Samurai soup

From "Every Day with Rachael Ray"
March 2009


Oh my God! We had an absolutely magazine family-worthy moment tonight! Sean and I made these dumplings TOGETHER, they didn't fall apart, they tasted amazing and he ended up eating TWO green vegetables with dinner. With no bargaining! Herewith, then, is a recipe lifted in its entirety from Rachael Ray's magazine:

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. baby bok choi, halved lengthwise and crosswise, white and green portions separated.
(or, you can just use the same amount of baby spinach and chop it after you blanch it.)
1/2 lb. ground pork
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 TBSP oyster or fish sauce
1 TBSP grated ginger
2 tsp honey
1 tsp sesame oil
40 wonton wrappers
32oz chicken soup
1/4 lb snow pease, cut crosswise into 1/2" pieces
Scallions, for garnish

Method:

1. In a pot with boiling water, cook bok choi (or spinach, if using that instead) for 1 minute until wilted. Drain, rinse with cold water and squeeze dry. Finely chop and put in medium-sized bowl.
2. Stir in pork, 1 TBSP soy sauce, all the oyster/fish sauce, ginger, honey & 1 tsp sesame oil.
3. Arrange 10 wonton wrappers on work surface, moisten the edges, mound 1 tsp pork mixture in the middle. Fold in half, pressing edges to seal. Then bring two points together to make a fortune cookie shaped dumpling.
4. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth, 1 cup water and remaining soy sauce to a boil. Add snow peas.
5. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the dumplings until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowls. Ladle broth over the dumplings, top with scallions and a drizzle of sesame oil.

The dumplings freeze very well, too!

Slow Cooker Chili

Slow-Cooker Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced celery
3/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10.75 ounce) cans tomato puree
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini or black beans with liquid
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Place the beef in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown.

Place the beef in a slow cooker, and mix in onion, celery, green bell pepper, garlic, tomato puree, kidney beans, and cannellini beans. Season with chili powder, parsley, salt, basil, oregano, black pepper, and hot pepper sauce.

Cover and cook 8 hours on low.

Cherry Green Tea Muffins

Full disclosure -- I lifted this recipe in its entirety from the September 2008 issue of MORE Magazine. The best part about it is that Sean actually likes them as an after school snack.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose white flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Green tea leaves from 1 tea bag

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/8 cup canola oil

6 tablespoons ground flax meal

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1 1/2 cups dried cherries

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Put muffin cups in a 12-cup tin

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Combine all wet ingredients plus cherries in a small bowl.

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry; mix just until combined. (Overmixing will make the muffins tough.)

5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, bake for approximately 17 - 20 minutes.

NOTE: I used a combination of dried cherries and raisins because I didn't have a cup and a half of cherries laying around. Also, I used orange juice and orange zest because I didn't have any lemons. Both substitutions worked out just fine!

Cranberry Nut Bread

I just adore cranberry bread and this recipe is my particular favorite. I've discovered that it can be made in a bread maker with no discernible loss of flavor or texture, so it couldn't be simpler. Just throw everything in the breadmaker, set it to "Cake" or "Loaf" and away you go. (Note: I've found it works best if you pour in the liquids first and throw the dry ingredients on top.)


CLASSIC CRANBERRY NUT BREAD
(possibly lifted from the Ocean Spray website, but I'm no longer sure.)

3/4 cup orange juice
1 egg, well beaten
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon grated orange peel (please, use organic oranges! You can't imagine the wax and pesticides you'll be ingesting otherwise.)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons ground flax meal (optional)
1 1/2 cups frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS (for the breadmaker):

1. Pour orange juice and beaten egg into breadmaker

2. Add the rest of the ingredients. I like to chop my cranberries so coarsely that there are still whole cranberries amongst the choppy bits. (I use a manual food chopper for this.)

3. Start the breadmaker.

4. Sit back and make a whiskey sour using the de-zested organic orange. Give half of the slices to your child to assuage any guilt you might have.

PER SERVING (1 slice): Cal. 211, Fat Cal. 54, Protein 3grams, Carb. 37grams, Fat 6grams, Chol. 18mg., Sodium 313mg


NOTE: If you don't use a breadmaker, this will make one 9 x 5 inch loaf. Bake it for approximately 55 minutes at 350*.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Fudge Crunch

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

2 sticks unsalted butter

16 oz (1 jar) creamy peanut butter

3 cups Rice Krispies

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1. Line an 8" square baking pan with wax paper.  Melt half of the chocolate chips and 1 TBSP of butter over medium heat.  Remove from heat, stir in 1 cup peanut butter, then 2 cups Rice Krispies.  Spread mixture evenly in pan and let cool for 15 minutes.

2. Melt the rest of the butter and salt.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining peanut butter and confectioner's sugar.  Spread half over cereal layer in pan.  Top with remaining 1 cup Rice Krispies.

3. Microwave remaining chocolate chips until almost melted.  Stir melted chocolate into peanut butter mixture.  Spread over last Rice Krispy layer, chill about an hour until set.

4. Cut into 16 pieces

Cheddar-Broccoli Millet Pie

Okay, because I'm candied yam, creamed spinach, biscuited, pied, potatoed, gravied and turkeyed out, I've made the following recipe from this month's Mother Earth Magazine. Ah, whole grains!


Cheddar-Broccoli Millet Pie

2 cups onion, chopped

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 cup millet

3 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried thyme

1 medium carrot, chopped

3 cups broccoli florets, cut into small pieces

6 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 large eggs

Olive oil for pan
Heat a 2-quart heavy saucepan over medium-high heat for a few seconds, then add the oil. Add the onions and sauté, lowering the heat as they soften. Cook until golden and sweet. Add the millet and stir, cooking until the grains are hot to the touch and fragrant. Add the stock, salt, thyme and carrot, and bring to a boil. Cover tightly and lower heat to the lowest setting. Cook for 30 minutes, then quickly add broccoli to the pan, cover again, and let stand for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff, let cool.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir the millet with the cheese and eggs and scrape into greased pie pan. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden on top and firm to the touch. Slice and serve warm. Serves 6.

Soccer Mom Doughnut Twists

These are baked, not deep fried doughnut twists -- baked because deep frying scares me on so many levels and twisted because that's how Almanzo Wilder's mother made them. (We were inspired to make homemade doughnuts after reading "Farmer Boy" you see.)

Oh, and the title comes from the fact that I promised Sean doughnuts if he kept a positive attitude during today's soccer game. That's good parenting, right?

Source: Cooks.com Recipe Search

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 c. warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 1/2 to 3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. plain low fat yogurt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. butter, melted
Vanilla Glaze or Cinnamon Sugar

*Directions:

Dissolve yeast in water in large bowl; let stand 5 minutes until foamy. Add 1 1/2 cups flour, yogurt, sugar, salt, softened butter, egg, vanilla. Beat on low speed 2 minutes. Mix in 1 cup flour. Knead on floured surface 5 minutes until smooth-elastic, adding flour to prevent sticking. Place in bowl coated with cooking spray; spray top. Cover; let rise until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each out on floured surface into 8 inch rope. Fold each in half; pinch ends together. Twist a few times. On baking sheet coated with cooking spray, place 3 inches apart. Brush with butter. Cover; let rise until almost doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven 8 minutes until golden brown. Brush on Vanilla Glaze or finish with Cinnamon Sugar while warm. Cool on rack.

Whisk together 2 tablespoons warm water, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla and 3/4 cup 10X sugar.

Brush doughnuts with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Dip in prepared cinnamon-sugar mixture.


* Note: I didn't follow the above dough directions at all. I just threw all the ingredients into my bread machine and set it to the "Dough" cycle. That takes about 1:45 all told. Next time I think I'm going to use Rapid Rise yeast and then the Dough cycle only takes 45 minutes! Also, I think I'll freeze half the dough to make another time.