Iron Chef Kiladitis

I was in a culinary kinda mood yesterday. I started off at breakfast with a Lite & Luscious smoothie from the greatest smoothie book ever, Super Smoothies by Mary Corpening Barber & Sara Corpening Whiteford. (It's also available in deck format for those of you who like that sort of thing.)

Later on, I made some more of my beloved granola (see the post below this one) - need to buy more coconut, oats and nuts for next week's batch. I even gave Karen a baggie's worth, since she was sampling some just out of the oven and she, too, is hooked. Hey baby, first one's free... ;-) Should Alton Brown be giving me kickbacks for addicting the populace with his granola recipe?

I was in full metal cook mode by late afternoon, and I've had this recipe for beef & barley soup from Cooking Light magazine for ages. I saw that it took about an hour and a half to cook, so I went to work. It is worth all the effort; it's a hearty soup with a broth that is just amazing. I couldn't even finish a whole bowl's worth, and Mike called it quits after one full bowl (but he also had some of my pigs in a blanket - I'm coming to it). I'm going to bring some to my mom this week, since beef with barley is a favorite of hers (she loves mushroom barley, but I'm not ready to go there just yet - not a fungal... get it? Fun-gal? Good lord, I kill myself sometimes...)

So to round out the soup for dinner, I made these stuffed pigs in a blanket that I saw on one of my newest Food Network addictions, Ham on the Street. LOVE this show; it's so much fun and a perfect follow-up to Good Eats. Check it out if you haven't yet - it's fun and the recipes are pretty cool.

I'm not a hot dog fan myself, but the Stuffed Pigs in a Blanket recipe looked like fun to make; plus, I knew Mike, Will and probably Alex would go for it. And with a finicky 6-year old, I'll try anything that will lead that child to eat something that's not in a box or bag. The verdict was resoundingly (is that an adverb? is that even a word?) positive, so I'll be making more of them. Will preferred his pigs plain, no bells & whistles, but Mike loved his with the tapenade, the sweet red peppers, the bacon/cheddar, and the honey mustard. (Each topping was separate, if I had put all of those together I think I would have needed a new bathroom, and with good reason!) The recipe is great because it allows for your creativity. I went with what I had in my fridge and it worked.

Recipes from Iron Chef Kiladitis' big day (any editorializing on my part will be in orange):

Lite & Luscious Smoothie (makes about 2 servings of 1 cup each)
3/4 cup quartered fresh strawberries
3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
1/2 cup frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 frozen banana, sliced

Combine all the ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth.

If you're in an area where strawberries aren't in season right now like I am, never fear - I used frozen strawberries and just warmed them under some warm running water before slicing them up. I actually did the same with the raspberries too, but that's just to give my poor blender blades a break.

Per serving: 136 calories (5 calories from fat); 0.5g total fat; 0 sat. fat; 0 cholesterol; 34g carbs; 5g fiber; 1.5g protein. For my Weight Watcher friends, it's about 2-3 points per serving, 5 total if you have both servings like I do (you just can't shake your head at 10 grams of fiber, ya know?).

Beef & Barley Soup (makes about 8 servings of 1 1/2 cups each)
from Cooking Light Magazine - I don't have the issue date on it, but if you go to the Cooking Light website and you have a password (either free to AOL members or if you have a subscription to the magazine, or you can buy an issue to get a password good for the life of the issue), you can search for it.

Lamb may be used in place of beef stew meat, if desired. Use one pound of boneless lamb leg, cut into one-inch pieces.

Cooking spray
2 pounds beef stew meat, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tsp canola oil
2 cups chopped leek (about 4 medium)
2 cups chopped carrot
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 bay leaves
2 (14-ounce) cans less-sodium beef broth
1 cup uncooked pearl barley

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add half of beef, cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining beef.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add leek, carrot, and garlic, saute 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Return beef to pan. Add water and next 5 ingredients (through broth); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour. Add barley, cook 30 minutes or until beef and barley are tender. Discard bay leaves.

Stuffed Pigs in a Blanket - link is up to Food Network site, but like I said in my text, experiment with what you've got in your fridge - you'll be glad you did!