Zesty Macaroni And Cheese

Since it's a gloomy rainy day, what better way to lift your spirits then nice home made comfort food! One of my all time favorites of course is macaroni and cheese. This recipe is a nice twist of your traditional mac-n-cheese.

What You'll Need:

2 Cups Milk

4 T Butter

1/4 Cup Flour

1 1/2 Cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 1/2 Cups Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 Jar Of Your Favorite Salsa or 16 Oz. Fresh Salsa

1 t Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

1 Lb. Pasta (Spiral Rotini, Corkscrew, Elbow Macaroni)

How To Make:

In a large pot cook pasta according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter using a medium saucepan. Add flour to butter and whisk until it turns a golden color, (about 2 minutes). Put the milk in the microwave for a minute to warm up, then add to butter mixture. Whisk constantly until mixture has thickened and comes to a boil (about 4 minutes). Add salsa to mixture and turn heat to low. Add cheese, and stir until fully melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once cheese has melted, remove from heat and pour over pasta. Toss and serve immediately. Enjoy!!

Tips:

***Make sure to constantly stir the milk and butter mixture to avoid clumping.

***Put mac-n-cheese in casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, and spring green onions and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned around the edges.

***Add slow raosted tomatoes. Recipe for them is listed under August file cabinet.

Garlic Pita Chips

I'm always looking for a nice healthy snack! Something you can eat, and not feel guilty afterwards. Pita chips are great because you can make so many different flavors! You can eat them plain, serve them with a dip, or crumble them on top of salads. The best part of making them yourself is they are fresh, and dirt cheap to make.

What You'll Need:

1 Pkg Pitas (I use Lebanese Pitas because they are thin and come out crunchy in the oven)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Garlic Powder

How You Make Them:

Cut Pitas into strips, and then into pieces. Place pieces in large bowl. Drizzle enough olive oil over chips and toss until all chips are coated. You do not want to saturate the chips with oil, but you do want a nice light coat on them so they will get nice and crunchy in the oven. Next sprinkle sea salt and garlic powder and toss to coat. Season to your own taste. I love garlic, so I tend to use a lot. You can taste a piece before they go into the oven to make sure they are seasoned the way you want them to. Once they are seasoned to your liking, take a jelly roll pan and line with parchment paper. Spread chips on pan. Heat oven to 350, and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Flip chips about halfway through to make sure they cook properly. You want them to be slightly browned, and not look wet. They should be dry.

I have a convection setting on my oven, which works fantastic for this recipe. The chips really cook evenly, and get nice and crunchy. If you have this function on your oven I suggest using it.

The chips are so good when they just come out of the oven. They are warm, and crisp, and everyone loves them! You can put them in a large Ziploc to store.

Tips:

***You really can make any flavor you want. I've made B-B-Q, Parmesan garlic, sea salt & pepper, rosemary / dill, chive & garlic, southwest and ranch. The possibilities are endless.

I buy my Lebanese Pita's from my local produce market (Caputo's). I find the Greek Pita's are too thick, and don't taste as good as the Lebanese.

Thanks John for telling me how to make pita chips! I can't get enough of them!

Lemon Dressing

I enjoy making homemade salad dressings. It's fresh, you know what's going into it, and you can tweak the ingredients to accommodate to your taste. I have such a hard time buying dressing from a grocery store. I find a lot of them to have too much vinegar, not enough flavor, and I find it kind of scary that they sit on the store shelf for so long.

This recipe is a great dressing for the summer. It's light, refreshing, and super simple!

Ingredients:

1/4 C Sugar

3 T Lemon Juice

1 Egg Yolk

6 T Vegetable Oil

Directions:

Place sugar in bowl. Add lemon juice and whisk until most of the sugar is dissolved. Add egg yolk and whisk until all of the sugar is completely dissolved. Gradually add one tablespoon of oil at a time, whisking constantly. The dressing should be thick and creamy. Cover and refrigerate immediately.

Tips:

***Serve over a nice bed of spinach with jicama, feta and slivered almonds. This dressing is great paired with any type of fish dish or poultry.

This recipe comes from another great cook, my Aunt Char! Thanks!

Cooking Tip For Salad Dressing

Don't you hate when you make homemade oil and vinegar based salad dressing that it turns into a solid when you put it into the refrigerator? I learned last night at a cooking class at one of my favorite local restaurants that you should mix your oils. Meaning if your making an oil and vinegar dressing, instead of just using straight olive oil you should use a blend of olive and canola oil to prevent forming a solid when placed in the refrigerator. This blend should be 75% canola oil and 25% olive oil.

I went shopping this morning at my local produce market, and needed to get some more olive oil. As I was walking down the isle, I noticed that they actually make oil that is all ready blended with the exact percentage you need for dressing. I was not even aware that this existed! How fantastic I thought, that the work had all ready been done for me. It was really inexpensive too!The photo above is a picture of the bottle I took. If you can not find one at your local store, e-mail me and I will let you know where I found mine and the brand name.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

This cake is the ultimate chocolate lovers cake! It is a flourless cake which makes it very dense and extremely rich. I made it for my father's birthday since he is a chocolate lover. It was a nice break from the traditional birthday cake. It's easy to make, and will definitely take care of any sweet tooth you may be having! Just beware, this cake has absolutely nothing healthy about it...which is why it's so good! I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!

For The Cake:

16-1 Oz. Squares of Semisweet Chocolate

4 Sticks of Butter

1 Cup of Sugar

1 Cup of Half-and-Half

1 T Vanilla

1/2 t Salt

8 Large Eggs

Take a 10 inch springform pan and spray with cooking spray. In a 3 quart saucepan over low heat, heat the first six ingredients. Stir frequently until mixture is smooth and creamy. In a large bowl, whisk all 8 eggs lightly. Once chocolate mixture has been melted, add it to the slightly beaten eggs. Gently stir until chocolate and eggs have been well blended. (Do not use a mixer for this.) Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean 2 inches from edge. Cool cake completely. Once cool, wrap cake and put in refrigerator for 6 hours. (I let mine sit overnight in the refrigerator.) After cake has set, take out of refrigerator and remove side of pan.

For The Glaze:

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Pieces

2 T Butter

3 T Milk

2 T Light Corn Syrup

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt chocolate with butter. Once melted, remove from heat and add milk and corn syrup. Stir until smooth. Spread warm glaze over cake allowing it to drip down the sides. Refrigerate until served.

Tip:

***If you want the cake to be extra decadent take some heavy whipping cream and beat until stiff peaks form. Pipe whip cream around edge or just serve with a doll-up of cream on top. Anyway you serve it, it will be over the top delicious!

This recipe comes from Good Housekeeping.

Chicken Empanadas

All I have to say is yummy! This recipe is simple and delicious! You can make this as an appetizer or as a main course. Either way they are sure to be a hit!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups Chopped Chicken (cooked)
8 Oz. Pepper Jack Cheese
4 Oz. Cream Cheese

1/4 Cup Red Bell Pepper (chopped)

1 Jalapeno (seeded and chopped)

1 1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t Pepper

1 T Cumin or Fajita Seasoning

1 Pkg Refrigerated Pie Crusts

Water

Directions:

In a bowl combine chicken and next 7 ingredients. On a lightly floured surface roll out pie crust to a 15 inch circle. Cut out rounds using a 3 inch cookie cutter. Repeat process until all dough is used. Lie rounds on clean surface and brush ends with water. Take 1 heaping teaspoon of chicken mixture and place in center of the round. Gently fold over dough, and pinch ends closed. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Serve with sour cream, enchilada sauce and any other of your favorite condiments. Enjoy!

Wine Country Potato Salad

The one thing I don't always enjoy about potato salad is all the mayo that is put into it. I tend to avoid any kind of store bought potato salad because it seems like most of them have more mayo then anything else. I'm always looking for recipes that are different, and offer other options then just mayo. This recipe does just that! It's a great summer side dish and doesn't have that heavy feel of your typical potato salad.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs. Medium Red Potatoes

1 Small Red Onion, halved and sliced into half moons

2 Spring Onions, chopped (white and greens portion)

24 Pitted Kalamata Olives, lightly chopped

2 T Fresh Dill

1 T Fresh Oregano

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

1 T Champagne Wine Vinegar

1/4 C Lemon Juice

1/4 C Olive Oil

Instructions:

Clean potatoes, and place in 6-8 quart saucepan. Cover with water, add a dash of salt, and bring to a boil. One water has reached a boil, reduce to a simmer and let potatoes cook for 20 minutes. Potatoes are done when you can pierce with a knife. Once cooked, remove from pot and allow potatoes to cool. When potatoes have cooled cut then into quarters.

In a bowl combine chopped red onion, spring onion, olives, dill and oregano. Add cooled potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

In another bowl whisk together champagne wine vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil. Pour mixture over salad and toss to coat. Refrigerate until served.

This is a great picnic recipe and good for all the outdoor summer barbeque's! Enjoy!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Ahhh.... the smell of slow roasting tomatoes! My house is so fragrant right now, it smells like a little Italian cucina! I had said in my last post that I had 20 lbs of tomatoes to roast. So far I've done about half. This process is very easy, but very timely! Prep time is about 10 minutes. Cooking time is 10 hours. It may sound like an eternity, but it is so worth it! I can't even begin to tell you how good the little slices of heaven that come out of your oven 10 hours later are! The intense flavor of tomato is absolutely fantastic! This is a great recipe if you grow a lot of tomatoes, or have access to a local farm that you can buy them by the half or full bushel. The whole reason behind me doing this is so I can freeze them and enjoy them in the winter months. You can use them in pasta, soup, chili, sauces, salsa, and stews. They are great by themselves too, I had a full plate right when they came out of the oven! Delicious!

What You'll Need:

Plum Tomatoes (the amount is up to you, and what your oven can hold)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Dried Italian Herbs

Garlic

How You Roast:

Wash your tomatoes and dry them. Slice tomatoes in half. Take a jelly roll pan or roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. You'll want to use a pan with a lip so oil and juices do not drip into your oven. Next take your sliced tomatoes and place cut side down in pan. Sprinkle sea salt, herbs, and minced garlic over tomatoes. Lastly drizzle a little more olive oil over the tops of the tomatoes. Set your oven to 200 and roast for 10 hours. When tomatoes are done roasting, pull them out of oven, slightly cool, and remove skins. Once cooled, place in containers and refrigerate or freeze. Enjoy!

Tomato Tart

My obsession with tomatoes continues! I can not get enough of them in the summer time! I like them so much I have 20 lbs of them sitting in my kitchen waiting to be roasted. That recipe will be posted in the next few days. I think I'm one tomato away from a 12 step program! This recipe is an old favorite of mine, and is great if your doing a brunch!

For The Crust:

4 Oz Cream Cheese
1/2 C Margarine (Room Temperature)
1 1/2 C Flour
2 t Fresh Rosemary
2 t Fresh Oregano
1/2 t Sea Salt
1 t Orange Juice
1 t Orange Zest

Cut together the cream cheese, margarine and flour until coarsely blended. (I like to use a pastry blender for this process.) Once blended add the remainder ingredients. Knead the dough for about 1 minute, wrap in plastic and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400. Roll out dough on floured surface to fit the size of your tart pan. (I use an 11 inch tart pan with removable bottom. ) Spray bottom and sides of pan with cooking spray for easy removal. Place crust in pan and gently press dough into the bottom and sides. Poke holes in crust and bake 18-20 minutes until crust is light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

For The Filling:

1/2 Large Red Onion, Sliced Thin
1 T Minced Garlic
2 T Olive Oil
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
4 large Tomatoes, Sliced Thin
Fresh Basil (chopped)
Sea Salt
1/4 Lb. Parmigiano Reggiano

In a sauce pan on low heat, saute onion and garlic in 1 T olive oil. Cook until translucent, add 1 T of balsamic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and cool.

Drizzle a little olive oil over crust and begin to add a layer of sliced tomatoes. Alternate onions and tomatoes. Drizzle the rest of the olive oil and balsamic over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt, and fresh basil. I tend to use a lot of basil because it taste great with tomatoes. Use as much as you see fit for this dish. Bake tart in oven set to 350 for 15-20 minutes or until tomatoes are tender. Remove from oven and sprinkle fresh parmigiano reggiano. Serve immediately.

***I like to use different types of tomatoes in this dish. One in particular is the yellow tomato that is low in acid and tastes great paired with an heirloom. Most of these tomatoes can be found at local farmers markets.

Bon Appetit!

Freezing Sweet Corn

Who doesn't love sweet corn?! There's nothing like fresh corn from the farm! Luckily for me, I have a couple of local farms that I like to visit and pick up their produce in the summer time. One item in particular that I always get this time of year is the corn! Here's a recipe for freezing corn that you'll be able to enjoy during the winter months.

Ingredients:

4 Qts. Raw Corn (cut off cob)
1 Qt. Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
4 t Salt

Instructions:

In a large stock pot, add all ingredients and bring water to a boil. Once water has come to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let corn cook for 3 minutes. When cooking is done, remove from heat, and put corn and some liquid into freezer containers. Let corn cool completely before freezing. This recipe makes about 7 pints.

This recipe comes from: Goebberts Farm and Garden Center

Grilled Chiles Rellenos

The one thing I do not like about chiles rellenos is most recipes say to fry the peppers. Since I'm not a huge fan of frying food, and I love to grill, I thought I'd try this recipe on the grill.

I took 4 poblano peppers and put them on the grill set to high heat. I let them cook for about 7-8 minutes per side until they became charred and blistered. When they were done, I wrapped them in foil and set them on the counter to steam for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes I unwrapped them and allowed them to cool. Once cooled I peeled the charred skins off of them, slit them open on one side and removed the seeds. (Do not cut all the way through the pepper because they will be stuffed.)

For the stuffing:

Fresh corn from two cobs
1 Cup Crated Queso Fresco
Chopped Cilantro (to taste)
Dash of Chipotle Pepper

In a bowl combine corn, cheese, and cilantro. Mix all three ingredients and begin to stuff peppers. Place stuffed peppers on a sheet of heavy duty foil. Cut a large enough piece to bring two sides up and roll over several times to seal. Fold the ends tight enough that juices to not run out. Once foil packet is created, turn your grill to medium heat. Put foil packet on the grill for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Serve peppers immediately with sour cream. This recipe was easy to make and is a healthier version of the typical fried chiles rellenos. It's great for summer and packed with flavor! Hope you enjoy!