Sausage, Leeks, Zucchini and Pappardelle

Another easy pasta dish. Brown the sausage, then add a knob of butter, sliced leeks and zucchini. Add a  1/4 cup of white wine. Season with salt, pepper and parsley. Cook the pasta, reserving about a 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add the pasta to the saute pan along with some pasta water and a little more butter and cook for a minute or two. Serve topped with Parmesan Cheese.

And did a little baking while dinner was cooking. This recipe is from BakerStreet.tv... cue the music.

Not My Mom's Stuffed Peppers!

Dare I say it... I found a recipe that I like better than the stuffed pepper recipe I have been using for, well lets just say awhile!

I found Spinach and Sausage Stuffed Peppers at Food And Wine. First, I loved the use of Italian Frying Peppers. The stuffing was something I never thought to use. I always go with beef and maybe rice. And the sauce was perfect. Just remember to make sure you have enough Italian bread!

For a side dish I had some rice and Farro In the fridge so I put together a rice salad. I used up the dressing from the Tortellini Salad. Added some fresh Mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, olives, scallions and parsley.

Chicken Saltmbocca

A vacation day! Chris was off today so we went to see Prometheus in 3D. It was the first 3D film experience for both of us. Wow. Wow. Wow.

For dinner I made Chicken Saltimbocca from SelfDishes.com. Quick to prepare and quite delicious.

Side dishes - parsley potatoes. and sauteed zucchini. I remember my mom making parsley potatoes and I use to think they were so cool. I do not think I have met a potato dish I have not liked yet.
Also did some baking today for some little kids I may see on Wednesday....

Lunch at Infinity Bistro

 

Today we went see Dickey Betts at the Infinity Hall. Excellent show! But no photos. They were kind of strict, and we were very close to a security guy so why risk it. But I found this video of Dickey and his son on youtube. It is a video showing how to play Jessica. So any budding guitarist out there enjoy!

Before the show we had lunch at the Infinity Bistro. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside.
We started with the Crispy Calamari and ordered a new item, Goat Cheese Crostini's, roasted red beets, pistachio's, balsamic reduction. Nice!

For lunch I had the Infinity Salad with Tenderloin Tips, I am on kind of a red meat kick. Chris had the burger with a side of Black Bean Salad. Both meals were very good.

Really enjoying the vacation frame of mind! It is Sunday night and I have no idea what we are eating for dinner this week. Gonna play it by ear! Be prepared for anything...

Grilled Skirt Steak, Tortellini Salad and Lemon Blueberry Scones

Today, the first day of my vacation, I started off baking Lemon Blueberry Scones. I used the Joy of Baking recipe as a starting point. But I had some plain Greek yogurt I wanted to finish up. And I did not want to make them with a Streusel topping.

Here is the Joy of Baking recipe with my variation -

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup  granulated white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup  fresh blueberries
grated lemon peel from one lemon
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Gently fold in the blueberries and lemon zest. In a small bowl mix yogurt, beaten egg and vanilla. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough or the scones will be tough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (4 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into four pie-shaped wedges (triangles).  Place the scones on the baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper.  Or put each piece in scone pan. Sprinkle the tops with sugar

Bake the scones until nicely browned, about 25- 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a scone comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.

On to dinner.

I went to Whole Pay Check, oh sorry, Whole Foods, and picked up a piece of skirt steak that the butcher cut for me while I waited! Very cool. When I got home I Googled Skirt Steak and found this recipe on Epicurious.com. What an amazing marinate. I did not add the shallots, garlic or cilantro (just not a fan of cilantro).

The side dish was easy. Summer Tortellini Salad from 365 Great Barbecue & Grilling Recipes. I think I got my copy of this back in '93. It is the one cookbook I pull out every summer. If I find a recipe in a magazine or newspaper that is a summer recipe it gets tucked into this little paperback.

Summer Tortellini Salad

3/4 pound frozen tortellini, I used cheese filled
1/2 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved if large
Creamy Vinaigrette ( recipe follows) or salad dressing of choice.

Cook tortellini according to package direction until just tender. Drain in colander and rinse under cold running water; drain well.
Drop green beans into a large pot of rapidly boiling water. When water returns to a full boil, cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water; drain well.
Gently toss tortellini with beans, tomatoes and just enough Creamy Vinaigrette to moisten, about 1/2 cup.

Creamy Vinaigrette

1/4 c. white wine vinegar
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. plain yogurt
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (no I did not add this!)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. vegetable oil

In a jar with a lid, mix vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, mustard, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Add olive oil and vegetable oil, cover tightly and shade until blended. After use store any remaining vinaigrette in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Fettuccini Primavera

Wow what a week. I needed something for dinner that was fast and did not require a trip to the store. I opened the fridge and saw leeks, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, tomato and scallions. The light bulb went off - Fettuccini Primavera. Perfect! I used this recipe for the sauce. The veggies were just sauteed in olive oil, a bit of butter, salt, pepper, thyme and parsley. So simple.

We had lot leftovers so... a frittatta! I might bring it to my dad's tomorrow for lunch.

 

Lucy is a tired after this week. But does she know I am on vacation next week?

Grilled Italian Ham and Cheese with Farro Salad

This was not your normal Grilled Ham and Cheese. This one started with a recipe from Cookstr, Grilled Italian Ham and Cheese. It is from the Great Grilled Cheese: 50 Innovative Recipes for Stovetop, Grill and Sandwich Maker Cookbook. I have not bought a cookbook in a while but this is one I would like to see.
The ingredients were Pancetta, Fontina Cheese, and Sauteed Leeks. I thought if it is called Grilled Italian Ham and Cheese why not add some Prosciutto too. Really glad I did. Chris gave this sandwich two thumbs up.

And the side dish was Farro Salad. Simple ingredients, basically using up stuff in the refrigerator. Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese, Scallions and Parsley. The dressing was 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar, Salt and Pepper. And this also received two thumbs up. Not bad for a Monday.

Everyone ready for Hell's Kitchen and Master Chef? Summer television at it's best!

If its Sunday...

It's Pizza! Tonight's pie was half steak and mozzarella and half leeks and fontina cheese!  I rolled out the crust nice and thin and it baked up extra crispy!

This week will be extra busy at work as I am taking off the following week. I will try really hard to post every day but if not... well there' always Friday!

Fried Squash Flowers Just Like My Uncle Art's!

 

 Aunt Nora, Mom and Uncle Art

Every year when I see the squash flowers pop up on food blogs and at the farmer's market I remember my Uncle Art. I was always getting calls from my Uncle Art to stop by because he had made something for me. I always knew what it was... fried squash flowers! He would hand me a greasy paper bag and say, "Here you go kiddo! And don't eat all of them!" Of course I would finish the bag before I got home. Lucky for me Chris was not a fan of these.

Every summer I have tried to duplicate his recipe. I had gotten a recipe from my Aunt Catherine after my uncle had passed but she was not sure it was correct.

 

Finally today I found a recipe that resulted in the closest thing to my uncle's recipe. SavourFare.com, Fried Zucchini Blossoms. The batter is so light and easy to make! Every bite brought back good memories.

Today started out as a rainy Saturday. So I headed for the kitchen. I had been wanting to try a new crunchy granola bar recipe. Carrie's Crunchy Granola Bars. They were good but need something added to them... sugar maybe!

Next I needed to bake cookies. I looked in the cookie jar the other day and realized I had not baked since Easter! I had posted a recipe on Pinterest that I wanted to try. It was from RealSimple.com, Coconut Slice and Bake Cookies. Oh these are good! I believe if you have coconut you should have chocolate so I added chocolate shots. Yes these are really good.

Hey isn't this a blog about what I made for dinner!

Actually Chris made dinner. A perfectly grilled steak. And corn on the cob, yes they were the 2 smallest ears of corn at the store!

My contribution to the meal was....

Yes you guessed it. Roasted Potatoes! I can't help it. But I tried a new recipe. Again from a Pinterest post. The recipe is from PlainChicken.com, Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes. Of course they were fantastic!

And someone was happy to see me in the kitchen... 

Chicken Stir Fry and Week End Wrap Up

Whoa did this week fly by! Wait it was just a four day work week... Anyway no posts all week. So sorry.

Let's start with tonight's dinner and work backwards.

Easy Chicken Stir Fry. I found this recipe on Chow.com. And it was a video recipe! And I had all the ingredients in the house. But I did have to run to the store so I picked up some Bamboo Shoots and Water Chestnuts. And I finally got to the farmer's market and bought some Bok Choy to add to the mix. The result was quite good!

Thursday night we had Frittatta Sandwiches. The frittatta was made with Pancetta, Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Leeks. Chris picked up some Pasta Salad and a tasty Cole Slaw at Big Y for side dishes. Loved the Cole Slaw!

Wednesday was Stuffed Zucchini. Could not help but notice that someone only ate the filling...

Tuesday night Hot Dogs! First hot dog on the grill. Not usually a fan of hot dogs. I had been getting a bison hot dog in the past but have not been able to find them at the store. Tonight I bought Hummel Bros. Tasty! This could be our hot dog of choice this summer... unless I find the bison dogs again!

Hope everyone has a nice restful weekend!