Macaroni Soup

My DH and I have been sick off and on for about 4 weeks now and so we either haven't been eating much at all or eating quick to prepare items. You'd think that we'd try eating fresh healthy items but just getting through the workday has been about all we can handle.

I woke up yesterday craving macaroni soup. I don't have a recipe for this it's just a throw it in the pot, stir it, heat it and eat it type of thing. For the most part I guess you wouldn't even call it a soup as there isn't much soupiness to it. The one ingredient that is always in it is macaroni noodles. Everything else can change. It's hearty, filling and easy on sensitive stomachs.

I'm not going to give you a standard recipe. I'm just going to tell you what is in this version.




2 containers of Kraft Easy Mac
1 lb German sausage (from Pork and Greens at the farmers market)
2 handfuls fresh spinach
Chicken stock
1 regular sized can (14.5 oz?) tomato sauce
Various dried seasonings to taste
Quartered button mushrooms

Boil water in a pot for macaroni. Remove the cheese packet from the easy mac noodles and pour noodles (with starch) into boiling water cooking until nearly done. Meanwhile, brown the sausage adding the mushrooms towards the end. Drain and leave in a colander. Add the fresh spinach to colander. Drain the pasta into the colander (on top of other items).

Put all items from the colander in a stock pot. Add tomato sauce, chicken and desired seasonings including cheese packets from easy mac containers. Stir to combine and heat thoroughly. Serve.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm back and Farmers Market finds of the week!

After both my DH and I have been sick for two weeks and traveling to my niece's college graduation, I'm definitely ready to get back to cooking

This week at the Farmers Market I picked up a ton of veggies. I haven't been to the market for three weeks and I have missed the veggies and breakfasts with BW.




This week I picked up the following:

1. Mustard Greens
2. Bok Choy
3. Radishes
4. Beets (new item)
5. Green Garlic
6. Red Onions
7. Sour Cherries (not pictured)
8. Baby White Potatoes (also not pictured)

I forgot to include the bag of sour cherries I purchased. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the cherries. I thought they were sweet and planned to just eat them as a snack.

I've had beets when I was younger, and I hated them. They were the canned kind and I'm hoping that fresh ones will be much better. My husband likes borsch and I thought I would try making some for him.

All the other items will either go on the grill or be used as side dishes for meals throughout the week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My computer has finally bitten the dust.

Four years ago I purchased a Dell XPS M1710 which had a NVidia Geforce Go 7900 GTX graphic card. Turns out this card was faulty and 1 year from the day I ordered the computer and 10 months from when I actually received the computer the card suddenly quit working. I spent nearly $600 for a replacement (a 7950 as the 7900 was now obsolete) only to have it also be a faulty card. It has now quit also and unfortunately the 7950 is now obsolete and there isn't a replacement to fit in my laptop. I now have a giant paperweight until I either purchase a new computer or some computer guru figures out how to fix it for virtually zero dollars as I'm not throwing good money after bad.

All that being said, I'm now using my IPad to update my blog. This means that posting will be sporadic until I figure out how to post a full blog entry using BlogPress or some other app.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Daring Cooks May, 2010 Challenge: Stacked Green Chili & Grilled Chicken Enchiladas

I haven't posted or been to the farmer's market for the last three weeks.  Between my neice graduating college and therefore traveling for that and getting ready for inventory at work, I just haven't had time to do anything on my blog.

I recently joined The Daring Kitchen and our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile and Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on http://www.finecooking.com/ and written by Robb Walsh.

I've been wanting to try making a salsa verde using tomatillas as I've never worked them before and this was the perfect oppurtunity.  I had never made homemade corn tortillas either and decided I would try those also.  I'm glad they worked out as I forgot to buy backups.  LOL

I've looked at several recipes and decided that I'd use my own recipe to make this dish.  I gathered the ingredients that all the different recipes asked for and then just started mixing and working with those that gave the sauce the taste I was looking for.  This was a fairly easy recipe to make and the homemade tortillas tasted wonderful in this.

Stacked Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
Serves 2
(printable recipe)

Ingredients:
1 lb tomatillos
2 anaheim peppers
2 poblano peppers
6 cloves garlic
1 bunch green onions (white and green parts)
1 small white onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 cup chicken broth
1 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breast
6 oz monterey jack cheese
Salt, pepper and oregano to taste
2 1/2 cups masa harina
1 1/2 cups warm water

Instructions:
1. Place the tomatillos, peppers and garlic on a foil lined pan and place under the broiler until they look burnt.  Remove from the oven and let cool enough to handle.  Remove the seeds and peel from the peppers.  Remove as much of the skin from the tomatillos as possible and peel the garlic.  Place all in a food processor.
2. Dice the onions and the cilantro and add to the food processor.  Pulse all ingredients until the salsa verde is pureed.
3. Place the salsa verde into a sauce pot along with the chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste and cook until the raw onion taste is gone.  Set aside.
4. Turn the oven down to 350⁰.  Add a rack to the foil lined pan and place chicken breast, skin side up, on the rack and season with salt, pepper and oregano.  Roast for 45 minutes or until done.
5. Mix the masa harina and the warm water together and form into a soft dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until ready to form and cook.
6. Once the chicken is done remove from oven and let cool enough to touch.
7. Heat a cast iron skillet, griddle or comal over medium-high heat.  Form the corn tortillas between two pieces of plastic and press to desired thickness.  Cook on the heated skillet, flipping once until done.  Set aside.
8. Remove bone, skin and fat from the chicken and shred the meat.  Mix the chicken with some of the salsa verde.
9. In a pan able to hold two stacks, place a little of the salsa verde and top with a tortilla, then chicken mixture then cheese.  Top with another tortilla, then chicken mixture then cheese and a final tortilla and more salsa verde then cheese.
10.Bake in the oven (still at 350⁰) until the cheese is melted and browned.
11.Serve with desired condiments.

Three Cheese Lemon Ravioli with Pea Shoot Pesto

Several weeks ago I picked up some pea shoots at the farmer's market and scoured the internet for a way to prepare them.  All I could find was sauteing them with bacon much like you would spinach.  I didn't want to just eat them like that and decided I would try them in a pesto as you can use any green that isn't to heavy.  Of course I needed something to have the pesto with and decided I would make cheese ravioli.  I wasn't sure what the pesto would taste like as I had never had pea shoots.  I tasted the leaves and the stems raw and decided I needed to pick the leaves off and discard the stems as they tasted really green.  More green than I wanted to eat.  The leaves were nice and soft tasting with a little sweetness.  DH is always a doubter when it comes to trying something new but he had to admit that the ravioli and pesto was the best part of the entire meal.

Three Cheese Lemon Ravioli with Pea Shoot Pesto

(Serves 2)

printable recipe

Ingredients:

1.    8 wonton wrappers

2.   15 oz ricotta cheese

3.   Zest of 1 lemon

2.   1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

3.   1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

4.   2 large eggs

5.   1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary leaves

6.   2 cups pea shoot leaves

7.   1 cup parsley

8.   2 cloves garlic

9.   Light olive oil

10. salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Place the pea shoot leaves, parsley, garlic, pine nuts and salt and pepper in the food processor and pulse until minced finely.

2.  Drizzle the olive oil in while the food processor is running until the pesto is the proper consistency.  Set aside.

3.  In a medium sized bowl mix the cheese, lemon zest, eggs and crushed rosemary until combined.

4.  Lay out a sheet of wax paper and place the wonton wrappers on it.

5.  Place about 1 teaspoon of the cheese mixture in the center of the wrapper.

6.  Wet all two opposite sides of the wrapper and bring all four corners to the center to meet pinching the edges to seal.

7.  Heat a pot of heavily salted water to a rapid boil.

8.  Meantime place the pesto in a small saucepan and heat thoroughly.

9.  Cook the ravioli about 4 minutes once the water has come to a rolling boil.  Drain and serve with heated pesto.

Farmer's Market Noodles

I am reorganizing my office at work and so I had to work this weekend.  After the Farmer's Market and then breakfast I spent about 4 hours at the office and was ready for lunch when I got home about 2:00pm.  Since my DH and I were going to eat with friends for dinner at 6:00, I didn't want to eat a big lunch, just something to knock down the hunger pangs.  I'm trying to use up all the produce I've gotten from the farmer's market in the last couple of weeks and decided I would do something similar to a lomein.  I didn't have any of the right noodles but I did have a container of ramen noodles.  I julienned carrots, broccoli rabe and diced up some green garlic.  I sauteed all that and added the ramen noodles and some chicken broth.  I still had some ham steak from the market and diced up some of that.  I let all that simmer until the sauce had thickened a little and the noodles were fully cooked.  It tasted pretty good and the hunger was sated until dinner.

Farmer's Market Noodles

(Serves 1)

printable recipe

Ingredients:

1. A package Ramen Noodles (or other type) sauce pack discarded

2. 1/2 cup julienned carrots

3. 1 cup julienned broccoli rabe

4. 1/2 cup diced green garlic

5. 1 cup diced ham

6. 1 cup chicken broth

7. salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Saute the vegetables until soft.

2. Add in the diced ham until cooked through.

3. Add in the noodles from the ramen noodle package.

4. Add 1 cup chicken broth.

5. Let simmer until the sauce is thick and the noodles are soft.

Farmer's Market Week Three

I didn't make it to BW's until 7:05am.  Luckily she was ready and we didn't need to stop for cash so we got to the market in time to pick up some asparagus from our CSA.  Since I didn't do much cooking this week, I still have quite a bit of produce left.  I didn't want to get alot of items and decided just to pick up from our CSA.  As we were walking through the market BW and I saw some leeks.  I've never cooked with these and decided they would be my "new" item from the market.  After having breakfast we decided to shop at Petty's Fine Foods and I found celeriac.  I have wanted to try this and have never been able to find it.  So I snagged one very quickly.

This week I picked up the following (items I've never tried are indicated):

1. Asparagus
2. Spinach
3. Leeks (new)
4. Green Garlic
5. Celeriac (Celery Root) (new)

And now a rant.

After we shop at the market we always go for breakfast and chose to try the Wild Fork as they just started serving breakfast.  It was really hard to decide what to order as everything sounded so good and the portions described were huge!!  They don't serve a children's menu, nor do they serve 1/2 portions.  If you want an omelet plan on eating three eggs and all the other ingredients included.  The meal was delicious but we could only eat about 1/3 of them.  Since I had to go to work afterwards I decided not to take the remainder of my meal home and knew that it would go to waste.  At the end of the meal we were pretty shocked that we were charged for the to go boxes (BW's and the order she'd gotten to take to her DH).  The price wasn't very much and the boxes were very "green" as they were biodegradable.  Since the Wild Fork is considered an upper class restaurant we never expected to pay for such incidentals especially without this being disclosed at some point during the meal or when the boxes were requested.  My meal (one omelet, one lg orange juice and a soda) was $21 before the tip!!  When we received our credit card receipts there was a little brochure included with the receipt that stated that they were trying to reduce their carbon footprint and to thank us for paying for them to do that.  REALLY!?!  Each portion is enough for three so they know that the majority will be wasted and they want to charge us (more) to decrease their carbon footprint?!?  Aren't they going about this the wrong way?!?  It really soured my meal to find this undisclosed charge on our receipts.  I will probably never eat at this restaurant again just because of a .35 charge per to go box.  I know that is me being unreasonable but after spending $21 per person for an omelet, grits and toast with drinks I don't feel it is necessary to pay to reduce their carbon footprint.  Especially when they've gone to such excess already on my dime.  I plan on calling the manager on Monday to talk about this as I feel that there has to be other people who feel the same way I do.  Maybe not. 

Asparagus Risotto

Last night for dinner we had grilled mediterranean skewers from Omaha Steaks and a nice creamy risotto made with the Purple Asparagus from yesterday's market.  One thing I didn't know was the asparagus turns green when cooked.  Why buy purple asparagus if once cooked you can't tell the difference between the usual green asparagus and the purple?  But there is a difference.  It is very slight but you can tell if you steam it and eat it plain.  Purple asparagus has a very slight bitter taste (what I would call a "green" taste) than green asparagus.  Mixed in with the risotto you can't tell any difference.  The risotto was so good that my husband ate three portions and wants to do more risottos in the future.

Since my  husband and I usually never seem to be hungry at the same time I actually cooked the risotto about 3/4 of the way through about an hour before we ate.  Because the skewers take about 15 minutes from freezer to plate, it worked out really well as there was only 15 minutes left on the risotto.

Asparagus Risotto

(Serves 4)

printable recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup arborio rice

3/4 cup onion, small diced

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon light olive oil

4 cups chicken stock (or combination water, wine and stock)

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

1 bunch asparagus

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil over medium high heat until hot, add onions and saute until translucent.

2. Add garlic and rice and saute until the rice is slightly toasted.

3. Add the liquid 1 cup at a time until the rice is creamy and cooked through.

4. Add the parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until the cheese is melted.

5. Cut the woody ends off the asparagus and cook in boiling salted water for about 3-4 minutes.

6. Cool down the asparagus in ice water.  The asparagus can be cooked and waiting before you start the risotto.

7. Add the asparagus to the risotto until heated and serve immediately.

Farmer's Market Week Two

BW and I went to the farmer's market again this week.  I'm always running late and really am trying to be better about getting up and getting to her house by 7am.  If we don't go that early then our CSA is liable to run out of the items that we want.  I didn't get to her house until 7:15 once again and this week she missed out on the spinach and the asparagus.  Both sold out before 7:30am!!  I'm thinking that I need to be at her house by 6:45 next week so that we get there when the market opens at 7:00.  I'm glad it's doing so well as that means more vendors.

This week I picked up the following (items I've never tried are indicated):

1. Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard

2. Rapini (new)

3. Baby Bok Choy Leaves

4. Purple Asparagus

5. Spinach and Feta bread

6. Sherry Tomato Soup

7. Salad mix of mozzarella, pine nuts, cherry tomatoes and mixed greens
8. Curly leaf parsley

I still have the pea shoots (both kinds), the green onions and the carrots from last week so I didn't get as much this week.  We also ordered some items from Omaha Steaks and so I don't think we'll need to go shopping at all this week.  My goal this week is to eat everything I have from the market.  To do this I'm considering preparing the following meals.

1. Tenderloins with Cheese Pansiotti and Pea Shoot pesto

2. Mediterranean Skewers with Purple Asparagus Risotto

3. Wild Rice Stuffed Chicken and Sauteed Rapini

4. Vegetable Lo-Mein with carrots, baby bok choy, green onions and whatever is left

Last week I took some leftover lasagna to work and I had several coworkers ask me to make some and bring to work to share.  I picked up more swiss chard and am making it with ground turkey instead of chicken.

On another note I joined Daring Cooks and the May challenge should be announced today.  Of course I'll be blogging my experiences with this new set of challenges.

Chicken and Swiss Chard Lasagna

Here is another recipe for the swiss chard.  I thought about making raviolis but I really was in the mood to try a nice cheesy lasagna.  My DH insisted that he hates swiss chard all week and didn't want me to buy any from the farmers market.  After tasting this he has changed his mind.

Chicken and Swiss Chard Lasagna
Serves 4
printable recipe

Filling Ingredients:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, minced
2 cups swiss chard, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup white onion, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
3 oz grated parmesan cheese

Sauce Ingredients:
14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup white onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

3 oz grated parmesan cheese to top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. Heat olive oil in a small sauce pan. Add onion and saute until translucent.

3. Add minced garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.

4. Let cook until reduced by 1/3rd. Set aside.

5. In another pan heat olive oil and saute onion for filling until translucent. Add chicken and italian seasoning until nearly cooked. Add swiss chard and wilt.

6. Remove chicken mixture from heat and set aside.

7. Mix ricotta cheese and 3 oz of parmesan cheese. Set aside.

8. Spread a little of the sauce on the bottom of a 8x8 baking pan.

9. Place 4 wonton skins in each corner of the pan and top with 1/2 of the ricotta cheese mixture and all the chicken the mixture.

10. Place another wonton skin on top of each stack, top with the remainder of the sauce and then the remainder of the cheese.

11. Bake for 40 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy.

Turkey and Swiss Chard Dolma with Red Pepper Puree

One of the items I picked up at the farmers market was some Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard.  The only way I've ever had swiss chard was sauteed and I wanted something different.  I scoured the internet and came up with several recipes using spinach that I thought would work well for the chard as the leaves were more tender than typical spinach leaves.  All of those recipes involved pasta and since I plan on having pasta for dinner tomorrow, I didn't want to include pasta in this meal.  So I had to go look in my pantry and see what I had on hand that I could pair with the swill chard in a new and different way.  I had a jar of roasted red peppers that I really wanted to use and I had some ground turkey.  So I thought maybe a turkey meatloaf using the chard inside the meatloaf similar to turkey and spinach meatballs.  That got me thinking of using the chard to wrap the mini meatloaves.  This turned out really well.  The chard was very green tasting which paired well with the mildness of the turkey, the sharpness of the green onion and the sweet/bitterness of the red pepper puree.

Turkey and Swiss Chard Dolma with Red Pepper Puree

Serves 2

printable recipe

Turkey Filling Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

3 stalks green onions, diced

1 whole roasted red pepper, diced

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper

1 bunch swiss chard leaves, stems removed and blanched

Red Pepper Puree Ingredients:

1 whole roasted red pepper, diced

1/2 cup white onion, diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1 pinch red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Mix all the turkey ingredients together and form into mini loaves.  Wrap in blanched chard leaves.

3. Bake in oven for 30 to 45 minutes until done.

4. Meanwhile heat olive oil in a small saucepan.

5. Add the onions and saute until transparent.

6. Add the diced red pepper, tomato paste and garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes.

7. Add the chicken stock, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and puree with an immersion blender.

8. Reduce heat and allow to reduce to a thick puree.

9. Serve and enjoy.

First day of the Farmer's Market and CSA pickings!

Today was the first day of this year's farmers market.  My friend BW and I look forward to this every week and really miss it when it closes.  We make a morning of it by arriving at the market about 7:30am, shopping and then having a slow breakfast afterwards.  It's a day of new choices as we try to select something new from the market and we like to find new breakfast places each week.

This year BW and I decided to split a CSA membership.  I had purchased a membership last year for $200 and ended up donating $100 to a local orphanage and then letting BW pick up some produce and still ended up with money left over.  This year we've split it and I'm determined to eat all of my share!!

Today I picked up the following (items I've never tried before are marked as new):

1. Fordhook Giant Swiss Chard (new)
2. Pea Shoots (new)
3. Baby Lettuce
4. Carrots
5. Green Onions
6. Snap Pea Leaves (new)
7. Cilantro
8. Peppered Bacon
9. Ham Slices
10. Nice salad mix of arugula, sliced green onions, sliced kumquats, walnuts, blanched almonds, sliced pears and strawberries with a cream cheese pepper filling (new)

I decided to eat the salad mix with a grilled chicken breast for lunch.  It was absolutely delicious!  I'm so glad I picked this up.  The peppered cream cheese filling the strawberries though very sharp was balanced by the sweetness of the pears and the strawberries.  The sliced kumquats were bittersweet and gave the entire salad a nice sharpness.  I cooked two chicken breasts and the salad mix will definitely make another salad and I think I have lunch for Monday now!  One less meal to eat out!

Chinese Sweet Chicken Thighs

I had some chicken thighs in the refrigerator that I needed to cook.  I wanted to do something different and had some sweet pepper and jalapeno jam in the pantry and thought it would be good on the chicken.  After baking the chicken in the jam I thought it was too sweet so I decided to use some spicy chinese mustard.  The mustard added just the right touch.

Chinese Sweet Chicken Thighs
(serves 3)
printable recipe

Ingredients:
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
4 tablespoons sweet pepper and jalapeno jam
4 teaspoons lime juice
salt and pepper
4 tablespoons spicy chinese mustard

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix the jam and the lime juice together.  Place the thighs in a small casserole dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread with the jam mixture.

2.  Bake until nearly done and spread with the mustard.

3.  Place back in the oven and continue baking until the mustard has formed a sticky glaze.

Italian Beef

I was looking for a good sandwich recipe to go with the Crack and Cheese (post to come) I made for Dave a friend who had outpatient shoulder surgery on Friday and so I went to Tasty Kitchen and found this recipe for Beef Pepperoncini.  It was fabulous!!  I did make some changes and the changes are what I have listed here.  I was going to take a picture of the sandwich itself but my husband was so hungry when he got in there wasn't time.

Italian Beef
(serves 4)
printable recipe

Ingredients:
1-1/2 to 2 lb sirloin steaks
2 tablespoons minced garlic
salt and pepper
8 oz jar of pepperoncinis
sliced cheese of choice
4 italian buns

Directions:

1.  Put the two steaks side by side (some overlap is okay) in a 9x9 baking dish.

2.  Salt and Pepper the tops and pour the juice from the pepperoncinis over the top.

3.  Place 1 tablespoon of minced garlic on each steak and rub in.

4.  Slice the pepperoncinis into rings excluding the stems and sprinkle over the tops of the steaks.

5.  Cover with foil and bake at 350° for two hours or until you can easily shred with two forks.

6.  Shred the steaks in the pan you baked them in, mixing the juice and pepperoncinis with the beef.

7.  Slice and toast the italian buns.

8.  Place sliced cheese on the top bun and the beef mixture on the bottom bun.  Don't be shy pile it on!

9.  Wrap the sandwich in foil and place back into the oven long enough for the cheese to melt and to reheat the meat.  Serve.

Tempura Vegetables

One of the side items or appetizers at my favorite sushi restaurant is tempura vegetables.  I love that they use seasonal vegetables but always onions. Because the batter is so light it just absorbs the tempura sauce which seems to bring out the flavor of each vegetable in a different way.

Tempura Vegetables

(Serves 4)
printable page

Ingredients:
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup ice water, ice removed
1 zucchini
1 medium sweet potato, peeled
1 medium onion
bowl of ice water
oil for frying
salt

Directions:

1. Julienne all vegetables, making sure they are all the same size and place in bowl of ice water.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl beat the egg and add to the ice water stirring to combine.

4. Mix the dry ingredients with the egg mixture stirring to just combine. Do not over mix.  Will still be slightly lumpy.

5. Dip the vegetables into the batter and deep fry at 350° until golden brown.

6. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.

Tempura Sauce:

Ingredients:
1 cup dashi
4 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin

Directions:
1. Heat all ingredients over medium heat until boiling.
2. Immediately remove from heat and serve.

Calamari Ceaser Salad

I absolutely love this salad. The key to cooking calamari is you don't fry it until it's golden brown but just long enough that the breading begins to turn brown.  A local chef told me that you cook calamari for either 1 minute or 2 hours.  If you've ever had chewy calamari you know what I mean.  These practically melt in your mouth.

Calamari Ceaser Salad
(Serves 6)
printable page

Calamari Ingredients:
1 lb calamari, cleaned and cut into rings
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
oil for frying

Croutons:
1 loaf of day old french bread cut into 1" cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
oil

Caesar Dressing Ingredients:
1 egg
1 to 2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 anchovy fillet, mashed
Pinch of coarse salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 drops Worcestershire sauce
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 head Romaine lettuce torn into bite sized pieces

Directions:

  1. Rinse the calamari and pat dry with a paper towel.

  2. Beat the egg and milk together in a shallow bowl.

  3. Mix the flour, salt, pepper, garlic and cornstarch together in another shallow bowl.

  4. Dredge the calamari in the egg mixture and then into the flour mixture and set aside.

  5. Put 3" of oil into a deep pan and heat to 350°.

  6. Fry the calamari until lightly browned and set on paper towels to drain.

  7. Mix all crouton ingredients together and bake in a 350° oven, stirring to toast all sides.

  8. Boil enough water to cover the egg in a pan.

  9. Once it comes to a boil turn it off and put the egg in the boiling water and let it set for 5 minutes.

10. Immediately submerge the egg into cold  water until it cools enough to handle.

11. Mix the egg, 1/2 the parmesan cheese and the remaining dressing ingredients in the bottom of the salad bowl.

12. Add the romaine lettuce and croutons and toss to coat.

13. Put the calamari on top of the salad and sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese. Serve.

Mustard and Herb Crusted Lamb Chops

This is such an easy and delicious way to cook lamb chops.  Anyone can make this.

Mustard and Herb Crusted Lamb Chops
(Serves 2)
printable recipe

Ingredients:
4 bone lamb chopped, frenched, cut in 1/2 (two bones per person)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup brown mustard
1/2 cup various herbs, finely minced

Directions:

1. If you didn't buy your lamb chops already frenched, please clean and french them according to the link.

2. Rub the salt and pepper onto all sides of the chops.

3. Broil each side of the two chops until well-browned about 5 - 7 minutes on each side.

4. Remove the chops from the oven and carefully spread the brown mustard onto the side of the chops opposite the bone.

5. Pat liberal amounts of the minced herbs onto the mustard crusted chops.

6. Place the chops bone side down under the broiler and broil for 5 - 7 minutes or until the desired doneness is reached.

7. To serve, cut each chop between the bones and serve two chops per person.

Meatloaf Skewers with Pomegranate Glaze

Several years ago I took a Pro-Chef class at The Savory Chef a local gourmet food store and this was one of the items we made during the Appetizer portion of the class.  As I am a fan of a good savory meatloaf this was my favorite item we made that night.

Meatloaf Skewers with Pomegranate Glaze
(Serves 10 - 15)
printable recipe

Meatloaf Ingredients:
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup of a variety of finely chopped fresh herbs
30 - 35 mini skewers or wooden skewers cut in 1/2

Pomegranate Glaze Ingredients:
2 cups pomegranate juice
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Place oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°.  Put the sheet tray in the oven to preheat.

2. Mix all ingredients together by hand, making sure it is well mixed.

3. Shape mini meatloaves and set on the preheated tray.

4. Bake for 20 minutes.

5. While the meatloaves are cooking, prepare the Pomegranate Glaze.

6. Combine juice and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 8 minutes).

7. Brush the nearly done meatloaves with the glaze and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes or until done.

8. Brush more of the glaze on the done meatloaves and let sit for 5 minutes before putting them on the skewers.

Italian Soup with Parmesan and Basil Pesto

I wanted to start this blog so that I can chronicle my struggles to cook in a cook-challenged kitchen and on an extremely busy schedule. Typically my husband and I order in or eat out for every meal and therefore, we have very few fresh items in our refrigerator.

The day I made this it was cold and snowing and as I'm not used to driving in the snow (I'm a transplant from Louisiana) I had to look to what I had on hand to prepare for dinner.

Italian Soup with Parmesan and Basil Pesto

(Serves 4 or Serves 2 with lunches)

printable recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb sweet italian sausage (casings removed)
1 small onion (small diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted tomatoes are great)
1 cup uncooked small pasta (I used both ditalini and mini-shells)
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons italian seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (14.5 oz) cannellini beans
freshly grated parmesan cheese
fresh basil pesto

Directions:

1. Brown the meat, onion and garlic together. Drain if needed. Since I used turkey and italian sausage there was hardly any grease so I didn’t have to drain.

2. Add the tomatoes, pasta, chicken broth and seasonings and let cook until the pasta is cooked as you desire.

3. Add the cannellini beans and let simmer for another 20 minutes.

4. Serve in bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil pesto.

This recipe leaves room for anything to be added. I’ve added fresh spinach right before serving which gives it a wonderfully bright flavor.