This weekend I was sewing! I haven't pulled out the sewing machine in years. I got burnt out doing six years of middle eastern dance costumes and really haven't touched the machine since...2007ish? I have to admit, I enjoyed myself and might look at tackling a quilt with the quilt fabric I have stashed.
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| photo from scifiwithpaprika.com (c)2020 |
Meanwhile, we made a few new recipes! Enjoy!
The Meal Plan from last week:
Sat (L) leftovers (S) Kimchi Soup
Sun (L) leftover soup (S) Chicago Thin-crust pizza
Mon - leftover pizza
Tues - spaghetti
Wed - leftover kimchi soup and leftover spaghetti
Thurs - pasta e fagioli (Italian pasta and bean soup)
Fri - leftover soup
lunches - barley, corn and black bean burritos
Kimchi jjigae (Modified from My Korean Kitchen Blog)
I don't know how this popped up on my radar, but it was a "I have to make this NOW" kinda recipe. Fortunately, I know someone of Korean decent and got the lowdown that this soup is a lot like chili or chicken soup here in the States. Everyone has their favorite recipe and they are all a little different.
First challenge was to find some gochujang. "Everyone" is touting "you can find this at your local supermarket or co-op!". Ah...no. I live in Northern MN where siracha is considered to be exotic. Nearest Korean market is 150 miles away and a road trip isn't happening right now. I did find something called gochujang at the co-op, but I don't think it's actually *gochujang*. It would have to do.
Ditto for gochugaru, the chili flakes. I didn't even bother to look for these and just subbed red pepper flakes. It would have to do.
The rest was easy peasy. I subbed chicken thighs for the pork, and fried them in a tich of leftover bacon grease. I did substitute cremini mushrooms for the shitaki as I had cremini in the fridge. I subbed shallot for yellow onion, because of the same reason.
Bottom line? I would absolutely make this again! In fact, I did the next day! Delicious! Highly recommended
Meat
1/4 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
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| photo from scifiwithpaprika.com (c)2020 |
3 ground black pepper to taste
Kimchi and Others
3/4 cup aged Kimchi (at least 2 to 3 weeks old), cut into bite size pieces if not already
1/4 small brown onion, thinly sliced (I used a shallot)
1 stalk small green onion, thinly sliced
4 oz small shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
approx 5 oz firm tofu, sliced or cubed
1 cup water
Jjigae base (mix these in a bowl)
1 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru) (I used red pepper flakes)
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Korean chili paste (gochujang)
1/4 tsp minced garlic
ground black pepper to taste
1) Marinate the chicken with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
2) Cook the Kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to maneuver around.)
3) Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
4) Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
5) Serve with rice (and other side dishes).
Pasta e Fagioli (modified from Cooks Illustrated)
This was a pantry dive recipe. I had the dried beans, I had the orzo, all I needed was some celery and I was set. The dried beans were from our garden a couple years ago, and we don't think the ripened quite right. I used my instant pot to cook, doing a test batch first (over cooked) and then a batch for this. Some beans were perfect, others were a bit more al dente than I care for. I have since learned to add a tsp of baking soda to the bean water prior to cooking. Next time.
As the recipe tip notes below, first meal this is a soup. Following meals, this turns into more of a stew, which I am completely okay with. If you prefer to keep it soup-like, cook and keep the pasta separate.
While I enjoyed this, I think this would have been better without the beans from the garden. Still, recommended.
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| Photo from cooksillustrated.com |
3 ounces bacon, chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
1 medium rib celery, chopped fine (about 2/3 cup)
4 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 heaping tablespoon)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 anchovy fillets, minced to paste (about 1 teaspoon)
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with liquid
Parmesan cheese rind, one piece about 5 inches by 2 inches, discarded prior to serving
2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
(I used 1/2 lb dried Hidatsa Shield Beans, pre-cooked)
3 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon table salt
8 ounces orzo or other small pasta (ditalini, tubetini, conchigliette)
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, (about 1 cup)
Recipe Notes: This soup does not hold well because the pasta absorbs the liquid, becomes mushy, and leaves the soup dry. The soup can, however, be made in two stages. Once the beans are simmered with the tomatoes, before the broth and water are added, the mixture can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 3 days. When ready to complete the soup, discard the Parmesan rind (otherwise it will become stringy), add the liquid, bring the soup to a boil, and proceed with the recipe.
Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking, about 2 minutes. Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and anchovies; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pan. Add cheese rind and beans; bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, 2 1/2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt; increase heat to high and bring to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender, about 10 minutes (refer to package instructions to better estimate pasta cooking time).
Discard cheese rind. Off heat, stir in 3 tablespoons parsley; adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into individual bowls; drizzle each serving with olive oil and sprinkle with a portion of remaining parsley. Serve immediately, passing grated Parmesan separately.
Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza (modified from Cooks Country)
Full disclosure here - I really only used the pizza crust recipe below. And I had mixed results. I had borrowed a food processor, only to discover a key component was missing and rendered the machine unusable. So this was made in the stand mixer. Worked fine. Honestly, I would have preferred to have stand mixer directions because yo! not all of us have an 11 cup food processor!
Second, this makes a mess. You get cornmeal everywhere. Once I transferred the first crust to my "peel", and ensured it wouldn't stick, and got my toppings on, the crust had contracted and it wasn't as thin as I would have liked. Husband preferred it though.
Second crust (have I mentioned the cornmeal?) did turn out nice and thin and crispy, well, they were both thin and crispy...but this one was thinner and crispier. I also didn't bake it quite as long as called for because quite frankly, I don't care for "dark" crust. Crisp, yes, dark...no.
Okay, crust issues aside, I used jarred spaghetti sauce (Rao's) for the pizza sauce because I had some in the fridge. I used ground Italian sausage because I had it in the freezer and could use the leftovers in another dish. I used a pizza cheese mix from the co-op that is a combination of mozzarella and smoked provolone. So good!
Bottom line, I'm not sure this was worth all the futzing. Good taste, futzy assembly.
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| photo from scifiwithpaprika.com (c)2020 |
2 teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Cornmeal
12 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
12 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, shredded (3 cups)
½ teaspoon dried oregano
Sauce
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
FOR THE PIZZA: Process flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in food processor until combined, about 3 seconds. With processor running, slowly add cold water and oil and process until dough forms sticky ball that clears sides of bowl, 30 to 60 seconds.
Transfer dough to lightly oiled counter and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Shape dough into tight ball and place in greased bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature until almost doubled in size, 2 to 21/2 hours. One hour before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, set baking stone on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
FOR THE SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. (Sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)
Transfer dough to lightly floured counter, divide in half, and gently shape each half into ball. Return 1 dough ball to bowl and cover with plastic. Coat remaining dough ball lightly with flour and gently flatten into 8-inch disk using your fingertips. Using rolling pin, roll dough into 12‑inch circle, dusting dough lightly with flour as needed. (If dough springs back during rolling, let rest for 10 minutes before rolling again.)
Sprinkle pizza peel with cornmeal. Transfer dough to prepared pizza peel and carefully stretch to return to 12-inch circle. Using back of spoon or ladle, spread scant 1/2 cup sauce in thin layer over surface of dough, leaving 1/8-inch border around edge. Pinch 6 ounces sausage into approximate dime-size pieces and evenly distribute over sauce. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups mozzarella evenly over sausage to edge of pie. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon oregano over top.
Carefully slide pizza onto baking stone and bake until cheese is well browned and edges of pizza are crisp and dark, 10 to 14 minutes. Slide pizza peel underneath pizza and remove pizza from oven. Slide pizza onto cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough, sauce, sausage, mozzarella, and oregano. Cut pizzas into 2- to 3-inch squares and serve.
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