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

 

 

 

 

 

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

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!

 

 

 

 

 

It seems that the Fourth of July starts the summer events rolling.  Outdoor “get togethers” means getting the grill fired up.  Doesn’t grilling make everything taste better?   And I love that there is no kitchen clean up.   Here are a couple of ideas that are so simple and healthy. 

Grilled Salmon on a plank- follow the directions for the plank -which means an hour or so of soaking thus a little planning ahead.  I use cedar, but maple or alder wood is good too. 

Lay the salmon fillets on the plank; top with thinly sliced lemon, thinly sliced sweet onion and thyme sprigs.  Place on the grill and cook according to plank directions or about 15 minutes. I brush on a little Thai peanut sauce just before taking it off, but that is totally optional.   Serve with some grilled asparagus or green beans and maybe a green salad and you are all set with an easy, healthy meal.

                                                  

 

 Turkey Juicy Lucy-another easy and fun idea. This is one of our favorites that we have shared with you before, but it bears repeating!  See the directions for making on our recipe page or on our DVD.

                                               

For those of you who are vegetarians or for those of us that are just trying to eat a little more of a plant based diet, this recipe in the newspaper caught my eye.  I modified it slightly so I'm giving it a new name. 
For summer entertaining, I found this to be a good appetizer served with some garlic toast, but it could be a great lunch entree as well.  A trip to the farmer's market for some fresh asparagus and mushrooms and I was good to go. 
                                                   
4 ounces fresh asparagus, cut in bite sized pieces
3/4 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups canned white (or cannelini) beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
Salt
Pepper

Toss asparagus and mushroom in 1 tablespoon olive oil and place in a grill pan; grill about 4- 5 minutes.  Remove from grill and place in a bowl.  Add beans and cheese and toss slightly; season with salt and pepper to taste.
To make the dressing, whisk together oil, lemon juice, garlic  and rosemary; add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir dressing into salad and refrigerate.  Top with additional grated Parmesan cheese and serve with garlic toast.

We had a great time doing an FK cooking demo at Blue Condos in Minneapolis, MN.  The residents enjoyed the FK production of:  Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Chicken with Tomato Salsa, Oven Roasted Winter Vegetables and Fruit Kabobs!  The residents were able to participate in some of the food prep and cooking, but they were also happy to watch Allison and I get our hands dirty…J

The night went with only a few kitchen blunders:  the sea salt shaker exploded into the winter vegetables (we added a few more potatoes to soak up the salt and added some extra vegetable broth), the food processor I brought wouldn’t work (even though it had just worked a week ago), the Blue kitchen wasn’t stocked with a vegetable peeler (Allison did great improvisation with a paring knife).  The beauty of cooking is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, sometimes you have to go with the flow and make the best of a situation.

Until next time,

*Mollie

Here is the recipe for the Roasted Red Pepper Hummus as promised to some of the residents @ Blue, enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Hummus

1 can Garbanzo beans (+ liquid from can)

1 red bell pepper, roasted*

4 large garlic cloves, roasted**

¼ cup Tahini***

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice (~1 small lemon juiced)

½ teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender; blend until smooth and creamy.  Add more salt/pepper to taste. 

Serve with crackers/baguette/pita bread or use it as a spread on sandwiches.

*Roasted Red Pepper

Cut red pepper into wide strips; remove seeds and trim edges.  Lay on cookie sheet coated with olive oil.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Let cool completely or place directly under cold water to help remove skins. (It is not necessary that you remove skins but they can sometimes give a bitter taste, I usually remove them).

**Roasted Garlic

Cut top of garlic cloves off (the rough part on top) but leave the skins on and place in pan with red bell pepper or you can cover in tin foil.  Coat with olive oil.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Let cool.  Once cool, you can pop out the cloves of garlic from their skins and put them into the blender.   Roasted garlic has a softer flavor than raw garlic, so you many want to use more that 4 cloves if you desire more of a garlic flavor. 

***Tahini is made from ground or hulled sesame seeds mixed with oil and ground into a paste, popular in Middle Eastern cuisine.  You can find in at most grocery or ethnic food stores or it is found in bulk at co-ops (that way you can just get what you need for the recipe).