Beer Braised Chicken Thighs

I decided I was going to try to branch out this week with my dinner choices. I always wish halfway through the week I had been more creative when thinking up dinner ideas.

The first dinner idea I have been interested in giving a shot is Rachel Ray's beer braised chicken thighs. I saw her make this on her new show 5 Meals in a Day, which I think is a clever plan ahead method of cooking.

I have also been trying to try out some budget friendly dinners. Chicken thighs are super cheap! And they have lots of flavor. I also like this recipe because it would be easy to modify and make it your own.

Beer Braised Chicken Thighs

8 4 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I might try it with boneless thighs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 link andouille sausage, casing removed and chopped, or and 4 slices bacon, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dried thyme
1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 (12-ounce) bottle lager beer (I used Yuengling)
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes with chiles or stewed tomatoes
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons hot sauce
Warm baguette, for mopping

Pat the chicken thighs dry, and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the chicken and brown on both sides in 2 batches.

Remove the chicken to a plate and spoon out 1/2 the drippings, and add the andouille sausage. Brown for 2 minutes and then add the onion, celery, pepper, garlic, and thyme, and cook to soften, for about 10 minutes over medium heat.

Add the flour, stir 1 to 2 minutes, and then pour in the beer and let the foam subside. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, and hot sauce. Let the sauce thicken a bit, and then slide the chicken into the pot and simmer to cook through. Serve with warm crusty bread, or cool and store for make-ahead meal.

 

It turned out to be almost gumbo like. That's why I would like to try it with the boneless thighs, so I won't have to fool around eating around the bone. It might even be tasty with some cooked rice served underneath. I decided to do bacon and smoked sausage because I couldn't find any chicken thighs with skin.

This recipe was a definite success. Very flavorful, a little spicy. If you are looking for a new, cheap chicken recipe give this one a go!

Crispy Kale!

My sister was very excited to share this recipe with everyone. So via her email I am sharing her recipe for crispy kale!

"I have a recipe for your blog!!!  It is for my favorite way to eat kale, covered in oil and cooked excessively.  Kale is a very nutrient dense food, even more so than spinach, but it's not exactly the most "yummy" green.  I love this recipe as a snack because it tastes amazing and is about 1,000 million times healthier than popcorn or chips.  Just be careful about the salt!"

Crispy Kale!

Ready in: 15 mins

1 bunch Kale (any variety works well, also: chard, mustard/collard/turnip greens)
4 T olive oil
finely ground sea salt
freshly ground pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Rinse kale in cool water and shake it dry (or blot it dry with towel).  Remove the center rib; some people cut it out with a knife, but I like to just rip the leaves off in bite-sized pieces.  Throw leafy parts into medium bowl, cover with olive oil, mix well by tossing.  Oil should lightly coat the surfaces of the leaves, if it doesn't add more oil. 

Lay leaf pieces out on a pan or cookie sheet (make sure it has edges though, so the oil doesn't run off during cooking) and put in oven for 7-10 minutes or until crispy.  Watch carefully, and try to pull it out before they get brown (gives a weird aftertaste).  Sprinkle sea salt (and pepper) on kale.  Serve right away, and enjoy!

When I used to get a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box I would get the most random of vegetables and fruits. So she sent me this recipe to give a try for this weird bunch of greens, otherwise known as kale. I gave it a try a few times to use up the kale. I agree with my sister, it is a very tasty way to eat greens. It made me feel like I had found healthy "chip".

I recommend this recipe if you have some kale floating around in your crisper drawer, or if its a green you haven't tried, or you are looking for a new kale/greens recipe, or maybe you are looking for a tasty nutrient rich salty treat.

Easy Indian: Chicken Tikka Masala

This is a great recipe straight from Our forking blog, or as I will always think of her as my college roommate.

My husband loves Indian food, well he loves all food. But Indian is something that I usually baulk at. So when I read this recipe I realized that I might be able to cook and eat this meal. Plus I trusted Mrs. Fork and "simply a-m-a-z-i-n-g" recipe.

Chicken Tikka Masala
Recipe adapted from Yummrs

Chicken;
2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, butterflied
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 c. plain greek yogurt
1 T extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced grated with microplane
1 T fresh ginger, minced grated with microplane

Sauce:
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced
1 T tomato paste
2 T garam masala
1 ( 28 oz) can diced tomatoes (I accidentally only used a 14.5 oz can, oops)
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

When butterflying the chicken, make sure each piece is approx. the same thickness. In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt.  Rub over each side of the chicken breasts.  Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 min.  In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, oil, and ginger. Cover and place in the fridge beside the chicken.

Meanwhile, in a deep saute pan, heat oil over med-high heat.  Add onions and saute till cooked through.  Add the garlic, ginger, tomato pasta, and garam masasla.  Continue to cook for another 2-3 min  till the mix becomes fragrant. Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt. Stir to combine and boil.  Once mixture boils, cover and let simmer for 15-20 min.

While sauce is cooking, set oven to broil (trust me!)  With a foil lined baking sheet, set a cooling rack on top.  With each piece of chicken, dredge both sides in yogurt (don't skimp) and place on rack.  Broil each piece for 12-15 min, turning halfway through cooking.  once cooked through, let chicken rest for a few min and cut into chunks.  Place cooked pieces in simmering sauce.

Serve with rice. 

If you are thinking about experimenting with ethnic food at home I highly recommend this recipe. All the ingredients as fairly accessible. The techniques aren't too difficult. It turned out to be pretty tastier. Next I might even crank up the heat and add extra cayenne. 

Penguin Tablet Case

I made this case for my friend, Short Stack. She had been coveting a case on Etsy. I promised to give it a shot. After the acquisition of my first sewing machine I was finally able to come through on that promise.

So here is my attempt...

I actually tried to keep up with the way I constructed this case. So I can actually share some instructions. My disclaimer is I don't know all the technical sewing terms. If you have any questions on the how to let me know.

1. measure fabric and draw body shape
- black fabric for body, lining for body, white for belly and belly lining
- beak and eyes from felt
-interfacing for belly and body
2. cut fabric
3. iron on interfacing to lining fabric
- belly and body
4. sew lining to outer body, right sides together
5. sew on felt eyes
6. sew the top of belly lining and fabric together, right sides together
7. turn body
8. press all seams
9. sew belly to body
10. sew on snap on underside of beak area
11. iron on applique to the back
12. sew up sides
13. sew on pupils
14. sew snap on belly

Having a good understanding of what the customer wants is important. She liked bright colors for the lining; greens, pinks and oranges. Also I know that she loves ladybugs, so I found a cute iron on applique for the back. (A kind of a made up tag)

Now I just have to get it to her and see how her tablet fits in there. I made it bigger than the dimensions she gave me, mostly to make sure I left room for error. But she could also put in a small notebook or her cellphone too. Hopefully she will like it. And I can be satisfied with a job completed!

Its fun to make something for someone else. Also I love the feeling of accomplishing something.

On a side note: Thank you to my Grandparents for funding the purchase of my new sewing machine.

Garage Saleing

Those signs that litter the street corners.
Do they intrigue you?
Annoy you?

For me they are a reminder of spring and impending summertime. Many early Saturday mornings waking with the promise of a donut and a fun time driving around with my mom.
Even before that, I was running around the neighborhood trying to sell mini-pies that my sister and I had made. Or trading stuffed animals and toys with the neighbor kids.

Garage sales for those of you that have never experienced one can be a lot of fun. They are a place to get really great deals and see a lot of interesting stuff.

There is strategy to yard sales though... These are just a few tips that my mom and I have learned over years of yard saleing.

Plan a route. Check your local papers or the internet. Know where the hot spots are in your area. Watch for signs to pop up later in the week. Don't waste those precious minutes driving in a dead zone. The route doesn't have to be exact. Leave some room to wander. Not everyone will take an ad out for their yard sale.
Know what you are looking for. Some people may disagree with this statement. But I always have the best luck when I have something in mind I want to buy. Say I really want a blender. This gives you a focus. You might find a blender or some other kitchen gadget that you really need.
Cash on hand. Have a certain amount of cash with you. Do not carry your purse with you around the sale. Just put the cash in your pocket. Stash your purse safely in your car and have a little more money in there. Don't bring a wildly high amount of money. Most homeowners will hold an item if you need to go get more money. Plus its a good bargaining tool to only have $5 left.
Price. I'm not sure why people thing they are going to "make money" by having a yard sale. Don't buy anything that you could get a better deal at a store.
Haggling. I don't have much advice for this. I don't often haggle. If something is priced too high I usually don't bother. But some people have that skill. Most homeowners are willing to bring down the price. They are trying to get rid of this stuff.
Bundling. Get a whole armload of stuff add it all up in your head and then offer a lower total price. If you are 10 random items that total up to be $22.30, offer $20 or if you are feeling lucky $15. Usually the seller will shrug and take the amount offered. You are doing them a favor by taking that large quantity of items away right now.
Slow drive-by. Don't be afraid to do this. Again don't waste precious minutes parking and getting out at a sale that you can see from the street has nothing. Just don't block traffic, please.
Neighborhood sales. These can be a hit or miss. Sometimes they are great you can find one parking spot and walk to several sales. Other times its a miss because people will put only a handful of items in their sale just so they can participate.
Early bird gets the worm. This statement is definitely meant for yard sales, well and fishing... There will be people out there as soon as the people start putting their stuff out. I suggest between 7:15-7:45 am is a good time to hit the first sales.
Don't be afraid to walk away. It used to make me uncomfortable to dig through other people's stuff find nothing and just walk away. But now with experience I can fairly quickly scan over their things and with a polite smile and a "Thank you" by on my way. Not every sale will have that precious gem you are hoping for.
Go with a friend.  This is suppose to be fun. So go with someone you want to chat with on the road. It also helps to have a friend there so say "Do you really need that?" or "That's a great/terrible deal!" It's also good to have an extra set of eyes on the merchandise.

When my mom and I would go to yard sales. We would always talk about what we "wanted to get". We would gauge our success by whether we got what we intended, how much money we spent, and how full the car was when we got home. We loved having those hours of time to chat in the car. It was a great time to catch up. We had a few different paths we would take through Concord and the surrounding areas depending on what we were looking for. She would always get nervous to drive through the school district she worked in, worried she'd see someone she worked with or taught. That would always make me laugh. Shortly after beginning we would stop at a grocery store and grab donuts and cash.

I have been lucky enough to get some good stuff at yard sales. To name a few: a picnic basket, Cuisinart food processor, countless knick knacks, set of high ball glasses, some clothes, artwork, drafting supplies for school, art portfolio, books, movies... that's all I can remember off the top of my head. But there is much more I'm sure.
My mom never got that much. She mostly just likes the experience and company. As did I.

Just give a whirl on a Saturday morning. Talk a friend or your mom into going with you. You never know what you'll find.

PS: Those people with babies or children. You can really hit the payload at yard sales with any baby need you have from toys to furniture to clothes! I can't wait till I can do that for myself.
So go out and save some money and have fun.

Cake Pop Fail

So not every one of my posts can be a win. In fact I can't believe I went this long without having a failure. Although I had such high hopes for these cake pops. My biggest problem was getting too ambitious.

I decided to write this post anyway even though my attempt was such a failure. I wanted to give you some tips of where I think I failed and show you some instructions of non-fail cake pops.

First off this idea for making cake pops came from my friend Bish (Cosplay Random on Facebook). She sent me a link for some seemingly easy directions. I say seemingly because I'm sure they would actually work if you followed them better then I did.

Little Miss Momma: Cake Pop Recipe

My original idea was to make chili pepper shaped cake pops for a Cinco de Mayo celebration. So I started off on the right track.

I made the devil's food cake and I even added a 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne for some kick. It was fun to essentially destroy the pretty cakes I baked.

I added the frosting and molded the cake into a pepper like shape. Although in hind sight they were a little too big and heavy for the stick. The irregular shape made balancing on the stick impossible. I let them chill in the fridge while I heated up the chocolate.

This is where my major fail occurred while heating the candy coating. I heated per instructions on the bag, but I missed the part in the internet instruction where it told me to add the shortening to thin out the candy. So I continued to heat it thinking it would thin out. Uh, no. Then I read on the bag that overheating would cause it to seize up. AHHH! Noooo... I tried to add vegetable oil as the bag instructions advised, but icing the cake pops ended up being impossible.

Then they turned into cake blobs... So I iced the blobs with the candy coating.

And they would have been so cute. I also had trouble getting a good dark red. If I were to do it again I would get the red candy to begin with.

I ate one of the peppers that stayed on the stick without the candy coating just because.

So I failed. Oh well. Maybe the next time I can learn from my mistakes and make something awesome!

Till then I will enjoy my cake blobs.

Birthday Waffles

In honor of my birthday I thought I would share a family birthday tradition. I never really thought of my family as having a lot of traditions. We for the most part do our own thing. And try new things every year.

Although one tradition that stuck was birthday waffles. Every morning of my sister and I's birthdays we would wake up to the smell of our dad making waffles and usually frying bacon. It was something to look forward to, since my dad rarely made waffles. Although he does love making breakfast.

So before we were hurried off to school we would receive a pile of waffles with various toppings including a birthday candle stuck in the top. We would top the waffles with anything we could including but not limited to: strawberries (but no blueberries... gross), melted butter, whipped cream, nuts (which were sometimes cooked inside too), chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and of course syrup.

They had to be over the top and sweet! (I would have taken a photo of this year's waffles but I ate them too fast... oops.)

It was nice to wake up and immediately have your birthday acknowledged in such a special way. It was always a great start to your birthday.

A bonus sweet story attached to the birthday waffles happened 4 years ago.

I was always home for my birthday, even in college it would come after finals. But the year I graduated college was different. I had to stay in Boone because the day after my birthday was graduation and everyone was coming up to see me. I told, my boyfriend at the time now husband, Paul that I was very disappointed that I wasn't going to wake up at home on my birthday. He politely asked why? I explained the birthday waffle tradition with emotion in my voice. Of course they were other more obvious reasons that I was miss being home. But at least my parents would be with my later that day. He smiled and consoled me. Telling me that my dad would surely make me waffles when I got home. To me it was a bigger issue. I couldn't wake up at my parent's house every birthday forever to get my birthday waffles... that would be odd. I got continually more bummed about it.

The night before my birthday my friends took me out to dinner. I made a big deal about going to a local restaurant that served breakfast all day. Although I didn't tell anyone why till I got there. I announced to the table that I was going to order a waffle to go and eat it when I woke up! It was genius!! I would have my birthday waffle after all!

The whole table of people stared at me with a blank look. I tried to explain the tradition but they didn't seem to understand. They just argued that it was going to be soggy and cold and it was a silly tradition. I was on the verge of tears, when finally I shrugged and said I was doing it anyway.

The next morning my roommate let Paul in while I was sleeping and he woke me up with a present in hand. I joyfully opened it. It was a waffle maker! And he had brought all the supplies to make me birthday waffles! I couldn't believe it. I was blown away. Then he proceeded to tell me that everyone at dinner already knew of his plans and that's why they were trying to discourage my waffle purchase the night before. We laughed and he made me waffles...

So the tradition continues... Maybe one day my dad will share his special waffle recipe with us for we can continue the tradition in style with our future children.

Farmer's Market

Almost every town or city has a farmer's market. But not everyone takes advantage of these amazing fresh foods. This is my soapbox and plea for everyone to at least give their local farmers the opportunity to amaze you.

I like the farmer's market for many reasons.
One its a fun activity. Its a good time to get outside and spend some time with your family.
Second you are getting fresh foods that are in season. It also gives you a chance to learn what is in season in your area and when.
Third this is an excellent time to get some inspiration. What's a good deal, what's in season, what haven't you cooked with before, what's interesting, and what just looks beautiful?
Fourth you are supporting your local economy and your local farmers. Its always uplifting to give your money to someone that is working hard down the street from you rather than that big box store.
Fifth eating local is good for the environment. Yeah I'm being a greenie. The less fuel used to transport your food to you the better. And if you buy the organic products then you are saving the environment those pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals pumped into the ground.
Sixth there is lots of tasty treats to eat and drink and snack on. That's always good times to me.

We have been to several different farmer's markets in all the places we have lived. The Abingdon farmer's markets was particularly good especially for how small the town is.

Missing that farmer's market in Abingdon I have been begging Paul to take me to the Marion Square farmer's market in Charleston. Finally this Saturday we went with our friend Andrew.

I found a review online that said you have to have the crepes! And the first thing we came upon was the crepes. So we waited in the sun for our variations of crepes.

Then once we finally received our crepes. We found a shaded spot out in front of a stage with live music and got comfortable.

I got one with feta, spinach, tomatoes and mushrooms.  It was definitely tasty. It was a good way to start out our trip.

Paul loved his roast beef crepe. It was a special on the menu, which is always an interesting way to go when you are deciding what to have. Try the special its usually fresher, in season ingredients. This special was definitely out of the ordinary. You can tell when the chef is having fun with flavors!

Paul likes to take pictures of me eating. Ha ha. You got me again.

We ended up getting delicious wedge of local made brie. Which I am planning on incorporating into my meal planning for the week ahead.

The produce looked beautiful but was a little out of my price range. This farmer's market seemed to be a lot like a street fare. Including street fare foods, live music, local made knick knacks and kids activities like pony ride and moon bounces.

It was definitely not the experience I was expecting but it was very fun and tasty none the less.

Next I need to try the North Charleston Park Circle farmer's market. Maybe I can find a place to get some great fresh produce.