Thursday, August 19, 2010

Everyday Food, everyday yum!

I have still been cooking from my Everyday Food cookbooks. They are really hooking us up. I have been very very pleased with how every recipe has come out. Full of flavor and healthy. We love the meals so far. I plan on continuing to cook from them from now on. Why not? It hasn't let us down once.
Jason's mom was in town for the weekend and I made Shittake Fried Rice and Lucy helped me make a Nectarine Upside-Down Cake that was delightful. The recipe for the cake can be found below as it has not been posted online yet. That one actually came from my September issue of the magazine Everyday Food. The fried rice was delicious. I used brown rice instead of basmati rice. It turned out really delicious and very healthy.

Nectarine Upside-down Cake
Adapted from Everyday Food 9/10

10 T unsalted butter divided into 6 and 4 T
1/2 c dark brown sugar
4 cups fresh or frozen nectarines chopped into bite size pieces and dabbed dry of juices
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking pwd
1/2 t coarse salt
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

Preheat your oven to 325 and place four tablespoons of butter into a 9" pan. Melt the butter in the pan in the warmed oven. Remove and sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Then add your nectarines spreading evenly over the brown sugar.
In a mixing bowl combine the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and 3/4 c sugar. After creamed add the two eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking pwd. Whisk to combine. In alternate additions add the greek yogurt and dry ingredients. After combined drop into large globs over the nectarines in the pan. Carefully spread over the fruit and bake for one hour and ten minutes. Cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the edges and turn pan over onto a serving plate. Enoy!
This cake was so good. You could easily do it with any other stone fruit. I used fresh nectarines in mine and it turned out lovely.

The next dish that I made was Pasta with Roasted Summer Vegetables and Basil. This was an excellent dish. I have to say I did not have enough basil so that really hurt it, but looking back I could have easily added a little pesto. This was a delicious dish and the veggie to pasta ratio was great because it was about even. Nothing drives me nuts more than pasta with a little something in it. I don't want a plate of noodles for crying out loud. This was loaded with veggies. We loved it.
Last night I made a dish that really just made me scream literally. It was so, so good. Everyone loved it. I will be making it again for sure and Jason made sure to let me know I needed to as well. I try so many new things I forget about the good ones we have had. Moo Shu Pork served on tortillas with a little Hoisin sauce. Heaven, I mean pure heaven. I couldn't find the recipe online but I will add it later. Times it limited in these last few days of my cooking freedom as Miles with soon be joining us and this will all come to a sad stand still. I shall cook again, just not sure when. Enjoy!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

More yumminess.


Again, another recipe from Everyday Food. And once again divine. I could eat this dish again and again. It was a bit time consuming but not difficult at all. I would highly recommend this dish. It's healthy and flavorful and fairly inexpensive. Barley Risotto with Corn and Basil. It was creamy and rich. I loved it. I served it with a little side salad and there you have it. A healthy, delicious meal. Give it a try for sure.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Yummy


Tonight I made another recipe from my Everyday Food cookbook. It was delightful. Hit the spot. Just what I needed. It was healthy and flavorful. Bean, Corn and Tortilla Salad. I used Montery Jack cheese instead of Pepperjack just to make sure it wasn't too strong for Lucy. I actually ended up making my own salsa from the same book as well for the salad instead of buying it. It can end up being cheaper and it just tastes that much better. The salsa was Yellow Tomato Salsa Verde. I used red tomatoes because yellow weren't available at my market. It was so good. I ended up drizzling it onto my salad as well to give it some more moisture. This salad was a great salad. I would highly recommend making this salad. It's super easy and inexpensive. I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Totally yummy breakfast


I know I post a lot of recipes by Ellie Krieger but hey, she is amazing and has never disappointed. I recently was given her So Easy cookbook by my awesome husband who knows I love her. All of her dishes are super healthy because she is a dietitian. I have never made anything very complicated for breakfast so I decided to go for something really great. Blueberry almond french toast bake. I must say it was super super easy and produced an amazing breakfast and what later became our dinner. This was an excellent dish. When I first made it I thought what am I doing, this will never get eaten, it made so much. But at the end of this glorious day there are two small helpings left that will be eating in the morning. It would be a great dish to make for company and I know we plan on making it again at the end of this month when we bring home our little baby boy. I look forward to that. Well, both things.