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! ~

Ken’s Boeuf Bourguignon

This ‘beef stew’ recipe has become a new favorite. It is based on Julia Child’s recipe from The French Chef Cookbook, with nuances that fit our taste and style. The stew is best begun the day before so that the flavors develop overnight. The key, as with any stew meat, is low and slow; this is another patience project.

Remember to use wine that is of the quality you would drink. If you don’t like the taste when drinking it, you won’t like it in the stew. Make sure to buy and extra bottle since this stew generally takes 2 thirsty days to prepare.

Julia’s original recipe uses multiple pans for the process. Ken uses the same Crueset heavy pot for all steps of the process, building the flavors one within the others.

 

Spicy Beer Shrimp

Quick, easy and DELICIOUS!
A tangy sauce and tender shrimp all poured over a tender baked sweet potato. 

Would be good on Chicken, too.

Spicy Beer Shrimp recipe is from Chocolate Moosey (with thanks!)

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls (with lentils and rice)

 

 

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

1 medium cabbage
1 cup green lentils, dry
1 medium onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil (or less)
2 cups water or broth
1.5 c wild rice mix or brown rice, dry
2.75 c vegetable stock/broth
2/3 c golden raisins (optional)
¼ c catsup
1 14oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons thyme, separated
salt & pepper

Cabbage Preparation

1. Bring an 8 quart pot of well salted water to a boil.
2. Submerge cabbage into boiling water.
3. As leaves begin to pull away from the head of the cabbage, pull or cut them. Dunk them into a ice bath to stop the cooking process; drain.  Repeat until all of the usable cabbage leaves are removed.  (Remaining cabbage may be shredded and put into the pan with the cabbage rolls during baking.)

Reserve 1-2 Cups of ‘cabbage broth’

Rice Preparation

Combine rice and stock in a 2 quart sauce pan, bring to a boil, then reduce to LO for 20-25 minutes (or according to package directions). Or Prepare rice in a rice cooker according to your usual method.

Upon completion, set aside to cool.

Lentils Preparation

1. Heat a 3 quart sauce pan, add olive oil, garlic and onion.
2. Saute on medium heat until onions begin to become translucent.
3. Add lentils (dry) and toast them for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
4. Add vegetable stock, bring to a gentle boil. 
5. Reduce to LO and cook until lentils are soft, but still have some ‘tooth’ to them (think al dente), 20-25 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

Preparing Filling

Combine cooked rice, cooked lentils with onions and garlic, and raisins (if using) in a large bowl. Add catsup, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

Assembling Cabbage Rolls

1. Lay a blanched cabbage leaf flat on a cutting board.
2. Place a generous dollop of rice-lentil filling at the ribbed edge of the cabbage leaf.
3. Roll tightly, cigar style.
4. Place in a 9x13 pan (prepared with Pam spray).
Repeat until all leaves are filled.

THEN... 5. Pour 1 can crushed tomatoes over all cabbage rolls.
6. Add reserved cabbage water to pan along with tomatoes for additional moisture.
7. Sprinkle 2 tsp thyme and a few twists of fresh ground pepper over the tomatoes.
8. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour or until tomato sauce at the edges of the pan are bubbling and cabbage rolls are hot all the way through.

Serve hot, with tomato broth.
Adjust seasoning according to your own taste – I tend to under salt my cabbage rolls and then add it at the table.

~Enjoy!

Swiss Roll

A delicious chocolate ‘log’ with a rich, dark flavor. Great for holiday parties or a splendid finish to a euro-style dinner.

[photo]

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.