Grilled Onion and Sausage Pasta

Noodles are one of my favorites.  Along with bread, chocolate, fruit, garlic, onion, corn, cobbler, wine, flavored vodka,... okay, I have a lot of favorites.  But when I see a pasta dish combined with onions and sausages, I usually give it a closer look.  This recipe seemed fairly straightforward and came from the 30-Minute Suppers Summer 2011 magazine by America's Test Kitchen.  So I figured it would also be fairly quick.

Turned out 'quick' isn't exactly how I'd describe it.  Their instructions of splitting the sausages lengthwise and then cutting in half lengthwise was a total disastrous mess.  Could have been the sausages I used, or the multiple knives I tried.  So in the end I had to cook the sausages whole and then continue on with the directions.  Not the end of the world, but still annoying.

Grilling up the sausages and onions on the stove.

And stirring the cream in to the tomatoes.  I love the way cream looks when you add to warm sauces.

The finished chopped sausage, onion and tomato mixture before I added the penne.

I will make this again even with the sausage fiasco. The kids weren't big on this dinner, but the adults thought it had good flavor and a good change from a basic spaghetti and meatsauce type meal.

Grilled Onion and Sausage Pasta, courtesy of 30-Minute Suppers Summer 20111 red onion, peeled and sliced in to 1/2" rounds
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt/pepper
12oz smoked sausage, split lengthwise
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 lb penne
1/4c. chopped fresh basil

While you heat water to a boil for pasta, brush onions with 1Tbsp oil and season wiht salt and pepper.  Grill onion an sausage over hot fire until lightly charred, 3-5 minutes per side.  Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, an set aside.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in diced tomatoes and 1/4tsp salt cook until tomatoes begin to break down, 5-7 minutes.  Stir in cream and continue to cook until sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add penne and 1 Tbsp salt to boiling water and cook until al dente.  Reserve 1/2c. cooking water, drain penne, and return penne to pot.  Stir in sauce mixture and basil, adding reserved cooking water as needed.  Roughly chop onions and sausage and add to pot along with any accumulated juices.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Sweet Baby Shower

Today I hosted a Sweets themed baby shower for my sister-in-law with one of her best friends (we also hosted her bridal shower together).  I had way too much fun planning for the event and tried to keep the food both interesting and easy.  And yes, the shower was on a Wednesday evening.  I've attended a few wedding and baby showers on weeknights.  I think it is a great way to ensure guest attendance during busy months and a nice change to busy weekends.

Nothing says sweets like chocolate!  Here I'm finishing the mini brownie bites dessert.

Each mini brownie is coated in a chocolate ganache.  A quick but elegant looking dessert... you can make the brownies from a box mix and bake in mini cupcake tins.  Or if you're tight on time, buy premade mini brownies. I much prefer Metropolitan Market's mini brownies to any other brand.  Create a ganache by combining and slowly heating/melting 8oz semi-sweet chocolate, 1 cup heavy cream, 2 Tbsp light corn syrup and 2 tsp vanilla.  Dip each brownie in the ganache and set down to firm.  Top with a piece of fruit, a single nut, jelly bean, sprinkles, M&M, edible flowers. The possibilities are endless.

I made a carseat cover for Tonya in her favorite color combo, grey and yellow.  This may be a bit more feminine (they don't know sex of baby), but I couldn't resist this fabric due to the colors! 

The brownies ready to go...

A gumball filled vase topped with a tissue paper puff (from Tonya's wedding!), and a menu for the Macaroni & Cheese bar toppings.  Guests could top their M&C with chopped green onions, blue cheese, crumbled bacon, or tomato. 

Lollipops, candy bowls, lemonade and personalized straws for each guest. 

I love personalized straws to avoid people losing their glasses.

Nothings much cuter than swirled lollipops!

The buffet almost ready for guests.  In addition to M&C we had fruit salad, green salad, greek salad.  And for dessert we had mini chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, brownie bites, and homemade kettle korn. 

My favorite part of the party were the take home gifts.  I made mini mixed fruit pies for each guest to take home.  The fabric topping each pie coordinated with the candy colors and table cloth from buffet table. 

We didn't want to play any games, so we opted for optional guest activities.  Because the baby's sex is unknown, we had a poster for guests to guess the sex, weight, and birthday of baby as well as a place to write down wishes or baby name ideas.  

Me with my sister in law and Alexis the co-host (who is due with her 3rd boy in August!) 

*tip - you don't need to invest in fancy tablecloths.  I will typically use yards of fabric in fun patterns or even a denim.  Because our dining table is over 100" long, most attractive tablecloths cost $150+.  And that drives me crazy, especially if red wine or an oily dish is spilled on to the cloth and gets stained.  But, I can buy 4 yards of fabric for around $30.

Picnic on the Boat

Today we took a boat ride around the Sound for Father's Day.  I packed Tony a special lunch for our family that we enjoyed.  Try these for your next picnic or meal at home.

Southwest Chicken Wraps with Tabbouleh salad (made yesterday), sliced apples, chocolate chip cookies, pies in a jar and margaritas in jars for drinks (see below). 

The chicken wrap was very quick and had a nice flavor.  Picnic food can seem pretty boring, so it was nice eating something on the go that was both healthy and tasty. (Recipe below)  The Tabbouleh was made yesterday and was easy to pack along in a container.  You could also pack in individual serving sized containers to avoid needing plates.

I made the margaritas last night and poured in to the jars to let them chill overnight.  When we were ready to drink, I added ice cubes, screwed the lids back on and shook for a few seconds.  Presto!  Marg in a jar!  My new fave.  Plus, enviromentally friendly in reusable jars.

And to carry on the jar theme I made little pies in mini jars for dessert.  Just add your favorite pie filling to the jar, top with pie dough and bake on a cookie sheet for 20-40 minutes or until lightly browned.  Once cooled, screw lid on and you've got dessert to go! (Also a preview of whats to come at a baby shower I'm hosting this week...)

Southwestern Chicken Wraps, adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 Tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos (I skipped this since kids were involved)
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 - 10" tortillas, (I used sun-dried tomato flavor)
3 cups baby spinach or baby greens
3 cups shredded cooked chicken or turkey (I used sliced chicken breast that I bbq'd yesterday)
1 can (15 ounces) drained and rinsed black beans
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 avocado, thinly sliced

In a bowl, whisk together sour cream, jalapenos, and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.

Spread sandwich wraps with sour-cream sauce, leaving a 2-inch border. In center of wraps, layer equal amounts of baby spinach, shredded chicken, black beans, tomato, onion, and avocado. For each wrap, fold two sides of wrap over filling, then roll tightly, ending seam side down.

Tabbouleh

We attended a 2nd birthday party and had this fantastic Tabbouleh salad.  Not surprising that it is a Ina Garten recipe... all her creations have the best flavor.  The kids weren't too hot on this refreshing dish, but Tony and I loved it and we had enough for a few meals and shared some with my mom.

My only recommendation is to watch the salt.  My finished product was much too salty for my taste and I had to add more bulghur wheat to help cut it.  And good luck finding bulghur wheat!  The grocery clerks sent me to two completely wrong aisles in the store... I discovered it in the natural section of the baking aisle...

Tabbouleh, courtesy of Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa Parties!

1 cup bulghur wheat

1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (1-2 lemons)
1/4 cup good olive oil
3 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 c. minced scallions, white and green parts
1 c. chopped fresh mint leaves
1 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and medium-diced
2 c. cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place the bulghur in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water, and add the lemon juice, olive oil, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir, then allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Add the scallions, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomatoes, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper; mix well. Season, to taste, and serve or cover and refrigerate. The flavor will improve if the tabbouleh sits for a few hours.

Goes great with bbq'd fish or chicken.

Zucchini Salad

This is a nice twist to the usual salad or vegetables.  Mint and feta give a nice flavor and the kalamata olives give a salty punch.  This goes great with grilled chicken and tastes very good on a warm day.  You can marinade chicken breasts in some olive oil, chopped fresh dill/parsley/garlic cloves, salt, pepper - very similar to salad dressing below.  Let sit for a couple hours or overnight.

Zucchini Salad
4 zucchini, sliced lenthwise in to very thin ribbons (use a mandoline if you have one!)
1/2 c. shredded fresh mint
1/2 c. coarsely chopped kalamata olives
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese

Zucchini Salad Dressing, combine the following in small bowl:
1/4 c. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
juice from one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine zucchini, mint, and olives in a large bowl and drizzle with combined dressing ingredients above.  Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Greek Turkey Burgers

Today I was craving a burger, but with a kick.  I used bits and pieces from a few different recipes and came up with a really great end result.  Highly recommend!  Serve with some fries or boiled or bbq'd corn on the cob and you've got a flavor packed meal.

1/2 c. greek yogurt

1/2 english cucumber, peeled, seeded, and grated

2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c. chopped mint

1.5 lbs ground turkey (or lamb)

2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

red onion, sliced in to rings

tomato, sliced (optional... I'm not a tomato fan)

Mix yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 2 Tbsp mint, with dash of salt and pepper in bowl and set aside.

Mix turkey, cheese, 1 clove garlic, remaining mint, salt, pepper in another bowl.  Divide in to four patties.

Grill patties until done and transfer on to hamburger buns.  Top burgers with sauce and onion and/or tomato slices.

*Make Ahead - you can make the sauce and patties the night before serving.  I think the sauce gets more flavorful the longer it sits.  Just stir it well before serving.

Greek Lemon Soup with Chicken Meatballs

I was hesitant to make this dish.  Lemon soup with chicken meatballs?  But I was intrigued by the Greek influenced recipe using dill and mint as flavorings for the chicken.  I also wanted to try a soup that was made creamy and thick with egg yolks and no heavy creams or flour.

And yes, it is still cold and more like June-uary than a summer June, so warm soup is still safe in the Northwest.  I'm also wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans - my summer clothes just gathering dust.  So bring on the hot soup for dinner!

The meatball recipe calls for ground chicken.  These days, this is a standard grocery item and should be readily available for purchase.  I picked up a package of Isernio's ground chicken since it's made locally and was proud to use parsley from our own garden.

I used a cheese grater to shred the onion which made for a quick task.  Added the chicken, herbs, spices and egg.

The meatballs will be wet and not as firm as you may expect.

Once the broth is boiling, you add the carrots, orzo, and chicken meatballs.  I gently lowered the meatballs in to the soup to ensure they wouldn't fall apart.

The recipe calls for you to temper the egg yolks.  This is a very easy process and ensures that you don't cook the egg too fast and create chucks of scrambled yolks in your soup.  As you whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl, slowly pour one cup of the hot soup in to the yolks.  Have patience and take your time so the eggs have a chance to warm up slow.  Once this is done you can pour the egg mixture in to the pot of soup and whisk a bit more.

The soup made our house smell amazing and everyone was anxious to give it a taste.  We were all surprised and happy with the result.  A very refreshing soup, that didn't weigh us down with cream but was very filling.  The flavor was great and we will definitely have this again.  And the kids?  They loved it.

I regret grinding fresh pepper on the soup before taking a picture.  It was a beautiful color! 

Greek Lemon Soup with Chicken Meatballs, courtesy of 30-Minute Suppers by America's Test Kitchen

8 c. low sodium chicken broth

1 lb ground chicken

1 small onion, grated (1 c.)

1/2 c. panko (I used regular bread crumbs)

3 Tbsp chopped fresh mint

3 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

3 large egg yolks and 1 whole egg

salt and pepper

1 c. orzo

3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick

3 Tbsp lemon juice

Bring broth to boil in a large pot. Cover aand set aside. Combine chicken, onion, bread crumbs, mint, dill, parsley, whole egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper together in bowl.  Mix together and shape in to 1" meatballs.

Add meatballs, orzo, and carrots to broth and bring to simmer.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until meatballs are cooked through and orzo is tender, about 15 minutes.

Gently whisk lemon juice and yolks together in a bowl.  Whisking constantly, gradually ladle 1 cup hot soup into egg mixture, then stir egg mixture back into soup, again whisking constantly.  Gently simmer soup on low heat until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

Random Wrap

Lunch was looming and I had no plan for our food.  Leftover chicken was staring at me in the fridge.  I checked out some of the condiments sitting nearby and thought I'd attempt a wrap for lunch.  Overall, it was successful and pretty fast - and tasted really good thanks to the fresh avocado that needed to be consumed ASAP. 

We had roma tomato tortillas by my favorite local brand, Satura (made by La Mexicana in Seattle), and topped them with:
sliced chicken breast, lettuce, sliced red onion, sliced avocado, black beans, some corn I cut off a leftover cob from dinner, sour cream, and a drizzling of Trader Joe's Avocado Salsa Verde. 

The finished product needed a bit more kick, so we added a few drops of Tabasco.  The finished wrap was also a tad too big... I have an issue with overstuffing tortillas.

Do you make wraps?  What do you typically include in them? 

Tuscan Lemon Chicken and Grilled Panzanella

The husband got home today from his business trip so I planned a nice dinner for the family.  After seeing a few great menu ideas on my friends blog last week I knew exactly what to make.  Tuscan Lemon Chicken and Grilled Panzanella, both Ina Garten recipes, and both very highly rated on the Food Network's website.  Not surprising since most of the Barefoot Contessa's foods get rave reviews.

I highly recommend giving both these dishes a shot.  I also highly recommend you let the chicken sit in the marinade for a solid 24 hours.  The flavor is amazing!  In addition, using a flattened chicken may look pretty cool (and a butcher will do for free at your grocer), but it would be much easier to use an already cut up chicken. Makes serving much faster and less messy.  If you do opt for pieces of chicken instead of a whole flattened chicken, I'd opt for bone-in with skin on so the marinade has some extra stuff to soak in to versus using boneless skinless breasts.  But... the flattened chicken is an attention getter so give it a shot.

Regarding the panzanella (basically veggies and bread salad with dressing), the flavor has a kick and both my kids ended up eating a few pieces.  The recipe calls for a ficelle, which is basically a really skinny baguette.  The ficelle I bought wasn't as skinny as I hoped, so I had to slice the loaf lengthwise and then slice as directed in recipe.  Otherwise the bread pieces would have been much too large.  My friend Michele also likes to add crumbled feta to the salad

Much to my surprise, the panzanella kept well and I was able to eat some of the leftovers for lunch today. And the leftover chicken's flavor tasted even better the second day. This is a must try for your next nice family meal or dinner with friends.

Flattened chicken ready for seasoning.

Sitting in the marinade and covered with plastic wrap.  I flipped the chicken 2-3 times over the 24 hour marinating time. 

I placed the chicken on our grill and used the pan to help press it down.  Its better to use a heavy brick wrapped in foil though.  The veggies were put on the grill with about 10-15 minutes remaining on the chicken. 

Chicken ready for eating!  It looks a little beat up due to the skin tearing, but tasted fantastic.

The finished panzanella salad served warm.

Snickerdoodles

My husband claims his all-time favorite cookie is the Snickerdoodle.  I do love a chewy snickerdoodle on occasion, but I'll typically never pick one over chocolate chip or oatmeal... and it isn't a recipe that I've got on regular rotation in the kitchen.  In fact, I'm not sure I've made snickerdoodles since Tony and I were dating.  Today he went on a business trip and ironically I saw an article about snickerdoodles.  I figured it was a sign to make a batch of these cookies for him.

The prepared dough prior to being wrapped in parchment and placed in the freezer for an hour to chill, prior to baking.

And the finished cookie.  Perfectly baked, nice and tender, and a secret ingredient in the sugar/cinnamon mix took these cookies up a notch on my favorites list.  Sweet with a hint of savory. Making snickerdoodles again did remind me of making them as a child which was fun, and Blake loved them.

These ain't your momma's snickerdoodles.  Well, if in fact they are hers, good for her and I wish I had seen her recipe sooner.

I made eight cookies today (as a test... and all eaten in an hour), and refrigerated the remaining dough wrapped in parchment and sealed in a ziploc bag.  I'll bake the rest on Tuesday when the husband returns!

Snickerdoodles, courtesy of www.dinneralovestory.com blog

Preheat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl using a hand mixer, mix together:

1 c. softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a separate bowl, sift together:
2 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Gradually mix in the dry mixture to the wet mixture until it’s all blended. Wrap dough in parchment paper and chill for about one hour in freezer.

Remove dough from freezer and form round balls of dough the size of small walnuts. Roll balls in mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt.

Bake for 8 minutes and cool on a rack. Makes 5 dozen 2-inch cookies.

Pretzel Chicken and a John Daly

I saw a blog article discussing a killer chicken dish which involved pretzels.  Yup, pretzels.  The dish is served at an NYC restaurant called City Bakery and has a loyal following.  To make the dish work, you must buy thick, hard, sourdough pretzels.  I found large pretzel bites and thought they worked fine.  The end result was a nicely flavored chicken with a perfectly crunchy shell.  I did find that even though the pretzels I used had salt, most of it was lost in the blender, so you may find that you need to add a touch of salt to the finished chicken to maximize the flavor.

The kids loved this meal and so did we.  We'll definitely make it again!

The chopped pretzels ready for chicken...

The mustard sauce...

And the cocktail to go with dinner on a hot, sunny day...  An 'Arnold Palmer' (half ice tea/half lemonade), but the grown up version...using sweet tea vodka and lemonade!  This is technically called a 'John Daly'. Yummmmm.  This is a sweet drink, but you can play around with the vodka/lemonade ratio and can also add a splash of club soda to help cut the sugar.  Oh, and random thought... A Shandy is lemonade and beer - also a good summer drink but not something you'll drink all night.

Pretzel Chicken, courtesy of City Bakery in NYC and Food & Wine Magazine
1/2 lb hard pretzels, coarsely crushed (4 cups)

1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 c. whole-grain mustard
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 c. water
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels until coarsely ground; you should have coarse chunks and fine crumbs. Transfer to a large, shallow bowl.

Wipe out the food processor. Add the oil, whole-grain and Dijon mustards, water and vinegar and process until smooth. Season the dressing with salt and pepper.

Pour half of the dressing into a large shallow bowl, add the chicken breasts and turn to coat. Dredge the chicken in the pretzel crumbs and transfer to a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in the upper third of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Slice the chicken and serve warm or at room temperature with the remaining mustard dressing.

Homemade Pizza Dinner

We've been craving homemade pizza for dinner.  The problem?  I haven't had time to go to Trader Joe's and I'm not a huge fan of Pillsbury pizza crust in a can.  But when I was at the grocery store on Sunday I walked past this pizza dough in the freezer aisle.  I love The Essential Baking Company, so had to give it a shot!

Only downside to the product?  Aside from thawing instructions, there are no baking directions, and I found no suggestions on their website - even though the label says to check the site out.  So I opted for a 400 degree oven and checked on the pizza after 10 minutes, then every few minutes after that.

To make the sausage topping, I removed the casings from some Isernio's sausages I'd previously thawed and then browned the meat.  (To remove casings you can either slice off the end of the sausage and squeeze out, or slice down the length of the sausage. Super easy.) 

I then sauteed and carmelized sliced red onions in a little olive oil and butter.

Rolled out the dough on a floured surface and then placed on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. 

The finished product!

I give two thumbs up to Essential Baking's pizza dough, but the lack of directions was annoying.  If you can't get to Trader Joe's for their dough, give this brand a shot next time you're at the grocery. YUM!

Steak Salad and the Week

I cut open this avocado before dinner and it was too perfect to mash up for guacamole.  So instead I changed up our planned dinner and made a big dinner salad with sliced BBQ steak (leftover from the night before - love Costco and buying a pack of steak with one steak too many - just for this reason!), chunks of avocado, slices of red onion, fresh cracked pepper, Gorgonzola crumbles and a vinaigrette by Briannas (my favorite brand of salad dressings) served over mixed greens.  I put a little too much Gorgonzola on my salad (which is almost impossible for me), but it still turned out great and was a nice change of pace for dinner.

Whats your favorite dinner salad - whether planned or last minute?

I've mentioned this before, but I typically try to plan our weeks worth of dinners each Sunday.  I have an ongoing grocery list posted on the fridge, and all week we add staples we need or write down dinner ideas for the following week.  On Sundays I go to the store and stock up, trying to avoid needing another trip to the store for the rest of the week.  I used to go to the store at least three times a week until two months ago when I made this change. 

To make my once weekly trip to the store more beneficial, I quickly sift through the Sunday newspaper coupons.  I clip ones I could use that day and will save some that I may be able to use for the near future (an upcoming holiday, baby shower, etc).  I am in no way a coupon freak, but I don't understand why I wouldn't use them if a coupon is good for an item we're always buying.  As a side... I have almost saved as much as I have spent at QFC in the past five months (you can see your accrued saving at the bottom of their receipts...).  Yes, this means I buy a lot of store brands, but I'm also using coupons for name brand products.

An example week for us - this week:

Monday - BBQ'd ribs, corn (on sale so bought for today/tomorrow) and blueberry crumble (leftover ribs for Charlotte/my Tuesday lunch)

Tuesday - steak dinner, corn, rice (3 big steaks from costco, eating only 2 between the four of us)

Wednesday - steak salad (using 1 leftover steak), bread toasted in oven with some butter/seasonings

Thursday - homemade pizza with sausage, carmelized red onions and basil, side of green salad (leftovers for my lunch on Friday).  Trying out a new pizza dough found in the freezer section, made by Essential Baking!

Friday - Tony & Jodi out with friends for dinner - but BBQ'd chicken, steamed broccoli and rice for the kids (buy one package of chicken breasts, get another package free. Use remaining package for Saturday dinner) 

Saturday - pretzel coated chicken with dipping sauce, corn, green salad (leftover chicken for Sunday lunch?)  I'll have the pretzel recipe on the website once we've tried it out!  Stay tuned!