Blackened Seasoning Mix

I always have a ton of spices on hand but when I looked up a recipe for Tilapia, I saw it required blackened seasoning which I ran out of. But when looking at what it's made of, I realized I have everything and got to work.  I have a little mortar and pestle which I just love and haven't had the chance to use it (or forget I have it) but this was a perfect chance to put it to good use.  

The key to this recipe will be smoked paprika. That stuff is amazing!  I added it to Alfredo sauce and gave a little zing to my tastebuds and turned it a light pink color. 

If you live near an international food store, check that place out for spices. It's usually a TON cheaper than McCormick :) Also, the international isle in your local grocery store should have spices in packages which will be cheaper.   We have a few bulk food stores which sell spices and herbs for a fraction of the price. If you cook with lots of spices, keep your eyes pealed for places like that.

For the recipe, I eyeballed it, which is safe if you're willing to wet your finger and sample it as you go along but it's not the most pleasant tasting stuff around, so I'll do my best to give you the measurements.

Blackened Seasoning Mix ( for 4 fish or chicken fillets)
2 TBSP. smoked paprika
1 TBSP. sweet paprika
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes OR 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp. flor blanca coarse salt  OR 1 1/2 tsp. table salt

Crush well and store in a sealed container until ready to use.

I posted a dinner idea of Tilapia, Rice Pilaf and Cucumber Salad. Maybe you want to check it out for a dinner idea!

Rosemary Filone Bread

I have been playing around with Rosemary and when I came across this recipe on Gwen's blog, I saw how she organized it with pictures and step by step directions. I just might be able to do this! I am usually terrible with making bread but I was determined to face my fears on this one. It came out fantastic! It took a few days to make because the "starter dough" sits for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator.

The only thing different with my recipe is I added 1/2 cup of finely chopped black olives into the dough the same time I added the chopped rosemary. It was a hit! I served the warm loaf with dipping oil- olive oil and a few Italian seasonings sprinkled into it on a small plate.

Peanut Butter+ Hot Chocolate= Perfect Marriage

I was sitting in a mechanic's shop during an oil change and picked up a LIVING magazine. A recipe for hot chocolate popped out at me!

 The best combination in the world of food is CHOCOLATE AND PEANUT BUTTER!My dear friend, Lindsay, made rockin' cupcakes- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes. Check it out!

I came home and got busy with the recipe. I used organic peanut butter which is a bit oily and left a small about on oil on top. Other than that, it is incredibly rich and I put the leftovers in the refrigerator which I reheated the next day and it was just as yummy!

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate - serves 4
3 cups milk
1 cup light cream
8 oz. chocolate bar, chopped
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
pinch of salt
In a medium pot over medium heat, warm the milk and cream. Add chocolate car, stirring until dissolved. Add peanut butter and salt. Stir until hot and serve immediately.  *As the hot chocolate cools, it separates.

Baked Oatmeal is for Winter

What could be better than a bowl of baked oatmeal on a cold morning?

I went to a friend's house and she served us some of her yummy baked oatmeal for brunch. She added blueberries that she had picked and froze last summer.  Just simply delicious!  I came home and realized it's so easy and it lasted us all week! Savannah and I have been putting leftovers in bowls, adding milk and microwaving them until warm.   I had a bag of frozen mixed berries I added and loved it!  I think you can throw anything you'd like in the mix- even shredded carrots to give it a "carrot cake" look and taste.

Here's the recipe I used- but there are tons out there and feel free to swap out or switch up as much as you'd like with a simple recipe like this.

Winter Baked Oatmeal

5 cups of oats
2 cups milk
4 large eggs
 1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
Options: 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 shredded carrots, chocolate chips, frozen berries, fresh seasonal fruit ( I have enjoyed strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apples etc).
 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix up everything in a bowl and pour into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Any leftovers store nicely in the refrigerator!

It Might Choke Arti, but They Won't Choke Me!

I bought some artichokes today for 15 cents apiece. I have never attempted fresh artichokes but this was the day to do it! And let me say, online videos are SO HELPFUL! That's all I did when figuring out where to start with these things.

I cut them and boiled them for 45 minutes. I ended up only eating the hearts anyway since the leaves seemed a little tough to eat. I cut them in quarters,generously sprinkled sea salt and squeezed lemon juice all over them.   DELICIOUS!  I sat here and ate 3 of them in the middle of the afternoon! What a strange snack if you're not a Foodie :)

Next time I might turn it into a pasta dish but I still prefer canned artichoke hearts and use them in a fabulous recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip here.

Any other artichoke ideas you can share with me?

Rachel Ray's Huge Turkey Meatball Dinner

I had been wanting to try something new for dinner and who to turn to when you run out of creativity? Rachel Ray , of course! I love her healthy twist on things and these giant meatballs are made with ground turkey. I've never eaten JUST ground turkey and wanted my family to enjoy them, so I ended up mixing 1/2 lb. ground BEEF to 1 lb. ground turkey. These meatballs call for chopped, cooked spinach was is SO YUMMY! When mixing the ingredients, I presumed the recipe called for an 8 oz. bag of grated Italian cheese in the meat, so I put that in. When I looked again, it said 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the meat and the grated cheese later on in the cream sauce! Oh well, this was a splendid mistake and I will do it again this way. Good thing I had 2 bags!

I cooked egg noodles and served the meatballs over them with the cream sauce! What a treat! I even had time that afternoon to try a ciabatta bread recipe which turned out fabulous. Since I followed the recipes to ALMOST exactly, I am providing the link and you can go to the sites directly.

Super-Size Turkey Meatballs w/ Cream Sauce

Ciabatta Bread Recipe

Happy cooking!

Pesto-Ricotta Quiche

I had bought phyllo dough without a plan but as I surfed the web for recipes, this one popped out at me and I had the ingredients already. I added a bit of cooked, crumbled bacon to it to make it more appealing to my husband who was gracious to try this for dinner even though he's prefer this for breakfast :) The crust got a little too dark and I think my oven runs a bit hotter than it should. Originally, I had it set to 375 degrees but turned it down to 350 and gave it a few extra minutes for cooking. It's done when your inserted knife comes out clean.

Pesto-Ricotta Quiche

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 1 cup of cooked spinach, chopped
  
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  
• 1/4 cup grated mozzarella
  
• 3 tablespoons broccoli pesto (see recipe below) or your favorite pesto recipe
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8-9 sheets of phyllo dough
  

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt 4 tablespoons butter. Using a basting brush, lightly butter 9-inch pie plate and set aside.

Whisk the eggs and cream together in a medium bowl, add the spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, pesto, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and set aside.

Lay one sheet of phyllo in the prepared pie plate. Brush the phyllo with melted butter, leaving the outer 1 1/2-inch rim unbrushed. Repeat with the rest of the phyllo sheets.

Trim the edges to conform with the shape of the pie plate using kitchen shears and pour in the filling. Brush the top of the phyllo rim with butter, and bake until the edges are golden brown and the filling is set, about 50 minutes. Cool before serving.

Broccoli Pesto

• 1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or asiago cheese
• 1/2 cup tightly packed broccoli florets
• 3 tablespoons chicken stock
• splash of lemon juice
  
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place everything in a blender or food processor and blend well into a smooth paste.

Some people are worried that there is a shortage on pumpkins this year- i was finding a lot of information on this topic but maybe that's just Libby's problem. I read in the Washington post that "A couple of 29-ounce cans of Libby's are going for nearly $30 on eBay". Read here.

What a sad day that would be if there were NO PUMPKINS! I realize the mid-west did have some problems with the rain earlier this year, but we are still ok according to the Chicago Tribune. read here.

Why would you spend $30 on canned pumpkin when every local produce stand has a beautiful variety of pumpkins! My friend had pulled out a few sandwich-sized zip-lock bags of her own cooked pumpkin and we turned them into pumpkin pies! I was inspired so I bought a butternut squash because the stand lady said they are a meaty pumpkin and make great pies.

Let me just say for a huge $2.00 squash and easy prep work, I got 7 cups of pureed pumpkin in the freezer waiting their fate!

My butternut did have a very long neck so that's why I ended up with so much goo. I'll share very quickly how I prepared it.

1. washed the skin
2. preheated the oven to 400 degrees
3. stabbed the skin a few times in different places for steam vents
4. placed the pumpkin on a cookie sheet and slid into the oven
5. cooked for an hour (or longer) until my fork went through it smoothly
6. removed the squash and allowed it to cool for a few hours
7. cut it open and removed the seeds and skin
8. placed it in a huge bag and allowed it to sit in the refrigerator overnight
9. cut the corner of the bag over the sink and drain any juice
10. freeze it!

I didn't puree it, which I'll have to do upon thawing but I should have threw it in the food processor or blender before freezing. Just be careful not to blend it too long which will put too much air into it and look bubbly.

Now you are loaded with fresh, pureed pumpkin for muffins, pies, breads or soups!

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

YUM!

Since the weather is getting colder, it is definitely time for a cup of spiced chai tea (I'll share the recipe in the next post) and a soft pumpkin cookie! These were so easy to make! I found them on Mary's blog, Delightful Bitefuls, where the photos made my mouth water! I just had to try them.

I didn't use her frosting recipe since I was out of cream cheese so I used a glaze from allrecipes.com. They were amazing but I could see how the cheese cream would have made them that much more YUM! I didn't have all the spices either but I used 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice instead and then sprinkled a little more on the glaze.

They were pretty easy to make- my goal was to pop a DVD in for my daughter and be finished when the DVD stopped. I didn't have ALL of them baked or the kitchen back in order, but I was pretty much done, and we enjoyed a warm UN-FROSTED cookie together. ( I am not even going to start counting how many I ate during the course of this day!)

They are irresistible and so moist!

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

We have 4 birthday's in our family in the month of September and since our entire family was together last weekend, I made a few of these. What a fun recipe! A little bit of work since I needed to slice the Swiss rolls very thin and line a bowl with them. I followed a Taste of Home recipe which I'll let you check out. The hot fudge layer never freezes completely and kept puddling at the bottom of the bowl for me but with a bit of muscle, I was able to make it work.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I had so much fun trying out this recipe! The first time, I used a rolling pin to pound the chicken, but the second time I used my mother-in-law's heavy duty professional meat pounding gadget (actually, my hubby did the pounding!) SO, a rolling pin will work but of course, it's a substitute for the real thing. The other thing is I used a slice of Swiss cheese instead of their suggested shredded mozzarella, which just added an extra bite! I played around with the prosciutto and ham and decided I liked the cordon bleu with prosciutto instead of ham. It's a bit richer in flavor. I used seasoned bread crumbs and a can of chicken broth with roasted garlic- extra YUM!

I'll let u check out the recipe I found on my recipes to follow. It was a messy project but what a fabulous, thoughtful meal and quite uncommon, actually.

I dare you to try it!

Nugget Parmesan- serves 1

Ideal Meals for the “Wai Guo Ren” (Foreigner)
Living in Taiwan for a few years has taught me how to make foods I am familiar with back home but with limited resources and on a budget. If you have access to a COSTCO, than your options broaden, but for the most part, we eat simply and this recipe is a part of a collection for the American teachers living in Taiwan with a simple stove, toaster oven and small grocery store in town.

Today's Recipe- Nugget Parmesan

Items Needed:

• Toaster oven ( for nuggets)
• Waxed paper or tin foil
• Stove top burner
• Pot for boiling pasta
• Small pot for sauce or microwave
• An appetite

Ingredients Needed:
Chicken nuggets (as many as you can eat)
Pasta of any style
½ cup Sauce- either spaghetti or pizza sauce (If you go for pizza sauce, just add a pinch of sugar and a drop of water)

Directions:
1. Turn the top burner on in the toaster over and layer the rack with waxed paper or tin foil to prevent grease from dripping. Place the chicken nuggets on the rack and place the rack as high as it can go in the oven. Once the top side is golden brown, flip and allow the other side to brown.
2. Bring water to a boil and add the pasta, stirring occasionally. Pasta usually takes about 10-15 minutes to cook thoroughly.
3. Warm the sauce, being careful not to burn it- it does burn easily.
4. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl. Add sauce. Place nuggets on top of sauce. I love cheese and I like to top my dish with either mozzarella or Parmesan.

Sneaky Chocolate Cake

The other day, a friend and I were talking about likes and dislikes and my hubby made it clear that he HATES anything mayonnaise. But I knew if it was in a cake, he's never know the difference. I googled "chocolate mayonnaise cake" and found a fantastic one on Food Network. I made it with a peanut butter frosting and guess who's been eating the most of it!?! You can check out the link for the recipe yourself but here's a few changes I made-
I used 3/4 cup sugar instead of the full cup (knowing the it would be sweet enough with frosting added to it)
I don't have cake flour so I just used all-purpose flour.
I up-ed the cocoa powder to 3/4 cup to give it a richer flavor.
I don't have buttermilk so used milk
instead of sweetened whipped cream, I made up a peanut butter frosting.

The recipe doesn't call for eggs or oil because the mayonnaise does that job for you. The batter looked more like brownie mix and was difficult to spread in the pan, but it rose like cake and tasted like cake :)

I am currently use an over-sized toaster oven and at times I only have the bottom heater on or both bottom and top, keeping my eye on whatever is in there at the time. I hear it's hard to bake something all the way through without burning the edges. Try doing a little broiler during the middle of baking time, turning it back off and the bottom on back to finish the job. Just an idea- my quick breads, cakes, brownies always turn out wonderfully in the toaster oven, alternating heaters.

This is a great chocolate cake- dense and moist.

If you decide to make any of my recipes,
I would love to hear of any changes you make/ideas you have!

Pesto Pizzazz

WOW! I didn't know I could deviate so far from the original standard pesto recipe and have it tasting amazing! Here's the deal- I live in a country that makes it hard to find pine nuts AND Parmesan cheese. If I do come across them, it's outrageously expensive! I followed the directions for my cilantro pesto for the most part, just excluding the hot red pepper and ginger. You are going to want to try this! I'm tellin' you... if you can turn on your blender/food processor , then you are half way there!

Fresh Basil Pesto

1 cup PACKED fresh basil
(Be sure to wash, remove the stems and pat dry.)
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients into the blender/food processor and blend thoroughly. Store in an airtight container for a few days or freeze until you need it.

I really enjoyed making a fresh tomato sandwich, adding a bit of pesto on my mayonnaise. I even added some to my egg before scrambling! It was delicious! Chicken Pesto was easy too. Cook strips of chicken in a bit of oil, salt and pepper. Add to cooked, drained noodles. I threw in a bit of butter, olive oil, splash of lemon juice and a tablespoon of pesto (for 2 servings).

So easy and so fresh!

Luscious Lemon Squares

Pucker Up~
I was planning on serving a plate of fruit to some friends tonight and wanted a baked treat as well but when I thought about a chocolate chip cookie and a piece of pineapple- I puckered up! That is just an AWFUL combination! I decided to make lemon bars. They were a perfect treat to go along side the fruit platter. And it's made out of ingredients I usually have right on hand!

Luscious Lemon Squares

Preheat your oven to about 350. It's always hard for me to guess since I am accustomed to using an over-sized toaster oven. Just get your oven hot! :)

1 cup flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix these three ingredients in a bowl until crumbly and pat into a small 9x9 pan. Bake for about 10- 15 minutes. You don't really want to see any browning yet. Pull it out and let cool while you mix the filling.

Filling
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons lemon juice ( I use the bottled juice)
Powdered sugar for dusting

Using the same bowl you made the crust in, combine all these ingredients and whisk a few times. Pour over the crust and bake until the edges are golden brown and the top looks set (doesn't move when you take out the pan). Cool for a bit and gently dust the top with powdered sugar. Don't attempt to cut the bars until a cooled completely. One thing that helps keep a clean cut to the bars, is to wipe the knife with a wet paper towel every once in awhile.

Lemon Dill Cucumber Salad

It's warming up and what a perfect, refreshing salad to go along with dinner! It's really easy but you'll want to eat it fresh- it gets a little soggy after a few days.

2 large cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
cheery tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 lemon, juiced
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar ( or honey)
Fresh dill approximately 3 tablespoons

I first placed the peeled and sliced cucumber in a dish, sprinkled salt over them and left the dish in the frig for 20 minutes. Cucumbers have a lot of water so this helps bring out the juice. Drain and add the sliced onion and tomatoes.
Mix up the mayo, lemon, salt, sugar and dill week. Pour over salad and mix gently. Serve COLD. Enjoy!

How easy is that!?!?!

Glazed Banana Bread

Here in Taiwan we have so much fresh fruit and often it will go bad in this warm weather before I can use it. But right now bananas are in season and generous people keep giving us bunches. I have been cutting them and freezing them in baggies. Savannah loves munching on small, frozen pieces and another favorite is a smoothie! I just throw in some milk or juice, yogurt (of any kind and flavor) and pieces of frozen banana. Whalah! You have a refreshing drink!
But lately I have been experimenting with different banana bread recipes and developed this one. It’s moist with a crumb topping AND glaze. It’s so easy! If you can peel a banana, you can make this.

Glazed Banana Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix in a bowl:
1 egg
2/3 cup sugar
½ cup oil
3 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Stir just until blended. Add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
Dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix. The batter will be THICK. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan or fill 2/3 full in a muffin tin.

Crumb Topping
1 tablespoon butter, softened
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons flour
Dash of nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon

If I have granola on hand, I’ll throw that in the mix as well. It gives it a nice crunch.
Mix and sprinkle to the top of the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes. I insert a knife right into the middle to check doneness. There should be no batter sticking to the knife. Once out of the oven, cool for about an hour before adding the glaze.

Glaze

(these ingredients are all approximates- just play around with the ingredients until you get a good consistency)

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 tablespoon milk
½ cup powdered sugar

Blend and pour into a baggie. To get the drizzled look, just cut off the corner, squeeze and make designs on the bread. (example pictured)

Chicken Panini with roasted Pepper and Cilantro Pesto

Well, I don't have a Panini maker but did it the "grilled cheese" way by using a fry pan instead. This was a delicious sandwich and so fun to make. Just look at all those colors! Roasting a red pepper is easier than I thought. Just cut the pepper in half, remove the seeds and lay them skin side UP on a baking sheet. Broil them until the skin is brown and bubbly. Once they have cooled down, peel the skin off. Now you have roasted peppers that a fabulous in anything! Here's the ingredients and directions for two sandwiches.

2 chicken breasts (pounded thin)
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices of the bread of your choice
1 roasted red pepper
1 handful lettuce
4 tablespoons cilantro pesto (recipe below)
sliced cheese of your choice
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cilantro Pesto (makes 1 cup)

Ingredients:
1 cup cilantro
2 teaspoons ginger (grated)
3 tablespoons sesame seeds (toasted and ground)
olive oil to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 splash lemon juice

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor.

Dust the chicken breasts with paprika, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in pan and add chicken. Cook until golden brown on both sides and cooked all the way through- about 8 minutes on both sides.

Brush olive oil on the outsides of your bread, flip and layer with pesto, roasted pepper, lettuce, chicken and cheese. Grill until golden brown on both sides. A perfect side for this sandwich would be Spicy Steak Fries by a friend at 28 Cooks.

Low-Fat Salmon Pasta Dish

Grace and I decided to try something with salmon together and a pasta with cream sauce was on our minds. We went to the market together and headed right up to the sashimi counter and asked for salmon- well, only after calling a friend and figuring out it's name in Chinese we were able to order up a chunk. We bought wide noodles and for color we bought 3 red tomatoes, a yellow pepper and green scallions.

The cook the salmon, we rinsed it, brushed it with lemon juice and sprinkled salt and pepper on it. We laid it in a hot frying pan with a bit of olive oil in it and placed the lid on it for about 5 minutes before flipping it. We only flipped it once. It was delicious for a first time endeavor with salmon!

This is a low-fat recipe because we used milk instead of cream, only a little butter for flavor and 1/2 the white wine. Here's the recipe-

Low-Fat Pasta with Salmon

1/2 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt & freshly ground black pepper
flour and/or cornstarch to thicken the sauce*

Bring the white wine to a boil and reduce to medium heat. Add the chicken stock and reduce to low for five minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups milk. With the other 1/2 cup milk, add 1/4 flour and stir. Using a whisk, mix into the wine sauce. Stir until it's the thickness you desire. It will thicken as it sits off the heat as well, Season with salt and pepper.
*Just keep in mind that if you're going to thicken with flour, use COLD milk. If you prefer cornstarch mix in HOT water or chicken broth.

Our finished product!

Japanese Cabbage Pancake- Okonomiyaki

I had my first okonomiyaki in Taipei, actually. As Faith and I sat at the table, a chef came and turned on the table griddle and mixed a bowl of shredded cabbage and corn in a batter. What I ate, was FANTASTIC! I didn't expect it to taste so good! This week, I attempted to make my own. I found a bottle of Japanese okonomiyaki sauce which is close to Worcestershire sauce but thicker. If you love cabbage, you'll love this and it's SO easy! There are many different recipes online and you can add just about anything! In Taipei, we tried one with noodles and beef. So whatever you have on hand, try adding it to the mix and see how you like it.

Okonomiyaki- makes 4- 4" pancakes
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 egg
1/4 of a cabbage, about 2-3 cups packed (shredded)
1 carrot, about 1/2 cup (grated)
1/2 cup corn
1 green onion (chopped)
okonomiyaki sauce (or Worcestershire sauce)
mayonnaise*
green onion (chopped)

Directions:
Mix the flour, water, egg, cabbage, carrot and whatever else you want in a large bowl.
Heat some oil in pan.
Pour a 4th of the mixture into the pan and use a spatula to round the edges.
Cook on medium heat until golden brown on the bottom and then flip, about 5-7 minutes minutes per side.
Decorate with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise and green onion.
* I did a little creation with my mayonnaise by mixing a few tablespoons of mayo, 1/2 tsp. paprika, drop of lemon juice and a dot of ketchup just for a zing. It gave it a pink color which was fun. :)