Lemon Spaghetti ~ 5.14.11

 I first made this recipe for spaghetti after watching Giada make it on her food network show. It sounded amazing to this lemon lover and what few ingredients! What a perfect springtime dinner. I made it in 2006 for Father's Day and everyone loved it.

Just this past week, I resurrected this lovely recipe to serve alongside Lucinda's chicken piccata. I had never made chicken piccata but after watching her make it on her show Mad Hungry, I knew it was doable and would compliment this spaghetti perfectly. 
As a note, I only used 2 very large chicken breasts- butterflied them (split them open like a book) and then pounded them thin. It served everyone in my family! I simply cut the breasts into servable pieces before I dipped them in the flour and cooked them. Really great weeknight meal.


 
Giada DeLaurentiis' Lemon Spaghettti

 I'm going to count this as a 5 ingredient recipe because S&P don't count and you use the lemon 2 ways!


1 pound spaghetti

2/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup grated Parmesan- (use the good stuff, please, not a green shaker jar.... gasp)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon zest (have forgotten this and guess what, it's OK)

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (take it to the next level)



Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the oil, Parmesan, and lemon juice in a large bowl to blend. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, and the reserved cooking liquid, adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed to moisten. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon zest and chopped basil.

**Eat leftovers mixed with a little premade pesto! Delicous!

My Mom's Apple Crumb Pie~ 4.1.11

I am a huge fan of all things pie- pizza pie, quiche, fruit pie, tarts, what else is there? hmmm.... you get my point.
Nothing, in my mind, compares to my mom's apple pie. I love the way the apples are not crunchy but are soft and almost melt in your mouth. I love the crumb topping that reminds me of a crisp, but yet it's not b/c it's a PIE! And the filling is never gooey, just slightly sweet and spicy from the cinnamon. It's perfect and reminds me of home and family and all that I love. I never order apple pie at a restaurant b/c chances are they've used granny smith or a similiar firm apple and that just will not do.

The only other pie that I've made was way back in 2008 (see here.)... and that actually turned out marvelous!

So why has it taken me this long to make it? Maybe it's the thought that no one besides my mom can make this pie? Well, silly me. It's so easy.... after you get all those apples peeled and sliced, that is. An apple peeler/corer is sounding like a good idea to me at this point!

You'll have to bear with me through the recipe. If you've ever asked for a recipe from your mum or grandmother, you'll know how difficult it can be to pin them down on specifics. AND sometimes, tips and secrets and ingredients don't come out in the initial "printing" of the recipe you requested. It was just that way with this... so be ready for lots of parentheses!

Mom's Apple Crumb Pie
adapted from the good 'ol Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
3 lbs Macintosh apples (or more depending on size) You want the apples to really MOUND up in your pie shell as they will really cook down during the baking
lemon juice
pie crust- I used this one
cinnamon
sugar

1. Peel, core and slice apples, thinly. As you place them in a large bowl, every few apples you finish- toss them with the lemon juice to keep them from browning.
2. Mix sugar and cinnamon (1/4c sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon) and sprinkle on the apples. Toss. Taste and depending on how many apples you have and how tart they are, add a little more sugar and sprinkle a bit more cinnamon. (see what I mean? a true "mom's recipe" kinda thing)
3. Put apple mixture into an unbaked pie crust (Mom told me you can take some smidges of butter and tuck them in around your apples- not too much, maybe a Tbs or two- her mom used to do that) and pop it in the fridge while you make your crumb topping. I like my pie crust nice and cold before it hits the HOT oven.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Crumb topping:
1/3 c sugar
3/4 c flour
6 Tbs butter
Mix sugar and flour together. Cut in the butter with your fingers- feels so great to work with your hands! Until it's crumbly like this... and sprinkle it on top of the apples. All of it. Don't be shy.

before I bake it.... 400 degrees, about 35-50 minutes. You want it bubbly and browned nicely.

And after it comes out of the oven....

Now, Mom mentioned that sometimes, she puts this under the broiler to brown up just a bit more. I wasn't home when it came out of the oven, so it is the way it is here. I might do that next time. Mom also freezes these before they are baked. Wrapped well in foil and then sealed in a ziplock bag. Just bake extra long from the freezer.

Of course, you should serve it warmed up with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream! Perfection!

Savory Sweet Potato Soup + Smoked Apple Panini~ 10.21.10

Oh how I love this season and all the comforting soups that accompany it.

One of my favorites that I discovered last year is the Farm Chick's Savory Sweet Potato Soup. It is so incredibly easy to make and I've been eating it up ALL week.

What goes better with soup than a hot, pressed sandwich (aka PANINI)? We have a wonderful little deli near our home and they serve up a hot sandwich every day of the week. A few of my favorites are the Cuban and the Monte Cristo. A little variation on your traditional grilled cheese... these sandwiches have FLAIR and really FUN FLAVORS!
Today's advertised sandwich was the Smoked Apple Panini and they were starting to serve it at 11. Well, I was there at 10:15 and I wanted that sandwich. SO, I saved myself a couple bucks and bought up some deli meat and a loaf of bread and made it AT HOME. The flavors were so beautiful together. Black Forest Ham, Smoked Gouda and... APPLE BUTTER! Who knew putting apple butter on your sandwich could elevate that simple pairing of meat, cheese and bread to the level of PURE BLISS? Well, I am a fan and hope to eat that one again... and again... and again. AND did you know that you do not need a fancy schmancy panini press to make these? I don't have one. I used my tea kettle and a piece of foil to press my sandwich! Improvise!!

Here are the recipes!

Savory Sweet Potato Soup
makes 2 quarts

The original has a few extra steps and uses heavy cream, but I have adapted it a bit and find that it is just as creamy and delicious my way.

1/2 stick butter
2-3 onions, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed (small enough to fit on your spoon)
1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 tsp ground cumin
1-2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in large pot and add onions. Sauted until softened & translucent- about 5 minutes.
2. Add the broth and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes.
3. Add the russett potatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes- you want them tender. (sometimes I scoop out the sweets and add them back in after the russetts have cooked. Not quite sure why you don't add them ALL at the same time...)
4. At this point, I add the seasonings- cumin, parsely and S&P. Then I scoop out some of the potatoes and puree the rest. I don't like it ALL pureed. I like some potatoes in my soup. You could just leave it as is- no pureeing OR do as I do and puree some and leave some potatoes whole OR puree the whole pot of soup. Make it yours.
5. Cook over low heat until warmed through. Serve.

Here's a link to the original with a few extra recipes included.

Smoked Apple Panini
(instructions for one panini)

Couple slices Black Forest Ham
Slice or two of Smoked Gouda cheese
2 slices bread of your choice
butter
Apple (or in my case, Pear) Butter

Slather the outside of both slices of bread with butter and preheat your griddle.
Place one piece of bread, butter side down on griddle.
Lay your slice of gouda on that piece - I halve my cheese to make it fit the bread I had.
Lay your ham on top of the cheese.
Spread the inside of your other piece of bread with the apple/pear butter. Lay that on top of the ham, with the apple butter side touching the HAM.

Place a piece of foil over your sandwich and top it with something heavy.... like a filled tea kettle!
Cook for a few minutes and check to see how toasty the first side of bread is getting. If ready to flip... then flip and repeat.

Serve hot with a nice bowl of soup!

ps. Come back soon, b/c I have the CUTEST mini caramel apples to show you! You're gonna cry when you see how cute they are!!!!

Hearty Mixed Grain Medley ~ 3.8.10

I happened upon this recipe over at Stacy J's place and thought it would be a perfect Lenten meal. I wasn't all that concerned about feeding it to the family as I didn't really care what they thought- I knew I'd love it! Am I the only one who does that?

It was simple to throw together and I've been eating it for meals, snacks and today.... breakfast! So filling and I feel like it's really good for me as it fills me up and looks amazing in a bowl. And when food looks pretty, that just makes me happier to eat it all up! Plus, there's simply no butter or oil used in it, so that has to be a check in the "better for you" column, right?

When you make this recipe, feel free to throw in things that you have... the original recipe calls for things I didn't have in my fridge/pantry that day and that's okay. When you're looking at a recipe, think about what you like about it and what sounds good. Feel free to ad-lib a little with ingredients that are similiar to the ones listed and you may find that you're making dishes "your own" a lot more. That's only really happened for me in the past couple of years. I've been getting braver with experimentation and have liked most of the results!

I did think ahead and buy pearl barley, but that was about the only thing I bought for the recipe. Everything else was a pantry staple for me!

Hearty Mixed Grain Medley
adapted from Stacy Julian's mixed grain casserole

3 medium carrots, chopped (I love carrots and will add one more next time)
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms, quartered (didn't have these this time, but will add them next time)
1 can black beans, drained + rinsed
1 can corn (or 1 cup frozen)
1 cup broth (I used chicken)
½ cup pearl barley
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ cup bulgar - (no bulgar this time)
¼ onion chopped
¼ tsp garlic salt

Combine all ingredients
Bake covered 350 degrees for 60 minutes
Stir once at 30 minutes

I added a sprinkle of Goya adobo seasoning on mine at the end, but it tastes just perfect without it, too.
You can also add a bit of cheese (cheddar would be good) on your bowl and pop it in the microwave to melt just before serving.