chicken and sage tortellini

Wondering what to do with ground chicken? Just add won ton wrappers for homemade tortellini!

I now have a few dozen tortellini in my freezer, waiting to be boiled up and eaten with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan. Mmmm.


chicken and sage tortellini
serves 3-4

won ton wrappers
1/2 lb ground chicken
7-10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
salt

Mix together well the chicken, sage, garlic and a few dashes of salt.

To make the tortellini, take a wrapper in the palm of your hand, add a spoonful of the chicken mixture to the center, and then dip your finger in water. Run your damp finger along two edges of the wrapper and then seal in a triangle, pinching up the sides. Then pinch together the two far corners and bend back the third corner. Don't worry -- after making a few, you really get into a rhythm. While you're working with one wrapper, make sure to keep the rest under a damp cloth. And have a little dish of water to dip your finger into.

Either boil and enjoy right away or freeze for later. To freeze, lay them individually on a cookie sheet. (I dusted the sheet with a little flour 'cause I was afraid they might stick.) Once they were frozen, I threw them together in a ziplock bag.

baby band tshirts

Who doesn't have ol' tshirts lying around? It seems pretty simple to downsize 'em for a rockin' recycled baby gown. Although I don't know if we need another generation of Guns n' Roses fans...

city quilt, built

I love this quilt. I worked on it a while ago and then let it drop to the bottom of the stack of WIPs. But now it's finished -- and it's one of my favourites. Mostly because of that cute frog.

It was pretty quick to finish once I had the top done and embroidered. I did the ol' right sides together trick with batting on top, turned it inside out and then top-stitched. Simple.

I used a polyester batting so I could get the high loft I wanted and I could space the zitzits 6-7 inches apart. Not sure what to call them because instead of tying, I used the zig zag stitch on the shortest length and widest width (same way I made that turtle blanket.) Makes for a neat baby-safe connection. If you ever need a quick baby gift, I highly recommend the method.

chicken apple sausage

Whoa. That was kind of a long unplanned hiatus from this place. Well, welcome back! I've made chicken apple sausages for the occasion.

If you want to make these more breakfasty, try adding a dash of cinnamon.

chicken apple sausage
serves 2 (adapted from a Martha recipe)

1/2 lb ground chicken
1 small granny smith apple, diced
1/2 onion, finely diced
about 10 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. In oven proof frying pan, saute the onions in a little olive oil, until translucent. Add the apple pieces and saute for a few more minutes, until slightly soft.

In medium bowl, combine the chicken, sage, salt & pepper, and the onion-apple mixture.

Form mixture into four patties and place in hot frying pan, prepped with a little olive oil again. Brown both sides for a few minutes each, and then place in hot oven. Bake for about 10 minutes, until cooked through.

We enjoyed ours with some mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Its starting to really feel like summer 'round here.

pasta logic

In Italy, there's an unwritten code for what pasta goes with what types of sauce. Like language, the best method of learning this pasta culture is immersion. Only because the rules seem a little arbitrary and silly if you just read about them. But if you can taste the difference, and you can see the way certain sauce clings to different shapes, then pairing garlic and oil with a light angel hair, but pairing alfredo with thicker noodles like fettucini makes perfect sense. (It also helps to have a host mom that just shakes her head in disgust at your untrained suggestions...)

Usually I just go from memory of what my host mom did, but Chow has this great cheat sheet!

And while we're on the subject of pasta, if you've been tempted to make your own, here is a video to help.

creamy sausage veggie pasta -
sauteed garlic, red peppers, zucchini, and sweet sausage
tossed with spaghetti, a little pasta water, cream, and parmesan

drunk crisp

Happy May Day!

Pretty soon it won't be crisp season any more -- my summertime desserts are more along the lines of simple fresh fruit. And in the meantime, well, what is a springtime dessert? It doesn't feel quite right to make a baked apple anything when the weather is teasing us every few hours... cupcakes maybe?

But while we're still bundling up at night and waiting for fresh berries, I'll share this recipe for apple, prune and brandy crisp.

drunk apple and prune crisp
serves 4 (originally from Gourmet magazine)

1/2 C brandy
1 C pitted prunes, halved
2/3 C flour
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4 teas salt
1/8 teas cinnamon
2/3 C old-fashioned oats
6 McIntosh apples (or a mixture of sweet and sour apples)
vanilla ice cream, of course

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bring brandy to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Stir in cut prunes and let stand while making topping.

Mix flour, 6 Tbs brown sugar, butter, salt, and cinnamon together until mixture resembles coarse meal. (Food processor works great so you don't melt the butter with your fingers.) Add oats and stir to just combine.

Peel, quarter, and core apples and cut into 1/2" wedges. Transfer apples to a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish and toss with prune mixture and remaining 2 Tbs brown sugar.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling and bake in middle of oven until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling (about 30 mins.)

I tend to like my crisp cold, the next morning, but enjoying it warm with vanilla ice cream is a close second.

googly eyes

Ha! Check out this "what can you make with a..." series from The Crafty Crow. Some good ol' fashioned arts n' crafts inspiration à la Amy Sedaris.

some times you feel like a nut...

We began the evening with a malty Rogue hazelnut brown ale, and then enjoyed this easy nutty pasta for dinner...

broccoli and walnut orecchiette
from Real Simple, Feb 09
serves 4

3 C orecchiette pasta
1-2 bunches (1.5 lbs) broccoli, cut into small florets
1/2 C walnuts, roughly chopped
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
salt and pepper
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 C grated parmasan

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss together the broccoli florets, walnuts, oil, garlic, and a dash of salt and pepper. Roast, tossing once or twice, until the broccoli is tender (20 mins.)

Meanwhile, cook the pasta. Reserve 3/4 C of the pasta water before draining. Return to pot.

Toss the pasta with the butter, the broccoli mixture and slowly add a little of the reserved pasta water. (You may only use 1/4 C, or may need more if it still seems dry.) Sprinkle with lots of freshly grated parmesan and serve.

urban homesteading: chicken

I used to buy boneless skinless chicken breasts. Oh the money I could've saved! In the last few years, I've gotten into preparing my own cuts of chicken -- all it took was a big sharp knife.

Actually, it took a little imperative. When we decided to only buy happy chickens that hadn't done drugs, I thought I'd better find a way to get our money's worth.

Nowadays it's just part of the routine -- once every couple of months I go buy a couple chickens to make up some stock and to put wings, thighs, and breasts into our freezer. On average, we enjoy about 9 meals out of those 2 chickens (not counting leftovers): 4 quarts of stock (one quart has all the chicken off the soup bones), 4 thighs, 4 drumsticks, 2 whole breasts, and 2 breasts cut into pieces and bagged separately.


I have to laugh at myself (and my, ahem, competitive nature.) When I read a teaser for an economizing article in Gourmet, 'learn how to stretch 2 chickens to 16 servings,' I scoffed. "Whatever, I can get at least 18!" Whoever said life isn't a game to win?!

I am reminded of my grandma being proud of using every bit of butter from the wrapper. The important thing was that it was more butter than her neighbor got, who just threw out the wrapper without even scraping it with a spatula (if you can even imagine!)

Thriftiness is fun for me because it requires a bit of competition. Getting the deal. Making things stretch further than last time. I'm just glad I don't have to compete against my grandma.

a little inspiration...

Feeling like making something? Here are a few things to consider...

* an ultra soft checkerboard lace scarf
* these adorable kimono baby booties
* make a fabric egg for Easter -- or better yet, one with a secret pocket
* a cape for the superhero in your life
* a new spring handbag
* or a bag with sling capabilities
* these cute ponytail scarves make me wish I had long hair
* some shoe bags for your next trip
* I know Christmas is a loooong way away, but doesn't this tree skirt (scroll down) look fun?! (it's the buttons that are doin' it for me)
* if you need a project to last you the next 10 years, how about recreating this selvedge dress
* not into fabric or fiber? how about paper fortune cookies
* or a terrarium!