Tomato Feta Salad

Someone brought this salad to our ward Christmas party, and I tried going back for thirds but unfortunately, everyone else had discovered it's deliciousness as well and there was nothing left in the bowl. I knew I should have taken more the second time I went back, but I was trying to be polite.

I tracked down who brought the salad so I could get the recipe, because it's a recipe that I'd love to have on hand. Come to find out, it's just from Ina Garten of the Food Network. You can find the link here.




Ingredients
4 pints grape tomatoes, red or mixed colors
1 1/2 cups small-diced red onion (2 onions)
1/4 cup good white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 1/2 pounds feta cheese

Directions
Cut the tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Add the onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley and toss well. Dice the feta in 1/2 to 3/4-inch cubes, crumbling it as little as possible. Gently fold it into the salad and serve at room temperature. 

Cranberry Apple Bread Stuffing

Recipe from here

And another one I thought you all might like. I'm not even a huge stuffing lover, but this sounds delicious:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1 large apple, cored and chopped
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1 package (8 ounces) corn bread stuffing
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons water
1 egg, slightly beaten

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add onion, apple, and celery; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce temperature to low; add cranberries and cook an additional 5 minutes. In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients; stir in cranberry mixture. Place stuffing in Crown Roast cavity during last hour of cooking time. Remaining stuffing can be baked in a lightly greased covered casserole dish for about 45 minutes.

Makes about 4 cups stuffing

I was going to add the nutritional information, too, but, it's the holidays, and is that really needed this time of year? You can find it on the link if you're THAT interested.

Roasted Beets and Carrots

I was just about to take a nap, when I decided to quickly browse a free magazine I got at the grocery store yesterday. It had a picture of the most delicious looking cheesecake on the cover, which should have been the first sign that there would be no "quickly" browsing of said magazine once it was opened. And of course, I kept texting Brittany pictures of all of the goodness I was finding inside, adding items to our thanksgiving feast.

 I haven't tried this yet. All I know is it looks amazing, and I needed to write this recipe down before something tragic happens, like I loose the magazine, and all of the recipes contained inside. This magazine is mouth watering...and it's just the grocery stores own magazine for the holidays.

 On with the recipe:

3 medium red beets
1 pound carrots, cut diagonally
1/4 inch thing Olive oil no-stick cooking spray
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp course salt Freshly ground black pepper
2 TBSP white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
2 TBSP minced shallot
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey

Peel and trim beets; cut in half from stem to root. Place cut-side down; slice 1/2 inch thing. Place beets and carrots in single layer on foil-lined jellyroll pan. Lightly coat with cooking spray and season with sugar, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Roast in 450 degree oven stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender; about 20-25 minutes.

In small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients; toss with hot vegetables. Makes 6 servings.

Sounds good, right? I mean, who doesn't love vegetables that are so sweet they state like candy, but ironically are totally healthy for you?

San Francisco Style Bread

My sister-in-law, Sue, called me on Saturday and said, that we needed to try this recipe for San Francisco style bread which has only four ingredients. She stated that the crust has just the right texture. 

This is one recipe that you'll need to plan ahead to make if you want to have it with your meal because it takes 8 - 18 hours for the bread to raise.   

So, here's what I did, right before I went to bed (and I'm not telling how late it was but before midnight),  I mixed-up the batter and left it on my counter to raise.  I woke-up around 6:30 a.m., turned the oven on and placed my little roaster pan in the over to heat up. 

While the oven heated up, I put the dough onto a pile of flour and kneaded it a little.  Once the oven was hot, I took the roaster pan out and placed a pre-cut piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the roaster. Then I carefully lifted the dough and placed it into the hot pan.  I put the lid onto the pan and placed the roaster back into the over. Thirty minutes later, I removed the lid and let the bread bake for an additional 15 minutes.  My oven cooks a little hot so I think about 12 minutes would have been perfect.  

By the time I left for work this morning, my house smelled wonderful and look how this bread turned out!  I broke off a few of the crusty top pieces and nibbled on it hot and oh my goodness, it was so so good.  Do you think my husband will notice that a few of it's pieces are missing?

So excited to have with with our dinner tonight.  I'm wondering if I used buttermilk, would the bread have a sour flavor?  I'm going to try that next.  I'll keep you posted on the results.

Update: I substituted buttermilk for 1 1/4 cups of the water.  I dissolved the yeast in 1/4 cup of water and the bread was even closer to the SF flavor.

Deluxe Mud Pie

Ingredients:                                                                            Time to prepare:  15 minutes 
Ice cream - Cookie Dough, soften about 5-10 minutes
Cookies - Fudge Stripes, crushed
1/3 cup of butter
Skor bar or English Toffee - crushed in the package
1 can of whipping cream

1. Crush the cookies right into the pie pan.  
2. Melt  butter and stir into the crumbs.
3. Add one carton of ice cream
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer over night.
5. Cut into serving pieces
6. Top with whipping cream
7. Sprinkle on the candy bar pieces
8. Enjoy!

Preston & Amy are enjoying their Deluxe Mud Pie!  Will you like some too? 

Eggplant Tomato Sauce

When Isaac and I were in Bethlehem, we had lunch in the main square (called Manager Square) right outside the Church of the Nativity. It was Arabic food and it was amazing. My lunch came with a delicious eggplant-tomato sauce to pour over my chicken and couscous. When we got home, I tried to find a similar recipe. I tried out the below recipe, and while it didn't taste near as legit as the Bethlehem experience, it was still pretty good. If any of you like eggplant, then you'll enjoy this dish too. Now, if only we had fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice...

The eggplant-tomato sauce is in the upper right corner in a bowl. Oh my, was it delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

5 pounds ripe plum tomatoes (I used a large can of tomatoes, both crushed and stewed)
3½ pounds firm eggplants
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups onions, finely chopped
¼ cup garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon dried peperoncino, or to taste (I have no idea what this is, and therefore did not use)
4 sprigs fresh basil with leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare the tomatoes for sauce.  (since I had no idea what "prepare" meant... I stuck with canned tomatoes)

Trim and peel the eggplants. Cut them lengthwise in 3/4-inch wide slices, stack the slices and cut them into 3/4-inch wide strips, then chop into 3/4-inch chunks.

Stir together the oil, the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the saucepan. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, add the garlic and let it caramelize it in a hot spot, then stir in a couple tablespoons of water and cook the onions and garlic together for a minute or two.

Now pour the eggplant pieces into the pan, sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt, and turn to coat the pieces with the oil and sautéed onion and garlic. Cook over low-medium heat, uncovered, stirring and turning the eggplant frequently. If the pan gets dry and the pieces start to brown, stir in several spoons of water; lower the heat if needed.

Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the eggplant chunks are very soft, almost mushy, but still retain their shape. Pour in the prepared tomatoes and juices, rinse the tomato bowl with 2 or 3 cups water and pour it into the pan (the eggplant needs the additional liquid). Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the peperoncino and stir to blend everything together. Submerge the basil branches in the sauce, cover the pan and raise the heat to medium.

When the sauce reaches the boil, lower the heat to keep an active simmer and cook, covered, for 40 minutes or so. The eggplant should now be broken down and melting into the tomatoes.

Uncover the pan and let the sauce bubble gently and gradually reduce. Stir carefully as it thickens, to make sure the eggplant doesn't stick to the pan bottom, lower the heat if necessary. Cook uncovered for a total of 45 minutes to an hour, until the sauce has the consistency you like, and then turn off the heat. Pull out the basil before using, and store in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer, in a properly filled and sealed container, through the winter.

Chili Relleno Casserole

I made these for dinner tonight, and they were really delicious. I suppose it's easy to please just two people, but Isaac had never had chili relleno's before, and these babies made a big impression. He stated twice, "These are good." Yes, twice. And he even went back for seconds. I was also watching him from the reflection in our living room window as he made his way to the kitchen to drop off his dish, and watched him sneak a few more bites. So, there you have it. It was pretty simple to make too. I served it with Mexican rice. If I would have had refried beans to dish up with it, I could have closed my eyes and thought I was eating a meal at El Farol. 


Chili Relleno Casserole 

l lg. can whole green chilis*

l lb. each shredded cheddar and Jack cheese
3 eggs
3 T. flour
l 5 oz. can evaporated milk
l regular size can tomato sauce**

DIRECTIONS: Rinse chilis, remove seeds, slice them open so they lay flat and drain on a paper towel. Make 3 layers of chilis and cheese in a square baking dish (or use more chili's and use an 8x11 pan). Mix flour and milk together with a wisk. Beat the eggs separately and add to milk mixture. Pour over layered chili and cheese and bake at 350 for 30 min. Remove from oven and add another thin layer of cheese and drizzle the tomato sauce over that. Return to oven for 10 min.

*Had a hard time finding a large can of these, so instead ended up buying three (should have bought four) small cans. They are right next to the small cans of diced chiles (and look just like the small can of chilis, except they say "whole" on the can instead of "diced), if that helps you locate them easier at the grocery store.

**I added the sauce to the blender with 1/2 a can of diced tomatoes (that I already had in our fridge) to make it more tomatoey, and added a dash of olive oil, a teaspoon of minced garlic and a shake of salt.