Moroccan Bison with Couscous

Bison in a Moroccan dish cooked by a Russian/Texan using an English chef's recipe, it all makes sense. But, in the end, I think my picture of a Jamie Oliver recipe turned out almost as good as the one in the book. Followed the recipe almost exactly.
(Nicky would like me to note that there are most likely no bison in Morocco. However, the original recipe called for lamb, which she doesn't eat, and so we experimented by substituting bison which was determined to be "delicious".) [Also, Nicky wrote this part and made it sound like I wrote what she asked me to, but in actuality she just wrote it.]

Moroccan Bison with Couscous
(Adapted from Jaime's Food Revolution by Jaime Oliver) Serves 2

Ingredients
1 medium red onion
3 ripe Roma tomatoes
Small bunch of fresh Italian parsley
2 fresh, mild chiles (You could leave this out, but Nicky says there wasn't much-to-any heat)
8 dried apricots (1 bag)
Olive oil
Small pat of butter
Cumin
Salt and pepper
Small handful of pine nuts
1 x 16 oz can of Garbanzo beans
1 1/2 cups couscous
1 lemon
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
10 oz bison steak (or 1/2 lb lamb leg steak if you'd like to use the original ingredient)
2/3 cup plain yogurt to serve (Nicky recommends Wallaby Plain Low-fat Yogurt)

Chop onions, apricots, chile peppers. Keep together. Chop tomatoes and parsley (keep a little parsley for garnish). Keep together apart from the other veggies. Add a splash of olive oil to a hot pan (medium-medium/hot). Sauté onions, apricots, and chile peppers. Add a tab of butter. Cook until onions start to go soft. Add salt, pepper, pine nuts, tomatoes, parsley and garbanzo beans (with all their juice). Add 1/4 cup of water. Simmer for five minutes. Meanwhile, put couscous in a medium sized mixing bowl and add enough boiling water to just cover the couscous. Add salt and pepper, squeeze a wedge of lemon. and a splash of olive oil. Once mixed lightly, cover bowl for 5 mins.

To cook bison, I liked using a cast iron skillet because you can get it so hot. Cut bison into 1 inch squares. Toss meat in cumin, salt and pepper until it's covered well. Add splash of olive oil then quickly (like really quickly) add the meat to the pan. Let sear for a minute and then keep it moving until browned.

Add salt and pepper to taste to the vegetable mixture in the other pan. Add balsamic vinegar.

To serve put couscous in one half of a bowl. In the other half put the vegetable mixture. Top with bison. A drizzle of olive oil. Dollop of yogurt. Salt and pepper. Parsley.

It's really good.

The Easiest "Recipe" I Will Ever Post - Raspberry Yogurt

I'm calling this a recipe, because it includes ingredients and directions, but really it's so obvious that I'm hoping you're all not insulted!



All you'll need is plain, low-fat yogurt (This is my preferred yogurt of the moment; has the flavor of Greek yogurt and texture of American yogurt), raspberries and Splenda, or the sweetener of your choice.

Take about 1/4 a box of raspberries and poor a packet of Splenda over them and mash them together until it looks like jam. Pour over a couple cups of plain yogurt, mix togther until pink and then add another handful of non-mashed raspberries.

So simple, so much better than yoplait could ever be. Yum, summertime.

Trying New Things - A Smothered Tempeh Sandwich

You know, it's funny, but in all my years of health food eating, I bypassed tempeh every time I saw it in the health food refrigerated section. I think I was intimidated? Worried it would taste like feet?

But, left with a packet after Abby's visit, I was curious. I read a little more about it (thanks Wikipedia) and found out that tempeh:
Like tofu, ...is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamin.
I convinced Mik to try it too, and we were both pleasantly surprised! Because it has whole beans, it has a pleasant, firm texture (think the opposite of tofu) and kind of a nutty, mild flavor. Nice! I highly encourage people to try it out for something different!

Smothered Tempeh Sandwiches
Adapted from Eating Well

INGREDIENTS
1 8-ounce package tempeh (we had one called 5-grain tempeh)
1 tablespoon canola oil or vegetable oil
10 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 small shallots, thinly sliced (the original recipe called for 1 red onion, but we had shallots on hand)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dry red wine
4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
8 thin slices whole-wheat bread, toasted (we used a great whole grain tuscan loaf from the bakery at the supermarket- yum!)

PREPARATION
Our tempeh came in two thick, rectangular pieces. We cut them in half lengthwise and down the thickness of the pieces so we ended up with 8 thinner pieces. Set aside.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan on medium. Add mushrooms, onions and salt and cook, stirring often for about 10 minutes. Now the fun bit- splash in the wine and drink what's leftover (with your meal or while cooking. I know what I did!). Give everything just a minute to soak in the wine, and then add your tempeh slices. Spoon some of the mushrooms and onions over each slice, make sure that each piece gets thoroughly coated in wine. Cook for another 5-7 minutes until you've warmed everything through and the wine has evaporated. Get out your cheese slices and lay over each slice of tempeh and remove from the heat. Cover the pan and let stand until the cheese melts (won't take long). Meanwhile, slice and toast your bread.
When the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted, make your sandwiches! Put 1-2 slices of tempeh and cheese on each one and cover with onions and mushrooms. Serve while your cheese is still melty and enjoy!

We ate this with some leftover vegetables we had on hand and black beans, but I bet this would be awesome with a spinach, goat cheese and balsamic salad if you want.

Smitten Kitchen's Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza

An oldie but goodie! We've made this quite a few times, and met with success each time. Now, of course you can use a Boboli ready made crust if you want, but I highly recommend making your own dough! It's actually pretty easy and you can't beat the taste or the smell while it's cooking. (See below for a recipe.) One other point of personalization: if you aren't a fan of gorgonzola, feel free to leave it out. The smell doesn't usually do it for me, so sometimes I leave it out and sometimes I substitute goat cheese.

Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentis by Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main dish.

1 (1- pound) acorn squash
2 tablespoons maple syrup (I like to get Grade B if I can, as it has a deeper flavor and is less watery.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (Deb says 1 tsp in her recipe, but also says 1/2 was fine. It worked for us.)
1/4 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1/4 teaspoon
1 pound pizza dough
1 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola
1 cup arugula
Squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Slice squash in half and scoop the seeds out of the middle. Next, (carefully- you could loose a finger!) slice into 1/2 inch half moons and place in a mixing bowl. Add maple syrup, olive oil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until each piece is evenly coated in the mixture. Place the squash on a baking sheet.and bake until tender (insert a fork and check) and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. When you take out the squash, don't turn off the oven as you can use it for your dough.

If you're using a pre-made pizza crust, skip to the next paragraph. Dust a pizza stone or cutting board with flour and roll out your dough into a nice foot wide circle. Add a little olive oil to a baking sheet, and place your crust in the center.

Add the mozzarella and the gorgonzola cheese to your pizza dough. Bake in the oven until cooked through, about 25 to 30 minutes if using your own dough, or follow the directions on your pre-prepared crust package.

When your pizza is cooked, take out and let it cool for a few minutes. Then, top with the acorn squash half moons. In a separate bowl, toss arugula with lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Top the pizza and acorn squash with the arugala. Slice and serve.

Cheri's Favorite Pizza Dough
Recipe by Cheri Sicard

1 1/2 cups very warm water
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
16 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) bread flour
3 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup) semolina flour
1 teaspoon salt
About a tablespoon of olive oil

For recipe CLICK HERE

Mik's Migas and Proof-

That Mik cooks even if I'm the only one posting! Here's Mik making migas (gluten-free, might I add) for Abby and I last weekend.

(For the record, he has since gotten both a haircut and a shave!)

Mik's Migas
(Serves 3-4 people)

6 eggs
Splash o milk
Chili Powder
Cumin
Olive oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
Tab o butter
Handful of chopped, fresh cilantro (Optional, for all you cilantro-haters out there)
3 handfuls tortilla chips
Grated cheese (we had a habenero cheddar and it was perfect!)
Can of black beans
Guacamole
Salsa
Lime wedges

In a bowl, beat the eggs with butter, milk, chili powder and cumin (to your taste specifications), and chopped cilantro if you want it. Heat a pan on med-hi, add a splash of olive oil, heat and saute the onions in pan for 3 mins. Next, add garlic and cook for another minute until onions are soft. Add in egg mixture and cook until eggs are 90% set, stirring intermittently.

While eggs are cooking, drain your black beans and warm in the microwave for a couple minutes. When you feel eggs are done, stir into the mix salt and pepper to taste, cheese and crumble tortilla chips over the whole thing.

Move servings to plates, and top with heated black beans, guacamole, salsa, and a wedge of lime. Add a cup of strong coffee and a sunny porch to eat it on, and your morning can't get better!

Easiest Spaghetti Sauce EVER

Ever wanted to make pasta but realize you have no spaghetti sauce? Has happened to me more than once, for sure! But, we seem to have most of the ingredients for this on hand and it's so simple and customizable that you may never buy spaghetti sauce again! Ways to customize: a couple cloves of garlic tossed in the mix (or minced garlic), a handful of fresh basil tossed in at the end, Italian seasoning, etc!

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
Adapted from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan


28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (You'll want to rough these up a little with a potato masher or fork, but make sure to keep them with their juices, as they were in the can.)
5 tablespoons salted butter (You can use unsalted butter, but you'll need to salt to taste. Well, you will anyway- so just use what you have on hand.)
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
S&P to taste

Heat a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low to keep a steady simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally. Discard the onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over cooked pasta. Done!
Note: While this recipe says to discard the onion, I like to keep it and serve it chopped on toast with a sunny-side up egg for breakfast on the weekend!

Abby Feast: Italian Spaghetti Squash and Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

My friend Abby (pic of her cooking Zucchini Lasagna last year) is here visiting Boulder for her cousin's graduation from CU Law. Tonight, after a 3 hour hike through the foothills we decided to make a feast! Soooooooo good. We made 2 recipes we thought were worth sharing: Italian-style Spaghetti Squash and Chocolate Beet Cupcakes!

Spaghetti squash is a really great substitute for pasta and a lot more healthy. Kind of fun to change it up, and again, pretty simple. We used: 1 large spaghetti squash cut in 1/2 lengthwise, olive oil, and salt and pepper. After it's cooked, you'll need the pasta sauce of your choice and shredded cheese if you like. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

You'll need a sharp knife or cleaver to cut the squash. (More here.) Next scrap the seeds and pulp out and discard. Add a little olive oil to the bottom of a baking pan, add S&P to taste to the squash halves and place in the pan, rind side up. Bake about 30 to 40 minutes at 375 F. (If it's slightly soft on the top, it's done.)

Give the squash a little while to cool down, then flip over and use a fork to pull the strings out into a bowl. You should be able to get all of the flesh out right down to the skin. Now- the best part! We got a great garlic-y pasta sauce and some grated cheddar cheese, and prepare just as you would your pasta!

Next, chocolate beet cupcakes: dessert and vegetables! Sounds bizarre, but tastes like fudgy-brownies.


This recipe from "Ming Makes Cupcakes" is so good and we only took a couple of shortcuts to make it easier. We used one can of whole beets instead of the whole washing, peeling, cutting thing! We also did have to bake them for about 20 minutes (maybe the altitude?) more than the recipe called for and don't be worried if they collapse in the middle- they still taste fantastic. UPDATE: I also used semi-sweet chocolate chips. So, not too sweet!

I topped these with fresh whipped cream, which is so easy! Briskly whisk together 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract until it is stiff.

ENJOY!

Banana Pancakes and an Anniversary

Los Altos B&B

Hi folks! We just got back from a quick trip to celebrate our one year anniversary to Grand Junction. It was so beautiful and the B&B we stayed at - Los Altos - was so lovely. It was settled on a cliff looking into the Grand Junction Valley and the farm land in Palisade at the base of Colorado National Monument. We took so many pictures it should be a crime! The B&B owners, Lee and Young-Ja made us spectacular breakfasts every morning, and the recipe below may be updated to include some of Young-Ja's recipe for Buttermilk Multi-grain pancakes. SO GOOD! Pictures to come.

This recipe is for all of you, our wonderful family who have been so awesome and who made our wedding so special one year ago! We've been having a blast since then (even with three moves) and we can't wait for more. These pancakes are seriously tasty, help you get a serving of fruit, use up any brown bananas you have in the freezer (the browner the better), and you can make it in the BLENDER. Why aren't you making them already? :)

From: Nigella Lawson's 'Feast' (Our adaptations marked with a * as usual)
Music: Akron/Family

Banana Buttermilk Pancakes
(Serves 2, multiply as needed)
1 very ripe bananas
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
*Pinch of salt (Mik says this is very important)
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (No buttermilk in the house? See below pancake recipe for easy substitution)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 oz butter, melted

Put all the ingredients except the melted butter into the blender and blend until smooth. If you want to make ahead, simply place in the fridge until you're ready. Stir in the melted butter just before you start to cook the pancakes.
We find it's easy to cook these in a non-stick pan with some melted butter on medium heat. Flip over once the underside is set (30 secs or so) until golden brown.

The last time we ate these, Mik served them with some raspberry preserves and a dollop of low-fat vanilla yogurt which was awesome. They are equally good with maple syrup!

Buttermilk Alternative
Place a Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line. Let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as you need.