holidays with HMG

we celebrated the holiday season on Friday evening with a most lovely HMG Christmas party. Natalie took lots of good pictures, but my favorite is of everyone during Brian's speech, we all look very nervous.

the kids are nervous.

tarte tatin

the apple tarte tatin is akin to an open-faced upside down apple pie, only it tastes very different given the slow-cooked apples and caramelized butter and sugar.  the cast iron skillet is perfect for this dish because it can transfer from stovetop to oven and it withstands high enough heat for a good caramel sauce to form around the apples.

CRUST

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
3 tablespoons ice water

FILLING
8-9 apples, peeled, cored and halved (tart apples work best, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala, McIntosh)
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup sugar

For the crust, mix flour, salt and sugar in a medium bowl.  Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle in the water and mix until the dough holds together and form into a round ball.  Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat oven to 425° F. To prepare the filling, spread butter pieces and sugar in the bottom of a cast iron skillet.  Arrange apple halves in a circular pattern in the skillet one on top of the other.  The apples will all be facing the same direction and will be holding each other up on their sides.  Place two halves into the center of the skillet.  Place pan on medium-high heat and allow to cook untouched for about 20 minutes or until juices turn from light golden brown to amber. Once juices turn in color, remove from stove and place skillet in preheated oven.  Cook for another 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and cover with prepared crust.  Tuck edges of crust inside skillet.  Careful not to burn your fingers while tucking in the crust, a knife can help with this part.

Once the crust is in place, bake for another 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.  Serve with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

mmm noodle soup

My mom makes this every year, on the day after Thanksgiving.  The same recipe can be used for leftover chicken as well. 

 

TURKEY NOODLE SOUP
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
1/2-1 lb. turkey (or chicken), chopped or shredded
10 cups turkey or chicken broth
1 tsp dried or fresh thyme
3-4 sage leaves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 package Reames Egg Noodles (in the frozen section of the grocery store)

Saute onion and garlic. Add carrots and celery and saute for another 5-10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.  Add meat, herbs, salt and pepper and stir. After cooking for a few minutes, add broth.  Bring to a boil at medium heat and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Add egg noodles and cook another ten minutes.  Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve.

luck in a bowl with a side of tortillas

Lily and Kristen G. inspired me to make this spicy, Christmasy stew with my mom last Sunday.  This red pork stew will warm you to the core, even on 20 degree Seattle days. I like this soup extra much because Kris's boyfriend, John, tells me that hominy is good luck.  And what is better than luck that you can scoop into a bowl and eat? Nothing.

Posole is very spicy folks, so unless you want a gutbuster, shy away from adding more than the recommended half can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

The homemade tortillas are perfect for dipping and their mildness cools your mouth as you eat.

POSOLE
(from nincomsoup)
5 lbs. of bone in shoulder pork, cut into 4-5 pieces
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped course
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of stewed tomatoes, 14 oz can, sliced
1/2 can of chipotle chiles in adobo, half the sauce and half the chiles
1 tsp. dried oregano
6 cups chicken broth
1 large can of hominy (28 oz)

GARNISHES
2 limes, cut into quarters
1/4 red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 small onion, chopped finely
cilantro, roughly chopped
5 radishes, sliced thinly

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Heat a large pot to medium high, add vegetable oil and onions. Stir frequently until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.

Add the pork, and brown on all sides. Once browned, add tomatoes, broth, oregano, and chipotle chiles. Bring to a boil then cover with a lid and place in the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, about 3-4 hours.

Remove the pot from the oven, remove the meat from the pot and shred the pork until smaller chunks (not too shredded). Return the pork to the pot, add the hominy and simmer for another 30-45 minutes until all of the flavors have melded together.
 
 

FLOUR TORTILLAS
Two cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)

After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry iron skillet on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done. Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.

Makes eight tortillas.

santa's cutest little helper.

Nando turns two on Christmas Eve, but he looks like he's at least three and a half in his Santa pictures.  It's amazing how he went from infant to small child in the matter of a year. Also, check out those fire truck rainboots. They are pretty rockin'.

he asked for a choo choo train.

you should probably buy him a choo choo train.

it's cookie time

A few weekends ago Sarah and I got into the holiday spirit with some cookie baking.  We listened to holiday tunes, drank some eggnog lattes and ended the day with frosting all over our clothes and approximately 26 decorated cookies (plus about 1/2 a batch of uncooked dough and 2 dozen undecorated cookies).

We learned that our parents must have been very patient to have baked cookies with us as children, turns out it's quite a process and a pretty sticky mess. These cookies were very tasty and I would make them again. Last weekend I frosted up the rest of the batch and threw eggnog into the frosting for some extra x-masness. 

snowflakes, doves, whales, snowmen, leaves, mittens, lightbulbs and reindeer!

the decoration journey begins.

3 hours later, you've got yourself two plates of decorated cookies!

SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) butter , softened

1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons baking powder

In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat butter and sugar until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and creamy. At low speed, beat in egg and vanilla. Beat in flour and baking powder just until blended.

Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each piece with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or until dough is firm enough to roll. Or place dough in freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. On lightly floured surface, with floured rolling pin, roll 1 piece of dough 1/8 inch thick. With floured 3- to 4-inch assorted cookie cutters, cut dough into as many cookies as possible; wrap and refrigerate trimmings. Place cookies, 1 inch apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet.

Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough and trimmings.

When cookies are cool, prepare Ornamental Frosting if you like; use to decorate cookies as desired. Set cookies aside to allow frosting to dry completely, about 1 hour. Store cookies in tightly covered container (with waxed paper between layers, if decorated) at room temperature up to 2 weeks, or in freezer up to 3 months.

ORNAMENTAL FROSTING
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted food coloring

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup or milk.

Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

4th annual mocksgiving

the table is set.

 the table is full.

 thanks to lily for taking great pictures and bringing extra forks.

Allison's pretty yellow flowers, as photographed by Lily H.

 

oranges afloat at our drink station.

drink station.

Orange Pomegranate Punch

1 bottle sparkling pino grigio
1 bottle Riesling
2 bottles sparkling pomegranate juice
seeds of 1 pomegranate
3 clementines sliced

Mix drinks and fruit in large bowl and stir.  Serve each glass wih a slice of orange and thoughts of thanks for great friends!!