Ruminations on a Le Creuset challenge completed

Remember that time at New Years 2010 that I resolved to cook 52 recipes in my brand new Le Creuset in one year?  I do, fondly.  That me was about 5 years younger, still in grad school, living in the loveliest pseudo-commune in our dumpy castle on a hill with the loveliest roommates, who were more than happy to try my recipes at the weekly potluck we hosted for our friends on Thursday nights.  That me was (not surprisingly) 10 pounds heavier, could barely carry my Le Creuset, and had curiously less “white-blonde” highlights in her short, short hair.  In the span of a few weeks, it started become clear that I may have been a little overzealous with my goal making.  As you well know by know, my pot makes Strega Nona volumes of food, and when I finished grad school, got a for real career new job, and moved to a smaller apartment in short order, I realized I had to rework the time frame.  I figured as long as I did it and finished by some point, I’d still get the benefits of learning to cook many things in one pot.  And boy howdy, did I ever, and I certainly got more than I bargained for.  I’ve made things sweet, things savory, things that turned out way better than expected, things that didn’t even a few make the cut to get on here, and some things that I hope to make and make and make again.

Then:
Only slightly off, this is from New Years eve 2009,
aka 11 months before the challenge was hatched under my Christmas tree.

Five years is a long time, and I like to think I’ve grown quite a bit, in part because of this challenge.  I’m older.  Obviously.  I have a job I love as a library director, a major career goal I’m so proud and lucky to have achieved by 30.  Except...I’m still a terrible photographer, but hey, I can admit it!  This blog is about the phood, not the photograpy, right?  I’m a lot healthier in 2015 than I was in 2010, something I like to think you can see developing in the recipes over the history of this project (ie. cheese is no longer my base ingredient…).  I’m stronger, probably because I actually work out regularly (curious how that works), but also because I’ve lifted and moved and cleaned and lifted my Le Creuset so very often over the years.  

I’m stronger in other ways too; my confidence has grown considerably since I started this project (I mean, I was crazy enough to try making a souffle in one of these iron maidens…).  Obviously, that goes hand in hand with like...life, but I’m less reliant on the advice, recipes, and direction of others, both in life and as a chef.  I’m daring in ways and about things I was frightened by (remember that time I went to Egypt like ten minutes after a revolution?), and consequently have been influenced to cook things I never thought to try, both in and out of my giant blue pot.  I've broken bread with so many wonderful people over the course of the challenge, and I'm so grateful for the time I've spent with anyone who dared to eat my food, who shared a recipe with me, or who taught me some valuable culinary lesson! Most important though?  Even when I did not succeed, even when I failed, I learned.  There are so many recipes I still want to try but just have run out of challenge time (like wings, beer can chicken but with soda, pot pie, sausage and grapes, goulash, some kind of soup with dumpings, Thanksgiving in a pot, etc.).  I’m so very glad I did this, and so thankful Santa my Mom gave me the best gift ever back in 2009. (Thanks Mom, even though you won't read this!).

Now:
Director to Director: the key hand off in August, 2014

Well, there it is.  I knew these pots were heavy.  I just didn’t realize how heavy they’d be, in the best possible way.  Thanks for a great five years of food and friendship, Le Creuset, and for a good 50 more!  

I'll end this post with a picture (and the top ten list). In December had a once in a (my) lifetime opportunity to participate in a gallery show (at work, don't get too excited) on crafts. Yes. Let that sink in. As you know, I have zero to negative one million artistic abilities, outside of occasionally throwing some food in my giant pot and hoping for the best. But participate I did, thanks to the encouragement of a very open minded artist/superstar art teacher, and my lovely coworkers. I think the photographic evidence of my Le Creuset on display in an art gallery with some of my terrible food photographs as the background is a great way to end this challenge!

My top 10 favorite recipes in from the Le Creuset challenge:

Stracotto with Porcini: Recipe 1!

Stracotto with Porcini over
creamy polenta

With not too much further ado (after all, you’ve waited five years for this, all my zero long-time readers), here is the last recipe!  For context, I ate this at an Italian wine tasting at a slice of heaven, Dave’s Fresh Pasta.  My good friend and I liked it so much (despite already eating five plates of food…), that I wrote them to request the recipe a few days later.  They replied and told me they’d just used Giada’s recipe, and sent me the link.  

This recipe is easy, smells great while cooking, and could feed the entire army of...Vatican City?  According to the Internet, it’s a country, so I’m stickin’ with it!  Clearly this called for a crowd, so I sent out a call for meat eaters, and Hannah, Emily, Zoe and Peter turned up hungry.  I fed them this over some creamy polenta (ie. milk instead of water and some parmesan and spices stirred in) and made sure they left feeling disgustingly full and a little tipsy after serving them the Smitten Kitchen’s delicious recipe for Red Wine Chocolate Cake (I'll share that recipe later, but here is the link).

Good friends = good eating times

Despite me having a celebratory Old Fashioned that caused me to forget to add salt and pepper at the end, they all claimed to really like it (but don’t forget to season it; it does enhance the flavor, duh). And, despite five hungry grown adults (although Emily and I might only count as one standing on each others shoulders), I had at least five servings left over.  I can attest to this, like chili, deepening in flavor over time, especially when you say, add some more wine when you reheat it…All in all, it was a great dinner, with great company, and a delicious way to cap of my 52 Le Creuset Project!  I’ll have some thoughts on that for you tomorrow, along with my top 10 list from the project.  

Stracotto with Porcini

Serves 8-10

Recipe adapted from Giada/Food Network

Stracotto with Porcini and Polenta

Ingredients

1 5lb boneless chuck roast

2-3 Tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

1.5 cups red wine

1.5 cups beef broth (low sodium)

½ oz dried porcini mushrooms (rehydrated and rinsed)

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, destemmed and chopped

6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme, destemmed

salt & pepper

Red Lentil Soup (Recipe 4)

March guys.  March.  Let’s debrief.  Calling it a rollercoaster is not even a stretch; there were some lows, some sorrows, some craziness, some whirlwind highs, a whole lot of busy, and a really great trip down to see one of my bestest gals: Ms. J.  No, not that Ms. J. 

This Ms. J:

She and I have been buds since 1996, when I walked into my first summer camp cabin and she was there, all braces, curls, and sass.  We lived together in our castle in the clouds after college, and she’s solely responsible for my more guilty ladynerd pleasures. Ahem, ahem, OUTLANDER. Ms. J and I decided it was high time we take our friendship to a new level: honeymoon.  Sure, we’re not married to each other, or at all.  But shouldn’t best galpals get a honeymoon too?  Our ladymoon took us to some excellent eating and watering holes in Durham, NC, Savannah, GA, and Asheville, NC, but one of the most memorable meals was one that Ms. J made my first night in Durham.  

Breaking out alllll the Le Creusets

Her recipe is actually a favorite one of her mom’s, which was obtained at a cooking class at one of their hometown restaurants, Kareem’s.  Kareem’s (and the Ms. J parentals) are located in the fair city of Watertown, MA, made internationally famous for sadder reasons just about one year ago when the Boston Marathon bombing suspects when on the lam and had a dramatic shootout throughout this normally sedate town.  Watertown is home to a ton of delicious Syrian, Albanian, and Lebanese restaurants, and this recipe, adapted from Kareem’s original one, will bring a delicious spoonful of Syria via Watertown right to your own table, wherever you may be.

I did some light adapting, mostly because I am lazy, making it totally vegan, and by using things I had on hand (ie. I was too lazy to squeeze a lemon, so I used the lime juice I was using to make Moscow mules for my guest and I).   It is super quick, super easy, massively delicious, and I’m super glad to report it’ll likely become part of my repertoire for weeknight recipes.  Coincidentally, I am also super glad to have Ms. J as a friend (for more reasons than this recipe, duh).  

Red Lentil Soup (Recipe 4 - Le Creuset Challenge)

Red Lentil Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Adapted from an adaptation of Kareem Restaurant’s recipe for Ahmad’s Red Lentil Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 cups red lentils

½ cup farro, quinoa, or other hearty ancient grain (or a mix)

6 cups water

1 14 oz can lite coconut milk

1 medium onion, minced

2-3 Tbsp coconut oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground cumin

2 tsp kosher salt

¼ c fresh lime juice

8 oz fresh spinach

Directions

Dijon Pulled Chicken (Recipe 5)

Dijon Pulled Chicken

There's no good reason I was a chicken for so long about trying any sort of braised/pulled/roasted meat, especially now that I can confidently say that I wish I'd done this sooner, so I could have optimal levels of this Dijon Pulled Chicken for my whole life. I love Dijon Chicken, but that's a pretty straightforward yet delicious recipe.  Pondering my options, I began to wonder if I could do a BBQ pulled meat with a totally different flavor profile (I live near a really good BBQ place that I can smell allllll summer long, so I suspect that is where this idea originated). However, pulled anything just seemed so...complicated, what with all the smokers and roasting and rubbing...I never thought it could be pulled off in a Le Creuset! Oh, how wrong I was.

It is shockingly easy, but a definite time commitment. Luckily, this winter is never ending and relentless, so you've got ample time on your hands after the fiftytenth snow/ice storm/cold snap of the season, and probably most of the ingredients on hand already. If you need a really good reason never to leave home again until spring for the afore mentioned reasons, get cooking and get some some of this deliciousness in your belly. Having never cooked BBQ or pulled anything, I consulted several recipes for flavor profile ideas and cooking techniques (The Kitchn's BBQ Shredded Chicken and Braised French Onion Chicken and Pete's Recipes Pulled Chicken were especially helpful). I gobbled mine up with some lightly sauteed brussels sprouts, kale, and garlic and served it over quinoa, but I'd say any of the usual BBQ pairs would go well with this riff on the typical BBQ pulled dish (ie. cornbread, a baked sweet potato, on a roll, rice, cole slaw, etc.).  I drank it with a nice Cote du Rhone (c'est French, mes amis), but I suspect a nice crisp white or beer would be great with this lightly sweet and savory mess of deliciousness.  Warning: this even tastes good cold out of the fridge in the morning.  Trouble.  

By the way - only FOUR more recipes to go before I finally complete my New Years 2011 challenge to cook 52 Le Creuset Recipes in a year! 

Dijon Pulled Chicken in a Le Creuest

Chicken Masala Soup (Recipe 6 - Le Creuset Challenge)

Chicken Masala Soup

I have been daydreaming about making this soup for nearly a full term human pregnancy at this point. 6 months, right? KIDDING. I know it's a year. But seriously, since reading The Moonstone this summer (more on that later), and honestly, even a bit before, I felt like I needed to try a totally different flavor profile that I'm not too familiar with: Indian food! I like Indian food, especially things involving bright green peas, deliciously roasted cauliflower, anything chickpeas, and anything involving more spices than I have fingers to count on. However, I hardly ever remember to get it when thinking about eating out, which is both my own fault and a damn shame. Anyways. I digress! I got an idea for this soup when a smarter friend than I mentioned it was her favorite Indian food dish; naturally my brain was like "Hmm, I wonder if I can make that, and double wonder if I can make it as a soup!?" Spoiler alert, yes. Yes, you obviously can, or else I wouldn't be writing a post about having made it. Anyways. I have big, future plans involving bringing back my Dinner Train Book Club dinner party for The Moonstone with this recipe, but first I need to actually make said moonstones. Don't worry, I have a plan for those too. Stay tuned...probably until forever, but stay tuned nonetheless - it'll hold me accountable to actually make moves to make them happen (and let me know if you want to read with me!)

Onto the pressing matter: this soup is actually delicious. I know I say that about all the soups, but I really mean it this time. I'd go as far as to too my own horn and to say it's one of my best recipes. Try it, and let me know if I'm right or if I am right. Though there are more ingredients than there are grains of sand on a tiny beach, they combine to make something scintillating. Having no clue how to make any Indian food (I'd never cooked with garam masala before, can you believe that?), I read up a lot on other recipes, and this is adapted from many places with recipes for Tikka Masala, Chicken Masala, etc., including but not limited to The Soup Addict, The Smitten Kitchen, Serious Eats, and Eating Well. All are different, include different ingredients etc. I had the full intention of using coriander, as many recipes do, but that plan was thwarted when I realized I had three jars of cumin and no jars of coriander. I didn't notice. Anyways. That's enough out of me. Make this warm, warming soup wherever you are wintering, and day dream about India with me, why don't you?

Chicken Masala Soup

Chicken Masala Soup

Serves roughly 6-8

Ingredients 

Chicken

1.5 lb skinless chicken

½ tsb ground cumin

½ tsp cumin seed

½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp tumeric

1 tsp curry powder

¼ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp ground pepper

¼ tsp kosher salt

Soup

1 Tbsp coconut oil

1 medium/large onion, diced

2-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 serrano pepper, seeded and diced small

3 tsp garam masala

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp curry powder

½ tsp tumeric

1 Tbsp tomato paste

28 oz canned diced tomatoes in juice

2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

32 oz low sodium chicken stock

15 oz chickpeas

8 oz fresh spinach

15 oz frozen peas

salt & pepper to taste

½-1 cup Greek yogurt to serve

Directions

1) Combine chicken rub spices and rub onto chicken to coat.  Cover and let sit for at least one hour in the fridge.  

2) Preheat the oven to broil.  Broil chicken for approximately 15 minutes until darkened and the juices run cool - bonus points for blackened bits.  About halfway through, turn the chicken over.  Remove from the oven, let sit for 8-10 minutes, and chop into small, bite-sized pieces.

3) In a large Dutch oven or Le Creuset over medium, melt coconut oil and saute onion for roughly 5-7 minutes or until translucent.

4) Add garlic, ginger, pepper, and spices and saute for 3 minutes.

5) Add tomato paste, tomatoes with juice, and 1 Tbsp cilantro, stirring to combine occasionally.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

6) Add chicken stock and bring to a vigorous simmer (but not a full boil to prevent burning).  Cook at least 15 minutes at said vigorous simmer to reduce the liquids a bit.

7) Remove from heat and blend until mostly combined using an immersion blender.  It’s okay if some chunks of tomato or onion remain!

8) Put back on heat, bringing back to a low simmer this time.  Add chickpeas, cooking roughly 3 minutes.

9) Stir in the diced chicken, cook for a minute or so.

10.  Add spinach to the top of the pot, do not stir, and cover the pot for about 3 minutes to let wilt.

11) Uncover and add peas, remaining 1 Tbsp cilantro, stirring to combine, and cooking for roughly 5 more minutes.

12) Taste and season accordingly with salt and pepper.

13)  Serve with a generous tablespoon dollop of Greek yogurt per portion if you know you will have leftovers, or, stir in ½ to 1 cup of Greek yogurt if you will be serving all of this immediately.

14) Go back for seconds.

Chicken Masala Soup: roasted rubbed chicken process

Chicken Masala Soup: a watched spinach will never wilt!

Notes:

- Use this chicken rub any time - on the grill, on it’s own, not in soup, etc.  It’s really simple, really delicious, and really, really easy.  

- Use the chickpea can (rinsed out, duh) to measure out your 15 oz of frozen peas! Always add them last to maintain their vibrant flavor and even more vibrant green color, instead of fatigue green (gross).  

- Vegetarians: sorry.  BUT.  I got to thinking while doing this, and would like one of you to try the following.  In lieu of chicken/chicken stock, use veggie broth, 1 extra can of chickpeas and peas, and/or roast some cauliflower with the spices and a small dash of oil.  Please let me know how it turns out!

- Again - if you plan to save some of this for later, especially for freezing purposes, do not add the yogurt to the pot directly.  Cream soups never, ever, never defrost in an attractive or appetizing way.  This is why I recommend adding the yogurt directly to individual portions - allowing people to add to their personal preference too!

- I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I'd say any skinless cut of chicken will work, even if it is on the bone.

- Pair this with nan, roti, or other tasty Indian flat bread.  It would also be great with a crisp white wine or cold beer!

Chicken Masala Soup

Chicken Masala Soup:
Once you add in the yogurt, just you try and wait to take a picture before devouring it.
It's impossible

Recipe 7: Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili)

Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

This recipe came about as a craving for chili, and a desire to clear out the last remaining beer straggler from the fall in my fridge.  I like beer, but I’m not a huge consumer of it, and moreover, I’m doing Dryuary.  Which...well, sigh.  I miss you, wine.  But after a week, I kind of stopped caring, and am actually kind of enjoying the weird sense of freedom I’m enjoying.  Is that weird?  Anyways, I wanted to clear it out, and had a pumpkin beer, a can of pumpkin, and a can of black beans, so I thought I’d revisit pumpkin chili!  

It turned out better than my first attempt (I thought, but then again, I was starving by the time I ate it!), but in the future I’m going to up the spice profile.  My long term, committed relationship with sriracha seems to have increased my tolerance of spice, but that’s just me.  Spice as you like, and leave room to build!  I wanted to use turkey for this, but due to the New Years holiday and a storm that left New England grocery stores looking like the apocalypse had hit, there was none to be had!  I used chicken.  Meh?  I think turkey, or another lean beef or pork would be slightly more flavorful.  Or even TVP, if you amp up the spice profile a bit.  Lastly, I tried to aim for black and orange throughout, as I think this might be a fun recipe to revisit in October, when pumpkin beers and pumpkin flavors invade the universe again!  This could also be a great recipe for a viewing of one my favorite holiday movies: Nightmare Before Christmas!  

Black and Orange Chili (Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

Serves roughly 6

Black and Orange Chili (aka Black Bean Pumpkin Chili)

Ingredients

Roasted Cauliflower and Eggplant Soup aka Cloud Soup (Recipe 8)

Roasted Eggplant and Cauliflower Soup (aka Cloud Soup)

I've been wanting to try to learn to cook with new ingredients that I don't really understand the whoseit whatits of, other than that they taste awesome when other people do.   I'm looking at you, restaurants of the Japanese/Indian persuasion!  We also know that when I get an idea in my head to do something, Ima do it.  I have been digging roasted cauliflower (is cauliflower is totally the darling of the foodie blogs/magazines/restaurants this fall-winter season or is it just me?) and am always partial to roasted eggplant, but if you remember, I wasn't totally sold on the recipe I adapted from Smitten Kitchen.  It's also North Pole cold in Boston, with a windchill of snot freezing in your nose (seriously, that's a real science term.  But wind gusts of like 30 mph in 24 degrees?  No thanks.  Guess who was grumpy for ten miles on the treadmill today as a consequence?). 

I digress, as usual.  Miso has always been something I've enjoyed, and attempting the combination of all these great things seemed a worthy pursuit.  PLUS, I just finished Ketchup Clouds, a new to us, but not new to the UK title (review to come), and thought this would be a respectful homage (or to any other book involving clouds - I'm drawing a blank)...but really, I didn't need any more excuses besides my belly.  I also really love the cover (and maybe want that dress).  So this afternoon, off I trudged to the grocery store to get some vitals after said terrible treadmill ten, bundled up to my eyeballs.  The first grocery store failed to have miso.  The second grocery store failed to have miso, which was just insulting as I'd walked a mile there in windgusts that whipped my bag off my shoulder.  At this point, I became embittered by the hardships I was facing (and also the wind), nutted it up, got a Zip Car, and done what I should have done in the first place instead of gambling on my local (insert choice explictative here) grocery store: rented a Zip Car to go to a far away place known as Whole Foods where they would have all the things and will make you pay double for them.  Oh, they didn't just have one kind of miso.  They had like EIGHT for me to choose from.  Take note, local grocery stores!  

At this stage, this soup may be the most unattractive,
unappealing thing you'll see all day.  Seriously, are those frog eggs?
Brains? Diced octopus in red mud or blood? Gross. 
Stick with it. 

Anyways.  Rant over.  The soup was totally worth the crazy $20 for miso odyssey, and it's surprisingly quick and low maintenance to prepare.  Pop the things in the oven, pop the things in a pot, blend away, enjoy.  Not too much cleanup, unless you get overzealous with your blending like moi and Pollock your wall!  I will say that I  hoped it'd be a more...white shade of cloudy, for the effect!  I don't know if it's the roasting, the eggplant seeds, or the broth (the broth I used was rather brown, though I suspect other brands may be more light in color).  I think the garnish of sesame seeds really helps complete the cloudy look though; they're like tiny raindrops all over the soup!  I'd strongly recommend this recipe for a terribly bitter day or a meeting of your book club when your book is either Ketchup Clouds, or say, a cloud themed book.  Seriously drawing an embarrassing blank...feel like I'm missing an obvious choice!

Roasted Cauliflower and Eggplant Soup
(aka Cloud Soup)

Recipe 9: Butternut Farro Risotto with Beans, Spinach, and Mushroom

Butternut Farro Risotto with
Beans, Spinach and Mushrooms.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that I’ve been neglecting my blog of late...it’s been a super busy overworked, overbooked, overtired kind fall until recently, and I’m not quite sure how that happened.  My goal was to do as much reading, cooking, and updating as possible, and I’ve met approximately zero of these goals.  The beginning of the school year always seems nuts, but this was like every kind of nut, crushed together, rolled in more nuts, roasted with more nuts, and served on top of nuts.  I also cleverly started upping my mileage for an upcoming half, and while my talents do include travel to South Beach occasionally, they do not include cooking and running, reading and running, copying and pasting links and running...running and running is about as much of a motor skill challenge as I can handle at a time.  

Some of the terrible sights to see
while running in my hometo

This has meant that I’ve also been fairly lazy in the kitchen, mostly doing quick sautes of veggies for dinner when I’m getting home late, along being a gym nerd and trying to up my protein intake.  I was feeling kind of bad about not cooking almost anything of substance in a while, and uninspired to boot, until my good friend Bean had me and some other lovely ladies over for dinner on Friday.  Bean is an awesome cook, and made a really fabulous recreation of a butternut farro salad from the Smitten Kitchen.  I have been intrigued by using alternative grains, because they have a lot more nutritional value than normal rice, grits, or pastas.  I’m especially excited about farro because it has a ton of fiber and protein (perhaps I should have thrown up a nutrition nerd alert?), and it actually tastes good - almost nutty.  I should also note that Bean is a former roomie from the Kilsyth days, and is responsible for bringing a delicious butternut risotto into our lives that became a frequent recipe request.  It was tweaked and recreated from and original recipe in the Vegetarian Food For Friends cookbook.  I was so inspired by both that I thought I’d try and see if I could turn out a similar risotto using farro, and perhaps adding some extra goodness to it to see if I could make it a meal in a bowl.  

A Cooking Light recipe for Farro Risotto with Mushrooms confirmed I could, so I added mushroom in its honor, spinach because we're questing for delicious here team, and then figured some beans would be a tasty source of protein - so I added the beans for Bean!  This turned out to be what I think might be one of my greatest ever creations.  It’s warm, warming, filling, and delicious.  It’s hard to put down your utensils.  Eat it all fall and winter, preferably with good friends and awesome wine (it seems to pair well with Chianti and Montepulciano)!  

Caps off to you if you make this delicious dinner!
Butternut Farro Risotto with Beans, Spinach, and Mushroom

Butternut Farro Risotto with Beans, Spinach, and Mushroom

Serves 4-6