Celebrating MLK Day

If you happen to be home today and want to celebrate Dr. King, here are a few recipes (Southern "Soul Food" inspired). On the menu, Oven Fried Chicken Fingers, Collard Greens, GF Mac and Cheese and Black Eyed Peas. If you have little ones and are looking for fun activities to do, I have attached a link to some fun Dr. King themed crafts. This was a great, great man. And I feel like he always held his head high. His words were tough, direct and powerful. But always civil. I am so glad that we have a holiday that honors a man who truly changed our country, for the better. Happy MLK Day!

Oven-Fried Chicken Fingers

2 1/2 lb skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
7 cups cornflakes (7 oz), coarsely crushed

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. Butter 2 large shallow (1 inch deep) baking pans.

Gently pound chicken between sheets of plastic wrap with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick. Cut chicken lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips.

Stir together butter, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Put cornflakes in another shallow dish. Working with 1 strip at a time, dip in butter, then dredge in cornflakes, pressing flakes firmly to help adhere. Transfer as coated to baking pans.

Bake, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until chicken is golden and cooked through, about 15 minutes total.

Cool chicken in pans on racks to room temperature (crust will firm up as it cools).


Collard Greens and Turnips with Ham Hock

6 cups water
1 large ham hock (about 1 1/4 pounds)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes or 1/2 teaspoon Rooster Sauce
3 pounds collard greens
1‚ pounds turnips

In a 6-quart kettle bring water with ham hock to a boil (water will not cover hock) and simmer, covered, turning hock over halfway through cooking, 1 hour. Add vinegar and pepper.

While hock is simmering, remove and discard stems and center ribs of collard greens and cut leaves into 1-inch pieces. Stir collards into hock mixture and simmer, partially covered, until almost tender, about 45 minutes. Cut turnips into 1/2-inch cubes. Stir turnips into collards and simmer, partially covered, until turnips are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Season collard and turnip mixture with salt and pepper.


Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

This is my favorite wheat-free Mac & Cheese, by far. I am a BIG fan of this comfort food and I never thought I would find a recipe that is as good as the typical, wheat pasta versions. But this is just as good. You will never know that this is GF, especially if you add even more shredded cheese to the top after you have poured it into the pan.

http://glutenfreemom.typepad.com/gluten_free_mom/2008/02/gluten-free-mac.html

Black Eyed Peas

http://southernfood.about.com/od/blackeyedpeas/r/bl81231b.htm

Dessert is still up in the air. Maybe some sliced pears. Or chocolate of some sort, if Ella has anything to say about it! Mommy will probably enjoy a little Bourbon after the kids go to bed!

Crafts

This is a website that we use constantly. There are a lot of great ideas of things to do with the little ones. Ella has been having fun creating her "Thank You, Dr. King" coloring book. If you are home tomorrow and looking for something to do, you may want to consider doing some of these activities...

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/special-days/martin-luther-king-jr.htm

Rosemary Red Soup

Tomorrow night is the season finale of MasterChef and I will be having some of my art department friends over. Here is one of the things I will be serving. Thankfully, the nights have started to cool off so this will be perfect. This recipe is from my friend, Shannon who lives near Seattle. It is one of my favorites!

Rosemary Red Soup

Prep & Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes 6-8 servings

3 medium carrots, scrubbed and peeled and chopped
1 beet (2 if small), scrubbed and peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 cup dried red lentils
6 cups water or stock
2 bay leaves
1- 3" sprig fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp. dried)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2-3 tablespoons miso, optional (but I HIGHLY recommend using it!)

Heat oil in a soup pot; add onion and saute until soft. Add carrots and beet; saute a few minutes more. Wash and drain lentils. Add lentils, water &/or stock, bay leaves, rosemary, and oregano to sauteed vegetables; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 40 minutes. Remove bay leaves and stems of fresh herbs. Puree soup with hand blender or other device with miso. Gently reheat on stove before serving.

Chilled Gazpacho

It is getting to be one of my favorite times of year... time for chilled soups. And what is better than chilled gazpacho. This is my own recipe, adapted originally from the Moosewood Cookbook. I spent some time in Madrid, Spain and got to see how the pros do it. We ate it almost every day. This is one of things that I make that people ask for again and again! The key to this soup is to make it a day in advance. That way the flavors have time to meld together, optimally. Try it and enjoy!

Chilled Gazpacho

½ onion, roughly chopped
1 medium clove of garlic
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium cucumber, peeled & seeded and roughly chopped
¼ cup fresh parsley
2 scallions, white & green parts, roughly chopped

Put all of the above ingredients into a food processor and pulse until mix is minced.

Add…

2 cups of freshly diced tomatoes
Juice of ½ lemon
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar (tarragon vinegar is best, if you can find it)
2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil
1 teaspoon of honey
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
A dash of ground cayenne
½ teaspoon of dried basil
½ teaspoon of dried tarragon (unless you are using tarragon vinegar)

Pulse until pureed. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add…

4 cups tomato juice (or I like to use the Veggie Juice from Trader Joe’s)

Chill until very cold. I generally like to let this mixture set for at least 4 hours in the fridge. It is best when the flavors have a bit of time to meld.

If you like, you can serve with a little crème fraiche and/or diced veggies, like cucumber or red peppers. Garnish with a sprig of parsley.

This is a great party appetizer when served in small cups. Or if you are making it as a dinner course, it generally serves 6-8.

Asparagus Soup

Asparagus is in season right now and there are some killer deals at the market. Our local grocery had a special last week and it was only .99 cents a pound. And I picked up a 2 pound bag at Costco for $3.99. Cream of Asparagus Soup is one of my all-time favorites. A vegetarian friend of mine came over for dinner last night and I made this for us. I served it with fresh olive bread. I adapted a recipe that I found on Epicurious, that used chicken broth. If you have that on hand you could just as easily use it. But the vegetable broth was wonderful... I loved this soup just the way I made it!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

2 pounds green asparagus
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 to 6 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

crème fraîche, for garnish

Cut tips from 12 asparagus 1 1/2" from top and halve tips lengthwise if thick. Reserve for garnish.

Cut stalks and all remaining asparagus into 1/2-inch pieces.

Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Add 5 cups broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

While soup simmers, cook reserved asparagus tips in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes, then drain.

Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth, transferring to a bowl (use caution when blending hot liquids), and return to pan. Stir in heavy cream, then add more broth to thin soup to desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in remaining tablespoon butter.

Garnish with asparagus tips and a dollop of crème fraîche.

Leek and Mushroom Soup

My friend Shannon also sent this one to me. As I have mentioned, she lives in the Pacific Northwest and has the opportunity to make lots and lots of soup! This one was a HUGE hit. I am starting to think that leeks are like the bacon of vegetables. Everything tastes good with them! Ella is not into creamy things so I reserved some of the soup with just the veggies and chicken broth, before adding the flour and 1/2 & 1/2 for us. I served it with some of our favorite wheat-free french bread. Soup has never gone so quickly in our house!


Leek and Mushroom Soup

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 large leeks, sliced
1 10 oz. package of frozen asparagus, thawed
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour (can be wheat-free)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
14 oz. can chicken broth
2 cups 1/2 & 1/2

Cook butter, leeks, mushrooms and asparagus in a large sauce pan until tender. Stir in the flour and spices. Add the chicken broth and 1/2 & 1/2. Continue cooking until the mixture thickens.

I used my stick blender to puree the soup and then I used some of the leeks and asparagus that I had set aside as a garnish.

Collard Greens 2

For a bit of time, I could not find my favorite collard greens recipe, but thankfully it appeared!  The other recipe that I posted is good, this is even better.  Enjoy...

Collard Greens

1 bag of collard greens

1 smoked ham hock

1 yellow onion, cut into quarters

1 turnip, cut into quarters

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tbsp. hot pepper vinegar or white vinegar w/ a dash of crushed red pepper

3 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

1 tablespoon season salt

In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add pork, season salt & vinegar & cook covered until pork starts to get tender, approx. 45 minutes.

Saute onion and turnip in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 5 minutes in a separate pan.  Add garlic and cook for 5 minutes more.  Add sauteed vegetables to water.  Add collard greens & cook for 40 minutes or desired tenderness.