Basic Hummus

If you know me well, you know that I say that I will know I've made it, when I have a KitchenAid stand mixer, a counter in which to use it, and a food processor.  Those are all that I want in my culinary life right now.  I mean, a dishwasher would be nice too, but that's more apartment envy stuff.

Well!  Guess what?

Food processor....check!  Thanks to the listening skills of a certain gentlemen (or the fact that I may or may not talk about my need for a food processor incessantly), I received a lovely little 4-cup food processor to celebrate a not so lovely, not so little birthday a couple of weeks ago.

First thing on my lengthy list of food processor foods?  Hummus!

I started making my hummus by actually roasting some garlic.

I placed some whole cloves of garlic in tin foil and drizzled some olive oil on top.  I roasted them in the oven for about 45 minutes until they were soft and almost sweet.  Once the garlic had cooled enough to handle, I squeezed the good stuff out of the skins and into my brand new beautiful food processor.

Yum.  Roasted garlic is so dang good.

I pulsed the garlic until pureed and then added chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, some of the liquid the chickpeas were canned in, a generous helping of Sriracha and salt.

I buzzed that mixture a couple of times, scraping down the sides of the food processor as I went.

When the texture looked smooth and to my liking, I transferred to a bowl then drizzled some olive oil over the top.

This was delicious and so much more flavorful and satisfying than any hummus I have ever bought at the grocery store.  The texture was wonderful; it was smooth but not monotonous.

I liked the sweet, roasted flavor that the garlic imparted, but next time I might add a couple of raw garlic cloves as well just to punch up the overall garlic flavor.  I'm really into garlic.

I served this hummus with some carrots and some warm pita bread.  It was the perfect lunch and would have made a wonderful appetizer.

You know what?  Hummus is super easy to make, provided you have a food processor.  And you know what?  I do!  I will definitely try new variations on hummus.  Roasted red pepper?  Sure.  Maybe add some sort of herbs?  Yum.  I have the tools, I can do whatever I want!

If you have a food processor, do this now.  If you don't, just talk about it over and over and over, not because you're dropping hints, but because you crave hummus, and hope that someone is listening!

Here's the recipe!

Basic Hummus (Adapted from Ina Garten's Recipe)

Ingredients

• 6 cloves garlic, with the skin still on
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving
• 2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, with liquid reserved
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
• 1/3 cup tahini
  
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice (two lemons worth)
  
• 2 tablespoons chickpea liquid
  
• Sriracha or other hot sauce, to taste
  

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make a "boat" out of foil and place garlic cloves in it. Drizzle olive oil on top, then roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
   
2. Once garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze cloves out of their skins and into food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a couple of times until garlic is pureed. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until hummus reaches desired consistency. Taste for seasonings and add salt or additional hot sauce if your heart desires. I needed to stop and scrape down the sides a couple of times.
   
3. When hummus is to your liking, transfer to a bowl and drizzle some more olive oil over the top. Serve with pita and whatever raw vegetables you have on hand.
   

Enjoy!

White Bean and Prosciutto Pasta

It's been a week filled with family and food.  So much food.  I'm sure it's been that way for all of you, and for that, I'm happy for you.  Isn't this great?

If you can think about planning your meals for the week (you do that, don't you?), which I really can't right now, here's a quick, easy, and yummy dish that doesn't require much more than boiling water and opening a can of beans.

I started by heating some olive oil in a large skillet and crisping up some chopped prosciutto.

That cooked until the prosciutto was a little crispy...

Then I added some diced onion and minced garlic.

I let that cook for a couple of minutes until the onions were beginning to soften and the garlic was fragrant.  Next comes the beans.  I opened a can of white cannelloni beans, then drained and rinsed them and threw them into the skillet.

To that I added just a little bit of chicken stock, seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme, then reduced the heat to let it simmer.

Meanwhile, I had been boiling pasta.  I'm always boiling pasta in the meantime.  When the pasta was finished, I reserved some of the cooking water, then drained the pasta and returned it to the pot.  I added the prosciutto and white bean mixture and a little splash of the pasta water, then tossed for a good two minutes so that the pasta soaked up some of the liquid.  I served with some freshly grated Parmesan on top and some black pepper.

I like this dish because it's light yet filling.  The beans bring some added heft and wonderful texture to the pasta.

This was a great lunch the next day also.  I served it cold as a pasta salad and it was awesome.  If you wanted to cook this as a pasta salad, just make it a day in advance and refrigerate it overnight.

It's the perfect weeknight meal, although after this weekend even I am a little overloaded on carbs.  Maybe it's a nice end of the week meal.  Yeah.  End of the week.  We'll all be ready for pasta then, right?

Totally.

Here's the recipe!

White Bean and Prosciutto Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 4 ounces Thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into small pieces
  
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  
• 1 can White Cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
  
• 1 pound ziti or other short pasta
  
• salt and pepper
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon fresh thyme)
  
• Parmesan cheese for serving
  

Method

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain and return to the pot.
   
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add prosciutto and cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly crispy. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 more minutes, until onion is softened and garlic is fragrant. Add drained and rinsed beans and cook for a couple minutes more.
   
3. Add chicken stock and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, as the pasta is cooking.
   
4. Add prosciutto and white bean mixture to drained pasta with a splash of the cooking water and toss for 1-2 minutes until the pasta has absorbed some of the liquid.
   
5. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some black pepper.
   

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Risotto with Chicken Sausage

I'm back!  I appreciate you all for hanging in there, and if you haven't, and you completely forgot I was here, that's OK too.  Maybe my New Year's Resolution this year should be to not start a blog, but to actually, you know, write.  I'll be better!  I promise!

Anyway, lately, on Facebook, everyone has been writing about the things they are thankful for in preparation for the big day of thankfulness, Thanksgiving.  Which is tomorrow, by the way.  Tomorrow.  True to form, Thanksgiving snuck up on me and all of a sudden I looked up and realized I needed to pack because I'm leaving for Texas in three hours.  Even so, I do like the idea of saying, out loud, what we are thankful for, if for no other reason than to remind us to be thankful.  

So, here goes: Thankfulness, A List:

1. I'm thankful for family.  Right now they are sitting around our kitchen table playing some dice game for quarters, because it's not fun if your not playing for money.  They're pretty cool.
2. I'm also thankful that we're all able to be together right now.  
3. I'm thankful for friends, especially the ones who I can call and pick up a conversation from 4 months ago as if no time had passed at all.
4. That guy I eat dinner with sometimes.  I'm very thankful for him.  I'm not sure I've met someone that knows me as well as he does, which is all the time awesome and sometimes a little jarring.  Like when I'm annoyed because he reminds me to not to forget the vodka 4 times, and then I have to go back home because I forgot the vodka.  Whatever.
5. I'm pretty thankful for my uncoordinated, obese, lovey-dovey kitty cat.  He brings me a whole lot of joy, and all I have to do is make sure his food bowl isn't empty!  
6. I'm thankful to live in a city that has seasons.  Remind me of this in January-March.
7. I'm also thankful that I can walk pretty much everywhere in that city.
8. And that there are airplanes to take me away from that city, if need be.  See: January-March.
9. I'm thankful for my job.  I absolutely love what I do.  It's fun, challenging, inspiring, and rewarding.  
10. I'm thankful that I'm in a Fellowship that is supportive and has given me the opportunity to pursue my Masters.  
11. Good health, too.  Two of my toes are currently broken, but other than that, it's good!
12. I'm thankful for good food.
13. I'm thankful for cooking and that it's such a great creative outlet for me.
14. And this space right here and for Y-O-U.  I love that I get to write about food, and I love that you are reading it.
15. Lastly, I'm very thankful for risotto.  Though this shouldn't surprise any of you.

I've never cooked with butternut squash and I don't know why because it's super delicious and super easy.  It's also super beautiful.  Would you look at that color?  Lovely.

I started making this risotto by peeling and chopping a large butternut squash into 1/2 inch pieces.  I diced some onion too.  Meanwhile, I put 4 cups of chicken stock over medium heat and brought it to a simmer.  That comes later.

Then, in a large dutch oven, I heated some olive oil and added 4 links of chicken sausage.  

I turned them until they were brown on all sides, then took them out of the pan and cut them on the bias.  

Next, I added a little more olive oil to the pan and when it was hot, I added the onion and the butternut squash.  

I let that cook for a couple of minutes, then added some minced garlic and the sliced chicken sausage.  

That cooked for a few minutes, then I added 1 cup of arborio rice and stirred for 1 minute, just to toast the rice a little.  

Now it's risotto time!  First comes the wine and STIR!

Then chicken stock!  STIR!

Then more chicken stock!  In 1/2 cup increments!  Until the rice is tender!  STIR!

When the rice is al dente, remove from the heat and add a little cream, a little butter, and a little cheese.  

Here's the deal, the risotto is a lot prettier than that, but because it's orange, and it's in a blue pot, the camera made the color a little funky.  And I either don't have a setting, or don't know how to use my camera enough to fix it.  Just trust me here.  

Serve this risotto with some extra cheese on top and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.

If I had been able to find some sage, I would have put that in here too, but I haven't been able to find sage.  I guess I could go to a different grocery store.  I should probably go to a different grocery store.

The butternut squash in this risotto becomes soft but still holds it's shape.  It colors the risotto a lovely orange Fall-ish color which I adore, and it's creamy, rich, warm, and filling.  

I'm so thankful for creamy, rich, warm, and filling risotto.  I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow and take some time, if you haven't already, to think about what you're thankful for.  Big or small, just give thanks.

Here's the recipe!

Butternut Squash Risotto with Chicken Sausage

Ingredients

• 1 Large butternut squash, peeled, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  
• 4 cups chicken stock
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, diced
  
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
  
• 4 links Chicken sausage (I used a roasted garlic variety, but whatever looks good would probably be fine)
  
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 1/2 cup White wine
  
• 1/4 cup light cream
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
  
• Salt and Black Pepper

Method

1. In a medium pot, heat chicken stock over medium heat until simmering. Reduce heat and keep warm.
   
2. In a large dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken sausage links and let brown on all sides. Transfer to a cutting board and slice.
   
3. Add remaining olive oil to the pot and heat. Add butternut squash and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and chicken sausage and cook for 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper
   
4. Add arborio rice and stir for 1 minute. Add white wine and stir constantly until all liquid is absorbed.
   
5. In 1/2 cup increments, add chicken stock then stir until liquid is absorbed. Repeat until rice is al dente, which should take about 30-40 minutes. You may not use all of the chicken stock, but then again, you may!
   
6. When the rice is al dente, remove from the heat and add cream, butter, and cheese. Stir to combine. Taste for seasonings and adjust if necessary.
   
7. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese and black pepper if desired. If you have sage, mince that up and throw it on! Yum!
   

Enjoy!  And Happy Thanksgiving!

American Lamb Pro-Am

If you read Two Recipes, are my friend on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or, I don't know, have sat next to me on the subway in the past month or so, you've heard that I recently competed in the first ever American Lamb Pro-Am.  I've talked about it a lot.

If you haven't done any of those things, let's re-cap:

1. Bostonchefs.com emailed me and asked if I wanted to participate in the American Lamb Pro-Am.  
2. I said yes.  
3. I went to Russell House Tavern and asked the hostess where it was that I was supposed to pick up my lamb.
4. The hostess looked at me like I was crazy.
5. I found people at the bar who were also waiting for lamb while the hostess figured out why there were 3 women sitting at the bar asking for an uncooked leg of lamb.  
6. I got the lamb and took it home.
7. The lamb sat in my refrigerator overnight.  This isn't important, but it did happen.
8. I got home from work at 6:30pm
9. I cooked the lamb and made taco accoutrements 
10. We ate dinner at 11:30pm.  We were sleepy, but it was delicious.
11. I blogged about Roast Lamb Tacos
12. You people voted for me like crazy.  
13. I fell in love with each and every one of you.
14. I made it to the top 4!
15. Mom and Dad came in town.  They're supportive like that. 

Great.  We're all caught up.  

At the event I met Jason Cheek, the chef at KO Prime, who had taken my recipe and turned it into something magical.  He brought the decorations too.  It's like he read my mind.

For the most part, he kept the components of the recipe the same, he just turned everything up a notch.  He braised the lamb instead of roasting it, which was a huge improvement, he house smoked some cotija cheese which was out of this world, and he topped the whole thing with house pickled red onions.  I wanted to take a vat of them home with me.  I didn't.

Once the event was in full swing, the chefs were busy assembling tacos, while I stood next to the table, smiling, with a glass of wine, talking to people about my recipe.  

As people entered, they were given a Bostonchefs.com wooden chip, which would be their one vote for the evening. Meanwhile, tacos were served, consumed, and voted for.  After a while, all the votes were in and tallied and we waited to see who was going to go home with that awesome trophy.

My mom looked like that the entire time.  Smiling just like that.

And the runner-up is.... US!  I've never been called a runner-up; it sounds so much more glamorous than second place.  I did not get the trophy, but I did get an awesome hat.

Feels like winning to me!  

Basically, I had a blast.  I met some really great people, got to eat some amazing food, and was able to talk about food, which I obviously love (see: Right Here. You're reading it.  Right now.)

It was loads of fun and I wish all of you could have been there.  Hopefully there will be more events like this in the future!  

Now or Never Chili

It's Veteren's Day, and like many, I'm forever grateful to those who have served our country.  It's a incredible sacrifice for both them and their families, and I hope I never lose sight of that.

However, this Veteren's Day, I'm thinking of one veteran in particular.  My Grandfather, Len Charpentier, served as an Army Pilot during World War II and, as one would expect, it was a major part of what made him, him.  He had stories that were so incredible they sounded like plots to movies, except that these stories were just, like, his life.  He'd start to tell you a story, and just when he was getting to the amazing, unbelievable, movie-plot part, he'd say "but I'm boring you.  You probably don't want to hear about this."  And that was just how Granddaddy was.  

He was charming and intelligent and loved food, wine, the Dallas Cowboys, and a room full of people.  He read cookbooks like novels and subscribed to almost every food and wine magazine there was.  Did I mention the man was charming?

For real.

Anyway, I was recently flipping through some back issues of his subscription to Cooks' Country and I found a recipe for Slow-Cooker Turkey Chili.  Nothing about this recipe would have caught my eye--it was just your average chili recipe--except that next to the picture of the bowl of chili was written, in Granddaddy's handwriting, "Now or Never." 

It's simple and to the point, yet acutely profound.  Kind of like him.

I decided that with the cooler weather and the beautiful leaves, that yes, it was "now or never", and it was definitely time for chili.

I don't have a slow cooker, so I changed the recipe up a bit to fit my needs.  I don't think Granddaddy would mind.

I started by sauteing some onions in a large dutch oven.

Then I added a red bell pepper to the onions and let that cook for a couple of minutes.

When the vegetables had softened a bit, I added the ground turkey and some minced garlic and let it cook until the turkey was no longer pink.

While the turkey was cooking, I toasted some ground spices in a dry pan until just fragrant.  Granddaddy had highlighted this step, which makes me giggle, because it's so like him.  He was the type of guy that had everything in his garage secured by the properly sized bungee cord.  Not only was nothing out of place, but nothing was going to fall out of place.  Precision, people.

That's chili powder, cumin, and oregano.  Those toasted for about a minute until they were fragrant, then I added them to the turkey, onion, and bell pepper mixture along with some tomato paste.

I stirred that around a bit then added some kidney beans that had been drained and rinsed.

Next came the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Finally, I added chicken broth, a bit of brown sugar to tame all the tomato-y acidity, and some minced chipotle peppers.  I like my chili a little spicy so I also added some of the adobo sauce that the chipotles chill out in.

I brought the entire mixture to a boil, then reduced the heat to simmer, covered it with a lid, and cooked it, stirring occasionally, for about an hour to let the flavors mix and mingle and concentrate.

When the chili was ready, I grated some pepper jack cheese because it's what I had on hand, then ladled the chili into a bowl and topped with the grated cheese.

Other toppings could include but are not limited to: sour cream, chopped green onions, cheddar cheese, raw onions, cilantro, etc.

This recipe was delicious.  It was a little spicy and smoky and sweet.  It was rich and hearty, just like a good bowl of chili should be.

But let's get back to the "now or never" part.  Friends, let's live this.  On a day like today, when we are all purposefully thinking about our veterans and the people who sacrifice so much, so that we can make chili on a Tuesday night, let's remember, it's now or never.  This is life.  It's happening right now.

You don't have to make chili, but go do something that you've been wanting to do.  Do something that makes you feel full inside.  Get inspired.  Laugh!  Eat carbs--or don't, whatever.  Drink wine.  Smile at a stranger.  Hug someone!  Definitely thank a veteran.

This may be just a bowl of chili, but to Granddaddy, a proud veteran, I guess it seemed so intriguing to him that he felt the need to remind himself, it's now or never.  And because of this, thankfully, I'm reminded as well.

Here's the recipe!

Now or Never Chili (Adapted from Cooks' Country)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chili powder
  
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
  
• 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 3 yellow onions, diced
  
• 1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
  
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
  
• 2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  
• 1 can diced tomatoes
  
• 1 can tomato sauce
  
• 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
  
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  
• 3 canned chipotles, minced, plus more of the adobo sauce
  
• salt and pepper
  

Method

1. In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook for 4 minutes more. Add ground turkey and garlic and cook, breaking meat up with a spoon, until turkey is no longer pink. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
3. Stir in beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar, minced chipotles, and adobo sauce. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1 hour, stirring every so often.
4. When chili is finished, taste for seasonings and add salt if needed. Serve with your desired chili toppings--I used cheese because cheese is never wrong.

Enjoy!