Roasted Red Pepper and Pesto Pasta

For dinner tonight I made Annie's roasted red pepper and pesto pasta. I have been drooling every time I see the picture on her blog so I decided to make it tonight. It was AWESOME. My picture doesn't do this justice so look at her blog to get a better idea of how yummy this is. My grocery store was out of fresh basil (?!) so I improvised by omitting the pine nuts as well and using a 1/4 of a packet of Knorr's pesto sauce seasonings. It still turned out wonderful and was a great last meal of 2008. Also I halved the recipe and it was perfect for the two of us.

Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup pine nuts **
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup roasted red bell pepper (fresh or jarred)
1 cup basil leaves **
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. penne pasta
¼ cup heavy cream, optional (I used light cream)

**Can sub Knorr's pesto sauce mix packet (add gradually until the desired level of pesto is added. I used 1/4 packet for half of this recipe)

Directions:
Place garlic and pine nuts in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add Parmesan, red pepper, basil leaves, salt and pepper. Pulse until well combined. With the motor running, add olive oil through the feed tube and process until incorporated. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot. Add the pesto to the pasta and stir to combine. Stir in heavy cream if desired for a creamier sauce. Heat until warmed through. Serve immediately.

Tomato Bruschetta

Happy New Years Eve everyone! I wanted to first say how thankful I am to everyone who reads my blog. It was a new adventure that I started this year and it has really changed the way I cook. I am so thankful to the small group of readers that I have and I hope that 2009 is a wonderful year for all of you!

John and I decided to stay in tonight and enjoy our new house. I decided to make some appetizers prior to dinner since it is a holiday and all. This is one of the things I made tonight and it is always our favorite.

My mother in law makes the BEST bruschetta. Prior to hers I would never eat bruschetta but thanks to her I have a love for this appetizer. The recipe is simple and results in a very fresh tasting bruschetta. The following recipe yields 8 or so pieces of bruschetta so multiply it by the quantity you need!

Ingredients:
Crustini (I took Italian bread, sliced it thin, toasted it, and allowed it to cool)
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic, chopped in quarters (Do not mince, this will be used just to flavor the marinade and to rub on the crustini)
salt
pepper

Directions:
1- Toast the crustini and set aside.
2- Dice the tomatoes. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow it to sit in the refrigerator for a couple hours.
3- After it chills, take the garlic quarters and rub them on the crustini, put garlic aside.
4- Spoon tomatoes over the crustini.
5- Drizzle a little of the marinade over the bruschetta.

Shrimp Stir Fry

Tonight's dinner was excellent and light. If you are looking for something low in calories but high in taste give this a try! I served it over white rice and paired it with a veggie egg roll.

Ingredients:
1 pound of large shrimp, tails trimmed off
broccoli (I used a bag of the steam fresh), cooked
1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 clove of garlic, minced
cooking spray
1/2 cup of brown sauce

Directions:
1- Heat your skillet. Spray the cooking spray, add garlic and peppers. Stir until soft.
2-Remove peppers. Add 1 spoonful of brown sauce and stir to coat the pan. Add shrimp, cook through.
3- Return peppers to the skillet, add the broccoli.
4- Pour the sauce over, toss and heat.

Chinese Brown Sauce

**Pardon the picture- it was an after thought and is actually a picture of the left over sauce. Don't let the picture discourage you- it was great.

I love chicken and broccoli when I go out for Chinese. My favorite part is the delicious brown sauce that it is served in. I decided to make a stir fry and wanted to use brown sauce so I searched the internet and found this recipe. It came out shockingly well! I wasn't expecting much because when it first started cooking it looked all wrong. However, with time it deepened in color and got thicker. Overall it tasted pretty similar to what you get from the Chinese restaurant!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup beef broth (beef bouillion cubes can be used)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:
Combine the above ingredients in order and bring to a boil, stirring. Yields about 1/3 cup.

**I doubled this for my stir fry. It made enough for the stir fry, dipping sauce for the egg rolls, and some left over.

Garlic Chicken Pizza

I think John and I are the most boring people when it comes to pizza. 9 out of 10 times we get plain pizza. However we both love the garlic chicken pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. When I saw Annie's recipe for chicken garlic pizza I though it was time to branch out and make a different type of pizza. This was a WINNER. I loved it and John ate it up! I wasn't sure how John would feel since it has ricotta and sliced tomatoes- two things that he is so/so about but he loved it.

I followed the recipe almost exactly as it was which is rare. The only real change I made was to switch the quantities of the two cheeses to use less ricotta for John and more parmesan. I will definitely be making this again.

Also, the garlic spiced butter that you spread over the pizza crust would be great for making garlic bread. It was excellent.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
salt and pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. green onion, chopped (I used a few shakes of onion powder)
½ tsp. dried basil
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
¼ c. chopped fresh cilantro (omitted)
½ c. ricotta cheese
¼ c. Parmesan cheese
pizza crust (I used Pillsbury thin crust- our new fave. If you use this kind pre-bake it for about 10 minutes until golden on top, then flip it over so the bottom is nice and crispy)

Directions:
Season chicken breast on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook chicken breast until browned on both sides. Cut into chunks and finish cooking until cooked through.

In a small saucepan, melt butter with garlic, onion and basil. Pour into a chilled dish to cool and refrigerate until set.

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread herb butter over crust. Arrange chicken on top, then dot with ricotta. Top with tomato slices, cilantro, and Parmesan. Bake 15-20 minutes.

Eggplant Parmesan

As a self-proclaimed picky eater I am trying to branch out and try new foods, particularly new vegetables. One that I tried on our honeymoon and loved was eggplant but I had been intimidated to try to make it at home. I figured I should start with eggplant parmesan since most things covered in sauce and cheese are a big hit in our house! After searching for a recipe I decided on this recipe. The recipe yields a HUGE quantity so I only made 1/3 of it and it was still a lot. It went over well in our house- both of us liked it. I think I undercooked it a TAD bit because I would have liked it to be a little softer but overall it tasted excellent.

Ingredients:
3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:
1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2- Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side. (After reading reviews of the recipe I cooked it for 10 minutes on each side)

3- In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.

4- Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. (I cooked it for like 15 minutes since I only used 1/3 of the quantities but next time I'd definitely cook it longer)

Cashew Chicken

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this week! I know we sure did. We have been so blessed with our new house, our families, our life together... it was surely a joyous holiday season! Our new house is REALLY coming along and I could see us being almost done with it in the next week (yippeeeeee!)

Anyway... on to the food... Tonight I made cashew chicken. I had found the recipe on this blog and was excited to try it. We both really liked it! John loved it which wasn't a surprise since he loves Kung Pao chicken and this was relatively similar. Overall, a big success and I would definitely make it again. Also I should add that I halved the recipe and it made enough for the two of us plus a little left over.

Ingredients:
1 bunch scallions (I used onion powder)
1 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs (I used breasts)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3T vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried hot red-pepper flakes
3/4 C reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 T soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 C salted roasted whole cashews (I used reduced sodium since John isn't big on salt)
1 teaspoon of salt

Directions:
Chop scallions, separating white and green parts. Pat chicken dry, then cut into 3/4-inch pieces and toss with salt and pepper. Heat a wok or 12-inch heavy skillet (not nonstick) over moderately high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately. Add oil, swirling to coat, then stir-fry chicken until golden in places and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add bell pepper, garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes, and scallion whites to wok and stir-fry until peppers are just tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

Stir together broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sugar, then stir into vegetables in wok. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in cashews, scallion greens, and chicken along with any juices accumulated on plate.

Larry's Famous Potato Latkes

This blog entry is actually something that my dad makes yearly. As he was making them this year he suggested that I blog his adventures in the kitchen and I decided to oblige. These latkes are FAMOUS in our family! Try them, you will not be disappointed.

Here is a picture of my dad frying up his famous latkes:



** NOTE- The mix should be made the day before you need to cook them.

My dad swears they must be dried on brown paper to get the optimal results:


Ingredients:
5 lbs Russet potatoes
3 lbs of onions
1 1/2-2 cups of matzah meal
1 dozen eggs
a pinch of season salt
1/2 cup of chicken fat (optional)
Oil for frying

Directions:
1- Peel the potatoes.
2- Shred the potatoes and onions together in the food processor.
3- Ring out the moisture from both very well.
4- Stir in the eggs, matzah meal, and salt.
5- Mix well with your hands
6- Store the mix with plastic wrap pressed tightly over the mixture. Allow it to sit in the refrigerator over night.
7- Heat the oil until it bubbles when you flick water in the oil.
8- Drop the mix by spoonful into the hot oil. Allow to brown. Flip and repeat.
9- When done put it on brown paper to absorb excess oil.

Noodle Keugal

Merry Christmas everyone! Tonight we are celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah so it will be an interesting meal full of traditional Christmas food and my favorite Jewish foods. This is a dish that my mom has made for years for every Jewish holiday. It is one of my favorite foods. However, it is SO bad for you! Even though it is the most fattening thing you can eat, it is a necessity for all Jewish holidays in my family. I should also add that everyone who has tried this has loved it. What's not to love with all that cream and butter?

Ingredients:

1 pound of egg noodles
12 oz. cream cheese (1 and 1/2 packs)
2 sticks of butter
16 oz. of sour cream
1 cup of sugar
6 eggs

Directions:
Cook the noodles and pour into a long, shallow glass baking dish. (I used aluminum and ended up transferring it to glass after it was almost done, so definitely use glass)

Combine the remaining ingredients and whip until smooth. Pour over the noodles and bake on 350 for about 45 minutes or until brown on the top.

Allow to stand before serving. Best served slightly above room temperature.

Tomato Ravioli Soup

This is the first meal I made in our new home! I have missed cooking SO much. I swear, if you would have told me a year ago that I would get sick of eating take out I would have said NO WAY. But.. it happened. We should officially be moved in soon so I will be back to cooking regularly.

Anyways, I saw this recipe for tomato ravioli soup a couple days ago and have been dying to try it since. It was awesome! I really liked it and it was the perfect thing to make since we have been having FREEZING weather lately. Also, it cooked fast while I was painting so that was exciting. This soup was a winner and I will be making it again without a doubt.


Ingredients:
2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth
8 oz. frozen mini ravioli, tortellini, or other bite-sized filled pasta
4 ounces cream cheese (I used 3 ounces because it's all I had)
1 can condensed tomato soup

Directions:
Bring chicken broth to a boil in medium saucepan; add pasta and cook 5 minutes. Whisk together cream cheese and 1/3 cup hot broth in separate bowl; add back into saucepan. Add tomato soup and heat through.

Pepperoni Pinwheels

Tomorrow John is having a potluck at work and I volunteered to make pepperoni pinwheels (essentially a pepperoni bread only bite sized). I found this recipe on Pillsbury's website so naturally it is a very simple but tasty recipe. Enjoy!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 oz)
1/2 cup sliced pepperoni, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 egg yolk
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 egg white, beaten

Directions:
1- Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix cheese, pepperoni, oregano and egg yolk.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate dough into 4 rectangles. Firmly press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. Spread each rectangle with about 3 tablespoons pepperoni mixture. Starting at shortest side, roll up each rectangle; pinch edges to seal. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Place, cut side down, 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush with beaten egg white.
4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Optional: Serve with warm sauce for dipping

Baked Breaded Shrimp

This is the LAST meal I will be making in our apartment! Tomorrow we close on our new house and I probably won't be cooking much for the next two weeks. We are hoping to be 100% in the house shortly after Christmas, so hopefully I will be back to regular cooking then.

This meal is simple. I love breaded shrimp and for awhile it was the only type of shrimp I would eat. These were pretty good. I didn't fry them which makes them a lot lighter, however it does compromise the taste a bit. Next time I make these I would make some type of dipping sauce- probably Cajun Ranch. I think they were missing something really good to dip them in!

Ingredients:
Raw, peeled and deviened shrimp (I used about 20 of the jumbo shrimp)
1 egg
flour
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
EVOO spray
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 400.
2- Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Dip each shrimp individually into the flour, then egg, then bread crumbs.
3- Place on a greased cooking sheet.
4- Spray shrimp with EVOO spray.
5- Bake until tails are pink and shrimp are cooked.

Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

John's birthday is tomorrow (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!) so I wanted to bake him something while he's out tonight. His two favorite desserts in the world are brownies and cheesecake. When I saw this recipe I was drooling! Needless to say the recipe did NOT disappoint. These are rich, decadent, and amazing. Hopefully the birthday boy will love them, but I am sure he will!

Ingredients

Ghirardelli Award Winning Brownies
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa
2/3 cup unsifted flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts (I did not use)
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Cheesecake Mixture
7 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 tsp pure Vanilla
1 egg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Line 8×8 pan with foil and spray with PAM.
In bowl, stir together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add butter.
Sift Cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into egg mixture.
Stir in chips (and nuts if using).
Spread 2/3 batter into pan.

In a separate bowl, beat the ingredients for the cheesecake mixture together until creamy.

Dollup cream cheese mixture over brownie batter in pan.
Dollup the remainin 1/3 brownie batter on top of cheesecake mixture.
Run a knife through the brownie and cheesecake layers to create a pattern or swirls.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out with a few crumbs when inserted. Do NOT overbake

Creamy Rigatoni

I have had this recipe starred in my google reader for awhile now. I had some veggie cream cheese to use up and thought this would be a great recipe to use it with. I actually left out the chicken because we didn't have any and I am trying to clean out the fridge/freezer/cabinets prior to the move.

I thought this would taste similar to another recipe I have previously made with a cream cheese sauce... However it was really tastier! The original calls for cream cheese, but I used veggie cream cheese and I think that added a really nice taste to the sauce. Overall, a success.

Ingredients:

8 ounces rigatoni pasta
3-4 Chicken cutlets -cubed (omitted)
Fresh cracked pepper- to taste
Garlic salt - to taste
Parmesan cheese-for sauce and to garnish

Cream Sauce:

2 ounces veggie cream cheese-at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter
1/4-1/2 cup milk
Fresh cracked pepper-to taste

Directions:
Cook pasta. Set aside.

In a sauce pan, melt the cream cheese and butter over medium-low heat. Add milk once melted. Add parmesan cheese, pepper, garlic salt. Stir constantly for about 2-3 minutes until it thickens. Toss in pasta, coat well.

Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper.

Chocolate dipped chocolate chip shortbread

I made these cookies last year for my Christmas cookie trays. They were by far John's favorite cookies that I made for the cookie trays. I had just enough mini chips left in the house to make these so I figured I might as well make them for John. I don't know the origins of this recipe, I found it over a year ago when I never in a million years thought I'd be making a food blog. If it happens to originate from your blog, please let me know and I will happily give you credit.

I love these cookies and I am sure you will too. They are easy to make and really yummy. They are a little fragile so be sure they are 100% cooled before dipping them in chocolate. Also, be sure to store them in a single layer.

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)
1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar
2 cups of flour
1 cup of Nestle mini chocolate chips, divided into two 1/2 cup portions
1tbsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients together, except chocolate chips. The dough will most likely need to be formed using your hands in order to really work the butter into the flour mixture. Stir in chips.

Shape heaping tablespoons of dough into 3" logs. Place on non-stick or lightly greased cookie sheets.

Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and place on waxed paper, carefully, to cool.

Once cool, melt the other 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Carefully dip the shortbread 1/3 of the way up into the chocolate.

Allow chocolate to cool. Store in a single layer.

Twice baked potatoes

I was really craving twice baked potatoes for awhile now. I finally got around to making them tonight. I didn't follow any recipe in particular, just worked off of the way I like them. These were super easy to make and they were excellent.

Ingredients:
3 Russet potatoes
6 slices of center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1-2 tablespoons of cream cheese
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup of shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of milk

Directions:
1- Using a fork, stab the potatoes a few times. Place them in the microwave and cook until complete.
2- Allow to cool. Scoop out the inside of the potatoes. Place the potato you remove into a bowl.
3- Add the milk, butter, and cream cheese. Beat until well combined. Add more milk if they are to thick.
4- Stir in the cheddar cheese and bacon.
5- Spoon the mixture back in to the potato shells.
6- Bake in 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until done.

Orange Garlic Shrimp

I have mentioned before how much I love The Pioneer Woman Cooks food blog. Her humor is fabulous and her recipes are usually so good! This one was no different. This recipe, originally titled Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp is excellent! I am leaving off the word "spicy" in my version because I substituted the seasonings for what I had on hand and it didn't turn out spicy at all. However, John was obsessed with this and kept going on and on about the sauce. I liked it a lot too. Try it- it's great!

This is how I made it. I made less shrimp then the recipe calls for but kept the sauce the same so that we could use the sauce on our rice.

Ingredients:
20 large shrimp
2 tablespoons of garlic
2-4 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup of orange juice
1 teaspoon Old Bay- I used 1/2 teaspoon Lawy's seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne- I used a few shakes of cajun seasoning

Directions:

Combine the orange juice, minced garlic, and seasonings. Stir well. Set aside.

Melt one tablespoon of butter on HIGH heat. Add the shrimp, starting around the edge of the pan, working your way into the middle. Once all shrimp are in, let sit about 60 seconds. Then start flipping them over, starting with the first one you put in the pan. Let sit for about 60 seconds, shrimp should be pink. Remove the shrimp.

Allow the pan to sit until it smokes a little. Add the orange juice mix. Once it starts bubbling, add the other tablespoon of butter. Allow to bubble. Return the shrimp to the pan, stir to coat. Serve immediately as to not overcook the shrimp.

Homemade Rice-A-Roni

Mmmmm.... Rice-A-Roni... it reminds me of childhood. I loved that stuff so much. When I found this copy cat Rice-A-Roni recipe I was pretty excited. It tasted pretty good! I used garlic chicken broth and added parsley, salt, and pepper since the original recipe didn't call for any seasonings- I think it would be very bland without the seasoning. Overall, pretty good. Not sure if it's better then the boxed stuff, but it is just as easy to make and is tasty.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces (I would suggest breaking it into 1/2 inch pieces... it was a little long. Also, I used angel hair.)
3/4 cup raw white rice
14 1/2 ounces broth (I used garlic flavored and I think it was perfect for this)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Seasonings of your choice

Directions:
In medium skillet saute' broken spaghetti pieces in butter, stirring constantly, until the spaghetti begins to brown.

Add rice, stirring until the rice is well coated with the butter and the spaghetti browns a little more. Carefully pour in broth.

Simmer until liquid is absorbed.

Balsamic Chicken Pomodoro

Tonight was one of those nights where I changed a recipe so much that it barely resembles the recipe I began with. The original recipe for healthy chicken pomodoro sounded great! So I start cooking and realize my pepper went bad, I am out of parmesan cheese (which is shocking on many levels!), I don't have red wine... yikes, this is a mess. But, I substituted a lot of ingredients and the end result was pretty good. John loved the chicken, I loved the pasta (no surprise there!) so overall very good.

I'm going to write what I did below, but to see the original click the link above!

Ingredients:
1/2 box of pasta
2 tsp Mrs. Dash Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning
2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Directions:
1- Cook the pasta according to directions, set aside when finished.

2- In a skillet, heat olive oil and garlic for about 2 minutes. Coat chicken in the Mrs. Dash seasoning. Lay the chicken in the oil and cook until finished. Remove chicken, slice into strips, and set aside.

3- Pour the can of tomatoes into the skillet. Add balsamic vinegar. Allow the two to cook together on low for about 20 minutes. Toss pasta into the tomatoes, top with the chicken.