Roasted Portobello Egg Cup

I picked up a couple of portobello mushrooms the other day, and decided to try them out as an egg bake. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked! It made the perfect breakfast, yum!

Ingredients
2 large portobello mushrooms with stems removed
1/4 cup olive oil (I used a garlic olive oil for extra flavor)
4 large eggs, beaten
Swiss cheese, feta cheese, goat cheese, or any cheese of your choosing (enough to sprinkle on top of 2 mushroom cups)
About 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 green onion sliced (include the green portion)
Kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the mushrooms inside and out with olive oil. Season the mushrooms inside and out with salt and fresh ground pepper. Turn the mushrooms smooth side up and sprinkle with half the thyme leaves, then turn over and sprinkle the rest of the thyme into the cups of the mushrooms. Divide the sliced green onion between the 2 mushrooms. Pour beaten eggs into both mushroom cups, just to the top. You may have a little egg left, depending on the size of your mushrooms. Top with cheese and put into oven for 25 to 30 mins. until egg is cooked through.

I used Swiss cheese this time, but would love to try it with feta or goat cheese. I could also see chopped basil replacing the thyme for another time...pun intended.

Taco Stuffed Yellow Squash/ Zucchini Boats

One of my favorite bloggers for healthy lower calorie dishes is skinnytaste.com. She's very creative with her ingredients when coming up with great low cal. healthy recipes. I've made a few adjustments in the seasonings in this recipe because I thought it needed a bit more flavor. Seasonings don't cost you calories, but okay I added more cheese...  I'm using yellow squash instead of  zucchini, only because we have a bumper crop of yellow squash. 


Ingredients

• 4 medium (32 oz.) zucchini or yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 cup mild salsa or salsa to your liking
• 1 lb. 93% lean ground turkey
• 1&1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1&1/2 tsp.cumin    
• 1&1/2 tsp. kosher salt 
• 1 tsp. chili powder 
• 1 tsp. paparika
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
• 4 oz. can tomato sauce (I used a med. *homemade salsa instead)
• 1/4 cup water (I used *tomato juice instead)
• 1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend shredded cheese or more if you're a cheese lover like me

*sliced whole scallions, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole, or any of your favorite taco toppings

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place 1/4 cup of salsa in the bottom of a large baking dish.

Using a small spoon, hollow out the center of the zucchini or yellow squash halves, leaving about a 1/4-inch thick shell on each half. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini or squash in small pieces and set aside about 3/4 to 1 cup to add to the taco filling. Drop zucchini/squash halves in boiling water and cook 1 to 2 minutes and remove from water.

Brown turkey in a large skillet, breaking up while it cooks. When no longer pink, add the spices and mix well. Add onion, bell pepper, reserved zucchini/squash, *salsa, and *tomato juice. Saute for an additional three minutes and cover, simmer on low for about 20 minutes. After cooking, I add a little cheese to the mixture to make it thicker, yummier, and easier to put in the cavity of the squash.

Fill the hollowed zucchini/squash boats, dividing the taco meat equally, about 1/3 cup in each. Top each with cheese. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes until cheese is melted and squash/zucchini is cooked through. *Top with toppings of your liking.

 Original recipe

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/07/taco-stuffed-zucchini-boats.html?_ziplist=disable

Dutch Apple Pie

 I love to cook but I'm not too keen on baking. I will make the effort when making my mom's Dutch Apple Pie because it's one of my favorite desserts. I have to say, using an "apple peeler, corer, slicer" sure makes the process easier.

I would have to rank this pie as my all time favorite, I love the crumbled topping. My mom made her own pie crust, and would take the extra crust, role it out, and sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon and bake it along with the pie for an extra treat. I must admit that I no longer make my crust from scratch.

 *I use Pillsbury's crust, but role it out thinner between floured waxed paper.

Ingredients:

*One pie crust, homemade or store bought
7 to 8 apples (I usually use more because of the size of the pan I use)
3 Tbs. butter
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping 
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)  
1/3 cup butter (somewhat softened)

preheat oven to 450 degrees
*Prepare pie crust, peel and slice apples to fill the pan. Dot with 3 Tbs. butter. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp.cinnamon. 

Prepare topping by combining topping ingredients using a pastry cutter if available, otherwise use a fork. You can also use a food processor, but I'd rather not have the hassle of getting it out and washing it later.

Sprinkle topping over pie and place in the oven at 450 degrees for the first 20 mins., and 325 degrees for the remaining 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about an hour before cutting and serving.

 This pie just isn't the same unless it is warmed and topped off with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream! Deeeeeelicious!

One-Pan Harvest Pasta

Now that all the vegetables are coming in, I was excited to find this recipe in Midwest Living magazine. It makes use of a lot of what is ripe in our garden...eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, basil... It's one of those dishes where you cook everything in one, including the pasta.

Prep 20 mins. cook time14 mins.

Ingredients
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 small eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces (4 cups)
1 medium zucchini, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
2 tomatoes or 4 roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped (1to1&1/2 cup)
1/3 cup chopped red onion (I would use 2/3 to 3/4 cups)
2 cloves of garlic, minced ( I would use 3)
1 19-oz. can cannellini beans (white kidney beans) rinsed and drained
1& 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked whole wheat pasta (regular pasta is fine)
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (I used about 1/2 Tbs. diced jalapeno pepper because we have some in our garden)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Snipped fresh basil
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used plenty)

Directions 

1. In a very large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, red onion and garlic (and jalapeno if you're not using red pepper). Cook, uncovered 7 to 10 minutes or until almost tender, stirring occasionally.

 

2. Add beans, broth, pasta and crushed red pepper (if not using jalapeno). Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and  simmer 7 to 10 minutes more or until vegetables and pasta are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper, serve topped with basil and Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional facts per serving:

357 cal, 10 g fat, 4 mg chol, 52 g carbo, 14 g fiber 16 g pro.

Grilled Salmon with Chili-Lime Sauce and Scallion-Ginger Fried Rice

I always love the chance to get together with family! My sister-in-law Beth arranged for some of us to take a cooking class at The Savory Spoon Cooking School in Ellison Bay, WI (Door County). The theme for the evening was Elegant Asian, and it was delicious! I decided to make 2 of the dishes tonight, and thought I'd share them on my blog. I will eventually make all of the courses and share them with you, but will start with these 2 dishes.

Recipes by Janice Thomas
Scallion-Ginger Fried Rice

Fresh ginger root should be shiny and firm

Rice Ingredients
5 cups cold cooked rice (I used brown rice) (See easy directions for making perfect rice in the oven on my wild rice recipe post)
Canola or peanut oil
3 Tbsp. peeled, minced fresh ginger root
3 bunches scallions
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup chopped ham
4 mushrooms sliced (I'm using a pre-sliced 4 oz. package of a gourmet mushroom blend that includes baby bellas, shitake, and oyster mushrooms.)
2 eggs beaten

With all of the prepping all of your ingredients for stir frying, I was pretty happy to find ham already diced.

Seasoning Liquid
3 Tbsp. chicken broth
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/3 cup Chinese rice wine or sake
Freshly ground black pepper
Dash Tabasco

Finely chop scallions, enough to make 3 cups. (Use all of the scallion, not just the white portion.)

In a small bowl stir together seasoning liquid ingredients and set aside.

Separate grains of rice with a fork or your fingers, breaking up any clumps. Place wok over high heat and heat until very hot and almost smoking.
"Necklace" the wok with 1 Tbsp. oil. Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly until rice is crisp and crunchy.
Add scallions, ginger root, and mushrooms and stir fry quickly. Add peas and ham.

Making a well in the center, add the beaten eggs and scramble. When done, stir into the rice mixture.
Season to taste and serve hot.
Serves 4

Grilled Salmon with Chili-Lime Sauce

Fish Ingredients
3 Tbsp. chopped garlic
3 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro roots, or stems and leaves
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce or soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. veg. oil
1 1/2 pounds fish fillets, such as salmon, tuna, snapper, cod, halibut, catfish, or tilapia

In a work bowl of a small food processor or a blender, comine the garlic, cilantro, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, and oil.

Grind to a fairly smooth paste, stopping now and then to scrape down the sides and adding a little water as needed to bring the ingredients together. Scrape the cilantro-garlic paste into a medium bowl, add the fish fillets, and toss to coat everything well. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes; longer is fine, covered and refrigerated, up to 1 day.

Prepare a very hot fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill or oven to 425 degrees F.

To cook the fish, place in on a lightly oiled grill rack (I sprayed mine with cooking spray), or in a shallow baking pan in the oven. Cook until browned and done to your liking, carefully turning once, about 5 minutes on each side, or longer for thicker fillets. Serve hot or warm, with the bowl of sauce on the side. I found the sauce to be quite salty, so use sparingly on filet so you can decide how much you'd like.

It just happened that my brother Peter and his wife Beth were making the same meal on the same night. Peter put his salmon directly on the grill and got the desired  browned effect.  I was afraid to put mine directly on the grill for fear it would stick. Our salmon was very good, but didn't look quite as tasty as Peter and Beth's.

Peter and Beth's Salmon

Our instructor showed us an easy way to "seed" a jalapeno pepper. Hold up and slice down the edge of the pepper on four sides, leaving the hottest portion, the seeds and membrane behind.

Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and garlic in a small bowl. Stir well intil the sugar dissolves, and then sprinkle with the chilies and cilantro. Set aside until serving. Drizzle on salmon when serving.

Sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. finely chopped garlic
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh hot green chilies
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro






I love how moist the salmon comes out of the grill when prepared this way.
Serves 4 to 6

Summer Squash Soup With Lemon and Basil

When the hordes of summer squash start coming in, I love to use some to make this soup and freeze it to use in the winter months. If you freeze your soup, wait to add the whipping cream until you heat it up after pulling it out of the freezer. This is a recipe I have adapted from Curtis Aikens, and it's delicious! You can go healthy with it or add whipping cream as I like to do.

Ingredients
2 Tbs. olive oil (I sometimes use garlic olive oil)
1 1/2 pounds crookneck, zucchini, or pattypan squash, roughly chopped (I prefer yellow squash)
1 large onion, chopped (I sometimes also add a shallot)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
6 cups chicken broth (I use Better Than Bouillon)
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil (firmly packed)
1 1/2 Tbs. butter, softened      I like my soup thicker, especially when adding cream. I use 3 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 Tbs. flour                        and 4 to 5 Tbs. flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Juice of 1 whole lemon 
I add a half to a whole cup of whipping cream
I also like to add some fresh corn when I have it on hand, (Adding steamed asparagus pieces is awesome!) I also like to sprinkle fresh Parmesan on top.

Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or stockpot, add squash and onion. Saute on medium heat for 5 mins. or until onions are translucent and squash is tender, then add garlic and cook an additional minute. 

 Add broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and cook for 25 mins. Add basil in the last 5 mins. Mix butter and flour into a paste. Remove 1 cup of simmering broth and whisk in butter mixture until smooth.  Add back to soup and heat and stir until thickened. Remove soup from heat to a blender and puree till smooth. I use a hand blender because it's so much easier.

 Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. Add whipping cream, and cooked fresh corn if you have some on hand. Steamed pieces of asparagus added is my favorite to date! I'm going to add some chicken breast next time.Top with Parmesan cheese.

Paper Rose and Twig Centerpiece

I only had my phone for taking pictures of the centerpieces, but you've got the idea....

I'm always looking for centerpiece ideas that look beautiful, but are also inexpensive. Making paper flowers while watching TV is one of the perks of this project. It was also great to be able to use the many, many dead twigs in my yard for something other than kindling.  
I found a wonderful website on Pinterest awhile back that has a ton of free paper patterns for flowers and many more paper projects for party decorations and other projects.

I was asked to make centerpieces for our new pastor's installation. I happened to have a family Bible that I got for practically nothing because it had a broken binding. The pages of the Bible were the perfect size to print the patterns for the roses.  You can use plain copy paper, or any other 81/2 x 11 paper. 
The website has a rose pattern that includes a watercolor print  for blush, pink, and peach roses. I also used the paper rose bouquet template for the white roses I printed and another for the butterflies.

Add caption

The butterflies are also one of the free patterns included on the website.

Website with patterns for rose bouquet, watercolor red roses, watercolor butterflies, and a whole lot of other cool stuff are listed on the website below.

http://www.elli.com/blog/fabulous-freebies/