Maque Choux

It's officially feeling like November. We haven't had any snow yet, but I'm sure it is coming. I just hope it holds off until after I get to go home for Thanksgiving. At work we've been gearing up for Black Friday- it will be my first Black Friday actually stepping foot in a mall or doing any shopping. I usually avoid the craziness of that shopping day, but it cannot be helped this year.

At home we did some winterizing this afternoon. It hasn't been too cold yet, but I'm sure when old man winter comes knocking we'll be glad. We have had some blustery days and I noticed the vertical blinds swaying after a few of the strong gusts in our living room. Needless to say, our windows are old and very drafty.  So now we have a cozy home and are in need of something to warm our tummies.

Enter Maque Choux. Not only is this dish stomach warming and filling, the colors of the ingredients and cajun flavors warm everything right up.

Maque Choux with chicken and hot Italian sausage
6 ears corn (I used a package of frozen corn instead)
3 lbs chicken thighs with skin and excess fat trimmed
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 lb hot italian sausage links, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 medium onions, chopped
1 orange or red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large celery rib, sliced
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 pound cherry tomatoes (1 1/2 pints) halved
1/4 c chopped fresh basil

1. If using fresh corn, cut kernels off cobs and, working over a large bowl, scrape cobs with knife to extract all juices. Discard cobs.

2. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a heavy 8 qt pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown sausage, transferring to a plate. Brown chicken in batches, transferring to another plate.

3. Pour off all but 1 tbs fat from pot, then saute onions, bell peppers, celery, thyme, cayenne and salt to taste over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes. Add corn with juices and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and sausage.

4. Nestle chicken into mixture and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes. If the maque choux is soupier than you like, simmer uncovered until juices are reduced. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper. Serve with sliced bread to soak up the liquids.

Best Brownies

After the seriously decadent Viennese cake I made last month, I still had a bag of dutch process cocoa in the cupboard. It was only in there so long because I was a little hesitant to use it in a recipe that wasn't going to live up to the amazingness of DUTCH PROCESS cocoa. Seriously, that stuff is almost sinful. The craving for brownies hit last weekend so I searched for a recipe that would do the cocoa justice. I found that a lot of people look down on baking with cocoa. What?! Perhaps I just don't know, perhaps people are basing this opinion on lower grade cocoa, but whatever. I'll admit I wouldn't use it for all purposes, but seriously, brownies? 

I finally found one from Alton Brown that I felt would do the trick. The brownies that resulted are, I must admit, among the best I've ever had. Now, these are a little bit gooey, so if you like your brownies to have a more cake-like consistency, these are not for you. I'm personally a big fan of fudgy brownies, so they were right up my alley. Now, a word on the cocoa (another?! I know.... I'm sort of obsessed), it made these brownies extremely dark and rich. Rich enough that a glass of milk is not simply advised, it is absolutely mandatory. The only improvement I can think of for these brownies is the addition of walnuts. They were spectacular without, so maybe it should just be called a variation rather than an improvement.

As a funny addition: the recipe on the food network site has a bit of a typo that makes it look as though the recipe calls for 11/4 cup of cocoa. Now, most people would look at that and realize that it means a full cup plus a quarter, but some of the reviewers made the brownies with 11 quarter cups of cocoa. And got on the website to complain. Obviously, the recipe didn't work so well in those cases. Gotta love those concrete thinkers! 

Brownies (made with cocoa)

Soft butter, for greasing the pan

Flour, for dusting the buttered pan

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar, sifted

1 cup brown sugar, sifted

8 ounces melted butter

1 1/4 cups cocoa, sifted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup flour, sifted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

2. With a mixer, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

3. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes (I used a 9x13 rectangular pan just because we don't have a square one, thinner brownies, but still yummmy!). Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool (the toughest part of the recipe!)

Potato Soup & Bread bowls

I'll admit, this recipe is basically word for word from Southern Living via MyRecipes.com , but it presented some challenges that I had to remedy on my own. First of all- I was certain that a KitchenAid was going to be on my wedding registry, but I'm doubly sure of it now. I can remember making breads with my grandmother (who had a KitchenAid herself) and doing tons of kneading, which was a fun "old-fashioned" experience for me. But I found my little hand mixer just wouldn't get all 7 cups of flour into the dough and ended up doing a lot of it by hand. Also, the bread bowls seemed really small. I may just be used to Panera's gigantic sourdough bread bowls, but it didn't seem like you could get a whole serving of soup in there.

Luckily the soup was pretty low maintenance. Just throw a bunch of stuff in the crockpot, set the timer and forget about it. I think the recipe is a good basic potato soup but I think it could be much better if you played around with different ingredients and maybe some additional spices. Overall, a good recipe for a fall day.

Italian Bread Bowls
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 (1/4 oz) envelopes active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
7 cups all- purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

1. Stir together 2 1/2 cups water and yeast in a large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in salt and oil.

2. Add flour gradually, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer until soft dough forms.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic (4-6 minutes). Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 35 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

4. Punch dough down and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal.

5. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 35 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

6. Stir together egg white and 1 tablespoon water, brush over loaves.

7. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10-15 minutes more or until golden. Cool on wire racks. Freeze up to 1 month if desired.

8. Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Reserve centers for other uses. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

Potato Soup
6 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots thinly sliced
2 celery ribs thinly sliced
2 (14 1/2 oz) cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cup half and half

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in 4 1/2 quart slow cooker.

2. Cook, covered at HIGH for 3 hours or until vegetables are tender.

3. Stir together flour and half and half; stir into soup. Cover and cook 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve in bread bowls.

Rapide Coq Au Vin

Although I have more time than I'd like currently, Sunday was one of the only days in this past week that I got to spend some time with the fiance. It's been a busy couple weeks and most of our time has been spent at work (opposite schedules, always, ugh!). He did have two gigs, one his usual Sunday morning gig, and another benefit this afternoon, but I finally get to spend time with him this evening. I did NOT want to spend a majority of that time stuck in front of the stove, so I found a recipe for Coq Au Vin that cheats a bit. I'm totally fine with this, having sworn to myself that I will make the real thing ASAP.

Again, I've been thinking about wanting to make this for quite a while. There's a scene in the movie "The Namesake" (fantastic movie, by the way, and an even better book by Jhumpa Lahiri) where one of the characters tries to make this. Ever since I saw that, I've really wanted to make this myself. Also, the wine. Any dish that is just a vehicle for a good wine is fine by me. I picked up a Burgundy I love (cheap, but trustworthy) to use in this recipe.

The end result was me saying "I'm going to be dreaming of this food tonight!" and it being marked as a definite "make again" recipe. The chicken was melt in your mouth tender, the vegetables were flavorful, and the whole thing just was a symphony of yum! The next time I have a craving for this, I do plan on making the full out traditional recipe, but in a situation with less time, this is definitely an amazing dish on its own!

Rapide Coq Au Vin
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 (4 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cups quartered cremini mushrooms
2 cups (1/4 inch thick) slices carrot
1/3 cup (1/4 inch thick) slices canadian bacon
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup fat-free, less sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste

1. Combine flour, thyme and salt in a ziploc plastic bag; add chicken. Seal and shake to coat. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 9 minutes or until browned, turning frequently. Remove chicken from pan.

3. Add mushrooms, carrot and bacon to pan; saute 2 minutes. Stir in wine, broth and tomato paste. Cook for 9 minutes. Return chicken to pan; cook 8 minutes or until chicken is done.

White Sweet Potato Fries

Today has been a rainy, gloomy cold day. Luckily, I love weather like this (in moderation, of course) and had the day off to enjoy said weather from inside the house. I would almost say that Fall is my favorite season, but then I start thinking about the beginning of winter when snow is still something I love rather than something I dread shuffling through and shoveling. I think I just love the fact that there are four distinct seasons here and each one has its own charm.

We've had white sweet potatoes sitting around since my dad came to visit. He brought some up from home where they are called "New Jersey sweet potatoes" at the store (can someone explain that one? I can't figure out why they'd be called this.) I had already bought some sweet potatoes to bake with the chicken, so these have gone untouched for a while. It's about time to find something do with them!  These are not quite as sweet as regular sweet potatoes, but have a lighter texture.

The final verdict? I loved these! They won a "we have to do this again" vote from the fiance. Luckily I still have two more white sweet potatoes! I think an interesting twist may be trying different spice combinations- these would be great with a little bit more of a kick to them too! I think the sweet would balance out the spice really nicely.

White Sweet Potato Fries (can also be made with regular sweet potatoes)
1-1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into  1/2 inch wide strips.
3. Place sweet potatoes into a plastic bag. Add oil, salt, paprika and cinnamon. Seal the bag and shake well to coat fries. Spread the potatoes onto a single layer on baking sheet .
4. Cook for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, until slightly browned and crispy. Transfer immediately to a paper towel lined plate and serve warm.

Apple Chips

Okay, one more apple recipe. Last one, I promise!! (I can say that for sure because I used the last of the orchard apples in this recipe)

I was at work at 6am this morning. Yes, you read that right, 6 am. Which means that my alarm was set for 4:50 (since I also had to look as though I could be selling expensive clothes at 6am while changing around the whole store set- new holiday clothes though, YAY), and I spent the whole night terrified I wouldn't wake up on time to go to work, so I woke up every few minutes. Anyway, I'm exhausted. So my rule for the day was: stay out of the kitchen unless it doesn't involve sharp knives (oops, broke that rule), or won't take longer than 5 minutes to prep.

We had these last few apples lying around still and I was trying to figure out how to put them to good use before they got all shriveled and no good for anything but compost. On the way to work yesterday I had a sudden yearning for these apple chips I used to snack on in college. I figured it would be easy enough to slice up some apples, dust them with cinnamon and sugar, and bake until they're chips! Even though my tiredness level is pretty high, I managed to wield the knife without any mishaps. Eating apple chips while sitting on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea on a fall day is my idea of relaxing!

Apple Chips
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
4 apples sliced crosswise into 1/8 inch thick rounds

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Arrange apple slices on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 1 hour; peel apples parchment and return to paper. Continue baking until apples are golden and crisp (about 30 minutes more).

These will store in an airtight container for up to 5 days (if they last that long that is!) My biggest tip for these is make sure you slice 'em thin. Too thick and they'll bake, but be chewy instead of crispy.

Tarte Tatin

I'm absolutely loving the apple harvest this fall! We went to an orchard last weekend, and then while my dad was visiting he and I went to another. I made an apple crisp to go with our mushroom stuffed beef roast dinner, and an apple pie for this weekend when we are going on a hike in a state park. I decided that it was far too cruel (to myself as well as to the fiance) to bake a pie and have to wait to break into it, so the idea came up for a tarte tatin.

I've been lusting after this tart for quite a while, the page in my french cookbook has been marked for at least a year, if not longer. Anything carmelized is sure to be delicious, and french pastries are unmatched in my book. This is not for those worried about calories, fat, or cholesterol, but you only live once afterall!

Tarte Tatin
1 1/2 pounds (5-6) apples (preferably pippins, Granny Smiths or Jonathans)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, plus butter for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon removed with lemon zester or grater
1/2 cup water
whipped cream, sweetened lightly (optional)

Pate Brisee
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch salt
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons water

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Core apples and cut each into 6 slices.

2. In a large skillet over moderate heat, melt butter. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add apple slices and stir to coat with butter. Cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine remaining sugar and the water. Cook over medium heat without stirring, until sugar turns golden brown. Immediately pour caramel into a greased 9 inch cake pan. Swirl cake pan quickly to coat bottom with caramel.

4. Arrange apple slices in neat concentric circles on top of caramel. Any remaining apple slices can be piled randomly on top. Reduce liquid remaining in skillet to 1/4 cup and spoon over apples. On a lightly floured surface, roll Pate Brisee into a circle large enough to cover pie plate and about 1/8 inch thick. Cover apples with pastry. Bake until crust is golden brown (about 25 minutes). Cool pie on a rack 15 minutes. Unmold onto a serving dish. Serve in wedges with cream (if desired).

Pate Brisee
1. To make in food processor: Combine flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in work bowl. Process 2 seconds. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. In a separate bowl combine egg yolk and the water. With motor running, add egg mixture through feed tube and process until dough almost forms a ball. Remove from work bowl and gather into a ball with lightly floured hands.
To make by hand: Stir together flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine egg yolk and the water. Add to mixture, tossing gently with a fork to blend. With lightly floured hands, knead mixture just until it forms a ball.

2. Pat dough into a 5 inch disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. Remove from refrigerator 10 minutes before rolling.