Sunday, January 31, 2016

Big Game Day Stuffed Artichokes with Soppressata and Cheese #Sunday Supper


Super Bowl is as much about the game as it is about the food. I guess that’s why the day seems more like a holiday. Over the year’s we have celebrated in many ways but the one thing that has never changed is that it is a day all about food. My favorite times have been when we had potlucks and everyone brings their own big game day specialty.

This year I am serving a semi-healthy appetizer of Artichokes that have been stuffed with soppressata and then baked with provolone cheese. By stuffed I mean between the leaves and then in the hollowed out middle. Soppressata is a sweet dried Italian sausage that has tons of flavor. A flavor that my husband grew up with. I was surprised at how filling these were but delighted that there was some of that delicious stuffing in every bite.

Ingredients:

Stuffing

1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic (grated)
1/3 cup parsley (chopped)
½ cup soppressata (minced)
¾ cup provolone (grated)
¼ cup olive oil

Artichokes

2 medium-large artichokes
2 lemons, 1 cup in half, the other in fourths.
2 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 °

To prepare:

Prepare stuffing:

Toss together the panko, Parmesan cheese, garlic, parlsey, soppressata and provolone cheese in a middle sized bowl, drizzle olive oil over mixture and mix lightly, set aside.

To trim the artichokes:

Cut off stem from the bottom, try to make bottom as even as possible (here you want the artichoke to sit upright as straight as possible). Cut off top 1/3 of artichoke and then trim all remaining leaves with scissors or tip of knife, (so there is no sharp edges). Rub lemon that has been cut in half on each cut side. Next remove leaves in the middle (they are a slight purplish color) and enough of the yellow ones to remove the choke, (the fuzzy middle). Use a spoon to scoop out fuzz but not remove the artichoke heart (middle), which is the best part. Squeeze more lemon juice into the cavity. This will help with the artichoke not turning so brown.


Spoon stuffing into the middle and then a little on each leaf if as much as possible. Place stuffed artichokes in a roasting pan; pour in the water and olive oil. Wrap tightly with foil.


Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until leaves are tender, remove from oven.

When ready to serve place pan in oven uncovered and broil on high about 4 to 5 minutes until golden brown. Enjoy!

This week’s #SundaySupper has been hosted by T.R. Crumbley of Gluten Free Crumbley


Appetizers and Sides
Main Dishes
Desserts and Drinks

Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It's easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Cottage Cooking Club Month Of January Three Recipes


We are now in our twenty-first month of the “Cottage Cooking Club”; a group of international blogger's that post our thoughts and experiences on the recipes that we have prepared from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's cookbook, "River Cottage Veg". Our group is meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes in our everyday cooking, and is and has been inspired by our dedicated leader Andrea of the The Kitchen Lioness. Every month Andrea picks one recipe from each of the ten chapters. We then pick and choose which one or ones we want to blog about in a single post. Our motto for the month of January was to “start the new year off with incorporating even more veggies into our cooking”!


For the first recipe I prepared the winter kale and potato curry. First garlic, ginger and a green chili was pounded together to create a paste for extra flavor, onions were sautéed and then a wonderful blend of spices, garam masala, mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric and cardamom were added, indeed a great combination to create great flavor. Potatoes and chard stalks were added and then the leaves. Yogurt and tomato paste were mixed together and added at the end, then the dish was finished with cilantro. What a satisfying and hearty meal this made, easy enough for a week-night meal.


For the second recipe I prepared the curried red lentil soup. I have made other lentil soups, a few very similar to this. I almost forgot how beautiful red lentils can be, until they have been cooked as you can see by the above picture. My soup was a little thin so I simmered longer than the recipe required until the liquid became the right consistency. I added a little more lemon juice than the recommended amount and was very pleased. Garnished soup with cilantro, very delicious!


Now for the third and last dish. This was a sweet pie that is filled with Swiss chard, raisins soaked in apple brandy and apples. It is bound together by two eggs and then pine nuts are added. The dough is sweetened by the addition of confectioners’ sugar and works surprisingly well with the filling. The directions have us baking this in a spring form pan. At this point I was unsure of how to prepare the pan so I cut a piece of parchment to cover the bottom. For me this was a fairly time consuming recipe but one that I will be preparing again. Verdict, another winner!

Recipes adapted from the River Cottage Veg, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. First recipe; from the chapter "Comfort Food and Feast" Winter kale and potato curry (page 24). Second dish from the chapter "Hefty Soups” Curried red lentil soup” (page 166). And last but not least; From the chapter "Side Dishes" Tourte de blettes (page 398).

To see what recipes the other members chose for this month, head over to the LYL post for January on the CCC website, by clicking clicking here.

Just a note to everyone On 1st May, 2016, Andrea will continue our cooking adventure together - with two books from the same author. One is called "River Cottage Every Day" and the other one is called "Love Your Leftovers". Please join us for another new adventure! I can’t wait!

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Crisps and Soft Boiled Eggs


Last Sunday we started our hike as soon as the sun came up. We walked about 4 miles. It’s fun to see quail scuttling about running for cover. There always seems to be one that runs in a different direction, perhaps to throw us humans off their path. Once in a blue moon we will see a couple of coyotes, they are amazing in that they are so adaptable. Here they are in a large mountain preserve flourishing in the middle of a big city. If you look closely in the above picture you will see a jackrabbit, check out it's long ears. There is something very special about mornings in the desert.


A few hours later when we returned home I rummaged around the fridge looking for something to prepare. I really didn’t feel like a full on breakfast and that is how this salad came about. Romaine is one of my favorite lettuces, I love that the leaves are long and firm, almost scoop like and tuff enough to hold it’s own. Here I crisped up some prosciutto and soft boiled a couple of eggs. The salad was topped with kale sprouts and drizzled with a goddess dressing that I had made the day before. The saltiness of the bacon and the soft eggs complimented the romaine wonderfully and the dressing tastes very similar to “Annie’s Natural Goddess Dressing”.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Salad:

½ head romaine (washed, cut into ribbons)
4 slices prosciutto (place slices in a pre-heated skillet, turning slices from one side to another until crisp)(chop into pieces)
2 soft boiled eggs
Handful of kale sprouts (any kind will do)

Dressing:

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup tahini
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water (more if needed to thin)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 to 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon parsley (chopped)
1 teaspoon chives (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste


To boil eggs:

Place eggs in pot of cold water on high heat until water starts to boil, remove from heat, set timer for 4 minutes, remove pan; place eggs in a bowl of ice cubes and water, after a minute or two they are ready to peel.

To make dressing:

Combine all ingredients into a food processor, blend until well combined. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.

Place lettuce, prosciutto and eggs into serving bowl/bowls, drizzle with dressing, garnish with sprouts. Enjoy!



Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Super Foods Every Day


It’s the beginning of a new year and many of us are trying to clean up our diets and focus on healthy foods. So when I saw Sue Quinn’s book on “Super Foods Every Day” I could not resist. Her book begins by discussing exactly what a superfood is and notes that some food manufactures have exploited the facts. She then devised her own rating system adding foods that are high in vitamins, phytochemicals and other nutrients that are associated with good health. The book’s chapters start off with breakfast and end with sweet treats. Each recipe notes the nutrient information, time to prepare and amount of servings. The ingredients themselves are simple and fresh and loaded with tons of flavor.


When I first received the book I was a little surprised as it was so small, but then again sometimes the best things in life come in small packages. Since I live in the southwest and we have fresh citrus at our disposal I started off with the Spiced Citrus recipe located in the last chapter. Grapefruit and orange segments were drizzled with the juice from the fruit, sugar, butter and allspice that was reduced to a syrup and topped with topped with cinnamon and honey spiced yogurt and pecans. Both my husband and I thought it was the most delicious and satisfying sweet treat we have ever had. This cookbook is a keeper and will be kept front and center in my kitchen. You will not be disappointed.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."


Saturday, January 16, 2016

Pear-Hazelnut Oat Muffins


Have you ever dreamed of owning your own restaurant? I have….it would be a breakfast and lunch place. Opening early in the morning and closing late in the afternoon. Mornings are my favorite time of the day, there is something about the quiet and I tend to do my best work. All pastries and baked goods would be made daily. There would also be seasonal soups and salads. All items would be made from local and wholesome ingredients.

One of the baked items on the menu would be these Pear-Hazelnut Oat Muffins. The pears are shredded and then added into a cardamom, nutmeg scented batter and then hazelnuts are coarsely chopped; one half into the batter, the other half on top. To me the combination of pears and cardamom is a match made in heaven. These baked up beautifully and tasted even better the next day. To rewarm, place in a 200º oven and serve with a small pat of butter. Talk about a wonderful way to start the day….

This recipe has been ever so slightly adapted from Megan Gordon’s cookbook “Whole-Grain Mornings”.

Ingredients:

½ cup rolled oats
¼ cup oat bran
1cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
2 or 3 firm pears (peeled and shredded with box grater)
2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted) I zapped in microwave twice, each time 30 seconds each)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 cup roasted unsalted hazelnuts (divided)


Preheat oven to 425º

Prepare muffin pan with liners, or grease individual cups and top of pan to prevent sticking.

In a medium size bowl, add the rolled oats and oat bran, both flours, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom, nutmeg and salt, whisk together.

In a small bowl microwave butter 30 seconds at a time, (I only had to do this twice). Set aside.

In another medium size bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and shredded pears, set aside.


Whisk sugar into butter and pour into buttermilk mixture. Combine, then fold in flour and one half cup of the hazelnuts. Mix until just combined.


Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups, then sprinkle the rest of the hazelnuts on top.

Place muffins in the oven and then immediately decrease oven temperature to 375. Bake 25 to 27 minutes. Muffins are done when tops are golden brown and top of the muffin springs back lightly when touched.


Here is a link to Megan’s Nutty Millet Breakfast Cookies that I made a few years ago. These were outstanding as well.


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Vegetable Lo Mein


If your tired of never getting enough veggies in your take-out, try making your own, that’s what I did and since then I have not looked back. Versatile and easy to put together vegetable lo mein makes the perfect week night meal.

In this version I used mushrooms, carrots, red bell pepper, bok choy, green onion and mung beans. For the noodles I used millet and brown rice ramen and garnished with crunchy peanuts and diced cucumber slices. So satisfying that a certain carnivorous person around here did not miss a thing. Even seconds were had, now that is saying something.

Ingredients:

Vegetable Lo Mein

2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic (grated)
½ bunch scallions, cut into 2 inch thin strips
3 small bok choy, sliced into ribbons
1 medium carrot, julienne
8 ounces cremini mushrooms (sliced)
1 small red pepper (sliced into thin strips and then cut in half
2 large handfuls fresh mung beans
2 cakes organic millet and brown rice ramen (Lotus Foods-bought at Costco).


Lo Mein Sauce

4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons granulated sugar (dissolved in 2 teaspoons warm water)
2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

For garnish:

Roasted peanuts (chopped)
Cucumber (diced)

First prepare the lo mein sauce add soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and rice wine vinegar, whisk until combined.

Next have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go.

Cook ramen noodles, set aside.

In a wok over high heat add peanut oil; then ginger, garlic and scallions. Sauté about one to two minutes. Next add bok choy, carrots, mushrooms and red bell pepper. Stir-fry until crisp tender, add mung beans and noodles.


Top with coarsely chopped peanuts and diced cucumber. Enjoy!

Notes * you can use any type of noodle even spaghetti, the other day I saw dried edamame noodles, who knew. Also you can substitute any veggie combo that you like, and you can spice it up with peppers and sriracha.

This recipe has been adapted from The Cooking Jar. Com.


Saturday, January 9, 2016

Brodo a Bone Broth and Seaweed Broth Cookbook


I have been a vegetarian on and off for decades now. About two years ago during a yearly check-up I had a rather disturbing wake-up call after receiving my blood panel work up. Even though I ate very carefully I was lacking in several important vitamins and my white blood count was very low. I realized I had to take a long hard look at what I needed to do and make some changes. At that time I changed my diet to incorporate some meat, took vitamin b shots and started taking daily vitamins.

When Brodo a bone broth cookbook came across my radar I was immediately interested. Brodo is the name of the shop/restaurant that is owned by Marco Canora. He opened up for business in 2014 where he serves 3 chef crafted bone sipping broths and a seaweed broth. The broth can be drank alone or you can add-in something like freshly grated turmeric or roasted garlic puree. Other delicious options are available as well. Bone broth is nutrient dense, restorative and easy to make. What I enjoyed about this cookbook the most was realizing that broth can be sipped, like coffee or tea and how healthy it really is.

I prepared the seaweed broth, which was described as a “taste like the ocean in the best way possible”. And I have to agree with him completely. I followed his recipe carefully adding carrots, celery, onions, leeks, parsnips, tomatoes, fresh and dried cremini mushrooms and dried kombu. This broth is full of antioxidants, minerals and iodine (good for thyroid health). Sure this takes hours on the stove-top but your kitchen will never smell better and you will love the flavor. I cannot remember feeling so warm and nourished after sipping from a cup. Tomorrow I will add-in bok choy, mushrooms, turnips, mung beans and toasted nori to make it even more satisfying. Another great recipe from the book. Enjoy!


"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Monday, January 4, 2016

Make Breakfast the Best Part of Your Day Two Recipes


Today I have two great dishes to begin your day with. Herbed Chickpeas with Wilted Greens and a fried egg, and Scrambled eggs served alongside madras lentils and greens. Both dishes are healthy, packed full of protein and vitamins and guaranteed to keep you going for hours. Make the most of your day………Picture above is a view of Camelback mountain.


If you are starting this year off wanting to add more veggies and protein to your diet, these dishes will make a great start. The herbed chickpeas is a recipe I adapted from the Bon Appetite January 2016 magazine. Canned chickpeas are cooked over medium heat in olive oil until they have crisped up, about 12 to 15 minutes. The peas were removed from the skillet and set aside. Then fresh herbs and spinach was added, wilted down and then combined with the beans. I finished the dish by frying some eggs and served everything over a piece of multi grain toast. Delicious!


Now the scrambled eggs with madras lentils and greens was a spur of the moment dish and one I liked even better. I scrambled an egg, added to leftover “lentils”, (a recipe I am working on to get it just right, but still needs some work), and leftover greens. Simple as that. Make ahead the greens and other veggies to cut down valuable time in the mornings. Both dishes will keep . 

Herbed Chickpeas with Wilted Greens and a fried egg

Serves two to three

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves (minced)
2 ½ cup fresh spinach
¼ cup fresh herbs (I used parsley, chives, basil)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 eggs 

To prepare:

In a small skillet add 2 tablespoons olive oil and then chickpeas cook until crispy and some have split open, add garlic cook 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from skillet, set aside.


In the same skillet add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, then the spinach and herbs. Stir until wilted. Remove from skillet and add to bowl with peas.

Fry two to 3 eggs, serve over a slice of multi-grain bread toasted, with chickpeas and greens.


Scrambled Eggs with Madras Lentils and Greens

Serves two

Ingredients:

2 eggs scrambled
½ cup madras lentils (lentils and red beans in a creamy spiced up tomato sauce, still working on recipe)
2 cup fresh spinach

To prepare:

Heat up lentils and greens separately, scramble eggs.

Serve alongside one another, enjoy separately or mix together. Delicious with naan and flat breads.



Saturday, January 2, 2016

Happy New Year's and Black Eyed Pea Soup


Happy New Year’s everyone! Still playing catch-up here, and been having some fun too. The weather has been perfect and any time outside feels like a breath of fresh air. We have been taking long walks in the Mountain Preserves close to our home. On one of our daily adventures Olive got a sticker in her paw and even after Don removed the sticker she did not want to walk. He then carried her until we came to a flat and not so rocky trail where she would walk on her own. Pretty impressive as she is a seventy pound 10 year old chocolate lab.


Yesterday I made a pot of black eyed peas. Usually they are made with pork and greens and then served along-side a slice of cornbread. Here I made them meatless and cooked them slowly in a dutch pot on the stove-top. In the Southern United states eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s is thought to bring prosperity in the New Year, the peas representing coins and the greens symbolizing money.

Ingredients:

2 cups dried black eyed peas
1 sweet onion (diced)
2 medium-sized carrots (diced)
2 to 3 stalks of celery (diced)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 tomatoes (diced)
8 cups water
1 hand full fresh parsley (chopped)
1 hand full fresh oregano (chopped)
3 cups chopped greens (I used chard (spine removed)and spinach)
½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on your preference)
Salt and pepper to taste

To prepare:

In a large bowl of water soak beans overnight, completely covered.

Drain and rinse beans, set aside. In a large soup pot add a tablespoon of olive oil, then add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes, add garlic sauté constantly about one minute. Add red wine vinegar and sauté until evaporated. Add tomatoes, water, beans and then herbs. Cook until beans are tender. (Mine took a couple of hours).


Add greens, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, simmer another 40 minutes.