Vegetarian Bean Chili

Who said Vegetarians cannot have fun on Game Day!!

Serves 6 to 8


Since this is a Vegetarian Chili use whatever mixture of beans you like.  We used light and dark Kidney Beans and Black Beans.  You can also serve over rice but we found it was not necessary.

2  tablespoons of vegetable oil
2  lage onions, chopped fine
1/4 cup  chili powder
1  Red Bell Pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
1  tablespoon cumin
1  tablespoon paprika
1  teaspoon cayenne
6  good size Garlic Cloves
3  (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1  cup of vegetable stock or water (stock is always better)
2  Chipotle Chiles in Adobo sauce, minced
4  (15.5 0z) cans of beans-any combination you would like
1/2  cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering.  Add the onions, bell peppers, chili powder, paprika, cayenne, and cumin.  Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and cook for 15 seconds.  Stir in the tomatoes with their juice, water or stock, chiles and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat.

Add beans and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the chili is slightly thickened, about another 30 minutes.

Stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

This chili can be prepared up to the point where the cilantro is added, cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.  Reheat over low heat, adding additional water or vegetable stock to adjust the consistency.

Avocado, Chopped Scallions, Sour Cream, Daiya Cheese (non-dairy cheese), Shredded Cheddar, Crispy Tortilla Strips, Crispy Jalepano Strips, Diced Peppers, Chopped Fresh Cilantro-whatever floats your chili boat!

Delicious Easy Homemade Chicken Soup

We are in the heart of cold and flu season, and it is a particularly nasty flu going around. There are many people searching for anything that will comfort them. Nothing is more comforting than homemade chicken noodle soup, and it is easier than you think. This is a recipe i have adapted from my favorite go to guys, America's Test Kitchen.

The Recipe is easy to follow and is ready with in an hour and a half. Here are the things you need:

A large dutch oven
For the stock:

4 lbs of chicken thighs
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 quarts of fresh water

Add oil to dutch oven and het until shimmering. Add chicken thighs in batches and brown, about 5 minutes per side. When browned, place in a glass or metal bowl and finish browning the rest of the chicken. Once all chicken is browned, place in bowl and drain fat off of pan. Add chicken back to pot, add onion and stir and cover. Simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes, until chicken releases juices. After the chicken has released it's juices, add two quarts of water and bay leaves and stir. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes to allow the flavor to build. After stock has simmered, set asdie until cool and then strain. Remove chicken to be shredded for soup and dispose of bones and onions.

For the soup:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion chopped
1 large carrot sliced
1 celery stalk sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
shredded chicken from stock
2 quarts of homemade stock

In large pot or dutch oven, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion, carrot and celery and sautee until starting to get tender. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Add stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

This is where it gets fun, you can add other seasonings or spices if you like. Fresh parsely or ginger, a dash of lemon juice or zest for a pop of flavor. You can also add kale for a nice healthy addition too.
If you like, add fresh noodles, and simmer in soup for 20 minutes.
Enjoy the healthy, nutritious warm comforting goodness of homemade chick soup!

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Holiday Wow In A Puff Pastry Pillow (vegetarian)

Savory butternut Squash Turnovers

Butternut Squash Turnovers courtesy of Jeremy Sommer via Food&Wine

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 large leek, white parts ply, cut into 1 inch dice
1/2 pound shitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced 1/4 inch think
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
salt and pepper

2 pounds butternut squash-peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice
14ounces puff pastry, thawed, if frozen
3/4 pounds goat cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375º. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add diced leeks and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add shitake and cook, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and stir, cooking for two minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, put in bowl and set aside.

Lin large rimmed dish with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss squash with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out squash and bake for 25 minutes or until softened and starting to brown. Remove from oven and add squash to the leek and mushroom mixture and toss.

Line another large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, gently roll out puff pastry into twelve 4-inch squares. Spoon squash mixture (about 2 tbsp) into center or each square and add 2 tbsp of goat cheese. Lightly brush the edges of the squares with the beaten egg. Fold the squares over to form triangles and crimp the edges decoratively with a fork.

Arrange turnovers on parchment lined baking sheet, about an 1/2 inch apart. Brush with egg and bake until golden brown. Approximately 20-22 minutes.

***Note form laf kitchen***
These can easily be made into appetizer size but cutting the squares in half. I find it easier to fill the smaller squares by pureeing the squash mixture, adding 2 tablespoons of cream.
then use a piping bag or Ziploc with a tip cut off to pipe the squash mixture into the squares and then add goat cheese. These are good warm and room temperature.

Bacon, Fennel and Apple Chutney

When you are planning a holiday party, it is important to mix things up and create dishes that can be mixed and matched. This is a recipe for a chutney that can be served alone or served with cheese or with pork.
Another treat from Food&Wine

Bacon, Fennel and Apple Chutney courtesy of Ben Towill

1/2 lb applewood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 medium fennel bulb-halved, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice-plus 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds
2 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 granny smith apple-peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon sugar (I never add as much sugar, but I prefer tart)
salt and pepper

30 baguette slices, brushed with olive oil and toasted

Heat a large skillet, add bacon and cook over moderate heat until crisp, about for-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of fat from the skillet.

Add onion to skillet and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add fennel, thyme, garlic and apple. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and zest, sugar(if you add it) and fennel fronds. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Let cool to room temperature. Discard the thyme sprigs and add bacon. Mix well and serve with baguette rounds.

***Notes from laf kitchen***

This chutney is delightful on it's own, but we happened to have Glouchester Huntsman cheese as well, and may I say YOU MUST TRY THIS COMBINATION!!! This is the picture above.

Impressing the in-laws

So we were set to go and spend Thanksgiving with Carolyn's family this year. After the goodies we put up last year, we were immediately assigned appetizers this year. and yes, assigned. Carolyn has a very organized family. Last year we got a spread sheet to identify everyone's duties. It keeps things entertaining in the large family of seven children.
so, with our assignment, the brain went into overdrive. You know, you can't make the same things as last year. There is an expectation to wow, right? (okay, so it's my expectation, but still...) So I start looking around for fun new festive ideas. I came across the Food & Wine Thanksgiving appetizer page on the internet. SCORE!!!!! So I planned on making a lovely Autumnal spread for the family gathering, then boom! Carolyn is just not feeling well. We stay home. So what to I do with all of my exciting new recipes? Make them all anyway. I had a delightful spread laid out before me, and the sometimes conscious Carolyn for our Thanksgiving nosh. These little babies were so yummy and beautiful, I had to share. So if you are looking for something to impress the in-laws, or any holiday party, here are a couple of appetizers to knock their socks off!!

Warm Camembert with a Wild Mushroom Fricassee

  This recipe is from the amazing Daniel Boulud via Food & Wine

1/2 cups walnut pieces
1 8-ounce wheel of ripe room temperature Camembert in it's wooden box
1 tablespoon of walnut oil
3/4 pound wild mushrooms, trimmed, caps thinly sliced
salt and pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
2 large sage leaves minced

sourdough toasts for serving

Preheat oven to 350º. Spread walnut pieces on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Lower the oven temperature to 300º

Remove camembert from box, unwrap and return to the bottom half of box and set on a baking sheet. Place in 300º oven for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat walnut oil. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until lightly brown, stirring, for about 3 minutes longer. Add shallot and cook until softened, around 2 minutes. Stir in parsley and sage; season with salt and pepper.

Invert the Camembert onto a platter. Stir the walnuts into the mushroom and spoon over the cheese. Serve with toasts.

***notes from the laf kitchen***
A good quality olive oil can be substituted.
When choosing wild mushrooms, I used portabello, oyster, shitake and wood ear. I will skip the wood ear next time. They were almost too earthy and a bit overpowering, and tend to be best in asian style soups and stews where they can really soak and soften for a long time.


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Holy My Moly Banana Toffee Pie!

So a friend told me about this great pie she makes. Banana toffee pie. I say, great, give me the recipe. This is all over text, you know. She says, great, I'll email it to you later, I say great. She proceeds to tell me about the heavenly of this pie. how she could eat a whole pie herself. She can't wait. The next thing I know, I am getting the pie recipe via text!

So here we go. this is what you need for an easy peasy banana toffeeasy pie. A super quick, gotta have a dessert in a flash, pie.

Ingredients:
Graham cracker pi crust (make yourself is always better, but a ready-to-go is a godsend in a pinch)
1 1/2 cans of sweetened condensed milk converted to toffee (recipe follows)
3-4 bananas
Whipped cream (I prefer hand made, but a can of Redi-Whip works in a pinch too)

Langest part of the recipe is making the toffee. I wouldn't have believed this myself, had I not heard it from my friend, who's grandmother taught her this trick.

In a large pot, bring at least four cups of water to a boil. As suggested to me, make several cans of toffee at a time. They keep in the cabinet for months, for just such an occasion. Take four cans (if you are bulking) of sweetened, condensed milk and remove the label .

Add  the bare cans to the pot of boiling water, making sure the cans are fully submerged. Boil for 2.5 to 3 hours, making sure the cans are always under water. I have well water, and it takes a bit longer to boil and cook cook, so I lean towards 3 hours for a darker toffee. 

After 2.5-3 hours, remove cans from boiling water and set on cooling rack and allow to cool fully. They can then be stored in the cabinet for a few months. 

To make the pie:

You can either make your pie crust from scratch, which is very easy, or grab a pre-made, as this pie screams last minute guests!

Home made graham cracker pie crust:

• 1 ½ c. graham crackers – 1 package of 9-10 crackers

• 1/3 c. sugar

• 6 Tbs. butter, melted

• ½ tsp. cinnamon

Ground graham crackers until fine. Rolling over crackers in a sturdy zippie bag with a rolling pin works nicely, as does a food processor. Once finely ground, add graham crackers and other ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add to pie pan, and press in well, being sure to work up the sides. Bake in 375 degree oven for seven minutes.

Take 3-4 bananas and slice them into graham cracker crust evenly. Take can of toffee and pour over bananas and let set until dispersed. Add more toffee is necessary. Refrigerate for an hour to set. 

Top with fresh whipped cream.

To whip cream, add 2 cups of heavy whipping cream in a bowl, turn electric mixer on and mix at medium until frothy. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla and a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar and turn mixer to high and whip until medium stiff peaks occur. Serve.

And there you have it! You will love this toffee recipe! So easy and so darned good! I have eaten two pieces already. In two days. This is huge , for me. 

ENJOY!!!

Pulling things back into perspective.

Is in a matter of a few short months, I decided to go back to school. Then we found out we had to move, because it would seem our landlord went a little crazy. Stressful. Add to that we couldn't find a place to move with our dogs. More stressful. Wedding season is baring down on us with no place to live and a crazy landlord and school. Monumental stress.
Enter the angels of the universe and connect us with our current landlord. We signed a lease on June 11, moved June 15th to this little piece of heaven we now call home. Seven days later wedding season kicked in and the world went crazy for almost 3 months.
During all of this insanity that is wedding season, one thing remained a constant; the calming feeling of knowing we were going home to the farm. We live on 5 acres, which is considered a little farmette, down a dirt road, surrounded by nothing but corn fields, pasture and woodlands. Away from the noise and bustle of town. Away from traffic and busy streets. Just mother nature, clean air, fresh breezes and the chirruping of birds of all kinds. No matter that we had not had a chance to unpack. No matter that every weekend was packed with rehearsal dinners and wedding receptions. We had a quite little place to call home. A space for our dogs to run and sniff all the new and exciting smells. A place to be a peace. To put things back into perspective. So often, in the hustle and bustle of life, we lose perspective. To me, this is why the little LAF farm was brought to us. To give us a new perspective.

When we drive back to the farm, we can see this barn from the main road. With it comes a wonderful sense of calm and peace immediately. There is a returning of nature. A reflection of easier times. Times less hectic and schedule filled. A time when we stopped and enjoyed little things like a cool breeze or the dabbling of sunshine through the tree. A time when you literally stopped to smell the roses. We have found that place. And with this, a lease on life and a new focus. Away from negativity and anger. Away from all things negative. We decided to focus on happiness, peace and love.

When I cook, I cook with love. I care so greatly about my food, because it matters to me. Why was I not putting that same love for my food into my life? I, we, deserve at least that much. 

I cannot control others actions, and negativity will certainly come my way, but I control how I respond to it. And so we have. We have taken perspective of what we want in life and what we have been blessed with.

I am so very grateful for this little farm, this gift to us. A place to heal, rest, nurture our souls so we can nurture yours.

So if you feel like we have disappeared, we haven't. We are here; settling, healing, regrouping and finding our true perspective.  The best is yet to come. 

Peace