Happy Hygge

Winter arrived early this year. It will be a week tomorrow. A week of shoveling, shoveling again, and shoveling some more. Heavy, wet, icy, and unyielding until you scoop it up and it slides back down onto the sidewalk. The lake path is compromised. There are paths that will not be cleared again until the spring. It feels like late January, early February without the warm memories of the holiday behind us and the hope of spring ahead of us. We decided to confront it full on and have a hygge gathering with the neighbor clan. The invite went like this:

Hello everyone - welcome to winter.  It kind of sucks already, so we are having a Hygge festival on Saturday around 5:30 or 6:00.  What is Hygge?  It's basically the Danish concept of "cozy."  Please read this Jim Walsh article:

 http://www.minnpost.com/arts-culture/2013/12/our-hygge-moment-how-danish-cultural-concept-can-help-cut-through-dark-minnesot Candles, soup, drinks, tunes, neighbors.  That is all you need.   Please let us know if you can make it - all are welcome in from the cold and dark! We will make different kinds of soups.  Feel free to bring any side dishes, wine, beer etc.  I will have some brewski's on hand too.

The best response came from across the alley, "I did not know you can grill soup."

We served recipes that have shown up here before, beef barley soup, and pumpkin cookies and a few that are in rotation in my kitchen but previously unpublished. Read on for my recipe for Chicken and Potatoes Curry soup, and links to Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup and my pursuit of the Cossetta's maple vinaigrette.

Chicken curry soup with potatoes

This is a collection of three recipes blending into one. Substitutions abound but here is how I go about making it.

The Chicken

5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

3 large carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces

1 yellow onion chopped into large chunks

2-3 stalks of celery chopped into large chunks

2 tablespoons Taco Seasoning mix, recipe below

Taco Seasoning mix

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon black pepper

Combine chicken thighs, carrots, celery, onion and taco seasoning mix in a large bowl. Place on an aluminum foil lined rimmed baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 375 for 1 hour. Reserve juices, discard vegetables and coarsely chop chicken. The chicken can also be prepared in a crock pot on high for 3 hours or low for 5.

Indian Potatoes

5 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes

Indian spice mix, recipe below

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a 12-14 inch skillet until hot and shimmering, add spice mixture and saute in oil for 30 seconds, add potatoes and stir to coat.  Add 1/3 cup of water, cover and reduce to a simmer. Check potatoes after 12 minutes. If they are tender remove from the heat otherwise cook for another two minutes. Additional water can be added at this time if necessary.

Curry Sauce

Purchase a jar of Thai Kitchen brand Red Curry Paste. Follow the directions on the back of the jar. It will ask you to add a can of coconut milk, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar,  1 to tablespoons of fish sauce and 1/4 cup of Thai basil. I always add the fish sauce. Add the reserved liquid from the chicken and additional chicken or vegetable broth/stock depending on how soupy or stew like I would like the final product to be. Stir in the prepared chicken and potatoes and allow flavors to blend on low heat for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with Sriracha sauce.

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup

Maple Vinaigrette

Thai Basil Chicken

My favorite thing from Big Bowl home edition. Fortunately you can download a copy of this cookbook to your tablet or Kindle through Overdrive.

Shrimp and Chicken with Thai Basil and Red Onion

4 ounces boneless chicken breast, sliced

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sesame oil, Kadoya brand preferred

½ teaspoon salt, do not double if increasing the recipe

4 ounces shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half lengthwise, I have yet to make this with shrimp

3 tablespoons fish sauce, Flying Crab brand preferred

2 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

5 teaspoons sugar

1 cup peanut oil or canola oil

1 cup cut-up red onions (cut into 1-inch square pieces)

1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced

1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced

1 teaspoon finely minced lemongrass, the lemongrass in a tube works great, thanks Moe

¼ cup tightly packed Thai basil leaves

1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanuts, I skip this

2 teaspoons ground dried shrimp, I skip this

Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish, I only use this if I have it on hand

Put the chicken breast in a small bowl and mix with 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, ½ teaspoon of sesame oil and the ½ teaspoon of salt. Add the shrimp to the bowl. Mix in the remaining cornstarch and sesame oil. Set aside.

Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar.

In a wok or skillet, heat 1 cup of peanut oil over medium-high heat. When hot but not smoking, add the chicken and shrimp, and cook, stirring to separate the pieces. When the pieces change color, remove to a colander to drain, reserving the oil.

Heat a clean wok or skillet to hot and add ¼ cup of the reserved oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring until they just become transparent. Add the ginger, garlic, lemongrass, and stir briefly. Turn the heat to high and re-add the chicken and shrimp. Stir and add the fish sauce mixture. Bring just to a boil, stir in the basil, and remove from the heat. Stir in the peanuts and dried shrimp. Garnish with the cilantro and serve with rice.

Serves 2 to 3 as part of a larger meal.

Maura’s adaptation:

When I make this for my family of 5 I usually slice up 4 boneless chicken breast and omit the shrimp altogether. I triple the amount of cornstarch and sesame oil but not the salt.

I double the sauce mixture as follows:

1/3 cup fish sauce

1/3 cup  lime juice

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of water

I double the red onion and often times add a mixture of red, yellow and orange peppers to stretch it.

I skip the peanuts and dried shimp.

I use only enough oil to sauté the chicken then I wipe out the pan and add only enough oil to sauté the onions and peppers.

I serve it over jasmine rice

2010: I LOVE January

2010 has been good to me so far.

My new year’s resolutions have stuck.

I spent January with the positive affirmation of “I LOVE January. I LOVE January.” Repeated over and over until it was April, nearly.

No potato chips, not hard at this time of year but porch season will be the true test.


No McDonald’s which is only an issue on long car trips to the cabin or Milwaukee, I shall be tested on that this week.

Exercise and housework before knitting. I am happy to report that while I am down five pounds I am also down five pairs of felted mittens.

No alcohol for Lent may become no alcohol for then next many years as the oldests social life if ramping up and I need to have my wits about me for late night parent pick ups.


A new beginning running program has me skipping in public, much to my children’s embarrassment, but running without the knee pain and twisted ankle of last year’s thwarted attempt.

In other news

My new best friend is my prescription strength Vitamin D. After a few weeks the lethargy that has been plaguing me since I became a mother nearly 15 years ago is abating.

My netflix life has enjoyed the series Doc Martin, William and Mary and Mad Men.

My ipod life has loved listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Everybody Ona Move by Michael Franti and Spearhead and Start the Commotion byt the Wise Guys.

Since I last posted a have put on a baby shower, Thompson cousin gathering, baked potato bar Lenten supper for a hundred (Lutherans love crack), a birthday party for the low fat, no meat, no shellfish, no chocolate, not too rich, newest 42 year old in the neighborhood, Palm Sunday for 200 and I have made a host of new recipes that are good enough to share, in link form.

Ancho Pork and Hominy Stew from Cooking Light. My sister was the first to try this and it has been in heavy rotation ever since. Not a very spring like dish but bookmark it for next fall.

Pasta with Asparagus, Pancetta and Pine Nuts also from Cooking Light but I made it a la Cooking right by using 8 ounces of bacon instead of 2 ounces of pancetta, a mix of whole wheat and regular pasta and 1 1/2 recipe of the lemon and olive oil dressing. I cannot wait to make this again.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas My parents are the proud owners of a functioning computer and my mother discovered this recipe on allrecipes.com. It is great. I prepare my chicken in the crockpot using this recipe, and use La Victoria Salsa Jalapena which is labeled Extra Hot and a green chile enchilada sauce. My sister used a canned jalapena salsa the first time she made it and it was red so she reported that the sour cream mixture had a very unpleasing pink tinge. I have adapted the recipe to reflect G and F's sensitivity to spiciness by whirling together the sour cream, cilantro and green enchilada sauce reserving some of it an then whirling in the jalapena salsa. I have prepared it with flour and corn tortillas and it is good either way.

Chickpea and Spinach Salad with Yogurt Dressing This is from Food Network's Elie Krieger and I made it for the aforementioned birthday party. The yogurt dressing is good but not an obligation.

Beet Hummus Very pretty, very good, if you like beets. I am now the proud owner of a very large jar of tahini so if you are going to make this let me spot you the tahini. From the wonderful food blog Simply Recipes. I love her caramel sauce.

Fudgy, Chewy, Cakey Brownies by my food heroine Pam Anderson. My new go to brownie recipe. My only complaint she suggest letting them cool for 3 hours. Are you kidding me?

A Chicken in Every Crockpot

I love my crockpot, I love my sister, and I love the blog crockpot365.com so when Maggie said that the rotisserie chicken crockpot recipe from crockpot365 was very good I gave it a go. I did use the optional 4 cloves of garlic and quartered onion. I cooked it on high for 3 hours and then kept it on warm until the rest of the dinner was ready. I fished out the four cloves of garlic and mashed them into the naughty mashed potatoes and I made gravy with the ample juices. It was very good and very easy. I am eagerly awaiting my copy of Make It Fast, Cook It Slow the cookbook based on crockpot365 from the library.

This week whole chickens are on sale at Rainbow for .99 a pound.

Crock Pot Rotisserie Chicken

1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, I cut back the cayenne to 1/4 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of chili pepper (probably not necessary)
4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

The Directions

I used a 6 quart crockpot for a 5 pound bird. It fit nicely.

Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity.

In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crockpot.

If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.

Do not add water.

Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours, or on low for 8. The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness. The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

Naughty Mashed Potatoes

Prepare mashed potatoes as usual but instead of adding milk stir in 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, and the four cloves of garlic from above. Season with salt and pepper.

The Porch Open

Spring has officially come to Saint Paul, not because the crabapples are about to blossom on Como Lake but because we had the first neighborhood cookout on Sherry's porch.

My sister recommended this recipe despite knowing my following issues with Cooking Light magazine:

• 15 ingredient recipes
• recipes that instruct you to put in the first 4 ingredients, and then the next 2, so you have to spend too much time going back and counting which were the first 4 etc
• their utter stingyness with sharing recipes online, which they now have caved on
• the fact that all of their articles look like a Special Advertising Section in any other cooking magazine

So I took her advice and made it for the crowd and it was well recieved along with grilled asparagus, a pear and blue cheese salad, Old Wisconsin wieners for the kids and ice cream with homemade carmel sauce.

Recipe notes: We opted to grill them rather than broil them and the frugal person in me needs to tell you that boneless chicken thighs are on sale this week buy one, get one free at Cub Foods


Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs

2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preheat broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients (see what I mean?) in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 chicken thighs)

Cousin Katie or Sad French Songs

Samantha of "Bewitched" had Cousin Serena. The Kilted Cafe has Cousin Katie. The fab cousin/friend who calls up and says, "What's Buzzin' Cousin?" There is always something buzzin' with Cousin Katie whether it be a trip to Cabo with the girls, a new chick lit book to recommend, preferably a Brit chick lit book (I am certain she has Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella in her well manicured hands as I type), a comedic Easter brunch replay on her disappointment at French people who only want to sing sad French songs at kareoke in FRANCE, or an update on puppy Carlie, the dry wall excavating blond bombshell at her house.

If I ever need a new appetizer to pass I call Cousin Katie. Most recently I served this at the first of many 40th Birthday parties to take place amongst my people this year. The eight thirtysomething women hovering over the Corning Ware dish gave it high marks.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 8 oz cream cheese (light)
1/2 cup Jimmy's extra chunky bleu cheese dressing (blue jar in refrigerator section)
1/4 to 1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce (I used 1/3 of a cup and it had the right amount of kick)
Top with cheese (optional- Katie uses monetary jack)

Warm for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees and serve with chips (ie: Fritos Scoops) or crackers

Recipe Exchange

Once again a recipe exchange request has landed in my inbox. Now usually I delete these sort of things. I always delete the emails that tell me I need to forward them to the eight people that mean the most to me and that I will get a special email in return, sorry Moe and Mary. However, the last time I participated in a recipe exchange my friend Kelly the marathoner provided me with the following recipe that immediately became a family favorite.

If you do not have a crock pot, and you have extra time, you can bake this in the oven at 350 for about an hour, or until the chicken breasts easily shred apart. My friend Keri has a lot of variations that she has developed with this recipe, enchiladas, soup, maybe she will share them in the comments. Now I just need to figure out what recipe I will share this time around.


CREAMY BLACK BEAN SALSA CHICKEN

2 to 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup salsa
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained, I use frozen
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Place chicken in greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker. Pour broth, salsa, corn, beans, and taco seasoning over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hrs or on high heat 3-4 hrs [note from kelly: high heat 3 1/2-4 hrs seems to be much better than the longer time]. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and place on serving dish. Stir sour cream and cheese into sauce in slow cooker, then pour over chicken. Makes 3-5 servings.

Serve with warm flour tortillas and spanish rice.

FYI from Kelly- I use low sodium chicken broth, low sodium black beans, low fat sour cream and it comes, instant brown rice and corn tortillas and it still tastes superior. This has become one of our favorite meals.

Maternity Meal

My neighbor had a beautiful baby girl last Friday and tonight I am bringing the family dinner. This is my go to meal for the maternity leave circuit. It is easy to make, and has few ingredients that would offend a sensitive palette or a newborn's digestive system. Both of these recipes come from Milwaukee Junior Leaugue cookbooks. The chicken is in Be Milwaukee's Guest and the carrot cake from Gatherings. I took my own advice this weekend and checked my local thrift store for Junior League cookbooks and scored one from Colorado. I will have to see if I can get two recipes out of that one.


CHICKEN ROSE

1 cut up fryer or assorted chicken parts with bones, dark meat is best, skin removed
1/2 cup sherry, I buy a cheap bottle at the liquor store, much more cost effective than buying cooking sherry at the grocery store
1/2 cup soy sauce, I prefer low sodium
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 tablespoons water
2 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoon ground ginger, fresh ginger can be used as well
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Place chicken in a covered casserole dish. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and bake at 375 for 45 minutes. Turn chicken over and bake for an additional 45 minutes.
Pour off marinade, remove as much of the oil as possible and serve marinade over rice and chicken.


CARROT CAKE

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 3/4 cup applesauce)
3 eggs
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts (I omit these)
1 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan. Sift flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside. Beat sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture. Fold in carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts and vanilla. Pour into pan. Bake 1 hour. Cool.

Frosting (this recipe makes more than enough)

8 oz package cream cheese softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar.

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Frost cake.

Adapted from Gatherings Cookbook