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!

I am like a proud mommy all over again. After 3 months of daily watering, weeding and watching I finally birthed my first tomato harvest! Granted, only one of the two plants that I started off with survived (hail storm in July…) but still, I am happy! The tomatoes are big beefy “mortgage lifter” heirloom tomatoes. Supposedly they got that name when the man who first bred them used the profits to pay off his mortgage…I have a looooong way to go until my gardening is that profitable ;-).

For now I am enjoying the fruits of the harvest, literally. The mortgage lifters are sweet and earthy tasting. Supposedly they are good cooking/roasting tomatoes. Since I had about 10 in my first harvest I decided to eat a few and cook a few so nothing would go to waste.

I made a fresh tomato sauce that is easy to freeze and take out as an alternative to canned sauces. It is a good recipe to make on a Sunday or a day that you don’t have to rush out of the house, as it takes a few hours to simmer. Here’s the scoop:

Garden Fresh Tomato Sauce

Makes about 3-4 cups

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time 2-3 hours

You will need:

5-6 large tomatoes , chopped (I used my heirloom tomatoes but any beefy variety will be fine, could also use double the amount of Roma tomatoes as they are much smaller)

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped (*optional…could substitute a number of different vegetables such as green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms, etc)

¼ cup olive oil

1-2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 large handful of fresh basil, stems removed

Directions:

Chop all ingredients, set aside.

In large and deep saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until transparent (~2 minutes). Add zucchini and garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt. Bring ingredients to a boil. Turn heat down to medium and cover. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring every so often. 

After about an hour, add brown sugar and basil (mixture will be more sauce like now as the tomatoes will have cooked down and formed a liquid). Cover and simmer another 1 hour.

Remove

from heat and let cool for ½ hour. Place sauce in Tupperware and put in freezer.

May also use right away with pasta. You could add ground turkey or beef to make a classic meat sauce or pour it over roasted/pan seared chicken as an alternative or eat simply with noodles and parmesan cheese.

That's amore!

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

Okay, I admit, I too have made many resolutions that I didn’t keep beyond January 15. However, this year I’ve decided to focus on only one, which should be pretty easy thanks to a few of my friends... Betty Crocker, Mark Bittman and of course the First Kitchen team.

My New Year resolution this year is to make at least four dinners a week at home (not counting frozen meals). To do this I have picked up copies of two basic cookbooks: The Classic Betty Crocker Cookbook- my mom’s all-time standby, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, and of course our First Kitchen DVD and website. All of these are great resources for beginner cooks. They provide simple yet yummy recipes for Breakfast to Desserts.  Another great on-line resource for simple healthy recipes is from

Green Moutain- a Woman's retreat for healthy weight mangement:

http://http//www.fitwoman.com/recipes.htm 

Here's a hint: Spend an hour the weekend before planning out your meals for the week and buy all the groceries ahead of time. This will make it easier to stick to your plans.

Now, if you are brand new to the kitchen and are thinking  “Yes but I don’t even know how to use a recipe”, I suggest your first purchase should be the First Kitchen DVD (www.firstkitchencooks.com) because you will find a ton of step-by-step information on how to get started in your kitchen, food safety and healthy alternatives to your favorite recipes. You can also check out the First Kitchen website (www.firstkitchencooks.com) for additional information as well as post your questions and thoughts on the blog or emails us at info@firstkitchencooks.com.

We’d love to share your ideas for quick meals to make.

Happy New Year and get cooking!