Saturday, March 31, 2012

Lasagna with Artichoke Pesto

With all the Artichoke Pesto I made this week I was eager to use the sauce in a way that I use regular pesto, so I decided to make a lasagna.

I usually make cream pesto lasagna because I've had a severe intolerance to tomatoes my entire life so I have to be creative with traditionally tomato based dishes. I'll post my cream pesto recipe at another time...but for now this artichoke pesto lasagna came out absolutely deeelish!

I had some shredded chicken breast and grated zucchini (left over from zucchini bread which will also be posted soon:-), that with some baked cauliflower, spinach and jack cheese, this lasagna was very different yet so yummy my hard to please Mom even liked it!


Artichoke Pesto Lasagna
Serves 4+

1 box Bertolli No Bake Lasagna Pasta (I used 8 Pieces)
1+ C Artichoke Pesto
1 C Chicken (Boiled & Shredded)
1 1/3 C Shredded Cheese (I used Monterey Jack)
1/3 C Zucchini (Shredded)
1/2 C Pre-Cooked Cauliflower
1/2 C Fresh Spinach

-Soak Lasagna Pasta in water about 10 mins.
-In an 8x8 baking dish, coat bottom with a couple of spoonfulls of pesto then line with Pasta.
-Coat top of Pasta with 1/4 C Pesto then sprinkle with 1/3 C Chicken, 1/3 C Zucchini & 1/3 C Cheese.
-Layer with Pasta and coat with 1/4 C Pesto then sprinkle with 1/2 C Cauliflower & 1/3 C Cheese.
-Layer with Pasta, coat with 1/4 C Pesto then sprinkle with 1/3 C Chicken, 1/3 C Cheese and 1/2 C Spinach.
-Layer final Pasta, coat with remaining Pesto, sprinkle with remaining Chicken & Cheese.
-Cover with foil and bake @ 350 for 30 mins, remove foil and continue baking for 15 mins.


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Artichoke Pesto

Anastasio is currently working in Big Sur which means he passes through the Artichoke Capital of the World, Castroville, on his way to and from work. This week he stopped off at Pezzini Farms to pick up a big bag of Baby Artichokes.

I was very excited to have my 6 month old try artichoke hearts so I got to work on these babies, washing, trimming and boiling them. Once they were done, I pulled off the hearts (which he loved!) and was left with the rest of the artichoke trying to figure out what to do with them...then I remembered our vineyard stay in Tuscany and knew exactly what to make: Artichoke Pesto!

I had never thought to make pesto out of anything other than Basil until our stay in Tuscany last spring when we were served Arugula Pesto, which was amazing! So I thought why not try it out of the baby artichoke leaves? The outcome was wonderful and I hope you enjoy this little concoction of mine.

This sauce went wonderfully with baked chicken, but would also work great as a pizza sauce or even as a dip with crackers, especially rice crackers!


Artichoke Pesto
Makes ~3 Cups

2.5 lbs Baby Artichokes (Regular size artichokes will NOT work with this recipe)
1+ C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C. Hazelnuts (Chopped)
3 Tbsp Shallots (Diced)
Salt & Pepper

-Bring a large pot with 3 quarts Water to boil.
-Prep Baby Artichokes by removing the first 3 layers of leaves, trim about 1/2 inch off the tops, cut off stems, then slice in half lengthwise. Add to boiling water and boil for about 20 mins or until soft (you can also steam them instead).
-Drain and let cool about 10 mins.
-In a Food Processor, process the Hazelnuts until grainy, then add remaining ingredients and process until desired consistency. You may need to add more Olive Oil to achieve the right thickness.
-OPTIONAL: Divide sauce in 1/2 cup servings and freeze for future use!




Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Hula & Charras

I was very fortunate to have a friend of mine act as my Doula for the birth of my son Maiyo. It was wonderful to have someone there purely for support for Anastasio & me, especially someone so experienced as Dionne and her 200+ births! I was lucky in that I had no complications and the birth went relatively smooth, albeit long. And it did wonders for my mind & stress level to know Dionne was there and she will forever have a special place in my heart for that.

To thank her for her generosity I thought it would be wonderful to design a quilt specific to her interests and background. Dionne is an extraordinary person. Not only is she a fabulous doula, she is also the founder of The Wahine Project, an amazing non-profit dedicated to helping young disadvantage girls learn how to surf.

So I was very excited to find some wonderful fabrics from Heart's Fabric that fit perfectly with Dionne's surfing and Mexican heritage:

Surf Board Floral


Hula Dolls Grey 


Charras Folklorico Women



I made this a Queen size (72x96) using Irish Chain blocks measuring 12x12, and full fabric panels measuring 12x12 and 24x24. This is a non-traditional color match because it was the fabrics that where important to me. It took me several weeks to make and was my first attempt at binding!


Here's Dionne with the completed quilt:



I bought a queen size sheet set to use for the backing and also made matching pillowcases:



This shows the back side sheet fabric:






Sunday, March 25, 2012

NRW 12: Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

New Recipe Week 12: Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

Another Pinterest find, this recipe is from the Cake Pop Queen, Bakerella. What an interesting thing to do with pancake batter by pouring it into a mini muffin pan and make pancake muffins. So simple, so fast and so sweet. I'll definitely be making these for Maiyo when he gets bigger!

Of course I made a few changes, most notedly was the change to use Honey instead of Maple Syrup, not such a huge difference, but does change the taste slightly. I would not dip these in more syrup as suggested in the original recipe, they are pretty sweet as is.



Mini Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins
Makes 24

1 C Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Sugar
2/3 C Buttermilk (I used 2/3 C Non-Fat Milk with 1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar)
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Honey (warmed)
2 Tbsp Butter (melted & cooled)
1/3 C Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

-Generously grease a 24 cup mini muffin pan with non-stick spray or line with min-muffin papers.
-Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk.
-In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
-Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until combined, then add in the chocolate chips.
-Bake @350 for 10 minutes.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

NRW 11: Marbled Yogurt Bread

New Recipe Week 11: Marbled Yogurt Bread

This is the first recipe I've tried through Pinterest, an online pin board where you get to 'pin' different things you find on websites that interest you. Kinda like tearing out a page (a recipe, deco idea, etc) from a magazine for you to remember. The cool thing about Pinterest is that it's interactive so you get to see other peoples 'pins' and re-pin them, or better yet, try them for yourself!

I've been pinning lots of recipes, quilts, craft and remodel ideas for a start, I plan on pinning bike and run stuff later, but for now, here's the bread recipe I re-pinned from another user and actually baked up for myself.

The creator of this recipe calls it her Chocolate-Vanilla Marbled Bread but after I made it and tried a piece, I didn't really taste the vanilla and mostly tasted the chocolate and yogurt because I used Greek yogurt which is much stronger in taste than simple yoplait yogurt (which I hate) and I try never to use sour cream (which is an option of the original recipe). Not that the taste was bad, I just wanted to let you know the reason for the name change...Also, baking time was more like 60-65 mins.


Marbled Yogurt Bread 
Makes 1 Loaf

1/4 C Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 C Milk, divided (I used Half & Half)
1 1/2 C Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/4 C Plain Greek Style Yogurt (or Vanilla Flavored!)
1/2 C Unsalted Butter (room temp)
3/4 C plus 2 Tbsp Sugar
2 Eggs (room temp)
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla

- Butter and lightly flour a loaf pan then line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper.
-Melt the Chocolate with 1/4 cup of the Milk in the microwave, on high, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth. Set aside.
-In a separate bowl, whisk the Flour, Baking Powder and Salt.
-In a small bowl, whisk the Yogurt, 1/4 cup Milk, and Vanilla.
-In another bowl beat Butter and Sugar until light and fluffy. Add Eggs one at a time. Then add the Flour mixture and Yogurt mixture, alternating.
-Spoon half of the batter into a separate bowl and add the melted Chocolate mixture and fold in.
-Pour half of the Vanilla Batter into the loaf pan, then pour all the the Chocolate Batter in, and finally top with remaining Vanilla Batter.
-Run a knife through the two batters, without over mixing, to make a marbled effect.
-Bake at 325 for about 60 - 65 minutes or until toothpick test clean.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Kickin Sweet Potato Mash

I love anything mash. Whipping cream, butter and yummy roots are this girls' dream of comfort. Tonight I had a craving for mash and some heat so I whipped up this Kickin' Sweet Potato Mash that melts in your mouth then leaves you with a little warmth on its way down.

Oh and better yet, it's super easy & quick to make!


Kickin' Sweet Potato Mash
Serves 4

4-5 Medium Sweet Potatoes
1/3 C Whipping Cream (heated lightly)
1 Tbsp Butter (melted)
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/4 - 1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 Tsp White Pepper

-Clean Sweet Potatoes & boil for 10-15 mins.
-Let cool, peel then cut potatoes in 1 in chunks.
-Place in bowl with remaining ingredients and mash

Sunday, March 11, 2012

NRW 10: Pastel de Papas (y Coliflor)

New Recipe Week 10: Pastel de Papas

Thanks to Pamela Palma for sending me the Pastel de Choclo recipe, which is what I originally set out to make, but then came across a variation at the bottom of the recipe and decided on Pastel de Papas instead.

This is a Chilean dish usually made with ground beef. It's kinda like Shepperd's Pie Latin style. One of the foods I most dislike in the world is ground beef. As a child growing up poor, all we ever ate was ground beef via hamburger helper or fast food burgers. Once I started working and was able to afford my own meals, I swore off the stuff, only rarely to have a hamburger maybe twice a year. Now that I'm in my mid-30's, I can eat a few more hamburgers (kobe beef preferred:-) but I still refuse to buy and/or cook with ground beef.

My choice of ground meat: ground chicken.

This recipe was fairly simple, pretty tasty, although a bit overpowering on the cumin, and the potato cauliflower topping went really well with the chicken filling. I did make quite a few changes, the chicken for one, then for the potato topping I wanted to get more veggies in so I substituted half cauliflower for the mash. Next time I will also add some cayenne pepper for some heat. I served this with a simple side salad for greens.

Pastel de Papas y Coliflor
Serves 4-6

Filling:
2-3 Tbsp Oil (Olive)
1/2 Onion (Chopped)
1/2 Tsp Crushed Garlic
1 lb Ground Chicken
1 Tbsp Paprika
1Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Tsp Cumin
1 Tsp Oregano
1 C Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Flour
Salt & Pepper to Taste

-Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the Onion and sauté until translucent.
-Stir in the Garlic and sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
-Add the Ground Meat & Spices and sauté, breaking up the meat, until it is just cooked through, 6-8 minutes.
-Pour in the Stock and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle Flour over all and stir in well. Simmer for another 5-8 minutes until lightly thickened. Adjust seasoning, remove from heat and pour into an 8x8 baking dish then set aside.

Topping:
2 Russet Potatoes (Small-Medium Size, Boiled & Peeled)
1/3 Head Cauliflower (Chopped & Steamed)
1/2 C Milk (Non-Fat)
1/4 C Mozzarella (Shredded)
1 Egg (Beaten, then Set Aside)
Salt & White Pepper to Taste
 
-Dice Potatoes & Cauliflower in a large mixing bowl. Add Milk and Mash (I used a hand mixer to whip it together)
-Add Cheese and mix in, then add Beaten Egg and S&P to taste.
-Once all mixed together, pour on top of meat and spread out evenly over dish.
-Bake at 375 for 40 mins.




Saturday, March 10, 2012

Chicken Pot Pie Two Ways

I absolutely love chicken pot pie. One of my favorite places to get one is at Kelly's French Bakery in Santa Cruz. She makes them with a light chicken broth which is so much better than the traditional overly creamy ones you can get in the freezer section at the grocery store. I'm all about enjoying a filling that isn't overpowered by the sauce, and this is exactly what I've been trying to duplicate.

I'm also a huge fan of yummy doughs and this one really goes hand in hand with the chicken filling. This has got to be my favorite savory dough to date and I'll be using it in many more recipes to come. Unfortunately though, one night while I was making the pot pie, my son Maiyo has having a cry-fest and so I was unable to take the time to make the dough. Instead I popped open a tube of Pillsbury Biscuit Jr's and placed those on top of the filling and I gotta say, it turned out pretty darn good, hence my pot pie two ways!


Version 1
Chicken Pot Pie 
Serves 4

Filling:
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 Onion (chopped small)
1 C. Potatoes-Fingerling (chopped small)
3 C. Fresh Spinach (blanched for 30 seconds)
1 C. Frozen Corn
1/2 Chicken Breast (boiled & shredded) 
2 Tbsp. Flour
1 Tsp. Chicken Bouillon
2 1/2 C. Chicken Broth
Salt & Pepper

-Saute Onion & Potatoes in Oil for about 10 mins.
-Add Spinach & lightly saute, add Corn until heated through, then add Chicken.
-Make well in middle of pan, place Flour in well & slowly add Chicken Broth with Bouillon until sauce consistency is what you want. Add Salt & Pepper to taste.

Pie Dough:
1 1/2 C. Flour
1/3 C. Corn Flour
1/2 Tsp. Salt
4 Tbsp. Butter (Cold)
3 Tbsp. Shortening
1/2 C. Ice Water (or Chicken Broth)
1 Egg

-Mix Flour, Corn Flour, Salt, Shortening & Butter with pastry blender (or 2 knives).
-Whisk Egg in Water and add to Flour Mixture until it holds together.
-Wrap in plastic wrap & refrigerate for 30 mins.
-Roll out 2/3 dough on floured surface then place in baking dish. Add Filling then roll remaining dough and cover. Make a few slits in top.
-Bake @ 350 for 45 mins.



Version 2
Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits
Serves 4

Filling: Same As Above

Dough: 1 tube of Pillsbury Grands Jr. Biscuits


Prepare filling as directed above and pour into a medium size baking dish (8x8)
-Open tube of biscuits and pull apart.
-Flatten each biscuit then place on top of filling.
-Bake at 325 for 25 mins or until biscuits are golden on top.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Best Roast Chicken Ever (& MM Twice Baked Potatoes)

I've been on a roasting binge lately, I love roasting anything and I usually am very satisfied with the outcomes. But this amazingly simple chicken roasting recipe has blown every other roasting recipe I've ever tried or come up with out of the water!

The only thing about this recipe is that you keep it simple, there is no stuffing of the chicken or putting veggies in the pan to roast with the chicken. I know, this kinda sucks if you're looking for a one pot meal, but really, the outcome is so worth making a side dish of veggies instead!


So to add a veggie I decided to make twice baked potatoes along side my chicken. And for greens, sauteed green beans. Topped off with a bottle of wine and I'm so in hog heaven right now:-)

The chicken recipe may sound a bit complicated on the original recipe website but really it isn't. I made a 3lb'r in the oven, placing the baking dish alongside a baking pan containing my cleaned russet potatoes. Bake them each for the same amount of time and you can end there for an even simpler menu than what I made (although the second part of my potatoes only took an few extra minutes).

The most complicated part to cook was the green beans and only cuz I blanched them first. But even then, their total cook time was about 6 mins!

This meal was amazing, all so easy to make, and a huge hit. I only wish I doubled up on the green beans cuz those went super fast! nom nom...


Roast Chicken
Serves 4

3-4 lb Whole Chicken
Salt, Pepper & Thyme
3 Tsp Kosher (Flake) Salt

-Rinse thoroughly and clean the Chicken.
-Pat dry with Paper Towels making sure to drain as much liquid as possible.
-Salt & Pepper the cavity of the Chicken.
-Truss the Chicken with twine (in a pinch you can use tooth picks to secure legs & wings to body of the bird)
-Place in baking dish and sprinkle with Kosher Salt.
-Bake at 450 for 55 mins.
-Take out of oven and sprinkle with Thyme then baste with juices & let rest for 15 mins, basting a couple of more times during this resting.

MM Twice Baked Potatoes
Serves 4

4 Medium-Large Russet Potatoes
1-2 Tbsp Butter (Unsalted)
3-4 Tbsp Yogurt (I used Greek Style Honey Flavored)
Salt, White Pepper (to taste)
Paprika & Chives (for garnish)

-Clean & scrub the Potatoes then place on baking pan and bake @ 450 for 55 mins.
-Remove from oven and cool about 10-15 mins.
-Reduce oven heat to 350.
-Make a slice cut lengthwise into the potatoes then scoop out potato meat into a bowl.
-Add Butter, Yogurt, Salt & White Pepper to potato and mash.
-Re-stuff potato shells with the mix and bake @ 350 for 20 mins.
-Garnish with Paprika & Chives.

Spicy Green Bean Saute
Serves 4
1 1/2 C (10oz) Haricorts Verts (Green Beans)
2 Qt Water
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Jalapeno (sliced)
1 1/2 Tsp Crushed Garlic
1 Tbsp Shallots (sliced)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

-Bring a pot with 2 quarts Water to boil then add the Haricort Verts and cook for 2 mins. (If using American Green Beans, cook for 3-4 mins)
-In a saute pan, heat Olive Oil, Jalapeno, Garlic, Shallots and S&P over med-high heat.
-Strain the Green Beans (I use silicone tongs) and immediately toss into the saute pot and saute, stirring (with tongs), for about 4 mins.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

NRW 9: Olive Chicken

New Recipe Week 9: Olive Chicken with Creamy Polenta

Another Allrecipes.com chicken dish, this one was a hit, although I did make some changes that I believe improved the simplicity of this dish.

Loved how easy it was to make and always a fan of one pot dishes. I served this with my favorite creamy polenta and a side salad to round off this yummy & easy meal.

Olive Chicken
Serves 2

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Crushed Garlic
1/2 Lemon (Juiced)
1/2 Tsp Thyme
2 Chicken Breasts
2 Slices Prosciutto
10 Spanish Olives

-Preheat oven to 350. 
-Heat Oil in an oven-safe pan over medium heat. 
-Stir in Garlic, Lemon Juice, and Thyme.
-Add in Chicken and brown 3 to 5 minutes per side.
-Top with Prosciutto & Olives then move pan into the oven and bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes.