Puff Pastry

Last week I asked Chris to pick up frozen puff pastry for me when he was at the grocery store.  He said that was an odd request which I thought was a strange comment but didn't question it.  When he came home I was unpacking the groceries to find the following

I immediately starting cracking up and explained what I was actually looking for. 

My original plan was to make some fruit danishes however I never got around to making them before we ate all of the fruit.  I started experimenting with a few things last week using the puff pastry.

The first experiment used the Crab, Avocado and Mango Salad from my California Inspired Appetizer post.  I simply cut a square of puff pastry and place a spoonful of the salad in the middle and then folded the pasty in a triangle. Sealed the edges and brushed the top of the pastry with an egg wash.  I cooked the pastry at 375 degrees until the pastry was slightly browned on top, approximately 20 minutes.  I drizzled the Citrus Vinaigrette on the plate so that I could "dip" each bite, it was surprisingly delightful!

I forgot to photograph the second experiment, which turned out to be a more of a roll up.  I took a square of puff pastry and spread some of my Apricot and Pluot Jam, placed 2 slices of Speck and crumbled some goat cheese.  I then rolled up the pastry into a log.  I brushed the outside with an egg wash and baked again on 375 degrees.  This tasted good but didn't keep the formation of the log as much as I had hoped. 

My next goal is to figure out how to make the Haitian Pâté that my sister's mother-in-law makes, it's absolutely divine.  Her mother-in-law makes her own pastry dough which is delicious but I was going to cheat and use puff pastry. The filling is this delicious spicy ground beef filling.

Recipe Review

My sister made my Cream of Celery Soup with Roasted Beets recipe earlier this week. She tried posting her feedback but was having some technical difficulties so I am posting this for her.  She followed the recipe exactly except she added a dash or two of hot sauce.  If you know my sister she adds hot sauce to EVERYTHING!  Even 6 months pregnant she still likes everything spicy.  I personally have no idea how that is possible since I got heartburn from water when I was pregnant with Stella.  She also served it hot rather than chilled. They accompanied the soup with BLT sandwiches. 

She rated the soup 4 asparagus spears.

Mario Batali's Ragu Bolognese

I was looking to use up some carrots and tomatoes that I had on hand and found this recipe on Food Network.com.  I know Bolognese focuses on meat versus tomato but I added a little anyway.  I roasted three tomatoes, peeled and seeded and then hand squeezed them into the sauce.

Ingredients

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 carrot, finely, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 rib celery, finely diced

1 clove garlic, sliced

1 pound veal, ground

1 pound pork, ground

1/4 pound pancetta or slab bacon, ground

1/2 tube tomato paste

1 cup milk

1 cup dry white wine

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating

Directions

In a 6 to 8-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and sweat over medium heat until the vegetables are translucent and soft but not browned, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the veal, pork, and pancetta and stir into the vegetables. Add the meat over high heat, stirring to keep the meat from sticking together until browned. Add the tomato paste, milk, and wine and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and remove from the heat.

When ready to use, the cooked pasta should be added to a saucepan with the appropriate amount of hot ragu Bolognese, and tosses so that the pasta is evenly coated by the ragu.

Jams

I have been experimenting with making jams. So far I have made three kinds but have only tasted the first one. So I am anxious to try the other two.  The first jam I made was the Apricot and Pluot Jam; I have since made Balsamic Champagne Grape Jam and Barlett Pear Jam.  All have been freezer jams so once we return from vacation I will give the other two a try and let you know how they turned out.  I have a lot of apples and pluots that I will need to do something with before we leave for our trip so I may be making some additional jams/jellies or applesauce before the week is out.  If you have any recipe suggestions please let me know.

Balsamic and Blue Cheese Pork Chop with Caramelized Pears and Onions

We are getting ready to leave for our Big Birthday Vacation on Saturday so I am trying to cook with as many ingredients I have on hand to use everything up before we leave.  You are probably wondering what the Big Birthday Vacation is? My birthday and my husband's birthday are a day apart, so this year we decided we would go on vacation to celebrate since I am turning the Big 3-5! We are going to San Francisco for a night and then off to Napa for 3 nights.  I am excited about our trip however I am having heart palpitations about not seeing S for 5 days/4 nights or approximately 108 hours.  I have only been apart from her for about 18 hours since she was born so I think I am having separation anxiety.  She is staying with her grandparents so at least she will be in good hands while we are gone.  Getting back to tonight's meal.

Menu
Balsamic and Blue Cheese Center Cut Pork Chop
Caramelized Pears and Onions
Roasted Cremini Mushrooms and Summer Squash

Making the Pork Chops
Take two boneless center cut pork chops and place them in a shallow baking dish.  Pour about 1/4 cup of White Balsamic Vinegar over the top of the pork  chops.  Season with salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the pork chop however the internal temperature should be between 160 degrees (medium) to 170 degrees (well done).  Once the pork chop is done you will take it out of the oven and add some Point Reyes Blue Cheese crumbles to the top of the pork chop. Place under the broiler for a couple minutes just long enough to melt the cheese and get a slight crust on the top.  Be sure that your pork chop is not in there too long or it will get overcooked and become tough.

Pears and Caramelized Onions
Peel and slice 1 medium large or 2 small sweet onions
Core and slice 2 Bartlett Pears (Sliced into strips)
In a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive and 1 tablespoon of butter.  Add the pears and onions and cooking on a medium-low heat.  Stir occasionally. Season with kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and a little thyme. Add a little more butter if needed.

Summer Squash and Cremini Mushrooms
In another shallow baking dish, add slices of summer squash and cleaned cremini mushrooms.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with Montreal Steak Seasoning and some minced garlic.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees

Serve the pork chop over a bed of the caramelized pears and onions.  The blue cheese really compliments the pears and onions so be sure to get a bite with both the chop and pears/onions.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

Menu
Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes with Basil
Fresh Pluots with Mint
Strawberries and Blueberries
Italian Sausage Sandwiches
Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

We had a nice casual dinner with my in-laws tonight and we had Stella as our entertainment.  I could just sit and watch her play all day long. Her facial expressions are priceless.  I just wish I knew what she was trying to say as she babbles all day long.

We received a ton of fresh fruit today so I thought I would serve some with dinner.  I just plated some sliced pluots with a little chopped mint on one small plate and some sliced strawberries and blueberries on another.

We also received a nice ripe heirloom tomato. I simply sliced it, added a little salt and pepper and sprinkled it with a little chopped fresh basil.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches

My husband picked up 5 nice size mild Italian sausages from Lemon Tree Grocer; they make all of their own  sausage.  Typically I use their homemade giardiniera and mozzarella sausage for this recipe but they were sold out.

In a dutch oven, heat about 1 tablespoon of olive and 2 minced garlic cloves.  Add the sausage and brown on each side.  Once the sausage is browned, add a splash of dry red wine to deglaze the bottom of the pan and lift all of the browned bits.  Remove the sausage temporarily onto a plate.  Add slices of one green bell pepper, one red bell pepper and a half of cubanelle pepper. I also used a medium red onion cut into small chunks.  Let the onions and peppers cook for a few minutes.

Then add a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, stir well and add back in the Italian sausage links. Place the top on the dutch oven and cook on a medium-low heat.  Stir occasionally.  Let cook for approximately 20 minutes.  Heat up a grill pan on the stove top (or fire up the grill), place the sausage links on the grill just long enough to brown up the outside. Return to the dutch oven until you are ready to serve. To plate place a sausage link on a sausage bun with a little of the pepper and onion mixture on top.

Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Boil red potatoes until ready (you want to make sure they stay whole because you will be slicing them), drain and run under cool water.  Slice the potatoes with about 1/4 inch thick slices.  In a separate bowl make a vinaigrette by whisking together 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of stone ground mustard, approximately 3 tablespoons of good olive oil and the juice and a half of lemon.  Season with salt and pepper and a little thyme.  Mix well.  Cover the potatoes with the vinaigrette.  Top the potato salad with chopped chives and fresh parsley.  Place in fridge to cool.

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

2nd Fruit Delivery and Bushel Number 6

This weeks fruit delivery included Red Grapes, Flavor King Plouts, Gala Apples, Valencia Oranges, Strawberries and Bartlett Pears.  I see an apple pie in my future which makes me very happy!!

Our sixth vegetable delivery had a great variety in it. 

Sweet Corn
Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomato
A variety of peppers including - sweet, poblano, cayenne and banana peppers
Honeydew melon
Onions
Kale
Celery Root
2 heads of lettuce
Carrots
Eggplant

California Inspired Appetizers

On Sunday my sister and her husband came over so we can plan our Napa vacation. I figured what's better than wine and cheese while you are planning a trip to wine country.

Menu
Fig and Goat Cheese Crostini
White Stilton and Apricots
Crab, Avocado and Mango Salad with a Citrus Twist
Cantaloupe, Speck, Shaved Petit Baque with a Balsamic Glaze and Mint

Fig and Goat Cheese Crostini
I found this recipe on Epicurious.com and just made a few tweaks to it.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons minced shallot
• 2 (3-inch) fresh thyme sprigs plus 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 Turkish or 1/4 California bay leaf
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 lb dried Black Mission figs, finely chopped (3/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup Port
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 12 (1/2-inch-thick) diagonally cut baguette slices
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 oz soft mild goat cheese at room temperature
• 2 fresh ripe figs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Garnish: fresh thyme leaves

Make savory fig jam:
Cook shallot, thyme sprigs, and bay leaf in butter in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Add dried figs, Port, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, until figs are soft, about 10 minutes. If there is still liquid in saucepan, remove lid and simmer, stirring, until most of liquid is evaporated, 3 to 4 minutes more. Discard bay leaf and thyme sprigs and transfer jam to a bowl. Cool, then stir in minced thyme and salt and pepper to taste.

Make toasts while jam cools:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 350°F.

Halve each baguette slice diagonally, then arrange on a baking sheet and brush tops lightly with oil. Bake until lightly toasted, about 7 minutes. Cool on baking sheet on a rack.

Assemble crostini:
Spread each toast with 1 teaspoon fig jam and top with about 1 1/2 teaspoons goat cheese and 2 pieces fresh fig.

Cooks' notes:

•Fig jam can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring to room temperature before using.
•Toasts can be made 1 day ahead and cooled, then kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

My additions:

* I added about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar to the savory jam once it began to boil

* I drizzled the toasts with a little olive oil before I put them in the oven

White Stilton with Apricots
This was a cheese that I purchased from Costco and just served it with assorted crackers and some Champagne grapes as a garnish.


Crab, Avocado, Mango Salad with a Citrus Twist
The saw a recipe for Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad with Citrus Dressing on Epicurious.com and then came up with the following:

In a mixing bowl I combine the ingredients below:
1 fresh mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1 1/2 avocados, halved, peeled, pitted and diced
approximately 1/4 cup of diced red onion
approximately 1 1/2 cups lump crab meat
Be sure when you peel the avocado to keep them intact as you will use them as a serving bowl.

In a separate bowl combine the juice of 1 large orange, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tablespoon of honey and approximately 2 tablespoons of good olive oil. Whisk together and pour over the other ingredients. Once everything is combined you can fill the empty avocado halves with the salad.  You can serve with toasts or crackers or its good by itself.

Cantaloupe, Speck, Shaved Petit Baque with a Balsamic Glaze and Mint

On a platter place sliced fresh cantaloupe, thin slices of La Quercia Speck Americano, shaved Petit Basque Cheese (Sheep's milk cheese), drizzle with Balsamic Glaze and top with slices of fresh mint.

Add 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar to a pan on medium-low heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer until the vinegar thickens. Let cool before adding to the salad.

On a side note, my foodographer criticized a few of my photos last week however a couple of the photos from this meal were underwhelming.  We may just need to add a photo rating scale...ha,ha!

Tomato Risotto and Tropical Caprese Salad

The goal of tonight was to use up a number of the fruits and veggies I have in the fridge.  I was able to incorporate Mango, Tomato, Fennel, Onion and Basil in this menu.

Menu
Tomato Risotto
Tropical Caprese Salad

Tropical Caprese Salad
My husband's first reaction was cheese and mango?  But once he had a bite he was pleasantly surprised.  I replaced the tomato slices in a typical caprese salad with fresh slices of mango.  The directions for this is really quite simple. Peel the mango and cut into slices. Slice some fresh mozzarella and drizzle with a basil vinaigrette.

I made my vinaigrette in a food processor by adding a palm of roughly chopped fresh basil leaves, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of White Balsamic Vinegar, a bit of lemon zest, 1 garlic clove minced and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. I just kept blending until it the basil broke down quite a bit.

Place the mango and mozzarella on a platter and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Finish off by sprinkling a few chopped fresh basil leaves on the top of the salad. I had intended on also including some Speck Americano on the platter but forgot to get it out of the fridge.  It's been one of those days.

I found the risotto recipe on Epicurious, it was originally published in the July 2008 Gourmet magazine.

Tomato Risotto
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
Scant 1/4 teaspoon crumbled saffron threads
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium fennel bulb, fronds chopped and reserved for garnish, stalks discarded, and bulb finely chopped (2 cups)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Core tomatoes and cut a shallow X in bottom of each, then blanch tomatoes in boiling water 10 seconds. Transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop cooking.

Peel tomatoes using tip of a small paring knife, then halve tomatoes crosswise. Squeeze juice from tomato halves through a sieve into a bowl, pressing on and then discarding seeds. Finely dice tomato flesh.

Bring stock, water, saffron, and tomato liquid to a simmer in a medium saucepan and keep at a bare simmer.

Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until foam subsides, then add fennel and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to turn golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

Add rice and cook, stirring constantly, until it turns opaque, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, then add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed. Continue simmering and adding hot tomato-saffron stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is tender and creamy-looking but still al dente, 18 to 25 minutes total (you will have some stock left over).

Stir in diced tomatoes, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Thin with stock if desired.

Serve topped with chopped fennel fronds.

Note- I only had about 1/3 of a cup of fennel bulb but it was still delicious!

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Adult Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Last night I was flying solo since my husband was out of town.  After work I brought S with to run a few errands so by the time we got home it was pretty much bed time. We followed our usual routine of reading, having a bottle, saying our prayers and then off to the crib she goes.  But there seems to be a gap between 8:30 pm when I came down from putting S to bed and 9:45pm when I realized I hadn't eaten dinner. So I looked around the kitchen to see what I had in the fridge that could be made very quickly and grilled cheese was the winner.  One issue, I didn't have any sliced American or cheddar cheese.  Time to improvise...

• I cut two slices of Challah bread and buttered one side of each slice
• I took some Whole Foods Apricot Goat Cheese spread and put a little on one of the inner sides of the bread.
• Layered on two slices of tomato
• Added a little basil
• Topped it off with a few crumbles of Point Reyes Blue Cheese
• Grilled it up and it was surprisingly delicious!

Chris would like me to point out that he did not take this picture since there were shadows in it.  I told me that I have lost my foodographer license.  Ha, ha

Apricot and Pluot Jam

This was a post from last night that I typed up but never hit publish. Oops!

It should be interesting to see how this turns out.  My original plan was to make peach jam until I realized that I didn't have enough peaches left, so I moved on to apricot jam.  I found a recipe to make freezer jam which seemed right up my alley, not too complex and not a big time commitment.  I started by cutting my fruit and heating it with a little lemon juice per the recipe.  Then I moved on to the mixing of the pectin. This particular recipe required you to boil water and then add it to a blender or food processor so that you could slowly add the pectin until it dissolves.  This step seemed easy enough.  Well this smarty pants read the recipe wrong and added 4 tablespoons of pectin as opposed to 4 teaspoons. The mixture in my food processor resembled taffy.  Wouldn't you know that I only purchased one package of pectin so I was in a bit of a predicament.  In an effort to not lose all of my apricots I got in the car and went to Jewel to get another container.  The approximate time was 9:30 p.m., so I was slightly irritated by this. Thankfully I live only a few blocks from the grocery store so round trip it only took me about 10 minutes.  The issue now was my original recipe was foiled because the new Pectin had a slightly different recipe.  So figuring I really had nothing to lose at this point, I added some Pluot and a little apple juice, the new pectin and let it boil.  The jars are cooling so that I can put some in the freezer and one or two in the fridge. We will see how it turns out.  I really need to learn to read more carefully when I am doing things like this.  As I was adding the pectin I thought to myself, "this sure seems like a lot of this for such a small amount of water" which probably would have been the point I should have glanced back at the recipe.  Oh well, live and learn.

I'm happy to report that I tried the jam this evening and its not bad.  It could have probably used a tad bit more sugar but considering it was my first time making this I would give myself 3 asparagus spears as a rating.

 

Pan Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes

I have been looking for recipes to incorporate our Champagne grapes and found this on Epicurious.  It was absolutely delicious, I'm so happy I came across it.

Menu
Sliced Tomatoes with Basil
Pan Seared Scallops with Champagne Grapes and Almonds
Polenta

The best part about this recipe is it doesn't take long to prepare at all.  I was actually in a huge time crunch tonight trying to get dinner ready so my husband could take Izzy to the vet.  I was able to make this in a very short period of time, definitely less than 30 minutes.  I did have to skip the Almonds considering that was the one item I forgot at the grocery store. However, I'm not sure the dish actually even needed them.

As far as the polenta goes,  I had some that comes in the little tube that you basically just have to heat up. To prepare I put it in a pot and melted a small amount of butter and then seasoned it with a little thyme and salt and pepper.  I used a whisk to break it up and stir to get a smoother consistency.  The tomatoes were simply sliced, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and sprinkled with fresh basil.

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Challah French Toast Stuffed with Mascarpone

Apparently this was the weekend to re-create dishes from Father's Day.  I used my recipe from Father's Day Breakfast as my inspiration and made a few tweaks, delicious tweaks at that.  This morning I made Challah French toast stuffed with Mascarpone topped with fresh fruit.

 















Ingredients

• a loaf of Challah bread
• Mascarpone Cheese
• 3 eggs
• Skim milk (1/4 cup)
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon stick
• Vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
• Apricots, Pluots and Blueberries
• Powdered Sugar

I used the Challah bread from Trader Joes again and also picked up the TJ brand of Mascarpone cheese.  Because I was using two slices of bread this time, I tried to slice them a little thinner than 1 inch.  In a bowl whisk together 3 eggs and approximately 1/4 cup milk. To the egg mixture add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Grate fresh nutmeg and fresh cinnamon into mixture.

I put a tiny bit of butter in the pan before cooking the french toast.  Spread some mascarpone on 1 side of each slice of bread. Put the slices together like a sandwich with the Mascarpone in the middle and dip the bread into the egg mixture. Be sure both sides are covered.  Let excess drip off back into bowl. Cook in pan until slightly browned on both sides.  Cover with fresh blueberries and slices of fresh apricots and pluots. Top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Peaches and Pluots

Menu
Grilled Ribeye
Truffled Wild Mushrooms over Whipped White Beans
Spring Greens with Grilled Peaches and Pluots, Bleu Cheese and Balsamic Glaze

My husband bought enormous ribeyes to grill for dinner.  Thankfully the thunderstorms cleared so that we could grill our meal. As you know we have a ton of fresh fruit that I need to incorporate this week so tonight I added peaches and pluots to our salad.

Spring Greens with Grilled Peaches and Pluots

I used the salad I made on Father's Day as a base and then added a few twists to come up with this version.  In a serving bowl, drizzle spring greens with a little grapeseed oil and add the balsamic glaze.  To make the balsamic glaze simply add 1/2 balsamic vinegar to a pan and cook on medium-low heat until the vinegar boils. Once boiling, lower the heat and let simmer until it thickens. Let the glaze cool before adding it to the salad. Add pieces of grilled peaches and pluots.  Be sure you let the fruit cool before adding it to the salad otherwise you will wilt the lettuce. To grill the fruit sprinkle slices with a little brown sugar, grill on direct heat for approximately 2 minutes. Add chunks of Bleu Cheese.  I highly recommend getting the Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, it is divine. Toss ingredients together.

Truffled Wild Mushrooms over Whipped White Beans
I got this recipe a few years ago from one of the flyers at Whole Foods. It is so good.  It's actually a vegan recipe for anyone interested. Clearly we are not vegan since we ate this with a big ribeye.  We have had this as a side dish a number of times but its also a great main dish with a nice salad.  It's a great substitute for a side of mashed potatoes! Last night I had cremini mushrooms on-hand so I used those rather than going to buy some wild mushrooms.  This recipe was apparently in the Vegetarian Times if you would like to see the nutritional information.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 medium leek, white and pale green parts chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp.)
• 2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 1 lb. wild mushrooms, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tsp. truffle oil

Directions

1. Heat 1 tsp. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and sauté 2 minutes. Stir in beans, broth, garlic and thyme. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer bean mixture to food processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Return to skillet, cover and keep warm.
2. Heat remaining 1 tsp. oil in medium skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté 8 minutes, or until soft and brown. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in parsley.
3. Spoon whipped bean mixture into shallow bowls. Top with equal portions of mushrooms. Drizzle each serving with 1/2 tsp. truffle oil, and serve.

I am not sure who my husband thought he was feeding when he purchased the steaks. They were delicious but boy were they insanely big. Needless to say I have leftovers.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Bars

I promised in my post from S's party, The Big One, I would get you the recipe for the Chocolate and Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Bars.

1 c. light karo syrup
1 c. sugar
1 c. peanut butter (My mother-in-law uses Jif crunchy)
7 c Rice Krispies

1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 pkg. butterscotch chips

Combine sugar, karo syrup & peanut butter and cook over low heat until sugar is melted.  Remove from heat and stir in 7 cups of Rice Krispies.   Pour into 9x13 pan.  In double boiler, melt chocolate and butterscotch chips.  Spread over Rice Krispies.  Let cool, cut and serve.

Enjoy!

Beef Enchiladas

I didn't have a lot of time to spare for cooking tonight so I made something that was pretty quick to prepare.

Menu
Beef Enchiladas
Avocado, Black Bean, Tomato Salad
Spanish Rice

Avocado, Black Bean, Tomato Salad
2 tomatoes, diced and seeded
1/2 cup of diced red onion
1/2 cup of black beans (I used some canned beans that were drained and rinsed)
1/2 Avocado, diced
juice of 1 lime
Salt
Mix ingredients together in a bowl

Beef Enchilada

• Brown 1 lb of Lean Grass Fed Ground Beef with 1/2 cup diced sweet onion
• Drain grease and add the meat and onion back to the pan
• Add 1 Chipotle pepper (diced) and 1/2 tablespoon of Adobo Sauce. I used San Marcos Chipotle Peppers.
• Add about 1/2 the package of enchilada sauce, I used Red Chile Enchilada Sauce by Frontera
• Turn heat to low and let simmer

Meanwhile grate your cheese, I used V & B Supremo Queso Enchilado. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  I cook the enchiladas in a 9 x 13 oven safe pan (I suggest spraying the pan or coating it with a little olive oil so the enchiladas don't stick)

When making the enchiladas, take the tortilla and add a small amount of the enchilada sauce. Spread the sauce all over the tortilla, I used El Milagro Flour Tortillas.  Add cheese and meat. Roll up the tortilla. Use a little more of the enchilada sauce as a glue to keep the tortilla closed. Add a little more sauce to the top of the enchilada and sprinkle with cheese.


Ready to go into the oven

Place in the oven on 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. Top with some shredded lettuce and the Avocado, Black Bean, Tomato Salad. A little sour cream is always good too!

As far as the rice goes, I went with old reliable... Goya Spanish rice. It's delicious every time and easy to make.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Eh!!

The other night I made Mango-Cucumber Salsa and a Guava Marinated Pork Chop.  It didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, my reaction was Eh!  My husband's was the same, in fact he gave this meal my lowest score yet, 2.5 asparagus stalks.  His biggest complaint was the toughness of the meat.  We won't point out to him that he actually did the cooking as far as the pork goes (ha,ha). He also thought the flavor of the marinade was not strong enough. 

I do think there are just a few tweaks that need to be made to the dish to make it a good meal.  One thing I would do next time is let the pork marinade longer and secondly I would not cook the pork in a grill pan on the top of the stove.  My original intent was to grill the pork chops on the grill however it was pouring down rain when we were trying to cook so we had to come up with a plan B.  I think plan B should have been baking it in the oven.  The issue with the grill pan was the guava glaze started to burn and the meat got a little tough because it took so long to cook through.

Mango-Cucumber Salsa
In a bowl combine the following ingredients:
2/3 cup of diced mango
2/3 cup of diced cucmber
2/3 cup of diced red onion
1/3 cup of diced red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 cup of diced green bell pepper
1 tomato diced
Chopped Cilantro
Salt

I think its a good idea to make this a little ahead of time so that it has time to incorporate some of the flavors
Guava Glazed Pork Chop
I used bonless center cut pork chops
1 cup Jumex Guava nectar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
Salt and Pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a ziplock bag and add pork chops.  Let the pork marinade for at least 3 hours.
When you are ready to cook I would say the preferred method would be to grill the pork until done.
If you want to brush the pork with a little of the marinade while it is grilling be sure to reserve a bit before you add the meat to the ziplock bag.

I will have to try this one again to redeem myself. :)

1st Fruit Delivery and Bushel Number 5

Yesterday was an exciting day, we received our fifth bushel of vegetables and our first fruit delivery.  The fruit looks awesome! I think I am going to have to learn how to make jelly this weekend.

The fruit is all organic, we received

• 7 peaches
• 9 apricots
• 9 pluots
• 6 Kent Mangoes
• Champagne Grape

I forsee a breakfast menu this weekend with lots of fresh fruit and maybe a peach pie for dessert in the near future.  If you have recipe ideas for me containing any of the fruits please send them my way.

Bushel number 5 also has a lot of exiting vegetables

1 Eggplant
1 Cucumber
Fennel
A bunch of tomatoes
7 ears of sweet corn
A bunch of carrots
Sweet onion
Jalapeno pepper
Summer Squash

We also received a melon but unfortunately it had a big crack in it. Since we don't know if the box was just dropped or if it happened while it was growing we are opting not to eat it.  Which is quite said because it looked delicious!

Heirloom Tomato Pizza

I used the 365 Everyday Organic Original Pizza crust from Whole Foods.  Lightly brush the pizza crust with olive oil.  Sprinkle with 2 chopped cloves of garlic. Add your toppings:

 

- 1.5 sliced and halved heirloom tomatoes
- 2 slices of La Quercia Prosciutto Americano
- 4 ounces of Celebrity International Honey Goat Cheese
- 9 of the small fresh mozzarella balls, slice into thirds
- Approximately 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano
- 3 chopped purple basil leaves
- Chopped fresh basil leaves, approximately 5 leaves
- A few turns of a pepper mill

 

Cook on 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned

 

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Chicken Vegetable Meatloaf Muffins Part II

Tonight I made the mashed potatoes and sauteed baby chard to top the chicken vegetable meatloaf. As far as the baby chard goes I simply chopped it and cooked it in a little olive oil and added a dash of salt. 

Mashed Potatoes
7 red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons sour cream (I use low fat)
1/2 cup of milk (I use skim milk)
1 teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Wash the potatoes and quarter them. Boil the potatoes in salted (1 teaspoon of kosher salt) water. The potatoes are finished when you can pierce them with a fork. Drain the water. Return the potatoes to the pot. Add the butter and begin mashing the potatoes with a hand masher.  Add the sour cream and 1/4 of milk. Continue to mash.  Add the Montreal Steak seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Continue to mix the potatoes using a hand mixer and add another 1/4 cup of milk.

You can make the potatoes ahead of time and store them in a oven safe dish.  To re-heat put them in the oven on 325 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes.

My daughter loved this tonight.  She ate close to three-quarters of this plus she had some fruit and green beans. She wasn't overly excited about the baby chard, she only ate it if it was mixed in withe potatoes or meat.  She was clapping after each bite of meat and potatoes.

Note: if you kids like more bland foods I would suggest reducing the amount of Montreal Steak Seasoning I used in the meatloaf because it does give the meat a bit of kick.

Chilled Cream of Celery Soup with a Roasted Beet and Chive garnish

I had a bunch of vegetables that I needed to use up so I decided to make a nice summer soup.  This was the first time I made this, in fact I made the recipe up as I was cooking. It turned out surprisingly well.
 

Cream of Celery Soup

In a Dutch oven sauté the following ingredients until the vegetables are softened

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 ½ cups of diced celery

¼ cup of chopped celery leaves

1 cup of diced carrot

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced red potato

Salt and Pepper

Once the vegetables are cooked, add 2 ½ cups of organic chicken broth.  Place the top of the Dutch oven and reduce the temperature to a low heat. Let the veggies simmer in the broth for approximately 30 minutes.  Using a hand blender mix the veggies and broth and slowly add 1 ½ cups of skim milk. Blend until the soup is smooth.


Let the soup cool and bring to room temperature.


Roasted Beets

Prepare the beets by washing and trimining off the ends off.

Place the trimmed beets in a roasting pan with a little water. Cover with aluminum foil and cook on 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  Let the beets cool a bit and then you can easily remove the skin.

To serve the soup, place some slices of beets sprinkled with chopped chives in a low bowl. Pour the soup around the beets. Season with a dash of salt if you choose and its ready to go.

The nice thing about this soup is it can be served warm too.  You can eat it as is or garnish with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese and chopped chives.

Roasted Beet Salad with Honey Goat Cheese

Roasted Beets

Prepare the beets by washing and trimining off the ends off.

Place the trimmed beets in a roasting pan with a little water. Cover with aluminum foil and cook on 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  Let the beets cool a bit and then you can easily remove the skin.

Slice the beets and garnish with some crumbles of honey goat cheese and chopped fresh oregano.

Chicken Vegetable Meatloaf Muffins

I have been looking for some new foods to try with S since we've been having a difficult time getting her to eat meat. Trader Joes sells something called Turkey Meatloaf Muffins which are mini ground turkey meatloafs topped with sautéed spinach and parmesan mashed potatoes. The first time S tried these I had to hide the meat in the potatoes in order for her to eat it but on the second try she gobbled up every morsel. Because the muffin tin is the perfect portion size for Stella I starting this about what else I could make in a muffin pan.

Today I made a chicken veggie meatloaf. I literally just started adding ingredients and was keeping my fingers crossed that it would turn out ok.  The recipe is below.

In a sauté pan, cook the following ingredients on low to medium heat:

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2/3 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons diced garlic
3 tablespoons grated carrot
3/4 cup grated zucchini
2 tablespoons diced red pepper
3 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
Salt & pepper

Cook until the vegetables are soft.   In a large mixing bowl combine sautéed vegetables with 1 pound of lean ground chicken thigh and 1/2 pound of ground chicken breast. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Montreal Steak Seasoning, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of ketchup. Stir well to combine all ingredients.

In a separate bowl, dice 2 pieces of firm white bread (it should yield 2 cups once it is diced). Add 1/3 cup of milk and let it soak into the bread. I used skim milk. Once the bread has soaked up all of the milk combine it with the meat mixture. Stir well.

Prepare the muffin pan by spraying each section with cooking spray. Add approximately 1/4 cup of the mixture to each section of the muffin pan. Cook on 350 degrees for approximately 50 minutes. Be sure the internal temperature is 170 degrees so that the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

S tried my meatloaf muffins this afternoon and really seemed to enjoy them.  Tomorrow I am going to saute baby chard and make some of my famous mashed potatoes to top the meatloaf. Hopefully S with still like it once I add the additonal toppings.

The Big One!

The official celebration was today but we had the big party over the weekend. Yes, my little peanut is one!  I cannot believe it. How has a year already passed? Don't get me wrong it was a very exciting day; however I am also a little sad that my little baby is growing up so quickly.

This past weekend was crazy busy trying to get everything ready for the party. We held the party at my parent’s house since it is much more conducive to holding 70 people than ours.  We would have had to invite people in shifts if we wanted to try and fit that many people in our house in one day. I decided a while ago that I was going to make most of the food for the party, however by Saturday afternoon I was second guessing that decision. Thankfully I had some assistance with a few of the dishes so I didn’t have to do everything myself. 

It seemed like everyone had a great time at the party and enjoyed all of the food despite the extremely hot temperatures.  We appreciate all of our friends and family coming to celebrate with us. I tried to document my recipes as I was cooking, however I did got a little sloppy as the day progressed.

The inspiration for the party was Sophie la girafe. S loves Sophie! The invitation had a giraffe on it and I had the same giraffe put on her cake. I put sunflowers on the tables since they were the same color scheme as the giraffe. I was super excited when I was able to find an outfit for S that even had two embroidered giraffe on the top. The unfortunate part is Sophie is currently MIA. I am hoping she was just misplaced and that we didn't actually lose her.  Especially since we already lost bath time Sophie when our dog decided to chew off her feet!

My foodographer got a little pre-occupied entertaining at the party so some of the pictures are of the leftovers.  Sorry!

The Menu

Appetizers

Pico de Gallo

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Guacamole

Blue Corn and Stone Ground White Corn Tortilla Chips

Beverages

Skinny Girl Margaritas

Estancia Chardonnay, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, Apothic Red

Pacifico, Stella Artois, Bud Light

Iced Tea, Raspberry Lemonade, Pop

Lots of Water

Main Course

Fried Chicken

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw

Greek Pasta Salad

Fruit Salad

Warm Potato Salad with Arugula

Deviled Eggs

Nanny’s Baked Beans

Sliced Tomatoes with Basil

Dessert

Birthday Cake – Yellow cake or Chocolate cake with Strawberry Filling and butter cream frosting

Rhubarb Bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Bars

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Clean the ears of corn by removing silk. Be sure to keep the husk attached as this will help with when grilling.   See the details of how to grill corn on my Father's Day Dinner post. I actually omitted the soaking in water step and it still turned out really well.  Once the corn is cooked, let it cool a bit and remove the kernels from cob. I used 6 ears of corn which yielded about 3 1/2 cups of corn.  

In a mixing bowl add the following ingredients:

2- 15 ounce cans of black beans rinsed and drained

3 1/2 cups of roasted corn, cooled. 

1 roasted poblano pepper let cool and remove skin, remove seeds, dice. 

Diced tomato, approximately 4-5 roma tomatoes

Chopped fresh cilantro, approximately ¼ cup of chopped   

Make a vinaigrette by whisking together the juice of 4 limes and approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and ground cumin.

I made this recipe a day ahead of time and refrigerated it.  Just be careful that your tomatoes don't get soggy.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I made approximately 30 lbs of pulled pork which is insane.  It was very difficult to find a place to cook this much meat.  Due to the fact that I had such large pieces of port shoulder I actually ended up having to cut them into smaller pieces so I could fit them into my pan.

In a dutch oven, heat approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season pork shoulder with Montreal Steak Seasoning, Paprika, Ground Cumin and Garlic Powder. Sear the pork shoulder on all sides in the olive oil. Once all of the sides are browned, carefully pour about 1/4 cup of Makers Mark Bourbon over the top.  Let the alcohol cook off.  Be sure not to drip the Bourbon over the side of the pan as it is highly flammable. I have made that mistake one too many times in the past.  Once the Makers Mark has cooked down, add the meat to crock pot and cook on low for at least 8 hours.  You want the meat to just fall apart when you use a fork to shred it. You can cook the meat for longer just be sure to cook it at a low temperature.  Before adding the barbecue sauce, drain off most of the juice from the pork cooking in the crock pot.

This is where we run into recipe documentation issues.  I made my own barbecue sauce.  I started with 24 oz of ketchup, 1 ½ cups yellow mustard, 1 ½ cups of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon of ground yellow mustard, 1 ½ cups of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon or Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of honey and dash of cayenne pepper.

Then I added molasses, karo syrup, and exotic juice. I didn't measure any of this. I just started adding it until it had the taste and consistency I was looking for. I will tell you that I felt like I needed quite a bit of it to cut the vinegar taste.  So next time around I might just use less vinegar to start with.

The buns I used were dinner rolls from Costco. I was looking for a soft bun on the smaller side as opposed to using a hamburger bun.

Coleslaw

2 heads of cabbage

1 large green bell pepper

1.5 bunches of green onion

2 large grated carrots

½ of bottle of Hendrickson’s Original Sweet Vinegar & Olive Oil dressing

Greek Pasta Salad

I made 4 pounds of bowtie pasta.  Cook the pasta noodles according to the directions on the box. As you are draining them run them under cool water and continue to drain.  Add the following chopped vegetables to the drained pasta noodles: Cucumber, Tomato, Yellow and Red Bell Pepper,  Red Onion, Pitted Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese. I used Kraft Greek vinaigrette as the dressing.  You can make everything a day ahead of time but wait to add the feta until about an hour before you are serving the salad.

Warm Potato Salad and Arugula

Thanks to my sister, Becky, for making this delicious salad and the Pico de Gallo.  The recipe is from Food and Wine magazine, Warm Potato Salad and Arugula.

Deviled Eggs

Thanks to my mom for making the deviled eggs. Poor Chris was really excited about these being on the menu and they were gone before he had the chance to get any. This recipe is simple. Hard boil eggs. Let cool. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and remove the hard yolk.  In a food processor combine the hard yolks, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, salt and pepper.  Process until smooth. Fill the egg halves with a dollop of the filling. Sprinkle ground paprika on the top of the eggs.



A view of the whole spread



Fruit Salad

I included all of Stella's favorites in the fruit salad. Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Strawberries, Kiwi and Red Grapes.

Sliced Tomatoes and Basil

The tomatoes were fresh from my parent's garden.  We simply sliced the tomatoes and seasoned them with a little salt and pepper. Then drizzled them with a little olive oil and topped them with chopped fresh basil.

Nanny's Baked Beans

These were straight from Nanny's kitchen.  You can view the recipe on the Father's Day Dinner post in June.

My mom made the Rhubarb bars and my mother-in-law made the Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy bars.  Here is the link to the Rhubarb bars and I will post the Rice Krispy bar recipe as soon as I find it (sorry).  I ordered the cakes from Ingram's Busy Bee Bakery in Downers Grove. They have delicious butter cream frosting!

S loved her smash cake.  If I would have left it on her tray she would have kept eating it. She was a little disappointed when we took it away from her.

To celebrate this evening my we had our parents over for leftovers and we got Stella her first cup of ice cream from Oberweis.  She loved it!  But who doesn't love ice cream.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Little Girl!  We love you SO much!