The first snow of the season (happening now!) always makes me a bit giddy. This can only mean one thing…that the holidays are approaching and spending lots of meaningful time with family is just around the corner. The hubby and I have been hosting his family for Thanksgiving …
Election day, election day… yes, I did indeed go out and vote my conscience. I’m grateful to live in a nation that has a democracy where we can be free to express and embrace all of our opinions and individuality. I’d love a few more morally …
If I had to survive on only one cuisine for the rest of ever, it would be Mexican. Or maybe Thai. It’s a tossup. They both have one thing in common. Mexican and Thai flavors are both very cohesive and flavorful through the entire dish and have a lot of heat. I don’t mean just the little bit of kick, kind of spicy. I’m talking about the hit ya in the backside kind of spice but not so much that it knocks you over. THAT is what I like. I don’t even know HOW I’m a Minnesota girl, honestly. My roots are all Scandinavian and German (you know the type: those who think ketchup is spicy… and we dance a mean polka). Yet, somehow, I can’t GET enough hot spicy goodness in my life. I’ll blame it on my travels to Mexico and Asia. I remember a trip to Seoul, Korea where the vendors I was working with were astonished that I was eating whole charred garlic cloves straight off the grill (in multitude). I then proceeded to douse my rice with their chili paste (not for the faint of heart). I had been forewarned that “this is SPICY!!” and that maybe, as an American, I wouldn’t like it. It was fantastic!! I then proceeded to dare my coworker into a “you taste the spicy chili and I’ll taste the sushi” dare (I don’t do sushi… it’s the texture). I won. These amazing enchiladas are a testament to my love affair with spice though they are less spicy than I would make for myself, given the choice 😉 These chicken white bean enchiladas are still kid and Midwestern husband friendly!
Chicken white bean enchiladas start with a slow cooked chicken. Hello, drool-worthy shreddable tenderness! To that, we add a touch of garlic and onion and a tish of that tomatillo salsa which also goes on top. You can use any other enchilada sauce too if you prefer red or green. My go-to sauces when I don’t make it from scratch are the Frontera brand that you can get in a pouch since it doesn’t have preservatives. If you like a nice red (rojo) enchilada sauce from scratch, you can use the red sauce I created for this venison enchiladas recipe both in the sauce and as a “smother” for baking. Add to that a bit of white navy beans, more garlic, and a little lime and spinach , topped with pickled jalepeno and we have ourselves a respectable chicken white bean enchilada. You can make this as spicy as you want simply by altering the type of peppers you use when making the sauce. Less spicy peppers equal less spicy sauce. Or use less of them just be sure to use a variety for a well-rounded flavor. Simple simon… and SUPER delicious!
Last weekend, we had a photographer come out to our acreage to do a little family photo shoot. I also had her take some updated pics of me so I can finally update my photos here on the blog (soon!). I was re-living the senior picture experience all …
I walked into the kitchen last night expecting to start dinner late since I had been outside enjoying the early evening with my neighbor. What I found was a delightful surprise. My husband was deep in the trenches of chopping vegetables and spiralizing a zucchini …
I have the worst luck this week. My fridge freezer decided to stop freezing food over the weekend resulting in soft “frozen” veggies that I fed to my chickens. The peeps were overjoyed with the demise of the veggies, however, since they got a super special treat. I had to toss a few meat items that had un-frozen as well. Sigh. It should be fixed in time for this weekend which is a necessity since we’re picking up meat in bulk from the farm and need a place for it. As if that wasn’t enough of a problem to deal with, my dishwasher has decided to play hooky too and is now apparently on strike. My girls got the privilege of learning how to do about three loads of dishes the “old-fashioned” way in the sink this morning. In the interest of doing less dishes, I’ve made this awesome spiced potato salad in one pot and I’ll be serving it hillbilly style straight from the pot on the table tonight too!
This spiced potato salad is a German style potato salad meaning that it’s not creamy and isn’t made with any mayo or eggs. It’s sweet and savory spice combo comes from mustard, ginger and harissa sauce. Add some diced crunchy cooked bacon (because bacon makes EVERYTHING better!) and a touch of cilantro and it’s ready to rock your next picnic. Since this salad doesn’t contain mayo or eggs, it can be served warm or cold and is able to sit out without refrigeration longer than the creamy style salads. You still need to refrigerate it but it’s a bit safer for pot luck picnics outdoors since the bacon is cured and cooked. Take this marvelous spiced potato salad to your Labor Day picnic and it’ll be the hit of the party!
Ahhhhh. That’s the sound of a happy mom who’s getting a little bit of a break! My two daughters are away for the week spending time with their grandparents on the farm. They will be showing goats and exhibiting their culinary and artistic creations at the …
Half of the summer is nearly gone already! How does that happen?!? At least that’s how I’ve always perceived the 4th of July holiday. It’s always marked the halfway point in my mind though we really do have two full months left until school starts up again. I …
Oh boy. My girls are officially on summer vacation and I’m happy they’re around. Not so happy about all the “I’m bored!” statements that are happening already. Lucky for them, I have all sorts of fun tasks to solve their boredom (insert maniacal laugh here). I’m betting they won’t tell me they’re bored after weeding all of the mulch in the backyard and helping pick up sticks that have littered the yard after the last wind storm. See, I’m a problem solver. My next problem that needed solving was that I’d NEVER made a risotto. I’ve been leery to try making it because I kept hearing that it’s “so hard to get right”. So, this wonderful mushroom leek risotto happened last night and I can tell you it is NOT hard. I’m happy to report that it’s WAY easier than I thought to make and just as deliciously creamy as I had imagined. Nailed it!
To get the perfect mushroom leek risotto you will need a large wide bottom sauce pan. I used a 12-inch skillet, which worked awesome. You will need to keep a separate saucepan with warm broth ready to add a ladle full at a time to the larger skillet after all of the main ingredients are added. Making risotto is really not difficult and it comes together in less than thirty minutes with no need to attend to it the whole time. The trick to knowing when to add more broth is simple: drag your stirring spoon through the rice mixture and if the space left by your spoon does not immediately fill with liquid, it’s time to add more broth. Simple as that. After you’ve added all of the broth, add the rest of the ingredients and continue cooking until the rice grains are suspended in the creamy brothiness but not sticking together. It shouldn’t look as fluid as soup yet not as thick as cookie dough either. More like a loose oatmeal consistency is what you’re going for. Keep in mind the rice will continue to absorb liquid as it cools so pull it off the heat just as it starts to get to the right consistency. If you let it cook a little too long and it’s too thick, easy to fix – just add a bit more broth!
It’s my darling husband’s 40th birthday today!! In honor of his big celebration, we had a huge yard party this past weekend with a taco and nacho bar which included fresh salsa, smoky guacamole, chipotle bean dip and chile con queso. We studded the yard with …
