Strawberry and Chocolate Nachos

These may be the best nachos you have ever had!  They are super rich, so you probably don't need to make as much as you think, but you should make them!

Baked Cinnamon Chips
Chopped Strawberries
1 Tbs. Sugar
1 bag Chocolate Chips
1 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
whipped cream

Add sugar to chopped strawberries, let sit.  Melt chocolate chips in microwave with vegetable oil.  Plate chips, place strawberries on top of chips and drizzle with melted chocolate.  Top with whipped cream.  Enjoy!!

I found this recipe on an adorable blog called Our Best Bites.  It is a must try!

Baked Cinnamon Chips

We have been buying Stacy's Pita Chips in Cinnamon Sugar, so I had to try to make my own.  It is a lot more work than buying, but probably cheaper, and still good! I always like the idea of making my own everything.  I don't always stick to making it all, but it is always good to know it can be done.

Flour Tortillas
Melted Butter
Cinnamon Sugar mixed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly brush each side of the tortilla with melted brother then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp.  My oven liked 11 minutes exactly!

Baked Mashed Potato Balls

I had leftovers of the Feta Mashed Potatoes, and they were so good that I wanted to serve them again. Unfortunately my better half doesn't eat leftovers, so I had to find a way to make them new again!  These turned out ok, but I think I might try to pan fry them next time instead of bake them. I will let you know how that goes!
(I must have been to excited to eat because I didn't take a picture!)


Cold Leftover Mashed Potatoes
1 Egg, beaten and diluted with 2 Tbs water
Seasoned Bread Crumbs or Crushed Corn Flakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll mashed potatoes into balls, dip balls in egg mixture, then roll in breadcrumbs or corn flakes.  Place balls in a buttered baking dish and bake until heated through.  Once heated, place under broiler, turning occasionally to evenly brown.


I kind of made this recipe up.  I saw Paula Dean do this with her leftovers, but she deep fried them.  I am sure that is WONDERFUL, but I am still not completely comfortable with deep frying on my stovetop.  I learned how, and it really wasn't too hard (if my memory serves), I have just never tried it at home!

Feta Cheese Mashed Potatoes

This is a great alternative to traditional mashed potatoes, and the best part is no gravy is required to make them good.  I find that if the mashed potatoes are made well and seasoned correctly, no gravy is needed; be sure to always salt and pepper to taste.  My rule is to taste everything before it is served and salt and pepper won't even need to be on the table.  

1 1/2 lbs. Yukon Gold Potatoes, pealed and cubed

4 cloves garlic, pealed

1 (4 oz. pkg) Feta Cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Place potatoes and garlic in a large saucepan, cover with water.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.  Drain water and transfer to a mixing bowl; mash.  Add the feta, cream, salt and pepper.  Beat until fluffy.

  *A little side note: when draining the water, reserve some of it in a separate bowl.  If you find that the cream doesn't make the mash creamy enough, use the potato water.  It has all of the flavor and won't add more calories.

Serves 6

Chicken with Mushrooms and White Wine

Yummy!  I got this recipe from my packets from Viking Cooking School.  Every time I cook from one of these recipes it always turns out delicious!  Seriously, if you are looking to take a class, Viking is the place to go.  I have also taken classes at Orson Gygi, and Viking wins hands down!!
The Viking recipes use wine in a lot of their recipes.  For those of you that don't drink, don't worry, the alcohol cooks out and just leaves the wonderful flavors.  Also, if you are worried about not being able to use all of the wine, if you just re-cork it, it maintains well enough to cook with until it is gone.  That is what I do, and it always works.  In fact, even though this recipe calls for Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay (both white wines) I used a Reisling which is much sweeter than the others, and it still turned out wonderful.  So to wrap up the wine lesson, if you want to cook with it, just buy a cheap bottle of red and a cheap bottle of white to have on hand, works every time!

Chicken with Mushrooms and White Wine

8 boneless chicken breast halves, skin on (nope, I used boneless and skinless)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

3 Tbs vegetable oil

3 pound mushrooms or wild mushrooms, stemmed and sliced 

  *Note, instead of using white button mushrooms, I always try to use Crimini or Baby Bellas,         much more flavor

6 large shallots, minces

3 Tbs. Fresh Thyme, chopped

3 Tbs. Fresh Tarragon, chopped

Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay

Salt and pepper both sides of chicken and lightly dust flour on both sides.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat; add oil.  Saute chicken until brown, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side.  Transfer chicken to a plate and tent with foil. 

Add the mushrooms, shallots and herbs to the skillet.  Saute mushrooms until soft and golden brown and all of the liquid has turned to a glaze, about 15-20 minutes.  

Add the wine and stock to the skillet, cook to reduce by half.  Return chicken to the pan, simmer until chicken is heated through and the liquid has thickened.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

This obviously makes a lot of food, I was only making it for 2, so I cut down a lot of the ingredients.  I used a ton of mushrooms because they would have gone bad otherwise, but that is okay because they were also delicious mixed with the mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!!

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

Coming in at number 8, broccoli is definitely a superfood.  I fully enjoy this green cruciferous vegetable, however it isn't loved by all, so I added in some cauliflower.  Both pack plenty of Vitamin C and because of their similar shapes and sizes they cook together well... usually!  The high heat required to give the cauliflower a nice golden brown, may have been a little much for the broccoli to take!  It still tasted great, it just looks a little overdone.

1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)
1 medium head broccoli (also about 2 pounds)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
(I also added paprika and a little garlic salt sprinkled over the top)

  Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat to 475 degrees.  Trim outer leaves of cauliflower and cut stem flush with bottom.  Cut head into 8 equal wedges so that the core and florets remain intact. Repeat process with broccoli.  Place wedges cut side down on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with 2 Tbs. olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic salt; gently rub to evenly distribute oil and seasonings.  Flip vegetables and coat again.

  Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and continue to roast until bottoms of vegetables are golden brown, about 8 to 12 minutes.  Remove sheet from oven and gently flip vegetables over using a spatula.  Return to oven and continue to roast for another 8 to 12 minutes.  Season again with salt and pepper to taste and drizzle again with olive oil.

Recipe from Cooks Illustrated.

Quinoa with Mushrooms

Quinoa is listed as one of the 10 superfoods, so I had to give it a try.  The grain is high in protein and fiber and is a naturally good source of iron.  It also packs zinc, vitamin E, and selenium to help control your weight as well as lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes.  Superfood for sure.  The only downfall this has, it is hard to find.  Apparently not all grocery stores got the memo of its greatness, and don't yet carry it.  Not to worry, Whole Foods is always a good source for anything that is good for you!

This dish turned out pretty well.  I think a little more flavor can be injected into the quinoa, but the mushroom mixture made it into a nice side dish.  Enjoy!

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (I think I added about 3 cloves)

1 Tbs. butter

1 1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed

3 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

  Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the onions and mushrooms, adding the garlic half way through.  Cook until browned, about 5 minutes.  Set aside.

  Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add quinoa and let brown, about 3 minutes.  Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low; simmer 15 to 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. 

  Stir the mushroom mixture into quinoa and cook another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese to serve.   

Recipe from allrecipes.com by Jen Cardenes

Glazed Salmon

Salmon is always a huge hit for dinner in my house.  Usually it is steamed in foil with a butter on the grill.  Yummy every time.  I tried to mix it up last night and found a recipe for a marinade/glaze, it too was yummy!  The recipe called for grilling directly on the grill, but I didn't do that!  I am always concerned with fish that it will just end up falling apart.  So again, I wrapped them in foil before I put them on the grill.  This made the following recipe into less of a glaze than it should have been, but the flavor was still there.

*I don't have a pic of the salmon, because it fell apart before it hit the plate!

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 (6 oz) salmon fillets

  Whisk together all ingredients, pour into resealable plastic bag.  Add the salmon filets, fully coating with marinade mixture. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning occasionally.
  Preheat grill on medium heat.  Lightly oil the grate.  Grill salmon until browned and the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes each side.
  *Alternately, wrap the salmon filets in foil, folding up the ends, creating a pouch.  Grill about 10 minutes on medium-high heat until salmon flakes easily with fork.


Original recipe contributed to allrecipes.com by HWaldron

Croutons

Along with the Italian Chicken Soup, we had salad.  I had forgotten to put any forethought into the salad, so I found myself scrambling at the last minute so we would have something other than mixed greens!  I found some hamburger buns from the previous week in the pantry and turned them into yummy, homemade croutons.  This is such a simple thing, I wish I had been making them out of my leftover breads all along. I usually make croutons out of a nice baguette or french bread, but it turns out that buns work just as nicely!

1 loaf french bread, baguette or similar thick bread
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut bread into equal cubes, toss with olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper.  Spread out over baking sheet, bake for 7 minutes.  Turn bread cubes and bake for an additional 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Italian Chicken Soup

Superfoods.  This is my new mantra! I have wanted to start eating better, and now with a massive wound on the mend, the time has come. I have been reading about wound health and what to eat to help your body heal itself, and the 10 Superfoods seem to be the way to go. In case you haven't done your own Google search on these foods yet, here is a list:  Plain low-fat yogurt, eggs, nuts, kiwis, quinoa, beans, salmon, sweet potatoes and berries.  I also checked into specific foods to aide in wound healing and found the vitamins and minerals to add to my diet; 2 to 3 servings of protein daily, Vitamin A (found in dark green, leafy vegetables, orange fruits and vegetables and fortified dairy products), Vitamin C (found in citrus fruits, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and spinach) and Zinc (found in fortified cereals, meats and seafood).
So there you go.  Luckily it is summer and all of the wonderful fruits and veggies are in season, so this shouldn't be too hard.  Also, the husband is a good sport and will try anything as long as he doesn't have to make it!

The first recipe I tried is an Italian Chicken Soup.  What a yummy, hearty soup.  I found the recipe on Allrecipes.com where it was added by Julie M.  I had to adapt the cooking a little as she made hers in a pressure cooker and I only had a stock pot.  Turned out wonderful with a bunch of leftovers for the freezer (and some for mom and dad!).

I must also add that this is the first thing I have made from scratch since I cut myself.  It was a little difficult but my chefs knife and I are on our way to repairing our friendship!

2 tsp. olive oil
5 Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1 med. onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 cup green lentils
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 cups chicken stock
1 (15 oz can) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), draines
8 oz bag fresh spinach leaves, choppes
1 cup mild to medium salsa

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in saute pan over medium heat.  Add sausage and cook until browned, breaking into crumbles.  Drain and rinse sausage, set aside.  In a large stock pot, heat another tsp olive oil over medium heat, cook onion and garlic until onion is transparent.  Add barley and stir 1 minute. Add sausage, lentils, chicken breasts, parsley and 3 cups chicken stock to pot, adding enough stock to completely cover chicken.  Cover and turn heat to high.  Cook on high for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to medium, cook for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove chicken breasts from pot, shred the meat and return to soup.  Add garbanzo beans, spinach, salsa and additional 1 cup stock.  Stir to blend and heat through (about 5 more minutes).

Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies

I have had this recipe forever, since I worked on the phones for Quaker Oats. J doesn't like raisins in his oatmeal cookies, but chocolate chips are good in everything!

I made the first batch of cookies too large and cooked them too close together, resulting in some very ugly cookies. They still tasted great though. Just keep in mind they spread!

1 cup (2 Sticks) butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 Tbs. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or Old Fashioned, uncooked)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate pieces and nuts; mix well. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes for a chewy cookie, or 12 to 13 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; move to wire racks to finish cooling.

If I continue to bake instead of cook, I am never going to lose the weight I want to lose! Or maybe I will just make my neighbors fat!

Strawberry Shortcakes

For Fathers Day, I put myself in charge of desert. I actually volunteered for this course before I chopped off my finger, and it turned out to be a good thing. Cutting vegetables for skewers still sounds dangerous to me (I think I have PTSD when it comes to knives). I did cut all of the strawberries by myself, but I used a small, non-threatening paring knife!

Half way through the 3 batches of shortcake I made, I ran out of white flour, so I used the whole wheat that I had on hand. I had already gone to the grocery store that morning, and really didn't want to go back for flour. It turned out ok anyway, because dad preferred the whole wheat, and since he is what fathers day is all about, I say it was a success. The wheat flour did make the shortcakes more grainy, but there was the added bonus of adding more strawberries and syrup to soften them up! Oh wait, dad is diabetic, that may not have been the best idea!

Recipe courtesy of Cooks Illustrated "American Classics" 2010

*Prepare the filling first so the juices have time to become syrupy and sweet.

-Fruit

8 cups strawberries (about 2 1/2 pounds), hulled

6 Tbs sugar

-Shortcakes

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting workstation

5 Tbs. sugar

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. table salt

8 Tbs (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbs. half and half or whole milk

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

-Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream, cold

1 Tbs. sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1. For the fruit:

Place 3 cups of hulled strawberries in large bowl and crush with potato masher. Slice remaining 5 cups berries and stir into crushed berries along with the sugar. Set fruit aside to macerate for at least 30 min and up to 2 hours.

2. For the shortcakes:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In food processor (I use my blender, works great), pulse flour, 3 Tbs. of sugar, baking powder and salt to combine. Scatter butter over and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15 1-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl.

3. Mix beaten egg with half-and-half in measuring cup. Pour egg mixture into bowl with flour mixture. Combine with rubber spatula until large clumps form. Turn mixture onto floured work surface and lightly knead until it comes together.

4. Use fingertips to pat dough into 9 by 6 - inch rectangle about 3/4 inch thick, being careful not to overwork dough. Flour biscuit cutter (I used a cup) and cut out 6 dough rounds. Place rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheet, brush tops with beaten egg white, and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbs. sugar.

5. Bake until shortcakes are golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

6. For the whipped cream:

While shortcakes bake, chill nonreactive, deep 1 to 1 1/2 quart bowl and beaters for hand held mixer in freezer for at least 20 minutes.

7. Add cream, sugar, and vanilla to chilled bowl. Beat mixture at low speed until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to high and continue beating until cream is smooth, thick, and nearly doubled in volume, about 20 seconds for soft peaks. If necessary, finish beating cream by hand to adjust consistency.

8. To assemble:

When shortcakes have cooled slightly, split them in half (bottom from top). Place each shortcake bottom on individual serving plate. Spoon portion of fruit and then a dollop of whipped cream over each shortcake bottom. Cap with shortcake top and serve immediately. Enjoy.

Disaster in the kitchen

So I haven't been cooking this week, and I am probably going to be doing more baking for a while. I had a little fight with my chefs knife ... the knife won! I was in the process of making what would have been a great dinner when I cut the nail off of my middle finger. I have pictures of this, but I made the wise decision to not post them on a food blog! You are welcome.

We ended up ordering Pizza. Total disappointment!

Roasted Asparagus

These turned out great! They were still crisp and bright green after cooking, and even though Asparagus isn't J's favorite, he enjoyed it as well. He did request that I use this recipe for green beans in the future.

I got this recipe from my favorite source, Cooks Illustrated. I love Cooks Illustrated because they have developed their recipes after trying everything. They deconstruct recipes and figure out the best ingredients and techniques to use for your dish to turn out perfectly. This is exactly what a newbie cook like me needs, though I will admit I still manage to screw it up sometimes!

3 Tbs. olive oil

2 medium garlic cloves, minced (About 2 tsp.)

1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves

Table salt and ground black pepper

1 pound medium asparagus, tough ends trimmed

10 ounces white mushrooms, stemmed and quartered

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1/2 cup shaved Parmesan Cheese

Adjust oven rack to upper position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Stir in oil, garlic, thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper together in large bowl. Spread asparagus across rimmed baking sheet; drizzle with half of garlic mixture and toss to coat. Rearrange asparagus in single layer. Combine mushrooms with remaining garlic mixture and toss to coat. Scatter mushrooms over asparagus.

Roast until asparagus begins to soften and turns bright green with some brown edges, about 10 minutes. Drizzle with lemon juice and continue roasting until asparagus is softened and mushrooms are deeply browned, about 5 minutes. Toss vegetables, season with salt and pepper to taste, transfer to platter, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Serve.

Serves 4

Recipe from Cooks Illustrated, Spring Entertaining 2011

Pork Chops in a creamy garlic sauce

This recipe has the distinction of being the first on the blog, not because it is my favorite, it just happens to be what I made and took pictures of first! I got this recipe from a cookbook of my moms. I don't have the name of the book to give credit where credit is due (I wrote the recipe down a few months ago on an index card) but I will get it and let you all know. Bottom line, this is good. I served it with Roasted Asparagus (recipe on next post) and mashed potatoes that I bought from Costco!




4 Pork Chops
1 Cup Chicken Broth
12 to 15 Garlic Cloves, pealed and crushed
1/2 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Tbs. Chopped Parsley
1/2 tsp. dried Tarragon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
2 Tbs. Water
1 Tbs. Flour
1 Tbs. Dry Sherry

Bring Chicken Broth and Garlic cloves to a boil in a small sauce pan over high heat. Cover, reduce to low. Simmer 25 to 30 minutes until garlic mashes easily with a fork. Let cool, puree until smooth. (I used my Magic Bullet for this and it worked great).

Heat Olive Oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Add pork (I pre-seasoned my chops with salt and pepper. This adds great flavor to the meat itself), cook 1 to 1/2 minutes each side, or until browned. Pour garlic puree into skillet. Sprinkle parsley, tarragon and salt and pepper into sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Remove pork and tent loosely with foil.

In a small bowl, combine flour and water. Slowly pour flour mixture into skillet, return to a boil. Cook, stirring often until mixture thickens. Stir in Sherry.

Serve sauce over Pork Chops. Serves 4

Let's get some things out of the way...

First, I don't write recipes. I have only been cooking for a while and I am no where near to the point of creating recipes. Maybe, hopefully, that will come in time. That brings me to my other disclaimer, this is not going to be like other food blogs where everything turns out perfect. Cooking, for me, is still an adventure. I hope you all enjoy reading, trying the recipes and maybe helping me out along the way.