Rigatoni in Tomato and Red Wine Sauce

To watch this Video-Recipe please click HERE!!

Hi everyone today´s recipe is an original recipe from Jaime Marin of Comiendo Rico. I hope
you enjoy my version. Enjoy!

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Rigatoni (or any other pasta you like)
• 20oz Ground meat (I used turkey)
• 1 1/2 cups Baby Porto Bello mushrooms cut in thin slices
• 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 1 whole garlic clove to cook the pasta
• 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme
• 1 sprig of fresh basil
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 1 cup or red wine
• 2 tablespoon of chicken flavor bouillon
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese to taste, to garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

Cook the pasta in boiling water. Season the water with plenty of salt, a splash of extra virgin olive oil,
1 garlic clove, and 2 bay leaves. Cook the pasta until "Al Dente", then drain and set aside. Until ready to use.

In a large saucepan, on medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and saute 3/4 of the chopped onion for 1 minute, add in half the chopped garlic and continue to saute for another minute; add in about 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme, give it a quick stir, and season with 1 tablespoon of chicken flavor bouillon and  black pepper to taste, cook for about 1 minute, then add in the crushed tomatoes, a sprig of basil and a pinch of Cinnamon, let it cook on low heat until it comes to a boil.

In the meantime, in a large skillet on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil,
and cook the rest of the onion, the rest of the garlic, and 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, season this with a pinch of salt, black pepper to taste and 1 tablespoon of chicken flavor bouillon, cook for about 2 minutes just to soften the garlic and onion a little bit, then add in the meat, break it down with a spoon, and cook until golden brown,

Once the meat is done, mix it with the tomato sauce, add in the mushrooms, and the red wine, cook for another 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are soft. Once the mushrooms are done, remove the basil sprig from the sauce, taste the flavor, add more salt and pepper if needed.  Mix in the fresh parsley, give it a quick stir.

Serve the sauce over the pasta, or mix in the pasta with the sauce and then serve.  Garnish with more fresh parsley and Parmesan Cheese to taste.

Enjoy!

Easy Peasy Blueberry Tart

I had a ball of leftover pie crust dough last week. It had been in the refrigerator for a bit and I knew I needed to do something with it or I'd end up having to throw it away. I wanted to be able to use all of the dough and not have any scraps to mess with. I was also looking for quick and simple... hmmmm. What to do? I opened the freezer, as I am wont to do these days, trying to find things I can clean out of there in preparation for our impending move at the end of this month (yes, I know, we just moved here, right?). I saw a bag of frozen blueberries and knew that my crust was gonna marry those blueberries.

I decided on a free-form tart. I rolled the dough out into a roughly circular shape. In a bowl, I mixed the frozen berries (about 2 cups) with 2 TBS of cornstarch, a 1/4 cup of sugar, a teaspoon of lemon zest, and a few shavings of fresh nutmeg. I stirred that all together and plopped it in middle of the crust.

I folded up the edges and made an egg wash. I brushed all exposed crust surfaces so that they might develop a beautiful golden luster in the oven. Lastly, I sprinkled toasted sliced almonds and sanding sugar on the top of the crust. I baked it at 400 F until the crust was nice and golden (I think it took about 35 minutes). It was delicious! So quick and easy!

Majadra

I know what you must be thinking... two posts in two days! Stop the presses! It is somewhat exciting. My little boy is starting to go to bed earlier and earlier. Tonight, he was in bed asleep by 7:30. To top it all off, my husband is out of town on business. My time is my own this evening. It doesn't happen that often these days, so I figured I'd make the most of it.

I celebrated by making another of those sandwiches I've been so fond of lately and then made a big old pot of this delicious dish. It may not be much to look at, but, boy, does it have some flavor! Majadra is of Lebanese origin and has rice, lentils, and caramelized onions. It also has a hint of spice and is absolutely delightful. You can serve it as a side dish or a main dish. I like to fill a bowl full to the brim and eat it with a spoon. It's very tasty. The best part is that it makes a decent amount and it tastes just as good reheated the rest of the week. It makes a perfect leftover lunch.

The other nice thing about it is that it's pretty simple to make. While it's not fast, it takes about an hour to complete it, the actual prep work is minimal and involves slicing an onion. That's it! Really! Okay, you also have to slice open a lemon for a little bit of juice, but, who's keeping track?

You start by putting the lentils on to simmer and caramelizing the onions. These two tasks take about the same amount of time, about half an hour. When the onions are starting to develop some really nice color, throw in a small stick of cinnamon. If you don't have a stick, you can also add just a dash of ground, but the stick adds more of an aromatic component to the dish rather than a flavor you taste with your tongue.

Once the lentils are tender and the onions are caramelized, you add the Batsmati rice to the onions to toast slightly. Then you add the drained lentils, boiling water, and cumin; cover it; and cook for twenty more minutes. After twenty minutes, you open the pot and fluff the rice. Spritz a couple teaspoons of fresh lemon juice over and add salt to taste (I think I added between 1/2 and 1 teaspoons).

Majadra
Yield: 6-8 servings

1 large onion, halved and sliced thinly
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup green lentils
water to cover lentils by 1-2 inches
1  2" cinnamon stick
1 1/4 cup Batsmati rice
2 cups hot water
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
salt to taste

Heat a large pot and the oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very golden, about 30 minutes. Adjust the heat as needed to keep them from burning. At the same time, put the lentils in a sauce pan and cover with water so that it is one to two inches above the top of the lentils. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer to cook for 25-30 minutes. The lentils should be tender about the time the onions are done. If the lentils are done before the onions, simply turn off the heat and let them sit. Drain the lentils once the onions are done.

When the onions are about 5 minutes away from being done, add the cinnamon stick and stir. Once the onions are nicely golden, add the rice and toast, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes. Add the lentils, the cumin, and the water. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce to a very gentle simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. After twenty minutes, turn off the heat. Let sit 5 minutes. Remove the cover, add the lemon juice and salt and fluff gently with a fork.

Chicken and Herb Cheese Panini

 We eat a lot of sandwiches in our house, but this has to be my very favorite of all time. I wish I could say that the idea for this sandwich was my own, but - alas - it is not. I have to thank Panera for this one. Unfortunately, they've already "retired" this sandwich; how dare they!?! Last winter, they had this great hot panini with turkey, herbed cheese spread, and a cranberry moutarde. To be honest, it didn't taste much like a mustard based spread, which suits me fine; it seemed more like a cranberry relish. I make a mean cranberry-orange marmalade that I thought might taste divine in this application. So, after I realized my favorite sandwich was not going to make it to their regular menu, I decided to start making my own version at home.

The first step was to realize that it had my favorite cheese spread on it. Boursin cheese is one of those products that I dream about. I look for reasons to have company over so that I might justify having the stuff in my refrigerator. It's not figure friendly, and, when it's in my refrigerator, I feel compelled to eat half a baguette at a time slathered in the stuff. The good news? For a sandwich application, the Boursin Light tastes great! Hallelujah!

The next step is to choose the correct bread. This requires a high quality ciabatta bread. I often make my own, but certain little babies have been keeping from spending much time in the kitchen lately. I've recently found a brand of ciabatta that I really like called New French Bakery "Take and Bake." It's only in limited stores, but if it's in yours, grab it!

Cut yourself a nice sized sandwich and then slice the bread in half to open it up. Slather one side with the Boursin cheese. On the other side, I spread my cranberry-orange marmalade. You could probably approximate the flavor by mixing cranberry sauce and orange marmalade. Then pile on a nice bit of fresh spinach. The last item is the chicken or turkey. There are a number of ways you can fulfill the meat quota on this sandwich. You can use some leftover meat from a roast chicken or turkey dinner. You could slice chicken from a grocery store rotisserie bird. You could also pan saute a chicken breast (or tenderloin) with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika and then slice it to put on the sandwich. That's the route I took the last two times I made this sandwich.

 After putting the sandwich together, get your panini "press" set up. I don't have a real one, so I just used a saute pan with a cast iron skillet pressing it down. Pre-heat the pan and lightly brush the outside of the sandwich with olive oil before toasting over medium heat. Grill until lightly golden on each side.

The combination of flavors in this sandwich is divine! It's such a nice change of pace from your standard grilled cheese sandwich. Who needs Panera, anyway?

Spicy Chicken Stir-Fry

To watch this Video-Recipe please click HERE

Hi everyone! This week's recipe is another Chinese inspired dish! Easy, delicious, budget friendly  and really easy to make, "Spicy chicken Stir-fry!"

Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 2 large chicken breasts cut into thin strips
• 2 cups of bell peppers cut into thin strips
• 1 cup of carrots cut into thin strips
• 1 white onion cut into thin strips
• 1 cup of sugar snap peas
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of ground garlic
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of dry cilantro
• ground black pepper and salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• pinch of crushed red pepper or 2-3 Japanese chilis or Chile de Arbol
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Combine 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar with 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 tablespoon of dry cilantro, 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper and 1 teaspoon of ground garlic.  Mix everything together, until well combined, then season the chicken with this mixture. (Save about 1 tablespoon of this spicy mixture to season the vegetables.)

In a wok or a large skillet, preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, once the oil is hot, add in chicken and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it a side for a minute. (It doesn't matter if the chicken is completely cooked, it will finish cooking later)

Now preheat the same skillet, add 1 more tablespoon of vegetable oil, and once the oil is hot ,add in the onions and the carrots, stir fry for about 1 minute, then add in the bell peppers and the sugar snap peas, give it a quick stir, and season with 1 tablespoon of the spicy mixture we made earlier. Continue to stir fry for about 3 more minutes or until the vegetable get the consistency that you like. (I like my vegetables to be crisp, so I never cook them for more than 5 minutes.)


After the vegetables are ready, then add in 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Bring back the chicken into the skillet and season with crushed red pepper to taste or you could also add 2-3 Chile de Arbol or Japanese chiles. Give it a quick stir so the chicken can absorb all of the flavors in the skillet, taste the flavor and add any more salt and pepper if needed.  Continue to stir fry for about 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked and heated through.


Serve with rice and garnish with chopped green onions! Enjoy

Wheat Berry and Arugula Salad

OK, OK I know I"m kind of on a roll here with salads but I had my left over Arugula so I thought I would make this. This is definitely one of the better things I've made in our marriage. A tad laborious but definitely worth the mix of flavors and textures. The recipe I made did not call for feta like what's pictured here but I bet it would have been great with some feta or bleu cheese crumbles in it. I hadn't planned on Beau eating any because he doesn't like a lot of the stuff in the salad but he had some and loved it!

Ingredients

For the dressing:

• 1 cup orange juice (from about 2-3 oranges) - I used pulpy orange juice
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp. agave nectar (or honey or sugar)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

For the salad:

• 1 cup wheat berries, uncooked
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry, and chopped
• 2 oz. kalamata olives, sliced
• black pepper, to taste
• 8 oz. baby arugula
• garnish with green onions if desired

Instructions

1. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot with a 1/2 tsp. salt. Once the water is boiling, stir in wheat berries and partially cover. Cook for one hour, stirring often, until wheat berries are tender but chewy.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by simmering the orange juice in a small sauce pan until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 15 minutes. Pour reduced orange juice into a small bowl and cool in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. Whisk together the cooled orange juice reduction with the cilantro, lime juice, water, oil, agave nectar, cumin, garlic, salt, paprika and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
3. To assemble the salad, toss the chickpeas, red peppers, olives, and wheat berries in a medium bowl with half of the dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. In a separate bowl, toss arugula with remaining dressing. Divide among 4 plates and top each with 1 cup of the wheat berry mixture. If you are making it ahead of time or plan on having leftovers the next day, do not toss the arugula with the dressing ahead of time. Simply pour the dressing on top of arugula right before serving.

Asparagus, White bean, Arugula Salad

Vegan Recipe I"m posting for my own records since I know the the Jewkes' are picky picky eaters! Fast, really yummy, worth a try if you're trying to get all you vitamins and nutrients and cut the processed stuff out.

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced 1/8 inch thick (about 1 cup)
• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed of tough ends and cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces
• 1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, plus 2 tsp.
• 14 oz. arugula (1 large bunch), washed, dried, and stemmed (about 6 cups lightly packed)

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in nonstick skillet over high heat until it just begins to smoke; stir in onion and cook until beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Add asparagus, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper; cook until asparagus is browned and tender-crisp, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Off heat, stir in beans; transfer to large plate and let cool 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, whisk remaining 3 tbsp. oil, vinegar, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper in medium bowl until combined. In large bowl, toss arugula with 2 tbsp. dressing and divide among salad plates. Toss asparagus mixture with remaining dressing, place a portion over arugula, and serve.

Enchilada Casserole

pic and recipe courtesy of jamiecooksitup.net

This sounded so good to me and it was DELICIOUS! I was surprised at how yummy it was. I am DEFINITELY making it again. Even my husband asked for seconds and my three year old ate it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped (I used minced dried onions)
1 T minced garlic
salt and pepper
1 (14.5 ounce) can Mexican stewed tomatoes
3 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 1/2 T taco seasoning
1 t lime juice
1/2 C sour cream
1 T butter
9 flour tortillas
3-4 C cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:
Brown beef with onions and garlic. Season with S&P. Add tomatoes and chilies and beans. Then add seasoning. Incorporate. Then add butter and sour cream and lime juice. Bring to a low boil. Spray the bottom of a 9x13. Spoon 1/3 of meat sauce into pan. Layer three tortillas, slightly overlapping. Add another layer of meat then top with cheddar cheese. Then tortillas, then meat, then cheese. Cook at 350, covered for about 45 minutes. (I accidentally cooked mine uncovered and it was done in 30 minutes and it was slightly crispy and DELICIOUS!). I topped mine with tortilla chips.