Healthy Crunch Salad

Well, Chickens, I hope the weird weather where you are is as exciting as the roller coaster we are having here in Chi-town...60 in January???

Mmmm.  Global Warming.  Hello, tiger.  Welcome.

Things here are good, weather notwithstanding.   Despite a 24 hour stomach bug, UGH, I have managed to finish my new book, Out To Lunch, coming to a retailer near you this December.  It is off to my editor, and I am in that blissful brief time when it is actually out of my hands, and I cannot do anything about it till I get my edit notes.  Can we say brain vacation?  It's another foray into foodie fiction, with more recipes than ever before, and I hope you are going to love it.

Charming Suitor and I have been sticking to our commitment to healthier living, he has joined me in my low-carb diet, and we are exercising together regularly, which has been so much better than going it alone.

As a part of this plan, Tuesday nights after work we are taking a group tennis lesson.  This has required some planning, since after a full day of work and an hour of running around we are both starving and have little desire to cook.  And since takeout is a little counter-productive after a workout, Tuesday nights have become either slow-cooker meals, or quick salads.

This salad has become a fave, since it is very healthy, very delicious and insanely simple, and goes well with any protein, especially a quick cooking fish or a rotisserie chicken.  My local Whole Foods Market has a terrific salad bar that has a variety of cooked grains and legumes in addition to the usual veggies, so for me this is an easy set up.  But if yours doesn't, you can use leftover grains or cook some specifically for this salad.  Raw cauliflower makes up almost half of the salad, for plenty of crunch and making the grains stretch, perfect for anyone doing low-carb.  Plus it is the perfect thing to serve to your veggie or vegan or gluten-free friends.

Healthy Crunch Salad

2 c cooked mixed whole grains (I use a mix of black and red quinoa, farro, bulgur, and kamut, but use what you like)
1 c cooked lentils or the bean of your choice
1/2 c shredded carrot
1/4 c sunflower seeds (or the nut of your choice)
2 c finely chopped raw cauliflower, about 1/2 a head of cauliflower  (I blitz it in my chopper or food processor, to get a size and texture close to the grains)
3 T chopped parsley
4 T red wine vinegar
8 T extra virgin olive oil or pumpkin seed oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the grains and veggies in a large bowl.  Dress with red wine vinegar and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

What are your go-to quick dishes?

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Hamtastic

Hello Chickens!  Is it freezing where you are?  Because Chicago is frigid.  Luckily, I'm done with my errands for the day, and don't have to go outside again till Charming Suitor gets home and we have to go to the gym.  Since we both find this the most onerous hour of our day, we finally figured out that it is, like almost everything else in life, infinitely better when we do it together.   Exercise is hateful, but at least when you do it with someone you love, it is manageable.  So four days a week we are getting each other motivated to get on those treadmills.  We are also taking tennis lessons together, which is even more fun.

Not nearly as much fun as buying our first home, however!

Isn't she lovely?

I have lived in the first floor apartment in this building for 19 years.  The moment I first set foot inside, I knew I was home, deeply and profoundly, in the most meaningful way possible.  The day I signed the lease, the landlord and I entered into a handshake agreement to give me right of first refusal to purchase the building if he ever decided to sell.  In the nearly two decades that have ensued, I have traded up four cars, three beds, two Kitchenaid mixers, and one husband.  And many thought I was insane for not just giving up on the dream and investing in a home of my own years and years ago.  But despite what most might think, while I am in many ways an instant gratification kind of girl, when it comes to the most important things in my life?  I am PATIENT.  I know what's worth waiting for.  I waited ten years for Charming Suitor, and he was worth every moment, every horrible first date, every lonely Valentine's Day.  And this is the cherry on top of our dream, a place to truly call our own.

There is something to be said for holding on so that your first house can be your dream house.

One of the things that isn't perfect about this place, is that the kitchen is so far away from the living room, it's hard to use your nose in cooking.  In other spaces, both CS and I can just smell when the cookies are done, or the cake is ready, or the chicken is perfect.  But not here.  By the time the scent reaches you in the living room, the cookies are burnt, the cake is dry, the chicken is desiccated.  And even when I'm cooking something delicious for dinner, it rarely has that permeating welcome home scent.

Except for certain things.  And, we discovered over the holidays that this ham is one of them.

Boo-yah.

I almost never make ham.  I love it, but there are only two of us, and hams tend to be large and unwieldy, and don't offer a ton of leftovers options we really like except sandwiches.  And, with many apologies to my Mom, the ham of my childhood was slorped from a can suspended in icky gel, weirdly shaped like a squashed football, covered in orange marmalade.  Somewhat mealy in texture and mostly tasting of salt.  Not exactly comfort food.

But we look forward to Christmas and Easter for the sheer hamitude.  Our wonderful Farmer Paulie, from Paulie's pasture gifted us an enormous ham, from one of his hand-raised hogs.  And so we volunteered to bring the ham for Christmas Day with my brother from another mother Officer K and the rest of my adopted extra family.  They agreed, and this is the recipe I came up with.

It made the whole house smell like happy.  Which was perfect, because this is always a happy house.

And now, really truly ours.

I hope wherever you call home is happy as we start this new year together.  Make this ham.  It smells like home.

Glazed Ham

1 whole bone-in ham, about 12 pounds

(you can use spiral sliced if you want, but I find that they tend to be less moist than whole hams you slice yourself, see if your butcher can get you one if you don’t have good access at the grocery store)

1 8 oz jar mango chutney

2 oz ginger jam or ginger syrup

2 T finely grated shallot

1 c light brown sugar

zest and juice of 1 orange

½ c strong Dijon mustard, I prefer Maille brand

3 T tomato paste

2 T hoisin sauce

salt and pepper

½ t red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350.  If you are using an unsliced ham, score the skin and fat of the ham in a diamond pattern.  Place the ham in a roasting pan, and put 1 c of water in the bottom.

Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl.  Spread the glaze all over the ham, being sure to get it into the scores.  Cover the pan loosely with foil, trying not to touch the surface of the ham, but still sealing in the edges.   Bake for 2 hours.  Remove foil and bake an additional half an hour or so to caramelize the glaze.  You can hold in a 200 degree oven for up to two more hours before serving.

Serves 16-20

What are the recipes that make your house smell like home?  Share in the comments!

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Congrats to our winner!

Bev V, I know I am not the only one looking forward to trying your Pork and Three Bean Chili!

Shoot me your shipping address to staceyballisinfo (at) gmail (dot) come and I will get your prizes out to you this week.

For everyone else, thanks for the great new ideas!

As for me, I'm back to finishing the new book, but I'll pop in and say hi again soon as I can.

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Tis the Season, for Braising!

Chickens-

I hope everyone has recovered from Thanksgiving and is gearing up for the rest of the festive season.

Charming Suitor and I have set up our first Xmas Tree/Hanukah Bush.  I think it is adorable.

(For the longer story of this special tree, CLICK HERE)

We kept it simple, little fairy lights, mini mirrored disco balls for sparkle, and a garland of felt balls in 40 different colors for bright.  And of course, the traditional Star of David topper.  It is made of salvaged staves from French oak wine barrels, and if you are curious, yes, wine does smell just as festive as pine.

Despite the fact that as I write this it is in the mid-60s outside, it is still Fall and for me, Fall means braising.  I love the way a slow cooked dish makes the house smell delicious, I love that they are dishes that are almost impossible to screw up and don't need fussing.  I love that they are the perfect thing for dinner parties, letting you make your main course the day or even two or three days before and reheat in a low oven, making for a relaxed hostess.

As promised, I want to share one of my new favorite braises, a basque-inspired stew of chicken thighs and chorizo sausage and chickpeas.  It is a wonderful bowl of spicy and savory warmth on a cold night, and is great for a casual Tuesday night dinner for two or a Saturday night dinner party for eight.  Serve it with a warming Spanish rioja or a crisp white Gruner Veltliner.  A simple salad of butter lettuce dressed with lemon, olive oil, and fried capers and some crusty bread are all you need for a complete and lovely meal.

And since it is time for a new recipe, how about a new gadget!

This is a recipe rock from Architec!  I'm loving this thing.  I keep all my recipes in my computer.  When I want to make something, I print a copy, that way it doesn't matter if it gets stained or shredded, I just throw it away when I am done.  But I'm always elbowing it off the counter, or trying to keep it out of my way.  For a while I was taping recipes to the kitchen cabinets.  Not anymore.  A very cool and simple item...there is a powerful magnet in the base, and a ball bearing.  You can take your recipe or recipe card and slide it between the ball bearing and the base and it holds it upright so you can read it easily, and it stays out of the way!  Even better, it is VERY reasonably priced and a perfect stocking stuffer or small Hanukkah present for your favorite cook, or a happy present for yourself.

Basque Braised Chicken Thighs with Artichokes, Chorizo and Chickpeas

4 ounces Spanish chorizo, sliced 1/4-inch thick  (this is a cured sausage red with paprika, do not substitute fresh Mexican chorizo here, if you can’t find Spanish chorizo, use a stick of pepperoni)

3 pounds chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)

Salt and pepper

1 can chickpeas, drained

1 box frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

2 small red onions, sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

3/4 cup dry sherry

2 c chicken stock

1 cup diced plum tomatoes

2 teaspoons Espelette or Aleppo pepper (if you can’t find these, substitute sweet paprika,  but try to get the Espelette, it is worth it!)

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Handful fresh basil, torn, for garnish

Put a large deep saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Cook the chorizo, stirring occasionally, until chorizo has rendered its fat and is brown and crispy. Remove chorizo with a slotted spoon or spatula to your slow cooker, leaving the fat in the pan.

Season the thighs with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet and brown well on both sides, especially making sure to render the skin so that it is crispy about ten minutes total. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside.

Remove all but two tablespoons of fat in the skillet. Add the onions, garlic, artichokes and thyme. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, about five minutes. Add the sherry, tomatoes, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Stir well to dislodge any browned bits and simmer for one minute.  Add this mixture to your slow cooker, put in the chickpeas, and stir to be sure it is all well combined.

Nestle the thighs in the mixture in your slow cooker.  Put in enough chicken stock to come up to the thighs, leaving the top ¼ inch uncovered.  Cover the slow cooker and turn on High for at least 3 hours.  You can then turn to low and hold till dinner time, or cook on low for up to 8 hours.  Before serving, season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with basil. Serve.

If you don’t have a slow-cooker, you can cook in a covered Dutch oven at 350 for 1 ½ hours. 

I also love this over cous cous or brown rice.

Also?   Charming Suitor and I were so hungry for it, and it smelled so delish that I totally forgot to take pictures for you, so you'll have to believe me when I say it was lovely to look at, all burnished reds and golden browns.  Very Autumnal.

So, to celebrate this season, comment with your favorite slow-cooker or braised recipe by 11:59 CST on Sunday Dec. 9, and I will pick one for a little prize package of a Hampton Forge Paring knife set (one veggie, one fruit, one tomato all with covers) and a small folding cutting board to easily get your chopped stuff to the pan.  Winner announced next Monday!

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Techpocalypse

Hello Chickens!

I know that I don't make it a habit to apologize for absences, since you all know that I will post when I actually have something I think you might want to read, and that you would be bored to tears with anything I might throw up here just to have new content.

But I did want to stop in and say that some recent technological difficulties have impacted blogging capabilities more than usual.

The short version is that my three month old MacBookAir was having a glitch that required a full data wipe.  Since I am a back-up freak, and have three different backup plans, I was not worried about this.  Until I got the computer back and discovered that my three month old Netgear router had fried itself out for no apparent reason and taken my external hard drive backup with it.  Apparently my iCloud was also not set up properly, so no backup there.  Thank god for Mozy, an online autobackup system which had retained all my data except for all the music in my iTunes, which my computer network guy had luckily kept a backup of when he transferred all the data from my old computer to the new one.

Needless to say it was a full week without a computer, necessitated buying a new router (Oh Netgear, never again) and trying not to worry about getting off schedule on the new book.

Which, considering my penchant for procrastination is sort of a funny thing to be stressed about, but I was determined to not write this book in a ninety-mile-an-hour panic, and have been sticking pretty well to a set weekly goal that up until recently I was able to keep up with.

I am not doing a Thanksgiving-specific post this year, since I have beaten that horse to death previously, but if you haven't seen it before, this post says it all (just remember to ignore the contest, since that is two years old).  But I did want to tell you all as we head into the holiday week that I am as always so grateful for all of you who read and comment and enter contests and buy books and follow me on twitter and like my facebook page.

I am going to take a couple of weeks to get myself back on track writing wise, now that my technology is all back up and running, (and that I have uploaded the entire contents to Google Docs as a fourth layer of protection) and to spend some quality time with friends and family.  I will be back early December with some great new winter recipes (braised chicken thighs with chorizo and chickpeas?  its coming) and some very cool new products and giveaways.

In the meantime, I hope your Thanksgiving celebrations are warm and wonderful and full of delicious.

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Contest Winner!

Congratulations to Deanne and her fabulous zucchini bread recipe that I can't wait to try. You are the winner of a signed copy of Alison Pace's latest, You Tell Your Dog First

Shoot me your mailing addy to staceyballisinfo (at) gmail (dot) com and Alison will put it in the mail to you, probably after the Frankenstorm is over.

For the rest of you, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  And for those of you in the path of the storm, a perfect new read!  Download it on your Kindles before the power goes out!

In all seriousness, for those of you being affected by Sandy, I hope you stay safe.

Stay tuned later this week for another fab giveaway!

Yours in Good Taste,
The Polymath

Guest post from my pal Alison Pace with a giveaway!

Hello Chickens-  

Stopping in to introduce you to my dear friend Alison Pace.  Alison is the author of such fab books as Pug Hill and A Pug's Tale, and her latest book of essays, You Tell Your Dog First I had the joy to read early, and it is a wonderful series of funny and heartwarming stories about the dogs she has known and loved.  I told her that she could stop by here to tell you about it and give away a copy, as long as she also brought a terrific Fall recipe for all of us.  And she has obliged.  Comment below with either your fave dog story or your fave fall recipe by 11:59PM CST Friday and we will pick one randomly to receive a signed copy of You Tell Your Dog First.

Ali-  Take it away!  Your Polymath

Hi All,

Alison Pace  here.  I’m a fellow writer and good friend of Stacey’s.  And because Stacey is such a good friend, she invited me to be a guest here in celebration of the publication of my new book, YOU TELL YOUR DOG FIRST  Yes, the book is about dogs and life lived with dogs. It’s also very much about family and friendship and finding your place in the world.

In YOU TELL YOUR DOG FIRST, I write a lot about all the dogs I remember from my childhood.  Another thing I remember, vividly, from my childhood is the Hungarian chicken my mom (who shows up a lot in the book) makes.  It’s up there on my list of favorite things to eat and it’s also one of the things I most love to recreate in my own kitchen.  This is a great cold-weather dish, hearty and comforting and fills the house with old-world smells and warmth.  And it’s really pretty easy to make:

HUNGARIAN CHICKEN (Chicken in Red Sauce)

4  Chicken breast half’s boned with the skin on

            2  Large Spanish onions

            3 TBS  Extra Virgin Olive Oil

            2 TBS Butter

            3 Small cans of tomato puree

            Salt and Pepper

Melt the olive oil and butter in a heavy pot.  Dice the onions, add to the butter and oil, generously add salt and pepper and sauté until just starting to brown, scraping up the brown bits as you go.  Add the boned breasts with the skin, mix with the onions and stir until the chicken looses its raw color.  Add the tomato puree and 1 and ½ cans of water.  Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 1 hour.  Peel off the chicken skin and discard (or feed to your dog*) taste for salt and pepper.

Serve over egg noodles.

*NB: my dog, Carlie, who also shows up quite a lot in the book, is a big fan of Hungarian Chicken. 

If you’d like to read the first chapter of my book, just click here. 

And if you’d like to enter to win a copy, just leave a comment.  Stacey will pick a winner!