Fruit Platter with Dip

This is the perfect Mother's Day contribution for you.  I made this for Easter and had no idea a dip for fruit would be this good.  Just chose your favorite fruit or whatever looks good at the market, cut in to small pieces.  I used:

1 Pineapple
4 Kiwis
Green Grapes
Strawberries
1 Small Watermelon

Dip:
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 carton cool whip
1 lemon, zested and juiced
pineapple juice

• Whip together cream cheese and powdered sugar.
• Add sugar, cool whip, lemon juice and zest and mix until whipped.
• Add pineapple juice until it is at your desired consistency...I added about a cup to mine and the consistency was like a yogurt.
• Sooooo good!

who woulda thought....

...A Savory dish using a store bought pie crust would be so good.

Italian Wedges

1 rolled pie crust, softened
1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/3 cup fresh Romano cheese, grated
1/4 tea salt
1/4 tea pepper
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
Garnish: Basil

• Heat oven to 400.  Remove pie crust from pouch; place flat on a ungreased cookie sheet.  With rolling pin, roll in to a 12" round
• Mix bread crumbs, basil, cheese, salt, pepper, ricotta and 3 tbls of oil.  Gently stir in tomatos.
• Spoon and spread mixture over the pie crust leaving 3 inches around the edge.
• Fold edges over the filling.
• Drizzle with the remaining oil and sprinkle with sea salt
• Bake 25-35 minutes.
• Top with basil.
• Cool for 15 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Strawberry Cream Pie

This dessert is easy and oh so good.  If your in charge of bringing the dessert this Easter make this, or call me and I will make if for you, and it will be a hit for sure.

Strawberry Cream Pie
about 20 min
Serves 8

1 cup milk chocolate chips, divided
1 pkg of graham crackers
4 tbls. butter, melted
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 carton cool whip
2 cups fresh strawberries, halved

• In a food processor crush crackers until fine.  Then add the melted butter and pulse until well combined.  Distribute on to a pie plate press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-in. pie plate.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a microwave, melt 3/4 of the chocolate chips; stir until smooth.  This should only take about a minute.  Spoon melted chocolate over the pie crust to make a thin layer.
• In a bowl cream together cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla until smooth.  Fold in cool whip.  Spoon on to crust.  Refrigerate for one hour.
• Arrange strawberries over pie.
• Melt the remaining chocolate chips and drizzle over strawberries.  Refrigerate until chilled.
• Enjoy!

My Parents Favorite!

Chicken Carbonara

2 teaspoons olive oil
4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
8 large egg yolks
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt
1 pound spaghetti
4 cups coarsely shredded chicken (from 1 roasted chicken)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cheese, yolks, basil, and parsley to blend.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is just tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain.

Add the chicken to the pan with the pancetta and stir to combine. Next, add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the sauce coats the spaghetti thickly, about 4 minutes (do not boil or you might end up scrambling the eggs). Season the pasta, to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the pancetta will likely add all the salt you need). Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle lemon zest over, and serve.

Best Appitizer Ever!

We had this delicious combination for the first time at Lucca's downtown and I have since put my own spin on it.  So good we consume it once a week!

Mascarpone Bruschetta

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup fresh basil chopped
2 cloves of garlic, whole
1/2 sourdough baguette, sliced
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
4 tbs olive oil, divided
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

• Prepare tomatoes and basil; add to a bowl.  Mix in 3 tablespoons of the oil and all the vinegar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Toss and set aside.
• Slice bread and toast in the oven until light browned.  About, 8 minutes on a 350 degree oven.
• Rub garlic on one side of the toasted bread.
• Drizzle oil over the other side of bread.  On the same side spread layer of mascarpone.
• Top cheese side of bread with spoonfuls of tomato mixture.
• Shave fresh parm over each piece.
• Enjoy!

Easy Italian Herb Focaccia

On a pasta or steak night I don't even buy bread anymore.  I just have these ingredients on hand, its so easy, cheap and way better then store bought bread.  Plus, you get the bragging rights having made your own bread and all!

Easy Italian Herb Focaccia
Serves 8

3 1/4 All-Purpose Flour

1 envelope RapidRise Yeast

1 Tbls sugar

1 Tsp salt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 2/3 cup very warm water

3 tbls shredded Parmesan cheese

2 Tbls Italian Herb Seasoning Mix

• Mix flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
• Add 2 tbls of oil, add water, stir until well mixed.
• Spread dough on to a greased 13X9-inch pan, cover.
• Let rise until doubled in size, about 30 min.
• Poke multiple holes in dough using the end of a wooded spoon.
• Drizzle remaining olive oil over dough; sprinkle seasoning and Parmesan. Cover
• Let rise for another 15min, while oven preheats to 375 degrees F.
• Bake 30-35 min until lightly browned.
• Cool slightly.  Serve. 
• If desired, serve with additional oil for dipping!  Enjoy!

Banana Cream Pie

This is such a easy and yummy pie!  I bet you have most of these ingredients in your pantry as well.  So don't toss out your very ripe bananas....make a pie!

Banana Cream Pie
Serves 8

3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups of milk
3 egg yolks beaten
2 tbls butter
2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
1 pie crust baked, and cooled, I like this recipe it freezes nicely too: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/
4 bananas sliced
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
3 tbls powdered sugar

• Preheat oven to 350

Pudding:

• In a sauce pan add sugar, flour and salt.
• Add milk slowly, stirring gently.  Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until bubbly.  Keep stirring and cook for 2 more minutes, then remove from heat.
• Temper eggs with mixture.
• Add eggs to the rest of the mixture.  Cook 2 more minutes on medium heat.  Keep stirring. 
• Remove from heat and add the butter and 1 1/4 tsp vanilla, stir until smooth.
• Slice bananas in to a cool crust, top with pudding.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes.
• Cool for 1 hour.

Whipped Cream:

• Add the cream, powdered sugar and remaining vanilla to a bowl and beat with a mixer on medium high heat until peaks are formed.
• Spread whipped cream on top of the pie and serve!

Turkey Burgurs

I'm a firm believer in seasoning every layer of your dish.  Bland food, no thank you!  My turkey burgers are a perfect representation of seasoning every layer.  Garlic infused oil to dress the buns, a black pepper aioli, and caramelized onions make this simple healthy meal a great one.

Turkey Burgers
Serves 4

Turkey patties:
1 lbs ground turkey
half of a grated onion
2 garlic cloves minced

2 Tbls. seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg white

salt and pepper

Condiments:

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

spicy mustard

half onion chopped

avocado sliced

lettuce

pepper jack cheese

1 garlic clove minced

2 tbls ground pepper

Garlic Ciabatta Buns:

Olive oil

1 clove of garlic cut in half
Ciabatta buns

• Start by combining the turkey with the above ingredients and divide into 4 patties.  Let rest to room temp.
• Add about a 1/4 cup of olive oil to a pan.  Add the garlic that is cut in half.  Infuse the oil on medium heat, just until you can smell the garlic then remove and discard the garlic.  This will only take 1-2 minutes. Remove oil from heat. Brush the buns with the oil, inside and out.  Set them aside for later.
• Caramelize onions in olive oil and butter.
• Cook patties, I have done them on the grill and the stove, just make sure they are done!  It will take about 20 minutes.
• While the patties and onions are cooking prepare all the yummy condiments.  To make the aioli just mix the mayo, sour cream, pepper and garlic together in a bowl until well combined.
• Once patties are cooked through, remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes.  While patties are resting add oiled buns to the grill for a couple minutes, to toast them.
• Build burgers as you like!  Enjoy!

Succulent and Easy

Two words I rarely see together.  This recipe was inspired by something I saw on Rachel Ray.  It is just delicious...I could eat this once a week...or whenever salmon goes on sale:)  Simply amazing!

Salmon with Browned Butter and Mashed Broccoli Potatoes.
Serves 4

4 red potatoes, cut into small pieces.
1 head of broccoli cut into small florets.
1 stick of butter cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper
4 6oz. salmon fillets with skin on
4 green onions, green and white portions thinly sliced and separated.
Juice of 1/2 lemon.  Don't skimp on this, it makes the whole dish!

• Preheat oven to 300.  In a medium sauce pan combine potatoes and salted water, bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer until just tender, about ten minutes.  Increase the heat to high-medium, add broccoli and cook until tender.  Drain then mash potatoes and broccoli with two tablespoons of butter.  Season with Salt and pepper.  Cover to keep warm.
• Season salmon with salt and pepper, then arrange skin side up, in a single layer, in a foil and greased baking dish.  Roast until cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Discard skin, let rest. 
• In a small skillet melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  Add the white part of the green onion and cook, swirling the pan, until butter is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and stir in the green part of the onion and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. 
• Plate the potatoes and then the fish directly on top.  Spoon the sauce over the fish and broccoli potatoes!  Enjoy!

Cooking with white wine.

Cooking with a good white wine is so important.  Getting one that I actually like to drink as well took some research and tasting (which I didn't mind at all).  The best I have found so far is this Sav Blanc from Chili.  You can get it at Total Wine or Bev Mo for $5 or get the big bottle for $10.99, I usually just get the big one so I can cook with it all week and have a few glasses.  Works great with shrimp scampi, risotto, salmon, any Asian dishes, any seafood really!  Try it out!

Chicken Stock

Over the weekend, the love of my life made a beer can chicken.  Which is, by the way the moistest chicken I have ever had...I will post the recipe for that soon.  I wanted to make a stock from the carcass, to utilize all parts of the chicken/get the most for my buck.  Obviously homemade stock has better flavor then the store bought kind and is obviously good in soups.  But my favorite thing to use home made stock in is risotto.  So next time you cook a whole chicken, even if it is cut up, don't discard the bones.  Use this recipe...

Bones, fat, skin from one whole chicken
2 onion, quartered
5 celery ribs, cut in to chunks

5 carrots, cut in to big chunks

5 cloves of garlic, whole

2 bay leaf

Fresh Parsley, about hand full

Fresh Thyme, about a hand full

12 cups of water

• Place chicken in pot and add enough water to cover the chicken
• Bring to a boil and simmer on low to medium heat for one hour.
• Skim fat from top of the broth.
• Add onion, carrot, garlic, celery and bay leaf.
• Continue to simmer for 3 hours, covered, stirring once or twice.
• Allow stock to cool uncovered
• Skim any fat off the top
• Strain in to air tight freezable containers.

*Containers of stock will last for 5 days in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer. 

Pad Thai is whats for dinner tonight! YUM!

Pad Thai is one of my all time favs...so i figured I guess i should learn how to make it just the way I like it.  Seeing as I could spend close to $20 on take out Pad Thai...or just make a big 'ol pot of my own for around $15.  I originally came across a recipe in a issue of Taste of Home, but have tweaked it a bit to fit our liking.  This is sure to be a hit and is easily doubled.  Add any meat or tofu, we have cooked this every way and it always turns out great.

14 oz. Uncooked thick rice noodles

1/2 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbls. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 eggs, beaten

3 cups of red cabbage, sliced

1 cup of bean sprouts

4 green onions thinly sliced
1 tsp. peanut butter
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup of soy sauce
1 tbls chili garlic sauce (adjust to spice preference)
2 tbls chopped peanuts
chopped fresh cilantro

Cook noodles according to package directions.  In a large non stick skillet or wok, if you have one,  partially cook shrimp in oil, just until barely pink on each side; remove and set aside for later.  Add onion and garlic to the pan.  Make a well in the center of the onions, add eggs and leave in the well until the eggs are completely set.  Add cabbage, green onions, vinegar, peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce.  Heat through, return shrimp to pan; heat through.  Drain noodles; toss with mixture.  Garnish with peanuts and cilantro!  Sooooo good!

Holy Garlic!

Tri-Tip marinated in peppercorn and garlic with some olive oil and red wine vinegar.  Along with some garlic red mashed potatoes and fresh green beans.  Needless to say we will smell amazing in the morning.

Tri Tip:

3 Tablespoons of peppercorns, crushed

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons rosemary, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Mix the above ingredients in a big zip lock bag.  Place tri tip on a cutting board cut 3/4 of the fat off the back, add meat to bag a let marinade for at least an hour.  Overnight for the best flavor. Pull meat out to come to room temp, get coals ready.  Cook to your desired done-ness, we like medium-rare for this cut of meat, which takes about 30 minutes.  Flip every few minutes.  As always,  when done grilling let rest for 10-15min.

Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes:

4 large red potatoes, chopped

3 clove garlic

2  Tablespoons butter, room temp

1/4 cup milk, room temp

1 Tablespoon marscapone

salt and pepper to taste

Add potatoes and garlic to a pot of salted room temp water and bring to a boil.  Cook until fork tender, strain and add to mixing bowl.  Add butter, milk and cheese make sure these ingredients are room temp or slightly warm so they don't cool down the potatoes.  Mix and add your salt and pepper, I like to garnish with chives or green onions.

Green and Yellow beans:

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a rapid boil.  Meanwhile prepare a bowl of ice water for blanching and cut stem end off the string bean and clean.  Put beans in boiling water cook for 5-7 minutes, transfer to ice water.  This will immediately stop the cooking to keep the bean crisp and will also set the nice green color.  Remove beans from water, toss with butter, garlic, salt and pepper.

What smells so good?

...oh it's my fully loaded cookies.  Its all in the name with these bad boys.  When I get the urge to bake I usually whip up a batch of these guys.  I always have the ingredients on hand since everyone who has tasted these absolutly loves them.  Usually with baking it's not a good idea to cut the recipe in half...but it works just fine with these.  Here is the recipe:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick-cooking or instant)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips  
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup peanut butter chips
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. One at a time, add eggs, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Gradually stir in flour mixture. Stir in chips. The dough will be very stiff and you will wonder if there is even enough to hold all the chips together! Don't worry, there is - just keep stirring.
• Let the dough sit while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees and gather together your baking sheets and parchment paper. It will be a little soft, but still firm enough to handle. Roll dough into 1 to 1-1/2 inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool cookies for a few minutes on the baking sheets. Remove cookies to wire rack and cool completely. Store covered in an airtight container.

Welcome!

My whole idea for wanting to do this is simple.  I LOVE cooking and baking...and sharing my latest dish with the people I love.  Sometimes I wish I could cook for a living but, I can’t afford culinary school, I don’t want to work the evening hours that chefs do and I'm afraid I would fall out of love with it.  So, blogging about my food adventures, new recipes and sharing pictures is defiantly the next best thing.  Even if no one reads me...I will have some since of accomplishment I suppose.  I have so many ideas and don’t know where to direct them so this blog will directly represent the way my mind is inspired by cooking. At this moment in my life it is just my boyfriend and I.  So the majority of my cooking is done in mind to feed two people and to have just enough left over’s for our lunches or to be rolled in to the next nights meal. Look forward to my latest recipes, some crafted by me and some recreated by what I see on the oh so lovely food network.  I might even throw in a few wine and restaurant reviews as well.