Sick of Turkey? Pot-Pie It.

Ugh, I am so full. But there is still a LOT of food in the refrigerator and there comes a time when one simply cannot bear the thought of eating the same (albeit delicious) meal again. And that is the time when I remember the adage they taught us in elementary school, "Recycle-Reuse-Reduce." Mashed potatoes can become potato pancakes, but there are even more uses for leftover turkey.

If you're over the turkey sandwich and you aren't into the turkey tetrazzini or turkey noodle soup, how about turkey pot-pies without the pot? These single-serving pies are perhaps a little more like empanadas than pot-pies but are easy to make and create delicious individual portions that use up that turkey in no time.

 Mini Turkey Pot-Pies
--1 tbsp olive oil
--1 small onion, diced
--garlic, minced
--8oz. frozen peas and carrots
--1 cup shredded cooked turkey meat
--1 cup chicken broth
--1 tsp. flour (or corn starch, if needed to thicken)
--salt & pepper
--1 package of refrigerated pie crusts (contains two pie crusts)
--cooking spray

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Sautè the onion and garlic for a few minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and the onion is translucent. Add the frozen peas and carrots mixture and stir heartily to mix together.

Add the chicken broth and the shredded turkey and combine well. Season with a little bit of salt and black pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Depending upon the turkey (how it was cooked, how old it is, how much it has dried up), the mixture may soak up more or less broth. Use flour or corn starch to thicken the mixture so that it is less liquid.

Spray a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Lay out the pie crusts and cut into quarters (you can cut into halves if you want bigger pies). Place a large dollop of the filling onto the center of the pie crust quarter and fold up the edges to create a little purse or dumpling. You may need to wet your fingertips a little to create a good seal on the folds.

Cook at 325 degrees for 15 or so minutes or until the crusts are golden brown. Use a spatula to remove from the baking sheet so the bottoms do not continue to brown.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 8 mini pies
Calories: 297 per pie

Bon Anniversaire Bacon & Other Bad Habits!

Logo courtesy of Simply Fabulous

Gosh, has it really been a year? And yet, simultaneously, has it only been a year?

It's hard to believe that it was over a year ago when I was making bacon toffee cookie bars in my kitchen and had the epiphany moment. I decided then, fingers covered in dough, house smelling of pork products, that I wanted to write a cookbook. But as a home cook I didn't know the first thing about writing a cookbook. I'm no chef, just some girl who likes to make food things who grew up in a household with people who like to make food things, who descended from a long line of people who like to make food things.

So I decided to write a blog to first whip both my brain and my kitchen into thinking outside of the recipe box. I woke up in the middle of the night with the thought that this all had to happen NOW, bought the URL at 2am and registered both the Blogger and Wordpress user-names. My friend Kathryn, a classically trained chef, was unemployed at the time and offered her partnership services. And thus, Bacon & Other Bad Habits was born.

Photo of Kathryn and Leah courtesy of Kokoro Photography

In the past year many things have changed. I've been trying to get into better shape and so my cooking has taken on a new approach of how to eat healthy but not give up on taste or things I like to eat. I hope I've succeeded in this. I've forced myself to branch out from standards and family favorites and figure out how to cook new ingredients and use new preparations for everyday items. I started getting my vegetables from a farm to help challenge me and introduce me to new produce.

But other things have changed too. Kathryn started teaching at a culinary school and working as a personal chef and had less time to devote to my pet project. As such, she stopped blogging in February. She is also almost eight months pregnant as I write this; a delightful new critter is about to enter her world. I am very proud of my friend and former contributor and happy that her pushing and partnership are why this blog exists to begin with. I'm equally happy that she now has a pet project of her own--a baby!

My own life is on a new adventure as well. I'm slowly moving out of my tiny 400-square-foot dollhouse (take the tour on YouTube and check out my old super awesome asymmetrical haircut. I was so rad.) and into my boyfriend's house. The kitchen is bigger, the lighting is worse. Here's hoping I become a better photographer...

Thanks for reading Bacon & Other Bad Habits. For "liking" it on Facebook. For re-tweeting the tweets. And more importantly, for telling your friends and family about the site. And for cooking the recipes and providing so much excellent feedback about what you want to see more of.

Now, if I only had time to focus on that cookbook...I suppose that's all in due time, all in due time. Happy birthday Bacon & Other Bad Habits, here's to another great year!

xo,
L.

Photo of Leah courtesy of Kokoro Photography

Cookies Made of Air...And Pecans

I somehow feel that cookie monster would be proud of these little sweets. I've been trying to branch out more with baking. I just feel like I'm not so good at measuring and being exact; baking has so many rules and I've never been good at following rules. Also, it seems that cow dairy products like delicious butter and milk and cream (gahhhhh) actually make me sick by giving me headaches or hives. How can you bake without dairy? That's like re-naming french-fries to freedom-fries. It's just unnatural...

That is until the BF's dad requested that at some point I make a meringue pie. While I haven't accommodated that, it did spark a little thought in my brain. Meringue is just egg whites and sugar, and eggs don't seem to make me sick, so... Genius! Meringue style cookies! Making lemon meringue cookies seemed out of season (but sounds like a good experiment for the next time I want to try my hand at baking) so chocolate was the only way to go. But I wanted these cookies to have a little more oomph, so nuts were necessary.

Little known family fact? My great-Granny's house in Georgia had a grove of pecan trees. (It was also located on Highway 41, where the dude from that Allman Brothers song, Ramblin' Man, claims to have been born in the backseat of a Greyhound bus.) Family members would harvest these pecans and shuck them and send them out to land-locked pecan-deprived Colorado. As such I have a bit of a bias toward pecans.

You will want to use parchment paper for these light, meringue-style cookies to avoid burning the bottoms and aid both in cooling them and also removing them from the pan.

Pecan Ginger Chocolate Meringue Cookies
--2 3/4 cups chopped pecans
--3 cups powdered sugar (also called confectioner's sugar)
--3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
--1/4 teaspoon of salt
--1 TBSP crystallized ginger pieces
--4 egg whites
--1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pecans out onto a non-greased baking sheet. Brown the pecans for 7-9 minutes until they are slightly toasted and tasty smelling but not too browned or burnt. Set them aside and allow them to cool.

Mix the sugar, cocoa, salt, and ginger pieces in a large bowl until well mixed. The mixture will turn grey as the cocoa and sugar combines. Add the cooled pecans and stir again until well combined.

Add the egg whites and the vanilla. Using a fork, beat the mixture slowly and steadily until the batter is moist but not stiff.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (you can re-use the pecan toaster) and drop spoonfuls of batter spaced out onto the sheet. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes. The tops will still be shiny and the cookies will start to crack and may be a little gooey in the center; they will finish setting into firm cookies as they cool. Remove from the hot baking sheets and set the entire parchment paper piece on a wire rack to allow the cookies to cool before pulling them away from the parchment paper and serving.

These guys will keep in a sealed plastic container (like Tupperware) for a week or so before they get too hard.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 24 cookies
Estimated Calories: 172 per cookie

Think Pink (Salt) For Your Potatoes

It wasn't that long ago that there was just plain ole table salt. The famous jug with the girl in the rain slicker comes to mind, pushing her iodized and non-iodized versions. But then there was also Kosher salt, which only chefs and those minding Kashrut seemed to know about. And then along came sea salt, and gourmands everywhere rejoiced with the salt options. Oh gosh, but it didn't stop there. Salt, you see, is the new "it" gourmet product. There is gray salt, rock salt, smoked salt, flake salt, and finally the one I feature in today's recipe, pink salt. Phew!

One of my favorite side dishes is oh so easy that it is almost a crime that I'm posting this recipe (almost, but not quite). If you like salt (there may be a joke in there...) then you will enjoy making vegetables this way and can pocket this as a potential new way to prep some Thanksgiving veggies. While salt is not necessarily the most heart healthy of all the spice choices, all things in moderation--it's not like I'm telling you to keep a salt lick on hand or anything. Besides, salt is experiencing a renaissance period all its own as evidenced by the above list of salty options.

While I make my own concoction of rosemary and pink sea salt ahead of time (and keep it around for every opportunistic occasion), you can just make enough for each batch of veggies. If you can't find pink salt use regular sea salt so you still get good texture. Pictured is a mixture of small russet potatoes and fingerlings but this preparation works well for potatoes large and small of all types and also for beets and turnips.

While the recipe below is for two servings, you can make a small batch or a big batch. I've made enough for one serving, or two, or twelve before. Just keep in mind that one serving of potatoes is about the size of a baseball. Potatoes are rich in potassium and low in sodium (which is good, 'cause, um, we're going to put salt on these) and a fairly healthy food option when baked or roasted.

Rosemary Pink Sea Salt Potatoes
--potatoes (1 baseball=1 serving), either chopped into large chunks or sliced in half
--1 TBSP olive oil
--2 healthy pinches pink sea salt
--2 healthy pinches rosemary, fresh or dried

In a plastic bag combine the potatoes with the olive oil. Shake well to evenly coat the potatoes. Grab one healthy pinch of the salt and one healthy pinch of the rosemary and add to the bag. Shake more to get the spices moved around.

Pour the bag onto a baking sheet or into a cast iron skillet and spread the potatoes out. Use the remaining pinches of salt and rosemary to sprinkle over the potatoes.

Bake at 400 degrees for a minimum of 30 minutes. The salt will cause the skins of the potatoes (or beets or turnips) to wrinkle and brown. You want the outsides a little crispy, but the insides melt in your mouth tender. I usually cook mine for however long it takes me to make the other items of the meal, which on average means about 40 minutes.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2
Estimated Calories: 176 per serving

Squash: Roasted and Stuffed

It's squash season and different squashes that I've never heard of before keep arriving from the farm. One got delivered yesterday called a Turban Squash. It looks more like the little toadstool guy from Super Mario Brothers, but I bet it tastes delicious... I haven't cooked that one up yet, but I did recently stuff some Carnival Squash with a tomato and spinach concoction...

This is hearty enough to serve on it's own as a vegetarian meal or will make a lovely companion to a slab of tasty meat.

Roasted Tomato Stuffed Squash
--4 tomatoes, whole
--2 TBSP olive oil
--dried oregano
--1 carnival squash, sliced in half and seeds removed
--cooking spray
--garlic, minced
--1/2 small onion, diced
--1 dry cup fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried

Using a paring knife, cut out the core of the tomatoes but only down about 1/2". Make x's on the bottom of each tomato. Coat with 1 TBSP of the olive oil and dash with oregano. Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the skins are easy to remove.

In a separate baking dish, spray the squash halves with cooking spray and simultaneously roast cut side down.

Once the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven. Flip the squash so that it is now cut side up and continue roasting until a fork slides easily into the thickest part of the squash.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high and add the remaining 1 TBSP olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and saute to translucency, 2-ish minutes. While the garlic/onion mix cooks, remove the skins from the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes to the skillet and mash with a fork. Add the spinach and toss regularly so spinach gets warmed and wilted but not soggy. Remove pan from heat.

Remove the squash from the oven and place on a plate. Stuff each squash half with the tomato and spinach mixture and eat everything except the squash stem and skin.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 2
Calories: 272 per serving

Pretzels: An Alternative to Bread Crumbs

I picked up some awesome mustard on my recent-ish Palisade adventure. It is made with wine ,so clearly, it's extra yummy. I knew as soon as I plucked the jar from the shelf that it would taste most excellent slathered on a chicken breast and holding on a pretzel crust. Using pretzels is a fun alternative to using breadcrumbs or panko, and depending upon the texture or flavor you want can add a nice little bit of extra oomph.

I was experimenting with size here, so I must admit that I should have ground the pretzels down a little more. The larger chunks managed to stay on the chicken okay, but got browner more quickly so I didn't have an even golden color all around. (More like some, ahem, umber or sepia colors...)

Mustard Chicken With Pretzel Crust
--4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
--1/4 cup of your favorite mustard (use a dijon, honey, beer, or brown mustard, not yellow mustard)
--2 TBSP milk or milk substitute
--1 cup of pretzel crumbs
--parchment paper

Remove any remaining skin or fat from the chicken breasts. Wash the chicken breasts and pat them dry. Place the pretzel crumbs in one bowl and the mustard in another. Whisk the little bit of milk/soy milk/rice milk/? milk into the mustard.

Use one hand to put the chicken into the mustard and coat it evenly. Using the same hand, place the chicken into the pretzel crumbs. Use the other hand (dry hand) to spread the pretzel crumbs evenly over the chicken, flipping it over if necessary to ensure the chicken piece is completely coated. Place the chicken on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and repeat with the remaining chicken pieces. Using the parchment paper will help to keep the chicken from sticking to the pan and make it easier to plate later on.

Bake in the oven until the juices run clear and the crust is browned (40-ish minutes). Remove from the parchment paper and plate it up!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 291 per serving

Fabulous Fall Colors, Fantastic Fall Vegetables

We're knee deep in Autumn; by now the leaves have changed to a rainbow of colors and are falling all around us. Halloween brought critters in costume, marching through piles of leaves and pumpkins, and wandering away full of sugar. It's my favorite time of year for many reasons, but not the least of which is I get a cheap thrill out of eating food that matches the landscape around me. The Fall food color-scape is a bevy of rich jewel tones--vibrant reds, brilliant yellows, energetic oranges.

Root vegetables and those that grow low to the ground thrive this time of year, so fill your plates with potatoes, beets, carrots, squashes, and onions. Today's recipe throws another fall flavor--apple--into the mix and gives this dish even more depth. I served mine with some roasted chicken over brown rice but you could easily make this a vegetarian meal or a Thanksgiving side dish as well. Even better, roast a chicken in the middle of this sea of root vegetables and baste with extra apple cider.

Apple Cider Roasted Root Vegetables
--5 whole garlic cloves
--1/2 large onion
--2 medium sized beets, washed and greens removed
--1 honey crisp or gala apple, cored
--5 small potatoes (or more if you use fingerling potatoes)
--3 medium-large sized carrots, scrubbed and greens removed
--fresh sage
--(optional) 4-5 small tomatoes
--2 TBSP olive oil
--salt & pepper to taste
--4 TBSP apple cider

Roughly chop all the vegetables (except for the garlic, leave that whole) and the apple into chunks. If you opt for small tomatoes, leave those whole (as pictured) so the skins come off easier. Using your hands, rip the sage into large pieces.

Place all the vegetables and the sage into a plastic bag. Pour in the olive oil and shake vigorously to coat all the vegetables. Sprinkle a little salt and crack a little black pepper into the bag. Again, move the items all around so the salt and pepper do a little disco on the mixture.

Pour the contents of the bag into a glass oven-safe dish. Pour the apple cider evenly over the mix. Bake at 400 degrees until vegetables are tender, tomatoes are soft and skins come off easily, and potatoes begin to get a lovely brown crust (45-ish minutes). It's okay if things are a little pink, that's just the beets sharing the love.

Eat!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 189 per serving