Black Pepper Biscuits

These are fabulous and people think you are really fancy if you make them for breakfast, and serve them with butter and honey.  the best part is, they only take a minute to fix!

ingredients

• 2c flour
• 2tsp baking powder
• 1/4tsp baking soda
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1stick cold cubed butter
• 3/4-1 cup cold buttermilk (you can sub whole milk, they just aren’t as fluffy because you are missing the acid of the buttermilk)
• Melted butter or heavy cream
• fresh cracked pepper

Directions

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until looks like pea sized crumbs. Add buttermilk slowly until uniform sticky dough. Don’t overwork. Form into rolls with hands or by rolling out and use a biscuit cutter. Brush tops with the melted butter or cream and sprinkle with black pepper.
Bake at 450 for 12-15 mins

Olive Tapenade

I LOOOVE olives.  as does my child.  She would literally eat 10 of them if I would let her.  I made this the other night to go on some grilled Cod.  It was super tasty!  The bitter capers mixed with the salty olives and sweet basil leaves made such a wonderful flavor combination.  Make it and enjoy.  It takes no time at all and is a perfect topping for any grilled seafood and I also think it would be great on chicken.

Olive Tapenade

• 10 kalamata olives, diced
• 8 green olives, diced
• 1TBS capers
• 1/2 TBS diced sun dried tomatoes
• juice of half a lemon
• 8-10 basil leaves, chiffonade
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp (or less) red pepper flakes

Directions
combine all ingredients and serve 

Stuffed Roasted Mushrooms

insert a picture of a steamy roasted mushroom piled high with sauteed ground turkey…. i had a fussy toddler at the dinner table ready to eat and forgot to get out the camera.

I always keep ground turkey around, super healthy and you can make a meal out of it in no time.  last night i made these yummy mushrooms and served them with a huge serving of broccoli.  I am on a healthy cooking binge in hopes of losing these last few baby pudge pounds.

Stuffed Roasted Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, stems removed
• olive oil
• salt/pepper
• 1/2 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 cup marsala wine
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• 1/4 tsp ground sage
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided

Directions

preheat oven to 400. douse mushrooms with olive oil on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. roast for 20 minutes. meanwhile, put 2 TBS olive oil in a saute pan and heat over medium high heat. add ground turkey once the pan is hot.  sprinkle salt (1/4 tsp), pepper (1/4 tsp), sage and thyme over the meat and continue to cook until browned.  deglaze the pan with the marsala wine and allow it to reduce by half– about 10 minutes. then add half of the grated parmesan. stuff the mushrooms with the meat mixture and top with the remaining cheese.  place under broiler for 2 minutes.

Cherry Compote and Brie Chicken

I am kind of a lazy cook, so if it hadn’t been for pitting 3 cups of cherries, I would make this all the time.  My sister joined a CSA this spring and has been getting a ton of fruits and veggies thus inspiring creative and delicious meals.  She raved about this recipe so I gave it a spin!

post murder to all the cherries…my hands will never look normal

fresh yummy cherries!

Dinner is served!  I made some italian Farro and sauteed red kale to accompany the chicken.

Cherry Compote and Brie Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 cups fresh pitted cherries
• 3TBS sugar
• 1TBS water
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves
• 1tsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3oz sliced brie cheese
• 3 thin sliced (butterflied) chicken breast
• olive oil/salt/pepper

Directions:

Put cherries into a small saucepan, add sugar, water and rosemary leaves. bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for 10 minutes.  off heat, add vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper. allow to cool.  this will keep for a week in the fridge OR add to chicken!  Drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper on the chicken breasts. place in a cast iron skillet then cover with cherry compote. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes depending on how thick your chicken breasts are.  then place brie slices over chicken and bake for 5 more minutes.

I’m back

This was absolutely divine. It was inspired by some amazing ice cream we had at a local shop.  The salty sweet ice cream was delicious even without the oreos, then the crunch of the cookies added an extra dimension. Perfection!

Salted Oreo Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/8 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 20 crushed oreo cookies

Instructions

In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on low speed to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla and salt. Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 minutes, then add crushed oreos and mix 5 more minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture and a delicious crunch from the cookies.

RIP, me

so i just made salted oreo ice cream.  and then i died.

once i am reborn, i will post the recipe.  then, the 3 people that follow this blog will also die and I will have to find other people to share my obscene recipes with.

Citrus Bars

I like lemon flavored things quite a lot.  I mean they are practically invisible to me if a chocolate frosted brownie is lying around, but nevertheless, I still like them.  I made these for my wonderful mother on Mother’s Day.  She isn’t the chocoholic that I am, so I wanted to make her something special she would really enjoy.  My goal was to mix up the traditional lemon bar and add a little lime.  These are so good.  Tart and lemony with a tiny twist from the lime.  My mother loved them and took home half the pan for my father to enjoy as well. 

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1-1 1/2 TBS grated lemon zest (3-4 lemons)
• 1/2-1 TBS grated lime zest (1 lime)
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup flour + a few TBS if at altitude
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet and press down with floured hands, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. 

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. then let it cool. 

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour the mix over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.  Since I live almost 6000 feet in the sky, I turned the oven off and cracked it and left the bars in another 15 minutes to be sure they were set.  then I cut them into triangles and sprinkled with powdered sugar. 

mmmmmm. 

Cinnamon Orange French Toast

I whipped this up the other morning because Reese was having another non-eating day and I thought this would peak her interest.  I was right.  She ate a whole piece and some orange slices!  I used wheat bread so it had some health benefits.  You could use brioche or challa to make it fancier.  We all enjoyed it immensely.  It literally took as long to make it as it would to read the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 2TBS heavy cream
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1tsp cinnamon
• zest of one orange
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6-8 pieces of bread of your choice
• butter (for cooking)
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/2 pkg cream cheese (room temp)
• 1TBS sugar

Directions

Whisk eggs, heavy cream, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, orange zest and egg whites together until well combined. place in a shallow dish and soak bread in the mixture. Put a pat of butter into a skillet over medium heat. cook soaked toast on each side for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned. put in a warm oven until all the pieces are cooked. whisk together cream cheese, marmalade and 1TBS sugar with electric mixer until a uniform consistency is achieved.  Serve french toast with marmalade cream and warm maple syrup. 

Caprese Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Reduction

I don’t like raw tomatoes.  At all!  That is unless they are organic heirloom tomatoes drizzled in balsamic dressing hugged by hoards of mozzarella cheese and basil. Go to your local market and buy some summer tomatoes and make this ASAP.

Ingredients

• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Mixed Greens
• Fresh basil
• Fresh Mozzarella
• Minced garlic
• Raspberry Balsamic reduction (recipe to follow)
• salt and pepper

Directions

Slice tomatoes and mozzarella and layer over greens. sprinkle with fresh garlic and sliced basil. drizzle with dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.

Raspberry Balsamic Reduction

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1TBS  raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 minced garlic clove
• salt and pepper

Directions

Place vinegar in a small pot over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. add raspberry jam and let the mixture continue simmering for another 5-10 minutes until it is reduced by half.  whisk in olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.  let cool.  serve over caprese salad.

Black Bean Burgers

Matt frequently gets burger cravings.  While I don’t eat meat, I don’t mind preparing it for him.  However when I told him I was going to make a veggie bean burger for myself, he quickly said that he wanted one too!  These were really delicious. I used cornmeal as my filler, but I think I would like these even more using panko. They were slightly spicy, had a ton of good flavor and a lovely crunchy crust.  The corn relish added a bit of heat and another layer of flavor and the avocado cream acted as the glue to hold it all together.

 

Black Bean burgers

• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed divided
• 1 cup white or brown rice, divided
• 2 roasted red bell peppers, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 chipolte seasoning cube
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 – 2/3 cup cornmeal, breadcrumbs, or panko
• salt and pepper
• Canola oil

Place 1/2 can of drained black beans, 1/2 cup rice, 1 coarsely chopped red pepper, oregano, cumin, garlic, and chipotle seasoning in a food processor. Pulse process until combined.

Finely dice the remaining red pepper. In a bowl, mash the rest of the black beans and rice.  Add the diced red pepper, onion, lightly beaten eggs and the mixture from the food processor.  Season with 3/4tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Stir in the cornmeal/breadcrumbs a little at a time, and mixing until the mixture firms up. Place the mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Heat a nonstick skillet with a little canola oil over medium heat. Add the mixture in patty form in batches and cook until done, flipping halfway through (about 5-6 minutes total for small patties and 8-12 minutes total for bigger burgers).

Corn Relish

• 2 tsp. canola oil
• 2 cups corn
• 1/2 small red onion finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 seeded jalapeno, minced
• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 TBS lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat a pan over medium-high heat and add the canola oil. Stir in the corn, and let it sit for about 1-2 minutes before stirring. Continue to saute until lightly browned.

Stir in the garlic and jalapeno, just until fragrant – about 30-60 seconds. Remove from heat and add the tomato, lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

Avocado Cream

• 1 and 1/2 avocado, pitted
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1 lime, juiced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup cilantro

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.