Two Novice Chefs, One Tiny Kitchen

Although it hasn’t quite been a year yet, our very first blog entry was our Easter meal from 2007. We celebrated just the 2 of us in our little 1 bedroom apartment in D.C. This year we are back in Kansas, near family and in a slightly larger apartment much better suited for entertaining. My parents came over for lunch today, and we’ll be having dinner at Tyler’s parents home tonight. For lunch we wanted a meal that we could prepare quickly after church. We also wanted to try at least one new recipe, so we picked a bruschetta appetizer to tide us over until the rest of the meal was ready. It was all delicious and it was so nice to celebrate Easter with family!

Easter Menu:
bruschetta
chop salad w/chicken
mushroom rigatoni bake
asparagus with balsamic browned butter
texas sheet cake (recipe now updated w/WW points)
and pink lemonade!

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil (from delish)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs tomatoes (we used a mixture of roma and hot house, the ripest we could find)
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
5 large leaves basil, finely chopped
2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
coarse salt & black pepper, to taste

1 baguette loaf
3 Tbsp olive oil, or more as desired
1 clove garlic

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove seeds and juice from tomatoes; dice. In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar. Add basil & parsley. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Set aside.

Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down and bake 5-6 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and rub each piece of toast on the olive oil side using a clove of garlic, allowing the juices sink into the bread (Ok I confess I tried this but got impatient and gave up, we were in a hurry!) Serve immediately with prepared tomato & basil mixture.

Yields: approximately 2 dozen.

I am not a big beer drinker (half a beer makes me flushed and sleepy), but I’ve found several recipes in which it is a great ingredient. I’ve used it in pot roast and stew, also cheddar fondue and now beer cheese dip. Yum! We usually use Blue Moon beer since that’s our favorite to drink. I had this dip at a get together recently and was craving it again so I made some for us to eat while we watch basketball games this weekend. It is delicious!

Beer Cheese Dip (from my friend Stacey over at Simply Tasty)

Ingredients:
2 8oz packages of cream cheese (I used one light and one regular)
1 pack of dry ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup of beer
shredded cheese to taste
Serve with: pretzels, tortilla chips, carrots, celery, etc.

Preparation:
Combine soft cream cheese, ranch dressing mix, and beer (I did this in my KA mixer). The consistency will be weird, but just keep stirring. When the consistency becomes thick and smooth add cheese (I mixed in the cheese by hand). Transfer to serving dish and top with cheese to taste.

A few notes on the recipe…

-Don’t use 2 packages of fat free cream cheese, the consistency of the dip just won’t turn out right. If you want to cut calories try a package of light and a package of full fat.
-Use whatever beer you have on hand.
-Keep stirring the mixture until the consistency gets smooth. It will look a little funky at first, but it will smooth out.
-I served this with wheat thins and fat free pretzels, the pretzels were fabulous with this dip!

And this is NOT a WW recipe, I did not bother to figure out the points so you’ll have to figure it out yourself, if you dare

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Tyler took charge this year, planning out a nice menu, shopping, and doing the cooking!  I’ll admit I did help a bit with a few things though, but I was careful not to take charge or boss him around the kitchen.  He thanked me for not going all Gordon Ramsey a la Hells Kitchen on him :)  By working together we got dinner on the table by 7:15!  I was prepared for another 3 hour cooking ordeal but this went much faster!  Our dinner menu:

chicken stuffed with garlic and herbed goat cheese
garlicky green beans
spaghetti tossed in red pepper pesto
bruschetta with red pepper pesto
chocolate dipped strawberries (same as last V-day!)

Bruschetta with Red Pepper Pesto (from Weight Watchers)

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 loaf of french bread/italian bread/baguette sliced into 24 pieces and toasted
1 oz Parmesan cheese, shaved

1.  Preheat the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil; place the bell peppers on the baking sheet.  Broil 5 inches from the heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until lightly charred, about 10 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

2.  Thinly slice 1/4 cup of the basil leaves; set aside for garnish.  Puree the bell peppers, the remaining 3/4 cup basil, the garlic, pine nuts, oil, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor.  Transfer the pesto to a small bowl.

3.  Spread 1 scant tablespoon of the pesto on each toast slice; top with a few of the reserved sliced basil leaves and a shaving or two of the Parmesan.

Serves 8 (3 pieces of toast per serving)

4 WW points per serving

Source: Take-Out Tonight: 150+ Restaurant Favorites to Make At Home, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2002 

Big football games call for great dip. It’s nice to have something yummy to munch on so you don’t bite your nails off worrying about whether or not your favorite team will win. I served this dip with a French baguette that I picked up from the store, but tortilla chips would also go well with it. Apparantly there is a “spinach shortage” right now and my local store won’t get fresh spinach in until February 1st. So frozen it was, and I thought it was still great!

Hot Spinach Dip (original recipe from Delish)

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/2 cup skim milk
8 ounces light cream cheese
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes Tabasco
3/4 - 1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Saute onions and garlic, until softened and onions lightly browned. Add milk and heat. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Add spinach, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and 1/2 cup mozzarella; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in paprika. Pour into a shallow baking dish; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.

It’s time to introduce you to my new best friend. The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook, given to me by my secret santa. This cookbook is beautiful. Great photos, amazing recipes, and organized so well. I am in love.  The nice thing about Cooking Light is you can find all of their recipes on their website as well.  So it’s easy to email them to a friend if you find one you love!  Last week I went through the entire cookbook and bookmarked recipe after recipe, earmarking a few special ones for Tyler’s 24th birthday dinner. His birthday was Sunday but due to family engagements I wasn’t able to make the dinner until tonight. Oh man it did not disappoint! First course: stuffed mushrooms!

Stuffed Mushrooms (from Cooking Light)

Ingredients:

24 large button mushrooms (about 1 3/4 pounds)
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
4 ounces 50%-less-fat pork sausage (such as Jimmy Dean 50% less fat)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup (2 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese