Kudos: Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Major kudos must be given to this amazing recipe. I mean, oh my god it is so good! It's a bit of work and I'll admit I did change a couple of things. I only made half the recipe, I used mild Italian sausage (instead of the sweet and hot), and used 2 large portobello mushroom caps. I served my stuffed mushroom cap on a bed of jasmine rice that I mixed with a hint of balsamic vinegar. 

I really recommend going the extra step and grating your own parmesan - I had forgotten how good fresh parmesan tastes that when after I sampled some I did little a happy dance (that my husband totally saw and mocked me for). I don't care though, it deserved a dance. :) 

Most of my time was spent in the prep work. I had everything chopped and separated into bowls and placed in the order that I was going to need them - made the process so much easier. I don't have a food processor though - I thought I'd be able to use a blender, big mistake. So, instead I settled on using my Magic Bullet and that seemed to get the job done. 

My husband commented that the spices did get to him towards the end of the meal, I thought it was perfect. So, maybe my pallet isn't as refined. :P 

I also recommend going the extra step and preparing the "Essence." You'll make quite a lot, but I'm sure with a little creativity you'll be able to find other recipes to use the spice combination in. 

If you don't have an extensive spice rack then this recipe could be more on the pricey end. I only ended up needing 3 spices (which I'll now have to buy spice jars for and whip out my trusty label maker, now making my spice rack have 28 spices - HELL YES!) 

I hope you enjoy this recipe. :) 

Are You Ready For Some Chili!!

Football season, cooler weather, the changing of the leaves (yes this even happens in Florida) - I absolutely LOVE autumn. A classic recipe for this time of year that I always fall back on is chili. I love the simplicity of this recipe, you can tweak the spiciness as you make it. This recipe is based off of a Betty Crocker recipe and after making it for many years - of course I've changed it. :P Everyone has their awesome homemade chili recipe - and while this one certainly isn't anything to write home about - it definitely beats any canned chili on the aisle. 

INGREDIENTS 

1 chopped onion 

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground beef 

1 T. chili powder

1 t. dried oregano (or 2 t. fresh) 

1 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. salt

red pepper sauce to suit your tastes 

1 28oz. can diced tomatoes (I buy the can with the oregano, basil and garlic) 

1 can kidney beans, undrained (I like the dark red) 

Toppings of your choice

DIRECTIONS 

Saute your onion, garlic, and ground cumin over medium heat in a large sauce pan. Once the meat is browned add your chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt, red pepper sauce, and diced tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil, once boiling reduce heat to a gentle bubble and cover. Cook for about an hour - stirring occasionally. (I'll admit sometimes I can't wait that long - and only cook it covered for half an hour). Stir in the kidney beans and bring to a boil once more. Reduce heat to a gentle bubble, and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. 

Top with whatever you wish and enjoy! :) 

Ginny's Stroganoff

Here is another favorite recipe from my grandmother. This recipe can be found on page 49 of the cookbook for those of you that have it. :) 

INGREDIENTS

1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 T. butter
1 lb. of ground beef (or turkey if you prefer)
Mushrooms, either canned or fresh - your preference (I use 1 can sliced mushrooms, drained)
1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 c. sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Wide egg noodles

DIRECTIONS

Saute the onion and garlic in the butter, slowly. Add meat and brown. Next add the mushrooms and soup and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in the sour cream but do not boil. Serve over noodles.

Easy to make and yummy, too. Enjoy! :)

Braided Pizza

OK, so a cute story for my 6 readers of the blog. I learned how to make this recipe during high school when I was about 16-ish. I invited my best friend and her boyfriend over to "my" house, along with my boyfriend (now husband). It was a double date you see. This is what I made to impress them. Though, come to find out my husband doesn't like the crust on his pizza- and what is this aside from a pizza with A LOT of crust? I like a lot of crust and prefer this over my regular pizza recipe simply because I have more control of how much sauce I use. Since I promised you 6 readers that I would take good photos the next time I made a braided pizza - I had the perfect excuse to make what I wanted. :)

I tweaked the recipe a bit this time around - as I didn't have the energy to go all out and make the sauce completely by hand.

For this recipe you will need a good pizza dough and sauce recipe. Of course you can always buy pre-made dough, I prefer using homemade dough simply because it's always super hard for me to roll out the store bought doughs. You'll also need the ingredients for the inside and outside of the braided pizza, those ingredients are listed later.

First- start with the sauce.

SAUCE

As I mentioned, I used a different sauce recipe than the one attached to the link above. My original sauce recipe is good if you have A LOT of time - and really like chopping fresh tomatoes. This was the first time I used this sauce recipe, and typically I don't tweak recipes unless I've tried the original. I did tweak this recipe this time though. As a personal preference I like "wetter" (for lack of a better word) sauces. The recipe is good - but it's incredibly THICK. I tried to thin it out using a tablespoon at a time of water (ended up adding 6 T. of water) and it only helped a little. I just so happened to have a can of diced tomatoes with oregano, basil and garlic and decided to dump the whole can in and ended up with the perfect consistency. Also, this sauce recipe is really yummy. :)

While the sauce is slowly simmering, start the dough.

PIZZA DOUGH
(Copied from my Pizza blog post I linked to above.)

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 to 3 c. Flour

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 t. salt

1 c. warm water

2 T. oil

DIRECTIONS

In large mixing bowl combine 1 1/4 c. of flour, the yeast and salt. Stir in the warm water. Beat at low speed with mixer. Stir in as much of the remaining dough as you can mix with a spoon. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter top and kneed in enough of the remaining flour to make a smooth and elastic dough (6-8 minutes). Place dough in a large bowl and cover bowl with a warmed wet towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

***FYI - the above directions are so much easier if you have a dough hook attachment on your mixer. Saves you lots of time.*** 

THE INSIDES (AND OUT) 

INGREDIENTS 

4 ounces-ish of shredded mozzarella cheese (or whatever cheese you prefer)

1 pkg. of pepperoni 

1/4 c. olive (or vegetable) oil 

1 t. dried basil 

1 t. dried oregano

2 T. Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Ok, let the fun begin. 

Roll the dough out. 

You'll want to cut the dough into about a 12x8 inch rectangle. I didn't measure mine - I just eyed it. A pizza cutter makes cutting the dough a lot easier. 

From here - you'll place a single layer of pepperoni in the center of the dough. Leave yourself about an inch and half buffer on each side. 

Then, top your pepperoni with your cheese. After you placed your cheese on top of your pepperoni, take a paring knife and make slits about 1 inch apart along the sides of the dough coming to within a 1/2 inch of your filling. 

Starting at the top, make your dough "hug" the filling. Once the two sides meet, pinch them together so that they stay. 

Continue this process all the way down to the bottom of the dough. 

Carefully transfer your braided pizza to a cookie sheet. 

In a separate bowl combine the oil, basil, oregano and parmesan cheese. Using a brush, brush the oil and spices on top of your dough. 

Place dough into your pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until dough becomes golden brown. 

Serve with your sauce and enjoy. :) 

Kudos for Greek Spanakopita Pie

This recipe is sooo good. Major kudos to Betty Crocker's Greek Spanakopita Pie. I'd never baked with phyllo before and I was really surprised at how easy it was to handle. I was really nervous about picking up all the sheets after they were assembled, but they held together surprisingly well. 

The recipe itself was very simple. The most "difficult" part of the recipe is really just the most time consuming - that being the time it takes to assemble the phyllo. Preparing the meat mixture took about 15 minutes to accomplish. The smell of parsley was just wonderful. 

The recipe took me approximately 2 hours from start to finish. Though, I spent a lot of time in my prep work. 

In the future, I think I'll add more feta to the meat mixture in addition to the crumbles you place on top.

Final verdict - Very good. I'll be making this again (with more cheese).  :)  

Ginny's Snickerdoodles

Ready for fall? This recipe makes your kitchen smell AMAZING! The cinnamon just fills the air. I absolutely love this recipe. :) 

This is a recipe from my Grandmother. I have a collection of her recipes that she wrote by hand. I compiled them for my family and made a cookbook with them. 

Page 63. :) 

Preheat oven to 350

INGREDIENTS 

1 c. shortening 

1-1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla 

2-3/4 c. flour 

2 t. cream of tartar 

1 t. baking soda 

1/2 t. salt 

Topping -  

Cinnamon sugar 

DIRECTIONS 

Mix together the shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Sift together and stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. (I'll admit I didn't sift together the dry ingredients before adding them to my mixer). 

Form the dough into small balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Then using the bottom of a glass dipped in cinnamon sugar press the cookies flat. (I rubbed a small amount of shortening on the bottom on my glass so that the cinnamon sugar stuck really nicely). 

Bake for 8-11 minutes. I baked mine for 11 minutes. After removing from the oven I let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for two minutes before moving to a wire rack for cooling. I yielded 50. 

Enjoy!! 

Peanut Butter Cookies

I realize it's been a couple months since last I posted, so I'm apologizing with Peanut Butter Cookies. If you're allergic to peanuts, then I doubly apologize - and I hope to have something else up soon for you. This is a tried and true classic from my childhood. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees 

INGREDIENTS 

1/2 c. butter 

1/2 c. peanut butter 

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla 

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda 

1 c. flour 

DIRECTIONS

Cream together the butter and peanut butter. Then, beat in the white and brown sugar. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Arrange your cookies by teaspoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop - so mine are bigger) on cookie sheets. Press flat with a floured spoon or mark with a floured fork. Bake until firm, about 10-12 minutes depending on the size of your cookie. 

Enjoy! :) 

Guinness Brownies

I've been lazy lately and not designing my own recipes. At the same time, if there is a recipe that is just amazing, why change it? I came across an amazing brownie recipe in my search for a St. Patrick's Day themed dessert. I really wanted something with Guinness. My first real experience with Guinness was in 2008 on a trip to Dublin, Ireland. I visited the Guinness factory with my sister and brother. I've never been able to replicate the taste of freshly brewed Guinness with any bottled or draft variety in the states.

Guinness in Dublin, Ireland

So, on my quest for a recipe I came across this amazing Guinness Brownie recipe. I have no tips to provide. The directions are fantastic! The only thing I did different than the picture posted was google for a image of a four leaf clover. I printed it out rather large, cut it out and placed it on my brownies. I then dusted my brownies with confectioners sugar and removed the cut out. It left a rather nice imprint of a four leaf clover on my brownies. They really are delicious. Even if you are not a fan of Guinness I highly recommend this recipe. You don't taste the Guinness at all even though you use a 1-1/4 c. of Guinness in the recipe. All the Guinness does is bring out the flavor of the chocolate, and I can't say it enough - they are amazing. 

I hope you have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day. 

Enjoy! 

Irish Lace Cookies

OK, so I know it's been quite a while since I last posted a recipe. With work, I'm finding that I don't have as much time as I'd like to be creative and bake. While I had the intention of designing a recipe myself to celebrate the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday, I decided to opt instead to search for a tried and true Irish cookie recipe. My idea, by the way, was to take this recipe here, and substitute the coffee creamer for Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer. I was then going to dip the cookies in white chocolate and sprinkle with green sprinkles - but alas, I wanted to make something a bit more traditional.

Plus, I used this cookie as an excuse to go to World Market - one of my all time favorite stores. I bought a jar of vanilla extract imported from Madagascar, and I had the intention of purchasing authentic oatmeal from Ireland for 8 dollars, until the realist in me went "no one is going to know the difference between oatmeal from here or from there" and I put it back. Although I did buy butter imported from Ireland, just to say that it did have something authentically Irish in it. :) All of the recipes for Irish lace cookies that I encountered had the same ingredients with different measurements. I opted for the one that used the most vanilla extract. So kudos to this: The Ultimate Irish Lace Cookie Recipe.

Tips: Really you only need to put a teaspoon on the cookie sheet b/c they do spread. Wait a minute or two before taking the cookies off of the sheet. And, if you do have a silpat, I highly recommend using that for this recipe too. I baked mine for only 10 minutes, I was able to put 6 cookies at a time on one sheet.

Enjoy!

5 Spice Steak and Spinach

Alright, so another recipe to give kudos to. I bought a cookbook back when we lived in Alexandria, VA. Its title "Just 5 Things" caught my attention simply because I immediately thought "5 ingredients? These have to be cheap recipes! SCORE!" Well they're not cheap, but they don't exactly break the bank either. You have fewer ingredients, but better quality ingredients give you a great flavor. When my husband and I went up to visit our friends in Georgia for New Years, they took us to a hibachi grill. Ever since I have been wanting to try to make some Asian food. So, tonight that's what I did.

Behold, the 5 Spice Steak and Spinach.....

INGREDIENTS

3 T Asian Sesame oil (I didn't measure, I just coated the pan. This oil smells so good!)

2 thick filet steaks

2 T five-spice powder (this is a real thing, you can find it on the Ethnic foods aisle in the grocery store)

6 oz. baby spinach leaves

1/4 c. soy sauce

DIRECTIONS

I dry rubbed my steaks with the powder, and I know I used more than the recipe called for. So, if you want to sprinkle the powder on the steaks, go for it, or rub it on like I did. You choose. :) Next fill a medium sauce pan with water and start to bring it to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium - medium/high heat. Once the oil is hot place your steak in the oil and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Once you've done that, take the skillet off the burner and cover. Let it sit for about 5 minutes (Or longer if you want your steak well done). If your water has been boiling for a while, it's OK. Once you've taken the pot off the burner, your water should be boiling at this point. Dump all the spinach into the boiling water and then strain it once it's wilted (about 30 seconds). After you've strained your spinach, place it back in your pot and add the soy sauce. Mix well and serve with your steak.

Enjoy!