Real Good Food

Strawberry Almond French Toast Casserole

2010-03-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

While searching a healthy French toast recipe, I found one for Blueberry Almond Baked French Toast on a site called Mr.Breakfast. It was pretty healthy looking, but I made some adaptations to ensure it was low in Weight Watcher points. This is 7 points per serving, and it is a generous portion. It is made with whole wheat grainy bread, delicious maple syrup and crunchy almonds.
This is a delicious and filling brunch food!

Strawberry Almond French Toast Casserole adapted from a recipe from Mr. Breakfast.com

4 slices of whole wheat bread, cut into cubes
1 large egg
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh)
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

Prepare a 8x8 baking pan by spraying the inside with cooking spray.

Place the bread in a single layer in the baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and egg whites with the milk, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup. Pour this mixture over the bread in the pan. Scatter the strawberries evenly over the top and sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (at least 4 hours).

Bake for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

To keep it healthy, serve with some applesauce instead of butter and maple syrup.

Blogging Fail and Weight Watchers

2010-03-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

I fail in blogging. I haven't blogged since August, and it is now March. When I came back from San Franisco school started. I had a new school, a new grade, grad class, etc and I just couldn't get back into blogging.
Since January I have been going to Weight Watchers meetings. I have been losing weight and I feel really great! I still love to cook, I am just trying to do it healthier now.
I am going to try to blog more about my healthy recipes starting tomorrow. I am making a baked french toast casserole so stay tuned...

Eating in and Around San Francisco Day 3 Half Moon Bay

2009-08-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove down the Pacific Coast. We saw the ocean, some surfers, and thick blankets of fog rolling off of the hills.

It was beautiful! Then we ate some beautiful food. In a coastal town called Half Moon Bay we walked around the shops (I bought an apron and matching oven mitt at a cute kitchen shop called Toque Blanche) Then we ate dinner at Pasta Moon.

We started dinner with an antipasta of lightly battered romano beans, parmesan cheese on top, that we dipped in a light lemon aioli. This was a fantastic dish. Not heavy or greasy, and the aioli was very good and complimented the beans.

Then I had a sweet corn soup. I liked the one from the CIA better, it had a much purer flavor. This soup was enjoyable, but had more going on. It had some vinegar in it which I am not sure I liked.

I should have ordered the fava and pea salad instead.

It had mint and cheese, and was very light and fresh tasting. A great summer salad.

For my entree I had Tagliatelle Jumbo Prawns, Sweet Corn, Roasted Red Peppers, Garlic, Speck, Lemon, Parmesan, Cilantro. This was good, but I think it needed a flavor boost. I still enjoyed it.

Jake had Linguine Rare Pan Seared Ahi Tuna, Garlic, Capers, Oil, Cured Olives, Red Pepper Flakes, Anchovy. This pasta a great punch of flavor.

Also, the bread was made in house and they had two varieties served with oil and vinegar that I could not stop eating! We also had an Italian wine that we all really enjoyed. What I liked about their wine list is that they have a description and tasting notes for each wine. So if you are not familiar with the nuances of different Italian wines (like me) then you can read the notes and make an informed decision. I picked our table's wine based on the fact that it had a good Wine Spectator rating and an intriguing description. We all liked it, and I wish more restaurants would include these descriptions.

For dessert I had a Meyer lemon parfait.

A little too sweet for me, but a good lemon flavor. Jake had an affogato, which is espresso poured over vanilla gelato.

I should have listened to Jake's aunt and uncle when they told us how amazing the butterscotch pudding is there. I thought, how great could butterscotch pudding be? Well since they insisted I taste it (several times) I understood that it can be amazing.

Unlike this photo, which is blurry. What can I say, I was excited to eat dessert! It was thick, and such a great butterscotch flavor. Totally unlike artificially flavored pudding.

Overall a great experience. I would recommend the romano beans, a salad, the tuna, and the butterscotch pudding for an amazing meal!

Eating in and Around San Francisco Day 2 Napa and Sonoma

2009-08-18T08:16:00.001-07:00

Today our adventure in California continues. We drove to Napa Valley, bordered by mountains on both sides. It has the advantage of having the bay on the southern border, so at night we wet, cool air rushes right through the valley and helps cool the air down and give moisture to the vines. We toured Mondavi's winery.

These are cabernet sauvignon grapes.

We learned a lot! We got to taste the grape varietals right off of the vine.

We saw the barrels of wine aging.

We then got to taste three wines. We tasted their 2007 CHX Napa Valley Chardonnay. It was very good. It had notes of vanilla cream, pears, and key lime pie. ( I got that off the tasting notes, to be honest. My palate isn't that refined!) Then we tasted a 2007 Napa Valley Fume Blanc. I liked this one a lot, it had citrus and floral notes and a nice mouth feel.

The third one was a Cabernet Sauvignon, which I learned is the most grown grape varietal on the Mondovi estate. This was a 2007 Carneros Cab, a little pricier and it was nice to taste but not my favorite. (Very tannic). We bought a Pinot Noir there that isn't available in Pennsylvania, and are excited to try it!

For lunch we went to the CIA-the Napa Valley branch of the Culinary Institute of America. We sat at the counter of a round open kitchen.

It was a great view.

Sweet white corn soup with basil oil. I had this as a first course. It had a lovely, pure fresh corn flavor and was absolutely fantastic.

Jake's first course; Burrata- Creamy fresh mozzarella, local heirloom tomatoes, olive relish. The creamy cheese went well with the tomatoes and olives.

Watermelon and watercress salad with ricotta salata, pine nuts, and lime vinaigrette. The cheese in this dish was fantastic.

Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with baby zucchini, patty pan squash, romano beans, cherry tomatoes, with yellow tomato au jus. I don't even like plain zucchini and summer squash that much and this was delicious! They made the gnocchi by putting the dough into long cylindrical tubes, steaming them, and then cutting off pieces and pan frying them. We got to figure this out by watching them cook.

Here I am with some of the CIA chefs!

We had dinner at a restaurant in Sonoma called "The Girl and the Fig" Unfortunately, my camera battery died so no food pictures. But it is a charming restaurant, with delicious olives and a nice variety of cheese, both local and from France.

Eating in and Around San Francisco Day 1

2009-08-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

My husband and I are on a week long vacation in San Francisco! We are lucky to have his aunt and uncle showing us around and taking us to some great places to eat! I am excited to eat my way through the various cuisines here. As much as possible, I will be chronicling what we eat here on this blog.

On our first day, we drove to see the redwood trees in Muir Woods. What an experience! After that we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Tiburon called Guaymas.

The entrance and bar of Guaymas.

Here is my entree- three different kinds of tamales. A chicken one (kind of dry, not my favorite) a pork one (which was tasty) and one with plantains and cactus, which had a different type of corn filling. It didn't taste like masa harina, but it had actual pieces of corn and tasted sweet. The chips and salsa here were great.

The salsa had a good roasted flavor.

Jake's ensalata con pollo with cactus and a jalepeno dressing.

The view from our table. The land you can see is Angel Island.

Making sopes at the restaurant.

For dessert we stopped at Cavallo Point Lodge. It is a hotel now but used to be housing for soldiers. Here is the outside.

As you can see, it is very close to the Golden Gate Bridge! Great location.

There is a restaurant there, and a bar called Farley Bar that we sat in.

We ordered three different desserts, coffee and I had a prosecco. Here are the desserts.

A "Brown Cow" which is a rootbeer cake with a marshmellow custard on top, with sassafras ice cream. This was one of the best ice creams I have ever tasted.

Strawberries and Champagne, actually had three different versions on the theme. A Mcevoy olive oil pound cake with strawberries, a buttermilk panna cotta with pistachios and strawberries, and strawberry sorbet with a champagne granita. All amazing.

Malt Chocolate Macaroon. A chocolate lager mousse, with malt chocolate ice cream. A bit too rich for me.

The expresso and sugar cubes.

A lovely spot to relax, and the regular bar food looked amazing as well. Next, wine country trip will be chronicled!

Grilled steak skewers and Charred corn salad

2009-08-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

This was one of the best dinners I have made recently. The steak was delicious, tender and flavorful. The salad was excellent also. I used a skirt steak, instead of a flank steak that the recipe called for. I used grass-fed steak, which I think makes a big difference in the texture on the steak.

A great summer meal!

From Grilling magazine

For the steak:
1 1/2 lbs beef flank (or skirt) steak, preferably grass fed
1 Tbsp each ground cumin and dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp each ground coriander, kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
cherry tomatoes

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Slice steak against the grain into 1/2 inch slices, set aside.
Combine cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for steak seasoning in a medium bowl. Whisk in lime juice and vegetable oil, and toss with steak strips. Place a cherry tomato on each of eight steak skewers. tread 2 steak strips on each skewer, folding stips accordion style. Spread strips along length of skewer. Place a cherry tomato on end of each skewer.
Grill skewers, covered, over direct heat for 3-4 minutes per side.
Charred corn salad Adapted from Grilling magazine
Makes 4 servings
Time: 20 minutes, (plus 30 minutes soaking time)

3 ears fresh sweet corn, shucked
3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cut into chunks
1/4 cup sliced red onion
3 Tbsp crumbled goat cheese
2 Tbsp lime juice
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Dissolve 1/2 cup kosher salt in 2 qts water. Soak corn in water for 30 minutes, remove and pat dry. Grill corn over medium heat, turning often, until kernels begin to blacken, about 10 minutes. Remove corn from grill. When corn is cool enuogh to handle, cut kernels from cob and place them in a bowl. Add tomatoes, avocado, and red onion.
Whisk together goat cheese and lime juice in a small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Drizzle goat cheese sauce over corn mixture; toss to combine. Serve with steak skewers.

Best meal of the summer so far, I think!!

Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches with Blueberry Swirl

2009-08-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

I seem to have a problem. I can't stop buying cooking magazines! I see them in stores, and just have to buy one. This recipe was on the cover of Gourmet magazine this month, and looked too tasty.
I made these for a group of friends that came over, and they got eaten up pretty quickly! They are a bit of work, but not too bad. You use already made vanilla ice cream. A great way to use ripe local, blueberries.
For lemon ice cream:
2 pt all natural vanilla ice cream (I used Breyers)
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Transfer ice cream to a microwave safe bowl and microwave at 30 percent power in 10 second intervals, stirring until softened.
Stir in lemon juice and zest. Spread ice cream thinly in a 13-by-9 baking dish and freeze while making compote and sandwich layers.

For blueberry compote:
2 cups blueberries (10 oz)
1/4 cup sugar
2 (3-by 2 1/2-inch) strips lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch

Cook blueberries, sugar, and zest in a skillet over medium high heat, thoroughly crushing blueberries with a potato masher, until juices are released and sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes.
Stir together lemon juice and cornstarch, then stir into blueberry mixture. Boil, stirring, 1 minute. (Mixture will thicken.)
Transfer to a bowl and chill until cold, about 1 hour. Discard lemon zest.

Sandwich layers (Make while blueberry compote chills)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp caking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Equipment: 2 (8 inch) square baking pans (2 inches deep), a small off-set spatula)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F with rack in the middle. Butter baking pans and line with foil, leaving a 1-inch overhand on each side, then butter foil.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Beat together butter and brown sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer a medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. At low speed, add flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing until just combined.

Divide batter between baking pans and spread into thin, even layers with offset spatula. Bake until golden brown but still tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely in pans, about 30 minutes.

Dollop tablespoons of blueberry compote all over ice cream, then swirl with a spoon. Spoon all of the ice cream over 1 sandwich layer (in pan) and spread evenly using clean offset spatula. Invert second sandwich layer over ice cream, pressing gently to form an even sandwich. Wrap baking pan in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
Transfer sandwich to a cutting board using overhang. Cut into 8 pieces.

Baguettes

2009-07-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

I have gotten out of practice of making my own bread lately. But I had a craving for some baguettes to put some fresh summer tomatoes on, and I decided to make my own. I topped it with tomato bruschetta!
I almost always make my bread according to the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method, which is very easy.

Baguette (Adopted from recipe by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day)
Makes enough dough for 4 1-lb loaves/baguettes.

In a counter-top mixer or large bowl, add three cups slightly warm water, 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast, and 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt.
Add 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour. Then use your dough hook attachment to mix all the ingredients. You don't have to let it run long at all, just until all the four is mixed in there.

Dump it in a large container with a lid (It is not supposed to be air tight, and mine is so I only latch two sides of the lid on.)
Let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, until it looks like this.

Then put the lid on and stick it in the fridge for several hours, or overnight is best. (Yes, I still have a sticker on there that came with the container. hehe)

Then to make the baguettes I use a baguette pan. It is curved to hold the shape of the bread, and has lots of tiny holes to let the air flow. (It is from Williams Sonoma)

The next day I cut off 2 1lb chunks of bread. Shaped the bread, pulling four corners around to make a ball. Then elongate the ball, placed it on a dusted dish towel in the baguette tray, covered it with the ends of the towel and let it rise for 20 minutes.

Then I sprayed the tray with non stick cooking spray, and turned the oven onto 450 degrees F. Put the bread back in the tray, and put it in the oven with a broiler pan with one cup of water. (The steam from the water helps with a crisp crust.) Let it bake for about 25 minutes, until it was brown and firm to the touch.

I feel French eating this.
The crust wasn't as crisp as I would like, so I am going to work on that for next time. But it was still very good, and very satisfying to make my own bread again!

A variety of summer produce

2009-07-12T17:49:00.000-07:00

Basil from our CSA!

Here are some of the random things I have been making with our produce that we picked up on Friday:

Coleslaw
I made two kinds of coleslaw in the past two days. I just love homemade coleslaw. And whenever I make it for people, there is often someone who says, "Oh, no thanks. I don't like coleslaw." I usually tell them to try it, and everyone who has said that and tried mine, liked mine! I don't think that is a major reflection on my culinary skills, but just the fact that the coleslaw you find in grocery stores is made with gross gross stuff, and the cabbage is all mushy. Fresh coleslaw is the way to go.
Variety #1
I chopped up purple and regular cabbage, 2 CSA spring onions, grated some CSA carrots, and added some CSA cilantro. For the dressing I whisked a little buttermilk, mayo, dijon, sat and pepper. Then I added a little white wine vinegar as well.

Variety#2
This was barely coleslaw. I used:
A little chopped purple cabbage
half a choppedCSA cucumber
red onion
CSA cilantro
a few chopped sungold cherry tomatoes
The dressing this time was mayo, dijon, GOAT CHEESE (major yum) and white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. I loved this. It was a snack today.

Tonight I also made: (Bur forgot to take pictures!!)S

Fusilla pasta with alfredo sauce and sauteed zucchini
Bruschetta-Easiest recipe ever
1. Toast bread. Rub each piece with a garlic clove.
2. Chop tomatoes, add a little olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and fresh basil.
3. Put tomatoes on bread.

Pasta salad with creamy pesto

2009-07-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

I made this macaroni salad in order to use some of my lovely CSA produce, along with some local tomatoes I got at Central Market! I know I just made a pesto potato salad, but the 8 bunches of basil I got were starting to wilt, and I really didn't want to chuck them. That would break my self-challenge! I will definitely try to do something other than pesto with the basil next week.

I really liked the pesto with some dijon and vinegar. You really could use a variety of veggies, like broccoli, celery, or add some olives, etc. It was also good and flavorful the next day.
CSA produce used:
carrots, basil, green onion, radishes, and cucumber

Ingredients
1/2 lb elbow macaroni or other small pasta
2 small carrots, thinly sliced
3 radishes, thinly sliced
2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
2-3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley and oregano

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While you are waiting, slice all the veggies and put in a large bowl along with the chopped parsley and oregano.

Put the basil, pine nuts, and cheese in a food processor. Mix together, then add dijon, vinegar, about 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper. Add the olive oil while the machine runs, until the pesto reaches a creamy consistency.

It is so pretty. I could have just eaten this plain!

Taste and adjust seasonings.

When the pasta is done, drain it and rinse under cold water to cool it down. Shake off extra water and add to the bowl of veggies. Stir in the pesto sauce, taste, and add any extra salt, pepper, parsley or oregano.

Midsummer Vegetable Burgers with Pico de Gallo

2009-07-03T20:16:00.000-07:00

I like veggie burgers that aren't supposed to taste like a meat type thing. I like veggie burgers that taste like veggies. And making your own is always better.

This one sounded great because it uses summer produce and has a south west flair. We got tomatoes for the first time and we were excited. The first taste is....amazing. Months of having tasteless tomatoes, this was like a burst of flavor in your mouth! I was able to buy some local sweet corn. They are not quite ready, they were a little small but five of the little ones were good for this recipe.
I realized after I was done cooking that this meal is not only vegetarian, but it is also vegan! I was amazed... it is probably good cause tomorrow I am making bacon cheesegurgers for the holiday.
CSA produce used in these recipes:
garlic scapes, zucchini, cilantro, red tomatoes and sungold tomatoes

Burger Ingredients adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
serves 2-3

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion
2 garlic scapes (or garlic cloves)
1 minced fresh jalepeno chile
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium zucchini, grated (about 1 cup)
5 small ears of corn
1/2 cup cornmeal
Sliced avocado (optional)

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil cook the ears of corn. Cook for a few minutes, until the corn is tender. Slice the corn off the ears into a bowl.
2. Put 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a deep non-stick or cast iron skillet with a lid over medium heat.

Put the onion, garlic scapes, and chile in a food processor and pulse a few times to grind to almost smooth. add the mixture to the pan with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and cook and stir.

The onion mixture cooking with the zucchini.

3. Stir the zucchini into the onion mixture along with 1/2 cup of the corn and another sprinkle of salt and pepper Put the remaining corn into a food processor and run until it becomes a thick paste. Continue to cook and stir the zucchini mixture until all their water starts to evaporate, about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn paste and cornmeal. Remove from the hear, cover and let rest 10 minutes. If the mixture seems too wet, stir in a little flour to help bind it. Taste and adjust seasonings.

The "burgers" before they are cooked.

4. Form 4 patties and let sit for a few minutes if you have time. Wipe out the pan, put in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and turn the heat to medium. A minute later, add the patties. Cook until nicely browned on one side, about 5 minutes; turn carefully and cook on the other side until firm and browned.
5. Serve with thing slices of avocado and pico de gallo, either on a bun or just plain.

I served em up with avocado slice tossed with lime juice, and my own recipe of pico de gallo. So tasty!!!! Other good topping ideas include sour cream, garlic or red pepper mayonnaise, guacamole....or toast some english muffins and serve like a normal burger with ketchup, onion, lettuce and tomato and some cheese.

Pico de Gallo for 2
2 medium tomatoes, choppped
1 small box sungold tomatoes, quartered
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1 small jalepeno, minced
handful cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime

Seasonal local tomatoes are a beautiful, delicious thing.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or store in fridge until ready.

Swiss Chard Gratin

2009-06-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

I did not faithfully use the Swiss Chard last year when we got it in our share. One time, they totally wilted in the fridge (wrap them up loosely in plastic wrap). I can't remember if I made anything food with them any other time, I think I may have avoided taking them cause I just didn't know what the heck to do with them!

This week I was determined to make something I would enjoy, and not waste my Swiss Chard. Looking through my cookbooks, I saw a recipe for Swiss Chard Rib Gratin, in Starting with Ingredients by Aliza Green. A gratin sounded good, it is hard to imagine anything covered in a creamy, cheesy sauce not being yummy.
I altered the recipe to suit my tastes, and included the chopped up leaves as well, to add color and not be wasteful. I added onion and a little potato as well. It was so very very good! I have made other gratins before, with varying vegetables. This is my favorite one so far.
Ingredients:
4-5 leaves Swiss chard leaves, ribs separated
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
1-2 onions
extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups whole milk
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon chopped thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt, freshly ground pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese

Chop up the chard stems

Aren't they colorful?
Here is what one looks like before you chop it up.

Boil them with the potatoes in a small pot, not too long. Until they start to become tender. Set aside.

Then, heat a pan with a little olive oil and saute the chopped chard leaves and onion, just for about 5 minutes. Set aside, you can put it in the same bowl as the rib mixture.
In a saucepan melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
Preheat the oven to 350.
Meanwhile, combine the milk with the coriander, nutmeg, thyme, cayenne, salt and pepper and scald. While the hot milk mixture into the roux (the butter and flour paste). Bring slowly to a boil, stirring frequently and making sure not to burn the bottom of the pot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in most of the cheese.
In a shallow baking dish, spread some of the sauce to cover the bottom of the dish. Spread a layer of veggies,

Here are the first layers of sauce and veggies.
And close up.

Then keep adding layers: sauce, veggies, sauce, and finish with the remaining cheese. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until browned and bubbling. Remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. The cooling is important, it will be very runny if you try to dish it up right from the oven!

This was seriously delicious. I only have this slightly messy picture of the finished product, because I gobbled most of mine

Pesto Potato Salad

2009-06-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

I am very proud of myself for making two brand new recipes I have never tried yesterday and today! Yesterday it was the veggie pancakes, today a new type of potato salad!
I have to admit I have made a dish that is somewhere along the lines of this potato salad last summer. It is an Italian pasta dish with potatoes, green beans and a pesto sauce. But this potato salad is my own little creation.

It is basically potatoes, home-made pesto, green onions, and a little lemon juice. It tasted good now, I hope it holds up, as I am taking it in my insulated lunch bag to the beach for lunch tomorrow!
Ingredients:
2 lbs new potatoes
2 green onions
freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 sprigs basil
1 large sprig parsley
1 snippet of tarragon (If these herb measurements sound iffy to you, take a look at the photo! Honestly, just grab what herbs you have around)
2 garlic scapes, chopped (or 1 small clove of garlic)
1/2 cup pine nuts1 pinch red chili flakes (optional)
1/2 cup grated parmiggiano reggiano
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
extra virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar

Start a large pot of water boiling for the potatoes.

My potatoes from the CSA!I cut them into fourths, then put them in the water when it was boiling.

Check the potatoes, drain them when they are tender enough to be pierced by a knife.

While the water is heating, make the pesto. First, toast the pine nuts in a small skillet on medium heat, shaking occasionally. Really watch these, I have burnt so many pine nuts . I used to put them in the toaster oven to toast them, but I find it is easier to forget them that way. They are too pricey to waste!
Anyway, it should only take about 5 minutes until they start to smell aromatic and lightly browned.
Let the pine nuts cool.

From left to right parsely, tarragon, basil. The basil and parsley are from the CSA.

Throw your herbs in a food processor with the cheese, garlic scapes, salt, pepper, and a bit of red pepper flakes, then the pine nuts.

Mix in the processor until combined. Then start to add some extra virgin olive oil in the little liquid holes in the lid of your processor. I have a confession...I NEVER measure olive oil for pesto. I just put it in until it is the consistency I like. For this potato salad, I wanted it a bit smoother. Then add in a squeeze of lemon juice. Again, no measurements again, you have to taste to see how much you would like. And in a traditional pesto there is no lemon, but I think it would be nice for the salad.

Then just throw the potatoes in a bowl, and while they are warm add some vinegar. They will soak it up right away, and add some zing.
Then mix in the pesto and the spring onions. I found the salad still needed something, so I added a few more squeezes of lemon juice, and it seemed to brighten it up.

Vegetable Pancakes with Yogurt Sauce

2009-06-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

As part of my self challenge to blog about every recipe I cook with my CSA produce this year, I am sharing this recipe for vegetable pancakes, from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. One of my favorite cookbooks I own, I use it a lot.

We got a lot of great produce this week. Potatoes, Swiss chard, snow peas, lettuce, basil, green onion, cucumber....definitely a lot or great stuff! So I figured I better get cooking tonight if I'm going to use up all the great produce.

There are a lot of variations you can make for these pancakes. The book says you can also use parsnips,sweet potatoes, winter squash, turnips, beets, celery root, or cooked, squeezed chopped spinach or other greens
Vegetable Pancakes (adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe)
Ingredients:
about 1 pound zucchini, yellow squash, and carrot (about 2 cups packed)
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup flour, more or less
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Half-and-half, as needed
2 tablespoons butter and/or olive oil, plus more for the pan (I used a combination on the griddle, and olive oil in the pancakes)

Here are the CSA vegetables I used, plus I decided to add in a little parsley (not pictured) Zucchini, spring onion, zephyr squash, and garlic scapes (the garlic scapes were used in the yogurt sauce)

Incidentally, here is my new kitchen island, purchased from Ikea to be my workspace. My counter is overtaken by coffee makers, other appliances, cooking oils, etc. It has storage space underneath, and hooks to hang lots of things on.

1. Preheat the oven or toaster to warm or 2275 degrees F. Grate the vegetables. I used my lovely new grater, it makes really nice thin strips.

All the veggies mixed together.

Mix the vegetables, onion, egg, and flour together. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Then add just enough half-and-half so that the mixture drops easily from a large spoon. Stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Here is the batter, ready to go on the griddle.

2. Put a pat of butter or a spoonful of oil on a griddle over medium heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, drop in spoonfuls of the batter; use a fork to spread the vegetables into an even layer.
You have to work in batches, keep pancakes in oven until all are finished.Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 15 minutes.

Cookin up on the griddle.

Serve hot or at room temperature with yogurt sauce (recipe below)

Yogurt Sauce (adapted from Mark Bittman's recipe)
1 cup yogurt, whole milk
1 minced garlic scape
salt and freshly ground pepper
lemon juice
freshly chopped parsley and chives

1. Combine the yogurt with the garlic, a pinch of salt, pepper, lemon juice, and herbs. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
2. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Pasta with seasonal veggies

2009-06-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

I made a pasta dish inspired by Pioneer Woman's recipe. I received a zucchini and zephyr squash from the CSA this week.

You know those huge, gi-normous zucchinis you can sometimes find? Well, I just read that actually regular sized zucchinis actually have a better flavor. The large ones are spongy and watery.

I chopped these up, and sauteed them in some olive oil. Oh, and meanwhile started a pot to boil water for the pasta.
Here are some of the other prepared ingredients- some really thin, local asparagus I found at John Herr's, red onion, and 3 garlic cloves put through the garlic press.

Next, I cooked some onion and garlic in olive oil and a little butter. I added in some dry white wine to the pan and scraped up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

I added some lemon zest, lemon juice, halved grape tomatoes, and thin asparagus to the pan and cooked a few minutes.

I added my half and half, I might not do this again. PW adds some real cream to her dish, but I didn't have any so I added some half and half. It seemed to not add any creaminess to the dish, so next time I am just going to leave out the dairy or go all out and use the real deal-regular cream!

Also, I made sure to sufficiently salt and pepper the sauce.

I then dumped the sauce over my recently cooked pasta, and added a bunch of fresh herbs and mixed it up. I used basil, dill, parsley and chives. Then I topped each plate with some freshly grated Parmiggiano Reggiano.

I loved the wine and fresh herb flavor! A great vegetarian dish.

Broccoli Salad

2009-06-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

I love broccoli salad.... once I finally tried it. It just sounds too weird. Broccoli with raisins, bacon and onion? I don't even like raisins that much. And the dressing ingredients also sound strange. Mayo, vinegar and sugar.

But somehow, when you put it all together, it is really tasty. I use much less sugar than the recipe calls for, and left out the peas. The grocery store I worked at made this from scratch everyday and they never had peas!

You can click the recipe below, but basically cut up some broccoli (from my CSA share!), red onion, throw it in a bowl. Add a handful of raisins. Cook some bacon that is cut in small pieces. Then mix up some mayo, add a little white vinegar and sugar to taste then dump over the broccoli mix. Tada!
Broccoli Salad recipe
To fulfill my CSA challenge, here are the other things I made with my farm produce from last week.
Arugula- Ate a small bowl or it with white wine vinegar, olive oil and local strawberries.
Spring onions and lettuces- Chopped up the bunch and added it to chicken salad. The salad had grilled boneless chicken thighs, chopped, toasted sunflower seeds, celery, and a dressing with mayo, dijon mustard, and vinegar. Served on top of lettuces and shredded spicy cheese.

First CSA Challenge recipe: Tex-Mex Salad

2009-06-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

I loved LOVED this salad! My favorite salads are the ones with all the goodies like chicken, high quality cheese, something crunchy. I especially love salads with a Tex-Mex theme.
So I created this recipe, using three different salad greens from our wonderful CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. (To read more about my CSA self-challenge, click here.)
I wanted a BIG SALAD, just like Elaine on Seinfeld. So this recipe is for two main entree salads.

Ingredients:
5 small corn tortillas, cut into strips
Corn oil for frying
Dressing:
1 chipotle pepper
2 tsp adobe sauce
1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lime
pinch of salt, ground pepper
1 shallot
1/2 up lightly packed cilantro

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
A variety of salad greens, about 4-5 cups
Shredded sharp, aged cheddar cheese
1/2 cup canned corn or Mexicorn

Directions:
First, make the fried tortilla strips. Ever since I fried my own tortilla chips, I am addicted. I don't make them a lot, but they taste so much better than bagged chips!
First, heat up your corn oil in a small skillet to about 350 degrees. Drop your tortilla strips in in small batches, stirring then removing with a slotted spoon after they start to calm down and darken. It doesn't take long at all, just a minute or two so don't walk away from the stove! Place them on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt before putting in the next batch.

These are the strips before they have "calmed down." They are excited and bubbly when you first put them in.

Continue until you fry all the strips.

Then, try not to eat all of them before the rest of the salad is done!

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400 on broil. (I used the toaster oven, less heat in the kitchen to cook one little bitty chicken breast.)
Then, make the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients except cilantro in a food processor or blender, mix just a little bit to incorporate the chipotle pepper and shallot. Put 1/3 cup of the dressing in a small bowl, set on the counter. You're gonna use this in a minute. Chop the cilantro, then add to the larger amount of dressing and put in the fridge until everything else is ready.

Now, take the chicken breast and season it on both sides with salt and pepper. Then, dip it in the reserved 1/3 cup dressing (or use a brush to coat both sides of the chicken.) Put the chicken on a wire rack, with a tray beneath it. Broil until internal temperature is 175F, flipping once. I think it took mine about 20 minutes total to cook.

The yogurt prevents the chicken from drying out. It had a great flavor!!

Rinse your salad greens and put on two big plates. To highlight the greens I used from Goldfinch Farms.....

First, my favorite from Goldfinch-arugula!! I have never tasted a more peppery arugula anywhere else. The flavor knocks my socks off. I can eat it plain, and I am not normally someone who nibbles on any variety of plain, raw greens. But this...this is something I look forward to every year now.

We also received a bag of mixed baby greens. They are tender, and include a wider variety than pictured here. Very, very good.

This, I think, is a type of red romaine. I could be wrong here. I liked the more sturdy nature of this lettuce for my salad, because of all the heavy toppings.

Add your desired amount of shredded cheese, and the corn. Slice the chicken and put half on each salad. Add the tortilla strips and drizzle with half the dressing.

Mmm I could eat this salad every day. Well, at least every week for awhile!

I served mojitos with this! Margaritas also acceptable.

CSA Self-Challenge

2009-06-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was an important day in our calendar year: The first produce pick-up of the season from Goldfinch Farms, our organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)!
In a CSA, if you don't know, you pay a farm up front, typically before the growing season starts, for one share in their crops. Then, every week you go and pick up a variety of produce that is in season that they grow on their farm. It isn't like the organic section of the supermarket. There is only local, seasonal produce, and you can only take as much as they allow for one share. I think it is great though, for several obvious reasons such as:

1. No shipping produce long distances, wanting fuel.
2. Supporting local farms.
3. Seasonal produce tastes best.
4. Everything is organic, and although I haven't done a cost comparison, I am almost sure it is cheaper than if you bought everythings organic at the supermarket. Also, it is great for small farmers, allowing them to have a steady income.

This is our second season buying from Goldfinch Farms. This year, a friend of mine also signed up for a share. She made me promise to help her think of recipes to use her share of produce every week. It is a bit of a challenge to use EVERYTHING in your share EVERY week. I know last year I have had to throw a few things away, which makes me sad!! As I was preparing a salad using their generous lettuce from Friday, I had an idea.

1. What if this year, I really challenged myself not to waste ANYTHING given to me, (even if it meant giving a friend a vegetable I don't like, or trying new things, or being extra creative)
2. Also, what if I blogged EVERYTHING I made with each part of my CSA share this season?

So that is my self challenge. I will try to post everything I make with my CSA share. Sometimes it will be a full recipe with measured ingredients and photos. Sometimes it may be a non-recipe with inexact measurements. Othertimes, it may be a brief description. But that is my adventure I have given myself! Check back to see what I made this week!

If you want to find a CSA near you, go to Local Harvest and you can do a search. (You can also find farmer's markets and restaurants that use local ingredients) (Unfortunately Goldfinch Farms is all sold out of shares for 2009. Gotta sign up early!)

Guacemole and Cinco de Mayo Menu

2009-05-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Cinco de Mayo, not even celebrated by all Mexicans (so I read) is kinda like St. Patricks Day. It is a good excuse to eat/drink Mexican food. Not that I am claiming any kind of authenticity to my recipes. But in all humbleness, I make a pretty dern good margarita and guacamole. So I am going to share my recipe for the guacamole!

Guacamole with Roasted Garlic
Ingredients:
1 head of garlic
3 Hass avocado
1/2 red onion, chopped
3/4 cup cilantro
juice of one lime
1 jalepeno, finely chopped
kosher salt
ground pepper

Before you start the rest of the guacamole, start roasting the garlic. Begin by chopping off the very tips of the garlic cloves. Then drizzle the head in some olive oil, wrap loosely in some aluminum foil, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-45 minutes, depending on the oven.

Cut each avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit by hitting your knife blade hard on the middle of the pit, and twisting. (Don't hold the avocado half in your hand while you whack the avocado, just leave it on the cutting board. I actually read directions for removing an avocado pit in a cookbook that told you to hold it!! Sounds like a bad idea for me.)

Scoop out the flesh with a regular spoon or a melon baller.
Dump it all in a bowl. It looks a bit like ice cream right now!
Add the chopped onion...

and the cilantro. Then pour in the lime juice, and chopped jalepeno, the salt and pepper to taste. For the jalepeno, you can remove the seeds if you want less heat, or leave them in for more.
After the garlic is roasted, squeeze out the garlic from each clove. Then roughly chop, and add to the bowl.
I have struggled for a long time to find the best way to mash guacamole. I don't use a food processor, because I don't want a perfectly smooth guacamole. I don't like that texture. Mixing with a spoon doesn't break it up enough. The best way I guess would be to go the authentic route and buy a volcanic mortar and one day I might buy one. But for now, my new favorite is to use a potato masher.

Just make sure you don't mash too long, so you still have some chunks.

Menu:
Guacamole with roasted garlic and chips
Grilled chicken burritos with mango salsa (I used turkey)
Margaritas
Aqua de Jamaica (hibiscus petal tea)
Sorbet

Hamburgers: Part 2

2009-05-05T11:31:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of variations on burgers. This time I decided to make my own up, and it is pretty basic, but has a little heat and Mexican flair.
Ingredients:
1lb ground beef (grass fed beef is best)
1/2 minced onion
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
a few dashes of hot sauce (I used Frank's)
a handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper
4 slices of cheddar cheese (I used habanero cheddar cheese)
Red onion slices
Lettuce
Ketchup or mayo

Throw all of these ingredients together in a medium bowl, and mix it together; I use my hands.

Form into 4 patties. Rachael Ray suggests that you make the center of patty a little thinner than the outside, to counter act how the burgers swell when you cook them.

My wonderful husband prepared a charcoal grill, nice and hot.
He grilled them for about 3 minutes each side.

Top with the cheese, serve on the onion studded hamburger rolls.

Top with onion and lettuce, ketchup and mayo.

I served these with some oven fries. Delicious! It had a bit of smoky spiciness, and the home made rolls really made it special.

Barefoot Bloggers: Croque Monsieur

2009-04-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

The second April recipe was chosen by Kathy of All Food Considered. I have never tried making this famous French sandwich, so I was excited to try. You make a ham and cheese sandwich, then smother it in a cheesy white sauce top with more cheese, and broil it in the oven until it is crispy and brown on top. So delicious!
I cut the recipe in half, but other than that I think I followed this recipe without change. I bought my bread from Rick's breads, a local bakery here in Lancaster City. It is a regular white French loaf. I used Boar's head maple ham, and imported Gruyere cheese. And local, hormone free milk, as usual.
Bon appetit!
Ina Garten's Croque Monsieur

Hamburgers: Part 1 The Rolls

2009-04-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

It is seriously warm here in PA, it feels like summer right now!! To celebrate, we have been cooking on our new charcoal Weber grill.
So tomorrow we will be grilling hamburgers!
I like burgers but one thing I don't like is figuring out what to put them on. The rolls in the grocery store are full of high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and other weird things. The bakeries near us that make their bread from scratch don't usually have hamburger rolls. So for the first time, I decided to make my own rolls!
I found a great recipe over at Coconut and Lime. Today she posted this recipe for Onion-Studded Hamburger Rolls.
I am not going to re-post her recipe, but if you click on the link above you can see step-by-step instructions. And they are not difficult to make, especially if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook. Here are some shots of my rolls being made.

The first step, heating up some milk, water, butter, salt and sugar.
The cooked shallots to go in the rolls. (I used shallots instead of onion)

Kneading the dough in my stand mixer.

The dough after it has risen the first time.
The finished rolls!
I haven't made bread the traditional way for a while, I have been using Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method, which doesn't involve punching down the dough or kneading. I think I developed a fear of making bread the normal way. But it wasn't that much work, and I had today off so I had the time to wait for each stage. Thanks to Rachel of Coconut and Lime for the great recipe!
Tomorrow, the hamburgers!

Barefoot Bloggers Budget Challenge!!

2009-04-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

I was really intrigued by the new Barefoot Blogger Challenge-take one of Ina Garten's recipes, and overhaul the recipe to make it cost less. The recipe chosen to overhaul was Lobster Cobb Salad Rolls.
And boy, this recipe would have cost a pretty penny had I made it as written. It calls for 1 1/2 lbs lobster meat, which would cost a lot. If I went to Giant, it would cost over $60 dollars to get the amount of lobster meat required. I usually halve the recipes, since it is just for me and my husband but I would still end up spending $30-40 on the lobster meat alone for 3/4 of a pound.
I read a lot of the comments for the recipe on the TV Food Network website. Many people commented that the bacon and blue cheese made it overly salty. I decided to get rid of the blue cheese, since that is also pricey. I used a few shavings or parmesan, which I always have on hand.
Someone also commented that with all the other stuff going on (the vinaigrette, the bacon, etc) you might as well use turkey instead of lobster. So I decided to do that! I used a turkey tenderloin that cost me exactly $3.64! How is that for saving?
I also turned it into a pasta salad, using 100% whole wheat rotini. Other changes include using pancetta instead of bacon, sun-dried tomatoes instead of cherry, (not in season yet!!) and a slightly altered vinaigrette. So you can check out the original recipe here but I recommend my version :) I'm not biased at all!It is very different from the original recipe, but I really really enjoyed it. It is one of the tastiest dishes I have made in a while!
Turkey Cobb Pasta Salad Serves 3
Ingredients:
1/2 lb whole wheat spiral pasta (such as rotini)
about 1 lb turkey tenderloin
6 slices (medium thickness) pancetta
1 small bunch organic arugula
1 organic avocado
lemon juice
1 small handful sun dried tomatoes
Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
salt and pepper
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 tsp honey
juice of 1/2 a large lemon
salt and pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. While the water heats up, season the turkey tenderloin with salt and freshly ground pepper on all sides. Put on a tray in a toaster oven at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until no longer pink inside.

The cooked turkey tenderloin. I got this from "The Turkey Lady" at Central Market in Lancat

Cook the pancetta in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, remove to paper towels to cool.

I just loooooove pancetta. It has a great flavor.

After the pasta is cooked until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water to cool down. Dump in a large bowl.
Rinse the arugula and rip larger leaves in half. Add to bowl.

This organic arugula from market was tender and much better than the supermarket variety nowadays.

Cut the avocado in half, remove pit, and peel off outer skin. Cut into a 3/4 inch dice. Sprinkle with lemon juice, then add to pasta.

This avocado, from the organic produce stand, was also labeled "Fair Trade Certified"!!! It was beautiful and delicious.

Roughly chop sundried tomatoes and add in. Crumble pancetta and also add into the salad.
Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Blend the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender, or use a container and an immersion blender (This is what I did, less clean up.) Then add the shallot, garlic and honey and blend until shallot and garlic are incorporated.

This organic lemon was HUGE!

Cut the turkey into bite sized pieces and cool. Add to the pasta mixture, then mix in the vinaigrette. Serve with freshly shaved parmesan on top.

Approximate cost of this dinner: $17.00 (including mostly organic ingredients)
Approximate cost of original recipe (cut in half to serve two): $58.00

Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

2009-04-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

This week McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen chose this lovely salad from the Barefoot Contessa.
This meal was healthy and delicious! I wanted to use asparagus, I really did. But here in Lancaster, PA asparagus is not in season quite yet. It should be very soon. But asparagus is one of those vegetables I am very picky about eating only local and in season. It is just not very good shipped in from thousands of miles away, I think.
So I used snow peas, and they worked very well. I also used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.
Other than that I halved the recipe and I felt really healthy about eating this dinner!!
Until I had a few glasses of wine with it. Whoops!
Hey, I'm on Easter break, I don't need to work tomorrow. So it's all good.

Ingredients
nocoupons
- 4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
- Good olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally (Or snow peas, cut in half diagonally)
- 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
- 2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted
For the dressing:
nocoupons
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.
Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.
Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing
Pour the dressing over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Barefoot Bloggers: Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

2009-03-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

This week's Barefoot Bloggers' Recipe are these delicious tarts picked by Anne of Anne Strawberry.
I made half of the recipe, and used sundried tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes, since they are not in season here in PA. The sun-dried tomatoes got a little black, but other than that this was a nice recipe. It sounds like it will take longer to make than it does. It is really a pretty fast recipe!

Ina Garten's Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts
Ingredients

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) puff pastry, defrosted
Good olive oil
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onions (2 large onions)
3 large garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, plus 2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler
4 ounces garlic-and-herb goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet)
1 large tomato, cut into 4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices
3 tablespoons julienned basil leaves

Directions

Unfold a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it lightly to an 11 by 11-inch square. Using a 6-inch wide saucer or other round object as a guide, cut 2 circles from the sheet of puff pastry, discarding the scraps. Repeat with the second pastry sheet to make 4 circles in all. Place the pastry circles on 2 sheet pans lined with parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium to low heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are limp and there is almost no moisture remaining in the skillet. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the wine, and thyme and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, until the onions are lightly browned. Remove from the heat.

Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry circle. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork and sprinkle a tablespoon of grated Parmesan on each round, staying inside the scored border.

Place 1/4 of the onion mixture on each circle, again staying within the scored edge.

Crumble 1 ounce of goat cheese on top of the onions. Place a slice of tomato in the center of each tart. Brush the tomato lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, salt, and pepper. Finally, scatter 4 or 5 shards of Parmesan on each tart.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. The bottom sheet pan may need an extra few minutes in the oven. Serve hot or warm.

Homemade Bagels!

2009-03-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

When I bought Artisan Bread in 4 Minutes a Day last year, I was excited to make a lot of thing in the book. But not the bagels. It sounded like too much work, with the boiling and what not.
But recently I have decided to take the challenge to make my own! Any bagels in the grocery store have high fructose corn syrup in them. There is a place here that makes their own bagels from scratch, but it's a good 20 minute drive from our house.
So here we go!
First, make the dough.
Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
The Dough
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 1/4 cups bread flour

Mis the yeast, salt, and sugar with the water in your stand mixer bowl. Add the flour to the bowl and mix it with the dough hook attachment until all the flour is incorporated. Put the dough into a lidded container (not airtight). Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for about two hours. Then put the container in the fridge. I left it in overnight.
Making the Bagels
Put a baking stone and an empty broiler tray in the oven. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Also, get the boiling pot going on the stove. You'll need 8 quarts of water with 1 tsp baking soda and 1/4 cup sugar mixed in with it.

Here is the pretty dough, just taken out of the fridge.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 3-oz piece of dough (about the size of a small peach).

Dust the peice with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go.

Here is the piece of dough formed into a ball.

Push your thumb into the middle of the dough and pull it apart until the hole is three times wider than the width of the bagel. I had a little trouble getting my bagel holes to remain open wide enough, my dough was very elastic.

As you can see they are not perfect looking, but that is ok.
Drop the bagels in the boiling pot one or two at a time, don't overcrowd.

After the bagel boils simmers for 2 minutes, flip it over to the over side and cook it for another minute. Then, dip the bagel in your favorite topping. I did three types of bagels, poppy, cheddar cheese and...

Everything bagels, my favorite! I don't know if these actually have everything, but they have poppy seeds, sesame seeds and dried onion flakes. You could also put garlic and salt on, but I opted to leave those out. Another thing you have control of when you bake your own bagels!
Put the bagels in your preheated oven, on the stone. Put one cup of tap water in the broiler pan below and close the door. The steam from the water helps form a crisp outer crust.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until they start getting golden brown.
Here are the finished bagels.
The cheese bagel.
The poppy bagel.
And the beautiful everything bagel!
We made ham and cheese sandwiches with our fresh bagels.

Barefoot Bloggers: Chicken Piccata

2009-03-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

I love chicken piccata! So a big thanks to Lindsey of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings for picking this Barefoot Contessa recipe this month.
My deviations from the posted recipe: I added a handful of capers to the sauce.
I used small, chicken breast "tenders" instead of half of a whole breast.
tried to use my own home made bread crumbs, but thought it wouldn't turn out right. So I used panko bread crumbs, seasoned with some dried Italian spices. I tried one tender with the homemade bread crumbs. Since they weren't as fine, it didn't look quite as nice, but tasted good.
Also, I boiled some angel hair pasta to serve this over. I loved the strong lemon flavor!
Oh....and I used a cast iron skillet to flatten the chicken tenders. Worked great!!

Chicken Piccata Ina Garten

2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 extra-large egg
1/2 tablespoon water
3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
Good olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
1/2 cup dry white wine
Sliced lemon, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
I added about 1/4 cup capers, and half a pound of angel hair pasta.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Here are the tenders post-flattening.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Here you can see the panko coated pieces, and on the right the homemade bread crumb piece. I felt it didn't coat as well but they pieces did stick on and it was alright. Panko looked better.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes.

Here is where I added some capers in, while the sauce is reducing.

Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Eat and enjoy!

Homemade Cherry Granola

2009-03-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have been amazed at how much more groceries are lately, especially all-natural organic food. It is hard to be cheap and eat the way I like. So last week when I looked at the cereal and granola in my grocery store, I didn't feel like spending almost 6 dollars for the all-natural, small bag of granola. So I decided to make my own granola! I got the basic recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.
One of the best things about making things yourself is control over ingredients. I watch the sugar in my cereal, so I put less honey in than normal. I also don't like raisins, so I used cherries. The variations to this recipe are endless. I would like to try using maple syrup and waluts and banana chips. I would also like to try adding peanut butter, and making a tropical fruit variation with dried mango. I may not buy pre-made granola for a long time!
I like to eat this with maple yogurt. (Just add a tablespoon to plain, whole milk yogurt!)
Ingredients:
6 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)
2 cups thin sliced almonds and roasted pumpkin seeds, or other nuts
1 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Dash salt
1/2-1 cup honey or maple syrup to taste (I probably used 1/4 cup)
1 cup dried tart cherries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
First, dump six cups of rolled oats (organic or not) into a 9x13 baking pan. Put the pan over 2 burners if possible. DO NOT PUT IT ON HIGH! Use medium-low heat. Also, don't walk away. Stay at the stove and stir. I learned this the hard way. I burned the oats on the bottom of the pan.

Stir the oats until they are fragrant and toasty. (But not black!) It should take 3-5 mintues.

Add the nuts and seeds and continue to cook, stirring frequently (i.e. don't walk away here either.) for 2 minutes.

Add the coconut and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes longer. Add the cinnamon, salt and honey (or maple syrup), stir, and put in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Then, add the dried cherries and stir. Cool on a rack, continuing tO stir once in a while until the granola reaches room temperature. Transfer to a sealed container and store in the fridge, it will keep for a long time!

Barefoot Bloggers: Meringues Chantilly

2009-03-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks to BMK of Reservations not Required for this lovely and elegant dessert pick. Ina Garten's Meringues Chantilly.
I was excited to try this recipe. I have never made meringues before and it sounded like a good, challenging recipe to learn.
I halved this recipe, since there are just two of us. First I put three egg whites in my mixing bowl.

Mix on medium speed until it is frothy, like this.

Add 1/2 cup of sugar.
Then beat on high speed in your mixing bowl until very stiff peaks form. When I pulled the whisk up, it stood up straight. If the peaks fall over, keep whipping. Then fold in 1/4 cup of sugar.
Then I filled my pastry bag with the egg whites. If you fold down the top, it makes it less messy.
I piped the mixture into a circular disk, then piped another layer around the outside.
The recipe says to bake at 200 degrees for 2 hours, without browning them. I think my oven runs a little hot, because after less than an hour they started to get brown. So I turned it down. Then I left the tray in the oven over night. I made a few little extra ones also.
I threw in some frozen blueberries and raspberriees, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup of sugar (I used raw cane sugar...it's so pretty!)
Cook the berries for about 8-10 minutes. (I forgot to take a pictures of the done berry sauce.)
Then I used my mixer again with the whisk attachment, and whipped up 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of sugar and a little Grand Marnier. I put the whipped cream in the middle of the shell and topped it with the berry sauce.

The original recipe can be found here

Beer Bread!

2009-03-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

I need to get my act together and make the meringues chantilly for barefoot bloggers. I will do that this week, hopefully tomorrow.
But for now, I'd like to share a recipe I found at allrecipes.com. I use that website a lot, I like it because of all the reviews from people who have already cooked the recipes. It usually gives you a good tip.
I made this beer bread for a large group of people who came over for dinner, and it received raves. I like to make it because you can make it with things you have around the kitchen already (if you have a bottle of beer), and it is faster than yeast bread.
I made this to go with some mexican-style chile, I think it goes well with soups also.
Whole Wheat Beer Bread
First, grease a bread pan. (I spray with canola oil.)
Get your two kinds of flour.

100% whole wheat flour, and all purpose. Measure 1 and 1/2 cups of each and put in a mixing bowl.
Then add 4 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 and 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/3 cup packed brown sugar. Now, what you see in my bowl is 1/3 cup raw cane sugar, and a little molassses since I didn't have brown sugar. If you run out of brown sugar, you can use regular sugar with some molasses! Now grab your bottle of beer.
This is what I used. If you live near Harrisburg, PA or somewhere near it I recommend you get some beer from the Appalachian Brewing Company. Not just for this recipe, just to try! I'm not a big beer drinker, but I really like their beer. And this one is organic! But most beer will work. Just use a beer that you would drink. Don't use Coors Light or something like that. Get a real beer with some flavor! The type of beer you use will change the flavor some.
Now dump the beer in the bowll with the other ingredients. It will foam up a lot, like this. That is fine. Just mix until it is all incorporated, it will be thick and lumpy.
Put the batter in the bread pan, and here is where allrecipes.com is great. The butter on top is not in the recipe, but if you browse the comments most people recommend putting some on top. And they are right, the butter makes it even better.
The recipe says to bake in a 350 oven for 50-60 minutes, but mine was definitely done in more like 30 minutes! So just check on it, it is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Eat, with butter or plain.

Barefoot Bloggers: Real Spaghetti and Meatballs

2009-02-11T16:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, this meal blew me away! Spaghetti and Meatballs is not a meal I make at home or order in restaurants. I think it is because growing up, we had spaghetti sauce from a jar, and I don't think my parents made home-made meatballs (much).
But this was so flavorful. And it makes a LOT of meatballs! I ate 2 and 1/2 and that was enough.
My husband taught me to make better tomato sauce. First, don't buy any can labeled "Tomato Sauce."

Buy this instead, put this on the stove with some wine and spices and it will taste better than any canned tomato sauce.

So here is the recipe, I noted the few changes I made.
Barefoot Contessa's Real Spaghetti and Meatballs
Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes
6 ish servings

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

1/2 pound ground veal
1/2 pound ground pork
*(I used 1lb pork and no veal, since I didn't see it at the market.)
1 pound ground beef
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs (4 slices, crusts removed)
1/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
*(I used panko crumbs mixed with some italian spices)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Vegetable oil
Olive oil

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 onion)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup good red wine, such as Chianti
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For serving:

1 1/2 pounds spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Place the ground meats, both bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, salt, pepper, nutmeg, egg, and 3/4 cup warm water in a bowl. Combine very lightly with a fork.

Using your hands, lightly form the mixture into 2-inch meatballs. You will have 14 to 16 meatballs.

Pour equal amounts of vegetable oil and olive oil into a large (12-inch) skillet to a depth of 1/4-inch. Heat the oil. Very carefully, in batches, place the meatballs in the oil and brown them well on all sides over medium-low heat, turning carefully with a spatula or a fork. This should take about 10 minutes for each batch. Don't crowd the meatballs. Remove the meatballs to a plate covered with paper towels.

Here are the delicious meatballs cooking.

Discard the oil but don't clean the pan.

For the sauce, heat the olive oil in the same pan. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Return the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Serve hot on cooked spaghetti and pass the grated Parmesan.

Smokey and Spicy "Chile" over Pasta

2009-01-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

I think I am channeling Rachel Ray on this recipe I invented of today. It definitely seems like her type of thing.
I used grass fed, free range ground beef available from my farmer's market. If you can get grass fed beef, do it. I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. The things they do to cows to mass produce beef and milk is horrible and not good for you. This beef is free of bad growth hormones. It has lots and lots of healthy Omega-3 fatty acids.

Ingredients:
5 pieces bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped,
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lb ground beef
3/4 tsp chipotle powder
1 can green chiles
1 can tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes
shredded spicy cheese, to taste (I used habanero cheese! Monterey Jack with jalepeno would work)
handful chopped cilantro
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 lb pasta of choice (I used bucatini since I had it already but I think penne or shorter shapes might work even better)

Fill a large pot with water to cook the pasta bring to a boil.
While the pasta water is heating up, cook the bacon in a large pot until crisp.

Oh boy, bacon. This is free range pork bacon also!

Reserve on paper towels. Drain all but about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease out of the pot. Add in the onion and garlic, cook until softened. Add in the beef and chipotle powder, cook, and drain some of the fat off. (Unless you like to live dangerously).
Add in the green chiles. I think you could also add some bell pepper in here too, or some black beans.
Add in the can of tomatoe sauce or chopped tomatoes, a handful of shredded cheese and the bacon.

Mmm this is winter comfort food for sure.

Once the pasta is done, drain it. Serve in bowls with the chile beef mixture, topped with some more cheese, cilantro, and green onion.

Here are all the toppings!
My husband really enjoyed this.

Sausage Potato Cups!

2009-01-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

This recipe was posted previously, but was recently featured on the Key Ingredient website's blog, The Back Burner. They gave me this handy recipe card for it. Yay!!

Cheesy Sausage Potato Cups with Yogurt Mustard Sauce

Small potatoes baked with sausage, peppers and sharp cheddar cheese ...

See Cheesy Sausage Potato Cups with Yogurt Mustard Sauce on Key Ingredient.

Barefoot Bloggers: Easy Sticky Buns

2009-01-21T16:35:00.000-08:00

Melissa of Made by Mel issa picked this super fast recipe for this week. I don't think they are in the same league as my version of a Cinnabon I made this Christmas (I'll have to post that sometime) but they are really fast and tasty, perfect for a non-holiday time.
My one issue is that frozen puff pastry it is not all natural. So I think normally I'll stick to bread dough buns, but I have to admit these were goooood. My husband tried one, and then ate another one right away!
The only modification I made was to leave out the raisins, since we are not big fans. Instead, I threw a few more pecans inside the roll.

Easy Sticky Buns by the Barefoot Contessa
Makes 12 (I halved this recipe)

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces
1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted for the filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar.

I decided to make this recipe even easier by not dragging out my mixer. I just softened the butter in the microwave, and mixed in the brown sugar with a fork!

Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of the raisins.

Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.

Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide.

Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Rachel Ray: Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

2009-01-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

While checking out Cynthia over at Diary of a Glad Housewife, I noticed she had also received Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book for Christmas. So we are both making a recipe from our new book this week! Check out her recipe.
Rachel Ray, as I have mentioned on here before, makes some of my favorite recipes. I don't watch her show though, her personality can be a little weird-o! But I love her magazine. (I am going to be in her April issue, more about that later!) I think the Big Orange Book is a good addition to my cookbook collection. There are some really yummy sounding vegetarian recipes, holiday and party recipes also. I would definitely reis really nicecommend it.
I went on another expedition to Trader Joe's this week, and I got some basil pesto chicken and turkey sausage. So I chose this recipe from the kosher section of Rachel's new book.
I was excited to try this recipe, the original name is Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. I have never cooked with broccoli rabe, so I was excited to try it. Sadly when I went to the grocery store, there was none to be found! So I changed it to regular broccoli, and it was tasty.
There was one great tip in this recipe I'd like to point out- to break up the sausage while browning, use a potato masher. This works much faster than anything else I've tried. Next time I make a meat sauce with sausage I am going to use this tip.
This dish was tastier than I thought. Don't leave out the red pepper, it gives the dish a little KICK.
Ingredients:
salt
1 (12-16 oz.) package fresh or frozen gnocchi
2 bunches of broccoli rabe, stem ends trimmed and chopped OR 2 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
4 tablespoons EVOO
1 1/2 pounds Kosher Italian chicken sausage links, casings removed (I used Trader Joe's basil pesto chicken and turkey sausage)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
zest and juice of 1 lemon
Crusty bread (I bought LaBrea roasted garlic bread)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the gnocchi. Once the water is boiling, add some salt, add the gnocchi and cook according to package directions. Rigt before draining, rmove and reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid (I ALWAYS forget to do this! I used chicken broth)
While the water for the gnocchi is coing to a boil, bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large high-sided skillet. add some salt and the broccoli (rabe) and simmer for 5 minutes, drain and reserve. Return the skillet to the stove and heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO over medium high heat. add the chicken sausage and break it up with the back of a spoon or a potato masher while it cooks and browns, 6-7 minutes.

Add the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the sausage and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the onions start to get tender. Remove the sausage and onion from the skillet and reserve.

Here is the reserved sausage, broccoli and the lemon zest ready to go.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO and heat it up. Add the drained gnocchi to the skillet and brown lightly for a couple of minutes. Return the sausage and onions, broccoli to the pan. Toss to combine and add the reserved pasta water (or chicken broth). Turn the heat up to high and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and zest and serve with the bread.

Barefoot Bloggers: Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

2009-01-07T16:25:00.000-08:00

I never would have thought to put sour cream in pancakes! Bananas are standard pancake/waffle but the combo of that with sour cream was very tasty. I also added a handful of pecans to the batter.
The only thing I had issue with was the fact that you put the bananas in one cluster in the pancake. Next time, I would mix the bananas in with the rest of the batter. My husband liked it the way it was.

Barefoot Contessa's Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
(My addition-about 1/2 cup of chopped pecans)
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Unsalted butter
2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake.

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned.

Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Baked Macaroni and Goat Cheese with and Roasted Peppers

2009-01-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

I got two new cookbooks for Christmas, and I am very excited about this one, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like to cook vegetarian meals sometimes and this book sounded too good to pass up.
The first recipe I made from this was the Hot Curry powder, but I haven't used it yet. I hope to tomorrow in a butternut squash recipe.
I made Baked Macaroni and Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Peppers, which is a variation on the standard Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe. That is one of the things I like, they give you a lot of basic recipes, but then give you a lot of ways to make it more exciting or different.
I used my Chevre from a recent excursion to Trader Joe's. It is delicious, and much cheaper than any goat cheese I can buy around here. Trader Joe's, please come to Lancaster. PLEASE?
Here is my paraphrased recipe. The ingredients are the same (I used different pasta and added a little salt)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups milk
1 lb elbow macaroni (I used Trader Joe's Vegetable Radiatore)
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese
(1 tsp salt)
1 cup goat cheese
2 red bell peppers
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (I used basil I threw into a plastic baggie this summer and tossed in the freezer! It was good.)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

First, you need to roast your peppers. I think the best way is to stick them in a toaster oven on broil for about 20-25 minutes. Turn the temperature all the way up (450 for me) and turn the peppers once. (While the peppers are roasting, I would start the pasta water, butter a 9x13 dish, and get your cheese ready.)

Here is the pepper, roasted and ready to be skinned and chopped.

Then take the peppers, and either wrap them in foil or stick then in a plastic baggie. Then, here is a new tip from the book. To remove the skin and seeds, take them out under running water. This helps!! Chop the peppers.
Put your pine nuts in the toaster oven to toast now. Just be careful not to let them go too long. About 8 minutes on 300 works for me.
When the pasta water is ready, cook the pasta-not too long! Drain the pasta earlier than you normally would, since it will soften more in the oven.
Pre-heat your oven to 400.
In a small pot, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. When the butter is foamy, add the flour and whisk. Let it cook for about 5 minutes, until it is light brown. Then add the milk, a little at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. Add the grated cheddar and stir until melted. Add the salt and pepper.

Throw this sauce over the pasta, then the red peppers, basil, pine nuts and goat cheese.

Mix it all up, then pour into your baking dish.

Throw on the bread crumbs. I also added a few little dots of goat cheese on top.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until browned.

Eat. Then eat some more.

Thanksgiving Leftovers-Post 2 Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2008-12-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

I love muffins with cranberries. I enjoy the tart flavor breaking through the sweetness of the muffin. One problem, there are never enough cranberries for me when I get a cranberry muffin. Also, if I could, every muffin would have cream cheese in it if I had my way.

So I used some cranberry sauce to make my own. So I actually made cranberry sauce to make these muffins, so technically mine were not made of leftovers. But I wanted to make the cranberry sauce tarter than you would eat plain to put in the muffins.

The cream cheese part actually, may not be necessary next time. The cranberry flavor was nice enough. But take it or leave it depending on your tastes in muffins.
This makes 12 regular muffins, or 6 Jumbo muffins. I made jumbo muffins, because for some reason, I have no regular muffin pans.

Ingredients:
About 1 cup cranberry sauce
3/4 block of cream cheese, softened
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 1/3 cups flour and 3/4 cup oats)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 milk
1/4 cup cooking oil (I used Canola)

Put the softened cream cheese in a food processor/mixer with the maple syrup. Whip until smooth.

Here is my cranberry sauce-just finished cooking. I used 100% cranberry juice to make it, so it was pretty tart. It was sweetened with some maple syrup though, I based the recipe on Pioneer Woman's.

Grease your muffin tins or line with paper cups, set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. (I used raw sugar)

In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil.

Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

I layered the batter with the cranberry and cream cheese.

Then I mixed it up a little to get some good cranberry distribution. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Post 1

2008-11-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

November was not a good month for me, blogging wise. I am here to make that up with several posts on how to use Thanksgiving leftovers.
I made a turkey this year, so I had plenty to use up. This first recipe also has the bonus of using leftover mashed potatoes to make a shepherd's pie. I love shepherd's pie, but on a regular weeknight making a dinner that also requires making mashed potatoes doesn't happen. So this is a nice use of leftovers. I even used leftover white wine from Thanksgiving dinner!

Thanksgiving Leftover Shepherd's Pie

1 onion, chopped
1 bulb fennel, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
2 carrots, halved and cut into 1/4" slices
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 1/2-ish cups diced leftover cooked turkey
Leftover mashed potatoes (about 1 1/2 cups)

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Here is the chopped onion and fennel. I just love fennel, it gives winter food a Je ne sais quoi.

Melt 1 TBSP butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and fennel. Saute on med-high about 5 minutes or so, until they start to get soft. Then add the gah-lic and cook for another minute or two. Then add the other veggies and the sage.

You could use any other veggies you have lying around that you want also. I think a red bell pepper would be nice.

Turn down and let it cook a little, adding some salt and pepper.
While the veggies finish cooking, add the 3 TBSP of butter to a saucepan. Once it is melted, whisk in the flour to make the base for your sauce. This is what will make it thick. After the flour and butter come together cook it for about a minute.

Here is the butter and flour getting cozy. For this, you can't cut down the amount of butter, or it won't work. You need an equal amount of fat and flour to make this base.

Then slowly add the broth and wine, whisking it in to combine.

I didn't measure exact amounts of wine and broth, to be honest. Just keep adding until you get the consistency you want in your sauce

Add a little salt and pepper. My sauce tasted pretty salty when I tasted it, but once I ate the final product it didn't. Remember, the sauce will be with all those veggies and it will balance.

Add the turkey to the veggies, then stir in the sauce. Pour it all into a small casserole dish.

then top with the mashed potatoes.

Then top with the mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle on the grated parmesan or romano cheese.

Put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes look a little browned.

Barefoot Bloggers: Vegetable Pot Pie

2008-10-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

So I liked this pot pie a lot. I changed up several of the ingredients so I don't know if the integrity of the recipe is still there. Ok the integrity might be gone since I added chicken that I stir-fried in a pan before baking. It is now a chicken pot pie. But the husband wanted the chicken. What can you do?
Other changes:
-All butter for the the crust. Shortening is not all-natural and offends my sensibilities. Or something like that.
-Veggie changes galore: I used sweet potato, butternut squash, onion, carrots, and fennel. They are seasonal, asparagus isn't.
-I used some wine instead of Pernod. Although now I wonder what the extra licorice taste would be like. Next time I will try it.
-Finally I halved the recipe.
I liked making the crust in the food processor. Much faster! And it was a great crust. I have made crust with only butter for pies before. I think it turns out well.
I thought the sauce was well seasoned, but maybe it could have been even more. Once you add all the veggies you need the salt.
Here is the original recipe.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Ingredients

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)
1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups good chicken stock
1 tablespoon Pernod
Pinch saffron threads
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)
1 1/2 cups asparagus tips
1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)
1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Here is the highly seasoned sauce. Even if it tastes salty don't be shy. The veggies soak it up.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls.

Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot. (It did not take one hour for mine to be done.)

Barefoot Bloggers: Butternut Squash Risotto

2008-10-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

I knew I would like this recipe because a) I love to make risotto, b) anything with pancetta is good and c) I really enjoy butternut squash in the fall.
I love seasonal food. It makes everything seem more special. So eating my first dish this year with butternut squash in it was like a little fall celebration.
I am putting up the original amounts, but I cut them in half. It is only my and my hubby.
ALSO I did not peel and cut the squash before roasting it in the oven. I hate trying to peel and cut raw butternut squash. I get cut and annoyed. So I just cut the squash in half, put it in the oven skin down and roasted it for about the same amount of time as in the original recipe.

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.

OR:Cut the butternut squash in half, scoop out seeds, and place skin down on a baking sheet. Spread some olive oil on the squash and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Then dice the squash and remove skin.

Back to the regular directions now!

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.

Here is the pancetta and (ahem) onion. I didn't have shallots :(

In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned.

Right before I add the rice.

Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes.

Then, AGAIN they left out this important step. Pour yourself a glass of wine and drink while you cook. Or else the recipe will not be as good.

Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes and Parmesan. Mix well and serve.

The beautiful finished product!

I liked this risotto, I personally would have preferred the pancetta to be crispier. Maybe if I make it again I will cook that first in the pan so it can cook longer and get crisp.

Pumpkin Polenta with Sausage and Fennel

2008-09-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Rach!
A morning show I used to listen to made fun of Rachel Ray all the time, especially the way the commercials for her show would always say, "Next time, on RACH!"
I have seen a few of her 40 Dollars a Day show, but not her talk show. She is strangely perky.
BUT-but, I love her magazine and I do like her recipes. And I have made a lot of them, and almost all of them have been extremely tasty.
On her website, there was a link for Fall Comfort Food. Now fall is my favorite season. And since I try to eat most foods seasonally, I get even more excited when fall food time comes around.
So this sounded really really tasty. I like sausage. And fennel. And polenta with cheese.
Some ingredient notes: Rachel always uses quick cooking polenta. I never see this at the grocery store. I see pre-made polenta which won't work, or the regular stuff which is corn grits/polenta. You are supposed to cook the regular stuff for 30 minutes. So if you use the real stuff like I did, you should probably start that before the sausage mixture.
Also, I just used freshly grated nutmeg for the first time! I grated it on my micro-plane which is really fast and easy.
And lastly, I used basil instead of parsley to garnish.
So try this out. Have it with some apple cider and watch the leaves fall.

Rachel Ray's Pumpkin Polenta with Italian Sausage and Fennel
1 Tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 14-oz can pumpkin puree
1 cup polenta (quick cooking or regular)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (I left this out)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup shredded romano cheese
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley (or basil) chopped
1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (Rach says to eyeball it!)

1. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and brown the sausage. Transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate. Add 1 tablespoon of EVOO (1 turn of the pan) to the skillet and then the onion and fennel. Cook the vegetables over moderate heat until tender but not brown. Add the wine and return the sausage to the skillet. Cook the wine away, a minute or so.
2. 2. In a large saucepan, bring the chicken stock and butter to a boil and stir in the pumpkin. Return to a boil, whisk in the polenta and stir until it masses together, 2 minutes. (Watch out for splatters.)
*For regular polenta, start first and cook stirring frequently for about 30 minutes.*
Remove the polenta from the heat and stir in the nutmeg, thyme, salt, pepper and Pecorino Romano cheese. Top the pumpkin polenta with the sausage and fennel. Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve.

Barefoot Bloggers: Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup

2008-09-24T16:41:00.000-07:00

So this is the sad state of my life right now. I am way too busy to blog!! This summer I loved to blog my recipes, now work and other commitments keep me so busy. This is why I am grateful for being a part of the Barefoot Bloggers group. It makes me take the time to blog!
I also liked the recipe this week, because it is not something I would have picked out to make myself. My husband doesn't like mushrooms, and while I like mushrooms a lot more than I used to I wouldn't have just decided to make this for dinner normally.
This was a great recipes for a cool fall day. I really enjoyed it. And my friend Jocelyn liked it too yay!
Note: I halved this recipe, since it was basically me eating it for dinner, and then leftovers, myself.

Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup
Source: The Barefoot Contessa

5 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms (I used dried)
5 ounces fresh portobello mushrooms
5 ounces fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms (I used dried porcini)
1 tablespoon good olive oil
1/4 pound (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 carrot, chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme plus 1 teaspoon minced thyme leaves, divided (I used dried lemon thyme.)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 leeks)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice the mushroom caps 1/4-inch thick and, if there are big, cut them into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, the onion, carrot, the sprig of thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Here are my stock veggies cooking away! I didn't add the thyme yet. I used dried lemon thyme I got from the Spice man at Central Market.

Add 6 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock. If not, add some water.

Here is the stock later, before I strain it. It smelled um-um good.

The pretty mushrooms! I did not have all fresh mushrooms. The porcini and the shitake were dried (again from the wonderful spice man at market). So I soaked them in water for a about 25 minutes then cut them.I like how the baby bellas and the other mushrooms make it look like there is a shadow.

Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 pound of butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the leeks begin to brown. Add the sliced mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot.
They left out this part of the recipe. "After adding the cup of wine to the soup, it is necessary to pour yourself a small glass of wine to drink as you finish the recipe."
I think this is crucial. :)
And also, in case you are wondering, I used a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Here is the soup pre-cream. Doesn't look quite as pretty yet, but still smells AMAZING.

Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.
What a nice earthy flavor. I think next time I personally would chop the mushrooms smaller. I like the flavor of mushrooms, but the chewy texture on the big pieces wasn't my favorite. But the wine, the leeks, the cream, everything together with them was great!

Barefoot Bloggers: Grown-Up Mac and cheese

2008-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

I just joined the barefoot bloggers, a group of foodie bloggers who all make two Barefoot Contessa recipes each month and post them. I am very excited to join! I like the fact that someone else picks a recipe and you make it. Seems like a great way to try new things and make things you might not pick yourself.
This first recipe (for me) is a delicious mac and cheese with a more grown-up cheese taste. I enjoyed the blue cheese, there wasn't too much to be overpowering. My husband and I both had to have seconds of this. We loved this meal with green beans and a very oaky chardonnay.
The modifications I made were to use panko bread crumbs instead of slices of white bread and I used nitrate-free bacon which unfortunately does not come thick-sliced. I just feel a lot better eating bacon that is more natural.
4 ounces thick-sliced bacon
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
2 cups elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
3 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated
2 ounces blue cheese, such as Roquefort, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
2 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place a baking rack on a sheet pan and arrange the bacon in 1 layer on the baking rack. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon is crisp. Remove the pan carefully from the oven - there will be hot grease in the pan! Transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towels and crumble when it is cool enough to handle.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt the butter in a medium pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or 2 more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, blue cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and crumbled bacon and stir well. Pour into 2 individual size gratin dishes.

Place the bread slices in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Add the basil and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Just out of the oven....ymm
Tada!

Lamb Salad by Jake

2008-08-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

While I do most of the cooking, my husband is a great cook. Things he cooks really well include: any meat on the grill, pizza, insanely hot salsa and gourmet salads.
Since I had to work on a Saturday, Jake was given the task of making dinner. It was super yummy gourmet salad.
Some notes about the ingredients-
The lamb is from a Mennonite-type farm in which the lambs eat real grass and roam about freely. So it is always very very good. We get it from Central Market here in Lancaster. If you can get natural lamb you should.
The cherry tomatoes are Sun Golds. They are sweeter than regular cherry tomatoes, and have a thinner skin. They are amazing, and you should go out and try to buy some NOW, before summer is over.
The amounts aren't exact here. I used enough lettuce for 2 people, probably 4 cups total. You can put on the olives and feta to taste. Jake says not to use too many olives, or the flavor will be too strong. He knows gourmet stuff like this. This serves 2 people.
Gourmet Lamb Salad
Ingredients:
1 lamb shoulder steak
Dry red table wine
Arugula (rocket)
Some romaine or other favorite lettuce
4 green onions, sliced diagonally
1 cup of Sun Gold tomatoes
Kalamata Olives
Feta Cheese
Your favorite vinaigrette, homemade or store-bought.

Put the lamb steak in a skillet. Add enough red wine to simmer the steak in. (Amount isn't real crucial, since it is just to give the lamb flavor and it cooks off anyway.) Keep an eye on it as you get the salad ready and remember to flip it once, after about 7-8 minutes.
While it is cooking, slice the olives and green onions. Cut the Sun Golds in half. Wash the arugula and lettuce, and put on two plates. Sprinkle the onion, olives, and tomatoes on the lettuce. Crumble the feta and sprinkle on as well.
The lamb will take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Jake says to make sure it isn't overdone. You don't want tough lamb. You want pretty lamb, still a little pinkish inside.
Take the lamb out of the pan onto a cutting board. Slice into nice little pieces and pile it on top of your salad.

Ooooooo. I felt like I was in a fancy restaurant. And it tasted great. The sweet tomatoes, the creamy salty cheese and the onion went together so well. So did the arugula. And listen. Liking and eating arugula isn't being elitist. Arugula is just good. It is a tasty tasty salad treat. So eat up!

Cupcakes, potatoes and pasta: Blog about blogs

2008-08-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have been reading more food blogs all the time now. I just made these cupcakes
They are blackberry cupcakes with blackberry cream cheese icing from Coconut and Lime. I made her recipe using mini cupcake pans I just got at Apron Strings, a cute cooking store in Lancaster City. One person who tasted these cupcakes said they were the best thing she's ever tasted! An exaggeration? I don't know but they were great. A good blackberry flavor. And cream cheese icing with fresh blackberry juice? You should probably make these soon.

One of my favorite blogs is Pioneer Woman. I found this blog by using Stumbleupon, and it "stumbled" onto a recipe, complete with gorgeous photos, for Crash Hot Potatoes. They looked so darn good I made a meal to go with these potatoes (Chicken legs marinated in spicy Jamaican Jerk sauce and corn on the cob, fyi.) My potatoes didn't get smashed a neatly and separate though. It was a tray full of potato bits and skins and hunks. But despite appearances, it was really good! I think I am in love with potatoes. Seriously. So check out that link if you want some tasty potatoes tonight. I also made her Farfalle with Zuchinni and oh boy, what a tasty pasta dish. I used some zuchinni, and some yellow summer squash. I actually liked the yellow squash better in it. The wine and cream sauce and fresh herbs make this a delicious dish.

Spicy Pork Tenderloin

2008-08-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

I love pork tenderloin. If I want to make pork, 9 times out of ten I made tenderloin. I usually cook it in the oven or grill it. I have also made it for stir-fry. Sometime I would like to stuff it or butterfly it. Once I had a dinner party and made a pork tenderloin recipe from Under the Tuscan Sun, which has lovely Italian recipes in it. But I digress.

So here is what you need: a pork tenderloin, some seasoned salt (that is the Spike), ground mustard, chipotle chile powder, five-spice powder, garlic, red onion, and olive oil.

Here are the spices. I hate measuring when I'm not following recipes. The middle is seasoned salt, yellow is mustard, red is chipotle and the brownish is five spice. You can use a few teaspoons of each, I used a good amount of chipotle to make it spicy!

Smash a few garlic cloves with the side of your knife! It helps get your aggression out. Oh yeah and you can peel the papery skin off much much easier too.

Mix the spices and put them in a food processor with the garlic.

Chop your red onion and add it to the food processor. It looks so pretty!

Pour some extra virgin olive oil in there.

Blend it all up.

Put the pork tenderloin in a pan and pour the marinade on top. Spread it out evenly all over the tenderloin, and get the bottom too. Then stick a lid/silverfoil on and stick it in the fridge for a few hours.

After the pork has marinated for a while start up your grill. My husband is a firm believer of charcoal grilling, so that is what we use.( Especially since he does all the grilling.) It has such a nice smoky flavor. But use your gas grill if you must. Use a meat thermometer so you can see when it is done. It should be 160 degrees, so make sure you don't overcook. It doesn't take too long to cook.

Not the best picture...we were hungry! I served this with the Cheesy Sausage Potato Cups I had made earlier in the day, and some coleslaw.
It had a great spicy flavor, and the outside was nice and crisp, while it remained very moist and tender. I have to give my husband credit for the grilling, and myself the flavor credit! Ha

Effie Ophelia Brunch

2008-08-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

So today the husband and I decided to try a really cute looking restaurant that is in Lancaster City, very near to us. The menu emphasizes fresh and local food, so that piqued my interest. And the fact that it looks so darn CUTE! See above. Notice the large window-there is actually seating there, like being right out on the sidewalk. And below, notice cute pillows.

There is my iced coffee I started out with. You could pick what kind of sugar you wanted (I choose raw sugar of course) and they bring it out on a little dish! Fan-cay. And I of course dribble my cream on the table.

Effies has a Sunday brunch in the summer only. They use whatever fresh produce they can get their hands on. Many things on the menu used heirloom tomatoes, even a bloody mary mix with heirlooms. Local bacon and goat's cheese. And berries!

Berries, like in my blueberry and cream stuffed French Toast. My confession is that for a long time, I was not a French Toast person. Bread with a layer of milky-egg cooked on it? No thanks. But I will eat it if it is made well. And this was the best durn French Toast I ever had! They used hunks of real (i.e. not sandwich/Wonder) Italian bread, stuffed with cream cheese and whole, fresh blueberries. Then grilled so the outside was crisp, not a layer of milky-egg. With cream cheese and real maple syrup....I'm drooling and I just ate this today!

Close up of the magnificent French Toast. Ooh la la

And this is the husband's BLT with heirloom tomatoes, local bacon, lettuce, mayo on organic whole grain bread. With home fries made with white and purple fingerling potatoes. The picture is a little blurry, I was in a slight hurry to start eating! Note cute toothpicks in sandwich.

I have another food confession, I don't really like melon. Which includes cantelopes. I know, I'm weird I guess. But they had this cantelope granita for dessert which sounded light and refreshing on a summer day. So I thought I'd give it a shot. And I liked it! It came topped with frozen champagne grapes! I've never had a granita, and the texture is really interesting. Light and fluffy, not the texture of things you leave in your freezer too long, which I previously imagined.

I would highly, highly recommend you go here. The brunch entrees are about 8-12 dollars. I am pretty eager to try dinner here soon. It is a BYOB, and I also suggest getting a bottle of local wine from the Red Rose Wine Tasting room in the Hagar Mall near Central Market off of King Street.

Cheesy Sausage Potato Cups with Yogurt Mustard Sauce

2008-08-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

Today I entered this in an online contest for original recipes using dairy products like cheese, milk and yogurt. This has cheddar cheese AND yogurt....so I'm sure it will win!
Hehe well I think it has a shot anyway. But if not, I still liked eating it a lot.

Directions: Preheat oven 450.

There are my beautiful potatoes, fresh from market this morning!
Scrub potatoes and cut in half.
Cut a small amount off ends so potatoes stand up straight! The more narrow cut off ends will be the ends they stand up on, to be cute little potato cups :)

Toss with a good glug of olive oil in a bowl, and stir in some salt and lots of pepper.

Arrange potatoes spaced out standing up straight on a baking tray.
They are nice and peppery.
Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes start to look lightly golden and roasted.
Here is my chipotle turkey sausage from the Turkey Lady at Central Market. The stand is actually called The Turkey Lady. They have tons of different types of turkey sausage, and this one sounded good today. Regular hot Italian sausage or chorizo would be good I think too. And the cute little bell peppers! They were too adorable so I had to get them. Regular bell peppers will work.

While the potatoes roast, cook the sausage link in a non-stick skillet, breaking up into small pieces.

Dice the pepper into small pieces.

Slice the green onion. Put the sliced, darker green tops in a bowl for garnishing the potato cups. You will cook the rest of the onion with the pepper.

Cook the white and light green parts of the green onion with the red pepper in a small skillet with some olive oil until soft.

Mix together with the sausage and let it cool a little.

Mix the cheddar cheese with the butter in a bowl with a fork. Stir cooled sausage-pepper mixture in with cheese.

When the potatoes are done, pull the tray out.

Using tongs and a melon baller, scoop out the inside flesh, making lots of little "potato cups".
I like the little cups! (If you haven't noticed.)
Save the scooped out potato flesh for later.

Fill each potato with the sausage/cheese mixture. If you want to put extra shredded cheese on top, you should!
Put oven temp down to 350, and slide tray back in for a little, just 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melty.
While they get melty, mix shallots, yogurt, and mustard along with some salt and pepper in a food processor.

Mix till combined. This will make a lot of sauce, but you can use the extra as a coleslaw dressing! Yum.

Put your potato cups on a platter, and spoon a little yogurt sauce on top of each one. Then throw on the green onion pieces. So these were really tasty. I loved the sauce with them...AND
I had extra sausage and cheese filling, so I mixed that with the potato flesh I scooped out. I put that mixture into 2 ramekins, and topped with a little extra cheddar. I baked that as a side dish for dinner! And I chopped cabbage, onion, carrots and used the extra yogurt sauce as a coleslaw dressing! So you really kinda get two side dishes as a by-product of this!

Ingredient List
Serves 4-6 as appetizers
Ingredients:
9-10 new potatoes
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 link of spicy turkey sausage (or regular Italian sausage)
1 red bell pepper (0r a few cute red and orange mini peppers)
4 green onions
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 TBSP unsalted butter
12 oz plain yogurt (don't use non-fat)
1 TBSP deli mustard
1 shallot, roughly chopped

Tagliatelle with White Wine and Veggies

2008-08-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted a light pasta dish last night, but couldn't find a recipe I liked anywhere. (Or at least one that didn't require me running out to buy ingredients I didn't have!)
So I made this one up, using the organic tagliatelle pasta I had bought at Wegman's (one of my favorite places!).
I think this dish would be good using whatever summer vegetables you have around. I usually have something to use up, since we get a share from an organic farm. This would also be good with fresh tomato, zuchinni, some basil.....whatever you like!

First, thinly slice one yellow summer squash, about 4-5 cloves of garlic, and chop one red onion. Start a large pot of water for the pasta.

Mmmmm garlic!Heat up some olive oil in a medium pot, and add the onions and garlic. Saute until soft.

Add 3/4 cup of dry white wine (I used Chardonnay) and about 2 TBSP of white wine vinegar, and 1/4 cup chicken broth/stock (or veggie broth if you want a vegetarian meal.) Add a little salt and lots of pepper. Let this simmer until the liquid is reduced by about half.

Meanwhile, saute the squash in a small pan with olive oil.
Cut three TBSP of butter. (Yum)
Add butter to the onion-wine dealy. You can turn the heat off and mix it in until it melts. Taste and add some salt and pepper if needed.
Add a generous handful of arugula (or rocket whatever you call it) to the squash and cook just for a minute, until it wilts a little. I prefer mine to be not very wilty.
Oh yeah don't forget about the pasta! Cook according to package directions, and drain. You could also use different pasta here like linguini.
Put some pasta on a plate, then wine sauce, then squash and arugula, and top with some freshly grated parmesan cheese!
Yum....
Mmm

Eat with the rest of the wine.
Improvising pasta dishes is fun.

Cape May Eating

2008-08-04T19:01:00.001-07:00

My husband and I spent a four-day weekend in Cape May, NJ. I love all the gingerbread Victorian houses, outdoor mall, restaurants, sunset beach...I definitely prefer Cape May over my childhood beach, which is Ocean City, NJ. I mean, Ocean City is a dry town!
The more I like cooking (and eating of course) the more food becomes one of the more important parts of vacationing. So here is our quest for good (not overpriced) food on our trip.
DAY 1
Lunch
Drove into Cape May hungry, and found ourselves at the Island Grill. Caribbean-ish food. I ordered a black bean and shrimp salad. It had mango and avocado. Also got french fries on the side since I was hungry, and the salad wasn't that big. The husband had a Cuban sandwich with pulled pork, ham, and pickles along with sides of coleslaw and pasta salad.
VERDICT
Hmmmm not sure. The Cuban sandwich was tasty. And a large portion. For 10 dollars, pretty good stuff! My salad, also 10 dollars, was pretty good, but nothing to write home about. The shrimp just looked like defrosted pre-cooked shrimp. And the french fry side was 4.50!! I don't know if I would bother trying again.
Dinner
We had planned to visit the Godfather.....the pizza place. I ate the best white pizza I have ever had in my whole darn life there!!! We were there last summer, walked to the location this time and it was gone!! Alas, we were sad and so hungry.
So we walked to the Washington mall and found Stumpo's, a small Italian place. I had a shrimp ceasar salad and the husband had a margharita pizza with olives.
Verdict
Again, I'm in the middle. My salad was pretty darn good. The shrimp was grilled and flavorful, the dressing and croutons were made in house. But I only got 4 small shrimps in the salad, which was 15 bucks. The pizza was good, but not great. What I did really really like was the basket of little garlic bread nubs, so buttery and garlickly! I could have eaten mostly those for dinner. The entrees seemed overpriced here, as I learned many places in Cape May are. I mean, 20 bucks for a pasta dish that doesn't even have meat in it??
Day 2
Today we skipped lunch, since we ate this for breakfast at our B&B:
Eggs Bene-Chip (named after the owner, Chip) Fresh fruit Zuchinni bread Potato pancakes
This was at the John F. Craig house, if you are interested in a good B&B in Cape May I highly recommend it!
Dinner:
We had my birthday dinner at the Merion Inn. This place has a early bird/night owl special: three courses from a selected menu for 18.95. When you look at the fact that most of the entrees alone are over 20 bucks, makes for a good deal. We had the patio to ourselves too!
Verdict
I say thumbs up! First course: Jersey clam chowder-tasty. Second course-Fresh Jersey bluefish with eggplant caponata and the Merion potato cup (like a twice baked potato!) Dessert: Jersey white peach pie with almond oatmeal dessert!! The husbands entree was a steak (of course) stuffed with artichokes, pine nuts, and sharp provolone cheese-whoa. I almost wished I had ordered that!
I also had a Fume Blanc wine (which I learned is just another name for Sauvignon Blanc) I was a little disappointed....I was expecting a smoky flavor but it still went well with the fish.
Day 3
Another full breakfast at the B&B, including berry cream cheese stuffed French toast that I would love to make at home here sometime.
Dinner
The number 1 rated restaurant in Cape May on TripAdvisor.com is George's Place, a small Greek place that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We got in for dinner, and it is a narrow place with all booths, but still managed to look nice and not diner-y. We also brought a wine to have with dinner.
Verdict
BEST MEAL EVER! Well at least in Cape May and probably the best restaurant meal I've had in a long time. This place was first of all much cheaper than most other nice places in Cape May. Our entrees were about 12 bucks.
Our appetizer had hummos, tzatziki, olives, a huge hunk of feta cheese, another cheese, and grilled pita. As you can see, it was a big portion. The humoos was amazing. It made me realize maybe I have been making my own hummos a bit too thick. The feta was so good....I like feta but I have never had feta that was just so darn tasty.
My entree was the 6-pepper tuna with greek salad. I was surprised at how delicious the salad was! I have eaten Greek salad before, but this was just bursting with flavor....must have something to do with that great feta. The tuna was also packed with flavor, and just a little spicy! I loved loved this place.
Does anyone else have some food recommendations for Cape May? I would like to try one of the pricey-fancy ones sometime, but only if I know it will be worth the money.

Bruschetta!

2008-08-04T18:23:00.000-07:00

What is better than bruschetta? Tomatoes, garlic, bread, Parmesan cheese. It is good.
It can be bad. Don't order it at Bennigans...ever. Looks like they made garlic bread with hot dog rolls.
Real bruschetta is easy. This is like a "non recipe" because I went more by feeling for the amounts. This is what you'll need.

-Fresh, local ripe summer tomatoes (I also threw in some halved sun-gold cherry tomatoes!)
-Freshly baked Italian bread (Or use a French baguette)
-High quality Parmiggiano-Reggiano (Not pre-grated)
-Extra-virgin olive oil
-Fresh basil
-Garlic
-Salt n'Pepper

I chopped up my tomatoes, taking out the seeds. Put them in a mixing bowl, ripped up some fresh basil and threw it in with them. Poured some olive oil and a little bit of chopped garlic, and some fresh ground pepper and sea salt.

I let this sit in the fridge for a few hours. I don't know if this is standard Italian procedure or not. But it worked. I think it let the flavors get together and party a little.
Then, you cut your bread into about 1 inch or so pieces, and toast them in the toaster oven.
When they come out, take a garlic clove and burn your hands rubbing it on the cut surface bread.
Then, just put the tomato mixture on top, throw some shaved parmiggiano-reggiano on top and some more basil, and even sprinkle some balsamic vinegar. It was so good I considered eating it all and not the gnocchi bake I had made as the main dish.

Super Healthy Coleslaw!

2008-07-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I was able to post. We have moved into our new house (yay!). It is exciting, although I have learned that "do-it-yourself" projects are not my most favorite things to do. (Removing wallpaper is not a fun job.)
It is coming together and I think my new kitchen is my favorite room so far. It needs a new oven and counter-top eventually, but I like the overall look and of course the fact that I have more space and cabinets!
I have been getting into some more vegetarian cooking. This is due in part to my obsession with Heidi Swanson's blog 101 cookbooks, and now her book I just ordered, Super Natural Cooking
Since I am into natural cooking, I was very interested in her book. She takes natural further than I have, really stressing organic and non-processed foods. For example, I use canola oil sometimes. It has no trans-fat, is low in saturated fat, and is all-natural. Heidi avoids this oil though, because it is highly refined and loses the omega-3 acids. Also, she uses a lot of interesting grains and flours that I can't wait to try out. She also is into tofu, and I am up for trying to cook with it more. I had a Thai dish from the Lemongrass stand at Central Market with tofu in it. Usually I will eat tofu if it is in a dish, but I don't really enjoy it. This tofu was amazing though. I am planning tonight to make a recipe from the book, curry noodles as well as naan and dal from some other cookbooks.
So reading all of Heidi's recipes was the inspiration for this recipe. I used lots of superfoods and it was delicious! Usually when I make coleslaw, I use mayo and mustard for the sauce. I went a different way this time. I have some almond butter from Central Market that I wanted to use, and it gives a great flavor to the coleslaw. This could make 3-4 small side dishes, but I ate the whole thing for my lunch!!!
Super Healthy Coleslaw
Ingredients:
about 1 1/2 cups mixture of cabbage and broccoli slaw (I used red cabbage with a little broccoli slaw.)
1/2 orange (or other color) bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic scapes, chopped
1/4 cup pecan halves
Dressing:
1 Tablespoon almond butter
1 Tablespoon EVOO
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper

In a toaster oven, lay pecans flat on silver foil. Toast until fragrant (6-7 minutes for me at about 475 degrees.) Chop pecans.
Mix the cabbage, pepper, onion, garlic, and pecans in a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the dressing ingredients with a fork until smooth. Pour over veggies and mix. Eat and enjoy!!

Note: I really really liked the pecans in here. I think some blue cheese would also be a great addition. Also, I would like to try a similar coleslaw with peanut butter, peanuts, and green onion with a little soy sauce instead of lemon. More of an Asian flavor.

Orange Israeli Couscous with Snow Peas

2008-05-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about trying Israeli couscous for a while, but have never seen it in the stores. I tried a salad from the Goode Shop at Lancaster Central Market that had Israeli couscous (their salads are so so delicious). They had a honey lime salad. Then, I finally found it sold in bulk at Rhubarb's, the health food store I like to shop at. The store is a little pricey for some things (not as cheap as Trader Joes unfortunately) but their bulk packaged items are a great price.
So I had to pull together a quick dinner idea for tonight. I had the couscous, and had my husband get oranges, green onion, and snow peas on his way home. One ingredient I am excited about is my Tunisian Meyer Lemon Olive Oil. I got this at S. Clyde Weavers. I noticed once while shopping there for imported cheese they had about 6 or more different olive oils you can buy. You can bring your own bottle, or buy one of their own for 50 cents. I found a recipe for smoky chickpea dip I am planning to make next week that called for lemon olive oil. A perfect excuse to buy it! It has a great flavor.

Orange Israeli Couscous with Snow Peas
3/4 cup Israeli couscous
1 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
about 1 cup snow peas
6 small green onions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp slivered almonds
1 orange, peel and white pith removed, sliced into1/2 inch piecess
salt and pepper
Dressing:
zest and juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
2 tbsp lemon olive oil
3 tbsp olive oil (I just poured some into my salad dressing shaker. You could certainly add more.)
salt and pepper

Heat some olive oil in a small pot. Add the couscous and toast for 2 minutes. Add the broth and simmer, covered for about 8-10 minutes. Take pot off of heat.
In a salad dressing shaker or a jar with a lid, add dressing ingredients and shake.
Steam the snow peas for about 4 minutes. Put into an ice bath to stop cooking.
In a medium bowl, add the couscous, snow peas, green onions, almonds, oranges, and some salt and freshly ground pepper. Re-shake and pour some dressing on. Mix and serve at room temperature.

Deconstructed BLT

2008-05-04T18:57:00.000-07:00

I wanted to enter an additional recipe for the chicken contest. I had some bacon at home so I thought up this. I called it a Chicken BLT Salad when I entered it....but really like calling it a "Deconstructed BLT" better.

I had seen a bread salad recipe somewhere else, where the bread is seasoned and toasted, then mixed with the other salad elements. I used that basic idea here. I think this salad will be better this summer with fresh, local, heirloom tomatoes and lettuce. We joined an organic CSA last year, and have again this year. All that good produce spoils you! I would like to try this with the arugula we get. It is the best darn arugula I have ever had. I can just eat it plain.
But anyway I loved the crust on this chicken and the mustard dressing. The bread I used is Pan Bigio, an Italian wheat bread. Using good bread is very important in this recipe. I think sourdough would be great also.

Chicken BLT Salad

8 pieces-bacon

¼ cup-olive oil

½ tsp-dried dill

¼ tsp-salt

fresh ground pepper

1 pound loaf-Italian bread, ripped into small pieces

3 tsp-mustard seeds

1 ½ tsp-black pepper corns

½ tsp-sea salt

1 tbsp.- canola oil

1 lb chicken tenderloins

1 head-romaine lettuce, ripped into bite sized pieces

1 tbsp. + 1 tsp.-whole grain mustard

2 tbsp-white wine vinegar

¼ cup-olive oil

1 bunch-green onion

2-3-tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cook the bacon on the stove top until crisp. Reserve the bacon on a plate with paper towels to cool. Save 1 tablespoon bacon drippings.

In a large bowl, mix the ¼ cup olive oil, dill, salt, pepper and bacon drippings. Add the ripped bread and toss to coat. Spread the bread out on a large baking sheet. Cook in oven, stirring occasionally until lightly toasted, 10-15 minutes.

Using a mortar and pestle, crush the mustard seeds, pepper corns and sea salt. Coat the chicken tenderloins in the mustard mixture. Heat the canola oil in a non-stick pan. Cook the chicken until no longer pink inside. Remove to a cutting board, let cool then slice.

Meanwhile, in the same large bowl, whisk together the grain mustard, vinegar and ¼ cup olive oil. Add the lettuce. Thinly slice the green onion and add to the bowel. Cut the bacon into bite sized pieces. Add bacon, chicken and bread pieces to the salad. Toss all ingredients to coat well in the dressing. Put in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Chop and de-seed the tomatoes. Add to the salad and toss again before serving.

Serves 4-5

Chickeny-goodness

2008-04-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

I am trying some chicken recipes. I am considering entering this one in a contest. It was inspired by an appetizer I ordered in a restaurant last weekend. It was asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. The appetizer wasn't so hot (the asparagus was totally dried out, definitely needed some olive oil.) I made this for my husband and another couple. As you can see from the picture, I tried putting the prosciutto inside and outside the chicken. The consensus was that it is better outside. I think I will also try to use more cheese next time, or maybe even grate a little on top to brown!!

Asparagus Chicken Roll-ups

1/4 cup olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
8 pieces chicken breast tenders (about a pound)
1 bunch asparagus
6 oz. Fontina cheese, cut into 4 pieces
8 slices prosciutto

In a large plastic zip baggie, lay each chicken tender flat. With a small heavy pan, pound the chicken tenders until they are thin. Pour the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, oregano, basil, salt and pepper into the bag with the chicken. Close and shake to mix. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
Cover a baking sheet in foil. Lay the eight pieces of prosciutto on the sheet. Place a chicken piece on top of the prosciutto. Then put the fontina and three pieces of asparagus on top. Then roll the chicken and prosciutto around cheese and asparagus, and secure with a toothpick. Drizzle some olive oil over the roll-ups, especially the asparagus ends sticking out of the roll-ups. (I used a pastry brush to really make sure the asparagus was coated in oil.)
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

I also served crostini with a olive tapenade-type dish. I found citrus-stuffed green olives at Giant (made by the Simply Enjoy brand). I chopped these up then added:
a squeeze of lemon juice
a little lemon zest
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
lots of fresh ground pepper

It was pretty tasty. The citrus olives had a lot to do with that, they had a lot of flavor. My husband also enjoyed them in his martini!!

Filling Southwest Turkey Soup

2008-04-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

Usually I am a planner-aheader. I like to know what meals I will be cooking all week long. And usually I get the recipes from a cookbook or magazine.
I am trying to make up more of my own though. And today provided a good opportunity. I thought we were going to have dinner out, but when we did not I looked at what I had already and came up with this soup. Originally might have been nachos or a rice-turkey-cheese casserole. But the discovery of a little box of Campbell's Southwest Corn soup in the pantry turned it into.....soup!
NOTE-I get the habanero cheese from S. Clyde Weavers, a local store here in Lancaster, PA. They have some high quality cheese. Pepper jack would be a good substitute.
Ingredients: Serves 3-4 people.

1/2 cup Texmati (Basmati) rice
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 medium onion
1 hot pepper (I used serrano)
1/2 lb-3/4 lb ground turkey
a few shakes of chipotle powder (or cayenne pepper)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 small box (18.3 oz) Campbells Southwest Corn soup
Toppings (Optional, select the ones you like)
fresh cilantro
hot sauce
sour cream
tortilla chips
grated cheddar cheese (I used spicy Habanero cheese.)

Directions
Put the rice and broth in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down, put the lid on and simmer for about 15 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, chop the onion and the pepper. Spray a non-stick pan and saute for a few minutes, then add the ground turkey. Season with salt, pepper, the chipotle and cumin. Cook until turkey is no longer pink.
When the rice is done, add the turkey mixture to the pot. Then add the box of soup. Cook for a few minutes, until heated through.
Spoon into bowls. Top with whatever combination of the toppings you like!!!

This was a very thick soup. You could add more soup or add some chicken broth to thin it out also.
If you like things spicier, try using a hotter pepper. Maybe half of a habanero!
Or if you don't like spicy food just use a red bell pepper instead.

The Epitome of Real and Good Food-Bread

2008-04-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Since this blog will be all about cooking and eating only food that is REAL, I am starting with what should always be real but sadly is not.
Bread in the supermarket is just plain gross. Filled with sweeteners, preservatives... so your options are to buy expensive bread from a real bakery or spend lots of time making your own bread at home, or use a bread machine.
Personally bread machine bread leaves me cold. So I resorted to buying fresh bread most of the time.
Until I discovered this book on Amazon. While you literally won't be able to spend five minutes a day making bread, it comes close. You simply mix flour, water, salt and yeast in a mixer until combined. Then let it rise 2 hours. Then store in the fridge until ready to use. No kneading, no waiting to punch down.
I have made baguettes, English muffins, pizza dough, stromboli, brioche, and all without spending hours.
My most recent recipe using the bread used a portion of brioche that I made weeks ago and stored in the freezer. I found a brunch casserole in the newest Rachel Ray magazine. I had five hungry guys eat it up!

Ham and Scallion Brioche Bread Break (from Everyday with Rachel Ray May 2008)
8 large eggs
3 cups milk (I use organic whole milk)
1 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 1/2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 bunches scallions, white and light green, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, top parts (I added this in, wasn't in magazine recipe)
pinch red pepper flakes
One 1-lb loaf brioche, cubed (I used the Brioche recipe from Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day, baked in a loaf pan)
1/4 lb ham, chopped
2 cups shredded gruyere cheese

1. Grease a 9-by-13 inch baking dish. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and black pepper.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, asparagus, garlic, red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Transfer the bread cubes to the baking dish. Add the scallion mixture, ham, and half of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate about 1 hour.
--I actually put it in the fridge overnight to have it ready for Sunday!
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake about 45 minutes, let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

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