Favorite Recipe Sites

I've been very busy this week and haven't had time for cooking. I promise to post something new over the weekend. I finally have a list of things lined up to cook. I've been kinda waiting for fall to officially start before I make anything with fall produce.

Soooo instead...a lot of people ask me where I go for recipes when I need inspiration. Here's a short list...

Smitten Kitchen - great photos, delicious recipes
Bakerella - cute, fun ideas
Jamie Oliver - love most of his recipes
BBC Good Food - great seasonal cooking guide
Delicious Magazine - a little bit of everything
Food 52 - lots of great recipes submitted from people all over
King Arthur Flour Blog - baking
Epicurious - menus, ideas, lots of recipes

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Corn Zeppole

A few weeks ago I was browsing recipes while trying to find out what to do with my 16 ears of corn. I came across a great site I'd never looked at before called Food52. This site is a collection of recipes submitted by all sorts of people from around the world. The editors pick the most popular recipes in each category to go up for a vote. Members in the Food52 community then vote on their favorite dish in each category. The winning recipes go into a cookbook. What a cool idea!

So,in my browsing for corn recipes I came across a recipe for corn zeppole. Being a lover of the original sweet version, I decided it was something I had to try. I got a few weird looks when I was standing in the kitchen frying dough (I don't fry often), but after the weird looks, people slowly started trying them and loved them!

I'm going to link to the recipe on Food52. The only changes I will make the next time I try these is adding a bit more pancetta and corn so there's some in every bite.

Corn zeppole recipe from Food52.

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Monster Cookies

Do you love cookies? If so, this cookie is probably for you. Monster cookies are basically peanut butter, oatmeal, and chocolate chip cookies all combined into one cookie. Ingredients include peanut butter, oatmeal, M&Ms, chocolate chips, and Reese's Pieces. I think they're called monster cookies because of the insane amount of calories they contain (no, I haven't added it up, I'm too scared to).

Today I was craving something sweet with peanut butter, but couldn't think of anything to make. If I had powdered sugar, I probably would have made something like chocolate peanut butter bars or a peanut butter pie, but I didn't, so I made something I did have the ingredients for - monster cookies!

The first time I had this insane creation was 7-8 years ago when my friend came over to my house with a big batch. Back then I saved her recipe in my special recipe binder, but I can't find the binder right now. I know I had it last week? Anyways, I found a nice substitute recipe on the Food Network site from Paula Deen. I will say I was a bit skeptical for a minute when the recipe had no flour in it, but they turned out wonderful!

I changed the ingredients slightly, but the base recipe is from Paula. This makes a big batch so I suggest freezing some or lining up people to give them to!

Monster Cookies

3 eggs

1 1/4c packed light brown sugar

1c sugar

1/2t salt

1/2t vanilla

12oz creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, softened

1/2c M&Ms

3/4c chocolate chips (milk or semisweet, whatever you prefer)

1/2c Reese's Pieces

2t baking soda

4 1/2c quick-cooking oats (not instant)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with baking mat or parchment paper.

2. Using a stand up mixer or a hand mixer (can do by hand as well but it's not very easy), cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter. Then, add in the vanilla, baking soda, and eggs.

3. Mix in the oats, chocolate chips, and candies by hand.

4. Bake for approximately 8-10 minutes. Make sure not to overbake. Leave the cookies on the tray for a few minutes before you transfer to a cooling rack.

Just so you know, this dough is very very sticky!

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Mediterranean Fish Stew

The other day I was surprised to find fresh fish at my local market. This is a very rare thing when you live in the middle of the country, far away from the water. Sure, I can find all sorts of fresh catfish on offer most of the year, but actual fish from the sea? Never! I don't even know how to express how excited I was about this discovery, I wanted to buy it all! I didn't buy it all, but I did go a bit overboard with the amount of fish since I'm the only real fish eater in my family.

When I got home with my fresh fish finds I had no clue what I was going to do. I thought about having fish for 3-4 meals over the next day or so. I thought about making it all at once and making a pig of myself (I really love it that much). I finally decided to disguise the "fishy" flavor of fish by making my favorite fish stew. Surely my fish hating family would eat it with me? I had a lot of hope.

You're probably thinking it's still too hot outside to be eating anything called stew, but I promise this one is great for warm weather. The very light broth is layered with flavors of tomato, fennel, saffron, and orange. It's great for sipping in a cup, slurping with a spoon, or soaking up with a crispy garlic crostini. Any way you decide to devour this dish, it will be a crowd pleaser for fish/seafood loving people. You may even have a chance to convert some non-fish lovers - I did!

Sorry the photo is a bit blurry, I wasn't prepared (couldn't find camera) so I had to take it with my phone before people started eating!

Mediterranean Fish Stew

1T olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 celery hearts, finely chopped

8-10 garlic cloves, minced

1 small can of tomato paste

6c fish stock (I actually used 2c clam juice and 4c veggie stock, that's what I had in the house)

pinch of saffron strands

2 fennel bulbs, quartered and sliced thin

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 orange, zest & juice

1lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

1.5lb white fish (cod, halibut, etc), cut into chunks

1lb clams or mussels

1 bunch parsley, finely chopped

1. Add olive oil, onions, celery, and garlic to a large pot. Cook over medium heat until soft and translucent. Cover and stir often so it doesn't brown. This will take approximately 10-15 minutes.

2. Stir in can of tomato paste and heat for about a minute.

3. Add in the fish stock and saffron. Let simmer for 30-45 minutes to reduce the stock.

4. Stir in the fennel, tomato, and orange zest. Let simmer for another 20 minutes or until the fennel is tender. Then, add in the orange juice.

5. Finish by bringing the broth to a boil and adding in all the fish at once. Cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and top with parsley. Serve immediately.

I served this with a light tomato, avocado and onion salad, garlic crostini, and lots of white wine.

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Bacon Ranch Mac N Cheese

I want to start off by saying it's a very rare thing to see me making a dish filled with as much fat as this one. I'm a very healthy eater. When I make pies, cakes, cookies, or breads for the blog I take a bite and give the rest away. I bag everything up and make everyone who stops by take some home with them. I'm just not a sweets person. I think this dish is worse than any sweet I've ever made. It's full of fat. It has 1lb of cheese, lots of bacon, whole milk, sour cream, and some more cheese and breadcrumbs to top it.

So why the heck did I decide to make this dish? Sunday night I was watching TV and trying to come up with stuff to make my picky family for our Labor Day bbq. Most of the time they tell me things I make are "weird" or "too different" for them to like. Sometimes they like them, but pretend not to until I leave the room, and then pounce on them. They love southern homecooked type of food. The same type of food my grandmother and great grandmother made when we were all growing up. I am not fond of down home cooking, but I decided to make something special for them this time.

I'm not really sure what I saw or heard that made me think bacon ranch mac n cheese, but I know I couldn't have come up with it on my own. My mind doesn't work right when it comes to making fatty foods. I googled and was certain I would find a Paula Deen recipe for a crazy mac n cheese like this, but I was wrong. I found one from Taste of Home (magazine, I think?), but it called for a ranch dressing mix or something and I'd never buy that, so I decided to make up my own recipe. Surely I could make something tasty.

I must warn you for the 100th time in this post that this dish is full of fat. You can cut down the fat by using 2% cheese, skim milk, and light sour cream. I wouldn't go for fat free cheese because it melts weird, and fat free sour cream has a strange flavor to me.

Also, I apologize for the weird recipe on this one. I made this without actually measuring anything or writing down what I did. The measurements are approximate. The key to making the white sauce is adding a bit of milk at a time until it's a consistency you like.

Sorry for the dark pic. I took it with my phone before adding the breadcrumbs and baking. I was in such a rush getting all the food out for the BBQ I forgot to take another pic after it was baked.

Bacon Ranch Mac N Cheese

1 box of pasta (whatever you have on hand)
5 slices of bacon, julienne
1 medium red onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
AP flour (amount varies, I will explain in instructions)
Milk (amount varies)
1lb sharp cheddar (or whatever cheese you prefer), shredded
tt S&P
1/2c parsley, finely chopped
1c breadcrumbs
1/4c mozzarella, shredded

Cook the pasta as the box suggests. When it's done drain it and set it aside.

1. In a big saucepan, cook the bacon to render the fat. Once the bacon is almost cooked, added in the onion and cook together.
2. Once the onion is cooked, stir in the crushed garlic.
3. Next, you need to add just enough flour to soak up all the bacon fat in the pan. This is why I said the amount of flour varies depending on how much fat is on your bacon. You can leave the onion and bacon in the pan, but make sure you stir it. It's ok if it's sticking at this point, but don't just let it sit. The fat and flour come together to make a roux. This will thicken your sauce.
4. Now start adding in milk a bit at a time. I start with enough to cover what's in the bottom of the pan. Stir it to remove lumps and it will start to thick. Continue adding in milk until it's the consistency you desire for your sauce. Make sure to stir often and get around the edges so it doesn't burn.
5. Once it's at the consistency you desire, add in the cheese and stir as it's melting until it's all incorporated.
6. Mix in the parsley, and add salt & pepper to taste.
7. Mix the cheese sauce in with the cooked pasta and top with breadcrumbs and mozzarella.
8. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes until the cheese on top is melted and the breadcrumbs are brown.

This dish can be made the night before. Just do everything up until the step where you put the breadcrumbs on. Let cool and put in the fridge. Remove from the fridge about an hour before you want to cook it, top with breadcrumbs and cheese, and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes or until it's warm in the center.

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Flank Steak Fajitas

I'm usually a chicken person when it comes to fajitas, but a few months ago I decided I wanted to have some with steak. I couldn't find skirt steak (this is what is normally used for fajitas) where I live (not surprised by that), so I decided to go with my favorite cut of meat, flank steak.

As time goes by, you will begin to see I'm a bit obsessed with flank steak. Why? Well, the main reason is there's little to no fat on it. Secondly, it tastes really good! For anyone who doesn't know about flank steak, it comes from the lower hindquarter. At the store, you will buy a whole flank steak which is typically 1-1.5lbs. Flank steak needs a marinade to help tenderize it because it's very fibrous. Once marinated, this cut of meat turns delicious.

The first time I did this it took me awhile to decide what I wanted to do with the meat. I knew I needed to add flavor, but how much? I spent the whole day thinking about what to do with the steak, and finally decided on garlic and lime. The fajitas turned out great!

The other day I decided to invite a few friends over for dinner. Instead of coming up with a menu myself, a lot of the time I ask my friends (usually the ones who are picky) what they want me to make for them. The immediate response from my friend's husband was "Mexican. Nothing weird. Nothing fancy...how about fajitas?" Ask and ye shall receive!

Flank Steak Fajitas

Marinade:

1 flank steak

5 garlic cloves, crushed

1. Place the flank steak in a shallow dish. Rub both sides with crushed garlic, cover, and place in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Veggies:

3 bell peppers (whatever color you prefer), sliced thin (I use the madoline)

1 large onion, sliced thin (mandoline again)

2T neutral oil (I used extra light olive oil)

2 limes, juiced

1. After the meat has marinated, place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes to make it easier to slice.

2. Remove from freezer and slice thin, and against the grain (across the short side) of the meat. Toss with salt & pepper.

3. In batches, sear the meat on each side and place into a shallow dish. Do this until all of the meat is finished. Squeeze lime juice on the meat. Let sit while you do the next step.

4. Saute all the veggies in the same pan you cooked the meat. Cook these until they're done to your liking. I like them softer, but if you like them still a bit crunchy then cook for a shorter time.

5. Toss the veggies with the beef and serve.

For a big group, serve these with lots of things to top them with. Big bowls of guacamole, pico de gallo, lime sour cream (just zest one of the limes before juicing and stir into an 8oz container of sour cream, refried beans, spanish rice, a selection of hot sauces, and obviously big pitchers of margaritas.

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Gambas al Ajillo

Last week I forgot to take pictures when we had tapas for dinner. I think I secretly did it on purpose so I would have an excuse to make gambas al ajillo again. This is a super simple, and very quick dish to make. It's great with crusty bread and a glass of sangria.

My shrimp doesn't have chili flakes in it because someone called and distracted me. By the time I got rid of them, the shrimp was done and there was no time to add in the chili flakes.

Gambas al Ajillo

1/2lb shrimp

1t olive oil

1T butter

2 garlic cloves, minced (can use garlic press)

1t chili flakes

1/2t paprika

parsley, to garnish

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1. Heat the oil & butter.

2. Add the garlic and heat just until you smell it.

3. Add in the chili flakes, paprika, and shrimp. Saute until the shrimp is done.

4. Garnish with parsley and serve with crusty bread.

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