Hello fellow readers! My food blog has officially moved to a new blog called Voila!
All the latest videos, recipes and photos will be there!
Why you ask? The answer is at the other blog
So tell your friends, your favorite chefs, your family and pets — but more foodie goodness is at the new site. Thanks for reading and see you soon!
After perusing the web for a while, I combined a variety of recipes to create this one. They all offered similar ingredients and measurments, so today there’s not one link I can send you too.
A few recipes said to add a tablespoon of fresh ground coffee or several tablespoons of peanut butter — so if you want to try that, I’m all for it! I stayed in a comfort zone this time but look forward to adding these extras later.
Ingredients
2 smashed bananas
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup flour (optional: divided between wheat and all-purpose
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 350
1. Smush bananas with masher. Add butter and mix until lumpy and mixed well.
2. Add sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, baking soda and egg.
3. Add flour and mix well. Add chocolate chips and mix. Then add walnuts and mix.
4. Shell out mixture into greased muffin pan, filling each cup about 1/2 full. Sprinkle a few walnuts on top of each muffin.
5. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
**
Voila! These are great snacks and go well with a cold glass of milk.
The chicken and coleslaw come from Everyday Food: Great Food Fast By Martha Stewart Living. This is an excellent cook book with quick, easy recipes based on foods that are in season. The pictures are beautiful and the recipes delicious.
The cottage cheese part of this post is a family recipe that comes down from, I think, my great-grandfather. It sounds as if pasta, pepper and cottage cheese were all he had in his home in the shtetl back in the old country and tossed it all together. Well, it turns out to be pretty darn good!
UPDATE: The cottage cheese pasta recipe has been updated as of May 26. My mom pointed out that I’m missing two ingredients — indicated below in the ingredients and directions in bold.
Ingredients
8 slices wheat bread (or 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs)
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (overflowing cup)
1 tsp. thyme
garlic powder to taste
chicken breast or legs or whatever part you like
1/4 head green cabbage, grated
3 large carrots, grated
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1/4 cup canola oil
2 T. lime or lemon juice
3 T. cilantro or parsley
1/2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cup fat-free cottage cheese
Bag of penne, bow tie or fusilli pasta
2 T. butter, melted (optional)
salt, pepper and garlic to taste
cilantro to taste
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Directions
Start with the coleslaw since it’s the easiest and can be stored while working on the other items.
1. In a large bowl mix the cabbage, carrots and jalapeno. Mix well.
2. Add canola oil. Mix. Add lime or lemon juice.
3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cumin and pepper. Toss well. Cover with saran wrap and set aside.
Now start with the chicken. But at this time, start boiling the water for the pasta and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
If you’re using sliced bread, tear the bread into pieces and put in the blender and voila — homemade breadcrumbs.
1. In one bowl, mix buttermilk, hot sauce, salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs, parmesan, thyme, garlic and pepper.
2. Dunk chicken in buttermilk bowl, coating each piece pf chicken completely. Let excess drip back into bow. Then dredge chicken in breadcrumb mixture and cover completely. Place chicken on baking sheet.
3. Bake until chicken is golden brown or about 35-40 minutes.
1. Boil, cook and drain pasta. While in strainer, add butter. Return pasta to boiling pot.
2. Add cottage cheese, pepper, garlic, cilantro and parmesan cheese. Mix well.
***
Voila you’re done!
This recipe comes to us from Cocunut and Lime.
Here is my first video! Enjoy — ingredients and recipe below.
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
3 T. brown sugar
1 T. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (i added a few shakes of nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 T. olive oil
1 egg
3/4 cup (equivalent to about one apple) apple, cubed
** As mentioned in the video, I used Granny Smith Apples, the original recipe used Pink Lady Apples. If you use tart apples, add more brown sugar.
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
1. In large bowl, combine flours, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
2. Add buttermilk, olive oil and egg to flour mixture and stir well.
3. Fold in apple cubes.
4. Butter and flour loaf pan. Pour mixture in and bake for about 30 minutes.
***
Enjoy warm with jam or just plain!
***
Lessons learned: Read the instructions! Just now as I step this post I see it says 1 Tablespoon of baking soda! I put in about 1/2 tsp. No good but noted for next time. Also as noted in the video, I didn’t add more sugar to counter the “tartness” of the apples. Despite these few slips, the bread turned out really well, once I added some jam or ate it with a thin slice of apple.
***
UPDATE: I made this recipe again last night because, as you saw in the video, it wasn’t quite right. So, I did what the original recipe called for and added more brown sugar (about 2-3 more tablespoons) to the flour mixture. I did this because I was using tart Granny smith Apples. Another thing I did to sweeten up the “flavor-flav” is after chopping the apples, I coated the cubes with cinnamon and brown sugar. In the end — a success!
This delicious brunch/breakfast recipe comes from Whole Foods
BUT FIRST: Our dinner and brunch this past weekend was a complete success! The family, the food, the celebrations – graduation AND mother’s day.
Mother’s Day Brunch spread: On the table, starting at the top and moving clockwise: bagels, strawberries, blueberry-kiwi tarts, turkey bacon, tomato gruyere camembert tart, sunflower cherry oatmeal bars. And you can also see James and David (pointing at the bagels).
NOW BACK TO THE RECIPE: The Sunflower Cherry Oatmeal bars are something I’ve been meaning to make for, literally, months! And this Sunday as part of the Mother’s Day brunch spread, it proved to be the ideal time to cook these up.
These are healthy anyway you eat them: whether a breakfast bar, snack or side dish. With no butter, minimal oil and then handfuls of dried fruit and fresh granola, these bars make you feel good just looking at them.
Per usual, my own twists and suggestions are highlighted by italics.
Ingredients
1 C. rolled oats (I used more than a cup of honey granola. It added a little more crunch and flavor to the crumb based and topping.)
1 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
dash of salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 C. sunflower seeds
1/2 C. dried cherries (overflowing cup of cherries. This adds moisture to the crumb base and topping, as well as to the overall bar)
1/4 C. canola oil
5 T. orange juice
1/2 C. cherry preserves (I used blackberry preserves because that’s what I had in fridge and it worked great!)
NOTE: I found that I had to make a quick, small extra patch to make the top so I would advise to one-and-a-half the recipe proportions. But, it’s up to you! It wasn’t hard to whip up the oat mixture real quick at that point.
Directions
Preheat oven to 325.
1. Mix oats (or granola), wheat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, several big shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg, sunflower seeds and dried cherries.
2. Add 3 T. of orange juice and canola oil. Mix well!
3. Pour 3/4 of the mix, evenly, into bottom of glass baking pan.
4. In separate bowl, mix cherry(or blackberry, or any preserves, really!) with 2 T. of orange juice. Spread mixture over oat mixture.
5. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture over the preserves.
6. Bake for 35 minutes or until preserves begin to bubble.
***
And you’re ready to impress your guests! Or family! Or yourself! Enjoy!
This evening James and I will host our first dinner party in our new apartment! Both our families are coming up for my graduation and what better way to kick of the weekend than to have a lively party at our place?!
A few weekends ago we had some friends over for a luncheon — but that was easy to put together: we had sandwiches, hoagies, chips, salsa, the usual light lunch fare. However, with about 15 people en route to our house for dinner in a matter of hours, I went into high-party-planning-mode.
Planning for a dinner party thoughts:
1. Except for fresh fruit and veggies, start buying food little by little several days before the event to make your life easier. I always enjoy these trips to the market because then the excitement builds all week!
2. For tonight’s dinner, we’re serving lasagna ( a great dish to feed lots of hungry people!). We made it last night so that in the final hours before the party, I can make desserts, James can clean the apartment and we can both focus on other, less labor intensive tasks.
3. All the while, planning a party should be fun!!!
I’m an expert on throwing parties at my house, I have a lot to learn. But, what I do know I’ve learned from my mom — not only can she cook, but she know how to entertain!
This delightful and savory tart is from the blog the daily green.
I added my own touches to it, marked by italics. I made it as a side to salmon, although a white fish or just a big salad would pair nicely. It’s also a great brunch treat. It’s so versatile — don’t you just love those types of dishes?
Ingredients
1 1/2 C. flour
6 T. butter (3/4 stick)
salt and pepper to taste
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 C. gruyere, shredded
4-5 plum tomatoes, sliced and quartered
small wedge of camembert, cut into thin strips
rosemary
thyme
parsley
garlic
basil
Directions
1. Combine flour, butter, dashes of salt and pepper. Mix until it’s coarse and crumbly.
2. add dashes of rosemary, thyme, basil and pepper
3. Using a fork, mix 2-3 T. of oil and 1 T. water. Mix until dough begins to cling to each other.
4. Shape dough into a ball, then flatten into a disc. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375
1. Roll out dough into wide, thin circle. Place in tart pan.
2. Spread 1 T. mustard evenly over bottom of tart shell.
3. Sprinkle gruyere evenly over mustard.
4. Then layer tomato, camembert and a little extra gruyere. At each layer add a dash of spices.
5. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 C. olive oil, and spices. Using spoon or brush, pur carefully and evenly top of tart.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm.
**
Finished….enjoy!
An Emily Original!
I’m not sure how this idea came to me — but earlier this week James and I were delighting in very sweet and juicy strawberries. Later in the week we picked up some hot fudge sauce for ice cream sundaes. At some point after eating delicious fruit with scrumptous chocolate sauce, a word popped into my head: peppermint.
Could it be? Could this work?
As my Grandma Doe says, “time waits for no one.” In this case, it was time to put this idea into being. Recipe ideas should not go untried! So tried I did, and now I come here to say, this delectable treat is tried and true!
Ingredients
1 carton fresh Strawberries
1 cup hot fudge sauce
1 tsp peppermint extract
Directions
1. Wash strawberries.
2. Wrap a plate with saran wrap (this is where you’ll put the strawberries after they’ve been dipped.)
2. Melt chocolate sauce in the microwave (or stovetop would work, too.)
3. Once chocolate is melted stir in peppermint.
Note: I made these on a small scale, so I’m “guestimating” these proportions. Melt the chocolate and add a little bit of peppermint at a time until you get the taste you want.
4. dip strawberries until entire berry is covered in chocolaty goodness. Put in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Enjoy!
An Emily original!
Total cook time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup frozen spinach
6 pieces sun-dried tomato
1/2 cup feta cheese
3 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste
2 T.olive oil
2 cups breadcrumbs (optional)
Directions
preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Cook frozen spinach according to packaging.
2. Dice sun-dried tomatoes, place in small mixing bowl.
3. Add feta.
4. Dice garlic cloves. Add half of them to the sun-dried tomato/feta mix. Put other half in skillet with spinach.
5. Once spinach is done, add to tomato/feta mix. Set aside.
6. (At this point, if you’re making rice to accompany the dish, now would be a good time to start. I used long grain wild rice and it would a fabulous side!)
6a. Rinse and pat chicken breasts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on each side.
7. Cut slits into middle of the chicken, making pockets.
8. Spoon in tomato/feta/spinach mix into chicken.
9. Press chicken a little to close the slits, keeping the mixture from falling out
10. Heat skillet with olive oil.
11. (if you choose to bread the chicken: before placing chicken in hot skillet, place bread crumbs in bowl. Dunk chicken in bread crumbs, covering the piece. Then place chicken in skillet.)
11a. (if you do not bread the chicken: place chicken directly in the skillet.)
12. Cook chicken quickly on each side so it turns an opaque color. Once that’s over, place chicken on baking sheet lined with tin foil. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through.
***
Voila! Serve with rice or salad or garlic bread and enjoy.
Hi folks — I realize there’s been a big gap of time between the last post and this one. But the truth is, I’ve moved to a new apartment! My fiancee and I have been busy making it our first home. It’s taken a lot of time to get furniture, get organized and get used to the new place. I have to say — it’s fabulous!
I’ll post a picture s of the kitchen where I’ll report from and add more pictures and maybe even some video.
Thanks for tuning in!
