FIRST KITCHEN BLOGS

Still don’t have a dish to bring to your New Year’s Party? Well look no further because this recipe is SO good! I created it about a year ago using some leftover ingredients in my fridge but since then it’s been a staple to bring to parties, make for a simple dinner or even toss with pasta and ground beef for a hearty meal.  It is one of those dishes where you can be creative and improvise so, if you don’t have one of the ingredients I list, its ok- substitute something else (I will say, garlic, onion and tomato are essential!!)

Using olive oil and an array of veggies makes this dish not only delicious but healthy too!!

Italian Bruchetta

Serves 6-8(more if used as appetizer)

Prep Time: 20 minutes *chop chop chop

Cook Time: 40 minutes

You will need:

2 lbs fresh tomatoes, diced (with juices)

1 lb mushrooms, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 medium onions (I use yellow), chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (use more if desired)

½ cup celery, chopped

1 can of artichoke hearts, chopped

¼ cup capers

½ cup green olives (use more if desired)

½ cup olive oil

¼ to ½  cup dry red wine (white is ok if you don’t have red, just make sure dry)

½ to ¾ tsp salt

2 tsp dried oregano

Dash cayenne peppers

2 loaves French bread, sliced

Olive oil for drizzle over bread

 

Directions:

Sauté the onions, celery, peppers in olive oil over medium heat until soft (about 3 minutes). Add garlic and cook a few minutes (don’t let the garlic burn!) Add in mushrooms and let soften (about 2 minutes). Add tomatoes and artichokes as well as seasonings and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add wine, capers, olives. Cover and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat and allow simmering for at least ½ hour to let the wine cook down.

Meanwhile, slice French bread into thin (1/4 inch or so) slices. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown and a little crunchy.

Serve alongside the bruschetta (can use as a dip or pre-make the bruschetta by putting about 1-2 spoonful’s on each piece of bread).

What are y'all making to ring in the New Year? 

ENJOY and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
STAY SAFE

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it’s December and only a few weeks left to get Christmas shopping and preparations finished… Seriously, I tell myself every year that I am going to start early and then relax and ‘enjoy’ the holiday season. Well, that has not happened! I haven’t even been able to blog let alone cook much…too many holiday party invites or events going on or just plain tired from all this cold weather!

The other night I wanted a home-cooked meal and decided on lasagna, as it is a favorite comfort food of mine and the leftovers are amazing! I call it lazy because I don’t spend much time on the assembly but it will take at least ½ hour to cook the meat and get all the ingredients ready to assemble…it’s worth it!

I love the versatility of lasagna. You can be traditional or creative and it usually always turns out so tasty!  

Jarred sauce works great but it is also super easy to make your own. I usually do half/half depending on what I have around my kitchen. You can simmer the sauce while the meat is cooking then assemble.\

Here’s the recipe:

Lazy Lasagna Casserole

Serves 8

Prep time: ½ hour

Cook time: 1 hour

For the tomato sauce:

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

½ onion, chopped

2 Tbs olive oil

1 can (28oz or 2 14oz cans) diced tomatoes

¼ cup cooking wine (I used red wine)

1 Tsp salt

½ Tsp crushed red pepper

 

For the meat:

½ onion, chopped

1 lb lean ground beef

2 Tsp oregano(dried)

2 Tsp basil (dried)

Dash salt

2 cups cottage cheese

½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

 

1 jar tomato sauce (I like using either chunky garden or 3 cheese but you can use any kind that sounds good!)

1 8oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups)

2-3 Roma tomatoes cut in rounds for the top of lasagna

 

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 350

For the sauce: sauté onion and garlic in olive oil and then add tomatoes, wine, salt. Let simmer for at least 20 minutes.

 

 

For the meat: cook onion, meat and herbs together until browned. Transfer meat to separate bowl and mix in parmesean and cottage cheese.

 

 

To assemble: In a large 9x13 pan break apart 1/3 of the noodles and lay evenly in the pan.

 

 

Cover with ½ of the jar sauce. Add ½ of the meat and spread evenly. Repeat this step one more time and use the rest of the jar sauce and meat. For the last layer, break apart the remaining noodles and spread evenly on top. Pour the tomato sauce that you made over the top (all of it). 

Place the sliced tomatoes on top of the sauce and put in the oven.  Cook for 45 minutes. Remove and add cheese to the top. Bake another 15-25 minutes, until cheese is golden.

Serve with parmesan cheese and a side salad or steamed vegetable! This makes great leftovers too!

**This can be easily made into veggie lasagna. Substitute mushrooms and spinach for the meat. OR for another variation, you could use Italian sausage and red peppers. Get creative!

 

Hummus to me is perfect.  It is the holy sacrament of dips (ok, maybe that is a bit extreme…). It has the creamy consistency of a bad-for-you snack but guess what, it’s not!  Hummus is an ancient eastern recipe that has been around forever and has millions (ok, again, extreme) of variations to suit your palette.  It has gained more popularity in the past years due in part to its connection with the Mediterranean Diet.  There are multiple varieties in grocery stores now, usually selling for around $3.99 for a small tub. At that price you could make your own and get twice as much! Plus, by making your own you can cater it to your taste preference- nothing like buying a container of hummus only to not like it!
By making it at home you can also control how creamy or pasty or garlicky or tahini-ey you want it!

There are a few up-front costs to make hummus: tahini and olive oil. Hopefully you already have olive oil and use it as part of your daily cooking ;-) Tahini is something that is not as common to have lying around in your fridge unless you already make hummus frequently. Tahini is a paste made from hulled sesame seeds and olive oil and a very common ingredient in Middle Eastern foods and an essential one for making hummus.  You can purchase it at most grocery stores in the ‘ethnic’ section or at your local co-op. It is a little spendy- usually about $7-$10 for a jar. If you go to a co-op, you could probably purchase a smaller amount from the bulk food section.

Oh, and, you will also need a food processor or blender… Doing this by hand would take a lot of arm strength!

Hummus

Serves 8

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: none!

You will need:

1 can garbanzo beans + half of the liquid

1 Tbsp tahini

2 garlic cloves

1/3 or 1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp lemon juice

1 ½  tsp salt

Directions 

Blend all ingredients in the blender until smooth. Add more or less of the garbanzo bean liquid if you want the dip to be more or less pasty.

 

 

 

There are many exciting things you can add to the hummus to give

 it a twist. Some of my favorites: roasted red peppers, artichoke, Greek olives, jalapeno… For this batch I added Kalamata olives, artichokes AND 1/2 of a peeled cucumber!!

MMMmmm. Serve with crusty bread, toasted pita or veggies. Keep it in your fridge as a substitute for sandwich spreads or use for a salad topper. 

 

 

 

I’m baaaack! It has been a BUSY few weeks here in Minnesota. “Wedding Season” is in full swing as well as vacation season, road construction season and now back to school season!  I was hit by wedding bells (no, not literally) two weekends in a row and one of the weddings I had the honor of being a bridesmaid! Very fun but very busy. We did a lot of quick meals and even resorted to take-out despite my meal planning expertise (ugh, the pressure got to me, I had to give in!). Hey, we’re only human.

Now that this first wave of weddings are past us I can catch my breath and do some cooking before the next wave (3 weddings in September…) hits! After such a busy few weeks and a cold spurt here in Minnesota, I was craving a not-so-healthy-but-sorta-healthy comfort food: Fresh Artichoke and Spinach Dip. Yum.  I had a ton of spinach leftover from one of the many wedding gatherings and instantly thought of my favorite dip. Usually, people use frozen spinach but fresh spinach is excellent to use in this recipe if it’s available. The spinach cooks down quite a bit, so you’ll need a good amount. The not-so-healthy part of this recipe will definitely be the sour cream and mayonnaise. There are no great substitutions that taste the same. Low fat versions of either work fine but please don’t use ‘fat free.’  Fat free tends to use more sugar and non-food ingredients to make it ‘taste’ like fat. Instead, control the amount you consume instead of trying to trick your body (trust me, your body will find out and it won’t be happy..). Ok, here’s the recipe:

Fresh Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Serves 8 (as an appetizer)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

You will need:

1 (16oz) large container of fresh spinach, chopped

2 cans artichoke hearts, chopped

2 cans water chestnuts, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

½ lemon, squeezed

8 oz shredded parmesan or Italian cheese blend

Dash of cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Chop spinach, water chestnuts, artichoke and onion and place in large bowl. Add sour cream, mayo and lemon juice and mix well (I used tongs). Make sure all of the spinach is coated. Add seasonings and mix again. Place in a small (9x9) baking pan or glass casserole dish. Cover the top with the shredded cheese.

Bake covered at 375 for 30 minutes. Turn oven up to 425 and bake uncovered for  an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and slightly brown.

 

 

Over the weekend I hosted my sister’s “Vintage Circus” themed baby shower. She is having a little boy (Leonardo or “Leo”) at the end of September!  A vintage circus was the perfect theme for a baby named Leo (the Lion!).  Again, the theme guided the party planning but I did not go overboard. I found some vintage clowns at a thrift store; a toy carousal that I spray painted and I used popcorn holders as a vase for flowers. I also set up a tent outside and decorated with draping fabric and ribbons. I spent about $50 on all of the decorations…not bad!  Instead of getting to carnival-y on the food I went for fresh and summery. I also didn’t do anything too heavy because my Aunt Lin made beautiful and decadent circus cupcakes for desert!

Here was the menu:

Caprese Salad and baguette

Fresh Spinach Dip and veggies

Torta di Riso (My grandmother’s Italian recipe)

Fresh Fruit

Pesto Green Beans**

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

 

The menu was the hit of the party. The combination went well together and left people satisfied but not overly full. I will share the pesto green beans recipe. This was a hit and I used the pesto that I made last week and picked up green beans at the farmer’s market the day before.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures while I was making this dish, but it is very simple so I think just following the recipe you will do just fine!

Pest Green Beans:

Serves 4-6

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 2 minutes

You will need:

2 lb green beans, stemmed

1/2 recipe Presto Pesto

1 cup fresh parmesean cheese, grated

1/4 cup walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Bring large pot of water to a boil. Remove stem tops from green beans. "Blanch" green beans in the boiling water (leave beans in water no more than 2 minutes or until they turn a bright green- you want them crispy and NOT cooked or mushy).  Drain beans. Return beans back to pot.  Add pesto and parmesean cheese and mix well (I used tongs to do this). Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle walnuts over the top as garnish. Refridgerate until ready to serve (could be eaten warm too but works very well as a cold salad).

Enjoy!

(I'll leave you with a picture of the cupcakes, so cute!!)

 

 

 

 

This past weekend I threw my friends a 'couple's shower' for their upcoming wedding in August.

A couple's shower is a fun alternative to a bridal shower, as it involves both the bride and groom. We still played shower games and had delicious food but it was fun to get the 'men' involved!

 

Whenever I throw a party, I like to have a theme in mind. I try not to get too crazy or obsessed with the theme but it is a nice way to stay focused throughout the party planning. I decided on a "retro barbque" theme for the party. My friend is having some vintage elements to her wedding,  so I thought it would be a nice tie-in to the big day. Also, since it was a couple's shower and both men and women were attending, it was fun to play with the male/female roles, especially of that time period (let's just say I wore an apron!).

 

When I went shopping for the party, I hit up a few consignment/thrift stores in the area and that is where the theme exploded! I was able to get all of the prizes for the games (vintage cook books, old schwin bike tire, aprons etc) as well as fun serving dishes and trinkets for decorating from that era. All together, I spent just over $75 for all of the prizes and decorations! There were almost 30 people at the shower, so that was a bargain.

 

The food was a classic spread from a 1960's back yard barbque. I found a recipe box  (which I later painted and refurbished as my gift to the bride) with classic recipe cards from the 1960's. Jack pot! I was able to use the recipe cards as decoration for the table as well as used some of the recipes to make.

 

For appetizers:

Bacon wraped waterchestnuts

Deviled eggs

Hawiian meatballs

 

The spread:

Beer brats and burgers on the grill

Grandma Dot's Potato salad

Colslaw with kiwi

Calico beans

Tuna with noodles

Jello salad suprise

 

Dessert:

Pineapple upsidedown cake

Classic coconut creme cake

Ice cream

 

Drinks:

Classic coke and diet coke (in retro bottles with straws)

Fruit punch (served in a punch bowl!)

Iced tea

Coffee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shower was a success and people really enjoyed the food and their retro gifts! In my next post I will share some of the fun recipes...any in particular you'd like me to share?

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

Having a sensitivity to gluten can make choosing food a challenge, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be tasty.  We just need a little creativity.   We have talked earlier about some of the foods we like.  For example, the Tinkiyada dry pasta is a favorite.  Another favorite are the back to Nature multi –seed rice crackers.

If you have some favorite products or recipes you would like to share, let us know.

We’ll post them in our future blogs. 

                           

Gluten –free Lemony Penne Pasta

2-3 servings

(If using as an entrée it will make 2 generous servings.  Or serve it as a side with grilled chicken and it can make 3 smaller portions.  Either way- Yummy!)

6 ounces dry gluten-free penne pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice  (juice of about ½ lemon)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons capers

¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

1 cup arugula *

Prepare rice pasta according to package directions; drain.

Toss with olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir in capers and cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Gently stir in arugula.  Serve.  

 

* Arugula is in season now, so it should be plentiful and available at your Farmer’s Market.  If you don’t like arugula, try substituting 1-cup baby spinach or 2 tablespoons chopped basil. 

                                             

 

 

Note:  Not gluten sensitive?   Then make with regular wheat penne pasta.  It will be just as delicious.

 

We discovered a really simple and refreshing, but impressive dessert to serve to our friends.  On a recent trip, we were served this elegant dessert in a restaurant and we thought – hey we can do that.  So here it is if you want to give it try.   It’s just lemon sorbet and some real lemons.   

Cut a lemon in two- making one part larger than the other.  The one side is just the “hat” for the dessert. 

Scoop out and discard the lemon to make a lemon cup.  Fill the cup with lemon sorbet, top with the hat and place them in the freezer.  Allow them to freeze until firm.  They’re ready to serve.  If you want to get creative, add a few berries and sprig of mint on the side or maybe a cookie or maybe a chocolate. Yumm!

 

So if you’re a first time cook or just looking for a simple recipe, try this idea of your next dinner party.

Stay cool!

 

 

 

 

Smart Cooking means Smart Savings. With the rising cost of gas, milk and everything else, it's important to find ways to cut costs. One big way to save is to reduce the amount of money  spent on food.

Here are a few of our favorite tips to help you cut cost on your food...

The best way is to...COOK AT HOME! Two things before you go to the grocery store; make a list  and never ever go hungry!

At the store, keep in mind these money saving tips....

When buying fruits and vegetables try to buy seasonal, but if what you want isn't in season head to the frozen food aisle. This may be your best value. 

"Wise Size"- keep this in mind when deciding what quantity to buy. The economy size may seem like the best option but if you don't use it all in time it can be a big waste!

Check out www.firstkitchencooks.com/fk-shop.html to find more ways to save money, as well as recipes and tips that are quick, healthy and hassle-free. 

We'd like to hear from you. Let us know how it goes or if you have any questions.

 

Spring has sprung here in Minneapolis but in a blink we’ll find ourselves in the middle of a hot steamy summer.  Since the nice days are few and far between we decided to host an impromptu soiree to celebrate the weather with our good friends and food!  

 

Parties don’t always have to take weeks to plan, sometimes these unplanned get-to-gathers are the most fun and can be much less expensive.   So, we took a couple of hours on Saturday to clean the house, sweep the patio and run to the store.  All in all the food was under $40! 

 

We included the essentials that you need for any party: food, atmosphere, entertainment, and beverages.  Since the party started later in the evening we decided to have a fruit and cheese theme and kept the decorations simple with fresh flowers and candles.  

Cheese is perfect for entertaining because you can choose a variety for your guests to try and almost everyone will like at least one kind.  We suggest you get at least 4 kinds and try to get a mixture of soft and hard cheeses.  Remember: I’m not talking about the sliced cheese you get from the deli, this is “specialty” cheeses.   For instance we decided on Brie, Sharp Cheddar, Gouda, and Bleu Cheese.  Grab a few French baguettes to slice up as well as a box of crackers, your choice, to serve along side the cheese. Next, head to the produce isle to pick up some fresh fruit such as grapes, apples or strawberries. Try to buy seasonal if you can to save money.   You could also pick up some dried fruit like apricots and some nuts like almonds or cashews. 

Usually your grocer will have a variety of fresh flowers for sale so grab a few that you like on your way to the check-out, these make for a beautiful spring decoration.  Beverages are up to your discretion.  It is nice to have non-alcoholic on hand such as sparkling water with fresh lemon slices or iced tea.  Good old water can be fancied up with lemon or cucumber slices to make for an inexpensive and refreshing beverage option. 

When you get home, create a killer ipod mix (and listen to it while you get ready for the party).  Make sure you include some songs to dance to!  Pull aside furniture to have space for mingling and need we say, dancing!  Arrange your food/beverage table to your desire…get creative!

 

We’d like to hear your ideas for hosting an impromptu par-lay! 

 

 

Keep it simple…don’t forget to enjoy the weather AND the company of good friends.  CHEERS!