Welcome 2011, Year of the Rabbit

Ok, so I know it’s not actually Chinese New Year yet, but for the sake of my blog, can we just pretend? Because 2011 marks the year of the rabbit. Sweet, cuddly, fluffy bunnies. My sister owns one, actually. Its name is Toffee (though it has gone by other names including Robot, Bunnix, and Nixon -- my personal fave.) I volunteer at an animal shelter here in Boston, and I sometimes visit with the bunnies. I LIKE rabbits. They’re cute. They remind me of Easter and candy and cartoons.

** NOTE: Bunny lovers, be warned, this is where you should stop reading this blog post**


So why, you ask, did I decide to cook rabbit stew?


I recently purchased a few Polish cookbooks (part to get in touch with my Polish heritage, and part as research for a novel I’m working on.) And what did I find inside each one of them? A recipe for rabbit. And in some cases, MANY recipes. What I gleaned from this: at one time eating rabbit was cool. And based on these cookbooks, I get the impression that Poland was overrun by rabbits – sort of like my neighborhood here in Boston is overrun by rats (ew). But unlike rats, rabbits made for good eating.

So why are Americans (many of who are descendents of Europe) so horrified by the idea of eating rabbit? I blame Disney. And Warner Brothers. I had the same feeling of shock and horror the first time I ate venison. BAMBI!? NO! This time while I was at the butcher shop and looked at the rabbit meat in the freezer I had images of Thumper and Bugs Bunny flash through my head.


Bunnies are for snuggling and hopping around your apartment and nibbling on power cords and scaring your cat. Not for EATING! Right?


But people DO eat them. Many people.


As I stood at the freezer at the butcher I got to thinking: What makes some animals good eats and others taboo? I’ve decided it is The Snuggly Factor. We have no problem eating chickens (man, are they ugly) or cows or pigs or turkeys (also quite ugly) or fish (certainly no snuggling there.) But cats and dogs, no way, they are so CUTE! And rabbits, CUTE! I recently learned that we are genetically programmed to think baby animals are cute and they trigger nurturing instincts in us. Is that why we have a hard time eating cute animals? Because it goes against our nurturing instincts? I’m no scientist, but I might be on to something.

In any case, I threw caution to the wind (and instincts) and bought rabbit. I cooked it up in a traditional German style -- slow cooking it as a stew. Verdict: Tastes like chicken.


Dear Readers, Do you eat rabbit, or any other “non-traditional” animals? Tell me about it, I’d like to hear. PS: For you meat fanatics, I just bought my boyfriend a whopping of strange meats for Christmas (elk, antelope, kangaroo, alligator) so stay tuned while I serve up some of that in the coming weeks! I’m also going to work on posting more regularly. Happy 2011!

Tear-Jerker Chili

I have FINALLY located the little contraption that takes the photos on camera’s photo card and imports them into my computer! HORRAY! While means I can finally be back up and posting some of the yummy things I’ve made since moving… and share new things, of course, too! HERE WE GO:

As Natalie Portman’s character says in Garden State: “I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good.” Well, if you’re in one of those moods, I have the meal for you. Voila! Tear-jerker chili!

Peppers and tomatoes

WHAT YOU NEED:

• A variety of chili ingredients – most importantly, onions and spicy peppers
• A sappy movie or two – may I recommend, Rudy, My Girl, Scruffy, Titanic, or Up.

HOW TO:
Step 1: Pop in your sad movie to watch in the background as you cook. (Or if it’s Sunday turn on the TV to watch the Bills.)


Step 2: Brown your meat. I used a 2/3 lb of hamburger meat from Whole Foods coupled with 2/3 lb of hamburger meat purchased at the Brookline Farmers Market from River Rock Farm.

Step 3: Slice the rest of your veggies. For me that included tomatoes that came from Byron’s mother’s garden and mixing those with 2 cans of beans: one kidney, one black.


Step 4: Slice your onions. I used 3 onions from my Enterprise farm share. As you slice the onions feel free to let those tears flow, just remember to have a hankie on hand to wipe away any mascara smudges.


Step 5: Slice up your peppers. I used:

• 1 LARGE jalapeno grown in Byron’s mother’s garden
• 1 small jalapeno grown in Byron’s mother’s garden
• 1 red chili pepper purchased for 40 cent at the Brookline Farmer’s Market
• 1 bell pepper from my Enterprise farm share
• 1 sweet red pepper that I bought at the Brookline Farmer’s Market
• 1 habenero pepper purchased at the Brookline Farmer’s Market
• (Note: Farmers markets are CHEAP for peppers! Stock up when you go. A single pepper will cost anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar – a total steal compared to the supermarket.)

Sliced up spicy peppers... mmmm

Step 6: Cry when juices from the hot peppers get into the little cut you have on your finger. If you don’t have a cut on your finger, fake it, then you don’t have to feel like a schmuck when you start to cry when Rudy finally gets called onto the field and everyone chants RUDY RUDY RUDY!


Step 7: Throw everything into the slow cooker. You can use a can of tomato paste, I used a Campbell’s tomato Soup at Hand because I didn’t have any tomato paste in my pantry. It seemed to have done the trick. Add some spices. I used a tablespoon of garlic powder and a few large shakes of chili powder. Plus some salt and pepper. Cook on high for as long as it takes for the veggies to get tender (a couple of hours.)


Step 8: While the chili cooking, watch another sappy movie. Or, if you are a writer like me, write the first draft of a chapter where you kill of a loveable/sympathetic grandmother, or stab an unsuspecting, friendly grandmother in the back.


Step 9: Spoon chili from the slow cooker. Sprinkle cheese on top. Eat your first bite. Yell out in pain when you realize how spicy the chili is, and then start to cry again.

Delicious!

Step 10: Crack open a beer (or five) so you can blame your crying on Beer Tears. As if that’s a better excuse…


If you follow these easy steps, you, too, can have a day full of tears. Cheers!

New Cookbook, New Cookbook!

For all my hard work in the kitchen I bought myself a new cookbook : The Slow Cooker Bible. It's packed with 200+ recipes for the slow cooker (duh) and includes tasty things that I'm adding to my "to make" list like:

Honey-Mustard Chicken Wings

Parmesan Ranch Snack Mix

Party Mix

Honey-Sauced Chicken Wings

Slow Cooker Taco Shredded Beef

Hearty Chili Mac

Slow Cooker Mesquite Beef

Mediterranean Meatball Ratatouille

Coq au Vin

Easy Homemade Barbecue Sandwiches

Double Thick Baked Potato-Cheese Soup

Potato & Spinach Soup with Gouda

Hamburger Soup

Campfire Sausage and Potato Soup

Potato and Leek soup with Bacon

Chili with Chocolate

Peasant Potatoes

If you would like to see what else I have on my "to cook" list check out my page "Yummy Things I Want to Cook from My Cookbooks."

Chicken & Apple Pot

Last week was unseasonably cold in Boston –- though the tides have turned and I’m currently writing this from my sweltering 80+ degree apartment. But last week was a different story, I needed a good old warm-me-upper so I decided to make a soup/stew recipe out of my slow cooker cookbook. The choice: Chicken & Apple Pot.

As you may have heard me mention before, I don’t like cooking with chicken, and really I can’t even remember the last time I did cook with chicken. I think I might have been about nine years ago when I made homemade BBQ chicken wings and my kitten jumped on the door of the hot oven. True story. (No kittens were harmed in the cooking of the chicken wings -- he turned out to be fine.)

Anyway, I figured this recipe would be different from other chicken recipes because: a) slow cooking chicken will make it very moist and tender and b.) I don’t have to fear under-cooking as the chicken simmers in the slow cooker for nearly 8 hours. Sudden realization when it comes to chicken: chicken is cheap! I mean, really cheap! I got 5 pretty big drumsticks (the perfect amount for 2 people) at Whole Foods for a whopping $3. I think I may be welcoming chicken back into my kitchen.

This recipe was quite easy to make and tasted very good. The chicken literally fell right off the bone and caramelized apples as a garnish were very delicious. I was told however that next time I might want to think about swapping out some of the apples in favor of some potatoes –- a suggestion that will be duly noted. 

PS: It also went wonderfully with Harpoon Summer Beer –- I’m so glad summer beer is back in season!

Overall score : 7 out of 10

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Recipe (Compliments of Slow Cooking by Linda Doesser)

Ingredients –

1 tbsp olive oil

4 chicken portions, about 6 oz each (I used 5 big drumsticks for 2 people)

1 onion

2 celery stalks

1 ½ tbsp flour

1 ¼ cup apple juice

2/3 cup chicken stock

1 cooking apple cut up

2 bay leaves

1-2 tsp honey

1 yellow pepper, seeded and cut into chunks

Garnish –

1 tbsp butter, melted

1 apple sliced and cored

2 tbsp raw brown sugar

Directions –

1. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. Add the chicken and cook over medium-high heat, turning frequently for 10 minutes, until golden brown all over. Transfer chicken to a slow cooker.
2. Add the onion and celery to the skillet and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, then remove the skillet from the heat. Gradually stir in the apple juice and stock, then return the skillet to the heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the cooking apple, bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Pour the mixture over the chicken, cook and cover on low for 6 ½ hours, until the chicken is tender and the juices run clear when the thickest part is pierced with the point of a sharp knife. Stir in the yellow bell pepper, re-cover, and cook on high for 45 minutes.
4. Shortly before you are ready to serve, preheat the broiler. Brush one side of the apple slices with half the melted butter and sprinkle them with sugar. Broil for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has caramelized. Turn the slices over with tongs, brush with the remaining butter, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Broil for a further 2 minutes. Serve the stew garnished with the caramelized apple slices.

French Provencal Beef Stew

As I mentioned a few weeks back, I've been eager to treat myself to a few new cookbooks. New year, new cookbooks. It only seems logical. As I was browsing for books one caught my attention immediately: Gourmet Slow Cooker – it had everything I was looking for! I really like this book because it categorizes the recipes into region of origin which makes it easy to pick out something if I am in the mood for a particular style: America, England/Ireland, France, Italy, India, Mexico.

This week I flipped to the French section and decided to go with Provencal Beef Stew. It took about an hour of prep time (browning the meat {see picture 1}, chopping then cooking the veggies, etc.) but then I poured the veggie/wine sauce {see picture 2} over the meat in the slow cooker and let it cook on the low setting for 5-8ish hours. I love crock pots – it makes dinner so easy because I can do all the preparation/cooking early in the afternoon and then it’s all ready for me to eat later that night. (It sort of feels like dining in a restaurant that way, when I’m ready to eat all I have to do is ladle it out of the crock pot and I’m good to go.)

While I sat here and did work as the stew cooked in the slow cooker the smell that filled my tiny apartment was AMAZING. (I think it was especially in part to the fresh rosemary mixed with onions and garlic.) The tasty aroma made me incredibly hungry and eager to eat, but alas, I had to wait.{See picture 3: that's the stew cooking in the crock pot.}

And then a few hours later, finally, it was time! {See picture 4: That's the stew after a few hours.} I liked the variety of ingredients in this recipe (like white wine, Dijon mustard, fresh rosemary and thyme), they were all unique enough to add a distinct flavor yet not hard to find. After slow cooking for numerous hours the meat became so tender that if I stirred it around too much or too vigorously it would just fall apart. I served the stew with some toasty French bread and some soft brie on the side. Everything was delicious! This stew was hearty and perfect for a meal on a chilly winter night. The meaty taste coupled with the veggies gave the stew a nice consistency and a lot of bold flavor. I would gladly made this again!

Overall score: 9 out of 10.