Hamburger Buns

I made buns to go with our burgers for dinner last night using this recipe from King Arthur Flour.  Amazing!  I was seriously impressed.  I made the recipe as written this time, but next time I'm going to use at least half whole wheat (which others have had success with based on the recipe comments).

Here's a link to their blog post about the recipe.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Filling, yet still delicious.

Ingredients:

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar, packed

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

1/2 c. pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

In a separate bowl, stir together flours, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add to the wet ingredients, stirring as you go.

Stir in chocolate chips and nuts if desired. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:

I grind my own wheat, and for this recipe, I make sure it's ground really, really fine. It keeps the cookies light.

This thing still on?

Hey anyone who still checks this blog. I made the most delicious gyros (my whole household, toddler included, gobbled them up)the other day and they were so simple to make, I had to share. Here's the link or I will paste the directions below as well. Two notes: Rather than make my own wraps I just used the Pita Bread from Trader Joe's. Excellent. I also saved some time using Greek yogurt--do it. You won't be sorry. Enjoy!

Chicken Gyros

Chicken Gyros

from melskitchencafe.com

*Note: Keep in mind this recipe requires straining yogurt which may take overnight and marinating chicken which will take 1-2 hours so plan ahead!

*Makes enough chicken and tzatziki for approximately 4-6 gyros.

For the tzatziki sauce:

16 oz. plain yogurt (not fat free unless it is Oikos or Fage or another Greek-type yogurt)

1/2 hothouse cucumber or 1 regular cucumber, peeled and seeded (she used 1/2 of an English cucumber, I used two mini peruvian seedless)

2-3 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press (or finely minced)

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken:

4 cloves garlic, smashed

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping tablespoons plain yogurt

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

To assemble:

Soft wrap bread (or pita bread)

Fresh tomatoes, seeded and diced

Red onion, sliced thin

To make the tzatziki sauce, strain the yogurt using cheesecloth over a bowl. Let strain for several hours or overnight, if possible, to remove as much moisture as possible. (You won't believe how much liquid drains from the yogurt - it makes the yogurt much thicker and creamier. If you want to splurge on Greek yogurt, like Oikos or Fage, you won't need to strain it like this.)

Shred the cucumber. Wrap in a towel a squeeze to remove as much water as possible. Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumber, garlic, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.

To prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, yogurt, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.

Cook the chicken as desired, either in the skillet or with the broiler. (I sauted them in a hot skillet.) Once the chicken is completely cooked through, transfer to a plate and let rest for 5 minutes.

Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, diced tomatoes and sliced onions. Serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

This bread comes out just perfect - easy to slice, even in thin pieces, and holds together really well. It is so delicious!

Recipe from my dear friend, Jennie Christopherson (who has an amazing craft/food/etc. blog HERE that you should totally check out).

Ingredients:

2.5 c hot water (around 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1.25 T yeast

2 t sugar

1 T salt

1/3 c extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 c sugar (or 1/3 c honey)

1.25 T bottled lemon juice

1/3 c flax seed

1/3 c gluten

5.5 - 6 c whole wheat flour

Directions:

- Mix together the yeast, water, and 2 t. sugar and let rise about 10 minutes (should puff up).

- Mix the salt, oil, sugar, and lemon juice together in a mixer with a dough hook.

- Add the yeast mixture and mix.

- Blend the flax seed in a blender or food processor until broken apart and fluffy.

- Add the flax plus enough whole wheat flour to equal 3.5 cups to the mixer.

- Add the gluten and mix.

- Continue adding an additional 2-2.5 cups of flour until the dough comes cleanly off the sides of the bowl as you knead it with the dough hook. Knead in the mixer about 10 minutes. The dough will be very soft, but will be elastic when pulled apart.

- Preheat the oven for a few minutes to lukewarm and turn off.

- Turn dough onto oiled counter top, divide, shape into loaves, and place in oiled pans.

- Let rise in warm oven 30-45 minutes until the dough fills in and reaches the top of the pans.

- Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes.

- Let cool 10 minutes in pans, then remove from pans.

Yields 2 large or 3 small loaves.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

These things are amazing. They might be my new favorite cookies!

Adapted slightly from just cook already.

For the cookies:
2 sticks butter (1 cup), at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (can do half white, half wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon


For the rolling sugar:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream butter with the sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time until incorporated.
3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes slightly firm.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar in a small bowl.
5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tbsp.) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Use your hands to roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they’re coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls until about 1 cm thick.
6. Bake at 350°F for 9 to 12 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch. Let cool on baking sheets for 3-4 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: About 3 dozen

wild butternut sausage soup

This soup was amazing! So so yummy. It's basically THIS recipe, but I made it like this:

• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 cup wild rice
• + 1 cup water + 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 7 oz sausage, kielbasa, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup frozen corn
• salt and pep to taste
• 1/2 cup half n half

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Cut the butternut squash in half. Lie cut side down and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Put wild rice + 1 cup water + 1 cup broth in rice cooker and cook it.
Get out your big soup pot and turn up the heat (med-hi), brown sausage. Add olive oil, celery and frozen corn + 1 cup broth. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
When the squash is done, peel and cube (or scoop it out if it's soft enough) and put it in the blender, puree with 2 cups broth.
Add squash puree, wild rice, and the remaining 1 cup broth to the soup pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat and let cool for 1 minute. Add the half n half and stir.
PS it does thicken up quite a bit, so don't hesitate to add 1 more cup of water/broth. It just depends on how you like it.

Spatchcocked Chicken With Potatoes

I'm starting to really love this method of cooking a whole chicken.  Maybe some of you already do it, but it's pretty new to me.  It's awesome because it takes a lot less time to cook than a whole roasted chicken.

The original recipe was found here, but I made a couple of minor changes which are what I'm posting here.

Basic Spatchcocking Method:
Any pan will do. For these recipes, you can use a roasting pan or a large cast-iron or heavy skillet.
1. Place 1 whole chicken (3-4 pounds), breast side down, on a work surface.
2. Starting at the thigh end, cut along one side of backbone with kitchen shears.
3. Turn chicken around; cut along other side. Discard or save backbone for stock.
4. Flip chicken over and open it like a book. Press firmly on breastbone to flatten.

Spatchcocked Chicken With Potatoes
Ingredients:
Serves 4

whole chicken (3-4 lbs)
coarse salt
ground pepper
4 thin lemon slices
4 sprigs fresh rosemary (the original calls for thyme)
1/2 lb quartered new potatoes (I estimated the amount needed for my family and used a mix of red and Yukon gold potatoes from the garden)
1 yellow onion
2 tsp. olive oil (I used Canola)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Season spatchcocked chicken with coarse salt and ground pepper.
2. Using your fingers, loosen skin from breast meat; tuck 4 thin lemon slices and 2 sprigs rosemary between skin and meat.
3. Place chicken, breast side up, in a pan. In a bowl, toss potatoes, 1 yellow onion, cut into 8
wedges, and 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed from stem, with two teaspoons olive oil; season with salt and pepper.  Add to pan.
4. Roast chicken until juices run clear when pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer
should read 165-degrees when inserted in thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone), about 30-minutes. Let rest 5-minutes before carving.

(My chicken was over 6 lbs. so it wasn't done after 30 minutes.  I put a piece of foil over the breast portion, which was browning nicely, and left the legs exposed so they would brown more.  I didn't time how much longer I cooked it.  15-20 minutes maybe?  It could have been longer.  In any case, it was in and out of the oven in at least half the time it would have taken to roast it whole.  And who couldn't love a 30-minute roast chicken dinner?)

Butternut Bisque

So So So So SOOOOOOOO yummy.

(Source: Everyday Food)

3 T. butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t. dried thyme

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/8 - 1/4 t. cayenne pepper (to taste)

coarse salt

1-2 large butternut squashes (totaling 4 lbs.) peeled, seeded and cubed

1 can (14.5 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 c. half-and-half

1. In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne. Season with salt, and cook, stirring occasionally until onion is softened, 5-7 minutes.

2. Add squash, broth and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until squash is tender, about 20 minutes.

3. Working in batches (or with a stick blender), puree until smooth. Stir in half-and-half, season with salt.

butternut squash bisque

- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 4 cups cooked butternut squash (about 2 whole squash, or is it squashES?)
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Ground nutmeg to taste
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1/4 cup water + more if you want a thinner bisque.

1. Preheat over to 375. Cut butternut squash in half, remove seeds. Lay cut side down on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes.
2. After squash is cool, cut up into small cubes, yield about 4 cups.
3. Heat the oil and melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots and squash into the pot, saute for a minute or two. Pour in chicken broth, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes).
4. Put water and squash mixture in a blender or food processor and puree until nice and smooth. Add the cream at the end. Push that puree button a few more times to mix in cream and return to pot to keep warm.
Serve with a dash of nutmeg, and turkey and cranberry sandwiches, or a grilled cheese sandwich. And don't be offended if your husband says, "this reminds me of when you would make baby food." It's really delicious, promise.

fruity trifle

What you need:

• Betty Crocker Angel Food cake mix + water, baked according to directions and cooled
• 1 package of vanilla pudding + 3 cups of milk, prepared according to directions
• 1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
• 3 bananas, sliced
• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 12oz of cool whip / or heavy whipping cream, whipped

What you do:
Layer all the goodness: cake, pudding, strawberries, bananas, blueberries. Repeat. Top with whipped cream.

abbie's easier mediterranean-ish salad

I wanted to make THIS salad (saw it via Bloom), but I didn't have all the stuff so I made this one up and it was sooo good and so easy! and it was filling so that's all I made for dinner.

Things you need:

• 8 oz Orzo pasta
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• mozzarella cheese, shredded
• handful grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (I used my purple basil), finely chopped
• handful of almonds, chopped
• Olde Cape Cod Balsamic Vinaigrette

Cook orzo according to box directions and cool. Layer everything up and top with vinaigrette. Eat and then eat some more and then eat some more.

tilapia with peach salsa

My husband said, "when I saw this I didn't think it would be very good, but it is." I agree.

Make the salsa first:

• 1/2 cup chopped peaches
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup (ish) fresh cilantro, chopped
  
• juice from 1 lime
• a bit of salt and black pepper
• 1 bell pepper, chopped (I used half of a purpley-redish and half of a neon green-yellow. Obviously I am an expert and know the real names of bell peppers)

Mix everything up and put in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

On to the tilapia:

• 2-4 tilapia fillets (I use frozen - still yummy and cheaper)
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp (ish) salt
• 1/4 tsp (ish) black pepper
• cooking spray

Preheat over to 375. Spray cooking spray in baking dish. Put the fillets in the dish. Pour olive oil over the fillets; then spread garlic over the fillets; then shake the basil, salt, and pepper over the fillets. Bake for 8-12 minutes (mine are perfectly flaky at 10 min)

When the tilapia is done, top with salsa. Serve with wild rice and zucchini (not asparagus and potatoes as seen above).

Creamy Tomato & Pesto Sauce

This was a big hit with my 4 year-old tonight. And my husband. And me. Not too shabby on the fly, I must admit. =)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bulk sausage

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

1/3 c. pesto

1/2 c. heavy cream

1. In a saucepan, cook and break up sausage, drain if desired.

2. After sausage is fully cooked and broken up, pour in tomatoes and pesto.

3. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Just prior to serving, add cream and stir, heating through.

We served it over cheese ravioli, and I can't wait to use it on lasagna!

Donut Muffins

I would be a horrible person if I didn't share this recipe with you.

These are delicious. So much so that...well...

I. Have. No. Words.

Run, don't walk, to your kitchen and whip up a batch of these babies.

My husband and I *might* have just plowed through a dozen of them in the space of about 7 minutes.

(I've taken the recipe from this website. Bless this website for so many reasons. She has some typos in her recipe--I've fixed that).

Ingredients (muffins):

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. milk

1 t. baking powder

1 c. all-purpose flour

Ingredients (coating):

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a mini-muffin tin, set aside.

2. Mix up the 1/2 c. sugar, 1/4 c. melted butter and nutmeg in a large bowl.

3. Add flour, milk, and baking soda and mix together until just combined.

4. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.

5. While muffins are baking, combine sugar and cinnamon into a bowl, set aside.

6. Melt 1/4 c. butter and place it in a bowl. (I just melted my butter in a skillet and left it there).

7. When muffins are done and cool enough to handle, remove them from the pan. Dip the tops of the muffins in butter and then roll the WHOLE muffin in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let cool and then try not to pig out too badly!!

Side note: This recipe is egg-free...so my nephew can eat them. So for all of you who have adorable nephews with egg allergies, this one's a winner!

Radish Dip

So, this is the second week of our CSA (crop share association), and this is the second week that we've had an inordinate amount of radishes in our share.

I'm not really a fan of radishes.

But my friend clued me into this dip, and I'm thrilled about it.

1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese
8-12 radishes, washed and chopped in half
3/4 - 1 t. salt

Optional ingredients:
dill
garlic

1. Put radishes in a food processor and pulse until radishes are in teeny-tiny pieces....think crushed candy canes...it'll look similar. =)

2. In a bowl, mix the radishes with the cream cheese and salt (and optional ingredients, if you like) with a spoon or stand mixer.

Serve with tortilla chips, celery, cucumber....really, it's all delicious.

chicken kabobs

Thanks to George Foreman, we backyardless people can enjoy delicious summer food.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

• 4 chicken breast halves, cut into 2 in. cubes
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1-2 Tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (reduce for less kick)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Veggies

• grape tomatoes
• 1 zucchini, cut up
• 1 bell pepper (any color works), cut up
• fresh pineapple, cut up

Mix oil, lemon juice, honey, thyme, pepper flakes, pepper and salt and put in flat baking dish. Place chicken in dish to marinate for 4 hours (or how ever long you want). Turn on your grill. Skewer everything up as seen above and slap it on the grill. Cook until chicken isn't pink (duh). So good!

Sesame Noodles

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com and it was a BIG hit with my family--even my 4 year-old.

Ingredients:

1 (1lb.) package linguine
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 T. oil
6 T. vinegar
6 T. sugar
6 T. soy sauce
2 T. sesame oil

Optional ingredients:

2 t. chili sauce
6 green onions, sliced
1 T. sesame seeds, toasted

1. Cook linguine, drain and set aside.
2. Place a separate saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, sugar, oil, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili sauce (optional). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Pour over linguine and toss to coat. Garnish with optional ingredients.

**NOTE** I also tossed in a shredded head of napa cabbage and some leftover grilled chicken breasts...it was delicious.

Green Chile Sauce

This recipe makes a great green enchilada sauce. I've started using it in place of the stuff in cans since the price of buying the chiles is comparable, plus I sort of prefer the taste to the canned sauce. So far I've only used it in these honey lime enchiladas, once with chicken and once with pork (both were good).

The recipe is really easy, but does take a little time. Next time I make it I'm going to double or triple it and freeze some for later.

Recipe from Cooking Light magazine, December 2007

6 fresh Anaheim chiles (long, slender green chiles found in most grocery stores)
1 T. canola oil
2 c. chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. all-purpose flour
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. salt
1 14-oz. can chicken broth

Preheat broiler.

Place chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil chiles for 14 minutes, or until blackened and charred, turning after 7 minutes. Put charred chiles in a heavy-duty ziploc and seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Remove from ziploc and peel and discard skin. Cut a lengthwise slit in each chili and remove tops and seeds (I find that they're usually attached, so when I pull off the top the seeds come along). Chop chiles and measure 3/4 c. (I always end up with more than 3/4 c. chopped chiles, but I throw it all in anyway. I suppose you could save the rest of the chopped chile for later and use in place of a can of green chiles or something.)

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan and saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. (Mine always starts to burn when I add the garlic, so you might try reducing the heat a bit, or stir more often.) Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Add chiles, coriander, salt, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Scoop half of chile mixture into a blender. Remove center piece from the blender lid so team can escape and put a dish towel over the opening while you blend. Blend until smooth. Return blended mixture to pan and stir well. Remove from heat and cool.

Makes about 3 cups sauce.

chocolate mousse

From Betty.

• 4 large egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

1. Beat egg yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed (about 3 minutes) until thick and lemon colored. Gradually beat in sugar.
2. Heat 1 cup heavy whipping cream in 2 quart saucepan over medium heat just until hot (do not boil).
3. Gradually stir at least half of the hot cream into egg yolks mixture, then stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).
4. Stir in chocolate chips until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled.
5. Beat 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream in chilled medium bowl on high speed until stiff. Fold chocolate mixture into whipping cream. Pipe or spoon mixture into serving dish. Refrigerate until serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

I serve it with berries and whipped cream. I know, that’s a lot of whipped cream.

key lime pie

From my SIL.



Ingredients:

• 8 oz of cream cheese
• one can sweetened condensed milk
• half cup fresh lime juice (about 5 limes).
• 5 oz whipped topping
• one 9 inch graham cracker crust (make the crust. it's worth the time)*

Directions:
Blend cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add lime juice and mix. Stir in thawed whipped topping. Pour into graham cracker crust. Freeze for firm pie or refrigerate for 6 hours.

*Graham Cracker Crust:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers (about 20 squares)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 Tbs sugar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and press firmly into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool.