hot cocoa mix.

I know, I know, it’s summer.  This morning our house was a little chilly and I thought that a mocha sounded perfect. Making your own mocha can be quite simple, provided you have some homemade cocoa mix handy. I love having this mix around. It works great for cocoa, but when you use coffee in place of the milk, voila! You have a mocha.

Hot Cocoa Mix

2 c. nonfat dry milk powder
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. powdered nondairy creamer (I use vanilla)
1/8 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients and store in air tight container. To make cocoa, mix 3-5 T. of mix with hot milk or water. To make a mocha, mix 3-5 T. with hot coffee.

pesto power.

I love pesto! So does Joe! So do the kids! It is so versatile. You can use it in place of marinara on a pizza. You can toss pasta in it. You can stuff chicken breasts with pesto and cheese. You can make little fancy appetizers with a baguette, cheese and cherry tomatoes. Catch my drift? It’s just good to have around. The recipe itself is also versatile. The traditional recipe calls for pine nuts, but walnuts and even sunflower seeds (like this recipe) work well.  The original recipe also calls for Parmesan. You could certainly substitute Romano, or for you health conscious folks, skip the cheese altogether.  For you dorky, yet health conscious people, you can use nutritional yeast in place of the cheese. This not only makes your pesto vegan, but adds protein, vitamins and a delightfully cheesy taste.

I love to make the pesto and freeze it in an ice cube tray. Which, really brought back some memories from my baby food making days! This way, you have the pesto frozen into small quantities that are ready to use. I usually add a little fresh lemon juice to my pesto once it has defrosted to freshen it up.

Pesto

2/3 c. sunflower seeds (pine nuts or walnuts)

5 c. loosely packed basil leaves

1 1/4 c. Extra virgin olive oil

1/2 c. nutritional yeast (parmesan or romano)

8 garlic cloves

Salt and pepper to taste

Pulse nuts or seeds in blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and pulse. Store in fridge or freezer…or use right away! Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice before using.

 

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Risotto.

Have you ever made risotto? I used to be so intimidated by risotto. Eventually, my love for this dish won out and I tried a recipe. What I didn’t anticipate was how much my children would love it.  Really, what’s not to love about rice and cheese? Since I’ve conquered making risotto, we have tried mushroom risotto, roasted red pepper risotto,  and just plain old Parmesan risotto. I’ve made risotto so much this past year, that I now feel comfortable creating my own recipe.  Here is the result! It was so creamy and turned out just perfectly.

Asparagus & Goat Cheese Risotto

1/4 c. onion, chopped

4 T. butter

12 oz.  Arborio rice

1 qt. chicken broth

2 c. water

1 c. chopped fresh asparagus

2 oz. goat cheese

Chop asparagus and place in microwavable bowl. Cover with saran wrap and set aside. Chop onion.  Heat butter in medium sized pot over medium heat. Saute onion until translucent.  Meanwhile, combine chicken broth and water in separate pot and warm over medium-low heat.  Add Arborio and stir well, coating with melted butter. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add 1/2 c. broth and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring, until broth is mostly absorbed. Repeat in 1/2 c. increments until rice is done, but al dente. You will not use all of the liquid. This should take about 2 1/2 c. – 3 1/2 c. total.  When rice is almost done, microwave asparagus for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until just beginning to soften.  Remove risotto from heat and stir in asparagus, cheese and season with salt and pepper.

homemade enchilada sauce.

Ever made your own enchilada sauce? It is very, very easy to make and tastes infinitely better than the canned, full of preservative stuff! I like to make this and freeze portions to use in recipes. This recipe makes enough to store about 2) 25 oz. portions. We love it in our favorite, versatile enchilada recipe. It’s a good one, you can make it in the crock pot as a casserole, or the traditional- rolled up enchiladas.

Enchilada Sauce

Source: All Recipes

1/2 c. vegetable oil

4 T. flour

1/2 c. chili powder

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

3 c. water

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. onion salt

additional salt

Heat oil in stock pot over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder. Reduce heat to medium heat and continue to stir well. Gradually stir in remaining ingredients, whisking away clumps. Once slightly thickened, season with salt. Cool and freeze as desired.

do as i say.

You know, I usually try to keep the recipe posts on the blog to original recipes only. But, every once in awhile, there is something sooooo delicious that I just have to share!

Go to my cooking blog immediately and make this:

Asparagus & Gruyere Tart

cream of chicken soup mix.

In the foodie world, recipes that contains a can of cream of chicken (or mushroom, etc) soup is frowned upon. I’m not quite sure why it is considered so particularly tacky, but I do know that those cans of soup have a lot of sodium and other mystery ingredients. As much as I like to try my hand at challenging recipes, some of my favorite recipes call for a can of  “cream of” soup.  This is a great recipe that will not only save you money, but tastes even better than the stuff in the can without all of the salt. As is, this recipe is for cream of chicken soup. You can easily transform it into cream of mushroom or cream of celery by adding sauteed mushrooms or celery while cooking.

Cream of Chicken Soup Mix

2 c. powdered milk

3/4 c. corn starch

1/4 c. chicken bullion granules

2 T. dried minced onion

1 t. dried thyme

1/2 t. basil

1/2 t. oregano

1/2 t. pepper

Combine all ingredients and blend well. Store in airtight container. To make soup, combine 1/2 c. mix and 1 1 /4 c. water. Cook over stove until thick and add 2-3 t. butter or margarine. To make cream of mushroom or celery, add sauteed veggies while cooking. This recipe makes about 9-10 cans worth of soup.

recipe source about.com

Menu Monday

Here is the Menu for the week of:

January 10-16

Mom’s Pot Roast

Chicken Enchiladas

Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Croissants

Chicken Pot Pie

Mushroom Pecorino Tarts

Mommy’s Clam Chowder.

My Mother is a fabulous cook! One of my favorite things that she makes is Clam Chowder soup. She makes it every year for Christmas. I usually only get to eat it once a year. I got the recipe from her last year and decided to make it at home. When the weather got colder this fall, I knew what I must do…make Mom’s Clam Chowder!!! This is the recipe that she emailed me. I have kept it in her words because her descriptions make me smile 🙂 If you are a Clam Chowder fan, you have to try this!

TURNER FISHERIES RESTAURANT’S CLAM CHOWDER

— Made famous by Mom

16 cherrystone clams, preferably fresh  (I use around 4 cans of diced or minced clams)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup clarified butter – I clarify the butter somewhat

1 large clove garlic, minced – I use 2 cloves

2 ribs celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1/4 tsp thyme – I use my lemon thyme if I have it – and probably more of it

Optional:  white pepper

Optional: 1 bay leaf —  I use one

Approximately 32 oz. clam juice, including that reserved from steamed clams —-& chic broth if you need to

1 large potato, diced – I like 2 potatoes

1 pt whipping cream

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Wash clams thoroughly.  Place them in a heavy-bottomed pot with water.  Cover tightly and steam until clams open, approx three – five minutes.  Remove clams from shells; chop coarsely and reserve, along with broth in a separate container. I have never done this but it sounds like fun –  fresh clams in Nebraska – kind of scary

In the same pot, gently heat clarified butter and add garlic; saute two to three minutes. Add onion, celery, thyme and optional spices. Saute until onions are translucent.

Add flour to make a roux, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and cooking one to two minutes.  Be careful that mixture does not brown or burn.

Slowly add clam juice, stirring to avoid lumps. Simmer one minute.  Add potatoes and cook until tender.  Stir well to avoid clumping.  Add cream and clams; return to a quick boil and season to taste with pepper.  Makes  8-10 servings.

——————————————– My version:

I start by draining the 4 cans of clams and saving all the liquid – you need 32 oz of liquid, I usually use a combination of liquid from the cans, bottled clam juice and/or chicken broth. It is best to get at least one bottle of clam juice, but if you can’t find it, just use chicken broth to get the liquid up to 32 oz.   Just set this all aside.

Next melt in your soup pot – 1/2 cup butter  – I usually clarify it a bit, but I quickly get tired of doing that, so I don’t do it completely or properly — add 2 cloves of garlic minced and saute just a couple of minutes, Add chopped onion, chopped celery, lemon thyme, and optional spices — saute until onions are translucent.

Add 1/2 cup flour in little bits at a time,  to make a roux, stirring constantly, and cooking 1-2 minutes – don’t brown it-  or you have to start all over

Slowly add the 32 oz of liquids, stirring to avoid lumps.  Simmer one minute, stirring constantly.  Add potatoes and cook until tender. Stir well to avoid clumping.  Add the cream and clams; return to a quick boil and season with pepper & salt to taste.

Cuban Sandwiches.

Mmmmmm! Here is another recipe I created to copy something from a restaurant. We’ll just call this particular restaurant…um…Rock Town. 🙂

I love this sandwich. It has a bunch of things that I don’t usually care for individually; pork, ham, and mustard.  But, put them all together and something magical happens! This is definitely not an authentic Cuban sandwich, but I’d venture to say that it is an authentic copy of  “Rock Town’s” version.

Cuban Sandwiches

3 lb. pork sirloin roast

juice of one lime

1/3 c. sherry

3 T. Olive Oil

2 t. salt

1/4 t. crushed black pepper

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 t. oregano

Combine marinade ingredients and pour over roast in crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until meat is done.

6 slices deli ham

6 slices provolone cheese

6 ciabatta rolls

Prepared mustard (use your favorite, I used Grey Poupon, yes that name still makes me giggle :))

sliced dill pickles

Garlic Aioli:

1/3 c. mayo

3 garlic cloves, pressed

juice of 1/2 lemon

Cook pork in crock pot. Remove from heat. Mix ingredients to make aioli.
When pork is warm, slice into 1/2″ thick slices.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice  and toast ciabatta rolls. Spread top slice with mustard and bottom slice with aioli. To assemble sandwiches: top the bottom slice of ciabatta with a layer of pickles, pork, ham, then provolone.  Place on cookie sheet. Leave top slice of ciabbatta (with mustard) off of sandwich, place mustard side up on cookie sheet. Bake open faced sandwiches and sandwich tops for about 10 minutes, until cheese is melted. Place top slice of ciabatta on sandwich and serve.

Easiest Chicken broth.

Making your own chicken broth is an easy, peasy way to save money. If you are someone who uses chicken broth, you know how expensive it is. Bullion cubes and crystals just don’t taste the same! This “recipe” is so incredibly easy and I like to make it whenever I will need cooked chicken for a lot of recipes during the week. That way I can stockpile  some broth in the freezer and save time by cooking my chicken before I need it.

Step 1. Grab your largest stock pot.

Step 2. Throw in uncooked chicken (whole, breasts, legs, anything)and any random vegetable scraps you have lying around. Things like carrots, peppers, onions, garlic, asparagus, celery and parsley work well.

Step 3. Fill pot with water and cook until chicken is done, but still juicy.

Step 4. Remove chicken and simmer to reduce broth.

Step 5. Strain and smoosh juices from the veggies into the broth. Season with salt as desired.

Step 6. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. Skim fat from the top of broth using slotted spoon.

Step 7. Transfer to freezable containers and freeze!

I got 12 cups of chicken broth from this batch. It is so much better for you than the store bought broth and soooo much cheaper.