Holiday Goodies!

These are my cookie jars I made for holiday gifts this year. I found the jars at the container store and made the labels myself. Sadly I got crazy busy and wasn't able to get the job done in time... baking cookies takes a lot of time! So I turned them into New Years gifts. 4 done 6 more to go! They are so darn cute, I just want to keep them on display in my kitchen!

The tastey cookies inside are raisin pecan oatmeal from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook Back to Basics. Love her!!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bolognese Marinara Spaghetti

I went out on a lim tonight and made a new type of spaghetti sauce. I usually cheat and use a can of marinara, add garlic and onions to spice it up and add meat.... this new recipe turned out to be WAY better. Experimenting can be rewarding (although not always)!

1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes (plain or italian style)
1 cup of water
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tsp oregano
additional 1/2 tsp salt

With a tbsp of olive oil, saute onions and garlic on medium heat until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Mix in beef with onion and garlic. Add the salt and pepper. Break up the meat into small pieces while you saute. When the meat is half way done cooking add the remaining ingredients in the order listed, including the additional salt. Mix together, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. At this point you have a few choices. If you have the time, cook this for a few hours on low stirring occasionally with the pot mostly covered by the lid. If you want to eat right away, cook on med-low for at least 40 minutes with the lid off. You want to see the sauce thickening around the meat before you eat it. If it is too runny and you are starving then add a little tomato paste to thicken the sauce.

Serve over spaghetti

Bon Appetit!

Oh so cold outside Split Pea Soup!

Today was the coldest day yet this year! Of course I was swamped at home, no time to go to the store and getting hungry fast. I love split pea soup because you can usually find all of the ingredients in your pantry. The only ingredient difficult to stock is the ham. You can do a longer version of split pea soup that includes boiling a ham hock but this is my shorter version and really just as good.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

4 garlic cloves

2 carrots, peeled and diced

3 celery stalks, diced

4 cups of chicken stock

5 cups of water

2 1/2 cups of split peas (1 bag from the store roughly)

1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

1 tsp of parsley

1 tsp of oregano

1/2 cup of diced ham (optional)

On med-high, saute the onions in olive oil roughly 4 minutes, add the carrots, celery, and garlic. Saute for another 2 minutes (making sure not to burn the garlic). Add the chicken stock and water. Once boiling, add the split peas and seasonings.

Let all contents boil for a few minutes, then reduce to med-low, and simmer lid off the pot for 40 minutes stirring occasionally. Once the peas start to thicken and the liquid gets low, put the lid mostly on and simmer for another 10 minutes. You don't want the soup too thick (if it cooks too long it will turn into mash potatoes). Once you reach the desired thickness, turn your stove off completely. The soup will stay very warm with lid on.

Serve with yummy bread or grilled cheese sandwiches... Enjoy!

Spiced Pumpkin Cake, Muffins, Bars

This recipe is AMAZING! It was passed along from my friend Sarah, who found it at epicurious.com. I have 3 variations for this recipe, all crowd pleasers. Within the last year, I have made this recipe over 10 times because everyone asks for it! See my variations below.

Yeilds 1 bundt pan or 2 cup cake pans or 1/2 sheet pan

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 bag of mini m&ms

1 cup coarsley chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in mini m&ms and walnuts if desired.

Butter and sugar the pan you are using...

1) Bundt cake pan: bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until knife comes out clean.

2) Mini cupcake or regular cupcake pan: bake for 25 - 35 minutes, or until knife comes out clean

3) Sheet pan: back for 20 minutes, or until knife comes out clean. Cut into square bars and frost.

Frosting (optional for cupcakes and bundt)

12 oz whipped cream cheese

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together and refrigerate if not ready to spread. ENJOY!

Homemade Marinara

Nothing tastes better than home-cooked marinara sauce. A while back I found a great recipe from Giada for marinara; I have since modified it and love the outcome. The sauce tastes slightly sweet and garlicy, and there is always plenty of leftover to use for a pasta dish later in the week. Typically I make this with chicken parmesan or a baked piece of chicken and a melted piece of provolone on top... so good!

1 small onion chopped

2 carrots, peeled and diced

3 celery stalks, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 32 oz can of crushed tomatos (you can always use a can of diced tomatoes which makes the sauce more chunky)

1 can of diced tomatoes

2 cups of chicken broth

1/2 tsp ground thyme

1 tsp oregano dried

1 tsp parsley dried

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Saute onions over medium high heat with good olive oil. When halfway translucent mix in carrots and celery. Saute until onions are cooked through. Add the garlic, cans of tomatoes, chicken broth and all the spices. Bring all contents to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium low, partially cover the pot with a lid. You need some of the liquids to evaporate and thicken. Let simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If you have a handheld blender use it here! If not, then take out batches of the sauce and blend in the blender, returning to a new pot. The sauce should be nice and thick. Taste and add salt / pepper if needed.

You can freeze leftover sauce for up to 3 months.

Use with my simple chicken recipe! I will post later...

Artichoke Pesto Tapenade

Side note: I like to buy a big jar of artichoke hearts from Costco, double this recipe and save the blended artichoke and olive mix for other occasions, it will save longer without the pesto mixed in.

3 cups of Artichoke Hearts

8 oz jar pitted Kalamata Olives

½ of Ina Garten’s Pesto

(make the full recipe and save half of it in the freezer for another time)

¼ cup walnuts

¼ cup pinenuts

9 garlic cloves

5 cups basil

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 ½ cup olive oil

1 cup parmesan freshly grated parmesan

Using a food processor (a blender works too but not as easily), process nuts and garlic cloves (30 seconds). Add basil leaves, salt and pepper. Slowly mix in the olive oil while the processor is on. Once fully mixed add the parmesan and process.

Pour half the pesto in a ziploc bag and either refrigerate and use within 1 week or freeze. Pour the other half in a sizable bowl.

Without rinsing the food processor throw in the artichokes and olives. Pulse, DO NOT MIX, until all ingredients are chopped.

Mix all ingredients together and serve a number of different ways!

1. Sliced sourdough, either toasted or not
2. Add goat cheese to the top of sliced sourdough and pile on the tapenade
3. Serve with good crackers (I particularly love Vinta Crackers from Trader Joes)

Variations to the recipe: For a fresh warm weather twist, substitute the olives with baby tomatoes (roughly 1 cup chopped) and 1/3 cup of capers (or a small 2.5 oz jar)

Two Way Chicken Burgers!

By the way, both recipes are amazing! I hate to start by gloating but I am just so proud of myself for putting together such an easy recipe for mid-week dinner. Ok, here are the details...

1st way - Teriyaki Burgers for 4 ( not shown)
1 1/4 lb of ground chicken (way more flavor than turkey)
2 green onion stalks – chopped from the light green / whites
3 garlic cloves diced
¼ cup teriyaki sauce (I use trader joes Very Teriyaki)
S&P

Mix together and make 4 generous patties – it will be runny and you will get your hands dirty :)

Dollop of veg. oil across the pan, cook the patties on med / high for 5 minutes per side or until done

Accompaniments:
Burger Topping
Mix 1 avocado and 1 mango chopped with salt and pepper to taste

Salad
1 chopped white cabbage
1 chopped cucumber skinned
1 chopped bell pepper
1/3 cup chopped cashews (or regular nuts)
Lots of pepper and salt to taste
Peanut / Ginger dressing (I bought this pre-made at the store)

2nd way – Roasted Red Pepper Chicken Burgers (shown in picture)

Same ingredients as above, except take out the teriyaki sauce

Topping:
Thinly slice a whole red pepper
Thinly slice half of a small onion

Dollop of Olive Oil on the pan at med / high – cook the onions and peppers together for a good 10 minutes. Let the onions and peppers brown up and get soft. Take out of the pan and set aside on a plate.

DO NOT CLEAN THE PAN! Put the patties right into the same pan you used for the peppers and onions (the pan should be left coated with oils). Cook the same as in 1st recipe.

Additional topping:
Guacamole – 2 avocados mashed, ½ of a small onion chopped, 1 small can of diced green chillies, ½ of a juicy lemon squeezed – mix all together with S&P to taste

See picture above! Place the GUAC on top of the burger then the sautéed red peppers and onions... serve and devour!