Breakfast Burritos

When I started this food blog, my dear friend Taylor immediately told me that I should post this recipe. She fondly remembered me making these for breakfasts for our little group of friends a few summers ago in a tiny one bedroom apartment, converted into a two bedroom apartment I shared with three other people. (Don't even try to imagine it. It was horrible.) Next to my chili, this is probably the meal I have cooked most often for my friends, and they either really like it or don't have the heart to ask me to stop making it.

It took me awhile to get around to making my breakfast burritos for the blog though because they are not the type of meal you whip up for two. But last weekend while Nic and I were staying with MK and Joe in Frederick, MD, we made them these for breakfast. (Well, I made them. Nic was holding their puppy.) I didn't put the turkey bacon in because I forgot to get it at the grocery store, but they were still delicious. I had forgotten how much I love these. They were so good I made them again Tuesday morning when I was off for Veteran's Day. (Mom and Dad liked them too.)

Breakfast Burritos
Makes 6 burritos

Ingredients:
6 10 inch flour tortilla shells
9 eggs (I use 5 whole eggs, and 4 whites), scrambled
6 slices turkey bacon
4 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
canola oil
2 tbs. butter
kosher salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
chili powder
paprika
garlic powder
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salsa
sour cream
chives

Directions:
-Heat a glug of canola oil and butter in a large frying pan. Add in potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, until they start to get tender. Add diced onion and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder, paprika, and garlic powder to taste. (If you aren't sure how much to use, go easy on the cayenne and the garlic powder. You can be a little more heavy handed with the other spices.)
-While the potatoes cook, heat a second pan and cook turkey bacon. Place the bacon on paper towels and set aside. Clean out the pan and cook the scrambled eggs.
-When the bacon, eggs, and potatoes are all done, heat the tortilla shells in the microwave for 1 minute.
-Assemble tacos: potatoes, then eggs, then bacon, topped with cheddar cheese. Garnish with snipped chives, salsa, and sour cream.

Tried and True: Beef Stew

I almost missed Tuesday's Tried and True! I got distracted baking a cake for my friend's birthday tomorrow and some "power" muffins for carbo-loading for my half marathon this weekend. (Guess what the next few posts will be?)

But here is one I've been holding on to for awhile. This is not a fast recipe, since it has to simmer for a long time, but it is really easy. My mom used to make something similar, but she used veal (eek!). I can't bring myself to use the veal, although it is a lot more tender.


Beef Stew
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. beef
3 tbs. olive oil
5 cloves minced garlic
2 tbs. flour
2 3/4 cups stout (2 bottles Guinness)
1 cup beef broth
6 small potatoes (3 large russet potatoes), cut into 1" cubes
3 shallots
2 carrots
1 6oz. tomato paste
1 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tbs. parsley
salt/pepper
2 cups green beans

Directions:
-Heat oil in large saucepan on medium-high heat. Brown beef on all sides. Add garlic and simmer for a few minutes. Add flour and mix in.
-Add stout and beef broth. Bring mixture to a simmer. Add potatoes, shallots, carrots, paste and seasoning. Reduce to low and simmer for 3 hours or until beef is very tender. Add green beans for the last 30 minutes.

Serve with crusty Italian bread or mashed potatoes.

A Fall Feast

I had some friends over for dinner tonight, and I wanted to put together something simple but seasonal. Fall is my absolute favorite season, the weather is beautiful and the air just smells cleaner.

I made one of my favorite looks-more-impressive-than-it-is meals: Roasted chicken and vegetables. Then I threw in a side of smashed butternut squash and a mixed green salad with toasted pecans and craisins. The table was a riot of fall colors. And the best part is while the meal cooked, I had plenty of time to clean up before my friends got here.


I am also proud to say I made my first bread, garlic knots! I kneaded the dough and everything (Thursday night, well in advance). I was inspired by the yummy recipe Katie posted on her food blog last week. I pretty much followed her instructions, but I substituted half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat, trying to be healthy. They were pretty good, but I think the wheat flour sacrificed some of the fluffiness. But my conscience felt better.



And for dessert: hot apple cider=fall.

And a special thanks to Taylor, who took pictures for me while I scrambled to get everything on the table.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
The chicken was amazingly moist because I let it brine in the refrigerator for over 24 hours. Osmosis works wonders! And the fresh herbs and citrus were great, simple, fall flavors.

Ingredients:
For the chicken and pan sauce
3-5 lb. whole chicken
brine (4 tbs. salt+water, enough to cover chicken)
butter
salt/pepper
handful fresh thyme
handful fresh rosemary
1 orange, cut in quarters
1 cup red wine
1 cup chicken stock

For vegetables
12 small "confetti" (colorful) potatoes
3 carrots
4 scallions
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tbs. fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
1 tbs. fresh thyme
olive oil
salt/pepper

Directions:
-Brine chicken in a covered bowl or pot in the refrigerator for 4-24 hours.
-Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
-Rinse chicken, pat dry. Place in roasting pan. Brush skin with melted butter, put some under the skin as well. Season inside and outside of the bird with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with thyme and rosemary then with the orange pieces.
-Place on the middle rack of the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 375 and cook for another 45-60 minutes. The chicken is done when the internal temperature of the bird is 170 degrees.
-Remove from oven. Let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes on a platter under foil before serving. That keeps all the juices in.
-Put the roasting pan on the stove top and skim off most of the fat. Add cup of wine. (This is a rough measurement, it depends on how much juice from the chicken is already in the pan. The sauce should look somewhat purple.) Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half. Add cup of stock. Simmer until reduced by half again.
-Once the chicken is in the oven, cut potatoes and carrots into big chunks. Keep them all relatively similar in size so they cook evenly. Remove the root end and the skin from the shallots. Toss potatoes, carrots and shallots in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat them. Add salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme and toss. (Use a generous amount of salt.)
-Put the vegetables in a baking dish in the oven about 45 minutes before you think the chicken will be done.

Potato Soup

Fall is finally starting to set in here, and nothing is better than a hearty soup when the weather starts to cool down. When I told my friend Carrie I was planning on making this, she suggested putting some corn in--it was a delicious addition! As I was starting to cook, Nic told me that potato soup was one of his favorite things his mom made, so that's a lot of pressure. (She had carrots in hers, but I'm not so much a fan of cooked carrots.)

Luckily, I got a thumbs up for this soup. The homemade croutons that were supposed to go with it? Burnt to a crisp, and I am still sitting in a grey fog. Whenever I turn my oven on, bad things seem to happen...

Ingredients:
4 slices turkey bacon
2 leeks, sliced thinly
1 medium white onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs. butter
1 tbs. olive oil
3 tbs. flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
5 cups diced potatoes
1 1/2--2 cups whole milk (depending on how thick you want your soup)
1-2 cups corn
1 tbs. chopped parsley
salt/pepper

Directions:
Chop the bacon, cook in large saucepan on medium heat. Add leeks, onion, butter, and oil. Cook until the leeks and onion are tender. Mix in the flour. Stir in chicken broth and potatoes, continue stirring until the soup starts to thicken. Cover and simmer on low heat until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. If you want a creamier (as oppposed to chunkier soup) take 2-3 ladels of the soup and blend until smooth. Make sure to leave the lid of the blender askew so the heat can get out. Put the blended mixture back in the pot. Add milk, corn, and parsley. Continue cooking until the soup is warm again. Garnish with parsley and shredded cheddar cheese.