All-Purpose Vegetable Medley

What you will need:
6 asparagus spears, cut into 1/4" pieces
1/4 white onion, diced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, small cubed
2C baby spinach leaves (fresh)
2 medium cloves of garlic
1 - 1 1/2C vegetable stock
1/4C dry white wine
1/2tsp caraway seed
Salt and pepper

What you will do:

Cut all your vegetables.  Place all vegetables (except spinach) and garlic into a large preheated saucepan on medium-high heat.  Season lightly with salt and pepper.  Add 1/2 of your liquid (stock and wine), stir, and lid the pan.  Let the vegetables cook until they stop steaming.  Add the rest of the liquid and repeat.  At this point, all of the liquid should be gone and the vegetables should be fork tender.  Add the fresh spinach and allow to wilt a bit (about a minute).

Serve with your choice of protein (they are great on broiled fish) or mix into pasta.

Pizza Night: Tyler Florence Style

If you've never seen Tyler's Ultimate on Food Network, I highly suggest that you check it out.  He is one of my favorite chefs and constantly inspires cooking creativity.

My family and I love making pizza together, so I decided to try out Tyler Florence's fresh pizza dough and then add my own toppings.  So...

Start with Tyler's pizza dough recipe.  You'll find it HERE.  This will take up to 1 hour 30 minutes to make and let rise, so start early.  From there...

What you will need:
1/8-1/4 C yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 small Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 C diced red bell peppers
1/4 C crumbled bleu or gorgonzola cheese
Olive oil
1 C leftover salsa chicken
1 C fresh spinach

What you will do:
When the pizza dough is ready, put a metal cookie sheet into the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
Roll out your dough until is is about 1/4" thick.
Take the hot cookie sheet out of the oven and drizzle with olive oil (just enough to coat the surface - about 1tsp).
Roll your pizza dough onto the cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
Evenly distribute the onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, and cheese onto the dough and put the pizza into the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the crust is browned.
While the pizza is baking, reheat your salsa chicken in the microwave.
When the pizza is done, take it out of the oven and top with the chicken and fresh spinach.

Olive Oil and Greek Yogurt White Bread

I really enjoy trying out different breads.  This loaf was was, by far, the best I have made yet.  And it's really easy.

What you will need:

3C flour

1Tbsp baking soda

2Tbsp sugar

1tsp salt

1C warm water with 1Tbsp sugar

1 packet of yeast

1/3C extra virgin olive oil

3 heaping Tbsp of Greek yogurt

1 egg

What you will do:

Bloom the yeast in the water and sugar mixture for 5 minutes.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Stir the olive oil, yogurt and egg into the dry ingredients.  The dough should be fairly wet.

Add the yeast and stir.  At this point, you can add extra flour if needed - If the dough is too wet and is not holding together.

Add a little bit of olive oil (about 2Tbsp) to a separate bowl and transfer your dough to this bowl.

Cover with a wet towel and put into a warm oven and allow the dough to rise for 90 minutes.  (To warm the oven, turn on to 300 for 2 minutes and then turn the oven off.)

Punch down the dough and kneed for 5 minutes on a floured surface.

Place the dough into a greased loaf pan and allow to rise again for 30 minutes in a warm oven.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350 until top crust is golden brown.

Apple Blueberry Oatmeal

What you will need:
4 servings oats
1 apple
2Tbsp brown sugar
1/4C apple juice and water mixture (50/50)
1/4C dehydrated blueberries (you can use fresh blueberries if you would like)

What you will do:
Bring water for oats to a boil (follow instructions on the canister for amount of water).
While you are waiting for the water to boil - Peel, core, and slice apples (approx. 1/8" thick).
Add oats to the water.
Put the apple slices into a medium frying pan.  Add the brown sugar and water / apple juice mixture.  Cook on medium-high until the apples soften.  You want them tender, but mot mushy.
Add the cooked apples and blueberries to the oatmeal and return to heat.
Stir continuously until thick.

Linguine with an English Cheddar and Caramelized Onion Alfredo

Tonight's entry is a guest post from my wife, Mommy Gouda... BDG

What you will need:

1/2 pound linguine

1 1/2C half & half

1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp butter

2 cloves garlic, diced

3/4C grated Parmesan cheese

3/4C crumbled English Cheddar with Caramelized Onions*

1-2Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

2C fresh spinach

1tsp Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh chopped parsley

*The English Cheddar with Caramelized Onions can be bought at Trader Joe's.

What you will do:

• Put on a pot of water, bring to a boil, salt your water and cook your linguine.  I recommend drizzling a bit of olive oil into the water while the pasta is cooking to keep it from sticking.
• Melt butter in a large saucepan.  Add garlic, both cheeses, basil, sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Cook over med-hi heat, stirring constantly until cheese is melted.
• In a smaller saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add tomatoes and spinach.  Cook until tomatoes are warmed through and spinach is slightly wilted.
• Add tomatoes and spinach to the alfredo sauce and stir.  Toss with the linguine and serve.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley for garnish (optional).

Additional options:

• Replace the Half & Half with 1C of reduced fat milk and 1/2C of Greek Yogurt for lower fat and extra protein.
• Add in some grilled chicken or shrimp.

*Mommy note: I blended the spinach into the alfredo sauce so our 2 year old would actually eat it.  And she did!  Photographic proof:

French Toast Pancakes

These are simple, hearty and delicious!

What you will need:
1 1/2 C flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 C milk
2 Tbsp Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp melted butter
3 Tbsp cinnamon-sugar mix (1/2 C sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon)
1 tsp vanilla extract

What you will do:
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon-sugar mix.  In a separate bowl combine milk, yogurt, butter and vanilla.  Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together until smooth.
Grease a pan or griddle (using butter or cooking spray) and cook the pancakes.

You will know the pancakes are ready to flip when the entire top surface has tiny bubbles.  Cook until golden brown and enjoy.  So delicious, you won't even need syrup!

Pasta Primavera - Big Daddy Gouda Style

What you will need:
1 large bunch (20-30) cherry tomatoes
1 large (or 10-12 baby) carrots
1.5 Cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2-3 small sweet peppers (multi-colored looks nicer)
2 large zucchinis
2-3 green onions (just the whites)
1 tsp savory
1 Tbsp corn starch
Salt and pepper to taste

Equipment:
1 heavy bottom stock pot with lid
1 Japanese Mandolin (optional but highly recommended)

What you will do:
Medium dice your carrots and add them, along with the whole cherry tomatoes, stock, savory, and salt and pepper, to a heavy bottom stock pot over medium high heat.
After cooking for about 10 minutes, slice up the sweet peppers into strips about 1/4“ thick and add them to the tomato and carrot mixture.
Next dice the green onions and use your mandolin to julienne just the skin of the zucchinis. (This is where most of the flavor and nearly all of the nutrients are) If you don’t have a mandolin, peel the zucchini and cut the skin into very, very thin strips.**
The veggie mixture is still going to have a lot of liquid, so when the pasta water is about ready to boil make a slurry by whisking together 1 tbsp of corn starch and about 1 cup of the liquid from the sauce pot. Add this mixture back into the pot and give it a stir.
Lastly add the zucchini strips and green onion to the pot, remove from the heat and allow to sit, lidded, while the pasta cooks. The residual heat from the veggies will cook the zucchini and thicken the sauce.


**Note: If you don't want to waste the inside of the zucchini, you can do this step earlier, dice up the inner flesh and add it to the mixture at the same time that you add the peppers.

Add salt to your pasta water and cook your pasta. Spaghetti or any other thin pasta would work well.

Toss together and enjoy.

Stovetop Marinara

This is a sauce created by one of my my Mother's cousins in New York. It has passed through the family. I have taken it and revised it in places to suit my own personal taste, as well as my family's.

For those of you who know me from the East Coast, this is not the gravy I made back then. That sauce is older than my Grandmother and impossible to accurately measure out. As such, it is unlikely that you will see a recipe for that here.

What you will need:

1 large can of diced tomatoes (I prefer medium to petite because it provides a chunkier sauce)

1 medium can (15oz) of tomato puree

2-3 cloves of garlic

2 Tbsp. of olive oil (regular, not extra virgin)

1-2 oz Chevre goat cheese

2 Tbsp. salt

Basil (fresh or dried) and black pepper to taste

Take the goat cheese out of the fridge and allow it to sit at room temperature while you cook.

Open and drain the can of diced tomatoes in a colander (retain the liquid for later). I like to add about 1 Tbsp of salt to the tomatoes and allow them to drain for 5-10 minutes, stirring them a few times. The idea here is to get the tomatoes as dry as possible so that they brown better in the pan.

While the tomatoes are draining, use 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, 1 tsp. of salt, and 2-3 garlic cloves to make garlic paste. Put a large pan on medium-high heat and put a pot of water on high heat to boil pasta.

When the tomatoes are well drained, throw your garlic paste in the hot pan and allow it to cook until you see the first hints of browning. Then add the drained tomatoes and toss. At this stage, if desired, you can add a pinch or two of red pepper flakes for some extra spice.

You are going to cook the tomatoes for 15 minutes, stirring every 3-5 minutes. You want them to brown well, but not burn.

Just before the 15 minutes are up, combine the can of tomato puree with the reserved liquid from the drained tomatoes. Reduce the heat on the tomatoes to low/simmer and add the puree/liquid mixture.

Allow the sauce to come to a slow simmer and then cover loosely and continue to cook for 15 minutes.

By this time, your pasta water should be boiling. With about 5 minutes left on the sauce timer, salt your water and add your pasta. I like medium shells, rotini, or rigatoni.

When the time goes off, add a little basil (fresh and dried are different here - so add, taste, and repeat).

At this point, you could be done. This is the completed sauce. What I do here, and what I think really sets it apart, is add about 1 oz of goat cheese (you can add more or less - taste it and add more if you want). Stir this until the sauce begins to get creamy and you don't have any chunks of goat cheese left.

Drain your pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve hot.

**As an addition, I sometimes like to add sauteed vegetables to the sauce right before I toss in the pasta. I like red bell peppers, onions, or asparagus. Or all three.

Important this to remember:

1. Taste early and taste often. The only way to know if you are on track is to taste test.

2. Add ingredients slowly. If you put too much salt in the sauce there is no getting it out.

3. Don't overcook your pasta. Unless you have no teeth with which to bite it, it should be "to the tooth" or al dente.

Potato Tacos

I thought for my first entry I would do something that was near and dear to my heart: Potato Tacos.

It is possible that some of you may have never heard those two words put together in such a way, but let me assure you that these are akin to a religion in San Diego. Finding the real deal can be difficult, but the search is well worth the reward!

For the potatoes:

6-8 medium potatoes (I prefer red skin or Yukon Gold. NO RUSSETS!)

3-4 Tbsp oil: Canola or corn are good due to their high smoke points.

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Savory

Salt

¼ cup Greek yogurt

Toppings:

1 Can refried beans (whichever you like)

Hot sauce (which ever you like)

1 tomato

Mexican white sauce (Click HERE for the recipe)

6-8 flour tortillas

Cheese (jack, pepper jack, queso fresco, queso blanco, or a Mexican blend)

Directions:

Begin by making your Mexican white sauce early - an hour before is OK, the night before is better. Also, I like to add a little crushed red pepper to the recipe above.

Chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces; put them in a large pot with enough water to cover them by 1”; add a healthy amount of salt (think pasta water here) and bring to a boil. Allow to cook for until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain the potatoes and heat your oil.

When the oil is hot (but not smoking) add 2/3 of the cooked potatoes to the oil. Toss once and add your rosemary, thyme and savory. Toss again and allow to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, tossing occasionally. The potatoes should develop a crispy brown skin.

Mash the remaining 1/3 of the potatoes while still hot and add the Greek yogurt. You can add pepper here if you want, but I like them just like this. You don’t want to overdo it on the spices with the massed potatoes because the pan fried potatoes are going to be very flavorful. These are more just about the hint of tartness (from the Greek yogurt) and texture.

Dice your tomato, heat your tortillas, and serve.