Menu for the Week of March 25, 2012

We are a busy couple both with full time jobs, volunteer positions, an active social life and three pets.  Finding time to cook or prepare three meals per day with very little dining out is a challenge but it can be done!

Breakfast:  During the work week we generally just have a smoothie for breakfast.  We have a few standards in rotation.  I will list the recipes as we go.  On the weekends we'll take time to make oatmeal or egg dishes.

Lunch:  I generally eat a salad and left-overs from the previous night's dinner.  Robert takes a sandwich or wrap, fruit, veggies and protein bars to get him through his very busy and arduous work days at UPS.

This week's dinners are:

Sunday:  Apple, cranberry and chicken sausages from Gibb's Butcher Block and mixed green salad.

Monday:  Pasta bake with roasted veggies, ricotta salata, and mixed green salad.

Tuesday:  Slow Cooker Cassoulet with wilted garlic spinach

Wednesday: Roasted cauliflower, chickpea and quinoa

Thursday:  Crab stuffed flounder (from Trader Joe's), brown rice and steamed broccoli

Friday: Grilled cilantro chicken and sweet potatoes

Saturday:  Out to dinner on a date with my honey :)

Farewell to Suki

Princess Suki Paul crossed over the rainbow bridge on Saturday, February 6, 2010. She was loyal companion, my best friend and just the best dog to ever cross my path. She was my child just as if I had birthed her myself. The imprint she has left on my heart will always be there. The lessons she taught me will be my life's mission. Love unconditionally, live in the moment, never hold grudges, green grass is meant to be rolled in and there is nothing better than cuddling with the ones you love! Rest in peace my precious princess!

Please take a moment and view this video of the life and times of Suki Paul

Ham Salad from Scratch

More ham left-overs! I enjoy ham salad on a few rare occassions. I enjoy it served either on small crustless breads at tea or on buttered crackers. I never made it myself...but I thought it was time to try. I looked online through several recipes and just decided to do wing it.

This is recipe is a breeze with a food processor! I have this Cuisinart Food Processor and love it!

Ham Salad
3 cups ham chopped fine
1/2 cup celery chopped fine
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish (I made my own from my homemade Bread & Butter Pickles).
1 cup mayonaise
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard

Put all ingredients in food processor (seperately) and chop fine. Mix with mayo and dijon.

Wow..$6.00 Dinner and my first Quiche Ham, Broccoli and Cheese Quiche

Considering the economic times we are in, I am trying to use more left overs than ever and make more economical meals than ever. Also, I am trying to perfect my pie/tart making skills..so I thought a quiche would foot the bill. I was a little worried that my husband wouldn't think a quiche was a suitable dinner..but I was soo sooo wrong.

I had quite a bit of ham left over from a party earlier in the summer and it was taking up my much valuable freezer space. So I finally figured out what to do with it.
Ham, Broccoli and Cheese Quiche - Serves 4
1 Pie/Tart crust
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 medium onion chopped
1 cup of diced ham
1 cup of diced broccoli florettes
1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 cup of milk ( I used skim)
salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

1) For the crust I used the tart crust from the Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Tart I made last week. I made the crust the night before and refrigerated it overnight. I rolled it into a 14 inch circle and placed it in a 12" tart pan with a removable bottom. You could also use a store bought pie crust for convenience.

2) In a large skillet pour 2 Tbsp. of the butter (reserving 1 Tbsp.), onion, ham and broccoli and saute until they are just heated through. Fill crust with the ham, broccoli and onion mixture.

3) Sprinkle cheese over the top.

4) In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, reserved Tbsp. butter salt and pepper.

5) Pour egg mixture over cheese and filling.

6) Bake for 40-45 minutes or until knife comes out clean from center.

An Updated American Classic Appetizer - Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I was invited to a friend's party and knew there were going to be a lot of Brazillian's with a lot of Brazillian food. I wanted to make something classic american and decided on Sweet and Sour Meatballs. I updated the recipe (my mother in-laws) so I didn't have to go out shopping.

Updated Sweet and Sour Meatballs - Makes approximately 50 mini meatballs

2.4 lbs. package of ground turkey (85/15 lean)

4 slices of bread (I used chiabatta) coursely ground into breadcrumbs..approximately 2 cups

1 package lipton onion soup

2 eggs

2 jars heinz chili sauce

2 cups - mixed berry jam

2 tsp. lemon juice (approximately the juice of one lemon)

2 tsp. brown sugar

Directions

1) Mix ground turkey, breadcrumbs, onion soup mix and eggs in a mixing bowl..mixing until meat can hold together to form into balls.

2) Using a medium scoop dish out equal portions of the meat onto cookie sheets that have been sprayed with cooking spray or brushed with olive oil. Form each portion into a ball by rolling in your hands.

HINT: keep a bowl of warm water near you to make the rolling easier dip your hands in the water every two or three meatballs.

3) Bake in oven at 3:50 until cooked through (approximately 15 minutes)

4) In a mixing bowl combing chili sauce, jam, lemon juice and brown sugar and combine well with wisk.

5) Add meatballs to a slow cooker, pour sauce over and coat each meatball with the sauce. Cook on high for one hour and turn to low or warm. Serve warm.

(Traditionally the recipe calls for beef, bread crumbs, dry minced onion, a variety of spices, chili sauce, jellied cranberry sauce and the meatballs are fried in oil before going into the sauce..this version is slightly healthier and very tasty.) Feel free to write to me for the original recipe if you would like.

Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Tart

I was watching PBS on Sunday and saw the Huber Keller show. I only recognized him since he was one of the Top Chef Masters. This was a show from many years ago as he was a much younger man. He made an eggplant, zucchini, tomato tart with goat cheese and it looked soo delicious. I tried to find the recipe on-line without much luck but found a few similar recipes and decided to put a few of the recipes together to re-create this dish. This will be a work in progress as I did many things right (the crust was perfect)...but I want to improve the filling flavor and I want to perfect this dish.

Zucchini, Bacon and Goat Cheese Tart

Crust

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/4 tsp. of salt

1 stick of unsalted butted chilled and cut into pieces

1 large egg yolk mixed with 2 Tbsp. ice water

Extra Ice water as needed (I used about 3 Tbsp)

1) Place flour, salt, butter in a food processor and pulse until dough resembles coarse meal, add egg mixture through the feed tube with the processor in the "on" position. Pour in extra ice water until dough is moist and almost lumping together (marbles).

2) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a moment with the heel of your hand. Form dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3) Roll dough into a 14 inch round. Carefully transfer to a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim overhanging dough to 1". Lightly press dough into the grooves and fold over the top for a double thick edge. Edge should be approximately 1/2" higher than the pan. Pierce dough with a fork. Wrap tart in plastic and freeze for 30 minutes.

4) Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake until crust is golden brown, approximately 20 minutes. Remove and cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375.

Filling:

3 eggs lightly beaten

5 oz. creamy goat cheese (at room temp.)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 sour cream

5 slices of cooked bacon chopped fine

1 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

In a large bowl whisk eggs, goat cheese, heavy cream and sour cream together. Fold in bacon, zucchini and spices. Pour into prepared tart crust.

Toping:

1 zucchini sliced thin (I used both zucchini and yellow squash for aesthetics)

2 roma tomatoes, sliced thin

1 Tbsp. Olive oil

1 Tbsp. bread crumbs

Arrange zucchini and tomato slices in concentric circles until covered. Drizzle olive oil on top, sprinkle bread crumbs on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until a knife comes out clean in the center. I put mine on broil for a few minutes to brown up the top, but I also over-cooked the crust edge slightly.

TIP - To save time and effort buy a pre-made pie crust (but I will say the crust was the best part!!) You can also make this vegetarian by leaving out the bacon....add onion for more flavor.

Dessert Sliders!

These cookies were such a hit at the last BBQ we attended. Everyone thought they were too cute eat, but when they did bite into them, they were delicious as well! This is more of an assembly, than cooking and there is no baking required. I saw these on the news the other day and thought I could that! They used grasshopper mint cookies but I thought the flavor profile would be better with the carmel fudge cookies. They were so fun to make..and easy.

Dessert Sliders

Yields: 36 sliders. I made an assembly line and did 18 cookies at a time, it took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

1 package vanilla wafers (Nilla Brand)

2 packages Keebler Fudge Shop, Carmel filled

1 small package of sweetened shredded coconut (died with green food coloring)

1 each of Red and Yellow, Betty Crocker Icing Tubes (the spray can works better)

2 Tbsp. Sesame seeds

2 Tbsp. Caro Syrup ( I would rethink this part)

Directions:

1) Brush tops of vanilla wafers with caro syrup and sprinkle sesame seeds.

2) Squeeze yellow frosting around edge of vanilla wafer (mustard) and place keebler cookie on top (burger) sprinkle the coconut (lettuce) on the burger, top with the red food coloring (ketchup) and place the vanilla wafer with the sesame seeds on top.

Note: The caro syrup never dried and was left sticky and hard to cover with plastic wrap for transortation. Someone online suggested just using water to get the sesame seeds to stick. I may try honey and bake the tops for a few minutes.