Saturday, January 22, 2011

Same Blog, New Home

Hi to all three of my followers!

Blog has moved, I just wanted to change the URL. It is still a blogger blog, easy to find.

http://bethsnoshpit.blogspot.com/

This one will be disabled eventually but no new posts here.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Pumpkin Cheesecake

I made this one for Thanksgiving and it was just amazing! Really good. We all decided we liked it better without the caramel sauce, actually.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

From Simply Recipes.

Lasagna

Lasagna

I made this one for my friends last week and it was quite the hit. I will probably tweak it a little more to make it "my own" the next time I try it, but it turned out to be really yummie.

I like things kinda spicy, I think I will sneak in a can of El Pato spicy tomato sauce next time I make this. And I would use two eggs to hold the ricotta cheese together a little better. That's all I plan to change for next time.

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

The day after Thanksgiving always finds loads of "how to use leftovers" recipes. Today is no different. I subscribe to several cooking newsletters and blogs and my inbox was completely full today.

This one looks particularly good. AND since I have cream and wild rice on hand, I do believe I will give this one a try in short order!

From Cook's Country web site and magazine.

Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
Serves 6 to 8
Leftover turkey wings, thighs, or drumsticks can be used in place of the carcass.

Turkey Broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
2 onions , chopped
1 celery rib , chopped
1 smoked turkey or chicken , chopped into 4 pieces (see note)
3 cups white wine 
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth 

Soup
1 cup wild rice 
2 carrots , peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
1 cup heavy cream 
3 cups chopped cooked turkey 
Salt and pepper 
1. For the turkey broth: Melt butter in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onions, celery, and turkey carcass until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add wine and chicken broth and simmer over medium-low heat for 1 hour. Strain broth, discarding solids.
2. For the soup: Wipe out Dutch oven and toast rice over medium heat until rice begins to pop, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in turkey broth, carrots, thyme, and baking soda and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, about 1 hour.
3. Whisk flour and cream in bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk flour mixture into soup. Add turkey and simmer until soup is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Catching Up

My poor neglected blog. Hopefully I can keep up a little better now that I am (almost) all moved back to RC and settled in.

I have been cooking for my friends, since they have been kind enough to let me stay with them. Since I am not working yet (but hopefully will be starting next Monday or Tuesday), I have had plenty of time on my hands. It's been quite fun to experiment!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Shish Kabob

Found this recipe today for shish kabob marinade. The original recipe uses lamb but I used beef. Pretty darn good! And reasonably low cal and healthy. This will be a new staple since I need to lose some weight!

Serves 8
Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 cup chicken broth
* 1/4 cup orange juice
* 1 lemons, juice of
* 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 2 lbs lean lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes
* 24 cherry tomatoes
* 24 mushrooms
* 24 large small onion

Directions:
1. 1 Combine oil, broth, orange juice, lemon juice, garlic, salt, rosemary, and pepper.
2. 2 Pour over lamb, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions.
3. 3 Marinate in refrigerator several hours or overnight.
4. 4 Assemble separate skewers of lamb, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
5. 5 Broil 3 inches from heat for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Remember, lamb and onions take longer to cook than mushrooms and tomatoes.

Tapas Party

I am swiping the entire menu from today's episode of Five-Ingredient Fix. THIS is my idea of the perfect meal. It is supposed to be party food, but I can see adding a lovely, fresh salad to this and having a beautiful, romantic dinner for two. Any guy who fixed this for me for dinner would have a hard time getting rid of me :)

Spicy Baked Chick Peas

Ingredients

* 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* Pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
* Kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse and drain the chickpeas and dry by rolling them around in a kitchen towel. Combine the oil, paprika cumin, cayenne and salt in a large bowl. Add chickpeas and toss to coat evenly. Transfer the chickpeas to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread them out in a single layer. Bake until golden and crispy, 25 to 35 minutes, shaking the tray to toss after 15 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the chickpeas to a serving bowl.


Baked Fresh Ricotta with Olives

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups fresh whole milk ricotta
* 2 eggs
* Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
* 1 orange, zested
* 1 cup pitted mixed olives in oil
* 1 large baguette, sliced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the ricotta in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl and let stand 10 minutes to remove the excess liquid. Transfer the cheese to a bowl and add the eggs, salt and pepper, to taste and the orange zest. Stir until well combined. Transfer the mixture to an 8-ounce shallow baking and serving dish and put on a baking sheet. Bake in the center of the oven until puffed and beginning to brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm with olives and baguette or your favorite bread and enjoy!


Rioja Steamed Mussels with Chorizo

Ingredients

* 1 pound fresh chorizo, casings removed, crumbled
* 1 very large Spanish onion, sliced
* Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
* 2 pounds black mussels, cleaned and bearded
* 1 bottle Rioja or other dry red wine
* 1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Put the chorizo in a large heavy pot with a lid over high heat. Cook until the fat is rendered and the meat has browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon to a plate and reserve. Add the onions to the pot with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chorizo back to the pan and drop in the mussels. Pour in the wine, cover, and bring to a boil. Cook until mussels have opened, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the lid and discard any mussels that have not opened. Stir very well until the mussels are coated in the wine and onions. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the parsley and serve immediately.


Plum Sangria

* Ice
* 1/2 bottle Spanish white wine
* 3 plums, 2 blended and strained for puree, 1 sliced
* 1 teaspoon crystallized ginger simple syrup
* Fresh mint sprigs
* 1/2 cup seltzer

Directions

In a large pitcher with ice, add the wine, plum puree, simple syrup and 1 sprig of mint. Muddle the mint around a little bit, then add some of the plum slices and seltzer. Pour into serving glasses and garnish with plum slices and mint sprigs.