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!

Trader Joes Delight!

This meal is so inexpensive but SO good. I could call it the Mother-In-Law meal because it looks and tastes so fancy when really it is under $40 for 4 people. (Really you can buy these ingredients anywhere but Trader Joes has it all at the right price!)

Grocery list for 4 people:
4 Sea Bass Filets
1 can of crushed tomatoes
2 cans of chicken broth (3.5 cups needed)
1 bag of Israeli Cous Cous Mix
1/2 lb of brussel sprouts (if you hate brussel sprouts substitue asparagus - although the way I make them will make you fall in love with sprouts)

Items at home:
Olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup of dry white wine (really any white wine you have will do!)

Heat oven to 400

S & P each side of the filet
Garlic salt the top
Place each filet on an individual piece of foil
Make a small boat out of the foil just barely covering the top
Place in a baking pan

Over the top of each filet pour:
1 tbsp of olive oil
a heaping spoonful of crushed tomatoes
a shake of white wine
half tblsp of butter
*Bake for 15 mintues

Israeli Cous Cous Mix:
Cook the whole bag according to the recipe on back using chicken broth
If using non-trader joes: 2 cups of Israeli Cous Cous with 3.5 cups of liquid

Brussel Sprouts:
Cut the brussel sprouts in half
Steam for 10 minutes
Place in a small baking pan
Spread all over with S & P and olive oil
Cook in oven for last 5 minutes on top rack with fish - they should brown up on the ends

*My suggestion is to prep the brussel sprouts and get them steaming and then put the fish in the oven. This should leave just enough time to brown the sprouts and cook the cous cous mix, having everything ready to serve once the fish comes out of the oven.

When the fish is plated pour the sauce from the foil on top of the fish - and thus Trader Joes Delight!

Lee Ann's Summer Fun Salad

Not too long ago Conor and I went over to our friends, Lee Ann and Brian's house. They BBQ'd chicken and burgers, roasted vegetables and made the most amazing romaine salad. Romaine doesn't usually appeal to me because it doesn't have a lot of hardiness... and without fail it reminds me of cesare salad. This salad, however, had a surprising twist - Dill - and it went so well with it's grilled accompaniments.

Ingredients (serves 4):
3 - 4 romaine hearts
1/2 cup of raw pine nuts (browned)
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
2 tbsp of dill chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon squeezed juice
Lots of S&P to taste

wednesday woes... No Lettuce Summer Salad

Wednesday is a hard night to cook... really it should be named "take out night". Monday is easy because I have just gone to the store the day before and planned the meal for the first few nights of the week. By Wednesday you are tired and doomed and most likely some kind of drama has happened at work to "allow" you to break out the first bottle of wine for the week... thus my wednesday night ensues...

I started with some chicken that I quickly through into a plastic bag with Very Very Teriyaki and onion salt to marinate for 15 mintues while I got into grubs.

With my delishhh pinot noir open, I chopped a yellow potato and steamed for 10 mintues. While that was on the stove I cut up green beans (bite sized) and set aside for steaming next. I chopped a handful of cherry tomatoes and put in a salad bowl.

Once the pots and green beans were steamed I dropped them in with the tomatoes. I had some frozen edameme that I had thrown in with the green beans at the end of their steaming. I wasn't really sure at this point what I was going to season all of this goodness with. And then I could taste balsamic vinegar over the pots / beans and realized that with some basil and fresh garlic, S&P would be just perfect. Also, this will compliment the sweetness of the teriyaki chicken.

Crap, the chicken! This is always my problem in the kitchen... timing everything right so it is all ready at once! Luckily I have a Le Crueset pot (thanks, Les!) that I knew would cook the two breasts up in less than 1o minutes without burning. I put 1 tblsp of butter at the bottom and dropped all the contents into the pot - teriyaki sauce included. 5 mintues on each side with a bit of browning and they were prefect.

Lesson 1: This new creation no lettuce summer salad could be done with or without potatoes and could be served cold, if put in the fridge ahead of time.

Lesson 2: Don't overcook the potatoes because when mixed with the other contents they will crumble

Dressing for the salad:
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 tblsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves
2 tblsp basil (fresh is best)
s&p to taste

the reality of onions

Being in the kitchen every night you realize how much you do the same thing over and over... like chop onions. Every time I am chopping onions I think, "wasn't I just chopping onions yesterday and the day before"... but there is no getting around it because so many dishes require the use of onions. I have often thought (while in the act), 'there has to be something out there that can do this for me' - ok I have a cuisinart already - so yes, I could pull that big thing out and do it the lazy mans way but the reality of chopping onions is there is this twinge of great pleasure and pride! you get when you cut that onion in half and chop it just right and at the perfect speed. You almost want to look up and see the cameras in front of you and say to the viewers "and see it is just that simple". Chopped onions is the foundation for many great meals and really it is the foundational art for a great cook in the kitchen. So there is no getting around it... we must chop onions for the rest of our lives, although not as our doom but as our art. And that is that.