German Potato Salad

Tonight's menu was an ode to Oktoberfest: Pork Chops With Apple Gravy, Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Bacon, and German Potato Salad. The potato salad recipe was inspired by one in an issue of Cook's Illustrated. There was a lot of acid in this menu—vinegar in the pork chops and potato salad and lemon juice in the Brussels sprouts—but the combination was just right. The other main ingredient was our favorite pork—you can't have too much bacon. Enjoy!

German Potato Salad
1 1/2 lb. small red potatoes, cut into uniform cubes
6 thick-sliced bacon slices, chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar (apple cider would be good as well)
1 Tbsp. whole-grain mustard

1. Cook potatoes in water to cover until fork tender. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, and drain potatoes.
2. Cook bacon in a large skillet until browned and crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from pan; drain on paper towels.
3. Sauté onion in hot bacon drippings until tender. Stir in sugar, vinegar, and reserved 1/2 cup cooking water; cook, stirring to loosen browned particles on bottom of skillet, until liquid reduces to about 1 cup. Remove from heat, and stir in mustard. Add potatoes and bacon to skillet; toss to coat.

Chicken-and-Sausage Jambalaya

Last week I was flipping through my recipe box and came across a jambalaya recipe from an old friend and his mother-in-law. I had completely forgotten about the recipe (it's probably been eight years since I've made it), but I remembered it being yummy. When I made it last night, I put my own stamp on it. I think you'll like this recipe—it is a little spicy without being overwhelmingly so. It would be great to serve at a ballgame, take to a sick friend, or freeze in small portions to pull out on a busy weeknight. There's a lot of chopping involved, but the flavor profile (I mean taste) is completely worth it. We had this with roasted garlic bread. Enjoy!

Chicken-and-Sausage Jambalaya
3 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
5 celery stalks, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
1 to 2 Tbsp. Creole seasoning (taste to make sure the flavor is right)
1 lb. sausage (Italian or andouille), casings removed
3 cups rice
5 to 6 cups chicken stock
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 cup pureed tomatoes
2 lb. shredded cooked chicken

1, Sauté onions and next 3 ingredients in hot oil, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften (about 15 minutes). Stir in garlic, and sauté 2 minutes. Add in sausage, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sausage is cooked. Stir in Creole seasoning. Stir in rice, and sauté for 3 minutes. Stir in chicken stock and next 2 ingredients.
2. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring often, until rice is done (about 20 minutes). Stir in shredded chicken, and cook 5 more minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Caramelized Pear Pie

Pears taste like fall to me, so I decided a pie with pears was in order for dessert. While thinking about the method, I remembered that Andy thought the apples in last week's Streusel-Topped Apple Pie were too firm (they were just right to me). My solution for this pie was to sauté sliced pears in butter and brown sugar to soften them before adding them to the piecrust. The lovely star cutouts on top are complements of Andy. Maybe a job in food styling is in his future!

Caramelized Pear Pie
1/2 cup butter
5 Bosc pears, halved, cored, and thinly sliced
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 cup brandy
2 recipes Pastry Dough
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add in sliced pears, brown sugar, and next 3 ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until pears begin to soften. Remove skillet from heat, and stir in brandy. Return to heat, and cook stirring occasionally, 10 more minutes.
2. Roll out 1 recipe Pastry Dough, and place in pie plate. Spoon in pear mixture. Roll out remaining Pastry Dough, and place over top of pear mixture. Crimp edges to seal. Use cookie cutters or cut slits in the top with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape.
3. Bake at 425° for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Chicken Souvlaki

My friend Katie turned me on to this Skillet Chicken Souvlaki recipe from the August issue of Cooking Light, and I used it as a springboard for tonight's dinner. For side dishes, we had a salad dressed with a red-wine vinaigrette dressing and Homemade Pita Chips, my latest foray into fried bread which is very popular at our house. This dinner came together very quickly—perfect for a weeknight.

Chicken Souvlaki
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. chicken cutlets, sliced into strips
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
Salt and pepper
Pita bread
Tzaziki Sauce

1. Sauté onion and bell pepper in hot oil for 5 minutes. Add in chicken strips, and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until done. Stir in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Stir in oregano, lemon zest, salt, and pepper.
2. Spoon chicken mixture into pita bread halves; top with Tzaziki Sauce.

Tzaziki Sauce:
1 (7-oz.) container Greek yogurt
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced
1 tsp. lemon zest
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp. dillweed
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Stir together all ingredients.

Homemade Pita Chips
Peanut oil
Pita bread, cut into triangles and split
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat peanut oil in a Dutch oven; fry pita bread, in batches, in hot oil until golden. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.


Greek Salad
1 small head green leaf lettuce, chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper
Crumbled feta
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives

1. Combine lettuce and next 2 ingredients in a bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine red wine vinegar and next 4 ingredients until combined. Pour over lettuce mixture, tossing gently.
3. Divide salad among plates, and sprinkle with feta and olives.

Streusel-Topped Apple Pie

It happens every year at this time—as soon as apples and pears come into season, I start craving fall comfort foods. It's hard to beat apple pie, especially served with ice cream, and I'm always trying new ways to make it. This is my latest version. For the piecrust, I followed pastry dough recipe I use for fried pies. It's super-simple because you can mix the butter into the flour mixture with your hands, no pastry blender or food processor required. (I included a little bit of apple pie spice in the crust so the cinnamon flavor continues throughout every bite.) A streusel top is so easy and who doesn't like brown sugar, oatmeal, and butter all mixed together? One more thing, I'm too lazy to peel the apples—how easy is that? Enjoy!

Streusel-Topped Apple Pie
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
6 Tbsp. butter, cut into cubes and chilled
1/4 cup ice water
2 Granny Smith apples, cut in half, cored, and thinly sliced
2 McIntosh apples, cut in half, cored, and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. apple pie spice
Pinch of salt
Streusel
Vanilla ice cream

1. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients. Use hands to incorporate butter into flour mixture. Stir in ice water. Shape dough into a disk; cover with plastic wrap, and chill at least 1 hour.
2. Combine apple slices, 1/2 cup sugar, apple pie spice, and pinch of salt in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes; drain, if needed.
3. Roll out dough and fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Spoon apple mixture into piecrust. Top with Streusel.
4. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.


Streusel:
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed

1. Combine oatmeal and next 3 ingredients. Gradually incorporate butter into mixture.

Chicken and Dumplings

Tonight the 3Cs and their parents came for dinner. I decided to make some good old-fashioned comfort food: Chicken and Dumplings. I recently bought a Cook's Illustrated that focuses on soups and stews (two of my favorite things). I don't subscribe to this magazine, but I love the detective-like approach they take with their recipes. I've only made a few recipes from CI and have been pleased with the results. I followed the recipe for Chicken and Dumplings pretty closely. My changes were using chicken stock (Kitchen Basics brand) instead of chicken broth, substituting an additional 3/4 cup chicken stock for the same amount of sherry, and omitting the English peas and chopped parsley. Next time I make it, I plan use the sherry and to pre-bake the dumplings a bit before adding them to the stew. The taste-testers at dinner thought this was a keeper!

Chicken and Dumplings
5 cups chicken stock
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 Tbsp. butter
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sherry or chicken stock
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder (this isn't a typo)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups heavy cream

1. Bring stock to a boil in Dutch oven; add in chicken breasts. Return to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is just cooked. Place chicken on a cutting board, and cool for 30 minutes. Pour stock into another bowl. Once cool, shred chicken in the mixer with the paddle attachment or use 2 forks.
2. Melt butter in same Dutch oven. Add in carrots and onion, and sauté for 10 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Add in garlic, and cook 1 minute. Stir in 6 Tbsp. flour, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in sherry, scraping bottom of pan. Gradually stir in reserved stock,shredded chicken, cream and next 4 ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring often, 20 minutes.
3. Stir together 2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients.
4. Discard bay leaves and increase heat to medium. Use a small scoop to drop dumplings into stew; cook until dumplings have doubled in size.

Chocolate-Cherry Cookies

Here's the latest variation with my basic cookie recipe. This makes about 6 dozen cookies. Rather than bake them all today, I froze balls of cookie dough on a baking sheet and then placed the frozen cookie dough balls in a zip-top bag. Anytime we want a a little something sweet, we can take out the number of cookie dough balls of the freezer, place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 11 minutes (I think it will take a little longer than normal because the batter is frozen.) This may be a new cottage industry for me—much better than TollHouse from the grocery store! I love this flavor combination, but next time I will add toasted almonds—it'll be even better.

Chocolate-Cherry Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 bag semisweet chocolate morsels
1 bag dried cherries, chopped

1. Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer until creamy. Add in eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
2. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture; beat until combined. Stir in chocolate morsels and chopped cherries.
3. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.