Kitchen Daydreams

My schedule has been a little

 more busy recently but in 

my mind, you can find

 me daydreaming about 

farmer's markets, 

gardening, and

 trying these 

new recipes. 

Brown Butter Scallops in Jalapeno Walnut Sauce

Stone Fruit Sangria

Nectarine and Blue Cheese Salad

Plum and Mascarpone Pie

(photos courtesy of: tasty kitchen

& Bon Appétit)

Trifle

tri fle

1. Something of little importance

2. A small amount

or

3. A dessert typically consisting of

plain or sponge cake,

topped with layers of jam, custard,

and whipped cream

Today was my day off from work. You know how
 muchI love to cook and bake so I picked out a
summer dessert: Berry Trifle. 

Ingredients

• 1 angel food cake, baked and cooled
• 1 pint fresh blueberries 
• 1 pint fresh raspberries (or 1 bag frozen) 
• 1/8 cup white sugar 
• *1 batch homemade vanilla pudding
• or
• ( 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions 
Wash blueberries and raspberries and sprinkle them with sugar. 
Cut the cake into 1 inch cubes. Use half of the cake cubes to line the 
bottom of a large glass bowl. Layer half of the berries. Spread half of the 
pudding over the fruit. Repeat layers in the same order.
In a medium bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks and spread over top of trifle. 

*Homemade Vanilla Pudding 
Ingredients 
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar 

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• Directions 

•  Place 3 cups milk in a saucepan. Sprinkle sugar and cornstarch. Stir on medium heat until it becomes bubbly. Pour 1 cup of milk mixture to the egg yolks and mix well.Turn heat down to low, gently stir in the egg yolk mixture to saucepan.  Pudding will begin to thicken. cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla extract and butter. Chill for 2-4 hours.

   

Chicken Soup, Please

Today was a chilly and gray Monday. So when you have the day off from work and are afraid that

curling up with a book would just be a segue to a nap, what do you do? 

You make soup! 

Thank you Manuela for the wonderful idea!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup


Ingredients

1/2 Fryer Chicken

2 whole Carrots, Diced

2 stalks Celery, Diced

1/2 whole Medium Onion, Diced 

2 cloves garlic, Diced 

8 cups Chicken Stock (Low Sodium) 

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper (more To Taste)

1/4 teaspoon Ground Thyme

1 teaspoons Parsley Flakes

8 ounces, Homemade Wide Egg Noodles 

Instructions

1. Place the 1/2 fryer chicken in a skillet with olive oil on low-medium heat until the skin is a golden color. This is optional. I do this because it adds flavor (I use the same skillet to sauté my vegetables in later) 

2. Place the chicken in a large soup pot, cover with 8 cups of chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Remove chicken from pot. Take off as much meat from the bones as you can, then set the meat to the side. 

4. Sauté the carrots, celery, onions and garlic cloves in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, until just tender. 

5. Add the carrots and celery, onions, and garlic to the pot, followed by the herbs and spices. 

6. Increase heat to medium, then add the egg noodles and chicken. Cook until the noodles are tender, 8-10 minutes. 

Adjust seasonings as needed.

Enjoy! You can even make smacking, or slurping sounds 

if you'd like (not recommended if you are in public). 

Grilled Vegetable Toastie

Servings: 2

Ingredients

1 tomato, cut into 8 slices

4 whole  mushrooms, sliced

6 slices fresh  mozzarella cheese

Olive oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Mayonnaise 

4 slices french bread 

Directions

1. On stove top grill, lay the slices of tomato and mushrooms. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sprinkle salt and freshly ground pepper. Grill until the vegetables are tender, 5 minutes.

 Remove from grill, set aside. 

2. Lay 4 slices of bread on a cutting board and spread with mayonnaise. 

Top with the the grilled vegetables and fresh mozzarella cheese. 

3. Preheat a panini grill (if you don't have a panini grill, you can use a skillet, as if you were making grilled cheese). Grill sandwiches 5 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.

Apple Crumble

For Christmas, my family gave me Gordon Ramsay's Maze (recipes by Jason Atherton), cookbook. I love to cook and one of my favorite things to to do at the bookstore is to pour over cookbooks. 

Yesterday, I tried my first recipe from Maze. It was a simple apple crumble recipe, and I loved how it turned out. 

*This is a very good recipe to use when you have apples that are going soft. 

Apple Crumble with Hazelnuts

Apple Compote:

4 lb (10-12 whole) apples

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Crumble:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

pinch (1/8 tsp) ground cinnamon

3 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter 

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed 

(Optional: I used chopped pecans, which were very good)

First, peal, core and chop the apples. 

Put the chopped apples in a wide skillet with the sugar, butter, and vanilla. 

Cook over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes until the apples are just soft, but still holding their shape. Spoon the apple compote into a shallow ovenproof dish, and let cool. 

For the crumble, put the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter into a food processor, and pulse until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs (Alternative: use a pastry blender, by hand).

Stir in the crushed hazelnuts or pecans, then spread over the apple filling. 

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown and crisp on top. 

Spoon  and serve with vanilla ice-cream, or fresh whipped cream. 

A Bowl of Soup

Yesterday morning my sister and I went to the store and picked out ingredients for a Monday soup. 

I recently found two soup recipes that I combined together. I love soup, especially in the winter; it seems cozy.

I had a friend who told me her husband liked her soup when it was "hardy", which I translated to mean "soup that has enough substance to it, that I won't be hungry in an hour".
 This soup is a "hardy" soup. I hope you enjoy it! 

Meatball Tortellini Soup

1 Large Egg

1/2 lb Lean Ground Beef

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil (grocery stores carry this in the produce department)

2 Tbsp Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Olive Oil 

1/4 cup chopped onions

1 cup matchstick carrots 

1 cup mushrooms-chopped (optional) 

2 garlic cloves diced

2-3 cups Spinach

2 cartons/cans (32 oz each) Chicken/Vegetable Stock 

2 cups Frozen Cheese Tortellini 

*I really like Buitoni Tortellini, which is not frozen

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Combine 1 egg, ground beef, fresh basil, and bread crumbs in medium bowl.

Form into small meatballs, 1 tsp each.

2. Brown meatballs on all sides in 2 Tbsp of olive oil on MEDIUM, about five minutes. 

Remove meatballs from heat; save the drippings to put into the broth later (adds nice flavor!) 

3. In a large soup pot, sauté the onions, carrots, mushrooms and diced garlic, in 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil on MEDIUM/LOW for 8-10 min until carrots are slightly tender.

4. Add 2 cartons Chicken Stock to the soup pot.

5. Add meatballs (and drippings), spinach and tortellini. Let simmer on MEDIUM-HIGH  about 5 minutes until pasta is tender. 

6. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with grated cheese (optional) 

Enjoy!

August Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

Note: Delicious tossed with tortellini.

(photos courtesy of: me)