Hearty Vegetable Cassoulet

October 9, 2015October 9, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Cassoulet. It just sounds fancy doesn’t it? But then again, most French words sound fancy. In fact, this dish is probably as far from fancy as you can get. A cassoulet is a slow-cooked casserole that started out as a peasant meal. Basically, all the scraps of meat, bones, and vegetables were placed into a clay baking dish and cooked over low heat for a long time to make a delicious cross between a casserole and a hearty stew.

Over the years, chefs and restaurants got a hold of it and “elevated” it to make it good enough to be put on expensive menus. The truth was that not much needed to be changed to make a delicious dish because sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest.

I made this cassoulet a little different than the traditional dish because I didn’t include any meat. It is still a very rich dish that is great for the cooler nights we’ve been having. You can also add meat if you wanted or mushrooms if you wanted to keep it vegetarian but add a “meaty” component.

This dish can be made ahead of time and then just popped in the oven when it’s time for dinner. It tastes like you have spent all day cooking it, but we can just keep that our little secret! So impress your friends and family with a tasty and fancy cassoulet that is as simple as could be.

Hearty Vegetable Cassoulet

1 tsp olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp marjoram
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 cup dry red wine (I used a malbec, but you can use whatever you have on hand)
1 cup carrots, peeled and diced into rounds
3/4 cup celery, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
1 tbsp molasses (you could use maple syrup too)
1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onions, garlic, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes
Add the 1/2 cup wine and bring to a slow simmer. Cover the dish and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove cover and stir in the vegetables and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and return to a simmer.
Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. Transfer the whole things to a 9 x 13 casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Cook in the oven for 45 minutes.

See? It really is a simple meal. After cooking in the oven for 45 minutes, you’re left with a meal that is stick to your ribs good and is loaded with good for you vegetables and legumes. If you want to do this meal with meat, I would use chunks of beef because they will handle the long cook time well. Just make sure to brown them before adding them into the dish.

Oh, and Adam wants me to make sure to tell you to serve this with bread. But then again he wants me to serve bread with every meal…

Have a great Friday everyone and I will see you on Monday!

DIY Wednesday: Squash Apple Butter

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015 / ktbuchs87

I certainly did not invent apple butter, although that would be pretty awesome if I did. I’m also certainly not the first to put a recipe for apple butter on their blog. But I’m putting a little spin on the typical apple butter today for your DIY post of the week.

I actually had never really tried apple butter until I met Adam. His grandma sent us home from a visit once with some apple butter and it was delicious. It was smoother and creamier than applesauce and that was what I loved about it. It’s funny that Adam was technically the one to introduce me to apple butter since the man doesn’t like cooked apples! I know, he’s weird.

Anyway, most apple butter is made with a TON of sugar. Besides adding sweetness, it helps preserve the apple butter. That’s fine for some, but since I don’t do refined or much added sugar, I wanted to try an apple butter that didn’t use sugar. To me, cooked apples are already fairly sweet. Plus if you add in spices like cinnamon it ups the sweet factor. I also wanted to do something to make my apple butter even smoother. Pureed squash is really smooth and creamy plus it tends to lean toward the sweet side. And squash is just awesome in general so I thought why not add it into my apple butter.

Luckily it worked out and I ended up with a fall hybrid butter that is perfect on toast, in oatmeal, on pancakes, or on a peanut butter sandwich. It is so easy to make your own apple butter and it will cost a lot less than buying it from the apple orchard or specialty shops. So if you have a plethora of apples hanging around and want to try something a little different than your typical apple butter, give this squash apple butter a try!

Squash Apple Butter

5 to 6 large apples of different varieties, I used a mix of sweet and tart like granny smith and gala.
2 cups diced butternut squash, you could also try pumpkin or delicata
2 tsp lemon juice
2 to 3 cinnamon sticks, optional
2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, optional
1 tsp ground cloves, optional
1 tsp ground cinnamon, optional

Place sliced apples, cubed squash, and cinnamon sticks if you are using them into a slow cooker. You want to make sure you fill the cooker almost to the top leaving just a little space.
Cook on high for 4 hours. If your apples and squash start sticking, you can use a little water. Don’t use too much because you don’t want a watery butter.
After 4 hours, the apples and squash should be fairly soft. Remove the cinnamon sticks and smash everything else with a potato masher or fork and transfer the whole thing to a blender. You could also use an immersion blender. Puree the apples and squash until super smooth. This is important to make sure you have a smooth and creamy butter.
Return the puree to the slow cooker and cook on high for another hour. At the end stir in the lemon juice and any spices you want.
Allow the whole mixture to cool before you transfer to jars or other airtight containers. Store in the fridge.

I have really liked swirling this into my oatmeal in the morning. The whole thing just reminds me of fall and that makes me happy!

In other news, my little sister is getting married this weekend ( 😀 😀 😀 😀 ) and I am just a tad busy helping her with that! While I have plenty of new recipes to share with you, my Friday post will be a round-up of my favorite fall recipes around the blog world. I hope you have a great Wednesday and see you soon!

Dumpling Soup

November 7, 2014February 26, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Road trips for our family often included a stop at the Cracker Barrel. It was awesome because not only was it a restaurant but an old-timey store too with things like penny candy and old fashioned toys. Whenever we went to the Cracker Barrel I would get two things, stick candy (tutti-fruitti and root beer) and chicken and dumplings. I loved the chicken and dumplings, the creamy gravy and the soft doughy dumplings were my idea of comfort. It’s been a long time since I have had that dish but last winter I got a craving for those dumplings and wanted to try and create something similar but a lot healthier. Long story short, this dumpling soup is NOTHING like the Cracker Barrel chicken and dumplings. But I don’t count this recipe as a total failure because I ended up with a really delicious, warming, and comforting soup. This is a perfect cold day meal and it doesn’t take too much effort to put together. While I’ve left out chicken and added beans, you can easily add in cooked chicken to this soup.

Dumpling Soup

For the soup

olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
5 to 6 stalks celery, diced
2 tsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (optional but adds a nice cheesy flavor)
1 1/2 cups white beans, dried and cooked or canned
1 to 2 tbsp brown rice flour, divided (you could also use coconut or whole wheat flour if not gluten-free)
5 cups water
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

For the dumplings

3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp dill weed or other favorite seasoning
1/2 cup milk (I used almond)

1. In a large soup pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Saute onion, carrots, and celery until lightly brown. Add in garlic and saute for 1 more minute. Stir in thyme and sprinkle vegetables with a tablespoon of brown rice flour. If all your vegetables aren’t coated add another tablespoon of flour. Add in beans, nutritional yeast if using, and water. Make sure you have enough water to cover the vegetables and chickpeas. Add in paprika, salt and pepper, and bay leaves and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cover.

2. While your soup is simmering, whisk together all the dry ingredients for the dumplings. Add in the 1/2 cup of milk and stir to combine. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes.

3. Uncover the soup and drop spoonfuls of the dumpling dough into the soup. Once the batter is gone, cover the sip with a lid and leave for 20 minutes. DON’T lift the lid during this time to check the dumplings because that will lengthen your cook time. At the end of the 20 minutes uncover and check dumplings. They should be fluffy and a little brown around the edges. If some of the dumplings have fused together just break apart with a wooden spoon.

4. Ladle both dumplings and the soup into bowls and enjoy!

The dumplings and flour help make a wonderfully thick and creamy soup. While I didn’t get exactly the recipe I was looking for, I got a really yummy soup that is perfect for the cold weather that is coming. This is also a really good soup to share with a group of people. Perfect for family gatherings in front of the fire. Isn’t that a cozy picture? Have a great weekend everyone and see you on Monday!