Balsamic-Glazed Tilapia

I have a goal to eat fish at least twice a month (which is considerably more than I ever have before) so it was about time to make another fish dinner. This recipe is based on one from a Rachel Rae cookbook. This glaze would be great with any mild white fish. Although it has the balsamic flavor, it also has a very pleasant sweetness to it. I also felt like the glazed was enhanced by the use of fresh rosemary and thyme. This was my first time cooking with fresh herbs rather than dried and I liked it a lot better. Maybe I'll start an herb garden.

3 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tilapia fillets
Salt and ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp honey
1 cup chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 Tbsp capers, drained and coarsely chopped
1-2 Tbsp butter

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Season fish with salt and pepper, then cook until it is opaque and "flakes." Transfer the tilapia to a platter and cover with foil. Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the onions, thyme, rosemary, and garlic, then saute for 4-5 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, honey, and chicken broth. Cook until the glaze has reduced by about half then remove sauce from heat and add butter, capers, and parsley. Stir until butter has melted then add fish to the pan and coat in the glaze.

Potato Wedges with Bacon, Onions, and Smoked Cheddar

This week we have been trying to eat our way through several days of leftovers so I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. Finally I felt like the fridge was empty enough to cook again so I started brainstorming. My first idea was to make potato wedges and some sort of crock pot chicken. I ended up deciding against the chicken in favor of fish but the potato wedge idea blossomed into this amazing deliciousness and was a huge hit. 

4-6 medium potatoes cut into wedges

1/2-1 lb bacon (I used ends and pieces)

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

1-2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp paprika

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Smoked Black Pepper White Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 450º and heat a large skillet to medium-high heat and cook bacon and onions 4-5 minutes, until onions begin to soften and bacon pieces begin to be crisp. Drain fat from pan. Add potatoes, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper (this requires a generous amount of salt to achieve the perfect taste). Cook, stirring, until potatoes are well coated in seasonings then spread onto a cookie sheet. Let potatoes bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the oven when potatoes begin to turn golden and crispy. Move potatoes to a serving dish and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. If needed, put them back in the oven for a minute or two to melt cheese.

 

Peanut Butter Bars

I was sitting in church, starving because I didn't have time to eat breakfast, when I leaned over and told Chris that I was thinking about making these for dessert. I was very surprised about how excited he got when I told him. He said that this was one of the first desserts that I made for him when we were dating. On the way home he couldn't stop talking about how great these cookie bars were. Until that moment I really had no idea how much my cooking had influenced the progression of our relationship.

Of course I never considered these Peanut Butter Bars to be difficult to make; just throw all the ingredients together and bake them. What could possibly go wrong? Well, this time I pulled them out of the oven and they didn't look gooey at all on top, the way they are supposed to. They were golden brown, bordering on dark brown in places. So I looked at the dials on our oven and, uh-oh, the oven was set to broil.

Who's idea was it to make an oven like that anyway? You may not be able to read the picture, but on the left hand dial you have to tell the oven what to do: bake, broil, time bake, or clean. On the right hand dial you choose a temperature starting at warm and progressing from 200° all the way to broil. Apparently if you choose broil on the left hand dial but choose a temperature on the other, it still broils. Why do they put broil on the left hand dial rather than just on the right?

So I decided to cover the pan with foil and bake it again for another 6 minutes. The bars are still a little gooey on the bottom and completely cooked on top even though it should be the other way around, but they taste about the same as normal. My husband still likes them anyway....

3/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
2 cups oatmeal
peanut butter
chocolate frosting

Cream butter and sugar then add eggs and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter. Mix all dry ingredients into creamed mixture and spread on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375° (if it looks gooey but golden take it out). Spread peanut butter then chocolate frosting on top.

Broccoli Cheese Chowder

My grandma has always been a wonderful example to me. She always works very hard to take care of her family and she is a great cook! Chris and I love this soup and it was surprisingly easy to make.

Bring to boil:

1 Quart water

4 Chicken Boulion Cube

 

Add:

1 Cup chopped onions

1 Cup Chopped Celery

1 Cup Shredded Carrots

1 and 1/2 Cup Cubed Potatoes

Bring to boil and simmerfor 9 minutes

 

Add:

16 to 20 (I use 20) Ounces of Broccoli Cuts or I like Broccoli and Cauliflower cuts for a change

Bring to boil and simmer for 9 minutes or until done

 

Add:

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 # Velveeta type cheese sliced or cubed 

 

Stir and heat but DO NOT BOIL.

 

 

Alfredo Sauce

I had tried a recipe for homemade Alfredo Sauce before and it was truly disgusting. After that I started to wonder if I even liked alfredo sauce because I don't like the kind from the store and I didn't trust that a homemade one would turn out any different than that first one. But my hubby finally convinced me to try his mother's recipe and WOW it turned out great.

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
about 2 cups milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large skillet. With a whisk mix flour in, a little at a time. Cook until bubbly. Stir while slowly adding milk until you reach desired thickness. Add Parmesan cheese and stir to melt. Add garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper.

Chocolate Cookies

I have never tasted any chocolate cookies that even hold a candle to these. One of my best friends, Casey, gave me this recipe a few months back and I have already made it three or four times. I have used different types of chips: chocolate chips, white chocolate, peanut butter, mint, and they have been awesome every time. They come out of the oven soft and stay soft for longer than any other cookie.

Combine:
2 1/2 sticks margarine or butter
2 cups sugar
Once the mixture is creamy, add:
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
When all mixed together, add:
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
about 2 cups chips

In this batch I added white chocolate chips and M&M's in honor of my sweetheart, who doesn't like nuts in cookies. Bake at 350° for 8-9 minutes.

Baked Chicken Bacon Alfredo

I saw a dish similar to this on the menu of one of our local restaurants and it looked great (although I didn't actually taste it) and I decided that I could try making my own version of it at home. We tried the whole experiment and invited some friends over to eat it. It was a big hit with everyone and it is definitely something I can see becoming a family favorite. This recipe makes enough to serve 6-8 people and filled two of the casserole dishes pictured above.

Ingredients:
12 oz pasta (penne, rotini, rotelle, etc)
4 cups Alfredo sauce (see recipe in sauce section of blog)
12 oz sliced mushrooms
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 lb bacon, cut into small pieces
12 oz grilled chicken, cut into small pieces
6-8 oz Canadian bacon, small triangle shaped slices
3-5 oz sun-dried tomatoes, cut into small pieces (optional)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Add pasta to boiling water; while pasta is boiling cook Alfredo sauce (double recipe in sauces section of this blog). Drain pasta and split into two casserole dishes (this would also fit well into a 9x13" pan) mix in Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, onion, bacon, chicken, Canadian bacon, and sun-dried tomatoes. Top with shredded mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until top begins to turn golden. I put the oven on broil for the last few minutes.

Garlic Bread

What better compliments a delicious Italian style dinner than some delicious Garlic Bread. I am toying with the idea of making primarily (if not exclusively) homemade bread so I thought today was the perfect opportunity to make a type of bread that I haven't ever tried before. I decided to use a generic French Bread recipe but add a little twist with some Italian seasoning. It was a little more dense and less dry than the kind of garlic bread that you buy from the store. It tasted good and I would probably make it again, but I have been looking online and I have found some recipes that I think might turn out better.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp quick rise yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
5-6 cups flour
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning

Combine yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup water in a large mixing bowl. Let stand until completely dissolved. Stir in salt, remaining water and 2 cups flour and stir. Add Italian seasoning and stir. Slowly add remaining flour, constantly stirring until forming a soft dough. Knead for 5-10 minutes. Let rest 10-15 minutes. Shape dough into two loaves; place on a cookie sheet and cut diagonally across the top. Brush loaves with water and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.

While bread is baking, make garlic butter by mixing garlic powder with softened butter.  After removing loaves from oven, cool for a few minutes, cut in half lengthwise and spread garlic butter on each half. Return to oven and broil for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

Chicken Fajitas

It had been a while since we made fajitas so here they are; I generally don't use a recipe to make them but I found a great mix of spices in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook so I used that to flavor them (and had to add a little extra salt).

1 red or white onion, sliced
1 red or green pepper (or both) chopped
1/2 lb mushrooms
1 lb chicken, cut into small strips
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
cooking oil
fajita seasoning
uncooked tortillas

Fajita seasoning:
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder

Pre-heat cooking oil in a large skillet (1-2 Tbsp) and add onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Add chicken to skillet along with fajita seasoning mix and cook until there is no pink left in the chicken. Add salt to taste (I added about 1 tsp more). Fry tortillas in a separate pan with a little bit of cooking oil. These fajitas are great served with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and shredded cheese.

Hot Fudge Milkshake

Back to the thrift store today. We found some great milkshake glasses and  we had a great treat to celebrate our discovery. This recipe makes two milkshakes.

6 oz milk
about 3 cups vanilla ice cream
3-4 Tbsp hot fudge

Mix in blender until smooth. Top with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

Pizza Dough

2 1/4 cups warm water
2 Tbsp quick rise yeast
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
7-8 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add salt, sugar, and 3 cups flour. Mix well. Stir in eggs and oil, slowly adding flour. Mix until it becomes a dough that is soft but not sticky. Let dough rest 10 minutes. Divide into about 3 portions and roll out. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Garden Pizza

One day after snowboarding my husband and I discovered that we love vegetable pizzas - especially when we add sausage. I made this one for him yesterday when he was home from work (too sick to work but not too sick to enjoy a good lunch!)

This dough recipe is the same one that we always use and can be found in the bread section of this blog.

Toppings:
Fresh mushrooms
Sliced tomatoes
Red pepper, chopped
Fresh spinach, chopped
Canned artichoke, chopped
Black olives, sliced
Onions, chopped
1/2 lb cooked sausage
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Feta cheese

First spread sauce over rolled out dough, then cover with mozzarella cheese, all vegetables, and sausage. I only put olives on about half of the pizza. I sprinkled a little bit of mozzarella and feta over top and baked at 425 for about 20 minutes.

Garlic Chicken Stir Fry

This recipe is based on one that I found in my new Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I wanted something quick and easy to make for dinner a few days ago so I made this one but I was in such a big hurry that I forgot to take the picture so I couldn't post the recipe until I ate the leftovers today! It was even better the second time.

Approx 1 lb chicken (maybe a little less)
1 cup water
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp dry white wine
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp olive oil
10 green onions, chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 can water chestnuts

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and marinate for 30 minutes in water, soy sauce and white wine. After marinating remove chicken and stir cornstarch into the reserved marinade; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet and add garlic, onion, mushrooms, green pepper, and green onions and cook about 2 minutes or until tender. Remove vegetables from pan and use it to cook chicken until it is no longer pink. Add marinade to pan and cook with chicken until it is thickened and bubbly.

 Return cooked vegetables to pan and add water chestnuts. Cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through. Serve over cooked rice.

Ground Lamb Kofto Kebabs

Last weekend we watched that Food Network show "The Next Food Network Star" for the first time. We really liked Aarti; we liked her personality the best and her food looked great and very original. When we saw her recipe for ground lamb kebabs with pomegranate glaze we thought it was right up our alley and couldn't wait to try it. All week we were looking forward to Saturday when we would finally get to try an award-winning recipe. We couldn't find ground lamb anywhere but luckily our 1957 Sunbeam Mixmaster (my husband found it at a thrift store and restored it) has a meat grinder attachment (I never expected to use it!). While we were making it we were both so excited because it looked and smelled delicious. My husband even fixed up a broken food processor that we had and made it so it will work with our blender! We learned a lot of things making this recipe (needless to say it took us much longer than 45 minutes to prepare). For example: what is a potato ricer? Apparently it is a kitchen gadget used to force cooked potatoes through small holes. We found another use for our meat grinder!

Here is the whole recipe (as posted on the food network website):

Ingredients

Raita:

• 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 6 sprigs fresh mint, leaves picked and minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup Greek yogurn
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Potatoes:

• 1 pound new potatoes
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons panch puran spice blend or Bengali five spice blend*
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• *Can be found at specialty Asian and Indian markets.

Kebabs:

• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, leaves picked (about 2 cups)
• 4 sprigs fresh mint, leaves picked (about 1 cup)
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• Zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Olive oil, for greasing and drizzling
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses*
• 1 teaspoon stone-ground mustard
• *Can be found at specialty Asian and Indian markets
• Special Equipment: 12 (10-inch) bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 30 minutes

Directions

For the raita: Mix the cucumber, mint, garlic, and yogurt together in a large bowl with plenty of salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and chill.
For the potatoes: Fill a large pot with cool water and put over high heat. Add the potatoes and a hefty dose of salt. Bring to a boil, and then simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain and push them through a potato ricer. Heat the canola oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add the panch puran seasoning. Cook the seasoning blend until fragrant and the spices begin to pop, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and saute until tender and lightly browned. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the potatoes and flatten them with a spatula, cook about 5 minutes, stirring and flattening a few times, until the bottom gets a little crispy. Season the potatoes with salt, and pepper, to taste, and keep warm until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the parsley, mint, shallot, lemon zest, and garlic and pulse until finely minced. Add the mixture to a bowl with the ground lamb, baking soda and lots of salt and pepper, to taste. Knead until the mixture turns sticky, looks like a piece of knitted fabric, and holds its shape. Pull off a small ball of meat and shape into a fat cylinder. Thread a skewer through the middle lengthwise, and smooth the meat down the skewer until it's even all the way down. Repeat with rest of the meat mixture. Put the kebabs on an oiled baking sheet and drizzle with a little more oil. Combine the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and mustard in a small bowl. Set aside.
Light a grill or heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.
Arrange the kebabs on the hot grill, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, generously brushing with the pomegranate mixture. Cook the kebabs until browned, about 6 minutes.
Transfer the kebabs to a serving platter and serve with the potatoes and raita on the side.

After all the hard work and ingenuity we put into making this dinner we were very excited to try it. It smelled wonderful and looked even better. But unfortunately it did not light up our taste buds like it seemed to for the judges on Food Network. It seemed like the type of dish that you would order at a foreign food restaurant and think "that was pretty good, but I wouldn't order it again." I don't know if I am revealing my unrefined taste in food or my lack of ability to adequately follow a recipe but let me just say that we ended up with a very expensive lesson on what NOT to do.

I went back and re-read everyone's comments on the Food Network and Aarti's personal website and they all seemed to agree that it was an incredible and practically flawless recipe but for us... not so much.

Cookbooks

When I got married I received 3 cookbooks as wedding gifts. I had one more that my mom gave me when I left for college. Even though I have always liked making desserts, most of my cooking experience came from the year and a half that I spent as a missionary in Honduras. I spent most of my time in small pueblos outside of the city while I was there. Most people cooked over cement stoves that had a fire they built themselves with a metal sheet over top. While in Honduras I learned for the first time that some people don't use recipe books; I learned that salt is an incredible thing - nothing tastes good without it; I learned that you can bake cookies, breads, and cakes over a stove if you don't have an oven; I learned how to make tortillas by hand, and a huge amount of other things. I have to say that Honduras opened my eyes to the wonders of cooking; that's where it all started for me.

Over the past year I have spent a lot more time in the kitchen learning how to recognize what spices and foods go well together and practicing the art of cooking. But it wasn't until a little over a month ago that I decided to dedicate myself to this cooking thing. So over the past month my husband and I have been visiting thrift stores and garage sales and we seem to find great deals on cookbooks everywhere (hence this new expanded collection). Cookbooks are very fascinating! I am even learning how to see recipes and come up with ways to improve them. Thank you to my sweet husband for supporting me in this new obsession..errr...hobby.

Guacamole

In seventh grade Spanish we were learning the names of different types of foods. In order to help us learn the terminology (and perhaps to have a pre-planned activity for a day we had a substitute) we were assigned groups and we made guacamole. Somehow those terms did stick (although not the exact measurements) and when my husband got a craving for guacamole, we pulled it all together and it turned out pretty incredible. Ever since then we always keep a look out for sales on Avocados (why do they have to be so expensive?).

6 medium Avocados
about 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/8 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 jalapeno, chopped (amount depends on desired piquancy)
lime juice
salt

Smash avocados. Add onion, tomato, cilantro, jalapeno and garlic and stir together. Make sure to taste onion and jalapeno before adding them - we've had a few extra-spicy ones that made the guacamole a little bit painful to eat. If you want your guacamole to be a little less spicy you can substitute jalapeno for about 2 Tbsp medium to hot salsa. Sometimes we add a little bit of sour cream to make it more creamy.

Hello Dolly Cookies

There are two types of bar cookies that I really considered to be "my mom's cookies." I didn't know anybody else who made anything like them and they were both amazing. One was called Chewy Snacks (which I will make sometime in the future); the other are these Hello Dolly Cookies. I loved it when she made them - but I never even helped! So you can imagine my surprise when I decided to make them myself and found out that this is one of the easiest recipes I have ever tried.

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup margarine or butter
2 Tbsp powdered sugar

Topping:
1 bag chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter and mix with crumbs and powdered sugar. Press into 9x13 pan. Layer chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and coconut (in that order) on top of crumbs. Pour condensed milk over all. Be careful to pour evenly so that there is enough to cover the whole pan. Bake at 350° 20-25 minutes. The coconut should just be starting to turn golden brown. Cool and cut into the size of bars you like.