Tag Archives: everything but the kitchen sink

the fall kitchen

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applebutterWhat is cooking in your fall kitchen?  I have been asking people what they are cooking with and Chef Angela Carlino of Carlino’s in West Chester said to me “I love butternut squash, turnips and sweet potatoes.”

shrimp ricottaI am right there with her.  You can do so much with all of those.  I used fresh turnips from the East Goshen Farmers’ Market in a recent soup. And sweet potatoes I love whenever I can get them and they are versatile…like pumpkin is too.

pork tenderloinPumpkin and sweet potatoes aren’t just for desserts and can be in soups, in a main course becoming things like pumpkin and sweet potato gnocchi (with a brown butter sage sauce – yum!), and baked to perfection. And making butternut squash soup is another favorite of mine as well.  I have been working on reducing the calories in it by using plain Greek Yogurt and buttermilk instead of cream and crème fraiche.

Isoup have a cinnamon sweet bread recipe I have been tweaking and once I bake it and like it, will post the recipe.

I have not only made pickled beets, but a small batch of the most delicious apple butter ever.

Dinners have been rustic pasta dishes potatoes and mushroomswith homemade sauce and pasta.  I have been experimenting with pastas that have ricotta cheese and whole wheat flour in them with great success. And yes, my own recipes and I do have to write more down. The problem is I learned how to make pasta from feel. I know when the dough feels right…until that point it is a little of this, a dash of that.pasta

Dinners have also been marinated pork tenderloins roasted to perfection served with a mushroom, white wine, and apple reduction. Or traditional old-fashioned pot roasts and roasted chicken.  The roasted chickens have then become things like zesty chicken chili loaded with spice.

Pumpkin bread has returned and other fun things like sweet biscuits on weekend mornings.

I love to cook and every season offers you fun! What are you cooking?

just cooking along…chili and some other fun

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So today was a pretty cool day.  Today my frittata recipe which is being featured in The Epicurious Cookbook being released this October landed me on the front page of Epicurious.com, and while it doesn’t make me Julie Powell or Amanda Hesser or Ina Garten or Martie Duncan or Julia Child, my oh my it is still very cool to me :<}

Epicurious Cookbook Spotlight: Carla Joy Zambelli and  Marsha Klein

by Carolina  Santos-Neves
on 09/12/12 at 11:00 AM

Read More  

Sooooooo….in the kitchen sink of it all, I have another recipe to post.  Easy as pie.  Make ahead and freeze, or make and eat the same day.  And in case you are wondering why so many recipes end up as the kitchen sink of it all, it is simple: a lot of my recipes evolved out of what was fresh and in my kitchen needing to be used.

Kitchen Sink Chili 

2 ears of corn – take kernels off the cob

1 onion (nice large and preferably sweet or red) chopped

2 LARGE cloves of garlic, minced

2 ribs of celery, minced

2 diced or chopped red bell peppers or red sweet peppers (sometimes they are long and red, not bell)

2 teaspoons each rough chopped: fresh basil, oregano, cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Jayshree Chili Powder (start with 2 tablespoons)

1 packet of Sazón Goya

1 teaspoon mild or sweet paprika (Spanish)

1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika (Spanish)

1/4 teaspoon Chipolte chili powder

1 package ground turkey (28 oz)

3/4 lb. of beef round boneless chipped beef for a stir fry – chopped up small

1 15.5 oz can Goya small red kidney beans

1 15.5 oz can Goya black beans

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes in puree (I like Red Pack or Tuttorosso)

1 15 oz can of Kuner’s of Colorado Southwestern Chili Tomatoes (or tomatoes of the same size can that have Mexican or Italian spices)

1 6 oz can tomato paste

Cook onion, garlic, celery in a Dutch Oven with canola oil ( a few tablespoons – like 5)- to this add chipolte powder, Sazón Goya, paprikas, salt.

Cook over medium to low heat until translucent.

Add red peppers and corn.  Cook about 5 to 7 minutes then add beef.  Cook about 8 minutes more.  Add ground turkey and cook through – keep everything moving in the pan so it doesn’t stick – medium heat, incidentally.

When turkey cooks through add beans (which have been DRAINED of can liquids).  Blend in.

Add tomatoes.

Add tomato paste.

Add chili powder and herbs.  Allow to come up to almost a boil and then reduce to a low simmer.  Check and stir periodically to keep from sticking to bottom of pan.  Taste a couple of times as well to adjust for seasoning – in case you wish to add more chili powder or salt and pepper.

Serve with your favorite chili extras…..chips, sour cream, shredded jack/cheddar, and so on…..

Enjoy!

not your mama’s pasta salad

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When it is hot, even I don’t want to cook as much.  So today I was feeling like pasta salad, but I wanted something different from spiral pasta or say, tortellini.  I opened the freezer and grabbed a bag of mini ravioli.  Why not?  If you can make a tortellini salad, why not use mini ravioli?

So I created a vinaigrette and added a bit of fresh lemon juice, some mustard and a couple of tablespoons of mayonnaise and whisked it together.  If you wanted to you could use a store-bought salad dressing.  I would suggest if that was the case, an  Italian or Caesar or Balsamic vinaigrette.

I cooked the mini ravioli to the minimum of cooking time as per the package.  I drained them and put them in a bowl to cool.

In another bowl I took a Vidalia onion, cucumber, a couple of tomatoes, fresh green beans blanched and chopped, half a jar of roasted peppers chopped up, fresh herbs (parsley, basil, and dill), a cup or so of chick peas (“ceci”), and a small jalapeno pepper (seeded, cored, and diced), tossed it in the dressing, and then gently folded in the cooled mini ravioli.

I adjusted for salt and pepper, et voila!  Not your mama’s pasta salad.

I may toss some fresh crumbled queso fresco on it when I serve it. Or I might just leave it as it.  I love queso fresco.

*Important to note is to NOT overmix this or the ravioli will literally rupture.  Do NOT over dress this or the ravioli will fall apart from that too.

I think it tastes pretty good!

Hmmm I just realized about a year ago, Conde Nast contacted me to use another one of my everything but the  kitchen sink recipes in a cookbook being published in the Fall of 2012.  I need to follow up about that – I do not even know what the cookbook is to be called…..