Goodbye my Blossom...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Gnocchi and Sausage and Beans, Oh My!

The other night I made up this recipe and it was so tasty good.

I think I'll call this...

Herbed Gnocchi with Loaded Goodness

1 package gnocchi

1 pound of Italian Sausage (removed from casings and formed into balls)

2-3 cups of green beans, trimmed and blanched

1/4 cup fresh sage

1/4 cup fresh oregano

4 cloves of garlic

olive oil

paremsan cheese

pepper

Place water in pot to boil for gnocchi.

Heat a large skillet over medium high and place sausage balls in the skillet. Brown the sausage until cooked through. Once it is done, remove from the pan and place the green beans in the pan to sautee until tender and lightly browned. Return the sausage to the pan and and the sage. Pt gnocchi in to cook. When it is done, remove from pot and drain and place gnocchi in the skillet. Stir. Add in crushed garlic and oregano that has been minced.

Toss to combine and serve with pepper and parmesan cheese.

Throughout the cooking process you may find you need to add some olive oil to keep things from sticking - go ahead.

Enjoy!

This was delicious! Hubs said it was by far his favorite meal we've had. Even as I was blogging this he went oh yeah this is so blog worthy!

Breaded Deliciousness on my plate!

Last night for dinner, I wanted to make a recipe that apparently I had posted on my Nest Local Cooking Club a while back - but I don't ever remember making it.

Well in the past two weeks just about every girl on the board made them so I went, damn' I guess it's my turn now.

We were not disappointed... but apparently I already new that?? Who knows!

Parmesan Chicken Bites

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup(s) butter
1 Clove(s) minced garlic
1 Cup(s) dried bread crumbs
1/3 Cup(s) Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon(s) dried parsley
1 Teaspoon(s) Italian seasonings
2 Pound(s) cut into pieces chicken breast, boneless skinless
1/4 Cup(s) fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°F.

In a bowl, combine the minced garlic with the melted butter and lemon juice.

In another bowl mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper.

Dip chicken pieces into garlic butter, then into crumb mixture to coat.

Place coated chicken pieces on to a 9x13 baking dish.

Try to leave a little room between each piece. Drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Note that the chicken will get much more browned on the bottom side than on the top.


I served this with spaghetti squash that I steamed in the microwave, then I sauteed it up with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and arugla. Delicious!

Menu for the week of June 29

Lots of fun and new things this week!

Sunday: Sushi Bowls - vegetarian style
Monday: Hubs gets to eat on his own - I'm out
Tuesday: Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps
Wednesday: Steak and Potato
Thursday: Toss it together night - we'll come up with it Thursday
Friday: Burgers, Corn on the Cob and potato salad - Happy 4th!
Saturday: Grilled Pork Tenderloin - Mojito Style

How Green is Your Shopping Trip?

So for a while, Adam and I have been using our giant blue Ikea bags for our trips to Stop & Shop each week. We love them, two fit in the cart tightly and we fill them up with our groceries. And it's only one trip each in the house with the groceries.

Our stores have the self scan wands you take with you to scan as you shop, so we never have to double pack things. So it's so easy to use reusable bags with our store's shopping ways.

Recently though, I was getting really fed up with the number of plastic bags we use in the produce department. Since the bulk of our grocery bill each week is produce, it was a LOT of plastic bags. Granted we do take them to be recycled, but still, why use it to begin with?

So I was going to buy some fancy eco-bags for produce online from etsy.com and then found one that looked surprisingly similar to something we already had in the house - zippered lingerie bags!

So to dress them up a bit, I stitched a little greet ribbon loop on them - it's totally useless but just makes it look cuter.

So now we use the bags that are meant for my bras and delicates in the laundry for our produce - don't worry I had like 15 of them in the house and I kept some for laundry and some for grocery.

You know what, they are great! the produce can breathe in the bags. They are compact to take to the market. They can be washed in the sink or washer, heck probably even the top rack on the dishwasher!

We're really loving it - and with the zippers - everything is sealed in there nicely with no spills of produce in the cart or drawers at home.

Seriously, try it! You'll thank me!

"These are great ribs!"

As quoted by the hubby.

It's funny I found this recipe on myrecipes.com (it's the collection site from the con de naste publications) and I read it and went ooo we're making this. And I looked at it again the day I went to make it and went, this sounds really familar, so I got out a cookbook and there it was - I had it at home the whole time!

These were by far fabulous - I mean incredibly fabulous!

You must make these and follow the recipe! The only thing I didn't do was broil the ribs first - too hot to heat the house - so I grilled them outside on the grill and that helped give the ribs a nice grill flavor and the beans.

Sweet and Saucy Ribs (southern living)

Ingredients
2 (16-ounce) cans pinto beans, drained
4 pounds country-style pork ribs, trimmed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (10.5-ounce) jar red jalapeño jelly
1 (18-ounce) bottle hickory-flavored barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon green hot sauce

Preparation
Place beans in a 5-quart electric slow cooker; set aside.
Cut ribs apart; sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place ribs on a broiling pan.
Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat 18 to 20 minutes or until browned, turning once. Add ribs to slow cooker, and sprinkle with onion.
Combine jelly, barbecue sauce, and hot sauce in a saucepan; cook over low heat until jelly melts. Pour over ribs; stir gently.
Cover and cook at HIGH 5 to 6 hours or at LOW 9 to 10 hours. Remove ribs. Drain bean mixture, reserving sauce. Skim fat from sauce. Arrange ribs over bean mixture; serve with sauce.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Kraft Thick 'n Spicy Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce and Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce.

Yield
Makes 8 servings

Mmmm... Steph's Favorite Pasta

Last night we had my favorite pasta dish on the planet - Penne with Fennel and Breadcrumbs. The recipe is here on my blog.

We had it with some of the delicious fish, fresh striped bass, that was given to us. JT at my office does a lot of fishing and gave these two HUGE fillets to the hubs and I to enjoy. We split one the night before and re-heated the 2nd for tonight's dinner. What delicious fish. Thank you JT!

For the fish I seasoned with lemon juice, salt, pepper, olive oil and some capers.

And with the pasta - MMMMM good!

Thai At Home

Tonight we made Thai Pork Salad from Southern Living.

It's very similar to the Thai Pork Noodle dish we made from Smitten Kitchen that we adore.

A little time consuming but tasty. Adam overdid it on the ginger so it was a little spicy for me but it was so good.

Thai Pork Salad

1 lb. lean ground boneless pork chops, grind yourself or buy ground

Cook the pork in a skillet until browned.

In a bowl mix

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

3 green onions finely chopped

1 tsp. minced fresh ginger

1/2 tsp. ground red pepper

1/2 cup lime juice (this was too much, it was too tart so we had to add some sugar)

1 T fish sauce (we used Hoisin)

1 tsp. sesame oil

Add the cooked cooled pork to this mixture.

In another bowl, toss 1 package of broccoli slaw with the following

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 T lite soy sauce

1 T olive oil - we used sesame

(we needed to double this, it didn't make enough sauce for all of the broccoli slaw)

Slice some cucumber to place around the plate.

Pile the broccoli slaw mixture on the plate and top with the pork mixture. Serve with rice or asian noodles. We also topped with more cilantro and crushed peanuts.

It's a meat and potato kinda night

I always like to make a nice dinner on Sunday nights - it's a nice way to end the weekend and start the work week off.

Last night I made Weight Watchers Beer Soaked Beef and The Pioneer Woman's Crash Hot Potatoes.

The beef was incredible, moist, tender and great flavor. The marinade is fabulous and the longer you can let it soak the better it will be. And do boil out the marinade after and thicken it a bit for a dipping sauce, it was so tasty.

Beer Soaked Beef

12 oz. beer

2 T olive oil

1 large garlic clove minced - I used 4

2 T fresh lemon juice

1 T dark brown sugar - I added a little more

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/2 lbs raw lean flank steak 1 inch thick.

In a baking dish mix all of the ingredients and stir and then add steak. cover and marinate in fridge for 2-24 hours.

You can either cook the steak on a grill pan or broiler pan in the oven or you can cook it on the grill outside. We opted for using the outside grill.

Crash Poatoes

The origonal recipe is here, but this is what I did.

Place a pot of water on the stove to boil.

Scrub and clean 6 small red or golden potatoes

Boil the potatoes until tender

Preheat oven to 400

Meanwhile take out a baking sheet (I used my one I use for pizza with the holes in it to ensure crispiness all over and then put that on top of a smaller cookie sheet for any drips)

When the potatoes are done drain them.

Place on the baking sheet.

Take your potato masher and squash them down until they fan out.

You may need to use a knife to get the potato out of the masher.

Once all potatoes are mashed, drizzle with some oil, and season. I seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika.

Place potatoes in oven and bake until crispy brown - about 10 - 15 minutes.

These were out of this world delicious and we swear we could have eaten just a meal of those. We want to try them loaded as well one time with cheese, sour cream, bacon and green onions.

Food Porn

If you like pictures of pretty food - guess what, there's now a site just for you.

It's called Food Porn Daily.

It's a picture a day of the most delictable food of the day - mmmm mouthwatering goodness!

Anatomy of a Gummy Bear

I found this on Serious Eats today and I just laughed so hard, as Gummy Bears are one of our favorite treats!

It's from http://www.moistproduction.com/

Bacon and Onion and Potato, Oh My!

With the cost of everything right now, we've been trying really hard to make meals out of what is on our endless supply of meats and goodies in the chest freezer in the basement.

The other night we made Pierogies. Now we love Pierogies, but I always like to try new things with them to mix it up a bit.

This was a really good and tasty recipe but I varied it a bit - since I didn't want to turn the oven on in 80 degree heat.

From the Mrs. T's website

Crispy Pierogies with Onion and Bacon Chutney

2 boxes of Pierogies (I used 1)

1 T vegetable Oil

1 T fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tps. salt

1 tsp. pepper

6 slices bacon diced (I used 4)

1 large sweet onion sliced, about 4 cups

2 tsp garlic

3 T red wine vinegar (I used 1 1/2)

1 T sugar (I used 1/2)

Preheat oven to 400

toss pierogies with oil, thyme, salt and pepper to coat. Spray a pan with cooking spray and arrange pierogies on pan. Bake until golden and the edges are crispy - about 20 minutes.

(I didn't do any of this tep, I just boiled them in water on the stove. I added the seasonings to the onion mixture)

Meanwhile, prepare onion and bacon chutney. In a large skillet cook bacon until crisp and drain all but 1 T of the fat. Add onion and saute until golden and soft. Sitr in garlic and cook for one minute. Add vinegar and sugar. When sugar is dissolved, remove and pour mixture in bowl to keep warm. When pierogies are cooked, arrange on platter and serve with chutney.

I did the bacon in a skillet and the onion in another skillet. I then blanced green beans and then put them in the pan with the bacon to sautee untill tender and browned.

Delicious dinner, a certain make again!

When life doesn't give you tomatoes...

Make fruit salsa!

We're really bummed by this tomato thing - but soon ours will be growing in the garden and we'll have tomatoes our the whazoo so it will all be ok. But in the meantime, some sacrifices must be made.

Last night, since we couldn't use fresh tomatoes on our tacos, I made a really speedy fruit salsa to top them with. Let me tell you this with the nice fresh avacado was a perfect mix on the tacos.

Stephany's Speedy Lack-o-Tomato Fruit Salsa
Serves 2

1 nectarine diced
2 canned pineapple rings, diced
1-2 T fresh cilantro
1-2 T fresh green onion diced
1/4 cup canned black beans -drained and rinsed (optional)
1 tsp. lime juice
5 cracks black pepper
pinch of salt
2-3 drops of green pepper sauce

Combine everything and let sit for 10-15 minutes until flavor combines.

Fabulous for tacos!

How do you loose the tip of your knife??

So tonight, while making dinner, the oddest thing happened.

So here's the scene.

I'm at the sink cleaning fiddleheads, potatoes are boiling on the stove, roast is simmering in the crockpot. The colander with the cleaned fiddleheads is balanced on the edge of the sink. Bashful comes up from the basement and rubs between my legs and scares the crud out of me. I jump, jolt my arm, knock the colader in to the other side of the sink. The cleaned large knife sitting tip side down in the in the draining basket in the sink falls out on to the floor, spinning, and lands tip side stuck in to the hard wood floors. It stays there for a split second then falls over to the floor.

I bend down to pick it up and notice the tip of the knife is gone - i mean it's a flat tip now, no point. I bend down and get down on all fours scouring the floor for the tip of the knife and can't find it - i dont want the cats to get it after all. Then I notice and see that it is physically now stuck in our hardwood floors. Totally burried in the hardwood.

Adam comes in from the garden and i tell him we need to go get a new knife, and tell him the whole story and he just laughed so hard. I kept telling him there was no way i could make this shit up - and that's the truth!

Time for a new knife!

Pasta with a bit of everything

I found this great recipe while blog searching a few weeks ago and unfortunately I can't remember which blog it was on. So I'm sorry for the lack of credit. If it was your recipe please let me know.

I served this recipe with cornish hens and fiddleheads and it was outstanding.

This recipe was so delicious, I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch during the week.

Very easy, very tasty. And it used some of our butternut squash from the garden from last year that we have keeping in the basement.

Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Pasta
Serves 4
1/2 package penne pasta

Bulb of one smallish butternut squash, peeled and small diced (about 1 cup)
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 clove finely minced garlic

1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
1/2 tbsp salt
Generous fresh ground black pepper

Cook penne pasta.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add in 1 tbsp olive oil. Add diced butternut squash and sautee until starting to soften and brown, about 7 minutes. Add in garlic about 5 minutes through.

After butternut squash has started to cook, add in 1/4 cup pine nuts and toast with squash and garlic mixture, about 3 more minues (this is only 10 minutes of sauteeing total).

Add penne pasta and remaining 2 tbsp olive oil to pan. Toss to coat and then remove pasta mixture to medium bowl. Stir in crumbled goat cheese and serve.

Fiddlehead what?

For the over 5 years we've lived in Rhode Island, each spring we see these funny alien looking green things in the produce department that always looked far from tasty. A few years ago, someone told me they were called Fiddleheads, and were actually a a New England delicacy.

So the other week we saw them at the market and I said to Adam "I'm feeling adventerous, let's try them." So we left the market with a small bag of Fiddlehads.

Now I had absoluetly no clue what the heck to do with them when I got them home. So I google searched and found this website, and this guy knows his Fiddleheads.

I found out that a Fiddlehad Fern is actually the unfurled shoots of the ostrich fern.

This guy had a great recipe for the Fiddleheads as well. Since I had no bacon, I used some bacon grease and it still had a great, tasty, salty flavor.

We really enjoyed the fiddleheads. So much so we bought a HUGE bag this past weekend at the market and had them tonight for dinner again.

We sat here trying to describe them flavor wise and such. It's kind of a cross between what a suateed string bean is like texture wise. Flavor wise, well I don't know, it tastes like what you cook it in but also tastes, green? I don't know how to describe it other than the fact that they are really good!

They are a little labor intensive for cleaning but the end result is worth it. Do follow the recipe on the link above, you won't regret it.