Friday, January 9, 2015

New England Baked Bean Stew


I think something is wrong with me. Instead of wanting something light and Spring-like, I have been drawn towards heavier, comforting food for the last week. The tamale pie, the mac and cheese, and now tonight's bean stew. This is my last recipe for now from Betty Crocker's Quick and Easy Cookbook. When I came across the recipe, the picture got me (I am way more likely to cook a recipe if it has a picture!) Even though it's more of a fall/winter dish, I thought I'd give it a try. I basically followed the recipe exactly as written. I was a little worried, because my sister came over while I was cooking, looked at the recipe and said "that's something I would never make." So, I admit, I was a little worried after that, but both Josh and I really liked it. It will be especially great for leftovers for Josh later this week when he works the swing shift - something a little warmer on a chilly Spring night. This was super fast and easy. It didn't really turn out to be much of a "stew" because there was not very much liquid, but good nonetheless. I served some homemade cornbread muffins on the side.

New England Baked Bean Stew
from Betty Crocker's Quick and Easy Cookbook
4 Servings

1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1/2 pound fully cooked Polish sausage, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 can (15 to 16 ounces) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15 to 16 ounces) dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and spices, undrained
1 T packed brown sugar
4 medium green onions, sliced

1. Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium high heat. Cook chicken in skillet 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except onions. Cook uncovered over medium low heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in center.
3. Stir in onions. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are crisp-tender.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Soy Ginger Salmon and Sesame Green Beans


This is my all time favorite go-to salmon recipe. Whenever I crave salmon, this is what I crave. When I go to a restaurant and order salmon, I am always disappointed because it doesn't taste like this. The only bad thing about this recipe is that I think it is really the best when you marinate it 24 hours. So, if I ever have a craving hit me, I can't just go home and make this. I think that if you do not have the 24 hours to marinate, it would be good to take the leftover marinade and cook it donw on the stove as a sauce to serve on the fish. If you marinate for 24 hours, though, believe me - nothing else is needed. This is one of the very few recipes that I have that I make over and over again. I decided to add a side dish of fresh green beans. I have had this recipe saved for a long time, but have never tried it until last night. I was afraid that there wouldn't be a ton of flavor to them, so I added garlic. A LOT of garlic! I halved the recipe, but added about 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine. At first I was afraid that the garlic would overpower the sesame seeds, and I think I was right. If I make these again, I would still add that amount of garlic, but I would double the sesame seeds as well. In fact, even if I didn't add the garlic, I would double the amount of sesame seeds. This was the perfect dinner, though. After I ate, I felt very satisfied, but not stuffed. Perfect for a hot evening.
Soy Ginger Salmon
from Allreicpes.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound salmon fillets
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons lemon pepper, divided
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
  • 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced
  • 1/3 cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS

  1. Rub salmon with about 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Lightly sprinkle with lemon pepper and garlic powder; rub seasoning into fish.
  2. Into a small saucepan set over medium heat, pour soy sauce and olive oil. Stir in ginger and remaining brown sugar, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in orange juice.
  3. Place fish and marinade into a resealable plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 3 hours.
  4. Preheat broiler. Place fish in a foil-lined baking pan. Reserve marinade.
  5. Broil fish skin-side up, 2 minutes. Remove from oven, pull skin off with tongs. Baste with marinade, return to oven, and broil 2 minutes more. Turn fish, and broil until fish flakes easily, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven, and let sit 5 minutes before serving.
Sesame Green Beans Adapted from Allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 pound fresh green beans
  • 3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add sesame seeds and garlic. When seeds start to darken, stir in green beans. Cook, stirring, until the beans turn bright green.
  2. Pour in chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until beans are tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.

BBQ Chicken Wraps


If you are looking for a quick, easy recipe, look no further!! This was inspired by a Donna Hay recipe I saw in one of her cookbooks I checked out from the library. She used a chili sauce, I decided to go with barbecue. I was busy making cookies for the second time in 2 days, so I threw these together for dinner quickly. Not even a recipe for this one. I just took 2 chicken breasts and poached them until they were cooked through. After cooling, I shredded them, added barbecue sauce, and reheated it on the stove. My original plan was to add just lettuce and red onion with the chicken in a tortilla, but my husband wanted cheese as well, so we added a little colby-jack and it was a great addition. I used some sun-dried tomato tortillas that I had, but plain would work equally well! This is a great lunch as well, and is wonderful served warm or cold.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Cranberry Orange Cookies


Another Peabody recipe (or maybe I should say Peabody's mom). I may not ask her to refund my money for the ingredients, but I might have to ask her to pay for my trips to Weight Watchers after having eaten too many sweet treats!!!

I thought these cookies sounde
d very refreshing. I didn't have pistachios - in fact, I have been having a hard time finding unsalted pistachios anywhere. I should have gone with the macadamia nuts, but I had some slivered almonds on hand, so I used those. They didn't take away from the cookie, but they didn't add anything either. In fact, I could barely tell that they were in the cookie. The only thing that went wrong for me was that I couldn't get the cookies moist enough to roll into dough. I had to add a couple of tablespoons of water, and that seemed to solve the problem. Mine didn't turn out as pretty as Peabody's, but they still tasted really good! Her mom said that they taste even better the next day, so I am excited to try one at lunch today to see if that is true for me.

Again, I won't repost the recipe, but please go to Peabody's site and give these a try!!!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin


Please excuse the poor photography - it was too dark in my kitchen, so I went outside, but then I got lots of shadows.....

I am not a food snob - I swear, I'm not. Just because the last time my husband and I went out to eat and I complained that I could have made my meal better than the restaurant doesn't make me a food snob. And just because I laugh to myself at people that think they can substitute cooking wine for the real deal in recipes does not make me a food snob. You want proof? Last night's dinner was made with gravy packets. Yep, I'm sure that many people will stop reading right now and I will be shunned, but I made gravy out of a packet. And I have to say, the gravy was the best part of the meal (besides the potatoes.)

I have really been wanting to make a pork tenderloin, so I put it on the menu for this week. I was going to make Janet's Chili Cumin Pork Tenderloin, but I didn't want to have to get the grill out. I remembered a pork tenderloin recipe that I had used awhile ago. I remembered that it did not look pretty at all, but the flavor surprised me and I liked it. So I decided to give it a go again so I could blog about it and actually remember it. (I have a horrible memory!!)

This is a super easy recipe - it took all of 7 minutes to prepare. I decided to do some roasted red potatoes as well, so I quartered some red potatoes, threw some olive oil and random spices (salt, pepper, rosemary, and some fresh thyme and oregano) and threw those into the oven at the same time as the pork. 60 minutes later, dinner was ready. As I was eating, I wasn't as impressed with the recipe as I remembered the first time around. I didn't have quite 2 cups of red wine, so I substituted chicken broth for the remaining, and maybe that made the difference?? It just didn't have a whole lot of flavor to me. The gravy is made by mixing the remaining pan juices and and gravy mix. I'll be honest and admit that I don't make gravy very often. I do make it from scratch when I make chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes (a true comfort meal!!) But I don't make gravy much besides that. I might try it next time, but this was just so easy!! I don't think that I would make this tenderloin recipe again, but I will post it because my husband really liked it. I was going to eat the leftovers in a sandwich at lunch today, but ate something else instead. I will have to try it out tomorrow and see if the pork redeems itself in sandwich form. The original recipe calls for only one package of gravy, but I used 2 so we could have it on the potatoes as well.

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin
adapted from allreicpes.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 pounds pork tenderloin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 2 (.75 ounce) packages dry brown gravy mix

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Place pork in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and sprinkle meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Top with onion and pour wine over all.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes.
  4. When done baking, remove meat from baking dish, and place on a serving platter. Remove onions and measure remaining pan juices and wine. Add enough chicken stock to equal 2 cups. Put liquid in a small saucepan, add gravy mix, and stir until thickened. Slice meat, and cover with the gravy.

Snickerdoodle Muffins


I have been wanting to try these muffins that I found at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody since I saw them. Then they created a little bit of a stir when she had a reader write in asking for a refund for the money he spent on the ingredients because he didn't like them. First of all, that is completely absurd. Second of all, it made me want to make them that much more!!

I used to make muffins quite often on Sunday mornings back when I had roommates. They are easy to make, and easy for everyone to eat as they got ready for church. But now since there is just the two of us, muffins don't grace our table very often. I had some time this Sunday morning, and I had all of the ingredients, so I thought I would give these a try.

Let me warn you - the process of making these is quite different than any other muffin I have ever made. It makes a thick dough/batter that is then rolled in cinnamon/sugar. They took me a little longer than my regular muffins, and were a bit messy, but worth all of it!! Josh has completely fallen in love with these. I was planning on taking the left overs to work, but I know these won't go to waste here at our house. I didn't change a thing in the recipe. The only thing I would change next time is to half (or even quarter) the amount of cinnamon/sugar mixture. I have a lot left over, but I will gladly store it until the next time I make these - and believe me, there WILL be a next time!!

I won't list the recipe on my blog, but you can find it here. Thanks for the recipe Peabody!!

Monday, January 5, 2015

Chocolate Strawberry Tart


I was going to post this yesterday, but never got around to it. I have felt especially busy the last few days. Plus, my husband, who is a baseball fanatic, has been watching the College World Series and has gotten me into it as well.....so, too much time watching baseball and not enough time doing other things!!

This tart was made from 3 recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. This is quickly becoming my baking bible. I knew I wanted to make something with strawberries, and I thought about doing a cheesecake, but I wanted to use a tart pan that I had purchased awhile back and have never used. So I thought about doing a lemon tart topped with strawberries (that I still want to do sometime) but I didn't have the 4 hours that the lemon filling needed to be refrigerated for. What else goes better with strawberries??? Chocolate, of course!!

These strawberries are from my in-laws garden. They are the sweetest, juiciest strawberries that I have ever eaten. We had already gone through 2 batches of them, and this was the third. They weren't quite as ripe as the previous ones were, but they were still wonderful!! They are a lot smaller than the berries that I usually purchase, but the size worked very well for the tart.

I usually try to give away a lot of our desserts when I make them. We'll each have a piece, save one for later, and give the rest away. That didn't happen with this tart!! My husband and I finished the whole thing (minus one piece given to my brother in law.) Maybe that's why my pants feel tighter this week!!

All recipes are from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Chocolate Shortbread Tart Dough

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 stick plus 1 T. (9 T) very cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, cocoa powder confectioners sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each - until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Press the dough into the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

2 c. whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 T. unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk - this will temper the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder or the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold, or if you want to cool it quickly, put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

4 ounces chocolate, chopped finely (I used semi-sweet)
1/2 c. heavy cream
2 T. sugar
2 T. water

Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream, sugar and water to a full boil, then pour the liquid over the chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds. Working with a whisk or rubber spatula, gently stir the chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at the center of the bowl and working your way out in increasingly larger concentric circles.

**MY NOTES**

I won't include how I put everything together - I think it's pretty self explanatory from the picture. Let me know if you have any questions.

I don't have a food processor, so I was a little worried about the making the tart dough. But it came together nicely with some elbow grease and a pastry cutter. It took a little longer than a food processor would have, but it tasted great!!

The chocolate ganache glaze makes a lot more than you will need to just drizzle on the top of the tart - but believe me, you won't have a hard time finding other uses for it!! My original plan was not even to use the ganache, but the tart looked like it was missing something, so I threw it on last minute. I'm really glad I did - it really adds a lot to the look and the taste!

If you don't already own a copy of Dorie's book, I highly recommend getting it if you like to bake sweets. Her recipes are so easy to follow and she makes everything very easy to do. It's not overwhelming like some cookbooks are. I think both beginner and expert bakers would equally love this book!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches


I took a break from the kitchen this past weekend. Besides a salad and some breakfast for dinner, I didn't do any cooking. Although I love to cook, it is sometimes nice to take a break from the ordinary. Today was a rough day as well, so I was looking for something easy to make for dinner. I have been talking about making Monte Cristos for Josh for a long time now, so I decided that tonight would be the night.

I have to admit - I actually have no idea what goes into a real Monte Cristo. All I know is that one day, my brother came home after living away from the
house and made these wonderful sandwiches. At first, I thought - powdered sugar and raspberry jam on a sandwich with meat?? But I fell in love at first bite. I have since had them at a few restaurants where they were deep fried, but it seems to me like the constant ingredients (and most important, in my opinion) are the powdered sugar and raspberry jam. Most that I have eaten have had ham, turkey and swiss, but since Josh is not a fan of swiss, I did ham, turkey, provolone and some gouda. They turned out quite nicely!! No recipe for this one - I just dip the bread in an egg/milk mixture, pile in the fillings, and grill until brown and toasty. Then serve with powdered sugar and raspberry jam. An easy, filling, and easy dinner!!

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Ham and Asparagus Quiche


I decided to make something bit lighter for dinner because we have been eating such heavy dishes lately. I usually start searching the internet when I am looking for something to make, but I decided this time to try one of the recipes that I have bookmarked from other food blogs. It was a tough decision, but I decided on the Ham and Asparagus Quiche recipe from Elise at Simply Recipes. I love her blog. I loved the pictures for this quiche - how each of the steps are lined out so nicely. I actually had everything on hand (except for a few substitutions) so it saved me a trip to the grocery store as well. I won't post the recipe here - you can go to her blog via the link above if you would like to see it and give it a try. I would highly recommend it!! The changes I made - I had a pre-made crust at home, so I totally cheated there. Not as good as homemade, but fast and easy. I also used Colby jack cheese instead, because that was what I had at home.

Just for a bit of humor (I thought it was funny, although I probably should have been offended!!) My husband is not known to just eat what I make. He loves my cooking, but
he also loves condiments. I always ask him how he can even taste the food when it is smothered in ketchup or ranch dressing, but he likes it that way. I don't share the same opinion - I like to be able to taste the food - not the condiments!! I thought I would include a picture of what happened to my quiche once Josh got a hold of it. This photo shows the addition of sour cream, ketchup, and salsa. After the photo he also added bacon bits and some crunchy salad topping. I thought it looked disgusting, but he ate it and said he liked it!!

Real Italian Calzones


Let me preface this by saying that I am not Italian, and I do not really know if this is the "real" way that Italians do their calzones. That is just what my recipe said - and I am a trusting person, so naturally, I believed the recipe. It states that a true calzone does not have the marinara sauce in the calzone, but instead it is served alongside the calzone for dipping. If anyone out there reading this blog is a true Italian and knows if this is true, I would really like to know!!

Authentic or not, this was a great way to serve a calzone. This came as a request from my husband, and he rarely requests things to eat - he usually just goes along with what I make (or pours a bowl of cereal if he doesn't want what I make!!) The dough was very straightforward and simple to make. I basically followed the fillings, except I did part pepperoni and part sausage. I just used mozzarella and some sharp cheddar that I had in the fridge instead of using all cheddar. The original recipe says that it makes 2 larg
e calzones - feeding 8, but I made 4 smaller calzones, and one calzone a person seemed just about perfect. The one thing I would do differently next time would be to saute the mushrooms first. I filled the calzones full, but once they baked and the mushrooms cooked down, there wasn't a whole lot of filling in each. If I would have sauteed the mushrooms first, I think they would have stayed full - like a calzone should be!! I had a lot of extra filling, but I just put it in the freezer for next time we want to do calzones or pizza. This would be a good recipe to have fun with - the fillings could be endless!

Real Italian Calzones

adapted from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
  • 1/4 cup diced pepperoni
  • 1/4 cup sausage
  • 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Marinara or spaghetti sauce

DIRECTIONS

  1. To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.
  2. To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, cheese, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 4 equal parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/4 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.