Spinach, Chard and Ricotta Tortellini

http://homecooking.about.com/od/pastarecipes/r/blpasta51.htm

http://www.annamariavolpi.com/ravioli.html


http://www.bigoven.com/recipe/11813/ravioli-with-spinach-and-ricotta-filling

Ratatouille

Ratatouille
Adapted from here

1 onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp chopped garlic
3 cups tomato sauce
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large eggplant
3 zucchini
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
4 potatoes
fresh thyme
Salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Pour tomato into the bottom of a glass 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the garlic and onion into the sauce, stir in one tbsp of olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Slice the vegetables using a mandoline, approximately 1/16-inch thick. Arrange slices of vegetables in rows in the baking dish, alternating vegetables. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the vegetables and season with thyme, salt, and pepper

Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes, until vegetables cooked, but not totally limp.

The Mister's Birthday Meal

D is a simple man. He likes what he likes, dislikes what he doesn't, and has clear lines drawn between the two. He isn't overly excitable and he hardly ever gets mad. He wants very little, and what he does want, he gets. I love him for these qualities, but it sure does make his birthday tough :)

Speaking of birthdays, he recently celebrated his 25th. Between his job being crazy, the new house, life, etc we were pretty busy, but I made sure I had time to make him his birthday meal. Its the same every year - baked ziti for dinner, dirt dessert after. The key to a good baked ziti is a good sauce and this year I was able to make the sauce using tomatoes and herbs from our garden! Needless to say, it tasted better than last year.

Baked Ziti

My momma's recipe

For the sauce:
1 onion
3 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 tbsp garlic
a whole bunch of tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
red wine
salt and pepper
oregano
basil
1 lb ground beef, cooked
turkey sausage, to taste, cooked

Chop the aromatics and saute in olive oil in a large pot - I used my dutch oven. When the carrots are starting to soften add garlic and half of the chopped tomatoes. Cook until carrots are soft and tomatoes are bursting.

Remove from heat. Let cool, then puree in blender. Return the puree to low heat and add tomato paste, wine, and water as needed to get to a saucy consistency. Add remaining chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs; add meats. Let simmer for as long as possible to let flavors meld.

For the ziti:
2 boxes ziti, cooked
Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese

Combine cooked ziti and sauce in a large, oven safe pan. Stir in a few handfuls of cheese. Top with extra sauce and extra cheese. Bake until pasta is warm throughout, and cheese is melty and bubbly. Serve.

Madeira-ish Chicken

I have a problem.

I spend a good amount of my free time searching for new recipes. I read blogs, cookbooks, and magazines. I try to recreate dishes I've had at friends houses and restaurants. And I just don't think I'm capable of following a recipe.

No matter how yummy a dish looks, or how foolproof the recipe, I want to change it. I want to play around with the spices, omit ingredients, made additions. No matter if I'm cooking dinner or - gasp! - baking a cake I just can't help but mess around with it. But maybe that's the beautiful thing about cooking - that anyone can take any recipe and make it their own. What's a recipe, anyway, besides an idea with some instructions?

This recipe was the second in my dutch oven. Can you tell I love my dutch oven? I really do. I love that I can saute the chicken, then the onions, then make the sauce, then put it all together. Then put it in all the oven. Beautiful. The only one more excited than me is my resident dishwasher.


Madeira-ish Chicken


Adapted from here, adapted from Williams-Sonoma

6 chicken thighs, fat cut off
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 lb. sliced carrots
1/2 cup white wine
1 1/2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme

Season the chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper. In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil on med-high heat and brown the chicken on both sides. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion into the pan juices and saute until barely softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the wine and Worcestershire sauce.

Return the chicken to the pan, nestle it in between the mushrooms and onions, cover and braise on medium-low heat until cooked through, 20 minutes. Once the chicken is done, put the pan into a pre-heated oven, uncovered, and broil for 5 minutes to re-crisp the skin. Adjust the seasoning in the sauce, stir in chopped thyme and serve.

Baked Falafel

When the Mister and I lived in New York City one of our favorite things was choosing a neighborhood to explore. After taking the train over, we could wander for hours up and down the streets, in and out of the shops, just enjoying the city.

Of course, we worked up an appetite on these long walks, and just as much as the neighborhoods we loved sampling the local food. One of our favorite things to eat was falafel, and there are hundreds of options in NYC.

When we moved to LA we missed the falafel almost as much as the pizza. I said almost. And although we haven't found good replacements for either, its much easier to make falafel at home. We like to bake ours, but otherwise we eat it just like we did in New York - in a big pita with tzatziki sauce, chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and pickles. Now, if we could just make pizza this good...

Baked Falafel

Adapted from here

1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans

1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans, place in a medium sized bowl and smash with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Using 2 spoons, form the mixture into small balls, then flatten slightly. Place onto a well-oiled baking pan and bake for 10-15 minutes on each side, until brown.

Serve with mini pita pockets, hummus, tahini sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and/or cucumber.

Rosemary Chicken Pot Pie

Screw Passover.

Well, no. Don't do that. But I'm forgetting about getting those recipes posted (maybe next year, right?) and moving on. To a holiday that happened before. What?

Pi Day.

In the past, my friends and I have gotten together to celebrate March 14th, 3/14. Its been going on since high school, and although we weren't able to get it together this year (we tried TWICE!) we still found ways to celebrate. Or at least I did. Because an excuse to make and eat pie should never be passed up.

I went a different route this year, with a savory pie. D and I were home the evening of the 14th, undecided on dinner and absolutely not motivated to leave the house. Thanks to a pretty well-stocked freezer and to luck, we had all the ingredients on hand for chicken pot pie.

The pot pie was perfect. It is comfort food at its finest - warm, heavy, and delicious. We will definitely be making this again.


Rosemary Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook

Pie dough, rolled into a round disk

2 1/2 lbs diced chicken - we used leftovers from a chicken we had roasted earlier in the week
salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
3 celery ribs, diced
2 large carrots, diced
1 cup chopped onion
5 tbsp butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups boiling chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/3 cup cream
2 1/2 tbsp rosemary (recipe calls for fresh, we had dried - it worked)

Preheat the oven to 375.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Cook the garlic, celery, onions, and carrots until tender, about 6 minutes.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and mix quickly with a whisk for 1 minute. Add the stock, milk, and cream. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce to moderate low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Mix chicken, vegetables, and cream mixture. Place in a large baking dish. Place the rolled-out crust over the mixture and prick the top with a fork.

Make an egg wash by whisking 1 egg with 2 tbsp water. Lightly brush the dough. Bake pot pie in oven for 45 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Pollo con Espinaca

I like to cook on Sundays. Its relaxing, to be able to plan a meal, grocery shop, prep, cook, and of course eat everything. Its one of my favorite ways to end a nice weekend, and great to begin the week with because we always have leftovers!

One night a few weeks ago we were in the mood for something spicy. We also had a big bag of spinach that needed to be used up, so we decided on pollo con espinaca. Sounds easy enough, right?

This is D's favorite dish of maybe all time. Whenever we go out for Mexican this is certainly in consideration. To make things a little more interesting, I have never had pollo con espinaca before, so I had absolutely no idea what I was in for!

We followed a mish mash of recipes from one of my cookbooks and from various sources online. This is what we came up with!



Pollo Espinaca

4 Chicken Breasts
Fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
1 jalepeno, diced
1 package cream cheese
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I wanted to use crema mexicana or oaxaca, but its $$$)
salt and pepper
Olive Oil

We chose to grill our chicken, so we gave it a little olive oil rub and seasoned with salt and pepper before cooking.

Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a large pan. Saute spinach until wilted.

Stir in softened cream cheese and plain yogurt. Allow to melt, stirring constantly to break up the spinach.

Add cheese and allow to melt. Continue stirring. Add jalepeno, salt and pepper to taste.

We served the grilled chicken and the sauce with rice and beans. Quite delicious, and healthy too! This will definitely be an addition to our regular dinner rotation.