S'mores by the Fire + Giveaway!

I absolutely cannot believe it's already February and there's not a speck of snow on the ground.

I swear, I've never, ever experienced a winter like this before. In many ways, it's absolutely wonderful not to have to deal with slushy sidewalks, slippery driveways, and salt-laden shoes. On the other hand, I feel like we missed a season somehow.

It feels weird, and I'm starting to think I'm a seasons kind of gal, someone who actually enjoys the changes in the weather throughout the year. I wonder how I would fare in a place where weather never changes?

In any event, I'm still loving this mild weather we've been having. I couldn't ask for a nicer, gentler way of being initiated into the joys of traditional homeownership (shoveling, salting sidewalks, high heating bills, etc.). Perhaps we'll be in for a shock next winter.

Despite the fact that it's "mild" outside, the evenings still get chilly. Our new house has a fireplace, something I've never had the privilege of owning.

This past Valentine's Day I did something different. Bryan was out of town on a business trip, so I invited a couple of friends over, and we had a quiet girls' night in.

I did have a moment of panic because I had bought marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate, but did not have skewers on which to roast the marshmallows! Then I remembered the handy-dandy grill set that Mr. Bar-B-Q sent to me to test out a couple months ago. (I had used them to make grilled skirt steak tacos).

I pulled it out and - viola! Shish kabob sticks that would double perfectly as marshmallow roasting sticks! The cool serrated edge spatula worked pretty well at holding graham crackers and chocolate!

We made s'mores, talked about life, and just enjoyed soaking in the warmth of the fire.

It was one of the most relaxing nights I've had in a long time.

Happy February!

Nom nom nom

Giveaway!
Mr. Bar-B-Q has offered to giveaway one barbecue tool set to a lucky Tiny Urban Kitchen reader! Just "like" them on facebook and comment below letting me know your facebook name (so we can confirm that you follow them). Of course, you're welcome to tell me your favorite way to use a fireplace or a campfire! I'm a newbie at this fireplace thing, so I'd love to hear your stories and suggestions!

Giveaway opens today and ends Friday, March 2, 2012. One entry per person; US shipping addresses only.

Good luck!

Braised Lamb Shanks

After a freak snowstorm in October, we've actually be enjoying unusually warm weather throughout November and even into December.

In fact, we got so used to the warm weather that when temperatures actually reached the twenties a few days ago, everyone complained about how cold it was. Funny thing is, that's sort of normal for December here in Boston!

With the inevitable cold winter arriving, warm and hearty meals begin to look really, really inviting.

I've just recently started experimenting with using the oven more and learning some pretty traditional Western dishes I never made before. I guess most of my life I've cooked simple Asian stir fry, which almost never involves the oven and typically only requires quick cooking of meat.

I'm slowly discovering the amazing flavors that can come from simply cooking meat for long periods of time at low temperatures with certain, key "magic" ingredients.

I was not planning on making lamb shanks the night I cooked this. Instead, I had planned out a whole menu of Milanese osso bucco and oven roasted Brussels sprouts for a good friend (and relative!) who was coming over for dinner. After picking up 90% of my osso bucco ingredients, I stopped by the meat counter to pick up some veal shanks.

"I'm sorry, we're totally out."

????!!

I was running out of time. Why am I such a procrastinator?? The last time this happened, I tried making the same dish with pork shanks. Although the sauce was tasty, the pork came out way too dry.

The butcher looked me in the eye and say, "here are two beautiful lamb shanks. You can use the same ingredients from your osso bucco and try roasting the lamb shanks in the oven. Low and slow - it will taste fantastic."

Dubious but desperate, I called my friend to make sure she ate lamb. Thankfully, she said she liked lamb, so I took the plunge and bought the two shanks.

This dishes takes a lot of time to cook, but the actual prep time is not too bad. You need to spend about 20-30 minutes up front and then you just wait for several more hours. 

I started cooking on a Sunday afternoon around 2PM. Sear the shanks in a big pot until they are nice and browned. Set them aside.

Magic Ingredients
Add your mirepoix ingredients (onions, carrots, celery) plus garlic and cook them until they are nicely browned. Don't skimp on this step, as waiting for proper browning will give the final sauce a lot of flavor! Add wine and deglaze, letting a portion of the alcohol to boil off (5-10 minutes).
Add the shanks back in, cover with chicken broth, add rosemary and bay leaves, and bake in the oven, covered. The longer you cook, the more tender the meat will become. I would bake for atleast 2 hours, but if you can cook for even longer, it will taste even better. I ended up cooking it for 4-5 hours before we ate dinner close to 8PM! At that point, the sauce was gorgeously flavorful and the meat was literally falling off the bone.

I served the shank over saffron rice (made in a rice cooker!) with gremolata on top.

It was fantastic and so easy! Sure, it takes a long time, but the amount of active prep time is actually pretty low. You can even "cheat" and purchase a tub of pre-chopped mirepoix from Trader Joe's if you're short on time.

Enjoy!


Oven Braised Lamb Shanks
Serves 4

4 pieces lamb shank with bone
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
2-3 cups wine (can be white, red, or a mix of both)
1-2 T tomato paste
2-3 cups chicken stock (or enough to cover the shanks in the pan)

Gremolata
Saffron Rice

Make sure to use a saute pan big enough to comfortably fit all the shanks because you will be stewing them in the pan later.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Over medium-high heat sear all sides of the lamb shanks in olive oil. Set aside the shanks. To the oil in the pan, add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook until browned and aromatic (~20 minutes). Add the tomato paste and mix well. Add wine, turn up the heat, and deglaze the pan. Let the mixture cook for about 5-10 minutes to boil off some of the alcohol. Add the shanks back in, and pour in the chicken broth. Make sure that the shanks are covered (or at least mostly covered) in liquid. Add bay leaves and rosemary. Cover the pan and place it in the oven. After one hour, reduce the heat to 325 and cook uncovered for another 2 hours, checking every 45 minutes or so and flipping the shanks if necessary.

Serve over saffron rice with gremolata on top.

"Creamy" Kabocha Soup (with a kick!)

I have a new toy and I'm in love.

Actually, I've had it for awhile, but I've been so busy with the move to our new place, it has sort of sat neglected on the counter for weeks.

Now, finally, as we're slowly settling in, I'm starting to really use my kitchen again (finally!).

Right before we moved, Bryan ordered me a new blender. I had dropped and destroyed old blender about 6 months ago, but was just too lazy to get a new one. I'd been getting by quite alright, making blended soups using my hand blender, which I also love.

Despite the convenience of the hand blender, I found that I could never really recreate the beautiful creamy soups that I enjoyed at restaurants. My soups always had just a bit of texture that separated them from what the pros made.

My new toy has totally solved that problem. After tons of research, Bryan decided to buy me a Blendtec blender. And boy, has that changed my life.

I've been having so much fun making different kinds of healthy drinks. In the past, I never really used my juicer that much because I felt guilty throwing away all that fiber. Now, all of a sudden I make really really smooth "smoothies" that taste really creamy, but are in fact fat free and full of vitamins and fiber.

Alas I digress.

What I wanted to share with you today was a delicious soup that I made using this blender.

I'm a huge fan of kabocha squash, and I can eat roasted kabocha cold out of the refrigerator at any time point during the day (yes, lately I've been roasting up whole squashes and just keeping stockpiles of the roasted stuff in the fridge).

Because I love it already so much by itself, I was pretty convinced that you wouldn't need to add too much more to make a delicious tasting (and healthy!) fall soup.

If you already have roasted kabocha squash on hand, this recipe is a piece of cake. You just saute some aromatics (I used about 1 small onion, diced) in olive oil for about 5-8 minutes until it's soft. Add 2 cups of roasted kabocha squash, and then 1/2 cup of broth (I used chicken broth). Put in your super powerful blender and blend! (I used the soup setting on the Blendtec).

Of course, you can use a hand blender too. The results won't be as smooth, but it will still taste just as good. :)

For a fantastic kick, add a splash of sriracha sauce!


Creamy Kabocha Soup (with a kick!)
serves 2
The amounts in this recipe are estimates and are quite flexible. Feel free to increase or decrease almost any of these ingredients depending on what you have at home. 

2 cups roasted kabocha squash
1 small onion, sliced
1 T olive oil
2 cups chicken broth
Sriracha sauce (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Saute onions in about 1 T of olive oil over medium heat until soft and slightly caramelized, about 5-8 minutes.

2. Add squash and broth and bring to a boil.

3. If using a hand blender. use the hand blender to puree the soup right in the pot. Otherwise, blend in a blender (ideally a really powerful one like a Blendtec or a Vitamix) and puree.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste (both are optional depending on how salty your broth and roasted kabocha squash are!).

5. Add a splash of Sriracha sauce for a kick (optional).

Enjoy!

Serve hot! (though I must confess I loved this soup so much I ate it cold for breakfast one morning. It was still soooo good)