easy marinara

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Liz Eggleston

This marinara is so quick and easy, it has become a fast friend in my kitchen. You can add to it whatever ingredients you like and have on hand- fresh zucchini, carrots, or basil are just a few. I’m rarely picky about my canned food brands, but in this case, don’t settle for anything less than San Marzano. I use their crushed tomatoes to eliminate the blender step, but feel free to use the whole tomatoes. As long as they’re San Marzano. Ok, plug over.

You’ll need:
1 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large cans San Marzano crushed tomatoes
1 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs died oregano
1 tbs basil

In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onions and garlic. Let cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the onions and garlic are soft and translucent. Add the crushed tomatoes and dried herbs. Stir and let simmer on low for 30 minutes, or until ready to serve. Before serving, stir in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Use as pizza sauce, over pasta or veggies.

xoxo,

Hungry Texans

new year’s day supper: grilled pork chops with apple & peach chutney

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Liz Eggleston

Pictured clockwise, from pork: Grilled Pork Chops with Apple-Peach Chutney (progress), Braised Cabbage (wealth), Pan Seared Red Kale & Rainbow Chard with Bacon (prosperity), Black Eyed Peas (luck), Potato Mash (yummy), Ginger-Cabbage Potstickers (multicultural wealth).

Whew! We sure felt lucky this morning. Was it from finishing up a year full of adventure and friendship, starting countless new projects, or finishing up the year with old friends? Maybe. Or maybe it was the symbol-ripe supper we whipped up last night. We covered all of the basics- pork for progress, cabbage for wealth & black eyed peas for luck. And we even found new meaning for mashed potatoes (potato –> irish –> famine –> perseverance?) Special thanks to Man Chef Alan for bringing his perfect pecan pie and Tex-Pat & Boston Boy for peeling themselves away from the couch long enough to churn out a few cabbage dumplings.

This recipe is for the grilled pork chops, but more New Year’s Day recipes will follow. I urge you to try this pork for your next lucky supper or just a quick weeknight dinner!

You’ll need:

4 thick, boneless pork chops (you can use bone-in if you’d like)

For the Brine:

4 cups water

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine ingredients for the brine in a large bowl. Place pork chops in a large ziplock bag, then add the brine and be sure the pork chops are covered in the liquid. Let them sit in a bowl overnight.

For the Chutney:

2 apples, diced

2 peaches, diced

1 jalapeno

2 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs vinegar

2 tbs minced ginger

1/2 cup red onion

1 tsp curry powder

Heat olive oil in small pan and add red onion and jalapeno. Cook until soft, then add other ingredients and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, until soft. Mash with a potato masher or with an immersion blender, leaving the mixture slightly coarse.

Remove the pork chops from the brine ~30 minutes before cooking. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat your grill (or a cast iron grill pan) to medium low heat and cook the pork chops for 4 minutes on each side. After ~10 minutes, glaze the chops with the apple chutney on both sides. Pork gives me a bit of anxiety because I’m always afraid to overcook it, so I use a meat thermometer and take it off the heat when the internal temperature is 160°. Let them rest off the grill for 10 minutes before serving.

leek & fennel bread pudding

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Liz Eggleston

Savory bread puddings can render a few funny looks, but this Leek and Fennel Bread Pudding couldn’t be a more appropriate addition to a family style dinner (I made it both for Thanksgiving and Christmas). The first time I made it, I followed Thomas Keller’s recipe to the very last sage leaf. And trust me, it did the trick. I let the leeks steam under a parchment lid, carefully toasted my brioche (Whole Foods makes an excellent one if you don’t have an extra day to make this recipe), and used his exact measurements. But we did notice a couple of improvements to be made- namely that there could have been more leeks. So the second time I made this recipe, I doubled the leeks. And why not? Leeks are a delicious little savory treat, perfect with the gruyere and cream. And as an added level of substance in an otherwise decadent cream-filled bread pudding, I threw in a bulb of sliced fennel. I also tried using a challah as an alternative to the brioche. Both are sweet and eggy and somehow dense and light at the same time, so both worked for this bread pudding. The following recipe is a combination of my two attempts.

You’ll need:

12 cups brioche or challah, sliced into one inch cubes

4 large leeks

1 bulb fennel

4 tbs butter

3 eggs

3 cups milk

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

Salt, to season

Preheat the oven to 350. Slice your brioche or challah into one inch cubes and spread out on a baking sheet. Pop into the oven and let toast for 20 minutes.

While the bread is toasting, slice your leeks and fennel. You only want to use the white part of the leeks and the bulb of the fennel. Slice into 1/3 inch thick slices. Place the leeks and fennel into a large bowl and cover with water. Let them soak for a couple minutes to allow the sediment to fall out into the bottom of the bowl (they are, after all, root veggies).

Lift the vegetables out of the water and place them into a large pan over medium heat. The water will release from the leeks and allow them to start steaming. After 5 minutes, add the butter and stir.

Create a parchment lid (the second time around, I didn’t have parchment so I just used a lid- the world didn’t end) and set on top of the mixture. Reduce heat to medium low, add a bit of salt, and let cook, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes more.

While the leeks are simmering, whisk eggs, milk, and cream in a large bowl to create the custard.

When the custard is made and the brioche is toasted and the leeks are soft, it’s time to combine them all. Toss the leek mixture into the bread cubes and add ½ cup of shredded gruyere cheese. Pour out into a 9×13 baking dish and pour 2/3 of the custard over the mixture. Press down to be sure that the bread soaks up the custard, then let sit for 10 minutes.

Pour the remaining mixture over the bread and add the rest of the gruyere. Sprinkle with salt and pop into the oven for 80-90 minutes.

silky moroccan eggplant soup

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Liz Eggleston

I found this recipe at the back of the most recent issue of Food & Wine and it looked too spectacular not to try myself. I love the idea that it’s a spin on a traditional mezze, incorporating eggplant, lemon, radish & green peas. Between steeping your garlic in half & half and roasting your eggplant, the soup is going to take a little over an hour to make properly, but it’s definitely worth it.

You’ll need:

2 large eggplants
2 cups half & half
6 cloves of garlic
1 rind of parmesan (although I just used a handful of parmesan)
1 lemon
1 cup sliced radish
1 cup green peas

Start by preheating your oven to 450. In a small saucepan, combine the half & half, garlic, and parmesan and bring to a simmer. Turn the stove off and let the mixture sit, off the heat, for 1 hour.

Oh, you have an hour to kill while the garlic steeps in the cream? I have the perfect suggestion to help pass the time- roast an eggplant or two!

Slice your eggplant (hotdog style) and brush each cut side with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Place the eggplant cut side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes, until the inside is tender.

While the steeping and the roasting is happening, slice up your radish and thaw your green peas. Store them in cute measuring bowls like the ones pictured below until you need them for garnish- if you don’t have cute measuring bowls, then you probably need to get a boyfriend who has sweet grandparents who will give some to you for Hanukkah. But that could take a while, so just put it on the backburner.

After an hour of steeping, put the half & half mixture through a sieve, tossing out any solids.

When your eggplants are ready, scoop the insides into a food processor or blender (discarding the skin) and puree until smooth. Food & Wine says to pass this mixture through a sieve, but I quite like the texture of a few eggplant seeds so I omitted.

Stir the eggplant mixture into the half & half, add juice of lemon, and bring to a simmer, until the soup is heated. Season with salt and serve with radishes & green peas.

white chocolate walnut fudge

Posted on December 22, 2012 by lovettlovett

Looking for a last minute holiday treat for your Christmas festivities? Whip up a batch of this super simple white chocolate walnut fudge and you’ll be a hit. You need 6 ingredients and just over 6 minutes (plus time for the fudge to chill), and you’ll have a delicious non-cookie, non-chocolate sweet treat that will easily travel and makes a great gift!

Ready, set, fudge!

1 1/2 bags white chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 generous tsp of vanilla

1/4 tsp baking soda

a big pinch of salt

3/4 to 1 cup chopped walnuts (pecans would also be yum!)

In a true (or makeshift!) double broiler, melt your chocolate chips. Stir continuously to facilitate the melting until the chips are all beginning to soften & get creamy. Add your sweetened condensed milk & vanilla. Keep stirring until it’s all melty, combined, delicious white goop and stir in your soda & salt. Once everything’s all mixed, remove your white-chocolate wonder from the heat & stir in your walnuts. Quickly pour into a parchment-lined pyrex & then chill. Once until the fudge is frigid and solid, cut into your desired sized pieces & enjoy!

Variation: You could easily use this same base for a peppermint bark! Substitute the walnuts for crushed peppermints or candy canes & swap 1 of the tsps of vanilla for a tsp of peppermint extract! Yum!

inside-out peppermint patties

Posted on December 11, 2012 by lovettlovett

I’m sure you all have many a nostalgic childhood memory of York Peppermint Patties (who doesn’t?). Maybe your grandmother always had peppermint patties on hand or there was one of these cardboard dispensers at one of your favorite restaurants. My favorite burrito cart–Pedro & Vinny’s–hands out peppermint patties to soothe the palette post-over-indulgence in the spice of their famous goose & spicy cilantro sauces, and this simple & satisfying after-meal sweet helped rekindle my love for these shiny silver treats & I encountered the homemade inside-out version at a friend’s Thanksgiving party. Assembly is slightly time-consuming, but preparing the components of these PepPats couldn’t be simpler!

Peppermint Patty:

1/2 a stick of softened cream cheese

2 tbl butter

1 lb box of powdered sugar

2 tbl peppermint extract

Chocolate Ganache:

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup half & half

Start by creaming together your cream cheese & butter, then gradually begin adding your powdered sugar. Add the peppermint extract and take a taste to make sure the minty-ness suits your tastebuds. Chill your creamy patty mixture. Then, make your ganache. Chop, chop, chop your chocolate and heat your half & half in the microwave. Dump your chopped chocolate into the hot milk and stir, stir, stir like crazy. Your mix will be pretty thick, but I recommend chilling for at least 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the icebox.

Once both have had an opportunity to chill, start rolling & piping. Take a small spoon and scoop tiny balls, roll them between your palms (you may want to lightly grease your hands with a neutral oil). I rolled ~6 at a time and then piped the chocolate ganache on top. You could of course use a real piping bag, but these HungryTexans prefer Ziplocs. Put your ganache in the bag, snip the tip, and start piping. Just a dollop of chocolate on each patty! Voila, inside-out peppermint patties.

I recommend keeping these PepPatts chilly. These treats will make everyone from coworkers to mingling singles smile.

Put some “pepp” in your step!

basics: homemade applesauce

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Liz Eggleston

Happy Hanukkah, everyone!

I’m sure all of my fellow shiksahs in the kitchen can agree that the holidays can be a doozy. As much as you love to cook, you’ll never shine a light to the recipe that has been passed down by tough critics. I’ve made my fair share of high-holiday-hiccups (starting with a milchigs fork mix-up and ending with bringing a butter-laden bread pudding to Thanksgiving) but this applesauce is not one of them. It’s the perfect way to preserve your apples and requires only two added ingredients. And during Hanukkah, you won’t find a better topping for your potato latkes.

You’ll need: (for 2 cups applesauce)
4 apples, mixed
1 tbs honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water

We used Red Macintosh and Pink Lady apples for this recipe. You can use whichever are in season (the farmer’s market usually has enough apple samples out to give you a tummy ache), but I recommend a mix of apples to elevate the depth of flavors. Start by peeling your apples roughly (a little apple skin never hurt anyone) and chopping them into cubes. Add them to a saucepan with the water over medium heat, until they’re just simmering.

Add the cinnamon and honey and stir. In the past, I’ve used white sugar for the sweetness in my applesauce, but switched to honey because, well, apples and honey taste great together.

Let the whole mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Then, using a hand potato masher (or a food processor if you’re looking for a really smooth sauce), mash the apples until they look like applesauce.

Serve over freshly-fried latkes and or just enjoy as a sweet snack.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

miso soup

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Liz Eggleston

Ok this was an exciting night in the Hungry Texans kitchen- our foray into dashi! The classic Japanese seafood stock is the base of so many dishes, including one notorious cure for an annoying cold… miso soup. I’m not going to lie, I thought of dashi as the japanese equivalent of chicken stock, but it’s quite different. It’s smoky and earthy and tastes (and smells) like the sea.

It’s also quite easy to make, if you have a bit of time. The miso soup, from start to finish, took about 1 hour to make. So pop open a bottle of sake and get cookin’!

for the dashi, you’ll need:

3 quarts cold water

3 kombu stalks

1 handful bonito flakes

for the miso soup, you’ll need:

2 quarts dashi

1 quart water

1/4 cup white miso paste

1/2 cup scallions

1 cup shitake mushrooms

1 block tofu

2 cups kale

Start your dashi by filling a large pan with cold water. Add your kombu stalks and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes of simmering, add your bonito flakes. Stir and bring to a boil. When the whole mixture reaches a boil, turn the stove off.

Drain the dashi through a colander. Alright, you’re ready for Top Chef!

To start your miso soup, add your dashi to a soup pot. Add your miso paste and stir until it has dissolved. Throw in sliced shitake mushrooms & scallions, sliced thin. De-stalk your lovely kale and chop it into small-ish pieces. You can add the kale directly or blanch it quickly first.

If you are making dashi with the hopes of turning it into miso soup, then slice your tofu and let it drain onto paper towels while your making the dashi. Then, slice into small cubes and add it to the miso pot.

Ok, now are you ready? This is the hardest part. Stir it once and cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Then, you’re done.

xoxo,

the hungry texans

Soy Ginger Tofu with Bok Choy

Posted on December 6, 2012 by lovettlovett

This is more exciting than you know! I’ve been a vegetarian for sneaking up on 4 years and this was my first successful attempt to cook tofu in such a way that it evoked the same “yum!-I-ordered-this-for-dinner-at-a-restaurant-and-I’m-extremely-satisfied” feeling. Huge win! The recipe couldn’t have been easier, either. Boston Boy & I hiked Great Falls Sunday and arrived home in desperate need of a quick & nourishing meal pre-movies (we saw Lincoln, and I don’t know that you need to rush to see it while it’s in theaters, but I definitely recommend it!). Did a quick dash to the grocery, cooked & ate it all in under an hour!

This Soy Ginger Tofu is great to keep in your wheelhouse for a simple, scrumptious din din!

For the Sauce:

1/4 c honey

1/4 c lemon juice

1/4 c soy sauce

2 tbl pickled ginger (fresh would of course be wonderful too, but this was a quick operation!)

1 heaping tbl garlic

1 1/2 tbl sriracha

Everything Else:

1 bunch of bok choy (thoroughly cleaned!)

1 package of firm/extra-firm tofu

1/3 c flour

pinch of salt

2 tbl canola oil

So, I recommend you start by situating your tofu. Slice your tofu into 1/2 an inch thick pieces and lay on a bed of paper towels. Lay more paper towels on top and perhaps even a cutting board on top of those paper towels. We want to remove as much liquid from the tofu as possible, as quickly as possible! While that’s being pressed/patted, start on your sauce. I recommend using one liquid measure and adding your honey, then lemon juice, then soy. Mix in your g&g & sriacha & let that rest.

Next (or meanwhile if you have a wonderful Boston Boy as your sous chef) clean and chop your bok choy (both the stalk and the leafy part) into bite-sized pieces.

Finally, once your tofu has rested for a while, slice each piece 3 times so you have 1 by 2 inch rectangular pieces, then coat each piece in your flour/salt mixture. Now it’s time to cook these babies! Heat your oil in a large skillet. Once your oil is hot enough gently place your tofu (you should see itty bitty bubbles surround it) in the oil. Let the tofu fry for 3-4 minutes and then flip once the bottom is beginning to look golden brown. Cook the second side (it’ll cook a little more quickly than the first) until it’s also golden brown.

I removed a good amount of the oil in my pan (I know we’re frying, but we’re health conscious when we can be!) and then added the bok choy. Start by adding the stalky, crunchy parts. Let those get off to a good start cooking & then pour in your sauce. Let it all start to simmer then add the leafy green parts of your bok choy.

Let it all jive together for 5-7 minutes (the stalky parts of your bok choy should be tender with a slight crisp), and then remove from heat. Serve on top of your favorite grain – I choose quinoa!

Give it a try, you’re going to love it! And…I promise, even for all you tofu skeptics. This is a great gateway tofu!

one bowl brownies

Posted on December 4, 2012 by lovettlovett

Consider yourself warned, you’ll be a hazard to yourself with these brownies nearby. The Saucy San Diegan made quite the feast of collards, kale & pork chops, so I volunteered to whip up dessert last night. Since our kitchen is just now, two weeks later, beginning to recover from our Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving festivities, nothing sounded better than only dirtying one bowl & I had all the ingredients on hand for brownies. I improv’d a little with my chocolate varietals & I encourage you to do the same, but let it be known these brownies turned our to be better than I could have ever imagined, so it might be worth sticking to this choco ratio. My perfect dessert – a tad bit of crunch on the outside & gooey goodness on the inside. I began devouring them the second they got out of the oven (the roof of my mouth is still recovering), enjoyed round II as a midnight snack, and woke up promptly this morning to enjoy a few nibbles for breakfast. I can’t quit these brownies. Also important to note, Boston Boy & Saucy San Diegan–both of whom have slim to no sweet tooth–loved ’em too!

Gather the following:

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup + 2 tsp boiling water

3 oz finely chopped Belgium chocolate (it’s all we had on hand thanks to one of One Sock Wonder’s friends who visited from Belgium!)

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs + 2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 c sugar

1 3/4 c flour

3/4 tsp salt

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350. First, dump your cocoa powder into the bowl & dissolve it with your 1/2 cup of boiling water. Then add your belgium chocolate & whisk, whisk, whisk until it’s all melted. Melt your coconut oil and butter together and then pour that into your mix until it’s combined. Add your two full eggs & two yolks & your vanilla. Then whisk in your sugar & finally, slowly add your flour/salt mixture. The final touch is to fold in your chocolate chips. There you have it! One bowl, a couple utensils, a liquid measure, a dry measure and a few guesstimates later and you have yourself One Bowl Brownies.

It’s important that you prep your pyrex accordingly. I used a square dish and lined the bottom with parchment so they popped out perfectly! Pour your batter into your prepped pan and lick the bowl (not joking! taste the batter, it should be sweet sweet with a hint of hmmm…what is this delicious vanilla, coconuty sweetness?). Pop the brownies in the oven and wait oh, so patiently as the sweetest smells start wafting from your oven. These babies took longer than I expected (~1 1/2 episodes of Homeland) or 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven once the top is set and your brownies pass the toothpick test on the edges (I took mine out when the center was still a little rare!).

I recommend taking these to a party, where you can have as many bites as you want, but it’d be uncouth to take the whole pan home with you. If you keep them around the house too long, you’ll be like me desperately scavenging for crumbs & desperately resisting the temptation to lick the chocolate that’s smudged between your “r” & “t” keys directly from the keyboard.

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