Vegetable Tian

Well, I’m in Houston this week visiting family, but don’t worry, there will be plenty of cooking going on here. My aunt Jolene is a great cook (Jolene’s Chocolate Chip Cookies is her recipe). Jolene, all my cousins and I were in the kitchen preparing our wonderful meal tonight. We had Panko Shrimp and cocktail sauce, a mixed salad with homemade vinaigrette, toasted garlic bagels, brown mountain cake, and this wonderful Vegetable Tian recipe. This dish is colorful and very pretty, and tastes excellent with the shredded Gruyere cheese on top. Vegetable Tian is Ina Garten’s recipe from her “Barefoot in Paris” cookbook. Enjoy!

Slice onions and saute over low for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Add garlic, saute one more minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

Slice vegetables in 1/4-inch thick slices.

Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, make only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves and sprigs, and olive oil.

Cover and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle cheese on top.

Bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

Vegetable Tian
Ingredients
Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb medium round potatoes, unpeeled
3/4 lb zucchini
1 1/4 lbs medium tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
2 oz Gruyere cheese, grated

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brush a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with olive oil. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer.
4. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
5. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Garlic Ciabatta Bread

Wow! This is the best garlic bread I have ever had! The garlic-olive oil mixture reminds me a lot of Carrabba’s Italian Bread they serve at the table. The oregano, parsley, and garlic are so fragrant with the combination of the tasty and rich olive oil. I must warn you though…you’ll have garlic breath for the rest of the evening! haha 🙂 Enjoy! This is a crowd pleaser!

This recipe is from Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics Cookbook”.

Garlic Ciabatta Bread

Serves: 4-6

Recipe from: Ina Garten

Ingredients

6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 loaf ciabatta bread
2 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until minced. Add the parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper and pulse twice.
Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan and add the garlic mixture. Remove pan from the heat.
Slice the ciabatta bread in half horizontally, and spread the butter on 1 half. Spread the garlic mixture on the other half of the bread, and put the halves together. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil.
Place the bread in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Open the foil, and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes.

Chewy Granola Bars

These are my favorite “bar” cookie when I’m not in the chocolate-brownie mood. The name is deceptive…they are nothing like a “granola” bar that you would buy at the store. Instead they are more like a sweet blondie with granola instead of chocolate chips. The flavor from the brown sugar is excellent and the taste and sweetness depends on the different type of granola you use. By the way, the batter in these granola bars are delicious…maybe even better than cookie dough! This recipe is from the Peach Tree Family Cookbook in Fredericksburg, TX. I also have to give credit to my sister, Brittany, who made these yesterday. Enjoy!

Combine the butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

Beat in mixer until light.

Stir in the flours, baking powder, and salt.

Add the granola and nuts last.

Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and cut into bars.

Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients
1/2 cup soft butter
1 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
*1 1/2 cups granola (We used Kashi Go Lean Crunch).
1/2 cup nuts, coarsely chopped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with a spoon or whisk until light. Stir in the flours, baking powder, and salt. Add the granola and nuts last.
3. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

*The sweetness of the granola in these bars will change the taste. If using a sweet granola, you may cut the sugar down to 1 1/4 cups.

Makes 32

Shrimp Cocktail

I’ve never made shrimp in shrimp cocktail before, and it was excellent! The shrimp was well seasoned and had a slight kick to them. I used Heinz Original Cocktail sauce instead of making my own since I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. This is a super fast, super easy recipe for shrimp cocktail and I strongly recommend it. My husband is on a protein diet right now so shrimp was perfect for him. Shrimp are very high in protein, low in calories, and low in fat. A very healthy, and very tasty meal. I got this recipe from “Simply Recipes.com”. Enjoy!

Mix together shrimp seasonings in a small bowl.

Add seasonings to water and bring to a boil. Add shrimp and cook until water reaches a boil again.

Put shrimp into an ice bath for 2 minutes.

Drain shrimp and serve with cocktail sauce.

Shrimp Cocktail
Ingredients
SHRIMP
2 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning (I used Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning)
1 lemon, halved (I omitted since I didn’t have a lemon)
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
24 extra large tail-on raw shrimp

COCKTAIL SAUCE
1/2 cup Heinz chili sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 tbsp horseradish
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/2 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Directions
1. To prepare cocktail sauce, mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. Have a large bowl of ice water next to sink.
3. To an 8-quart pot of water, add Old Bay, lemon, granulated garlic, garlic, chili powder, and salt. Bring to a boil.
4. Add shrimp to pot and when water returns to a boil, the shrimp should be done. It will be bright pink.
5. Immediately drain and place shrimp into ice bath to cool for 2 minutes. Drain and serve with cocktail sauce.

Serves: 4 people for appetizers and 2 people for a meal.

Kenny’s Peach Ice Cream and Happy Belated Fourth of July!

Sorry I’ve been so late in posting lately. For the 4th of July, my husband (Matt), his parents, grandparents, and me all took a trip to the lake house. One of Matt’s best friends, Kenny, came with us. Kenny’s family owns a BBQ restaurant in Corpus Christi, so he is a by-product of great chefs! He grilled chicken and hamburgers for us, and made his favorite Peach Ice Cream for the 4th of July! Sorry about the picture below… with all our traveling, my ice cream machine was not cold enough, so it took us a little longer to churn the ice cream, thus it is not as firm. Other than that, Kenny’s ice cream hit the spot! Ask Matt’s grandmother…she ate 3 bowls all in one sitting!

(FYI: To make ice cream, you can either churn it by hand, or buy an Ice Cream Maker. I have a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker from Williams-Sonoma, and it is extremely easy to use. You can buy one at Target, Walmart, Sur La Table, or just about anywhere. All you do is plug it in, pour the ice cream mixture into a frozen 1 1/2 qt bowl, and press the on switch. It normally takes about 20-30 minutes for the ice cream to be done. Then you can freeze the ice cream for a firmer texture. What makes the ice cream come together is the frozen 1 1/2 quart bowl. The bowl must be frozen for this to work though. The bowl is insulated with water, which freezes once the bowl is in the completely frozen, and the constant spinning motion of the cold bowl churns the ice cream, thus you do not have to do it by hand!)

Pour a heaping teaspoon of vanilla into a large bowl.

Add a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Add 1 pint of half-and-half. (Here is Kenny showing me how to make his ice cream).

Add 1 can evaporated milk, and 2 cups of whole milk and stir together.

Process the peaches and 3/4 cups sugar together in a blender. Pour into liquid mixture.

Chill the liquid mixture for about 2 hours. Then place in ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Mine normally takes about 20-30 minutes.

Once ice cream has thickened, transfer it to a bowl and place in freezer until firm. Serve in bowls.

Kenny’s Peach Ice Cream
Ingredients
1 heaping tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 pint half-and-half
2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
9 peaches, peeled

Directions
1. Combine vanilla, condensed milk, evaporated milk, half-and-half, and whole milk in a large bowl.
2. Process peaches and sugar together in a blender.
3. Pour peaches into milk mixture and combine.
4. Chill ice cream mixture in refrigerator for about 2 hours.
5. Pour ice cream mixture into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s directions. Mine normally takes about 20-30 minutes.
5. Transfer peach ice cream to a bowl and place in the freezer to firm up.
6. Spoon into bowls.

Chicken Fajitas
I thought I would show you what else we ate on the 4th of July. Kenny grilled chicken. He bought pre-marinated chicken breasts, then added italian dressing, worcestershire sauce, Kenny’s special grill seasoning (it has salt, pepper, garlic, and other spices), and some Jack Daniels. He then marinated the chicken overnight. On the day we grilled, he brought the chicken to room temperature. While grilling the chicken, he would spray each side of the chicken breast with butter (or if you want to be healthy, apple juice), to keep the chicken moist.

I sauteed red and green bell peppers, and red and white onions in olive oil. We had grilled chicken fajitas, with the sauteed peppers/onions, homemade pico de gallo, fresh Central Market flour tortillas, pinto beans and fruit. It was an amazing 4th of July meal!

Here are pictures of our dinner….
Marinated chicken breasts.

Sauteed bell peppers and onions.

Our fajita meal.

Baked Oatmeal

I absolutely love oatmeal and this recipe reminds me of the Swiss Museli I’ve ordered from the Wynn-Encore in Las Vegas and the Crescent hotel in Dallas. Baked oatmeal is a mix between a granola bar and the traditional creamy oatmeal. This recipe is sweet yet extremely healthy all at the same time. I topped my baked oatmeal with diced bananas and it was just a perfect breakfast. For my husband I leave out the raisins. This serves 4-5 so you can have leftovers for the rest of the week. I adapted this recipe from Cooking Light. Enjoy!

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk together the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg in a medium bowl.

Pour milk mixture into oat mixture and combine.

Pour mixture into an 8-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Serve warm and if desired, top with bananas, extra pecans, extra raisins, and/or honey.

Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients
2 cups uncooked oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins (you can substitute dried craisins)
2-3 tbsp chopped walnuts (you can substitute almonds or pecans)
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine the milk, applesauce, butter, and egg in a separate bowl.
4. Add milk mixture to oat mixture; stir well.
5. Pour oat mixture into an 8-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Makes: 5 – 2/3 cup servings

Nutrition: 281 calories | 7.6 g fat | 7 g protein | 48.8 g carbohydrate | 3.4 g fiber

Chicken Spaghetti

This was the first time I’ve made chicken spaghetti, let alone try it! I had my in-laws over for dinner, and this recipe was a hit! It is great for a lot of people, very easy to make, and delicious. I used Ree Drummond’s Chicken Spaghetti recipe from her blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Cook chicken on stovetop in water over medium-low heat for about 30-40 minutes, covered. Cut chicken into cubes.

Measure out 3 cups of dry pasta, broken into 2 inch pieces. Cook pasta in same chicken broth until al dente.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except for the 1 cup additional cheese.
Add bell peppers and onions.

Add chicken and pimentos.

Add cheese.

Add can of mushroom and can of chicken soup.

Add Lawry’s seasoning, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Pour into casserole dish, top with remaining cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly.

Serve hot. Enjoy!

Chicken Spaghetti
Ingredients
2 cups Cooked Chicken
3 cups Dry Spaghetti, broken into 2 inch pieces
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup Finely Diced Green Pepper
1/4 cup Finely Diced Onion
1 jar (4 oz) Diced Pimentos, drained
2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot
1 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
1/8 tsp (to 1/4 tsp) Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 cup additional Grated Sharp Cheddar

Directions
1. Cook chicken in dutch oven on stovetop over medium-low until chicken is done, about 30-40 minutes.
2. Cook spaghetti in same chicken broth until al dente. Do not overcook.
3. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar. Don’t forget to add the 2 cups of reserved chicken broth from pot.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze for up to 6 months, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days, or bake immediately at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly.

Serves: 8

French Toast with Caramelized Bananas

I have not had French Toast in forever, so I’ve been craving it lately. This recipe puts a twist on your typical french toast by adding a caramelized banana topping with tangy orange juice. The sauce was absolutely delicious, my only regret was that my bananas did not keep their perfect sliced shape. Besides the looks, this was perfect and I strongly recommend making this. I used ciabatta bread, but any egg, challah, or french bread will work. This recipe is from Williams Sonoma’s “Comfort Food” cookbook. Enjoy!

Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, sugar, vanilla, orange zest, and nutmeg.

Dip bread slices in egg mixture, soak for 1 minute, and cook on hot griddle over medium-high heat for 2 minutes per side. Then transfer toast to oven for 10 minutes.

To make caramelized bananas, melt butter and add sliced bananas.

Cook over medium-high heat until bananas are brown. Add brown sugar and cook another minute. Then add orange juice and rum, if using, and cook for 1 minute.

Spoon caramelized bananas over french toast and serve hot.

French Toast with Caramelized Bananas
Ingredients
6 large eggs
1 cup half-and-half or whole milk
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
1/8 tsp nutmeg
6 slices of day old challah or other egg bread (I used ciabatta)
canola oil
3 bananas
2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp dark rum (I omitted)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large shallow bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, granulated sugar, vanilla, orange zest, and nutmeg.
3. Cut the bread slices in half, add to the egg mixture, and turn gently to coat evenly. Let stand until the bread has soaked up some of the egg mixture, about 1 minute.
4. Place a griddle over medium-high heat until hot. Lightly oil the griddle. Remove bread from egg mixture, letting the excess liquid drip back into the bowl, and place on the hot griddle. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.
5. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake until the center of the bread is heated through but still moist, about 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the caramelized bananas. Peel the bananas and slice diagonally. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the banana slices and cook, gently turning them occasionally, until they begin to brown, 2-3 minutes.
7. Sprinkle in the brown sugar and cook until it melts, about 1 minute. Gently stir in the 1/2 cup orange juice and rum, if using, and cook until the liquid has reduced slightly, about 1 minute. If the sauce seems too thick, add more juice until desired consistency.
8. Serve the french toast piping hot, topped with spoonfuls of the caramelized bananas.

Serves: 4

The Best Drop Biscuits

These are probably the “Best Drop Biscuit” recipe ever, and are my family’s absolute favorite! They are so simple to make and do not even require kneading the dough like most biscuit recipes. My dad eats them with strawberry jam, and my husband, mom, and I like them with Wild Maine Blueberry Jam. This recipe comes from “Cooks Illustrated Magazine,” November 2007.

Quick, easy, homemade and delicious. What more could you ask for? Enjoy!

Whisk together flour, baking soda, powder, salt and sugar.

Combine buttermilk and melted butter.

Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients.

Drop biscuit onto parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes in a 475 degree oven.

Drop Biscuits
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp table salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly (about 5 minutes), plus 2 tbsp melted butter for brushing biscuits

Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
3. Combine buttermilk and 8 tbsp melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
4. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl.
5. Using greased 1/4 cup dry measure, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart.
6. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes.
7. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 tbsp melted butter. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. (We omitted this step).

Yield: 12 biscuits

Banana Bread

Whenever my mom and I see a new brownie, cookie, scone, or banana bread recipe, we have to try it regardless of the favorite recipes we already have. We got a new cookbook called “Southern Living Comfort Food”, so we had to try this banana bread recipe. We used the variation below and added 1 cup of chopped pecans for that extra “crunch”. This recipe is different than most since it calls for a 1/4 cup of yogurt, which gives it a nice tang and ensures the batter is very moist. This was a great banana bread recipe, however my favorite is Martha Stewart’s Coconut Banana Nut Bread because it has shredded coconut!!! Enjoy!

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

Mash the bananas.

Stir together the melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla.

Add wet mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in the toasted pecans, if using.

Pour batter into a prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely.

Banana Bread
Ingredients
2 cups self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 cups)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup strawberry or vanilla yogurt (We used strawberry)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
*1 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional, see note below)
*1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (optional, see note below)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; set aside.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
3. Stir together melted butter, mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cover loosely with aluminum foil after 40 minutes if loaf begins to brown too quickly.
5. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 1 loaf

*Banana-Nut Bread
Add 1 cup chopped, toasted pecans to batter before baking

*Chocolate-Chip Banana Bread
Add 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels to batter before baking.

Note: For muffins, spoon batter into lightly greased or paper-lined muffin pans, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 19 to 21 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans immediately. Let cool on wire racks. Yield: 20 muffins