CityMama™

NaBloPoMo Recipe #10: Sweet and Sour Sausage, Sweet Potato, and Cabbage Soup

I'm definitely in a soup mood  so here's another unusual-yet-tasty one from the Family Food archives. This, too, breaks my NaBloPoMo 6 ingredient rule but it's the weekend and it's done in about half an hour. I adapted this from a friend's recipe. I'm sorry I don't have a photo for you—when it's done it looks like a chunky minestrone.

Tomorrow begins a week's worth of Thanksgiving recipes.  Hope you are having a great weekend! 

SWEET AND SOUR SAUSAGE, SWEET POTATO AND CABBAGE SOUP

Don't get thrown off by the sugar and the vinegar, the flavors work really well with the sausage, cabbage, and sweet potatoes. This is my husband's favorite soup.

• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• one onion, chopped
• 1 package kielbasa, sliced—I get mine from a Whole Foods-type grocery (or 1 package of pre-cooked sausage like Aidell's Andouille or Trader Joe's )
• 1 small head of green cabbage (Savoy if possible), chopped
• 2 medium sweet potatoes or yams (orange flesh), peeled and chopped into large (1-2 inch) pieces
• 2 boxes Organic Free Range Chicken Broth
• 2-3 tbsps brown sugar (a handful)
• 2-4 tbsps apple cider vinegar (2-4 splashes)

Saute onion and garlic in a couple glugs of olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Stir often. Add sliced sausage and cook through (about 5 minutes). Add cabbage and sweet potatoes and all the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add brown sugar and vinegar to taste—make it as sweet and tangy as you like—a cook a further 10 minutes. Serve.

Friday Link Love—11/9/07

First, I can't believe it's already November 9. When I scan down my calendar, it's like Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Which reminds me, next week all my recipes will be devoted to Thanksgiving. I've been cooking my family's turkey dinner since I was 14. I've done it every which way from brined to barbecued, but the recipes I'm going to share aren't going to be the usual ones because let's face it, who doesn't know how to mash a potato? No, the recipes I'm going to share are going to be highly personal...the things my Thanksgiving meal can't be without.

I know I haven't been linking my love like I should lately, but this week, some righteous ish hit my inbox, so here we go with the sharing:

• I have a post up on Kango.com describing "three perfect days with your sweetie" in the San Francisco area. If you'll be visiting San Francisco (or are coming out for BlogHer next year and want to take a side trip), please consider my suggestions!
• Charlene and I have been yakking about giving eco-conscious Christmas gifts this year. Greenlemonaide, a Portland mama-owned biz, might be the perfect place to start...or at least provide inspiration for your presents. [Hat-tip to reader Courtney!]
• Speaking of green, I definitely am not giving toys for Christmas this year. I'm too disgusted with the toy recall situation. Consider giving an eco-gift in the form of a donation to a worthy cause courtesy of Conservation.org.
• Regarding the toy issue, join the "Not In My Cart" campaign. Toy safety shouldn't be an option, it should be a given.
• Recently, I was sent samples of new Tide, Downy, and Bounce Pure Essentials. (Get your free samples here.) I've been eschewing commercial laundry products in favor of greener products, my personal favorite being Ecos Magnolia & Lily flavor for HE, front-loading washers. I have to admit that I was sucked in by Tide and Downy's new spare and "nature-y" packaging design (I'm a sucker for lots of white space.) It's meant to convey that the products are earth-friendly. Still, they got my clothes clean and didn't have a strong perfumey scent which was nice. What more can you say about detergent? (I didn't try the Bounce because my dryer manufacturer recommends against dryer sheets.)
• Blogs I'm digging: Sopapilla and At Home In Rome (I read it and it's like I'm there.)

NaBloPoMo Recipe #9: Corn Chowder

Because it's cold outside.

Now that it's fall, frozen corn is a fine substitution for fresh. It's 8 ingredients  (not counting salt, pepper, and water) instead of 6, but it's still a snap to make.

Enjoy!

NaBloPoMo Recipe #8: Cheatin' Chile Verde Chicken

Round these parts, Monday is often "Mexican Monday," where we eat Mexican or Mexican-inspired meals. My husband loves Mexican food, I have learned to love it over the years, and my kids and weird and hated it up until recently. We kept shoving burritos at them and eventually they relented.  Now bean and rice burritos (no cheese!) are a staple around here, and DIY tacos (soft or crispy) are probably my girls' favorite meal.

A dish I love to make when the weather turns cold is Chile Verde Chicken. Chicken is stewed in a garlicky-tomatillo mixture until it falls off the bone.  Served with rice and warmed corn tortillas, there's nothing better.  But it can be very fussy to make what with cooking and peeling all those tomatillos and chiles, so what do you do when you just want to get something on the stove?  You make this "cheatin'" version.  I promise, it's good. And while it simmers, you can do other things.

CHEATIN' CHILE VERDE CHICKEN

Also fabulous when made with boneless pork shoulder cut into cubes.

• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• (a little olive oil)
• 1 chicken, cut up (or your favorite parts to equal 8 pieces)
• 1 large can (28 oz.) green enchilada sauce (I use Las Palmas brand)
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• optional: 2 fresh corn tortillas, cut into thin strips (helps to thicken the chile and gives it depth of flavor)

In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in just a splash of oil over medium-high heat until onions turn translucent. Add in chicken and brown well on both sides. Dump in the green enchilada sauce and chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add in the tortilla strips and continue cooking 30 minutes more. Adjust seasonings. (I don't add salt to this because sauce and broth are usually salted already.) You can garnish with fresh cilantro leaves before serving if you wish. Pass lime wedges as well.

Notes: I often make this in the AM and cook it for 30 minutes to an hour while I get ready for the day. Then I turn it off and let it hang out on the stove all day, tightly covered. (You can fridge it if that grosses you out.) When I am ready to reheat it for dinner, I add in the tortilla strips and continue cooking for 30 minutes more. I always skim the fat before serving. You can remove the skin from the chicken if you prefer.

I am so disgusted I don't even know where to begin.

These were the one thing Bunny wanted for Christmas.  I saw them at Costco and made a mental note to purchase them there when I started my holiday shopping.  I imagined her face on Christmas morning smiling with glee at the realization that her Mamma really was listening all those times she squealed, "AquaDots! AquaDots!" when the commercial came on. On PBS Sprout. Don't get me started.

Now I read I could have poisoned my own children because they both are so orally-fixated they would have been scooping those beads into their mouths fistful by tiny little fistful. It's water, right? What's the harm in that?

I'm stunned. I mean, I really would have bought these. And I would have poisoned my children. Or worse.

And when I read this, I CANNOT BELIEVE this great, caring, smart man is not the front-runner for president. If he gets the nomination he will win.

Tears stinging eyes. Anger doesn't even begin to cut it.

Someone's priorities are way waaaaaaaaay outta whack, and I want to know who that is I just found out that her name is Nancy Nord. Consumer Product Safety Commission my @ss.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO GET RID OF NANCY NORD, HEAD OF THE CPSC. She has accepted perks (like travel) from the toy industry and has resisted congressional efforts to empower her agency.  There is only one toy inspector at the CPSC, why wouldn't she accept help? If she's not willing to do her job—protecting our children—she must go!

NaBloPoMo Recipe #7: Perfectly Easy Chicken Salad

I love sandwiches. Basically anything between two slices of bread is A-OK by me. One of my all-time favorites is chicken salad. I love it in sandwiches, stuffed into tomatoes, or just just scooped onto a bowl of mixed lettuces. It's fab to make with chicken that you roast yourself, but it's just fine made with quality canned chicken. For this recipe, all the ingredaments work together to create some mayonnaise-y magic, and you'll never know that it wasn't made with leftover roasted chicken.  If you don't like mayonnaise...well...I can't help you there.

This recipe is one of Bunny and Wallie's lunchbox favorites.

PERFECTLY EASY CHICKEN SALAD

• 1 can of Trader Joe's white meat chicken, drain all the broth
• 1 small apple, finely diced (I like Fuji or Gala for this)
• 1 rib celery, cut lengthwise into thirds, then dice
• 1/4 onion, finely diced
• juice of half a lemon
• mayonnaise (light or regular, just not fat-free)
• optional (add it if you like it): 1 teaspoon of finely chopped dill (no stems)

Place apple, celery, and onion into a bowl. Break up the chicken with your fingers and add it to the bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over all. Add the dill if you are using it. (I love it in this.) Add enough mayo to bind the ingredients. If you're me, you grind in plenty of black pepper. Slap between two slices of lightly toasted bread. Eat.

Tagged: 8 random things including the limp handshake

I've been tagged by the lovely and talented Honglien123 to share 8 random things about me. I kind of feel like everything about me is random. I've already shared my dislike for pizza, my Q-Tip fetish, and my love for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. How much more random can you get?

• I hate socks. I never wear them if I can help it, even in the dead of winter, and especially never to bed. I don't like having hot, sweaty feet. I think it's a hold-over from my Hawaii childhood.
• I wear perfume every day. I prefer floral scents with a hint of citrus.
• I have a "Carrie necklace" that I got during the SATS peak. It's ginuwine gold and says "Stefania" and the "i" is dotted with a diamond that you can only see if you look at it under a microscope. I ordered from a website in Florida (which I somehow found fitting at the time) and have worn it off and on continually since I got it. Even when it fell out of fashion, though they seem to be back in fashion now. I wore it when I taught and my principal once asked if it was a gift from my husband. I love that freakin' necklace.
• I hatehatehatehate the practice of men shaking hands with a woman by grabbing her fingertips and giving them a light squeeze. Or worse, a cursory wiggle. You know what I hate even more? When WOMEN do it. I admit that if a women does that to me in a social setting, I cannot think of anything else the entire time. And if I see the woman again, I purposely avoid her.  Shallow? Oh, hellzyah, but I KNOW I don't have anything in common with a woman who gives a limpd*ck handshake. Does this limp hand treatment get passed down from mother to daughter? Are men really that afraid that they are so bionically-strong that they will crush a woman's hand if they try to shake it properly? If you do it: STOP. If I am extending my hand to you, shake it, for cryin' out loud!

I have a lot of reading-related quirks:

• I have to read every night before bed or else I can't fall asleep. Even if I am dead-tired and can barely keep my eyes open, I still flip open my book and read a paragraph before nodding off.
• I don't like reading library books because they are filthy, germ-ridden, staph-infected petri dishes of doom and I hate touching them. If I do read them, I never let them touch the bed and I wash my hands after.
• I try never to fold the corner of the page over to mark my place. I either use a book mark (usu. a movie ticket stub) or memorize the page where I left off. I still remember my elementary school librarian's admonishment not to "hurt the books" because "they are our friends."
• I alternate reading fiction and non-fiction books and if I read a particularly meaty fiction book, I follow it with something trashy and fun.

Eight things. Maybe random, maybe not, but there it is. Tag, you're it.

MOMocrats Moment: John Edwards: two things you need to know

I've said before that I don't want to turn my blog into a soapbox, but it's no secret that I'm for John Edwards for President. He doesn't have a chance at winning unless people who support him speak out. We seem to be locked in boxes too afraid to share our feelings lest we get shouted down by Hillary and Obama supporters. Thank you for indulging me and letting me post my MOMocrat moments from time to time and know that I will vote for whichever Democrat gets the nomination. I just hope it's John Edwards.

First, if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and would like to meet John Edwards in an intimate setting (in people's homes), please let me know. If you want to witness history and are willing to make a financial commitment to the Edwards campaign, clear your calendars. You must attend. There are three fundraisers happening next week: Friday night in Los Gatos and San Francisco, and Saturday brunch in Marin county.  Please comment or send me an email at citymama at gmail dot com and I will give you the info hook-up. This is the last time Senator Edwards will be in Northern California until the February primary.

Second, I have a post up about John Edwards and the gay marriage issue at MOMocrats. 

Happy election day!

NaBloPoMo Recipe #6: A whole mess o' lentils and four things you can do with them

Lentils are by far my favorite legume. I love that they have been adopted across many different cultures (French, Italian, Indian), and so can be prepared many different ways. 

Every once in a while, during the fall and winter, I cook up a whole bag of lentils and then use them in as many ways as I can.

BASIC LENTIL RECIPE

• 1 pound of lentils (16 oz bag) washed and picked over
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 stalk of celery, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• olive oil
• water
• optional: 1 bay leaf

In a large covered pot over medium-high heat, saute the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil until onions are translucent and start to get lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add lentils, bay leaf if you are using it, and 5 cups of water (or broth) bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 25-30 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are tender. (Stir occassionally throughout cooking.) Salt and pepper to taste after lentils are cooked. Remove from heat and uncover. Don't cook any longer that 30 minutes or else lentils will turn to mush.

Now you have some options. You've just made a big batch which you can divide several different ways:

NaBloPoMo Recipe #5: Spaghetti that will change your life

I know it doesn't look like much but you have to trust me on this: you just have to try it. You'll be asking yourself, "How can something so simple taste so good!"

Speaking of comfort food, this is the dish that comforts and gently caresses my Italian genes. When it's cold outside and I want to cozy up with a bowl of pasta, only this spaghetti sauce will do.

As the recipe states, quality ingredients are the key to making this dish shine. Since there are only five ingredients, make them the best they can be. Splurge on the fancy butter, the imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes, the best pasta, and the finest cheese.

The best part about this dish is that in the time it takes the water to boil and the pasta to cook, the entire dish is done.