Browned Butter Cookies

Browned butter cookies

These cookies are absolutely fantastic! This is the first time I've been successful at actually baking cookies from scratch! Hooray! I'm making the second batch in a week, because even though they were supposed to be for company over the weekend, they haven't lasted that long. I used dark chocolate chips, makes it so decadent. I highly recommend you give them a shot. They'll be great for holiday parties and hostess gifts!

Red Wine and Pineapple Glazed Ham

Take your ham, and scale your glaze recipe to the size of the ham. For an 8.68 pound ham, I used about a 1/4 cup of red wine, half a jar of pineapple preserves, a drizzle of honey and olive oil, one clove of garlic grated or minced, fresh cracked black pepper, and about a teaspoon of ginger. Whisk together and smother on your ham before baking. Remember to bake at 250 for 15 minutes per pound for a pre-smoked ham. After the slow roast in the oven it was such a subtle flavor compliment to the ham, you can scale up the amounts or make another bowl and thin with the juices and use as a sauce for a more intense flavor. Also, scoring the ham will allow the glaze to permeate the meat a little better.

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Homemade Baby Food

Lately I've thrown the kitchen ninja skills at making baby food for the little man. It's pretty cool to make him something nutritious and healthy rather than opening a jar. I do use jarred foods for time and introduction purposes. No sense in making a big batch of something he's allergic to or simply refuses to eat. So far I've been able to make up lots of simple purees (the picture is a selection of those purees), and I'm working on pureed combinations. He's getting ever closer to being fully ready to eat a mushy version of what we're eating. He's even practicing with the spoons! The process is simple, here I've got pictures of making homemade carrot puree, just steam, puree with the cooking liquid, cool, and freeze in ice trays. Simple!

Look at how bright that color is!

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Charming Holly Wreath Christmas

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Veggie and Spinach Fettuccine

1 large zucchini, diced
1 large yellow squash. diced
1 8oz container of cherry tomatoes
1 package of spinach fettuccine

Heat olive oil in a skillet, grate in some garlic and add some salt, pepper, and oregano, sauté your veggies. Add in cherry tomatoes and cover till they burst. With your spoon, break them apart and check your seasoning. Meanwhile cook the pasta. If sauce is looking dry, reserve a cup of the starchy cooking water right before draining. Drain pasta and toss all of the pasta with all of the sauce, add starchy cooking water if necessary. Serve with a sprinkle of your favorite cheese on top...yummy!

Old Favorites

Sometimes, I go back to my old favorites. Last night, we had breaded baked chicken, mac and cheese, and roasted butternut squash. It was so good! Filling and hardy, just like mamma used to make. Ok, so mom never made butternut squash, but it tastes a lot like sweet potatoes, so close enough! Sometimes, going back to an old favorite can make you feel like home. Especially since I live so far from home. Though tonight, I might just have to keep the homestyle favorites going with spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic bread....yum!

Sauted Veggies over Spinach and Feta Orzo

Chop your favorite seasonal veggies, and saute them in olive oil with garlic, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. I used zucchini, yellow squash and mushrooms. After they begin to soften throw in a can of drained garbanzo beans for extra protein and a the juice of one lemon.

Cook up some orzo according to package directions, make sure to salt the water.

Drain orzo and throw in one small container of crumbled feta and wilt in a bundle of spinach cut into ribbons.

Serve the veggies over the orzo...simple, fast, delicious and GUILT FREE!

Shepherd's Pie

My own version of Shepherd's pie

boil 3 pounds of red potatoes in a combination of stock and water

Brown up some ground beef, add in onion, grated carrot, garlic, s&p. Deglaze with about a 1/4 cup of red wine. In the last few seconds throw in a few handfuls of frozen peas.

When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and mash them up (skins and all-that's where all the nutrition is) with some milk, fat free sour cream, butter and s&p.

Layer the meat in a 9X13 baking dish, then the potatoes. Top with 2 cups of cheddar cheese and bake at 350 until the cheese and potatoes begin to brown (about half an hour). Serve with you favorite vegetable side and whala! A tasty casserole!

Vegetarian Chili

This chili is hardy, easy to make, and will satisfy the meat lovers too.

one can (drained and rinsed) each of:
pinto beans
red beans
kidney beans
black beans
diced tomatoes (with green chiles will work too)
green chiles

1 quart of your favorite stock in a box
1 cup of green lentils
1 cup of red split lentils
half a bag of frozen corn
1 large onion (diced)
2 of your favorite peppers, I like anaheim and bell (diced)

1 cinnamon stick
1 ancho pepper

salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, oregano, and garlic to taste
a few splashes of liquid smoke

throw everything into a crock pot and let it simmer on high for 4 hours or on low for 8. Easy!

Update/Chicken Piccata

I wanna update a few things...one I had the baby:a beautiful bouncing baby boy! Second that biscuit recipe from the previous post, is basically your own personal adaptation of what's on the back of the baking powder can. 2 cups flour, about 1/3 cup of shortening, some baking powder and soda, about 3/4 cup of milk....the important part is getting your crumble of dry ingredients and shortening. Once you have a good crumble, just add milk until everything combines well and gives you a relatively sticky dough. But here is where this recipe differs from many you see...do NOT knead the dough. The flakiness will be destroyed and the dough will be tough if you overwork it. Pat it into a ball and roll it till desired consistency. Make your cutouts and bake at 350 till golden brown.

Chicken Picatta...I made it (and tasted) for the first time the other day...let me just say: AMAZING! The lemon flavor is intense, but so good with the garlic and butter in the sauce. I adjusted Rachael Ray's recipe, (which is a common thing for me, she's a source of inspiration for me) to what my family tends to like. I recommend throwing this into the regular rotation, its a simple meal and it really classes it up I think!

Homemade Biscuits

I'm attempting homemade biscuits...having grown up in the deep south, I'm ashamed that I've never tried it before. Honestly, I've never made biscuits outside of a can or box mix..its sad I know! They look like they'll be nice and flaky and tasty I just hope it actually turns out that way. Gonna work on a honeybutter to go with them and the awesome crunchy baked chicken, brussells sprouts, peas, and mac and cheese I'm making for dinner. I'll update with the biscuit recipe if it worked!

Wow...too long

I can't believe its been so long since I last posted, and to my followers and fans, I'm truly sorry. Many of you know the updates in my life since then. But for those that don't I'll let you know what's up. Since my last post I have found out I was pregnant, learned that while I may have been hired by a foodie paradise, working there meant no time for anything else much less cooking new masterpieces, and am now a stay at home (almost) mom. As I eagerly await my LO's arrival, I'll be working on updating more frequently. I hope I'll have enough time to be a true kitchen ninja and tear up some new recipes, though babies tend to impede such activities for awhile.

My activities as of late have been quite domestic, though quite less kitchen oriented. I've been attempting to set up a nursery and get the rest of this house into something resembling a baby friendly abode.

However, with warmer weather approaching, I am itching to pull out the grill, make a batch of lemonade, and really get down in the kitchen, so I aim to be less of a stranger. What new recipes have you guys tried that you loved as of late?

I will tell of my husband's failed attempt at pork enchiladas. He unfortunately didn't read the directions closely enough and the proportions of sauce inside and outside the tortilla weren't quite right, that coupled with insufficient bake time and it certainly left something to be desired. They were more taquitos than enchiladas and were according to him completely inedible. As far as he's concerned, pork has no place in Mexican food and I'm hard pressed to get him to eat chicken or turkey in that format.

Well I'm off Ninjas. Keep adventurous in the kitchen.

Protip:

When making pulled pork, get a larger shoulder and split the rewards for different seasonings after about 6-8 hours on low in the slow cooker. Make half into pulled pork sandwiches, the other half can become tasty carnitas!