Cleaning Out the Fridge Quesadilla

I don’t know about you, but I always have odds and ends in my fridge left over from other recipes. I struggle with using everything up so it doesn’t go to waste; as a result I came up with this recipe. Think of this recipe as a guide and not the rule. Be creative and clean out that fridge!

Cleaning Out the Fridge Quesadilla

Ingredients:

one flour tortilla
olive oil

handful of roasted red pepper slices
handful of sliced mushrooms
handful of sliced onions
fresh mozzarella, broken into pieces (crumbled goat cheese would also be fabulous!)
salt & pepper
sour cream
chopped scallions, chives, or cilantro

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet and heat over medium high heat. 

Add onions and mushrooms and cook 5-10 minutes, or until the mushrooms have rendered their excess water and the onions are about half-way caramelized. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. 

Add tortilla to the pan and pan fry until lightly browned. 

Fill tortilla with onions, mushrooms, roasted red pepper, and cheese, then fold over. 

Place in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes so the cheese can melt and the flavors blend.

Top with sour cream and scallions, chives, or cilantro.

Makes 1 quesadilla

Source: A Food, Folks, and Fun original!

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Sausage, Broccolini & Garlic Cream Pasta

This pasta dish was MARVELOUS! My hubs and I agreed that it was “restaurant-quality”, and the best part is that it was quick and easy to make. I did up my Mise en place while the pasta water was brought up to a boil, and finished everything else off while the pasta cooked. This recipe will definitely be added to my quick-and easy weekday dinner repartuar.

Note: The recipe calls for a specific pasta, Strozzapreti, but I think any fun-shaped pasta will do.

Sausage, Broccolini & Garlic Cream Pasta

If you've never tried broccolini, I suggest you do...it's a wonderful combination of broccoli and asparagus.

For the recipe, visit The Luna Café

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Key Lime Bars

I LOVE key lime pie! I had my very first taste of real key lime pie (not the florescent green goop you get in the grocery store) on my family’s very first trip to the Florida Keys when I was 13. Ever since that fateful day I’ve been hooked.

I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but here’s a picture of my sister, my grandpa, and I during our first visit to the keys on a catamaran.

Oy...check out those glasses and high-waisted shorts!

I wanted to branch out and try something other than a pie, so when I found this recipe for key lime bars I knew it was a must-try. The original recipe for these bars calls for animal crackers to make the crust instead of gingersnaps. When I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for these bars the only animal crackers I could find were the frosted variety and those just won’t do. So, I decided to go with gingersnaps. I love the spicy contrast the gingersnaps give to the tangy lime filling…I highly recommend it!

Key Lime Bars

Ingredients:

Crust

5 oz gingersnaps

3 T packed brown sugar (light or dark)

  Pinch table salt

4 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Filling

2 oz cream cheese , room temperature

1 T grated lime zest, minced

  Pinch table salt

1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg yolk

1/2 C fresh lime juice, either Key lime or regular

Garnish (optional)

1/4 C sweetened shredded coconut, toasted until golden and crisp

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

TO MAKE THE CRUST: In work bowl of food processor, pulse gingersnaps until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1-second pulses (if large sugar lumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.

TO MAKE THE FILLING: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

The bars hot from the oven.

Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days (but seriously I doubt you’ll have leftovers); crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)

The bars removed from the pan and cut.

The finished product with a little sprinkling of toasted coconut.

Makes 16 2-inch bars

Source: adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

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Caramel Cupcakes - Inspired by "The Help"

So, I’ve been a little M.I.A. from my blog lately and it’s all because of the book, “The Help”. Have you read it yet? If you haven’t, you should because it is especially good. At any given point I have 3-4 books on my nightstand that I rotate through, so it usually takes me a while to get through an entire book. But not this book—once I picked it up I couldn’t put it down! I ended up “binge-reading” it in just a few nights.

I believe a new classic has been born here with Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help”. I can see this book being taught in schools right alongside another one of my favorites, “To Kill a Mocking Bird”. The three women who take turns narrating each chapter of “The Help”; good-hearted Aibileen, sassy and hot-tempered Minny, and budding idealist Miss Skeeter do so in such separate and distinct voices. The stories each person tells gives an insiders’ view of what it’s like to live in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi for both African American maids and the white women they work for.  

Food was talked about frequently in the book, especially Minny’s Caramel Cake. This is how it’s described:

           

Minny near bout the best cook in Hinds County, maybe even all a Mississippi.  The Junior League Benefit come around ever fall and they be wanting her to make ten caramel cakes to auction off.  She ought a be the most sought-after help in the state.

After reading that excerpt I immediately started an image search (when searching for a recipe I always do an image search, because after all we eat with our eyes first, right?) on Google for caramel cake. This cake seemed a little old fashioned for me, so I decided to bring it into the 21^st century by turning them into cupcake, because seriously…who doesn’t like cupcakes?!? These cupcakes were out of this world! I’d eat either the frosting or the cake on their own…but together they are a match made in heaven!! I think these cupcakes would be amazing during the fall, especially with maybe a little cinnamon apple mixed into the filling…can you say Ah-mazing! 

Caramel Cupcakes – Inspired by the book The Help

For the Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

2 C plus 2 T sifted cake flour
1 t baking powder
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 t pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature 30 minutes
1 C buttermilk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare the cupcake tin with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture may look curdled). Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing until each addition until just incorporated.

Fill each cupcake tin ¾ full (I used my favorite scoop to make the job easier).

Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean, 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, and then place cupcakes on a wire rack to cool completely, about 30-45 minutes.

When cupcakes are cool, use a paring knife to cut a chunk out of the center of the cupcake. 

Do ahead: Cake (before glazing) can be made 1 day ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature.

Makes 20 cupcakes.

Source: cake adapted from this recipe

For the Caramel Icing:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 C sugar
1 slightly beaten egg
1 stick of butter
3/4 C milk
1 t vanilla

Directions:

Melt 1/2 cup of sugar in iron skillet slowly, until brown and runny(this took me about 15-20 minutes).

The sugar finally starting to melt

The sugar all melted

Mix egg, butter, remaining sugar, and milk in a saucepan and cook over a low heat until butter melts. Turn the heat up to medium and add the browned sugar. Cook until it reaches the soft ball stage, 235°F. This will take about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and add vanilla.

Beat with a hand beater to whip air into the mixture and cool it down. Beat until right consistency to spread, this took about 7-8 minutes. If it gets too thick beat in a little cream to thin it out.

This is the consistancy I beat the icing to

Fill & frost the cupcakes. I found that using my trusty 1 ½ tablespoon scoop made the job SO much easier and less of a mess.

Let the Icing set for about 20-30 minutes (if you can wait that long…I sure couldn’t!) and then enjoy!

Can you tell I couldn't wait until the icing was set? I just couldn't help myself!

Makes enough icing to cover a 2-layer cake or 20 cupcakes

Source: Adapted from Kathryn Stockett’s (the author of The Help) website

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Melt 1/2 cup of sugar in iron skillet slowly, until brown and runny(this took me about 15-20 minutes).

Baked Banana and Blueberry Oatmeal

I made this for breakfast the other morning for my hubby and me. I love that this recipe was so deliciously wholesome with healthy ingredients. The banana flavor was extremely evident in this oatmeal, so if you’re not fond of a lot of banana flavor cut the bananas down from 4 to 2.

Baked Banana and Blueberry Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted

1/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for serving

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 super ripe bananas (the kind you’d make banana bread with)

2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a 11/2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon and half of the walnuts and set aside.

In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), mix the 2 super ripe bananas until nice and smooth. Add in the maple syrup, milk, egg, half of the melted butter, and the vanilla. Mix until well blended.

Place the sliced banana pieces from the 2 ripe bananas in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.

Banana slices in prepared casserole dish.

Sprinkle ½ cup of the fresh blueberries over the top of the bananas, then cover the blueberries with the oat mixture.

Drizzle the banana and milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute it as evenly as possible.

The mixture ready for the oven.

Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and walnuts over the top of the oats.

Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set.

Remove the oatmeal from the oven and drizzle the remaining butter over the top and serve.

You may choose to garnish with drizzled maple syrup or brown sugar although I don’t think you’ll need it.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: Inspired by this recipe

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Corn Chowder

While growing up in Connecticut, every summer family celebration included delicious corn on the cob from Rogers Orchards. Here in Arizona the only corn that’s grown locally is earmarked for livestock consumption…definitely not appetizing. So, frozen corn it is while I live in Arizona.   

Even though this recipe uses frozen verses fresh corn, the chowder brings out the best in the corn. My husband, who doesn’t normally like soup for dinner because it’s never filling enough, said that this soup was refreshingly hearty and filled you up like a good stew would.

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

7 C frozen corn (or good quality fresh corn stripped form the cob)

3 T unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped fine

4 slices bacon, halved lengthwise then cut into 1/4 inch pieces

2 t minced fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

¼ C all-purpose flour

5 C water

¾ pound red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 ¼ C half-and-half

Sugar

3 T chopped fresh basil

Instructions:

Melt butter in Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat; add onion, bacon, thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is softened and edges are beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add water and bring to boil. Add corn kernels and potatoes. Return to simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and cook until potatoes have softened, 15 to 18 minutes.

Process 2 cups chowder in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Return puree to chowder; add half-and-half and return to simmer. Remove pot from heat and season to taste with salt, pepper, and up to 1 tablespoon sugar. Serve, sprinkling with basil.

Makes 6 servings

Source: Adapter from July, 2011 Cook’s Illustrated

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Semi-Homemade Spinach & Mozzarella Ravioli

Yum! Who's hungry?

Recently I was asked what I do for dinner on the nights I don’t have time to spend an hour making dinner, and I thought my reply would make an excellent series of blog posts. So, every once and a while I’ll be posting “Semi Homemade” recipes that are not only quick and easy, but use ingredients that are easily found at the supermarket or Costco.

The Raviolis I get from Costco

I love this meal. The raviolis are ah-ma-zing and so easy to make (but be careful when cooking them because they’ll burst open if you boil them too rigorously…trust me, I know from experience). The tomato sauce is so fresh tasting, even though the tomatoes come from a can! I also use this sauce recipe over pasta with some sliced sausage or chicken…super yummy!

Semi-Homemade Spinach & Mozzarella Ravioli

Ingredients:

1/3 package Pasta Prima® Spinach & Mozzarella Ravioli (from Costco’s freezer section)

2 T Italian Herb Cheese Packet (included with the raviolis)

For the Sauce:

1 – 14 ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2 T olive oil

1/2 t garlic powder

1 t fennel seed

1 T chopped, fresh basil

Directions:

Cook the raviolis according to the package directions.

For the Sauce:

In a small saucepan over medium heat cook tomatoes, olive oil, garlic powder, and fennel seed. Cook the mixture until it comes up to a simmer and then turn off the heat.

My sauce cooking on the stove

Putting it Together:

Gently drain the raviolis with a slotted spoon and place in a shallow serving bowl. Let them sit for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle raviolis with 1 tablespoon of the Italian herb cheese packet. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the tomato mixture over the raviolis. Sprinkle with the remaining Italian herb cheese packet and top with the chopped basil.

Makes 3-4 servings (these little raviolis are very filling)

Source: A Food, Folks, and Fun original

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Fireworks Cookies

Happy Independence Day! The Fourth of July is seriously my favorite holiday ever! As a former history teacher I’m a self-proclaimed history buff…so of course I love this holiday! Other reasons why I love this holiday: you don’t have to buy anyone a gift, you get to have a barbeque with your friends and family, and to top it all off there’s a marvelous fireworks display at the end of the day! Seriously, which holiday could possibly be better?!?

This year we kicked off the July 4^th week with a little parade around a lake in our community. The parade started at 10:00 A.M. and by that point it was already a blistering 105°F! In spite of this Mia did great, she was her happy and chipper self. We ended the weekend with swimming, a family barbeque, and fireworks.

Mia ready for the parade.

The parade starts!

Mia workin' the 4th of July hat.

I love this shot...so cute!!!

More of the parade making its way around the lake.

Mia commandeering a police motorcycle.

Fireworks Cookies

I always love how sugar cookies decorated with royal icing looks, but I’ve never been crazy about how they taste or the time needed to execute them. While these cookies look amazing, I’m still not a fan of how they tasted or the amount of time (about 3 ½ hours from start to finish, aside from the dough chilling) it took to make them.

For the recipe, head on over to Martha Stewart’s website.

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Roman Pizza Series 5 of 5 - Sausage & Roasted Pepper Pizza

There are many things that I love about Rome, but my favorite (by far) are the all the fountains! Rome has more fountains than any other city in the world and these fountains have provided drinking water and decoration to Romans for more than 2000 years. Here are a few of my favorites from my trip:

The Fountain of Triton in Piazza Barberini that dates back to 1643. We'd pass this fountain everytime we went to and fro the Barberini Metro station.

Bees Fountain which serves as the dedication plaque for the Fountain of Triton.

The Fountain of Neptune found in Piazza Navona.

The Fountain of the Four Rivers also in Piazza Navona which was made my Bernini in 1651.

The Pantheon Fountain, 1577.

Even the drinking fountains are majestically beautiful!

This one's my favorite.

I have saved my favorite fountain for last…the Trevi Fountain! Our hotel, Hotel Accademia was located just steps to the Trevi. Every evening after dinner we’d grab some gelato and people watch around the Trevi. They say if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain that it’ll ensure a return visit to Rome. Hopefully this will ring true, because I desperately want to go back!

The beautiful Trevi!

Hoping for a return visit!

Now…onto the pizza! In my opinion, I saved the best pizza for last. Sausage and peppers is a classic combo, and on this pizza it’s divine! I personally like the hot sausage contrasting against the sweet bell peppers, but you can use any type of sausage you’d like.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Roman Pizza Series as much as I have. Buon appetito!

Roman Pizza Series 5 of 5 – Sausage & Roasted Pepper Pizza

Cook’s Notes: Once the dough has been placed in the oiled bowl, it can be transferred to the refrigerator and kept for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, before proceeding with step 4. When kneading the dough on high speed, the mixer tends to wobble and move on the counter.

Place a towel or shelf liner under the mixer and watch it at all times during mixing. Handle the dough with slightly oiled hands. Resist flouring your fingers or the dough might stick.

This recipe was developed using an 18- by 13-inch baking sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but because the pizza will be thicker, baking times will be longer. If not using a pizza stone, increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees and set the rack to the lowest position; the cooking time might increase by 3 to 5 minutes and the exterior won’t be as crisp.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough:

3 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 2/3 C water (13 1/2 ounces), room temperature

1 1/4 t table salt

1 1/2 t instant yeast

1 1/4 t sugar

5 T extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

Toppings:

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced and torn into pieces

2 sausage links (hot, mild, sweet…whatever your taste)

1 jarred roasted bell pepper

2-3 large basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1.  Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

2.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

3.  Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

4.  One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

5.  Drain the can of tomatoes over a bowl for 20-30 minutes.

6.  Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the sausage from casings and place in the preheated pan. Break up the sausage as it cooks so it breaks up into crumbles, continue until fully cooked. Drain the sausage of any pan grease and set aside.

7.  Remove the bell pepper from jar and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut the bell pepper into long, thin strips and set aside.

8.  Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

9.  Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  Take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle with drained tomatoes, mozzarella, sausage, and bell pepper. Return to the oven and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

10.  Using metal spatula, transfer pizza to cutting board and top with the chopped basil leaves. Let cool slightly and then slice and serve.

Serves 4-6

Source: Dough recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, toppings my own.

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