Adventures in Marriage

Arepas with Peppers and Eggs: Secret Recipe Club

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is my fifth post for Secret Recipe Club and a very delicious one!! If you haven't heard about Secret Recipe Club before, then you should definitely check out the website. Every month a bunch of bloggers get assigned another participating blog to make a recipe from. This month I had Debbi's blog -- Debbi Does Dinner ... Healthy and Low Calorie. I had a great time looking through her blog and picking out a recipe to try. It was hard to narrow it down -- I strongly considered the onion rings, bacon chocolate chip cookies and black bean and corn quinoa. I finally settled on the arepas with peppers and eggs.

If you know me, you know how crazy this sounds -- but I actually left bacon out of a recipe. I love bacon, it makes everything better. I fully intended to include bacon in the recipe but we forgot to pull it out of the freezer that morning, so it was still frozen solid at dinner time. Oh well, this recipe was just as great without it. We topped with pickled red onions we had leftover from a previous recipe, the roasted poblanos and it was a great way to have breakfast for dinner - yum!

Arepas with Peppers and Eggs

from Debbie Does Dinner ... Healthy and Low Calorie
serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large poblano chile peppers

1 cup finely ground cornmeal

1 can corn, 15 ounces, drained

salt

1/2 cup shredded colby cheese

1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons butter

vegetable oil

8 eggs, beaten

pickled red onions

Directions:

Heat broiler to high, put the poblanos under the broiler. Place under broiler, turning until blackened on all sides. Place in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let chiles steam in the bowl for 10 minutes. Peel, seed and chop.
While chiles are steaming, place cornmeal and corn in a bowl and season with salt. Add cheese and toss until corn and cheese are coated with cornmeal and distributed evenly. Warm milk in the microwave, but do not boil. I usually do 2-3 minutes at half power. Add the butter to the warm milk to melt it. Stir the milk mixture into the cornmeal mixture. Let soak for 10 minutes.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add spoonfuls of the cornmeal batter to the hot oil, cooking for 3-4 minutes on the first side and 1-2 minutes on the second side. Transfer the first batch to a plate when cooked then continue cooking the rest of the batter until all arepas are made.
While finishing the last batch of arepas, beat the eggs, seasoning with salt and pepper. In a medium skillet, cook eggs, scrambled to desired doneness.
To serve, put several arepas on a plate, top with eggs, roasted poblanos and pickled onions, if desired.

Baked Vanilla Doughnuts: Secret Recipe Club

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is my fourth post for Secret Recipe Club and I'm so excited to share it with you all! Every month a part of being in Secret Recipe Club is to go around and read the other posts written and revealed on the same day in your group. Every time I've been to this blogger's site I've thought, "Man, it would be neat to get her blog sometime!" Then this month, I did! For October I was assigned the blog Fake Ginger. I've enjoyed this blog for quite some time now, and I actually already had a few connections to it already -- she's a fake ginger, I'm a real ginger; and about this time last year I was the winner of one of her awesome giveaways! So it was fun to get assigned her blog after reading it for awhile and even participating on it as well.

I was especially excited to see that she had some posts about baked doughnuts. I had been seeing baked doughnuts popping up all over the blog world in the last few months and I've been wanting to make some for myself. The only problem was that I needed a doughnut pan. Since we live near a Williams-Sonoma outlet, I tend to wait for things like this to show up there so I can get them at a discounted price. I've been stalking the shelves and a doughnut pan hadn't yet arrived. But, I was at another fantastic kitchen supply store -- Sur La Table and found a doughnut pan on sale for 3.99. It was the long, cruller shape and not the typical round but I figured for 3.99 it's worth a try!

So I had the doughnut pan, all I needed was the recipe. A few days later I got my Secret Recipe Club assignment and was thrilled to find baked doughnuts on Amanda's page. I let Zach chose the flavor -- he picked vanilla with vanilla glaze, but if it were up to me I would have made her Peanut Butter Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze recipe. We had these for a lazy Sunday breakfast and they were amazing. Nice and tender, great vanilla flavor and super delicious. I love having them warm form the oven when the glaze soaks in a bit and makes them extra moist and sweet. The only change I really made was to double the cinnamon since I love cinnamon. Other than that it was great as is!

Baked Vanilla Doughnuts

from Fake Ginger

makes 3 cruller-shaped doughnuts (or 6 round)

Ingredients:

For doughnuts:

1 cup flour

6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter, melted

For glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 – 2 teaspoons half and half
sprinkles (Sprinkles! Who doesn't love a recipe that calls for sprinkles?!?)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Spray your doughnut pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir until combined.
In a small bowl whisk buttermilk, egg, vanilla and butter until combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Portion batter into doughnut pan (3 crullers or 6 round doughnuts). Bake 8-10 minutes for round doughnuts or 20-25 minutes for the larger/thicker cruller shape. They should spring back when touched. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing.
While doughnuts cool, make the glaze. Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 teaspoon half and half, stirring and adding half and half as needed to achieve the right consistency.
Remove doughnuts from pan, top with glaze and sprinkles and serve.

Check out the other recipes and blogs that are a part of this week's Secret Recipe Club reveal day!

Southwestern Cornbread and Beef Skillet

2011-10-12T06:29:00.000-04:00

I've always enjoyed cooking. There is a comfort to taking a recipe, shopping for ingredients and then following the steps to create a dish. I've also always been pretty comfortable putting my own twist on a recipe. I like to change up the spices or switch out a few ingredients according to what I have on hand, or what better suits my tastes. I'm not afraid to change things up and as I've gained more experience in the kitchen I've gotten more and more comfortable making changes, additions and substitutions to recipes and this dish is a great example of that.

I was searching for a one-dish meal to make for Good Life Eats and My Baking Addiction's Holiday Recipe Exchange. This week the contest is sponsored by Le Creuset. I couldn't think of any one-dish meals off the top of my head besides soup so I did a quick search on the website for one of my favorite food magazines -- Everyday Food. I found a slideshow of one pot meals and decided on this one. After reading some reviews decided to make some changes.

First of all I wanted to use things I had on hand, so I switched out the mushrooms for sweet corn. The combo of corn, red peppers and onion then immediately brought to mind southwest flavors. Some of the comments on the recipe suggested that the sauce was rather bland as it was written, so I thought a flavor profile with cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne would be a good move. The other major change I made was to use buttermilk instead of sour cream and an egg to make the cornbread dough. As I went to the fridge to get the egg I realized we were out of them. Oops. But, we happened to have buttermilk so I just substituted that instead. The flavors were great and really worked well with the peppers and corn. It was a quick and easy weeknight meal -- with only one pot to clean!!

Come join the fun with the My Baking Addiction and Good Life Eats holiday recipe exchange sponsored by Le Creuset!

Southwestern Cornbread and Beef Skillet

inspired by Everyday Food, November 2007

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup corn (frozen or 15 oz can, drained)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano
1 pound ground sirloin
1/4 cup tomato paste

2/3 cup beef broth

3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl mix cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, smoked paprika and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to combine.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Pour olive oil in the pan then add peppers and onion. Saute until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add corn and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Add cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, and oregano.
Raise heat to high and add in ground beef and tomato paste. Cook until beef is fully browned, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the pan and stir until flour is dissolved. Add in the broth and stir until a sauce forms. Turn off heat and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour the buttermilk into the cornmeal/flour mixture and stir until just combined. Drop tablespoons of batter on top of the beef mixture in the skillet. There will be enough batter for 6 scoops, placing them about one inch apart. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.

Grilled Sausage Panzanella

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is a great recipe for the end of summer. It's a fantastic way to get out and use your grill a few more times before the cold weather hits. We had this one week in early summer and then have quickly repeated it almost every week since. It's a great, fast weeknight meal and tastes fabulous. Grilling the bread as well as the sausage really emphasizes smoky, charred flavors in the dish. And it's so versatile. We always have a few packages of sausage in the freezer, usually a flavored chicken sausage. Trader Joe's has a great selection of varieties and our favorite grocery store in the world, Wegmans, has also recently launched a line in their own brand name as well. We've done this with pesto sausage, sun-dried tomato sausages, Italian (both sweet and hot), smoked chardonnay and apple, andouille, spinach and feta, the list can go on and on. I bet kielbasa would be particularly good as well -- which gives me another excuse to put this dish on the menu for the upcoming week (like I needed one!).

Grilled Sausage Panzanella

adapted (and infinitely customizable) from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, June/July 2010

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 plum tomatoes, finely chopped (I've also used cherry/grape tomatoes that are halved and chopped heirloom tomatoes.)

1/4 large onion (or 1/2 medium), thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

Four thick slices bread (Use your preferred variety, I find Italian or sourdough work well.)

4 sausage links (about 1 pound), any variety

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

15 fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large bowl mix together the tomatoes, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand 15 minutes. Preheat your grill to medium.
Once grill is hot and ready, grill bread slices, about 2 minutes in each side. You want them to get toasty brown and have some charring around the edges.
After removing the bread, grill the sausages. If your sausages are precooked then you are just heating them up, so about 5-7 minutes total. If you are using raw sausages you will need to grill until cooked completely, so about 10-12 minutes total. Turn sausages often for even cooking/heating and nice grill marks.
Add olive oil and red wine vinegar to the tomato mixture. Cut bread into 1/2 -3/4 inch cubes. Cut the sausages into similar sized slices. Add the bread, sausage, basil and half the parmesan to the tomato mixture. Toss until combined. Divide into bowls and serve with the additional parmesan for sprinkling on top.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

2011-10-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

I found this cookie recipe when flipping through a stack of my Cook's Illustrated magazines. I knew I had to make them as soon as I saw them. Like all Cook's Illustrated recipes, it was perfect. Their recipes often involve steps that seem unnecessary at the time, but when you read the narrative and it is explained to you why included these steps you understand and take the extra time to make it right. I have never had a recipe of theirs not turn out. I may not like the particular combination of flavors, and might change up seasonings here or there, but the recipes pretty much always turn out flawless. I do wish the same could be said for my pictures, but these were too good not to share because of a not-so-great picture. The key is the three types of chocolate -- the melted chocolate in the dough, the cocoa powder and then the chips that are added in as well. These cookies are ginormous. You use an ice cream scoop to portion them out, and they spread quite a bit. They really remind me of they kind you would buy at a bakery or in a store, giant and crispy on the edges but chewy in the middle.

I am submitting this recipe to the Holiday Recipe Exchange hosted by Good Life Eats and My Baking Addiction to have a chance to win a gift basket from Scharffen Berger Chocolate, which actually is the brand I used when making these cookies. Zach had gone to visit his brother in Hershey, Pennslyvania and brought me back several bars of their high quality chocolate for baking. I'd love to win more for use in future recipes! Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by Scharffen Berger.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Cook's Illustrated, September/October 1999

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

4 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Sift first four ingredients together into a medium bowl and set aside.
Set up either a double boiler, or a medium pot filled with 3-4 inches of water with a metal bowl that will fit in the pot without touching the water. Melt the chopped chocolate in the bowl, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and turn off burner.
In a small bowl, beat the egg and vanilla together. Sprinkle the coffee powder on top. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy, about 10 seconds. Add in sugars and beat about one minute, mixture will still look granular. Reduce speed to low and slowly add in egg/vanilla/coffee powder mixture. Beat until incorporated, about another minute. Add melted chocolate and additional chips in steady stream and beat another minute.
Stop mixer and scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Turn mixer on low and slowly add flour mixture. Beat until just combined, do not overmix. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, until fudge-like.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment (the parchment plays a key role later -- don't use a silpat!). Scoop cookies onto cookie sheet using 1 3/4 inch ice cream scoop. Leave 2, even 3, inches between each ball of dough.
Bake for 10 minutes, reversing the cookie sheets halfway through baking. The centers of the cookies will still be very soft-looking. Cool cookies on sheets 10 minutes, then slide the parchment off the cookie sheet and onto the cooling rack. Cover pans with new parchment and bake next set of cookies. Once cookies are completely cooled, remove from parchment.

Pork Fried Rice

2011-09-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe a few months back in Cooking Light. It was always in the back of my mind when menu planning, but never quite made it on the list. I'm not quite sure what eventually moved it to the top of the list, but I wish I hadn't waited so long! This was a great recipe, and is easy for a weeknight with a bit of planning ahead. I made the rice the night before and kept it in the fridge until it was time to prep dinner. If you can get that step done ahead of time, then this makes a quick meal. I also love that it uses only half a pound of pork for 4 servings. It's just enough to have small pieces sprinkled throughout but not enough to take over the dish. It also helps stretch your budget since meat/protein is often the most costly part of the meal.

This recipe does have a rather long list of ingredients, but most are found in many asian dishes. Once you have mirin, seasme oil, and soy sauce they will last you ahwile and you will find many other dishes to use them in. The other stuff is fairly inexpensive -- green onions, ginger, carrots, bean sprouts. I made just one modification -- leaving out the celery since I don't like it. But other than that its pretty straight-forward and pretty delicious! Make sure to have everything prepped before you start cooking, once you begin cooking it moves pretty fast from start to finish.

Pork Fried Rice

barely adapted from Cooking Light, January 2011

serves 4

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
kosher salt
1/2 pound boneless pork loin chop, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped green onion bottoms
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 cups cooked, chilled long-grain brown rice
1 large egg
3 tablespoons mirin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
1/4 cup canned diced water chestnuts, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped green onion tops

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet, swirling to coat. Sprinkle the pork with a healthy pinch of kosher salt. Add seasoned pork to pan and cook, stirring frequently until browned all over, about 4 minutes. Remove pork from pan into a medium bowl.
Add carrot to pan, cook for 2 minutes. Stir frequently and when lightly browned add them to the bowl with the pork.
Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the pan and saute onion bottons, garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30-45 seconds. Add rice and stir, coating rice with oil. Flatten into an even layer and let cook for 2-3 minutes, until starting to brown on the edges.
Using a spoon, move the rice to the edges of the pan, leaving an empty spot in the center. Pour the scrambled egg into the cleared spot and cook, stirring constantly.
After cooking the egg to a soft scramble (about 30 seconds), return the pork and carrot mixture to the pan, mixing everything together. Add in mirin and cook a minute or so, until it is absorbed.
Stir in 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in water chestnuts and bean sprouts. Portion into bowls and top with green onion tops.

Roasted Red Onion and Squash Pasta

2011-09-26T07:34:00.000-04:00

This recipe is perfect for the approaching fall season. Last week we got the first hard squashes in our CSA box and I know there will be more to come. I didn't really have butternut squash until last year when we started getting them from our farm. I was missing out. In this recipe it's the star and it's delicious. It turns into a creamy, delicious consistency and makes for a healthy meal. I used whole wheat pasta, which played well with the nutty flavor of the squash. This also is a good recipe for freezing. It made a ton of pasta (I doubled the recipe) and we divided it up into individual portions and froze for quick lunches later on. It reheated really well and tasted just as delicious! The only change I made was to use parmesan cheese instead of fontina since we always have parmesan on hand. We had everything for this meal on hand actually, which makes it a handy recipe to have in your back pocket for busy weeks.

Roasted Red Onion and Squash Pasta

from Everyday Food iPad edition, January/February 2011

serves 4

Ingredients:

2 medium red onions, cut into 6 wedges each, layers separated
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 pound short ridged pasta, I used penne

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a baking sheet toss onions, squash, sage and oil until all the vegetables are well coated. Season with salt and pepper and arrange in a single layer. Roast until tender and turning brown, about 20 minutes. Stir vegetables halfway though.
While veggies roast, put a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, salt water and add pasta. Cook according to package directions. Save 1/2 cup of pasta water. When pasta is cooked, drain and place in a large bowl. When veggies are done, add them to the pasta and stir to combine. Add the 1/2 cup of pasta water as needed to create a sauce that coats pasta. Top with cheese and enjoy!

Spice Rubbed Pork with Quinoa

2011-09-23T06:46:00.000-04:00

This is another Food Network Magazine recipe. I love their weeknight meals section, and I love it even more since they started including the nutrition information along with the recipes. That makes it really easy to plan the rest of your day, or to find ways to cut down on the calories/fat, as I did with Wednesday's Barcelona Burgers recipe. This recipe was pretty good as is -- around 500 calories, which is right on target for a typical weeknight meal. Plus, it's built on lean protein and quinoa is generally considered a whole grain (yes I know it's technically a seed, but for nutrition purposes it is classified as a whole grain). Add an extra veggie as a side and you're all set!

I loved the spice mix on the pork chop, because as we determined previously, I love smoked paprika. I really liked the quinoa too; we hadn't had it before and this was a great preparation. We even repeated the side dish with other meals since it's super easy and fairly quick as well. The key to quinoa is to rinse it really really well. It can have an outer coating that will turn bitter when cooked. I adapted it only slightly -- changing up the called for pork tenderloins with pork chops and the frozen corn with canned. The only other change I made is to cook my quinoa as directed on the package, not as listed in the recipe. I have made these changes in this rendition of the recipe.

Spice Rubbed Pork with Quinoa

adapted from Food Network Magazine

serves 4

Ingredients:

kosher salt

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons cumin

4 pork chops, center cut and boneless

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 can (15 oz) canned corn, drained

2 scallions, thinly sliced

pepper

salsa verde, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Put a medium pot with 2 cups of water, a few good pinches of salt and the 1 cup quinoa over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and keep it at a simmer until water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
In a small bowl mix smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, cumin and 2 teaspoons salt. Once combined, use as a rub on the pork chops. Coat all sides of the pork chops with the spice rub.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, heat until shimmering. Place the pork chops in the heated oil coated skillet. Let sear on the first side, and cook for 3-4 minutes, until a golden brown crust forms. Flip and cook for 3-4 minutes on the opposite side.
Once quinoa is cooked, turn off heat and add corn and scallions. Stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve one pork chop per person with quinoa. Top pork chop with salse verde, if desired.

Barcelona Burger

2011-09-21T07:10:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe in an issue of Food Network Magazine. I kept it in the back of my mind because of the use of manchego cheese. We like spanish cheeses and enjoy manchego often, but I was waiting for a time when we had some leftover to use for these burgers. It took while to have some leftover manchego. These burgers were a great weeknight grilling meal. The flavors were very spanish -- roasted red pepper, sherry vinegar, olives and smoked paprika complemented the manchego very well. It was a great way to put a twist on a typical burger. I served it with oven fries that I also put smoked paprika on to highlight that spice in the burger. I chose to serve it on homemade burger buns, but did use an olive roll in the sauce. I halved the olive oil to save some calories and doubled the smoked paprika because, well, I love smoked paprika.

Barcelona Burger
slightly adapted from Food Network Magazine
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 olive roll
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sliced almond
1/2 cup roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
kosher salt
1 pound ground beef
2 shallots, finely grated
4 slices manchego cheese
lettuce leaves
4 burger rolls

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. While it heats, tear the olive roll into one inch pieces. Add to the skillet along with the garlic. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add almonds and cook about 3 additional minutes.
Transfer bread chunks, garlic and almonds to a food processor. Add roasted red pepper, vinegar, the remaining tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon paprika and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Pulse until a chunky sauce forms.
Gently mix the ground beef, shallots, remaining teaspoon smoked paprika, and 1 teaspoon salt until combined. Form into 4 patties.
Cook the patties, either in a large skillet over medium-high heat or on the grill, about 4-5 minutes per side. During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking time add cheese to the top of the burgers to melt.
Toast the rolls, if desired, and spread the roasted red pepper sauce on both the tops and bottoms of rolls, about 2 tablespoons per roll. Serve the burgers on the rolls with lettuce.

Pretzel Rolls: Secret Recipe Club

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

As soon as I had sent Zach a link to my Secret Recipe Club blog assignment for this month, Patricia's ButterYum, I almost immediately got back a response that consisted solely of a link to the the recipe for these Pretzel Rolls. And I can't say it was a bad choice! These pretzel rolls immediately reminded me of the kind we get at our favorite grocery store, Wegmans. They baked up deep golden brown and delicious. They are great just out of the oven and taste just like a pretzel. The remaining rolls would be great heated briefly in the oven, or a toaster oven, for just a few minutes until they get nice and crusty again on the outside and steamy and hot on the inside.

Pretzel Rolls
from ButterYum

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup bread flour
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (one packet)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water

8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg white, beaten
coarse salt

Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine bread flour, yeast, kosher salt, sugar and water. Use dough hook on low speed, mixing until dough ball forms. Then move speed to medium-low and knead for one minute. Coat a large bowl with oil and transfer dough to prepared bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and let rise until doubled in size, about one hour.
Punch dough down and transfer on to floured work surface. Cut into 16 equal pieces. Work pieces into a circle with one smooth, tight, uniform 'skin' of dough. Place on to parchment or silpat lined baking sheets, leaving space between rolls (I did two sets of 8 rolls on two half-sheet pans). Let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
During the last ten minutes of the second rise, First preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then bring the 8 cups water, baking soad and sugar to a boil in a large pot. When the shaped rolls have doubled in size, boil them for 30 seconds per side. We fit 3-4 of the small sized rolls in the large pot at once.
Remove from water, drain and place back on sheet pans. Brush with the beaten egg white and top with coarse salt. Once salted you can use kitchen scissors to cut an X shape in the top of each roll. This will help steam escape and keeps the round shape.
Bake the rolls at 375 for 25 minutes, until a deep golden brown. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before eating.

Check out what everyone else made for Group B of the Secret Recipe Club!!

Tilapia with Bacon Tomato Butter

2011-09-16T07:04:00.000-04:00

As soon as I had the first bite of this dish in my mouth I thought "Bacon tomato butter -- where have you been all my life??!!??" It is seriously, seriously good stuff. The best part (well, besides the bacon since bacon in any dish would clearly be the best part) is that it is made with cherry or grape tomatoes which means it will be easy to make year-round. I tend to avoid regular full-size tomatoes when they aren't in season since the quality declines so much, but cherry and grape tomatoes are generally good all year round. They are at their best in late summer, like any tomato, but I think they don't suffer as much over the winter months. I know many localvore, seasonal eaters would disagree and consider eating any tomatoes in the dead of winter to be non-foodie behavior, but I'm okay with that.

I found this recipe in an issue of Cooking Light and I really don't know why I waited so long to make it. Big mistake, huge, big mistake. I made only one major change, using tilapia instead of mahimahi. I think mahimahi would be great in this dish, we just had tilapia in the freezer so that's what I used. I think it would be equally good over grilled or pan-cooked chicken as well. Really, I mean, let's be honest -- there isn't much that I wouldn't eat bacon tomato butter on. I also added more bacon than was called for in the original recipe, partly to use up what I had on hand, and partly because when is more bacon ever a bad thing?? I contemplated using the leftover bacon tomato mixture as a filling to a grilled cheese, but there wasn't any leftover. Maybe next time I'll show some restraint and save some but I'm not making any promises. ;-)

Tilapia with Bacon Tomato Butter

slightly adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

4 tilapia filets

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

4 slices bacon, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow baking dish. Add fish. Let stand 20 minutes. Remove fish and pat dry with paper towels.
Heat grill. Season fish with the 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt. Place fish on grill, cook until done, flipping once, about 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness.
While the fish is grilling, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until almost crisp. Add garlic and cook for two more minutes, stirring frequently. Add paprika and cook for 30 seconds, continuously stirring. Add tomatoes and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in butter.
Serve fish fillets on plate, topping with bacon tomato butter, about 2 tablespoons on each fillet.

Summer Squash, Chicken and Rice Casserole

2011-09-14T07:36:00.000-04:00

I know, it's another zucchini recipe when the prime zucchini time has probably passed for most people. They might be hanging out at many local farmer's markets though, so I wanted to get this up for those end of the season stragglers. It calls for one yellow summer squash and one zucchini, but you could use two of either one, depending on your local supply. This recipe makes a great side dish, or can be a main dish with a nice side salad. It's a quick and easy way (even quicker if you use a to use up a decent amount of squash at once, and would make a great potluck dish or something to take to a sick/recovering friend or family member. It's cheesy and creamy and comforting. Yum.

Summer Squash, Chicken and Rice Casserole

adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (about 8 ounces)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup chicken broth (about 1 can)

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces), halved lengthwise then thinly sliced

1 medium yellow summer squash (about 8 ounces), halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced

2 cups cooked long-grain rice (I used brown)

1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups low-fat milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan, swirling to coat.
Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Place chicken in the pan. Cook, turning once, about 6 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan and let rest for 10 minutes.
Add chopped onion to skillet, using a touch more oil if necessary and reducing the heat to medium. Cook until softened and turning golden, 5-7 minutes.
Add broth to pan and increase heat to medium-heat, bringing broth to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half.
While the broth is simmering, shred the chicken and place in a large bowl. When the broth is reduced add the broth and onions to the bowl with the chicken.
Return pan to heat and melt butter. Add zucchini and yellow squash to pan, sauteing until softened and just starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add squash to bowl with chicken. Also add rice and rosemary to the bowl. Stir to combine.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat stir flour. As you stir the flour, slowly pour in milk, making sure to stir or whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook one minute, until thickened.
Remove from heat and add in 1/4 cup of the cheese. Stir until smooth and add in 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper. Add milk mixture to the large bowl of the chicken mixture.
Transfer chicken mixture to the prepared 8x8 baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and place in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Broil casserole until golden, about 5 minutes.

Zuchinni Parmesan Loaf

2011-09-12T07:12:00.000-04:00

I know this recipe might be a bit late for prime zucchini season, but I'm hoping people will give it a try with the end of the season zucchinis rolling in. I had saved this recipe from a magazine years ago. I remembered it while trying to think of something different to do with our growing pile of green squashes. I opted for this since it is a savory bread and not the usual cinnamon spiced zucchini bread -- not that I dislike those breads, cinnamon is one of my favorite flavors, but week after week of typical zucchini bread can wear on even the biggest cinnamon lover. It has the nutty, salty parmesan flavor and would be a great side to many dinner dishes and even a savory breakfast addition, say, toasted and slathered with butter along side scrambled eggs with cheese.

Zucchini Parmesan Loaf

from Everyday Food, September 2005

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 pound (about 1 medium) zucchini, coarsely grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 and spray a loaf pan (9x5) with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl combine flour, cheese, baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
In a medium bowl combine olive oil, milk and eggs. Beat with a whisk.
Add grated zucchini to flour mixture, stir to combine. Then add liquid ingredients to the flour/zucchini mixture. Stir until just moistened.
Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake 60-70 minutes. It's ready when a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Coffee Ice Cream: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-08-28T10:26:00.000-04:00

Coffee is essential to me in the mornings. Especially as the new school year approaches my two cups a day will be critical. I am odd though in that I like my coffee as a vehicle for carrying other flavors. I am all about the tasty flavored creamers, syrups and such. I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of pumpkin spice flavors at the coffeeshops this fall. Coffee is also one of the foods that Zach used to 'hate' but now enjoys (add to that list hot dogs and olives). I'd like to think I had a little to do with his change of opinion. If I would have made this ice cream previously he probably would have made a disgusted face and said ew. Now he will gladly help me eat it! It is rich and delicious and perfectly coffee-y. The small addition of Kahlua is perfect. I made just one change -- reversing the amounts of cream and milk. I opted for 2% milk instead of whole since it's what we normally drink, so I used 2 cups of cream to offset the loss of fat in the milk switch and did 1 and 3/4 cups of milk. It still turned out perfectly creamy and with great texture (not icy!).

You can find the recipe here and see how the other bloggers fared here and here.

Summer Succotash: Secret Recipe Club

2011-08-22T07:00:00.035-04:00

For this month's Secret Recipe Club I was assigned Sweet Flours written by Allison. Allison is a young mom with a sweet tooth! Her lovely blog (such a great, simple, elegant design -- you should really check it out!) is filled with tempting sweets and treats. So many that it was impossible to decide on just one, so I went the other direction and chose one of her savory dishes. When I picked this recipe Zach was shocked. I don't do lima beans, one of the typical main ingredients in succotash. Limas and succotash were always one of my sister's favorite sides growing up (as were peas -- ick!) so I only ever thought of it as lima beans and corn. I love that Allison's recipe got me to open up my mind about succotash!

It was such a great recipe for summer -- it highlights the veggies at their best, barely cooked and so fresh. We used corn that Zach bought that day at a farmer's market and the farmer said it was picked that morning. Unless you're lucky enough to grow corn in your backyard it can't get much fresher than that! It was delicious and quick. The leftovers made a satisfying lunch. I'm already envisioning a mexican version -- swapping in black beans and spices like cumin, paprika and fresh cilantro. I did make a few changes -- I switched out cannellini beans for the butter beans, throw in some peppers, use an extra ear of corn, used all yellow summer squash and to double up on the seasoning since I had added in the extra veggies.

Summer Succotash
slightly adapted from Sweet Flours

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
5 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob
2 large yellow summer squash

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 can (15 oz.) canellini beans, drained
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup chopped basil

Directions:

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
Add the onion, corn, squash, salt and pepper to the pan. Saute until tender, 5-7 minutes.
Add the beans and cook until heated through, 2-3 minutes more.
Remove pan from heat and stir in the tomatoes and basil.
Serve and enjoy!

Check out these links to see what other fantastic recipes were posted today in the Secret Recipe Club!

Orange Olive Oil Bundt Cake: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-07-31T13:55:00.000-04:00

I feel like I should start referring to these posts as BAKED Sunday Afternoons, since I never seem to get my post together in time. Ahh well, such is life. I'm jumping back in this week after missing the last couple challenges. This was partly due to spending most of those weekends away from home, and partly that the two recipes didn't appeal to me that much. I'm not a fruit girl, so blackberry or peach pie didn't really make the cut of things-to-shove-into-the-48-hours-I-spent-at-home-in-three-weeks list.

But, anyway, on to this week's recipe -- Orange Olive Oil Bundt Cake. Unfortunately I can't even say that much about it yet. I made it this afternoon to serve as a dessert this evening. Even though it's in the Baked cookbook under 'Breakfast' I'm serving it after a spanish meal of paella, and I think the olive oil and citrus will pair nicely with the dinner. I wasn't all that excited about the cake to be honest. As I said, I'm not a fruit girl, and typically I don't go for citrus based flavors. So, I expected not to like it, but after tasting the batter I'm pretty intrigued. The olive oil really came through and the citrus was more of an afternote. We will see what the finished cake tastes like, but I have high hopes!

Head on over to BAKED Sunday Mornings to see everyone else's cakes and to get the recipe!

Cilantro Shrimp Scampi

2011-07-20T08:12:00.002-04:00

So.... I wrote this back in May but never got around to uploading the picture and posting it. I am a bad blogger. But, now that I am on summer vacation and finally home after three weeks of travelling I hope to get back to a regular posting schedule. Most importantly, I hope to knock out the vast majority of over 40 draft posts I have sitting half-composed, and make major progress on my 30 in 30 list. I wrote it up back in November, and actually have made quite a few things, but just haven't gotten them posted yet. I've got just under 4 months to go and at least 30 posts to get up in that time, so watch out for lots of new recipes!!

This is the second recipe I'm posting from my Cookbook of the Month, the Foster Harris House Cookbook. When I decided to make this the pick for the month, I did what I usually do for my monthly pick, stick post-it notes on the recipes I'd most like to make/highlight in the month's posts. Then I hand it over to Zach and ask him to pick what he would like. My choices are like the first round and his are the second round, since he will usually pick one or two of the 10-12 I've chosen. As soon as I saw this recipe in the book I knew it would make it past Zach's second round. He loves anything with cilantro, so you don't have to look much further than the name of the recipe to know he's going to pick it.

This was super easy and quick to put together on a weeknight. The notes on the recipe in the book say that while most people serve scampi with pasta, they prefer it with basmati rice to soak up the sauce. We served it with a parmesan orzo and it paired really well together.

Cilantro Shrimp Scampi

from the Foster Harris House Cookbook

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 pound large peeled, deveined shrimp

4 tablespoons minced garlic

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped, fresh cilantro

6 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute shrimp, turning over once, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate with tongs, leaving the oil in the skillet.
Add garlic, cayenne, wine, lime juice, salt and pepper to the remaining oil. Cook over high heat, stirring occasionally until reduced slightly, about 1 minute.
Add butter to skillet, stir until melted, then add shrimp.
Serve on top of pasta or rice, whichever you desire.

Salt and Pepper Oven Fries: Secret Recipe Club

2011-07-18T07:00:00.029-04:00

Last month I read on one of my favorite blogs, Beantown Baker, about The Secret Recipe Club. Basically, you join up and at the beginning of the month you are randomly assigned a different blog. You peruse that blog and pick a recipe from it to make. Everyone in the Secret Recipe Club posts their chose recipe on the given date and time. It sounded like a great way to see a few new blogs and try a few new recipes. So, I joined!

This month I was assigned This Mama Cooks! There were lots of great recipes to chose from, but I chose something fairly simple, yet I can never get quite right -- oven fries. Sometimes mine turn out crispy, but sometimes mushy, sometimes burnt even! I think it's because I don't really rely on a recipe, I just wing it hoping it will turn out okay, but it doesn't always. So, I figured this was a good chance to follow a recipe, hoping it would give me a foolproof result and it did! These were crispy and crunchy and delicious! They would be a great side dish to just about anything -- what doesn't go with fries really?? I cut the recipe in half since there are only two of us, and leftover fries really aren't that great, but otherwise I kept it almost the same. I did up the amount of pepper, since we like black pepper, and omitted the parsley since we were out of it.

Salt and Pepper Oven Fries
slightly adapted from This Mama Cooks!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound potatoes, cut into wedges
2 Tablespoons oil (canola or olive, I used olive)
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a medium baking sheet, spray cooking spray to coat the bottom surface.
Cut potatoes into long wedges. In a medium bowl, toss potato wedges with 1 tablespoon oil.
On prepared baking sheet, lay out potato wedges in a single layer.
Bake for 15 minutes, flip the wedges over and bake for 15 more minutes. Potatoes should be golden brown and crispy.
When you turn the wedges over, heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook over medium-low heat until golden, about 4 minutes.
Pour the garlic oil over the wedges, adding in the salt and pepper. Toss to coat and serve.

Cowboy Cookies: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-05-22T08:22:00.027-04:00

I was a bad blogger and skipped out on the last BAKED Sunday Mornings recipe. This time of year is my very busiest at school and I had so much going on I had no time for 'extra' cooking. But I'm back in the game for this recipe. These are called Cowboy Cookies, but as the description in the book says, there's no real reason they are associated with cowboys. They are basically oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (which are some of my favorites -- when you put a whole grain like oatmeal in, then you can try and convince yourself that the cookies are healthy!) with the addition of salty, crunchy bits of pretzels. Being someone who adds salt to just about everything, even watermelon and buttered toast, I welcomed the pretzels.

The cookies are delicious! Chewy and chocolaty and salty, and with that bit of oatmeal you can count them towards your whole grain count for the day. ;-) I didn't read the recipe thoroughly beforehand and therefore did not realize the dough should be chilled for 4 hours prior to baking. I didn't really have time for that on a weeknight, so I let them chill about an hour and a half and went for it. I knew it meant they would spread a bit, but I was okay with the consequences. I could taste the bit of coffee in the dough, but not in the final cookie. They are a great variation on the basic chocolate chip cookie and we'll definitely be making them again.

Head on over to BAKED Sunday Mornings to see everyone else's cookies and to get the recipe!

Mushroom Provolone Patty Melt

2011-05-20T07:22:00.000-04:00

I cut this recipe out of a fall copy of Cooking Light. It had been in the back of my mind since then, always as a menu idea, but never quite making it on the menu. Then we bought some ground beef in bulk and I was looking for something else besides the standard burgers or meatloaf to do with it and this recipe came to mind. It also uses beer, which is never a bad thing in a recipe in my opinion.

It made a quick and pretty tasty weeknight dinner. I really enjoyed it and it will definitely show up again in our meal rotation. The flavors were great, the earthiness of the mushrooms paired well with the dark beer and the beef patties. I really liked it and I took one of the extra sandwiches with me the next day for lunch. I prefer the fresh out of the pan version, but it worked well as a leftover, cold sandwich as well.

Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melt

slightly adapted from Cooking Light

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces mushrooms (white or cremini), sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons flour
1/4 cup dark beer (such as porter or stout)
8 slices bread (I used sourdough, but you can use your preference.)

Spreadable butter or margarine
4 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Shape beef into 4 (4 inch) patties. Add patties, cook 4 minutes on each side or until done.
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, salt, pepper, and mushrooms, cook for 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beer and cook 30 seconds or until thickened. Remove from heat.
When patties are done, remove from skillet. Wipe pan clean and reheat over medium high heat. Coat 1 side of each bread slice with butter or margarine. Place 4 bread slices, coated sides down, in pan. Top each with a patty, cheese slice, and one quarter of mushroom mixture. Top with remaining bread slices and then spread with butter or margarine. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned.

Asparagus Risotto

2011-05-18T07:24:00.000-04:00

This recipe is the first from my Cookbook of the Month, the Foster Harris House Cookbook. I chose it because we always have arborio rice on hand and all the other ingredients except the asparagus. Asparagus was on sale for 1.99 a pound at a local grocery store so I picked some up with no specific plan. I flipped through this book and decided it would be a perfect match. This was a fairly straight-forward risotto recipe, except for the first few steps You cook the asparagus in chicken stock that you then keep simmering on the stove to use as the cooking liquid for the rice. This maximizes the asparagus-ness of the risotto and makes for one less pot to clean! It was delicious and had a great spring flavor. I hope to make it again soon as we start to get our weekly CSA boxes and can use some of the farm-fresh asparagus we will get early in the season.

Asparagus Risotto

from the Foster Harris House Cookbook

serves 4

Ingredients:

1 quart (4 cups) chicken stock

1 pound asparagus

4 tablespoons butter, divided in half

4 tablespoons oil, divided in half

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

salt and pepper

Directions:

Trim ends off asparagus. Cut on the bias into 1/4 inch pieces, saving the top 2-3 inches as whole spears.
Heat the chicken stock to a simmer. Cook asparagus in chicken stock for 5 minutes, or until al dente. Remove from stock and keep in a cool water bath. Return stock to a simmer.
In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add rice and stir, cooking for 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook until liquid is absorbed.
Add about half a cup of stock at a time to the rice and onion mixture. Stir frequently until liquid is absorbed. Continue adding the stock, half a cup at time, stirring in between and adding more stock once the last addition is absorbed. The rice will get thick and creamy. Taste the rice towards the end of the process, you are looking for it to be al dente, with just a bit of bite in the middle.
Add the chopped asparagus, 1/2 cup of cheese and the remaining butter and olive oil. Stir to combine, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve risotto, topping with spears and extra parmesan.

Cookbook of the Month: May 2011

2011-05-02T07:57:00.000-04:00

This month I am picking a cookbook we recently got on a weekend trip. We went to Washington, Virginia and stayed at the Foster Harris House. It was a great bed and breakfast, the highlight of which was a four course breakfast! I planned the trip as a surprise getaway for the 5th anniversary of our first date. Washington is about an hour and a half away from our house, so we left mid-afternoon, stopped at a few wineries along the way and then arrived at the Foster Harris House. I picked Washington so we could have dinner at the fabulous Inn at Little Washington. We've seen it on the Travel Channel and knew of it's prestigious reputation. It is often ranked on lists of the top restaurants in the country and even the world. It was absolutely phenomenal, exceeding our expectations, which were high to begin with! It's definitely one of the top three meals I've ever had, ranking up there with our Table 21 experience at VOLT and a tasting menu at Graham Eliot.

One of the best parts of our stay was getting to take this cookbook home with us! I added it to my collection, close to 60 cookbooks now, and it's gotten some use so far! I'll be sharing a few recipes over the course of the month, and hope to recreate our four course breakfast as well!

Baked Chicken Parmesan

2011-04-29T06:27:00.001-04:00

This recipe definitely caught my eye the first time I flipped through ATK's Healthy Family Cookbook. Chicken parmesan is delicious, but not great for you when it's fried. A version that is baked and is easy for a weeknight meal -- awesome! This is simple and fabulous. I think it has a great balance of ingredients and the strips of basil on top really brings out a fresh flavor. I went light on the sauce on mine, I don't like chicken parmesan smothered in tomato sauce -- the whole point is the crispy crunch of the chicken, right?

Baked Chicken Parmesan

from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
vegetable oil spray
6 boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, pounded 1/4 inch thick
salt and pepper
2 cups tomato sauce, warmed
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Combine the bread crumbs and olive oil in a non-stick skillet and toast over medium heat until golden.
Set up a breading station. Let the toasted bread crumbs cool in a shallow dish, then mix in the parmesan. Whisk the egg whites and water in a second bowl. In a third bowl combine the flour and garlic powder.
Place a wire rack over a baking sheet and spray with the cooking spray.
Pat the chicken dry, season with salt and pepper. Take one piece of chicken at a time through the breading stations -- first in the flour, patting off any extra flour. Then coat in the egg whites, letting the excess drip off. The last step us to coat with the toasted bread crumbs, making sure to pat them on to stick to the chicken evenly.
Place the coated cutlets on the wire rack, then spray with the cooking spray.
Bake about 8-10 minutes or until any juices are clear. You can also use a meat thermometer to check that the chicken reaches 160 degrees.
Top with desired amount of sauce and 2 tablespoons of the shredded mozzarella. Bake until the cheese has melted, 3 to 5 minutes more.
Sprinkle with basil and serve.

Pork Lo Mein

2011-04-27T07:08:00.000-04:00

This dish is definitely a winner. The standout element was buying and using the fresh lo mein noodles in the produce section of our grocery store. In my store they are right near the refrigerated polenta and wonton/egg roll wrappers. They were, I'm not kidding, revolutionary. They are the square shaped noodles that you get in take out/restaurant lo mein. I've made lo mein and other Chinese noodle dishes before and was never quite satisfied because the instructions would say to use regular spaghetti which isn't quite the same. In fact this recipe also calls for regular spaghetti, but once i saw the fresh noodles in my store I knew I had to use them. They make the dish more authentic and more like 'real' Chinese food. Delicious. If you have them available to you definitely use them. I won't make stir fries or Chinese noodle dishes without them now.

So I've established that the noodles are amazing, but so were the other elements of this dish. It was easy to put together and the leftovers tasted great for lunch the next few days. I did adapt the vegetables used in the dish to suit our tastes, snow peas, bean sprouts and baby corns are what we like. The original called for shiitake mushrooms and napa cabbage, but otherwise we left the spices and seasonings the same and it was great. Not too spicy and not too salty.

Pork Lo Mein

adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Serves 6

Ingredients:
4 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1 pound pork tenderloin, halved then sliced into 1/8 thick strips
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
12 ounces spaghetti or fresh chinese noodles
4 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
6 tablespoons chinese rice cooking wine or dry sherry
8 ounces snow peas
8 ounces fresh bean sprouts
15 ounce can of baby corn nuggets
8 scallions, sliced thin
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

Directions:

Mix the first 5 ingredients, through five-spice powder, together in a large bowl. Measure 1/4 cup of the mixture into a separate bowl, then add the pork to the remaining mixture. Stir to coat, then cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Use this time to prep your vegetables if needed.
Whisk the broth and cornstarch into the remaining soy sauce mixture, set aside.
Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and leave in colander.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the canola oil in a large dutch oven over high heat, until barely smoking. Add half the pork and cook until lightly browned (but not cooked through), about 3 minutes. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the wine and cook until evaporated.
Transfer pork to a bowl, then repeat the process with another 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil, remaining pork and 3 tablespoons wine. Add this to the bowl as well.
Wipe the dutch oven dry with paper towels. Add the last 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and heat over high heat until shimmering. Add the snow peas and cook, stirring constantly, until crisp tender. Add the baby corn and cook, stirring constantly, until warmed through. Stir in the bean sprouts, scallions, ginger and garlic and cook about 30 seconds.
Rewhisk the soy sauce/cornstarch mixture to combine, then add to the veggies. Add the pork and any juices as well. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened slightly and the pork is reheated. Add the cooked noodles and sriracha, mix until combined and serve.

Black Bean Burgers

2011-04-25T07:29:00.002-04:00

I picked this recipe to take a try at making some bean burgers from scratch. I am a fan of the bean burgers you can buy from the frozen section at the grocery store, they have a nice southwest flavor and make for an easy, quick weeknight meal. This homemade version is not as easy or quick, but it's got better flavor and I like knowing exactly what went into the patties. You could probably make some up and freeze them to turn into future easy/quick meals too. I did not try that this time, but I hope to next time. Zach and I both really liked this recipe and we will make it again. I liked the texture of the burgers. Leaving some beans whole and mashing most of them made an almost creamy burger, and the spices were very delicious. The only change I made was to add on a sauce. I just took some cilantro and mixed it up with mayonnaise, a dash of cumin and a dash of cayenne.

Black Bean Burgers
slightly adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 slices white sandwich bread
2 15 ounce cans of black beans, rinsed
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin, plus more for sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more for sauce
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 cup minced cilantro, divided in half
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread in food processor and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Spread crumbs on a baking sheet and toast in the pre-heated oven until light brown and dried out, about 10 minutes. Let cool.
Measure 2 1/2 cups of the black beans into a large bowl and mash them until mostly smooth. You can use a potato masher, pastry cutter or a fork.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper and the salt.
Add the egg mixture, cooled breadcrumbs, remaining 1/2 cup beans, bell pepper, 1/4 cup cilantro and shallot into the mashed bean mixture. Mix until just combined. Divide into 6 equal parts (about 1/2 cup each) and form into patties.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Place three of the patties in the skillet and cook until well browned on each side, 8 to 10 minutes. Then repeat (including 1 more tablespoon oil) with remaining patties.
While the patties cook mix the remaining 1/4 cup chopped cilantro with the mayonnaise. Add cumin and cayenne pepper to your tastes. I'd start with 1/8 teaspoon cayenne and 1/4 cumin then adjust as desired.
Serve on toasted buns with sauce.

New York Crumb Cake: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-04-24T11:49:00.001-04:00

This cake looks delicious! That's as much as I can say about the flavor of the finished product at this point since we are taking it with us to an Easter celebration this afternoon. It smelled wonderful when cooking, I love cinnamon and this filled the house with a great cinnamon smell. The batter tasted quite good, which holds definite promise for the taste of the finished cake. I'll update later with thoughts on the taste!

Go visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to see the links to the other poster's descriptions and photos!

Spicy Honey Glazed Pork Chops

2011-04-14T07:33:00.013-04:00

This is one recipe we made from the Cookbook of the Month -- ATK's Healthy Family Cookbook. This was a glaze recipe written for a pork loin roast, but we modified it to use on pork loin chops. We buy a giant pork loin at the store and then cut it up into chops and a roast or two then freeze it. You get a much better deal per pound when you buy in bigger quantities. Plus, then we have lots of pork chops ready to go in the freezer to make for easy, quick weeknight meals. Just defrost in the fridge overnight and you're ready to go!

This recipe caught my eye because of the chipotle peppers. They have such a great smokey heat and we like just about any recipe that uses them. It only has 4 ingredients, 5 if you count the pork, and is super fast to put together. The glaze would also be good on chicken and probably shrimp too. We served the pork chops with a cilantro-lime couscous and it complemented the southwestern flavors of the glaze (as well as soaked up all the delicious juices).

Spicy Honey Glazed Pork Chops
adapted slightly from The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 pork loin chops
salt and pepper
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, about 1 lime
2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, about 1 pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Directions:

Preheat a large skillet on medium to medium-high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper.
Add the oil to the pan, then when it shimmers add pork chops. Cook chops about 6 minutes per side, getting a nice sear/browning on each side. Remove the chops to a plate to rest.
While they are browning add the honey, lime juice, chipotle and cumin to a small bowl, whisking to combine.
Pour off any fat left in the skillet. Pour the glaze into the skillet and scrape any brown bits off the bottom. Simmer until slightly thickened. Add pork chops back into the skillet and coat them with the glaze.
Serve, spooning extra glaze on top of pork chops.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-04-12T13:11:00.000-04:00

I know I promised some healthy recipes from America's Test Kitchen, but first a cookie recipe from the regular edition of Cook's Illustrated. These cookies are amazing. I will never have to look for another peanut butter cookie recipe, ever. But, what else would I expect from a Cook's Illustrated recipe? I don't know if I've yet discussed the mini-obsession I had with these magazines awhile back. Zach and I went to an estate sale with my grandparents last Thanksgiving weekend. We found a stack of old Cook's Illustrated magazines for sale and bought them all (30-40 issues) for 5 dollars. FIVE DOLLARS! A year's subscription is almost $30 and that's for 6 issues. We hit the jackpot! We had a few already, some of the free editions they send you when you ask for a trial issue, and one of Zach's co-workers had given him a few as well. So, we knew how great and amazingly reliable the recipes are.

Soon after returning home from our holiday trip I started searching for other back issues on eBay. I figured I'd see if I could get a few cheaply to round out/fill in some gaps in what we had already bought, then we'd have a nice collection. I ended up obsessively searching for magazines until I had them all. For the record, early editions are the hardest to find. Not Issue One since they must have put that back into circulation at some point, or used that as their 'trial copy' for a bit since there are tons of Issue One's out there (try an eBay search, you'll see) but in the range of 5-20ish, those are the tough ones to find. Zach has gotten me a subscription for my birthday the past two years, so I now have the complete collection, 1-110 and counting!

But, back to the recipe. I made these to send off to a soldier for Operation Baking GALS last October. I saw Beantown Baker post about it on her blog, and I had a few cookie recipes that I couldn't stop thinking about. I had spent hours recently flipping through each one of my 110 Cook's Illustrated to create my '30 while I'm 30' list. So, while peanut butter cookies didn't make the cut, if they had, this recipe would be the only one I would need. The only changes I made were to use smooth peanut butter and omit the ground peanuts. I love peanut butter flavor, but not actual peanuts. I know, I'm weird like that; though, peanuts are starting to grow on me.

Peanut Butter Cookies

from Cook's Illustrated, March/April 1998

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt (if using salted butter use 1/2 teaspoon)

1/2 pound butter, unsalted, room temperature

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup roasted salted peanuts, ground in food processor to resemble bread crumbs (I omitted.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Using your electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add the granulated and brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add peanut butter and beat until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.
Add the sifted dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix gently until just incorporated.
Scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough at a time. Roll into large balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Fill a glass with cold water. Use a fork to make the criss-cross pattern in the top of the cookie, dipping the fork into the cold water between pressings.
Bake cookies until they are slightly brown on the edges and puffed up, 10 to 12 minutes.
Give the cookies about 5 minutes to set on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Double-Chocolate Loaf with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread: BAKED Sunday Mornings Rewind

2011-04-10T12:31:00.000-04:00

The selected recipe for this week was Carrot-Coconut Scones with Citrus Glaze. The flavors didn't really interest either Zach or myself and there are a few recipes the group completed before I joined that I knew we would definitely enjoy so I chose to do a rewind post. From the very first time I opened Baked Explorations I knew it wouldn't be long before I made this double-chocolate bread. I'm weird because I don't particularly like peanuts, but I do love peanut butter, and especially peanut butter combined with chocolate.

This bread was delicious, very rich and moist. I do find that generally I need to add on 10+ minutes to the baking times from the book. I added on 15 minutes to the high end of the range given for this bread and I think I went 5 minutes too far. The outside was quite crisp, perhaps a little too dry, but it certainly won't keep us from eating it! Next time I'd just add on 10 minutes though. Overall it's quite good and, as the book says, a great excuse to have chocolate for breakfast! I really enjoyed the peanut butter cream cheese spread, but Zach said he felt it was overwhelmed by the super chocolately-ness of the bread and didn't really add much for him. He'd rather have it plain.

If you head over to the old post on BAKED Sunday Mornings you can see how everyone else's loaves turned out and get the recipe.

Cookbook of the Month: April 2011

2011-04-03T20:48:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a cookbook of the month in awhile. I started it last year sometime then as life got busy it got abandoned. But I'm bringing it back. Just call me Justin Timberlake.

So for April 2011 my cookbook of the month will be America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook. I was super excited when this cookbook showed up in stores. I buy most of my books at Costco -- it's almost impossible for me to leave there without a book. We've recently acquired an iPad though so I think my physical books purchases will be declining in favor of ebook purchases. Not cookbooks though; I suspect I will always buy those in actual book form. But, when I saw that the newest ATK book included nutritional information I was quite excited. That was my biggest complaint about their products for awhile -- obviously not a major gripe since I'm still a subscriber and managed to procure all back issues to make a complete set of Cook's Illustrated editions. But, since I knew that science is a main tenant of their recipe creation I always wondered why they didn't include nutrition info in their recipes. I figured for a publication as into food science as they are it was surprising that they would not include those statistics.

Anyway, this book solved that problem so I bought it immediately. We've enjoyed just about everything we've made out of it and we've barely scratched the surface. Look for at least three recipes this month from America's Test Kitchen's Healthy Family Cookbook.

Malted Crisp Tart: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-03-28T12:06:00.000-04:00

This tart had a few 'firsts' for me -- it is the first tart I've ever made, first time I've made a pastry cream, and it's the first time I've worked with malted flavoring in a dessert. It was not as hard as I expected a tart to be in terms of assembly, and the mated flavor was a nice taste to work with. I had to go buy a tart pan, but based on the number of tart recipes in this book, I think it will be put to good use! The recipe called for a 9 inch pan, but my store only had 8 or 11 inches, so I went with 8. The proportions were still fine I thought.

The write-up of the recipe mentioned that you would be using a lot of bowls, and they sure were right! It was an involved recipe with many steps, but none were difficult at all. The hardest one for me was probably caramelizing the crispy rice cereal since the recipe was not very clear as to the amount of time it would take. I kept second guessing as I was stirring and stirring and stirring. But, they did eventually caramelize very well and ended up being one of my favorite parts of the dish.

Of course, as I ate it and got to each new layer I kept saying that new layer was my favorite! This tart has a brown sugar crust, a layer of milk chocolate ganache, a crispy layer of the caramelized rice cereal and crushed malt balls. Then, finally, the last layer was a malted diplomat pastry cream decorated with more caramelized crispies and whole malt balls. I definitely thought the highlights were the cream and the tart crust. The diplomat cream was thick and delicious and just malty enough. It was quite easy as well, a nice surprise having never made a pastry cream before. The crust was crunchy, salty and nicely dry. I don't know if the saltiness was my mistake and perhaps I used too much salt, but I liked it. It played very well off the sweetness of the ganache and cream.

Zach thought the ganache was the best part -- smooth and delicious, and it held the crunchy bits perfectly. He really liked the crunchy layer -- the caramelized crispies and the crushed malt balls.

You can check out the tarts of the other group members at BAKED Sunday Mornings!

Salt and Pepper Sandwich Cookies: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-03-13T20:13:00.000-04:00

These cookies are BAKED's version of oreos. They have white pepper and fluer de sel hence the name salt and pepper cookies. The pepper surprised me. I thought it would be a much more obvious flavor note in the cookies, but it's just a little spice that kicks in towards the end of a bite. It almost makes you think of nutmeg, since the white pepper is a much more milder in terms of heat/spiciness. It rounds the cookie out nicely though. The filing is very comparable to the oreo filing in terms of texture and flavor. The salt on top is a nice finish to the cookie. But, I almost always prefer salty snacks to sweet ones, so I tend to enjoy that savory note in sweets.

Visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to see the complete recipe and everyone else's opinions of the cookie!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Angel Frosting: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-03-03T20:35:00.000-05:00

This is my second recipe with BAKED Sunday Mornings and already I'm turning into a delinquent poster! I made these a week ahead of schedule since I knew I would be out of town on the weekend they were scheduled. They were delicious! Zach even took pictures for me, and we ate them up and shared with co-workers all to rave reviews. Then I dropped the ball and didn't get them posted in time. I was super busy in the weeknights before going out of town for the weekend, and I really have no other excuse. I was rushing to complete this....

gorgeous (if I do say so myself ;-) ) baby blanket for a friend's baby shower. So, since the baby shower had a definite deadline and I didn't want to be finishing it off on the plane!, the cupcakes and their deliciousness slipped my mind. Oh well, such is life.

On to the cupcakes -- they were rich and perfectly chocolately. As stated in the book, even though the recipe has a decent amount of coffee in it, they don't taste coffee-y. The frosting, oooooh, the frosting! It was phenomenal! I hadn't ever made an Italian Meringue frosting before and it's probably a good idea I didn't read the directions very carefully before actually attempting the recipe. The idea of pouring boiling hot, 235 degree sugar syrup into egg whites is a bit scary to be honest. "Seriously, that's going to work? Won't it break??" you think; but, since I just jumped into the recipe I didn't really realize what I had to do until it was time to do it and there was no turning back. It tasted like marshmallow and was so nice and fluffy. Fabulous! For the last two cupcakes we ate Zach busted out his creme brulee torch to brown the tops, which lent even more of a toasty marshmallow flavor. I'll definitely be making Italian Meringue frosting in the future now that I know there's nothing to be scared of and only yummy results! You can find the recipe and everyone else's links on BAKED Sunday Mornings.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies: BAKED Sunday Mornings

2011-02-12T21:51:00.001-05:00

One of the benefits of living in our little Northern Virginia town is it's outlet mall. It is less than a mile away and since we live in town we can avoid the normal weekend and holiday crowds and go whenever. Tuesday night is the slowest which makes it the best for us locals. It seems I cannot leave the Williams-Sonoma outlet without a cookbook. Certainly there are times I leave there empty handed but they are far fewer than the times I leave with that white paper bag. One our last few visits there I'd been eying Baked Explorations. On the last trip, Zach said he would get it for me - Yay! I spent a night reading/skimming it and decided that I needed to start making some recipes ASAP. Then I found this group -- BAKED Sunday Mornings and it was perfect timing!

So this was my first recipe from the book, and with the group and it was fabulous. I've never really understood the appeal of Red Velvet, but I suppose that probably means I hadn't yet had a really good red velvet recipe. In the book Matt Lews explains that true Red Velvet needs to have these three ingredients: buttermilk, cocoa powder and shortening. I can't say I disagree. The whoopie pies had a great texture, kind of crunchy on the outside, but tender and fluffy on the inside.

It was the first time I've made whoopie pies and I will definitely be making them again. I think they are even easier than cupcakes since the frosting step is so much easier -- put a dollop on and squeeze! They are less messy to eat than cupcakes, since the frosting is all contained between layers of cake-y cookie. They were simple and fun, not to mention delicious. The recipe was timed perfectly for Valentine's Day and we both plan to take a few into work with us on Monday. The recipe can be found here, on the BAKED Sunday Mornings blog.

Smoky Tomato Soup with Couscous

2011-01-24T20:13:00.016-05:00

I found this recipe as I was looking for a new soup to try. It's January after all, and what better way to warm up at the end of a long, cold day than a delicious, hot soup? Also, I wanted to participate in a blogging event over at Branny Boils Over. She's holding a Charity Souper Bowl to raise money to donate to the ASPCA. I made this Smoky Tomato Soup with Couscous, but before I tell you about the recipe, I'll first dedicate my post to my special animal - Jala. My family got Jala, a miniature dachshund puppy back in the spring of my freshman year of high school. She's about to turn 16 and is still my little puppy. She's slowed down in her old age, but she's still a great friend and dog. Here she is in her typical winter day outfit - a cute sweater! Since she's so skinny and has barely any fat (6.5 pounds!), the cold weather leaves her shivering all day unless she wears a sweater. If only Jala could have some delicious soup to warm her up!

Okay, now on to the soup. As soon as I saw this recipe had chipotle peppers in it, I knew it would be a hit in our house. Both Zach and I love the smoky flavor and spiciness they give a dish. I found this in the January/February 2011 issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray and thought it would go very nicely with a loaf of our favorite bread. I did change it a bit, mostly in the preparation method. After the onions, tomatoes and broth had cooked I chose to use my immersion blender to make a smooth soup. I really liked the flavors and consistency I got by adding that step. I also added the topping of Cojita cheese, mostly because we had some leftover in the fridge, but I really loved the salty bite it gave the soup. The finished soup really reminded me of a grown-up version of spaghettios! Since the Israeli couscous cooks in the soup liquid, it gets a little pink tint to it that reminded me of spaghettios (seen better in the first picture) but the chipotle and cilantro sour cream make it grown-up. It was delicious and made for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Smoky Tomato Soup with Couscous
Adapted from: EveryDay with Rachael Ray, Jan/Feb 2011
Makes 4 servings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 large onion, finely chopped
1 canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup Israeli couscous
4 ounces ham, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Salt and pepper

4 ounces Cojita cheese

Directions:

Using a food processor, pulse the sour cream and 1/4 cup cilantro until smooth; refrigerate.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and chipotle chile and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Insert an immersion blender in the soup and blend soup until desired consistency.
Add the couscous and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Stir in the ham; season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, top the soup with the cilantro sour cream, cojita cheese and remaining 1/4 cup cilantro.

Operation Baking Gals

2010-11-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

When I saw Operation Baking GALS posted on Beantown Baker's blog I knew I wanted to participate. The holidays are coming up and I wanted to send some delicious treats to a soldier and his friends. Also, it was a great way to try a few cookie recipes that had caught my eye without having to eat all the cookies myself! Zach helped me with quite a bit of the baking. We made peanut butter cookies, double chocolate cookies, chocolate chip cookie bars, beef jerky, and ranch crackers. I also picked up some Halloween candy to send off -- Skittles, Starburst and mini Oreoes. The recipes for the peanut butter cookies and double chocolate cookies will be up soon, they were both absolutely fantastic. We hope Ryan and his friends enjoyed the treats!

French Toast Bread Pudding: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-11-23T14:21:00.001-05:00

This is the first recipe Barefoot Bloggers has done for Ina's newest cookbook, How Easy is That? I enjoyed this recipe, though I thought it was a bit too lengthy for an average morning meal. Definitely not on a weekday, and probably for a rare weekend. I like making bigger breakfasts on the weekends, but not ones I necessarily need to wait an hour and a half for. I cut the recipe in half and I did like that I got a chance to try my cinnamon apple syrup from Stonewall Kitchen. I despise maple syrup and so typically leave it out of recipes or avoid recipes where maple is an integral flavor. Now I have a substitute for maple syrup and it was delicious!

French Toast Bread Pudding

from Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That? by Ina Garten
serves 4
1/2 large challah loaf, cut into 3/4 inch slices4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups half and half (I used fat free)1 1/2 Tablespoons honey1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher saltconfectioners' sugar and apple cinnamon syrup, for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Arrange the sliced bread in a casserole dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, honey, orange zest, vanilla and salt. Carefully pour the mix over the bread in the casserole dish. Press down and allow to soak for at least 10 minutes.

Place thecasserole dish in a roasting pan and cover with foil. Make slashes in the foil with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape. Pour water in the roasting pan, coming about an inch up the side of the casserole.

Bake 30 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake an additional 35-40 minutes, until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.

Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with apple cinnamon syrup.

30 when I'm 30

2010-11-17T07:12:00.001-05:00

I've seen this idea on a few blogs now, elly says opa!, APPLE A DAY and Beantown Baker are three I've enjoyed following. I've decided to take on the idea as my 30th birthday arrives.

I had a lot of fun making the list, and I hope to have even more fun making all the new dishes. I used the three lists linked above as a starting point, but some are things I've wanted to try for awhile, some are more basic than others, and some are challenges I can't wait to take on. I especially like the idea of trying to make more things from scratch. Yes, marshmallows and mayonnaise are cheap and easy to buy, but I want to try making them myself.

There are a few dishes here I also want to try for myself -- tiramisu, tamales, swedish meatballs for example, that I usually order in restaurants but want to attempt making at home. There are also a good number of breads on the list, again getting back to my idea of making things from scratch. Zach and I recently listened to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and it was a good reminder that many things are simple to make at home instead of buying, and that with a little time we can probably have a much better product. Cheese is on my list mainly because of that book, and it's also why I added pasta and bacon, thinking of how I can make more items from scratch in my own kitchen.

Some things are on the list because I have always loved my mom's version and haven't attempted to make them myself thinking I'll never get it quite as good as hers. Angel food cake and beef stroganoff being the first two that jump to mind. Some others are on the list because they are foods Zach enjoys and I want to try making them for him, pho, mole and paella are in that category.

So, here is my list of 30 things to make while I am 30, to be started on November 17th. I don't expect much progress to be made in the first few months with the holidays approaching, we tend to do a lot of traveling during that time. Most will probably be accomplished over my school breaks, expect a lot of posts next summer!

1. Marshmallows

2. Tiramisu

3. Pho

4. Tamales

5. Mole

6. French Onion Soup

7. Cheese

8. Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

9. Pasta

10. Some sort of Asian dumpling, egg roll, won-ton, spring roll, etc.

11. English Muffins

12. Angel Food Cake

13. Swedish Meatballs

14. Empanadas

15. An alcohol item, either a kahula or bailey's style liqueur, or to take over Zach's homebrewing equipment to make my own beer or hard cider.

16. Salt Crusted something, I've seen great recipes for beef and fish.

17. Mayonnaise

18. Gnocchi

19. Tres Leches Cake

20. Focaccia

21. Homemade Vanilla

22. Bacon

23. Sourdough Bread

24. Beef Stroganoff

25. Pita Bread or Naan

26. A Scallop dish, I've recently discovered a love of scallops!

27. Find a great cut-out cookie and decorate them

28. Paella

29. German Apple Pancake

30. Tortillas

Zucchini Pistou

2010-11-15T07:06:00.000-05:00

I saw this recipe during my first reading of July's Cooking Light. My first reading of a food magazine is usually the day it arrives, flipping through during dinner that night, or as we are watching tv. Which is then soon followed by my second reading of the same magazine of the previous month -- which involves tearing out pages and cutting out recipes. I like to keep the latest month's magazines on our coffee table, so as soon as a new one arrives, the old one gets cut up for recipes to file away. Sometimes a recipe looks so good that it will jump to the 'must be made' pile even while it's still in the magazine and not yet cut-out. That happened with this recipe. It looked delicious and we had an abundance of zucchini and basil from our CSA that week. It was a great way to use up some zucchini and broke me free of my normal habit of sauteeing them in a bit of butter, garlic and oregano. It definitely made it's way into the 'keeper' binder of recipes. I did make a few changes. I made the substitution I use in all pestos -- almonds instead of pine nuts. I used a mix of zucchini and yellow summer squash. And, I used fat free half and half instead of heavy cream since that is what we already had on hand.

Zucchini Pistou

adapted from Cooking Light, July 2010

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups pasta and 1 tablespoon cheese)

Ingredients
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices small zucchini (about 3/4 pound)
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
2 tablespoons almonds
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion

1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
1/4 cup fat free half and half
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender and golden. Remove from pan; cool.
Place 1/4 cup cooked zucchini, basil, 1/4 cup cheese, almonds, and garlic in a food processor; process until finely chopped. (Keep mixture in processor.)
Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until golden. Return remaining cooked zucchini to pan. Remove from heat.
Combine 6 quarts water and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a large pot, and bring to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Drain in a sieve over a bowl, reserving 1/3 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to vegetables.
With processor on, add reserved liquid to basil mixture; process until smooth. Add basil mixture to pasta. Add cream, remaining salt, and pepper; stir. Top with remaining cheese.

Oven Fried Chicken: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-11-14T10:38:00.000-05:00

Yum, yum, yum! I loved this dish. It was deliciously crispy on the outside and the meat was moist and flavorful. The skin was perfect. I love crispy chicken or turkey skin (who doesn't? well, besides vegetarians...). The crust was well flavored; I especially enjoyed the noticeably peppery aspect. It was good that day and also good warmed up. We also shredded some of the meat to be used in other dishes. We would definitely make this again.

Oven-Fried Chicken

chosen by Vicki of My Fare Lady

Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms

2010-09-23T07:54:00.000-04:00

I made these as an appetizer for our second anniversary dinner. We celebrated by going to VOLT later in the summer, but on our anniversary we had a nice meal at home. These I made on the spur of the moment. I looked at our menu -- steaks, a bottle of red wine, and a panzanella salad and decided it would be nice to have an appetizer to snack on while we did the cooking. Zach and I love cooking together and had planned to prepare our anniversary meal together; so I wanted these ready for us to snack on while we chopped and prepped. I found the recipe on CookingLight.com. It was written with smoked cheddar, but I love smoked mozzarella, so I made that substitution. I think they turned out very yummy and delicious! The smokiness of the cheese was a good play off the flavor of the mushrooms and the bread crumbs rounded everything out and held it all together.

Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Mushrooms

adapted from CookingLight.com

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/4 cup minced shallots (about 1 large)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound button mushrooms
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.
Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add minced shallots and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until tender. Place shallot mixture in a medium bowl.
Remove stems from mushrooms; chop stems. Add chopped mushroom stems, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and smoked mozzarella cheese to shallot mixture; toss with a fork until blended. Add olive oil and 1 teaspoon water; stir well to combine.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into each mushroom cap. Arrange mushrooms, filling side up, on a baking sheet.
Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until filling begins to brown and cheese melts. Serve warm.

Greek Panzanella: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-09-21T21:20:00.000-04:00

This was delicious! I know my last post was also a panzanella, but they are fairly different sets of flavors. While Alton Brown's recipe focused on bacon and tomatoes (and who can argue with a bacon-centric recipe?) this one is focused on greek flavors -- oregano, olives, feta. I was quite excited when I saw it was the choice for July since I had just seen the episode a few days ago where Ina makes the salad. I really loved it and would definitely make it again. The dressing had a nice acid bite and everything blended together quite well. Perfect as a side dish or a summer lunch.

Greek Panzanella
chosen by Tara of Smells Like Home

Fried Green Tomato BLTs

2010-09-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe after getting green tomatoes in our CSA box one week. I haven't yet cooked with green tomatoes, but I knew we could always fry them up and eat them. I wanted something a little different though, and went on a search for a recipe. I found this one in one of my Cooking Light cookbooks, my newest one called Cooking Light: Cooking Through the Seasons. What I love about Cooking Light is that even though their recipes are lower in fat and calories, they still use real ingredients -- bacon! This sandwich was a great use for the green tomatoes; we ended up making it several times throughout the summer. Their acidity is a great balance to the saltiness of the bacon.

Fried Green Tomato BLTs

serves 4

Ingredients:
8 slices bacon
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
12 (1/4-inch-thick) slices green tomato (about 2 tomatoes)
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
8 slices white bread, toasted (I used sourdough)
8 lettuce leaves

Directions:

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings. Set bacon and drippings aside.
Combine cornmeal, cheese, and pepper in a shallow dish. Dredge tomato slices in cornmeal mixture.
Heat 1 teaspoon reserved drippings and 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.
Cook 6 tomato slices 2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 teaspoon bacon drippings, remaining 1 teaspoon oil, and 6 tomato slices.
Spread 1 tablespoon mayonnaise over each of 4 bread slices. Top each slice with 2 lettuce leaves, 3 tomato slices, and 2 bacon slices. Top with remaining 4 bread slices. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 380
Fat: 13g
Fiber: 5.1g
WW Points (per sandwich): 8

TBL Panzanella

2010-07-23T08:25:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, I've been a bad blogger lately. Good Eats: The Early Years was my cookbook of the month for June, and I only ever got one recipe posted in it,w ell, technically two, since the macerated strawberries and the shortcakes were from two different episodes. But, in my defense, school ended in June and things were crazy then I took off to the lake for two weeks in the end of June and July. I didn't bring the cookbook with me and the lake has no internet access, so no new recipes for me to blog. Anyway, this cookbook will travel on into July as the cookbook of the month and I hope to get at least one more recipe out of it before we leave for a week in Chicago.

We made this as part of our anniversary meal. Our "real" anniversary meal will be in August, when we have reservations at Table 21 at VOLT. We called back in October and mid-August was the earliest we could get. So that will be our anniversary treat, but on the date of our actual second anniversary we decided to open a nice bottle of wine (Fabbioli Cabernet Franc Reserve -- local people should check them out, they are great!), cook up some steaks and spend a nice night at home. This was the salad we made, and it was delicious. The bread cubes with bacon drippings - mmmmmm. We had some great grape tomatoes from our CSA and we picked up a great yellow heirloom tomato at a nearby farm stand. If you are a bacon lover (as I am) definitely try this salad!

TBL Panzanella

Good Eats: The Early Years, and available on FoodNetwork.com

4-6 servings

Ingredients
4 cups French bread cut into 1-inch cubes
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 cups halved grape tomatoes
2 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes
2 cups chopped lettuce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chiffonade basil

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread bread cubes on a sheet pan. Toast in oven until dry, but not browned, around 10 minutes.
Cook bacon in skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels and reserve drippings.
In large bowl, toss bread cubes in half of the bacon drippings. Set aside.
Sear the halved grape tomatoes in other half of bacon drippings, cut side down, until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
Combine red wine vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl, slowly whisk in olive oil in a thin stream until emulsified.
Combine all tomatoes, bread, bacon, and lettuce and dress with vinaigrette, toss well, garnish with basil and serve.

Sour Cream Coffeecake: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-07-22T22:47:00.001-04:00

We made this coffeecake with a few twists.  First, as you can probably tell, a bundt cake pan, not a tube pan; and, second, almonds not walnuts.  Almonds are the nut I use for just about any baking really.  If a recipe calls for pecans or walnuts I generally just substitute almonds.  I just like them better.  It tasted delicious and I believe the leftovers went to the guys Zach works with.  I'd definitely make this to have around for weekend guests, or a brunch get together.  

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
chosen by Gwenn of Cooking in Pajamas

Scalloped Tomatoes: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-07-22T22:42:00.000-04:00

This was the one of the two Barefoot Blogger recipes for June. Yes, I know it's practically the end of July, but I was on vacation for several weeks from the end of June until the middle of July. We made this in June, but I haven't been able to write it up until now. It was super! The tomatoes and bread and basil were all so fabulous. I think this might be even better to make now, headed into late summer and prime tomato season. Maybe some yellow, orange, even purple heirloom tomatoes -- yum! It's a great side dish and I will definitely be trying it again!

Scalloped Tomatoes

chosen by Josie of Pink Parsley Catering

Velveted Chicken Stir-Fry

2010-07-14T07:40:00.047-04:00

When we got snow peas in our CSA box our first thought was a stir-fry. I went right to my collection of Cooks Illustrated magazines to study up on the best techniques. I love Cooks Illustrated for this reason - they painstakingly research every aspect of a recipe so I know it's going to be the best. If it's not good, chances are I screwed up somehow and it's not the recipe's fault. So, after reading through a few issues and learning a few pointers and techniques we were ready to make our own stir-fry. They say a non-stick skillet is actually the best for stir-frys, not a wok. They also introduced me to the traditional Chinese technique of velveting chicken -- coating chicken pieces in a cornstartch and egg white or oil mixture then parcooking in moderately heated oil. It really gave the chicken a more authentic texture and flavor. It was moist, juicy and delicious, not dry or overcooked like stir-frys I have made in the past. I worked off the recipe for the velveted chicken, but we used the veggies we wanted. The snow peas were the original basis for the dish. We saw some great eggplant at the farmer's market we thought would match well. When we were at the market we also picked up some baby bok choy, garlic scapes and scallions. Next time I might do either scapes or scallions, but otherwise I think it turned out pretty well.

Gingery Stir-Fried Chicken with Vegtables

from Cooks Illustrated, May/June 2004

Ingredients:

for Marinated Velveted Chicken:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup dry sherry

1 cup water

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour

for stir-fry:

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons dry sherry

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (about a 1 1/2 inch piece)

1 medium garlic clove, minced

peanut or vegetable oil

1 recipe of Marinated Velveted Chicken

2 heads of baby bok choy, cut on bias in 1/2 inch strips

1 small eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

3 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 bunch of garlic scapes (8-10), cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions:

For Marninated Velveted Chicken:

Combine soy sauce, sherry and water in medium bowl. Add chicken and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Immediately before using mix sesame oil, cornstarch and flour in medium bowl until smooth. toss chicken in cornstarch/flour mixture until evenly coated.

For Stir-Fry:

Whick broth, sherry, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, sugar, pepper flakes and 2 teaspoons ginger in small bowl; set aside. Combine remaining 2 teaspoons ginger, garlic, and 1 teaspoon peanut oil in small bowl; set aside.
Heat 2 teapoons peanut oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over high heat until smoking. Add half of chicken to skillet, making sure to not overcrowd the pan. Cook without stirring but separating pieces if needed until gold brown on first side, about 1 minute. Turn chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned on second side, abotu 30 seconds. Transfer chicken to clean plate, repeat with more oil and the rest of chicken.
Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to empty skillet, heat until just smoking. Add bok choy; stir-fry until crisp tender, remove to clean bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to empty skillet, heat until just smoking. Ad eggplant; stir-fry until browned on all sides, 2-3 mintues. Remove to bowl with bok choy.
Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil to empty skiller, hear until just smoking. Add scapes and scallions; stir-fry until crips-tender. Push to sides of skillet.
Add garlic/ginger mixture to center of skillet and cook, mashing with a spoon until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir mixture into scallion/scape mixture and cook about 30 seconds longer.
Stir in bok choy pieces and eggplant, then add chicken back to skillet as well. Whisk sauce to recombine and then add sauce to skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook stiring constantly until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through. Serve immediately.

Potato Salad with Bacon and Balsamic Vinager

2010-07-12T07:50:00.001-04:00

I came across this recipe while looking for something to make with the new potatoes from our CSA box. Cooks Illustrated was the first place I turned since they always have reliable and delicious recipes, not to mention a great amount of knowledge on ingredients. I read through a "Primer on Potatoes" to see what I could learn about new potatoes. They recommended using new potatoes as you would any waxy potatoes, and so I decided on potato salad. I didn't want to make a traditional mayonnaise potato salad since that style has never appealed to me, and Zach doesn't like mayo all that much. We both love balsamic vinegar though, so we quickly decided on this recipe; plus, it had bacon. Finding bacon as an ingredient pretty much seals the deal for me. This was quite tasty. It had a nice bite from the vinegar, and it paired very well with the new potatoes. A nice change if you are bored of the same old potato salad.

German-Style Potato Salad with Bacon and Balsamic Vinegar

from Cooks Illustrated, July/August 1994

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 pounds new potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/4 inch strips

1 medium onion, cut into medium dice

1/2 cup beef broth

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

Directions:

Place potatoes in a 4 to 6 quart pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer, until tender (15-20 minutes for new potatoes). Drain, cool potatoes slightly and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Layer warm potato slices in a medium bowl; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons vinegar and the salt and pepper as you go. Let stand at room temperature while preparing dressing.
Fry bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until bacon is brown and crisp, 7-10 minutes. Transfer bacon pieces to bowl of potatoes.
Add onion to bacon drippings and saute until softened, 4-5 minutes. Add beef broth and bring to a boil, add remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar.
Remove from heat and pour mixture over potatoes. Add parsley and toss gently to coat. Serve warm.

Green Chili Sliders with Tangy Tomatillo-Lime Sauce

2010-07-09T07:55:00.000-04:00

These were super delicious! The tomatillo-lime sauce is very addicting! The combination of cilantro, lime and just a bit of heat from the jalapeno keeps you coming back for more. The burgers were fantastic too! I adapted the recipe and made them turkey burgers instead of using ground beef and I think it worked just fine. I also omitted the cheese, since I felt the sauce would add enough flavor, and it did! I really loved the poblanos in the burgers, they were just the right pepper, especially after being roasted. They were sweet yet spicy and perfect. I was going to do full size burgers, but decided to go with sliders as the recipe was written. We will definitely make these again, another great burger recipe from Rachael Ray.

Green Chile Sliders with Tangy Tomatillo-Lime Sauce

from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, November 2008

4 Servings

Ingredients:

2 large poblano chiles

4 tomatillos, husks removed and coarsely chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup cilantro

1 lime

2 tablespoons honey

Salt

11/2 pounds ground turkey

11/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon canola oil

8 slider rolls

Directions:

Preheat the broiler. Place the poblanos on a baking sheet and broil, turning, until blackened. Transfer to a bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel off the skins and remove the seeds; discard. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces.
Using a food processor, mix the tomatillos, jalapeno, onion, cilantro, zest of the lime, juice of the lime and honey until smooth; season with salt.
In a large bowl, season the turkey with the cumin, salt and pepper; combine. Mix in the poblanos. Form into 8 3-inch patties.
In a cast-iron skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Cook the patties, turning once, about 5 minutes for medium-rare. Dot the roll tops with the tomatillo sauce and assemble the sliders. Serve with the extra sauce.

Buttery Tilapia with Smashed Potatoes

2010-07-07T07:55:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe while going through my file of recipes clipped from magazines and newspapers. I've been a subscriber to EveryDay with Rachael Ray just about since it started. I love the easy, weeknight meals. This is one I've had for awhile. I never really cooked too much with fish before we got married. Well, except for the occasional fish sticks during lent, and even that was more 're-heating' not cooking. It always scared me a bit, just because I hadn't really done it before. Zach is pretty comfortable cooking with fish, so I've definitely learned from him.

This recipe was quick and easy. I chose it to use the new red potatoes we got in our CSA box this week, and they were delicious. The scallion and sun-dried tomato butter that tops the fish was excellent. We even used some on top of the cauliflower we had with this meal. It'd also be great as a finishing butter on top of a steak fresh off the grill. The original recipe calls for halibut, but tilapia is a very similar fish and is what we already had on hand. The only other change we made was to add a splash of chicken stock and a few tablespoons of parmesan to the potatoes, since after smashing and tasting them, they were a bit on the dry side and needed just a little "something extra" flavor-wise.

Buttery Tilapia with Smashed Potatoes

adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, May 2008

4 Servings

Prep 15 min

Cook 20 min

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons softened

1 sun-dried tomato, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion

1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

1 pound small new potatoes

Four 6- to 8-ounce tilapia fillets

2 tablespoons flour

2-3 tablespoons chicken stock

2-3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, sun-dried tomato, scallion and garlic; season with salt and pepper.
In a large saucepan, add the potatoes and enough salted water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, then smash the potatoes with 1 tablespoon butter, chicken stock and parmesan cheese; season with salt and pepper.
Season the fish with salt and pepper, then coat lightly with the flour. In a large nonstick skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add the fish and cook, turning once, until golden and firm to the touch, 7 to 8 minutes total.
Transfer the fish to serving plates and top with the tomato-scallion butter. Serve with the smashed potatoes.

Couscous with Spring Veggies

2010-06-30T07:52:00.000-04:00

We made this as a side dish for our parmesan and sage crusted pork chops. We got the beautiful summer squash in our CSA box this week and I thought it would make a nice side for the pork. We also decided on couscous, and then I thought, well why not mix the two together? So often couscous can be bland and plain, which is nice as a base for a dish with a spicy sauce, but the pork did not have that quality. So I decided to saute up the veggies and then mix the couscous in at the end to give it a little more flavor. I like to cook couscous in chicken broth instead of water, again it helps add another layer of flavor. I used to use the boxed couscous mixes, you know kinda like rice-a-roni, or the packets of noodles and sauce. But, once I realized how much cheaper it is to just buy a larger container of couscous, those boxes were history. Also, we like to eat whole wheat options when possible, and you can get whole wheat couscous in bulk, but they don't use it in those box mixes!

Couscous with Spring Veggies

an original recipe!

Ingredients:

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup couscous

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 small summer squash (or zuchinni), quartered and sliced

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Bring chicken broth to a boil. When boiling, add couscous, stir. Cover pot and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes and then fluff with fork.
While waiting for the broth to boil heat the olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet. add in onion, bell pepper and squash. Saute 1-2 minutes, add salt, pepper and oregano. Saute 4-5 minutes more.
When the veggies are tender-crisp, add couscous to the pan along with butter. Stir to combine and serve!

Parmesan and Sage Crusted Pork Chops

2010-06-28T07:52:00.000-04:00

These were delicious! I found the recipe while searching for something to do with our sage. The sage plant went crazy and we had a ton of it. So far I had just a few sage-centric recipes, a polenta and a pasta, but we wanted to try something else. I searched my usual resources -- CookingLight.com, google reader and my shoebox of magazine clippings and this recipe from Cooking Light became one of the top contenders.

We put it on the menu for this week and when reading through the ingredients were pleasantly surprised to find out we didn't need to buy anything at the store! I love when that happens, and it shows that having a well stocked pantry and freezer pays off! For example, we had the pork chops leftover from another recipe. We needed 4 for that recipe, but it's a lot cheaper (per pound) to buy the bulk pack of 8. So, we got 8 and threw the other four in the freezer for later. We cut the recipe in half since we used just 2 pork chops, but it was still great. It's definitely a "keeper" recipe. The changes I made were to some of the portions as mentioned above and I used bredcrumbs we already had instead of making fresh ones.

Parmesan and Sage Crusted Pork Chops

adapted from CookingLight.com

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop)

Ingredients
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 large egg white
2 boneless pork chops
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions

Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, sage, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish. Combine mustard and egg whit in another shallow dish, stirring with a whisk.
Working with one pork chop at a time, dredge pork in flour, shaking off excess. Dip pork into egg white mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat pork completely with breadcrumb mixture. Set aside. Repeat procedure with remaining pork, flour, egg white mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat. Add pork; cook 5 minutes on each side or until browned and done.

Turkey Taco Burgers with Guacamole

2010-06-25T07:32:00.000-04:00

This was a super yummy recipe! It's one I found on Rachael Ray's website. I know lots of people don't like her show/personality/over-used phrases/scratchy voice, and I myself tend to avoid her in any manner except print (I love her EveryDay magazine!). But, say what you will about her, she knows how to concoct a good burger! I like to try different flavor combinations in burgers, especially turkey/chicken burgers since they can get rather bland without some sort of add-in. So, if I am looking for a new burger idea I usually go to Rachael first. This was a winner, it had really great flavor and the guacamole was super easy. I did not not make the salsa from the recipe as I figured one topping was enough, but I added in some tomatoes, cilantro and onion to the guacamole. We served with a side of refried pinto beans and some baked whole wheat tortillas for dipping with the remaing guacamole.

Turkey Taco Burgers with Guacamole

adapted from RachaelRay.com

1 pound ground turkey breast

1 small red onion, 1/2 grated, 1/2 minced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 cup taco or chili sauce

Salt and pepper

3 ripe avocados, flesh removed from skin, pit removed and discarded

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 lime

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

3 plum tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped

4 Kaiser rolls

Your choice of tortilla chips

Directions:

Place the ground turkey in a mixing bowl, then add the grated red onion, shredded cheddar, ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, taco or chili sauce, salt and some pepper. Mix to combine, divide into 4 patties.
Grill burgers on each side for 6-7 minutes, or until cooked through.
While the burgers are cooking, put together the guacamole. Place the avocados in the bottom of a mixing bowl. Add the minced garlic, the juice of the lime and the minced jalapeño. Mash together, taste and add more salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, remaining minced onion and cilantro.
Toast the rolls until golden brown. Place the burgers on the bottom of the toasted rolls, then top with a spoonful of guacamole. Arrange the tops of the toasted rolls. Serve the burgers alongside some tortilla chips and the remaining guacamole.

Salsa Verde

2010-06-23T07:16:00.015-04:00

I made this recipe because I was in the mood for salsa verde, and the cilantro was groing wild in our herb garden. Once I started looking for recipes and I found this one from Rick Bayless on Foodnetwork.com, I knew I could stop looking. He's famous for his Mexican dishes, so why bother to look anywhere else? Plus, we have reservations this July at one of his restaurants in Chicago. We've been fans of his style of cooking since before he won Top Chef Masters and love wathcing his show on PBS. I don't have one of his cookbooks yet, but it's only a matter of time, I've got several on my Amazon WishList!

Salsa Verde

from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:
8 ounces (5 to 6 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed and seeded
5 or 6 sprigs fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup water
Salt

Directions

Roughly chop the tomatillos and the chiles.
In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos, chiles, cilantro and water. Process to a coarse puree, then scrape into a serving dish.
Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually a generous 1/4 teaspoon.

Pickled Radishes

2010-06-21T07:21:00.001-04:00

Zach doesn't like radishes, I'm flexible about them - I don't despise them, but I don't seek them out either. But, because of his dislike for them I knew we'd have to find a creative recipe to use up the bunches we kept getting in our CSA boxes. He does like pickles, so I thought this might be a good way for him to like radishes too. It was super, super easy and they were quite good! They reminded me of salt and vinegar chips -- that initial lip-puckering sourness, but then a few seconds later you're reaching back for more.

Pickled Radishes

from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients:

4 bunches radishes, washed and spit down the middle with a little stem (about 1/2-inch) still attached

Pickling mix:
1 quart champagne vinegar
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup pickling spices
2 cloves smashed garlic

Directions:

Take a large deep dish and lay the radishes out in it.
In a large pot add the pickling ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour the boiling mix over the radishes in each dish.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap immediately and set aside. Once cooled to room temperature, strain and serve. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a month.

Strawberry Shortcake

2010-06-18T07:26:00.001-04:00

This is our first selection from the cookbook of the month for June -- Good Eats: The Early Years. We decided to make strawberry shortcake after getting 4 pints of strawberries in our CSA box one week. I've never been disappointed in any recipe I've made of Alton Brown's, so I figured this would be a winner. It was. The shortcakes were tender and delicious. The strawberries were great as well. The hint of spiciness from the pepper was a nice compliment to the very sweet, perhaps a tad overripe berries. The pictures aren't the greatest, so I apologize for that, but Zach was on camera duty.

Shortcakes with Macerated Strawberries

From Good Eats: The Early Years, and can also found on FoodNetwork.com (Shortcakes and Strawberries)

Macerated Strawberries

Ingredients:
2 pints medium size strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 (750 milliliter) bottle red wine
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar

Directions

In a bowl combine all ingredients. Let stand in refrigerator for 2 hours.

Shortcakes

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup half and half
Melted butter to brush shortcakes
Macerated Strawberries (see above)
Whipped cream

Directions

Heat oven 450 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in butter and shortening. Mix in half-and-half.
Drop by large spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Cool and eat with berries and/or whipped cream.

Indian Chicken Curry

2010-06-16T07:13:00.002-04:00

I found this recipe while on a search for things to make with swiss chard. We had gotten swiss chard in our CSA box and I hadn't really cooked with it before. This was a definite winner. It was very delicious and had a great Indian/curry flavor. I was surprised at how complex the flavors were for an easy weeknight meal. I'd definitely make it again, and you could definitely use spinach instead. We had it with some whole wheat naan. I love soaking up the spicy, coconut-y liquid with the naan bread - mmmmmm!

Indian Chicken Curry

From CookingLight.com
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup chicken mixture and 1/2 cup rice)

Ingredients:

4 cups sliced Swiss chard (about 12 ounces)
1 pound skinned, boned chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into thin slices
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 1/3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup sliced baby carrots
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups hot cooked long-grain rice

Directions:

Steam Swiss chard, covered, 2 minutes or until crisp tender. Drain.
Combine chicken and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add onion, and stir-fry 2 minutes. Stir in chicken, and cook 4 minutes or until browned. Stir in broth, carrots, coconut milk, tomato paste, cumin, curry powder, cinnamon, salt and red pepper. Reduce heat to medium.
Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add Swiss chard, and cook 2 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Nutritional Information

Calories:392

Fat:10.4g

Fiber:4.1g

WW Points per serving: 8

Pesto Pizza with Tomatoes and Pancetta

2010-06-11T07:23:00.002-04:00

After we got garlic scapes for the second week in a row in our CSA Box, we figured we would make the pesto again. It's great because we can freeze half of it, and use half of it now. We went with a different application this week, pizza instead of pasta. It was delicious! We used the pesto as the sauce and then added toppings we thought would work well -- pancetta, fresh tomatoes and cheese. When it came out of the oven we added fresh basil leaves, which you can see in the second picture. They got a bit discolored by the heat, but they tasted just fine! You can use any kind of pizza dough, either homemade, store-bought dough or a store-bought partially baked crust.

Pesto Pizza with Tomatoes and Pancetta
Serves 4

Ingredients:
pizza dough (I used the recipe below)
1/2 cup pesto
2 ounces pancetta, cubed
2 tomatoes (I used 1 roma and 1 orange), seeded and sliced into strips
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Directions:

Prepare pizza dough or crust on stone with cornmeal, or as directed. Preheat oven as appropriate for the dough you choose.
Cook pancetta in skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Spread pesto on prepared pizza dough.
Sprinkle pancetta on pesto.
Arrange tomato slices on pizza.
Top with mozzarella.
Bake according to directions for pizza dough.

Pizza Dough

from The Best of Cooking Light

Makes 2 12 inch pizza crusts

Ingredients:

2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (1 package)

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water (100 to 110 degrees)

3 1/2 to 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

cooking spray

Directions

Dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes.
Add 3 1/4 cups flour, oil and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well blended.
Knead until smooth and elastic, about ten minutes. I use my stand mixture, but you could do it by hand on a floured work surface. Add remaining flour as needed to prevent dough from being too sticky.
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
Punch dough down, cover and let rest 5 minutes.
Divide dough in half , shape each half into a 12 inch circle on a floured surface.
Top and bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

NOTE: This dough may be frozen. After the kneading step, you can separate the dough into two balls. Coat with cooking spray and place into a zippered plastic bag to freeze. Thaw the dough overnight in the refrigerator. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. Shape and bake as instructed.

CSA Week 5

2010-06-10T21:05:00.000-04:00

In this week's box we got...

New red potatoes
Snow peas
English shelling peas
Radishes
Fresh garlic bulb

I am intrigued by the fresh garlic and can't wait to try it out. We've got three bunches of radishes stored up now so we've got to figure out something to do with them, and the potatoes look amazing!

Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes

2010-06-09T07:22:00.004-04:00

After making the garlic scape pesto, I knew we'd have to use it in a pasta dish. This was quick and easy to throw together after a long day. I made the pesto that night (love my food processor!) but you can certainly make it ahead of time and cut down the preparation time even more. Also, you could use any pesto you prefer, homemade or store bought. You can also do it with or without chicken. This is more of an application/procedure than a real recipe since it can be modified so many ways depending on your preferences and what you have on hand. It's certainly not an "original" recipe, meaning written by me, but I have no real source either, I would just credit hours of watching Food Network chefs for knowing the basics of a pesto pasta dish and grilled chicken.

Pesto Pasta with Chicken and Cherry Tomatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 pound whole wheat pasta (definitely a rotini or penne, to catch the pesto on the ridges)

3/4 cup pesto (I used Garlic Scape Pesto)

1/4-1/2 cup pasta cooking water

1/4 cup basil, cut into strips

salt

pepper

Directions:

Start grill for the chicken and put water on to boil for the pasta.
Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt & pepper.
When water boils cook pasta as recommended on package.
Grill chicken 6-8 minutes per side.
Drain cooked pasta. Toss hot pasta in bowl with pesto, adding the pasta water as needed to thin out the sauce until it covers all the pasta.
Add tomatoes and basil and combine.
Let chicken rest for a few minutes after coming off the grill. Slice and add to pasta dishes, serve.

Cookbook of the Month: June 2010

2010-06-08T13:59:00.001-04:00

For June I've chosen one of our newer cookbooks as the Cookbook of the Month -- Alton Brown's Good Eats: The Early Years. Zach and I both have always loved watching Good Eats on the Food Network. We enjoy Alton's crazy blend of science, humor, and of course, good eats. We got the cookbook pretty much as soon as it came out. It's not a typical cookbook though, organized into 'Meats', 'Side Dishes', 'Bread', 'Desserts", etc. It's organized by episodes of the show, in chronological order. It gives lots of background info about the episode and a lot of the science behind the ingredient/recipe. This makes it a cookbook you really want to sit down and read.

We are in the process of choosing our recipes for this month, but here are some recipes I've previously made, using FoodNetwork.com as a resource, that are also in this book:

Southern Biscuits and Sawmill Gravy This makes a great breakfast!

Good Eats Meatloaf This is still our favorite meatloaf recipe, mostly for the tasty sandwiches it makes afterwards!

Garlic Scape Pesto

2010-06-07T10:33:00.002-04:00

I am in love with garlic scapes! Prior to getting them in our CSA box I'd never heard of them before, but now I know how great they are! When Zach texted me after picking up the CSA box on Wednesday afternoon I immediately googled 'garlic scapes.' I found people raving over them and some valuable information. Basically they are the tops of the garlic plant. They need to be cut off so that the garlic blubs in the ground can absorb more of the energy from the rest of the plant and therefore grow bigger. I found this recipe and blog entry from The Washington Post and knew we'd be making it.

Pesto is a dish that has recently been added to my food world. We never had it growing up, and when I did become exposed to it I shied away because of the pine nuts. I'm just not a huge pine nut fan, I didn't like any nuts until the past few years really. but once I discovered that it could easily be made with almonds - my NOC (Nut Of Choice), I figured I'd give it a try. We made pesto for the first time last year with some homegrown basil and this is our second foray into the homemade pesto world. For this recipe the garlic scapes replace the basil. Add some almonds, olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper and you've got a wonderful pesto ready for many applications! Later this week I'll be posting a pasta dish and a pizza made with the pesto, both of which were delicious. The season for garlic scapes is only a few weeks, so I hope we get them at least once more. We've made this twice now and each time we have frozen about half the pesto to be used later -- probably in the dead of winter when it will remind us of the lovely spring veggies to come.

Garlic Scape Pesto
adapted from A Mighty Appetite, found on washingtonpost.com

Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup almonds
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmigiano

1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place scapes and almonds in the bowl of a food processor and process until well combined and somewhat smooth.
Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl.
Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper.

Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

CSA Week 4

2010-06-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

Our Week Four box inlcuded....

Strawberries
Radishes
Garlic scapes
Happy Rich (Asian rabe)
Salad mix

Yay more scapes! I am interested in the Happy Rich, I'm planning to use it like broccoli raab. Forgot to take a picture this week, but the last few pictures looked the same anyway! :-)

Spring Green Risotto: Barefoot Bloggers

2010-06-06T19:12:00.000-04:00

This is the first recipe from the Barefoot Bloggers group for the month of May. I was a bit hesitant about it since, even though I LOVE risotto, the veggies and flavors were not ones I typically use. It would not be a recipe I'd normally choose. But, then I figured that was half the point of joining the group right? I wanted to be inspired/pushed to try new recipes. So I made a few substitutions and it turned out really yummy! I used 4 cups of leeks and omitted the fennel. Neither Zach or I like fennel, and I really don't like anise flavors in general. I do not like peas, so we only added them at the end to Zach's bowl. I was a little wary of the strong lemon flavor profile, since I'm not usually a fan of citrus based sauces or dishes, but it ended up being very good! We also got to use some of our homegrown fresh chives, so that was fun too.

Spring Green Risotto

chosen by Kimberly from Indulge & Enjoy

Unfortunately this will be my only recipe for May, as the other one was for a shrimp dish. I don't eat shrimp, and we never had time this month to fit it onto the menu for a Zach-only meal. I can't wait to see what's posted for June though!

CSA Week 3

2010-06-05T09:56:00.001-04:00

Week Three in our box we got:

Garlic scapes
Strawberries
Chard
Radishes

We are super excited about the garlic scapes, and after a bit of googling have figured out what they are and what to do with them, watch for a post soon!

Summer Creek Farms: CSA Week 1

2010-06-05T09:55:00.003-04:00

On May 12th we got our first CSA box! CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically you buy a share in a farm and then you receive a weekly box of veggies grown at the farm. Zach and I have wanted to do this for several years now, but we had to move over the past two summers, the last move being from New York to Virginia, so it wasn't possible. This year we knew we'd be staying put over the summer so we could invest in a CSA. Our farm is Summer Creek Farms. It's in Frederick County, Maryland and is USDA certified Organic. I love that we are supporting a local farmer (Farmer Rick!). Support of a local business was only one reason we couldn't wait to join a CSA though. We love cooking and knew that getting lots of fresh, locally grown fruits and veggies each week would keep us busy in the kitchen. It's also kept us busy in the researching department -- even in just the first 4 weeks we've been getting several veggies we haven't cooked with before. This has been a great challenge to find new recipes, try new techniques and really expand our cooking. It's been great already to work with fresh fruits and vegetables while they are in season. We also have been eating and cooking healthier, since our fridge is now packed with lots of fresh produce, it would be a shame to waste it. I can't wait to see what we continue to get all summer and what other new recipes we'll get a chance to learn!

Here is a picture of our Week One box:

Radishes
Chard
Strawberries
Broccoli raab
Arugula
Spinach

CSA Week 2

2010-06-05T09:55:00.002-04:00

Week Two in our box we got:

Radishes
Mint
Strawberries
Broccoli raab
Spinach

We've got some plans for the radishes that I am excited about, we just need to pick up a few more at the farmer's market this weekend to have enough for the recipe I have planned...

Italian Meatloaf with Fresh Basil and Fontina

2010-05-28T07:22:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe while looking for ideas to use up some of the ground beef we had stored in the freezer. I wanted something fairly low points, and I don't think that 6 points for two slices of this is bad at all. We really enjoyed it, it was a nice twist to traditional meatloaf because of the Italian flavorings. It was pretty straightforward and easy and made for good leftovers the next day. We served it with our standard meatloaf accompaniments, mashed potatoes and baby carrots.

Italian Meatloaf with Fresh Basil & Fontina

adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 slices)

Ingredients
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup shredded cheese (provolone or fontina)
2 large egg whites
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground beef
Cooking spray
1/3 cup ketchup

Directions:

Combine boiling water and tomatoes in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain tomatoes; finely chop.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine 1/2 cup ketchup, breadcrumbs, and the next 6 ingredients (breadcrumbs through beef) in a large bowl. Add tomatoes to meat mixture.

Shape meat mixture into a 9 x 5-inch loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Spread 1/3 cup ketchup over meat loaf.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a thermometer registers 160°.

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Cut into 12 slices.

Nutritional Information

Calories:294

Fat:8.7g

Fiber:2.5g

WW Points: 6

Beef Fajitas

2010-05-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe while flipping through The Best of Cooking Light. I knew we had some steak in the freezer and some peppers to use up. This was easy and delicious. It was great as a weeknight meal because you can prep and marinate everything the night before so it just needs to be cooked and assembled (and eaten!) that day. I found the marinade really flavorful. The original recipe was for beef and chicken, but we just used beef. We had plenty leftover and used the leftover beef and veggies for quesadillas, or you could make them up into burritos too.

Beef Fajitas

adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 2 fajitas)

Ingredients

MARINADE:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.25-ounce) can low-salt beef broth

FAJITAS:
1 (1-pound) flank steak
2 red bell peppers, each cut into 12 wedges
2 green bell peppers, each cut into 12 wedges
1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, cut into 16 wedges
Cooking spray
16 (6-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
1 cup bottled salsa
1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions:

To prepare marinade, combine first 10 ingredients in a large bowl; set aside.

To prepare fajitas, trim fat from steak. Score a diamond pattern on both sides of the steak. Combine 1 1/2 cups marinade and steak in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Combine remaining marinade, bell peppers, and onion in a zip-top plastic bag. Seal and marinate in refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Prepare grill.

Remove steak from bag; discard marinade. Remove vegetables from bag; reserve marinade. Place reserved marinade in a small saucepan; set aside. Place steak and vegetables on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cook 8 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.

Wrap tortillas tightly in foil; place tortilla packet on grill rack the last 2 minutes of grilling time. Bring reserved marinade to a boil. Cut steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Place the steak and vegetables on a serving platter; drizzle with reserved marinade.

Arrange about 1 ounce steak, 3 bell pepper wedges, and 1 onion wedge in a tortilla; top with 1 tablespoon salsa, about 1 teaspoon sour cream, and 1/2 tablespoon cilantro. Fold sides of tortilla over filling. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired. Serve immediately.

Sausage, Cheese and Egg Breakfast Braid

2010-05-24T07:39:00.001-04:00

I found this recipe while searching for breakfast recipes to use when were were expecting weekend house guests. However, when I saw this recipe I knew it would be great for my own weekday breakfasts. I usually take a breakfast sandwich made up of a whole grain english muffin, veggie or chicken sausage patty, and a slice of 2% pepper jack cheese. First off, because it's only 3 points, and secondly because I can eat it in the car while on my morning commute. I knew that when cooled and then sliced this would be easy to eat in the car as well. I adapted it a bit, since I didn't have any jalapeno peppers and I used the sausage I had on hand; but, I think the original recipe would be great too and I'll definitely try it that way in the future. I also used just a mexican blend of 2% shredded cheese since, again, it's what I had on hand, but any mix of cheeses would work as well.

Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Braid

Adapted from Cooking Light

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
4 ounces chicken sausage
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup shredded cheese
1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°.

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; pat into a 15 x 10–inch rectangle.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sausage; cook 9 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in eggs; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until set. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese lengthwise down center of dough, leaving about a 2 1/2-inch border on each side. Spoon egg mixture evenly over cheese. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over egg mixture.

Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using a sharp knife or kitchen shears. Arrange strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally over filling. Press ends under to seal. Brush with egg white.

Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut crosswise into slices.

Pollo al Chilindron

2010-05-21T08:56:00.000-04:00

Pollo al Chilindron is based on a stew from the Aragon region of Spain. It is a slow cooking dish of chicken, peppers, onions and paprika. The flavors were phenomenal. We just had it with the fabada asturiana when we first made it. But, we had the leftovers on top of mashed potatoes and, while I am sure this is far from traditional, it was delicious. The creaminess of the mashed potatoes and the wonderful smoky flavors of the chicken and peppers blended together beautifully. I loved this dish and I can't wait to make it again. I also want to play around with it to work on a quicker, weeknight version that will deliver the same awesome flavors. I'll definitely use boneless skinless chicken breasts and the same vegetables and spices, but probably in a separate sauce to be combined with the chicken at the end instead of stewing together the whole time as this did. I'll let you know as soon as I have something worked out!

Pollo al Chilindron

Chicken with Peppers, Tomatoes, Onions and Spanish Ham

From Made in Spain

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/4 cup spanish extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1 Tablespoon

4 chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks separated

salt to taste

2 cups diced spanish onions

1/2 cup diced green bell peppers

1/2 cup diced red bell peppers

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup diced jamon serrano

1/2 teaspoon sweet pimenton (spanish smoked paprika)

2 cups plain canned tomato sauce

1 fresh rosemary sprig

1 bay leaf

2 cups water

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 12 quart pot over medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt. Working in batches brown them on all sides. Transfer the chicken to a platter and set aside.
Add 1/4 cup olive oil to the same pot and, when the oil is hot, add the onions and peppers. Reduce the heat to low and cook slowly until the vegetables are dark golden brown, about 30 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon water if the onions start to burn.
Add the garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, 4 to 5 minutes.
Add the jamon and browned chicken pieces, as well as any juices that have collected, and cook for 5 more minutes.
Stir in the pimenton, tomato sauce, rosemary, bay leaf and the water and simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until the meat starts to fall off the bone. Season to taste with salt before serving.

Fabada Asturiana

2010-05-19T07:32:00.002-04:00

This was the side dish we chose to make from our Spanish cooking extravaganza. Okay, so I just called it a Spanish cooking extravaganza in my head, we didn't actually refer to it that way, but that's definitely what it was. :-) This was very delicious, the beans cook up buttery and creamy and the accent of the pimenton is rich and flavorful. We did have to use butter beans however, as fabes are not widely available in the US, and if they can be found (LaTienda.com) they are fairly expensive ($16/pound). After much googling about a suitable replacement, I decided on butter beans.

The second change I made was not to use slab bacon, but to just slice up bacon and use that instead. While it turned out okay, I think I would make one more change to this next time. I'd probably pan fry the bacon to get it started, and then cook the onion, garlic and spices in a mixture of bacon fat and olive oil. The bacon was delicious (as all bacon is) but, did not have the greatest texture after being boiled in the soup. I think this would help it be even better.

Fabada Asturiana

Asturian Bean Stew

From Made in Spain

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

1/2 pound dried butter beans

1/4 pound bacon, cut in 1 inch pieces

4 cups chicken stock

1 head garlic, papery outer skin removed

2 medium Spanish onions, 1 halved and 1 minced

1/4 cup Spanish extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sweet pimenton (Spanish smoked paprika)

pinch of saffron, crushed

Directions:

The day before you plan to cook the stew, place the beans in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak the beans overnight at room temperature. The next day, drain and rinse the beans.
Combine the drained beans and chicken stock in a large pot. Remove 1 garlic clove from the head and set aside. Add the bacon, the head of garlic and the halved onion. Bring to a slow boil, skimming and foam that rises to the top. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile in a medium sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced onion and cook until it is translucent and begins to caramelize, about 15 minutes. Peel and mince the reserved garlic clove and add it to the onion. Cook for 2 more minutes, then stir in the pimenton and saffron. Spoon the onion mixture into the large pot and stir well until combined.
Continue to cook the beans, uncovered, at a very low simmer for 2 hours. Occasionally add a little cold water to slow the simmering and to keep the beans covered with liquid. Do not stir the beans while they cook, this could cause them to break apart.
Remove the pot from the heat, cover and set aside to cool for one hour. Remove and discard the onion halves and head of garlic.
Ladle the beans into soup bowls and serve.

Red Wine Sangria

2010-05-18T07:33:00.001-04:00

This is the first of three recipes I will post from my April Cookbook of the Month - Made in Spain by Jose Andres. Zach and I took a Saturday in April and made a day of recreating some of the fabulous dishes we've seen him make on the PBS Series. It was a lot of fun for us both to cook together all day, and we can't wait to do it again. Of course, the fun was amplified by the fact that we prepared this sangria the night before and drank it while we were cooking. It was phenomenal. We've eaten at Jaleo several times and this recipe lived up to the restaurant version. I love the bits of apple, they add a nice crunch. It's a great summer drink and we're looking forward to making it again!

Red Wine Sangria

from Made in Spain

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 bottle of fruity red wine, such as a Garnacha

5 Tablespoons Brandy

1/4 cup orange-flavored liqueur

1/4 cup vodka

1 splash ruby port

1 orange, peeled and sliced

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced

1 cinnamon stick

1 strip of lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1 splash of soda water

Directions:

Combine the wine, brandy, orange liqueur, vodka, port, orange, apples, cinnamon stick and lemon zest in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Pour the mixture into a pitcher filled halfway with ice. Add the orange juice and soda water.
Give a quick stir and serve, making sure each glass gets some ice and fruit.