slow cooker saturdays

well, I did it.  I made brownies in the slow cooker.  they came out really good.  i wanted to make them and thought, why not?

they were nice and chewy and thick. the kids loved them and they went well with their ice cream.

I looked around to get a good idea/recipe.  I found one from Martha Stewart and figured if Martha says it can be done, then it can be done!  Her recipe is from scratch, of course, but I used a box mix. You can find it here. The kids loved the brownies plain, with ice cream and hot out of the pot!  Will try again after I try some other recipes!

Do you have any good slow cooker dessert recipes?

Have a Great Day!
Zizette

I {heart} New Foods

I made Pastelitos this past weekend in a sort of tribute to my brother Mike who passed away.  He loved new and different foods and this was something new.  The Dominican and Island women I work with make these fantastic treats and I thought hey, let me give it a try.

I asked them how to do it.  They all had variations (Dominican, Cuban, Jamaican to name a few) but basically the same concept.  The meat is similar to taco meat.  Some use Guava and cream cheese or guava and cheddar cheese.  I chose taco meat and grilled chicken.

I ran out of taco seasoning and made my own.  Pretty good and even better for the family because it does not contain any preservatives.

I bought these for the dough/pastry.

I basically made my taco meat and I grilled my chicken with seasonings I like.  I then used about a Tablespoon or two of filling on each disk.  I folded them in half, sealed with some water and closed shut.  I then sealed them by pressing down with the fork.  I fried them until golden brown.  Then we ate them.

They were delicious!  Then a few days later the ladies at work told me other flavors I can make them in. The kids love them so I will be making them again this weekend.

Credit

My phone did not take good enough photos and emailing them made it worse.  This is what they should look like.  So next time I will do this meal justice.

Bon Appetit!

Zizette

Comfort Foods

As you may know we (in the Northeast) are continually being SLAMMED by snow every few days.  Now I love a good snowstorm but this my friends is getting ridiculous.  Seriously, getting on my nerves.  So I decided the other day that I would make chili this weekend knowing it was going to be FREEZING.

For years I have been making an Indian Summer Chili courtesy of Rachael Ray, I know ironic I want a summer chili but really Chili is for anytime and I think she calls it that because it has turkey not meat.

I love it with cheese and a really good crusty bread.

Chili Recipe
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 lbs of ground turkey meat (2 packages)
4 Tablespoons dark chili powder
2 Tablespoons grill seasoning blend
1 Tablespoon cumin
2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1-3 Tablespoons hot sauce (how you like it)
1/2 Large onion
2 large peppers, any color combination, chopped
1/2 bottle beer (alcohol cooks out)
14 ounce can of tomato sauce
1/2 cup smokey barbeque sauce (we have been using bone lickin' sauce - yum)
1 can of kidney beans (if you like)

Heat pot over medium to medium high heat.  Add EVOO and the turkey meat.  Season the meat with chili powder, grill season blend, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce.  Break up meat with a wooden spoon into small crumbles.
Chop the onion.  Brown meat 5 minutes, then add onions and chopped bell peppers - cook 10 minutes more.  Add beer and deglaze pan, scraping up the drippings and cooking off the alcohol  Add tomato sauce and barbeque sauce and bring to bubble. If using beans add them now.  Let chili simmer 10 minutes.  Adjust seasonings and heat level to your taste.  I let simmer longer, usually cooking early in the day and serve later on.
Also, a dark beer works nicely (I am not a beer person but it really gives it a nice flavor).
Enjoy!

Zizette

She's Cooking Again

Yep, I have been cooking.  I mean I always cook but I was cooking some new things this week.  We were expecting a HUGE snowstorm so I decided what a better way to really stay in the kitchen and cook it up, so I did.

I made Fettuccine with a Sage Butter

Fettuccine (or pasta of choice)
4 Tablespoons of butter
10 Sage leaves
1/4 lemon juiced
1/4 cup grated Parmagiano-Reggiano

While your pasta cooks, melt your butter in a 12-14 inch sauce pan, until golden brown color ("noisette") appears in the thinnest liquid of the butter.  Add Sage leaves and remove from the heat.  Add lemon juice and set aside.  Drain the pasta but leave some cooking water, and gently pour into the saute pan and return to the heat.  Add the cheese, toss to coat and serve immediately.
(Adapted from Mario Batali)

So, tasty!  I thoroughly enjoyed this pasta dish.  I will be making it again, especially since it was easy-peasy.

I made it with some skirt steak, also easy peasy.

Skirt Steak
2 Chipotle Chilis in Adobo
Salt
2 tablespoons Olive Oil (add more if needed)

Blend Chilis, olive oil and salt in mini chopper or blender.  Brush on steak, let marinate for 1/2 hour.  Grill.  I did not grill as it is out of gas so I did it in a pan on my stove and it came out FANTASTIC!  So tasty and a nice little compliment for my pasta.

I hope you will try the recipes, I truly love to cook and really like it when you write your comments to me.

Back to Cooking

I really love to cook and since I was sick I did not want to pass on my heebie-jeebies, I didn't even do my baking this year.


I had a package of chicken in the fridge and decided to make Chicken Picatta.  Yum.


It came out fabulous (if I don't say so myself).


It went a little like this... (sorry no pictures from Moi as I was too lazy to go upstairs and get the camera).

Chicken Picatta


1 lb of think sliced chicken breasts
3/4 of a stick of butter
Kosher salt
1 cup (give or take) flour
2 eggs
1 cup of wine
1/2 jar of capers
1 medium lemon
olive oil


Heat Olive oil in a pan with two tablespoons of butter. Dredge the cutlets in flour and then in egg.  Fry cutlets in the pan until golden brown.  When all cutlets are cooked pour the wine into the pan, cook off alcohol.  Add the rest of the butter (in slices) to thicken the sauce.  Slice a lemon and squeeze juice into sauce.  Add the capers (drain off the liquid first) and then add the chicken.  Cook about 2-3 minutes to heat up.  Add salt as desired (capers are salty so careful).  Serve over anything you like, today I did plain cous cous (I used a chicken stock instead of water).  Sometimes I like it over spinach.


I really like this dish as the sauce really sticks to the chicken in a glossy kind of way and the taste stays on your tongue - reminds me how tasty it is.


Enjoy!

Long Time

I keep telling myself how to get on the stick and I don't follow through.  So, the week I am off from school I will set myself straight.

It's been crazy busy times here as of late.

Last week I had the massive party here and it went great.  We made the St. Peter's Fish and Israeli Cous Cous, actually my hubby and my dad made it and EVERYONE loved it.  They truly are wonderful cooks.

One thing about entertaining, I over prepare stuff.  Not over cook but over buy, over feed and ultimately have tons of left overs.

We didn't cook the 5 flatbreads I purchased, the spinach/artichoke dip and lord knows what else.  Hey it made for easy meal planning this week.

The kids had a blast and that is what counts.  I won a Fire Pit for our backyard in the gift exchange, yay me!

The recipes for the food were as follows (dad gave me a cheater method to speed things along).

St Peter's Fish
1 lb of fish (I use Salmon - you can use swordfish, halibut any hearty fish)
1 jar of spaghetti sauce
small jar of capers
onion
garlic
cilantro
olive oil

In a 5 1/2 quart pot,  saute the onions and garlic until translucent (season with salt and pepper).  Add sauce to onions and garlic, simmer on low for 10 minutes then add about half a jar of capers. Add the fish to pot.  (if you do lots of fish you can transfer to a roasting pan and cook in the oven - it can bee cooked stovetop or in the oven).  My dad cooks it for 10-15 minutes but he likes his fish not fully cooked so I would say it took about 30 minutes to fully cook.  Plate up and serve with chopped cilantro on top. Serves 4 people.

Israeli Cous Cous with Mushrooms

1 cup Israeli Cous Cous (also called pearled cous cous)
I use the box variety, it is plain so I follow the directions on preparation on the box)
1 pint (small container) shitake mushrooms (you can use any type)
1/2 shallot
olive oil

Chop the mushrooms and saute in pot with chopped shallots, season with salt and pepper.  Add in Cous Cous to flavor it up.  Add the water and cook as per box instructions.  Serve with fish or any dish you desire.

I am sorry some of my recipes are not super technical and "perfect"  they are recipes we do at home and sometimes off the cuff so to speak.  They are tasty.

Enjoy!

Sunday Dinners

I have really wanted to get into the mode of making nice family dinners. Last week was Halloween so we just had pizza but this week I had a plan.

I had a nice London Broil and decided it was time to make it.

Pepper Crusted Steak with Horseradish cream on Garlic Crostini

Marinade

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon peppercorns, cracked

1/3 cup of olive oil

2 lbs of London Broil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a Large ziploc bag completely covering meat. Let all air out of bag and let sit at least 6 hours, or overnight.

Preheat grill or broiler for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle meat with salt, grill or broil until med rare (or however you prefer your meat to be cooked). Cooking time will depend on thickness of the meat.

Let the meat stand for at least an hour, then slice thin. Serve on Crostini. Top with Horseradish sauce.

For my Crostini I had some roasted garlic from my butternut squash soup that I mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I cut the bread on an angle and then with my silicone brush put the garlic/olive oil mixture on them. I then put in the broiler (Our grill did not have any propane).

The Horseradish sauce I made was

1/3 cup of horseradish

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 pepper

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 cup of sour cream

I also made a Butternut Squash Soup. The recipe is from my husband (who attended Culinary school - The Culinary Institute of America)**

1 Butternut Squash

1 1/2 head of garlic

1 onion

1 leek

salt

pepper

1/2 ginger

2 sprigs of thyme

1/2 lemon

Olive oil

32 oz Chicken Stock

Preheat oven to 350. Oil, salt and pepper squash. Place on a baking sheet and bake, rotating squash every 15 minutes until tender. Sweat the onion and leeks in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. When squash is tender, immediately remove squash from skins - very hot but it comes out easier this way. Add squash to onion and leeks. Puree squash, onion and leeks. Simmer 15 minutes. Add warm chicken stock, slowly, pureeing as you go. I tend to like it think but make it a little thinner because you will let it simmer for 20-30 minutes and it thickens up then. You don't need to use all the stock but I usually do. While it simmers I put the ginger (chopped) into a sachet and the same for the thyme (2 separate sachets).

I do another puree in the middle of simmering. Serve warm with Cream Fraiche on top. It is great to keep in the house during the winter. It is one of my favorites. Enjoy.

Enjoy.

Fasting = Feast

I am fasting today as part of my religion. While this may be my least favorite holiday obligation it is sort of my favorite holiday.

I love the "Break Fast" food.

All my faves bagels, cream cheese, lox, whitefish oh the list goes on and we traditionally break it first by having an nice Bloody Mary. That's the way we roll in my house.

Years ago I made an egg salad. No biggie but it has now become a MUST HAVE at our table. I know I am making it but a few nights ago, late by my standards (9:30) my step mother calls and says, "you are making egg salad, right? Hugh and Jeannette are coming over and you know how they love your egg salad." To which I replied, "absolutely, how could I not?"

So, this am while I am fasting I will make the egg salad.

Zee's Fab.U.Lous Egg Salad (at least to my peeps it is)

1 dozen Large Eggs

2 1/2 Tablespoons Mayo (more or less to your liking)

2 Tablespoons finely chopped Capers

1 Tablespoons finely chopped Shallot

1 Squirt of Dijon Mustard (again more or less to your liking)

2 Teaspoons finely chopped Tarragon

Place eggs in pot with 1 inch of water covering, once water is boiling cover for 1 minute then turn off water and let covered pot sit for 15 minutes. Prep other ingredients. Remove eggs from water and put into ice water bowl to cool. Peel and cut eggs, separating whites and yolks. Chop whites. Mash egg yolks and mayo. Combine all ingredients. Serve on top of a salad or your favorite bread.

Bon Appetit!

You Must Try This Despite the Name

Over the weekend a friend was telling me about a great dessert she makes.

Me, always in for a good recipe says, sure what is it?

She is describing tasty goodness to me and I ask what is it called? She says the first time she smelled it at a friend's house (amazing) her friend told her she could not tell her the name until after she ate it.

But this was not going to be the case but before she told me she did tell me how much EVERYONE loves this new dessert she is making ALL THE TIME NOW (and so is her mom ;) ).

Ok

Are You Ready?

DUMP CAKE

Yes I said it, Dump Cake!

So EASY AND SO GOOD.

Here we go:

2 Cans of Cherry Filling (21 oz cans)

**Some recipes I looked up called for 1 can Cherry and 1 can Pineapple - not so into pineapple so went with double cherry - but you could probably use any filling - next time**

1 box of vanilla cake mix (my friend uses white cake mix but I used Vanilla)

2 Sticks of butter

Preheat oven to 350. Dump cans of filling into greased 9 x 13 PYREX baking dish (do not spread). Sprinkle cake mix over the filling (do not spread, sprinkle). Cut butter up into little slices (I did teaspoon slices) and spread them out evenly over the cake mix. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour (looks golden and bubbly).

Serve warm with Vanilla Ice Cream. It is delish. Can you believe my kids even liked it? A dessert with fruit. It is almost cobbler like. YUMMY!

Enjoy it!

Zizette

Happy Weekend

My husband's family has a Lake House.

The house from the lake

We love to spend our weekends there, especially during the summer.

We do lots of this

New boat with tubing gear to go

and this

That is MY boy skiing

and just general hanging out with the family.

Maya, Zach, Jack (my nephews), Sam and Alexis (my niece)

We really have lots of fun. It's been a long time since we have all been up there at the same time because two years ago my mother in law was diagnosed with ALL (a serious type of Leukemia that mostly children get). She went through Chemo and then a Stem Cell transplant in September of 2008. I am very happy to say that she is doing fantastic!

She is allowed to be around us, have us sleep over and be around her. It was very nice to spend this past weekend all together (7 grandchildren there to enjoy her and she enjoy them - not to mention her children and their spouses).

We cooked, ate, played, talked and watched movies. It was so very nice.

This is also when we cooked the shrimp and clams.

Oh and one more thing, over the weekend my sister in law made, I guess it is called Roasted Kale. Hello, fabulous!

Roasted Kale

One head of Kale, cut of the ribs (white part)

Olive oil (preferably in a Misto but not required)

Salt

Pepper

Cut the ribs off the kale and then cut kale into smaller pieces (larger than bit size, maybe the size of your inner palm). Spread onto a cookie sheet covered with Aluminum foil. Spray with olive oil and then salt and pepper. Roast (bake in a 375 oven) for 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

I was thinking about this today and thought that the Kale when roasted would be a perfect garnish around a platter of roasted vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, Portabello mushrooms, etc). Sorry I got caught up in food again.

In any case, the weekend was fabulous and we had a great time. I hope you all did too.

My Promise

I did promise this year that at least once a week I would try a new recipe I have never made before so I did.

An Awesome Spinach-Artichoke Dip.

Now I always make that spinach dip from Knorr and it is so very tasty but I wanted to try to make the one like the restaurants.

And I did. It was pretty easy. I would add more cheese next time. We had so much extra since our company had to cancel but we found great ways to utilize this dip. (I ate it every day as a little snack - ;) but don't tell anyone). Hubby put it in top of his chicken cutlets that I made.

I used a recipe from one my favorite gals, Paula Deen.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip

• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach
• 2 (13 3/4-ounce) cans artichoke hearts
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup grated pepper jack cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a casserole dish with nonstick spray.

Heat the spinach in a microwave oven on high for 5 minutes and squeeze dry. Drain the artichoke hearts and coarsely chop in a food processor.

Combine all the ingredients except the jack cheese in a large bowl. Stir well. Scrape into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the jack cheese on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Transfer to a chafing dish and keep warm over a low flame. Serve with bagel chips.

I also served it with pita chips my husband made. Enjoy!

One Resolution

I guess I may have more but today I decided on this one and it is probably the one I can most likely keep, to make 1 new recipe per week.

You see, I love to cook and even more I love to bake. Always have.

I can remember back when I was 16-17 that I worked in a camp and decided to cook Mexican food (since I had just moved from Southern California to NY permanently) after camp one day.

So, I do vow to make 1 new recipe each week. (Mind you for those of you who did not know, my husband is a Culinary School Graduate from mind you the BEST culinary school AND he does NOT regularly cook for us!) SHAME ON HIM>

SO, I will do this experiment.

Today, I cooked a mean Butternut Squash Soup ala Michael Chiarello.

Enjoy I know we will.

• Cook Time:

  25 min

• Level:

  Easy

• Yield:

  4 servings

Recipe Tools:

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Ingredients

For the soup:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diced onion
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced celery
• 1/4 cup (1/4-inch) diced carrot
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Sea salt, preferably gray salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• About 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon ground toasted coriander, optional
• 1 1/2 cups Roasted Winter Squash recipe
• 1/2 cup half-and-half, optional

To serve:

• 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese, optional
• 2 tablespoons toasted pumpkin seeds, optional

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and cinnamon stick and saute until soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken stock and the coriander, if using, and bring to a boil. Simmer for several minutes. Stir in the squash until smooth, then simmer gently to let the flavors meld, about 10 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. (The soup can be made ahead to this point, cooled, covered, and refrigerated for several days or frozen for about 1 month. It will thicken as it cools and may need thinning with stock or water when reheating.)

Return the soup to the pan and reheat gently. Add the half-and-half, if using. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Keep warm until service.

To serve:

Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Garnish evenly, with the cheese and pumpkin seeds, if desired.