Baked Artichoke Hearts

7/13/2023

This is a great side dish that breaks away from the starchy side. It's super-quick to pull together and bakes up quickly in the oven. It's mostly hands off and will brighten up any dish!

Baked Artichoke Hearts

Ingredients

2 jars artichoke hearts (20 to 24 oz. artichoke hearts)
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 4
Cook time: 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 425.
Drain artichoke hearts and add to a 1 quart baking dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and Parmesan on top and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Bake for 20 minutes, or until breadcrumbs are browned and dish is heated through.

Pasta Printemps

7/13/2023

It's not Pasta Primavera - it's Pasta Printemps! It's just a spring version of a classic summer dish - it utilizes vegetables available in the spring such as carrots, radishes, and greens...use what you have one hand though. It's all tossed in a creamy citrus sauce that brightens it all up.

Pasta Printemps

Ingredients

Pasta

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 carrots, cut into sticks
6 radishes, quartered
1 cup snow peas
1/2 bunch asparagus, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup greens (spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard, etc.)
salt, to taste
chopped scallions, for garnish
8 oz. penne pasta, cooked
Citrus Cream Sauce
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, grated
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 to 3/4 cup cream
a few sprigs of thyme
juice and zest of 1 orange
juice of 1 lemon,
salt, to taste

Serves 4
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Prepare pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil of medium heat begin sautéing vegetables (start with carrots and radishes, as they begin soften add asparagus and greens, and finished with snow peas, which I like to have little crunch). Salt and pepper as you cook. Remove vegetables from pan and make your sauce.

Add more oil, if necessary, and sauté the shallot; add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add Wondra and allow to cook for about one minute. Deglaze with wine, wait for alcohol to cook off, then add cream and thyme . Let simmer for a few minutes so the cream reduces; add citrus zest and juices.

Add vegetables and pasta to sauce and toss to combine. Garnish with scallions.

Lox Salad with Everything Bagel Croutons

7/13/2023

Love your lox bagel? Me too! Here's a tasty salad version of it! It's got all the classic ingredients, with a few additions to my taste (roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, boiled eggs)....you should adjust the ingredients to fit your taste though! Wait to toast your bagel until just before eating your salad (pickled onions and dressing can be done in advance), the bagels get too hard if they are toasted and then sit for a while.

Lox Salad with Everything Bagel Croutons

Ingredients

Salad

8 cups salads greens of your choice
8 oz. smoked salmon
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes
1/2 a red onion, sliced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup capers
2-3 boiled egg, quartered
2 everything bagels, halved
2 Tbsp. butter
Everything Bagel seasoning, to taste
Dressing
2 oz. cream cheese (1/4 cup), softened
1/4 cup cream/half & half/milk
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Serves 3-4
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Slice red onions and soak in vinegar while you prepare the salad - this can be done a day or two in advance for a more pickled onion.
Make cream cheese dressing: mash cream cheese with cream/half & half/milk with a fork until thoroughly combined, add remaining ingredients and adjust taste to your liking.

Butter and toast bagels (do not toast in advance, they will get too hard), then chop and disperse along with other ingredients into the salads. While bagels are toasting you can boil eggs to your liking (I put mine in cold water then bring to a boil, turn off the heat, move pot off the hot eye, and allow to sit in water for 10 minutes). Top with cream cheese dressing, garnish with Everything Bagel Seasoning, and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

7/13/2023

Here's a great addition to your pound cake line up. It's a classic pound cake, from a recipe passed down from my great grandmother, but with the addition of chocolate chips and a silky chocolate ganache. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Ingredients

3 cups AP flour or cake flour
3 cups sugar
8 Tbsp. butter, softened
8 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
6 eggs
1 1/4 cups cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
3 1/2 cups chocolate chips, divided
1 Tbsp. butter

Serves 10 - 12
Cook time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Cream sugar, shortening, and butter with beater attachment in stand mixer (a hand mixer will work too). Add eggs, one at a time, letting each on combining completely before adding the next. Alternate adding flour and 1 cup cream, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and salt. Add 3 cups of chocolate chips and gently stir to combine.
Do not preheat oven. Put cake into cold oven and turn to 325 to bake for 1 1/2 hours. When cake tester comes out clean of crumbs remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack and allow to cool.
Once cooled make the ganache: over a double boiler (or a glass bowl on top of a pot with simmering water) melt the 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the 1/4 cream; stir until chocolate is melted and smooth, then add butter (you can add more chocolate or cream to get the consistency you want). Pour ganache over cake.

Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake

7/13/2023

Here's a twist on a classic pound cake. The lemon juice lightens the taste up and the blueberries make a great addition for a summery cake!

Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake

Ingredients

3 cups AP flour or cake flour
3 cups sugar
8 Tbsp. butter, softened
8 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
6 eggs
1 cup cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
juice of 1 lemon, divided
3 cups blueberries
1 cup powdered sugar

Serves 10 - 12
Cook time: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Cream sugar, shortening, and butter with beater attachment in stand mixer (a hand mixer will work too). Add eggs, one at a time, letting each on combining completely before adding the next. Alternate adding flour and cream, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla and salt. Add half the lemon juice and blueberries and gently stir to combine. Pour into greased bundt pan.
Do not preheat oven. Put cake into cold oven and turn to 325 to bake for 1 1/2 hours. When cake tester comes out clean of crumbs remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack and allow to cool.
Once cooled make the glaze: combine the remaining lemon juice with the powdered sugar - add more juice or sugar as needed (the consistency will largely depend on humidity). Pour glaze evenly over cake. Garnish with lemon peel, if using.

Beef Burgundy Pot Roast

7/5/2023

This pot roast is rich and decadent, but easy to make-ahead for simple, but impressive entertaining. I use a burgundy or pinot noir, but have used a cabernet sauvignon in a pinch...you're really just looking for a dry red wine that won't break the bank. Cooking the mushrooms separately allows them to brown more, but you can throw them straight into the pot and they're still delicious. Also, using an immersion blender to create a gravy makes the best sauce, but skipping that step will leave you with more intact vegetables....totally up to you. You can use any starchy side you'd like, but, for me, mashed potatoes are perfect with this pot roast!

Beef Burgundy Pot Roast

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 lb. chuck roast
1/4 cup pancetta, diced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp. Wondra or all-purpose flour
2 cups dry red wine, such as a burgundy
1 cup beef stock (or wash out your tomato can if you don’t have stock on hand)
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 sprigs rosemary
4 sprigs thyme
2 Tbsp. butter
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, quartered
salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 6
Cook time: 2 hours and 20 minutes

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; pat chuck roast dry and season with S&P. Sauté pancetta until browned, remove and set aside. Sear chuck in olive oil and drippings on all sides to brown. Once browned, remove and set aside. Add onion, leek, celery, and carrots and cook till softened; add garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Preheat oven to 300.

Add Wondra and tomato paste, cook to remove raw taste. Deglaze with wine; wait till alcohol cooks off before adding stock; add beef stock and scrap bits off bottom of Dutch oven. Add tomatoes and herbs; stir to combine. Add chuck back to pot, cover and allow beef to cook through. Allow to cook for 2 more hours; remove rest for 15 minutes, slice (your chuck should be close to falling apart and very shreddable so be careful). Using an immersion blender, blend about 1/3 of the vegetables in pot - this will give you a nice gravy. Then return chuck slices to Dutch oven for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, sauté mushrooms in butter; once mushrooms have released their juices, salt and pepper.

After 30 minutes, remove Dutch oven from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serve. Just before serving add mushrooms to Dutch oven.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Root Vegetable Casserole

7/5/2023

I used to make this in the fall, but as my garden began to grow in the spring, I realized this was just as appropriate for late spring as it is for the fall. You could use any root vegetables you would like, even potatoes and sweet potatoes....you could also use other vegetables, but you would want to change the cook time to accommodate them. Think of this more as a method to use up a bumper crop of vegetables than a proper recipe.

Root Vegetable Casserole

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. AP flour
2 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
4 cups root vegetables, chopped (turnips, parsnips, carrots, radishes, etc.)
1 cup green beans, chopped
3 sprigs thyme, destemmed
salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 4 - 6
Cook time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Preheat oven to 375. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Now make your roux: whisk flour, salt, and pepper into the melted butter, then add mustard (flour will be "gloopy" if you add mustard before butter and flour have had the chance to mix together). Continue whisking the roux over medium heat until it thickens and turns a tannish color. Add stock and milk and whisk until fully incorporated. Now add your chopped root vegetables and cook for about 20 minutes with the lid on.

Add green beans and put vegetable mixture into a 3-quart casserole dish, top with handfuls of breadcrumbs and bake until golden brown about 45 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Vegetable Marsala

7/5/2023

Here's a vegetarian version of the classic Chicken Marsala. I use zucchini and portobellos, but you could use just about any vegetable you'd like. This creamy, vegetable marsala is a great alternative to chicken, but is also quick to through together on a weeknight while still being impressive.

Vegetable Marsala

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 shallot, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 Portobellos, gills removed, sliced
16 oz. mixed mushrooms, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
2 Tbsp. Wondra or AP flour
3/4 cup marsala
1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetable to keep it vegetarian)
3 sprigs thyme, destemmed
salt & pepper, to taste

Serves 4
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat; the olive oil. Add shallot and cook until translucent, add garlic and cook 1 more minute. Add all mushrooms and cook until browned and water is released; after mushrooms have given up their liquid, salt and pepper. Add zucchini and cook until it is done to your liking (I still like a bite to mine).
Sprinkle vegetables with Wondra or flour and cook for about 1 minutes so flour can brown. Deglaze with marsala and allow to cook until alcohol cooks off. Add stock and thyme. Allow sauce to reduce for at least 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Black-Eyed Pea Curry

7/5/2023

This is a quick and easy curry to throw together for a delicious and healthy dinner. Serve over rice, couscous, quinoa, or even grits. It's sure to be a favorite!

Black-Eyed Pea Curry

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 Tbsp. ginger, grated
1 Tbsp. lemongrass paste (or fresh lemongrass)
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbsp. garam masala
1 14 oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 14 oz. can coconut milk
1 cup dried black-eyed peas
salt, to taste
chopped cilantro, for garnish

Serves 4
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Heat coconut oil over medium heat until it shimmers; add onion and soften, then add garlic, ginger, and lemon grass and cook for 1 minute. Add spices and coat onion and in spice mix. Add fire-roasted tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring mixture to a simmer and add black-eyed peas. Cool for about 30 minutes, or until peas are cooked through.
Serve over rice, couscous, quinoa, or any starch you'd like!

Coronation Chicken Salad

7/5/2023

This is a quick and easy version of a classic chicken salad. Named "Coronation Chicken " because it was served at Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953, this classic dish has been turned into a chicken salad. The original dish featured a poached chicken breast with a creamy curry sauce served over a rice salad. You can roast or bake your own chicken, but to make it even easier I just picked up a rotisserie chicken.

Coronation Chicken Salad

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 Tbsp. curry powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup mango chutney
1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/4 cup almonds, diced

Serves 4-6

Combine ingredients and serve in a sandwich or in phyllo cups for a starter.