Baked Ravioli

So, last week I finally knocked a recipe off my to-cook list that had been there from the start. Who knows why I waited so long to get around to it. But now that I've finally made it I know that the next time I make it things will be done differently. Don't get me wrong, this recipe is a good idea. The execution of it though left something to be desired. Next time I'll even probably use store-bought sauce. That probably sounds a wee bit lazy, but the whole time I was eating it I was thinking that it could be better. And the easiest way to make it better is to use our favorite jarred sauce. There was also too much sauce. That is partly due to the fact that I had a package of raviolis that was smaller than the recipe called for. Whatever the reason, too much of a mediocre sauce isn't really a good thing. Lastly, don't put my mozzarella on top of my parmesan. The mozzarella just stuck to the Parmesan and nothing else, resulting in a crust of cheese totally separate from the rest of the dish. Who knows, maybe I should have waited even longer to make this, ha.

Baked Ravioli
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4 to 6











2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme, or oregano
1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
2 pounds store-bought ravioli
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, breaking up tomatoes with spoon, until sauce is thickened and reduced to about 5 1/2 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook ravioli in a large pot of boiling salted water just until they float to the top (pasta will continue to cook in oven). Drain pasta; return to pot.
• Toss sauce with pasta. Pour pasta into a large gratin dish or 9-by-13-inch baking dish, and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

My notes: I was concerned about having too much sauce from the beginning, so I drained off some of the liquid from the whole tomatoes. That didn't seem to help too much. Instead of choosing between thyme or oregano I used 3/4 teaspoon of each. I also used somewhere in the ballpark of 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. I like a touch of spiciness. I was short about a half pound on the ravioli, but that seemed to the size that all the pasta I could find came in. And next time put mozzarella, then Parmesan, on top. Also, the less sauce the more the cheese will have something to actually melt to, duh.

Picnic Eats

We certainly didn't sustain ourselves on cookies alone, so here's some info on the rest of our picnic dinner from last weekend. I tried to make things nice and summery, but also not too difficult or messy. The best idea for planning a meal away from your kitchen, or any meal for entertaining really, is to combine ready-to-eat items with homemade recipes. And ready-to-eat doesn't have to mean anything heavily processed. Our meal consisted of Caprese sandwiches, roasted corn on the cob, garlic-rosemary baked chips and fresh fruit. Fruit didn't need anything other than a good rinse and it was ready to go. The chips came in a resealable bag making them great for outdoor eating and travel. There's half our meal taken care of in no time flat, leaving me time to make those delicious cookies we had for dessert. Roasting the corn was also pretty quick and easy. The Caprese sandwiches are my current favorite- so good. Might want to put this recipe off until the tomato scare is over, but when it is I'll be making more for sure. Overall it was picnic perfect!

Caprese Sandwiches
Serves 4












1 fresh baguette
1 bunch fresh basil
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Slice the baguette crosswise into 4 pieces as evenly as possible. Slice each piece in half lengthwise. Brush each slice lightly with olive oil; season lightly with salt and pepper.
• Starting with the bottom slice of baguette, layer fresh basil leaves, tomato slices, and mozzarella. Top with additional basil leaves and second baguette slice.
• To pack for picnic: press sandwich together and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or wax paper. Secure with twine or tape. Store in cooler, in freezer bag if necessary to protect from too much moisture.
  

Roasted Corn























As many ears of corn as you'd like to prepare
Butter
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pull back corn husks and remove silks from the ears. Brush corn with butter and season with salt and pepper. Pull husks back up over corn and secure with kitchen twine.
• Roast corn on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, turning over once.
• To pack for picnic: allow to cool some before wrapping with wax paper and securing with twine. Pack in picnic basket.

I went the simple route so as not to compete with the basil in the sandwiches, but you could also try a flavored butter with the corn- Corn with Cheesy Butter, Herb Butter, Grilled Corn with Seasoned Butter

Peachy Keen: Fresh-Peach Drop Cookies

Last week as soon as Josh and I decided to go to the Concert in the Garden, I knew I had to find a great treat to take with us on our picnic outing. Something summery, something sweet, and most importantly something easy for hand-held eating. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I found this recipe, and I was right. Josh used words like "heaven" and "gold" to describe these cookies. And he's not even very fond of peaches. I think that pretty much says it all, don't you?

Fresh-Peach Drop Cookies
Recipe from Martha Stewart Living; Makes appx. 4 dozen












2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/3 cup peach jam or preserves
2 tablespoons fine sanding sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Beat butter and granulated sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Add peaches and jam, and beat until just combined.
• Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing about 2 inches apart. (If not baking all of the cookies at once, refrigerate dough between batches; dough can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 days.) Combine sanding sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle each cookie with 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon-sugar mixture.
• Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until golden brown and just set, 11 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

My notes: Well, these cookies were pretty much exactly what I was hoping they would be- sort of like little, hand held peach cobbler bites. Can you believe this was the first time (that I can recall anyway) that I've bought peaches? These cookies could have used more fresh peach, but that could be my inexperience with the fruit. Perhaps I bought medium sized peaches, not large. I used regular sugar in the sprinkle topping, didn't see any sense in buying all new sugar just for a batch of cookies, ha. And upon typing up this recipe I realized that I didn't rotate the sheets, but that didn't make much of a difference. Oh, and lastly I got less than 4 dozen, but I also used my 1 1/2 T cookie scoop, so a bit more batter when into each cookie. Great summertime cookies!

Kitchen Filler

Right now I've only got one pic of food ready to post, but I don't have the recipe with me. And lots of stuff on my camera waiting to be uploaded. So here's a little filler post until I can get my stuff together. :) A couple weeks ago, inspired by this post on Black Eiffel, I used my Friday off to clean out and tidy my kitchen pantry, refrigerator and freezer.

Pantry
In my pantry I try to make the best use of the space that I have. On some shelves I make use of the space at the back that I wouldn't be able to reach easily by keeping extraneous items like my pewter salad bowl, popcorn popper, cookie cutter tin- things I need on rare occasions. Top shelf is carbs- rices, pastas, panko and breadcrumbs. Bottom shelf of the upper cabinet is canned goods- beans, various tomato products, tuna, peanut butter, a few canned veggies. There are three shelves in the lower cabinet. The top is baking supplies- white whole wheat, all purpose, and cake flour, cornmeal, vegetable and canola oil, two types of molasses, vinegar, and baking powder. All sorts of mix-ins tucked under that little riser too- chocolate and peanut butter chips, coconut, walnuts, pecans, and almonds. Middle shelf holds bread and crackers, and some oats in the back too. And the bottom shelf which isn't really visible holds our chips and cereal- typically tortilla, pretzels, and generic honey & oat clusters.


Freezer
Not much to look at here- fruit bars, ice cream sandwiches (which no longer exist), eggplant bolognese in the plastic, pan of vegetable enchiladas, trout fillets from the pop-in-law, and a couple boxes of frozen junk food.


Refrigerator
Well, this picture was taken before the weekend shopping trip, so it looks a lot more sparse than it normally is. What is normally in our fridge after a trip to the stores? A lot of cheese- shredded mozzarella and crumbled feta for pizzas, shredded cheddar, a block of cheddar, and a block of pepper jack. Those are pretty much always in there. Spinach, mixture of lettuces, celery, carrots, zucchini, squash, onions, and green bell peppers for salads, pizzas, and cooking. Apples and grapes, hummus and pitas, salted and unsalted butter, eggs, and our Brita water dispenser. No more cow's milk, unless I need it for baking. We've moved on to soy milk. The door is just chocked full of condiments- yellow, dijon and spicy-hot mustards, ketchup, preserves, salad dressings, Josh's coffee creamer, jars of olives, cherries, and minced garlic, wheat germ, and that weird powdery grated parmesan that Josh loves.

Favorite Fast Freezer Meals?

Right now I'm in the (slow) process of stocking my freezer up with ready-to-go meals. I'm hoping to get about 2 weeks worth of meals in there, give or take, so that I can take a break from the kitchen. I'm feeling a little burned out lately. I enjoy cooking, but I'd like to devote some time to other interests and that time just isn't there when I don't get home till almost 6 and have to do any and all non-work things in the sparse amount of time before bed. I won't rely solely on freezer food, there will be a few easy things I'm sure. Like pizzas and grilled cheese, ha.

Anyway, the point of my rambling is- if you've got a recipe you love to whip from freezer to oven to dinner table, then do tell! Any suggestions welcome. Got a recipe that makes a serving for dinner and one for the freezer? Gimme. Have something that you look forward to pulling from your ice box everytime? Whisper it in my ear. Or in the comments, that might work better. Share! Please!

Egg Salad

Memorial Day weekend is definitely a time for cookouts and picnics. If your destination isn't very far, maybe you'd like to make some egg salad. Of course, if it is then something with mayo isn't going to fit the bill. For some ideas that travel well check out Jane's Memorial Day post over at This Week For Dinner. To be perfectly honest (and lame) I'm just making a batch of this tonight for lunch this week, but I sure wish it wasn't too hot out for a nice picnic. This recipe is from the March 2008 Everyday Food, and I made it for the first time a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed it so I decided to whip up a half batch for my brown bagging.

Egg Salad
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1/2 cup light mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white-wine vinegar
8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 small red onion, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar until smooth. Add eggs, celery and onion; season with salt and pepper.

My notes: I didn't add the vinegar because I didn't have any handy. Still really liked this, and I might try it with a little cider vinegar sometime, which is an ingredient in my family's deviled egg recipe. They say this recipe serves 4, but they were pretty big sandwiches when divided evenly into 4 servings, so if you like your sandwiches a little more manageable you could probably get 6 and maybe even 8 servings quite easily.

Cilantro Lime Rice

Obviously, Cilantro Lime Rice isn't an incredibly difficult recipe. I'm sure a lot of you already make it on your own, and don't need any help from me. But I made it so I wanted to share it. This was a great side dish for these Zucchini Quesadillas that I've posted about before. And knowing this recipe puts me one step closer to being able to create our own delicious Chipotle style meals at home. Of course, there are about 20 steps left, ha, but one step closer nonetheless. This recipe was really easy, so it will no doubt be making more appearances on our menu plans. It serves 2 and actually held up well in the fridge, so that week we had the first half on Monday with these quesadillas, and the rest on Friday with some cheese quesadillas as a quick pre-show dinner.

Cilantro Lime Rice
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1 cup long-grain white rice
Coarse salt
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove

• In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until water is absorbed and rice is just tender, 16 to 18 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a blender, combine cilantro, lime juice, oil, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water; blend until smooth. Stir into cooked rice, and fluff with a fork.

My notes: I think I pretty much covered it- yummy, easy, make it.

Mother's Day Goodies

For Mother's Day this year I decided to put together some cute little packages of goodies for my mom, Josh's step-mom, and his grandmother. I put together smaller packages for both of my sister-in-law's and one for Josh's mom, to go with the plant she requested. Everything went over really well, so I thought I would share some of the goodies with you guys. The packages were comprised of a box of Chocolate Chip Cookies, Red Velvet Truffles, and Sugar & Spice Pecans.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Amy Sedaris and Nestle Toll House; makes 5 dozen












2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 cups flour
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

• Beat butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Gradually add flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir in the chocolate chips.
• Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll into small balls and flatten in palm of hand. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 9-11 minutes.
  

My notes: Amy Sedaris adds more chocolate chips and pecans, but I decided to omit the nuts since I was already using pecans in another way and I was making smaller cookies so I used just one bag of chips. Instead of rolling and flattening the dough I used my cookie scoop to drop about 1 tablespoon or so of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. This made the cookies a little smaller, and allowed me to get more out of single batch of dough.

Red Velvet Truffles
Recipe from Bakerella; Makes about 50















1 box red velvet cake mix, cooked as directed on box for a 13x9" cake
1 16 oz. can cream cheese frosting
12 squares semisweet chocolate, melted
Decorations, optional

• After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting.
• Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. Chill for several hours. You can speed this up by putting in the freezer, which I did.
• Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper lined baking sheet until firm.

My notes: I sprinkled each truffle with some red decorative sugar, to match the interior. Refrigerate after completed. I made these a little smaller than I probably should have, so I actually have cake balls in the freezer to make more truffles later. I made 50 truffles, and still have plenty extra, so the next time I make them I will definitely make the balls bigger, and I might make two 9" cakes and use just one for truffles. These truffles were the biggest hit of all though, so I will definitely make them again.

Sugar & Spice Pecans










You can see the recipe for Sugar & Spice Pecans I've made before here.











And that's what came out of my kitchen for Mother's Day!

Berry Good Bolognese

Did you know that the eggplant is actually a variety of berry? I learned that from television, so don't tell me all those hours I've wasted staring at the glowing box were for not. However I learned this recipe not from the TV, but from Everyday Food, of course. It was one of their reader submitted recipe's and had been on my to-cook list for quite some time. I decided to make it one weekend so that I could stock the freezer with the leftover sauce. I'm planning on doing a big cooking weekend soon, so I can stock the freezer even more, but this was a good start. I will definitely make this recipe again, when I'm out of my leftovers that is.

Eggplant Bolognese
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 8












8 tablespoons olive oil
1 large eggplant (about 1 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), finely chopped
1 zucchini (about 8 oz), quartered lengthwise, sliced inch thick crosswise
1 garlic clove, minced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 lb. ground beef chuck
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 lb. rigatoni or other short tubular pasta
Parmesan cheese, shaved (optional)

• In a Dutch oven or large (5-quart) saucepan with a lid, heat 6 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add eggplant; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; reduce heat to medium. Add onion, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Add beef; cook, stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, 5 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, add tomatoes, oregano, and eggplant to beef-vegetable mixture; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick and eggplant is tender, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain; serve topped with sauce and, if desired, Parmesan.

My notes: This came out to more like 6 servings for us, guess we just couldn't help but eat a little extra. I served this over Ditalin pasta, because that's what I happened to have. A ridged pasta would be better for the sauce to grip to, but it didn't affect the taste which was delicious.

Cajun Stirfry

I was planning on making some kebabs with some of the meat I reserved from the gumbo, but I got lazy. I don't mind that I got lazy though, cause I really enjoyed what I came up with instead. I decided to pretty much just toss my kebab ingredients together in the pan and see what came of it. I thought the flavors came together really well, and it was really enjoyable and easy. I think I'll definitely toss this together again sometime.

Cajun Stirfry
Recipe from me; Serves 2-4












6 oz. andouille sausage, sliced thickly
1 large chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
1 green bell pepper, seeded & ribbed, cut into chunks
1/2 red onion, chopped
Dried oregano
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Olive oil

• Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and onion and cook, stirring, till beginning to soften. Meanwhile toss chicken with enough dried oregano, salt, and pepper to lightly coat.
• Add chicken to pan and cook, stirring, until no longer pink. Add andouille to pan and cook until sausage is warmed through and chicken is cooked completely.

My notes: I served this over brown rice, which was a nice background for the spice and flavor of the meats. The recipe might sound a little vague, but since I just tossed it together I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to what I was doing. It's not hard to toss things into the pan and come out with something good though, so give it a shot! I served chili roasted sweet potato wedges on the side.

Very Pale Chicken Gumbo

This is what your chicken gumbo will look like when you are too impatient to properly cook your roux. It'll still taste pretty good, but tell me if that isn't the whitest gumbo you've ever seen. Sometimes it's hard to be patient when you're hungry. Really hard. Next time I'll be more patient, I promise. In the meantime, just make sure you cook your roux longer than me and you'll be fine. Obviously, this picture isn't all that pretty. Go ahead and scroll down and look at that Orzo. It's a lot prettier. It might redeem me.

Half-Hour Chicken Gumbo
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












3 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 red bell peppers, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 10 oz. package frozen cut okra
8 oz. smoked (precooked) andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and sliced 1" thick
1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 1/2 lbs.), skin and bones removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
Store-bought or homemade cornbread, for serving (optional)

• In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, heat oil over medium. Add flour, and cook, whisking constantly, until pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in bell peppers, onion, garlic, and oregano; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add 4 cups water; stir in okra and sausage. Bring to a boil. Stir in shredded chicken, and warm through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; if desired, serve with cornbread.

My notes: I only used half the chicken, because I wanted to use the other half for a salad, and I used 6 oz. of andouille (1 link of a 2 link 12 oz. package). I didn't notice it really lacking because of these changes. I also added 1 cup of brown rice to get some extra fiber in there, and help balance out the less meat. I also thought that this was even better the next day for lunch leftovers. The flavors had time to mingle, which makes me think that maybe half-hour gumbo is quick, but a slower cooked one would be tastier. I made some cornbread from mix (Jiffy rules!) to go with it, at EF's suggestion.

Oooh, Tomato Orzo

This dish turned out so pretty! I loved the bright color of the tomatoes and parsley. It also tasted great, even the next day, which is when Josh got to eat his helping thanks to late night rehearsals. This was also a really fast dish, which made dinner that night a pleasure. I choose this recipe as a side to some Caprese Sandwiches. No secret recipe there- just layer basil, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella on bread of your choice. I used a demi-baguette, a smaller loaf of french bread which turned out to be the perfect size. It would also be great on some ciabatta, I think. I made the sandwiches the night before and tucked them into the fridge, so dinner was a snap when I served this orzo dish on the side.

Tomato Orzo
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1 cup orzo
2 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• Set a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Cook orzo in boiling water until al dente. Drain well; return to pot. Add tomatoes, parsley, butter, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.

My notes: Nothing really, everything came out great. I mean, this recipe is so easy it was hard for even me to mess it up. And I mess up a lot of things. This will be a great recipe to use through the summer.

Chicken Sammiches

Recently I made one of Josh's favorite foods for dinner- a chicken sandwich. I know, is it weird that that is his favorite thing? That a chicken sandwich is what he will almost unfailingly order if it's on the menu? That it is his best and most ordered meal at our favorite seafood restaurant? Just give him some chicken on a bun and he's probably pretty happy. That said though, since he likes it so much I had always hesitated to make it. It's so simple, but I was sure that I could find a way to mess it up. But I went ahead and took a stab at it a week or two ago (don't even get me started on how little I've had to post lately). I used Kelly's Honey Mustard Chicken recipe to bake two chicken breasts. I spread a little bit of the extra sauce on the wheat buns (p.s. I found some awesome Orowheat buns with, like, 5 grams of fiber!), top with some tomato and greens, and there ya go! I made some more oven frites, cutting them a little thicker this time. They still came out great. Since I needed the oven at different temperatures for each recipe I cooked the chicken first, and covered it with foil while I cooked the fries and that worked great. Next time I will just split a chicken breast, or look a little harder for chicken cutlets, because it can be quite a mouthful with a whole breast.

Speedy Eggplant Rollatini

I was looking for a fast and easy vegetarian recipe for my menu plan a couple weeks ago when I came across the Zap It feature in the March issue of Everyday Food, meaning this meal is prepared entirely in the microwave. This simple recipe was great for a weeknight. I paired it with some steamed broccoli for our dinner, but there are a lot of great options to add on the side. Eggplant Rollatini is also just snazzy enough to be great for some stress-free entertaining. The microwave aspect can also free up your oven so you can have your dessert and dinner cooking at the same time- sounds like a time-saver to me.

Eggplant Rollatini
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4













1 large eggplant (appx. 2 lbs.), cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices (about 8)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup quality marinara sauce
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1 large egg
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

• Season eggplant with salt and pepper; arrange slices in a shallow 2-quart microwave safe dish with a lid. Microwave on high until tender and pliable, but not fully cooked, 6 to 8 minutes.
• With a spatula, transfer eggplant slices from dish to a paper-towel-lined baking sheet, and arrange in a single layer. blot dish dry, and spread bottom with 1/4 cup marinara sauce; set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, Parmesan, egg, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper. pat eggplant slices dry with paper towels. Dividing evenly, spoon ricotta mixture onto the wide end of eggplant slices, leaving a 1" border on the wide end and a 1/4" border on the sides. Starting at the wide end, roll up slices; arrange in prepared dish. top with remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce.
• Cover dish, and microwave on high until eggplant is very tender, 15 to 17 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella; microwave until cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Serve rollatini garnished with more Parmesan, if desired.

My notes: My square baking dish was perfect, but doesn't have a lid. I just covered the top with wax paper and that worked great. Josh really liked this recipe too, and made for great leftovers for the next days lunch.

Apple Crumb Coffee Cake

Last week I was taking a stroll over at Everybody Likes Sandwiches when I saw a delicious looking coffee cake. Now, she made the coffee cake in a bout of insomnia induced baking, and forgot to add the baking powder. The cake looked so good I was certain that I just had to make it. I decided to give it a shot Saturday afternoon, as a nice treat for all the spring cleaning I was doing. When gathering the ingredients I decided I would go ahead and give it a shot with the baking powder. It came out wonderfully, but I think I'm going to try it without the BP too, because her cake looks so wonderfully dense with apple. This cake gave me one of the nicest moments of the weekend- windows open, sun and breeze streaming in, hands messily mixing crumb topping while Prairie Home Companion seeped out of the speakers from NPR. It made me feel like I was doing something that my grandmother had surely done before me. So pleasant! Second nice moment- eating a piece of this cake!

Apple Crumb Coffee Cake
Recipe from Everybody Likes Sandwiches












for the cake part:
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped

for the crumb part:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

• Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour an 8" round cake pan, shaking off any excess flour. Prepare crumb topping in a medium-sized bowl, crumbling mixtures with your fingers until it looks like crumbs. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add the wet to the dry and mix. Add in apples and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with crumb mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool.

My notes: I had one large Fuji apple in the crisper, so that's what I used. Fuji holds it's shape well when baked, so it's a nice texture with the cake. I used a 9" round pan, no problem there. I cooked it for 25 minutes and my crumb topping was a little dark, so maybe cut it a little earlier next time. This cake was so delicious, especially with a nice cup of coffee, of course.

Mexican Lasagna

If you haven't proclaimed your opinion in my little poll then please scroll down to the next entry and do so! Thanks!

Recently I made a little dish that I came up with when I first started getting interested in cooking. I like to call it Mexican Lasagna and we both really enjoy it. This is a really easy recipe to toss together, and would also freeze well if you're looking for something you can make ahead of time.

Mexican Lasagna
Recipe from me; Serves 6-8












12 corn tortillas
1 lb. ground beef
1 packet taco seasonings
1 bag frozen Mexican mixed veggies
1 jar prepared salsa
2 cups shredded cheese

• Brown the ground beef in a skillet; drain fat, return to skillet and cook with taco seasonings according to packet instructions. Drain liquid from the meat, stir in frozen veggies and let warm over low heat.
• While meat/veggie mixture warms layer bottom of a 9" x 13" pan with corn tortillas. Top with layer of meat/veggie mixture, then layer of salsa, and layer of cheese. Repeat finishing with a layer of tortillas and top with cheese.
• Bake at 300 degrees for 20-25 minutes, till warmed through and cheese is melted.

My notes: The frozen veggie mix I use has black beans, corn, tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper. You could easily toss some canned beans, frozen corn, and chopped onion together and use if you can't find a frozen mix. This time I made a half-batch of lasagna because I had a half pound of ground beef I needed to use, and so we wouldn't have as much leftover. The smaller pans makes for a lot more overlap with the tortillas, when you make a full pan the layers won't be as thick as pictured above. I needed to use up my tortillas though, so I didn't bother with trimming to cut back on the overlap. As for the cheese, I have used just cheddar, cheddar & jack, and a mixture of cheddar & jack and pepper jack. All are great. :)

What's Cooking?

I have indeed been cooking lately, but not much of it has been making it to the blog. I've been feeling a little less than inspired, despite the fact that Spring is more or less here, bringing with it lots of delicious goodies. I guess I've been feeling a little stale when it comes to what I'm posting here. So I turn to you, dear readers who occasionally pass through. What would you like to see when you stop by my little corner of the blogosphere? I would greatly appreciate the few seconds it takes to click the little buttons in the poll I made. Or, if you have suggestions that aren't in my poll, please do share them with me in the comments. I'm really thankful that even one person comes by here to share in my kitchen adventures with me, so if you can, help me make my corner an even nicer place to stop by.

Stuffed Poblanos- Chiles Por You, Chiles Por Me

Monday night I made one of the many recipes that caught my eye from the new April issue of Everyday Food. This recipe was actually easier for me than I thought it would be, and I definitely look forward to making it again. I can also see that this is a recipe that could be good a myriad of ways, depending on the variations you make. You could add corn, pinto beans, or rice to the filling to try more flavors, or even some chorizo or chicken if you don't want to stay in the veggie territory.

Stuffed Poblanos
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes in puree
1 jalapeño chile, ribs and seeds removed, minced
2 small onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves (2 whole, 1 minced)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 19 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 large poblano chiles, halved lengthwise (stems left intact), ribs and seeds removed

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a blender, combine tomatoes in puree, jalapeño, half the onions, and 2 whole garlic cloves; puree. Season with salt. Pour sauce into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine beans, cornmeal, 1/2 cup cheese, remaining onions, minced garlic, cumin, and 3/4 cup water; season with salt and pepper.
• Dividing evenly, stuff poblano halves with bean mixture; place on top of sauce in baking dish. Sprinkle poblanos with remaining 1/2 cup cheese; cover baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake until poblanos are tender, about 45 minutes. Uncover, and continue to cook until sauce is thickened slightly and cheese is browned, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let cool 10 minutes.

My notes: I was going to serve some of our favorite Spanish rice with this, but I couldn't find it at the stores I went to. Instead I made some brown rice, heated up some frozen corn, and mixed both with some of the tomato sauce from the dish. It tasted good and married well with the peppers. Again, I used a 15 oz. can of beans. These mysterious 19 oz. cans still elude me. My peppers could have been a bit bigger though, cause I had a little filling leftover.

Fish Tacos

Last week I made fish tacos with some great trout that my father-in-law caught on one of his frequent fishing trips. It's great having such an outdoorsy father-in-law, especially when you reap the rewards of his hard work. To prepare the fish I cut the fillets into small chunks. I used the Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia coating for the trout and then fried them in a small amount of olive oil over medium heat for no more than 2 minutes per side. If your fish chunks were thicker you would need to increase cooking time. I let the fish nuggets drain on a paper towel while I got the rest of the taco fixings ready. I also chopped up a quick and easy pico de gallo- two plum tomatoes, 1/4 medium red onion, appx. a tablespoon of chopped cilantro, juice of half a lime, and a pinch of coarse salt. This is what I did, but really just eyeballing what's going into the ball and making sure that there is a good ratio of flavors will get you a good result. This was the first time I'd made pico de gallo and it was delicious. We had our fish tacos on warmed corn tortillas, with the pico, shredded green cabbage, and some sour cream. Josh added bit of cheese to his tacos as well. I have some more fish in the freezer and I'm thinking I need to make this meal again very soon.

Mmminestrone With Collard Greens and White Beans

I'm going a bit out of order, as I still have Monday night's cooking to post about, but this soup was so good and easy that I felt the need to write about it now. This was my first time cooking with collard greens. I know that they are somewhat of a staple in Southern cooking, but that didn't seem to tempt me to get acquainted with them before. But I was looking for a simple vegetarian recipe for this week's menu and came across this one, from the October 2007 issue of Everyday Food. I was also painfully aware that I haven't really been trying new things, like I had resolved to do at the new year. This recipe certainly fit both those bills so I decided to give it a go. And I'm so glad that I did. Another healthy green added to our diet is definitely a good thing. Collard greens are rich in calcium, vitamins B1, B2, B9, C, beta carotene, and of course is a good source of fiber. So this is a soup that definitely packs a punch. So glad to have another great go-to soup recipe and to have had a great experience with collard greens.

Minestrone with Collard Greens and White Beans
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 lb., about two bunches, collard greens, stalked removed, leaves coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 19 oz. cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice
Grated Parmesan, for serving

• In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomato paste, and cook, stirring, until onion is coated, about 30 seconds. Add collard greens, thyme, and red-pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until collards start to wilt, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Place 1/4 of beans in a bowl, and mash them with the back of a spoon (this will help thicken soup). Add all the beans to the pan, as well as tomatoes with juice and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer, until collards are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; serve with grated Parmesan, if desired.

My notes: I used 2 15 oz. cans of beans. Where are these magical 19 oz. cans that keep popping up in my recipes? Make sure to clean your greens in several rinses of water, as they can have grit on the leaves. And definitely use the Parmesan, it adds a wonderful flavor. Josh really liked this soup too, and we are both looking forward to enjoying our leftovers for lunch. I think a smaller portion would make a great starter when we have our vegan friends over (minus the cheese for them, of course). And a big, steaming, flavorful bowl is just 260 calories! All those good vitamins and nutrients and so low in calories- you can follow it with a cookie!

My Monsieur

This pleasant sandwich is something that I love to make on the weekends. It's sort of a variation on the basic croque-monsieur idea. I use quality sourdough (I get mine from the Central Market bakery), smoked ham, and mozzarella. Add to that a little fresh ground black pepper and dried rosemary and it sends me over the moon. I generously butter my sourdough slices, top slice with mozzarella, sprinkle with pepper and rosemary, layer several slices of ham, and top with the second slice of bread. Toast over medium-high heat on each side, let set just a moment once it's done so that you can slice it without the cheese sliding too much, and then just enjoy.

Penne With Broccoli and Some Ricotta for Good Measure

This is a recipe I made last week for a quick and easy dinner. And that it was. Recipes like these are going to be very helpful for me over the coming weeks, as it's Dancing With The Stars time again. Already you ask? Yes, thankfully. :) Anywho, I was looking for a veg recipe to fill in my weekly menu last week and I decided to go with this one, which had been on my to-try list for quite awhile. It's actually a recipe for one, so I just doubled it up and we were good to go. I ate mine with ricotta, and Josh ate his without. Either way, we both enjoyed it.

Penne with Broccoli
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 1













Coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 cup penne
1 cup broccoli florets
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 small red onion, cut lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, room temperature

• Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add penne, and cook 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; add broccoli. Cook 2 minutes or until penne is al dente and broccoli is bright green. Reserving 1/2 cup pasta water, drain pasta and broccoli; set aside.
• In the same pan, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring constantly, until onion is tender and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add pasta water as needed to help loosen any browned bits from bottom of pan.
• Add penne and broccoli, and cook until warmed through; season with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta mixture to a serving dish. Top with ricotta; season with salt and pepper.

More Yogurt Cake? Merci!

So, when I bought the yogurt I needed to make the Ina Garten yogurt cake, I ended up getting a big tub of it as I couldn't find any small containers at the store. Which left me with a lot of leftover yogurt. What should I do with it? Make another yogurt cake you say? I like your style. Because that is exactly what I did. This recipe comes from a wonderful book by Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini. Josh was kind enough to give me her Chocolate and Zucchini: Daily Adventures In A Parisian Kitchen as a Christmas gift. This was the first recipe I've made from it, but it won't be the last. I have so many pages tagged that I didn't know where to start, but having an excess of a key ingredient on hand helped me choose this cake. I'm planning on making this cake again this weekend to take over to the In-Law's for a Sunday afternoon lunch.

Yogurt Cake
Recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini













1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus 1 teaspoon to grease pan
1 cup plain unsweetened whole milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon light or amber rum (optional but recommended)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Good pinch of fine sea salt

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides of a 10-inch round cake pan or springform pan with oil and line the bottom with parchment paper if the pan is not springform.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yogurt and sugar. Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla, oil, and rum, if using, and whisk again.
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and whisk until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the pan to loosen. If you're using the springform pan, unclasp the sides. Otherwise, flip the cake onto a plate and flip it back on the rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

My notes: I didn't have any rum on hand, so I used 1 teaspoon almond extract, and it was delicious! Also, my cake pan is 9", so I had a bit of batter leftover that couldn't fit. But, I didn't think to reduce the cooking time a smidge, so at 35 minutes my cake is a very golden brown, ha. It didn't affect the taste at all though, but now I know to shave a couple minutes off. My friend Holly was over for a movie day, and despite her being an incredibly picky eater, she really liked the cake. Josh and I both loved it too! I look forward to making more great recipes from this fantastic book.

Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches with Oven Frites

Josh and I both stayed home on Friday- me because it's my day off, he because it was his "snow day", despite the fact most of the snow we got had melted by sun up. Anyway, I usually don't cook Friday nights, but we had decided to go to Chipotle Thursday night instead. That left me holding the bag for Friday's dinner. I got the idea for these sandwiches from Jane at This Week For Dinner. She uses chicken sausage and mustard. I had some Italian pork sausages in the freezer, so I went in a slightly different direction. And these frites helped me keep up with one of my cooking resolutions as it comes from one of my cookbooks, The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: Original Classics. I got this for Christmas from my mother-in-law and it's chocked full of great recipes which I looked forward to trying, especially if they come out as nice as these frites did.

Sausage, Peppers, and Onion Sandwiches with Oven Frites
Recipes adapted from This Week For Dinner and Martha Stewart Original Classics












Sausage, Pepper and Onion Sandwiches
2 links Italian Pork Sausage
1 bell pepper (I prefer green), ribbed and seeded, sliced lengthwise
1/2 white onion, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup jarred spaghetti sauce
Olive oil
2 wheat buns
Butter

• Butter the cut sides of your buns and toast in skillet over medium-high heat. Once toasted, wipe out frying pan carefully, to remove crumbs, and add olive oil. Add sausage to pan and cook till sides are well browned. Remove from pan.
  
• Add more oil if necessary and add peppers and onions to pan. Season with salt; cook, stirring occasionally, till softened. Meanwhile, cut your sausages in half crosswise, then each half in half again lengthwise. Add sausage back to skillet, cut side down to make sure cooked through.
• Once peppers and onions have softened and sausages are cooked through, add sauce and stir to combine. Divide between buns and serve.

Oven Frites
2 medium baking potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place a heavy-duty baking sheet in the oven. Scrub and rinse potatoes. Cut lengthwise into batons. Place potatoes in a medium bowl. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• When baking sheet is hot, about 15 minutes, remove from oven; place prepared potatoes on baking sheet in a single layer. Return to oven, and bake until potatoes are golden on the bottom, about 30 minutes. Turn potatoes over, and continue cooking until golden all over, another 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

My notes: These sandwiches were delicious, but messy, ha. Almost like a pizza sandwich. Mmmmm. I used wheat hamburger buns because that's what I had, but the sandwiches would probably be a bit messier with split hoagie rolls. These frites were really good too, Josh commented on them several times. The only thing I'd do differently is cut them a bit thicker than I did. I'll definitely use this recipe again.

Salmon Burgers and Black Eyed Pea Salad

I was supposed to make these delicious Salmon Burgers Tuesday night, but I got all caught up in my civic duty and didn't have time, so they got shuffled to Wednesday night. I had been craving them for awhile, so I'm glad that I finally added them to the menu. This recipe makes 4, and I cook 2 and freeze the other 2 so I'll get to have them again real soon. I can't remember where I got this recipe at all. It's one of the first one's I tried when we started eating a bit better. At the time I had just scoured the interwebs for recipes, not paying much attention to where they were coming from. That was before I even had the idea to have a cooking blog. In fact, that search for recipes is what lead to my discovery of a lot of the food blogs I still read today. Anyway, I've got no idea where this one came from, but it's a keeper for sure. I served it with one of my favorite sides, Black Eyed Pea Salad. This dish is easy to throw together and has a great kick to it.

Salmon Burgers
Makes 4












16 oz. canned salmon, drained, cleaned and flaked
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup fine, dry, unseasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon prepared mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

• In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients until well mixed. Divide into 4 equal parts and form 1/2" thick patties. Preheat a generously greased skillet on medium-high heat.
• Cook 8-10 minutes or until browned, turning them after 4-5 minutes.
• To freeze extra patties: place on waxed paper on baking sheet and flash freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then transfer to freezer bag or air-tight container and replace in freezer.

Black Eyed Pea Salad
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4















1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 10 oz. package frozen corn, thawed
1 red bell pepper, ribs and seeds removed, finely diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

• In a medium bowl, whisk mustard, vinegar and oil. Add all vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, toss to combine. Serve room temperature or slightly chilled.

My notes: See, didn't I tell you it was easy. Since the only real prep work is dicing the pepper and scallions I can pretty much get this salad together while my salmon burgers cook and everything is ready to go to the dinner table in a flash. This salad goes great with lots of things, from salmon, turkey, and beef burgers to some nice pork or chicken. Love it!

Tortellini with Peas, Please!

I made this quick and fast recipe last week. Really yummy, this is another recipe that I'd seen and had been floating around in my head, waiting for the day it would land on the menu. This is going to be a great recipe to add to the repertoire, because it truly is one of the easiest. Yum! It would be so easy to have the handful of ingredients in your kitchen at all times, leaving you with a super speedy meal when you just don't know what to make. It's also so fast to throw together it would make a good meal for last minute entertaining. In fact, with a main dish as easy as this, you could spend a little time on a great dessert and impress your guests with how quickly you brought dinner together in a crunch.

Tortellini with Peas
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 1/2 lb. frozen cheese tortellini
1 10 oz. package frozen peas
2 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, smashed
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook tortellini about 2 minutes less than package instructions. Add peas; cook until pasta is al dente and peas are tender, 2 minutes more. Reserving 1 cup pasta water, drain. Set aside pasta and peas.
• Melt butter in pasta pot over medium-low heat. Add garlic; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Discard garlic.
• To pasta pot, add pasta and peas, Parmesan, and 3/4 cup reserved pasta water; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Add more pasta water, if necessary, to thin sauce. Serve, topped with additional Parmesan if desired.

My notes: Now see, how easy is that? Especially because frozen pasta takes no time at all to cook. My frozen tortellini took all of 3 minutes. This could also be delicious with a full-blown alfredo sauce, but I guess that would really push the calorie count up, ha.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter

I had noticed this recipe before. It had wormed it's way into a back corner of my mind, and slept there, waiting for the day it would be awoken. And last week while I was planning my weekly menu, it finally arose. Molly mentioned it once again on her blog last week, which brought it to the forefront of my mind. I decided it would be perfect for this week, and as it turned out I picked the perfect night to make it. It was quite cold last night, and sleet came shining down most of the evening. This sauce was bright, but also very comforting. Josh is not always the biggest fan of sauce. He has been known to skip out on it completely and just coat is spaghetti with butter and Parmesan instead. But he seemed pleased to try this, and in fact had a second helping. Huzzah, a very simple and delicious sauce that my husband is happy to eat. In the future I would like to pull this recipe out for entertaining.

Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter
Recipe from Orangette, adapted from Marcella Hazan; Makes 4 servings












2 cups whole, peeled, canned plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juices (about one 28-oz. can)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt, to taste

• Combine the tomatoes, their juices, the butter, and the onion halves in a medium saucepan. Add a pinch or two of salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, at a very slow but steady simmer, adjusting the heat as necessary, for about 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free from the tomato. Stir occasionally, mashing any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon. Taste and salt as needed.
• Discard the onion before tossing the sauce with pasta.

My notes: I think one of the things that I really liked about this is that it reminded me very much of the simplest of simple meals my grandmother used to make when I was growing up- macaroni and tomato juice. Yep, that's about as simple as it gets, short of just dry macaroni. This had a similar, but so much fuller flavor. Loved this sauce. Try it. I added some cracked black pepper and a little freshly grated Parmesan. Josh added a lot of Parmesan, as per usual.

Lemon and Blueberry Yogurt Cake

This weekend I was in the mood to do some baking, and I was also in the mood to work on my cooking goals- to cook at least two recipes from all of my cookbooks this year. It was a really Springy day yesterday, great way to start off the month of March, which put me in the mood for something light and bright. I decided to try out Ina Garten's Lemon Yogurt Cake from The Barefoot Contessa At Home. While looking over the recipe I decided I would add a handful of the frozen blueberries I had- a special touch for Josh who loves blueberries. This turned out really good, although a little stouter than Ina's since my loaf pans dimensions are a bit wider than what the recipe called for. No matter, as it's all in the taste and the taste is great. Just finished off another slice before starting this post, as a matter of fact. :)

Lemon and Blueberry Yogurt Cake
Recipe from Ina Garten; Makes 1 loaf












1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cups vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease over paper and flour the pan.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl. In another bowl, whisk the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour half the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle in the blueberries, and top with the rest of the batter. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the load comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, cook the 1/2 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
• When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully, place cake on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

My notes: The recipe also called for a glaze of 1 cup confectioners sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, but I wanted to keep it a little lighter. Instead once the first pouring with lemon-sugar mixture had finished dripping off the cake and had soaked in, I poured the mixture from the baking sheet back into the measuring cup and made another pass over the cake with it. Doubling it over gave it a nice soft glaze, but kept it feeling light since it's not a hard icing. I really like this cake, and Josh remarked on it's great flavor several times while eating his slice. Definitely going to make this recipe again.

Best Guacamole Ever

Okay, I don't usually make grandiose statements like the one above. But by now I hope you can trust that I wouldn't mislead you. And I feel pretty secure in the truth of the title of this post. One of my great tastebud pleasures is guacamole, and this recipe comes from my favorite guacamole purveyor, Chipotle. Yes, I said Chipotle. No, not some fancy authentic Mexican restaurant, nor some shack in the Yucatan. I heart lots of guacamole, but my favorite comes from the local fast food burrito bar. So, when I wanted to make guacamole I wanted to know that I was going to love it. I searched the interwebs for the Chipotle recipe, and I found it. And to my great pleasure, it's just as good as the stuff I get with my burrito bowl. So, if you have any faith in me, give it a shot. I really don't think you'll regret it.

Guacamole
Recipe from Chipotle Mexican Grill; Makes appx. 1 cup




















1 large ripe Hass avocado, peeled and pitted
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onions
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 serrano chili, seeded,chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt

• In a bowl, mash avocado with fork (or potato masher, like me). Add lime juice and mix. Add all other ingredients and blend well. Serve with tortilla chips. If preparing in advance at all, be sure to place plastic wrap directly on surface of guacamole to help prevent discoloration, and store in refrigerator.

My notes: Confession time- when I made it Monday night I totally forgot the garlic. Result? Still totally delicious. Josh and I ate it all that night, despite that we were practically out of chips. We scooped with tiny shards of tortilla to try and not waste any of it. Make sure you've got plenty of chips when you make it (unlike yours truly), because you won't want to waste any of it either. Also, be sure you don't accidentally throw away your one lonely serrano when you get home and unload the groceries. Not that I'm speaking from previous experience or anything. But they are so small, and can easily wander off.

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia

That is what our Monday evening looked like, and let me just say that it was even more beautiful in person, not to mention delicious. Please, don't try to nibble on your computer screen, it won't taste as good. it had sadly been awhile since Josh and I sat down together at our own table and ate dinner together. We rarely eat dinner together as it is during the week, since he works late most days. And then we are frequently distracted by the talking boxes and laptop computers. But Monday night I made us the lovely meal above and we sat down and enjoyed it, just the two of us. Well, and David Bowie spinning round on the turntable. I'll fill you in on the guacamole later, this post is about the main course. I bought some frozen tilapia fillets at Target a couple weeks ago and really wanted to use them. These turned out to be great. They thawed easily, were easy to handle, and easy to cook. Definitely going to get these again, I can't imagine how invaluable they could be for last minute meals. Especially this meal which consisted of so few ingredients, it's almost diabolically simple. And let's remember, that's me saying it. The girl who has trouble with almost everything in the kitchen, ha.

Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons paprika
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 (6-8 oz. each) skinless tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons olive oil

• In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal and paprika; season generously with salt and pepper. Separate fillets into thick and thin sides. Dredge each piece in cornmeal mixture, patting it on to coat completely.
• In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook as many pieces as will fit (without crowding) until golden brown and firm, about 2 minutes per side for thin pieces and 4 minutes per side for thick ones. Transfer to a plate; sprinkle with salt, if desired, and cover loosely to keep warm. Wipe skillet with a paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil and fish.

My notes: I halved the recipe so I could only prepare enough fish for the two of us, and I still had a little bit of cornmeal mixture leftover. Really, I think it's pretty clear just how easy this recipe is. And it's equally delicious, so give it a shot! I'll be back with a post about the guacamole-love-of-my-life.

Skillet Potato Salad

After we had that Warm Spinach Salad I kept thinking about the flavor of the potatoes with the dressing. It was haunting my taste buds and just had to be re-visited. So last week I made a little something I've dubbed Skillet Potato Salad. I'll probably continue to tweak it, as I'd like it to be more colorful, but it was perfectly delicious just as it is.

Skillet Potato Salad
Adapted from Everyday Food Recipe; Serves 2-4 depending












2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb.), scrubbed and diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 shallot, minced
Parmesan cheese, grated

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browned, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the other tablespoon olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and shallot. Season with salt and pepper. Finely grate Parmesan cheese into dressing to taste (follow your personal preference here).
• When potatoes are done cooking, add to bowl and toss with dressing. Serve.

My notes: We had these potatoes with tuna salad pitas. I'll write about the delicious tuna salad another time. I think these potatoes would be good for a brunch too, something a bit different from regular skillet potatoes or hash browns.

Dinner Tonight

So, you guys now how almost everything I make comes from my beloved Everyday Food magazine? Well I just found out that there is a new(ish) blog for the publication, called Dinner Tonight. Doesn't that just beat all? I would like a little more discussion about the recipes they are posting, but in general it's fun to peruse what they've got up so far and they seem to get something up almost every day. If you like Everyday Food as much as I do then maybe you should check it out!

Sweets for the Sweet

I know, I know- sure, I got our Valentine's Day dinner posted before too long after the day, but here I am almost a week later posting the dessert I made for us. But things kept me a little busy this weekend. Things like taxes. Blech. And a friend's wedding. Hurrah. Anyway, here I am with the goods, tardy but not absent. I worked with what I had in the kitchen, which included semisweet chocolate and half a bar of cream cheese. This recipe is supposed to turn out different than it did in my case, but that's because I decided I wanted more of a flavored topping than a completely marbled cream cheese brownie. So I sort of plopped the cream cheese mixture on top of the brownie batter and ran a knife through it to marble it just a bit, but keep most of the cream cheese sitting atop the chocolate. I liked it a lot, but I'll try it the regular way sometime soon too.

Super Fudgy Brownies with Cream Cheese Crust
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16












Brownie batter:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs

Cream Cheese batter:
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9" square pan with butter. Line bottom and two sides with a strip of parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on the two sides. butter paper, and set pan aside. In a small bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
• Place butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth; remove bowl from pan. Add sugar; mix to combine. Add eggs, and mix to combine. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
• Whisk cream cheese and butter. Whisk in sugar, egg, and flour. Spoon mixture over brownie batter, leaving some spots of brownie batter showing through. Run knife through pan to marble top.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached., 50 to 60 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Using paper overhang, lift brownies out of pan; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Use a dampened serrated knife to cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

My notes: Doing it this way you will probably have a bit of the cream cheese batter leftover. Just an FYI.

Valentine's Day Dinner

I decided I wanted to put a little extra effort into Thursday night's dinner, since it was Valentine's Day. But at the same time I needed something not too difficult for a weeknight. In the same issue of Everyday Food and in fact just one page before the warm spinach salad below, I found my inspiration. The EF recipe for Open-Faced Cheeseburgers with Mushrooms and Onion was the starting point for my less-fancy sounding Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks. The recipe called for fontina cheese and tomatoes, serving the mushroom and onion on the side, and resting your burger on a slice of sourdough. I canceled the tomato, substituted swiss cheese, and eliminated the bun altogether- instead choosing to place our burgers directly on the mushrooms and onion. Josh loves mushroom swiss burgers, and I'd never made them in any form before so I knew this would be a good Love Day treat.

Mushroom Swiss Burger Stacks
Adapted from Everyday Food; Serves 2












1-2 tablespoons olive oil
5 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 medium red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon red-wine vinegar
1 pound ground beef chuck
Worcestershire sauce
2 slices swiss cheese

• In a large skillet, heat 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
• Add onion and remaining 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to brown, 5 to 7 minutes (if bottom of skillet becomes too dry, add a little water and scrape up browned bits). Return mushrooms to skillet; stir in vinegar, and set aside.
• Season your beef with salt and pepper and several dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Very gently mix and form meat into patties. Season again with salt and pepper. Cook to your personal preference. Add swiss cheese slices several minutes before burgers are done to allow cheese to melt over top. Serve burgers on top of mushrooms and onion.

My notes: The original recipe called for broiling the burgers. I cooked mine in my grill pan on the stove. This was easier for me since Josh gets home much later and I eat before him. Does your husband like to grill? Put him in charge of the burgers while you make the mushrooms and onion. However you'd like to prepare the burgers is up to you, but I highly recommend you prepare it all soon!

Back To The Future

The future of my cooking that is. Finally back to my usual cooking schedule after all the travel and other interruptions. Trying out two new recipes this week, the first one was made last night. I have had this on my menu once or twice in the past few weeks but it just hadn't happened for one reason or another. Last night my plans finally came to fruition. I really enjoyed this recipe, despite the fact that I was having a clumsy night in the kitchen. I think I'll definitely make some variation of this recipe again in the future.

Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Egg and Potatoes
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4












4 tablespoons olive oil
2 baking potatoes (about 1 lb. total), scrubbed and cut into 1/2" cubes
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 shallot, minced
2 bunches flat-leaf spinach (about 2 pounds total), thick stems removed, leaves washed well and roughly torn
2 ounces Parmesan cheese, shaved with vegetable peeler
4 large eggs

• In a large non-stick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add potatoes; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until potatoes are tender and browned, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons oil with vinegar, mustard, and shallot; season with salt and pepper, and whisk to combine. Add spinach and Parmesan (do not toss); set aside.
• When potatoes are done cooking, immediately transfer to bowl with spinach and dressing (reserve skillet). Toss salad until spinach is slightly wilted, and divide among four plates.
• Heat skillet over medium, and gently crack eggs into skillet without breaking yolks. season with slat and pepper. Cook until whites are almost set, about 1 minute. Cover, turn off heat, and let stand until whites are just set but yolks are still soft, about 2 minutes more. Top each salad with a fried egg and serve immediately.

My notes: I accidentally over-cooked the eggs. Well, I was busy rinsing dishes and just wasn't paying too close attention. Our yolks were still soft, but not very runny so they didn't really mingle with the dressing and salad like I believe they are supposed to. Anyway, the real star of this salad is the combination of flavors from the potatoes and dressing. That was a really fabulous flavor and scent for me. I think this salad, minus the egg, would be a really great accompaniment to the quick and easy crust-less quiches I like to prepare for dinner. Also, I halved the recipe for just the two of us, and since I was doing that I took the easy way out and bought a ready-to-eat bag of baby spinach

Pots of Comfort

Well, after getting back from NYC on Monday there wasn't a whole lot in the pantry and fridge for making dinners. I was however lucky enough to have some frozen chicken breasts, along with the rest of the ingredients for a chicken pot pie I was going to make a couple weeks ago, but didn't. I tossed the chicken in the fridge to thaw and last night was actually able to make us a real dinner. I've made this Kraft recipe for Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie before, but this time I decided to use my 10 oz. ramekins to make 4 individual pies. This worked really well except that I probably didn't vent my crusts well enough, cause they spilled over some. I anticipated that might happen and they were on a baking sheet, so no matter. Also, I could have added some more veggies. I had a big bag instead of a 10 oz. box, so I eyeballed it, and one of the pies ended up a little skimpy on the filling. To cut the crust to size I just pressed the upside-down ramekins onto the unrolled pie crust and cut the circles out. This way I even have a small ball of dough leftover that I'll probably make a couple of hand pies from this weekend. I was gonna do that last night too, but I was also trying to do laundry while cooking and all that multi-tasking was beginning to catch up with me. Anyway, this recipe is a great one to have because all the ingredients can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Maybe you've even got the ingredients in your kitchen right now! Get to cooking!

Pizza Pie

Hey guys! I'm back from NYC. Unfortunately I don't really have a whole lot to post about food wise. We ate a lot of good food on our trip, but I was too lazy to take pics of most of it. While in the city though I was determined to eat at a certain pizzeria. John's Pizzeria on Bleecker St. in Greenwich Village was on my personal to-eat list primarily because of it's cameo in Woody Allen's Manhattan. In fact, when you watch the movie you can see the booth I sat in! But I also read good things about their pizza, so I was hoping it wouldn't be a disappointment. Which it wasn't. We ordered a simple pepperoni & black olive, as Josh and I can rarely agree on toppings past that. Boy oh boy, I wish I was eating this pizza right now! If you're ever wandering through Greenwich Village you should stop for a pie- no slices. You'd end up ordering an entire pie's worth of slices anyway, ha.