Tomato Vodka Sauce

Mmmmm.....I love tomato vodka sauce.  This recipe is super easy and so much better than jarred store-bought sauce.  It has a great flavor, and I have used it for the past couple of years whenever I need tomato vodka sauce.  The recipe makes quite a bit of sauce so I would recommend using half of it when you make it and freeze the other half for a later time.  This time, I served the sauce with gnocchi, but you could use this with any pasta. 

You can easily add some sauteed shrimp or cooked italian sausage with this sauce for a heartier meal, and you can change up the ingredients to fit your own tastes.  The original recipe called for canned diced tomatoes, which you can use if you like a chunky sauce.  I kind of prefer my tomato vodka sauce to be smooth and creamy so that's why I used canned tomato sauce (or you could also use canned crushed tomatoes).

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 T. minced garlic
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or a little more if you like your sauce spicy)
salt and pepper to taste
gnocchi or pasta and parmesan cheese for serving

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt better with oil; add onion and saute for around 6-8 minutes or until transparent.  Add the minced garlic and saute for about 2 more minutes.

2. Add tomato sauce and cook for about 15-20 minutes; stir frequently.

3.  Increase heat and add cream, vodka and red pepper flakes; boil for 2 minutes or until thickened to sauce consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve with cooked gnocchi or your favorite pasta, and add some parmesan cheese for extra flavor :)

Source:  Slightly adapted from allrecipes

Island Spice Pork Tenderloin

Before trying this recipe, my opinion on pork tenderloin was, ehhh.....it's okay.  This recipe totally changed my outlook...this is now by far by new favorite pork tenderloin recipe!  The sweet and spicy combination of the rub and glaze add an amazing flavor to the pork. 

This is casual and easy enough for a weeknight meal at home, but it's also impressive and tasty enough to serve to company.  This one's a keeper (and I've made it several times)!  I know that the USDA says to cook pork to 160 degrees, but don't believe them....They also say to cook steak to 145 degrees which is a sin (medium-rare is around 130 degrees)!  By serving your pork tenderloin at around 150ish (pork is actually safe once it reaches 137), you will ensure that you have a juicy flavorful meat instead of a dried out tenderloin.

Ingredients:

For the spice rub:
2 tsp. kosher salt (I used coarse sea salt)
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 pork tenderloins, about 2-2½ lbs. total (I just made 1 pork tenderloin that was a little less than 2 lbs.)
2 tbsp. olive oil

For the glaze:
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp. (2-3 cloves) finely minced garlic
1½ tsp. Tabasco sauce (Sriracha sauce would also be good here!)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Stir together the spice rub ingredients in a small bowl.  Rub the mixture over the pork tenderloin.

Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Place the tenderloin in the skillet and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, about 4 minutes total.  Remove from the heat, leaving the pork in the skillet.

Stir together the brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl until blended.  Spread the mixture evenly over the tops of the tenderloin.

Place the skillet in the preheated oven and roast about 20 -30 minutes (depending on the size of your tenderloin) or until an instant-read themometer inserted in the center of each tenderloin registers 145˚ F. Loosely tent the skillet with foil and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving (After letting the pork tenderloin rest, mine was right over 150 degrees which was perfect...Don't cook your pork tenderloin to 180 like they told you to do in the old days or it will be dried out!).

I served this island spice pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and a spinach apple salad.  What a great meal!

Source:  Found on Annie's Eats, Originally from The Gourmet Cookbook

Chorizo & Shrimp Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Although I don't find myself watching the Food Network as much as I used to, I still search a lot on their website to find more recipes that I want to try.  I don't know why I'm constantly looking for new recipes because I already have a giant categorized spreadsheet with about 300 recipes that are in my queue to try, but I am always adding more!

This Guy Fieri recipe caught my eye because (1) I had never made stuffed peppers before, (2) I love chorizo, and (3) I liked the idea to use poblanos instead of the typical bell pepper.  These turned out very tasty, and they look really pretty too! 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil
1/2 pound Mexican-style chorizo
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 small red onion, diced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
1 cup short-grain rice
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper, to taste
4 large, fresh poblano chiles
1 pound shrimp, deveined, shelled, and tail removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup Cheddar, shredded
3/4 cup Jack cheese, shredded
sour cream, salsa, and cilantro (for serving, optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place poblano chiles on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Once cool, cut top 1/4 of chile off and remove ribs and seeds.

Meanwhile, heat oil and chorizo in a large saucepan and cook for 3 minutes. Add bell pepper, jalapeno, onions and garlic. Cook until translucent, then add rice and cook until all the grains of the rice are coated with oil. Add all liquids and stir over high heat for 3 minutes, cover and reduce heat to low. Check rice for doneness after 20 minutes.

When rice has finished cooking, season to taste with salt and pepper (Taste the stuff and season it until it tastes good....you don't want this to be bland!).  Fluff the rice with a fork and stir in shrimp. Stuff chiles evenly with the rice mixture. Place all the chiles on a baking sheet and place into oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, mix cheeses together and cover each pepper with cheese. Broil for 3 minutes to melt and brown the cheese.  I served these topped with a little bit of sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.

Source:  Guy Fieri

BBQ Chicken Pineapple Quesadillas

These delicious quesadillas have been making their way on to a ton of food blogs that I read and are becoming hugely popular!  When I first saw this recipe, I immediately knew I had to add it to my weekly menu.  I was intrigued by the combination of pineapple, BBQ chicken, and cheese....and it is definitely a winning combination.  We loved this recipe, and I'm glad I made extras because now I have some waiting in the freezer for when I'm feeling too lazy to cook.

I will make just a couple of small changes for the next time I make these (and there will for sure be a next time).  First, I will cut the bbq chicken and pineapple into smaller pieces so that I can get a little more filling into each quesadilla.  Here is how big I cut mine up this time (which is actually a tad bit smaller than Pioneer Woman's chicken and pineapple, but I still want them even smaller):

Also, I chose to chop up the jalapenos into a small dice because I didn't think I would want to bite into a big jalapeno piece.....but I think by doing this I lost the jalapeno flavor so next time I will just slice the jalapeno and leave them in big circles and see what that tastes like. 

These quesadillas require some cooked chicken breasts and grilled pineapple.  You can either make these right before assembling the quesadillas or use leftovers.  What I would recommend doing is making some grilled pineapple to go with your dinner the night before and then using the leftovers in these quesadillas.

Ingredients:

8 flour tortillas
butter or EVOO to grease the pan
2 cups grilled pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked (grilled or baked works well) and chopped into small chunks
3 cups monterrey jack cheese, grated
2 jalapenos, sliced
cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce (in our house, it is Sweet Baby Ray's)
salsa, for serving (we used salsa verde because I'm obsessed with it right now)
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Toss the cooked chicken chunks with warm BBQ sauce to coat.
Assemble quesadillas:  Sprinkle half of each tortilla with grated Monterey Jack.  Arrange chicken chunks evenly over the cheese. Add pineapple chunks and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on cilantro. If desired, drizzle extra barbecue sauce over the top.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat and add butter or EVOO.  For each quesadilla, add to the hot pan for about a minute.  Fold over and finish cooking until both sides are browned and the cheese is melted.  Keep the quesadillas in a 200 degree oven to keep warm while you are cooking the rest.

When ready to serve, cut each quesadilla into three wedges. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Source:  Slightly adapted from Pioneer Woman Cooks

Tilapia with Mango Salsa

If you have looked at a decent amount of recipes on my blog, you know that I don't always cook things that are super healthy because....well, I like things to taste good!  I always get really disappointed when I try a new healthy recipe that looks really good, but ends up just being okay. 

Unfortunately, as I'm getting older, my metabolism just isn't what is used to be.  I used to be able to eat whatever unhealthy food I wanted without gaining a pound.....but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can't do that anymore.  Don't get me wrong, I will never be a health freak when it comes to eating because I love good food too much, but I am definitely learning to eat those not-so-healthy dishes in moderation.

Recently, I finished my student teaching in a 2nd grade classroom.  After I finished, I noticed that my clothes seemed a little bit looser so I got on the scale to see if I had lost any weight.....I was stunned to see that I actually lost close to 15 pounds!  Being on my feet all day and cutting back on the snack foods definitely was a good thing for me.  I decided that this was the jump start I needed to stay in shape :)  If I lose just 10 more pounds I'll be back at my end-of-high-school weight, but I'll be happy with just losing 5 more pounds and maintaining it.

That being said, I decided to seek out a few more healthy recipes.  Even though I love shellfish, I'm not much of a fish person.  I will definitely eat it, but it's not like I would ever order fish over shellfish at a seafood restaurant.  I decided to give this recipe a try, and I'm really glad I did!  We loved it, and it was super light.  I absolutely love mango, and the mango salsa paired great with the tilapia.  We added a salad, and this was definitely a pretty healthy weekday meal.  I actually made only 2 tilapia fillets, but I kept everything else in the recipe the same.

Ingredients:

4 tilapia fillets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
salt and pepper to taste
crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Salsa:
1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado - peeled, pitted and diced
2 roma tomatoes - seeded and chopped
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used coarse sea salt...that's all I keep in the house these days)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.)

2. In a shallow baking dish, combine the olive oil, orange zest, orange juice, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Rinse the fish fillets and pat them dry. Place them into the baking dish and turn to coat with the seasonings.  Let marinate for about 15-20 minutes.

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until fish can be flaked with a fork.

4. While the fish cooks, combine the mango, onion, avocado, tomatoes, lime zest and juice, jalapeno, ginger, cilantro and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a glass bowl. Stir to blend and set aside at room temperature until fish has finished cooking. Place fillets on a platter and spoon the salsa over them to serve.

Source:  Adapted from allrecipes

Celebrating the 2010 Holidays

So I know that this post is a little bit overdue, but better late than never...right?  Do you like our beautiful Christmas tree in the above picture?  Anyway, Kevin and I spent last Christmas in Chicago with his family so this year we packed up and went to Kansas City for Christmas.  We of course drove the 8+ hour drive instead of flying so that we could bring our dog, Windy, with us :) 

I was excited because I love cooking and entertaining, and my mom let me take the lead on planning the Christmas Eve cocktail party with her side of the family.  I spent the day before prepping so that I didn't have to work too hard on Christmas Eve, and I have to say that everything turned out great, and we had a blast!  We served heavy appetizers, drinks, and dessert.  I'll post some of these recipes on the blog later on, but here's a look at what we had on the menu: 

First up - fruit salsa with cinnamon chips.....so good, and I will totally be making this again for future parties.

I also wanted a whole tray of bite sized appetizers that would be easy for people to just grab and eat.  Sorry about the bad picture quality below, but this tray featured the following appetizers:  The top plate had brie tartlets (half with a yummy grape mixture and half with apple butter), the middle plate was crabbies (love these, and they're so easy to make ahead of time), and the bottom plate was goat cheese tartlets (half with apple butter and half with marinara).

The next dish was my sister, Kristen's, appetizer:  Jalapeno Popper Dip.  I've made this one before but haven't blogged about it yet, but I will soon because it is so freaking good!  This one definitely went fast.

I wanted some kind of heavier appetizer so I decided to make some mini sandwich sliders.  I made a combination of ham and swiss sliders and roast beef and cheddar sliders.  This is another recipe that I will add to the blog soon because it is great for parties.  You might not think you need an actual recipe for these, but trust me....the sauce that they are brushed with totally make these sliders fantastic!  These are also great because you can prepare them ahead of time (which I did the night before) and just bake for about 10 minutes when you're ready to serve them.

What is a party without homemade chips and salsa?  I even took the time to fry up these tortilla chips myself because they are so much better than store bought!

Another yummy appetizer I made was loaded twice baked red potatoes.  Who can resist a mixture of potatoes, butter, sour cream, bacon, and cheese?

I think I make this spinach artichoke dip for almost every party I host because I'm obsessed with it.

Next up, hogs in a blanket!  Just like pigs in a blanket, but better :)

Of course, no cocktail party is complete without plenty of beer and wine :)

Plus some party punch for extra fun!

For dessert, I made mini eggnog cheesecakes.  I wish I had gotten a better picture of these, but oh well.  These were fantastic....I love doing individually portioned desserts like mini cheesecakes or cupcakes so that you don't have to cut out pieces for everyone.

I also made a few bite sized sweets, and my mom make some of my Grandma Jean's Italian cookies (which I somehow didn't get any pictures of).

Next up....Christmas Day!  We had a low key meal with my Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Frank.  We had our traditional Christmas Day meal, which is prime rib......yum!  Since I had done all the cooking for Christmas Eve, my mom and dad did all of the Christmas Day cooking.  We had au jus and a horseradish cream sauce to go with the prime rib.

One of our sides was twice baked potatoes (which is probably my favorite side dish of all times).

We also had Lana's Salad with the meal (which is my favorite holiday salad).

Of course you can't have a good meal without some buttery rolls to go on the side!

We also traditionally get a loaf of povitica, which is a sweet Croatian bread (really tasty, but I've never actually made one myself.....I hear it's quite a lot of work).

Afterwards, we spent a little time by the piano for a family sing-along :)  My dad's side of the family is very musically gifted (unfortunately, I didn't inherit the gift....).  My Grandpa can play just about every instrument I can think of (I even volunteered him to play the banjo in one of my elementary school musicals when I was a kid), and he is a fantastic guitar player.  He is well-known for playing the steel guitar, and he has even played at the Grand Ole Opry.....so neat!

My dad has always been able to play the piano by ear.  When we get him and my Grandpa to play together, it's always a lot of fun!  I have a short video clip of them playing a German song together that I wanted to share :)  PS....for the record, there is someone singing in the background of the video that doesn't quite know the words, but it is NOT me haha!

For New Year's Eve, we had king crab legs and twice baked potatoes.  If I had to pick a last meal, it would for sure be king crab legs!  When Kevin and I eat it for dinner, I always buy at least 2 pounds, but I usually buy 3 pounds to be safe because both of us love it so much.  SOOOOO GOOD!

We definitely had a great Christmas/New Years in 2010, and I'm looking forward to the next holiday season.  We will be in Chicago for Christmas Eve next year for a fun holiday celebration with Kevin's family, and then we're heading to Costa Rica from Christmas Day to New Years Day with my side of the family (thanks Mom and Dad)!  I'm super pumped about it :)

Thai Mussels

If you love mussels like I do, you need to try this recipe now!  I love making mussels mariniere, but this time I wanted to find a recipe with a more unique flavor.  I found a recipe for thai mussels on allrecipes so I decided to give it a shot.  I had never cooked with thai red curry paste before so I was crossing my fingers that we would actually like the flavor of this....and we loved it!  Next time I buy mussels, I'm going to use this recipe again because I've been craving it for awhile.

When Kevin and I have mussels for a main course, I usually try to buy about 2 pounds of mussels....but since my grocery store still wasn't selling mussels, I had 2 options:  1 - Buy 2 pounds of mussels from Whole Foods for about $12....or 2 - Buy a 5 pound bag of mussels from Costco for around $10.  Well, I decided to go with the Costco option so we had way more mussels than we could eat, but we certainly ate as much as we could!  The recipe calls for 5 pounds, but you can definitely cut it down.  I would probably just cut the mussels down and keep the broth the same so that you have a ton of dipping sauce to soak up with some bread.

Ingredients:

5 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded (rinse the mussels to clean, but don't soak in water or they might die before you cook them....I learned this the hard way awhile ago)
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (use real limes - much better than bottled juice!)
1 (13.5 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup dry white wine (I use savignon blanc, but use what you have on hand)
1 1/2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (I probably used about 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 cups chopped fresh cilantro (1 used 1 small bunch....about a cup or a cup and a half)
loaf of crusty bread for dipping :)

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, combine the lime juice, coconut milk, wine, curry paste, garlic, fish sauce and sugar. Stir to dissolve sugar and curry paste and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 2 minutes then add mussels. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until mussels are opened, 5 to 8 minutes.

2. Remove from the heat and discard any unopened mussels. Pour mussels and liquid into a serving dish and toss with cilantro.

Source:  Allrecipes