One Pot Wonder Challenge: Chicken Barley Stew

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If I told you that I could feed mom, dad, big kid #1, and little baby #2 for less than a buck a serving, you’d be like: awesome, right? Let’s add healthy, delicious, and fits in one pot so there’s no clean up: could it be possible? Well, I know it’s possible for many people to do, but can I do it?chicken barley stew

I really like to cook. It’s fun for me. Shopping for the best ingredients is like my own little quest. Prepping my mise en place (chopping veggies) is my personal meditation time. And at the end of all of it, I get to share my work with people I care about. And they seem to like it. So, it may have been mentioned once or twice to me that I may possibly make a bigger deal out of a meal than I need to. That’s just crazy talk though. I’m sure they didn’t mean it.

D was been bugging me to write something about a one pot meal, since he hates doing dishes. But let’s face it: a really good dinner isn’t a success unless I spend a whole paycheck on it, go to every market in town for the specialty ingredients, and use every pot and pan in the house.

But I took the challenge. A simple meal, in one pot, that doesn’t cost a fortune.

And I realized, it’s nice to get back to basics. With my Chicken Barley Stew, I use classic combinations of vegetables, make my own stock, add a hearty grain and I’ve got a comforting and healthy meal that didn’t make a huge mess, freezes great, and feeds the whole family. And cost about $10 for the whole pot of food.barley stew ingredients

Since K is eating stage 2 baby foods, I was even able to puree some up for her. Which allowed me to break out the food processor. Thank goodness, that one pot was getting awfully lonely.

Laissez les bons temps rouler: Gumbo

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Fat Tuesday is tomorrow! This is one of my favorite holidays of the year because I get to pay homage to some of my favorite food: Creole and Cajun food.

I’ve been to New Orleans twice: once in my teens with my parents and once in my twenties with Dan for Jazz Fest. Both times I ate in the most amazing restaurant I’ve ever experienced: The Gumbo Shop. It’s this tiny, rather nondescript place in the heart of the French Quarter. No celebrity chefs here, just amazing Creole food.

If you’re down there, you have to go. Unfortunately though, I don’t get down that way very often. Fortunately though, they have a cookbook! So I’ve been making a version of their gumbo every year around Mardi Gras ever since. I’ve changed a few things here and there, but at it’s heart, it’s the Gumbo Shop gumbo recipe.gumbo

Tomorrow night we’re going to get some Abita beer, make a big pot of Andouille, Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo, and turn on Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers.

What are you doing for Fat Tuesday this year?

Anniversary Wine & Dine #2: Ridge Lytton Springs

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Sometimes, there’s just a moment you remember. No context, no recall on how that moment came to be, just that moment sticks in your brain forever.

Dan and I share one of those moments. There is a place in Washington D.C. we used to go to for special nights out, or sometimes just because. It’s called the Tabard Inn. In DC, no one really has a proper living room, so the Tabard was the place to go to sit in front of a fire, drink some amazing wine, and sometimes have some amazing food under a parachute.

So this moment was one of those evenings, sitting in front of a roaring fire on a plush sofa with Dan drinking Ridge Lytton Springs. I don’t know why we were there or where we were going later, but at that moment, nothing could be better.

On our honeymoon, in Healdsburg, CA, we were actually staying near Lytton Springs so made the journey to the motherland. It looked close on the map, so we decided to walk against the advice of our friendly bartender. It wasn’t really close, but a beautiful day in February in California made up for our sore feet.

So we sat, in the vineyards at Lytton Springs, drinking Ridge, remembering the moments that are so special to us and creating a new one at the same time.Ridge Lytton Springs

Last night I made Balsamic Marinated NY Strips, baked potatoes, and steamed asparagus for our anniversary dinner–the perfect accompaniment to a bold Zinfandel. steak and potatoes

What are the special moments that you remember?

Anniversary Dinner(s) #1: Champagne Charles de Fere

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5 years ago I married my best friend, and I couldn’t be happier. We have an amazing family, great friends, and just a wonderful life together. As I think back on all of our years together, I’m so overwhelmed at all of the wonderful memories we’ve created.wedding1

As I sat down to write a post about the great anniversary dinner we were going to make, I found that I couldn’t edit it down to just one meal, just one bottle of wine, just one event. There have been too many good times. Often involving food and wine, but mainly because they’ve involved friends and family and special moments together…which often involve food and wine.wedding3

So, instead I’m going to do a post every day for the next 5 days, each about a bottle of wine that represents something special to us. Yes, I could have done this through movies we’ve watched, places we’ve been, the seasons. Whatever. This is Gourmet Mommy: I’m remembering our special times through wine.

In time for Valentine’s day, how do you celebrate your special memories?

Wine #1: Charles de Fere champagne.

Our wedding was awesome. Seriously, the best party ever. In my totally unbiased opinion. We rented this big old mansion in the middle of winter, had all of our friends and family come, and pretended we were having the coolest dinner party ever. wedding 4

We wanted our guests for feel right at home, so as they walked through the door they were handed a glass of champagne. Which, actually, we never really do for our guests in our own home unless it’s the champagne of beers, but hey, we were pretending we lived in a mansion. So champagne.

 

Picking this particular champagne, Charles de Fere, was even a special memory for us. Long before children, we had some of our closest friends over to our house for New Year’s Eve and had a champagne tasting. We picked 4 bottles of champagne that were each around $10 and had a great time tasting and testing and tasting and testing. And tasting and testing.

 

In the end, we picked Charles de Fere. It’s a French sparkling wine that goes great with food, but is great on its own too. At $12 a bottle, we often keep a case at home so we can always celebrate those special occasions.

 

A perfect recipe for pairing is Cioppino. Another sentimental meal in our house, it’s what we traditionally make on Christmas Eve. But Casey at Good. Food. Stories. reminded me that it’s great anytime of year–especially now around Valentine’s Day.
So snuggle up with your honey, break out the champagne, and create some special memories together!

Spring in February: Shrimp & Pea Risotto

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Hey, East Coasters. Been enjoying the mild winter? You’re welcome.february

Oh, did I just take credit for the 50 degree sunny days in February? You tell me:

1. In November we bought snow boots for the entire family. Including N, who will totally outgrow them before next year.

2. We moved our entire house around so that we could make a playroom for N. This was so that in the bitter winter months, he’ll have a place to play since we won’t be able to go outside.

3. We made some new friends, and have made a plan to meet for a ploughman’s platter extravaganza on the first snow day. But we have agreed not to speak of it again until that snow day.

I’m pretty sure there’s a dude name Murphy out there laughing at us.

Ok, so it’s spring. I can dig it. How about some Shrimp & Pea Risotto? Continue reading →

Super Easy Super Bowl

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Sniff. Sob. Waaaa.

No, that’s not K, darling child that she is almost sleeping through the night. That’s me, mourning the end of yet another football season. This was a rough one for me. My fantasy team stunk–I lost my first two draft picks in the first week with season-ending injuries. My college team, for which I had such high hopes (Go NOLES!), didn’t show up this season. And my pro team, Go Steelers, did just well enough to get into the playoffs but injured themselves so badly in the process they didn’t have a prayer of making it to the big dance.

So. Here we are. End of the season on Sunday. Pats, Giants, couldn’t care less except I will care less when there’s no football at all. So, to mourn the end of another football season, I will celebrate all of the close match ups, overtime victories and losses, wide left field goal attempts, with a fabulous Super Bowl-worthy spread. But my goodness, I’m not going to put any effort into it.

While I wouldn’t serve the wings to little ones, the chili and guacamole are appropriate for kids over a year or so.

Baked Buffalo Wingswings

I love Buffalo wings, but they are seriously so bad for you. Deep fried, tossed in hot sauce and butter…I don’t even want to think about how many points they are. And if you make them the traditional way at home, it’s a messy and dangerous endeavor–especially with kids around.

So I use a MUCH easier, and probably a little bit healthier, method: I bake them.  Continue reading →

Winter “BLT” Night: Grilled Gruyere with Salami Relish and Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

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First, a tale. Then, winter BLT that is actually salami and gruyere.

Our friend Steve owns a restaurant. It’s a really cool restaurant with great food, great beer, and a hip vibe. We like to go there because it kind of makes us feel young and hip. Going out to eat at 6pm with 2 kids is so not young or hip, but please don’t burst our bubble.

Steve moved to our neighborhood in the summertime to open his place. Opening a restaurant is hard. And surreal. The stories he would tell ranged from construction snafu’s to wine tastings to city red tape navigation. I think Steve was working 100 hours or more a week to get the place up and running.

That same summer, I found myself going to the farmers market on Sunday mornings and buying way too many heirloom tomatoes and fresh baked bread. And I made bacon for breakfast, but since I bake it I we always had leftovers. Leftover bacon? Weird, but yes somehow we managed not to consume it all.grilled gruyere ingredients

So, BLT Monday was born. Steve needed a break from whatever he was dealing with that week. And we needed an outlet for our leftover bacon, fresh beautiful tomatoes, grilled day-old bread rubbed with garlic…

I wish it were summer. I miss tomatoes.

But it’s not. Our friend Steve came over on a recent Monday on his night off from his cool place. It’s the first time in ages we’d seen him outside of his restaurant. So I wanted to make the winter version of Monday BLT’s.

We’re back to the salami and gruyere. Almost.   Continue reading →