Monday, August 17, 2009

Easy and Yummy Fruit Crubmle Pie

This recipe may be used for any fruit or berry pie....or so it seems so far. I have made one blueberry/ strawberry pie and one pear/strawberry pie, and so far they have both turned out great!

Ingredients:
1 Marie Calendar's Deep Dish Pie Crust - frozen
Filling:
1/4+ cup brown sugar (or splenda or mix of both)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
cinnamon
4 cups berries
Toppings
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
cinnamon/ allspice
3 tbsp butter melted

Preheat oven to 400. Once heated, add frozen pie crust fo 8 minutes. Take out then lower heat to 375.
In a small saucepan, mix all filling ingredients except berries and heat on medium heat stirring constantly. Once thickened, turn off heat and mix in berries until covered.
Make topping by mixing ingredients together until resembles large crumbles. Add ontop of filling until fully covered.
Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let stand before serving otherwise it will spill out.

If making with pear, harder fruit, slice thinly and then add to cornstarch mixture and keep on the heat to let it cook a bit before adding to the pie crust.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Bucca Di Beppo Lemon Chicken and Warm Spinach and Tomato Salad

Last night I re-created this Bucca di Beppo meal that Scott and I love. The salad turned out exactly like the restaurant but the chicken turned out a bit too lemony for our taste. Although I will definitely be making the chicken again, this time with less lemon juice. I did change up the sauce a bit by adding mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. This dish took quite a bit of work because I do not have a large enough pan to cook 3 chicken breasts thus had to use two separate ones. Next time I will need to use a large pan or just make 2 breasts.

Ingredients:
Salad:
red onion thinly sliced
vine ripened tomates cut into eighths (or roma tomato cut into quarters)
spinach
2 Tbsp pecans or walnuts chopped
2 Tbsp goat cheese crumbled
Dressing:
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic minced
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Heat small pot to med-hi.
2. Wisk dressing ingredients together then add to small pot with tomatoes and onions.
3. Heat for approximately 5 minutes until tomatoes are tender.
4. Place spinach on a plate, pour tomato mixture over greens, then add nuts and cheese to serve.

Ingredients:
Lawry's season salt
pepper
oregano
1 cup flour
3 chicken breasts
3/8 cup olive oil
3/8 cup white wine
less than 1/2 cup lemon
4-5 Tbsp unsalted butter softened
crimini mushrooms sliced
sun-dried tomatos in oil
small handful of drained capers

1. Heat oil in a saute pan on med-hi heat.
2. Season chicken with lawry's, pepper, garlic powder and oregano.
3. In a separate plate, mix flour, season salt, pepper. Dip chicken into flour mixture, shake off excess and then add to pan. Turn heat to medium.
4. Saute chicken on one side for 6 minutes until well browned.
5. Turn over chicken and then saute for 6 more minutes. Take chicken out of pan onto plate and cover to keep warm and continue last bit of cooking.
6. Deglase pan with wine and lemon juice and reduce by about half. Add mushrooms, sun-dried tomotoes and capers and simmer for a few more minutes.
7. Add 1 Tbsp butter at at time, using a spatula to work into sauce. Once thickened, add chicken to sauce then serve over cooked rice or pasta.

Will need to play with the amount of lemon to add to sauce to taste, but otherwise, it turned out quite tasty!

Curry Quinoa - Seriously Restaurant Quality

Wow....this meal was amazing! I used the base recipe (actually just the measurements) from my cookingclub magazine and created a Curried Quinoa recipe that was incredibly delicious. This is a keeper!

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 sausage - Han's All Natural Spinach Fontina Cheese and Basil (can substitute for chicken)
1 can garbanzo beans (wrinsed with water)
1 cup yellow onion chopped
1 cup carrot grated
1 clove garlic minced
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup Stone Ale Curry Mustard Grilling Sauce
1 cup coconut milk
1/2+ cup water
2 Tbps soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp green curry paste
2 Tbsp craisins (would have added much more but did not have enough)

1. In a small sauce pot, add coconut milk, curry mustard sauce, soy sauce, curry paste and water and heat to low simmer for 5 minutes to blend.
2. Meanwhile in large pot, heat oil on med-hi heat and add sausage (or chicken) and saute approximately 5 minutes.
3. Add onions and saute for 3 minutes.
4. Add garlic, carrots, garbanzo beans and saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add quinoa for 1 minute
5. Pour simmering curry sauce into quinoa mixture, mix in craisins, cover then turn heat to low and keep on very low simmer for 25 minutes.
6. Turn off heat and let sit for a few minutes. Serve either with chopped cilantro or green onion.

This turned out incredible. Next time, adding chopped fresh 3/4 cup pineapple in with the garlic and carrots (instead of craisins) will make it even more perfect.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs

1. Fill pot with cold water
2. Add eggs
3. Add some salt
4. Bring to a rolling boil
5. Cover and take off heat and let sit for 25 minutes
6. Drain then place eggs in cold water
7. Keep cold until able to handle
8. Peel eggs

Egg Salad Recipe #1
7 eggs, 2 tbsp light may, 1 1/4 tbsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp cracked pepper, 1/2 tsp paprika.
Could add cayenne pepper, cumin, curry powder or small chopped pickle.

Shepherd's Pie - A Keeper!

It's Sunday and every week I try to make a nice homey dish for my fiance and me. I had leftover mashed potatoes and from being in England, I remember the best way to use up leftover mash is by making Shepherd's Pie. I used Emeril's recipe for the filling with a few adjustments:

Ingredients
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 pound ground turkey 93/7
1/2 white onion chopped
1/4 red onion chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks celery chopped
Lawry's season salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black peppercorn
4 ounces crimini mushrooms sliced
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 tablespoon tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat oil in large pot over medium high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook until starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the onions, carrots, celery, season salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
4. Add the mushrooms and bay leaf, and cook, stirring, until their liquid is almost all gone, about 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomato sauce and cook, stirring, until starting to color, about 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
7. Gradually add the stock and Worcestershire sauce, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to med-low to thicken sauce for about 10-15 minutes.
8. Spray Pam on a casserole dish. Add meat to dish then spread mashed potatos ontop. Sprinkle lightly with cheese then place in oven for 10 minutes.
9. Take off bake and turn broiler on High. Place under broiler for 5 minutes until lightly browned.
10. Let sit for a few minutes then serve. (Optional - sprinkle chives on top)

I meant to add frozen peas and green beens to this which I will do next time.
Also, I think adding garbanzo beans would be a great addition.