Spinach Artichoke Pasta - Yep PASTA!!!

I hope you weren't looking for a holiday recipe? I'm so deep in denial about the approaching festivities that I haven't even started baking...and I really need to post more.

I was so excited when I saw this recipe. I LOVE Spinach Artichoke dip and try to talk Tony and the kids into it anytime I see it on a menu when we are out. Yep, made it at home several times too. One of the problems though when I make it at home is that I eat way too much of it! So this way was perfect It was served with pasta and that meant I could have it as a main course and eat as much as I liked...:-)

And did I mention that this dish is fast to prepare? Yep, really, really fast. Like about as long as it takes to cook the pasta fast.


Spinach Artichoke Pasta (found on Pinterest by Budget Bytes)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Olive oil
4 cloves garlic
4 oz. cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 can (14 oz.) quartered artichoke hearts
1 package (10 oz.) chopped spinach, thawed
1 Tbsp hot sauce
1 tsp red pepper flake
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of pasta (any shape)

Directions:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil with a lid. When it comes to a boil, cook the pasta according to package directions (boil for about 10 minutes or until al dente). Drain the pasta in a colander.
2. While you are cooking the pasta, start making the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mince the garlic and cook it in the oil until it is slightly tender (1-2 minutes).
3. Add the cream cheese, sour cream and white wine. Stir until everything is evenly incorporated. Reduce the heat to medium/low.
4. Add the milk and Parmesan cheese. Stir it in until the Parmesan has melted in and is evenly incorporated. Stir in the hot sauce and thawed/drained spinach.
5. Drain the can of artichoke hearts. Roughly chop them and add to the sauce. Taste the sauce and season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.
6. Add the cooked and drained pasta and stir to coat. Serve warm.

This is a wonderfully satisfying dinner that goes perfectly with a good glass of white wine!

So it’s been a while

I know, I know…I’ve been a very, very bad blogger but honestly I was totally immersed in a 3 month long project that I loved dearly and took up the majority of the very limited free time that I have.  But the project has been completed and the torch has been passed so “I’M BAAAAAAAAACKKKKK!”
I’ve missed my twitter friends, my Facebook friends and most importantly I’ve missed my blog.  So I am back nice and fresh with a recipe that is perfect for this up coming weekend (there is some sort of game or something going on right?) or really any time you get a craving for some chicken wings that will knock your socks off!!!

They are fast and easy but take a little bit of pre planning for the marinating time but other than that they are perfect for a busy weeknight meal…Thanks @aggieskitchen for a great recipe!
Ranch Chicken Wings (from Aggie’s Kitchen, with slight seasoning changes)
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dry lemon pepper seasoning salt
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp dry dill seasoning (Or look for a seasoning called “It’s A Dilly” which has it all)
Dry Ranch Dressing Packet
Fresh Ground Pepper
Combine oil, lemon pepper seasoning, garlic and dill seasoning in bowl. Pour over chicken wings and let marinate for 4-6 hours.
Place wings in an oven pan covered w/foil and sprinkle liberally with Dry Ranch Dressing packet and fresh ground pepper….cook 425 degree for about 35-40 minutes. You may want to broil them for a few minutes to brown them right up…But watch them closely! Serve with Ranch dressing and cut celery.

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets

I am always trying to feed my kids the healthiest things that I can.  Most week nights I have a ridiculously tigh schedule and sometimes we only have about 20 minutes for dinner.  On those nights they get leftover pizza or something but on the nights when I have a few more minutes I like to make these and they really love them.  Even if they do eat them with ranch dressing???

Oven Baked Fish Nuggets (inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Preheat oven to 450F

Ingredients:

1 lb of fish (cod, tilapia, halibut) filet, thawed if frozen
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of water
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

• Cut your fish fillet so it is about ½ inch thick.  Then cut it into 1 inch wide pieces.  Pat them dry with a paper towel and set aside.
• Get out three large bowls.  Add in your flour, garlic powder and paprika to the first, the eggs and water to the second, and the breadcrumbs to the third.  Mix to combine all the ingredients in each bowl. 
• Spray a baking sheet with spray olive oil to cover. 
• Dip each fish nugget into the flour mixture.  Shake off excess flour and dip into the egg bowl.  Then dip into the bread crumbs and lay onto your baking sheet in a single layer.  Continue with the rest of your nuggets.  Give the fish a light spray of the olive oil spray and put into the oven. 
• Bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until nicely browned.  
• Serve with tartar sauce or ketchup for dipping.

***The kids love fish stick night.  I have tried these using cod and tilapia.  Just about any firm white fish would do!

Grilled Pizza for dinner…

The first time I tried grilling pizza was when we were in Toronto visiting my family.  It was something we had all wanted to try but had just never gotten around to doing it. So out I went and bought some grocery store pizza dough (divide it into 4 servings when you get it home) and some fresh and yummy toppings and into the world of pizza grilling we dove!

Mine was simply olive oil, fresh garlic, mozzarella, fresh tomato and basil…

Our biggest concern was that the dough would drip through the grill plates but it cooks up so quickly that there is no real worry to it.  You need to have your grill heated up to about 350F to crisp it quickly.

The trick, I think, to this is to have all of your toppings ready to go on and to not overload the pizza.  You do need to work fast once the bottom which becomes the top is grilled nice and crispy.  We did individual ones for ease of preparation and they worked perfect.  No problem flipping etc…

The second time we made them was here at home and I used my bread machine pizza dough recipe.  We divided this one into 4 to make 4 individual pizzas for us.  This worked perfectly as well and was a bit easier to stretch and shape then the grocery store one…

This one was topped with garlic and herbed olive oil, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano and some homemade arugula pesto…simply delicious!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

My goal each and every day is to feed my family a healthy lunch and dinner.  Oh how I have been lax at meeting that daily goal!  Turning a new page and starting off on the right foot and all here is my attempt to get it all back together.  The meals that I cook have to either be crock pot, slow cooked or else pre cooked that we can heat up after, between or before whatever extra curricular event we have happening on that night.  I don’t use packaged or prepared foods at all so everything that I do is from scratch, just to make it more challenging huh?

Between karate 2 days, skating 2 or 3 days and BMX 2 or 3 days you can just imagine that it is a little hectic around here.  One thing though that we ALWAYS make sure that we do it to eat together.  There is none of this grabbing and eating on your own here.  We sit down to a family meal each and every single night.  Is it easy?  No way, but we do it.

One of my big problems though is that we get pretty bored with all of the fast things that I can make and it has been way too hot for a slow cooked or crock pot meal.  So this is what I came up with yesterday and it is going to be added into the rotation.

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

I was able to make the black bean mixture, cut up all of the cilantro, jalapenos and crumble the goat cheese ahead of time.  When we got home I heated the bean mixture and got the griddle going.  These were assembled, cooked and on the table in 10 minutes.  I served sautéed zucchini along side and it was really the perfect meal!

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadilla (inspired by Fine Cooking)

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 lg yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
24-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, chopped
4 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled
6 flour tortillas, Burrito size (we used 2 whole ones for T and I and 1 each for the girls)

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano and 1/2 cup water and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Take the pan off the heat. With the back of a fork, break up the beans to make a chunky mash. Stir in half of the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Spread the black bean mixture over the tortilla and crumble the goat cheese, sprinkle with jalapeno and some cilantro top with another tortilla.  Cook on a heated and oiled griddle until nice and golden brown.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients and slice up and serve.

**We served these with chopped up avocado, salsa and sour cream.  This was a delicious and quick week night meal!

This would also be a great idea for an appetizer for your next party or pot luck.  Cut into smaller wedges these would be perfect!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

A little late for Cinco de Mayo but good anytime…

I hate when real life gets in the way of my food blog, but sadly it has. I had my youngest home with me and then I ended up sick. Not the really bad sick but enough to knock me on my keester for a day or so. Anyway this post is sadly long overdue but too good not to post!

Pastel Azteca

A couple of weeks ago I was searching for a recipe to take to our groups regular monthly pot luck. This months theme was Mexican, Spanish or Latino. Easy enough huh? I just didn’t want to do any of the common things like tacos or enchiladas. I was going to do tamales but that looks like a ton of work. I then remembered my friend Ben at What's Cooking giving me a lead on one of his favorite recipes!!! After looking it over I decided that this one would be perfect and was exactly what I was looking for!!!

Thanks Ben for a delicious recipe and one that was a real hit! The only thing I would do differently next time is to make more sauce. The sauce was delicious!!!

Chicken Pastel Azteca (from Ben @ What’s Cooking?)
8-10 servings

The ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast shredded (I used 2 cooked breasts)
• 1 lb tomatoes
• 1 medium size onion
• 3 garlic cloves peeled
• 1-2 chipotle adobado peppers
• 16 ounces tortilla chips, you can either make your own by cutting in quarters approximately 24 corn tortillas and frying them or baking them or buy them made at the store
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 8 oz. Chihuahua cheese shredded 2 cups approx. or shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 red onion sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste

The how-to:

1. Blend together tomatoes, onion, garlic and adobado peppers using one cup of chicken broth. (I cooked the onions and the garlic first then blended this in my food processor)
2. Pour the sauce into a sauce pan and add the rest of the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, season to taste and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350° F.
4. Place a layer of tortilla chips at the bottom of a 9”x13” baking dish using 1/2 of the tortillas.
5. Add a second layer of shredded chicken, half of the shredded cheese and half of the red onion slices.
6. Pour some of the tomato sauce into the pan.
7. Add a final layer of tortilla chips and cheese and pour the rest of the sauce.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving and garnish with sour cream, red onion and chopped parsley.

Too late for Cinco de Mayo but still a really good meal. This would be a quick and easy week night meal and I can’t wait to make it again!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Garbage Nachos

At least that’s what we call them. Sounds funny huh? We pretty much call fully loaded anything “garbage”. We have garbage pizza…when you put everything on it that you can think of that would go with your dough and then we have garbage nachos. These are the best!

To top these nachos I used:

Taco seasoned beef (I make my own-recipe here)
refried beans
sharp cheddar
fresh jalapenos
onions
black olives
sour cream
cilantro (added once cooked)

Directions:

• Heat the refried beans and make your taco meat.
• Start chopping your jalapenos, onions, black olives and cilantro. Also grate your cheese.
• Arrange the chips on parchment paper and preheat your oven to 400 degrees. On top of the chips layer the beans and taco meat. Add the cheese, jalapenos and olives.
• Bake until hot and bubbly.
• Top with cilantro and sour cream.

This is a delicious, casual weekend meal for us. Usually on Saturday when I don’t want to cook or clean up too much. It also works out well for us because everyone can have their favorite toppings on their own!

Please try making your own taco seasoning! Not only will you save money but there is less sodium and unpronounceable additives!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

My new favorite way to cook whole chicken legs!

A couple of weeks ago I spatchcocked my first chicken. Since then I have definitely revisited the procedure. I also found that I love the method of cooking that I have been using and thought I needed to try it out on some chicken legs. I have been getting whole legs (thighs and drums attached) for $1.65 a lb at, get this, Whole Foods!!!

I ended up using the exact same method using my cast iron skillet as I did for the spatchcocked chicken. Clementine’s, fresh ginger, head of garlic all thrown into the cast iron skillet in the oven. To read more about the method I use read it here. If you have a cast iron skillet and want to try something different. Please give this a try.

We served it with some roasted herbed potatoes and a salad. I swear to you that I had dinner on the table within 45 minutes of getting home!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

www.nofearentertaining.com

Soup Anyone?

Chicken Soup...

I made the most delicious soup last night. I love it when I do that. In the process I also got to clean out and use up so many things in my fridge that I just assumed were going to go to Bertha (my composter). I was able to use up some turnips, romanesco, and swiss chard.

This is really just a basic chicken soup. I was a little lazy. I had made chicken the night before and saved all the bones. Cooked up some onion, carrot, celery and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. In a separate pan I sauteed the raw chicken parts (from the chicken the night before-neck, gizzard etc.). Added them and the bones to the veggie mixture. Added water to fill the pot nicely. Tossed in some fresh thyme and parsley and let this simmer all day long.

Later during the day I added some chopped up turnip and to finish it off I added some romanesco, swiss chard, chopped up leftover chicken and a handful of Quinoa for good measure. Taste before serving to make sure there is enough salt and pepper. I added a bit of white pepper as I find this helps to brighten the soup.

This was a delicious make ahead meal that my family loves...

I served it with this bread...

Bubbly Beer Bread from The Zesty Cook!

This bread is good but is it as good as Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day? No way. This bread though is super, super fast and works in a pinch. I will definitely make it again. From beginning to the oven it took me all of 5 minutes!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Quiche my way...

Quiche with sausage, mushrooms, onion, zucchini, and green peppers! Yummmmmm!

Okay so I haven't really been posting much in the food way but I have been cooking. It's just that T. has been out of town and it really makes my life all the more hectic. Yes, I am one of the lucky ones who's husband helps out, a lot!!!

Anyway the other night I couldn't figure out what to make so I hunted through the freezer and found a couple of Italian sausage links (leftover from another recipe), some zucchini, and some green peppers. I thought quiche and good thing I did. This turned out so good. For some reason the cheese escaped to the top and made it look more like a cheese pie and I would have spiced it up a bit but this was dinner for the girls and I.

Yes, I confess to using store bought pastry but I was all alone with the girls and this was still better than going out!!!

My Quiche

Ingredient:

! ready made pie dough (I know, I was just really lazy that day!!!)
2 sausage link, sausage squeezed out of casing
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup milk
pinch nutmeg
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

• Place pie dough in a tart pan and press in. Cook at 450 for about 15 minutes or until almost cooked. Remove from oven and rest.
  
• Meanwhile cook sausage over med. heat until cooked through. Remove and store in a separate bowl.
• Cook onions and mushrooms until cooked through. Add zucchini and green peppers, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
• In a seperate bowl beat 4 eggs with milk, nutmeg and pepper.
• Place sausage in the bottom of the pie shell top with the cooked veggies, then cheese. Top this the egg mixture.
• Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until the center is set and a knife comes out clean.
• Allow to rest for about 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Stuffed Green Peppers and my never ending freezer purge

Italian stuffed green peppers!

My never ending battle to empty my freezer goes on...

I have a case of green peppers that I froze a couple of months ago that I am now working on. Last week Life is Good left a comment on one of my asking for help posts and it was a recipe for stuffed peppers. I have only ever had them stuffed with rice so this was a great idea.

The base of the recipe was bread crumbs. It was really just a list of ingredients which I was able to throw together and come up with a nice, quick and tasty dinner.

bread crumbs (make your own from some older bread)
fresh basil
fresh oregano
fresh parsley
garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 can of diced tomato with juice
olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan
1/2 cup cubed fresh mozzarella

I mixed all of this together in a bowl and stuffed them into my peppers. Stuff lightly. It's a lot of bread crumbs. I baked them at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. I served them with some Italian sausage and they made a really good dinner!

5 peppers down about 30 to go...HELP!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Homemade Tacos

This is an older picture of a taco with pico de gallo and tomatillo salsa

It was a crazy, crazy weekend.

My youngest daughter has decided that she really likes competitive ice skating and wants to do another competition. Seeing as she is only 6 I have decided to let her only do ones that are at our home rink. Saves me travel and more chaos! With this though it means more time is spent at the rink. We had lessons on Friday night and Saturday.

T. was away for the weekend so I had decided that my youngest one could finally have her sleepover that I promised her for her birthday. So while T. was away I had a couple more 6 year olds running around the house screaming. I have to say though that I love this age. Their isn't the drama that comes with the 8 year olds...yet!

T got home late Saturday night and was able to help with all of the girls in the morning. At least running herd on them while we got breakfast was easier then because they were tired!

Once all the kids were gone we decided to spend some nice family time together and go and have a picnic. One of the great things about having a tropical storm or a hurricane pass through is that it really dries out the air. Today was just beautiful. 88 degrees with low humidity is beautiful in our books. We went to the Caloosahatchee Regional Park and had some lunch and then took a short walk to the river and hung out there for a bit. After this we came home and I tried to figure out meals for during the week. With the new skating schedule and school about to get reved up I needed a plan.

I decided that we would have pizza on Tuesday which would be the late night. Wouldn't get home from the rink until 7:30 but I could make the dough before hand and then T. (pretty please) could throw the sauce and toppings on it and throw it in the oven.

Another night we could have tacos. I have a really simple combination of spices that is so versatile I can use it on anything that I can find...chicken, pork, beef or even seafood. When I make a batch of it I make enough to last for 2 meals. No more as I think the mix loses it flavor after too long in a bag. I can make this whole meal and have it in the fridge ready to be heated up in time for dinner. Can't beat that!

Love the colors of all of the spices mixed together!

Tacos

Ingredients:

1-1/2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp paprika

1-1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 lb of your choice of meat (buffalo (very lean), beef, venison (very lean), chicken, or pork)

1 cup of water

Directions:

• In a small bowl combine all of the ingredients but the meat. Set aside.
• Brown you meat of choice (we have recently used buffalo, beef, and venison.)
• Once the meat is browned add as much or as little of the seasoning as you would like. We find that this seasoning mix usually makes us 2 meals.
• Add 1 cup water
• Allow to simmer until the spice is absorbed and there is no liquid left.
• Place as much meat as you would like in your lettuce cup.
• Top with your choice of taco toppings (cheese, Pico de Gallo, hot sauce etc.)

This can be used with just about any meat or seafood. It can also be used to make nachos!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

What to do with left over steak?

Steak Salad!

We have been going full steam ahead this week. My poor Mom (leaves on Saturday) is going to need some time to get over this one!!!

Last night we had orientation at the girl's school. Seeing as it is going to be their first full year at this school we needed to be there for it. I think their teachers are going to work out wonderfully for both of them!!!

Anyway we had to figure out dinner around a 5:40 departure time for the school. I fed the girl's some left over pizza from Tuesday night before we went out and then made a salad for us adults. I decided that we would eat when we got back from the school. We had so much steak left over from my youngest ones birthday dinner the night before so we topped the salads with that. Pretty fast and yummy dinner!

T and my Mom topped theirs with mountains of Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing and I just used a nice light vinaigrette that I had made. Seeing as we didn't get home until around 7:30 this was a nice ready made meal!

***I wanted to thank everyone who left a comment on my post from yesterday. I always hesitate to put things on this blog that are really personal feeling like that but when you need a bit of support you guys are simply the best!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

So my Mom is here...and sausage and peppers!

Sausage and Peppers!

You would have thought maybe that might simplify my life right? Um nope, it is still as crazy and as hectic as ever but now I am dragging one more body along for the ride!!! Poor Mom, but at least she gets to see the grand kids while we are doing it.

My Mom is truly wonderful. She comes to visit every year (from Canada) at the time of my youngest daughter's birthday. If you remember my oldest daughter was born on the 4th of July. Kind of special huh? So Grandma makes a special trip each and every year to help to make the youngest ones just as special! Pretty cool huh? Well this year was extra special as my youngest daughter had decided to be in a skating recital that was being held at our home ice rink and Grandma was going to be here for it.

This is the youngest one leading into her 1 foot spin!!!

The recital was Sunday and she did a great job...some rough spots getting her out there but once she was on she was a true superstar!

Needless to say we wanted a real nice and quick dinner. Seems like this is becoming a real theme around here huh? Nice and quick?????

Anyway we opted for Sausage and Pepper's. What could be easier then that! I already had the peppers. Remember back a month or so ago I ended up with a whole case of organic peppers that I froze? They went great with the all natural, no antibiotic or hormone pork sausages that I found at the grocery store. Added some garlic, onion, salt and pepper and a touch of oregano and topped ours with some sauteed jalapeños. This made for a great meal for all of us!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Black Beans and Rice

Black Beans and Rice

Now I am not going to tell you that these are typical Cuban, Puerto Rican, or any other Hispanic countries beans. These are just something that I have some up with that works really well for my family. I have tried them a bunch of different ways and this is what I keep coming back to. It's really all about the toppings anyway isn't it???

This really isn't a recipe but I just throw in what I have and to the amount that it tastes good. Last night I put in a bit too much cumin but that isn't a bad thing in my books!


Chop up an onion and some garlic and saute in some heated olive oil. When the onion and garlic are cooked add 2 cans of black beans or 1 lb of dried beans cooked per the directions on the bag. Add about 1/2 tsp of dried oregano, 1 tsp of cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and salt/pepper to taste. Cook to allow the the bean and sauce to thicken (about 20 mins) serve over hot rice. Top with tomatoes, pico de gallo, jalapeños, onion, sour cream or anything else you want!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Happy Burgers

This is T.'s burger. Sauteed onions, blue cheese, tomato and mayo.
How summery does that look!!!

Yeah, I know I keep going on about it but it's been so long since we have really had any beef that I was willing to feed my family. So once we picked up our all natural, grass fed beef order we tried several different things. We have a lot of ground beef so we made hamburgers the other night. Really nice and easy.

Form the meat into patties by first making a ball in your hand and then pressing flat. We never use any bread, egg or crackers to help them bind. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Usually we grill them but it was raining kind of heavy so I just cooked them up on the griddle!

Everyone here has their own preferences. The oldest daughter likes it with just cheese and mayo. The youngest one likes cheese, mayo and tomato. T. likes it as it is in the pic, and I like mine all different ways-sometimes mustard, relish, pickles and tomatoes, other times just with cheese and tomatoes. However we have them these were delicious!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

It works...It really, really works!

Dinner!

Last night was the new William-Sonoma grill pan's inaugural run. We filled that puppy so full of fresh veggies that I thought there was no way that they would all last in there! This pan was really great. Crammed full of stuff and still able to stir without anything falling out. All of the begetables cooked evenly and trust me it was full.

The vegetables are not local (big sigh)...virtually nothing is growing here anymore at all. Even the tomatoes are small and blemished. So sad. I am having to eat organic's from California. Better than nothing I guess!

We had chopped up eggplant, zucchini, onion, summer squash, red pepper, banana pepper, garlic cloves and mushrooms. They were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, some paprika, and garlic powder. This pan is a keeper!!!

Doesn't that look great over rice with some soy sauce on top???

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Peter's Churrasco Chicken and Francie's Rice

Sounds like I don't have any original ideas huh? I do, really but with so many great recipes that I see on other blogs every day I don't really have to come up with original things all the time! Also I am a busy Mom with 2 crazy kids in 2 different schools with laundry, errands, and the job of finding the very best local produce for this crazy family which doesn't leave a whole lot of extra time for being creative. At least not during the week! What with skating and karate eating up all the spare time!

I found the Churrasco Chicken recipe on Kalofagas-Greek Food & Beyond by Peter Minakis. I saw the recipe and loved the idea of the ground bay leaves, onions, lemons and whiskey all together. The only problem was that Peter had used a whole chicken with skin on and I had 2 boneless, skinless breasts and 4 skinless thighs! I figure it would still work okay and I was right. This was such a delicious dish I urge you to try it. I can't wait to try it again but this time with a whole chicken!!!

With the chicken I made some Arroz Verde con Poblanos. I had gotten this recipe from Francie's blog - Ramblings of a Frantic Home Cook. I had made this a couple of weeks ago and T. was asking for it every night! I thought that it would go good with this chicken and a nice fresh salad!
I was right again! This rice is fresh tasting and very quick to make. I had to use brown rice this time and it was delicious like that as well!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Just Throw it All Together!

Green Beans, Spinach, Garlic and Shitake Mushrooms

I was in a rush to get dinner out one night last week. I was going to make green beans, spinach and shitake mushrooms. Now not altogether but sauteed nicely but seperately. I realized as I was chopping and cleaning (cleaning takes a while I am finding with organic veggies) that I had no meat to make this a meal???!!! We eat a limited amount of meat anyway but the girls did like a little something on their plates. Well that wasn't going to happen tonight so I rummaged around in my pantry to come up with something. We usually just throw pasta at them but they are starting to get a little burnt out. So while searching the pantry I found a box of wild rice. Score! Now I had dinner. I put the rice on (1 hr cooking time so plan ahead). Finished up the veggies and chopped up some garlic, and started to pull down the pans. No way was I going to dirty that many pans! Into one pot they all went! What a nice easy meal and only 2 pots to clean!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Hamburgesa Mexicana with fresh Pico de Gallo!

Hamburgesa Mexicana with avocado, pico de gallo, pan fried potatoes and tortilla chips!

Yesterday was one of those marathon days of shopping...Car shopping that it. I hate car shopping. It is such a guy thing. My lease is coming up in April and I mentioned that I might be interested in a car. Big mistake and imagine trying to do this with 2 children with you!!!

Any way for dinner all I ended up doing was roasting a chicken (so I could make soup today) and serving it with wilted spinach and shitake mushrooms. Pretty easy and sensible dinner! Friday's dinner was much more fun.

I made what Ben at What's Cooking? calls a Hamburgesa Mexicana, and boy were they ever good! I made them using ground beef instead of turkey and I used canned refried beans (egad!!! I just ran out of time!!!) and instead of parsley I used cilantro. Why? Because I love it and will try and put it in anything!!! T. thought these were incredible. I loved the flavor of them and that they were a nice quick meal that everyone loved! The girls ate theirs in tortillas and we just ate them with avocado, some homemade Pico de Gallo, and pan fried potatoes. What a great end of the week meal!

Hamburgesa Mexicana

Printable version
Makes 6-8 patties
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Method: Fry

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 lb ground turkey (I used lean, free range, natural ground beef)
  
• 1 cup refried beans (Jerry has an amazing recipe here)
• 2 eggs
• 1 jalapeno, veined, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 TBSP parsley, finely chopped (I used cilantro)
  
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2/3 cup onion, chopped
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt
• black ground pepper
• vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl mix all ingredients together, except oil, until well blended.
2. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet.
3. With a serving spoon drop some of the mixture on the skillet and with a spatula form a patty.
4. Cook each side for 10 minutes.

I also made my own Pico de Gallo

Ingredients for Pico de Gallo

Fresh Pico de Gallo

I don't measure this but make it to taste:

cilantro
tomato
jalapeno
onion
lime
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Chopped Cilantro for Pico de Gallo and the Hamburgesa Mexicana's

Nice ripe avocado to put on the burger

Would I make this again? Most definately...It was a great, fresh tatsing recipe and I can't wait to try those stuffed zucchini's!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com