Plowing through the blueberry stash in the freezer...

Another blueberry recipe today... my supply of wild blueberries in the freezer is dwindling down, but I still have quite a bit left. The freeze was sparse of muffins, so this morning I made a recipe for Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins I've been meaning to make for quite a long time.

I loved the texture of these muffins - it was kind of a cross between a regular muffin and a cupcake - they were light, notably moist and as you can see below, packed with a generous amount of tiny purple-hued juicy berries in each muffin. I think the flavor of lemons goes brilliantly well with blueberries, so we added fresh lemon zest to the batter, along with using a lemon flavored yogurt.

Besides lending flavor to these golden crusted muffins, the yogurt absolutely helped give them their soft and moist texture - feel free to substitute another flavor if you like, I bet vanilla or raspberry would be quite nice too. There is also a half cup of quick oats thrown into the dry ingredients - this added a bit of a chew to the muffins and gave them a little weight, without making them heavy, if that makes sense. If you have access to fresh blueberries, by all means use them if you like - I just prefer the wild as they are so small, it seems like you get more (besides the fact that I have a ton in the freezer anyway...)!

Recipes
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Biscotti... pepperoni style?

By now, you have to know just how much we really enjoy sweet biscotti, but every once in a while we go b-a-n-a-n-a-s and make a savory version. While most biscotti recipes are very crisp and crunchy, these Pepperoni Biscotti have a softer edge to them as the recipe contains a good amount of butter.

Taking these biscotti into the savory depths is minced garlic, sharp Parmesan cheese, Italian seasonings, chopped red peppers, chopped onions, fresh parsley and of course the most fundamental ingredient, chopped pepperoni! There is just a dash of sugar in the recipe, but it is mostly there to give the biscotti some color as it bakes, rather than to sweeten. The dough was nice to work with and is on the drier side of most recipes, as I was not very sticky when I went to roll the dough halves into logs. To give them an extra special touch, the logs of dough are rolled into a bit more Parmesan cheese before being flattened on the baking sheet. After baking, the recipe calls for leaving the loaves on the baking sheet to cool for 60 minutes, but I cut them after about 35 and they cut just as clean as I could have hoped.

Once they have gone through their second baking, the tender biscotti are still firm and crisp, but they have more of a give to them than a sweet version. This was such a fun and different way to change up biscotti - they are very pizza-esque in flavor with the garlic, Italian seasonings, pepperoni and cheese. I will definitely be making these again... I imagine they would be an enjoyable side to dunk into some creamy warm tomato soup during the cool fall nights later this year!

Tonight's dinner recipe, Feast from the East, sure lived up to its name as it is packed with lots of colorful and filling ingredients. To stand up to all of the ingredients in the salad, a killer combination of hoisin sauce, broth, soy sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, fresh ginger, orange zest and a clove of garlic make up the generous dressing. The salad is a bountiful mixture of whole wheat spaghetti, grilled sirloin steak, crunchy broccoli florets, cool diced cucumber, carrots, green peas, green onions and a good handful of fresh basil from our plants on the deck. While this was certainly busy with many flavors and textures, they all seemed to play off with each other and combine into a cohesive, refreshing and attractive dish that left our bellies quite happy and stuffed.

Recipes
Pepperoni Biscotti
Feast from the East

More buns and a zesty pasta dish...

I didn't bake anything new today, but I did throw together another batch of these fantastic hamburger buns that we love so much. I did change it up a touch by tossing on some sesame seeds... however, I ran out of the regular ones and threw some black sesames on the last couple of buns. I can't count how many times we've made these since I started them back in August of last year!

We've managed to stock up on a lot of pasta over the past few months for some reason, so you may have noticed a lot of recipes calling for it lately as we slowly downsize the pantry in anticipation of selling the house. Though, with the market as slow as it is out here, we will probably be out here for a little longer than we thought. Instead of boring house details, let's jump right in and get talking about what we had for dinner tonight.

I can definitely see making this Pasta with Lemon and Spinach dish again when it is the middle of summer and we're searching for a speedy, but light and fresh dinner to beat the heat. Once the batch of whole wheat penne is cooked, the sauce to coat the pasta is combined in the same pot to save on dishes. Butter, minced garlic, smooth ricotta cheese, fresh grated Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and lemon juice form the creamy base of the sauce with a bit of the starchy pasta water being added to thin it out. Tender baby spinach and sweet red bell peppers are tossed into the sauce just until the spinach has a chance to wilt. After the pasta is tossed with the sauce and the dish is plated, a quick shower of sharp Parmesan cheese is the last step before diving in. The flavors popped in this dish with a bright citrus-y kick from the lemon zest and juice - the spinach and peppers gave it roots and splashes of color. If you still have access to good asparagus, feel free to toss in thinly sliced pieces instead of the spinach. Oh and the camera doesn't lie, the differences in pasta color are because I had to mix and match different brands.

Recipes
Pasta with Lemon and Spinach

Woo... spicy!

As you will see below, dinner was fairly labor intensive, so I wanted to keep the side tonight quick and easy. I was able to prepare this New Potato Salad during the bits of downtime I had while waiting for a part of the main portion of dinner to finish.

To make sure they kept their shape, we used small whole red potatoes for this potato salad. They are first cooked just until tender - they are then given a chance to cool down to easily be cut into quarters. Coating the potatoes is a crunchy, yet creamy dressing of mayonnaise, crisp celery, red bell peppers, shallots, green onions, white wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. We are not a huge fan of raw onions, but the shallots and green onions are mild enough to add flavor without being too obtrusive. Since you are already getting some texture from the celery, I might think about changing the peppers around and using roasted red peppers for more depth to add one more layer to this speedy dish.

Don't take the title of tonight's main dish lightly as this Fiery Flank Steak with Tomato Jam was darn hot! Lately the jalapeños we've gotten have been duds with very little heat, but these little guys tonight sure had a fire inside them! You can make the jam ahead of time, if desired, as it is a little labor intensive - but be sure to let it come to room temperature when serving. For a different way to remove the skins of the tomatoes, the pulp is extracted by rubbing the tomatoes against the large holes of a grater, leaving the tough skins behind in your hand. The pulp is cooked down with a little sugar to sweeten, grated onion, minced garlic and jalapeños with bright cilantro and lime juice being stirred in at the end to brighten the flavors. We're on the fence about the jam - while it was tasty and quite spicy, it was kind of overwhelming to the meat in this dish!

The flank steak is marinated in a mixture of fresh lime juice, lime zest, a bit of oil, a couple more jalapeños and some garlic - while the tender steak was flavorful enough by itself, it was hard to tell there was a steak underneath the jam if you got too much of it in one bite. If you don't like meals too spicy, I would still use the same amount of peppers, but just be sure to remove the seeds and ribs before you add them.

Recipes
New Potato Salad
Fiery Flank Steak with Tomato Jam

Caramel treats and you used what as a pizza base???

What would Tuesday be without baking for the weekly Wednesday Treat Day? I asked Jeff this weekend what he thought might be good to bring in, but he couldn't think of anything... I think we were a bit overloaded with getting the house on the market! After glancing through some cookbooks, we decided to go the bar cookie route today and made these sublime Caramel Crunch Bars.

Where to start with these groovy bars?! Flecked with creamy pieces of sweet milk chocolate, the foundation of these bars is a buttery shortbread with an inkling of espresso and cinnamon lingering in the richness. The brown sugar in the dough imparts a caramel flavor when combined with the creamy butter - I decided to use vanilla sugar for greater dimension, but using regular granulated would be fine. With just enough flour to bind the ingredients, the dough at this point will be quite soft and sticky - be sure to just stir until the flour has been absorbed, you wouldn't want to overwork this delicate dough. Usually you would be able to just scoop the mixture into the pan and use your hands to push the dough around, but this almond-colored dough has a creaminess to it and would just stick to your fingers. I found that it was easiest to drop small dollops all over the bottom of the pan and then connect them with a small off-set spatula. If for some reason you don't have one, you could lightly wet your fingers and use a rubber spatula to help spread the mixture out.

After the base of the bars is baked to a medium golden brown, they are scattered with a good fistful of chopped bittersweet chocolate. They are then quickly placed back in the turned-off oven for just a couple minutes to soften the chocolate. The chocolate softens just enough so you can spread the chocolate chunks into a decadent frosting. Now that you've gone this far, you can't stop now - a scattering of crunchy toffee bits is the final step to take these bars over the top. While it may not look like one, if your a fan of Heath Bars, you will not be disappointed in these treats!

Just like last night's salad had no lettuce, tonight's pizza does not have a typical "crust". In this Whole Wheat Spaghetti Pizza, cooked and well-drained pasta is used, instead of dough, to form a base for the toppings. To bind the noodles together, a mixture of spices, milk and an egg are whisked together with the pasta then being added in. The spaghetti mixture is then formed into a round pizza shape using a pizza pan (no holes here please!). When you cook the noodles, be sure to break the long strands of pasta in half or thirds so it will be easier to shape in the pizza pan.

Topped with shredded chicken, marinara sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and thinly sliced garlic cloves, it certainly did look like a pizza as it came bubbling out of the hot oven. The outside "crust" that was not covered by topping did get quite crispy, but keep in mind, underneath the tender spaghetti will firm up enough to cut nicely, but it won't have the same texture you would get when you use a dough... as you can imagine! I was worried that it would just fall apart when we tried to move it from the pizza pan, but it stayed together very well. The whole wheat pasta brought a nuttiness that you would find if you used a whole wheat dough, but the spaghetti made the pizza a little lighter. We both thought this was an awesome way to change up pizza - it was very filling and exceptionally good!

Recipes
Caramel Crunch Bars
Whole Wheat Spaghetti Pizza

No lettuce in this salad!

Just a quick note to start - the recipe sections to the left have been brought up to date!

When thinking about salads, the first thing that comes to mind is lettuce - however, as we found with tonight's dinner, this does not always have to be the case! In this dish, Warm Snow Pea and Chicken Salad, bright grassy green slivered snow peas quickly won us over with their crunchy sweetness instead of using some variety of lettuce.

We started off by gently poaching chicken breasts in chicken broth, rather than water, which gave them an extra boost of flavor. After they have cooled a bit, the juicy chicken is then shredded into bite sized pieces. Next, quite a lot of raw snow peas are trimmed and slivered lengthwise - they are then quickly cooked in a mixture of toasted sesame oil, garlic and fresh ginger. Once their color has brightened up, the strips of peas are placed with the bits of chicken into an Asian-flavored dressing. Rice vinegar and soy sauce give the dressing a salty tang with nutty cashew butter and toasted sesame oil giving it a rich creamy texture. Once plated, a shower of crunchy chopped cashews graces the top of each serving to tie into the luscious sesame dressing. Light, clean and very refreshing, this lovely take on salad with its crisp texture was just the right choice to end a warm summer day. I make my own cashew butter often, but if it is not something you would normally have, you could use some tahini (sesame seed paste) instead.

Recipes
Warm Snow Pea and Chicken Salad

Sharing some cookies to let the neighbors know what's up...

Another 10 new recipes for us this week - I would choose the Butterscotch Drop Scones, Herbed Cracker Bread and the Pasta, Sausage and Bean Soup as our top picks of the week.

We were hoping to mosey on over to the neighbors and fill them in on the house sale before the big sign went up outside, but they plunged it into the yard much sooner than we thought! Since I wouldn't let Jeff go empty handed, I thought I would mix up some cookies for him to bring along when he went to share the news. These Peanut Butter Graham Cookies have a couple of non-traditional ingredients, at least to me, that you normally wouldn't find in a drop cookie.

While you have your normal flour, shortening, brown sugar and egg that you would typically find, you also have the interesting additions of sweetened condensed milk and honey graham cracker crumbs. Also giving the dough a special touch is just a few tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. To entice that peanut butter flavor out in the cookie dough, we tossed in a couple good handfuls of peanut butter M&Ms - however, if you used regular M&Ms I certainly wouldn't turn my nose. I don't always like nuts in cookies, but we went ahead and added a half cup of toasted chopped pecans - we really liked the nutty depth that they brought to the cookie and it also played off the nuttiness from the peanut butter. The texture is a little hard to describe here - they are crisp, but it is not a crunchy crisp - they have a firm texture and don't have the bend to them that soft cookies do. I guess I would say that the cookies are dense with a very nice chew to them. I didn't need to refrigerate the dough at all and I did have to slightly flatten the dough balls to get them to spread out a little more... the first couple of test cookies didn't get as wide as I would have liked. You can use Crisco for the shortening, but I prefer to use spectrum organic shortening (trans fat free) - I'm not sure if they would still get this great texture they currently have if you used butter instead, but if you do try it, you may need to refrigerate the dough before baking (this will help control spreading if needed).

Recipes
Peanut Butter Graham Cookies

Our sweet reward for finally getting the house ready...

The deed has been done - the house is officially on the market as of today! We ran out to do some errands before meeting with the realtor this morning to sign the paperwork and as we drove up the street, we noticed the large for-sale sign in the front yard... that made it quite "real" seeing it!

Now we can relax a bit as most of the work on the house has been completed - there are just a few small things here or there that could be touched up, but we just don't have to have it done right this second. After a couple weeks of absolute craziness around here getting the house prepared, I thought it would be nice to have a little indulgent treat this morning. Often times I will end up lightening baked goods if they are just for us, but we let lose with these Butterscotch Drop Scones.

The ease of preparation sets these delicious scones apart from the rest of the pack - no need to roll, knead or pat the dough out as they are just scooped right out of the mixing bowl and placed onto the baking sheet. I used a 1/4 cup scoop to divide out the dough, but you could use a measuring cup or a couple spoons... don't be fussy! With a full cup of butterscotch chips, the scones were quite sweet, but it was not at all cloying since there is only an additional 1/3 cup brown sugar added to the dough. I think you could reduce this to 1/4 cup and still have great results. With 8 tablespoons of butter, they certainly had a lip-smacking buttery richness, but again, I would bet this could be dropped to around 5 or 6 if you are looking to lighten them. The golden outside gives the scone a pleasant crunch factor that pairs well to their soft, more moist interiors. Scones can oftentimes be so dry on the inside that you have to spread them with some condiment to enjoy them, but there is no need here as these can stand alone with their delicate full-bodied caramel-esque flavor.

Recipes
Butterscotch Drop Scones

Cooling down after a busy hot day with a chilled potato soup...

The blast furnace of Mother Nature sure seemed to be working well today - not the best day to decide the lawn needed to be done unfortunately. It was very humid and hot - reminiscent of Phoenix, however the added humidity makes it so much worse. The realtor is coming tomorrow to take pictures, so the lawn had to get done along with a bunch of finishing work inside.

I should have probably scrapped plans for dinner tonight and just made sandwiches or something easy because it had been so crazy today, but I went ahead with the menu... I guess I'm stubborn that way! Jeff had been asking for homemade crackers again as it has been awhile since we made some and he really enjoyed the Multi-Seed Crackerbread and Crispy Rye Crackers I've made in the past. Thankfully, the recipe I used tonight, Herbed Cracker Bread, was easy enough and came together quickly.

The dough has no yeast, so the crackers are fairly thin and quite crisp - it is flavored with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, herbes de Provence, sugar, coarse black pepper and salt. I used the herbes de Provence that I bought from Penzey's Spices which includes rosemary, cracked fennel, thyme, basil, tarragon, lavender, and marjoram to add a special spark to the crackers - I think you could easily add your own blend of spices instead to make up the total 2 teaspoons of dried spice called for. I also used half white whole wheat flour to nudge in some whole grain, but you can just use the same amount of all-purpose flour if you don't already have it on hand. Sour cream is used in part of the liquid ingredients to give the crackers a little tenderness along with melted butter for crispness and to give them a snap.

The dough was not very sticky to begin with, but instead of using flour to help roll it out, yellow cornmeal ensures the dough does not stick and easily allows it to be rolled thin enough - it also added a savory crunch to the outside. Since you need two baking sheets for the dough, you may need to rotate them a couple of times, if needed, to make sure the crackers get evenly browned. Once they are golden and crisp, be sure to remove them from the pans and place them on wire racks to cool completely - letting the air get to the bottom and around the cracker sheets will also help give them the best texture.

I actually made dinner during a break I took from mowing the lawn - I wanted to get it done early so it had plenty of time to chill. While the bite I took from this Potato, Leek and Fennel Soup was very good warm this morning, I wanted to serve it chilled as a nice way to cool down at dinner time tonight. Mild leeks and delicate fennel are cooked in a bit of olive oil until they have softened. Chunky russet potatoes and a few cups of vegetable broth are added and the mixture cooked until the potatoes are falling-apart tender. I used my trusty immersion blender to purée the soup right in the pot, but you can always use a food processor - just make sure to do it in batches so you don't have overflow issues with hot soup.

I loved how soothing and brilliantly refreshing this soup was after being chilled - the anise flavor from the fennel just lingered in the background, tempting your palate to guess what that hidden flavor is. The potatoes added a rich creaminess - you will notice that the soup is a little "dirty" in regards to the color... potato skins don't bother us so we left them on, but feel free to peel them to get a more pure color. If you are looking for a more pungent, but not overpowering onion flavor, feel free to substitute green onions for the leeks.

Recipes
Herbed Cracker Bread
Potato, Leek and Fennel Soup

Skip the 12 hour soak!

I have a bunch of grains in the pantry as we have access to a well-stocked bulk ingredient department at a local natural co-op. My problem is that I tend to over-buy what I actually need at the time and then they tend to sit around until I remember or come across a recipe that uses them. I found a recipe in my never ending to-try piles that used just what I already had on hand with a couple other pantry staples. In fact, the only thing I needed to buy fresh was some grape tomatoes - the green onions and goat cheese called for were already in the fridge since I needed a little of each for another recipe.

The original recipe, Wheat Berry Barley and Tomato Salad, called for soaking the wheat berries for at least 12 hours before cooking. However, this is not needed - the berries will soften in about 60 minutes, which only adds about 10 minutes to the total time. Halfway through cooking the berries, pearl barley is added and the two continue to cook together until they have softened. While you wait for the grains to finish, a healthy dose of olive oil is heated up to fry halved grape tomatoes along with balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic and dried thyme leaves - while this softens the tomatoes, this also creates the sharp dressing for the salad. Once you combine the grains and tomato mixture, crumbled goat cheese and a couple thinly sliced green onions are tossed into the mix to round out the dish. Since the chewy wheat berries and barley are somewhat bland on their own, the balsamic dressing livened the salad up with a complex and tangy flavor. With creamy pockets of goat cheese strewn throughout, we quickly made short work of our plates and are eagerly awaiting the rest for lunch tomorrow!

Recipes
Wheat Berry Barley and Tomato Salad

The tofu was good, but the rice was fantastic!

It had been awhile since the last time we cooked with tofu and I had been keeping my eye out for a recipe that looked like something we would enjoy. I recently came across this recipe for Orange-Glazed Tofu Triangles with Sesame Rice and it sounded too good to pass up.

Since the tofu will be marinated and grilled, the first thing that needs to be done after slicing the tofu into triangles is placing them on paper towels and weighing them down. This squeezes out any excess water which will allow the tofu to soak in the flavorful marinade. Sweet fresh-squeezed orange juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, chili garlic sauce and fresh ginger are combined in a shallow dish to strong arm its way into the slices, taking the bland tofu to a new level. Once enough time has passed, you can either fire up the grill, use a grill pan or plug in The Griddler to cook the tofu - we opted for the latter to move things along a little faster. The second part of the dish is then created by sautéing green peas, shredded carrots and sliced green onions in a bit of sesame oil. Once tender, cooked brown basmati rice is added and the two continue to cook until thoroughly heated through. A scoop of toasted sesame seeds is added and the rice portion is complete. The tofu was good - flavorful and it had a nice texture, but the rice portion was fantastic... it was nutty, fresh tasting and very colorful. I'd certainly make the rice again just to have as a side dish - however, the two do match well together enough to enjoy as a complete dish.

Recipes
Orange-Glazed Tofu Triangles with Sesame Rice

Biscotti treats a day early...

Jeff is working from home tomorrow, so we bumped up the Wednesday Treat Day to today - I actually made these Bittersweet Chocolate, Hazelnut and Ginger Biscotti, but didn't get a chance to snap some photos until this morning before he brought them in.

If you have been reading this site for any length of time, you will know how much we love biscotti! There are just endless ways to change the flavor and you can even tinker with the texture to get ultra-crisp biscotti that ache to be dipped in something or ones that are a little softer (usually made with butter) that are great to be eaten as is. These biscotti fall somewhere in between those two - still crisp, yet not so hard that they are tough to chew. They are amped up with two types of chocolate- natural cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate chips. You could certainly change the nut to one of your liking, but these crunchy toasted hazelnuts are a perfect match to the rich chocolate. For a touch of sweet heat, finely diced crystallized ginger is also tossed into the slightly sticky batter. If you find it too sticky when you are forming the biscotti on the baking sheets, you can lightly wet your hands instead of adding a bunch of flour which may make them tough.

Once baked, the biscotti need to cool on the baking sheets for about 15 minutes - before cutting, we lightly spritzed the loaves with water and let them sit for another 5 minutes. I've been using this method ever since we tried it a few months ago - it has done wonders to help get very clean slices without a bunch of crumbs. The slices go back into the oven to dry out a bit and are then left to cool completely. For a classy touch, we melted some good-quality white chocolate in a double boiler and drizzled the creamy chocolate over the top of some of the biscotti. Not everyone loves this type of chocolate... we opted to do this to just do about half of the biscotti so his co-workers would have a choice. Here's a quick snap of how we plated it for Jeff to bring in.

Tonight's dinner of this Apple and Cheddar Frittata, had our tastebuds tingling and working overtime trying to figure out if this sweeter take on a frittata is something we really liked or not. This is a completely simple dish composed of beaten whole eggs, along with some egg whites and sharp white cheddar, that are poured into a skillet seasoned with melted butter. The egg mixture is then topped with a circular pattern of thinly sliced Gala apples from the outside in. The apples are then adorned with a bit more shredded cheese and the whole shebang goes into the oven for a quick bake. We watched through the oven door as the eggs came to life from the heat in the oven and slowly puffed up above the rim of the skillet. This dish was good, but not something we would probably make again - I'm just not sure that either of us like the combination of apple and cheddar in this form. The apples had just enough texture to them so they still had a bite, but the sweetness was just a little odd against the sharp cheese with the soft fluffy eggs for us.

Recipes
Bittersweet Chocolate, Hazelnut and Ginger Biscotti
Apple and Cheddar Frittata

Never too warm for soup!

We finally got a good dose of rain yesterday and as the storm left this morning, it finally brought a fresh, cool and clean breeze through the open windows. It had gotten pretty dry and dusty around here - the rain came at just the right time as the lawn had started to get that awful brown tinge to it! Not too cute when you are trying to get a house sold!

This Pasta, Sausage and Bean Soup that we made for dinner tonight would have been the perfect dish to have last night with all of the rain, but no matter... this was very satisfying and tasty even if it was warm and sunny outside! You could use whatever version of Italian sausages you like, but we prefer the hot Italian turkey variety so that is what we used here. Once the chunky pieces of sausage begin to brown, the aromatic combo of chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic is stirred into the sausage and drippings and allowed to soften. To spice things up, also added at this point are dried basil, rosemary, sage and crushed red pepper flakes to compliment the heat in the sausages. Chicken broth, chunky fire-roasted diced tomatoes and kidney beans are stirred into the pot - this mixture slowly simmers until the flavors come together and the vegetables are tender, but not mushy. To add a hearty element to the dish, whole wheat pasta is stirred in at the end and allowed to drink in some of the broth. You may want to watch the pot closely at this point, the pasta absorbs quite a bit, so you may need to add a bit more stock if you want the soup more loose.

When I make this again, I might think about adding a good fistful or two of fresh spinach at the end for an earthy dose to the soup. Mmmm... I think I might just have to run upstairs and sneak a couple bites from the leftovers in the fridge after just writing about it!

For a quick and simple side, I toasted up a thick slice of whole wheat bread and rubbed a fresh cut clove of garlic on it - then I added some fresh grated Asiago cheese and let it melt under the broiler for a minute.

Recipes
Pasta, Sausage and Bean Soup

Making good use of day-old bread...

10 more new recipes for us this week - even through all of the craziness that has been going on around here! I would have to say that the Sugar-Frosted Cardamom Braid, Essence of Chocolate Squares, and the Rice and Eggs with Peas and Herbs were the highlights of the week for us.

Speaking of that fun cardamom braid, I had frozen most of the slices and we have been nibbling here and there from the loaf throughout most of the week. Every time we went and grabbed a slice to toast, we kept wondering how else we could reuse this enticing bread in a breakfast-type dish. I decided to save a few slices in case we came up with anything and ended up pulling them from the freezer yesterday. We wanted them to grow a touch old so we could throw together a Basic French Toast recipe and have a breakfast-for-dinner night! Well, it was more of a method than a recipe I guess - just enough milk, egg and spices to coat and saturate the thick slices. Since the bread was fairly sweet and spicy, I just used a little bit of cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom to tie in the flavors already present. We used a skillet and a touch of butter for flavor to cook the bread in, but you could use a nonstick griddle and cooking spray to make it a little lighter. We opted to just do a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar to finish - since the bread was already sweet, we thought a syrup might have been a bit too much.

Instead of bacon or eggs as a side, Jeff thought something potato-y would be nice as a side tonight. I agreed, but wanted something that would be pretty simple and not too heavily flavored. So I shredded up a few russet potatoes and went to work on assembling these Crisp Potato Hash Browns. The original recipe called for adding scallions and bell peppers, but we decided to leave them out to keep the flavor a little more clean. The potatoes are tossed with cornstarch (this helped them keep their shape and control any excess liquid from the potatoes), salt and fresh ground black pepper along with garlic and onion powders for a light flavor background. You could certainly dice up some onions and mince up fresh garlic if you want to take the extra time, but I was on a mission to get dinner done! To form the round shapes, we scooped a heaping mound of the potatoes into a large open biscuit cutter - you want to gently press the mixture down enough, but not pack it too tight as you want it to cook all the way through. Instead of pan-frying, these browns go into the oven at a high temperature to bake - we did spray just a touch of olive oil spray on top to help the process along. After baking, they came out moist and tender on the inside with a crisp golden brown exterior.

We actually preferred these a little on the plain side as they didn't have any overpowering or distracting flavors that detracted from the delicious French toast. However, I would probably add the scallions and bell pepper if I was making it along side a more savory entrée.

Recipes
Basic French Toast
Crisp Potato Hash Browns

Yes, those are more brownies below!

So I was feeling a little guilty about those decadent brownies we made the other day and I was going to wait a few more days until I baked something for us to snack on.

Well, that sounds good in theory, but a little unlikely around here! What did I choose to make? Brownies... again! Yeah, yeah I know... how about some variety, right? Well, I could have made some muffins, maybe some more cookies or a pie, but not one second after I said "brownies" when I started reading off some recipes I had set aside to make, Jeff snatched the recipe from my fingers and proclaimed it brownie making day today. I of course reminded him that we just made some a couple days ago, but he didn't seem to care much - so brownies it is today!

Let me start off by saying that you can't really compare these Bittersweet Brownies to the Essence of Chocolate Squares we made last Tuesday - those were a totally different monster and these brownies are of the somewhat lighter variety. Even though using Dutch-processed cocoa lends a milder chocolate taste, compared to a more bitter natural cocoa powder, it's smooth chocolate flavor is enhanced by using a good dose of instant espresso powder dissolved in boiling water. The amount called for doesn't make the bars taste like coffee, but it does add just enough background to lift up the chocolate. The Dutch-processed cocoa powder also gave the brownies a wicked dark color. We tend to gravitate to the fudgy variety of brownies and these are just that - fudgy enough to stay moist, yet not so gooey that you can't cut them cleanly.

What we really enjoyed is that these have a dense chewy factor to them that those other extremely rich ones did not - these brownies also have a shiny sugary crust on top that added a little crunch. While they baked, I was happy to see that the edges did not put puff up too much higher than the center, which can sometimes leave a dry and brittle edge. I pulled these brownies out when the toothpick I placed near the center (about half way between the center and the edge) came out with a few moist, but not wet, crumbs attached.

Recipes
Bittersweet Brownies

Getting some use out of our fresh basil...

You may have noticed we've been using more and more fresh herbs lately, especially basil and mint, as the plants are finally starting to take off in the pots we placed on the deck outside. I'll be trying to highlight more recipes that use them in the next few weeks - we even used some more of the fresh basil in tonight's dinner of Rice and Eggs with Peas and Herbs.

This recipe really piqued my interest when I read through the directions and the resulting dish was surprisingly delicious! While you could go ahead and use a white rice and reduce the total cooking time of the recipe, we really enjoy the nutty and fragrant brown jasmine rice - it is worth the extra few minutes it takes to make. Instead of using all water, we cooked the rice in a combination of water and vegetable broth to give the rice an added depth of flavor. The fun begins once the rice has fully cooked and when the recipe takes an unusual route (for us anyway) to complete the dish. While the fluffy rice is still pipping hot, two beaten eggs, a lump of softened butter and a handful of Parmesan are rapidly stirred into the pot - this adds such a creamy rich texture to the rice that is somewhat reminiscent of risotto, but different. Cooked peas, scallions, fresh basil and bright lemon zest are then added - we also tossed in some cubed ham for a bit of additional flavor and to make this dish a little more hearty. Lively and fresh, we showered the rice in a light dusting of fresh grated Parmesan on top for a sharp finish.

Recipes
Rice and Eggs with Peas and Herbs

Speedy southwestern-inspired pasta dish on busy weeknight...

Thanks for all of the encouragement on the house selling - we've done a lot of work on the inside and not nearly enough time to enjoy it! My main concern is that it is not always easy to keep the house in show condition - with my luck, I'll be in the middle of some messy baking project and a realtor will call to say they are outside waiting to show it!

We spent a lot of time trying to get things organized and put away tonight - I needed dinner to be effortless and quick so I could concentrate on other matters. Pasta is usually a go-to for us on days like this, so I went ahead and threw this Farfalle with Feta and Chipotle dish together. While we waited for the the bow ties to cook, we whisked together a bright dressing made from minced garlic, chipotle powder, fresh cilantro, lime juice, zest and oil. Crumbly feta is also folded into the dressing for a bit of saltiness and rich flavor. The hot tender pasta is then tossed with the fresh tasting sauce to create a smoky pasta dish that is still light, yet substantial enough to be satisfying. Even though the chipotle amount is quite small, it lends just enough punch with the lime juice to give the dressing a southwestern flair. Right before serving, toasted pepitas are tossed on top to add a crunchy contrast to the smooth textures in this dish.

Recipes
Farfalle with Feta and Chipotle

Say what??

I guess it is time to share the news we alluded to a couple weeks ago and let you in on why we have been so busy. I honestly can't believe that I am saying this given how much effort and work we have put into this house since we moved in just last year, but we are actually putting it up for sale within the next week or two as Jeff was offered, and has officially accepted, a new job. We will be heading back to the state that we left when we moved out to Phoenix where I started this blog... I also just happened to grow up there - that's right, Minnesota!

Huh? What? Are you crazy? I know... I know! The job is of course with the same company and he will even be working with a few of his former co-workers when we lived back in Minneapolis. Unlike the move from Phoenix however, we will be staying out here in Maryland until this house sells (ugh... we can't even wrap our minds around having to deal with showings and all that stuff that goes with selling again - scary!) We've been peeking through a few realtor sites to get a glimpse of what the market has to offer out there - but we will be waiting until we get an offer out here to get more serious about looking for the new house. We are trying to narrow down the area that we want to search in - so far we are thinking of areas south or south west of downtown Minneapolis, but we won't know until we have time to fly out there and see what has changed in the few years since we've been there.

We have a couple more projects to finish up on the inside to get this house listed, but once it hits the market we are really hoping that it won't take months and months to sell. I do have a sneaking suspicion that we will be out here for quite some time.... though I'll try to stay positive about it. We are excited to be moving back - it will be nice to be closer to a big city again that has so much culture and things constantly going on. So... anyone need a house? Come on... how could you say no when you have these cute four legged friends right behind your backyard!

Well, now that we have dropped that bomb, let's move on to tonight's dinner! We knew this Toasted Quinoa, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella Salad was going to be good before we even took a bite when I rattled off the list of ingredients to Jeff. Do be sure to take the few extra minutes in the beginning to toast the quinoa - it really lures out the natural nuttiness in the grain. As we've mentioned before, you do need to make sure to rinse the quinoa before you use it - even if your package says it was pre-rinsed, I would still advise that you rinse it just to be sure you remove any lingering bitterness.

Once the quinoa has cooked and cooled a bit, the spiral grains are tossed with a medley of colorful veggies and herbs - they include crunchy snow peas, red onions, cool chopped cucumbers, fresh mint, chopped basil and juicy grape tomatoes. We also threw in some delicate pearl-sized mozzarella balls - you could also just dice up some fresh mozzarella if these are not easily accessible.

To get a fresh and tart counterpoint to the salad, the mixture is dressed with a combination of lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper sauce. The cayenne pepper sauce does not make this salad spicy at all, but it just adds a little "oopmh" to the final dish. We both think that this would be great to make ahead and have ready for a couple tasty lunches throughout the week.

Recipes
Toasted Quinoa, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, and Mozzarella Salad

This chocolate treat should come with a warning label!

We are back again with another edition of baking for the Weekly Wednesday Treat Day that Jeff brings in to share with his co-workers. It will be hard to let go of today's treat in the morning though... these devilish squares are difficult to keep our paws off of!

If you ever feel the urge to over-indulge, these Essence of Chocolate Squares are completely worth the time and effort it took to put them together. The dark base of these candy-like squares is a decadent fudgy brownie that has an alluring addition of vanilla sugar to make them a bit more special. With a large dose of unsweetened chocolate and Dutch-processed cocoa, the thick moist layer fills your palate with an intense chocolate flavor that walks the line on almost being obscene. As if this treat was not rich enough, the base is smothered with a generous, dense chocolate frosting.

This luscious covering is made from confectioners' sugar, butter, unsweetened chocolate, milk, cream and vanilla extract - don't forget to add the pinch of salt called for, this will help to cut the sweetness a touch. Be sure to have all the ingredients ready to assemble the frosting as soon as the brownie is done baking - you want to frost the brownies while they are still hot, but the frosting will begin to set up quickly so it needs to be combined at the last minute. You will also want to have a gentle hand when you spread the frosting on top - the brownies are still a little fragile since they are warm and you don't want to crush them.

The recipe suggests a yield of 16, but these are just so intense that we sliced them into 30 very clean pieces instead so we wouldn't end up in a coma or something!

With just a little chopping and prep work, tonight's dinner of Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta came together in a flash. Really, it probably took me less than 15 minutes to prepare this... perfect for a busy weekday! Nutty whole wheat couscous, which takes just minutes to cook, is mixed with crisp-tender broccoli florets, red onion, shredded carrots, plump golden raisins and crunchy roasted cashews. The dressing for this mixture is a combination of sharp white wine vinegar, olive oil, sugar, fresh ginger and salt. Also included are two types of curry powder - I used a regular curry that I picked up in the bulk herb section and also used some hot madras curry powder for more depth and heat. To add some protein to this colorful mound of couscous, chickpeas are tossed into the dish along with a sprinkling of feta cheese to finish it off with a salty edge. If you want to stretch this out a bit or are serving a person who must have some meat for dinner, I think the addition of some chopped or shredded cooked chicken would be a nice fit here.

Recipes
Essence of Chocolate Squares
Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta

Could it get any better? BBQ sandwiches, watermelon salad and cookies!

Since Jeff had the day off, we were able to get a lot of stuff done around the house and I thought it would be nice to have a little mini picnic for dinner. We started out tonight with a side dish of Watermelon-Feta Salad with Fresh Herbs.

There were lots of flavors and textures involved in this dish... crunchy, juicy, sweet and salty. Exploding with color, this salad consists of chunky ruby red pieces of watermelon, peppery watercress, salty feta cheese, sliced red onions, fresh basil and mint. For a tart counterpart, we squeezed a fresh lemon over the salad before gently tossing everything together. Finished with just a sprinkle of salt to lure out the hidden flavors, this crisp salad was so refreshing and really hit the spot on this warm day.

Unlike the past couple of days when we should have used it, we were actually able to use the grill for tonight's dinner to cook the meat for these easy Barbecue Pork-and-Coleslaw Hoagies. Nothing fancy here, just pork coated with a spicy barbecue sauce (I didn't even make it!) and grilled until it is still pink in the center. While you wait for the pork to cook, a crunchy topping for the sandwich is combined by tossing broccoli slaw, sour cream, mayonnaise, a couple dollops of horseradish for heat and a dash of sugar to balance the flavors. Now, the original recipe did call for packaged "cabbage and carrot coleslaw" mix, but we already had the broccoli slaw on hand so we just used that. Once the pork is done and has a chance to rest, the tenderloin is thinly sliced and tossed with a bit more barbecue sauce.

To impart a little flavor into the rolls, they are first brushed with more of the spicy sauce before assembling the sandwich. We both thought these sandwiches were excellent... especially with the ease of preparation! The coleslaw topping was light, just creamy enough and had a pleasurable kick from the horseradish. If you don't have a grill or if the weather is not cooperating, you could also prepare the pork under the broiler if desired - just be sure to use a thermometer so it doesn't over cook.

What better way to round out a picnic like this than with some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! This is actually a light recipe for chocolate chip cookies as it only calls for 8 tablespoons of butter, rather than the usual 16. As such, the dough when fully combined is not as creamy as a regular batch - though, it was still moist enough to hold together. The golden cookies with their cracks and crevices have an interesting texture - not super crispy, yet not soft or cake-like at all. They are firm to the touch and have a rich chewiness to them. With only 3/4 cup of chocolate for the whole recipe, the cookies are kind of skimpy on the chip to dough ratio though, but it was still satisfying enough. It was nice that I did not need to refrigerate the dough at all to keep the cookies from spreading too much - they were not flat at all and had a decent thickness.

Overall, a great light cookie as the texture didn't suffer as much as I thought - not dry or crumby and still buttery enough to pacify a cookie craving... though I would toss in a few more chips next time!

Recipes
Watermelon-Feta Salad with Fresh Herbs
Barbecue Pork-and-Coleslaw Hoagies
Chocolate Chip Cookies

That's one large hunk of bread!

9 new recipes for us this week - our top picks were the Chocolate Chip Rugelach, Toasted Millet with Parmesan and the Salted Cashew-Crunch Cookies. We have a fairly busy few days ahead of us, so I think I was a little ambitious when I planned this upcoming week's menu this morning. Though, since we did most of the grocery shopping this morning, I'm just going to have to find time to get it all done! I also need to get some of that Peanut Butter Granola made again - Jeff is especially fond of this mix, I think this will be the 4th batch!

One of the things on my to-do list at some point this week was get a loaf of bread made. However, I was looking for one that would be a bit sweeter than recipes we have done in the past... I had just enough time today, so I wound up making this spectacular Sugar-Frosted Cardamom Braid.

In the dough, I used a mixture of white whole wheat and all-purpose flour - though you will be perfectly fine if you only use all-purpose. I just like sneaking in whole-grains where ever I can if it won't interfere with the texture. As the liquid in this recipe is milk, the dough was so soft and a pleasure to knead. There are two stand-out flavors in this bread - a bright lemon flavor from a couple tablespoons of lemon zest and a unique, warm and very aromatic flavor from ground cardamom. Rather than baking this in pans, this dough is divided into three portions and then intertwined together in a braiding fashion to create a stunning loaf of bread. After its final rise, the dough is dressed with a light coating of an egg wash and then a scattering of large, coarse crystal sugar for crunch and sparkle. The braid started out at about 15 inches long, but when I went to pull it out from the oven, I couldn't believe how much it grew - it was just over 21 inches fulled baked!

We waited as long as we possibly could before we sliced into this intensely fragrant loaf, maybe 40 minutes or so... we just couldn't wait anymore! The baked loaf was so soft, light and tender without being overly sweet. There was just enough cardamom flavor in each slice so you know it is in there, but not so much that is overpowers the delicate lemon. We have already sampled it plain, toasted and toasted with a bit of jam... we can't even decide how we like it best! I have a feeling this will certainly be made again, especially around the fall holidays! You could even gussy it up with colored sugar around Christmas time for an even more festive appearance.

Recipes
Sugar-Frosted Cardamom Braid

No flour needed in these crunchy cookies...

You know by now that we are fans of the salty and sweet combination, especially in cookies. We have made some Sweet and Salty Peanut Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Salty Oat Cookies in the past and today's treat of Salted Cashew-Crunch Cookies is right up there as a new favorite.

You can probably guess where this recipe is from... yes, another one out of my new (or well-used by now) go-to King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. What sets these cookies apart is the fact that there is no added flour in the recipe - the main dry ingredient is old-fashion rolled oats that have been ground in a food processor. The ingredients here are very basic - butter, sugar, an egg and a touch of vanilla as you want the prominent punch of flavor from the cashews to shine through. A few of the recipes in this book call for an overnight sit in the refrigerator, but it is not needed for this recipe and that is one of the reasons I choose to make it today. Once the dough is made and scooped out, we sprinkled the tops with extra-fine salt before we flattened them out - I used the Diamond Crystal brand for this.

With an almost crumbly crunch to them when you take a bite, the first hit you get on your tongue is a touch of salt, followed by the sweet buttery base holding the cookie together - then the richness of the cashews grabs a hold of your taste buds for a nutty finish. Though, now I have a problem... while I could make dinner as planned... I think I like Jeff's idea of just filling up a plate of these cookies and calling it done!

Recipes
Salted Cashew-Crunch Cookies

Be sure to make enough for leftovers!

We are big fans of leftovers so we have something easy and ready-to-go for lunch the next day. Even though I am usually just making dinner for the two of us, I don't often halve recipes (though, I will if it is a dish of flavors we have not had before) and we usually have enough to either freeze or finish the extra within a day or two. I've even been known to double recipes like this Italian-Style Meat Loaf that we had tonight just TO have leftovers!

We would usually cut the ground sirloin with ground chicken or turkey in a recipe like this to make it a little lighter, but we had just the right amount of beef already in the freezer. While the marinara sauce and onions add flavor, they also keep this loaf moist, with Italian breadcrumbs and an egg acting as the binder to hold it together. Fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a variety of herbs are also tossed in to season the mixture. When you go to combine all of the ingredients, I like to mix everything together first, except the beef, and then gently fold in the ground meat so there is less of a chance to overwork the mixture. The original directions call for forming the loaf free-form on a broiler pan, however I have found it is easier to first line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and then gently press the meat in. I then use the plastic wrap to lift the formed loaf out and turn it onto the broiler pan - I just find it helps hold its shape better and is a little less messy. Before it goes into the oven, the meat loaf gets a generous coating of the marinara sauce on top. Lots of flavor and quite moist, this loaf was easy to slice and did not fall apart at all when we served it. And my earlier remark about the leftovers and this dish? Easy... We need to make sure to have enough so we can make meat loaf sandwiches for lunch tomorrow! Woo!

Recipes
Italian-Style Meat Loaf