Madison House Chef

Welcome to Madison House Chef

Welcome to Madison House Chef where favorite recipes blend with a handful of food photos and a sprinkling of memories centered on family, friends and food. MHC is the electronic recipe box and digital cookbook where I store recipes for those who are looking for them, including myself. It's not unusual for me to first search my own website to confirm an ingredient or a measurement for family favorites. Through cooking and sharing food our family celebrates special events, explores new cultures, research new and unusual ingredients, and chronicles cooking lessons that are passed from one generation to the next. Enjoy! ~

Tortellini Salad with Craisins, Feta and Walnuts

 

Here is a delicious salad that comes from the blog keep it skinny. (Thank you for this recipe, Katie.)

My variation on this delightful salad includes romaine lettuce, Craisins, Walnuts and broccoli.

It’s helpful to measure the tortellini (and the walnuts if they are in significant quantity) in order to get an accurate calorie count, but 1 cup of this salad can be counted at approximately 200 calories.

Delicious.

~Enjoy!

Skinny Enchiladas

 

One of the tasty advantages of living in the Rio Grande Valley is the abundance of quality ingredients to create favorite Mexican recipes. High on the list of my favorite Mexican dishes are enchiladas pollo (chicken enchiladas). Unfortunately, when enjoying them at any of a number of local establishments, the enchiladas are high on fat – they are certainly very high taste, but they just aren’t on my skinny list.

Time to get into the kitchen and see if I can make something equally tasty, but well within range for counting calories.

Now the purists and true connoisseurs of Mexican fare, and many an abuelita (sweet grandma) may correctly argue that these are not true enchiladas … I accept their criticism and pray that they invite me to their table on a non-counting day as my penance. But to get the taste of enchiladas without having to count all those calories, these are a tasty, satisfying stand in and, added benefit, there are vegetables hidden inside next to the chicken and they may even be nutritious

Cabbage Slaw with Low Fat Dressing

 

Here’s a delicious, crisp salad that makes a great side to fish, chicken or burgers. This slaw is incredibly flexible and depending upon what you have on hand could also include diced apples, golden raisins, walnuts, celery or anything else that suits you. Likewise, the dressing can be seasoned according to your taste by adding fresh herbs.

 

 

Cedar Planked Steelhead Trout

One of the easiest, straightforward methods of preparing trout requires nothing more than a plank of cedar (easily obtained at any grocery store or even the Target BBQ center and a medium heat grill. In addition, the method captures and enhances all of the flavor of the trout and does not add any oil or fat.

Chicken & Rice Casserole

Comfort food … any casserole with rice! Delicious, but I avoid them due to the high carbohydrates and because I am not a big fan of cream-of-anything soup. What to do the at least improve the nutrition? Brown rice. Boneless, skinless chicken breast. Basic white sauce with onions to replace soup. Easy on the fats; no cheese. 

This will either be really good … OR really bad!

Turns out it was really good and worth keeping in my MHC digital recipe box.

Next time I can reduce the calories by another 20 to 25 by dropping the butter drizzle on the cornflakes and by switching to 2% milk without losing any of the creaminess.

Read on... 

A Bountiful Harvest

We all know that I take after my mom, especially when it comes to cooking. Rolling and cooking 400 meatballs, baking 9 loaves of banana bread (I had 18 over ripe bananas in the freezer), preparing and freezing 300 cookies, or assembling any other quantity of quality ingredient to create a winning recipe comes naturally for me … because of the gene sequence she’s passed on to me.
Here’s proof…

No Knead Pizza Dough (with step by step photos)

As our long standing tradition continues, Ken makes pizza for us most Sunday afternoons. We’ve used the CIA Pizza Dough recipe for ages and enjoy the flavor of the crust plus it’s versatility in creating both thin and crispy crust and a chewy thick crust.

We’ve been experimenting with crusts as of late (including cauliflower crust) and this week Ken has prepared the pizza dough using the Bon Appetite No Knead Pizza Dough (inserted below for convenience). This crust is classified as a chewy crust.

Cassoulet (photos)

In honor of Julia Child’s one hundredth birthday Ken wanted to make something French … out comes Julia Child’s The French Chef’s Cookbook: Recipes from Julia Child’s celebrated first television series. ‘What shall we cook,’ he muses? Poulet en Cocotte (Whole Chicken Roasted in a Casserole), Filet of Beef Wellington, Ossobuco, or perhaps Poularde Demi-Desossee, Evocation Albufera (Partially Boned Chicken Poached in White Wine; Rice, Mushroom, and Chicken-Liver Stuffing; Curried Sauce)?

Cassoulet!

What’s for Supper Tonight?

• cedar planked Steelhead Trout
• edamame in natural shell liberally sprinkled with kosher salt
• fresh fruit (apples, pineapple)
• spinach salad
• …a few leftover lentils
• chocolate chip cookies from yesterday’s left over cookie dough after the brownie-cookie creation

Key Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting

This key lime cupcake recipe makes not only remarkable, standard size cakes, but amazing mini- and micro- cupcakes for single or two bite desserts. Simply reduce the baking time, removing the cupcakes when they are just beginning to become golden and a testing toothpick comes out clean.

What is a micro-cupcake?

What’s for Supper Tonight?

• grilled portabella mushroom “burger”
• Ken/GDG: burgers and MELG: wiener sausage
• fresh pineapple
• brownies studded with chocolate chip cookies for dessert

Brownies studded with Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is it a brownie?

Is it a cookie?

A brookie or a brownkie?

Doesn’t matter what you call it – it’s a decedent rich, chocolate, fudgy treat.

 

Canning Green Beans

My sister in law, Susie, grew a beautiful garden this year and now has the harvested green beans. She sent me this photo showing off her new found talent for canning and pronouncing the production a minor success.

Honestly, she has homegrown, french cut beans canned in tightly sealed jars ready to be enjoyed when the snow flies…  I call this a major success.

Looking forward to hearing about the picante sauce she’s going to do next weekend.

What’s for Supper Tonight?

• Ken’s not-yet-but-should-be-famous meatloaf
• baked potatoes (loaded)
  the potato was the centerpiece of my meal and was topped with pico, a pinch of shredded cheese, and lentils (yes, lentils) 
• broccoli
• caramel stuffed apple cider cookies for dessert

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

 

This is an amazing cookie!

It tastes of autumn: apples, cider donuts, fresh apple cider and cinnamon.

It reminds me of hayrides, bonfires, dry leaves crackling under foot, and evenings cool enough for a sweatshirt.

Ah, autumn.

This little delight captures the tastes and scents of fall in each bite. 

Continue on for an easy to put together recipe and my commentary.

What’s for Supper Tonight?

• Moroccan Style Chicken the original recipe
• lentils, mixed with the seasonings from the chicken; I of course set the kids’ lentils aside before mixing them with the spices.
• broccoli

A protein and fiber laden meal.
Delicious and ‘good for you,’ too!

Moroccan Style Chicken (with photos)

After experimenting with a new Moroccan Chicken recipe the family requested I make the “original” version that dates back to the early days of Madison House Chef. Knowing that I wanted to blog the recipe I went in search of my original copy.

However, I couldn’t remember it’s original source.  A website? A newspaper clipping? A cookbook? 

What to do??

 

Lentils

  
In praise of lentils!
Nutritious. Delicious. Fiber-loaded. Nutty on their own and take to a variety of flavors easily. Inexpensive. Easy to cook on stove top.

Ken and I both enjoy lentils, and even the kids will eat them; Madeleine especially when she puts cinnamon and sugar on them.

We always kind of liked lentils, but then we re-discovered them in Spain (2009) where they were prevalent and quite inexpensive.

Red lentils. Green lentils. Yellow Lentils.

GREAT RECIPE:  Moroccan Chicken and Lentils (and broccoli)

 

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

 

 

Bon Appetit ~ January 2004

The original recipe that inspired my Moroccan flavored lentils, plus commentary on preparation and personalization.

 

 

 

 

What’s for Supper Tonight? Sunday Pizza Edition

It’s Pizza Day …
Today’s pizza pies include

• pepperoni
• mega cheese (fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, goat cheese, bleu cheese)
  
  
   
• red onion and goat cheese
• pepperoni, jalapeno, bleu cheese

German Style Soft Pretzels

For our German Oktoberfest celebration I wanted chewy, soft Bavarian pretzels. Not surprisingly, no bakery in the Valley carries such a thing (you’re shocked, I know). What a great excuse to bake pretzels from scratch.

Truth be told, I’ve never made soft pretzels that included the ‘boiling’ step. What I had read convinced me that this is a necessary step for a better finished product. Now by first hand experience I’m all the more convinced.

What’s For Supper Tonight?

• Ragu
• Pasta (brought home in the suitcase from Italia)
• tofu (topped with ragu; not only do I find the combination to be satisfying, I don’t end up with the bloated feeling of having eaten pasta)
• green salad

Shrimp Tacos with a hint of Lime

shrimp cooked with lime and spices, served on a fresh corn tortilla, avocado, and chipotle infused sour cream

Here’s a new (to MHC) recipe that has already gone to “family favorites” status.

Rick Bayless’ Soft Taco Filling offers a no-fail, delicious (delicioso!), fresh tasting recipe that takes only a few minutes to cook. The shrimp can be served hot, for example on tacos, or cold as on a salad.

What’s for Supper Tonight?

Happy Oktoberfest!

• Weiner Schnitzel
• garlic sausage (sadly, not Usingers… it’s time to order)
• saurkraut
• pomme frites
• German style soft pretzels (homemade)
• senf (Bavarian mustard)
• dessert: mini key lime cupcakes

Oktoberfest Celebration: Weiner Schnitzel

Weiner Schnitzel, kraut, pomme frites, soft pretzel, and bavarian senf (Bavarian mustard)

My husband Ken and I have long enjoyed Munich as a place to relax, to eat good food and drink exceptionally good beer. This year after leaving Florence, thirsty for a tall Augustiner Edelstoff and wanting to show the kids the amazing Deutsches Museum, we spent several days in Munich. During the time there both kids discovered a love for Weiner Schnitzel.