Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Tomato Watermelon Salad

I like to eat lighter in the summer and use as many fresh vegetables as I can since they are now all in season. If your looking for something quick, easy and fresh to eat tonight for dinner you may want to try my tomato watermelon salad!

Ingredients:

1 Medium Tomato, chopped
1 Cup Watermelon, chopped (I use the seedless black diamond watermelon)
Mixed Spring Greens
Olive Oil
Balsamic
Salt & Pepper
Feta Cheese
Slivered Almonds

Directions:

When I make this, I'm usually making it for just myself. If your feeding it to a family you will need to adjust the amounts. Simply double or triple the recipe.

Take the chopped tomato and chopped watermelon and mix together in a bowl. You may want to make this an hour ahead of time just so the juices can mix a little. Place spring greens on a plate. The amount is entirely to you, it depends on how much of them you want to eat. Next take the tomato and watermelon mix and place on top of greens. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic over salad. Add a dash of sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Sprinkle feta cheese and slivered almonds and toss. You can even add diced grilled chicken to this salad if you wanted to add some protein.

This summer salad is really easy to make and is packed with flavor! Hope you enjoy!

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

Since zucchini is in abundance right now, I thought I'd post another zucchini recipe. This is the first time I've ever made this bread, but thought it sounded good since it wasn't your typical zucchini bread recipe. I thought it would be nice to use my mini loaf pan instead of your typical loaf pan so I can give it to friends and family as a gift. I baked the bread this morning, took it out of the pan and had all six of my mini loaves cooling on a rack. While they were cooling I decided to go upstairs and do some work. I went upstairs, received a phone call, and proceeded to talk. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my little dog walking with something in his mouth. Mind you I have two well mannered dogs, one is 12 lbs. and the other is 20 lbs. Both are small and by no means can reach the top of a kitchen counter. I have no idea how they got one of the loaves. I seriously think one stood on the others back. One was the look out, and the other one was the thief. It remains a mystery! In all of the years I've lived in this house, this has never happened before! I have left all kinds of food on the counter, and they have never managed to steal anything! I thought to myself, this bread must smell so damn good that it literally was driving the dogs crazy and they just had to have some. At least they shared and split a loaf! Since it was irresistible to them, I thought for sure this was going to be irresistible to others!

Ingredients:

3 Eggs
1 C Oil
2 t Vanilla
2 C Shredded Zucchini
8 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple (drained)
3 C Flour
2 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt
1 t Cinnamon
3/4 t Nutmeg

Directions:

Beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until thick. Add zucchini and pineapple. Once combined add the remainder of the ingredients to the mix. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Notes:
***I added raisins and chopped pecans to the mix. If you use mini loaf pans like I did, this recipe will make six.
***I also took some powdered sugar a little warm water and some vanilla to add a drizzle to the top of each loaf.


This recipe comes from cooks.com.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Fresh Guacamole

What goes better with salsa, margaritas and Mexican food then guacamole?! I admit, when I was younger I could not stand avocados. One trip to Mexico, when I graduated college, changed all of that! The great thing about Mexico, is everywhere you go, they give you a bowl of chips, salsa and guacamole. This was perfect for me since I had a college graduate's budget and the salsa and guacamole was free! I still was a little unsure of the whole liking avocado thing, but it was something that did eventually grow on me. It seemed like the more I ate it, the more I liked it. Which made me wonder "What's in this stuff?" A friend of our family is from Mexico and can make the best guacamole ever! After a couple of years of wondering how he does it, I finally got my hands on the recipe!

Ingredients:

6 Avocados
5 Tomatoes
1 White Onion
4 T Chopped Cilantro
4 Serrano Peppers
1 Quarter of a lime
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Sugar
1/4 t Oregano
1/4 t Black Pepper
1/4 t Onion Powder
1/4 t Cinnamon
1/4 t Italian Seasoning
Pinch of Salt

Direction:

Chop tomatoes, onions and peppers (remove seeds from peppers). Place ingredients in a bowl and add cilantro. Next break avocados into small pieces. Do not chop or smash. Add the remainder of the ingredients and mix everything breaking the avocados up more. The mixture should be chunky, and not entirely smashed. Leave 2-3 avocado pits in guacamole to keep the fresh color.

Notes:
***This guacamole is spicy. It's not flaming hot, but it does have a kick, which I think is nice. If you do not want it real spicy cut down on the amount of Serrano peppers or use a jalapeno which is a little more mild then a Serrano.
***If you decide to use Serrano peppers you may want to wear rubber gloves when dicing. If you have any cuts on your fingers, you will be feeling the sting from the oil of the pepper for hours! I know from experience!

Now make a margarita, grab some chips, and enjoy this great summer time snack! Thanks Daniel for the recipe!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Leek Quiche With Potato Crust

I just made this recipe today, and it is a perfect summer dish! Real simple to make and a great use of leeks! I of course added additional ingredients because I like a lot of flavor. The nice thing about this recipe is that there are not a lot of ingredients, they are probably things you all ready have in your fridge. Why not try this one out tonight?!

Crust:

3 Cups Potatoes, grated
3 T Oil

Grate potatoes, and squeeze out excess water. Mix potatoes with oil. I used an infused garlic and basil olive oil. All though the recipe does not call for it, I added sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and about a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Once potatoes have mixed with oil, place in a 9 inch pie pan pressing along the sides and bottom. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. While that is baking, make the filling.

Filling:

1 Cup Leeks, chopped
1 Cup Cheese, grated
3 Eggs
1 Cup Evaporated Milk
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Thoroughly wash the leek. They do tend to have a lot of sand in them. Once clean and dried, chop one cup (about one leek). Grate cheese. I used two different types of cheese to add some contrast, white cheddar and baby swiss. Layer the leeks and then the cheese on top of the crust. In a bowl whisk eggs, evaporated milk, salt & pepper. Pour mixture over leeks and cheese and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 for another 25-30 minutes. Bake until top is nice and browned.

My oven allows me to bake convection, if you have this setting on your stove this dish would benefit from it. The convection setting allows everything to cook very even, with nice browning from top to bottom. Hope you enjoy this great dish as much as I did!

Thanks Shawna for the recipe! shawnaskitchen.blogspot.com

Friday, July 24, 2009

Candied Sweet Pickles

There are pickles everywhere you go! They're dirt cheap, and are being sold buy the bucket. I enjoy fresh pickles that are nice and green and that aren't a weird shade of neon yellow like you see in the jars at the stores. Those aren't pickles to me, those are science experiments! I went to a local farm, and bought literally a bucket of pickles yesterday! I decided to make refrigerator pickles that my grandma used to make. They are simple to make, and require no cooking. This recipe makes a ton, and can be stored in the frig for weeks. Actually the longer they sit, the better they taste! They're great to bring to picnics, and a nice homemade gift to give to friends and family!

Ingredients:

1 Gallon Jug full of sliced fresh pickles
3 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 Cups Sugar
Pickling Spice 3oz. (can get at grocery store)
Dill (optional)
2 Cups Water

Directions:

Slice all pickles and place in a gallon container. (I use a mandolin for even slicing.) In a bowl, non metal, mix apple cider vinegar, sugar and pickling spice. Use a whisk until sugar dissolves. Pour mixture in container, and add just enough water to cover pickles not exceeding 2 cups. Add additional dill to taste and mix. Cover container, and place in refrigerator. Stir occasionally. Let pickles sit for 5 days before using.

**You can use other vegetables besides just pickles for this recipe, remember to not exceed a gallon.
**Pickling spice can be usually found by the fresh pickles in most produce markets or down the spice isle. Since pickles are in season now, I've noticed a lot of stores putting the ingredients near each other, knowing it's a popular thing to do in the summer.
***You can use a sugar substitute, just make sure it's equivalent to 4 cups of regular sugar.

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

It's grilling season! The best time of the year! There's nothing better then having a great grill and doing all my cooking outside! I know...a little strange coming from a female to say how much she loves to grill, but I really do! I put anything and everything on the grill! Easy clean up, and the food always tastes great! I like burgers, but not your ordinary burgers. My burgers are kicked up, packed with flavor, and perfect for the grill!

Ingredients:

2 lbs Ground Turkey
1 Egg
4 Slices of Cheese (I use a Monterrey Jack, Habanero Cheese)
1 Small Red Bell Pepper, roasted, skinned, and diced
1 Sweet Onion, sliced thin
2 Portobella Mushrooms, sliced thin
2 T Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 t Thyme
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 T Olive Oil
4 Fresh Bakery Buns

Instructions:

Turn grill to high, and roast peppers. About 7-10 minutes per side. Your looking for them to blacken, and blister. You can really use any kind of pepper you like, I always tend to use red because they taste great roasted. Once they are nice and charred take them off the grill and allow them to cool. Once they are cool, peel of the blackened skin and dice.

In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and onions. Cook for five minutes and then add mushrooms and diced peppers. Add a little salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. When done, remove from heat and slightly cool.

While vegetables are being sauteed, in a bowl mix ground turkey, egg, Worcestershire, thyme, salt & pepper. You don't really have to use an egg, but I do because it binds the meat better. Once meat has been mixed, form into 8 patties of equal size. A burger press works best for this recipe, it allows the burgers to be formed perfectly.

When all burgers have been formed take a slice of cheese and tear in half. Place cheese on the center of the burger, not allowing it to touch the edges. Take a scoop of the sauteed vegetables and place on top of the cheese. Lastly, take another burger, and place on top of the other. With a fork, crimp the edges of the burger together so filling does not fall out.

Heat grill to a medium heat, lightly season burgers (I use garlic powder, and a general seasoning blend), and grill for 6-8 minutes per side depending on your grill. Just before burgers are done, place buns on grills to lightly toast.

Place cooked burger on a bun and top with your favorite condiments! Enjoy!

Options:
**You can make this burger so many different ways. Use different cheese, different vegetables, anything you like!
***If you do not have a grill, you can do these in your broiler.
***These burgers are great without a burger and drizzled with a Merlot steak sauce.
***You can butter the bun and then toast to make it richer.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Don't Forget The Doggies!

When I came home today, I was greeted by my two crazy dogs who spun in circles, stood on two legs and gave out slobbers to greet me. To think they did all that just because I walked in the door, imagine if I really did something impressive what they'd do! Since I am a dog owner, and I know a lot of my readers are also dog owners, I thought I'd post a recipe my dogs love! It's a simple carob chip and peanut butter biscuit.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Cup Natural Peanut Butter
1 Cup Skim Milk
1/2 Cup Carob Chips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Mix peanut butter and milk together. Add the carob chips, and slowly incorporate dry ingredients. Mix until a dough is formed. Turn out dough on a floured surface and knead. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutter (dog bone shape). Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on rack and store in an airtight container.

My Thoughts:

My dogs love these biscuits! They're easy to make, and they make a lot. The biscuits store really well in a container, and can last a good amount of time. A good gift idea for other fellow dog owners is to put biscuits in cute little bags from a party store and tie with ribbon. You can even melt some carob chips and dip the ends of the biscuit. What dog doesn't like peanut butter?! Woof!

Coconut Cake

Kim this one's for you! I know how much you like white coconut cake! It's very easy to make, and I think you'll really enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 Box White Cake Mix (The Super Moist Mixes, Taste Best)

1 Can Condensed Milk

8 oz. Cream Of Coconut

8 oz. Cool Whip

1 Bag Angel Flake Coconut

Instructions:

Mix cake batter to instructions on cake box. Add 1/2 a bag of flaked coconut to cake mix. Bake cake according to directions on box for a 9x13 pan. While cake is hot poke holes in it with a meat fork. Mix condensed milk and cream of coconut. Pour mixture over hot cake. Let cake cool to room temperature. Once cake has cooled, spread Cool Whip over cake and sprinkle remainder of flaked coconut on top. Cover and refrigerate.

Special Notes:

** Cream of coconut can be found in the liquor department of your grocery store by the pina colada mixes. The most common name brand is Coco Lopez. I think the can is 12 oz., so make sure when you mix it with the condensed milk you measure out only 8 oz.

Suggestions:

** Some other ides for this cake are to put a little lime juice in the cake with some lime zest, or do orange or pineapple instead. You can put sliced fruit or berries on the top as well to make it more decorative, or to give it a little more flavor. Hope you enjoy!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Fire Roasted Marinara

What is better then summer tomatoes and fresh basil? In my opinion, nothing! I can not get enough of it! I recently went a little crazy at my local produce market buying tomatoes because they were dirt cheap. How can you go wrong with extra large tomatoes at $.49 a lb. I quickly grabbed a basket full of them. I brought them home and let them sit on my counter until they reached their perfect ripeness. Since I had all these beautiful tomatoes, I decided to made a big pot of marinara. Not just regular marinara, fire roasted! This would be new to me since I usually just make a basic marinara. The regular recipe is very simple. I however, like to kick up the flavor and experiment! This is what I did:

Basic Ingredients:

10 lbs. Ripe Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Basil
Garlic
Salt
Sugar

Instructions:

Wash tomatoes and place on a grill set to high heat. Grill tomatoes 10 minutes per side, flipping once. When 20 minutes is up, the tomatoes should be really nice and roasted. Remove from grill and slightly cool. In a food processor or a blender puree all tomatoes. I used the whole tomato. Some that were really charred, I removed the skins and and then pureed.

In a large sauce pot, pour 3 Tablespoons of olive oil. Turn your stove to low heat, and add 3 Tablespoons of freshly minced garlic. Let the garlic sweat for 5 minutes giving the oil a nice flavor. Once garlic is slightly browned, add the pureed tomatoes to the pot. At this time you may want to add additional olive oil. I added another 3 Tablespoons. You can add more or less based on personal taste.

Since I love basil, I used a ton! I have basil growing in a large pot on my patio, and probably used almost three plants worth. I started with two, and ended up adding more. If you do not have access to basil plants, I would use at least two handfuls of fresh basil. Of course if you are not a basil nut like me, adjust the basil to your taste. Cut up basil before adding to tomato puree. Once basil has been added, add sea salt and sugar to taste. (Depending on the acidity of the tomato you can use less or no sugar at all.) Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium and let mixture reduce down until it is not soupy anymore. About an hour.

That is a pretty basic recipe, I however like a lot of flavor and added additional ingredients. This is what I added:

1 Cup Minced Sweet Onion
1 Cup Baby Portabella Mushrooms
1 Cup Red Wine
Fresh Oregano
A Splash of 25 yr Old Balsamic Vinegar

Other options for this recipe is to add ground beef or ground Italian sausage. You can add any diced up vegetable you may like. Zucchini is great in this!

Serve marinara over your favorite pasta or any other dish you want to add a little sauce to. This does make quite a bit, but the nice thing is you can freeze it and use on those cold winter days! Enjoy!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Peach Sorbet

I went to the farmers market today, and quickly was drawn to all the beautiful peaches that were on display. There really is nothing like a peach when it is in season! Their sweet and juicy, and makes you instantly think of summer! Since peaches are in abundance, I thought I'd make a peach sorbet. It's very simple, but does require an ice cream machine.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Cups Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
3 T Fresh Lemon Juice
3 lbs. Peaches (7-8 cups)

Directions:

Combine sugar and water. Boil until all sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and cook an additional 3 minutes. Take pot off of heat and place pot in a bowl of ice water until syrup is cool. Once cooled, stir in lemon juice.

Remove skins of peaches, slice and take out pit. In a blender or food processor with knife blade puree peaches with sugar syrup until smooth. Place mixture in ice cream maker as manufacture directs. Store in freezer.

Other ideas for this recipe:

I have made this recipe in the past and I have used strawberries and peaches. If combining with another fruit you have to adjust the measurement of the peaches. 7-8 cups total of fruit. I have served this sorbet over pound cake or you can use short cake with fresh blueberries and sprinkle of powdered sugar. To really make this dessert stand out you can purchase raspberry sauce in some specialty grocery stores, and add a drizzle of that! This sorbet is a very nice light, refreshing summer desert. Enjoy!

Key Lime Martini

How can you go wrong with a martini? So many different kinds, and such little time! This key lime martini is one you will be sitting around and saying "It's five o'clock somewhere"! The hard part about finding a good recipe for a key lime martini, is either their too sweet or too tart. My mother, a martini connoisseur, was dedicated to the cause to come up with the perfect blend of sweet and tart. Like a trooper she sampled dozens of martini's figuring out how much of each ingredient should be used. It was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it! Like all good mom's she did not disappoint her daughter! She had me over to her house, to reveal her delicious concoction. With a shaker in one hand, and a glass in another, I knew she meant business! I had to get serious, if I was going to give some honest feedback. She poured me the nicely chilled frothy beverage, and I began to sip! It was creamy goodness, the flavors complimented each other perfectly! It was just like having a piece of key lime pie from Southwest Florida! Made you wonder if Jimmy Buffet could come over and play a little tune! With smiles on our faces, we looked at each other and said "this is a keeper"! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:

2 oz. Vanilla Vodka
3 oz. Key Lime Liquor (Ke Ke Beach)
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Heavy Cream
Graham Cracker Crumbs

Directions:

Take a martini shaker and pour vanilla vodka, key lime liquor, pineapple juice and heavy cream into shaker with ice. Shake for 30 seconds. Dip rim of martini glass into graham cracker crumbs, and pour martini into glass. Serve immediately.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Beef Kabobs

My mother is a fantastic cook! One of those people who are naturally good at it, and really knows how to taste with all of her senses. She knows immediately what a recipe is lacking and what it really needs to make it taste great. Like most good cooks, she does not use measurements. A little of this, a little of that, and perfection is served an hour later! Since I love to cook, and I enjoy her cooking, I wanted to duplicate one of her signature dishes. Beef Kabobs...I asked for the recipe, doesn't exist! I sat down with her one afternoon, and we had our very own test kitchen to figure out exactly how much of what we needed to recreate this recipe. The beef is marinated, which is the key! Without that it's just beef! The marinade makes it tender and savory and really makes the whole dish. This is a great summer time dish because it is fantastic on the grill!

Marinade:

2 lbs. Beef Sirloin

6 T Bourbon

6 T Soy Sauce

6 T Olive Oil

6 t Sugar

1 bunch Green Onion (chopped)

2 T Minced Fresh Garlic

A Dash Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Trim fat off of sirloin, and slice into small chunks that will cook evenly on the grill. Mix Bourbon, soy sauce, olive oil and sugar in a measuring cup and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Once sugar is dissolved add green onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Place meat with marinade in a bowl or a Ziploc bag. Put meat in refrigerator to marinade for a couple of hours.

Making Kabobs:

1 Green Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Red Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Yellow Pepper (cut into chunks)

1 Sweet Onion

1/2 Container of Baby Portabella Mushrooms

1 Pkg Bamboo Skewers

Take skewers and alternate meat and vegetables until all ingredients are used up. Grill on medium heat until meat is slightly caramelized, and vegetables are cooked.

My suggestions for this recipe:

When I make this recipe I skewer all my meat on their own skewers, and all the vegetables on different skewers. The reason for this is because the vegetables take a little longer to cook then the meat. I like my veggies slightly charred, tender but still crisp. I season my veggies with a little olive oil drizzle, and some salt and pepper before grilling. Once they are grilled, I take all the veggies off of their skewers and put them in a bowl to make a roasted vegetable salad. I use a fantastic 25 year old balsamic, and a nice basil / garlic infused olive oil. I add a pinch of sea salt and toss, that's all there is to a quick easy side dish to your grilled sirloin.

Some other suggestions are to marinade the meat over night. I think the longer the meat sits in the marinade the better it tastes. The bourbon really gives the meat a great flavor! Some other variations to this recipe are to add red pepper flakes to add some spice or orange zest to add a little citrus. No matter how you cook it, it's a great summer favorite of mine! I've been enjoying this simple dish since for many years, hope you will enjoy it as well!

Mango Nectarines

I went to my local produce market a couple of days ago, and while strolling though the vibrant colored summer fruits I noticed something I hadn't seen before. It was a golden / light green fruit with the shape of a plum called a mango nectarine. This immediately struck my interest because mango's and nectarine's are one of my favorite fruits, and I thought if this is some new California science experiment between the two I'm all for it! I quickly grabbed a couple of them and took them home to ripen.

I decided to find out more about this fruit since it is new to me. What I've learned is they actually have no relation to the mango what so ever despite their name. They come from California and have a short season. They are out now in produce markets and will only last until the beginning of August. Now, I wait until they are ripe for the true taste test!

I went in my kitchen this morning, grabbed a mango nectarine, and I was so happy to find out that it was ready to eat! Anxiously awaiting like results at the Olympics, I bit into the fruit and my taste buds danced with delight! It did taste like a mango, had the consistency of a nectarine and was a new fruit I could definitely add to my list of likes!

My advise is, get them while there in season! If you blink you may miss it! I think they would be great paired with fresh blueberries and put into salsa! Yum!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Bacon In the Oven

I am not a huge bacon fan. I do however enjoy a good bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich when tomatoes are in season. Since this is summer and tomatoes are in abundance, I decided to make BLT's for dinner. It was kind of exciting, because I only make them once a year. It had almost a Christmas type feel, but with the smell of bacon.

I had read that you could put bacon in the oven verses frying it in a pan. I thought well if this is true I'm all over that idea. One of the main reasons for the lack of BLT's in my house is frying bacon in a skillet, getting grease all over, and the house smelling of bacon for days! I decided to try it in the oven, and quickly thought why haven't I been doing this all along!! The bacon, I think, came out better in the oven then it does in a skillet. As far as clean up, just throw the foil out!

Here's how you do it:

Take a large jelly roll pan, one that has a lip around it, not a cookie sheet, and line with foil. Take a cooling rack that you would use for cookies and place on top of foil. Place bacon on top of rack and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. My oven has a convection setting which I did use for this. If you do not having cooling racks just put the bacon on the foil and bake. You'll just have to pat off the excess grease with a paper towel once cooked.

Cake Balls

I had a request for this recipe. I just made it this past week. I know the name of it sounds really silly, but is super easy to make, and tastes great! I got this recipe off of Channel 5 morning news!

Ingredients:

1 box Cake Mix (any flavor you like)
1 can Frosting (any flavor you like)
1 bag Melting Chocolate
1 jar Sprinkles

Instructions:

Bake cake mix per instructions on the box for a 9x13 pan. Once cake is cooled, take a large bowl, crumble up the cake completely. Add one can of frosting to crumbled cake and stir until blended. Once cake and frosting have been thoroughly mixed, place mixture in refrigerator and chill for about an hour. Take mixture out and form donut hole sized balls with the mix and place on a cookie sheet with parchment. After all balls have been formed, place in freezer for 30-45 minutes. Melt chocolate, and dip frozen cake balls in the chocolate placing them back on parchment to set. While chocolate is still soft add sprinkles to the top of each ball.

My thoughts of this recipe:

I like this recipe because the options are endless. I used white cake with vanilla frosting and dipped them in white chocolate. They tasted just like petits fours. You can use what ever flavor cake, frosting and chocolate you want so you really can create just about anything. You can even top them something other then sprinkles like a different type of chocolate or maybe even a berry of some sort before the chocolate was to set. I did store mine in the frig so the chocolate wouldn't melt. I let them warm up to room temp. before serving.

Zucchini Lasagna

This recipe is for my sister who literally is going crazy with all the zucchini her garden is producing. The recipe comes from my husbands grandmother.

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Beef
1 T Minced Onion
1 jar Italian Cooking Sauce (21 oz.)
1/2 t Basil
1/8 t Garlic Powder
8 Zucchini (medium)
2 cups Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg (beaten)
2 T Parmesan Cheese
1 T Parsley
1/2 t Salt
1/4 cup Flour
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Instructions:

Cook beef and onion on high for 4-5 minutes. Drain, and add cooking sauce, basil and garlic. Cook on high 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Slice Zucchini.

Beat together ricotta, egg, parmesan cheese, parsley and salt.

Toss zucchini slices in flour and a little salt and place on the bottom of a 9X13 lasagna pan.

Top with ricotta cheese. Spoon meat sauce over ricotta. Repeat one more layer of zucchini, ricotta and sauce.

Combine mozzarella and bread crumbs and top lasagna before baking.

Cover and bake at 350 for 45 min to an hour depending on your oven.

My thoughts of this recipe:
**This recipe is very good and can be made vegetarian if desired. I did not use 8 zucchini, I thought that was a lot once you start slicing it. My slices however were very thin thanks to the mandolin I was using. I suppose if you cut them by hand and can not slice the zucchini thin, you will probably use more. I did pat dry the zucchini before putting it into flour to remove any excess water. Zucchini has a lot of water in it, so try to soak up as much as you can before baking. You may even have to use a little more of the flour mix to make sure lasagna does not come out too watery. I of course love cheese, and used a little more then what was called for. I also used fresh ingredients such as basil and garlic verses powder or dried. It does make a difference in taste in my opinion. I also used almost two jars of sauce instead of one. I like to make a big batch and use it as I see fit. It's great to have left over sauce for reheating the lasagna the next day.

Hope this makes good use of all the summer zucchini! Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Grilled Flank Steak with Tempranillo Bordelaise Sauce

This recipe I recently tried and thought it was really good. You need to follow the instructions exactly. If you cook the flank steak too long it will be tough, and if you do not let the sauce reduce down enough it will be watery.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. Fresh Garlic
1/2 cup Shallots, minced
1 ea. Small Onion, peeled and chopped
1 ea. Small Carrot, peeled and chopped
1 ea. Celery Stalk, chopped
1/2 btl. Tempranillo Wine
1qt. Beef Stock
1 bunch Fresh Thyme
2-3 lbs. Flank Steak
To Taste Salt & Pepper

Sauce Procedure:
In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and saute the garlic, shallots, onion, carrot, and celery until the vegetables start to brown. Add the wine and allow to reduce until almost dry, about 15 minutes. Then add beef stock. Reduce and simmer 20-30 minutes. Next add thyme and simmer for 5 more minutes. Remove sauce from heat and strain.

Flank Steak Procedure:
Trim flank steak of muscle and excess fat if needed. Season both sides of flank steak with kosher salt and pepper. Grill over medium high heat for approximately 3-4 minutes per turn. Grill flank steak on both sides, forming diamond marks. When medium rare (120), remove from heat and allow to sit for 3-4 minutes (this makes steak more tender).

To Serve:
Warm sauce over medium heat. When warm, whisk in 4tbs of chilled butter. Whisk to incorporate butter. Thinly slice the flank steak and drizzle sauce over the steak. Serve immediately and enjoy!

My notes for this recipe:
**Do not overcook meat, 3-4 minutes is all that is needed per side.
**I added mushrooms to the sauce because I love mushrooms and thought the mushrooms were fantastic after they simmered in the wine sauce.
**I did not strain the sauce when it was finished because I wanted all the garlic and shallots and the mushrooms still in the sauce when I ate it.
**I did add a little cornstarch to the sauce after it reduced down because I wanted it to be a little thicker.
**It does make a lot, cut the recipe in half if you do not like leftovers.

Why did I start this blog?

I love to cook! I get really excited when I come across a recipe that sounds interesting and is something that I just can't wait to try. To me there's nothing better then trying something new! To think of all the recipes, and all the cookbooks on this planet; that anyone having the same old same old week after week just doesn't seem right. Those people who watch the Food Network all day long and have yet to make anything besides Kraft Mac-N-Cheese, or a reservation is just sad. What's there to loose? To me that's part of the fun. If something doesn't taste right or come out quite like I expected it to, I just think O.K. how can I change this or what should I add to make it better! I've decided to create a blog talking about new recipes I've tried. Helpful kitchen tips and things I've learned along the way. Everyone is always wondering what I'm cooking, so why not share with other foodies like myself.

I will be posting recipes I've tried, and what my thoughts were about them. Stay tuned for more!