Beef Stew, Escalloped Apples and Andes Cookies

It’s finally the holidays! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE the holidays, spending time with family, singing nonstop Christmas songs, all the pretty lights on the houses, and the FOOD! There’s the cookies, the huge meals day of the holiday, the days and days of leftovers after, comfort foods against the cold weather, mmm my stomach is rumbling just thinking about them all!

However, I know we’ve got another week or so of lots of studying, classes, and exams standing between us and the holidays, and we need all the extra time we can get! So to start off I’ve got a delicious and comforting crockpot stew.

The Best Ever Crockpot Beef Stew

Taken from Family Fresh Meals

Ingredients

2 lb beef stew meat (cut into bite-sized pieces)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 celery ribs, sliced

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

6 ox can tomato paste

32 oz beef broth

2 Tblsp Worcestershire sauce

2 cups baby carrots (I used full sized carrots that I cut into small chunks)

4-5 small red potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces, about 3 cups

1 Tblsp dried parsley

1 tsp oregano

1 cup frozen peas

1 cup frozen corn

¼ cup flour

¼ cup water

Instructions

1) Combine beef, celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, beef broth, and tomato paste in the crockpot.  

2) Cook on LOW for 10 hours or on HIGH for 6-7 hours.

3) About 30 minutes before serving mix the flour and water together in a small dish, pour into the crockpot and mix well until combined. Will add thickness to the stew.

4) Add frozen peas and corn.

5) Continue cooking covered for 30 minutes.

6) Serve and enjoy!!

Notes

This stew needs at least a 6 qt crockpot, which is pretty big, my crockpot is quite a bit smaller, so I cut the recipe in half quite easily.

Any type of potato could work here, it doesn’t have to be red potatoes. I don’t quite know how sweet potatoes would taste, but if someone tries it let me know how it turns out!

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With the upcoming holidays you may be asked to bring along a dish to share to one of the many get-togethers that always seems to pop up around this time of year. If you really want to show off your fine culinary skills with a dish that is really pretty easy, delicious, and something that everyone ends up talking about, then this apple recipe is the winner! Though it sounds like a sweeter dessert-y type dish, its actually a savory side dish, the sugar and cinnamon just compliment the natural sweetness of the apples but the breadcrumb topping make this a main meal star.

Escalloped Apples

Ingredients

½ cup butter

2 cups bread crumbs

4 medium apples, peeled and sliced

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

Instructions

1) Melt butter in large saucepan.

2) Add bread crumbs and toast lightly (about 2 minutes). Set aside.

3) Toss apples with sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

4) In an 8 inch baking dish, layer half of the apples and half of the bread crumbs.

5) Repeat layering.

6) Bake in oven at 325 degrees covered with tinfoil for 45 or until the apples are tender.

Notes

Fresh bread crumbs or store bought breadcrumbs work, but you want them to be fairly finely ground.

I think any type of apple would work here. I’ve used Jonathons, Pink Lady, Granny Smith, really any combo would work.

I also don’t bother peeling the apples, that’s really up to you. I’ve always chunked the apple slices but I’m sure that leaving them in longer slices would work as well.

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What would the holidays be without inordinate amounts of sweets lying around! If you’re a fan of cookies, chocolate and mint, and frosting, then this recipe is for you. If you’re not a fan, then we probably aren’t friends. Or maybe we’re better friends because it means that these cookies would be left all for me! The great thing about this recipe is that it can be as made from scratch or as store bought and quick-assemble as you like!

Andes Mint Cookies

Basically with these cookies you take a sugar cookie (this recipe, your recipe, a roll you got from the grocery store), stuff an (unwrapped) Andes mint in the middle, bake, then once the cookies are slightly cooled frost (with this frosting, another frosting recipe, store bought frosting)

Ingredients

Sugar cookies

6 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

2 cups butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp salt

Andes mints

Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tblsp heavy cream or milk

Instructions

Sugar cookies

1) Cream butter and sugar.

2) Add eggs and vanilla.

3) Mix flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl and add to butter/sugar mixture.

4) Mix well.

5) Roll to desired thickness and cut into shapes (circles work best here).

6) Unwrap as many Andes mints as you have cookies. Push into middle of cookie and try to cover with dough.

7) Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges.

8) Take out and let cool.

Frosting

1) Beat butter on medium until cream (about 2 minutes).

2) Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cream on low.

3) Increase mixer to high speed and beat for 3 minutes.

4) Add 1 Tblsp more cream if frosting is too thick.

5) Taste and add 1/8 tsp salt if frosting is too sweet.

6) If you want to make the cookies more holiday themed, use food coloring for festive holiday colors!

Frost cookies once cooled. Eat and enjoy!!

Notes

I’ve made these cookies by rolling out, cutting into circles and stuffing with a mint or by making a bunch of small dough balls and mashing two around a mint then flattening out into a cookie-esq shape. Either way works, one hasn’t really proven to be easier than the other.

This is baking. Baking is chemistry. These ingredients and these amounts of ingredients can’t be changed if you want the cookies to turn out. Unless you’re a kitchen wizard and know how all these ingredients interact with one another don’t try substituting less sugar/butter/whatever. Of course they aren’t healthy sounding, they’re cookies, just don’t eat the whole batch at once.

Pesto Parmesan Tilpia, Honey Foil Salmon, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Well it appears that winter has finally caught up to us, but luckily that means its almost time for one of my favorite holidays of the year, a day solely devoted to eating as much food as humanly possible, THANKSGIVING! However, with the amount of eating I am planning on doing on that glorious day of elastic waistbands and no food baby judging, I need to eat a little healthier in the time leading up to Thanksgiving. So this week we’ve got some delicious (and super easy) fish recipes!

I know some people don’t like fishy because of its “too fishy” taste. Well tilapia to the rescue! (PS, how do you actually pronounce tilapia, I grew up with till-ah-pee-ah, but other people claim its actually tih-lah-pee-ah). Anyways, tilapia is a very neutral, non-“fishy” tasting fish, and if that doesn’t convince you try covering it in a thin layer of Parmesan and pesto and tell me if you can detect any fishy-ness!

Pesto Parmesan Tilapia

Taken from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

4 6-ounce fillets of tilapia

¼ cup basil pesto (or whatever pesto you have around)

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup freshly chopped tomatoes

Instructions

1)   Preheat broiler. Pat tilapia dry with a paper towel and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray or olive oil (to prevent fish sticking)

2)   Sprinkle each fish filet with 2 tablespoons of cheese (or more or less, just try to get a thin layer covering the fish). Broil fish for 10-11 minutes, or until the fish is no longer translucent and the cheese is browned on top.

3)   Pull the fish out and top with a tablespoon of pesto (I personally just add as much pesto as I can, amounts are really up to you) and a handful of tomato pieces.

4)   Eat and enjoy!

Notes

If you don’t have any tomatoes around, not a problem, I never seem to and find that the fish is absolutely delicious sans tomatoes.

Any kind of pesto you have would work here. I’ve only used homemade basil pesto (that my mom made, I don’t have enough basil for that!) but I know you can get really good pesto at Trader Joes and Schnucks.

This dish is easily changed depending on how many servings you want to have. I usually just make one filet, grate parmesan until I can cover the fish, and just spoon on as much pesto as I can!

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While I do love me some tasty tilapia, salmon is always my fish of choice.  Sadly whenever I tried to just pan-sear it I always ended up with slightly overcooked, dry salmon. Not my favorite. Luckily I found this easy recipe that keeps the salmon moist and tender while also imparting tons of flavor. Bonus, you don’t have to do hardly any work, just let it cook!

Honey Salmon in Foil 

Taken from Damn Delicious

Ingredients

¼ cup of honey

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 pounds of salmon

Instructions

1)   Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil.

2)   In a small bowl whisk together honey, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, thyme, salt and pepper.

3)   Place salmon on baking sheet and fold up all four sides of the foil. Pour the honey mixture over the salmon.

4)   Fold the foil over the salmon, making sure to completely cover it, and seal the package (crinkle together and fold over the edges)

5)   Bake in oven until fully cooked, about 15-20 minutes (depends upon thickness of salmon)

6)   CAREFULLY open foil package and serve! (I like to spoon the extra honey mixture over the salmon when I serve it, why let any of that deliciousness go to waste?)

Notes

Again, this recipe is easily changeable as to the number of servings. I tend to make either the whole honey mixture or just half of it and pour over a single salmon filet.

If using dried herbs, the flavors are more potent, so you only need a third of the amount of fresh herbs you would use. Hence using 1 teaspoon of dried thyme in place of 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme (3 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon).

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All this healthy food is wonderful and all, but lets get real, I always need some dessert. And I haven’t gotten around to sharing a dessert recipe yet! If you know me you know how big of a sweet tooth I have, and therefore how surprising it is that I haven’t provided ONLY sweet recipes so far! These pumpkin chocolate chip bars are delicious, fudgy (without having any chocolate other than chocolate chips in them!), moist, and wonderful. A seasonally appropriate dessert that is easy enough to whip up quickly, but tasty enough to bring along to Thanksgiving dinner. But you’ll probably want to test them out before bringing them to figure out if you’ll really want to share!

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Taken from Averie Cooks

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

1 large egg

¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips + 2 tablespoons for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1)   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray.

2)   In a large-microwave safe bowl, melt butter

3)   Wait momentarily to add the egg (don’t want to cook the egg yet! We want dessert, not scrambled eggs!). Add the egg, pumpkin, brown sugar, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Whisk until smooth

4)   Add the flour and stir until JUST combined. Don’t over mix!

5)   Stir in 1 ¼ cups of chocolate chips.

6)   Pour batter into pan, smooth top. If desired, sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips on top.

7)   Bake for about 32-33 minutes, or until done (a toothpick inserted in middle should come out clean or with a few crumbs, NO batter. Cooking time can vary)

8)   Let bars sit at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving (I get about 9 bars out, rumor has it that you can make it 12, but that requires extra sharing and smaller pieces)

Notes

I don’t bother buying pumpkin pie spice, instead I make my own, or rather I just use all the spices that are IN pumpkin pie spice, its really just a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and ground cloves. Equal parts ginger and nutmeg, three times as much cinnamon, and equal amounts of allspice and cloves, slightly less than ginger. If you want to be super precise with it, Betty Crocker calls for 3 tablespoons of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ginger, 2 teaspoons nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons allspice, and 1 ½ teaspoons cloves.

The next day these bars will be even tastier (if that’s possible) as the flavors have gotten a chance to meld. And while I hate saying that (it always sounds to me like bakers are just trying to prove their superiority when they use phrases like that) its actually true! Though I still eat some the day I make them!

Pumpkin Cornbread and Fast Fried Rice

We’re almost to Friday, and this week that means HALLOWEEN!!! Though we may be a little too old to go out and Trick or Treat, Halloween still means candy and costumes and really adorable kids ringing the doorbell (I’m still thrown by the fact that apparently nowhere other than Des Moines do kids have to tell a joke to get their candy. Truly one of the cutest things ever, a kindergartener trying really hard to tell you a joke that they’ve just made up, but I guess that isn’t what most cities do…). Anyways, with Halloween comes pumpkins, and though it isn’t quite time to whip out your grandmother’s pumpkin pie recipe, it would be a shame not to enjoy pumpkin in some fashion! In order to not overdose on sweet pumpkin dishes, this pumpkin cornbread is a delicious addition to any meal, especially as the weather grows cooler.

Pumpkin Cornbread

Taken from The View from Great Island

           

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground cardamom (or use cinnamon and or ginger instead)

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling, real pumpkin)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Tbsp molasses

1/3 cup buttermilk or milk

Instructions

1)  Set the oven to 400 degrees

2) Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, spices, sugar) Try to smooth out any brown sugar lumps

3) Whisk the wet ingredients together in a larger bowl (eggs, pumpkin, oil, molasses, milk)

4) Add dry to wet and stir until just combined

5) Pour into a buttered 9 inch spring form pan or 8x8 square pan and spread evenly

6) Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

7) Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then ENJOY!

Notes

If you don’t have/don’t want to use cardamom, I like to substitute ¼ tsp of cinnamon and a ¼ tsp of ginger for the ½ tsp of cardamom

About the pumpkin, I’ve found that Libby’s canned pumpkin is fabulous in any recipe. Do I wish I had time to roast and puree my own pumpkin? Sure, but lets get real, no med student has time for that!

If you don’t have buttermilk, never fear! Any kind of milk works here. Or if you want to make your own buttermilk, simply mix just under a 1/3 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar and let sit for 10 minutes. Instant buttermilk!

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One of my favorite meals to get whenever I go out for Chinese is fried rice. I try really hard to not think about just how much oil they’ve used in making it that delicious. Luckily, making your own fried rice is super easy, super fast, much healthier, and is perfect for cleaning out all those little bits of leftover veggies and meats you have sitting in the fridge. Not only are the ingredients customizable, but the amounts are as well! In fact so much so that the recipe I finally made my mom write down for me has no measurements at all, just use what you have available!

Fried Rice

Ingredients

Rice

1 egg per person/serving, beaten

Vegetable oil

Meat, cooked or uncooked (whatever you have, or leave out and go veggie fried rice!)

Veggies, small dice (whatever you’ve got around, frozen works just fine here as well as fresh)

Green onions chopped (optional)

Chicken broth (or beef, or vegetable)

Soy sauce

Sesame oil (optional)

Instructions

1) The most important thing to making fried rice is make sure you have all your ingredients laid out and prepped before actually starting to cook!

2) Heat pan (or wok if you have it) over medium high heat, add small amount of oil.

3) Add egg and stir until cooked (30 seconds). Remove from pan and chop into small pieces

4) Add more oil and let heat.

5) Add meat, if uncooked then let cook, if already cooked then just until warm. Regardless, stir.

6) Add veggies and stir until cooked.

7) If using green onions, add and stir.

8) Add rice and stir until rice is warmed.

9) Add chicken broth and soy sauce and cook until absorbed (just enough broth and soy sauce to mix in throughout, if you add too much don’t worry, just let it cook until it is all absorbed)

10) Return egg to pan and toss a few seconds to warm

11) Take off heat and add sesame oil if using

12) Enjoy! Chopsticks optional

Notes

Leftover rice actually works best here, why I’m not quite sure. But fresh will work just fine as well, it just means that supper will take longer than the 10 minutes I’ve usually got until I start just eating the ingredients!

The amount of each ingredient is really up to you, even the rice. I’ve made this before thinking I had a ton of rice leftover, dumping it into the pan and realizing I was having more veggies with a little rice.

Quick Thai Curry and Maple Granola

For some reason, I always seem to be craving curry, and so this recipe has quickly become my go to whenever the craving strikes. The great thing about this recipe is that it takes less than half an hour from the moment you think of it to sitting down and enjoying.

Quick Thai Curry with Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, and Green Beans

Taken from America’s Test Kitchen: The Best Simple Recipes

            I suggest this cookbook to everyone! The recipes are all done in 30 minutes or less, no scary techniques, and so far I haven’t found a single recipe that hasn’t been delicious.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons red curry paste

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

8 ounces sweet potatoes (about 1 large), peeled and cut into ¾ inch chunks

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb) cut crosswise into ¼ inch thick slices

6 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon lime juice

¾ cup chopped fresh basil

Salt and Pepper

Instructions

1)   Bring coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, curry paste, and sugar to boil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 5 minutes.
2)   Add potatoes and simmer, covered, until nearly tender, about 8 minutes.
3)   Add chicken and beans to pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and potatoes and beans are tender, about 5 minutes.
4)   Stir in lime juice and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over rice.

Notes:

Light coconut milk can be used, but the broth will be thinner. Trust me, use the full fat (besides, its cheaper!)

I’ve found both fish sauce and red curry paste at Schnucks.

The basil is easily left out. If you don’t have any, don’t worry about it!

This recipe is great as leftovers, but if you don’t feel like having the same meal for three days straight it’s very easy to halve the whole recipe. I often make the whole sauce amount and just throw in however much chicken, beans, and sweet potatoes I have.

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One of my favorite snacks is granola. It’s the easiest thing to throw over a bowl of yogurt, with some milk for breakfast, or just grabbing it by the handful. But store-bought granola is full of all kinds of preservatives, ridiculous amounts of sugar, and ingredients I can’t pronounce. So I like to whip up this granola recipe, its easily customizable, takes only a few minutes to prepare and then your whole apartment smells amazing as it cooks! Plus it makes about 7 cups and stores at room temperature for weeks!

Big Cluster Maple Granola

Taken from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perleman

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

 ¼ cup toasted wheat germ (completely unnecessary, if you have it great! If not, no need)

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon coarse salt

½ cup maple syrup (can increase to 2/3 cup if you want a sweeter granola)

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large egg white (creates those delicious clumps, if you don’t want granola chunks go ahead and leave out)

1 ½ cups dried cherries, diced if large pieces (or any dried fruit. I tend to leave this out completely)

Instructions

1)   Preheat your oven to 300 degrees
2)   Combine all ingredients but the egg white and dried fruit in a large bowl, tossing to coat evenly.
3)   Whisk the egg white in a small bowl until frothy and stir into granola mixture, distributing it throughout.
4)   Spread granola in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. About halfway through pull out and use a large spatula to turn over sections of the granola (ensures granola won’t burn). If it is baking unevenly rotate the pan.
5)   When evenly browned transfer from oven to cooling rack and let cool completely. Once cooled sprinkle in dried fruit and store (or eat!)

Notes:

If you don’t have parchment paper, line the baking sheet with tinfoil or just spray with PAM.