Pierogies

To be perfectly honest, I've been avoiding blogging this recipe. I didn't keep track of how many potatoes or how much of the potato/cheese mixture I used in this recipe, so the measurements won't be very exact.  It's also an intimidating, long recipe...and I've been trying to post simpler foods.  But, this was really good and definitely worth the work, so I want to share it.  I boiled the pierogies when I made them for us and they were wonderful.  I will try to saute them next time, because that's my favorite way to eat the frozen ones.  I apologize in advance if you have too much potato mixture left over. As I said earlier, I didn't keep track and was in a rush to get dinner on the table the night I made this.  You could very easily double or triple the recipe and freeze some of the extra pierogies.  I will include the recipe for the caramelized onions.  They could be their own blog post, but I'll share them now. We put them on everything!

Pierogies
makes 16 pierogies

4 Yukon gold potatoes, boiled and drained
Milk (for mashing potatoes)
1/2 package Friendship brand farmer cheese
1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese mix
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
16 wonton or gyoza wrappers
Water
Melted butter
Caramelized onions, recipe follows

1) Mash potatoes using a potato masher or electric mixer, adding milk if necessary to make smooth.  After potatoes are mashed, stir in farmer cheese, Italian cheese mix, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
2) Place just under 2 tablespoons of potato mixture into the center of each wonton or gyoza wrapper.
3) Place water in a cup or small bowl. Dip fingers into water and run the wet fingers along the edges of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half and seal with more water, if necessary.
4) Repeat with remaining wrappers.
5) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pierogies.  Boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Remove pierogies and drain.
6) Top with melted butter and caramelized onions.

Caramelized Onions

2 Onions, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter, divided
salt and pepper, to taste

1) Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium low heat in a large, heavy skillet.
2) Add onions and remaining butter.
3) Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes.  Add salt and pepper if needed.

Lucy and the Tomatoes

Meet Lucy.  She is a border collie/something mix, and a very sweet dog.  She was an early Christmas present to the kids from my sister. We love Lucy and she loves us.  She really loves playing in the back yard and sleeping in the sun.  She also loves playing with tomatoes.  I had 4 roma tomato plants and a beefsteak tomato plant in the garden this fall.  At the beginning of December, I had about 80 tomatoes between the 5 plants.  I started thinking about buying a pot for canning so that I could enjoy my tomatoes all year. We had unusually warm weather, so I was confident that I'd be able to harvest the tomatoes before we had a freeze (if we even had one this year). 

One day I was sitting on the couch and folding some laundry. Lucy went running past the sliding glass door with her small, puppy-sized tennis ball.  All of a sudden, I realized that her "ball" looked a little bit green, so I went outside.  It was a beefsteak tomato.  I took it away from her and walked into the garden, where I found 4 more beefsteak tomatoes on the ground with bite marks in them.  

For the next few weeks, I found tomatoes in the yard every day.  We harvested one beefsteak tomato this year.  The roma plant is still blooming, so I have hope that I will harvest at least one or two tomatoes.  

We are looking into fences for the garden right now.  I think I may grow my spring tomatoes in containers and put them on the picnic table.  That's where the strawberries are right now... I don't trust Lucy with them. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

I have to admit, I was a little bit disappointed when neither one of my kids got excited when I made soup.  I love making soup- it's easy, usually healthy, very cheap, and I love eating it.  It turns out, I was just using the wrong noodles in my soup.  I picked up some fine egg noodles one day and made chicken noodle soup with it.  All of a sudden, my kids loved chicken noodle soup.  Things got even better when my mom gave me a box of alphabet pasta.  Now I have 2 children who happily eat soup- as long as it has the right kind of noodles in it.  

Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 6 - 8

8 cups chicken broth 

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed

3 carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 cup egg noodles or shaped pasta

1) Bring chicken broth, chicken, carrots, and celery to a boil in a large pot.  Reduce heat, and simmer, covered for 20 minutes.  

2) Add peas, corn, and noodles.  Bring to a boil and cook according to package directions for noodles. 

3) Serve with homemade bread. 

Mashed Potato Waffles

After 2 years without a waffle iron, I got a new one for Christmas.  I love making waffles (and my son loves eating them), so I was happy to get a new waffle iron.  I came across this recipe a few weeks ago when I was looking for another recipe in a potato cookbook I've had for about 10 years.  I made mashed potatoes for dinner the other night and saved a few for these waffles.  It's going to be hard not to do this with leftover mashed potatoes every time I have them now.  These waffles were so good!  They had the right balance of flour and mashed potatoes and the batter was really easy to work with. The buttermilk made the waffles nice and fluffy.  Since the waffles were savory, I didn't want maple syrup on them.  Potato pancakes in restaurants are usually served with applesauce and sour cream. I wasn't in a sour cream mood this morning, and applesauce sounded a little plain, so I used apple butter on half of the waffle (just butter on the other half).  The apple butter went really well with the waffle...but they were good with just butter, too!

Mashed Potato Waffles

from Beyond Burlap

yield: just over 4 cups of batter (in my waffle maker, that's 4 waffles)

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

8 slices bacon, crisp-fried, crumbled

3 green onions, finely chopped

1) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.

2) Blend the oil into the potatoes in a medium bowl. Add the buttermilk gradually. Add the eggs, beating until fairly smooth.  I used a stick blender for everything in this step.

3) Stir the bacon and green onions into the flour mixture. Add the potato mixture and mix well.

4) Lightly oil a preheated waffle iron. Pour in enough batter for 1 batch. Spread with a spatula (don't skip this step) and close waffle iron. 

5) Cook until the waffle iron opens easily and the waffles are crisp, which was about 4 minutes in my waffle iron. 

6) Top with butter, apple sauce, sour cream, or apple butter. 

Tortilla Soup

My mom and I came across this recipe when I was 12 or 13.  She has a cookbook called "Creme de Colorado," that had a recipe for Chili Verde in it. I made the Chili Verde for a chili cook-off at church and noticed the recipe next to it, called Sopa de Tortilla. My mom and I thought it looked like a great recipe and decided to make it for Christmas Eve.  We all loved it and it turned into our Christmas Eve tradition.  With the exception of a few years when I've been on the road for Christmas Eve, I've made this soup every year. My husband always looks forward to it.  His favorite part is when I roast the poblano pepper.  He loves the smell! I've made a few changes to the recipe over the years and have started making it in a crock pot.  The first time I made this for my in-laws, I also made some black beans.  My father in law ended up putting the beans in his soup, so now we add a can of beans to the soup.  One year, I had a ton of bell peppers, so I diced one and put it in the soup...now an extra bell pepper is a must. I make my soup pretty mild because of the kids. If you like spicier things, go ahead and make it with the full amount of chili powder and poblano (or even jalapeno). I set out extra roasted poblano peppers so people can add some spice if they need it.
I usually go ahead and toast the corn tortilla strips...but this year there was just too much to do. I ended up buying some salad toppers that were multi-colored tortilla strips. They work just fine in a pinch.

For the Kids: Some of the broth with alphabet pasta

Merry Christmas!!

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Creme de Colorado
makes 6 - 8 servings

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups beef broth
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 poblano pepper, roasted, seeded and diced (I only use 1/2 in the soup)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch strips
Soup toppers:  monterey jack cheese, diced tomato, avocado, green onions, additional hot peppers, and black olives

1) In a large pot, saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes.
2) Add beef broth, chicken broth, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, poblano pepper, salt, and worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour.
3) Add chicken and black beans and cook for 15 minutes longer.
4) Heat oven to 350. Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
5) To serve soup: place a few tortilla strips in the bottom of a bowl. Ladle soup on top. Top with desired toppings.

Crockpot instructions: Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in a skillet. Combine with  beef broth, chicken broth, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, poblano pepper, salt, and worcestershire sauce in a crock pot. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Add chicken and beans for last 30 minutes.

Crockpot

Parmesan Schnitzel

There is a German restaurant in town that we love to go to. I occasionally get bratwurst when we go, but usually I end up with schnitzel. Since it isn't something I make very often, it's a fun treat to have when I go out.  A few weeks ago, pork cubed steaks were on sale.  I knew it would save me the work of pounding meat for schnitzel, so I bought some. I've made this recipe before with pork chops, but I think I like it better with the thin, pork cubed steaks. On the thicker cuts of pork, the parmesan cheese can burn, but this recipe left a nice, golden-brown crust on the pork. The only disadvantage to working with this cut of meat is that it is very, very tender, so it tends to fall apart during the breading process.  I served the schnitzel with oven roasted potatoes and applesauce (store bought). The meal was a huge hit with my husband and kiddos!

Parmesan Schnitzel
Adapted from Food Network

1 pound pork cubed steaks (or pork chops, pounded thin)
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko
3/4 cups grated parmesan cheese (I used the already grated kind from the specialty cheese section)
salt and pepper
Oil, for frying (I used grapeseed)

1) Set out 3 shallow bowls for coating the pork. In the first bowl, place the parmesan cheese. In the second, the eggs, and in the third both the Italian and panko bread crumbs.
2) Heat enough oil in a large skillet to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch deep. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes.
3) Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides.
4) Dip each pork chop in the coating in the following order: parmesan cheese, egg, and bread crumbs.
5) Fry for 3 - 5 minutes on each side. Drain excess oil from pork before serving.  

Beans, Beans...

My soil is getting a little tired after 3 years of constant gardening. I decided to rest one side of my garden this season and will be resting the other half in the spring.  I planted a few cabbages, greens, and broccoli, but since they take up so much room, I planted a lot less of those than I have the last 2 years. Between sales on seeds and the seed of the month club I joined, I had a ton of bean seeds.  This fall, we planted empress beans, pencil pod wax beans, royalty purple pod beans, and dragon tongue beans.  After getting off to a rough start with some really warm weather, followed by a ton of rain, then bugs, the beans are doing quite well. I had to apply neem a few times to get rid of the bugs, but they seem to have moved onto other plants. This year, I will finally have beans ready to be harvested on Thanksgiving! Since growing the beans has been a family affair this year, we're all pretty excited about the bean harvest.

Empress and Royalty Purple Pod Beans in my small garden

Royalty Purple Pod Beans (they turn green when cooked)

Empress Beans

Our first harvest

My son has an Earthbox.  He is growing 8 pencil pod wax bean plants and 8 dragon tongue bean plants. The dragon tongue beans are pole beans, so we added a few stakes to the center of the box. We've harvested a few pencil pod wax beans. The dragon tongue beans can be harvested as a snap bean or dry bean. We've decided to be patient and let them turn into dry beans. 

My son's Earthbox with 16 bean plants.

Pencil pod wax beans.

Dragon tongue beans