Recipes

I am sure you have figured out by the page title that I will be sharing some recipes with you. Most of them have some meaning to me which means there will most likely be a story to go along with them.I will try not to ramble to much in my stories but can make no promises.....

Happy Eats!

this was a great dinner, Mark and I really enjoyed it, filling and lite. I followed the recipe very closely but after the direction I will list ideas of how I would change it if I make it again.Thanks to Eating Well Magazine.

Garlic Roasted Salmon W/ Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. sprouts trimmed and cut in half
10 cloves of garlic
1/4 c.Olive oil
1 tbsp.Oregano
salt
Pepper
3/4 c. White Wine (Chardonnay)
Salmon
preheat oven to 350


finely dice 2 cloves of garlic, combine with olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper, 1 tbsp oregano.  Place sprouts and remaining garlic cloves (halved) in roasting pan and drizzle 3 tbsp of oil mixture over top, toss and bake for 15 minutes. Add wine to remaining oil mixture, remove sprouts from oven and place salmon on top, pour wine mixture over top and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until fish is done.

What might I change?
well if you are super hungry and need more food you could serve this with a lemon infused couscous. My salmon had skin on it which did not baked up they way I would have liked. Next time if I leave the skin on I will crisp it in a pan for a few minutes, then finish it in the oven.

Stuffed Cabbage (yield 27 rolls)

1 Head of Cabbage (green or red)
2lbs of ground meat(this time I used ground beef but I think this could work with turkey or chicken, you could even add sage and thyme while cooking to develop more flavor in the meat)
1/2 bunch of asparagus
3 chunks or cauliflower
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
3 large cloves of garlic (grated using micro grater)
1 medium onion


Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Chop all veggies into a small dice and place them in a large bowl. Add meat to bowl and mix everything together thoroughly (hands work best for this job). Once everything is mixed together set aside and get start on the cabbage.

Cabbage - you want intact leaves for this recipe. You can if you like remove them one by one from the head, this does work but it is a lot of work and takes a long time. If you want to save time you can place the whole head of cabbage into the pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. carefully pull the head/leaves from the boiling water. Make a slit at the base of the head and begin pulling leaves off (of course you have given the head a few minutes to cool before doing this). the leaves should be pliable and easy to remove.If you find that you get a few removed and they start to get difficult simply place the head back into the boiling water for another 5 minutes(obviously the outer leaves are going to get soft faster).

Stuffing the leaves a place a cooled leaf in the palm of you hand the base should rest right in the middle of your palm. Place between 1 to 1.5 tbsp of the stuffing onto the leaf (right onto your palm). Roll up towards your finger once then roll in each side (like a burrito) then simply roll the leaf until you run out of leaf. Line baking pan with sauce and place rolls seam side down into pan.

Sauce
1 28 oz can crushed tomato
1 28 oz can diced tomato
1.5 tsp crushed red pepper
3 cloves of finely grated garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 to 2 tsp oregano

Add crushed and diced tomatoes in a large pot over a medium high heat. Once you see that the sauce begins to bubble add remaining ingredients and lower heat to (low/simmer). Give the mixture a quick taste but do not add anything just yet. allow to cook for about 10 minutes and give it another taste....now if you feel like you need more salt, pepper maybe more heat feel free to add it.

*I like to wait before adding additional seasonings until my items have had a chance to cook a little allowing the flavors to meld. I do like to taste initially so I can have an idea of where I started and how things are developing.

Stuffed Peppers

9 (total)6 to 8 for stuffing plus 1 for filling peppers ( I prefer red, yellow or orange)
1/2 bunch asparagus
few chunks of both broccoli and cauliflower
  2 handfuls fresh spinach
1 (15 oz)can stewed tomatoes (with or without green chilies)
2 to 3 cloves of chopped garlic
1 lb of ground meat of your choice ( I have used both beef and turkey)
1 lb of sausage of your choice, this time I used a buffalo chicken sausage
2-3 tbsp EVOO

Preheat oven to 350. Heat a skillet over a medium heat, thoroughly cook meats making sure there are no large chunks (we want a nice "smooth" consistency, meaning the smallest possible pieces. While the meat is cooking finely chop veggies and bring a large pot of water to a boil. remove tops from remaining peppers and seed. Once the meat is cooked through remove from pan, drain fat and saute veggies until al dente or slightly less (remember we will be baking these for 30 minuts and we do not want nasty mushy veggies). While the veggies are cooking drop peppers into pot and allow to boil for 5 minutes, drain and place on a large baking sheet to cool.

Once your veggies are done return meat to pan and add canned tomatoes. Heat through. removed pan from heat. Stuff peppers using a table spoon. fill peppers to the very top but be careful not the pack the meat in to tightly. cover with foil and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. I do not make side dishes for this one but if you wish you could make some rice to go with them. Enjoy!!!!

1 1 lbs Rainbow trout
Tarragon
Bay Leaves
Oregano
Lemon
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper


Preheat oven to 350, wash fish in cool water and pat dry. Stuff with herbs, I use two sprigs of each and 2 bay leaves. Thinly slice lemon and place slices on top of herbs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in foil and bake for approx. 20 minutes.
** II also wanted marjoram but they were out, hopefully next time

Rice with Sauasage
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Sofrito
*Kielbasa sausage (cut into bite sized pieces)
3 cups water
2 cups white rice(washed)
1 8oz. can tomato sauce

Place olive oil in a pot over a medium high heat, add 4 tbsp of sofrito (more if you want) to heated oil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, add sausage and cooked for at least 5 minutes, add 3 cups of water to pot and can of tomato sauce. Bring to a rolling boil, add rice, give a quick stir. Turn heat down to medium low and cover.Cook for 25 minutes

*Kielbasa - tonight I used slightly more than half of the sausage and it was just enough, you can use whatever amount you like. 

DO NOT stir your rice while it is cooking, to much stirring makes for mushy rice. You will know your rice is done when the water has been absorbed and you see little holes on the top of the rice( I will take pics and post next time I make rice). Normally I would add a little salt to the boiling water, I did not this time because the sausage added salt for me.

Grandma's Sofrito

 1 to 2 green peppers
1 med. onion
1/2 head of fresh garlic

Puree in a blender or food processor. at this point you can place the mixture in a pan with a small amount of oil, heating through just to cook off the raw onion flavor OR you can leave it raw. If you do heat it through allow to cool completely and place in an ice cube tray, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze. Once frozen you can place the cubes into a freezer bag.

These cubes are used in stews and some rices and add amazing amount flavor.