Back home in Connecticut, somewhere between Buttonwoods Farm (best ice cream EVER) and my house, there is a Bison Farm. All summer long Andrea, Vaughn and I discussed doing from scratch, homemade burgers (condiments & buns included) and using Bison as the protein. But before I knew it, summer came and went and I was packed to the brim in my little Corolla and making my way to the Windy City! Our homemade burger endeavors never came to fruition. Bummer.
I'm also not going to lie when I say I've been wanting to try bison for quite sometime. It's a red protein and it has less fat, calories and cholesterol then chicken! I've had just about everything else: rabbit, venison, veal, quail, squab, ducks, turkeys, what ever, but the Bison! It's eluded me FOREVER.
So I thought I was going to get to fulfill the dream of having Bison when I was in Colorado. For some reason, I was under the impression that there was a bounty of Bison everywhere! And that when I got to either Boulder or Breckenridge, I would be stuffing my face in a nice, delightful, tasty, Bison Burger. That was a Fail alright!
Christel was like "Lisa I don't know why you thought that there would be Bison here." I don't know either Christ, I sure don't.
Anyhow, with a craving for red meat, on the hunt for some quality beef, I stumbled across this fridge full of South Dakota Bison at the local Whole Foods. The stars aligned just right and that was it. It was love. Today was the day. I was finally going to have some Bison.
I did an overnight marinate of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, garlic, chopped basil, brown sugar, agave nectar, chili flakes, shallots, splash of red wine vinegar and olive oil.
Then with a myriad of veggies: mushrooms, carrots, broccoli, red onion, & red bell peppers, I sauteed them up in olive oil, garlic, crushed fresh ginger, and a splash more of soy sauce (salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste of course).
Over all success: I'd rate pretty high. It's hard to screw up a stir fry... unless the Salt Lady came and fell right into your dish... but thankfully, that didn't happen! Bison itself, if you gave me beef stir fry or bison, I wouldn't have known the difference. Next time, I am going to have to try to just as it, grilled with some sea salt and cracked pepper.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Peanut Butter Cookies
Ellen and Jonatha came to visit me this past weekend. Ellen is allergic to nuts but not peanuts and Jonatha's boyfriend is allergic to peanuts but not nuts. Jonatha loves peanuts but never gets to eat them because the boyfriend is allergic to peanuts.
Peanuts- fun fact, they are not a nut! They are actually a legume meaning they are part of the bean family! So that's how Ellen is allergic to nuts but not Peanuts.
These cookies, first out of the oven might seem the slightest bit dry (I thought so, but the girls did not) but the next day, and the day after, and the day after, they are SOOOOO GOOOD. I sent some out to a friend via USPS on Monday AM after baking them up on Sunday night. USPS Priority 3 day mail is not always 3 day priority. I have not yet heard back how they fared through transit.
They also came out in the perfect consistency and density to make into ice cream sandwiches. They were especially tasty with the chocolate ice cream I currently have on stock: Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate Ice Cream. Yummm!!!
Side note, I used organic peanut butter. If you have ever used all natural or organic peanut butter, it is much runnier in consistency then regular peanut butter, so I adjusted in my recipe for the Organic Peanut Butter. Make sure to stir the jar well before measuring out.
Peanut Butter Cookies
ingredients
1 stick butter, soften
.5 c sugar
.5 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
.75 cup organic, creamy peanut butter
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 c + 2 tblspn all purpose flour (if you are using regular PB, omit the extra 2 tblspn AP Flour)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla.
3. add egg and mix together well
4. add peanut butter, mix well
5. in a separate bowl, whisk-mix together flour, salt, and baking soda
6. mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 3 portions
7. make slightly smaller then golf ball sized balls of dough
8. place on ungreased cookie sheet
9. ::smoosh smoosh:: criss cross with forks across the dough ball
10. bake for 10-13 minutes, until it turns slightly golden brown. Also, I like to rotate the sheet halfway through baking time
11. Enjoy with milk and ice cream!
yields approximately 18 cookies, 2.5-3 inches in diameter
Peanuts- fun fact, they are not a nut! They are actually a legume meaning they are part of the bean family! So that's how Ellen is allergic to nuts but not Peanuts.
These cookies, first out of the oven might seem the slightest bit dry (I thought so, but the girls did not) but the next day, and the day after, and the day after, they are SOOOOO GOOOD. I sent some out to a friend via USPS on Monday AM after baking them up on Sunday night. USPS Priority 3 day mail is not always 3 day priority. I have not yet heard back how they fared through transit.
They also came out in the perfect consistency and density to make into ice cream sandwiches. They were especially tasty with the chocolate ice cream I currently have on stock: Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate Ice Cream. Yummm!!!
Side note, I used organic peanut butter. If you have ever used all natural or organic peanut butter, it is much runnier in consistency then regular peanut butter, so I adjusted in my recipe for the Organic Peanut Butter. Make sure to stir the jar well before measuring out.
Peanut Butter Cookies
ingredients
1 stick butter, soften
.5 c sugar
.5 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
.75 cup organic, creamy peanut butter
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 c + 2 tblspn all purpose flour (if you are using regular PB, omit the extra 2 tblspn AP Flour)
instructions
1. preheat oven to 350F
2. cream together butter, sugars, and vanilla.
3. add egg and mix together well
4. add peanut butter, mix well
5. in a separate bowl, whisk-mix together flour, salt, and baking soda
6. mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients in 3 portions
7. make slightly smaller then golf ball sized balls of dough
8. place on ungreased cookie sheet
9. ::smoosh smoosh:: criss cross with forks across the dough ball
10. bake for 10-13 minutes, until it turns slightly golden brown. Also, I like to rotate the sheet halfway through baking time
11. Enjoy with milk and ice cream!
yields approximately 18 cookies, 2.5-3 inches in diameter
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Whole Wheat Semolina Pasta
I've been obsessed with two different things in the kitchen as of late. 1. Pumpkin everything (I bought a giant cooking pumpkin) and 2. Homemade pasta.
After making a semi-successful Pumpkin Ravioli (yum filling, crappy dough), I refused to NEVER EVER roll pasta dough out by hand EVER AGAIN. On an afternoon run downtown, I cruised past a store that happened to have one in stock, so for $16.99 (plus the 10.25% chi/IL tax) I picked up a great little pasta roller.
With a mixture of whole wheat flour, all purpose and semolina, I concocted a little ball of pasta dough (and surprisingly proportioned for just 2 people!!!). An easy to put together recipe, longest part is letting it rest, and cranking it through the machine, some yummy, healthy homemade pasta!
Note: this only makes about .75 lbs ish of pasta (I am guessing), you can easily double this recipe
Also Note: I used my Kitchen Aid stand Mixer, dough hook attached, on low
Whole Wheat Semolina Pasta
ingredients
0.5 c AP flour
0.5 c whole wheat flour
0.5 c semolina flour
0.25 tsp sea salt
2 large eggs,
2 teaspoon olive oil
instructions
1. combine dry ingredients
2. make a well
3. in a separate bowl, beat the eggs and olive oil together,
4. pour into well
5. mix slowly until a dough ball forms, knead for another 3-4 minutes
6. if needed, add 1-2 teaspoon water to make dough ball
7. once dough is together, wrap in plastic
8. let rest for 2 hrs in the refrigerator
9. roll it out! Let the ball come up to room temp, cut in half, and roll into desired thickness and shape. In the photo, I rolled out to dial number 5, fettuccine cut ** if it is a little sticky, dust flour as needed **
10. put in pot of boiling water, boil for 4-5 minutes.
makes ~0.75 lbs pasta.
After making a semi-successful Pumpkin Ravioli (yum filling, crappy dough), I refused to NEVER EVER roll pasta dough out by hand EVER AGAIN. On an afternoon run downtown, I cruised past a store that happened to have one in stock, so for $16.99 (plus the 10.25% chi/IL tax) I picked up a great little pasta roller.
With a mixture of whole wheat flour, all purpose and semolina, I concocted a little ball of pasta dough (and surprisingly proportioned for just 2 people!!!). An easy to put together recipe, longest part is letting it rest, and cranking it through the machine, some yummy, healthy homemade pasta!
Note: this only makes about .75 lbs ish of pasta (I am guessing), you can easily double this recipe
Also Note: I used my Kitchen Aid stand Mixer, dough hook attached, on low
Whole Wheat Semolina Pasta
ingredients
0.5 c AP flour
0.5 c whole wheat flour
0.5 c semolina flour
0.25 tsp sea salt
2 large eggs,
2 teaspoon olive oil
instructions
1. combine dry ingredients
2. make a well
3. in a separate bowl, beat the eggs and olive oil together,
4. pour into well
5. mix slowly until a dough ball forms, knead for another 3-4 minutes
6. if needed, add 1-2 teaspoon water to make dough ball
7. once dough is together, wrap in plastic
8. let rest for 2 hrs in the refrigerator
9. roll it out! Let the ball come up to room temp, cut in half, and roll into desired thickness and shape. In the photo, I rolled out to dial number 5, fettuccine cut ** if it is a little sticky, dust flour as needed **
10. put in pot of boiling water, boil for 4-5 minutes.
makes ~0.75 lbs pasta.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Turkey & Beef Meatballs
So I had the most ridiculous craving for meatballs and pasta today. Highly usual as that is not a typical Lisa food to eat.
Perhaps it was Shena's talk of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" that sent me into a "I want to make meatballs and pasta" mode. Or maybe because during my Pharmacology lecture, instead of paying attention to the blah blah blahs of cholinergic or adrenic receptors and the Autonomic Nervous System, I was surfing the internet for recipes on making quinoa anything, pasta anything and shoes. (I justify by saying I read ahead for this lecture....)
Stumble upon a little Alton Brown and my favorite go-to recipe blogger, Elise, Simply Recipes 5 o'clock rolled around and class was done for the day and I was off to the grocery.
I fused both recipes together plus my own here, there's and maybes. I went with a mix of ground turkey and grass finished ground beef (90/10). I added chopped apples, which actually makes the meatballs super moist and adds the slightest hint of sweetness.
The recipe I am going to post makes a lot, so you might want to consider halving it. Even though I recognize I am only cooking for myself, I still haven't learned to portion for two and end up making enough food for the entire Dugger Family.
I didn't have time to make sauce from scratch and instead took 1 jar of regular pasta sauce and doctor-ed it up with some sauteed green bell peppers, onions, garlic and a can of stewed sliced tomatoes. You don't have to, but it gives me the false sense of gratification that I sort of "made my own sauce."
Since everything needs to be minced, if you have a handy chopper, that is a great tool to make this process go a bit more efficiently. The longest part of making these meatballs is the prep.
Turkey & Beef Meatballs
ingredients
1 lbs ground beef, 90% lean
1 lbs ground turkey
1 c minced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms (~1 package)
1 c. minced sweet yellow onion (~1/2 large onion)
1/2 c. minced carrot (~1 medium carrot)
1/2 c. minced apple
3 eggs
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tblspn chopped, fresh basil
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1.25 c. bread crumbs (seasoned)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp tarragon
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh, cracked pepper
2 tblspn olive oil
instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Dump everything but the olive oil into a large bowl and start mixing it. I'm lazy, so I put everything into my stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mixed on low until everything is uniformly mixed, ~ 5 minutes
3. Form golf ball sized balls
4. Rub olive oil on each ball
5. Place on a cookie sheet
6. Bake for 25-30 min.
After you bake, they are technically done.... so you can proceed forward to the eating part but I did a little more...
7. To my doctored up sauce, I dumped in the meatballs and let them simmer in the pot for another 30 minutes.
8. Serve over your favorite pasta noodle!
yields ~40 golf ball sized meatballs
Perhaps it was Shena's talk of "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" that sent me into a "I want to make meatballs and pasta" mode. Or maybe because during my Pharmacology lecture, instead of paying attention to the blah blah blahs of cholinergic or adrenic receptors and the Autonomic Nervous System, I was surfing the internet for recipes on making quinoa anything, pasta anything and shoes. (I justify by saying I read ahead for this lecture....)
Stumble upon a little Alton Brown and my favorite go-to recipe blogger, Elise, Simply Recipes 5 o'clock rolled around and class was done for the day and I was off to the grocery.
I fused both recipes together plus my own here, there's and maybes. I went with a mix of ground turkey and grass finished ground beef (90/10). I added chopped apples, which actually makes the meatballs super moist and adds the slightest hint of sweetness.
The recipe I am going to post makes a lot, so you might want to consider halving it. Even though I recognize I am only cooking for myself, I still haven't learned to portion for two and end up making enough food for the entire Dugger Family.
I didn't have time to make sauce from scratch and instead took 1 jar of regular pasta sauce and doctor-ed it up with some sauteed green bell peppers, onions, garlic and a can of stewed sliced tomatoes. You don't have to, but it gives me the false sense of gratification that I sort of "made my own sauce."
Since everything needs to be minced, if you have a handy chopper, that is a great tool to make this process go a bit more efficiently. The longest part of making these meatballs is the prep.
Turkey & Beef Meatballs
ingredients
1 lbs ground beef, 90% lean
1 lbs ground turkey
1 c minced cremini (baby bella) mushrooms (~1 package)
1 c. minced sweet yellow onion (~1/2 large onion)
1/2 c. minced carrot (~1 medium carrot)
1/2 c. minced apple
3 eggs
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tblspn chopped, fresh basil
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1.25 c. bread crumbs (seasoned)
1 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp tarragon
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh, cracked pepper
2 tblspn olive oil
instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. Dump everything but the olive oil into a large bowl and start mixing it. I'm lazy, so I put everything into my stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mixed on low until everything is uniformly mixed, ~ 5 minutes
3. Form golf ball sized balls
4. Rub olive oil on each ball
5. Place on a cookie sheet
6. Bake for 25-30 min.
After you bake, they are technically done.... so you can proceed forward to the eating part but I did a little more...
7. To my doctored up sauce, I dumped in the meatballs and let them simmer in the pot for another 30 minutes.
8. Serve over your favorite pasta noodle!
yields ~40 golf ball sized meatballs
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
Once again, I start this blog post of "I haven't posted a recipe in a really long time...."
As most (I think) you know, I have relocated to the Windy City (aka Chicago) doing an accelerated 9 month MS program in Biotechnology at Rush University Medical Center. But enough about all of that, back to the important stuff. I ended up in an amazing apartment that has a kitchen that is awesome to cook and bake in! Gas stove and a giant island? Yeah! Plenty of space to knead dough and roast turkeys!
So while I should be studying for my first big pharmacology exam, I decided to bake some cookies instead. How studious of me! Baking is just an edible form of science, at least that's what I keep telling myself and fuels my neurons!
Adapted from this chocolate chip cookie recipe, I made modifications to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I added some Chai Latte Powder (from Trader Joe's) which adds a nice, very subtle chai spiciness to it and the addition of chopped mixed nuts with some dried cranberries adds great textural elements. The nuts and chai are completely optional. For the nuts, I used Trader Joe's "Simply the best Trek Mix".
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
ingredients
1/3 c. organic sugar
1/3 c. light brown organic sugar
1/2 c. earth balance soy garden buttery spread (or just 1 stick of butter will be fine)
1 lrg egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. organic AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 scoop Trader Joe's Chai Latte mix (optional)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped mixed nuts (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Using a mixer (hand or stand), mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl until "fluffy".
-Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips and mixed nuts, until well mixed
- Mix in chocolate chip cookies & nuts until evenly distributed in the batter. NOTE: It won't be super stiff cookie dough.
-Drop tablespoon sized balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown
-Let cool until firm, remove and finish cooling on wire rack.
Consume with lots of milk!!!
yields about 18 cookies in about 20 minutes
As most (I think) you know, I have relocated to the Windy City (aka Chicago) doing an accelerated 9 month MS program in Biotechnology at Rush University Medical Center. But enough about all of that, back to the important stuff. I ended up in an amazing apartment that has a kitchen that is awesome to cook and bake in! Gas stove and a giant island? Yeah! Plenty of space to knead dough and roast turkeys!
So while I should be studying for my first big pharmacology exam, I decided to bake some cookies instead. How studious of me! Baking is just an edible form of science, at least that's what I keep telling myself and fuels my neurons!
Adapted from this chocolate chip cookie recipe, I made modifications to fit the ingredients I had on hand. I added some Chai Latte Powder (from Trader Joe's) which adds a nice, very subtle chai spiciness to it and the addition of chopped mixed nuts with some dried cranberries adds great textural elements. The nuts and chai are completely optional. For the nuts, I used Trader Joe's "Simply the best Trek Mix".
Chai Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts
ingredients
1/3 c. organic sugar
1/3 c. light brown organic sugar
1/2 c. earth balance soy garden buttery spread (or just 1 stick of butter will be fine)
1 lrg egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. organic AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
1 scoop Trader Joe's Chai Latte mix (optional)
1 c. chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped mixed nuts (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-Using a mixer (hand or stand), mix sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl until "fluffy".
-Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips and mixed nuts, until well mixed
- Mix in chocolate chip cookies & nuts until evenly distributed in the batter. NOTE: It won't be super stiff cookie dough.
-Drop tablespoon sized balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
-Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown
-Let cool until firm, remove and finish cooling on wire rack.
Consume with lots of milk!!!
yields about 18 cookies in about 20 minutes
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