Roasted Fennel

Let me start by saying, I've never liked fennel.  If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a flowering plant series in the carrot family and it's highly aromatic.  I just copied that from Wikipedia.  Anyhoo, the herb tastes and smells like black licorice, which I can't stand (any if you like that, you are a unicorn). However, the bulb of the plant, once it's roasted, is... wait for it... friggin' delicious!  That was an exciting "wait for it" moment, wasn't it?  Perhaps the highlight of your day?

ANYHOO, we were at a restaurant in Brooklyn once that served roasted fennel as an appetizer, and I've been thinking about it ever since.  I finally passed it at the grocery store, spontaneously bought it, and roasted it last night with no real plan in mind.  We were eating taco pizza, in fact, and Carson and I ended up smothering avocado and roasted fennel on top of ours.  It's so versatile, and really be a good side or topper for anything!  Once it slowly cooks in the oven, the vegetable softens and mellows and tastes earthy and caramelized and delicious.  Try it!

Roasted Fennel

Serves 2

Printable Recipe

1 fennel plant, bulb halved and sliced into pieces

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar (or glaze)

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place fennel on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic (I used glaze).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and use hands to toss to make sure it's all evenly coated.  Roast for 30 minutes.    

Minnesota Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup

If someone asks me where I'm from, I always say Minnesota.  Technically, I was born in California, and then I spent a big chunk of time in Connecticut before moving to the Midwest when I was 9 years old.  I lived in Minnesota until I graduated high school and never moved back, not even 10 years spent there and yet, I still feel like that's where I'm "from."  Sometimes I wonder why that is?  Is it because most of my concrete memories are from that time?  Or because I formed so many close friendships that are still strong today?  Maybe it's because I called soda "pop" for many years, or because I still crave Bruegger's Bagels even though I can get a true east coast one whenever I want.  Or is it because my mom still lives there, in the same house we grew up in?  (Even though she's slooooowly spring cleaning, packing up, and asking us if we want Dumbo on VHS.) 

It's probably all of those things and more... so whenever something is associated with Minnesota, I feel a certain alliance with it, like this recipe.  Oh, a Minnesota Wild Rice & Mushroom Soup?  Well, I'm FROM THERE, so I need to make it.  Also, I will make anything with caramelized mushrooms and heavy cream.  This was SO GOOD.  Rich, creamy, hearty... proving us Minnesotans know how to eat.  I mean, we fry Snickers bars and put them on a stick and sell them at our state fair, duh.  

Baked Chicken and Mushroom Rice (aka Chicken No Peeky)

Toward the end of high school, my dad been laid off from work at the aluminum plant, and was doing small, part time jobs here and there. My sister was off in Seattle, at UW, my mom was working... and my dad and I were driving each other crazy.
I was having a difficult time with him suddenly being in charge of doling out chores, because he was way more of a hard ass than my mom, and he was having a difficult time dealing with my sister and me growing up. His oldest had left home, and his youngest was boy crazy. And while that was cute when I was a kid, we all know how �cute� it is when teenagers have their own cars, late curfews, terrible judgement, and they start dating. It�s not cute, you guys. It�s terrifying. Needless to say, it was a rough period of tension between me and my dad. 

It was also the period of chicken-no-peeky. My dad was a great cook. He was master of the grill, an expert waffle and crepe maker, and chief baker and dessert connoisseur in our house. But suddenly, for the first time, being responsible for dinner every single night, his creativity hit a wall. We ate many stir-fried dishes. We ate even more chicken and rice casseroles. 

You know the one with chicken, cream of mushroom soup, and rice? That was his go-to. The internet will tell you it's called no-peek chicken, because you dump everything in a baking dish, cover it, and don�t peek until it�s done. In our house, it was chicken-no-peeky. And it was his speciality. I ate it, begrudgingly, many times a week, until the day he tried to sneak in a can of chicken noodle soup. That was the end. He was out of cream of anything soup, and decided to just improvise� with a few cans of blended up chicken noodle soup� noodles and all, and godknows what else. It was one of the worst things I�ve ever tasted. I threw a giant fit, and said I would never eat chicken-no-peeky again. That ended his no-peeky run (until I was out of the house, of course, then he was right back at it� my mom endured so much no-peeky).

Luckily, we made it through my teenage years, and my dad and I developed a really good friendship. We still laughed about the no-peeky incident years later. It became a standing joke in my family, much like my mom�s fuckingyams. 

When my dad passed away, my girlfriends sent a bunch of food to my mom�s house. My friends V and Ben (of new baby fame!) sent down a couple of covered dishes, and mentioned something about lasagna. So my sister, mom, grandma, aunt and I made a big salad and garlic bread, and got ready to pop the lasagnas in the oven, and lo-and-behold, the biggest dish wasn�t lasagna at all� it was CHICKEN NO PEEKY. 

We laughed so hard. It was one of those rare, light, heart-warmingly happy moments in a dark, dark time. My dad�s final revenge, in the form of chicken and rice. I had no choice but to eat it, for him of course, and luckily, it was delicious. 

My version skips the canned soup in favor of a homemade cream of mushroom soup. I first made the mushroom base at Thanksgiving, when I made Smitten Kitchen�s green bean casserole, and knew that the creamy, mushroomy sauce was way too good to just make once a year. The homemade soup does make this recipe more than just a quick throw-together casserole, but it's not difficult, and it elevates the dish to something way more special. I think my dad would approve. 

Baked Chicken and Mushroom Rice (aka Chicken No Peeky)
Sauce adapted from this recipe

3 tablespoons butter
� large yellow onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
18 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced or chopped (about 5 cups)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme (leaves removed from stems)
Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup rice (uncooked. I used basmati)
1 cup water
1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
salt & pepper

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a heavy-bottomed stock-pot or deep skillet on stovetop, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, and cook for a few minutes, until onion starts to brown. Add mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper, and cook for about 8 minutes, until mushrooms have started to reduce in size. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add flour, and stir to coat. Add broth, � cup at a time, and stir until the flour is mixed in. Once mixture starts to simmer, add cream, stirring and making sure nothing sticks to the bottom, for a minute or so, until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Should make about 3 cups. 

Stir rice into mushroom sauce, and add 1 cup of water.  Pour into a deep-sided 7x11 baking dish (or a regular 9x13). 

Place chicken thighs on top and nestle them into the soup mixture a bit, and sprinkle a generous shower of salt and pepper over each thigh. 

Cover tightly with foil, and bake for 2 hours, without peeking!

Everything Bagel Butter

I just died.  I'm in heaven now, and in case you're curious, heaven is a cloud of buttery, salty, flavorful bagel butter.  Sure, it's kind of greasy here in heaven, and everyone's hair looks horrible, but butter heaven exists, because I'm there.  Want to hear more?  Or are you weirded out by me? 

The other day a friend - a BRILLIANT FRIEND - sent me this recipe for a butter that's bursting with all those seasonings you love that stick to an Everything bagel: poppy seeds, sesame seeds and minced onion and garlic flakes.  Did I mention the butter is salted?  OMG.  

You just mix it all together, roll it in parchment, let it harden in the freezer, and you have the most delicious butter... perfect for spreading on crackers, melting on veggies or smothered over your favorite bagel.  I highly recommend you make this for the weekend!

Baked Zucchini Chips

After making these Brussels Sprout Chips the other day, I've been craving other healthy snack options (don't worry, friends, my next post later today is about BUTTER).  I've fried veggie chips before but I wanted to see how baking them would work, so I followed this tutorial and made some Baked Zucchini Chips.  They were deliciously light and crispy, however, one large zucchini does not yield very many chips, so I would make more next time.  I also think I set my mandolin setting too thin - on '2', next time I'll go up to '3' because I'm crazy like that.  Mmm, just looking at this picture makes me want more.  Also I want to dip them in tzatziki sauce (just try spelling that word without Google).   

Also, Homemade Potato Chips, Kale Chips, Eggplant Chips and Baked Tortilla Chips.

Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Bites

I have a tendency of getting on random food kicks where I eat the same thing every day for months.  Back in my 20's when I worked in an office, I ate a banana and peanut butter literally at the same time each day (if the office was out of bananas I would hyperventilate).  I'm nearing the end of my latest kick, which is the Wheat Spinach Savory Fold-Over Thingy (you'd think I'd know the official name of it) from Starbucks.  It's low in calories, it's the perfect mid-day snack, it's flaky and buttery and salty and delicious.  I've had puff pastry in my freezer for awhile in hopes of recreating it, and I sort of got around to it last night.  This is definitely a variation of the Starbucks version, but it's just as salty and buttery and delicious.  I followed this recipe but altered it by using puff pastry sheets instead, and cutting them into small circles before molding them into cups in a mini cupcake tin.  I baked them at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until they were bubbly and golden.  

So what should I eat every day for the next few months?

Cauliflower Topped Shepherd's Pie

Happy March!  I was REALLY looking forward to this month, mainly because our February was taken over by all sorts of sicknesses.  I thought, we just need a new month... a month that signifies the beginning of spring, perhaps?  Then we will ALL be healthy and well and bursting with energy!  Right.  Last night both of my daughters had high fevers and kept me up all night long.  Thanks, March the First, thanks a lot.  

Oh well, I will not let this get me down.  I will be positive!  I will decorate my house with tulips and shamrocks and easter eggs!  (Who am I kidding, those decorations have been up for weeks.)  So in honor of these upcoming holidays, particularly the one where we all wear green and pretend we're super Irish, over the weekend I made a Shepherd's Pie that I've made before here, only this time instead of topping it with mashed potatoes I covered it with Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower.  Want to know a secret?  I'm eating it for breakfast.  Want to know why?  Because all of the photos I took over the weekend turned out blurry and I needed a shot for this post.  

The things I do in the name of blogging.  

However, it's a delicious breakfast, and it was a delicious dinner, too!  I really don't miss the potatoes, and I don't think you will either.  I do miss healthy kids, though, come on March...