Penne with Brussels Sprouts and Crisp Bacon

Ingredients

• 12 ounces uncooked penne (tube-shaped pasta)
• 3 cups trimmed, halved Brussels sprouts (about 1 pound)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 bacon slices (I did 4 because we really like bacon)
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
• 1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts, toasted (I put sliced almonds because that's what I had on hand)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting the salt and fat. Drain well.
2. Steam Brussels sprouts, covered, 7 minutes or until tender. Drain and sprinkle with salt.
3. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside.
4. Add Brussels sprouts to the bacon drippings in pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in cooked pasta; cover mixture, and keep warm.
5. Combine milk, flour, and broth, stirring well with a whisk. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add milk mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk until well blended. Cook for 6 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/4 cup cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Pour sauce over pasta mixture, tossing to coat. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, nuts, bacon, and pepper; serve immediately.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cakes

Prep:   15 minutes   

Total:   29 minutes                                                          

4 squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet                   

   Baking Chocolate                                          

½ cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar                                   

2 eggs                                                                   

2 egg yolks                                                          

6 Tbsp. flour                                                       

PREHEAT oven to 425 degrees F.  Butter 4 (3/4-cup) custard cups or soufflé dishes. MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 minutes or until butter is melted.  Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in sugar until well blended.  Whisk in eggs and egg yolks.  Stir in flour.   

Divide batter between prepared custard cups. BAKE 13 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are  soft.  Let stand 1 minute.  Carefully run a small knife around cakes to loosen.  Invert cakes onto dessert dishes.  Serve immediately.                                                                            

Makes 8 servings—1/2 molten cake each.  (I think 4 servings is more likely.)

Balti Butter Chicken

My friend Jess (from Hawaii) gave me this recipe from her stay in India when she was stationed there. This is a yumm-o dish and kid friendly! Serve on top of rice.

150 ml/ ¼ pint/ 2/3 cup plain or Greek-style yogurt

50 g/2 oz/ ½ cup ground almonds

1 ½ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp crushed bay leaves

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ ground cinnamon

1 tsp garam masala

4 green cardamom pods (I omitted this b/c I couldn't find it)

1 tsp ginger pulp

1 tsp garlic pulp

400 g/14 oz/2 cups diced tomatoes (I used canned)

1 ¼ tsp salt

1 kg/2 lb/6 ½ cups chicken, skinned, boned and cubed

75 g/3oz/6 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp canola or corn oil

2 medium onions, chopped or sliced

2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

4 Tbsp single (light) or double (heavy) cream, to taste

1.     Put the yogurt, ground almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt into a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.

2.     Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the yogurt mixture.  Set aside.

3.     Melt together the butter and oil in a medium karahi or deep round-bottomed skillet.  Add the onions and fry for about 3 minutes.

4.     Add the chicken mixture and stir-fry for 7-10 minutes.

5.     Stir in about half of the cilantro and mix well.

6.     Pour over the cream and stir in well.  Bring to a boil.  Serve garnished with the remaining chopped coriander.
Serves 4-6

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (browneyedbaker.com)
Yield: 12 muffins
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Bake Time: 18 to 20 minutes

2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sour cream (I used plain yogurt because I didn't have sour cream)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of lemon strong. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – a few lumps are better than over mixing the batter. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffins cups.
3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Vegetable Stir-Fry

I posted this because I loved the light flavor. I just used frozen veggies and whatever fresh stuff I had but I mainly wanted to post this because of the sauce. And if we weren't in a tofu mood I would add chicken instead.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 cup half-moon sliced yellow squash
• 1 cup small broccoli florets
• 1 baby eggplant, cut into chunks
• 8 ounces firm tofu, cut into large chunks
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (check the label: no more than 2 grams sugar per serving)
• 2 cups sliced bok choy
• 1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup snow pea
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions

Start by preparing and cutting all the vegetables and measuring your ingredients so that they are ready to go. Once you begin stir-frying, it goes very quickly.

In a wok or large skillet, heat canola oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the peppers and onion while stirring constantly. While continuing to stir, add successively the squash, broccoli, eggplant, tofu, garlic, and teriyaki sauce. Cook, stirring, constantly for 2 minutes. Add the bok choy, sprouts, pepper, and salt and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes more.

Stir in snow peas and sesame oil and remove from heat. Serve immediately. 

Chicken Monterey

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 8 large mushrooms, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon celery salt (I omitted this because I didn't have it)
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking dish.
2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, mushrooms and garlic. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons flour, chicken stock, celery salt, white pepper and white wine. Reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened and well blended, about 10 minutes. Mix 1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese into the thickened sauce mixture, and stir until melted.
3. In a shallow medium bowl, mix 1 cup flour with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken breast halves in the flour mixture to coat. Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook chicken until lightly browned on all sides. Arrange breast halves in the prepared baking dish, and cover with the sauce.
4. Top chicken breast halves with remaining Monterey Jack cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.                

Double-Chocolate Biscotti

A friend of mine made biscotti a few months ago and told me it was actually really easy to make...and I love eating biscotti with a nice cup of hot tea. So I found this recipe in a magazine and tried it. Yum-o!

Makes: 2 dozen

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1 cup nuts (I used macadamia nuts but almonds could be used)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until smooth. Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat sugar and eggs together on medium speed until lightened. Add vanilla. On low speed, add chocolate mixture, then flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Dough will be soft. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface (I just used a cutting board). Form two 9 in.-long-by-3 1/2 in.-wide logs on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 30 minutes, until dough sets. Cool 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 275 degrees. Slice dough into 1/2 inch slices; place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes. Turn over; bake 20 minutes, until slightly dry. Let cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container. I then drizzled melted chocolate across the top...just because you can never have too much chocolate.

Grilled Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

I got this recipe out of a magazine. Fish tacos was something I just couldn't imagine eating until I finally tried it...and now I'm hooked. These are amazing and so easy!

1 lb. fish 1/2 inch thick (I went with Ahi steaks because it doesn't fall apart as easily)

1 T cooking oil

1 t. chili powder

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. each of salt and pepper

6 6 in. tostada shells or tortillas

1/2 cup sour cream

1 t. chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, finely chopped

2 cups shredded romaine lettuce or packaged cabbage with carrots (coleslaw mix)

1 ripe avocado, cut into thin slices (optional)

1 cup refrigerated salsa

snipped cilantro (optional)

Preheat grill. Place fish fillets on plate and rub each fillet on both sides with the oil. In small bowl combine chili powder, cumin, slat and pepper; rub onto fillets on both sides. For chipotle cream, in another bowl combine sour cream and chipotle pepper, set aside. Grill fish until fish flakes easily, turning fish once. Top tortillas with coleslaw mix, fish and avocado slices. Serve with salsa, chipotle cream, cilantro and lime slices (if desired). Yum, yum!

Cowboy Caviar

A friend of mine made this for a party she had and I had to get the recipe from her because it was so delicious! You serve it as an appetizer (or as we say here in Hawaii a "pu-pu") with chips. My friend even said she puts it on top of lettuce and eats it as a salad too. I think I will try that next!

15 oz. can of shoepeg corn (it was $3 a can here so I used regular corn)

15 oz. can of black eyed peas (they only had them with chile's so I used froze ones)

2/3 cup cilantro

2/3 cup green onions, chopped

1-2 avocados cubed

1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. salt

1 t. cumin

Mix all veggies together except avocados and tomatoes. Mix dressing ingredients together and then toss with veggie mix. Marinate for 2-3 hours before serving. About 1/2 hour before you serve it add the avocados and tomatoes so they don't get soggy.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

This reminds me of Reese's peanut butter cups. You can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate. Plus it's super easy to make. This makes 60 bars because the measurements are for a 13x9 pan. I just cut the ingredients in half so we weren't eating this for weeks on end.

2 cups peanut butter, divided
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, divided
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

GREASE 13x9-inch baking pan.

BEAT 1 1/4 cups peanut butter and butter in large bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. With hands or wooden spoon, work in remaining 1 cup powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup morsels. press evenly into pan. Smooth top.

MELT remaining peanut butter and morsels in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Spread over crust in pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Cut into bars. Store covered in refrigerator.

potato peeling made easy

I thought this would go along with the soup post below. Pretty neat trick that a friend sent to me...the video is a little cheesy but a great tip.

Homemade Chocolate Cake with Buttercream frosting

So I've been on a mission to find the best, most moist, made from scratch cakes and this chocolate is absolutely scrumptious! Way better than any box mix out there plus no weird ingredients. And it's super easy to make. All credit goes to Hershey's Kitchens.

HERSHEY'S "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

~~I also found a really great homemade icing recipe because I just can't even eat the store bought stuff anymore. It's a white icing so it will go well with any type of cake and it's the first homemade recipe that doesn't just melt right away here in sunny Hawaii.~~

Buttercream Frosting

1 pkg. (16 oz.) confectioners' sugar

1/2 c. butter (1 stick), softened

1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

4-6 T milk or half-and-half

In large bowl, with mixer on medium-low speed, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla, and 3 T milk until smooth and blended. Beat in additional milk as needed for easy spreading consistency. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until light and fluffy (this is key...blend for a few minutes at this speed).

• Please let me know if you have any other homemade cake recipes that are super good. I still haven't found a yellow or white cake that isn't dry and crumbly or dense.

Focaccia Bread

I posted this on my blog and had a couple of people ask for the recipe, so I thought I would post it here.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t. sugar
3 T olive oil
1/2 t. salt
1 T active dry yeast
1 cup water (110 degrees...or lukewarm)

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast. Mix in 1 T olive oil and water.


• When the dough has pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.


• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Punch dough down: place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and rosemary.


• Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Tomato Caesar Skillet

This is a super easy chicken recipe that has tons of flavor. You can't go wrong with any recipe containing bacon.

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb.)

1/4 cup chicken broth

Classic Caesar Dressing

1 t. dried basil

2 T chopped parsley

4 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped (I used a hand full of grape tomatoes...it's what I had on hand)

2 T. crumbled bacon

Cook chicken in hot oil in large skillet on medium-high heat 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Stir in 1/4 up Caesar dressing, broth, basil and parsley until well blended. Bring to simmer; cook an additional 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and bacon; stir to combine. Cook 2 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Brownies

These are probably the least fattening brownies you will ever have (without fake ingredients or chemicals to make it "low fat")...133 calories per bar and 3 grams of fiber. These aren't gooey like regular brownies but are more cake-y. But the flavor is really yummy. The purees are spinach and carrots (I didn't have any carrots on hand the second time I made these so I used applesauce instead and it still was good). Jessica Seinfeld wrote on this recipe to let them cool all the way to let the spinach taste completely disappear. We couldn't wait that long and we didn't notice the spinach taste.

3 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup carrot puree
1/2 cup spinach puree
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T butter
2 t. vanilla
2 large egg whites (I added a yolk just cause I didn't want to waste it)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 8x8 inch pan with cooking spray. Melt the chocolate either in double boiler or microwave (on low heat). In large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt with a wooden spoon. Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes (I reduced it to about 20 minutes so they weren't too dry). Cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

Pink Pancakes

This recipe is from the cookbook Deceptively Delicious and is the first recipe I've made where the puree is a little strong. So picky eaters probably won't like this one. But if you have eaters that are pretty good at trying new things, this is a good one. We thought they were pretty tasty. I always like to try something a little different. The puree in this one is beets.

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup beet puree (I just realized I put in half a cup of puree so maybe that is why the flavor was a bit strong. We thought it was still pretty tasty)

1 t. pure vanilla extract

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup grated apple

1 T vegetable oil

In a blender or food processor, combine the water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon and blend. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix - the batter will be a little lumpy.

Coat griddle or nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When hot, add the oil. Spoon the batter onto the griddle or skillet, using about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook the pancakes until the batter is set, 1 to 2 minutes. Then flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes. Serve warm, with syrup. Yum!

Applesauce Muffins

My friend gave me the cookbook Deceptively Delicious so I thought I would do a little series on the recipes we tried and liked. If you're not familiar with the cookbook it's a book based on sneaking veggies (by making purees) and fruits into recipes to add a few extra vitamins and minerals to your kids foods (Jessica Seinfeld is the creator of the cookbook...Jerry Seinfeld's wife). So if you have really picky eaters they may not enjoy these recipes because they do have different flavors that they may not like. I was looking for recipes of veggies that my kids normally don't eat...butternut squash, zucchini, spinach, beets. And since I'm making Ansley's babyfood, it was easy to use some of that for the purees. So this is the first recipe that we really enjoyed. It was a great breakfast treat!

TOPPING
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. cinnamon
2 T butter

BATTER
1 1/2 cups flour (I always add flax seed to my recipes so I put 1/2 cup flax seed and 1 cup flour)
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (I used butternut squash for this one)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray cupcake pan or use paper liners. To make topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in butter. To make the batter, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. In a second bowl, mix applesauce with milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix-the batter is supposed to be lumpy. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Birthday Quiche

Jason made me this quiche for my birthday and it was the best quiche I have ever had. I think the key ingredient is the feta cheese. He got it off the Internet and I don't know what the link is. But here's the recipe:

~ 1/2 cup butter
~ 3 cloves garlic, chopped
~ 1 small onion, chopped (sweet onions are best)
~ 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
~ 1 (4.5 ounce) can mushrooms, drained
~ 1 (6 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled (we just used regular feta)
~ 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
~ salt and pepper to taste
~ 1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
~ 4 eggs, beaten
~ 1 cup milk
~ salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Baked Oatmeal

I just got this recipe from a friend of mine and it is delicious. It's a great make-ahead breakfast that is great for a Sunday morning because you make it the night before and then pop it in the oven in the morning. I put fresh blueberries in mine. Yum, yum!

BAKED OATMEAL

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher or sea salt

2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup fruit (fresh blueberries, dried cranberries,,,)

Mix all dry ingredients together. Beat in the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir in the fruit. Spread into 9x9 baking dish. Cover and place in fridge overnight. Bake in preheated 350 over for 40 minutes. Cool slightly before eating. Refrigerate leftovers.
*For double recipe, use 9x13 baking dish.

Spaghetti Squash

When my church family was bringing us meals after Ansley was born a family brought us a dinner of Spaghetti Squash. It was so tasty and I never got a chance to get the recipe from her. Well I was doing a bit of research on the Internet and found out that the squash is actually called a Spaghetti Squash. All this time I thought she shredded the squash into nice long strands when it turns out that the flesh of this squash naturally does that after it is roasted. So this is a sort of recipe but it's super easy and super healthy. Follow these directions on how to cook the squash.

- one spaghetti squash (recipe calls for a 3 lb squash, I could only find 1 lb squash...so I used 2)
- olive oil
-salt and pepper

- a jar of some type of marinara sauce or your favorite regular spaghetti sauce
- 2 links of sweet sausage (kielbasa) I put in pineapple sausage

Once your squash is roasted throw the rest of the ingredients together and heat it until everything is warmed up. This was great as leftovers too.