Avocados!

Avocados are wonderful! They are a healthy source of monosaturated fat, vitamins B, E, and K, and high in fiber. (and I think they are delicious!) I decided to write this post after making some guacamole. Here it is... the tried and true... after much testing... Jason and Jenn's Favorite Guacamole:

Avocados
Lime Juice (about a Tablespoon per avocado)
Red Onion chopped very finely (I just add enough so some is in each scoop)
Fresh Cilantro chopped finely (again, just enough so you get some in each bite)
Salt to taste

Smash it up and enjoy, we like to eat it with Tostitos Multigrain Chips. Now, I sometimes like a chunkier guac. so I'll add some chopped up bell peppers or a hot pepper for a little more spice, but the above recipe is the favorite.

How do you make your guacamole? There are so many different ways out there :) Also, what else do you like to do with avocados? I eat slices with a little salt sometimes or put them on a sandwich.

French Onion Soup

yummmmmmmm! (that's all I have to say!)

5 sweet onions

3 tablespoons of butter
salt

2 cups of white wine (we used a Chardonnay)

3 cups beef broth

10 oz. apple cider

2 bay leaves

Splash of Cognac

French bread and shredded Gruyere cheese (similar to Swiss)

Thinly slice all the onions into "half moons", set aside. Melt the butter over medium high heat on the stove and add a layer of onions, sprinkle with salt, add another layer of onions and more salt until all the onions are in the pan. Let the onions cook for at least 20 minutes before trying to stir. Stir frequently till onions caramelize to a brown color, the recipe said 45 minutes to an hour but ours took about an hour and 20 minutes-- don't rush them! When onions are caramelized add 2 cups of white wine and heat on high till wine turns syrup-like (about 10 minutes). Add in beef broth, apple cider, cognac, and bay leaves and reduce to a simmer. Let soup simmer for 15-20 minutes. While simmering, cut up the bread and toast in the oven for a few minutes. Add the soup to an oven safe bowl, top with bread and cheese and put under the broiler for about 2 minutes. We had seconds it was so good. Enjoy!

Beef Brisket

I picked up a beef brisket while it was on sale and was not really sure what to do with it. I asked around and ended up combining two recipes, one from Shayna's Aunt and one from "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" on the food network.

1 lb. beef brisket (next time I'm definitely going to get a bigger brisket, we barely had any leftovers!)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

6 slices of Bacon

1 large onion

3 celery ribs

2 cloves of garlic

1 package of mushrooms (not sure how many exactly, maybe 15 smallish)

1 cup balsamic vinegar

12 oz beef broth

1 package lipton onion soup mix

First, coat a large pan with the olive oil and heat it up. Salt the brisket and add it to the hot oiled pan. Brown well on both sides and then remove the brisket from the pan. Chop up the bacon and add it to the hot oil. Once crispy add in the onion, celery, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir fry about 10 minutes and add the balsamic vinegar, simmer for another 10 minutes. In a roasting pan add the beef broth and the lipton soup mix. When the veggies are soft add them to the roasting pan and lay the brisket on top. Seal the pan with tin foil and bake in the oven for about 3 hours at 425 degrees. Every 45 minutes or so I turned the brisket over and basted it with the juices. For the last 30 minutes I uncovered the brisket so that the gravy could thicken a bit. We sliced ours thinly and topped it with the gravy, sides were potato pancakes, and the whipped butternut squash I wrote about earlier, it was delicious! (hint- if the gravy is not thick when the brisket is done stir in cornstarch a tablespoon at a time to thicken it up)

Mushroom and Kasha Soup

This was a perfect meal for my unwelcome snow day. I wanted something warm, wholesome, and savory, without a lot of work. Also, this is a great low-cost seasonal option. The time can be cut down even further by buying pre-sliced mushrooms, but I like a lot of mushroom in every bite, so I cut them extra thin.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
8 oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup kasha

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in onions once the oil is warmed. Allow onions to soften (~4-5 mins).
2. Stir in mushrooms and garlic and let soften (~4-5 mins).
3. Add kasha and bay leaf, stir, and pour in water. Up the heat until the soup boils and then drop to a simmer. Let simmer for ~20 mins (until the kasha softens).
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I garnished with a dollop of Greek yogurt and some finely chopped rosemary and it was amazing. Thyme is also a recommended topping. Next time I think I'll probably add some sherry with the mushrooms since I love that flavor combo. Some kasha substitution ideas: quinoa, barley or brown rice.

Here's a photo, after I started chowing down (I forgot to take it until I was halfway through!):

Super Bowl Football Rice Krispies Treats

We basically followed the recipe for rice krispies treats, so nothing particularly special here, except that we used Cocoa Krispies, a leaf cookie cutter (since we don't have a football, we just smoothed the edges after cutting) and some vanilla icing and voila! They turned out nicely- a little crunchy at first, but delish once chewed a bit. Not sure what we could have done differently to make them softer- maybe a little more butter (we used 1/4 cup, although we saw another recipe that called for 1/3) or not cutting them into shapes (but where's the fun in that?!). Here's what we used:

5 cups rice krispies
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 bag (about 40 large) marshmallows
optional: icing

Melt butter on stove, add marshmallows and turn into marshmallow fluff over low heat. Remove from heat, quickly add cereal. Once coated, pour into a 9x13-ish pan to cool. **Tip: if you use a buttered silicone spatula, this is SO much easier!
If you're going to be cookie cutting, do it fast before your treats cool. Buttering the cookie cutter may make the job easier, too.

For the icing, we used a disposable cake decorating bag, although you could use any plastic baggie, cut off the corner and squeeze it on out! We put laces on some treats and added an outline to some. They were very festive and fun :)

Of course, you can add all sorts of goodies into rice krispies treats, and even add peanut butter to the mixture for an extra special kick. Mmm, enjoy!