Zesty cookies...

I got the baking done for Wednesday Treat Day as usual today. I mentioned on Sunday that we were going to be using Limes in a cookie this time. We used copious amounts of zest and juice to flavor these cookies!

Lime-Glazed Cookies are a simple cookie with few ingredients, but packs a ton of flavor. The soft dough is first formed into a log and then shaped into a long rectanguler brick shape. The dough is a buttery shortbread-like base speckled with lime zest. After a stint in the icebox to firm up, the dough can be easily sliced into cookies which are ready to bake or can be frozen until needed. The crisp cookies are topped with a sweet lime glaze that gently cuts through the richness of the base. A fresh citrus flavor zips around in your mouth that sticks around even after you reach the last bite.

Dinner tonight, Spinach and Fire Roasted Tomato Strata, starts with a layer of chunky fire roasted tomatoes. Sliced sturdy bread is the next layer - I used a country style loaf that was quite dense so it could hold up to the wet ingredients. Another layer of the tomatoes are scattered over, followed by freshly sauteed spinach and garlic. More of the chewy bread is placed on top and an egg/milk mixture is poured over. Topped with a three cheese blend, this is set in the refrigerator to allow the dry bread to soak up the flavorful liquid. After being baked, the top takes on a crusty cheesebread type texture, with a firm egg filling underneath. I may not have drained the tomatoes enough as the first layer of bread was a bit soft, but the flavor was spot on.

Recipes
Lime-Glazed Cookies
Spinach and Fire Roasted Tomato Strata

Oozing with love...

We have done a stuffed meatloaf before that we both really enjoyed. When I spotted the recipe for tonight's dinner, I was attracted to it because of how much we liked the other recipe. This one looked like it would be a bit more flavorful though.

Santa Fe Meat Loaf starts out with a combination of ground turkey breast and 7% fat ground turkey. While you could use all breast meat, it may end up being a bit drier if you didn't have the extra fat from the mixed ground turkey. Roasted red bell peppers are sautéd with garlic, onions, and some smokey spices, that when cooled are mixed with the meat. This layered dish has a gooey center from a blended mix of mozzarella, cheddar and monterey jack cheese. To help moisten the meat and for a hot glaze on top, I used a spicy chipotle salsa - but if you want to tame it down, feel free to use a more mild version. Even though there are 6 crumbled bacon slices inside, I felt the flavor from them was lost since it was quite spicy and cheesy. I think the chili powder and cumin brought enough smoky flavor that I would just leave out the bacon next time. Eating for One is having a meatloaf blogging event during the month of March - make sure to check it out!

Recipes
Santa Fe Meat Loaf

Recapping the week...

Busy week! We made 11 new recipes... a pretty successful week with a few sweet stand-outs. The Oreo Truffle Balls, Ricotta-Cheese Cookies and Easter Biscotti trumped the savory dishes for this past week's favorite recipes.

Here's a small peak at one of the items we will be making this week. The response to the Creamy Key Lime Bars has been pretty good, so we're keeping with the Lime theme and will be using the larger variety to make cookies!

The weekend movie tonight from Netflix will be Must Love Dogs starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. We have quite the variety of dishes coming up this week, so I'm excited to get cookin'. Come back and see what we will be serving from the kitchen next!

Colorful biscotti....

I mentioned last Sunday that I would be using some Jelly Beans to try out a recipe for the upcoming holiday. I'm pretty happy with the results and it was pretty fun to eat! Easter always leaves us with leftover Jelly Beans, so this will be a nice way to get some of them used up!

The recipe, Easter Biscotti, ends up being not as hard and crunchy as other biscotti recipes we make because the base includes some butter. In our other recipes, egg and vanilla are the only things added to bind the dough together so you end up with a crumbly base. In this version, I found the dough to be a bit sticker and a little harder to work with, but once it was on the baking sheet and using wet fingers, it was easier to work with. I used Jelly Beans that had 5 or 6 different fruit flavors instead of ones that have some pretty crazy concoctions. The biscotti does still have a crunch, but the inside is a bit more tender. Each bite contained a different flavor which was odd at first, but it was pretty addicting! The first log I let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting, as I do with all biscotti, but I found you have to let these cool at least 10-20 minutes. If cut too early, you end up having problems with the candy being to warm and it sticks to the knife or pulls out of the cookie.

Tonight's Netflix DVD will be Fantastic Four with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans. After dinner, I will be sorting through the recipe piles to see what we can find to make this week. I have not added much to the pile in the past couple weeks, so it is nice to see it go down for a change! Stay tuned!

Recipes
Easter Biscotti

One pot meal...

A lot of the recipes we do end up using quite a few pots and pans, making for lots of clean up afterwards. I love making dinners that use one pot or pan to cook everything in order to help speed things along.

Tonight's dish, Skillet Paella, filled our 10" pan to the brim by the time it was done cooking. There was no concern that it was going to bubble over, but this recipe makes quite a lot! Basmati rice is the bulk of the dish, accompanied by lots of juicy chicken bites, spinach, corn, roasted red bell peppers and shrimp. Saffron threads lend a rich color and impart a subtle earthy background to the liquid the rice soaks up. Dinner was served in just under 30 minutes which makes it a great weeknight dish without a ton of clean up. I portioned this out into 4 servings, but this could easily be stretched to 6 or so as four was very filling on its own.

Recipes
Skillet Paella

Cookies with a surprise ingredient...

Cookies cookies cookies... so many different types, yet so little time to try them all! We usually prefer a cookie that is chewy/crisp, but every so often it is nice to have a change of pace and try a different textured one.

Have you ever had one of the soft, moist, melt in your mouth cookies that are usually found frosted with buttercream? That is how I could best describe the texture of these Ricotta-Cheese cookies. Yes, you read that right - Ricotta! I had to show Jeff the empty ricotta container as he refuses to admit that he likes it. They are cake-like, flavored with vanilla and almond extract to give them a boost in flavor, and frosted with a simple almond flavored icing. I didn't have time to make some buttercream, but that would be an excellent addition to these cookies. I sprinkled some green sanding sugar on top to dress them up a bit. I played around with the size - if you roll them in a ball they are a bit smaller, more thick and have a rounded dome when finished baking. If you flatten the dough balls, they are a bit larger which makes icing a little easier and they still puff up.

Dinner tonight, Grilled Herbed Pork Tenderloin, is first marinated with the bold flavors of garlic, lemon zest, fresh sage and oregano, orange juice and orange honey. After sitting for a few hours, we used The Griddler to grill the tenderloin until it was just pink in the center. The juice and honey created a caramelized crust that mixed well with the more savory garlic and spice flavors. While this was so good on its own, it would be even better over a salad or in a sandwich.

To have along side, I served Garlicky Lemon Broccoli. This recipe was incredibly simple and brought so much flavor to the broccoli. I was nervous that the garlic and lemon would overpower the simple broccoli, but the juice brought out the fresh flavor and the garlic gave just enough bite. I can see throwing this together often instead of just plain ol' steamed broccoli.

Recipes
Ricotta-Cheese Cookies
Garlicky Lemon Broccoli
Grilled Herbed Pork Tenderloin

Back to kneading...

The last loaf of bread I made was the Marbled Rye from a couple months ago. Since we finished the last of it from the freezer during the weekend I wanted to make some more today. Walnut and Rosemary Loaves made two round loaves that take on a dark golden crust while baking.

The dough was soft and a bit tacky, but the kneading process went pretty well. Since it has been so cold in the house, I used a trick I learned awhile ago to proof the bread. Leaving the oven light on in ours for a couple hours will bring the temperature inside to just under 85 degrees inside - which makes it a great place for the bread to rise. When I can't use that (like if I'm preheating the oven and it is on it's final rise) I like to wrap a heating pad with a towel and then set dough on top of that and cover it with a bowl - just make sure it does not get too warm. Right before these go into the oven, an egg wash is brushed over the top to aid in the color, then the top is slashed with a sharp knife. I did not get mine as deep as I wanted to because I got hung up on a couple of walnuts. The bread is chewy with a tight crumb and would be a great sandwich bread - the walnut and fresh rosemary flavors really shine through here.

Here's another tip for the crust I used. While the oven is preheating, I also like to place a heavy duty baking sheet on the bottom rack and when I place the bread on the stone, I pour a bit of hot water onto the pan to create steam. You can use ice cubes, but I don't like how much it lowers the oven temperature - hot water works just as well and still makes a large amount of steam.

Tonight's dinner, Polenta Spinach Pie, was a fast recipe to prepare and bursting with flavor. I used white cornmeal instead of yellow (it is what I had on hand) to make the base. The polenta is layered with spinach, a chunky marinara sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Baked until bubbly and golden this was a filling, healthy and a comforting dish. I liked how the textures between the firm polenta against a silky spinach and warm tomato-y top were enhanced by the strong Parmesan.

Recipes
Polenta Spinach Pie
Walnut and Rosemary Loaves

Requested repeat for Wednesday Treat Day

Occasionally Jeff gets requests for things we have made for Wednesday Treat Days in the past that went over very well. He received one late last week and since I did not already have something planned out, I went ahead today and got them done to bring in tomorrow.

I have made these Oreo Truffle Balls a few times before since they are pretty easy to make. They only consist of 3 ingredients - cream cheese, broken oreos and a coating of good quality chocolate. I like to keep the inside a little chunky, so I only thoroughly mix about one-half of the broken oreos in first. The second half is mixed just until combined, leaving some big pieces in for texture. I did not have as much white chocolate as I thought I did, so I had to melt down some bittersweet chocolate to finish dipping. Since these need to stay refrigerated because of the cream cheese, you don't have to temper the chocolate, which can make it easier if you like - but if you have the extra time feel free to! It was pretty cold in the house today, so the chocolate set a bit faster than I wanted it to. This made them a bit more bumpy, but I kind of like "homely" look to them. It's hard to stop at just one with these!

Tonight's dinner is similar to one we made a few weeks ago. Cauliflower, Pasta, and Cheese Gratin is a bit different though since the recipe included Pasta, a combination of cheeses and a bit of dijon. I used a tricolor radiatore pasta from Trader Joes that is flavored with beets, red bell pepper and spinach. The flavor from the pasta was pretty masked by the creamy cheese sauce, but I felt it added to the overall taste. Sharp white chedder along with the salty parmesan was an excellent combination to the tender cauliflower. Panko breadcrumbs are mixed with melted butter to create a golden crunchy brown crust on top. I added some of the dry pasta so you could get a visual of what they looked like before cooking.

Recipes
Oreo Truffle Balls
Cauliflower, Pasta, and Cheese Gratin

Unusual, but surprisingly good...

But first we have to get to dessert...

We have made scones once before, but I've been wanting to try out another recipe. The technique is a bit different than the other one and I found the dough to be not as sticky this time. In fact, it was quite crumbly when you get to the stage to lighty knead it.

The golden brown crust on the Sour Cream Scones is crisp with a cinnamon sugar coating. When I split one open, I found the texture of the inside to be light and soft. The introduction of less than half whole wheat flour adds a nuttiness to the scone, without making it too heavy as if you used all whole wheat. These are not as rich like ones made with heavy cream, but I don't think I missed that much at all in these. I think this recipe could take on several different add-ins to replace the raisins if you don't like them. While these are tasty plain, you could fill them with some lemon curd, preserves, or clotted cream to dress them up.

Tonight's dinner was pretty interesting. Asian Pasta Salad has an ingredient that I had to travel to a few different stores to find as I wanted to make sure I was using the correct one it called for. It calls for "Chinese noodles" and when I looked up the brand name they suggested (Ka-Me) the ones I found in the store looked nothing like it. I finally found what I think were the right ones the other day so I went ahead with the recipe.

This would have been a great side dish to the Asian-Style Meat Loaves we had the other night. Instead of using the "angel slaw" it called for, I used a broccoli slaw that included broccoli, red cabbage and carrots. This is mixed with a toasted combination of raw sunflower seeds, sliced almonds and the crumbled dry noodles. A flavorful dressing is mixed in and everything sits for a few minutes to absorb. The noodles retain a bit of their crunchy texture, but soften just enough to be easily eaten - it kind of reminded us of like a firm ramen noodle. Different for us, but we were quite happy with the results - Jeff found himself saying "hmm, I'm going back for seconds!"

Recipes
Asian Pasta Salad
Sour Cream Scones

Right around the corner....

A total of 10 new recipes this week with the stand-outs for us being the Macaroni Salad with Gorgonzola and Whole Wheat-Date Bars.

As you know, spring is quickly approaching and that means Easter is right around the corner. Later in the week I'm hoping to get an Easter-type recipe or two tested out to see if we will add them to the easter stuff we give out. Here's a peak at one of the things we end up with a plethora of during Easter - which I plan to use in a recipe.

Netflix brings us the other weekend movie of The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl with David Arquette and Kristin Davis. I noticed it says "in 3-D" so I wonder if we will need the glasses to see anything special during the movie... Lots of new stuff planned again this week so once again we'll be quite busy in the kitchen. Stay tuned to see what we serve up next!

Here comes the rain again...

It is 45 degrees outside, the windows are open and I'm sitting here in my long sleeve sweatshirt and long pants....why? Because we are letting the sweet smell of fresh rain flow through the house as it cleans away the dust cloud of junk that has been over Phoenix. After 144 days without any, it finally started this morning at 1 am and has been on and off all day! And can you belive that 10 minutes away from us they had snow falling this morning! This is how the pool looked this morning.
I've been in the mood to make something since I woke up this morning and today's new baked item is Monkey Bars. Think a moist banana bread, but baked in a snack bar form. Inside these bars are crunchy toasted walnuts and golden raisins that have been steeped in dark rum. The raisins burst with a dark, but tasty flavor when you bite into one. My banana was very ripe and the flavor definitely came through - so make sure to use a dark banana! When I have extras, I let them go very dark and then store them in the freezer. You can leave the skin on or off, but when I thaw them, I find it easier when the skin is on because you can just squeeze the banana out like toothpaste. A bit of sweetness is added on top by a dusting confectioners' sugar.

With the rain today, it is a perfect night to watch a DVD from Netflix. The movie will be Fever Pitch with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. I'm not too sure of the menu for next week, so I'll be spending some extra time reading through the to-try stacks and some cookbooks looking for some good stuff to try. Check back and see what we come up with!

Recipes
Monkey Bars

Special shrimp dinner...

The recipe I made for dinner tonight is one I had set aside a couple months ago since Jeff really likes shrimp and this one looked very good. Today is our 7th year anniversary and I wanted to make a special treat since we don't have shrimp very often.

Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce has a long list of ingredients and instructions, but when broken down, much of it can be prepared ahead of time and assembled in a short amount of time. Couscous is quite easy to prepare - usually one would bring a liquid to a boil (water or broth) and the couscous is stirred in and allowed to sit for 5 minutes. With this recipe, whole wheat couscous is first toasted in a dry skillet to extract the nutty flavor. Then chicken broth and orange juice are poured in and brought to a boil. After sitting for 5 minutes, butter and toasted almonds are stirred in and kept warm until ready to serve. I found this to be a bit more "wet" that traditional couscous though, but not in a bad way.

The shrimp have a crunchy coating of panko breadcrumbs mixed with fresh grated ginger to give it a bite. They are then seared off in olive oil until each side takes on a golden brown color. The sauce is a reduction of orange juice with a combination of spices to create a smooth, cool and citrus scented topping that could almost be eaten from a spoon. I can't wait to try and use it over chicken or fish.

Recipes
Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce

Bringing an Asian flair to meatloaf....

We have made individual meat loaves before, but tonight's version takes on an Asian twist. The recipes also uses another new-to-us ingredient - Water Chestnuts.

In tonight's dinner of Asian-Style Meat Loaves, finely chopped plain rice crackers replace breadcrumbs that are typically used as binder. Mixing ground turkey breast with lean ground pork keeps the these mini loafs from drying out. Water chestnuts bring a crisp texture difference and have a very delicate sweet flavor. Instead of a tomato based product, hoisin sauce is included inside the mix and is also spread on top before baking to turn into a rich dark color. The hoisin also lends some spice and a bit of sweetness. Fresh ginger root also brings a bite to the dish. I served the Toasted Coconut Rice from Tuesday as a side.

Recipes
Asian-Style Meat Loaves

Waking up Max....

Tonight's dinner was technically a side dish, but there are lots of times that we just increase the servings a bit and turn it into a main meal instead. We usually do this when the recipe makes a fair amount, so by doing this we can still try the recipe instead of having a ton of leftovers.

Macaroni Salad with Gorgonzola caught my attention as I would have never thought to include some of the ingredients together. The pasta I used was Barilla Plus and found the texture to be very palatable. I was surprised how much I liked the crisp and tart granny smith apples in the salad. Lots of different textures from the smooth dressing, crunchy walnuts and al dente pasta. Chopped arugula lends a peppery bite against the tang from the dressing. Crumbly rich gorgonzola is sprinkled on top and brings sharp bites of flavor throughout. To bulk the dish up a bit, I served it over a bed of tender baby greens.

We had to snap a picture this morning when Max was just waking up and sitting infront of the blinds. He just looked so calm and ready to go back to bed! Somedays I only wish he was this mellow all the time!

Does anyone plan on watching Top Chef tonight on Bravo? I have TiVO set up to record since it doesn't show until 12am here - hopefully it is a bit better than the other reality cooking shows.

Recipes
Macaroni Salad with Gorgonzola

Another batch of treats for the co-workers

As you know, Tuesday is the day where I bake something for Jeff to bring into the office for Wednesday Treat Day. I went browsing through some cookbooks and magazines for something a bit different and gave Jeff a couple different options. He picked a good one to try!

Whole Wheat-Date Bars requires some pre-planning as there are a couple steps where the dough needs to sit in the refrigerator for an extended amount of time. A combination of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour form a cookie base over a smooth date filling. The dates are first softened in apple cider so they can be easily pureed in a food processor. The crust has a hint of lemon, is nutty and firm enough to keep the filling from squishing out when you eat them.

These bars have a wholesome taste but the sweetness from the dates balances the wheaty flavor.

The side dish for dinner tonight was Toasted Coconut Rice. Cardamom is first toasted in a dry pan and then coconut is thrown in to get a bit of color. Garlic is then lightly browned in some olive oil, followed by the rice to allow it to toast before adding the liquid. The flavors are enhanced quite a bit which makes these extra steps worth it. Everything is mixed back in and allowed to simmer until the liquid is gone, creating a fluffy and slightly nutty dish. A bit of butter is thrown in with some cilantro at the end. We found the coconut to be not so pronounced, but fit in well as a background flavor. Very good.

Wasabi and Panko-Crusted Pork with Gingered Soy Sauce was a perfect weeknight dish since it was pretty quick to throw together. The tender pork is encrusted with a simple panko coating and cooked until golden brown on both sides. If you find that the crust is browning too quickly, you can throw the pan in the oven to finish cooking the pork for a few minutes. To take advantage of the tasty bits on the bottom of the skillet, the heat is lowered and fresh ginger is added to the pan. Quickly followed by a mixture of chicken broth, sake, soy sauce, some sugar to balance the flavor and wasabi paste to punch up the spice. The sauce is finished with some green onions and spooned over the chops.

Recipes
Toasted Coconut Rice
Wasabi and Panko-Crusted Pork with Gingered Soy Sauce
Whole Wheat-Date Bars

Many new things coming from the kitchen!

We had an interesting day in the kitchen today. I made one recipe that I thought I never would end up doing, one that has a new combination of flavors and a new take on cornbread. Let's start off with the sweet and slightly savory combo.

Curried Sunflower Brittle has a lot of promise, but I think the recipe could use some tweaking. Raw sunflower seeds and curry powder are first toasted (separately) and then mixed into a very hot sugar mixture. After spreading very thin and allowed to cool, you can easily break the brittle into shards. The recipe calls for cooking the sugar mixture for about 3 minutes, until you smell the first sign of caramel fragrance, but that is kind of hard to do when the air is filled with toasted curry powder. I let it go for about 4 minutes total, and while about half of it is crisp and firm, some of the mixture is a little chewy and sticks to your teeth. Other than the chewy texture, we both really loved the taste of this brittle. The brittle color is not as clear/see through because I used brown rice syrup in lieu of light corn syrup as we try to shy away from high fructose corn syrup when we can.

The new take on cornbread tonight was Cheddar Corn Bread with Pepitas. This is a moist and more savory cornbread filled with sharp white cheddar, green chiles and topped off with crunchy pepitas. Since we have recently started using chiles in food, it seemed a bit too heavily chile-flavored , but the more we had I think we could have eaten the whole pan. Thankfully, we had something else to go with it tonight and only had a couple servings. Peptias are raw pumpkin seeds with the shells removed and bring a great texture on top. Definitely worth looking for.
Okay, so the main portion of tonight's dish is something that I steered clear of while growing up. Whenever my family made this, I was no where to be found as just the sound of the stuff that went in it made me nauseous (yes, I was a really picky eater!) Jeff always said he didn't like it either so I figured we were safe, but I finally overcame my fear and went ahead with a recipe called All-American Chili. What's to be afraid of about chili right? Beans and other unknown stuff that even though I've never tasted when I was younger, I just knew I would never like it.

Boy was I stupid for not even trying it a long time ago! We both thoroughly enjoyed this so much. Color me surprised! Thick, hearty and full of flavor with a bit of spice to heat things up. Even though the recipe uses lean Hot Italian turkey sausage and ground sirlion, they bring enough meaty flavor to make up for it. The recipe did originally call for brown sugar, but I set it aside until the end as I thought with all of the Merlot in the recipe it might not need it. When I tasted it as the timer was almost done, I'm glad I left it out. If you like your chili on the sweeter side, feel free to add in a couple tablespoons. This opens up so many other recipes we've skipped over because of certain ingredients we "thought" we would never like.

Recipes

All-American Chili
Curried Sunflower Brittle
Cheddar Corn Bread with Pepitas

Another one done....

We ended up with a total of 9 new recipes this week - a couple of stand-outs for us were the Peanut butter cake and Apple, Almond, and Mixed Greens Salad with Zinfandel-Cranberry Vinaigrette.

This week brings a few new flavor combinations and even a couple of ingredients we have never used before. I'm excited and hope they turn out as good as they sound. Here's a peak at some pepitas and merlot that will be used in separate savory dishes for tomorrow night's dinner.

We are really not wine drinkers and we were a little overwhelmed at Trader Joe's trying to pick out one to use for the recipe so I have no idea how this will end up!

A couple months ago I mentioned we finished a Disney puzzle we were working on and that I had started another one. I got a chance to finish it a week ago and here's how it ended up.

We are probably going to watch the Netflix selection of Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures a little early this afternoon so we can watch the Academy Awards tonight. We had this in the queue before the DVD of Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit was released.

Better the second time around...

It has been at least a couple years since the last time we made a sweet bread pudding. While it was pretty good, I remembered that the texture was a little too soggy and mushy for us. I've been leary about trying other recipes because of the previous experience, but I wanted to give it another try.

Cinnamon Bread Puddings with Caramel Sauce is dead easy to put together and has a much better texture than the other recipe. What I also liked about this one is they are baked in a muffin tin to create a perfect individual portion sized dessert. Using cinnamon swirl bread rather than plain lends just the right amount of cinnamon without having to add the actual spice. The texture is soft, but firm enough to hold the muffin shape quite well.

And of course you can't have this without the sauce! I used a homemade caramel sauce, but to make this even easier you could use a prepared version or even melt down caramel cubes thinned with milk.

Netflix sent us The Brothers Grimm with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. We wanted to see this in the theater when it was first released, but never got the chance to go. I already have plans about the upcoming week's menu even without going through the to-try piles, which could be dangerous! Stay tuned!

Recipes
Cinnamon Bread Puddings with Caramel Sauce

Thanks!

I just wanted to take a moment and say thanks for all of the birthday wishes and cards! I had my fair share of the cake yesterday and we still have a bunch leftover... I asked Jeff if we should bring some to work or send a couple slices to some friends, but I got the look of "don't you dare - it will freeze fine and we will eat it!" So I guess that took care of that!

While I was making breakfast this morning, I looked out the window to the backyard and noticed during sunrise that the sun was reflecting off a triangle glass table we have outside with a metal cactus sculpture on it. This displayed on the window for only a few minutes. First time I've ever seen this happen! As always, you can see a bigger version by clicking on the photo.

Tonight's dinner, Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, is actually cooked in the microwave instead of being baked in the oven. Even though this recipe leaves you with a bunch of dishes to clean up, I thought it was pretty quick to come together if you set it up in assembly line fashion. The sauce and fresh basil definitely make this recipe. The filling is a thick mixture of tender baby spinach, mushrooms, onion, creamy ricotta and delicate shredded mozzarella. I'm not too keen on raw bell peppers, but I love the intense flavor that the roasted red peppers added to the sauce. I served this with some fresh broccoli and the White Chedder Black Pepper biscuits. If you are looking for a change from the same ol' layered lasagna, give this one a try!

Recipes
Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Would you make your own?

I don't get a chance to make cakes very often and I love when I get to. In fact, I think the last cake I made was the Mickey cake for Jeff's birthday. So... today I went ahead and made my own bithday cake - Do/would you make your own or would you rather buy it?

Since you know I am a big fan of peanut butter, of course I was going to have a Peanut Butter Cake! I've never made a peanut butter cake before, but I am quite pleased with how it turned out. It has a distinct peanut buttery flavor, is quite moist, and baked very even with no "dome" to trim off. Although... it would have been fun to have that dome to trim off and nibble on!

I thought for awhile about how I was going to frost and fill it, but I decided to just keep it pretty simple and do a chocolate buttercream. I was afraid the chocolate might overpower the peanut flavor, but the cake really held it's own. To give a texture difference and some more peanut taste, I scattered some chopped peanuts on top. I wanted to have some fun with the outside decoration, so I tried to do my first basketweave on the sides. My piping skills could definitely use some improvement and the frosting was probably a touch too thick, but it went okay I guess. Next time I make this cake (and I will so be doing this one again), I might try a peanut butter mousse filling with a smooth chocolate ganache frosting.

I don't mind sharing - would you like a slice?

Tonight's dinner was something Jeff and I had been talking about making for awhile. While it is pretty simple, it was so darn good. Using a new recipe for Beef Meatballs, we made Cheesy Meatball Subs. I baked the meatballs in the oven so they kept their shape well while they cooked. When they were done, I simmered them in some fresh chunky marinara and then spooned them over lightly toasted rolls. We topped them with provolone and then set under the broiler to melt the cheese. The meatballs have a bit of spice to them and were very flavorful. I served these with some baked tortilla chips.

Recipes
Beef Meatballs
Peanut Butter Cake

Join me for a rain dance?

Well, we still have had no rain since the last post when we surpassed the old record. This makes the total of 135 days without anything - we actually got a couple sprinkles (I saw maybe 3...) yesterday though - nothing measureable. I hope that we get something soon as there is a cloud of junk in the air. They have been talking about how bad they expect the fire season to be this year too.

I mentioned that this week would have some comfort food dishes and the meal tonight fits right in. Potluck Potato Casserole has a bit of a tang to it and is quite cheesy. This creamy dish with a crunchy top coat of corn flakes was like a blast from the past and a big hug in the form of food. I might add a little more cayenne next time to give it just a bit more bite. This recipe was meant to be a side dish, but I found it filling enough to stand on it's own with a bit bigger portion size. You can assemble everything ahead of time and leave in the refrigerator until you need to bake it. Just save the topping until right before you place it in the oven.

Recipe
Potluck Potato Casserole

Sometimes you should just stay in bed....

Have you ever had one of them days where you wish you just stayed in bed? That was me this morning.... Jeff puts his glass of iced tea back in the refrigerator if he does not finish it all and while trying to fit something in the fridge, I managed to knock it over and spill it everywhere. About 10 minutes after that, while trying to eat lunch, instead of crunching down on the piece of apple, I bit my tongue instead... So after 20 minutes of waiting for it to stop bleeding, I was ready to just call it a day and go back to bed. Since it is Tuesday though, I had to get something together for Jeff to bring into the office for Wednesday treat day, so I cleared my head and went on with the rest of the day.

The recipe I picked out to make for him to bring in tomorrow is Chocolate Pretzel Cookies. I've been meaning to try out this cookie since I first went through the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion. It is a simple ice box chocolate sugar cookie that is rolled into a long rope and then shaped into a pretzel. An egg white glaze is brushed over the top and a some coarse sugar crystals are sprinkled on. Baked until firm, these cookies held their shape well and have an intense chocolate taste from the dutch process cocoa. The coarse crystals not only add a sparkle, they bring a nice crunch on top.


I didn't have to worry much about tonight's dinner as it was put together yesterday. Strata Milano with Gorgonzola uses the bread I mentioned on Sunday's post. Sourdough bread is sliced, toasted, and then allowed to sit in a flavorful cheesy egg mixture overnight. Ricotta and gorgonzola bring a salty richness to the sour bread. Smoky bacon and rosemary flavor the plum tomatoes which are layered inside and on top of the crusty toasted bread. The bottom layer soaks up most of the egg mixture and softens a bit, while the top layer takes on a deep golden brown color and stays quite crisp. It looked kinda funky while it was being put together, but after it was baked I liked the unique appearance. This dish reminded me of the Bread Pudding Florentine we made some time ago.

Recipes
Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Strata Milano with Gorgonzola

Light night...

Today was pretty busy so we had a couple of light items for dinner tonight. I was looking for something that would be pretty filling, but not heavy.

To start us off I made White Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits. I wish I would have made a double batch of these just to put one set in the freezer. The tender biscuits, made with buttermilk, have a sharpness from white cheddar and just the right amount of bite from the pepper. I was afraid there would be an aftertaste of baking powder since there is quite a bit in the recipe, but neither of us detected it. Instead of rolling and cutting them, I decided to speed things up and just turn them into drop biscuits. Since most of the work is done in the food processor, these can be whipped up in no time.
Keeping with the light, but filling theme, we went with Apple, Almond, and Mixed Greens Salad with Zinfandel-Cranberry Vinaigrette. The fresh tasting dressing is made from cranberry juice, zinfandel, lemon juice, shallots and olive oil. Dried cranberries burst with flavor when bitten into as they were plumped up by steeping them in boiling apple juice. Crisp apples bring a nice contrast in texture to the tender baby greens. Toasting the almonds brings out much more of the nutty flavor which allows the serving size to be small, but they still pack a punch. Next time I would include some gorgonzola or another type of crumbly cheese to add another dimension.

Recipes
White Cheddar and Black Pepper Biscuits
Apple, Almond, and Mixed Greens Salad with Zinfandel-Cranberry Vinaigrette

Ingredient sneak peak...

We did a little better this week, with 11 new recipes. I quite enjoyed most of them, but I think the stand-outs were the Creamed Cauliflower with Herbed Crumb Topping and Breakfast Crunch Bars. The new week has some fun and comforting recipes coming up - I can't wait to get started as we roll into another month.

Here's a peak at one of the ingredients we will be using in a recipe at some point during the week. A few of the other ingredients that will go along with these crusty Sourdough Baguettes are fresh tomatoes, baby spinach, and gorgonzola.

The movie from Netflix tonight will be The Pacifier starring Vin Diesel and Brad Garrett. Going over the list of recipes to make this week, I see it will be quite busy as some require a lot of prep work to be done the day before. Stick around and see what we end up with!

Good... but could be better...

It has been awhile since the last time we have made brownies. As I said then, we prefer the fudgier brownies more-so than cakey ones. Even though the brownie we made today was very moist, the title of this recipe is a little deceptive. I did take them out a couple minutes before the stated baking time, but they ended up with a different texture that I was expecting.

Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies have a rich flavor and while the texture was lacking for me, it was still very good. The mocha part is very subtle as it is just there to beef up the chocolate taste. I used toffee bits without the chocolate coating, but I think they could be better with the coated ones. They reminded me a lot of the ones you might find in the snack isle of a grocery store. I would make these again as they were pretty good for being a brownie on the lighter side!

Tonight's weekend movie from Netflix is Millions. Was this even released in theaters? I don't ever remember seeing anything about it. I think this is the first week that I have not added anything to my to-try pile, so it did go down a few this time! I have a feeling that will change this week with new magazines coming in.

Recipes
Fudgy Mocha-Toffee Brownies

Soup du Jour

Unlike some soups in the we have made in the past, the one tonight does take quite a bit from start to finish to make. You can speed things up a little by preparing the veggies early and leaving them in the refrigerator until you are ready.

Roasted Vegetable-Rosemary Chicken Soup intensifies the flavor of the veggies by roasting them until they are caramelized. Since I love the flavor of roasted garlic, I added a couple whole garlic cloves along with some sprigs of fresh rosemary for some additional flavor while they cooked. You can start cooking the chicken in a flavor-filled mixture of water, chicken broth, fresh rosemary and garlic while you wait on the vegetables. When the veggies have enough color, the two are then combined and allowed to simmer to meld the flavors together. Just before serving, whole wheat rotini is added, which soaks up the intensely rich and potent liquid as it softens. Much of the liquid evaporates or is used up by the pasta and there is not that much left when serving. I would think about adding some more liquid next time so it is more of a soup. I found it to be very filling and provided a generous amount of pasta when portioned into 4 servings. We both agreed that this was probably the most flavorful soup we have made to date. Jeff requested baked potatoes to go along with the soup tonight.

Recipes
Roasted Vegetable-Rosemary Chicken Soup