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Red Onion Chutney

Ingredients

  • 2 cups finely chopped red onion
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover and cook 10 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Yield:  1 cup (serving size: 2 tablespoons)

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Parmesan Corn Bread Muffins

Raters complained of boring flavor and dryness – so think about that.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup fat-free buttermilk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°.
Lightly spoon flour and cornmeal into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, and egg whites; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.
Spoon batter into 10 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack. Serve warm.

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

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Tacos al Carbon+

8 points

Yield:  4 servings (serving size: 2 tacos)

Cooking spray
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion (about 1 medium)
1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 garlic cloves, minced
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add bell pepper to pan, and cook 4 minutes. Add onion to pan, and sauté 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Place pepper mixture in a large bowl; cover and keep warm.

Add beef to pan; cook 7 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Add to pepper mixture. Add chili powder, juice, oil, salt, and garlic to bowl; toss to coat.

Heat tortillas according to package directions. Spoon steak mixture evenly over 8 tortillas. Top each taco with about 1 teaspoon cilantro and 2 1/4 teaspoons sour cream.

CALORIES 371 (32% from fat); FAT 13.1g (sat 3.8g,mono 5.7g,poly 1.7g); IRON 2.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 49mg; CALCIUM 164mg; CARBOHYDRATE 36g; SODIUM 608mg; PROTEIN 29g; FIBER 4g

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The 2009 Art Challenge

My sister Sia came up with a great idea for the artistic women of the family – choose a theme and then each of us should create something within our “genre” around that theme.  After a few email conversations, we decided upon the RLS poem “Where go the boats?”

Dark brown is the river,
Golden is the sand
It flows along forever,
With trees on either hand.

Green leaves a-floating,
Castles of the foam,
Boats of mine a-boating
Where with all come home?

On goes the river
And out past the mill,
Away down the valley,
Away down the hill.

Away down the river,
A hundred miles or more,
Other little children
Shall bring my boats ashore.

As children, we had a book of Stevenson’s poems that were a mainstay of bedtime reading.  I think we all could create vivid images in our minds from those many years of listening and imagining…

The challenge was to come up with something to present on Christmas Day, 2009 – all women were welcome – including my mom, her 3 daughters, our daughters – and even our brother’s wife and 2 little girls.  It was fun – and great to see what everyone came up with (no penalties for not completing it on time – we’re still waiting for Bill’s wife, Carolyn, to reveal her piece – but with 6 and 4 yr old daughters running around, I’m not sure how she’ll find the time…).

My mom used her quilting prowess to show off all of the boats that our family has owned and loved over the years.  She used photos that she could print on fabric to create this piece:

Amelia made this wonderful textile art piece:

Sia offered up her marquetry marvel:

I added my stained glass rendition of a piece of art I found on the internet:

Niece/cousin Brittany (Amelia’s daughter) used the idea to inspire her students:

Here’s my unofficial entry – I think Sarah could have shown off some of her photography from Lake Whatcom MC Scow races – even I was able to capture this great view:

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Mexican Raviolis+

Ingredients

8 servings

  • ground chorizo (2 tubes of what is available at Byerlys)
  • 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 3 cup shredded queso asadero (white Mexican cheese)
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (14 ounce) package round or square wonton wrappers
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

PREP: many mins  COOK: 10 mins

Directions

1. Add chorizo to a hot skillet set over medium heat; cook, stirring, until cooked through. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, stir together ricotta, 2 c queso asadero, cilantro, garlic, cumin, and salt.

3. Combine cooked chorizo with cheese/spice mixture.

4. Place a teaspoonful of filling on a wonton wrapper. Dip a finger in water, and wet the top half edge of the wrapper. Fold in half, and pinch the edges to seal. Set aside, and continue filling and sealing the remaining wrappers.

5. Heat oil in a skillet at med-high heat and cook raviolis till brown on both sides.  Serve topped with marinara sauce and remaining queso.

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Moroccan-Style Lamb and Chickpeas+

  • 1 lb lean ground lamb (or lamb sausages)
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 c vertically sliced onions (2)
  • 1/2 c diagonally cut carrot (2)
  • 3/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
  • 2 c fat-free low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 c golden raisins
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp grated lemon rind
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Add lamb to pan; cook 6 minutes, stirring to crumble.  Remove lamb from pan with slotted spoon.  Discard drippings.  Add oil to pan, swirl to coat.  Add onion and carrot to pan; saute 4 minutes.  Add cumin, cinnamon, coriander and pepper; saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Add reserved lamb, broth and next 5 ingredients (through chickpeas); bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer 4 minutes or until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cilantro and lemon juice.

 

Serves 4

 

Serve over Coucous Arugula Salad:

  • 1 c uncooked Israeli couscous (prepare per package instructions)
  • 2 c arugula
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
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Yummy Pumpkin Bars+

  • 1 1/3 c flour
  • 3/4 c sugar (divided)
  • 1/2 c packed brown sugar
  • 3/4 c cold butter, cut up
  • 1 c old fashioned oats, uncooked
  • 1/2 c chopped pecans
  • 1 8 oz pkg 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
  • 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon with a little allspice, clove and nutmeg)

Heat oven to 350

Line 13×9″ pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over the sides; spray with cooking spray.  Mix flour, 1/4 c sugar and brown sugar in medium bowl until blended; cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in oats and nuts,.

Reserve 1 c oat mixture; press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 15 minutes.  Beat cream cheese, remaining sugar, eggs, pumpkin and spice with mixer until blended; pour over crust.  Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture.

Bake 25 mins (or more for me); cool 10 minutes.  Use foil to transfer dessert from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

 

Note: these are very moist; I made a day in advance and had them cool on the counter overnight.  The topping isn’t as crispy as I would have liked and I might try broiling very briefly next time before pulling them out of the oven.  More nuts and oats are also nice.