No Meat?

We like meat around this house. Since marrying Andrew I have gotten quite good at cooking a steak. We very rarely have vegetarian dinners, one of the reasons being that most of the time the veggie recipes don't tend to be as filling.
However, last night I made Ina Garten's Dinner Spanakopitas. They are fantastic!!!! They were so filling that two and a half of them fed all three of us. I served it with a green salad.
I will share the recipe, but I changed it a bit. My son isn't too keen on the taste of feta cheese, so I cut that amount in half and added more Parmesan cheese and it was delicious. Another helpful hint is that the phyllo dough is not that easy to work with. It dries out and cracks very easily, so cover all the sheets that you are not working with at the time with plastic wrap and then drape a wet paper towel over the plastic wrap. It will make the process alot easier!!! I made them ahead of time, while both kids were down for a nap, and then kept them in the refrigerator until it was time to bake and it worked really well.

Dinner Spanakopitas

1/4 cup good olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
3 scallions, white and green parts chopped
2 10 oz pkg of frozen spinach, thawed
4 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
3 TBLSP parmesan cheese
Plain dry bread crumbs
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 cups small diced feta cheese
3 TBLSP toasted pine nuts
24 sheets frozen phyllo dough, defrosted
1/4 pound unsalted butter, melted
Flaked sea salt, such as Maldon for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes over medium low heat. Add the scallions and cook for another 2 minutes until the scallions are wilted but still green. Meanwhile, gently squeeze most of the water out of the spinach and place it in a large bowl.
When the onion and scallions are done, add them to the spinach. Mix in the eggs, Parmesan cheese, 3 TBLSP bread crumbs, the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Gently fold in the feta and pine nuts.
Place one sheet of phyllo dough flat on a work surface with the long end in front of you. Brush the dough lightly with butter and sprinkle it with a tsp of bread crumbs. Working quickly, with slide another sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first, brush it with butter and sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs. Pile 4 layers total on top of each other this way, brushing each with butter and sprinkly it wil breadcrumbs. Cut the sheets of phyllo in half lengthwise. Place 1/3 cup of spinach filling on the shorter end and roll the phyllo up diagonally as if folding a flag. The fold the triangle of phyllo over straight and then diagonally until you reach the end of the sheet. The filling should be totally enclosed. Continue assembling phyllo layers and folding the filling until all the filling is used. Place on a sheet pan, seam sides down. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with flaked salt and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the phyllo is browned and crisp. Serve hot.

If I wasn't Irish....

.....I would want to be Italian. I have yet to meet an Italian food that I didn't like. Now granted, I have only tasted "American" versions of Italian dishes, but still, I love Italian food.
That being said, I love making Italian food. One of the first dishes I ever attempted was lasagna. I can make a mean lasagna. However, I was always upset in the fact that my lasagna never stayed layered, and I wanted to add so many flavors that I only got two or three layers to begin with.
Still, I was hesitant to change the recipe because I really did love how it tasted. That all changed when I watched John Besh's show, "Inedible to Incredible" on TLC. He fixed this one woman's lasagna by making it alot simpler. He made the point, "more layers, more love". That made me think, and I started working on a plan of attack.

First, I didn't want to change the flavor, I love my peppers and onions. So instead of leaving them whole, I pureed them into my tomato sauce. I simple sauteed the onions, peppers, carrots, celery and tomatoes together, and then pureed it in my blender and I got my tomato sauce. I like leaving the tomato skins on when I saute them because I think it really adds to the flavor.
The second thing I changed was making my ricotta into a cheese sauce. To that I added my spinach and roasted garlic. I like adding the garlic to the cheese sauce instead of the tomato sauce because I feel like you can taste alot more of the wonderful garlic flavor when it is paired with the cheese.
The only "chunky fillings" I added were the Italian sausage and sliced zucchini. I would put the sausage on the layer with the tomato sauce and the zucchini on the layer with the cheese sauce.
By adjusting the technique I was able to keep all of my flavors, and now have more layers in my lasagna!

More layers....more love!

I went BANANAS!!!!!

I really enjoy bananas. However, I am very picky when it comes to eating my bananas in their true state. They have to be at the perfect place between being ripe, but not too right. A little green at both ends is that perfect place.
Once they move beyond that I really have no interest in eating them, and have to find other ways of using them. Today I was faced with the task of using up 6 bananas. And before you read any further, yes I do know that you can freeze them, but I haven't found a way to do it that doesn't turn them into a yucky mess.
So I tackled the bananas. My first thought was to turn them into banana cupcakes with a chocolate ganache frosting. I mixed up the batter and then found out that I didn't have enough cupcake papers. So we made 8 cupcakes, and baked the rest into a 13x9 cake. The chocolate ganache called for whipping cream, which I didn't have in the house, so after contemplating dragging two children out in the pouring down rain, and deciding that it was not a good idea, I made a simple chocolate frosting.
It turned out really well, the bananas kept the cake nice and moist and the chocolate frosting was wonderful.
(my little banana helper)
That used up four bananas. I still had two left, so I turned them into banana chocolate chip bagels. I did have to adjust the recipe adding almost two extra cups of flour because I didn't realize how much the banana would affect the consistency of the dough. They did turn out quite nicely, I might add more bananas next time. I will still have to play around with that one.
But here are the recipes for the Banana Cake/Cupcakes and Chocolate Frosting that I used.


Banana Cake
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/8 cup canola oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 bananas mushed
1 1/2 cups of milk

Combine all ingredients and mix until moist. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes for cupcakes. The cake took around 40 minutes to bake.

Chocolate Frosting
6 Tblsp butter softened
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup cocoa

sift cocoa and sugar together. Cream butter. Add sugar and milk alternating between the two.

Spanish Style Stuffed Peppers

Over the past year I have developed a love affair with chorizo and goat cheese. I have incorporated them into everything from eggs to salads. But the recipe I am most proud of is my Spanish Style Stuffed Peppers. I finally perfected the recipe last night, so I thought I would share!

4 Green or Red Bell Peppers
3 ears of cooked corn, taken off the cob
2 cups of cooked white rice (not instant)
1 lb chorizo sausage, browned
8 oz tomato sauce
1 onion diced
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Spanish Paprika
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tblsp butter
1 Tblsp flour
1 cup milk
8 oz goat cheese

Preheat oven to 350.
Cut peppers in half and scoop out the insides. Place in a 13x9 baking pan. Brown chorizo and onions together. Then add the corn, rice, tomato sauce, cumin, paprika and pepper flakes. Stuff peppers.
Bake them for 45 minutes in oven.
While the peppers are baking, make the goat cheese cream sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add flour and cook until a paste is formed. Add milk, lower heat to low. Cook until it begins to thicken. Add goat cheese and continue cooking until thickens.
Place the peppers on a plate and spoon the cheese sauce on top and enjoy!

Our Saturday Night Dinner

This week we have done alot of leftover dinners, soups, chili's casserole's that have been hanging out in our freezer. While the dinner's have been tasty and wonderfully easy, I really miss cooking. So we decided to do one of our favorite dinners last nite, so I thought I would share. Rosemary Mustard Pork with Peaches.
I love this recipe because it give Andrew and I a chance to cook together. We each have our "jobs" to do and when we come together we are left with a wonderfully tasting dinner. I really treasure the time that we have to work together on something.
We did have to deviate from the recipe a bit. After our pork tenderloin thawed, we discovered it had gone bad, so we used chicken breasts instead of the pork. It was just as good. We paired it with a loaf of home made Italian bread, (my first attempt at a slow rise bread), and sauteed zucchini with garlic, olive oil, oregano, basic, salt and pepper. The zesty-ness of the zucchini pairs really well with the sweetness of the pork....as for the bread....well in my mind bread pairs well with everything!!!!

Rosemary-Mustard Pork with Peaches
2 1 lb pork tenderloins trimmed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil for the grill
3 firm ripe peaches halved, pitted and cut into wedges
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 lemon
2 tsp whole grain mustard
1/4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, plus 2 small sprigs

Preheat a grill to high. Pat the pork dry and season with salt and pepper. Lightly oil the grill, then grill the pork, turning until marked, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the peaches, wine, brown sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan. Remove zest from lemon, add to pan and then juice the lemon. (if you don't have a lemon I used about 2 tsp of bottled lemon juice). Cover and cook until the peaches are just tender about 5 minutes. Take peaches out and set aside, leave the juice in the pan.
Add mustard 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper to the juices in the pan. Transfer 1/3 cup of the liquid to a small bowl and stir in the chopped rosemary, brush onto the pork and continue grilling till meat thermometer register 145, about 10-15 more minutes.
Simmer the remaining liquid in the saucepan until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat ans season with salt. Return the peaches to the pan along with the reosemary sprigs. Slice the pork and serve with peaches.


My first loaf of Italian bread!!!

And the carb loving continues.....

From bagels I am moving on to loaves of bread. I remember my mom baking bread, and watching the dough rise in her huge ceramic bowl, which I really wish I had, by the way,. I have used my bread machine almost weekly since I got it, but I want to try my hand at baking bread. To me it is a very iconic symbol of being a wife and mom, so I am starting to tackle it.
My first recipe is for a crostini, I picked it because it didn't need a ton of time to rise, and I could tackle it in one day. I used it for a goat cheese and sundried tomato crostini, but have also used the bread after the first baking for dinner to accompany soup. Both ways it was delicious. It is an airy bread, with a wonderfully crispy crust.

Crostini

2 tsp instant yeast
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
1/4 cup olive oil
cornmeal for pan

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine all ingredients mixing until a rough dough forms. Mix for 7 minutes with the flat beater. It will become smooth, but stay sticky. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise for an hour.
Move the dough to a lightly oiled work surface. Divide into three pieces. Work with the pieces until they are 3 16 inch logs. Place them on a cornmeal covered baking sheet. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let proof for an hour and a half.
Preheat oven to 425. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Let cool completely, even overnight if you have time. Then preheat oven to 275. Cut into slices and place on cooking sheets coated liberally with olive oil. Brush olive oil over the bread as well. Bake for 45 minutes. Then top with your choice of toppings.

(to make a loaf bread, don't divide the bread into thirds, just form a loaf and bake for 20-25 minutes.)

Sundried Tomato Relish


8 oz sundried tomatoes with oil
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 onion sliced
1 clove of garlic minced
2 TBSP sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Add tomatoes, olive oil, onion and garlic to a pan. Saute till onions are translucent. Add other ingredients, simmer till reduced by half. You can either leave it chunky or put it through a food processor or blender.
This is wonderful on top of goat cheese!

Bageling...take 2!!!

Last night I had a very weird dream about donuts....since I am scared to try them, I decided that bagels were a close second.
I knew that this time I wanted to try to make them a little smoother, and I wanted to try different flavors.
I folded the dough on itself when I formed the balls to proof. Kinda like you would pizza dough. It worked really well.
I did two flavors. One was a sweet one, Chocolate Chocolate Chip. I added about 1/2 cup of chocolate chips to the dough, as well as 2Tblsp of unsweetened coco. During the kneading process the chocolate chips that I had added melted into the dough, so I added some more when I formed the bagels so that little bits of chocolate would be throughout. The finished product turned out wonderful! Not too sweet, and will be great toasted with some strawberry jam spread on it.
The second flavor I made this morning is what I am calling a "Simon and Garfunkel" bagel, because I added, "parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme" to the dough as I was kneading it. The herbs were fresh from my garden. I brushed the top with an egg wash and sprinkled kosher salt on top. You taste the salt right away, and then the herbs come along and soften the harshness of the salt. Can't wait to make a sandwich on them!