Spinach Kugel

Spinach Kugel

4 eggs, well beaten
1 lb. spinach
1 lb. whole wheat egg noodles
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix*
1/4 lb butter (1 stick, 1/2 cup)
1 c milk

Cook the egg noodles.

Cook the spinach if using fresh spinach; defrost and dewater the spinach if using frozen spinach.

Blend eggs, onion soup mix, non-dairy creamer, and margarine (you can use your blender).  

Pour onto hot noodles, mixing well.  Add spinach.  Mix well.  

Pour into a baking pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

*I've been trying out substitute recipes for Lipton's onion mix but they have yet to measure up.

This is one of my dogs; his name is Kugel.
He is eating kugel! 

Quesadillas

Chicken & Veggie Cheese Quesadillas with Salsa & Sour Cream

Heat up a little bit of oil in a flat pan.  Let both sides of a whole wheat tortilla begin to brown.  Sprinkle on your cheese (I used raw cheddar) and other ingredients (including spices - I leave out salt because the cheese is salty enough).  When the cheese is melted, either fold in half or put another tortilla on top.  Press together; flip.  Eat with salsa and sour cream (guacamole would be good, too).

My veggies - onions, green and red peppers.

How to poach chicken

I used shredded chicken for the quesadilla.  To make shredded chicken, the first step is to poach your chicken.

You can use any liquid bath you want for this - stock, mead, water...  You can add juice, soy sauce, oil, herbs, vinegar, etc.  Whatever you want, you really can't go wrong.  You can marinate the chicken in an acid first or you can not.  It's hard to go wrong when you poach chicken.  Put the chicken in a saucepan and make sure it's covered with the poaching liquid.  The liquid should not be hot - room temperature is fine.

Put the stovetop on medium heat.  When the liquid begins to boil, turn off the heat.  Set your timer for 15 minutes and let your chicken sit in the liquid covered.  Your chicken is now cooked!

Some people suggest shredding chicken with a fork, but your fingers work just as well.  Up to you how finely shredded you want it!

The free-range chicken breasts I poached and shredded.

Pesto Pasta

Whole grain pasta with pesto, peas, and ground lamb.

Lentils & Rice

Pictured with a little bit of aged provolone melted on top.

This is a family food I my mom used to make.  1 part cooked rice, 1 part cooked lentils, and LOTS of onions, all mixed together.  Sweat or caramelize the onions (for at MINIMUM 10 minutes) depending on your preference.  Mix at least half of the onions in with the lentils and rice but reserve some of the cooked onions for putting on top of the lentils and rice when you serve it.

Feel free to keep as bland as you like or spice as much as you want!  Cooking the rice and lentils in stock will add flavor, and other good things to add include salt, pepper, chili, cumin, garlic, paprika, parsley, etc.  I squeezed some lemon juice and mixed it in.  Any rice or lentil will work or even a mixture (For the lentils and rice above, I used three different lentils and used up three different rices that were all quite low).

I was bored of the leftovers so I added ketchup and some soy sauce and then baked it into a lentil loaf.  Serve with ketchup on top!

A "Lentil Loaf" sandwich

Chocolate Pudding

Spiced Chocolate Pudding with Whipped Cream

I made a recipe I found at http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2009/03/spiced-dark-chocolate-pudding/

The only changes I made were that when I made fresh whipped cream I added in lemon zest.  This recipe would work well as a basic pudding recipe without the spices as well.

Serves 4

1.  In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of the milk with the a cinnamon stick, 2 lightly crushed cardamom pods, 1 clove, 1 1/2 t vanilla extract, and 1/4 t salt.  Bring to a simmer then shut the heat off, cover, and let steep for 15 minutes.  Then remove the cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, and clove from the milk.

2.  Whisk well 1 more cup of milk, 2/3 c sugar, 1/4 c cocoa, and 3 tbs corn starch.  Stir constantly over medium-low heat until it begins to thicken, 5+ minutes.

3.  Pour a ladle of the chocolate mixture into a bowl with a beaten egg and whisk well together.  Then return the egg mixture into the main mixture and cook over medium low heat until it begins to boil.

4.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 2 tbs butter and 3 oz chopped bittersweet/extradark chocolate.

5.  Pour into containers and chill for 2 hours.

6.  Top with whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Beef Tomato Sauce

Sauce:  Onion, garlic, sage, ground beef, peas, crushed tomatoes, vegetable bouillon paste, agave syrup, fresh basil

Gnocchi:  This gnocchi recipe is from one of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia - Mercato.  They have a delicious short rib ragu with ricotta gnocchi, broccoli rabe, and shaved locatelli.  A good combination I've done at home but braised short rib gives the meal a different flavor and takes many hours to cook.

Mercato posted their gnocchi recipe here.  I have also included it below.  I used whole wheat flour but otherwise followed the recipe.

1 pound low-moisture Ricotta cheese (note: the stuff in the tub, NOT ricotta salata)
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup fine ground parmesan cheese
1 - 2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients together well except flour.  Gradually add in flour in increments until you have reached a dough that can be rolled but it still delicate and soft.

To form the gnocchi, flour work surface, roll out a quarter cup of dough at a time into long thin lines.  Cut with a knife into 1 inch long pieces.  Indent each with a fork to help catch sauce.  (Or if you are not as concerned with appearance, you can just roll them up and pull them apart).

Drop into boiling water, gnocchis are ready when they float to the top of the water.

Strain and serve.  (A helpful time to have a spider/skimmer)

Red Curry Beef and Vegetables w/ Cous Cous

I made a stir fry with whole wheat cous cous.  For the vegetables, I brought a can of coconut milk mixed with the curry paste to boil and let it heat up for 5 minutes.  This way when I put in the vegetables they are almost "fried" in the oil from the coconut milk.

Cous cous is a great grain to use not only for its taste but when time is short.  1 part cous cous to 2 parts near boiling water (or stock).  Stir and let sit covered for 5+ minutes.  All ready!

Sugar+ Cookies

Marissa and I made sugar cookies.

We used a traditional sugar cookie recipe
but added freshly juiced ginger, fresh lemon zest, and fresh mint.
In Snickerdoodle fashion we took the sugar cookie dough
and rolled little balls of it in a cinnamon sugar combination before baking.

BBQ Tofu & Fruit Salad

BBQ Tofu and Fruit Salad

Barbecued Tofu is a comfort food for me and one of my favorites.  I grew up eating BBQ Tofu on brown rice.  It's delicious!

Use extra-firm tofu, cube it, marinate it in the BBQ sauce, and then bake it in the oven on parchment paper.  When it seems like its near done, broil it to brown.

I grew up on homemade BBQ sauce and the storebought stuff is just not the same.  Here's how to make delicious homemade barbecue sauce:

1.  Put ketchup in a bowl.  BBQ sauce is mostly ketchup.  If you end up adding too much soy sauce and make the sauce too thin, you can always add more ketchup later.

2.  Add in some soy sauce (or shoyu, or Braggs, etc.).  When you mix it, it should become the right thickness, color, and taste.  This is the base of your BBQ sauce.  If you end up with too much of everything below, you can add more ketchup and soy sauce to dilute the other flavors.

3.  If you want to, add in a dash of worcestershire sauce, tempura sauce, fish oil, or anything of the like.

4.  Add in a bit of olive oil.

5.  Add in sweet and sour.  Keep in mind the ketchup is likely already sweetened.  I used honey, freshly squeezed lemon, and a dash of apple cider vinegar.  Depending on your mood any sweetener and any citrus or vinegar will do.

6.  Add in seasonings (garlic and onion can be fresh, dried, or both):  minced garlic, minced onion, pepper, a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg (optional), a dash of mustard, some heat if wanted (e.g. jalapenos, crushed chili flakes, etc.).  Note: I do not add salt because soy sauce is usually already pretty salty and ketchup usually already has salt in it as well.

Voila!  You have delicious BBQ sauce.

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

For the fish:

I got wild salmon from Captain's Catch in Northern Delaware.

First I rubbed the salmon with a mixture of cumin and zatar.

Next I heated a pan, heated coconut oil in it, and then pan-fried/seared the salmon for a couple minutes on both sides.

Then I took the salmon, put it into a glass baking tray sprayed with oil, poured freshly squeezed lime juice on top, and put it in a preheated oven to bake so the middle could cook more and to keep it warm while the rest of dinner finished cooking.

Finally I heated a bit of butter in a saucepan until it browned and when I removed the salmon from the oven I poured the butter on top of the salmon before serving it.

For the sweet potato fries:
I cut raw sweet potatoes into fry shape.

I tossed them very lightly with olive oil.

I laid them out on a baking tray on parchment paper, sprinkled them with cinnamon, sea salt, and hot red pepper, and then baked them. Once the sweet potato fries were cooked through, I turned the oven to broil to brown them a bit and give them a firmer texture.

For the broccoli:
I sauteed it with a little big of Bragg's (like soy sauce), Ginger juice (grated squeezed ginger), minced garlic, and sesame oil.

A cutting trick I learned at the Natural Gourmet Institute regarding broccoli is that one should use the stalk but only the less tough parts.  If you cut a bit off the sides from each part of the stalk and make it into a rectangular prism (kind of like if you were peeling it but taking more off), you will get rid of the tough part and will only have stalk left that tastes great as part of the stir fry.

Panna Cotta

 

Panna Cotta

I made 1.5 times the recipe for 10 pretty full glasses worth.

In a large bowl, sprinkle 4 1/2 teaspoons gelatin over 6 tablespoons cold water.  Let sit for at least 5 minutes.  Next time I will try this with 4 teaspoons gelatin - it stuck together perfectly well and I would like it to be a little more silky.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat 4 cups heavy cream and 1/2 cup sugar, stirring until warm and sugar is dissolved.  Take off heat, stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup, then pour the cream mixture over the gelatin mixture and stir to dissolve gelatin mixture throughout the cream mixture.

Pour into containers and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

I poured these into cups to serve directly from the fridge.  Alternatively and for a more fancy panna cotta, put into oiled custard cups and then knife the rim and turn upside down.

I topped them with refrigerated blueberry sauce - I heated in a saucepan frozen wild blueberries, fresh lemon zest, and water, and then put in a little bit of cornstarch mixed with water for it to thicken.  It tasted like it would be really good with some dark chocolate sauce.

Tandoori Chicken

Tandoori Chicken

1.  Pierce chicken with fork all over and make big knife cuts into the chicken.

2.  Marinate the chicken for many hours.

3.  Bake it on parchment paper - broil at the end to brown.  (I use a thermometer for timing)

I served with brown rice (yellow from turmeric) mixed with sauteed minced red onions and tomato (deskinned and deseeded).

Marinade:

Plain yogurt is the base
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ginger (I juiced ginger by peeling it with a spoon, shredding it, and squeezing it)
Garlic (I used fresh minced)
A healthy dose of paprika, esp. for the coloring
Cumin, coriander, chili, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, salt, pepper

Baked Taquitos

Baked Beef Taquitos

This recipe was based largely on a recipe I found here:
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/09/baked-creamy-chicken-taquitos.html

Essentially I put a dollop of filling in tortillas, rolled them up, and baked them on parchment paper in the oven at 425 for about 20 minutes when they were well browned on the edges.  They stayed together nicely when I took them out.

Filling:
1)  Ground beef (sauteed with green onions and Nuevo Cocina taco seasoning that has raisins and olives in it)
2)  A mixture of Neufchatel cheese, salsa, olive slices, freshly squeezed lime juice, cumin, chili, onion, garlic, and cilantro.
3)  A bit of grated cheese - I used raw smoked goat cheddar cheese.

To serve:
1)  I served them with fresh avocado.
2)  For a dipping/drizzling sauce, a combo of salsa and ranch dressing.

Salted Caramel

Salted Caramel Sauce
Where did the rest go?

1.  In a saucepan, combine 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon agave syrup (or other liquid sweetener), and 3 tablespoons water.

2.  Bring to a boil and swirl for about 5 minutes until it turns dark amber in color.

3.  Remove from heat, slowly add in 1/4 cup cream (mixture will foam/bubble).

4.  Stir in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

5.  Allow to set/thicken by letting it cool a little bit.

Turkey Soup

Turkey Soup

In the past when I've had fresh stock I like a simple soup of ground turkey, spinach, and cannelini beans.  I also like a Pistou soup with vegetables, pasta, and beans with a tomato-basil broth.  I had pesto on hand and no homemade stock so I decided to combine the recipes for a hearty and tasty stew.

1.  Cook ground turkey with onion and garlic.

2.  Boil stock.

3.  Add ingredients, giving each some time to cook:
potato, carrot, leek, whole wheat orzo, kidney and garbanzo beans, yellow squash, corn, spinach, ground turkey mixture.

4.  Stir in pesto and tomato sauce.

Baked Ziti

Baked Ziti

Italicized ingredients are not optional
1.  Cook noodles
2.  Cook ground beef or other protein with onions and garlic.  Cook broccoli florets.
3.  Mix beef and broccoli with ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, peas, kalamata olives, parsley.  Mix with the pasta.
4.  Grate cheese - I used mozzarella, cheddar, and jack.
5.  Layer noodle mixture and cheese, with cheese on top, and bake in the oven.

The second photo was of the leftovers.  I froze the remaining ziti.  After defrosting it, I mixed in quartered turkey meatballs and more tomato sauce and then topped it with grated smoked cheddar cheese before rebaking the ziti.

Chicken Fingers

Chicken Fingers

This is also the same recipe to use for Fish Sticks.

1.  Cut your protein to the correct size (pound/cut chicken, cut fish, etc.)

2.  Coat in flour, dip in egg, coat in herbed/spiced breadcrumbs.
(I used ground cereal instead of bread this time around).

3.  Bake in oven until done; serve with your favorite dipping sauce!

Thanksgiving Salad

Leftover Thanksgiving salad
(Saturday after Thanksgiving)

I made some salad to bring to Thanksgiving this year.  I tried to incorporate fall and Thanksgiving foods into it without stepping onto the toes of other entrees and dishes - for example, shredded turkey would have been great but there's already turkey turkey at the meal...

The salad has spinach and mixed greens, sunflower seeds, toasted pecan pieces, chickpeas, dried cranberries, apples, avocados, herbed cheddar cheese, carrots, cucumbers, chickpeas, corn, green and red bell peppers, onion, hard-boiled eggs, and celery.

I know some people are not a huge fan of celery.  For salad I cut it lengthwise down the middle and then into very small pieces the other way.  It adds a nice crunch and flavor without being stringy.

The dressing was a vinaigrette I made from fresh cranberries, red wine vinegar, and sunflower oil.  Half of the red wine vinegar came from an old bottle of wine that we had not finished in time and I had put away to turn into vinegar - a great use for turning wine.

Biggest lesson learned?  This was my first time making croutons - I used pumpkin cinnamon bread to make them.  It was super simple.  I rarely have croutons because you have to buy a whole box at a time and they usually have bad ingredients like hydrogenated oil or high fructose corn syrup.  These were amazingly simple and easy.

How to make croutons:
1.  Cut up bread into crouton size

2.  Drizzle generously with olive oil and stir to coat evenly.

3.  Bake them in the oven at 375 degrees (put on parchment paper for easy clean up, and one single layer - no piling).

4.  Take them out when they are crunchy, probably 10-16 minutes - just don't let them burn!

5.  Let them cool before you store them in an airtight container.

Egg Nog

Because this is a raw egg nog recipe, it is important to have quality ingredients.  I used local unpasteurized organic milk and eggs from pastured cows and hens.

A.  Blend the egg whites until they are fluffy that put aside.

B.  Blend the egg yolks, I added a bit of agave syrup, a dash of vanilla, and a dash of maple syrup.

C.  Add the milk and blend some more.  Add in the egg whites and finish blending.

D.  If you want to add alcohol do so.

Mexican Rice

This is my version of Mexican or "Spanish" rice.  It is delicious and versatile in its uses.  In the past I was often disappointed when I made Mexican Rice because it never had enough flavor.  However, this preparation (Italian?) and blend of ingredients gives it both a kick plus the flavor I was looking for.  It is unique and delicious.

Here's what to do:

1.  Cook the rice.  Instead of using just water use: 1 part tomato sauce, 1 part wine, 2 parts stock.
(I do this in my rice cooker.  For example, if I put in 2 c brown rice, I put in 1 c tomato sauce, 1 c wine, 2 c stock).

2.  While the rice is cooking, mince onion, garlic, and jalapeno(s) (deseed if you want less heat).  Saute in olive oil or butter with salt, pepper, cumin, and cilantro (unless you are using fresh cilantro).

3.  Stir the onion mixture in with the cooked rice.  Add finely chopped fresh cilantro if using.  Finely, stir in some butter and romano or parmesan cheese.