Category: Recipes

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Recipes

Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk

Which vegetable (or fruit depending on who you ask) says autumn more than the beloved pumpkin? It’s so versatile, you can turn it into a bread, pie, cookies, muffins, and in this case soup. It has a mild sweetness, velvety texture, and a slight coconut finish.  Delicious as a meal served with the quick dinner rolls.  I make the soup using fresh sugar pumpkin which is small and sweet.IMG_1863

Pumpkin Soup with Coconut Milk ( serves 8-10)

  • 1 onion cut into slices
  • 1 1/4 lbs fresh pumpkin
  • 2 cans coconut milk (reduced fat or full fat)
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 cup coriander leaves or 2 Tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • Small pinch dried chile pepper flakes (optional)

Wash, cut and remove seeds from the pumpkin.  Carefully cut the skin off and cube the flesh.In a dutch oven, dry heat the onion (place onions in the hot but dry pot) and cook about 2 mins until fragrant.

In a dutch oven, dry heat the onion (place onions in the hot but dry pot) and cook about 2 mins until fragrant.  Add to the onions, coconut milk, chicken broth, cubed pumpkin, coriander, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Turn heat down to low and simmer approx 30 mins or until pumpkin is soft.  Remove the bay leaf.  Now, to get that smooth velvety texture you can either use an immersion blender in the pot and cream the soup, or you can pour soup into a blender and VERY CAREFULLY puree. Return pureed soup to heat and simmer for 5-10 mins longer.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  The soup tastes best 2-3 days after it’s been made.  Enjoy!

 

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Recipes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

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Welcome fall with its blanket of beautiful colors, crisp mornings and pumpkin muffins 🙂 Just the smell of these filling the house as they bake puts me in a  more relaxed mood.  So slow down, grab a cup of tea and enjoy one of these delicious muffins.

Pumpkin Cream cheese Muffins (makes 24 muffins)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line or grease two (12 muffin) pans.

Muffin Batter

  • 3 1/3 cup flour
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
  • 1 tsp ground cloves

Sift above ingredients into a large bowl

  • 2 cups pumpkin puree ( canned or fresh)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Wisk the above ingredients in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and mix well.  Fill each muffin liner 3/4 full.  Divide the cream cheese filling evenly between the muffins. The cream cheese filling will spread out while baking.

Cream cheese filling

  • 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp orange zest

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Bake 30 mins. Enjoy !

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Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Trying this chocolate banana bread ASAP!

 
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Recipes

Slow Cooker Meatballs

Almost every country has some type of meatball.  In Romania we call them “chiftele or piftele” depending which part of the country you’re from.  We fry them and sometimes make a tomato sauce in which they are left to marinate “chiftele marinate.”

This here is a simple, no frying pan needed meatball recipe.  They are cooked in the crock pot for about 5 hours.  Boil some pasta and serve them over, turn them into meatball subs, or just eat them as they are, my personal choice.

Slow Cooker Meatballs (makes about 40, 1 inch meatballs)

  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey
  • 1 lb italian sausage mix, your choice of sweet,mild or hot
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup freshly chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup cold milk
  • 1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

Place ground meat in large bowl, followed by the rest of the ingredients, with the exception of the spaghetti sauce.  Mix thoroughly with your hands until mixture is homogenous. Pour half jar of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of your crock pot. Lightly wet your hands and pinch a small amount of meat from the bowl.  Roll it between your palms to form a ball, continue with the rest of the meat, placing meatballs in the crock pot as you go.  Pour the rest of the sauce over the meatballs.  Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.  When it’s time to serve, gently separate the meatballs from each other with a spoon as they stick together during cooking. Enjoy!

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“Sun-Dried” Cherry Tomatoes

Little morsels bursting with flavor…..that’s what they are! Sun dried tomatoes, even though they are not dried by the sun per say, but by my oven, are such a a treat.  They are great on sandwiches, salads, pizza or just by the handful.  I’ve had an abundant cherry tomato harvest this summer, and what better way to preserve these juicy globes of goodness than preparing them as follows:

Sun-Dried Cherry Tomatoes (makes about 2 cups)

  • 3 lbs cherry/grape tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

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Halve all the tomatoes and spread evenly on the baking sheet.  In a small bowl, mix the  olive oil with the minced garlic and drizzle evenly over the tomatoes.  Sprinkle them with generous amounts of salt and pepper (taste them to make sure they are to your liking.) Place baking sheet in the oven and roast for 30 mins, after which you turn down the temperature to 200F and continue roasting for 3-4 more hours, or until desired dryness.  Cool completely, see if you can help yourself from eating them all, and place in a clean jar or airtight container.  I’m not sure how long they keep in the fridge for because  mine didn’t last past day 2 since we ate them all.  If you have better self control than me, leave  a comment with the amount of time yours lasted in the fridge. Enjoy!

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Recipes

Spaghetti Squash with Garlic and Burst Cherry Tomatoes

I accidentally grew a spaghetti squash.  At first I thought it was a weird looking cucumber, but it gre larger, rounder and eventually yellow.  I’m so glad we got this extra vegetable from the garden. It’s sweet, a bit crunchy, versatile and fun to make.

  • Spaghetti squash (2-3 lbs in size)
  • 1 cup Cherry tomatoes
  •  Fresh Basil, small handful chopped
  • 3 tbsp grated parmesan
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Wash, cut the squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds.  Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil on the flesh side and season generously with salt and pepper.  Place on microwave safe dish cut side down and cook approx 10 minutes or until skin feels soft.  Remove carefully from microwave and let cool enough to handle.  In the meantime, in a small pan heat the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil, place cherry tomatoes in the pan along with the garlic.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on low to medium heat until tomatoes burst gently, approx 6-8 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.  With a fork scrape the flesh from the squash into a large bowl stirring gently to break it up.  Pour the tomato mixture on top, season with more salt and pepper if needed, sprinkle with the parmesan and fresh basil.

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Back to School Pizza Rolls

I feel like I blinked and summer break has spread it’s wings and flew by in a rush.  With my youngest homeschooling again and my oldest doing independent studies, plus all the other things I’ve got going on the side, I felt an easy dinner was in order.  With the girls being able to help with this meal it made it even easier on me.  Use store bought pizza dough ( I use Trader Joe’s brand) of your choice and follow pre-cooking instructions on box before starting. I use a 12 muffin tin to cook the rolls in because it keeps them from falling apart and spreading everywhere.  Grease the muffin tin with small amount of olive oil and preheat oven to 350F

Pizza Rolls (makes 12 rolls)

  • 1lb pizza dough
  • 1/2 cup pizza sauce of your choice
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • any other toppings of your choice, just try not to over load the dough or it’ll be hard to roll

Flour your workspace and roll the dough into a rectangle approx. 13×18 in.

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Spread the sauce, cheese and choice of toppings onto the dough. Starting at the long end roll the dough away from you as tight as you can.

Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces using a large knife or bench scraper. Place rolls into the muffin tin and bake about 30 mins or until dough is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.  Serve with a garden salad for an easy back to school dinner.

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From the Garden-Caprese Salad

One of my favorite produce from the garden are the tomatoes.  So sweet and juicy right off the vine, we eat them like candy.  The weather has been so hot here that I’ve had no desire to turn on the oven, so for dinner  the kids picked a bowl of tomatoes and we turned them into this delicious caprese salad.  Try it with this smoky eggplant dip.

Makes about 4 servings

  • 1 1/2 lbs cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella
  • 3 Tbsp fresh basil
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves and add them to a medium bowl followed by the oil, salt, pepper and vinegar.  Toss gently and taste, adjust the seasoning if needed.  To the tomatoes add the mozzarella and top with the basil.  Toss again gently before serving. Enjoy the taste of summer in this simple salad!

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Simple Fruit Tart

With such an abundance of stone fruit and berries during the summer months it’s easy to have leftovers that have over ripened.  This simple fruit tart has been my go-to recipe for many years.  It is passed down to me from my aunt who is an amazing cook.  She’s in her 80’s now, but growing up we would to go to her house for different occasions and she made the trendiest food, before trendy and food were even used in the same sentence.

This is  a very basic batter to which you can add any mixture of fruit that you have lying around.  This time I happened to have leftover peaches that I sprinkled on top before baking.  Give it a light dusting of powdered sugar, and you can serve this simple tart anytime of the day.  Preheat your oven to 350F, or 176C and grease a 12×12 round dish or 9×9 rectangular dish.  The smaller the dish, the taller the tart will be.

  • 400 grams sugar
  • 400 grams all purpose flour
  • 200 ml vegetable oil
  • zest from one lemon
  • 4 eggs, yolks and white separated
  • 2 tbsp cold water
  • 8 tbsp hot water
  • 2 cups your choice fruit (leave whole if  berries, cut small if  other fruit)

Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat on high until lightly foamy (you don’t want peaks forming just a light foam.) Into the egg white foam add one after the other while gently mixing in between, the sugar, the egg yolks one at a time, the cold water, the hot water, the oil, lemon zest and finally the flour.

Mix these gently until just well incorporated and pour the batter into your baking dish.  Evenly sprinkle the fruit on top and bake about 30 minutes, or until lightly brown on top, and when toothpick is inserted in the middle it comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack before serving. Enjoy!

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Portabella – Swiss Burger

Grilling time is still on and portabella mushrooms are one of my favorite meat alternatives.  It’s meaty, juicy, and very flavorful.  You can use your favorite toppings to turn it into your own meat-free burger creation.  Most of the time I caramelize onions and place on top, this time I used pre-bought crispy onions. In a bowl or dish place the following.

  • 4 large portabella mushroom caps, cleaned
  • 1/4 cup  olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground pepper
  • 2 tsp smoked paprika powder
  • 4 ciabatta buns
  • 4 slices swiss cheese
  • Mustard of choice
  • 1 Cup prepackaged crispy onions, or 1 onion sliced and caramelized

Place mushrooms in dish.  Drizzle evenly with the olive oil on both sides and rub evenly with the minced garlic.  Sprinkle both sides with the salt, pepper and smoked paprika.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.  Reserve the marinate oil that is left over in the dish or bowl. On medium fire, grill mushrooms approximately 6 minutes per side.  While mushrooms are cooking, brush the ciabatta buns with the garlic oil reserved from earlier.  Grill the buns over low heat taking care not to burn them, about 1 minute per side.  When mushrooms are about 1-2 minutes from being done, top with the swiss cheese and finish cooking. Now for assembly, place a mushroom on each bun, top with the onions.  Brush the other half of bun with mustard.  Don’t forget extra napkins!

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