Hey... that's my basil, not yours!

While we were at the farmers market getting pears on Saturday, I also had to pick up a couple things in anticipation of tonight's dinner. I needed a bunch of basil as we have been going through a lot of it in the past couple weeks. The little plants I started just could not keep up, but I noticed that maybe it was not only me picking away at the leaves this morning! Hmph!

I had some ricotta leftover after making the pizza earlier last week, so I leafed through the stacks of recipes and found one that looked good. I ended up choosing a recipe for Pasta with Spinach-Basil Sauce. After picking up the fresh local spinach and basil at the market, we were ready to go as everything else in the recipe is pretty much a staple. The two leafy greens go for a quick dunk in the same water I end up using to cook the pasta which allows them to keep their vibrant color. Like frozen spinach that you thaw, you need to get rid of the extra water they picked up during the dunk. I used to use a towel, but that was just messy - so I like to use a potato ricer instead, as I have found it works so much better at getting the water out. Processed with shallots, ricotta, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg you will notice this mixture will be extremely thick - but don't worry, we will fix that in a minute. Once the fettuccine is cooked al dente, place a measuring cup under a colander to catch the pasta water. After adding the hot pasta, you thin out the sauce to your liking with that water. The bright flavor shines through the light - but still creamy and cheesy coating, that grabs onto the long strands of pasta. The quick nature of this dish is perfect to throw together for a fresh and fast weeknight dish.

Recipes
Pasta with Spinach-Basil Sauce

Yes, cookies are still good when made without butter!

First week in September was a busy one with 13 new recipes! Our favorites were the Simple Chicken and Oat Groat Soup, Basil and Three-Cheese Thin-Crust Pizza, and Edamame and Barley Salad. After a couple last minute additions, we got the grocery shopping done this morning for the week ahead, but I don't think we will reach 13 recipes again!

Since we just made muffins the other day, I wanted to make something a little different for snacks this week. I went with a cookie recipe that is a little unusual as it has no butter or eggs. Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies are big, soft, thick and kinda chewy cookies made with mashed ripe bananas, natural peanut butter, honey and Lyle's Golden Syrup which imparts a more unique sweet flavor. With the use of rolled oats and whole wheat flour, they are hearty and pretty healthy! A generous amount of dried cranberries in each bite bring another dimension of the chewy texture, but also add some sweetness. I used a strong Vietnamese cinnamon from Penzey's that added just enough spice to the background without overpowering the mild peanut and light banana flavor. When you form them, wet your fingertips if you find them to be sticky when you flatten them.

Recipes
Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

Another way to use up maple sugar...

When we went to the farmers market this morning, I had to pick up a couple fresh pears as this was the first weekend I noticed them. I already had a recipe in mind that I have been saving for awhile now, but just didn't get around to making it.

Maple Nut and Pear Scones are not as rich because some of the butter is cut with cream cheese to lighten them, but that doesn't mean they have no flavor. While using cream for the liquid is more traditional, I like the addition of buttermilk which lends a subtle tang. The maple flavor comes in two parts here; I first used maple sugar, instead of granulated, which lent a more deep rich flavor, while maple extract is added with the buttermilk for an additional kick. When you add the buttermilk, do it slowly as you may not need the full amount to moisten the dough. Even with the changes to make them lighter, these are still quite flaky and tender. The flavor from the toasted pecans was a good counterpart to the Bartlett pears, but walnuts would also be a great pair if you don't care for pecans.

I've been asked a few times now why we never post about savory dishes on Saturdays. As I've mentioned before, a couple years ago we pretty much rotated through a set of recipes and never strayed far as we were pretty picky. Since we have decided to expand our choices in what we eat, each week I normally make new or different (I can't believe some foods we have begun to enjoy!) recipes Monday through Friday. Sundays are usually set aside for leftovers, but we often do make something new then too. Saturdays are the one day where we always have basically the same dish for dinner and there is really no thought involved. Jeff says this is just our little ritual to keep us sane! We've posted it a few times as sometimes we add or swap out ingredients, but it is basically the same.... here's another view of our Saturday Chickens Salads.

Recipes
Maple Nut and Pear Scones

Pilaf and Orange Chicken...

For tonight's dinner, I started off by making a Multigrain Pilaf with Sunflower Seeds. This recipe uses pearl barley again for a second time this week! Sunflower seeds are first pan-toasted with canola oil and salt until they turn golden. After removing the seeds, butter and oil warm up together to cook thinly sliced leeks until tender. Water, broth, pearl barley (I rinsed and toasted the barley just as we did the first time) and a brown/wild rice blend are stirred in and allowed to simmer. After 35 minutes of the mixture slowly bubbling, juicy golden raisins and bulgur are gently stirred in and left to cook another 10 minutes. The original recipe calls for dried currants, but I had to substitute with golden raisins as I didn't get a chance to pick any up this week. I'm not sure if the ratio was off or something, but I still had quite a bit of liquid left over that I ended up draining off. The toasted seeds and some chopped fresh italian parsley are stirred in and it's ready to go. Textures from the crunchy seeds, chewy grains and soft raisins paired with the mild onion flavor in the leeks was a pleasure to eat.

I wanted a light protein dish that I could quickly prepare as the pilaf was going to take awhile between the prep and long cooking time. I decided on the recipe, Orange Chicken, as I love sweet sauces with chicken. To hasten the cook time, chicken breasts are first pounded thin before being seasoned and dredged in flour. A bit of butter and oil are melted together again, but this time we heated them until the butter turned golden and a nutty aroma emerged. The chicken is added and cooked until a rich brown crust on each side appears. The chicken is removed and kept warm while white wine and orange juice are poured in to loosen up the tasty bits left behind. The tender chicken pieces are thinly sliced while the sauce quickly reduces to half the amount originally added in. With the tangy sauce being drizzled over the warm slices, I could see serving this over a salad, but paired with the pilaf, it was a very filling combination.

Recipes
Multigrain Pilaf with Sunflower Seeds
Orange Chicken

From muffins to soup and finishing with a bannock... but what's a bannock?

We really liked the Spiced Zucchini Bars with Cranberries and Pecans, so I was looking around for another sweet dish to try and use up the rest of the leftover zucchini from tonight's dinner. This time I opted to make some muffins!

Cranberry and Zucchini-Lemon Muffins have a deep golden base, but the tall crowns remain a light blonde with the colors of red and green streaking throughout. These are a bit different than your normal sweet muffins as the outside is more dry with the insides remaining moist from the shredded zucchini. They kind of reminded me of a moist cornbread in texture. The flavor from the lemon zest went well with the dried cranberries and zucchini, but I would probably increase it to a full tablespoon for a bit more punch. With these muffins being mildly sweet, they would be a good mid-morning or late afternoon pick-me-up snack.

Two parts to dinner tonight - let's start with the Simple Chicken and Oat Groat Soup. While I have used steel cut oats before (weekend morning oatmeal!) I have not cooked with the whole oat groat before. The soup begins by simmering the oats just until tender, about 45 minutes - be sure to watch the time on these as you don't want them to turn mushy. Onion, celery and carrots form the base flavors, with zucchini and garlic added in when they begin to soften. The plump chewy groats, chicken broth, chopped chicken, green beans, fresh thyme and fire roasted tomatoes are then added in and go for a quick 10 minute cook so the flavors can meld together. Green peas and fresh basil are added in and then the soup is ready to serve. Because of the oats, this soup is very hearty with a variety of textures and flavors from the vegetables to keep it interesting. I can't wait to make this new favorite comfort dish in the dead of winter for a heart-warming soup to keep us going in the frigid cold.

To go with the soup tonight, I made some funky Cheese-Onion Bannocks. These are savory Scottish oatcakes (think mini scones) that can be quickly prepared as most of the work is done in a food processor. After a quick saute of onions cool down, the flour and rolled oats called for in the recipe are processed until coarse. Try not to process too long as you want the oats to retain some texture. Butter, Parmesan and the cool onions are then pulsed in. This dry mixture is then hand mixed with a couple egg whites and water. Once combined, the sticky mixture is divided, formed into rounds and cut into small triangles. Baked until golden, the oatcakes are dense, chewy and just dry enough to be eagerly dipped in a warm soup. At first bite, they may seem a little plain - but as you chew, the sweetness from the onions and the sharp nutty cheese flavor start to reveal themselves. The serving size is small, so you may want to plan on 2 or 3 per person.

Recipes
Cranberry and Zucchini-Lemon Muffins
Simple Chicken and Oat Groat Soup
Cheese-Onion Bannocks

Clearing the sinuses....

For tonight's dinner, we took a ride on the spicy side with a recipe for Dirty Rice. The original recipe called for white long grain rice, but I used brown jasmine instead as we have a huge bag to go through from Trader Joe's. The mildy floral rice gains quite a bit of flavor as the grains slowly cook away in a combination of chicken broth and a couple bay leaves. Since brown rice takes awhile, you are left with plenty of time to prep the rest of the ingredients.

I didn't have much luck finding the chicken and apple sausage the recipe had listed, but to keep the spicy theme going, I picked up buffalo style chicken sausage from Costco and used that. Since we've never had them before, we grilled a couple for lunch the other day to make sure we would like the flavor and they were very good! Garlic, onions, crisp celery, roasted red bell peppers and a spicy Cajun seasoning mixture (recipe included in the linked title below!) are added with the chunky pieces of sausage and thoroughly heated through. Once the fluffy rice is done, the two mixtures are combined with some fresh parsley. While this does not have the traditional gizzards and livers most recipes out there include (I can't imagine myself using them... ever!), Jeff and I both very much enjoyed the dish for what it was. Though, since we used the buffalo chicken sausage, it was almost too spicy for us - but the endorphin rush from the heat was fun!

Recipes
Dirty Rice

Crunch all around... from sweet to savory!

Another round of baking today for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day we have started at Jeff's new office. We've done some heavy items for the past couple of treats, so I thought we would go a little lighter with some crisp biscotti.

For this recipe, Lemon-Ginger Crunch Biscotti, I wanted to add another layer of texture to the dough so I added in some stone-ground yellow cornmeal. As with most of the other biscotti recipes we use, this had no addition of butter, so they come out with a bit more crunch. I found the lemon colored dough to be a little sticky, so I ended up having to dust a little more heavily with flour to be able to roll them into logs. These biscotti have an enticing lemon flavor as two full tablespoons of fresh zest along with a tablespoon of juice are added in. Finely diced pieces of crystallized ginger are found throughout each piece which bites back with a gentle sweet heat. Since I'm a sucker for lemon and white chocolate, I added a drizzle of some melted chocolate on top after they cooled - just enough to tantalize the tastebuds!

Tonight's dinner, Basil and Three-Cheese Thin-Crust Pizza, has quite a few steps and requires some pre-planning - but you could easily do some of the steps ahead of time. To start the pizza off, we had to get to work on making a Spicy Pizza Sauce. This recipe will replace any other sauce I used before - I will have to find a reason to make it again... and soon! Onions and minced garlic start the base flavors and are enhanced with a bit of white wine. Hearty tomato paste, oregano, black pepper, crushed red pepper and fire-roasted crushed tomatoes are mixed in and allowed to simmer until thick. When removed from the heat, a small shot of balsamic vinegar is added which intensified and brought a rich depth to the spicy sauce.

The dough is then made by hand and allowed to rest in the refrigerator before using so it can be stretched thin without tearing. Since the dough can get quite thin, a thicker rim of crust is made by turning over a small amount of the edge onto itself to hold in the sauce. Olive oil is brushed on to give the crust a little richness - I made sure to give the rim a good brush to help the golden color come out and get crisp. The dough is then slid onto a firey hot pizza stone and quickly pre-cooked before adding the toppings. After a generous layer of the spiced sauce, a cheesy combination of mozzarella and ricotta is scattered on top - this does get a little messy though, as it is more of a wet mixture. A shower of nutty Parmesan is then added before the return trip to the oven. The dollops of cheese melt together and the crust turns a rich color with a snap to it. Right before serving, slivers of just-picked basil leaves are scattered on top for a burst of freshness. While I loved the texture of the dough, I thought it could been a bit more flavorful - though, I'm used to our favorite nutty whole-wheat pizza dough so I shouldn't compare. Sadly, there will be no leftovers for lunch tomorrow as there was no way Jeff and I were going to leave any pieces of this awesome pizza behind!

Recipes
Basil and Three-Cheese Thin-Crust Pizza
Spicy Pizza Sauce
Lemon-Ginger Crunch Biscotti

Updates on the house....

Before we get started with tonight's dinner, we have a couple updates to share. Before we moved to Phoenix, and while living there, everyone told us to be wary of the rattlesnakes, scorpions and other scary things (wild piggys!) In the time we lived there (just over 2 years) we never saw one of the things people warned us about. So, since moving out here we've seen a snake and today we found a tiny little devil hiding in the garage... Scroll down if you can't stand to see bugs!

Ugh, what next? We looked on-line and some places told us to look around for any egg sacks, but we didn't see anything. Jeff has never seen a Black Widow before, so it freaked him out a little - does this mean there are lots more hiding away (exterminator time?) or maybe just one decided to live with us.

After that fiasco, we went and signed the contract for the kitchen renovation. This means we ordered the cabinets, picked out the counters and finalized what demo work will be done - woo! The cabinets will take about 5 weeks, so we have some time left before we will be without the major appliances. I'm anxious to get things going, but I don't think it will hit me until we actually start having things torn out. I'm not sure how much we will be able to update the blog when this starts, but we'll see how creative we can get with cooking dinner and snacks! I may do a bunch of stuff ahead of time to freeze and reheat in the toaster oven.

Now, for tonight's dinner, we added another new grain to our diet - Pearl Barley! I've been wanting to try this for awhile and finally came across this recipe that jumped out at me - Edamame and Barley Salad. After doing some looking around, I did a few things different that I will definitely try with other grains.

After rinsing, I toasted the grains in a dry skillet until they were lightly golden - they released a very nutty aroma while doing this. Here is the difference between the pale grains versus the ones we toasted until golden.

In the recipe, it says to cook the barley according to package directions - which means 1 cup barley to 3 cups water. Boil, reduce, cover and simmer till done (45 minutes). After doing some looking on-line, I decided to use another method - Bring 6 cups salted water to a boil, add barley (do not cover) and simmer for 45 minutes. Drain, let sit 10 minutes and fluff with a fork. This worked wonders! The grains were separate, fluffy and not sticky at all. I found the flavor to be much more upfront and enhanced from the earlier toasting. I can't wait to try these methods with Quinoa and Bulgar.

Once cooked, the barley is mixed with roasted red bell peppers, onions, cilantro, fresh mint and edamame. This combination is then tossed in a light and tangy dressing simply made from olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, Dijon and chunky cracked black pepper. Colorful, fresh tasting and pretty filling - this would be a great make-ahead dish to enjoy later in the day.

Recipes
Edamame and Barley Salad

Lazy morning breakfast....

Well we are being pretty consistent now - 11 new recipe again this week! We had a hard time choosing the highlights as this was a really tasty week! Here are a few that were especially good - Peanut Butter Graham Squares with Dark Chocolate Drizzle, Cheddar, Broccoli and Pasta Bake and we couldn't forget the Thick Mint Brownies! The recipe sections to the left have been updated - you may need to hit refresh to see the additions.

I got up a little early this morning so I could get a head start on making Jeff some pancakes for breakfast. Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes with Chunky Blueberry Sauce was a great way to start off a lazy Sunday morning. Since I was using frozen wild blueberries, the pancakes were able to keep their golden color, instead of changing all purple, because the blueberries were sprinkled on top after you pour the batter into the pan. Since these are made in smaller batches, keep them in a 200 degree oven while you make the rest to keep them warm. These pancakes were puffy and light, with a mild lemon background, and were made even better with the addition of a thick chunky blueberry sauce we made to pour on top. The ricotta kept them moist, but didn't leave any aftertaste - since Jeff "says" he does not like ricotta, I made sure to wait until he finished to let him know... He actually really likes ricotta, but just has this thing about saying it... who knows?

The intense sauce is simply blueberries (I again used frozen wild blueberries), honey to sweeten, fresh lemon zest and lemon juice to enhance the flavors. If this mixture gets too thick when it cools, you can gently reheat it in the microwave to loosen it up.

Recipes
Blueberry-Ricotta Pancakes
Chunky Blueberry Sauce

Cake... do you need to have a reason to make one?

Whole cakes are one baked good I don't make often enough as it sometimes seems like a bit too much for just 2 people. I would normally make half of the recipe or just make some cupcakes, but I thought I would give in today and make a full cake - why? No reason... just because!

I've had this recipe for Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting in my to-try piles for some time, so I finally picked it out this morning. There are many different recipes out there, but I noticed this one is a little different as it has almost double the amount of cocoa that others called for. In this one, it also calls for using "cool" butter instead of softened. This is achieved by taking butter right from the refrigerator, cutting it into cubes and letting it sit for roughly 5 minutes in your mixing bowl before you start beating in the sugar. With softened butter, this mixture would have gotten very creamy, but you will notice that it will be more crumbly until you start adding in the egg yolks.

To lighten and add some lift to the cake, egg whites that have been beaten until soft peaks are gently folded in to the batter. When you divide the batter into the baking pans, be sure to gently tap the bottoms to remove some of the air bubbles. With cakes, I like to twist my pans back and forth so the edges of the batter go up the sides a little - I find this helps reduce the "bump" in the middle so you don't have to cut it off to level the cake. I also bake most all recipes at 325 which aides in keeping them level.

I thought the layers might be a little thin, but when you add in the creamy thick frosting I think the right choice was sticking with the 9" pans and to not use a couple 8" instead. The cake is moist with just a hint of chocolate flavor in the background - I'm glad we went with a recipe that calls for more than a tablespoon or two of cocoa. Don't make this expecting a rich chocolate cake though; the cocoa adds just a depth of flavor. The frosting is simply softened cream cheese and confectioners' sugar mixed with a splash of vanilla. Keeping the frosting for only the filling and top ensures a thick layer, but it also gives a striking contrast to the rich vibrant red color. If you have an aversion to food coloring, you can leave it out - the cake will just be a lighter brown color. For a bright white frosting, use clear vanilla if you can find it. It almost looked a little plain, but grating a brick of chocolate with a microplane over the top solved that!

Recipes
Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Quick healthy dinner...

What a dreary day! The storm formally known as "Ernesto" has been giving us rain all day long - but nothing really too heavy yet. The high today didn't even go above 60 - brr! It's going to take awhile to get used to this again after living in Phoenix for a couple years. Since any outside plans were not going to happen, I ended up making another batch of the new hamburger rolls. I was going to make the recipe we used to use to compare them, but Jeff said not to bother as these were better. Although, picking a recipe where I would be kneading for awhile probably was not the brightest idea after doing weights this morning... really sore arms now!

We are spicing things up for dinner tonight with the recipe South of the Border Couscous Salad. I used whole wheat couscous that I had in the pantry, but I think Quinoa or Bulgar would work just as well. The nice thing about couscous is that it takes just minutes to cook and you can flavor the cooking liquid however you like. I used vegetable broth, water, a bit of granulated garlic and a dash of cumin for some smokiness. The combination of black beans, fresh corn, cilantro and a mildy hot jalapeno bring the "South of the Border" twist to this salad. To brighten the flavors in the dish, fresh lime juice is added at the end, along with a couple splashes of olive oil to keep the grains moistened and separated. Healthy, clean tasting and pretty filling, we both had only good things to say about this salad. Since it comes together so quickly, you could easily prepare this in the morning to give some time for the flavors to mingle and have lunch or dinner waiting for you when you come home.

Recipes
South of the Border Couscous Salad

Breakfast or dessert... you choose!

As you have seen, I make the majority of the snacks in the house - all sorts of biscotti, cookies, muffins and granola bars. If we won't go through them fast enough, we like to freeze them so we can have them as needed because most items tend to thaw pretty quick. For something a little different, I made individual sweet breads (easy to freeze!) that both of us really enjoyed today.

Studded with chocolate chunks and dried fruit, Chocolate-Cherry Breakfast Bread is not too sweet to have in the morning, but would also be nice to have as an after dinner treat. A double shot of chocolate flavor in these chewy rolls comes from cocoa powder in the dough in addition to the chopped bittersweet chunks. In the recipe you may notice there is a variable amount to the flour - how much you use will use depends on the humidity and how you measure out your flour. I would always start start out with the least amount and slowly add enough, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the dough feels tacky. You do want to use enough so that you can knead without it sticking to your hands. If you don't have access to instant yeast, you can always make this with active dry. Just proof the yeast with a pinch of sugar, using the water called for in the recipe, for about 5 or 10 minutes.

Tonight for dinner, I made a Cheddar, Broccoli and Pasta Bake. To keep down the amount of dishes, I added fresh broccoli into the pasta midway thru the cooking time so I didn't have to do it separately. When you cook the pasta, you don't want to let it go all the way as it will finish cooking in the oven - so drain it a littler earlier than you normally would. While you could add all of the sharp cheddar as you mix the ingredients together, I saved half of it to scatter on top to create a gooey cheesy top. The eggy filling was a nice compliment to the tender broccoli and pasta. The bite from the cayenne pepper sauce was subtle, but it added just enough heat to keep it interesting.

Before adding the ingredients into the pie dish, a layer of panko breadcrumbs is added to the pie dish. This adds a crunch to the outside and also allows for easy removal of the pieces. A little more panko, mixed with a touch of olive oil, is also scattered on top for an additional crunch. I think one of my favorite parts was the ends of penne that stuck up out of the pie and got a little crispy!

Recipes
Chocolate-Cherry Breakfast Bread
Cheddar, Broccoli and Pasta Bake

Fresh, colorful and full of flavor...

After the brownies yesterday, we thought it be best we kept tonight's dinner leaning more towards the lighter side. To start us off, I made a side of Broccoli, Cranberry, and Apple Slaw. This combination of broccoli slaw (which is a mixture shredded broccoli, cabbage, carrots and cauliflower), sliced granny smith apples, dried cranberries and toasted pecans should be made ahead of time so it has plenty of time to marinate with the dressing. Sweet and tangy, the dressing consists of rice vinegar, sugar, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and cracked pepper. With a plethora of vibrant colors, this salad was very fresh and light with a satisfying crunchy texture... we liked this so much I will probably end up making it again before the week is over!

For a different and fun twist to tonight's dinner, I also made some Cornmeal-Carrot Skillet Cakes. These involve mixing shredded carrots with a savory thick pancake-like batter. Mild green onions, sharp cheddar and cornmeal each bring a unique flavor that marry together very well. As they cook in the skillet, the cheese begins to melt and stays a little gooey in the center, but helps the outside get a nice golden crisp crust. A little puffy, these cheesy little cakes end up being just bigger than silver dollar sized. These are perfect for a quick weeknight meal as they come together in a snap and only take a few minutes per side to cook.

Recipes
Broccoli, Cranberry, and Apple Slaw
Cornmeal-Carrot Skillet Cakes

Three words.... Obscene Chocolate Love

When we want something extremely decadent, I would usually turn to our favorite brownie recipe. But since I was going to turn this into a treat for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day for Jeff to bring in tomorrow, I wanted to give a new recipe a go and boy did we ever hit gold. Coworkers... get yourselves ready for a hump-day sugar high!

Pure love in the form of chocolate, Thick Mint Brownies made me weep with my eyes rolling backwards as I took a small bite from the fork. You know... quality control. This extremely rich brownie has a vivid hidden layer of filling very much like you would find in a peppermint patty - though a little less minty. As you slide a fork through the thick luscious chocolate ganache and into the brownie layers, you will find yourself hitting chunks of dark bittersweet chocolate.

Each piece is dense and fudgy with an intense chocolate bite. While these could be perfectly fine with no frosting as they have the type of crisp crust on top that would shatter as you slice into them, we just had to gild the lily with a creamy ganache. These cut very clean even though they are not your cakey type of brownies. Not a fan of peppermint? Why not flavor the hidden filling slab with kahlua, rum or maybe even a coconut extract?

While I wipe the drool running down my face after thinking about my piece of brownie, I guess we should move on to dinner (although I debated just having another brownie and calling it a night!) Tonight's dish, Beef Tagine with Dried Plums and Toasted Almonds was a little unusual for us to make. I say that because we don't often have red meat with this kind of spice combination.

You start off the dish by making a sweet Moroccan blend of spices called Ras el Hanout. You will be left with some extra which you could use to season other cuts of beef or even salmon. The beef is slowly cooked in a mixture of the spice blend, onions, beef broth and water in the oven until extremely succulent tender. Near the end, dried plums and honey thicken the sauce and bring a sweetness to the meal. Since I've never made something like this, I'm not sure if the sauce was too thin or not - but it worked well for us with a side of flat bread to mop up the flavorful drippings. I may suggest reducing the amount of honey as it was almost too sweet. Nutty toasted sliced almonds scattered on top finished the dish with contrasting crunch.

Recipes
Thick Mint Brownies
Beef Tagine with Dried Plums and Toasted Almonds

Soupy outside... soupy inside!

We have been pretty dry around here... so much that the grass has that dusty brown hue that we had to live with in Phoenix. Tonight the drops are starting to fall outside, which in turn makes it a perfect night for some soup! Although it was iffy if the soup was going to finish cooking, as it seems the power likes to go out for a couple minutes at a time if there is even weak breeze! Ahh... country life!

Tonight's dinner, Garlic and Potato Soup, is not a heavy thick potato soup that one might be used to. Caramelized onions form the base flavor with quite a bit of vegetable broth and water to keep it light. Cubes of russet potatoes and a bunch of whole garlic cloves are added in and this mixture is left to simmer until the potatoes are very tender. Since the soup takes about 20 minutes to soften the potatoes, the garlic mellows out and looses its bite. To give the soup some body, I used an immersion blender to puree most of the chunky potatoes and garlic cloves. Try not to puree too much though, as you want some larger bits left behind. You could do this in a blender, but process them in small batches so you can control the texture. Because we like to leave the peels of the potatoes on, the visuals of the soup is not as clean, but I don't see why else you would need to take them off. Light, fairly smooth and darn filling, this comforting soup was a great way to end a humid rainy evening.

Recipes
Garlic and Potato Soup

No oven soon... can we do without?

We kept the ball goin' again this week with 11 new recipes. This week's highlights for us were the Braised Carrots, Toasted Coconut Vanilla Marshmallows and we were both surprised with how much we liked the Tempeh Coconut Curry. The recipe sections to the left have been updated - you may need to hit refresh to see the additions.

In anticipation of the upcoming kitchen renovation (they are coming out to get the measurements sometime this week!) I have been wondering what we are going to do without the use of a stove and other things we will loose out on until the remodel is done. So, for today's treat, I wanted to make something that did not require an oven and could be played with to change the flavors. Peanut Butter Graham Squares with Dark Chocolate Drizzle are incredibly easy to make and do not require much to put together. I did use a food processor to make graham cracker crumbs and a stand mixer to beat the filling, but you could just as easily crush the crackers with a rolling pin and use a wooden spoon to mix it up. The bottom is just whole graham crackers in a single layer and these remain very crisp even through refrigeration. Packed with peanut butter flavor, the thick layer of filling is made from butter, creamy peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar and a splash of vanilla.

I wanted a contrasting top layer, so instead of completely covering it with chocolate, I opted for a drizzle instead. If you wanted a more in-depth chocolate flavor, you could just melt more chocolate and pour it over instead of the drizzle. These bars are very firm if left in the refrigerator, but if you set them out for 15-20 minutes, the crust remains crunchy but the filling turns soften and very creamy. Chocolate graham crackers, crunchy peanut butter or different kinds of melted chocolate are just a couple of suggestions to change around the flavors and keep it relatively simple!

Recipes
Peanut Butter Graham Squares with Dark Chocolate Drizzle

Don't be afraid... it's just zucchini!

Zucchini in baked goods sometimes weirds people out, usually because you can see the threads inside, but I don't find that you can really taste it. The zucchini helps keep the item very moist and is a good way to use them up when you have an abundance of them laying around. Grated zucchini portioned out into the amount needed for a recipe freezes well and tends to thaw pretty quick.

I wanted to make a snack cake today and have had this recipe, Spiced Zucchini Bars with Cranberries and Pecans, in my to-try pile for quite a while. We decided we waited way too long to make this after we had our first piece. The tender cake is so moist with a rich caramel-esque sweetness from dark brown sugar. Cinnamon and allspice bring a light spicy flavor which was a great accent to the dried cranberries. The nutty flavor really came through even though there are not a ton of pecans - but dont skimp on toasting them first, they might get lost without that boost in flavor. I also like how visible the bright green strips are weaved throughout each piece.

Recipes
Spiced Zucchini Bars with Cranberries and Pecans

Too much cheese? Never!

Often times I find myself in the kitchen prepping a meal that some people would consider a side, and serving it as a main dish by just increasing the portion size a bit. We have had quite a few tasty and filling dinners this way and tonight's gratin was no exception!

This creamy Potato-Gorgonzola Gratin has a more adult flavor to it coming from the choice of cheeses used. Thin slices of russet potatoes (I usually leave the skin on even if the recipe requests it to be peeled) are layered with a robust sauce made from plain soymilk (or milk if you prefer) thickened with a roux made from butter and flour. Pungent gorgonzola rounds out the body of the sauce with a creamy texture while fresh thyme adds a mild earthy flavor. As the sauce bubbles away making for tender potatoes, a golden crust with a sharp bite starts to form on top from fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. If you want a less pungent sauce, use a good melting cheese like fontina to keep the creaminess going. Since this takes a bit of time to cook, I hastened the prep time of the potatoes by using a food processor to make even 1/8" slices.

While these where baking, I threw together one of our favorite biscuit recipes and put them in the oven as soon as potatoes were done. By the time they were baked and golden, the gratin had cooled enough for us to cut and serve so we had fresh pipping hot biscuits to have along side.

Recipes
Potato-Gorgonzola Gratin
Sour Cream and Cheddar Drop Biscuits

Sweet bite-sized treats...

I love to bake items that are one or two bite treats as they are great for keeping portion size in line and they are just fun to eat. I was going to make some small cookies today, but I happened upon a recipe I stashed away for something I was going to test out for Christmas treats this year.

Orange-Walnut Tassies are small golden cups filled with a sweet and rich filling with a subtle orange tang. The cups are a tender cream cheese dough that are formed in mini muffin tins. The dough is soft and very easy to work with - I didn't even need to flour my fingers to keep them from sticking as I was pressing the pieces into shape. The crunch in the filling comes from a bottom layer of chopped toasted walnuts. The sweet filling is made from brown sugar, brown rice syrup, orange zest, fresh orange juice and an egg. As these bake, the egg makes the filling puff up almost like a muffin - but as they cool, it slowly settles back into a lush dense blend of textures. I thought the best bites were the ones where a little of the filling oozed out and down the sides of the crust making a sticky caramel-like coating. Jeff commented that it kind of reminded him of an individual pecan-type pie, execpt made with walnuts.

Even though we have been eating a lot of veggie-only (no reason really, just how it happened to be planned out) dishes lately, tonight's dinner, Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad, changes things up with a spicy kick. The thick creamy dressing has a smoky bite from cumin and chili powder, but also takes your mouth for a ride with heat coming from chipotles in adobo. The salad is a mixture of crunchy romaine, spiced chunks of chicken, fresh cherry tomatoes, creamy avocado pieces, black beans and fresh corn that I sauteed in a bit of butter. As I read through the recipe, I kept thinking it was lacking a hard crunch somewhere, so I formed and toasted a flavored tortilla in a fun shape for something different. Light, refreshing and between the chicken and beans, we both found this to be very filling. It certainly reminded us of life back in Phoenix!

Recipes
Orange-Walnut Tassies
Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

Pushing the limits with a spicy curry...

I should preface tonight's dinner post by saying that I have never really made something like this (well, we did have something kind of like it before) so I'm not entirely sure if it came out as intended - I think it did though! We both looked at each other trying to figure out who was going to try it first... but Jeff took the first bite and the look he gave made me quickly dive in with my fork to find out for myself!

There is an interesting combination of ingredients and flavors in tonight's dish of Tempeh Coconut Curry. We were surprised by the tangy and sour flavor the new-to-us addition of tamarind paste gave to the dish. The spices used include fresh ginger, garlic, ground coriander with the rich gold color coming from turmeric. Crushed red pepper adds a bang of heat (reduce the amount if you don't like a lot of heat - this is spicy!!) while a whole cinnamon stick infuses a subtle sweetness. Water, coconut milk, cubed sweet potatoes and chunky bits of three-grain tempeh are then mixed in and left to simmer until the potatoes soften. The coconut milk thickens slightly and brings a cool creamy texture to the liquid left behind. Refreshed by lime juice and salty soy sauce at the end, I served the thick curry with a side of brown jasmine rice to help soak up the extra sauce. I will mention that I found the tempeh to be a little on the bitter side - this is only the second time we have ever used it, so next time I will try and either steam it a bit first or bake/grill it for a few minutes to reduce that. I'm very happy we gave this dish a try even though it would have been something we would not normally make! Hmm... our tastes here are certainly expanding and we like it!

Recipes
Tempeh Coconut Curry