone. One way or the other, you’re in for a deceptively healthy treat! Obviously Rowan didn’t mind missing out on the crepes…

Filed Under: Desserts, Uncategorized Tagged With: blueberries, dessert, fro-yo, froyo, Frugal Food, homemade frozen yogurt, kid friendly, kids, party food, quick and easy, Vegetarian

Risotto

February 14, 2010 by Valerie 3 Comments

We’ve been enjoying a lot of the foods that go along with this season, hot teas and cocoa, soups, homemade breads and muffins, and I’ve been coming up with some interesting combinations as I work through my pantry. In one of my ‘what will I find in here today’ searches, I found a lonely cup or so of arborio rice. For those of you who are familiar with this rice, you know it is THE rice to use to make risotto, a creamy, flavorful and often cheesy Italian dish. It’s comparatively easy to make, but does take some time and patience since it requires close to continual stirring for about 20 minutes, but while it is often served as a side dish, it can serve as the main part of your meal–add a little salad or some grapes or sliced fruit, a little glass of wine, and you’re good to go.

Some basic risotto ingredients

I was going to try a crockpot risotto recipe, but I decided to stick with the tried and true–it had been so long since I’d made this, I wanted to be sure we would enjoy the end product, especially since it was going to be the main course.

As mentioned earlier, the main essential to a good risotto is good arborio rice; you can usually find it in most good grocery stores, or through a whole foods co-op, or (gasp!) Amazon!

I’ve been checking out alternate sources for certain grocery items, and sometimes Amazon has the best price, and with free shipping, there are no additional costs. They also offer ‘subscription’ service which means you set up an automatic order for 1, 3 or 6 month terms, which entitles you to an additional 15% off the regular price. I ordered an 11 pound bag of rice today that normally cost $22.00, but came to 18.70 after the discount, coming to $1.70 per pound, much cheaper than at the grocery store, and 35 cents per pound cheaper than what my co-op could offer, and to get their best price I would have had to order 50 pounds at once. I can just see my husband’s face as I ask him to carry that bag to the basement!

Good olive oil, butter, and savories such as onion, shallots, leeks, garlic, herbs–there’s a lot of room for some variety there. White wine is usually one of the ingredients, and I definitely prefer the version with wine than without–it helps cut some of the richness, adding a bit of a sharp note against the cheese that is added later. Broth is the main liquid; I’ve most often seen chicken broth used, but a light beef broth would probably work, or a good flavorful veggie broth.

Freshly shredded parmesan is best if you have it; if not, I get shredded parmesan in 2 lb. bags from our local restaurant supply, and keep it in the freezer to use in dishes like this. The per pound price is cheaper than most of the grated parmesan products in regular stores, and the flavor much better. Regular grated parm can be used, but try to find a brand that is as close to 100% cheese as possible. Cream and extra butter is often stirred in at the end, but we no longer do that–we like the risotto just a little lighter. Final touch for me is grated lemon rind and a good squeeze or three of lemon juice. Like the wine, it helps balance out the cheese in the dish.

Adding veggies to the dish? No problem. I really enjoy peas or mushrooms in risotto, and I usually prepare them separately and add the last couple of minutes before serving, so they just heat through but don’t have time to really cook any more. Mushrooms I sautee until browned, peas are simply cooked in a little salted water till just done. (If using the petite peas, I often just let them thaw, heating them through in the end–I like them to have a bit of a bite.)

As I mentioned earlier, this is an easy dish, but does take some attention. It’s a good time for listening to your favorite music, or just enjoying some quiet time at the stove (quiet time at the stove is probably something we empty nesters enjoy more often than some!). Without further ado, here is the recipe I made last night.

Risotto with Parmesan and Lemon

1 cup arborio rice

4 cups chicken or veggie broth, kept hot in saucepan

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine or pressed

2 T. olive oil

2 T. butter

1 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 cup dry white wine

2/3 c. shredded parmesan

Ground black pepper to taste

Grated rind of one lemon

juice of 1/2 large lemon, or whole small lemon

Heat broth in a separate pan, and keep warm while you prepare the risotto.

Heat olive oil and butter in a larger flat-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Toss in onion and garlic, and sautee until transparent. Stir in rice, and mix until the rice is all coated, then add thyme and nutmeg, stirring till well mixed.

Add the 1/2 cup of wine, and stir for a few minutes until the wine is absorbed and your spoon leaves a clear path on the bottom of the pan; at this point add about a half cup of broth, again stirring until it is absorbed. Keep repeating this a few times more. If the broth seems to absorb to quickly, you should turn down your heat a bit so you won’t run out of broth before your rice is cooked.

After about 20 minutes or so have elapsed, taste a grain of rice to check for doneness. It should be firm, but not at all crunchy. If more time is needed, continue to add the broth and testing the rice every couple of minutes. Once the rice is fully cooked, and you have a nice creamy sauce holding it together, it’s time to add the cheese and lemon. I add the cheese and lemon rind together, making sure it is well incorporated, then squeeze in the lemon juice. I usually have to taste a couple of times before I’m satisfied with the balance–I definitely want the lemon to come through, but not to overpower the dish.

This is also the point where you would stir in a little heavy cream, a little extra butter, and any veggies you would like to add.

And that’s it. Serve it up in some nice bowls, sprinkle with a little extra parmesan (I had a tiny bit of extra nutmeg on mine), have a nice plate of freshly sliced kiwi fruit nearby, and pour yourself a glass of that nice dry white wine. I have to say, that is as close to a perfect meal as I’ve had in a while!

Filed Under: Main Dish, Recipes, Side Dishes, Stretching your dollars, Uncategorized, Valerie Tagged With: Frugal Food, quick meal, rice, Valerie