Stuffed Red Peppers

 I have always loved red peppers, especially sautéed with onions, garlic and my nonno's sausages.  When I make pizza, red peppers are a guaranteed topping!  I've tried a few different stuffed peppers recipes, but they never really hit the spot until this one!  I still haven't mastered the correct ratio (I always end up with more meat than peppers), but there's always enough for lunch the next day - and really it tastes even better the day after! The recipe as I share below will have leftover meat, so feel free to start another tray with more peppers....or save the meat to eat on its own (or in tacos!)!

Ingredients:
800g lean ground beef
1-1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 large bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 cups tomato sauce
2 cups cooked rice
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.

2. In a medium bowl, mash the beef with 1 tsp salt and the baking soda, using your hands.  Let it sit for approximately 20 minutes while you move on to the other steps. 

3. Lightly spray the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.  Cut the bell peppers in half from stem to the bottom, and remove the core and seeds. Place the peppers cut side up in the baking dish and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with the remaining salt.

4. Roast the peppers for about 20 minutes, until they are slightly browned and tender-crisp.  It is okay if liquid accumulates in the bottom of the peppers. 

5. In the meantime, heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet.  Add the onion and cool,  stirring frequently, until it is soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute, trying not to brown things.  Add the ground beef and spices; increase heat to medium-high. Cook, breaking up the meat, until the meat is browned and almost cooked through, 5-7 minutes. 

6. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cook uncovered until the meat is cooked through.  Add the rice and half of the cheese; stir until melted.  Remove from heat. 

7. Remove peppers from the oven and spoon the meat filling equally into each pepper half.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and return to the oven.  Roast for 10-15 minutes until the filling is hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Serve. 

The stuffed peppers before
going in the oven.

The meat filling.....

I almost forgot to snap a picture;
I was so eager to enjoy it!

Some of the leftovers!

Garlic & Veggie Risotto

Risotto is a well-loved dish in my household and I'm always looking for ways to change it up.
I recently saw a post by Lidia Bastianich for a garlic risotto which sounded interesting but I was hesitant about the amount of garlic and lack of other veggies.  I made a few modifications, but I now have no doubt the original would have been wonderful the way it was!  You could easily pick any vegetable or combination of veggies for this risotto.

Needless to say, this risotto was a huge success!  The kids ate it up and the husband was very impressed.  This served our family of four with a protein and salad, with leftovers for another day. 

Ingredients:
7-8 cups chicken stock
2 cups arborio rice
1 head of garlic (approx. 14 cloves), peeled and crushed
1 cup white wine
olive oil
salt to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chopped green beans
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 - 1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Directions:

1. Bring the chicken stock to simmer over medium heat and season with salt.

2. In a frying pan over medium heat, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.   Toss the green beans red peppers and cook until tender.

3. Puree the garlic and white wine in a blender or food processor.

4. In a large, shallow pot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are tender, but not starting to brown, about 5 minutes. 

5. Raise the heat to medium-high and add the rice, stirring constantly until the grains are coated in oil and translucent, about 2 minutes.  Add the wine-garlic puree and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

6. Ladle in about 2-3  ladlefuls of stock, stir and cook until the liquid is mostly absorbed.  Repeat this process, adding in a couple of ladlefuls of stock each time the liquid is mostly absorbed, until the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes.  With about 5 minutes left, add the green beans and red peppers.

7. When the rice is al dente, turn off the heat and stir in the butter and Parmesan cheese.  Season with salt and pepper if necessary.  Serve immediately (with more cheese if you like!)

Quick & Easy Creamy Lemon-Garlic Ravioli

Has anyone else been struggling to find inspiration for 3 meals a day every day during this COVID-19 pandemic?  I've come to realize how often we ate out or even just picked up snacks out.  Now we are basically enjoying all meals inside.

I'm a PC Insiders member and I didn't even realize we had exclusive access to something called the Insiders Project until I received an email saying they were giving free access to everyone during the pandemic! 

Well of course I had to go on and browse what they have on there - and wow! Lots of variety and lots of great looking recipes.  So of course I had to try one of them out.

I've always loved a cream sauce on my pasta, even though my kids are not big fans.  And no matter what I do, I can never really replicate my mom's cream sauce, and any that I've found online are not what I would consider keepers.  Well tonight the pasta was enjoyed by all and my husband actually said "Wow! This is a keeper!" Now that's saying a lot because I'm pretty sure my kids inherited their dislike for cream sauces from him.  He started talking about all the different ways we could use this sauce in other dishes.

This amount was perfect for our family of 4, and it came together very quickly.  Once I popped the frozen ravioli in the boiling water, I got started on the sauce.  It has very little prep involved as well - grate the cheese, mince the garlic and zest the lemon.  The recipe calls for 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, but I never measure and always use till I think it looks good. Of course, you could use any pasta you want, but for some reason I love ravioli in a cream sauce.

Ingredients:

400g bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup cream
zest of one lemon
sea salt to taste
1 tsp dried parsley
(1 cup) Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place frozen ravioli in a salted (large) pot of boiling water. Cook until the ravioli is al dente (approx. 8-10 minutes).  Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, and drain the ravioli.

2. While ravioli is cooking, melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Be careful not to brown or burn the garlic.  Stir in cream, lemon zest, dried parsley and salt.  Simmer until the sauce is reduced by half, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add drained ravioli and 1/2 cup pasta water.  Increase heat to medium-high, then cook, stirring often until the sauce thickens and coats the pasta, approx. 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat and gradually grate the Parmesan cheese over top, stirring occasionally.  Stir in lemon juice and season with black pepper.  Serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Asparagus & Mushroom Risotto

Rice was a staple in my husband's family growing up, but it's not something I could eat everyday.  Risotto is a great dish that brings together my Italian heritage with his Hispanic heritage.  Growing up there were two risotto dishes that were a staple in my house (made by either my mom or my nonna): mushroom risotto and a meat/tomato "red" risotto.  While I have never attempted to make the red one, mushroom risotto is something I make often enough.  I love playing around with different ingredients to add in a risotto.  Once you are familiar with the method, it is really easy to change up the ingredients.  This time around we happened to have a lot of asparagus sitting in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I added it into the risotto. 

If you've read any of my other risotto recipes, you'll recognize this one.  It is essentially the same with the asparagus added.  Unfortunately, my measurements may be a little off as I tend to eyeball risotto when I make it.  It doesn't hurt to have extra broth simmering away; you can always refrigerate it and use it for something else another time if there's leftovers.

This risotto was so creamy and delicious.  The asparagus is sliced up into tiny pieces so it's kind of hidden away from the kids, but it does give the dish a green hue.  I sometimes buy sliced mushrooms to save time, but I find they are often sliced into huge pieces.  So I give them a quick chop as well.  This will also hide the mushroom away if people in your house are not fans.  My recommendation when it comes to the oil and butter is to always add more if it is looking dry or sticking to the pot.

Make sure all your veggies are chopped and ready to go before you start cooking the rice because once you start, you are pretty at the pot until it is cooked.

Ingredients:
5-6 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth (stock)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp butter
1-1/2 cups arborio (risotto) rice
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 bunch asparagus (rough ends trimmed), thinly sliced with tops reserved
1 pkg (225g) mushrooms, thinly sliced
4-6 scallions, thinly sliced; reserve green tops
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup (or more) Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce and simmer over low heat.

2. Heat the oil and butter in a deep pan over medium-low heat.  Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until the rice is coated and translucent.  Add more butter or oil if necessary. [If you like, at this point you can add a splash or two of white wine for extra flavour.  The rice will soak it right up almost immediately.]

3.  Add more butter and oil if necessary before adding the celery, scallions and asparagus (not the tips).  Cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes before adding the garlic then cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the asparagus tips and oregano.  Season slightly with salt and pepper.

4.  Add the broth, one or two ladlefuls at a time.  Stir constantly to prevent sticking and burning.  Add more liquid, 1-2 ladlefuls  at a time, as the liquid absorbs.  Increase the heat to medium so the liquid bubbles, but lower it slightly (or add more broth) if the broth gets absorbed too quickly (almost immediately).  Continue adding broth and stirring until the rice is fully cooked and creamy.  The actual amount of liquid used will vary.  This whole process should take around 20 minutes.    Season with salt and pepper.

5. Remove from heat and stir in one tablespoon of butter and the Parmesan cheese.  Plate the risotto and top with more cheese if desired.

It will be very hot (but delicious).  I often spread the risotto in a thinner layer on the plate so it cools faster, and work my way inwards on the plate.

Enjoy and let me know how it turned out for you!

Chicken Curry with Homemade Naan

I watched an episode of Bake with Anna Olson the other day, where she made naan bread.  She is one of my most favourite pastry chefs and every recipe I've ever tried of hers always turns out amazing.  The recipe looked easy enough and I really wanted to make it, so I went on a search for an easy curry recipe.  I've never made a curry before, so that part was a little daunting.  Everything turned out great.
I made the dough earlier in the afternoon so it had time to rise.  As it got closer to dinnertime, I set the rice to cook in our rice cooker and started on the prep for the curry.  As the curry was left to cook for the last 15-20 minutes, I cooked the naan and everything came together perfectly.

Naan 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup yogurt
2-1/4 tsp yeast
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Add the first three ingredients to a large bowl in order.  Next add the flour, reserving 1/4 to 1/2 cup to use when you knead the dough.  Add the salt on top of the flour so it does not come in contact with the yeast.  Lastly add the vegetable oil.
2. Mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until blended.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface to knead, using the reserved flour, until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.  This should take 3-5 minutes in total.
4. Place dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it rise for 1 hour.
5. Roll out the naan on a floured work surface.  It will deflate as you start handling it.
6. Cut it into 6-8 pieces; no pre-shaping necessary.  Flatten each piece with a rolling pin to about 8-9" across and 1/4" thick.
7. Put in pan, one at a time, on high heat with no butter or oil.  It will take about 90 seconds on each side; the dough will start to bubble and blister.
8.  Baste with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt to serve.
9.  Roll out the next piece while it cooks, and repeat until all the pieces are done.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients:
6 scallions
3-4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp ground ginger
400g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
100ml Greek yogurt
salt and pepper

cooked rice to serve over

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the scallions, leaving a handful of the green parts for garnish.  Peel and chop the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.  Add the tomatoes, curry powder, ginger, and cook for 3-4  minutes.  If the pan gets dry, add some water to ensure the spices don't burn.
3. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes.  Make sure all the chicken is coated and is starting to brown.
4. Add 1 cup (250 ml) of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through with no sign of pink juices in the middle of the pieces. 5. At this point you can prepare the rice (my rice cooker takes a while so I actually start it before I star the curry) and/or cook the naan.
5. When the everything is ready and the chicken is cooked, take the curry off the heat.  Stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper. Serve the curry over rice with a drizzle of yogurt and the naan bread.

Maple Glazed Trout

I often buy trout from Costco - it comes as two nice fillets that are pretty easy to prepare.  This recipe will glaze two of those fillets (about 1.5 kg).  It can easily be halved if you are planning on making one fillet and freezing the other for another use. (Original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/steelhead-trout-baked-with-honey-or-maple-glaze-50175385)

This trout pairs nicely with some basmati rice and steamed green beans tossed in salt and olive oil.  You can also sub out the maple for honey with the same results!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a glass bowl in the microwave.  Whisk in the remaining ingredients.

2. Place the fish in the centre of a piece of foil.  Pour the glaze over the fish and fold the packet around the fish.

3. Preheat the oven to 400F.  (The fish will marinate while the oven heats up.  This step is not necessary though; you can preheat the oven while you prepare the fish to save time.)

4. Bake for 10 minutes plus 10 minutes for each inch of thickness (ie: a one inch thick fillet would bake for 20 minutes.)  Alternatively, you can subtract 5 minutes from your total cooking time, open up the foil and broil for 5 minutes.

Veggie Risotto

My husband grew up on rice, but I get bored of it quite easily.  We didn't eat rice very often at home unless it was risotto.  So every once in awhile I will make a risotto (usually mushrooms) because that pleases everyone.  I was visiting my nonna and she was talking about a zucchini-saffron risotto she made and I thought to myself Why not try something like that??

So while this is in no way her recipe, it was definitely inspired by her!  While my LO tried to pick out some of the vegetables, overall it was a huge success with everyone in the house!

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped
1 zucchini, halved and chopped (or quartered if it's a big one)
2 small green peppers, seeded and sliced
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 cups chicken (or vegetable) stock
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 tbsp butter, separated
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or mixed with Asiago cheese)

Directions:

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a small saucepan.  (If you don't have chicken stock handy, use a bouillon cube in boiling water.  Make sure you follow the package instructions and make enough for the risotto).

2. Saute onions until translucent over medium heat in oil and butter.

3. Add garlic and pepper and saute for a few more minutes until tender.

4.  Add zucchini and tomato and cook until softened; add more butter if necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.

5. Add 1 tbsp butter and rice and stir until rice becomes translucent, about 5 minutes.

6.  Add 1/2 cup white wine and stir until absorbed.  Add chicken stock by the ladleful/s and stir until absorbed.  Continue to add stock until the rice is cooked, about 45-50 minutes.

7.  Remove from heat, add 1 tbsp butter, then the freshly grated Parmesan (and Asiago) cheese.  Stir.  Season with salt if necessary.

This serves great with a nice salad or even bruschetta as a side.

Veggie Risotto

The yummy bruschetta side dish

Slow-Cooker Soy-Braised Chicken

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to find easy slow-cooker recipes.  Today I wanted to utilize some chicken breasts that I had and some other ingredients that I don't use too often when cooking dinner.

The results were pretty good.  I'd probably use chicken thighs instead next time as the white meat does tend to get drier.  I would also reduce the amount of soy sauce I used as I found that flavour quite strong.

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup (low-sodium) soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.5-2lbs skinless, boneless chicken
1 tsp paprika
1 large head bok choy and/or 2-3 handfuls of kale or spinach, cut into 1" strips

Directions:

1. Combine onions, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf and black pepper.  Place the chicken on top and sprinkle with paprika.
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours (or on low for 7-8 hours) until the chicken and onions are tender.
3. Ten minutes before serving, make sure the slow cooker setting is high.  Gently fold in the bok choy/spinach/kale and cook, covered, until tender (at least 5 minutes).
4.  Serve over rice.

Slow-cooker Chicken Chilli Tacos

I've been on the search for recipes that are quick and easy and utilize a slow-cooker.  With a new baby, it's hard sometimes to spend a lot of time prepping and cooking meals.  And since we are on a reduced income for the next year, eating out is not always the best option!

I came across this recipe by chance and decided to give it a try.  It turned out really well and makes a great filling for tacos or even quesadillas.  We even used it to dip nacho chips in with salsa.  The chicken has quite a bit of flavour!

Ingredients:
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup salsa, plus more for serving
1 tbsp chilli powder
To fill your tacos:
taco shells or soft tortillas
1 cup grated cheese (use your favourite or a mix like cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey Jack, etc.)
fresh cilantro
sour cream

Directions:
1. Combine chicken, garlic, salsa and chilli powder in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).

2. When chicken is ready, remove it from the slow cooker and place in a bowl or on a plate.  Shred the chicken and combine with juices from slow cooker.

3.   Fill your tacos/tortillas with shredded chicken, cheese, salsa, sour cream and your other favourite toppings.

Another way:  These are great to make as quesadillas.  Warm up your tortilla in a frying pan, flip it over and add the meat, cheese and other toppings.  Fold the tortilla over or cover with another one and flip to heat through.

Chicken & Nacho Casserole

Mat leave has me watching a lot of daytime tv talk shows.  Today I saw someone make a chicken casserole and thought to myself 'Have I ever had a casserole?'  I remembered having a conversation with some coworkers about how casseroles are just one pot dishes.  If that was the case then I guess I have had and made a casserole before.  Regardless, I wanted to make a chicken casserole tonight so I started searching the internet for a good one to try.

The result was tonight's dinner which was really quite yummy and a hit with the family.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
6 (approx.) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup (approx.) crushed nacho chips
1 cup (fresh) salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar-mozzarella mix or whatever you like!)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook the chicken in batches until cooked through and golden brown.  Remove from pan.  While preparing the next step, chop or shred the chicken and save for later; set aside.

2. If necessary add another tablespoon of oil.  Add onion; cook for 6 minutes.  Add garlic and flour; cook for 2 minutes.  Gradually add milk and chicken stock, stirring constantly and scraping up the brown bits from the chicken.  Bring to a boil and cook for approx. 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Stir in cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and cream cheese.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.

4. Spread about 1/2 cup milk mixture over the bottom of a rectangular casserole dish.  Layer beans, 1-1/2 cups chicken and half the nachos.  Top with 1/2 cup milk mixture.  Layer 1-1/2 cups chicken and  remaining chips.  Top with remaining milk mixture.  Add salsa, covering the entire surface.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

5. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Tips: To save time, this recipe works really well with leftover cooked chicken.  Just shred or chop it and start at step 2.  Add the chicken as you layer your dish.  My husband said this recipe would go really well with rice in it.  You can add cooked rice to the bottom of your dish, or cook it separately and serve the casserole over the rice.  My family enjoyed eating the casserole with more nachos on the side.

It got flipped upside-down on the plate!

Sautéed Veggies & Pork Cutlets

Today I stopped by the grocery store and just browsed around waiting for some type of inspiration for dinner.  I saw some fast frying pork cutlets and knew right away I could use that, so I made my way to the veggies and picked up some zucchini and spinach.  I was going to pick up some broccoli as well, but remembered that I had some frozen at home so left them behind.  I had a good idea of what I wanted to make for dinner!  The problem for the blog is that I didn't really  measure my ingredients and just eye-balled it.

Sautéed Veggies

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli florets (or broccoli cut into small florets)
2 small zucchini, halved and then sliced
1/2 cup spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. If using fresh broccoli, cook in boiling water for about 3 minutes until tender.  If using frozen broccoli, follow instructions (ie: microwave with water for 3-5 minutes or boil until tender).
2. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pan.  Add onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes until softened; add garlic and cook another minute until fragrant.
3. Add zucchini, tossing to coat, and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender.  Season with salt.  Add broccoli and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
4. Tear the spinach in half or thirds and add to the pan.  Cook, tossing to combine, until the spinach is wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.
5. Remove from heat and grate Parmesan cheese over top.

Breaded Pork Cutlets

This is a pretty easy thing to bring together.  All you need is some thin pork cutlets, bread crumbs, an egg and oil for frying.

1. Beat an egg and place the cutlets in the egg to coat.  Drip off any excess.
2. Coat the cutlet in your favourite bread crumb mix (I like Italian breadcrumbs), patting down to make sure the crumbs stick and the cutlet is fully coated.
3.  When you are ready to fry, cover the bottom of a pan with enough oil for frying.  Heat over medium-high heat.  When the oil is hot, place the cutlets (in batches) in the oil.  Don't overcrowd the pan as it will lower the temperature.
4. Fry the cutlet about 4 minutes on each side, until it is golden brown, turning once.   Remove from oil and place on paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil.  Fry the remaining cutlets.

Chicken Enchiladas & Apple Crisp

Many, many years ago I was at my friend's apartment and she made this recipe.  I absolutely loved and saved it.  I've made it several times over the years.  Every once in awhile I have a craving for it and tonight was one of those nights.  It's also a bonus that everyone in my house loves it!  There's always leftover for lunch the next day too.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

2-4 tbsp butter

4-6 chicken breasts, chopped

1 - 1-1/2 cups salsa

1 pkg (125g) cream cheese

2 cups grated cheese (I like a mixture of cheddar, mozzarella and asiago)

6 large flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Chop chicken into cubes and fry on stove in butter until it is no longer pink. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.

2. Cook and stir onion in butter over medium heat for 2-3 minus until softened.  Stir in cooked onion, about 2/3 cup salsa, and cream cheese.  Cook until thoroughly heated.

3. Stir in 1 cup grated cheese.

4. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in the centre of each tortilla.  Roll and place seam side down in large (13x9") baking dish.  Top with remaining salsa and cheddar cheese.

5. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 15 minutes.

Cooking the chicken cubes.

Adding in the salsa and cream cheese.

Snapping a picture just before I chow down!

Saving some leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

And now onto dessert - my favourite part of any meal!

Apple Crisp

The great thing about this recipe, is that you can make a large batch and portion it out to freeze.  If you are expecting a large crowd, put this in a large dish and make one portion.  But if you want to have some on hand to give to family or friends or save for another day, then you can do that as well.

Today I made this into 3-8x8" serving dishes.  One went to our neighbour, the other is being frozen for a work function and the last one is the dessert tonight.  My apple crisp recipes have evolved over the years, but this time the crumble part is true to a Barefoot Contessa recipe.

Ingredients:
10 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (fairly thinly)
1/2 cup sugar
the juice of one lemon

2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

For the topping:
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced


Directions:

1. If you are making a large dish, grease a 9x14" dish.  If you are making smaller portions, grease 3 8x8" dishes.

2. Peel, core and cut the apples into slices.  Combine the apples, lemon juice, sugar and spices.  Pour into the dish.  (I actually like to divide the apples into the three dishes and then squeeze the lemon juice over top.  I then mix the rest of the ingredients and evenly sprinkle it over each dish and toss.)

3. For the topping: Combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, butter in the bowl of stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is small.  Scatter evenly over the apples.

4. If you are baking immediately, bake in a preheated 350F oven for 45 minutes, until the top is brown and the apples are bubbly.  Serve warm.  (Consider putting a sheet pan underneath for overflow if your dish is really full.)  If you are freezing, cover in foil and write the instructions on top.  Place in the freezer.  If you are baking one large dish, you will probably have to increase the baking time to 60 minutes.

5. Baking from frozen?  Thaw and bake uncovered at 350F for 45 minutes.

Prepping the apples in their foil dishes.

Check out the delicious crumble topping.

The apple crisp all bubbly and brown!

"It's so yummy mommy!"

And of course, we have to add Birthday Cake Oreo Ice Cream on top!

Dinner & Dessert

Happy New Year!!

Today was not a very productive day for the pile of marking sitting at my front door, but I did get to do some amazing cooking and baking!  I haven't put anything on the blog lately, not because I'm not cooking, but because I don't have time to type up the blog post.

So today you are going to get two recipes: a one pot barley and chicken cacciatore and a lemon-blueberry loaf.

And I apologize in advance for the terrible photos I have included - I always forget to take the photo until the leftovers are packed up.  Maybe that should be one of my new year's resolutions! ;-)

One Pot Barley & Chicken Cacciatore

This recipe takes its inspiration from Giada DeLaurentiis' Everyday Italian Cookbook. It's a modification of her chicken cacciatore recipe.  I decided to add barley because of how much my husband loves it. It is a very filling dinner, and definitely enough for lunch the next day as well.

Ingredients:

4-5 full chicken leg/thighs

salt and pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1-1/2 tsp dried oregano

3/4 cup wine (I used red)

1 can (28 fl oz) diced tomatoes with juice

3/4 - 1 cup chicken broth (I put closer to 1 cup since I was adding barley to the recipe)

3/4 - 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed

Directions:

1. Sprinkle each piece of chicken with salt and pepper and dredge the pieces in flour to coat lightly.

2. In a large, heavy saute pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, add the chicken pieces to the pan and saute just until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside. Add the bell pepper, onion, garlic and oregano the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the wine and simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the barley. Add the tomatoes with their juice and broth. Return the chicken pieces to the pan and turn them to coat in the sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer.  Continue simmering over medium-low heat until the barley is tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 40 minutes.  Stir occasionally to prevent the barley from sticking, but be careful not to break apart the chicken, and keep the meat covered in the sauce.

4. Remove the chicken and transfer to a platter.  You can boil the sauce a little longer to thicken the sauce and cook the barley.  Spoon the barley onto plates and place the chicken on top or along side it.  This would also go great with pieces of chicken, making it more like a stew.

5. My husband grated some Monterey Jack cheese and sprinkled it over top of the barley.  It made it nice and gooey and tasted great as well.  This also made my 18-month old daughter devour her dinner, but each mouthful had to have some cheese in it!

Serves 4-5.

Lemon-Blueberry Loaf

This lovely loaf comes from my cookbook: Wanda's Pie in the Sky. It will make a 9" loaf. It is my first time trying this recipe, but as I'm sitting here smelling it as it cools, I can tell it's going to be so moist and delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 cup fresh blueberries

For the glaze:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

1.Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter and flour ra 9x5zx3" loaf pan.

2. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and lemon juice. Mix until smooth. Stir in the lemon zest. Fold blueberries into the batter just before turning it into the pan.

3. Spread into the prepared pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Once the loaf is baked and cooling, start on the glaze. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Heat until the mixture bubbles and the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Pour over the warm loaf in the pan. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Turn the loaf out and cool on a rack.

(For this part I would let the loaf cool a bit before actually making the glaze and pouring it over and/or wait more than 15 minutes before removing it from the pan - my loaf was still way too warm and started to break as I took it out of the pan - and it had been cooling for quite a long time!)

The loaf just soaked up the glaze and when I took it out it was so moist all the way through! It looks amazing! FYI It also tastes amazing! It is definitely very moist; the glaze definitely helped with that and gives it a nice sheen. It's a very light loaf - my husband said it'd pair well with ice cream, but even a nice cup of tea would do.

Sunday night pizza

It's been a long tradition in my family to have a big pasta lunch on a Sunday afternoon with the entire family (I mean my Nonna, Nonno, mom, Zias, Zios, etc.). And it isn't just pasta that we're having either: there's always meatballs or fatine, fagioli or eggplant, salad; basically there is a lot of food. So dinner is usually much more laid back and casual: homemade pizza. And by homemade I mean homemade dough, sauce, sausages or cappicolo, and then vegetables from the garden and sometimes even my grandfather's cheese too. Even when the family get togethers aren't everyone, pasta still is the lunch and pizza still is the dinner. The pizza always tastes a little different - depending on who made it: Nonno, Nonna or my mom - but it's always good. Everyone has their preference, but I would never choose one over the other because they really all are amazing!

In trying to learn how to make pizza like my elders, I soon realized that I too had to develop my own way. Mostly because neither my grandparents nor my mom measure while making dough ("It's more about the feeling of the dough..."). Plus they are often making two big trays of pizza that will feed almost 20 people!

I've played around with some different pizza dough recipes (the one below doesn't have to rest all day to rise) and added some of the tricks of the trade I've learned from my family. And I think my pizza always tastes a little different each time too. Today I'm going to share with you my most recent pizza endeavour: one with toppings similar to my family's and one that is my own creation that has become pretty popular with my husband, mom, and others. My grandfather will always choose a pizza with sauce (but not too much) over one without (unless it has anchovies on it!)

PIZZA DOUGH

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

1. In a medium bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Mix / knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth or Saran wrap. Let rest for about an hour.
3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal rounds. Pat or roll into a round. Grease two pizza pans with a piece of cold butter (this will give a nice golden color to your crust), then olive oil, then dust with coarse cornmeal (this will give a nice crunch). Transfer dough to the pan. Drizzle olive oil on the top and rub it around so the dough is nice and greased. As you prepare your toppings the dough will rise a little bit more.
4. Spread your toppings and bake in a preheated 450F oven for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is nice and golden underneath and the toppings are cooked and delicious looking. Let it rest for a few minutes before cutting into it.

This recipe will make two round pizzas pictured below. The crust is between a thin and thick crust. If you only let it rise for a few minutes, you will probably get one pizza.

The great thing about pizza is you can put whatever you want on it and it will probably still taste amazing. This is a bit more of your common toppings.

TRADITIONAL TOPPINGS: sauce, onions, mushrooms, red peppers, tomatoes, minced garlic, mozzarella

Spread as much pizza sauce as you like on the crust. In a pinch you can use tomato paste thinned out with some water and even some seasonings. Or if you like a chunkier sauce, you can used a can of crushed tomatoes (drained of course; and it won't spread like a normal sauce). If you like garlic you can always take a crushed clove and rub it all over the dough first. If the sauce isn't seasoned, it's always nice to have some oregano and basil sprinkled on the dough. Add the toppings listed above. These are the common toppings used in my family. Red peppers always make an appearance as does my grandfather's cold cuts (prosciutto, cappicolo, salami, dried sausage). Drizzle some more olive oil over top of everything.
Bake the pizza in the oven till it is almost done. Add as much cheese as you like and pop it back in the oven till the cheese is melted and pizza is done. Keep in mind that when you do it this way, the sauce will dry up a little bit as the cheese isn't protecting it as much (although the oil will help a little), but the cheese will stay nice and gooey instead of getting hard and crusty.

My husband loves this pizza - the more sauce the better he always says!

"GREEK" TOPPINGS: My spinach and feta pizza

2 handfuls baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 - 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
Basil
Oregano
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Feta cheese

Drizzle olive oil on top of the dough and spread it around. Sprinkle dough with salt, pepper, basil, oregano and thyme to your taste. You can also rub a crushed garlic clove after rubbing the oil to enhance the garlic flavor. Spread garlic, onions and spinach on pizza. Drizzle more olive oil over top. This is important so your toppings don't completely dry out. Crumble feta cheese over toppings. Bake in preheated 425F oven for about 15-20 mins until crust is cooked and golden brown and toppings are cooked.

I absolutely love this pizza, and have made it several times for company with good reviews!

Pork tenderloin with caramelized onions and apples

Today's dinner was a little rushed and last minute. This recipe comes together pretty fast with manageable prep.

I don't have any sides with recipes for you, but we had cream of broccoli soup. I would also recommend roasted vegetables or scalloped potatoes (recipe to follow at a later date) and even a nice salad.

My recipe was adapted from this one here:

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/pork_tenderloin_with_caramelized_onions_and_apple.php#comments_anchor

Basically I made less, and had to find a substitution for the apple cider and beef stock.

INGREDIENTS:
2 onions
3-4 tbsp extra-virgin olive_oil
1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 pork tenderloin, about 500g
pepper
1.5 cups beef stock (I added about 3/4 of a beef bouillon cube to boiling water and whisked till it dissolved)
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp (10 mL) cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F. Season pork with pepper. In large ovenproof skillet, heat about 1-2 tbsp oil over medium-high heat; brown pork all over. Transfer to oven; roast until juices run clear when pork is pierced, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to carving board; tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

While pork is cooking, cut onions in half lengthwise; thinly slice crosswise. In large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp of the oil over medium heat; fry onions, stirring often, until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in apple; cover and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.

Dissolve the bouillon cube in boiling water, whisking. Add the sugar and water, allowing the sugar to dissolve. When the pork is done and resting, pour fat from skillet. Add beef-flavored liquid; bring to boil over medium-high heat, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Boil until reduced to about half. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tbsp (25 mL) cold water; stir into skillet and cook until thickened.

I added the onion-apple mixture to the pan to slightly reheat then spooned it over the plated, carved pork.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture right now (like I said - dinner was a little rushed and hectic!) but will post something next chance I have to take one!

This pork was nice and easy to prepare, and with my modifications still turned out nice. It had a nice sweet flavor and the pork wasn't dry at all. This is a definite must-try. I will be making this one again!

Barley stew

I made barley once a long time ago and my husband apparently loved it. I never made it again, but tried barley another way that was not as much of a success. Then the opened bag of barley sat in the cupboard, lonely. When I started my daughter on solids (cereal), the third one we tried was barley. My husband turned to me and said, "you made that amazing barley dish once and you never made it again. I loved it! It was like a stew or something." I didn't even know what recipe I had used, but I knew had to find it or try something else. So after trying to find the recipe I used and having no luck, today I browsed the Internet and came up with tonight's dinner: a vegetable barley stew. You could make this truly vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth I used. I would've added potatoes (but I finished the bag yesterday) and thought about adding meat, but decided to keep it simple.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, halved and chopped
1 container (227g) sliced mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 can (796 ml) diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
1 carton (946 ml) chicken stock
2 handfuls baby spinach
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat.
Add onions; sauté until onions begin to soften, about 3-5 minutes.
Add carrots, season with salt and pepper, saute until they soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and sauté until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, stirring often, about 7 minutes.
Add tomatoes with juice; stir 1 minute.
Add barley and chicken stock; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes.
Add spinach; stir until wilted. Cover and let simmer another 5-10 minutes.
If the barley isn't done or it's not at the consistency you'd like, you can add more stock till it gets where you'd like it.

As a main dish, you'll probably get 4 servings. If you pair it with a nice meat dish or other side, you can probably get 6 servings out of it. And my husband said he really liked this version!

Below is the pic I remembered to take as I was packing up our lunches.

A new variation: A recently used this recipe but changed up some of the ingredients and it turned out yummy once again! Instead of using mushrooms, I substituted one head of broccoli (chopped into small pieces) and 4 potatoes (chopped into small pieces).  I added the broccoli when I added the carrots and added the potatoes when I added the tomatoes. I also used slightly more than 1 cup of pot barely (rinsed) and closer to 1-1/2 cartons of chicken stock.  I cooked it for about 45 minutes until most of the liquid was evaporated and the barley and potatoes were tender.  I continued on with the spinach as above.  Then I added freshly grated Parmesan over each bowl of stew.

Sausages & Frites

Today my grandparents visited me and my daughter. They dropped off some fresh sausages that my grandfather made this past weekend.  I knew right away what I was going to make: salsiccia con peperoni e cippole (sausages with pepper and onions). I had these nice Panini that would go great with the sausages. As my side I was going to use my T-Fal Actifry to make some potatoes - my husband loves them!

So I peeled one large sweet potato and 3 small-medium russet potatoes and chopped them into wedges. I tossed them with some vegetable oil, paprika, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and threw them in the Actifry. I drizzled some more oil over top, set it to 40 minutes and turned it on.

Next I chopped up one onion and 1.5 red peppers. I always prefer red peppers because they have this nice sweetness to them. I also chopped up my grandfather's sausages. They were very fresh, so I could have (maybe even should have) left them whole, but that's alright.

I heated up my pan with some oil and tossed everything in.  Because the sausages were very fresh, I added a little bit of water since they'd need to fry a little longer than usual. A sprinkle of salt and pepper and I let them cook, stirring frequently. Covering the pan will keep the heat and moisture in. At this point you could add a variety of seasonings if you wanted.

The bottom of the pan got a lot of nice brown bits so near the end I added just a splash more of water to loosen it all up. I cooked it all over medium-low heat for the most part. The onions got all yummy and carmelized, the peppers got nice and soft and the sausages were cooked through and brown.

The potatoes and sausages were done at about the exact same time. At this point you plate it and enjoy your dinner. You can put the sausages in a sandwich (especially if you kept the sausages whole or halved them lengthwise) or just eat them with the bread.
Dinner was so yummy - there wasn't enough leftovers for the both of us for lunch tomorrow!

Tonight's Dinner: braised chicken stew with quinoa

Back in November I was watching The Chew and Michael Symon was making this dish with turkey thighs. I was very interested in making that dish, but had to adapt the recipe to what was in my kitchen. It turned out quite good and I decided to make it again for dinner tonight with a side of quinoa. It was so yummy - and a little spicy! There was enough for me and my husband for dinner and leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

FYI: the original recipe can be found here - http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Braised-Turkey-Thighs-Spicy-Kale-Michael-Symon

Stew of Braised Chicken thighs, potatoes and spinach

Makes 4 servings
Prep time: 30 mins
Ready in: 60-75 mins

Ingredients:

4 chicken boneless, skinless thighs, cut into large pieces

4 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 carrots, peeled and large diced

1 onion, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 heaping tbsp tomato paste 

olive oil

2  tsp bay leaves (dried)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1.5 cups red wine

1 cup chicken stock

2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped (or whole)

Salt

Directions:

1. Let the chicken come to room temperature for approx. 30 minutes. Sprinkle all sides with salt. 

2. Preheat the oven to 375F.

3. In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, put the chicken down into the pot. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the chicken is well browned. Flip the pieces and cook for 3-4 minutes to brown other sides. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside on a plate.

4. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt to the pot and cook for 1 minute. Add the carrots and garlic and cayenne pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan using a wooden spoon. Cook for about 4 minutes, or until wine is reduced by half. Add the potatoes, bay leaves, chicken stock, and tomato paste and bring to a simmer.

5. Adjust for seasoning, adding salt if needed, and then add the spinach. Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and stir. Put the chicken thighs on top of the spinach, put the lid back on, and put in the oven for 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. 

Quinoa

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed under cold water

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup water

1 tbsp butter

Mrs. Dash original seasoning - to your tastes

I tossed this all in my rice cooker and let it go. My rice cooker is slow so it took about an hour. But you can cook it over the stovetop on a medium-low heat until the liquid is evaporated. 

Spoon a nice scoop on your plate and top with the stew and some of the juicy liquids! If you're a wimp like me - keep a tissue nearby in case the spice makes your nose runny!

Welcome!

My name is Erica. I am the wife to an amazing husband and the mother to a beautiful little girl. I am currently on maternity leave, and as I am slowing getting the hang of managing my time as a new mom, I am venturing back into the kitchen.

I love food and I love cooking - especially baking. Here I hope to share some of my adventures in the kitchen, whether they be my tried and true recipes or new experiments that may or may not turn out so well.

So come along for a ride and experience what goes down in my kitchen.