Weeknight or Make Ahead One Pot Salmon and Pesto

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
1/3 cup pesto
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2 1/2 cups fish or chicken stock
2/3 cup dry white wine (or you can leave it out, but it adds some flavor)

In a medium bowl, toss salmon fillets in pesto to coat.  In a dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter, stir in rice, fish stock, and wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
Without stirring rice, place salmon in the saucepan. Cover, and continue cooking 25 to 30 minutes, until rice is tender and salmon is easily flaked with a fork. 

You can make it ahead and then put in the oven at low heat to keep for a few hours if you need to. 

BBQ Pulled Pork

This was my first attempt so I wanted a simple recipe and I bought the sauce...

1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
3 pounds boneless pork ribs
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce

Combine broth and enough water to cover the pork ribs in your cooking vessel.  You can do this in a crock pot on high for 4 hours or in a dutch oven on the stove for ~ 1 hour (I did the latter this time).

Once done, take out the pork and use two forks to pull the meat apart.  This is actually really easy to do, but takes a little getting used to.

Cover in BBQ sauce of your choosing, I bought Meijer Brand Carolina Style Sauce.  Serve as is or on toasted buns.

Baked Strawberry Donuts with Strawberry Glaze!

I wanted to do something a little different with the farmers market strawberries that I got and found a recipe for baked strawberry donuts.  I altered it a bit, so I'll post my version.  It was a hit with both boys.


2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
2/3 cup diced strawberries


Preheat oven to 425 and spray doughnut pan with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients, then add milk, egg, and butter, stirring until just combined. Add berries. Fill each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until tops spring back.  While baking, prepare the glazing station by lining a cookie sheet with foil and placing a cookie cooling rack on top.  Remove donuts from pan and place onto prepared glazing station.

Make glaze
1 tablespoon milk
1-2 mashed strawberries (or strawberry jam)
enough icing sugar to make a runny glaze (I think I used 3/4 cup)
Mix until smooth and consistency of syrup.

Drizzle over donuts or dunk donuts into glaze and let dry on glazing station.

Enjoy!

Adapted from: http://www.stetted.com/index.php/2010/04/12/strawberry-doughnuts/

Pumpkin Bread

'Tis the season and I've been sitting on a goldmine of a Pumpkin Bread recipe! It's the most moist and yummy pumpkin bread I've had. It makes 3 loaves and freezes really well. It's basically a recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com but I changed it a slight bit. Original recipe.

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup water
2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 7" (or two 9") loaf pans.
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

IKEA Meatballs

Food Network Magazine posts a copycat recipe every month and this month's was IKEA Swedish Meatballs. I changed it slightly from that and I'm very happy with the result. My recipe follows...but here's the original.


Meatballs
1 cup breadcrumbs (I used pre-made ones, not Italian seasoned)
2 Tblspns melted butter
1/2 c minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
1.5 pounds ground beef
1 egg
salt, pepper to taste


Instructions:
1. Put breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Melt butter in a small saucepan, add in onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes or until soft.
2. Add milk and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer.
3. Pour over breadcrumbs in bowl and stir to combine. Let cool, just until cool enough to touch.
4. Add in ground meat and combine.
5. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on lightly greased or lined baking sheet.
6. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
7. Bake in a 400F oven for about 20 minutes.

Gravy
2 Tblspns butter
2 Tblspns flour
1.5 cups beef broth
1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt, pepper to taste


Instructions:
1. Melt butter in skillet and add in flour. Cook for about 1 minute.
2. Whisk in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer.
3. Add in cream and meatballs.
4. Reduce to low for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with hot egg noodles, mashed potatoes, as a sandwich, or however you like. :)

Crab Cakes with Aioli

We don't live near the coast anymore but that's no excuse not to have crab cakes! These are made with canned crab meat but those of you who live near the coast should use fresh crab.

2 6oz cans lump crab meat
20 buttery crackers (Ritz or Keebler Club work well)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2-1 tspn Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (or more cracker crumbs if done in a food processor)
1/2 cup oil for frying

Crush the crackers and toss into a mixing bowl with the crab meat and Old Bay. Add in the eggs and stir to combine. Shape into 4 patties and coat in bread crumbs. Set aside.

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add in patties and cook until browned on each side, about 3-5 minutes.

Serve with garlic aioli (below). I like my crab cake in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato. You can also shape them into about 16 fritters and serve as an appetizer.

Aioli

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbspns lemon juice

Mix until combined.

Homemade Pesto

Tis the season for lots of fresh garden herbs and greens. At the farmer's market this weekend, I scored a huge bunch of basil so, I decided, what would be better than making homemade pesto?

2 cups of fresh basil
5-6 cloves of smashed or chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnut or pine nuts are traditional)
3/4 cup olive oil
2-3 big pinches of salt
1 pinch black pepper

Put the basil and garlic in the food processor and pulse until it's chopped well and the garlic looks evenly distributed. Add in the chopped nuts. Turn on the processor and slowly pour in the oil until it emulsifies and is smooth. Add in the salt and pepper and give it a quick spin. Taste and edit if needed with more salt/pepper or oil. Pour into a prepared jar and refrigerate. Should keep for 3-4 months. Use over pasta (hot or cold), in salad dressings, to toss veggies in, in soup (tomato in particular), on pizza, or anything else where fresh basil is needed.

*Note, I don't put cheese in mine...that is because 1.) I'm lactose intolerant and I live with a cheese harlot who likes more cheese than I can digest and 2.) cheese goes bad so leaving it out lets the pesto last longer without preservatives. :)

Dense Creamy Lasagna

I have been making lasagna for a long time the traditional way, layers of sauce, ricotta/egg mixture, cheese, and usually mushroom, but I thought I'd try something different and it paid off. This lasagna is really dense and holds together well.

1-2 packets of oven ready (no boil) lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
1 small (6oz?) can tomato paste
1 large (22oz?) can tomato puree or tomato sauce
1-2 tspn oregano
1-2 tspn basil
1 tspn salt
1 tspn sugar
2 cups half/half or cream
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 pint mushrooms, sliced

Brown meat and onion in 2 quart sauce pan. Add in tomato paste and herbs. Stir in tomato sauce, salt and sugar. Let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off burner.

Place 1/2 cup sauce in bottom of lasagna pan, spread evenly, and top with layer of noodles. Top with 1/2 cup of sauce and 1/2 cup cheese, make sure that sauce is always uniform. Top with noodles and 1/2 cup sauce. Add mushrooms. Top with pasta and sauce and then add half/half over top - it may pool up around the pasta, that's a good thing. Top with noodles, sauce and remaining cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake in 375 oven for 1 hour. Check pasta by sticking a knife through the lasagna. If pasta is done, take off tin foil and bake for 15 minutes longer to brown cheese. Enjoy!!!

Spanish Rice

I've been making this since I lived at home with mom but hadn't made it in years until this weekend. We picked it up in Texas where they serve Spanish rice alongside almost everything.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 green pepper chopped
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons oil
3/4 cup long grain rice
1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup beef, chicken, or veggie broth
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon oregano

Cook first 4 ingredients in a skillet (or oven proof dutch oven) over medium heat until onions and peppers are soft. Add rice and cook for 1 minute. Add in canned tomatoes with juice, water, tomato sauce, and bay leaf and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and lower the temperature to let simmer for 10 minutes.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir well. Move to 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.

I make this as a side to fajitas, paprika chicken breasts, or enchiladas....mmmm....enchiladas might be posted soon (when I can eat cheese again). ;)

Peach Upside Down Cake

Some friends of ours have a peach tree in their yard so they gave us some yummy ripe peaches. There were so many that I decided that I should bake with them. I decided to make a slight twist on pineapple upside down cake.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
5-6 peaches, peeled and cut into 1/4-1/2 inch slices

3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk or juice*
-If your peaches were super juicy, you might have enough peach juice, otherwise you can use milk or apple juice.
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add in brown sugar and stir to combine. Add in peaches and cook on medium low for 3-5 minutes. Pour into a 10" bundt pan or other baking dish (cast iron skillets are traditional for this cake).

Separate eggs and beat egg yolks on medium speed until lemon colored and thick. Slowly add in sugar and beat until light in color and well combined. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into bowl. Add to egg yolk mixture alternating with milk/juice until well mixed. Set aside.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold the batter into the egg whites until well combined. Batter will lighten in color and should retain a light texture.

Add the batter to the pan directly on top of the peaches and smooth the top. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let a loved one clean the bowl of any remaining batter for you. ;)

Let sit for 5 minutes and then invert into a plate. Let the cake rest on the counter to allow syrup to soak into the cake. Slice into wedges when ready to serve. Serve warm or room temp.

Sorry there's no picture, it was gone so fast! :p