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Taking hints

Written on August 30, 2010 by Jennifer in main dish, Recipe, vegetarian

I’m not sure if I’ll ever learn, but my husband does not catch on to my hints. Last night I really didn’t feel like cooking dinner, I felt like eating anything I wasn’t cooking, so I kept mentioning HOW WORN OUT I was. Hint, hint! When that didn’t seem to elicit the reaction I was hoping for from Tate, I made sure to say, “Oh. Wellllll, I guess I should start dinner.” HEAVY SIGH, HEAVY SIGH, HEAVY SIGH.

I ended up making dinner. SHOCKING! Dinner was actually was delicious, a recipe that I used to make all the time, but it somehow fell out of rotation. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s my very own recipe and it’s pretty fabulous. (Toot, toot!)

I made Three Cheese Eggplant bake.

This recipe is easy to make. If you’ve never had eggplant before, don’t be afraid!

What you’ll need…

1 medium to large eggplant
2-3 TB Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 C Ricotta Cheese
1 C Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, 1/2 C reserved for topping
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Marinara Sauce (homemade or from a jar)

Here’s what you do…

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two cookie sheets with cooking spray. Carefully cut skin off of eggplant. I hold it upright and with a sharp chef’s knife, I slice the skin off, taking care not to cut off too much of the actual eggplant. Once the skin is removed, slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/8 inch strips. (Don’t worry if you end up with short pieces of eggplant, you can combine these pieces together later.) Place the eggplant strips on cookie sheets and drizzle olive oil evenly over each piece. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the eggplant is baking, make (or heat) the marinara sauce and make the cheese filling. To make the filling, stir together the ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses.

Spray an 11 X 7 casserole dish with cooking spray. Place 2-3 TB of filling at the end of each eggplant slice and roll up. Combine the smaller eggplant slices to make longer strips if needed. Place each roll-up in casserole dish. Spoon marinara sauce over each. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 C of mozzarella cheese over casserole. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

I serve this with whole wheat spaghetti and a salad of grape tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

In case you’re interested, here is my recipe for Marinara Sauce.

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 garlic clove crushed
3 TB of Extra-virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp dried Oregano (if you have fresh, even better!)
1 tsp dried Basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1 TB Sugar

In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, cook the garlic clove in the olive oil just until the clove begins to brown. Remove from heat, remove the garlic clove, and allow the oil to cool. Once cool, add the remaining ingredients, cover and simmer over low heat until thoroughly heated.

*****

This post is a part of Rachel’s Mouthwatering Monday at A Southern Fairytale. Go visit her for more great recipes! HINT, HINT.

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Blurring the lines between bragging and recipe sharing

Written on June 24, 2010 by Jennifer in chicken, main dish, Pictures, Recipe

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe since I haven’t made anything worth sharing in a while. We’ve been eating a lot of grilled meat with a microwaved vegetable side dish, nothing worthy of a recipe or even a photograph.

This week, since getting home from Missouri, I’ve had a hankerin’ for fancy, time intensive meals. (See also: time away from the children while they sit in front of the TV, hypnotized and silent.)

Our dinner last night was truly a masterpiece. Sure I’ve probably said that about things I’ve cooked before, but I’m just not creative enough to come up with anymore descriptive terms.

I made Involtini Di Pollo with Limone Sauce and Linguini Alla Trapanese. Sounds pretty fancy, huh? Well it was! And worth every minute of the hour and half it took me to prepare it. It could have just as easily been called Prosciutto and cheese stuffed chicken breasts with a lemon sauce, and Linguini tossed with garlic and cherry tomatoes. Actually, now that I think about it, that sounds pretty fancy, too.

(See how mine looks almost exactly like the one in the picture! La ti da for me!)

Recipe from the Summer 2010 issue of Everybody Cooks, a magazine published by Dierbergs grocery store in St. Louis.

Involtini Di Pollo

1 C Italian seasoned bread crumbs
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 C grated parmesan cheese
6-8 thinly sliced prosciutto
6-8 thinly sliced mozzarella
1 large tomato, seeded and diced

Slice each chicken breast in half, horizontally. Remove any extra fat. Place chicken between plastic wrap and pound until it’s a 1/4 inch thick. Place bread crumbs in a dish, lightly coat each chicken breast with bread crumbs.

Take each chicken breast and top with a slice of prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and parmesan cheese. At the narrow end of the chicken, carefully roll each chicken breast to hold the filling. Secure with wooden toothpicks.

Grill the chicken over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Once cooked, allow to rest, then slice and drizzle Limone Sauce over.

Limone Sauce

Juice of 2 lemons
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together the first four ingredients. Add oil in slowly until well blended.

Linguini Alla Trapanese

3-4 TB extra virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 container of grape tomatoes, halved
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 lb whole grain Linguini
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 C grated parmesan

Cook linguini according to package directions.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Don’t let it burn! Add tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes, reduce heat to Low. Add the basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Once the linguini is cooked and drained, add the linguini to the skillet and toss with the tomatoes and garlic. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

****

I know I said it took awhile to prepare, but don’t let that scare you! It was easy and tasted better than anything you could get in a restaurant. Make it tonight. DO IT.

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I don’t know what got into me today, it must have been that delicious dinner last night, but I also wrote about our trip to the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge, TN. Three recipes in one day PLUS a post about the Titanic Museum. I am out of control!

Read all about it here!

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Delivery pizza had better watch it’s back

Written on September 23, 2009 by Jennifer in easy, main dish, Pictures, Recipe, vegetarian

I know that I’m becoming a food snob because of my disdain for delivery pizza. Sure, Dominoes and the like are great when you’re too tired to cook and just need food and it doesn’t matter what it is. I’ll still order pizza occasionally, but honestly I’d rather just eat leftovers or PB & J.

I DO very much like GOOD pizza,though, like those cooked in wood-fired ovens or the pizza from a local pizzeria that’s been around since the 40′s. Tate and I recently found a decent pizza place called Brixx Wood-Fired Pizza. Their Cajun Andouille Shrimp Pizza and Wild Mushroom Pizza are our two favorites.

Since going out to dinner with our two children usually involves wrestling and spilled milk and generalized UNFUN, I decided to try to replicate their Wild Mushroom Pizza at home.

I’ve declared myself a Recipe Mimicking Genius and my recipe Tres Magnifique! (I don’t know what that means, but it sounds very fancy and my pizza IS very fancy.) (Don’t worry, it may be fancy, but it’s incredibly easy!)

Behold:

Pizza crust, I use Naan, but you can use homemade, store-bought, ready made crusts… The naan I buy comes two to a package and I find it in the bakery section of my grocery store.

2-3 tsps olive oil

pinch or two of kosher salt (it’s just better! trust me.)

1 TB butter

1 package of fresh baby portabello mushrooms and 1 package of shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced. You may use any type of mushrooms you like, however.

Fresh Arugula, cleaned (optional)

8 oz package of shredded swiss cheese

8 oz package of mozzarella cheese

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat, add the cleaned and sliced mushrooms. Cook for 3-4 minutes, add salt and cook for another minute or two.

On a baking sheet, place both naan, drizzle the olive oil on each piece and spread around with the back of a spoon or a pastry brush, lightly sprinkle with salt.

Evenly spread the cooked mushrooms on the naan. Place arugula leaves, to taste, over the mushrooms. Spread each pizza with both the shredded swiss and shredded mozzarella cheeses. (I like really cheesy pizza, so I usually use all of the swiss and about half a package of the mozzarella.) Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned and melted.

Slice and eat. Send expensive gifts to Jennifer as a token of appreciation.

This pizza kicks Papa John’s pizza in the ‘nads.

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Dealing with the plight of too much sweet corn

Written on August 21, 2009 by Jennifer in easy, main dish, Recipe, vegetarian

There, there now. I know how it is, how you feel, how you struggle during sweet corn season. Remember, I once lived in Indiana.

On Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market or at the grocery store, you’re unable to resist the starchy, sugary goodness of sweet corn. Your family has nearly foundered on corn on the cob, they crave a new way to eat their corn. Trust me. I KNOW.

I’m here to help with this recipe for Corn and Salsa Tortilla Soup from the June 2008 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray. I realize the word “soup” is not typically welcomed and sought after in the summer months, but I assure you that this is worth the extra heat.

Let’s head to the kitchen!

3 poblano chiles (could also use a green pepper for a less spicy soup)
6 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
6 ears fresh sweet corn, kernels scraped from the cob
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Pepper
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) vegetable broth
One 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced or crushed tomatoes
1 avocado, chopped, for garnish
1 lime for garnish
2 tablespoons cilantro for garnish
Sour cream for garnish

Preheat the broiler. Coat the poblanos in a teaspoon of canola. Broil the poblanos until blackened, 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let cool. Peel, seed and chop the poblanos. This can also be done over a gas flame if you’re one of those lucky people with a gas cooktop.

Preheat the oven to 400°. On a baking sheet, toss the tortilla strips with 1 tablespoon oil and the cumin. Bake until golden, about 10-14 minutes; season with salt.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet or soup pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook until charred at the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the red onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, tomatoes and chopped poblanos.

Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with a avocado, a squeeze or three of lime juice, add cilantro, and sour cream.

I’ve been thinking about ways you could modify this recipe and already mentioned that green peppers could be substituted for the poblanos. Roasted red, yellow, or orange peppers would also be a delicious substitution. To add some protein, you could add cooked, shredded chicken or drained and rinsed black beans.

No longer do you have to feel alone and scared during sweet corn season. I’m glad to have helped you in your time of need.

**Note: I first introduced you to this recipe last summer when Rachael Ray lied to me and said this recipe only took 30 minutes to prepare, which is a BALD-FACED LIE. I also discussed my deep devotion to cilantro and said that cilantro haters could suck and egg.

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This probably isn’t really even Korean, but I’m just telling you what the magazine told me

Written on July 30, 2009 by Jennifer in beef, main dish, Recipe

I’ve made this recipe so many times in an effort to get a decent picture to post that I’m {this close} to being sick of it. It’s pretty damn good, though, and even my kids eat it (minus the kimchi), so I’m pretty sure it’s going to stay in our menu rotation. Maybe just a little less frequently.

Wow, with THAT kind of introduction, you are probably cannot wait for this recipe for Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps with Kimchi. (Adapted from the September 2008 Cooking Light)

3/4 pound flank steak
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 cups hot cooked jasmine rice
1/2 cup kimchi
lettuce leaves

1. Cut steak across grain into thin slices. Combine steak pieces, green onions, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil.

2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to wok, swirling to coat. Add half of steak mixture to wok; stir-fry 3-4 minutes or until browned. Spoon cooked steak mixture into a bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil and remaining steak mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Spoon 1/8 cup of rice, about 2 tablespoons steak mixture, and 1 tablespoon kimchi onto each lettuce leaf; roll up. Serve immediately.

This recipe is really simple and is a great alternative to stir-fry. If you really aren’t a big beef eater, you could always substitute chicken. Maybe if you’re a vegetarian, you could substitute tofu, but, well, I , uh, don’t really know (or want to know.)

I always serve my Korean Beef with Sichuan Green Beans. As soon as I get a decent picture, I will post that recipe soon. (It might be awhile.)

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Just typing this out made me yearn for coconut shrimp

Written on May 11, 2009 by Jennifer in main dish, Recipe, shrimp

When I was back in Missouri visiting family, my mother-in-law fixed a dinner one night that was so delicious, that I made it at home that very same week.

When I was making the grocery list the next day, Tate requested that I make it again for the next week.

So I did. Having eaten this three times in just over a week, I’m not sick of it at all. It’s that good.

Here’s the recipe for Coconut Shrimp with Apricot Dip from the Spring ’09 issue of Schnucks Cooks.

1/4 C flour
2 large eggs
1 TB water
2 C panko breadcrumbs
1 C sweetened coconut flakes
1/4 tsp ground allspice (NOTE: I omitted this, because I don’t really like allspice.)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 pounds of raw, peeled, deveined 31-40 count shrimp
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 C apricot fruit spread
1/4 C horseradish sauce

1. You’ll need three shallow dishes. In the first, place the flour. In the next dish, combine the lightly beaten eggs and water. Combine the breadcrumbs, coconut flakes, allspice, and salt in the remaining dish.

2. Dip each shrimp in the flour, then the egg mixture, and finally in the breadcrumb and coconut mixture. Be sure to coat both sides of the shrimp.

3. In a 12 inch skillet, heat 1/4 C of oil over medium to medium high heat. Add half of the shrimp to the pan, cooking 2-3 minutes per side or until golden and the shrimp is opaque throughout. Drain shrimp on paper towels. Remove the pan from heat and remove any excess breadcrumbs or coconut. Add remaining 1/4 C oil and cook the remaining shrimp.

4. In a small, microwave safe bowl, combine the apricot fruit spread and horseradish sauce. Heat 1-2 minutes, stirring once. Serve with the shrimp.

The Schnucks Cooks magazine recommended serving it with Parmesan Pilaf. Those people at Schnucks Cooks are pretty smart, because the Parmesan Pilaf was fabulous. I’ll post that recipe here soon.

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Introduction to my luv-uh

Written on April 3, 2009 by Jennifer in chicken, easy, main dish, Recipe

Have you ever met Lyle? He’s the most delectable golden syrup in all the land.

Lyle, please meet my friends. Friends, say hello to Lyle. He hails from he U.K. He is my luv-uh.

I often run to Lyle to fulfill the role of (my) honey in many recipes. He gets along quite well with cornbread.

Apparently, he also gets along well with chicken wings.

On the back of the Lyle’s Golden Syrup’s luscious body bottle, I found a recipe for Chinese Chicken Wings. Though there is nothing truly “Chinese” (in my very uneducated in the art of Asian cuisine opinion) about these chicken wings, they are quite tasty and even easier to make.

Here’s what you’ll need. I varied the recipe ever so slightly from the one on the bottle.

12 chicken wings
1 TB soy sauce
2 TB of Lyle’s Golden Syrup
2 TB Tomato paste
1 TB water
1 TB red wine vinegar
sesame seeds

Wash and dry the chicken wings and place them in an ovenproof dish. Mix all the ingredients except the sesame seeds together, then pour over the chicken. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes (or until a meat thermometer reaches 175 degrees).

I think that chicken thighs could VERY easily be substituted for the wings in this recipe. I also think that the tomato paste could be omitted. You know, if you felt like it.

“Where would I find my very own Lyle!?” you ask. Well, I know that my beloved Meijer sells Lyle’s Golden Syrup on their International aisle. Sometimes I can find it at World Market or at high-end grocery stores like The Fresh Market. If all else fails you can also find Lyle on Amazon.com.

PS. I realize that I once proclaimed that I was unable to cook chicken, but with a meat thermometer, I can do most anything.

(Disclosure: I am related to someone who works for the company who makes Lyle’s Golden Syrup, however I would love Lyle NO MATTER WHAT and have received no direct compensation for this post.)

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