As you may know if you have read some of my blog, I have a vegetable garden. All the planting has been done for a few weeks now. We have been watering (and weeding) faithfully. Seeds have sprouted and with Spring well under way, I am now impatiently looking forward to harvesting some fresh vegetables from the garden.

Luckily, some vegetables are quick to germinate and mature. I have already picked my first crop of radishes. They were beautiful and tasty. There are more on the way. We have also been picking bowls full of strawberries every day. I have two beds that are 4 feet by 12 feet long and they are producing quite nicely.

One of my most anticipated goodies is the home-grown zucchini. Last year we had such an amazing crop that we had to find some new recipes to use them all up. Here are two of my favorites. The first is a savory muffin. My daughter found the recipe, but of course I altered it to make it work for my family. The second is an old recipe that my mom used to make. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

ZUCCHINI MUFFINS (savory, not sweet) yield 10 muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup grated zucchini (after draining off extra water in a strainer)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese (or your favorites grated cheese)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients well. Drop into well greased muffin pans. Bake at 400° for 11 – 14 minutes. Remove when golden brown and firm to the touch. Serve all by themselves or top with marinara sauce for a delicious side dish.

SPICED ZUCCHINI BREAD yield 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup grated zucchini (after draining off extra water in a strainer)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter softened

2 large eggs

1-3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh if possible – you won’t believe the taste difference!)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, soda and nutmeg. Add in zucchini and mix well. Stir in flour completely then add walnuts. Place in a greased and floured pan. Bake at 350°F until golden and firm to the touch.

Beef & Barley Soup

Ingredients:

1/2 pound leftover roast (Today I used tri-tip.)

drippings from the roast or 2 cans beef stock

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

6 carrots, sliced

1 pound bag of frozen cut green beans

2 -12 oz. cans of V-8 juice

3/4 cup pearl barley

boiling water to fill crock

Here’s the easy part.  Throw all the chopped, sliced and cubed ingredients in the crock pot.  Add the barley, stock or drippings and the V-8.  Fill the crock pot with boiling water.  Turn the crock on to high heat and cook for 6 hours.

Serve this soup with some fresh bread and a green salad!  Simple, delicious and nutritious.

Do your bananas ever look like this?  Surprisingly, it happens in our house quite often.  I have a hard time understanding it, though.  My daughter likes them almost totally green.  The little ones like them just barely yellow and I like them just before they turn brown.  How is it that some of them get to the point of being over-ripe?

I definitely don’t have the answer to how they get to that point, but I do have several ideas of what to do with them when they do.  I buy lots of bananas, because each of the six of us eats one almost every day.  So sometimes, one or two slip through and are past the fresh eating stage.  Try some of these ideas.

Make Banana Bread.  Make Banana Pancakes, all you have to do is mash the bananas and add to your regular pancake mix or recipe.  Or you could make Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Cookies!  My daughter found this recipe and these cookies are delicious!

Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup room temperature butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup mashed bananas

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh grated if possible)

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir in the egg.  In a separate bowl, mash the bananas and mix with the soda.  Let sit for two minutes.  The soda will be activated and this will produce light cookies.  Add the banana mixture to the butter/sugar mixture.  Stir in the spices and salt.  Add in the flour and mix until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.  Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a non-stick baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 11 – 13 minutes or until nicely golden brown.  Makes about 30 cookies.

What if you only have one over-ripe banana?  My mom taught me this trick.  Peel the banana and drop into a large freezer bag and freeze.  The next time you have one or two over ripe bananas, peel and add them to the bag.  Soon you will have enough for a recipe and nothing will go to waste!

I have been very busy planting my vegetable garden. I am almost done, so hopefully tonight after work I will be able to plant the last few beds. That won’t leave a lot of time to cook dinner though, but I have a plan: Frozen cheese ravioli, left-over marinara and a quick salad. By the time the water boils and the ravioli are done, I will have the sauce warmed and the salad made. We even have some rolls left from last night if someone wants bread with their dinner.

The vegetarian marinara sauce is really easy and tasty. Here’s the recipe:

Vegetarian Marinara Sauce (double batch)

Ingredients:
2 large onions, chopped finely
2 bulbs of garlic, minced finely
2 bell peppers (red, green or one of each), chopped finely
1 can black olives, drained and chopped finely
1 pound mushrooms, chopped finely
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
2 – 26 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
handful dried oregano
handful dried basil
salt to taste

The reason I chop every thing finely for this sauce is that it gives a consistency resembling ground beef in the sauce. It took a very long time for my kids to realize there wasn’t any meat in this sauce.

In a heavy bottomed pan sauté the onions until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Next add the bell peppers and garlic and cook until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan (except the salt) and bring up to a boil. Turn down and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers, the better the sauce will taste. After the first 30 minutes, taste the sauce to see if it needs any salt. It may not because the olives are salty and the canned tomatoes usually contain salt also.

A trick I use if the sauce gets too thick, is to add a can of V-8 juice. It has most of the same ingredients as the sauce so it adds liquid and maintains the flavor.

So if the weather holds, my garden will be completely planted tonight before dinner. My Quick Fix Dinner will be less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Everyone will be satisfied with the garden and the dinner!

Corned Beef Brisket

Ingredients:

1 corned beef brisket

1 onion coarsely chopped

5 cloves of garlic peeled and halved

seasoning packet from brisket

1 tablespoon pickling spices

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon dill seed

boiling water to cover brisket

When I follow the package directions for corned beef brisket, it never has enough flavor for me so I add lots of extra spices.  The spices listed above are my favorites, but you can add anything you want.

In the bottom of the crock pot pour in the coriander, celery and dill seed.  Place the brisket on top and pour the season packet and pickling spices on top.  Place the garlic and onions around the brisket.  I boil the water in a kettle to help speed up the crock pot process.  Pour in the boiling water over the brisket and cover.

Cook on high for 5 – 6 hours.  Remove the brisket from the crock pot and allow to cool on a platter.  I am not very good at slicing the brisket thinly, so I use a fork and pull apart the brisket removing any fat along the way.  You can return to the cooking liquid to reheat if you so desire.

I serve this corned beef on a really good rye bread with mustard and Swiss cheese.   It really doesn’t need anything else.  One of my favorite side dishes for this sandwich is a coleslaw containing apples and pineapple.  Here’s the recipe:

Sweet Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1/2 of a large head of cabbage, chopped or shredded

1 granny smith apple, coarsely chopped

1 – 16 oz. can of chunk pineapple, well drained (reserve juice)

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Combine the cabbage, apple and pineapple and mix well.  In a jar combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and sugar.  Shake well.  Add a little pineapple juice at a time to make the dressing the consistency you would like.  Pour over the cabbage mixture and mix well.  This salad can be made a few hours before serving with out getting soggy.

We all love this corned beef recipe and the coleslaw is also one of our family favorites.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as we do!

The reason I have been making pizza more than ordering it recently is probably obvious. With the economy what it is, we just can’t afford to spend $30 or more for pizza. Pizza is surprisingly easy to make. And, if you watch for sales on the cheeses and toppings, it is usually less than half the price of take-out. Here is my pizza crust recipe and a quick pizza sauce recipe.

EZ Pizza Crust (makes 2 twelve-inch pizzas)

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

2 tablespoons dry yeast or 2 packages

3/4 cup warm (about 110 degrees) water, plus more as needed

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

cornmeal for pan

Dissolve yeast in a bowl with 3/4 cup lukewarm water. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt. Stir in the olive oil and the water with the dissolved yeast. Mix well. Add more lukewarm water as needed to make a dough that is smooth and elastic. Turn out on a floured board and knead until for 3 minutes. Pour a little olive oil in a large bowl and place the ball of dough in the bowl. Turn to coat with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and leave it in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

EZ Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon garlic powder or 2 minced garlic cloves

Mix everything together and let sit for a hour or so to let flavors mingle before making your pizza.

Preheat your oven to 550°F. Punch down the dough and separate in to two balls. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 12-inch round. Sprinkle some cornmeal onto your pizza pan and place the dough on top. Spread with the pizza sauce. Add the desired toppings and cover with cheese. I usually use just mozzarella cheese, but sometimes we mix it up and add cheddar, jack or parmesan. This is the great thing about making pizza at home. You can make it the way you want it, not the way the restaurants offer it.

We often have Make Your Own Pizza Night. I prebake the crusts in the morning. I cook them until just down, but not brown. I usually break the recipe into fourths and make small crusts. Before baking use a fork and pierce the crust so that it doesn’t bubble up. Then that night everyone gets to pick their own toppings and put their pizza together. I cook them as fast as they are assembled and everyone gets just the pizza they want. Everyone loves this; kids and adults alike.

Start a new family tradition. Pizza night!

Today, research has shown that chocolate has some health benefits.  Over 300 naturally occurring chemicals are found in chocolate. In a study conducted by Andrew Waterhouse, chocolate was found to have potent antioxidants called phenols. Cocoa phenols were found to prevent the bad cholesterol from causing plaque buildup in the arteries.  The darker the chocolate, the more phenols it contains. The conclusion is the purer and darker chocolates may provide the most health benefits.

As with all things, moderation is the key.  So today, let’s enjoy some delicious, sweet, satisfying chocolate!  Here’s my favorite chocolate cake recipe with my easy chocolate butter cream recipe, also.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter (melted)

1-1/2 cups milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

1-3/4 cups flour

1 cup cocoa (Hershey’s)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans.  In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, eggs, milk and butter.  Add in the vanilla, salt and baking powder.  Stir in the flour and cocoa.  Don’t over mix the batter.  Pour into the prepared pans.  Bake the cakes for about 30 – 35 minutes.

I think the most common reason people end up with dry, crumbly cakes is over baking.  I don’t rely completely on the timer.  When I smell chocolate, I open the oven and lightly touch the center of the cake.  If it springs back, I take out the cake.  If it doesn’t I give it a few more minutes and test again.  I also remove my cakes from the pans while warm.  I find if I let them cool completely they stick to the pans.

Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup cocoa (Hershey’s)

4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 milk

In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, combine all ingredients until light and creamy. 

Use the frosting for the filling between the two layers and then generously ice the rest of the cake.  If the frosting seems a little soft you can either add more powdered sugar until the desired thickness or place the cake in the refrigerator for a few minutes or until serving.

So I hope you enjoy your chocolate cake!

There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with CHOCOLATE

There’s nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate. – Linda Grayson, The Pickwick Papers

Too much of a good thing is simply wonderful! – Deborah Fox-Rothschild

Since I was going to be home all day, I decided to be productive. I got all the dishes washed and put away. The laundry was also caught up. Everything was picked up and vacuumed, swept and wiped off. Someone please let me go to work!!!

Actually, it wasn’t that bad. It felt good to get everything caught up. Then I decided to start on dinner. I made a delicious pork stew and while that was simmering, I started a batch of French bread, roasted some chicken breasts for future use, pulled together a nice salad and made a chocolate cake. I love to cook and don’t always have a lot of time to do it, so it was nice.

I am also a multi-tasker, thus the bread raising while the stew simmered and the cake baked. You could smell all the yummies inside and outside the house. I also roasted some garlic to make a spreadable cheese for the fresh bread. I got carried away and made another spreadable cheese with homemade green olives in ricotta. Delicious!

Here’s a few of the recipes I made today:

Mandarin Orange and Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 pound baby spinach
16 oz. can of mandarin oranges (drained)
1/4 small red onion
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Rinse the spinach and dry well. Drain oranges and add to spinach in a large salad bowl. Finely mince the red onion. In a small mason jar, combine the onion, orange juice concentrate, vinegar, olive oil and salt. Shake well to mix. Just before serving pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

Roasted Garlic Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

3 whole bulbs of garlic
1/8 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup ricotta cheese

Cut the tops of the garlic. Place on parchment paper or wax paper with a layer of foil underneath. Pour the olive oil over the garlic and sprinkle with a little salt. Roast in a 350°F over for about 1 hour until the garlic is soft and caramelized. Allow the garlic to cool before trying to work with it.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and salt. Turn the garlic bulbs upside down and squeeze out the soft centers of the cloves. Pour in any leftover olive oil from the foil. Using a fork, mash and mix the cheese and garlic together. Allow the spread to come to room temperature. Serve with fresh bread or crackers.

Green Olive Ricotta Spread

Ingredients:
1/2 cup green olives (pitted) I used homemade cracked Greek olives
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Finely chop the green olives. Mix with the ricotta cheese and the pepper. Allow the spread to come to room temperature. Serve with fresh bread or crackers.

It turned out to be a great day. It was topped off with a delicious, nutritious meal. And who doesn’t like that?

]]> http://tlcinthekitchen.com/2009/02/unexpected-day-off-from-work-not-really-a-good-thing/feed/ 1 http://tlcinthekitchen.com/2009/02/national-pancake-day-%e2%80%93-who-knew/ http://tlcinthekitchen.com/2009/02/national-pancake-day-%e2%80%93-who-knew/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:40:39 +0000 Tina http://tlcinthekitchen.com/?p=335 I sure wouldn’t know it was National Pancake Day if I hadn’t watched the morning news.  I “googled” National Pancake Day and sure enough, today is National Pancake Day!  So, in honor of National Pancake Day, here is my favorite pancake recipe:

The Best Pancake Recipe (makes about 16 small pancakes)

Ingredients:

1/2 – 3/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 egg

1 cup white flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

The amount of milk you use will determine how thick the pancakes are.  Start with the smaller amount and add more if the batter seems too thick.  Beat the milk, butter and egg lightly in a mixing bowl.  Mix the remaining ingredients together and then add to the milk mixture.  Mix until well combined, but don’t over mix.  Lightly oil or butter a heavy griddle pan or skillet and place over moderate heat.  Use a ladle to portion out the pancakes on the pan.  Cook until the tops bubble up and the undersides are slightly browned.  Turn with a spatula and brown the other side.  Keep in a warm place until ready to serve.

One of the things I love about pancakes is their versatility.  Sometimes I put thinly sliced bananas or apples on the griddle and pour the batter over them to make fruit pancakes.  Other times I replace some of the white flour with buckwheat flour or whole-wheat flour.  One of my favorite things to do is chop walnuts and raisins and add them to a whole-wheat batter with a little cinnamon.  They are so tasty. 

Try topping your pancakes with something other than plain old maple or pancake syrup.  Spread on a little peanut butter and drizzle with honey.  Pour on a little home-made fruit syrup.  You can make your own by taking 1/4 cup of any jam, add a few tablespoons of water and warm in the microwave.  Fresh fruit is another delicious topping.  Try sliced strawberries or blueberries. 

The options with pancakes are endless.  Give a few of my ideas a try.  I think you will really enjoy them.  Then, try a few of your own!

You have to plan ahead for this meal. The meat needs to marinate for at least 24 hours, so I started yesterday on this dinner. I also bought an inexpensive pork shoulder roast that will require a very long, slow cooking time, so I had to plan to have it ready to go into the oven before I left for work. The black beans also take a fairly long time to cook, so I put them in the crock pot this morning. A little planning will go a long way, because this is a delicious dinner. Here are the recipes:

Cuban Style Pork

Ingredients:
pork roast (I have used pork loin, pork shoulder and pork butt roasts for this meal)
lemons – at least one lemon per pound of pork
garlic – 3 or 4 cloves per pound, depending on how garlicky you want it to be
salt and pepper to taste

At least 24 hours before you need to put your roast in the oven, zest your lemons and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Peel and finely mince the garlic and mix with the juice and zest. Place the roast in a large bowl and pour the garlic and juice over the roast. I rub in the marinade before I cover and place in the refrigerator. Turn the roast in the marinade several time over the next 24 hours.

I cook this recipe on low heat for a long time. Heat your oven at 325°F. Place the roast in a heavy roasting pan with a lid or a cast-iron skillet and cover well with foil. Save the marinade in the refrigerator and every hour or so, baste the roast. Cook for about one hour per pound of meat. You will know when the roast is done, because it will be browned and falling apart. Slice or pull apart with a fork and serve with the following side dish.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:
1 pound dry black beans
1 large onion
1 large green bell pepper
2 stalks celery
4 – 6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 – 16 oz. can of crushed or diced tomatoes
4 cups of water for beans
2 cups of white rice
4 cups of water to cook rice

Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Place the dry beans, vegetables, salt, pepper and canned tomatoes to the crock pot. Add the 4 cups of water and turn on high for approximately 5 hours. Check after a few hours and add more water if necessary to cook the beans until tender.

About half an hour before you are ready to serve dinner, boil the four cups of water. Add the rice to the boiling water. Turn down and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve the black beans over the white rice with your delicious Cuban style pork!