Home Sweet Tiny Home

Josh and I are coming up on our 1 year anniversary of buying our house! Looking back, we've had a great year. We have settled into our tiny home very comfortably, we love our neighborhood and we really loved spending time on our back deck all summer long. As it cools again, we are forced back inside, closing windows, bringing in herbs, and preparing for a long winter snuggled inside. We're not "outdoorsy folk" you see, we like to be warm, cozy, dry. It does make for a long winter though and it to make it through with out killing each other or slipping into the doldrums, it requires me to cook up lots of delicious things to keep us sated.

Our first meal together in our new home consisted of take-out Chinese food and Champagne. It was perfect after weeks of packing, moving, and unpacking and it inspired me to make a more sophisticated dinner that retains the spirit of that night. I found a recipe for Slow Cooker Ramen, brothy, salty, porky goodness. It's not a difficult recipe but it has several steps, but boy is it worth it. I'm giving you the original recipe (from the Half Baked Harvest blog of which I will be a frequent visitor) I had to add more stock (about 2 cups) because I found the broth too salty and the noodles really suck up a lot of it. Josh was not that into the squash component but I was, it gives a nice sweet counterpoint to the saltiness of the dish. Here it is...

Caramelized Pork Ramen w/Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

 Yields: 4 bowls of soup + extra pork

 Soup

2-3 pounds pork shoulder roast (or butt)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth, plus more of needed

1/2 cup + 2-4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup + 2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/4 cup fish sauce (use it!)

2 tablespoons thai red curry paste

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

1 tablespoon sambal oelek (chili paste) (or to taste)

The juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon Chinese five spice

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 cups wild mushrooms, left whole - or button mushrooms, sliced

4 packs Ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded

4 soft boiled or fried eggs, for serving

Chopped carrots, sliced jalapenos, cilantro + green onions, for serving

Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

1 medium acorn squash, seeded + diced

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon curry powder (I use spicy curry)

1 tablespoon white miso paste

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Pepper, to taste

1. Add the pork to the bowl of a crockpot. Pour the chicken broth, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup rice vinegar and fish sauce over the pork. Add the thai red curry paste, ginger, sambal oelek, juice of 1 lime, Chinese five spice powder, black pepper and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours (I recommend going low and slow).

2. About 40 minutes before you are ready to eat, roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small bowl mix together the melted coconut oil, curry powder, miso, brown sugar and a good pinch of pepper. Add the cubed squash to a greased baking sheet and pour the curry mixture over the squash. Toss well. Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing a couple of times during cooking. You want the squash to be lightly browned and crisp.

3. Meanwhile, remove the pork from the crockpot and add the mushrooms. Cover the crockpot and crank the heat up to high. Lightly shred the pork with two forks or your hands.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add enough pork to cover just the surface of your skillet, do not over crowd the skillet. Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the pork, add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, toss. Allow the pork to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir and allow the pork to continue to caramelize, about 3-5 minutes total. Remove the pork from the skillet, repeat with the remaining pork. Keep the pork warm.

5. Add the Ramen noodles to the crockpot and allow them to cook 5 minutes. Once the noodles are cooked, stir in only half of the pork. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with extra caramelized pork, curry roasted acorn squash and an egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper, Add the carrots, jalapeños, green onions and cilantro if desired. Happy slurping!

*The Ramen noodles soak up a lot of the broth if not eaten immediately when the noodles are done cooking. You can prepare this ahead of time, just make sure to add the noodles right before you are ready to eat.

Squash has certainly been a theme at my house. They are everywhere right now and they last a long time in the pantry. I made myself a stuffed Acorn Squash on a solo dinner night as Josh is adverse to squash. This recipe was very satisfying with a nice green salad alongside but it would also make an impressive Thanksgiving side dish. It should be noted that I fully intended on taking a picture of this dish so I could put it up here and have it look all delicious and pretty. However, I scarfed it down and only remembered after I had taken my last bite that I forgot. Shame. Here's the recipe...

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Serves 6

3 Acorn squash, halved and seeded

2 teaspoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 lb Mushrooms, white, fresh, sliced, chopped, stems trimmed

8 oz Shitake mushroom, stems removed, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 cup Israeli couscous

1 3/4 cup vegetable broth

6 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated, divided

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet and roast until tender, about 35 to 40 minutes.

2. While squash is roasting, prepare stuffing. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add both kinds of mushrooms and thyme and cook until the mushrooms are softened and begin releasing their juices, about 7 minutes. Continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 more minutes.

3. Add couscous and cook until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Add broth and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, partially covered, until couscous has absorbed the broth, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. When squash is ready, remove from oven, keeping oven on. Turn halves cut side up and let rest 5 minutes to cool slightly. Add 4 Tbsp. of the cheese to the mushroom mixture and stir well. Divide the filling among the squash halves, using up all the filling. Place on the baking sheet, then sprinkle each with 1 tsp. of the remaining cheese. Bake until heated through and cheese has melted slightly, about 10 minutes. Serve warm.

I also discovered a recipe for absolutely perfect roast chicken. It's adapted from Thomas Keller's recipe and it came out beautifully. Basically it's all about a highly salted, dry chicken cooked in high heat. You don't stuff it or rub it with butter because that adds moisture and the drier the better to get super crispy skin. It really is perfect and couldn't be simpler. Here's the recipe...

My Favorite Simple Roast Chicken

Serves 2-4

One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Pat chicken very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

2. Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird. (Here's Thomas Keller's how-to on chicken trussing)

3. Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper. And sprinkle with thyme, if using, I did and it was awesome.

4. Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

5. Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

I hope ya'll enjoy the recipes, they are as comforting as comforting can be, and they make the colder days feel warmer.