Foods Passion

Moroccan Lemon Chicken

November 7, 2015 in Main Dish | Tags: Chicken stew, Lemon Chicken, lemon chicken stew, Moroccan Chicken, Moroccan Lemon Chicken | Leave a comment

This recipe I discovered in 2010 at recipezaar.com by English Rose. It is so flavorful!

Ingredient List

Olive Oil

1 very large onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cardamom

8 chicken thighs

Chicken stock

2 lemons, divided

1 14-oz. can garbanzo beans, drained

Green olives, pitted and halved

Cilantro

Salt and pepper

In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened.

Stir in the turmeric and saute for 2 minutes longer, then add the paprika, cumin, coriander, and cardamom. Continue to saute for another 2 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Heat more olive oil in the pot and brown the chicken pieces in two batches. The turmeric from the bottom of the pot should color the chicken. If not, sprinkle with a pinch more turmeric.

Return all chicken to the pan and cover with the onion-spice mixture. Stir in enough chicken broth to cover. Add the juice of one lemon to the chicken. Cut the other lemon into quarters and add to the chicken.

Bring it to a boil and reduce heat to low simmer. Cover and cook 20 minutes.

Add the garbanzo beans and olives. Adjust the salt and pepper if needed and then simmer for another 40 minutes.

Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve over rice or couscous. Note: I found another form of Shirataki noodles! Yay! They are zero carb and made a nice layer beneath this rich stew.

Green Tomato Mock Mincemeat

November 4, 2015 in Dessert | Tags: green tomato mincemeat, green tomato mock mincemeat, mincemeat, mock mincemeat | 2 comments

This recipe is loosely based upon one found at allrecipes.com. I am going to tell it to you the way that I made it.

Ingredients

6 cups chopped green tomatoes

6 cups chopped tart green apples

3 cups brown sugar

1-1/2 cups dried cranberries (Craisins)

1/2 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbsp. butter

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp. ground cloves

This will make 2 quarts of filling. 1-1/2 quarts of filling are required to make one pie, so you’ll have a pint left over — just saying. You’ll need to make a plan ahead of time on how to do this. As you can see, I put my filling into 2 pint jars and 1 quart jar. My mother wanted a little bit of filling and so I gave her one pint and then I made a pie with the remainder. If you make pie, you’ll need pastry for a 9″ double crust pie. I’m not sure what my mother did with her filling, but I think it would be good in fried pies or filled cookies. Note: 2 pints = 1 quart.

Method

Stir all the ingredients together in a very large pan. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until thick and bubbly and reduced in volume a bit, at least 25 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle into jars. At this point I put lids on, let the jars cool, and put them into my refrigerator. I kept the filling refrigerated until I used it a couple weeks later.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare bottom crust in a 9″ pie pan. Pour 1-1/2 quarts filling into pie crust. Cover with top crust, cut vents in, crimp the edges. Bake on lowest oven rack for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake an additional 20-25 minutes until golden and filling bubbles.

This filled my home with a wonderful aroma. I wish now that I had properly canned the filling to use this winter, but I was busy at the time and simply put lids on and popped them into the refrigerator. That meant it should be used sooner rather than later.

Note 9/30/2018 . . . A lot of people are looking at this recipe. I made this again yesterday and used the water-bath canning process for three pint jars. I processed for ten minutes. A lot of consideration was given to freezing it, but that’s something that would tend to get lost in my freezer, so I decided to can it instead. It looks and tastes amazing! Last night I was watching The Great British Baking Show on Netflix and saw them baking Rum Nicky. I may stir a couple tablespoons of rum into the Mock Mincemeat before baking it into a small pie next time. Sounds so yummy.

GreenTomatoMockMincemeat

Tzatziki Sauce

November 1, 2015 in Miscellaneous | Tags: cucumber sauce, Greek yogurt sauce, Tzatziki sauce, yogurt sauce | Leave a comment

My husband grew cucumbers this summer and we do eat a lot of grilled lamb chops so I made this wonderful sauce frequently. It’s easy, but takes time for the cucumber to drain and the yogurt-garlic flavors to marry. Start by grating a 3″ piece of cucumber. Press out as much liquid as you can and let it sit in a strainer for several hours. I put my grated cucumber in a small strainer and set it in a small mixing bowl. I lightly cover it and put it into the refrigerator until I’m ready to finish the sauce.

After grating the cucumber and setting it aside to drain, the next step is to stir together 3/4 cup of plain Greek-style yogurt, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, 1/2 tsp. of salt, and 1/2 Tbsp. of white wine vinegar (or white vinegar). If you do not have fresh dill, then add a sprinkle of dried dill weed and stir it in. If using fresh dill, wait until later to add it. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for several hours.

At serving time, stir the drained cucumber and a sprig of chopped fresh dill into the sauce.

This tastes great mixed with feta or not. Serve as a dip for pita bread or a sauce for lamb. It’s all good.

Stuffed Tomatoes

October 30, 2015 in Side Dish | Tags: low-carb stuffed tomatoes, stuffed tomatoes, tomatoes | Leave a comment

I hosted a Realtor luncheon last week and laid out sandwich fixins. In the process of shopping I bought a box of big tomatoes at Costco. What was I thinking? I sliced a couple for people to put on their sandwiches, but really they only ate one. I had about a dozen leftover. Thus I was on the hunt for tomato recipes. Tomatoes where I live are very expensive and it’s not often I have to search for ways to use them up. I like this recipe because it doesn’t have the kind of carbs I’m trying to avoid. I served these with grilled lamb chops and salad. Yummy combo!

Ingredients

Four beefsteak tomatoes

Salt

Olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

1 yellow squash or zucchini

Fresh or dried parsley

Oregano

Basil

Baby spinach

Feta cheese crumbles

Grated or shredded Parmesan

Scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes. I used the pulp to make tomato soup the next day. You won't need the pulp anymore for this dish.

Scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes and then sprinkle the inside with salt. I used the pulp to make tomato soup the next day. You won’t need the pulp anymore for this dish.

Lay the tomatoes upside down on several layers of paper towel. Set aside while you make the filling.

Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent and then add the squash.

Saute for a few minutes and then sprinkle in a little parsley, oregano, and basil. Continue sauteing until the squash is soft.

Stir in a couple large handfuls of baby spinach.

Continue sauteing until spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Prepare a baking dish with spray or olive oil. I sprayed mine. I used an 8″ square dish, but a smaller one would have worked, probably better.

Sprinkle feta crumbles into the bottom of each tomato, then add a layer of filling, more crumbles, and then more filling.

Sprinkle the tops with shredded or grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

Italian Wedding Soup

September 3, 2015 in Main Dish, Soup | Tags: chicken Italian sausage, chicken sausage, Chicken sausage soup, Italian wedding soup, Shirataki noodles | Leave a comment

I’ve made this enough times now that I feel comfortable sharing. It’s based on a recipe I found at Chena Girl Cooks and she based hers on the Barefoot Contessa. The main WOW of this recipe is the meatballs. And I mean WOW. I have been lucky to get a majority of them into the soup. [Because they are SO good people, myself included, simply eat them off the baking sheet and I’m saying, “Hey, those are for the soup, but go ahead and have one.” Who can stop at one?] These meatballs would make an awesome party food by themselves. The other adjustments that I’ve made is to use baby spinach instead of kale and to use shirataki noodles instead of pasta stars. I use the shirataki noodles found fresh in the deli case. I don’t know if they even come dried. All that’s necessary to prepare them is to rinse thoroughly with water. I chop mine before putting them in the soup so that’s it’s easier to ladle into bowls. My grocer only carries shirataki spaghetti and shirataki fettucine, if there were something smaller I would use it. Shirataki noodles are basically no-carb and so mentally it evens out the bread crumbs in the meatballs. Just sayin’.

Anyway, because I’m not “cooking” pasta in the soup, I do not use nearly as much liquid. I’ll give you the recipe the way I make it, but you should explore Chena Girl and Contessa, too.

Meatballs:

1 lb. chicken Italian sausage

2 T. milk

2/3 c. breadcrumbs

1/3 c. grated Parmesan

1 egg, beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. parsley flakes

kosher salt and fresh pepper

Soup:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

3 carrots, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

4 c. chicken stock

1/2 c. dry white wine

5 oz. baby spinach

½ Tbsp. minced fresh dill

8 oz. shirataki spaghetti (chopped into 2″ sections or so to make ladling easier)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meatballs: combine all ingredients. Drop by rounded spoonfuls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You should have approximately 35 meatballs. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Soup: on medium-low heat, add the olive oil to a large soup pot. Cook the onions, celery, and carrots for 8-10 minutes or until soft. Add the stock and wine and bring it to a boil. Turn down to a simmer for a few minutes. Add spinach and dill, spaghetti, and meatballs and cook for about a minute or so to heat through.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top with a little extra grated Parmesan.

Cream Puffs

August 13, 2015 in Dessert | Tags: chocolate filled cream puffs, choux pastry, cream puffs, raspberry filled cream puffs | 3 comments

I’m deep in raspberries here. It’s kind of funny how thoughts of making a peach-raspberry crisp can morph into actually making raspberry cream puffs. It turns out my husband ate all but one of the peaches and . . . the nectarines were . . . gone. I had forgotten how easy cream puffs are to make. I used to make them a lot when my kids were little. My favorite filling is a chocolate mousse-type filling. When I read the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for raspberry cream pie, I thought that her pie filling would make a good cream puff filling so I tweaked it a bit and here we are. I’ve included my favorite Chocolate Filling recipe, too, and now wish I had made Chocolate Raspberry Filling. Next time! The cream puff pastry recipe comes from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (1969).

Cream Puffs Recipe

1 cup water

½ cup butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, heat water and butter to rolling boil. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at one time; continue beating (I mean REALLY beat it) until smooth. Drop dough by scant ¼ cupfuls 3” apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool away from draft. Cut off tops. Pull out any filaments of soft dough. Carefully fill puffs. Replace tops; dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes 12 cream puffs.

Raspberry Filling

2 cups raspberries

3 Tbsp. sugar

12-oz. plain Greek yogurt

1 package (3.4 oz.) vanilla instant pudding mix

1 cup whipping cream

Place raspberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Mash the berries with the sugar a little bit. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Mix yogurt and pudding mix together in mixer on low speed. Add cream and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated and fluffy. Stir in raspberry-sugar mixture on low speed.

Chocolate Filling: Blend 1 package chocolate instant pudding with 1 cup milk on low speed. Add 2 cups whipping cream and beat about 2 minutes on medium speed.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, heat water and butter to rolling boil. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at one time; continue beating (I mean REALLY beat it) until smooth.

To make the Cream Puffs: Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large saucepan, heat water and butter to rolling boil. Stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball. Remove from heat. Beat in eggs, all at one time; continue beating (I mean REALLY beat it) until smooth.

Drop dough by scant ¼ cupfuls 3” apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool away from draft.

Cut off tops.

Pull out any filaments of soft dough.

Carefully fill puffs.

Replace tops; dust with powdered sugar. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes 12 cream puffs.

Place raspberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Mash the berries with the sugar a little bit. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.

For the Raspberry Filling place raspberries in a small bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Mash the berries with the sugar a little bit. Set aside for at least 15 minutes.

Mix yogurt and pudding mix together in mixer on low speed. Add cream and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated and fluffy. Stir in raspberry-sugar mixture on low speed.

Raspberry Cream Pie

August 9, 2015 in Dessert | Tags: cream cheese, raspberries, raspberry pie | Leave a comment

Once again it is raspberry season and I am in the thick of it. My freezer is filling with raspberries. I am infusing two pints of raspberry vinegar. I made a batch of raspberry chipotle barbecue sauce and liked it so much that the next day I made a double batch and canned it. I’ve made two raspberry pies, one of them is this Raspberry Cream Pie that I’m going to tell you about. I found it here (Taste of Home) and it’s really good. It’s light and airy and not too sweet. I used a graham cracker crust instead of the vanilla wafer one called for in the original recipe because I don’t have any vanilla wafers. Sorry about the dearth of pictures. I didn’t think I’d be posting it, but it’s just SO good!

Graham Cracker Crust:

Mix together 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers with 3 Tbsp. sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter. Press into greased 9″ pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow to cool.

Cream Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I prepared the whipped cream in my mixer first, then scraped it into a bowl and set it aside. Mix the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, orange liqueur, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Spoon the filling into the pie crust and chill.

Raspberry Topping:

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Stir sugar and cornstarch together in small saucepan. Add water and raspberries. Bring to a boil, stirring, and boil for 2 minutes or until somewhat thickened. Transfer to a small bowl and chill.

Spoon the raspberry topping over the pie filling. Chill until serving.

Sausage-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

July 27, 2015 in Main Dish | Tags: Portobella, Portobello, sausage stuffed, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed portobello | Leave a comment

This turned out to be a tasty main dish. I served it with a spaghetti squash and fresh tomato casserole. The Italian sausage that I use is very lean. It comes in a 1# bulk package, not in links. I would hesitate to use this recipe with a high-fat sausage, I think you would have a mess on your hands. Someday I may try these stuffed with breakfast sausage and served with eggs. Yum.

INGREDIENTS:

4 Portobello mushrooms

Olive oil

1# Italian sausage

1 egg

Minced onion

Bread crumbs

Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray or grease a 13×9” baking dish.

Remove the stems and scrape the gills out of Portobello mushrooms with a spoon. Save the stems for a later use, like in soup or pasta sauce, but set aside the gills for use in the filling.

Rub each mushroom cap with olive oil on both sides as best you can.

Stir together Italian sausage, egg, onion, mushroom gills, and bread crumbs.

I tried not to use much bread crumbs and it would probably work without any at all.

Fill each mushroom cap with the sausage filling. Sprinkle the tops with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 50-60 minutes—be sure the sausage is thoroughly cooked.

Ratatouille

June 6, 2015 in Side Dish | Tags: eggplant, ratatouille, summer squash, vegetable casserole, zucchini | 4 comments

I have prepared and eaten Ratatouille many times. Of course, why not, because I like eggplant . . . a lot. Usually my ratatouille is a delicious, but rather unappetizing-looking, mess. This recipe is something completely different. Not only is it delicious, it’s beautiful!

I used the recipe https://realfoodnuts.wordpress.com/2014/01/11/ratatouille-casserole/ at Real Food Nuts, with a few modifications. It was so tasty that I tried it again so I could take pictures and show you how I did it. This is what happens when you don’t have a round casserole dish and you’re married to a wine-maker. Recipes morph.

Ingredients
Eggplant, 2 small (about 7″)
Summer squash (2 small, about 7”)
Mini sweet peppers (12)
½ onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
¾ cup red wine (or water)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Here goes . . .

Slice two small eggplants (each one is about 7” long) crosswise into ¼” slices. I had bought a package of these small eggplants at Costco the other day, there were five of them in the bag.

Set the slices on paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt. Turn the slices over and salt the other side. Let them sit for at least 30 minutes. (I’m only picturing part of them. You will have more.)

In the meantime, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. When translucent, stir in a 6-oz. can tomato paste, ¾ cup red wine, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly. Set aside. Rub a 9” square baking dish with olive oil. Empty the red sauce into the baking dish and smooth it evenly across the bottom. — In the meantime, saute onion and garlic in olive oil. When translucent, stir in a 6-oz. can tomato paste, ¾ cup red wine, salt and pepper, and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Rub a 9” square baking dish with olive oil. Empty the red sauce into the baking dish and smooth it evenly across the bottom.

Slice summer squash (yellow obviously is what I used, but zucchini would work just the same) into ¼” slices crosswise. I had a bag of sweet mini-peppers from Costco and I used what was left of those, a dozen should do it. I was a little shy on the peppers, but it turned out fine. I cut the tops off and made sure there weren’t any seeds, then sliced each pepper in half lengthwise. Of course, the usual thing to use would be sliced bell pepper. Use whatever you have.

Blot the eggplants with paper towels and put them, with the squash and peppers, into a bowl. Sprinkle lightly with olive oil and stir around with your hands so that all the vegis are coated.

Alternate rows of vegetables onto the sauce as pictured.

I started with the peppers upright, but when I realized I’d be short at the end, I turned the remaining ones sideways. I filled in some of the gaps with the smaller slices of squash. Sprinkle the top with olive oil, salt, pepper, and sliced fresh basil.

Cover with parchment paper, tucked into the inside, and bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Chicken Cacciatore

April 24, 2015 in Main Dish | Tags: chicken, garlic potatoes, grilled chicken, grilled portobello, portobello mushrooms | 2 comments

Based upon a fabulous Rachael Ray recipe found here. This is a somewhat complicated endeavor. It isn’t hard, it’s just a lot of moving pieces going at the same time. I’m going to break this down into two parts, but keep in mind that the potatoes should be going at the same time as the rest of the meal. Rachael Ray did the whole thing in 30 minutes, I watched it. If all your prep work was done and you had a cooperative grill, you could do it quickly too. I have made this recipe many, many times. When we’re dieting, I don’t make the potatoes. I’ve gotten to the point where I usually just eyeball all the amounts. It’s not a fussy dish.

Ingredient list for Garlic Smashed Potatoes:

4 large potatoes
Salt
1 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter
4 cloves chopped garlic
4 chopped scallions (green onions)
1 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup milk
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

If using thin-skinned potatoes there is no need to peel them. Cut into chunks and boil in lightly salted water until tender. Drain.

Meanwhile in a small saute pan, heat olive oil and butter together. Add garlic and saute a minute or two, then add scallions and remove from heat. Set aside.

While still hot, smash the potatoes with a masher and add the set-aside mixture as well as all other ingredients. Stir together. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Ingredient list for Chicken Cacciatore and Mushrooms:

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. fresh rosemary (4 to 5 sprigs, stripped, leaves chopped)
½ cup olive oil
4 large Portobello Mushrooms, stems removed
1.5# boneless, skinless, chicken thighs
2 Anaheim or Cubanelle peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium red or purple onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 14-oz. can chopped tomatoes, lightly drained
Handful Parsley, chopped

Prepare a marinade by whisking together balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, rosemary, and olive oil in a large bowl.

Dip each mushroom cap into the marinade and then set onto plate. Add chicken thighs to marinade and coat evenly. Set aside while you start the vegetables.

In a bit of olive oil saute together Anaheim peppers, red onion, and garlic until tender.

Add tomatoes and parsley and heat through.

In the meantime, salt each side of the chicken thighs and grill until no pink remains. Transfer to a plate to rest.

Rachael Ray recommends putting the mushroom caps on the grill and then placing a frying pan on top of them to gently press down. It works surprisingly well and I have done it that way many times. Grill for 3-4 minutes each side. This particular time that I’m showing you, I put the mushroom caps into a grill basket and grilled them that way. It worked great, too. You decide.

Thinly slice the grilled chicken and mushrooms.

Serve with the pepper onions mixture and the smashed potatoes. Oh, heavenly!

A perfect meal for eating outside on the deck.