Author Archives: Tiffany

Wild Rice Gratin In Cast Iron Skillet

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20131125_175258_resized  Wild Rice Gratin 11-2013

This is another Chef Kate recipe and it was very good!  We had just purchased a cast iron skillet and seasoned it and gave this recipe a try.  I will post the original recipe and the changes we made in purple.  I usually don’t make so many changes to a recipe, but we had our personal taste preferences and dietary issues.  This is a solid recipe that you can easily change to suit your needs.  For the wild rice preparation, we cooked it according to the bag’s directions, which was less water than stated below.  We bought the cheese in a chunk at the deli and shredded it ourselves.  Wild rice blends are fine too.  Enjoy! 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup raw wild rice (cooked in 2.5 cups water or vegetable stock)
  • 2 large sweet onions, sliced thin (We used 1/2 medium sweet onion)
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 large Portabello mushroom caps, diced (We used orange and red bell peppers, about 3/4 of each pepper)
  • 4 large Swiss chard leaves, ribboned (We used 10 pieces spinach, ribboned)
  • 4 oz. Swiss cheese, shredded
  • 1 Tablespoon dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (We used vegetable)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Cook the rice.  Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. In a large (10″ or larger) cast iron skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Saute the onions for about 15 minutes, or until they start to caramelize. 
  3. Stir in the mushrooms (or peppers) and let cook another 5-7 minutes.  Turn off the burner.
  4. Carefully stir in the cooked rice, Swiss chard (or spinach), Swiss cheese, thyme, salt and pepper.  Stir all together.
  5. Add in the last 1/2 cup of vegetable stock. 
  6. Top with bread crumbs.
  7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

 

 

Martha’s Sweet Potato Casserole *

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This is a really neat recipe.  You get that mashed sweet potato flavor with spices, added sweetness (optional), and beautiful golden marshmallows.  Next time I will half it for my family of three because it makes a lot (I forgot); it serves about 8 people.  The cinnamon and brown sugar are ingredients I added because I thought it’d be better with them.  I used about 3 large sweet potatoes, but weigh them please!  If you need a great masher that’s easy to clean, look here:  OXO Masher.  ENJOY!!!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-in. chunks
  • coarse salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2%)
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg**
  • 2 cups mini marshmallows
  • 1/8 tsp. cinnamon (optional)**
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (optional)

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully! To make this IC safe, omit the cinnamon and be careful with all spices.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Place sweet potatoes in large saucepan or pot, and cover with cold water by 1 inch.  Salt generously.
  3. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 15-20 minutes.
  4. Drain, and return to pan.
  5. Heat over medium, stirring, until liquid has evaporated and a thin film covers the bottom of pain – about 2 mintues.
  6. Remove pan from heat, add milk, butter, nutmeg, and optional cinnamon and sugar.
  7. Mash until smooth, season with salt.
  8. Transfer mixture to a 2-qt. baking dish. (To make ahead, refrigerate up to 1 day).
  9. Top casserole with marshmallows, bake until center is warmed through and marshmallows are lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes.

Le Creuset’s Braised Short Ribs * (Not IC Safe)

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This is my first braising and I’m very glad I did it.  It’s Le Creuset’s braised short ribs.  It came out SUPER fork tender and falling apart.  As you can see it made an awesome and plentiful sauce.  The smell of the red wine mixing with the blended tomatoes is wonderful.  Changes: we used onion powder versus raw, omitted the noodle side dish, and omitted the gremolata.  **We don’t have a braiser so we used a 12″ steel pan for the stovetop cooking and a Le Creuset rectangular baker for the oven part.  It turned out fine.  I’d say it serves more like four people.  Highly recommended!

 

Braised Short Ribs with Buttered Egg Noodles

Created for the 3 1/2 qt. braiser
Serves 8

Ingredients:

    • 8 beef short ribs
    • Salt and pepper to taste**
    • All-purpose flour for dredging
    • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1 onion, diced**
    • 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
    • 1 1/2 cups red wine**
    • 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled Roma tomatoes**
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 pound egg noodles
    • 2 ounces butter
    • Gremolata: Combine 2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon minced garlic.**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

Directions:

Liberally coat the short ribs with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour and shake off any excess.

Place the braiser over high heat. When it’s very hot, add 1/4 cup oil and reduce the temperature to medium-high. When the oil is hot and shimmering, add the short ribs and cook on all sides until browned.

Remove the short ribs from the pan and rinse the oil and flour from the braiser. Return the pan to the burner, reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the remaining oil. Add the onion and carrot to the pan and cook until they are nicely browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. The browner the vegetables, the more flavorful the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Return the short ribs to the pan and add the wine. Raise the heat to medium-high. Blend the tomatoes (either in the can with an immersion blender, or in a standing blender) and add the puree to the braiser. Add a teaspoon of salt. Add the bay leaf and bring to a simmer.

Cover the braiser with the lid slightly ajar and place it in the oven. Cook 3 to 4 hours or until the ribs are very tender.

When ready to serve, cook the noodles as recommended on the package, return them to the pot and toss with the butter.

Divide the noodles among 8 plates. Set a short rib beside or on the noodles. Skim any clear fat that has risen to the top of the sauce and discard. Spoon the sauce over each rib. Garnish the ribs and sauce with gremolata.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup * (Not IC Safe)

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This minestrone soup stays simple and is very fresh and nice.  I’d suggest reducing the pasta to 1 cup of raw pasta.  Ditalini would work best but at the time I couldn’t find it.  So I don’t know if the elbows puffed up more than ditalini would have, but I’d guess, even using ditalini, it’d be better using 1 cup of raw pasta.  We had just come from the apple orchard farm and bought fresh green beans, they were great.  If you don’t like a certain veggie or prefer another one (like zucchini or spinach), add it on in!  Enjoy!! 

 

It says it makes about 6 servings, but it depends.  You could easily halve this recipe to test it out or make for a smaller amount of people! 

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 28oz. can diced tomatoes**
  • 4 stalks celery chopped
  • 4 carrots chopped
  • 1 onion chopped (I used onion powder)**
  • 1.5 cups fresh green beans chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, diced (we used garlic powder, no problem)
  • 1.5 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. oregano (dried is fine)
  • 2 cups pasta, like ditalini or shells, (I suggest using 1 cup raw, estimate how much you think you’ll like).
  • 1/2 can red kidney beans (optional)**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Chop the carrots, onion, and celery fine.
  2. Place the carrots, onion, and celery, plus all the other ingredients (except pasta) in the slow cooker.
  3. Cook on high for the first hour, then turn to low and cook for a few more hours. 
  4. Add the pasta in for the last 20 minutes of cooking and test a piece before turning the slow cooker off.

 

 

Apple Bran Muffins With Flax Seed *

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This was a nice healthy recipe that also tasted good.  I liked how it used whole wheat flour, milled flax seed, and raisin bran (cereal) to add fiber and nutrition.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, Ann, for telling me about it.  The only changes I’d make a second time around is to further reduce the nutmeg and cloves, even though I already reduced them.  Next time I’d just do a dash of each, they can be overpowering to me. I used butter instead of margarine with no ill effects too  Otherwise, great recipe!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30-45 minutes

Servings: Makes 10 muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup raisin bran**
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg**
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves**
  • 1 tablespoon milled flax seed
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup margarine
  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped

**To make this IC safe, maybe replace with plain bran.  Make sure it doesn’t have cinnamon, a known irritant, or other irritants in it.

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Combine dry ingredients into large bowl.
  3. Combine wet ingredients into smaller bowl.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
  5. Spoon into greased muffin tins up to the lip of the tin.
  6. Bake 15-30 minutes, depending on altitude (the higher the altitude, the longer you’ll need to cook them).

To keep the ultimate amount of moisture while storing, place the muffins into a ziplock bag immediately after removing them from the oven (while still piping hot).

Note: If you don’t have flax seed, add another egg and don’t add the 3 tablespoons of water.

Note: The brown sugar can be substituted with the same amount of maple syrup.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/APPLE-RAISIN-BRAN-MUFFINS-WITH-FLAX-SEED-1275965#ixzz2jghlvNME

 

 

 

America’s Test Kitchen Cajun Stuffed Peppers * (Not IC Safe)

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This is a very flavorful recipe that is quite filling, but you can simply eat less of it.  It’s very good, be sure not to chop off the stems and follow the directions closely!  The microwaving of peppers saved tons of time versus boiling them!  We did not use all the olive oil because the chorizo added enough fat to the mix, we PAM’ed the baking sheet.  Eating 2 halves is too filling for me, to show you how filling these are!  (After buying the Uncle Ben’s rice pouch, we realized how bad of a deal it was, we just used already cooked rice we had on hand instead.)  

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4 red bell peppers, halved (step left intact), cored, and seeded
  • 4 teaspoons olive oil (estimation is fine here)
  • 8 oz. lean ground beef (can substitute ground turkey or chicken)
  • 4 oz. andouille sausage, chopped fine (I used pork chorizo)**
  • (Next time I am using a milder, less fatty sausage, maybe something like mild Italian sausage or turkey sausage).
  • 1 onion, chopped fine (I used onion powder)**
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced (I used garlic powder)
  • EITHER 1 (8.8oz) package Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain ready rice package or 2 cups already prepared rice
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used 5 drops)**
  • 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • Salt and pepper**

****Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

  1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on rack and heat broiler.  Microwave peppers until just tender 3-6 minutes.
  2. Heat 1 tsp. oil in large skillet over med-high heat until just smoking. 
  3. Add beef, sausage, and onion, cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
  5. Stir in rice and hot sauce and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
  6. Off heat, stir in 1 cup cheese and season with salt and pepper.
  7. Pat peppers dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  Carefully brush preheated baking sheet with remaining oil (we saved calories and used PAM spray). 
  8. Place peppers, cut size down, on baking sheet and broil until spotty brown, about 3 minutes.
  9. Flip peppers and fill with beef mixture.
  10. Top with remaining cheese.
  11. Broil until cheese is spotty brown, about 5 mins.  Serve. 

 

 

Lentil Soup With Ham * (Not IC Safe)

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This is a very healthy lentil soup that I plan on making again soon.  It can either be made with bacon or ham, either way you’ll love it!  I found I had to add additional water.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 4-5 strips bacon, chopped —-(Optional, but adds a lot of flavor!)
  • 1 large onion, chopped (I used onion flakes)**
  • 3 medium carrots, peeled, halved, lengthwise, and cut into 1/4 inch half moons (or whatever you like)
  • Add a few stalks chopped celery, if you like (It’s a great addition).
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced (I used garlic powder)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste (you can definitely use more here, you can substitute 1/4 cup tomato sauce just fine)**
  • 1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed**?
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3.5 to 4 cups high quality chicken broth (i.e. first ingredient should not be salt!)
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 T. red-wine vinegar**
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper**

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!

DIRECTIONS:

  1. In a Dutch oven or other 5 qt. pot with a tight-fitting lid, cook the bacon until brown and crisp, 8-10 minutes.  Pour off all but 1 T. of the fat. 
  2. Add the onion and carrots (and celery if you desire); cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. 
  3. Stir in tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute. 
  4. Add lentils, thyme, broth, and 3.5 to 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer.
  5. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30-40 minutes.  If the soup becomes too thick during cooking, add up to 1 cup more water. 
  6. Stir in vinegar, 1.5 tsp of salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Serve the soup immediately. 

Chicken and Spinach Farfalle

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This is one of my favorites.  It’s flavorful and tastes gourmet.  It’s from the book “The Best Simple Recipes” by America’s Test Kitchen!  They cut back on the cream and brightened the flavors of the rich sauce with lemon.  A+!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb.), cut crosswise into 1/4″ thick pieces.
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced (I used garlic powder here)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream (no substitutions)
  • 2 tsp. grated zest and 3 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon
  • 1 lb. farfalle pasta (Bowtie)
  • 1 6oz bag baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (use the one that comes in a brick, if you can)
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Bring 4 qts. of water to a boil in a large pot.  Meanwhile, pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. 
  2. Melt 1 T. butter in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook half of chicken until no longer pink, about 3 minutes, transfer to plate.  Repeat with remaining butter and chicken. 
  3. Add garlic to empty skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Stir in cream, lemon zest and juice, simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and cover. 
  4. Meanwhile, add 1 T. salt and farfalle to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, drain pasta, return to pot.  Add sauce, spinach, Parmesan, pine nuts, and cooked chicken to pot and toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water as needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu In The Slow Cooker *

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I have always wanted to make chicken cordon bleu myself and finally did it, this time in the slow cooker!  It is definitely not healthy for you, but I figured I’d make it about 1-2x a year and if I made it, I will have known the exact ingredients in it (no preservatives and fake chemicals) versus buying it frozen or in most restaurants.  This came out of my Crock Pot Favorite Slow Cooker Recipes Book (c) 2010.  It is really tasty.  It IS on the heavy side so just eat less of it! Makes 4 servings.  ENJOY!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 4 boneless chicken breasts, lightly pounded
  • 4 slices ham (We used deli ham)
  • 4 slices Swiss cheese
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup half-and-half
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Combine flour and salt in a resealable plastic bag and shake well, set aside.
  2. Place flattened chicken on cutting board, skin side down.  Please 1 slice ham and 1 slice cheese on each piece.  Fold chicken up to enclose filling and secure with toothpick.  Place in bag with seasoned flour and shake gently to coat.
  3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add chicken, skin side down.  Brown on all sides.  Transfer to slow cooker.
  4. Remove skillet from heat and add chicken stock.  Cook and stir to loosen browned bits (A.K.A. Deglazing).  Pour into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on LOW 2 hours. 
  5. Remove chicken with slotted spoon.  Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
  6. Mix together half-and-half and cornstarch.  Add to cooking liquid.
  7. Cover, cook on LOW for 15 minutes longer or until sauce has thickened. 
  8. To serve, remove toothpicks, place chicken on plates and spoon sauce around chicken, with extra sauce if desired. 

Pumpkin Cookies *

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These are a great pumpkin treat for this time of year AND they get a vegetable in you and/or your children.  What is interesting is that they are not overly sugary, they almost taste a little too healthy without the icing, but they are great!  Baking on parchment paper is always something I recommend.  I froze the remainder since it made 2 dozen cookies.  This is from the book “The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book” by Kelly Rudnicki.

 

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:

  • 1/2 cup shortening**
  • 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • One 15 OZ. can pumpkin puree
  • 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon**
  • 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg**
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger**
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • Classic icing recipe below

**Known IC irritants, tread carefully!  Omit spices that bother you. Shortening can have soy and other irritants, replace with butter.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, thoroughly combine the shortening, sugar, applesauce, and pumpkin.
  3. In a separate medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt with a wire whisk.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the shortening mixture and stir until just combined.
  5. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Use a cookie scoop to place batter onto the prepared sheets. 
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
  7. Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack. 
  8. Frost with icing recipe below.

ICING RECIPE:

  • 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract
  • 3-4 tablespoons milk, as needed to thin icing.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Blend all ingredients together in a small bowl with a wire whisk.
  2. Drizzle over cookies or dip each cookie into icing bowl.