Better, Maybe - Polish Stir Fry with Potato Pierogi Potstickers

If Rachael Ray and I ever collaborated on a recipe, this is what it would taste like.  Ha ha, seriously. I've been making an easy version of kielbasa and kraut for well over 30 years, and my guys are likely to scarf up the whole thing in one sitting. I came across a more sophisticated version in one of my Rachael Ray cookbooks, which she calls "Polish Stir-Fry and Pierogi Pot Stickers with Herbs and Sour Cream." Very good also, but not without the need for some gentle tweaking to suit the palates of my two food critics-in-residence.  Rachael uses kale in her dish, and my family is of one mind when it comes to kale: HELL, NO.  So I substituted turnip greens, one of my favorites.  Mustard green would have worked as well. (I suspect that my husband would have preferred I left out the greens altogether, but spoonie don't roll that way.  Greens are good, as long as they are not named Kale.)

I upped the amount of kielbasa, cut it differently to get the rustic manly char I was looking for, adjusted the amounts of onion and sauerkraut, and went with a coarse ground mustard instead of mustard powder or prepared spicy brown. And that sour cream she serves on the side? Stirred it right in with the kielbasa and its cruciferous cousins, as I would do in preparing my own recipe.

I didn't touch her recipe for the pierogi potstickers at all, as the recipe is sheer genius. Okay, I added some extra butter.  But that's all.

Polish Stir Fry:
2 pounds kielbasa, cut into 2 inch pieces, then halved lengthwise
olive oil (garlic infused if you've got it)
2 large red onions, quartered and sliced
1 - 1 pound bag of chopped turnip greens
2 pounds of sauerkraut (in bags from refrigerator case), rinsed and drained
4 tablespoons coarse ground mustard
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
kosher salt
ground black pepper
sugar, optional
1 1/2 pints sour cream

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add half of the kielbasa, cut side down, and cook until browned and a little crusty.

Turn the kielbasa over, brown the other side and using tongs, remove the meat to an aluminum baking dish. Add about two tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, and then add the onion. Sauté just until the onion starts to soften, and start adding the turnip greens, a handful at a time, letting them wilt down before adding the next batch. Next, add the drained sauerkraut and stir well over medium heat.

Add the mustard, paprika, salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar to cut the bitterness of the greens.  Stir the kielbasa into the pan. Cover and heat through for about 10 minutes so that the flavors all come together, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Stir in the sour cream. Move everything into an ovenproof serving dish (like the aluminum baking pan from the kielbasa), cover with foil, and place in a low oven to keep warm while you prepare the potstickers.

Pierogi Potstickers:
1 stick of butter, softened
about 1 1/2 pounds frozen potato pierogi
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons chopped fresh onion chives
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
kosher salt
ground black pepper

Place the softened butter in the bottom of a large skillet. Add the frozen pierogi in a single layer on top of the butter, then pour in about a cup of water. Cover the pan, and on high heat, cook the pierogi for 8 minutes (counting from the time the water boils). Remove the cover and keep cooking until the remaining water has evaporated.

Lower the heat to medium high and cook until the pierogi begin to stick to the pan. Carefully remove the pierogi to a serving dish, sliding a spatula underneath to release from the pan without tearing it open. The bottom of the pierogi should be a lovely golden brown.  Spoon the butter remaining in the pan over the pierogi, sprinkle in the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Serve alongside the Polish Stir Fry, with additional sour cream, rye bread and butter. If you like beer, this would be a good time to drink it. Since I dislike beer, I'll stick to my Crystal Light flavor of the day.

As crappy as I feel - the pain has faded a bit, to be replaced  by the parasthesia (insane itching and pins and needles sensation) - I can't help but feel a bit exhilarated by the recent performance by the Orlando Magic. My Magic, who have won 3 of their last 4 games. Life is good in the City Beautiful. Except I don't live in Orlando anymore, but you know what I mean.

Rob and I are heading to St. Augustine just for the day, to watch a very special program, "Honoring Our Veterans". This will include the presentation of the documentary "K9s for Warriors" created by Rob's cousin Michael Rothfeld. Looking forward to this event.

Finally, six years ago this weekend, Rob and I were in Charlottesville, celebrating a special birthday with our dear friend, Dr. Maurice Lipper, husband of my sister from another mister, Bethe Gochberg Lipper. They are both gone now, but instead of my usual grieving, today I want to celebrate the life of a charming, sweet, astonishingly bright and loving man, husband, father, grandfather and friend.  The perfect life partner for my beloved friend, together in Heaven, thank you for your friendship. You are missed.

And again - Swedish Meatballs

Friday - Let's try this again. Life, I mean. The last 5 days have been less than optimal.  Started off bad, got worse, with yesterday having the major crash and burn moment. Today, I filled out a little paperwork for disability, sprayed a few pepper plants, and crashed again.

Saturday - Seriously, this is getting old.  Days and days of pain, feeling useless, depressed, and unfocussed. I shouldn't even be blogging when I feel like this; people don't read blogs to feel bad all the time, and lately that's all I've had to offer.

On a happier note, the Magic won last night against the Toronto Raptors. And while we were watching the preshow, we caught Rob's godson Ben and his dad Jay on screen, while they were in a group of fans meeting with center Nikola Vucevic. That was all great fun.  I have such high hopes for my team this year, especially as it seems they finally have the right coach.

This morning I was awoken by a parade next to my house. Osceola County Veteran's Day parade, and that's what happens when you live downtown like we do. Sometimes living here reminds me of when we lived on Kings Highway in Brooklyn when I was a kid. My bedroom fronted the main road, and the sounds of traffic were always there.

Let me give you the recipe for the Swedish meatballs I prepared the other day.  They came out quite good, which I was able to confirm once my tastebuds were working normally. My refrigerator is so full of cooked food I had to label the pans to make any sense of it, but there is still one more dish I'd like to prepare before my body totally quits on me. (I am beginning to understand why some folks take strong pain-killers, despite the risk of addiction.  This is becoming unbearable.)

Swedish Meatballs

4 eggs, beaten lightly with a whisk 

1 1/2 cups of whole milk

1 cup dry breadcrumbs

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, divided 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 pounds ground beef (I use market beef)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (or 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh, chopped)

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour

3 - 10 1/2 oz. cans beef broth

1 1/2 cups cream or half and half

white pepper

black pepper

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped, for the sauce

additional nutmeg, allspice, and cardamom, to taste, for the sauce

In a large bowl whisk the eggs and milk together, then stir in the breadcrumbs.

In a large deep skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and add the onion. Saute until soft and lightly golden brown.  Let it cool.

To the breadcrumb mixture, add the ground beef, the onions, salt, dill, allspice, nutmeg and cardamom. Stir to combine well, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, up to overnight. Shape into meatballs, about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.

In the remaining butter, brown the meatballs in batches of 12. As they are done, move them to an aluminum baking pan, using a slotted spoon. Add the flour to the pan and stir to make a roux.  Season with white and black pepper, dill, numeg, allspice and cardamom.  Gradually stir in the beef broth; bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Add the cream.

Taste carefully and adjust the seasonings.  The beef broth is salty so you likely will not need to add any salt.  Pour the sauce over the meatballs. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until the meatballs are heated all the way through. Serve with buttered noodles (I mix these with some poppy seeds and green peas) and lingonberry preserves.

No Pain No Gain No Sane

Not unexpected, but unwelcome just the same, excruciating pain. If my body was was a movie theatre, it would be praised for its Surround Sound capabilities, but since all it is, is a fragile sack of protoplasm, this poor old body hurts everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Some places worst than others; on a scale of 1 to 10, my back pain registers an eleven, while my legs and shoulders are hovering between eight and nine.

My mind is befuzzed and I am feeling guilty - there is paperwork that has to be done, and emails to respond to, and faxes to send. I can't quite focus, so these tasks linger, taunting me from their neat pile of notes in the stack on my corner of the kitchen counter.

Noise bothers me today. If the door between the house and office squeaks one more time I am going to borrow a gun and shoot it off its hinges. Yes, that bad.

My dearly beloved Orlando Magic took pity on me last night and turned in a win, over the New Orleans Pelicans, which is a damn stupid name for a basketball team, if you ask me (which you didn't). The oddly-named team plays in an oddly-named venue - the Smoothie King Arena. Frankly I'd be embarrassed to play in New Orleans, but since I am unlikely to ever be invited to play on an NBA team, I won't have to hurt anyone's feelings. Especially Ryan Anderson, because he used to play for the Magic until some idiot in the front office let him go. Pah - I still miss Jameer Nelson.

My mood, which was reasonably good despite the pain, has gone steadily southward, and not just because the Magic are going to lose to the Houston Rockets tonight. This is the part of the depression that rides shotgun with the fibromyalgia, and when I don't feel well physically, it takes advantage of my weakened state and creeps into my head. I'd say it's a good thing I am heading to my therapist's appointment in a little while, except I'm worried about my therapist which is silly. I've always kept a distance between myself and my therapists (Transference? Who dat?), but I've been seeing the same therapist for such a very long time it's hard for me not to notice little things.  I am a Jewish mother. So sue me.

Two days - I started the above post two days ago. Still can't finish it, and there will be no Swedish meatball recipe for you today either. My most profuse apologies. This has been a long stretch of pain, five days, no breaks and getting worse, and I've got a full-on fibro flair going here. Never mind. Maybe tomorrow will be better for all of us.

Here Comes The Sun - Chicken in Tarragon and Tomato Cream Sauce

Energy. I gots it.

Uh oh. That usually means I am going to do too much and suffer for it. Intellectually I know that I should slow down, but I can't.  Something compels me to jump up and do stuff. I really cannot sit still. Adult ADD or something - maybe it's the fibromyalgia. Maybe it's Maybelline.

Yesterday I cooked too much - as if there is such a thing - and prepared a glorious chicken dish that will make you wish you lived here so you could have some. Or you could take a quick trip to the Food Mecca of your choosing, haul out your electric frying pan, and have at it. Later. I have to go cage my tomatillos and rhubarb. Allon-sy!

I have a new earworm:

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun,
and I say, It's all right

Little darling
It's been a long, cold lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun,
and I say, It's all right

I came by it honestly, trying to finish planting brassicas and lettuce before the sun came careening around the corner of my house:

Well, at least the spinach is safe, but I am done gardening for the day. It may take me the rest of the week to plant those lettuces, but I've got some major limitations here, courtesy of My Friend Fibro, the cheeky bastard. 

The porch plants have been turned and watered, the caging is complete, a couple of hundred aphids have been killed, and the spinach are in the ground, soaking up the nutrients.  That was gorgeous, rich dirt that James procured, and it has been enriched with 10-10-10 fertilizer.

I am inspired to start a whole new project that has nothing to do with cooking, gardening, knitting, or coloring books. Really? you say. Really, I say. It has to do with books and shelves and stairs and moving in. Yes, I know I've been living here for a year and a half.  I lived in my last house for 12 years and never completely unpacked. I'll keep you advised.

This glorious chicken recipe is from a neat cookbook, The Soup Mix Gourmet, by Diane Phillips, published in 2001. You all know that as much as I like cooking with fresh foods, some of them right out of my garden, and creating recipes from scratch, I am not the type of snob who turns up her nose at a recipe involving a can of Campbell's cream of anything, a cake mix, or a packet by Knorr's.  And do I ever love their bouillon cubes!  This book - and I hope you can find it - has 375 recipes that get a little boost from some pre made  product.  Honestly, the stuff is really good.  This is my favorite from the book, and I have made it a number of times which is unusual for one such as me who rarely repeats a recipe more than once a decade, if ever. I made a very few minor changes, and I doubled the amount of sauce because I always double the sauce. Wait till we get to the Swedish meatballs tomorrow.

Chicken in Tarragon and Tomato Cream Sauce

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil (if you have garlic infused, use it)
12 chicken thighs, bone-in
kosher salt
ground black pepper
1 cup chopped shallots
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
1 cup white wine (I used a semi-sweet)
1-28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
ground white pepper
2 cans Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 cup heavy cream

I used a rectangular electric frying pan, which let me cook all twelve pieces of chicken at the same time. Or you can use a large, deep skillet and cook the chicken in two batches.

Season the chicken with a generous amount of salt and pepper on both sides. If you have time, put the chicken back in the refrigerator, uncovered for an hour or two.

Heat the butter and oil over medium high heat. Place the chicken in the hot pan, skin side down, and brown the chicken, about 15 minutes on each side. Take your time with this. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside.  With a large metal spoon, remove any solids in the pan, and all but 4 tablespoons of the fat.  Reserve some of the fat, in case you have to add back a little, mushrooms being notorious fat suckers.  

Add the shallots and sauté for a few minutes, then add the mushrooms. Cook until the shallots are soft and the mushrooms begin to turn golden. Add the wine and bring the sauce to a boil. Add the tomatoes and tarragon, breaking the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon.  Cook until the sauce begins to reduce. Stir in the soup and the heavy cream, and bring to a simmer. Taste and re-season. 

Return the chicken to the pan and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked all the way through, about 15 to 20 minutes. 

By the way, I can already tell you that Something Bad has happened to my back. My feet are up and the Advil are flowing. So much for my new project. Crap. This is some of the worst lower back pain I've ever had. Ever.

It's a Hard-Knock Life - Double Blueberry Muffins

I can't get out of bed. I can barely sit up, and I can't uncross my legs so I can try to slide off the side. My heart is pounding because I can't yet walk to where I keep my medication.

I just fell asleep while typing that. You want my life, you can have it - cheap.

First order of the day is getting out of bed and taking my morning medications. Still can't move, not sure I can swallow. My head is definitely not working straight. I can't think, I can't read. And is that the gastric pain swooping in for a landing? Why, yes it is! Welcome to my Monday morning nightmare!

The Mets lost the World Series in a 4 game sweep by Kansas City, and I am sad. The Magic lost the third game of the new season to the Chicago Bulls, and I'm getting angry. Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. My team is reaching the point of being hopeless, and the season just started. Let's not forget that in 1997 or thereabouts I was voted "Most Likely To Go Postal" by my coworkers and staff at DCF Legal.

Do not go gentle into that good night ...

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oh yeah, I'm a mess this morning. So many things to do, and the time to do it, but no strength. All my energy is going towards fighting this pain.

So I make it downstairs and start some food prep. Yes, I can cut open a bag of cole slaw mix for the kraut sveckle. No I cannot open and drain those cans of tuna fish. Yes, I can walk outside to check on my garden, but I cannot lean over to straighten the cones around the cucumbers and I can't walk around the corner to the porch to check on the peppers and herbs, even though I am relying heavily on Horatio Cane.

Horatio Cane, get it? Never mind ...

I got the salad done. I seasoned the chicken. I finished and published yesterday's blog. I sat down. I may never get up. How am I supposed to live like this for the rest of my life?

The muffin recipe came about when I happened to find the most amazing blueberries at BJ's. Apparently Welch's now grows blueberries, and may I say they are the biggest blueberries - yes, as big as grapes. I wanted to make a muffin that was easy and all about the blueberries. Trust me, this is all about the blueberries, and has no need of a crunchy topping or glaze.  Good with black coffee. Also good thing I baked them yesterday.  Today would have been a big nope.

Double Blueberry Muffins

2-9 oz. boxes Jiffy golden yellow cake mix
2-7 oz. boxes Jiffy blueberry muffin mix
4 extra large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup half and half (whole milk works fine)
grated peel of one large lemon
3 cups fresh blueberries

This is a double batch, but when you've got gorgeous blueberries in season, you want to use them in the best way possible. So you are going to need two muffin tins; place paper liners in each cup. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the cake and muffin mixes. Put the blueberries in a gallon ziptop bag; remove about 1/4 cup of the dry mix and add it to the blueberries. Close the bag and shake gently so that all the berries are dusted in the mix. (This will prevent them from all sinkinking to the bottom during baking.)

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, then add the sour scream, half and half, and lemon peel, and whisk to combine.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry, and with a spatula, mix until just combined.  Add the blueberries and any dry mix in the bag, and fold them into the batter with the spatula.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, filling each one almost to the top. This gave me 23 muffins, but you may get 24. Or 22. It's all good. Bake for 20 minutes until done.  Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Yes, some of the blueberries will burst with the sheer joy of being such an integral part of such a muffin, so you may need to use a small, sharp knife to loosen the blueberry bond between the muffin and the top of the tin.  Wield a light hand and you will be well-rewarded.