Butternut Squash Lasagna, two ways!

Okay, yum! I've already made this about three times and for the most recent adventure I used sweet potatoes instead of squash and super yum!! 

This recipe originated from a bridal shower I attended earlier in the year and once I tried it I HAD to make it! My parents came to visit soon after and it was a perfect lunch - and they are honest guinea pigs.  The backbone of the recipe is from Giada (host of Everyday Italian on the Food Network).  Her Butternut Squash Lasagna is delicious and combine a host of some of my favorite flavors.
An advantage to trying this recipe is that I've never cooked with squash before, it's not a huge hit in our house and I've never had a reason to go through the process of peeling, seeding & chopping - it's quite the chore!

Once you have diced the squash (or sweet potatoes) follow the directions in the recipe and consider using cracked black pepper and sea salt for the flavor.  It really goes a long way.  Once you have sautéed the veggies and mashed them all up the recipe calls for a crumbled cookie...a cookie that I couldn't find in the grocery store.  A good substitute: Stella Doro cookies with an almond flavor, it does the trick!  I forgot this step when I made it the last time and honestly, with sweet potatoes, you don't need it.

While the sweet potatoes and/or squash is sautéing consider starting your basil-cream sauce. So yum!  I bought a basil plant for this as it was past season for my basil plants outside.  If you're local to the Seacoast area I recommend using Olivia's Garden Basil, it has a great peppery flavor and will last a decent amount of time in your kitchen - away from moisture.
It's important to follow proportions when making a sauce that involves butter, flour and milk!  BTW, if you find yourself nearly out of milk, you can easily substitute your coffee's half & half to make up the difference, it actually makes a thicker sauce.

When blending the basil into your sauce, if you have a hand-held blender I highly suggest it (this one is similar to the one we have).  This way you can avoid having to dirty up another appliance and it's more efficient.
Be sure to use fresh mozzarella with this recipe, it really makes a difference in flavor and the moisture helps with the no-boil lasagna noodles (I love these!).  When you remove the foil for the last 15 minute bake, add some freshly shredded (not grated) parmesan cheese, it makes a nice crust and presentation on the top of the lasagna.  This would be a great meal for after Thanksgiving when you're sick of turkey but still in the mood for some fall flavors!
Last but not least, Enjoy! 

Honey, I shrunk the cupcakes...

Mini-cupcakes, absolutely one of my favorite things.  I've been working on fairly decadent cupcakes recently and I find that it might be best for all involved if I make them smaller.  Plus, they are just so much cuter!

Because I had been going a little crazy with the cupcake baking - and I don't like to waste anything - I had some extra Raspberry Triple Cream Frosting, enough ingredients to make Lemon Drop Frosting, and an extreme need to figure out how to make Orange Chocolate Frosting after making a batch of the Orange Chocolate Scones.

Once again I used cream cheese as my base for this frosting.  I wasn't sure at first but it provided a nice tang and compliment to the orange flavor.  Simply a combination of powdered sugar, dutch cocoa (I prefer Ghirardelli), butter, cream cheese, milk & orange juice.
Chocolate sprinkles add a nice touch and texture to these cupcakes!

I changed the Lemon Drop frosting a bit and added lemon zest to enhance the lemon flavor!  These cupcakes were a last minute treat for a girls night in...basically, a baking friend is a good friend.

Raspberry Triple Cream Cupcakes

Okay, well yum.  Really the only way to describe these cupcakes.  I made these cupcakes for a bridal shower and I went raspberry because it just seemed so delicate and pretty! Everything a bridal shower should be...bridal shower, not bachelorette ;)

It didn't hurt that raspberries were on sale at my favorite local spot either!  Here is a recipe similar to what I did.  As you may know by now, I use cream cheese as a base for most of my frostings, I really like the way it holds shape and provides a tangy background.  Basically, these cupcakes were dubbed triple cream because they include, butter and a double-dose of cream cheese, uh Yum!

So this is what happens when you are delinquent on your blog...you can't remember the recipe! I'm pretty sure I chicken scratched it down somewhere whilst in the middle of creating some of the best cupcakes ever - I mean truly some of the best frosting I have made to date.
I do remember that I used a cake box mix due to the lack of flour in the house at the time.  I have since gone through my trusty supply of boxed cake mix and now I ONLY bake from scratch using King Arthur Flour.  If I'm going to perfect my recipes the only way to do it is from the basics. 
Frosting: cream cheese, butter, pwd. sugar, and a raspberry goodness of some kind or another.  Experiment on your own, but make sure to add powder sugar slowly and by the cup-full, you'll end up fighting for the right consistency and flavor if you're not careful.


I'm still getting a hang of just how much batter to put in my cupcake pans - it really seems different with each kind of cake!  You can see with the photo on the left that there is a slight brown to the top of the cupcake, that comes from the cupcake overflowing onto the top of the pan and cooking at a higher temp.  My current ice cream scoop is not an exact science because it tends to build up batter under the scraping mechanism, making it difficult to continue with exact proportions in the pan.  Come to think of it, I have a small and a large scoop, it might be time to try another size.  


Basically the vanilla cake and decadent frosting are an excellent pair.  I'm a sucker for garnishes, plus I had extra raspberries.... :)

Enjoy!

Really?

How could it be this long since I posted in the blog?  I admit that two jobs and another show this fall has proven to be extremely taxing!  Here and there I have been trying new recipes but my husband and I find ourselves just trying to stay fed during the week.  Several favorites have popped up and occasionally I'll try a new cupcake recipe for good measure but documenting has taken a back seat.  
So here's another promise to make some serious updates to the blog! I hope you're still reading, trying and enjoying.


I am thinking about having some regular contributors to the blog from those that read, follow and enjoy to create.  If you're interested let me know.


See you soon! :)

Wrapping up the summer...

Hello everyone, time to wrap up the summer.  I'm not that upset about it, I get really excited for pumpkin flavored anything, new cupcakes recipes to try and soups! We enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day here in New Hampshire, but it's getting cold enough outside that my basil plant is about ready to give it up.  I hate to see the flowers go so the only solution to partial-summer-blues is to have bruschetta for dinner! It's lite but the bread helps to fill you up so you don't go looking for Oreos and milk after dinner - unless your my SH, then there's not stopping that obsession....so, bruschetta!  

I highly suggest using a soft but crusty Italian bread, not toasted, with extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.  The harder crust keeps the bread from collapsing and the soft center will easily hold the topping.  Sometimes, we also pull out some of the bread to create a "crater" to keep the topping in place.  
For two people, you'll need about 3-4 roma tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped.

We are basil fiends, so I chopped up about 15 leaves.  I rolled the leaves then sliced the leaves julienne.  Mix together the tomatoes, basil, garlic powder [I use garlic powder instead of crushed garlic cloves because the powder distributes much better....your friends will appreciate it too], some s/p and a little more olive oil.  

Pile the topping on your bread and sprinkle with some freshly grated parmesan cheese.  

Now it's time for the balsamic syrup.  I believe I have mentioned in other posts that we really enjoy a balsamic glaze for this recipe as opposed to regular balsamic dressing.  It's slightly thicker and the flavor is bolder.

Yum! This is one of our favorite, last- minute recipes.  Working at a bread bakery certainly has expanded this treat...use super fresh bread the next time you try this, the warm, soft bread will make a big difference!  Enjoy!

Hey hey hey!

Hello everyone! I haven't forgotten about you!  For a while there we were eating sandwiches & breakfast for dinner because of our busy schedules [aka: I was too tired & it was too hot to experiment in the kitchen].
It eventually cooled down for about a week and here's what I'll be blogging for you soon. From the savory category:

Fresh bruschetta with warm, crusty Italian Bread

Giada's Butternut Squash Lasagna

Homemade white pizza dough with basil, tomato & fresh mozzarella 

Pork burgers with caramelized onions and a barbecue marmelade

The sweet category:

Raspberry Triple Cream Cupcakes

Lemon, Raspberry & Chocolate-Orange mini-cupcakes

Another shot at the Snicker's Cupcakes
Chocolate Cake, Homemade Caramel filling & Peanut ButterCream Frosting

Garlic Lime Chicken Kabobs

Limes are in abundance at our house this summer.  We buy them by the bag and they've shown up in Blueberry Lime Muffincakes, marinades, a cocktail or two...ya know, the usual.  I just love the flavor, I even prefer a slice of lime or two with my ginger ale.  This marinade was so easy and made for a delicious, lower calorie meal.  We opted to stay away from hot dogs and hamburgers this past Memorial Day/4th of July/any grilling adventure and made our own marinade with garlic, lime and various spices.

Ingredients:
2-3 Lime juice, a couple
Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Garlic Powder - I use powder when I make a marinade because it's more likely to equally distribute amongst the chicken, peppers than crushed garlic.
S/P
Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 cu of vegetable or olive oil
1.5 lbs of chicken

[3] Bell Peppers

[1] Lg. Onion

Directions:
1. Soak skewers in water for about 25-30 minutes
2. Mix first [5] ingredients then whisk in oil 
3. Chop peppers and onions into large pieces; use kitchen shears to cut chicken breasts/tenders into medium size pieces.
4. Submerge vegetables and chicken in marinade, toss and let sit in fridge anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight.

5. Skewer chicken & peppers in any way you like.  Leave room at the top and bottom of the skewer to handle while on the grill and eating.

6.  Grill skewers 3-4 minutes per side - grilling time depends on how large you cut your chicken.  With chicken, you want to make sure the juices run clear and is no longer pink in the center.

7.  Squeeze fresh lime juice over the skewers when they come off the girl and either eat them on a long roll, over salad or by themselves, it's all good!

8.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Ravioli "Lasagna"

Another Yum!  We're on a Rachel Ray kick this past week and here's another good one.  Vegetable Ravioli "Lasagna" - super yummy and a plus that it has asparagus, a good spring/summer veggie.  This is from Rachel Ray, 30-Minute Meals 2 in the Family-Style Suppers.  I don't always find that the portion sizes always match the recipe and this is another case, it says 4-6 servings...more like 8.

Recipe Notes:
*This recipe is also in Rachel Rays, 2,4,6,8 Great Meals for Couples or Crowds - one difference, no asparagus.

• 4-6 cloves of garlic finely chopped crushed
• 2 cans [15 oz each] quartered artichokes in water, drained well & finely chopped, really break up the pieces and chop them throughly.
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 large package [24 - 28 oz] fresh well, yes fresh would be lovely too, but you can certainly use frozen ravioli if it's more convenient for you...with your favorite filling.  
• 1 lb thins asparagus spears, trimmed of rough ends, cut on an angle into 2 inch very small pieces.  It's inconvenient to have large pieces of asparagus amongst the other medium sized pieces in the "lasagna."
• 4  or 2 cups shredded sharp provolone cheese - sharp provolone is a great flavor, look for it!
• See note below regarding final cooking instructions

Here's the first layer of ravioli, I like the circular pieces, despite my usual preference for square.  Notice the large pile of provolone in the corner...yum!  

Here's the second layer of spinach, artichokes and asparagus.  You can see I followed the recipe this time and kept the asparagus 2"...this is why I have the above note, smaller pieces would be best here.  The sauce didn't thicken as much as I'm used to when using a flour & butter base, but it's perfect the way it is since you're finishing the casserole in the oven.

Here's the final layer with the sauce covering the entire dish, ready and waiting for the cheese!  I used a larger casserole dish but I recommend using a deeper, oval dish, I'll do the same the next time I make this.

Ready for the oven! The recipe calls to broil the dish, but it's better to: Brown in broiler Bake @ 350deg. about 15 minutes, until cheese is golden and "lasagna" is heated through.  

This lasted for days!  It was so yummy too.  It looks the best on the first day but tastes the better the second day - as it works with most casseroles.  What's great about that is you can prepare the day ahead, cool completely, store in an airtight container until ready to serve.  About an hour before serving, let stand at room temperature so you don't place a cold dish in a hot oven and warm in the oven until heated through - about a 250 - 300 deg. oven until gently bubbling. Enjoy!

Lobstah!

Just a quick little note about lobster...it's summer, we've got soft shells and sweet, juicy meat!  A nice piece of corn on the cob, hefty bowl of lemon-butter and a large napkin.  I'm all set!

 Here's a quick dessert - or breakfast treat - depending on your mood.  Simply puff pastry filled with nutella [or any jelly/jam you desire] rolled and baked until golden brown and puffy!  Sprinkle with sugar right out of the oven and you've got a lovely, little treat.

Fridge Raid

Sometimes I find that I just don't want to slave over a meal in the middle of the summer,  it's just too darn hot & toasty.  I admit that this usually happens on a Sunday afternoon which is the perfect time for a fridge/cabinet raid!

Let's see, what do we have here:
Homemade Guacamole - Crackers - Mini Italian Loaf, sliced - Sharp Provolone - Mozzarella - Sliced Tomato with Balsamic Syrup - Heluva Good Dip.
We had a cocktail in the kitchen as I put it all together and followed by a leisurely supper outside.  We were plenty full and I was happy to use up these items in the fridge.  Consider having hors d'oeuvres for dinner, snack lightly, sneak in a few vegetables and you'll have less clean-up and post dinner regrets! Enjoy!

Shrimp & Lemon Pasta

Yum!  I might be over-doing it with lemon recipes in this house, but so far no complaints.  We were in the mood for some lite pasta and I had just bought some shrimp, just happened to have some lemons hanging around and everything else is always in my cabinets.  This recipe is fast, flavorful and really simple.  

Ingredients:
12-14 medium size shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails on
1-2 cups of all purpose flour
Garlic Salt - you can also use powdered garlic & sea salt
2 Tbsp. of Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. of Butter - unsalted
.5 lb. of Angel Hair pasta - really you can use whatever you prefer but the angel hair really has a nice texture with the shrimp
1/4 cup of white wine
Juice of 1-2 lemons - depends on how much lemon you want!
2 Tbsp. of Butter
Chopped fresh Parsley, to taste
Grated Parmesan Cheese


Prep:
Juice lemons
Chop parsley
Measure out ingredients and place on counter/workspace


1.  Boil salted water and cook your pasta according to package directions
2.  Mix together flour & garlic salt; dredge all of the shrimp in the flour mixture. I advise    that you do this all at once and leave shrimp in the flour mixture, you can easily pick the shrimp out to batch fry - shrimp cooks so quickly you don't want to be distracted.
3.  Heat Olive oil & butter over medium heat in a large skillet.
4.  Cook the shrimp over medium heat, 2-3 minutes per side, until shrimp is no longer translucent and heated through.
5.  Transfer shrimp to a plate
6.  Remove any overly dark pieces from the pan, pour in the white wine, lemon juice and butter to lift drippings.  Heat to a slow boil, reduce heat to simmer until mixture has thickened and reduced.  Remove from heat and toss the shrimp in the sauce.
7.  Drain pasta, toss with olive oil, fresh, chopped parsley. Serve a portion on a plate.
8.  Divide the shrimp among the portions and pour the sauce over each serving. Top with parmesan cheese if desired
9.  Enjoy!

Fontina, Olive & Roasted Red Pepper Paninis

Yum! These were so good and easy!  This is also from Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meal cookbook, 2,4,6,8 Great Meals for Couples & Crowds.  

We perused the meals before our last grocery trip and liked the looks of this recipe a lot, except kalamata olives, I switched them with black olives.  Also, we found Portuguese rolls at the bakery and they were the perfect size and shape.  You'll likely find fontina near the gouda, in your grocer's cheese section.

Slice the bread an set aside. Drain the olives, use sharp scissors to finely dice the parsley and slice up the roasted red pepper to manageable pieces.

Once you have a manageable pile, chop the ingredients together until it's evenly distributed in the mixture.  Slice the fontina cheese - or shred, must be cool right from the fridge for this - and brush a little olive oil on your flat-top surface.  If you don't have a flat-top, simply heat one panini at a time in a frying pan.  If you have a panini press, good for you! use that. 

These paninis were so yummy!  I used our cast iron pan to weigh down the sandwiches, I moved the top slices slightly so things were a bit off...but it didn't hurt the flavor.  We made them again for lunch the next day and I paid a little closer attention to the weight distribution and it made for a slightly neater sandwich.  Enjoy!

Portobello Mushroom Caesar Salad

We like salad year 'round, but it can get a little monotonous, even when you make your own dressing.  Rachel Ray has a recipe for Sliced Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sorta-Caesar Salad in her 30-Minute Meal cookbook, 2,4,6,8 Great Meals for Couples & Crowds and we really liked it! It is an easy, lite, fresh summer recipe.  You can add some protein if need be, I recommend grilling some chicken and squeezing fresh lemon juice over the fully cooked pieces.  Slice up and serve overtop the salad.

This time, I bought baby bella caps instead of the larger size, I find they cook up a little faster.  I removed the stems and sliced a small section of the mushroom off to allow it to lay nice and flat in the pan.

Follow the recipe for the cook time on the mushrooms and shortly thereafter, sprinkle some grill seasoning on each side of the mushrooms and saute for a few minutes longer.  We used Meat Magic which gave it a nice, savory flavor. 

I had planned to use semonlina rolls for the chunks of bread in the salad but I forgot them! So quick, plan B included some tortillas instead.  

I sliced up some tortillas, melted some butter and tossed them in the pan until golden.  Toss with a little s/p and parmesan cheese and you're good to go!

Toss with the dressed and then add the rest of the ingredients.

So good! RR suggested using anchovy paste and I wouldn't go without it.  You can use canned anchovies and finely chop and stir into the dressing.  You should be able to find the paste in the same aisle as tuna.  Enjoy!

Celebrating Independence Day!

We had a lovely weekend!  The weather has been beautiful, the food was great and Monday was a vacation day!
Saturday we spent the day in Boston for Harborfest, we walked all over the city, enjoyed an amazing lunch in the North End at Damianos and dessert & cappuccino at Cafe Vittoria.  Right before we headed back home we watched a skirmish between the militia and red coats...want me to tell you how it ended ;) Enjoy some photos of the day!

On Monday we tried to have a lovely picnic at our favorite park but lightning sent us home pretty quickly!  Instead we grilled back home and enjoyed some delicious Garlic Lime Chicken Kabobs. Recipe to follow soon! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Enjoy!