I'm a Flip-Flopper

Yes, Liz Lemon said it best when she referred to herself as a 'flip-flopper' when confronted with her membership in the Steak of the Month Club and her subscription to the Vegetarian Times. I often find myself in the same boat, as I go through phases of vegetarianism without trying, but then when I do try I end up out to dinner and ordering the steak tips at Silvertone (they are sooo good).

Anyway, I have been feeling quite informed as of late when it comes to food. I typically buy as locally as I can, and shopping at Whole Foods makes it easy to go organic. I know that veggies are a good choice-- and I honestly love vegetables. I get cranky when I don't get my fair share of vegetables in a day so when I am being good and not living off of macaroni and cheese or the pasta I always keep in my cabinet, I eat a lot of the green stuff.

This week I ate entirely vegetarian, except for one day when I had chicken noodle soup at work, but I didn't make that. And I didn't eat a single fake meat product. I am not against fake meat-- I love a good veggie burger. I just think that if you are trying to be vegetarian, you can do so without a constant barrage of tofudogs, sliced deli-style tofurky, and all of the smart brand stuff ('bbq chicken style veggie protein' and 'veggie protein chili') although I have to say, most of that Smart stuff is good.

This was also the week of peppers. I bought 5 peppers-- a couple red, a yellow, and an orange. I'm not sure why, it's not like there was a sale or anything. But I do like peppers and I was planning on making a Thai style curry and I need at least a couple of colors of pepper for that dish. Then I figured I'd buy a few extras and use them in other dishes throughout the week. One of the red peppers was an honest mistake and I was too embarrassed to return it. But, one of my rules of shopping is trying to get one ingredient to work in a few meals. That way if one recipe only calls for say, half a pepper, then the next recipe you make will hopefully call for the other half. Waste not, want not.

Right when I got home from the store, I started off with the peppers. I sliced all of them up and put the ones I wasn't going to use in a tupperwear container. It actually wasn't tupperware, it was a grocery store container that at one point held salad green or something of that nature. Since they were already sliced up-- the peppers were conveniant as a snack or to throw into a dish or salad. I ate them with hummus while watching TV; I sauteed them with onions and enoyed them in a warm salad on top of a Spanish-style omelette; I diced up a few of them onto a Southwest Flatbread pizza. It was a good week.

The point of this little story is-- there is a point, it turns out, I wasn't sure at first-- although it can be tricky shopping for one and buying the right amount of each thing, with even the slightest amount of prep you can get 5 peppers eaten in 5 days. I know for a fact I wouldn't have eaten those peppers if I hadn't sliced them all up the day I made my curry. Getting them prepped in advance made it that much easier to use them throughout the week even if I was in a rush or feeling lazy. Doing that was also great to incorporate veggies into a snack. I almost always have hummus on hand, and if I have vegetables chopped up and ready to go, I will sit there and snack on them. If the vegetables need to be chopped when I am ready to eat- I will just grab crackers instead.

So don't be afraid of buying a lot of one thing. With a little creativity/ prep or whatnot, hopefully you will get them eaten before they go bad. Unless it is bananas. I have three bananas that went bad in my kitchen right now. Well, they might be banana bread acceptable, but they aren't peel and snackable anymore. Which is a shame. But such is life.

Chicken and Parmesan Biscuits with Fennel, Parsnips and Carrots in an Herbed Wine Sauce (I'm not very good at concise recipe titles)

OR You Will Recognize This One But It Will Be In French
OR Some People Think Casseroles Don't Get Hurt Feelings. Some People Don't Think This Is a Casserole. It Hurts the Casserole's Feelings When You Say That.
OR The Above Two Titles Are Inside Jokes With Myself And I Just Made Myself Laugh. A Lot.

My friend Lauren and I were having a Flight of the Conchords mini marathon and so food was in order. Because one of their songs mentions casseroles (and hurt feelings, see above) I thought I should do something in a casserole form. Originally I was thinking some sort of creamy chicken and rice dish. Then I gave it all up and thought I'd just serve the soup I made on Sunday because it really was delicious and I made lots of it and had plenty to spare as I had put the whole cauldron of it directly in my fridge and it was occupying lots of space that could be used by sour milk and baking soda instead. Then, my other friend Bridgid forwarded me a Chicken and Biscuits casserole recipe by Rachael Ray (Actually, I think Rache called it "Chicken 'N Biscuits"). Rachael's dish seemed like a good idea. Then I thought of a better one.

My take on Chicken and Biscuits involves more of a french twist (not the hairstyle, Liz) than the usual. What I came up with was basically what would happen if Gina Neely picked a down-home recipe and asked Ina Garten to update it, Rachael Ray to make it fast, and Sandra Lee to modify it with semi-homemade tricks that even people who have electric stoves can handle. Ina Garten suggested making the gravy an herbed wine cream sauce and added pancetta to crumble on top. Rachael recommended using pre-roasted chicken because no one has time to roast a whole chicken in 30 minutes and your local Price Chopper has them ready to go and serve right in their pre-cooked section! Yumm-O! Sandra Lee thought that if you mixed Bisquick, Parmesan, thyme and milk together, you could make really simple parmesan biscuits that would be just as good as if you bought them from a bakery or had pastry chef experience like she does. And she also wanted you to know that her red gingham shirt matches her curtains.

Moving on-- I started by purchasing a pre-roasted chicken. This was actually a really good time saver and it was cost effective. I could have bought chicken pieces, uncooked, for the same price as the whole roasted chicken. I'm not kidding around here. While letting it cool a smidge, I took 5 slices of pancetta, rolled them onto eachother, and then sliced and diced them up. I rendered those in a saucepan l as I took the time to carve the white meat off the roasted chicken and rip the subsequent pieces into shreds. I then put shredded chicken bits into a square casserole dish that had been buttered so nothing would get too sticky.

Next, I started on the sauce and veggies. I finely sliced up a bulb of fennel so I could get it cooking immediately. Fennel has a bit of an anise flavor when it is raw, but it is actually quite sweet when cooked all the way through and adds richness that onion lacks. By this point, the pancetta was more than crispy and pretty much burnt, so using a slotted spoon I removed the bits from the pan and onto a paper towel, reserving the fat and oil in the pan. I added the fennel to that very pan and let it sizzle. Here's the point where you want to chop up your parsnips and carrots. I cut them on an angle and kept them slender so they would cook up quickly.

Add those to the pan, toss in some dried herbs de provence, stir and let them cook up with the fennel so they are tender on the inside with carmelized bits on the outside. Once the veggies look amazing and you want to gobble them up even though you know (A) it would ruin the final dish and (B) you would burn your mouth, pour about a glass full of white wine (maybe 2 glasses of wine if you want to get it drunk) into the mixture. Let it reduce. Roll a lemon on your table, cut it in half, juice it, and then forget you did that because even though it would have added a nice citrus glow to your sauce, you forgot about it and ended up using it for salad dressing which was too lemony, I'd say, but my guest was too polite to mention it.

Once the wine has evaporated into oblivion, add two tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of flour to the pan. Stir it up fast. Add a couple of cups of chicken broth. Pour in some skim milk. Stir stir stir like crazy. Watch it thicken. Don't watch it thicken. Chop up fresh herbs (a mixture of thyme, tarragon, parsley) and throw it into the sauce/vegetables. Pour this over the chicken. Then, in a seperate bowl, take a cup or so of bisquick, a few handfuls of parmesan, chopped up thyme and mix. Pour in some milk, mixing until it forms a dough. Drop onto the top of your now saucy chicken.

Bake the casserole in the oven at somewhere between 350 and 400 degrees F (did I mention you should preheat) and bake until the biscuits are cooked through (about the length of one episode of Conchords-- 26ish minutes). I suggest serving this with a mixed green salad tossed with a citrus vinagrette that you make with mustard, olive oil, herbs de provence, sea salt and only HALF of the lemon juice you previously juiced (i.e. one half a lemon's juice).

Tuscan Sausage Soup with Zucchini, White Beans, and Spinach

My Aunt Sharon sent around a recipe the other day for a turkey sausage soup that sounded delicious. That recipe reminded me of how much I love sausage in soups... then I thought about how I love Ribollita (a hearty Tuscan veggie soup boiled twice), which made me think of Tortellini soup (who knows why), which made me want a soup that had all of the above: tasty veggies, sausage, and tortellini. I made it happen in the recipe I am going to share with you now.I call this Tuscan because if you have ever experienced the slightly more Northern Italian cuisine you will have noticed they go easy on the red sauce. Instead, their bases are hearty broths complimented by white beans and other vegetables, or meat. This soup reminds me of that kind of cooking.

If you are a vedge, and you want to forego the meat, that will work out perfectly in this dish. It can easily stand on its own many veggies. I would suggest however that you pick up some italian sausage seasonings, as the purpose for adding the sausage is to add a little bit of kick to the dish. Or, just add some red pepper flakes.

The first thing I did was brown the sausage (meat removed from casing) with shallots in a dutch oven. I chose shallots instead of onions because I hear they are cousins of garlic and onions and I pretty much avoid garlic at all costs but like onions. This seemed like a compromise. Kind of like those two-in-one shampoos plus conditioner. Meanwhile, I chopped up some baby carrots. Why the babies? Because they are already peeled. Because I always have them on hand as a healthy snack. Because they cook faster and I love tender carrots in soup. Because I don't need a reason to use baby carrots instead of the big ugly ones. They are cute, okay? I like cute things. Once chopped up, I threw the carrots into the pan and seasoned with some Italian seasonings. Next, I cubed two zucchini. The fastest way to cube a couple of zukes is to cut it in half lengthwise, then cut each half into strips. Line them up and chop them crosswise. Done. I added them to the pot, stirred, etc. Then I took one can of diced tomatoes and threw them in along with one can of white beans (your choice). Rinse can beans before using them-- no one needs the extra starch and it could make things gloppy. [Actually, it probably won't ruin it, I just always think 'glop glop' and then the idea of soup is ruined by the idea of gloppiness.] Then I stirred it all up and poured 32 oz of stock in to make it a soup. I chose chicken stock, you can choose veggie or beef, whatever, it will all taste good. Except maybe fish stock. I think that might be gross.After leaving the soup simmer for as long as I could stand it (about 45 minutes... I kept myself occupied with other things to keep my mind off what I couldn't yet have), in a seperate pot I got some salted water boiling. Once that was on a roll, I tossed in my tri-colored tri-cheese tortellini. At the very same moment (yes, one hand was throwing tortellini into one pan while the other hand was dealing with the soup), I added the final flourish to the simmering zuppa... fresh baby spinach. The spinach and the tortellini cooked up in about the same time, so it was perfection. I threw some torts in a bowl, ladled the soup atop, and dusted the bowl of goodness (or if you were Rachey Ray you'd call this a stoup) with parmesan cheese and pepper (I usually go easy on the salt and pepper during the cooking process, especially with soups. Everyone has their own preference and those seasonings are easier to do bowl by bowl by bowl by bowl).I know what you are thinking. Jenn, why are you making these tasty things in such large quantity? Isn't this supposed to be cooking for the one and only? And yes, friends, it is. However, in the winter, I'm going to be honest. Cooking for one isn't about sacrificing the homey dishes that families get to make. Cooking for one means stocking your freezer with lots of tasty soups, stews, chilis, pastas, sauces, etc. Because there is nothing better than a big pot of soup cooking on your stove promising you meals in days to come. And come on, we are all busy here. Cook once, serve 5 times. If that's not a saying it should be. I promise come springtime when fresh vegetables are aplenty, there will be more singular sensations and I might even hop back on the vegetarian bandwagon... so look out Spring! Here I come.

I like to call this Chocohotopotamus For One

OR How Not to Eat Your Weight in Chocolate
OR Because Eating Chocolate Will Make You Feel Less Rejected by Loser Guys Because They Are Losers and You Are Awwesome

Nigella Lawson once made these decadent chocolate hot pots (chocohotpot). She made her recipe for 4, because she has a couple of kids with whom to share her treats. I know myself, and if I made 4 chocolate pots of yumminess, then I would eat them all. And not, one now, one later, one a little after that. I would eat them all in a row until I got sick. So, I needed to modify her recipe so it only made one... On a snowy winter day, I did just that.

These mini molten chocolate cakes are made with only a few ingredients. 1 egg, 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, and 1 Tablespoon flour does the trick.

First, melt the chips. You can do this on a double boiler, or you can be like me and climb onto a kitchen chair to do this in the microwave. Either way, throw the butter into your melting apparatus so you can do both at once. If you are micro-ing the chocolate, do it in spurts of 15-20 seconds, stirring between each heat blast so you don't burn the poor things. You will know you have gone too far if the chocolate gets chunky and dry. If that's the case, start over my friend, you can't come back from that catastrophe. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg and sugar. At the last moment, throw the flour in and continue to whisk it all together.

Let the chocolate/butter combo cool slightly before adding it to the egg mixture, and then stir to combine. Next, butter a ramekin. Pour the chocolate mixture into the 'pot' and then place on a baking dish. Bake at 400 degrees F for just under 20 minutes.

You don't want it to be as puffy on top as mine, but it will still be good- it's chocolate. It should be cakelike on the outside and gooey on the inside. Serve with whipped cream if you are into cream that's been whipped. I'm not really, so I ate mine straight from the ramekin with alternate spoonfuls of blood orange sorbetto that I had in the freezer.

Notes: When I adjusted this recipe for 1, I actually only cut a recipe for four down to a third. It was easier that way (because it called for 3 eggs and I tried an egg beater vesion which didn't work out). So, if you want to make the full recipe for 4, you should actually triple the ingredients instead of multiplying them by 4. Also, if you've properly buttered the ramekin(s) before baking, you should be able to take a knife around the edge and pop it out of the container onto a plate, for a pretty presentation. These need to be eaten warm from the oven. If you want to have people over for dinner and serve these as dessert, you can make the batter ahead, just wait to pop them in the oven about 20 minutes before you want to serve. Also note: This is not a souffle. This is a deeply rich chocolatey dessert that is a cross between a flourless cake and a molten chocolate cake.

Chili Chili Chili

OR Not the Prettiest Recipe But Still Worth Eating... Everyday For a Week and Then Two Months Later When You Find Even More Leftovers in the Freezer

With superbowl around the corner (when I made this chili anyway, I realize this post is going to come up after the superbowl), I was in the mood for chili. Also, Boston has been seeing some really cold nights and what better way to warm up than with a nice steamy bowl of chili, topped with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole, and served with tortilla chips.

Chili is simple to make and perfection when you live alone. This recipe definitely makes a ton of chili, don't get me wrong. But if you live by yourself you are constantly inviting yourself to others houses. What better way to secure an invitation to a Superbowl party (or Real Housewives of NYC premiere party, whatever floats your boat) than by saying: "I'll bring the chili dip and chips." Usually that statement is followed by an "Mmmm... come over at 6." And for me, chili dip is simply the chili you made two nights ago mixed with cheese, melted, and topped with sour cream. Of course, you could always add a layer of cream cheese to the bottom of a baking dish, top it with chili and a layer of cheese, and do a 3 layer dip. Whatever. Chili plus anything equals delicious when it comes to party fare.

To make my chili, I use ground turkey. I brown that in a large saucepan (the biggest one you have, a dutch oven sized monstrosity with two handles most likely, because you want to cook your entire dish in this pot) with chopped up onions. I cried a lot when I cut these ovens and it was kind of embarrassing, but fortunately I was alone. Once the turkey was cooked through and crumbly, I added in a packet of chili seasonings. If you are a purist and don't believe in those packets a combo of chili powder, red pepper flakes, cumin, and whatever else you want will do the trick. I just do the packets because I haven't stocked up my spice cab yet.

Then, add in the following ingredients: 1 can of mixed chili beans (or multiple cans of the beans of your choice), 1 can of your favorite bean (I used a red bean), 1 can of diced tomatoes (if you get ones that have chilis or jalapenos then you can add some kick in this way), a squirt or 1 small can of tomato paste, 1 small can of mild green chilis, 1 can of corn (drained). Mix all of these together with the seasonings and let it simmer for as long as you can stand it. Scoop some into a bowl over rice, or top it with guacamole and sour cream. Or, make an avocado/ corn/ lime/ red onion/ cilantro salsa and top your chili with that.

Some of you may wonder what you will do with the remaining chili after you've eaten your dinner and gone to your superbowl party. Well, I always like to freeze a container or two. There is nothing better than finding a serving of chili in your freezer. I also like to make chili scrambled eggs topped with fresh avocado and sour cream for breakfast. Sometimes, I make about 1 muffins worth of corn muffin batter, top a glass dish of chili, bake, and have a chili bake. Really, there are so many things you can do with chili, I can't even list them all here. If I do any of the above, I will be sure to post more recipes.