Garlic Green Beans

Tis the season for potlucks! I was looking for a way to dress up green beans without making a green bean casserole, so I did some research online and came up with this hybrid for last night's Christmas party. Highly recommended - the balsamic vinegar makes the difference. FYI, this recipe makes 8 servings, but I doubled it for my efforts last night.

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 pounds fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped
• 8 small new potatoes, diced
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

1. Place the chopped bacon in a skillet, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned. Drain the bacon pieces on a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Melt the butter in a skillet with a lid over medium-low heat, and cook and stir the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked bacon, green beans, potatoes, garlic, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over low heat until the green beans are tender, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with vinegar, salt, and

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Okay, I rarely make something that makes me want to really toot my own horn, but this one is a winner. I am one of those people who loves really, really chocolaty desserts. This is definitely one of those. It's super dense, and perfect for sharing, which is why I'm making it for a pot luck. Give it a try! Fair warning: it is NOT low calorie! :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 18 (1 ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 6 eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Chili Rubbed Tilapia

We just got some new plates! In the interest of showing them off, I rounded up a quick dinner of chili rubbed tilapia to cure us of our rainy day blues. No kidding, this took 20 minutes to prepare, it's cheap, and it makes use of items you probably already have in your pantry.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic, powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound tilapia
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Combine chili powder, garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt on a plate. Dredge fillets in the spice mixture to coat. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fish and cook until just opaque in the center, gently turning halfway, 5 to 7 minutes total.
2. Divide onto plates. Immediately add lemon juice. Serve broccoli or other veggies with the fish.

Thanksgiving Feast!

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Something about holidays that celebrate cooking just makes me happy! While not directly responsible for all of the above, The corn pudding was mine. It turned out pretty well - and I highly recommend it!

Corn Pudding

Ingredients:

4 oz softened cream cheese

1 can creamed corn

3/4 c frozen corn, thawed

1/2 c cornmeal

1/2 chopped onion

2/3 c milk

3 Tbsp melted butter

1 egg, beaten

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 c shredded cheddar

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease/butter a 1 qt casserole dish.

2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

3. Spread the mixture evenly into the casserole dish.

4. Bake 50 minutes, or until center no longer looks runny. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Fresh Pasta & Meatballs

Tonight, I really wanted an excuse to use the pasta maker I bought today. I took a risk and invited 6 other friends over to enjoy the first attempt, and luckily the pasta wasn't terrible. I did decide pasta and meatballs was a good crowd pleasing meal. And the flourless chocolate cake that came afterwards wasn't bad either! I'm on a winning streak tonight.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef (or ground veal)

1 lb. italian sausage
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or 2 tsp. dried
1/2 c. fine dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 sm. clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Form 1 1/2 inch meatballs with the mixture. Place them around a baking sheet, and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool, remove excess fat, and add meatballs to a pot of your favorite sauce. Simmer until time to serve.

 

If you have the time to make fresh pasta, I highly recommend it for this meal.

Teryaki Glazed Chicken

I'm back! After a very hectic 3 or so months of work craziness and wedding planning, I can finally think (and cook) again. We tried out our new rice steamer this week, and I made Teriyaki glazed chicken to go with. It's a bit messy, so next time I will probably adjust the amount of sauce, but it tasted good, and reheated well for the next day's lunch!

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons ginger (grated)
1 pound chicken (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 teaspoon peanut oil
4 servings cooked rice
4 tablespoons corn starch


Directions:
1. Toss bite sized chicken pieces in a bowl or bag with corn starch, until lightly coated. Heat oil in wok or large pan and cook chicken until crisp - careful not to overcook. Mix the soy sauce, pineapple juice, honey, sugar, ginger and
2. Mix soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, honey, brown sugar, and ginger in a bowl.
3. Add the marinade to the pan and saute until warm. Add chicken, and cook until sauce thickens. If you need additional thickening, add 1-2 tablespoons of a corn starch/water mixture and bring back to simmer.
4. Serve on cooked rice with whatever veggies you like.

Enjoy!

Finger Foods

Y'all, I am so blessed. Two ladies who are very dear to me made a huge effort to throw me an amazing lingerie shower this past Saturday afternoon. I would have left out the "lingerie" detail if the "out with the old, in with the new" banner didn't have granny panties hanging from it. I felt like I should explain that one. Anyways, my fantastic roommate from college, Calene, did an amazing job rounding up delicious finger foods and drinks to serve to the all the attending ladies. Above are just a few pictures.

I know posts are few and far between, but they will resume normalcy once the wedding nonsense is over in a few weeks. :)

Thank you, Kendall and Calene!