Rieska

This is apparently a bread originally from Finland. In honor of my plans to go there this summer, I decided to make it. And man was it good. My parents actually went back for more after dinner. That never happens. I was very shocked. It's good plain, or with butter or even with jam too. It seems to be very versatile with toppings. It sort of reminds me of a thick oatmeal pancake - delicious.

This recipe was adapted from King Arthur Flour.


Rieska

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup barley flour (they said pumpernickel or rye flour, but my dad doesn't like those, so we chose the last option of barley)
• 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 500° F. Grease a 9" x 13" pan (I used parchment paper as well to more easily get it out of the pan).

In a large bowl, whisk the oats and flours with the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

Work the butter into the dry ingredients until thoroughly distributed. Stir in the buttermilk. The mixture will be very sticky.

Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet and, using wet hands, pat it out so it fills the pan and spread evenly with a spatula (or something similar).

Bake the bread for 15 to 17 minutes, until the top is light golden brown and springs back when gently touched. Remove the bread from the oven (be careful, the pan will be REALLY hot) and cool it on a rack before slicing. (Pulling the bread from the pan bent the bread slightly and made a crease in it, but that's not a big deal - if that happens, just cut along the crease if it bothers you.)

Roast Acorn Squash

Wow...this was much better than I even expected. The combination of sweet and spicy flavors really went well with the squash. Super easy dish to make and tasty. Makes a wonderful side to any meal. Fun to just scoop out of it's own "bowl" with a spoon. (Sorry about the slightly blurry picture. It just did not want to focus for me and that was the best I could get.)

This recipe was taken from Minimally Invasive.


Roast Acorn Squash

• 2 acorn squash
• cayenne pepper, to taste
• kosher salt, to taste
• brown sugar, to taste
• 2-3 Tbsp butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and dry squash, then cut in half lengthwise (with the ribs). Scrape seeds and pulp from squash halves with a spoon. Smear one tablespoon of butter over the orange flesh of each half (no need to be stingy on this), then sprinkle with remaining ingredients. Place in a baking dish with cut sides up and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour, or until soft (I only needed the 45 minutes). The butter and seasonings will pool in each baked half, making a delicious sauce.

Apple Chili and Oat Scones

This turned out very well. The chili was slightly tart from using green apples and the scones were slightly sweet from the brown sugar (they pair really well with cinnamon butter). I would definitely make these again. Though with the chili, I used chunks of chicken and I felt that is wasn't chili-like enough for my tastes and I would use ground chicken next time - which I changed in the recipe here.

The apple chili was adapted from Kitchen Trial and Error.


Apple Chili

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 apples, cut into bite size cubes (I used green)
• 1 onion, chopped 
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 2 cups chicken broth 
• 3/4 cup 2% or whole milk (I used 1% though, so just use what you have available)
• 15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed 
• 15 oz can white beans, rinsed 
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (original used Monterey Jack cheese and I totally didn't realize it)

Coat the bottom of a large sauce pan or Dutch oven with olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the chicken, chili powder, and cumin and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set aside.

In the same pot, coat the bottom with olive oil again. Add the apple and onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the apple onion mixture to the chicken and set aside.

In the same pot, melt the butter over medium low heat. When melted, whisk in the flour and cook a couple minutes until the flour browns. Add the chicken stock and milk, whisking continuously, and cook until thickened, a few minutes.

Stir the apple chicken mixture and the beans to the stock mixture and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cheese and serve.  

The oat scones were adapted from The Cilantropist.


Oat Scones

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 Tbsp)
• 1 1/3 cups heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 2-inch cookie cutter 
• Extra rolled oats for sprinkling (optional)

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, oats, and lemon zest.  Slowly stir in the heavy cream, and mix until the dough just comes together.  It will be sticky and crumbly at the same time, so turn it out onto a well-floured surface, knead it for a minute or so, then pat it into a circle or rectangle that is between 3/4- and 1-inch thick.  

Cut into rounds using a plain or fluted 2-inch round cutter, then transfer the scones to a baking sheet lined with parchment.  (To make it easier, dip the cutter into a small bowl of flour each time before you cut out the scones.  Then shake the cutter slightly to pop out the scone from the cutter - don't push it out.)  Or, if you don't have a cookie cutter, cut the scones into triangles that are about 2 inches long.  

Before baking, brush the tops of the scones with some of the melted butter.  If you like, you can sprinkle the top with some extra oats.  Bake the scones at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, checking occasionally, or until the tops are a dark golden brown.  

Once they are finished, remove them from the oven and cool completely.  Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container. 

Corn Dogs and Frog Eye Salad

I love corn dogs and I love this tiny pasta salad. So I decided to make them for my birthday dinner. They turned out really well, as I had hoped. Home-made corn dogs are delicious. I was so busy cooking and eating that I forgot to take pictures of my corn dogs so I'll update once I've taken a picture of my remaining one.

The corn dog recipe is from Alton Brown.


Corn Dogs

• 16 turkey dogs
• 16 wooden chopsticks (or anything to skewer the dogs on)
• corn oil (enough to fill a pan 1-2 inches deep)
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried, minced jalapeno pepper
• 1 (8.5-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1/3 cup finely grated onion
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• cornstarch, for dredging

Pour oil into a deep fryer or large heavy pot and heat to 375 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, combine the jalapeno, corn, onion, and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients all at once, and stir only enough times to bring the batter together; there should be lumps. Set batter aside and allow to rest for 10 minutes.


Place your hot dogs on chopsticks. Scatter the cornstarch onto a plate. Roll each hot dog in the cornstarch and tap well to remove any excess.


Transfer enough batter to almost fill a large drinking glass (refill the glass as needed) and quickly dip in and out of the batter. (I did need to do a little spooning the batter on as it didn't stick quite like I'd wanted it to.) Immediately and carefully place each hot dog into the oil, and cook until coating is golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. With tongs, remove to cooling rack, and allow to drain for 3 to 5 minutes.

This recipe is adapted from Allrecipes.com.


Frog Eye Salad

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 3/4 cups unsweetened pineapple juice (you will have more than you need when your pineapple is drained)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 quarts water (to cook the pasta)
• 1 (16 ounce) package acini di pepe pasta
• 3 (11 ounce) cans mandarin oranges, drained
• 2 (20 ounce) cans pineapple tidbits, drained
• 1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1-2 cups miniature marshmallows

In a sauce pan, combine sugar, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pineapple juice and eggs. Stir and cook over medium heat until thickened (it is like a thick syrup). Remove from heat; add lemon juice and cool to room temperature.


Bring water and remaining salt to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. Rinse under cold water and drain.


In a large bowl, combine the pasta, egg mixture, mandarin oranges, pineapple, whipped topping, and marshmallows. Mix well and refrigerate overnight or until chilled.

Grilled Rutabaga and Turnip Fries

Ok, so I learned last week how hard it is to cook (grill in particular) with 2 little girls who want to go in and out to the house with you (and I have to go in and out a lot when I grill). I grilled the "fries" in two batches (the second batch I tried sweating them to see if there was a need to get the fries tender inside (there wasn't a need). But unfortunately for my experiment, my inattention made the first batch of fries a tad on the burnt side (still tasty, but a bit more char than I would have preferred...and definitely not very pretty).


They were very soft fries...they definitely didn't get the crispy outside you get by frying, but yummy. It did have a tad more seasoning than they really needed, so I've cut the amount down in my recipe. Feel free to use your own seasonings, if you have something that goes well on fries, though.

This recipe is adapted from Judicial Peach.


Grilled Rutabaga and Turnip Fries

• 3 turnips, peeled
• 3-4 rutabagas (depending on the size - try for however many would make an equal number of fries to the turnips)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2-1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• olive oil, enough to lightly cover the fries

Preheat your grill on medium heat.

Cut your turnips and rutabagas vertically into halves (or thirds depending on how wide you want your fries). Then cut those pieces into long wedges about 1/2 inch thick. Toss with seasonings and lay on your preheated grill at 45 degree angles (this is where you want wedges as long as possible - I lost a few of the shorter fries to the depths of my grill during turning).

Cook your fries on direct heat for 7-10 minutes per side, watching carefully. Turn over when you see nice grill marks on the bottom (some fries might be turned sooner than others as there are hotter and cooler spots, so make sure to look at more than just one fry to determine whether they need to be turned). When both sides have cooked, check the fries to see if they're tender inside - if they aren't tender, place them on the cool side of the grill and cook on indirect heat until tender. 

Place on a rack to keep them from getting too soggy and serve. We had ours as a side with hamburgers and they worked so well together. (Though another thing I learned was hamburgers get cold faster than it takes to get kids settled with their own dinner...oh well. The fries were still warm at least - the more important part of dinner.)

Fiery Roasted Jerk Rutabagas

First off, when it says fiery, it means it! But it's not an instant heat, it creeps up on you as you eat them. I thought the flavor was really good. I would definitely do them again. I made them will some grilled pork chops with Penzeys Spices' Tsardust Memories seasoning on them, which complemented the rutabagas nicely.


[Try to ignore the lame Photoshop job. I forgot...again...to take a picture before I ate so I took one before I ate them for lunch and didn't care about getting a perfect picture at that point - but it turned out the bowl was SUPER bright and painful to look at...so there you go.]

The rutabagas were adapted from Girl Cooks World (and by adapted, I mean I used rutabagas where they used potatoes).


Fiery Roasted Jerk Rutabagas

• 6-7 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into a 3/4" dice
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1  sweet bell pepper, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Serrano pepper, finely chopped (remove seeds if you’d like to lower the heat)
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss well to coat.  Spread evenly on a lightly greased half sheet pan (I used a 9x13 dish).  Roast for 40-50 minutes, turning the potatoes once 20 minutes in, until the potatoes are browned and crisp (My rutabagas didn't end up crispy, but that may have something to do with the fact that they sat in the cooling oven with foil over them for about 2 hours until I ate).  For extra crispy potatoes, broil for a couple minutes at the end of the baking time, keeping a watchful eye on the oven to prevent burning.