No BPA in my Chicken Cacciatore!

Unless one has a bounty of 'maters from from their own garden and/or the farm available, Pomi tomatoes are the only BPA free and pesticide free canned tomato option out there that I know of - crazy they have to come all the way from Italy, but Viva Italia!

Being that I'm out of the home processed variety I decided to order a case of them from one of my favorite local family owned grocery shops, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, and Springtime Chicken Cacciatore is once again on the menu in my house!

Ingredients

3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 whole chicken, or 6 chicken leg quarters cut into pieces (skin on or off, your choice)

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 carrots, scrubbed, chopped

4 oz chopped mushrooms (optional)

6 garlic cloves, crushed

4 oz red wine

2 packages Pomi crushed tomatoes

4 oz water

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Drizzle of honey

1 bay leaf

Chopped flat-leaf Italian Parsley

1 Tbs fresh rosemary, chopped or 1tsp dried, crushed

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning, until browned on each side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the pan and saute over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until the onion softens.

Add the garlic (and mushrooms) cook for a another 2 minutes.

Return chicken pieces to the pan, add the wine, raise the heat and bring to a boil.

Add the tomatoes, water, balsamic vinegar, honey, bay leaf and rosemary. Bring to a boil again, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 20-30 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter, then reduce the sauce over high heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring. Turn off heat, add chopped parsley.

Wonderful when served, topped with sauce, on a bed of quinoa, accompanied by fresh bread and a salad.

NOTE: This recipe can easily be made with rabbit instead of chicken.

Makes approx 6 servings

Homemade Croutons

I remember hearing it said once, in a conversation between chefs, that the French do not take the cuisine of the United States seriously because Americans buy their croutons! Funny, and true.

Making homemade croutons is very easy and rather tasty.

Today I took all the leftovers from this week's home baked bread and transformed the bits it into crunchy cubes which enhance any salad like magic!

Ingredients

3-4 Cups of days old bread cubed into 1" (or smaller) chunks

2 sticks of butter (or substitute some of the butter with olive oil)

6 cloves of garlic finely chopped

Garlic Powder, Dried Basil, and Fine Sea Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in garlic; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add bread cubes, and toss to coat and saute for a few minutes.
3. Spread as a single layer onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until crisp and dry. Check frequently to prevent burning!
5. Toss with additional powdered garlic, herbs and salt as necessary to taste.
6. Cool before storing in an airtight container.

Making Multigrain Bread

Keeping the kitchen toasty while the snow falls outside! This bread is hearty, delicious and goes really well with fresh soup!

Note, I am at 6000 ft altitude, measurements are approximate

1 cup poolish (starter)*
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup honey
1/8 cup molasses (unsulphured)
1 egg
1 teaspoon unrefined salt
1 tablespoon raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon toasted sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon raw pepita pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon millet
1 tablespoon quinoa
1 tablespoon oats
1 tablespoon oat bran
1 tablespoon wheat bran
1 cup bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 1/2 tablespoons bread yeast

I let the bread machine knead it, checking to make sure the moisture level was correct (adding water or flour as necessary).

After the dough was done rising, it was formed into a loaf, sprinkled with a bit of wheat and oat bran, left to rise a bit more and then baked at 350 degrees until it was done :-)

*To make a poolish mix 1 cup of lukewarm water with 1 cup of flour and add a packet of bread yeast. Stir. It should be a pancake/waffle batter consistency. Let sit for at least 24 hrs and up to 5 days. It'll become bubbly and smell yeasty.

Blueberry Lavender Honey Ice Cream

It is 100 degrees outside and blueberries are on sale. To me that sounds like an invitation to make homemade ice cream.

Blueberries make a lovely lavender color ice cream, which inspired me to add lavender as a flavoring. Then I chose to use honey in this recipe because flavor wise lavender and honey compliment each other very well; to the point where the hint of lavender in this recipe is more a slight amplification of the wildflower flavor of the honey itself rather than a particularly distinct or powerful flavor of its own. I certainly didn't want anything to overshadow the flavor of fresh blueberries present at the party!

1 & 1/2 Cup Blueberries, rinsed
3/4 Cup local raw Honey
1/4 Cup Water
1 Pinch of pesticide free Lavender Blossoms
1/4 Teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1/8 Teaspoon ground dried Ginger
3-4 Drops of Lavender Essential Oil
3-4 Drops of cane alcohol based Vanilla Absolute
3 Cups half-and-half

In a medium size heavy bottom saucepan, bring blueberries, honey, and water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes while stirring until the berries begin to pop. Remove from heat. Add dried lavender, cinnamon & ginger. Blend with a stick blender until pureed. Using a sieve, strain into a bowl, pressing the berry skins to release all the liquid. Refrigerate for several minutes until lightly chilled. Add the drops of Lavender Essential Oil and Vanilla Absolute, then stir in the half-and-half. Pour mixture into an ice cream maker (1 1/2-qt. or larger capacity). Freeze according to manufacturer's directions until firm enough to scoop. Enjoy!

Note - The mashed berry skins can be placed flat on waxed paper, flattened and dried to make fruit leather :)

Optional - Like a lot of flavor with an exotic flair? Add 1-2 drops of Cardamom Essential Oil to this recipe!