Back to Reality

We are finally back friends! I hope you'll forgive us for our two week lapse; we had such a wonderful time celebrating the boys' birthday, visiting with our family, and then relaxing in Hawaii!

I can't believe my little boys are one!  Grandma and Grandpa Doug were here, along with Grammy and Grandpa Al. The party was small, the gifts were (very) plentiful, and the cakes I put so much thought into were mostly ignored by the birthday boys!

Alex eating some cake after some coaxing

This face pretty much sums up Aaron's interest in birthday cake

He decided on some watermelon instead.

A picture of Alex's slightly demolished cake

Overall definitely a success. :)

Cake disinterest aside it was a great day and the boys had a fun time with their Grandparents...and with their presents too of course!

The next day, though, we left the boys in the able hands of Grandma and Grandpa Doug and Alex and I flew off to Maui for a week of fun in the sun.  

We paddleboarded, snorkled, and jumped around in the waves on the beautiful Wailea beach.

Alex went down every one of the many water slides at the resort about a million times

I basked in the sun

And we both drank lots of fruity drinks out of plastic pineapples.

Despite missing the babies A LOT more than we were expecting, we had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying time together.  This was an incredible first year with the babies for us; challenging, joyful and tearful.  But we made it, and we are looking forward to so many more.

But back to the kitchen!!  We have some good stuff cooking this week.  Fall is here so get ready for soups and more pumpkin than most people can stand! 

Aloha

We haven't disappeared completely, we just jetted to Maui!

Sorry to leave without notice but we'll be back next week with details on the twins' birthday (like how one chubby guy apparently doesn't like cake) and on our vacation to Hawaii. 

We are having a great timing soaking up sun and mai tais, talk to you all again soon.

Aloha!

Monday Monday

Whew.  Things are quite busy around the 4 Pears house.  My sister left us on Tuesday after a great visit.  She and I enjoyed our girl time down on the Strip and the boys loved seeing their Auntie.  We are all going to miss her when she moves back East!

But on Wednesday Alex's parents arrived!  The boys are having a lot of fun with their Grammy and Grampy, especially considering all the birthday gifts they brought along. :)  The kitchen is still a very busy place but we haven't really been making anything new and exciting.  Instead we've been enjoying some of our favorites.

Thursday was Roast Chicken, we really enjoyed the nice juicy bird with some maple roasted butternut squash. On Friday we broke out the deep fryer and made Fish and Chips with Jalapeno Poppers to start. Then Saturday night we brined pork chops, and Sunday we had Bloody Mary Salads.  Throw in some Oatmeal Pancakes and a Peanut Butter Cheesecake and you can bet we are all happy and no one is going hungry around here. Tonight we are going out to eat...with the twins.  It is bound to be an adventure.

I've been doing a terrible job taking pictures of all the fun times around here but I did get our professional pictures back a few days ago!  Here's a few shots of the 4 Pears family.   Have a great week everyone!

Turkey Meatball Stroganoff

As some of you may have noticed, my favorite cook book for the kids is by far Start Fresh by Tyler Florence (and you can get it in The Pantry!)  It is full of kid-friendly recipes that are healthy and above all, flavorful.  You won't find any bland baby food in this book.

It is my supreme belief that we have to teach our children to eat, just like we teach them to put themselves to sleep, walk, talk and read.  And teaching requires effort.  By making an effort to introduce as many foods and flavors as possible, as early as possible, we are giving our children the building blocks for making good nutrition choices for the rest of their lives.

If you and your baby are just starting out on the journey into solid foods Start Fresh has a ton of recipes for purees.  Flavor combos like spinach and banana, parsnip fig and pear, or carrot and mango.  Tyler also teaches parents how to get the most flavor from foods.  You won't have much need of a steamer basket using this book.

If your baby is a bit older, like mine are, you'll be sure to find recipes the whole family will love.  I think the biggest, and only, real downside to this book is the lack of recipes that target finger feeders.  I don't know about everyone else but my little guys weren't ready to wield a fork and spoon by the time they were interested in self-feeding. We are going to start working on that soon but for now finger foods rule in my house.  Though Tyler doesn't dedicate a section to that "art" of eating, some of his recipes can be eaten with fingers and we've yet to come across one the babies didn't like.  I like that this is a book that took us from baby to toddler and on with interesting recipes to keep us trying new things and new flavors.  A great buy if you are in the market.

A few weeks ago we tried yet another recipe from this book.   The kids enjoyed it, and had mushrooms for the first time!  (They loved them.)  This is a great meal for the whole family.  The turkey meatballs are moist and easy for babies without molars to enjoy and it incorporates every kids' favorite food, pasta.  I hope you enjoy it.

Turkey Meatloaf Stroganoff, adapted from Tyler Florence- found in Start Fresh
1 slice multigrain bread
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
6 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 sprig thyme
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
8 oz cooked egg noodles
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Tear up the bread and put it in a large mixing bowl with the turkey, milk, caraway seeds, onion and a bit of salt.  Mix all of it together with your hands to combine.  Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch meatballs.  This makes about 18.  (plenty of leftovers for the kids to eat the next day!)

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When the oil begins to shimmer add the meatballs and brown them.  Remove them to a baking tray and finish cooking them in the oven, 20 minutes at 350 F.

While the meatballs cook, cook the pasta and begin the sauce.  For the sauce add the garlic to the skillet you cooked the meatballs in.  Cook the garlic for about a minute and then add the mushrooms and the thyme.  Cook them 2-3 minutes or until golden and then sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir them around to coat.  Add the chicken stock and cook until the stock has thickened, about 10-12 minutes.

Once it the sauce is thick, whisk in the sour cream and the mustard.  Keep on warm until the meatballs are done. Once they are put them into the sauce and turn to coat.  Serve the meatballs and sauce over the pasta and top with the parsley.

Aaron concentrating on eating

And feeding Claire too, of course

Don't hate the Sprouts!

Seems like just about everyone out there hates brussels sprouts.  But why?  And when was the last time these haters actually tasted a brussels sprout?  This is my challenge.  Before you say you hate brussels sprouts again, try this recipe.  Because even though everyone "hates" a sprout....everyone loves bacon.

Bacon is indeed the key to this dish.  Instead of just plain old bacon (which is great too!) spring for the seasoned kind.  Whole Foods carries a few different ones., we bought 4 strips of ancho chili and garlic bacon.  The seasoning along with the bacon fat (yum) made our sprouts super tasty.

We served the kicked up sprouts with a rib-eye and potato gratin

Spicy Bacon Brussel Sprouts, courtesy of 4 Pears
4 strips of spicy seasoned bacon
1 lb brussel sprouts
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

To begin, put the bacon in a heavy cold pan.  Turn the heat to medium and cook until crisp.  Once cooked move the bacon to a plate covered in paper towels to drain off excess fat and to cool. Once cool, crumble the bacon into small pieces.

To prepare the brussels sprouts, trim off the stems and the outer yellowed leaves of each sprout and cut them all in half.  Put them in a colander and rinse them well.

Put the cleaned sprouts into the pan you used to cook the bacon.  Add the butter and cook the sprouts for about 10 minutes over medium heat.  Next, add the crumbled bacon.  Taste the sprouts and season with salt and pepper if necessary then cook them for one minute longer. Remove the sprouts to a bowl to serve.

Schnitzel Biscuits?

Weird name, great sandwich.

We watched Food Network Star for the first time this past season (#7) and we were excited when Jeff Mauro won. (Though we were rooting for Vic Vegas too, of course)  Jeff dubbed himself the "Sandwich King" and I was happy that Food Network picked him for a show.  I mean, who doesn't love a good sandwich?

Sometimes it seems like when you are at home a sandwich need consist only of bland sandwich bread, lunch meat and cheese.  Blah.  But why not make a restaurant quality sandwich at home?  Sure its a little more (ok, a lot more) effort...but according to Jeff you can make "any meal a sandwich and any sandwich a meal", and a meal deserves a little more effort.

Now that his show is running (though I admit we still haven't seen it...must set DVR) we decided to try and make one of Jeff Mauro's sandwiches.  After perusing the short list on Food Network we went with the Schnitzel Biscuits.  Apparently schnitzel is Austrian for thinly pounded, fried, meat...yum.  Add a biscuit and some braised cabbage and you have one very lovely sandwich.

There are four elements to this sandwich but none are particularly difficult or time consuming and the sandwich really comes together in the end.  **Bonus** if you aren't making 8 sandwiches you'll have left over biscuits for breakfast the next day!  In fact, if you aren't interested in making the entire sandwich, just the recipe for the biscuits alone is worth keeping.  They were simple, easy and delicious.  The cabbage was amazing too and would be great with pork chops.  But really, try the sandwich.

Schnitzel Biscuits, adapted from Jeff Mauro
Pork
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pork tenderloin, silver skin removed, about 1 1/2 lbs
black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
Biscuits
4 cups self-rising flour (see easy substitution here)
1 stick butter, plus 3 more tablespoons melted
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Cider-Braised Cabbage
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
3/4 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper
Raspberry Mayo
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon raspberry preserves
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
pepper

To begin you'll brine the pork tenderloin.  Mix the salt and sugar with 6 cups of ice cold water until everything has dissolved.  Pour the liquid into a gallon sized ziplock bag and then put in the pork.  Put the bag in a large bowl and then place the bowl into the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Next you can make the mayo.  Just mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, cover it with plastic and put it into the refrigerator as well.

Time for the biscuits.  Preheat the oven to 425 F and place a large cast iron skillet inside so that it preheats as well.  Cut the butter into the flour in a large bowl, work quickly until the mixture is very crumbly.   Add in the buttermilk very slowly (I only needed 2 cups) until the dough forms and but is still fairly moist.   Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll it into a ball with your hands and then press it out until it is about 1 inch thick.  No rolling pin needed, woo hoo!  Now using a drinking glass or a biscuit cutter, cut out 8 biscuits about 3 inches in diameter.

Take the hot skillet out of the preheated oven and carefully add the vegetable oil to it.  Put in the biscuits, touching each other, then brush the tops with the melted butter.  Put the skillet back in the oven to bake about 15 minutes.  They should be nice and golden brown when they are done.

Oops I made nine!

Meanwhile start the cabbage.  Heat a large heavy pan, like a dutch oven, over medium heat.  Melt the butter and then add the caraway seeds and cook them until fragrant, only about a minute.  Add the cabbage to the pot a bit at a time to wilt it.   Once it is all in, add the cider and vinegar and let simmer for 15 minutes.  I kept my pot covered for most of that time.  Once the cabbage is soft, season it with salt and pepper and put it on low while you are finishing up.

Lastly, the pork.  Remove the pork from the brine and dry it with paper towel.  Cut it into eight 1 inch rounds and then pound each to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Season with salt and pepper.  For your batter put the flour onto one plate, the beaten eggs another, and the panko on a third.  Put a wire rack over a baking sheet to set the pork on once battered.  Coat each slice of pork in each dish in turn and set on the rack.

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat.  Once the oil is hot fry each slice of pork for about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Put some of the mayo on your freshly baked biscuits along with a slice of pork or two and some of the cabbage.  Serve more cabbage on the side, it is good stuff!  Enjoy!

How-To Tuesday! Simple Substitutions

Sorry I'm a little late posting this...I've been having too much fun with my sister!  But better late than never right?Because I really do think this stuff is helpful.  So many times I think people are turned away from cooking because the ingredients are too complicated.  It is so much nicer to be able to cook with what you have on hand rather than running to the store to buy something you know you aren't going to use again any time soon.  I find myself turning to these substitutions often and I appreciate them for making my life easier and for making complicated recipes more simple.

Some simple substitutions that I use on a regular basis:

Buttermilk-  The real thing is amazing and worth buying if you are going to use it, but if you find a great recipe and all you are lacking is buttermilk this works great too.  Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to one cup of milk.  (whole milk is best but others work too)  Stir it in the allow the milk to rest for 5-10 minutes.  Give it another quick stir and add it to your recipe.

Self-rising flour- I keep white whole wheat, all-purpose and cake flours in the house at all times.  For me, three types of flour is more than enough.  If I need self-rising flour I add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to all-purpose flour.  Works like a charm!

Bread flour- Again, this just isn't flour I buy...but I do like to make bread a lot.  Instead of buying more flour I keep a box of vital wheat gluten.  Add 1 teaspoon to a cup of all-purpose flour to make your own bread flour.  The wheat gluten lasts a long time and the little box takes up much less space than a 5lb bag of bread flour.

Chocolate- When baking you'll find recipes that call for unsweetened, sweetened, bittersweet, semi-sweet.....chocolate.  That's a lot of chocolate to keep on hand so most of the time I stick to buying unsweetened chocolate only and I sweeten it myself to suit whichever is called for in the recipe.

**1/2 cup Sweet chocolate - melt 4 oz of unsweetened chocolate (usually 1 square is 1 oz) with 1/3 cup       sugar in a small pan set over another pan of simmering water. (double boiler)

**1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate- use the same process as above but only 4 tablespoons of sugar with 4 oz of chocolate.  Bittersweet and semi-sweet can be used interchangeably.

Heavy Cream- for 1 cup use 3/4 cup whole milk and 1/3 cup butter.

Half and Half- for 1 cup use almost a cup of whole milk (about 7/8 cup) and 1 tablespoon of butter

Lemon juice- use 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to replace 1 teaspoon of lemon juice if necessary.

There really are a ton of these so when in doubt, Google it!  Don't set aside a yummy looking recipe just because you are lacking one item. Happy Cooking!