Category Archives: Recipes

Recipes, Consolidated!

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Woohoo!  My recipes are now organized into a single user-friendly index.
View my consolidated recipes here!

After nearly six months of blogging, this site now features more than 35 recipes ranging from homemade meatballs to pork tinga tacos.  But guess what?  Up until now these recipes have been hard to find unless you knew the exact keyword or date that the recipe was published.  If you wanted to browse my recipe offerings your only option was to keep scrolling down on the home page forever until you reached a recipe that sounded good, but who has the patience to do that?

Frustrated by my inability to easily view all of my recipes in one place at one time, I set about creating a complete recipe index.  I had a vision of this index having two columns so that you could see twice as many recipes at a time (I’m not a fan of continuously scrolling down, can you tell?) but I soon realized that simply “making two columns” involves creating an HTML table which is no small feat for an HTML-illiterate blogger such as myself.

Determined to realize my dream of a beautiful columned recipe index, I started learning the (very basic) basics of table-making in HTML.  Ultimately I was able to create a no-frills spreadsheet table in Excel, save it as a web page, open it in Firefox, view the page source code, copy out the specific section of code dealing with my table, paste the table into WordPress’s “text” editor, and re-size the columns so that they fit within my page’s formatted size and look good on a mobile device.  Whew!  All of that learning was totally worth it though because now I have a wonderful recipe index!  Go check it out!  🙂

Voila! My vision of a two-columned recipe index has been fulfilled!

Summer T.B.M. Pizza with Corn Relish

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Last weekend as I was paging through this month’s volume of Martha Stewart Living I came across a delicious-sounding recipe for Grilled Pizza with Cheesy Corn, Fresh Tomatoes, and Basil.  I was already planning on making pizza for dinner on Sunday and happened to have some extra frozen corn, garlic, and Parmesan, so I decided to mix up my standard Tomato-Basil-Mozzarella pizza and make this recipe instead.

Since I made this on short notice I had to improvise a bit.  I didn’t have any fresh corn so I used frozen corn which I rinsed and drained before blending into the relish.  Although I’m sure corn freshly sliced off the cob would have been even better, I thought that the corn was pretty tasty.  I also cheated by baking the pizza in the oven rather than grilling it because it was waaaay to hot out to stand over a grill (we’ve been having a major heat wave here on the east coast) !  All in all I thought the pizzas were quite yummy.  Thanks, Martha Stewart!

Summer Tomato-Basil-Mozzarella Pizza with Corn Relish (from Martha Stewart Living)

You will need…
15 oz. store-bought Pizza Dough (I used Trader Joe’s dough, of course!)
1 1/3 cups Corn Kernels (from two ears of corn or just measured out if using frozen)
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1-2 medium Garlic Cloves
4 tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
Salt, to taste
2 Tomatoes, thinly sliced (I used small plum-sized “on the vine” tomatoes)
4-6 oz. Mozzarella, thinly sliced (this worked out to 12 of TJ’s small marinated mozzarella balls)
1/2  cup Basil Leaves

Directions:
Make the corn relish by combining the corn, Parmesan, garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender and blend well.  Stretch the pizza dough into two pizzas and place them on a greased baking pan.  (For best taste let the dough sit at room temperature for 1 hour beforehand.)  Season the dough with a few pinches of coarse salt, then bake in a 425° preheated oven for 6 minutes.  Remove from oven, flip the dough, then top with the corn relish (spread it on with a spoon), tomatoes, and mozzarella.  Bake the pizzas for another 6 minutes until the mozzarella has melted.  Top with the basil leaves and enjoy!

Mexican Tortas with Chorizo and Black Beans

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This recipe for tasty tortas comes from our Mexican Everyday cookbook by Rick Bayless.  A torta is a Mexican-sandwich that features a smear of mashed beans and a wide variety of toppings including cheese, lettuce, sour cream, or salsa.  For these tortas we garnished our sandwiches with Queso Fresco, avocado, and Cholula hot sauce.  The resulting tortas contained the perfect combination of warm beans, spicy chorizo, and savory cheese and avocado, all nestled between golden-brown pieces of crusty bread.

Tortas de Chorizo y Frijoles Negros (from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless)

You will need…
8 oz. Chorizo Sausage, removed from casing
Olive Oil
2 – 15 oz. cans Black Beans, undrained
Salt, to taste
2-3 Crusty Rolls, approx. 6 inches long (we used a French Baguette and cut it into three 6″ sections)
6 oz. Queso Fresco cheese, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 ripe Avocado, cut into 1/2 inch slices
Cholula Hot Sauce, or other bottled sauce or hot salsa

Directions:
Brown the chorizo and break it up in a large skillet over medium heat.  After the chorizo is completely cooked through, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the black beans.  Bring the beans to a simmer and mash them with the back of a large spoon.  (You can also use a bean masher or potato masher if you have one but the spoon worked fine for us.)  Continue to cook the bean mixture, stirring almost constantly, for about 10 minutes.  Taste the mixture and add salt if needed.  Cover the beans and leave on the stove over low heat.

Meanwhile, slice each roll in half lengthwise.  Use your fingers to pull out some of the soft bread in the center to make room for the bean mixture.  Use a spoon or brush to spread approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil onto the inside faces of each roll.  Place the rolls face-down on a preheated heavy-bottomed skillet and toast the bread until it turns golden brown.  We had to do this in batches since only one roll could fit in our skillet.  Press the rolls down as they cook so that they toast evenly.

To assemble your torta, spread a liberal amount of the chorizo-bean mixture along the bottom half of each roll.  Top with the sliced queso fresco and avocados, then add a few drops (or many drops… your choice!) of hot sauce.  Cut the torta in half and enjoy!

Easy Chicken Fajitas

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This is a quick and easy weeknight recipe that we enjoyed last week.  Besides the basic pantry items, all you really need is a chicken breast, red pepper, onion, and tortillas… simple!

Easy Chicken Fajitas (from Food and Wine)

You will need…
1 teaspoon Chile Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 Chicken Breast (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips
1 White Onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 cup Water
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
6-8 corn Tortillas, warmed
Sour Cream
Hot Sauce, such as Cholula

Directions:
Combine the first six ingredients (chile powder through cornstarch) in a small bowl and stir well to combine.  Place the chicken, pepper, onion, olive oil and water in a large ziplock bag and sprinkle in the dry ingredient mixture.  Close the bag and mix/flip well so that the chicken is covered.  Allow to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.

Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add in the chicken mixture and stir occasionally until the chicken is cooked through.  Stir in the lime juice and serve in the warmed corn tortillas with sour cream and a few drops of hot sauce.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

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Here’s a tasty little frozen drink recipe that we whipped up this afternoon after a long day at work.  We’ve been having a heat wave here (today the weather has ‘cooled down’ to about 90°) so anything involving ice sounds good to us!  This recipe is a blended, fruitier version of my Margaritas on the Rocks.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas  (makes 2 drinks)

You will need…
5 cups Ice Cubes
5 oz. Silver Tequila
1.5 oz. Triple Sec
3.5 oz. Lime Juice (I use Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Juice)
2 oz. Simple Syrup (1/2 part sugar and 1/2 part water that’s been boiled together and cooled)
12-15 Strawberries, leaves removed
Lime, to garnish

Directions:
Place the ice cubes in a blender and blend until the ice is partially chopped.  (My blender has an “ice crush” setting that does a good job of breaking up the ice so I use this setting.)  Add the tequila, triple sec, lime juice, simple syrup and strawberries and blend until the strawberries are completely incorporated.  Pour into a glass and garnish with a lime wedge.  Enjoy!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

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I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa for quite some time since it is one of our all-time favorite salsas.  It is a great go-to recipe for summer barbecues and picnics and features a fresh flavor, beautiful green color, and just the right amount of kick.  The original recipe came from The Food Network’s Tyler Florence and can be viewed here.

We first made this salsa last Spring when our oven was broken.  Instead of roasting the tomatillos, peppers, onion, and garlic in the oven, we wrapped the bottom of our 13×9 glass pan in foil and roasted the veggies on our grill over indirect medium-high heat.  If you find yourself wanting to make this recipe during a heat wave, using the grill might be a good way to avoid heating up your kitchen!

Tomatillos look sort of like green tomatoes with protective husks.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa 

You will need…
10-12 Tomatillos, husked and sliced in half
4 cloves Garlic, peeled
2 Jalapeño Peppers, whole
1 White Onion, sliced into 6-8 large wedges
Juice from 1/2 to 1 Lime (depending on how juicy your lime is!)
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro, loosely chopped
Tortilla Chips

Directions:
Place the tomatillos, garlic, peppers, and onion in a 13×9 glass pan and roast in a preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes until veggies have softened.  Switch the oven to broil and broil for 4-5 minutes until black spots start to form on the tomatillos and peppers.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Tomatillos, Garlic, Jalapeños (from my garden!), and Onion ready to be roasted.

Meanwhile, place the lime juice, salt, cumin and cilantro in a blender.  When the tomatillo mixture is cool enough to handle safely, pour the roasted veggies and any accumulated juices into the blender.  Blend the mixture until it is fairly uniform (or to your desired salsa consistency) and serve with tortilla chips.

Peanut Butter Cream Pie

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This Peanut Butter Cream Pie is the easiest pie we’ve ever made!  We wanted to bring a dessert to Matt’s parents’ house for the Fourth of July and, as luck would have it, Cooking Light sent me an email featuring easy no-bake summer desserts just as we were deciding what to make.  This pie took about 15 minutes to prepare and it was creamy, rich, and delicious.  Oh, and it’s somewhat healthy, too!  Cooking Light says that each piece has only 302 calories which is pretty good considering how decadent this pie tastes!  The original recipe can be found here.

Peanut Butter Cream Pie  (from Cooking Light)

You will need…
1 cup Confectioner’s Sugar
1 cup Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter
1 – 8 oz. block Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, softened
1 – 14 oz. can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
12 oz. Low Fat Cool Whip, thawed
2 – 6 oz. pre-made Graham Cracker Pie Crusts
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup

Directions:
Put the confectioner’s sugar, peanut butter, and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixture and mix on low speed until combined.  Add the condensed milk and beat on medium speed until well combined and creamy.  Fold in the cool whip and then divide the mixture between the two pie crusts.  Chill the pies in the freezer for at least 8 hours.  For the best pie texture, leave the pie in the freezer until serving (it won’t be completely frozen solid).  After cutting the pie, drizzle chocolate syrup on each slice.

Hot Pepper Beef

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Who knew flank steak could be so delicious?!   I had heard of flank steak before but I’m embarrassed to say that I hadn’t actually ever cooked with it until a few months ago when we first tried this recipe.  Now we’re hooked!  In this stir fry, the flank steak takes center stage amidst a variety of green veggies in a sweet and spicy hoisin sauce.  The steak is juicy, tender, and flavorful and is light years beyond the rubbery, tasteless “steak strips” that you see pre-packaged in the supermarket.

This recipe comes from our awesome Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge cookbook by Grace Young.  We tweaked the original recipe to add the fresh green beans and garlic scapes that I picked in our garden earlier this week.  Enjoy!

Hot Pepper Beef Stir Fry with Green Beans and Scapes (serves 2)

You will need…
12 ounces Flank Steak, cut with the grain into 1/4″ thick x 2″ long slices
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Cornstarch
3/4 teaspoons Salt, divided
1/8 teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
2 teaspoons Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon Dry Sherry
1 tablespoon Ketchup
2 tablespoons Hoisin Sauce
1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced
3 quarter-sized slices of Ginger, smashed
1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1 Handful Green Beans, trimmed
3 Garlic Scapes, cut into 3-4 inch pieces
Peanut Oil
1 Green Bell Pepper, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 10 ounce package Jasmine Rice from Trader Joe’s, cooked

Directions:
Combine the steak, garlic, cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, black pepper, soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of the sherry, and 2 teaspoons cold water.  Stir well to coat the meat.  In a separate bowl or measuring cup, combine the ketchup, hoisin sauce, and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sherry.  In yet another bowl, combine the red onion, ginger, and crushed red pepper.  Place the green beans and garlic scapes in (yes, another) bowl.

Green beans and garlic scapes from my garden made a nice addition to this recipe.

Heat a wok over high heat until a drop of water vaporizes within 1 to 2 seconds.  Add a tablespoon of the peanut oil, swirl around the wok, and add the steak to the wok.  Spread the steak evenly over the bottom of the wok and let it sear undisturbed for 1 minute.  Then stir fry the steak for 1 minute and transfer it to a plate.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of peanut oil to the wok, swirl, and add the onion mixture.  Stir fry for 30 seconds, then add the green bean/scape mixture and continue to stir fry for 1 minute.  Add the green pepper, stir fry for 30 seconds, then add the steak and any accumulated juices back to the wok.  Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the ketchup mixture and stir fry for 30 seconds until the steak is just cooked through.  Remove from heat and serve over rice.

Garlic Scape Pesto

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After months of growth my garlic plants finally have scapes that are ready for harvesting.  Scapes are the “shoots” that garlic plants send up to flower as the bulb is still developing.  Because the bulb is not yet fully formed you are supposed to cut off the scapes so that plant can refocus its energy on the bulb.  The scapes themselves are packed with garlicky flavor and can be used in all sorts of recipes.  I’ll be posting more scape concoctions as the week goes on but for now I’d like to share this delicious recipe for Scape Pesto.

Oh, and before I post the recipe I have to brag about the rest of today’s garden harvest.  In addition to the scapes I also picked a handful of beautiful green beans, a large bunch of basil leaves, and three (yes, three!) strawberries.  🙂

Garlic Scape Pesto  (serves 2)

You will need…
2 Garlic Scapes
15-20 Large Basil Leaves
3-4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and chop until well blended.  Taste the pesto and add olive oil, salt, pepper, or Parmesan as needed to reach your desired flavor.

What can you do with your fresh Scape Pesto?

  • Serve it with Caprese Salad – that’s what we did!
  • Serve it over pasta
  • Enjoy it with a loaf of crusty rustic bread
  • Add it to a homemade pizza

I’m a Chicken Cutlet Convert!

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For some reason I’ve never been a big fan of chicken.  Maybe I’ll eat a chicken tender here or there, but usually I’ll always pick a vegetarian option over a chicken sandwich or chicken cutlet.  All of that changed last Friday night when I tasted Matt’s version of these perfect, amazing, tender, and flavorful chicken cutlets.  These cutlets were melt-in-your-mouth delicious and I could have eaten every one of them except that I was going out of town the next day and Matt insisted on saving some for his lunch and dinner while I was gone.  🙂

I think what I liked most about these cutlets was that they were extremely tender, moist, and thin.  We ate our cutlets sandwich-style with melted Havarti cheese and roasted red peppers and to me the chicken seemed as delicate and delectable as the soft bun and juicy peppers.  These cutlets are DEFINITELY going into our standard dinner rotation!

Breaded Chicken Cutlets

You will need…
1 1/4 pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast (approx. 3 half breasts)
5 egg whites, whisked together in a large bowl (discard the yolks)
1 1/2 cups Breadcrumbs with Italian Seasoning
Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder to Taste
Olive Oil
1/2 Lemon

Directions:
Cut the chicken breasts into thirds so that you have 8-9 square-ish pieces of chicken.  One at a time, cover each piece of chicken with plastic wrap and flatten by hammering it with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer.  Repeat for all chicken cutlets and set aside.

Combine the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic in a large bowl and mix together.  Dip one chicken cutlet in the egg white mixture and make sure it gets completely coated (this is a messy, hands-on job!).  Allow the excess egg white to drip off then dredge the cutlet in your breadcrumb mixture, again making sure to coat all sides and edges.  Repeat the egg white dip and breadcrumb dredge a second time and then set that cutlet aside.  Repeat the entire double-dipping process with the rest of your chicken cutlets.

Heat a large flat-sided pan over medium high heat and add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of your pan).  The oil is hot enough when a drop of water sizzles and pops.  Carefully place four of your cutlets into the pan and allow them to cook undisturbed until the bottom is golden brown.  Flip the cutlets over and allow the other side to cook until golden brown.  Remove the cutlets from the pan and set aside on a clean plate.  (For peace of mind, you might want to cut open the fattest of the cutlets at this point to make sure it is cooked through!)  Repeat the cooking process with your remaining cutlets.

Once you are done cooking all of the cutlets, spread them out on a plate or (clean) cutting board and squeeze the lemon juice over them evenly.  This will give that garlicky breading a nice fresh “pop” of flavor.

How can you serve your cutlets?

  • The easy way – simply eat them plain with a knife and a fork (you probably won’t even need the knife because they are super tender!)
  • The sandwiched way – melt cheese on your cutlets in the oven and serve on a toasted bun with roasted red peppers (this is how we ate ours for dinner!)
  • The salad way – slice the cutlets into strips or cubes and serve warm over a mixed salad with baby greens, cucumber, red onion, roasted red peppers, and Caesar dressing (this is how Matt ate some of the leftovers)
  • The chicken parm way – we didn’t make these, but you could melt some mozzarella on the cutlets and serve with sauce, yum!