Simple Tomato Sauce

I have been trying to use up my home canned items from my cabinets.  I have been looking at all of those jars on the shelves and was hesitant at first to use them...maybe afraid of running out.  But as it warms up, and I don't like to cook inside during the heat of the summer, I am trying to make some things that I can use in the summer that just needs to be heated up in the microwave.  So I decided to make a simple tomato sauce that can be used on pasta, on chicken or anything else that you want the flavor of the food to shine, not the sauce.  I use this on my chicken parmigiana and eggplant rollatini.  This sauce can be made and frozen for use later.  This recipe is vegetarian and the freshness of the tomatoes really comes through. 

This is more of a method than a true recipe.  I use a ratio of one to one for each of the ingredients, except the oil.  For each quart of tomatoes I use one chopped garlic clove, one tsp of olive oil, one tsp of kosher salt and one basil leaf, then cook for one hour.  It really is simple.  When I make this I use 4 quarts so I have extra for later.  If you are making it in 4, then you only need to triple the oil,  You can use one for a quick meal for 1 and cook it for less time, about 20-30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1 TBS Olive oil
4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped or through garlic press
4 Quart of tomatoes
4 tsp Kosher salt
4 Whole Basil leaf

Here's how:

Add the oil to a pot and heat.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, do not brown.

Garlic through the press, cooked for 1 minute

Add the tomatoes, salt and basil.

All the ingredients in the pot.

Cook for one hour.  It should be cooked down by 1/3.  You can cook it longer, depending on how thick you like it. 

After one hour, you can see how it has cooked down.

Serve over pasta or freeze for later.

Easter Brunch - Cinnamon Rolls

I love the smell of a yeast dough.  The smell is like being in a bakery.  I cannot even describe what it smells like, other than comfort.  If you are afraid to bake with yeast, try this recipe.  It is easy and when you use cinnamon and cream cheese frosting, it is hard to mess it up.

I used the yeast dough and sugar buns made by Martha Stewart on her show "Martha Bakes" and then added the cinnamon sugar and frosting to turn it into these rolls.  I also make them the day before.  To do this, I allowed the dough to do the first rise, made the rolls and then put it in the fridge.  I took them out about 4 hours before baking and they did the second rise in the morning.  One more change is using the dough hook instead of kneading by hand. If you like to knead, you can.

Makes 12 buns

Ingredients:

Yeast Dough:

2 packages active dry yeast (1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup sour cream

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 cup bread flour

1 teaspoon coarse salt

Filling:

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 TBS cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Here's how:

In a small bowl, mix together yeast and warm water; set aside.

The yeast is alive, you can tell by the bubbles.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula as necessary.

 

Butter and sugar creamed together

Add egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Add vinegar and vanilla; mix to combine.

Vanilla and vinegar added

Slowly add sour cream, mixing until well combined.

Sour cream added

Add yeast mixture.

Yeast into the dough

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours and salt.

This is my favorite brand of bread flour.

Add to mixer and mix on low until well combined and dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and just begins to form a ball.

Dry ingredients added to wet ingredients

Change the paddle to the dough hook. Knead dough in the mixer until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Dough beginning to pull away from the sides

Done and ready to rest

Lightly flour the bottom of a large glass bowl; place dough in bowl and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap; let stand until doubled in size, about 3 to 4 hours, or refrigerate overnight.

Dough in greased bowl

Dough in a bowl with a towel and plastic wrap covering to rest

Turn yeast dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and roll into an 18-by-10-inch rectangle.

Dough rolled out to 10 x 18

Brush dough with 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and liberally sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar filling.

Cinnamon sugar filling sprinkled on top

Beginning with the long side facing you, tightly roll dough away from you into a log; pinch edge of dough to seal. Cut dough crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces.  This can be done by cutting the log in half, then half again and then each piece into three.

Place each cross-sectional piece into a greased casserole dish and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Place muffin tins in warm place until buns double in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.  If you want to bake later, place them in the fridge and allow them to rise the next day for 4 hours before baking.  This allows them time to some to room temperature and rise before baking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the buns in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Remove and let cool 5 minutes.

Cover in cream cheese frosting (Directions below).

Warm and slathered in cream cheese frosting

Serve warm.

How to make cream cheese frosting:

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.

Add vanilla and powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth and fully incorporated.

Two kinds of Rugelach from one recipe

If you read this blog enough, you will realize that I love Ina Garten.  She is a Long Island local, shops locally and has great recipes.  Her Rugelach recipe is great and easy to follow.  I changed it up by simply changing the preserves and removing the raisins on half the dough and also by making a chocolate raspberry version for the other half. This recipe is simple, but it does take some time due to the two times you have to chill the dough.  It is worth it.  This recipe can easily be made organic by using organic ingredients, they are easy to find.  You can also freeze the cookies after they are rolled up and then coat them with the egg wash and sugar when you are ready later to bake.

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, softened (this is one brick)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 5 1/2 TBS granulated sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 TBS light brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup peach preserves
1 cup chocolate chips, finely chopped
1/4 cup raspberry jam
1 egg beaten with 1 TBS milk

Here's how:

Cream the cream cheese and butter until light in color.

Cream cheese and butter mixed.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar, salt and vanilla, mix to combine.

Add the flour and mix until just incorporated.

Put some flour on the counter top and roll it into a ball.

Dough when it is all done. Cut this into four pieces and refrigerate.

Cut the ball into four equal pieces.  Wrap each in plastic wrap.  Place the balls in the fridge to chill for one hour.

Make one of the fillings.  Combine 3 TBS sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and walnuts into a small bowl.  Set aside.

Cinnamon, sugar and nuts mixture

After the hour, remove the dough balls and place the first one on the floured counter top.  Roll it out into a nine inch circle.

Rolled out and ready for fillings

Spread half the peach jam onto the dough all the way to the edges.  Sprinkle it with half the filling which you set aside.

Jam on and mixture going on

Press the nuts lightly to make sure they are set into the dough. 

Pressing nuts into dough

Cut the dough into quarter then each quarter into three.  You should have 12 pieces. 

Starting with the outside edge, roll the dough up. 

Ready for the cookie sheet and fridge

Place the cookies onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.

Repeat the filling and rolling procedure with one of the 3 remaining dough balls.

Roll out the third dough ball.

Cover it with half of the raspberry jam and half of the chopped chocolate.

Raspberry jam and chocolate added

Roll up the cookies and place them onto the cookie sheet.

Place the cookie sheet into the fridge for 30 minutes.  If you want, this is the time to freeze them for later.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

After the 30 minutes, remove the cookies and brush them with the egg wash. 

Combine 1 1/2 TBS sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle on the cookies which contain the peach jam and nuts. 

Sprinkle 1 TBS sugar on the chocolate raspberry filled cookies.

Sugar on the cookies, I used pink here to so you can see it.

Bake 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Out of the oven.  Warm and ready to eat now or later

Remove and let cool on a cooling rack.

Easter Brunch - Lemon Blueberry Scones

This recipe is inspired by Martha Stewart's Cream Scones recipe.  I changed out the currants for dried blueberries and the Grand Marnier for boiling water.  This recipe makes light and delicious scones.  I made the dough two days before Easter, let them sit in the fridge in a covered container and baked them right before I needed them so they were hot at the table.  I used organic ingredients for this recipe as they are easily substituted out for conventional ones. 

Makes about 20 scones

Ingredients:

1/4 cup boiling water
1 cup dried blueberries
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk (reserve 1 egg white for egg wash)

Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Here's how:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine boiling water, dried blueberries, and lemon zest. Allow fruit to plump, at least one hour or up to overnight in the refrigerator.

Blueberries, water and lemon zest

In a large bowl, whisk together cake flour, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. 

Sifted ingredients

Transfer one half of the flour mixture to a food processor. Add the butter and pulse several times to combine. Do not over-process; some butter pieces should remain the size of large peas, while others pieces will be smaller.

Butter incorporated into the dry mixture

Add the contents of the food processor back to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk to combine the cream, egg, and egg yolk. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture and gradually add the cream mixture. Using a large spatula or wooden spoon, draw the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients, being sure to scrape from the bottom of the bowl to incorporate the dry crumbs.

Add the plumped fruit and gently mix. Do not overwork the dough.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Pat into a narrow rectangle about 1 inch thick.

Dought turned out

With the short side facing you, fold rectangle into thirds like a business letter. Turn dough a quarter turn clockwise, so the flap opening faces right, like a book. This is the first turn.

With a rolling pin or your hands, gently pat into another narrow rectangle, about 1 inch thick. Repeat folding and turning process to complete a second turn.

Using lightly floured hands, pat dough out into a 1 1/4-inch-thick rectangle.

Dough ready to cut out.  Note the butter chunks

Cut into rounds

Cut out rounds, spaced as closely together as possible, using a floured 2-inch round biscuit cutter. Dough may be rerolled once and additional rounds may be cut out.

Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheet, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with fine sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes on a wire rack before serving, or serve at room temperature.

Spring Flower Arrangement 2011

I went to a Spring Flower arranging class at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum which was run by the Horticultural Society there.  It was a great class where we learned about the theory behind arranging as well as a demonstration.  We all were given the same flowers and basket and heard the same instructions yet each of us had a totally different result.  I made sure mine was going to look great from all four sides, since it is going to sit on the dining room table for Easter.  If you are looking for some great classes such as this one check out http://www.bcahs.com/.  Here are the photos of my arrangement:

This side makes the Gerber Daisies shine



Carnations and snap dragons catch your eye



The roses and Lilly play up this side



The blue shows here

April 2011 Winter CSA box

Here is what I received from the Garden of Eve today: 

GARDEN OF EVE VEGETABLE SHARE 4/16-17

1 bunch carrots ($5)
1 pint Potatoes ($2.50)
Collard greens ($3)
1.5 lb rutabaga ($3)
1 lb baby kale ($8)
1 lb spinach ($8)
1 bag pea shoots ($4.50)
1 bu chives ($1)
Eggs, 3 dozen ($15)

TOTAL VALUE GARDEN OF EVE SHARE: $50.00

If you are looking for a great CSA for the summer, join the Garden of Eve.  Visit their website to learn how www.gardenofevefarm.com 

Creamy Chicken with Mushrooms

I bought some chicken and mushrooms from the Farmer's Market and then realized I need to come up with a recipe to use them.  I am sick of grilled chicken so I decided that I was going to make a creamy mushroom sauce.  This recipe uses only 2 TBS of cream so you don't have to feel guilty about the cream sauce.

Makes 2 portions

Ingredients:

10 oz chicken breast, cubed into 1 inch pieces
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 cup baby portobella mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TBS dry white wine
1/4 chicken stock or broth, homemade preferred
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBS heavy cream
2 TBS fresh chives, thinly chopped

Here's how:

Salt and pepper the chicken.

Here is the organic chicken I use

Heat the oil in a saute pan.

Heated oil

Add the seasoned chicken and cook for 8-10 minutes, cooking until browned on all sides.

Chicken with salt and pepper and ready for the pan

Remove the chicken to a bowl and set aside.

Chicken browned and set aside

Add the shallot and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Add the wine, broth, onion powder and garlic powder.   Scrape up the brown bits from the pan and cook down the liquid until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

Mushrooms, garlic, shallots and wine with the brown bits scraped up

Add cream and chives and return to a simmer. 

Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce.

Everything in the pan and heated

Serve over egg noodles.

Put over warm egg noodles.

Vegetable Soup with Lentils in a Slow Cooker

I was looking in my fridge, freezer and pantry this weekend and found some long forgotten items. I found a bag of green lentils in the pantry, canned beans and canned tomatoes (from the summer canning).  In the freezer I found frozen yellow squash and chicken stock.  The fridge contained onions, carrots, and garlic from my Winter CSA box.  It also contained leftover mushrooms from the Farmer's Market.  I decided to make whatever I find in the house soup and decided to use the above for Lentil and Vegetable Soup. That is the point of this recipe, use up what you have in the house.  Do not go out and buy any vegetables, you can leave out the celery, for example, and it will be OK.  Since I was busy doing chores around the house, the slow cooker was the perfect vessel for this soup. Use vegetable stock in this recipe if you want it to be vegetarian.

Makes 3 quarts of soup

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups green lentils
2 cups sliced yellow squash (frozen or fresh)
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms, whatever you have in the house, I used Baby Bellas
2 large carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery
1 28 oz can tomato puree or 2 pint jars of homemade tomato puree
3 TBS tomato paste
6 cups chicken, beef, vegetable stock (or a combination if that is what you have)
2 Bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic salt or garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
4 inch cheese rind

Here's how:

Add all of the ingredients to a slow cooker (place a slow cooker bag inside it to help with clean up). 

You can see the slow cooker bag here

All ingredients in the cooker

Set the cooker to high and cook for 6 hours, until the soup is thickened and the lentils are soft.

Eat some now or freeze for later.

Turkey Chili in a Slow Cooker

In my attempt to clean out my freezer of frozen vegetables from last year, I decided to make Turkey Chili.  The peppers, corn and the large pack of ground turkey sitting next to each other in the freezer inspired me to make some chili using unexpected ingredients like corn and turkey.  If you want a healthier version of chili try this.  Make it in your slow cooker so you can go to work or do your chores while dinner cooks itself.

Makes 3 quarts of chili

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs ground turkey meat, frozen is OK, it will cook and defrost in the cooker
2 large garlic cloves, finely diced or through the garlic press
2 cups frozen, fresh or canned corn
2 cups peppers, diced, any color
1 large onion, diced
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz diced tomatoes
1 TBS salt
1 TBS red wine vinegar
2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Cayenne pepper (more or less depending on your preferred level of heat)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 14 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Here's how:

Place a slow cooker bag inside the slow cooker.

Add all of the ingredients, except the beans, and place the slow cooker on high.  Cook for 5 hours and 45 minutes hours. 

Chopped peppers from my garden, frozen and ready to add

Everything except the beans while cooking

  Add the beans and cook for 15 more minutes, until the beans are warmed through.

Chili ready to serve

Serve hot with a side of corn bread.

Winter CSA Box March 2011 - Potato Leek Soup

My past two months worth of CSA boxes has contained potatoes and leeks.  They are the ingredients for Vichyssoise soup aka: Potato and Leek Soup.  I made this soup local by getting the potatoes and leeks from my CSA box (Garden of Eve farm), the cream and milk from the Farmer's Market (Ronnybrook Farm) and the chicken stock from my freezer (homemade).  This soup was so creamy, flavorful and local.  Try it.

Ingredients:

2 TBS butter
2 Leeks, cleaned and sliced (soak them in a bowl of water after slicing to remove the grit)
2 large Potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Here's how:

Melt the butter in a large pot. 

Add the leeks and cook until soft, about 5 minutes, on medium heat.  Do not brown, just soften.

Leeks soaking to remove the grit

Leeks added to butter

Leeks after cooking 5 minutes.  Note they are not browned.

 Add the potatoes and chicken stock. 

Diced potatoes

Chicken stock and potatoes added

Cook on a low simmer for 25 minutes.  The potatoes should be soft and fall apart when pierced with a fork.

Add the milk, cream, salt and pepper. 

Cream, salt and pepper added. 

Cool for 15 minutes.  Add contents to a blender or food processor or use an immersion blender to get a smooth texture. 

Soup all smooth and delicious. 

If you want a traditional version of this soup, chill for several hours before serving.  For a more modern version, add the soup back to the pot and heat through without boiling.