Rhubarb Jam

So.... I got another batch of rhubarb picked and it was another hefty load!  Yay!!  I'm going to do something fancy with some of it, but thought since I had so much, I'd make jam out of it.  I have this thing with jams and butters - - I DO so enjoy making butters and jams!!

Super easy... for the most part.  (Note: I'm not canning this... just making it to use it right away.)

Add 5 cups of chopped rhubarb to a large pot on stove.

Next add 2 cups of white sugar.

Then add 3/4 cup of orange juice & turn onto med/high heat.

Keep an eye on it -- bring it to a boil then let simmer for a long time.
The rhubarb will become soft and start falling apart - - yay!!
I let my simmer for close to 3 hours, stirring it quite a bit from time to time,
then put it aside and let it cool.  

Once it's completely cooled, I put it in a jar.

I also put some on toast and ate it with my boys - - it's a bit sweet and sour, it was wonderful!!!

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto

Oh my gosh I love pesto!  I never did much research on it, so never really understood why it always came in such a tiny jar, but cost so much.  Well, I also love roasted peppers, so decided to make roasted red pepper pesto.... and thus had to do my research.  WOW - are pine nuts expensive!!  Now it makes sense.

However, while doing my research, I realized that many recipes have alternative nuts... almonds, cashews (also expensive), walnuts.  Pretty much saw all the nuts, except peanuts..... Shoot!  I needed an excuse to buy those glass jars of peanuts that my grandpa used to eat ~ I love salted peanuts!  Anyhoo - - I settled on combining a few recipes that called for almonds - and my budget was happy.

In this endeavor, I also learned how to roast my own peppers.  Yay me!!  Here's how I did it....

1) Cut, seed, gut 3 red bell peppers....  laid them skin side up on a pizza pan. (Apparently was supposed to use a cookie sheet - however I do not have one, as I am HORRIBLE at making cookies, so I don't buy cookie sheets.  hehehe.)

2) Placed the peppers about 8 inches from the top of my oven, & put my setting to broil.  Let them broil roughly 15-18 minutes, until they were a bit soft and charred, and smelling delicious.

3) Put them all in a ziplock bag and let them steam for about 10 minutes.  After.... this is what I had....

Now.... time to make my pesto!!.... 

INGREDIENTS:

3 roasted bell peppers

1 pkg of fresh basil

1/4 C slivered almonds (I used just a bit more than this, maybe)

1 tsp minced garlic

1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese (or in my house.... "shaky cheese")

S & P to taste

Squirt or 2 of oil (to get things moving)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Place all ingredients (except oil.... for now) in my Ninja food processor.

2) Blend while slowly adding the oil, to get things moving.  

It's that easy and delicious!!  

Well.... I had a reason for making this pesto - I wanted to make a fancy (dare I say, gourmet) sandwich for supper tonight.  In the end - I'd say it was a complete success!! 

IN THE SANDWICH:

French loaf - cut diagonal & toasted with garlic butter & parsley

Crispy bacon strips

Italian marinated then grilled chicken breast strips

Hefty layer of spinach leaves

Mild Cheddar cheese slices

 Top & bottom insides of sandwich smothered in my red pepper pesto

..... Then all of it in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese and heat through.  

I'm SO proud of this sandwich.... I'll pat myself on the back for this one.

YUMMY!!!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

There's something quite annoying yet entertaining about Guy Fieri.  I like him, but he does bug the mess out of me sometimes.  My oldest boy and I can sit for hours, watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on any normal day.  Today, however, I saw him on another show - Big Bite, where he made a Swiss Chard & Artichoke dip.  I thought that looked amazing and wanted to replicate it, however my grocery store did not cooperate.  So I was forced to make a few alterations, yet it still turned out wonderful!! 

INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the baking dish
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 slices thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, diced
8 cups (lightly packed) roughly chopped spinach
One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, roughly chopped
1/4 cup fire-roasted tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus extra for topping
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tortilla chips, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bacon and cook until crispy and browned, another 5 minutes.

Add the spinach and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the artichoke hearts and tomatoes and heat through, 1 minute.

In a deep pot, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking, until golden, 2 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium and slowly pour in the milk while whisking; cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the sauce to the spinach mixture.

Stir in the ricotta, cream cheese, mozzarella and Parmesan. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

Sprinkle with some grated Parmesan and bake until golden brown and bubbly, 20 minutes. Serve warm with tortilla chips for dipping.

~ ~ 

I would have liked to use the swiss chard that Guy suggests but it was nowhere to be found in my little town.  Sad face.  So spinach was the best call replacement.  It turned out great!!  Even my picky eaters ate it! 

Hope you like it, as well! 

Rhubarb Custard Cake

I have about eight mounds of rhubarb in my garden (which is otherwise pretty scarce due to the horrible weather here in South Dakota!) and I've noticed it's screaming at me to be picked.  I went out and got a little over 10 cups of rhubarb picked.... still leaving much more to enjoy later!  (I'm a newbie when it comes to growing/picking rhubarb... these just happen to come with the house we've recently moved into.  Yay me!)

So I decided to spend quite a while on Pinterest with a specific search in mind - this time.  Rhubarb recipes!!  I could make the same 'ol cake I already know how to make, but I thought I'd change things up a bit, since I know I'll have more opportunities to make wonderfulness later.  I came across this wonderful custard type cake.... made a few alterations and it turned out amazing!!! 

INGREDIENTS:

1 box cake mix - vanilla flavor (and all necessary items to make cake)

sprinkles of nutmeg

roughly 3 C of chopped rhubarb

1 1/2 C sugar 

2 C of vanilla coffee creamer

DIRECTIONS:

1) Make cake according to instructions and sprinkle a bit of nutmeg into the batter.  

2) Pour into greased cake pan... I wanted them to be more bar-ish than thick cake-ish, so I split my batter into a normal sized cake pan and a smaller size brownie pan.  That way, I would have more rhubarb-to-cake ratio - - tartness is wonderful!

3) Mix together the chopped rhubarb and all the sugar.... let sit for a moment, then pour over the batter.  Do not mix or stir into the batter.  Just plop it on top.

4)  Carefully pour the creamer on top of the rhubarb.  Again, do not mix or stir... just let it sit.

5)  Bake 'cake' according to the box instructions... when a toothpick comes out clean, it's done, like always.  

** The rhubarb and cream will form a custard-like yumminess and sink to the bottom... the cake bakes to the top and comes away from the sides of the pan.  So don't expect it to look exactly like your normal cake will, when it comes out of the oven.  

My boys ate this up!!  It's not too sweet or sugary like some desserts turn out to be - - and the rhubarb gives it just enough tartness to make you happy!!  

YUM!! 

Enjoy!

Mango Chutney

I've got to do another shout out to this wonderful website for authentic Trinidadian food!!!  My oldest son had a school project where he had to pick a country & do a presentation.  They also had to have at least 100 servings of authentic food.... so of course that means the moms all had homework to do, as well.

Because of our close friend being from Trinidad and readily available for assistance on my son's project, he chose Trinidad.  (Sadly, a lot of people in his class has never even heard of it.  Oh, my.)  He did the work - I did the cooking.  I used the same website that I've mentioned before:  http://www.cookingwithria.com/p/meal-ideas.html

I made mango chutney, with the croissants as the pholourie and small servings of fig punch (banana/peanut butter).  Thankful for the punch, because I may have overdone the peppers in the chutney and it was a bit spicy!  However, many parents and kids came back for seconds, many teachers asked for the recipes and everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation as a whole!!  Yay!

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

I've been in a rut lately, making the same thing, same thing, same thing.  So I went to the grocery store to stock up on the same thing, same thing.... and came across 'mini potato gnocchi'.  I thought.... anything with the word 'mini' in it just sounds adorable!  Plus I've seen gnocchi used many times on all my favorite cooking shows, so I figured - "I must buy this!"

I got home.... and it sits in my cupboard for almost 2 weeks before I decide to research on google and pinterest about this stuff called gnocchi.  I found some interesting and complicated recipes and some recipes on how to make homemade gnocchi.  Since it was cold, drizzling rain and miserable outside I thought a soup would be wonderful.  I then came across this recipe for duplicating Olive Gardens Chicken Gnocchi Soup.

http://passthesushi.com/quick-dinner-fixins-olive-garden-chicken-gnocchi-soup/

I had all the stuff to make it - I made a few alterations to it and it turned out wonderful!!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chicken breasts, diced and cooked 
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 quart half and half 
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
• 1 Cup of white wine
• 1/2 cup celery, sliced
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cups fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• sprinkles of ground nutmeg
• sprinkles of paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 16 ounce package of mini potato gnocchi

Directions:

In a large stockpot, saute the onion, celery and garlic in the butter and olive oil. When the onion is clear, add the flour and form a roux. Stir and cook a minute. Add the half and half . Meanwhile in another pan, cook the gnocchi. Add the carrots and chicken to the stockpot. Stir often and when it gets thicker, add the chicken broth, white wine, gnocchi, spinach and seasonings. Cover and heat through.


I made garlic cheese bread with a discounted Italian loaf I got from a local bakery, for 70 CENTS!!  

Oh, blurry photos are such a pity!!

Wow, this was an amazing soup and turned out great for a first time recipe.... with this little thing called gnocchi.

Trinidad Food

So... it's holiday season and our good friend is from Trinidad.  He is so far from home, missing his family and their food.  We have him over for supper time to time and he keeps talking about how wonderful trini food is, so I thought I'd do my research and see what I could find.  I actually came across quite a few yummy looking recipes websites - so I decided to invite our friend over for another supper and surprise him.

I will say - - I did NOT deviate from any of the recipes, because I had no clue what I was doing, and I wanted it to be authentic as possible.  So here's the website where I got all the recipes.  I've tried a few other of her recipes, as well, they are wonderful!!!

http://www.cookingwithria.com/

Here is the plate of food I made.  It ALL turned out absolutely wonderful!!

On the plate: 

Jasmine Rice (on bottom)

Callaloo (green stuff)

Stewed Chicken (on top)

With... Macaroni pie (This was MY FAVORITE!!)

I also made (but didn't get a picture of....)

Mango Chutney (with bits of croissants to act as a pholourie) 

Sawine for dessert - - super yum!!

Fig punch to drink (in Trinidad they call banana's figs, who knew?)

Again... I got all of the recipes from that wonderful lady, in the link I shared above.  I suggest you use that page if you want authentic recipes, because our friend almost cried when we handed over a plate of trinidadian food.  He said, "Just like my mom makes....."  That almost made me cry!!!