Apple Crisp

Abe and Jimi love apple pie.  It's their only requested dessert.  Sometimes I don't have the time (or desire) to make pie dough, so I will whip out an apple crisp instead.  It always hits the spot.  It also works really well when I have company... who isn't impressed by a warm dessert being pulled out of the oven?

I got this recipe from Allrecipes.com (along with the photo).

Serve with ice cream. Enjoy!

Apple Crisp
Serves 12

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).
2. Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3. Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

 

Yummy smooth and creamy soup...... who doesn't love that?  This is a favorite with Abe and me (Jimi, on the other hand, doesn't even want to try it- More soup for us!) and it's great on a fall night.  Heck, it's good anytime.

Very few ingredients are needed, so it's something you can make whenever you see butternut squash on sale.  Be careful with the clove..... too much will kill the soup.

Serve with fresh crusty bread and a leafy green salad.

I got this from Allrecipes.com (where I got the picture from too).

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds peeled and seeded butternut squash , cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large onion, cut into large dice
1 tablespoon butter
1 pinch sugar
3 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
1 1/2 cups half-and-half (or whole milk)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep saute pan until shimmering.

2.  Add butternut squash, then onion; saute, stirring very little at first, then more frequently, until squash start to turn golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to low and add butter, sugar and garlic; continue cooking until all vegetables are a rich spotty caramel color, about 10 minutes longer.

4. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cayenne pepper; continue to saute until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.

5. Add broth; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes.

6.  Using an immersion blender or traditional blender, puree until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (If using a traditional blender, vent it either by removing the lid's pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid.  Drape the blender canister with a kitchen towel. To 'clean' the canister, pour in a little half-and-half, blend briefly, then add to the soup.)

7. Return to pan (or a soup pot); add enough half-and-half so the mixture is souplike, yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through, ladle into bowls, garnish and serve.

Tilapia with Mustard Cream Sauce

A quick and easy way to make tilapia.   You can substitute spinach or tomatoes for the mushrooms.  Any white fish (or even chicken!) can substitute the tilapia.

I got this from CookingLight.com (pic is from there too since I forgot to take a picture before Abe dug in).

I served it with white rice and buttered spaghetti squash.

Enjoy!


Tilapia with Mustard Cream Sauce
Serves 4

4  (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
1/2  teaspoon  chopped fresh thyme
1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  salt
Cooking spray
3/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
6  ounce  portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
2  tablespoons  whipping cream
2  tablespoons  Dijon mustard

Sprinkle fish with thyme, pepper, and salt. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fish; cook 1 minute on each side. Add broth, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook, uncovered, 1 minute or until mushrooms are tender. Remove fish from pan; keep warm.

Add cream and mustard to pan; stir with a whisk until well combined. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Serve sauce over fish.

Pad Thai

 

I love Thai.  Spicy, tangy, noodles... what's not to like?   It's pretty simple to make, so you can have a great Thai dish whenever you want it!

This recipe is the vegetarian version; the real version has fish sauce in it.  You can add chicken or tofu to it if you want to get a little protein in it.

It's spicy, so if you don't care for the spice, decrease the amount of chili sauce or omit it completely.  You can find mung sprouts in the produce section with the Asian noodles.

Make sure the noodles soak long enough to be white.  If they seem like they aren't soft enough after adding to the wok, add a teaspoon of water to let them soften a bit more.  The noodles should be el dente, but not hard.

I got this from The Big Book of Vegetarian.

Enjoy!

Pad Thai
Serves 4

8 ounces dried rice noodles
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons tamari or reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 to 2 teaspoon hot chile sauce
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoon peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger (bottled fresh is ok)
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into narrow strips
8 to 10 green onions, halved lengthwise and then cut into 2-inch lengths
1 cup mung bean sprouts
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1 egg, scrambled (optional)
1 lime, sliced (optional)

In a large bowl, soak the rice noodles in warm water to cover until limp and white, about 25-30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, tamari, brown sugar, chile sauce and 1 tablespoon water.

In a wok or deep skillet over high heat, heat the oil.  Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds.  Add the carrot and green onions and stir-fry for 1 minute.  Stir in the lime juice-tamari mixture.

Drain the noodles and add to the wok, tossing with tongs until softened and curled, about 1 minute.  Add the sprouts and toss to mix.  Divide the mixture among 4 serving plates, sprinkle with peanuts and garnish with cilantro, egg and slices of lime, if desired.

Beer Battered Fish

Today was the first day of Lent and to bring it in with a bang, I made Abe beer battered fish.  I'm not big on frying foods, but he's been asking for this for a while.  So I gave it a go.   And with much success!

I would suggest using either peanut oil or vegetable oil for this recipe, as olive oil doesn't get hot enough to fry without smoking terribly.  Plus, I think you need the clean taste that the lighter oils give you.

The recipe calls for using a dutch oven, but if you're like me and can't quite swallow paying $100+ for one (I can dream though), a large frying pan works just as well.  And if you have a Fry Daddy, you're even more golden.

Serve this recipe with french fries or oven fries, with lemon wedges and tarter sauce.

I got this recipe from FoodNetwork.com.

Beer Battered Fish
Serves 4 (or 2 hungry people)

1 (12-ounce) bottle beer
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds cod fillets, skinned with bones removed, and fish cut diagonally into 1-inch-wide strips (5 to 6-inches long)

In a large bowl, pour in 1 bottle of beer. Sift 1 1/2 cups flour into the bowl, whisking in gently until just combined, stir in House Seasoning. Pat fish dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper and coat the fish in the beer batter. Dredge the pieces of fish in 1/2 cup of remaining flour and slide into oil as coated. Fry fish, turning over frequently, until deep golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in oven. Fry remaining fish in batches, returning oil to 375 degrees F between batches.

Enjoy!

Butter Chicken (Chicken Tikka Masala)

I finally ventured over to a website that's been pretty hot lately on my message board and with some friends.... The Pioneer Woman.  Apparently, it's a blog created by a woman who is both an excellent cook and a great photographer.  All while staying at home with her kids and homeschooling them.  Shoot, I'm lucky if I get a load of laundry in the wash and dinner on the table. 

This recipe was raved on my parenting board, so I thought I'd make it for Abe before he gives up meat for lent (yes, there will be a ton of fish and vegetarian recipes coming in the next month).  He LOVED it.   I'm surprised he didn't lick the plate.

It's super simple to make, too.  I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.

As mentioned, I got this from PioneerWoman.com.

Butter Chicken (Chicken Tikka Masala)
Serves 4

4 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Black Pepper
½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
¼ teaspoons Ground Coriander
¼ teaspoons Cumin
¼ teaspoons Cardamom
1 whole Lime, Juiced
1 whole Onion, Diced
¼ cups Butter
1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce
1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 pint Whipping Cream
1 bunch Chopped Cilantro, to taste
2 cups Basmati Rice (or However Much You Want)

Combine first 9 ingredients and marinate overnight.
Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add the whipping cream (or light cream or half-and-half) and cilantro just before serving over rice.

 Enjoy!

Cuban Picadillo Sandwich (Cuban Sloppy Joes)

This was a bit of a departure from recipes that I normally pick out for Abe because of the raisins and olives.  But I'm glad I did.  Murmurs of "MmmmmmM!" were uttered throughout his 3 (three!) sandwiches.

This recipe originally called for ground pork, but I had trouble finding that in the store, so I went with ground turkey.  The raisins and olives play off of each other, while the pumpkin pie spice gives it depth of flavor.

I found this recipe on CookingLight.com.

Enjoy!

Cuban Picadillo Sandwiches (Cuban Sloppy Joes)


1 1/2  cups  chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1  teaspoon  minced garlic
1  pound  lean ground pork
1/2  cup  golden raisins
1  tablespoon  chili powder
2  tablespoons  red wine vinegar
1  teaspoon  pumpkin pie spice
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1  (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4  cup  sliced pimiento-stuffed green olives
8  (1 1/2-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted

Cook onion, garlic, and pork in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain and return mixture to pan. Stir in raisins and next 5 ingredients (through tomatoes). Reduce heat, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in olives. Spread about 2/3 cup picadillo mixture on bottom half of each bun; cover with top half of bun.