Gourmet Goals and Cooking Confessions

Too often, chefs and even homecooking food bloggers portray an image of being perfect gourmets who can improvise with ease, conquer any recipe and are experts in all cuisines. I don't want to do that here. I intend to show you that no one is without fault and everyone has big goals, even in the kitchen!

So I have a few personal cooking confessions, palate prejudice and gourmet goals to share with you.

Cooking Confessions

• I struggle with multitasking. Too often, I get too ambitious and get overwhelmed cooking. This is one of the reasons I love make-ahead entrees or Crock Pot dishes that take care of themselves so that I can focus on other elements. 
• I can be really shortsighted with cooking. I'm not really creative when left to my own devices but I do feel really confident in my ability to follow a recipe - probably too confident. I think that everything will be much more simple than it is. 
• I can be recipe gullible. I know what makes for good flavor combinations but I often assume that all recipes that get air time must be good. This is dangerous and is the impetus for J's "one Pinterest recipe per meal" rule...
• I'm forgetful with ingredients. This is probably why my skills of improvisation are improving - because I think we have 2 cups of mozzarella but we actually only have 1, so I have to add Parmesan, cheddar and feta to meet my needs. 
• I make assumptions about local grocery stores. I assume that most ingredients are readily available and hopefully in appropriate packaging and price points or I don't fully understand my ingredients - that's what caused the Canned Salmon meltdown of 2012 (who knew it had skin and bones in it?!?!). Another moment to be a better improvisational cook!

For some common cooking mistakes, look here at Real Simple's suggestions to fix food flubs. 

Palate Prejudice 

Here are a few of the ingredients/flavors I despise and try to avoid as often as possible when cooking or eating:

• Fennel/ star anise/ licorice - just why?
• Cilantro - in large quantities, I think it tastes just like soapy dishwater
• Strong liquor flavors - I'm not far enough away from my college drinking (read: vomiting) days to be able to appreciate strong booze again
• Raw, seed-filled tomatoes - I love tomato products and tomatoes without "guts" but I can't stand that slimy stuff!

Gourmet Goals

I've been cooking since I was a kid and have tried a number of types of cuisine and methods of preparation but I still have some goals for dishes and techniques that I want to master. 

• The Art of French Cooking - I've made her Bouef Bourguignon, but I want to try more of Julia Child's French recipes (minus the aspics)
• Savory and sweet souffles - I made one in a rush on Valentine's Day and it was so-so. This dramatic dish needs to be perfect
• Southern staples - most notably fried chicken, biscuits and cornbread
• Perfect knife cuts - if you asked J, he'd probably say my knife skills are irregular at best, insanely dangerous at their worst
• Homemade pie crust and pasta - two of my most favorite carbs!
• A signature cocktail - I know I said I don't like strong liquor flavors earlier, but I do think having a good knowledge of what to order at a dinner or what to shake up at a party is an important grown up skill. And rumor has it, some drinks don't taste just like nail polish remover - if you make the right, you might just enjoy them! 
• Knowledge of meat cuts - I get the poultry ones and some basic red meat cuts but I have no idea what the difference is between various roasts in terms of texture, flavor and cooking needs but also where they are located.
• Food photography for this blog - I know that's petty and probably has a lot to do with both the lighting in our house and my sub-par phone camera but to convey the best food to you, I need to work on my pictures and art direction. J's the artistic one and takes better food photos but I'm trying! 

I shared these tidbits with you as encouragement. Everyone - chef or not -is a work in progress in and out of the kitchen and we have to keep that in perspective. We all have things we like and don't like, no matter how flexible a palate we have; things we want to accomplish and faults to work on. I hope our blog gives you encouragement and shows you that the thing that drives good meals is a passion for food and sharing with folks you love. 

Meatball & Tortellini Soup

This month's church fellowship was a Soup & Pie luncheon. How much more homey can it get than a warm bowl of soup and a sweet slice of pie? For the meal, I brought a new, fresh-tasting soup with vegetables, meatballs and tortellini (and my classic peanut butter pie - but I'm not ready to share that one yet).

It's a light soup (less than 500 calories/serving) - with low-sodium broth instead of a cream base, fresh vegetables and flavorful, caramelized meatballs. Like chicken noodle soup, this recipe is hearty without feeling heavy or overly rich. The light saute on the veggies gives them a firmer texture that makes for a satisfying bite. And the meatballs don't become dry but the quick browning gives them deeper flavor.

This one-pot soup made for quick prep and worked really well for the potluck because I was able to do 90% of the work the night before then only had to reheat and add the last two ingredients quickly at the end. It also kept well in the Crock Pot - if you have a CP with a locking lid, you're golden with this dish! 

This is also another great opportunity to bring your kids in the kitchen. This could be good for youngsters - even toddlers - who like getting their hands dirty (and know not to touch their mouths during or after) and want to help with the meatballs; but would be especially good for a young kid - I'm thinking 7 or 8 - who can manage simple cuts and would be able to sear the meatballs. Soup is a great place to start teaching your children how to cook because they're fairly inexpensive (this was less than $2/serving and most of the ingredients are pantry staples), so little can go wrong and they are such improvisational dishes - got a little too overzealous with the stirring? Fine. Ground meat instead of meatballs would be fine. No stress!

Grab a bowl and ladle yourself a great big helping of this delicious soup!

Meatball & Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

8 oz. ground beef

1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 c chopped fresh parsley (or 2 T dried herbs -- I used Italian seasoning)

1 large egg

1 clove garlic, minced

kosher salt, ground pepper

2 T extra virgin olive oil

2 carrots diced

2 stalks celery, with leaves, diced

1 quart (two 16-oz cans) low sodium chicken broth*

9-oz package refrigerated cheese tortellini*

4 c loosely packed baby spinach

Method:

Combine beef, cheese, half of the parsley or herbs, egg, garlic, 1/2 t salt, and pepper to taste in medium bowl. Mix with your hands until just combined - over mixing will make your meatballs tough. Form into small meatballs (1" at the biggest, I made mine miniature so I had about 24+). 

Heat the oil in a pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning over when golden - until all sides are lightly browned (3-4 minutes, faster for smaller meatballs). Remove the meatballs to a plate. 

Add the carrots and celery and cook in the pan drippings until just softened. Add the broth and 3 cups of water; bring to a boil. Return the meatballs to the pot along with the remaining herbs and 1/2 t salt; simmer until the meatballs are just cooked through (about 2 minutes). Note: if you are making ahead - stop here and refrigerate until 15 minutes before serving and then bring back to a boil.

Add the tortellini and cook until they float to the top, about 4 minutes*.Note: if you are making this soup for only 1-2 servings instead of the full four, only make the fraction of the tortellini you need at the time. If pasta is stored for long periods of time, it absorbs liquid and becomes soggy. Add fresh pasta for each later serving. Add the spinach and cook, stirring until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. 

*Note: You can use dried tortellini as well (I did). If you do this, use an 8 oz. package (I used Barilla three cheese) and add another 16 oz. can of chicken broth. You'll need to cook the tortellini longer (about 8 minutes) and they will absorb more liquid. Keep an eye on it and you may want to add more water or broth if your soup looks too "thick," with little broth. 

Merry Christmas and Cider!

Two of our goodies from this years' LEGO Friends and Star Wars advent calendars 

We just finished our second family Christmas celebration - cookie swap on Sunday and dinner tonight - with at least two more to go - country breakfast and afternoon snack binge tomorrow. This is a super busy time of year what with the shopping and the parties and other obligations, but we're blessed to have so many people to visit and things to do.

We want to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season for whatever you celebrate and with whomever you make memories with. We hope that you take the time today, tomorrow and every day - holiday or not - to slow down and take the time to be with, talk to or think of the ones you love. And  of course, to cook, share or eat something delicious.

In the spirit of the season and general deliciousness, I'll share the recipe for the hot spice apple cider (also called wassail) we took to tonight's event. This beverage is a great seasonal drink - it just tastes like the holidays - with cloves, cinnamon and citrus. Like most of my recipes, it's very customizeable to your palate - use more or less spice as you'd like. It's a good make-and-take beverage too; we made ours hours in advance and reheated and kept it piping hot in our Crock Pot.

Merry Christmas from our family and table to yours!

Hot Spiced Apple Cider

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider

1 c citrus-y juice (orange or pineapple; this time we used 50/50)

3 T brown sugar (+/- to taste)

8-10 whole cloves  (+/- to taste)
1 orange sliced in circles
1 T cinnamon (+/- to taste)
1/2 t ground nutmeg  (+/- to taste)

Method:
Pour all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Continue boiling for at least 15 minutes (we boiled ours for about 20); the longer you boil it, the stronger the flavors will be. Strain and serve.

Note: I kept my orange slices intact and then put them back into the Crock Pot when we arrived; it made for a very pretty presentation.