Little Girl, Big Knife

Shrimp, arugula, and sun dried tomato pasta dish

2012-01-24T00:20:00.001-06:00

I picked up some fantastic large gulf shrimp the other day at Rouses and was debating all day on how I was going to prepare them. After getting home a bit on the later side, I went for the pasta dish a/k/a my fall back dish for when I need to make something quick. I didn't measure anything
In this dish other than pasta, so I apologize for some bizarre descriptions.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb of shrimp - deveined, peeled and sliced in half
- 4 ounces of arugula
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- 2 shallots, dice
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil - divided
- 3/4 cup of white wine
- 4 oz of feta
- juice from half a lemon
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes
- 5 ounces of pasta
- 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water

Directions:

Place arugula and feta in a big serving bowl. Start boiling water for pasta and cook pasta according to the directions. Drain (reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water) and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl with the arugula and feta.
Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Allow oil to heat up then add shallots, garlic, pinch of salt and crushed red pepper to the pan, sauté for 3 minutes. Next add shrimp, sun dried tomatoes, wine and pasta water to the skillet. Cook until shrimp turn pink/ opaque, then add lemon juice and add to the serving bowl, toss with arugula and pasta mixture until everything is well coated and serve. Make sure to taste for salt and pepper. The feta can be salty so a lot of salt is not needed during the cooking process.

I Heart Dinosaur Kale a/k/a Lacinato Kale a/k/a Tuscan Kale

2012-01-16T13:56:00.003-06:00

I absolutely adore Dinosaur Kale. This variety of kale is has been used in Italy for centuries, hence its name of Tuscan Kale. It's delicious raw in salads, but equally good sauteed and used in place of spinach in any dish. This past weekend I sauteed a bunch I had bought at the local farmer's market and ate it as a side dish to my roasted chicken and then had the leftovers cold for lunch today. The sauteed kale was delicious both hot and cold. If your a bit nervous about trying kale, I highly recommend trying this variety as it is a bit sweeter and has more of a delicate flavor than its curly leafed cousin.

Simple Saute of Dinosaur Kale

Ingredients:

1 bunch of dinosaur kale, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped, onion
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar (or rice wine vinegar, balsamic, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil on medium in a large saute pan. Add garlic, onions, red pepper flakes and cook for about 3 minutes. Add kale, chicken broth, pinch of salt and cover and reduce heat to medium-low for about 15 -20 minutes, stirring often. Kale will not wilt like spinach and keep some of its body. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from pan, season with salt, pepper, and vinegar - serve hot or cold.

Prosciutto Wrapped Artichoke Hearts

2012-01-01T12:18:00.001-06:00

For literally like months I have been wanting to make this appetizer. Having friends over for a New Years dinner seemed like the opportune time to try out this idea. One thing I did know is that to make this it was a must to use frozen artichoke hearts (or fresh ones), using canned or jarred would mangle the flavors. Next time I make these I think topping them with some quality parm or placing just a touch of provolone when you wrap the hearts with the prosciutto would make these bundles even better.

Ingredients
1 box of frozen artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 lb of prosciutto
2 tablespoons of minced fresh parsley and basil
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction/syrup

Directions:

Defrost artichoke hearts and pat dry. Combine hearts, olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl and marinate for 30-60 minutes. Pre-heat oven to broil. Wrap each heart with prosciutto and place on a cookie sheet. ( I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up.) Cook until prosciutto starts to crisp and turn brown - about 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with balsamic vinegar/syrup and serve.

Mashed Sunchokes

2011-12-29T10:30:00.001-06:00

I had very little in my fridge after being gone for the Christmas holiday, do I was excited to find in my fridge sunchokes and red potatoes from my last farmers market venture. I boiled both of them together until both were easily pierced through with a fork. Then drained the water and mashed them with fat free half and half, smart balance, pepper and this fantastic sage/rosemary infused salt ( thanks mom and dad for that fantastic Christmas present). This dish was so simple yet tasted amazing. The sunchokes gave the potatoes a nice sweet earthiness and the hint of rosemary and sage was perfect. Obviously as not everyone has that salt I would suggest adding just a tiny, tiny bit of dried sage and rosemary to the mix. Oh and I would normally use skim milk, but as I didn't have any the fat free half and half made a fantastic substitute.

Piccata Style Flounder

2011-12-11T21:59:00.001-06:00

First time posting via the blogger app. Recipe to come...

Arugula and Broccoli Pistou

2011-12-07T21:45:00.001-06:00

I went a little crazy this past weekend at the farmer's market and bought a lot of veggies, completely forgetting I was going to be out of town from Tuesday to Friday. So in effort to use up some of those veggies in productive ways, I decided to make a pistou of sorts. A pistou essentially is like a pesto, but minus the nuts. It's relatively healthy and was the perfect sauce to accompany sauteed shrimp, white beans, and whole wheat pasta.

Broccoli and Arugula Pistou

2 cups (packed) arugula

3 cups small broccoli florets

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup cooked Great Northern or cannellini beans

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Juice from half a lemon

Dash of vinegar - preferably rice wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Add arugula and simmer 1 minute Using strainer or slotted spoon, transfer arugula directly to blender. Add broccoli, and cook until all vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Drain. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to bowl of ice water and let stand until cold. Drain well. Add broccoli, chicken stock, beans, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and olive oil to arugula in blender. Puree until smooth, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

This would also be great as a base for bruschetta.

Finally its Sunchoke season and brining...Rosemary Roasted Sunchokes with Lavender Salt

2011-10-27T17:06:00.001-05:00

Last year John and I really got into sunchokes. Although you can buy them year round in some grocery stores, I only buy them when I can procure them from the farmers market. The ones at the grocery always look so...not "fresh". I decided to try my hand at roasting these guys instead of pan sauteing them. I liked how they turned out, especially with the crisp edges. The next time I make sunchokes, I think they will be pureed.
You could substitute another herb for the fresh rosemary, such as sage or thyme. I finished these off with lavender salt when they came out of the oven. Feel free to use just regular old salt. I was recently gifted a beautiful jar of lavender infused salt and have been trying it out as an accent to different ingredients. Believe it or not, it makes a wonderful accompaniment to fresh sliced tomatoes.

Rosemary Roasted Sunchokes

Sunchokes (I have no idea how much I had maybe a 1/2 lb), sliced thin
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Palmful of fresh rosemary
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425. In a bowl combine all of the ingredients above and mix well. Spread sunchokes onto a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper if necessary.

I served these with grilled pork chops, which sat in brine for 24 hours. I absolutely loved what the brine did for meat. It was infused with a bit of flavor, but incredibly moist. This was the brine:
2 quarts of water
1/4 cup of salt, sugar, and mustard seeds
2 whole star anise
4 peppercorns

Bring all of the above to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then combine with pork chops. Make sure meat is covered and allow to sit for 24 hours. I am excited to try some more brining recipes and think some ones with apple cider will be in the mix for Fall.

An Adventure in Catering...Chilled Soup, Quinoa Arugula Salad, and Chicken Salad

2011-09-06T00:39:00.000-05:00

On and off for quite sometime I toyed with idea of catering small events for people. This past week I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity by my mother-in-law to cater a luncheon for her. During our initial discussion we tossed around some ideas regarding the menu, but she basically gave me creative reign. Sunday night I turned jotted down ideas and really flushed out what I wanted to make. Here is what I came up with:

1.) Chilled White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
2.) Quinoa and Arugula Salad with dried cherries, blueberries,cranberries, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese with white wine vinaigrette
3.) Chicken Salad with grapes and almonds, substituting most of the mayo for Greek yogurt.

The following are just basics of what I did for each dish. I apologize for lack of specifics as I did not write down a single thing I did. I promise I will get better at remembering to do that...But if you need specifics please contact me and I will be happy to help you.

Chilled White Bean and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:
48 oz. of chicken broth
garlic, onions, celery, carrots, fennel - roughly chopped
roasted red peppers (I made my own but you can use jarred)
1 Parmesan rind
1 sprig of rosemary
1 handful of parsley
1 bay leaf
3 cans of white beans, drained
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.) Heat olive oil in large soup pot, saute onions, garlic, celery, fennel, and carrots until soft
2.) Add chicken broth, Parmesan rind, sprig, parsley, and bay leaf, bring to low simmer for 30 minutes.
3.) Remove from heat and allow to cool. Remove the rosemary sprig, bay leaf and parm rind.
4.) Add 1 can of white beans to blender, ladle in soup and blend until smooth. Repeat with each can of beans and make sure to blend all of the soup liquid.
5.) To make the soup smooth, pass through a mesh strainer.
6.) Puree roasted red peppers, bread crumbs, and 2 cups of soup. Add to soup and stir together.
7.) Can be served chilled or heated.

I added the breadcrumbs to the peppers to thicken up the soup a bit more. The Parmesan rind is essential as it provides for some amazing flavor.

Quinoa and Arugula Salad

Quick note for those of you who do not know, quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse. I highly recommend giving it try. It's easy to make is incredibly versatile.

Ingredients:
Chicken broth
Quinoa
Arugula, 1 bag
Goat Cheese, 6 oz.
Mixed dried craisins, cherries, blueberries (or just use one of them, I found a mix that had all three)
Roasted pumpkin seeds

Dressing: white wine vinegar, olive oil, honey, pinch of sugar, lemon juice, honey mustard, salt, and pepper

Directions:
1.) Whisk the ingredients for the dressing together in bowl and set aside
2.) Cook quinoa according to the directions on the package, but substitute chicken broth for water.
3.) All quinoa to cool, toss with arugula, mixed dried fruit, pumpkin seeds, and goat cheese.
4.) Then toss salad with the dressing and serve immediately.

Roasted Chicken Salad with Grapes and Almonds

I have made chicken salad hundreds of different ways, but I always enjoy mixing up the ingredients. I roasted the chicken myself for this salad instead of buying a rotisserie chickens from the grocery store as those tend to be a bit on the salty side. Once the chicken was roasted and cooled, I removed all of the chicken meat off the bones, and chopped the meat into pieces. Then added chopped scallions, celery, sliced grapes, and sliced almonds. Then stir in one large container of Greek yogurt. Then add1/2 cup of mayo, a couple pinches of sugar, a dash of vinegar, lemon juice, and a sprinkling of poppy seeds. Mix it well and taste for seasoning. I ended up adding quite a bit of salt and pepper to salad at the end to get the flavor perfect.

The food was hit and only good things were said by all. Best of all my client/mother-in-law was happy and wants me to do this for her more often. I cannot express in words how happy and excited I am about how well this first job went and looking forward to doing some more while figuring out how to properly manage a catering business. Unforuntaley, the only picture I took was of the quinoa salad. Next time I am recruiting JB to take some more photographs.

Simple Bouillabaisse

2011-09-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

After having dinner a local 5-star restaurant and seeing bouillabaisse on the menu (and not ordering it), I had a craving for it. After some brief research in exactly what I would need to make the dish, I realized it was incredibly simple dish to make. I decided to use just fish and shrimp, as that was available to me fresh at the time. Next time I make this I would love to add some clams or oysters. Feel free to use and mix it up with the following: halibut, cod, tilapia, haddock, snapper mussels, clams, or crab meat. Also I made shrimp stock from the shells, in a pinch boxed seafood stock or clam juice would work.

Simple Bouillabaisse
Serves: 2 people (with a bit extra)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 large onion, peeled and sliced
1 small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
3 stalks of parsley, thinly sliced
1 large pinch saffron
1 (14-ounce) can diced petite tomatoes
3 cups shrimp stock
1/2 lb shrimp
1/2 lb. black drum
1/2 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
1 pinch of dried tarragon
1 squeeze of lemon juice
1 handful of Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small demi-baguette - sliced into rounds and toasted

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, fennel, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the saffron, tomatoes, tarragon,
and stock bring to a boil. Cook at high simmer for about 20 minutes. Reduce heat and add fish, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until turned pink, about 2 minutes. Add vinegar, lemon juice, and parsley. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve a top crusty bread rounds.

Spike and Spiced Iced Coffee Beverage with Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee

2011-08-19T16:18:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how timing is everything sometimes. I was selected by Food Buzz’s Tastemaker’s Program to indulge myself in some delicious Godiva Coffee. Luckily (or unluckily) these past two months of my life have been so hectic with working on preparing for a trial that copious amounts of coffee have been needed. Needless to say, I have had a chance to experiment with two different flavors of Godiva Coffee – Hazelnut Crème and Chocolate Truffle.

I loved the deep rich flavors of both these flavored coffees, but in the end the Chocolate Truffle was my favorite. As it is equally delicious when consumed hot or cold, summers in Louisiana tend to make iced coffee necessity. I enjoy a bit of “spice” in my coffee and thought adding a bit of chili powder, cinnamon and star anise to the Chocolate Truffle Godiva Coffee would give it a nice a kick. The addition of these spices would work great with an unflavored brewed coffee as well. The spiked part of this drink is optional, but I happened to have some Dark Chocolate Godiva Liqueur on hand.

One final detail about a cold coffee drink that I never understood was why they put regular ice in the drink…essentially all these ice cubes are doing is watering down the flavor of my drink. In an effort to keep the flavor as potent as possible, I suggest brewing the coffee, allow it to cool, and then pour the coffee into ice cube trays and freeze.

Spiked and Spiced Iced Coffee

Ingredients:

Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee

4 star anise

4 large cinnamon sticks

Tiny pinch of chili powder (optional)

1 ½ oz. of Chocolate Liqueur (optional – I used Godiva Dark Chocolate Liqueur)

Coffee ice cubes

Milk and sugar to taste

Directions:

Brew the Godiva Chocolate Truffle Coffee according to the directions. Pour the coffee into a pitcher and add the star anise, cinnamon sticks, and chili powder, allow to chill overnight in the refrigerator. Strain the spices out of the coffee. Pour spiced iced coffee over coffee ice cubes and then stir in chocolate liquor. Add milk and sugar if you prefer.

Eggplant, Shrimp and Feta Bake

2011-08-02T16:28:00.000-05:00

Notice I used the word "Bake" in the title...reason being I have some weird aversion to using the word casserole. I usually shutter at any the thought of eating any dish that has the word casserole in its name. Maybe its because my only experience with casseroles have been for the most part very unappetizing as they usually contain only ingredients that come out of a can. By most definitions a casserole is a baking dish which food is both cooked and served in. Slowly, I am trying to overcome my aversion to the word, but until then we will use the word "bake".

I remembered a long time ago I had made an eggplant dish from Emeril's Delmonico: A Restaurant With A Past and it was the inspiration for the dish below. To note, I used green, Sicilian eggplant which is less bitter, contains less seeds, and cooks faster than your standard purple eggplant. I suggest if you are using the purple eggplant to either soak the cut eggplant in salted water for 20-25 minutes before cutting or par-boil it.

For those the readers who live in my area, this is a great way to use some of our fresh gulf shrimp. This dish really married some of my favorite things together well...eggplant and shrimp.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium sized eggplant, diced into 1" pieces
2 medium bell peppers, diced into 1/4' pieces
1 cup of tomato sauce (I used a cup of tomato sauce that I made previously to be used on a pizza)
1/4 cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/8 cup finely minced oregano
1 1/4 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 3 ounces)
1 cup of panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Directions

Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, salt, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Then add eggplant and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a simmer for about 5 minutes. Add butter, shrimp, parsley, and oregano, cook until shrimp just barely turn pink. Taste for salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray. Pour and spread shrimp mixture into the baking dish.Sprinkle the panko and feta over the top. Broil for 5-7 minutes or until breadcrumbs brown. Allow it to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Flank Steak Sandwiches...some of the simplest things are so delicious

2011-07-25T21:55:00.000-05:00

I was feeling rather under the weather this past Saturday, but didn't want to eat take-out or put too much effort into cooking. Luckily John came up with the brilliant idea of steak sandwiches. I literally spent 15 minutes wandering the meat counter at our local grocery store pondering over which cut of meat would give me the best results in a sandwich (I know I have issues). At first I picked up a large NY Strip, but instead decided on a flank steak. Once I got it home, I threw it in a large zip lock bag with salt, pepper, brown sugar, soy sauce, white wine, balsamic vinegar, and let it marinate for about 3 hours. While the steak marinated, I sauteed several thinly sliced bell peppers, onion, one jalapeno, and garlic in a bit of olive oil. After they were cooked down and soft, I set them aside until I was ready to prep the sandwiches.

To cook the steak, remove it from the marinade and slice thinly against the grain. Heat large skillet on medium-high, melt a tablespoon or two of butter, add sliced steak. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until medium rare. For the bread, I used large whole wheat sub rolls and toasted them in the oven before loading them up with the toppings. I split them open, drizzled some spicy honey mustard on both sides, put a layer of the peppers and onion mixture, some baby spinach leaves, the steak, then pepper jack cheese. Then placed it open-faced in the oven until the cheese melted and then served piping hot. These were amazing and so ridiculously simple to make. I originally had visions of making a chimichurri aioli or some other type of sauce, but decided to keep things simple, figuring there will always be a next time.

By the way I served these with baked sweet potato fries. I make these pretty frequently, all I do is slice up sweet potatoes, them in a bowl with olive oil and whatever seasonings I feel like - usually salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and a touch of cinnamon. Toss well to coat the sweet potatoes. Pre-heat an oven to 450 and spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and cook for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Something to do with all those corn tortillas...a Mexican Inspired Tortilla "Lasagna"

2011-07-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased a bag of corn tortillas when I made some fish tacos and it has been staring at me every time I have opened the refrigerator. Realizing that I didn't have time to make proper enchiladas and was not in the mood for tacos, I decided to put my thinking cap on. Then it came to me, I recalled seeing recipes where the corn tortillas stood in for noodles in what is essentially is a layered, lasagna-like dish, except with different ingredients. Normally when I saw these recipes they were kinda gross...calling for way too much fat or weird ingredients. I adapted what I recalled seeing to what I thought would work. Also, this idea worked perfectly for me as I was dying to use my homemade chipotle sausage in a dish anyways. You could use chorizo in this dish or use ground meat, chicken, turkey and cook/season it like you normally would make it if you going to use it to make tacos. Feel free to leave out the roasted zucchini too, I added to throw in an extra veggie and had a bunch of it in the fridge. Also, when you serve this you could sprinkle some crushed tortilla chips over the top to add some crunch to the dish. Oh and this made a TON of food and was very filling. Perfect dish for families and great for leftovers.

Tortilla Lasagna

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. of cooked, crumbled chorizo sausage or ground meat of your choice
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large zucchini (about 10 ounces), cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3/4 cup frozen corn
2 bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
2 cups shredded 2% reduced fat mexican cheese blend
2 tablespoons ground cumin, chili powfer
2 cans of Rotel or another brand of canned tomatoes and chilies
18 6-inch corn tortillas
3/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro

Accompaniment: Lime wedges, fresh cilantro, reduced fat sour cream, sliced avocado, tortilla chips

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 500°F. and spray a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.

Arrange zucchini in one layer in one pan Sprinkle zucchini with salt and pepper to taste and roast on middle rack in oven about 5 minutes. Flip and roast v additional 5 minutes, or until browned lightly.

While zucchini is roasting, cook the meat in large sauce pan. Remove meat and set aside. On medium heat, add onion, garlic, corn, peppers, jalapeno, cumin and chili powder - saute for about 5 minutes. Add one can of Rotel. Puree the other can of rotel in the blender. Add beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cooked zucchini and check for seasoning. Add additional cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper as you see it. Remove from heat.

Lightly spray an 8 by 8 inch pan with cooking spray. Cover bottom of pan with 6 tortillas, overlapping them in middle. Spread about a cup of the above mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle cheese, and then cilantro. Make another layer of tortillas, mixture, cheese, and cilantro in same manner. Make another layer if you have enough. Top with remaining tortillas, mixture, and cheese. Cover with foil and bake in middle of oven 12 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is melted. Let it stand, covered, 5 minutes before serving.

Cut into squares half and serve with the accompaniments you like. I served it with lime wedges, sour cream, and sliced jalapenos.

I really liked how this turned out, the flavors were bright and it was different from the usual tacos or enchiladas. And I enjoyed not having a lot to clean up, using only one pot is great.

A Weekend of Undertakings...Sausages and Scones

2011-07-11T12:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend was one of first time food experiments . . . first time I made proper sausage and the first time I made scones. The later I know for sure came out delicious, but I have yet to try to the sausages. Sausage-making wasn't quite as daunting as I thought it was going to be, but it was time consuming. To be honest, I was scared to death to work with natural casings, but they were easy to work with (other than being super slippery) and weren't as "gross" as I had anticipated. Butchering the pork butt took the longest, grinding was easy, and by the time I had gotten to the second batch of sausage, I finally was getting the hang of using the sausage stuffer. The only thing I was missing was a sewing needle to puncture small holes into the casing when an air bubble formed, so I improvised by using a toothpick - definitely will make sure I have a sewing needle next time, the toothpick end was too dull to pierce the casing and they kept breaking.

I made two completely different types of sausage - one recipe my Grandma Tina use to make and the other I came up with one my own. My grandmother's sausage called for garlic, red wine, fresh chopped parsley, and pecorino romano cheese. I added red pepper flakes and fennel seed, so it ended up being an Italian/Sicilian sausage hybrid. When I was looking at the ground pork to make the second batch of sausage, I had all sorts of flavor ideas in my head...using fresh herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, onion, chipotle, etc. I decided to go the spicy route and used chipotle powder, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Pretty sure we will use my Grandmother’s sausages tonite in a dish for dinner, so I will let you know how they turned out in a later post.

Scones

The scones were made in light of us attending a British Grand Prix party. I love scones, but know they are sinfully bad for you. For some reason I always thought they were hard to make, but after looking at some recipes I realized I was completely wrong. Perhaps I was associating their high fat/calorie content as being difficult to make as I have a hard time dealing with items I make being terribly unhealthy. I originally wanted to make zucchini and lemon scones, but my husband turned his nose up at that idea. Apparently he doesn't have the love of zucchini bread and muffins as I do. Not too mention, the only recipe I could find called for a POUND of butter. I spent about 30 minutes searching for a decent scone recipe and I needed one that didn't call for buttermilk as I didn't have any in the house. Epicurious had a recipe for Dried Cranberry, Walnut and Lemon Scones and after reading some of the comments, I realized I could make them tiny bit healthier by reducing the amount of sugar, substituting some whole wheat flour, and substituting Smart Balance for some of the butter. These came out well and the husband didn't even realize I used whole wheat flour...

Dried Cranberry and Lemon Scones
Serves 12

2 tablespoons plus 3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick chilled unsalted butter - shred into dough using a grater
½ stick of Smart Balance
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries
½ cup (or more) skim milk

Preparation:

Position rack in top third of an oven; preheat to 375̊F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or if you have it use a slip mat. Whisk 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in bowl for glaze, set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, lemon peel, salt, and 1 cup sugar in large bowl. Add chilled butter; using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Mix in cranberries. Add ½ cup milk and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Toss with fork until dough comes together in moist clumps, adding more half and half if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Press out each half on floured surface to 6-inch-diameter (1-inch-high) round. Cut each round into 6 wedges. Transfer to baking sheet; bake scones for 10 minutes, then brush with lemon-sugar glaze. Bake for additional 8-9 minutes or until scones are golden and tester comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature

Indian Spiced Chicken Kebabs with a Cucumber and Fresh Herb Raita

2011-07-06T17:48:00.000-05:00

The chicken kebab looks a little weird in the picture

I had this craving for some Indian the other night, but I wanted something different than my usual Butter Chicken or Tikka Masala. I started with searching Saveur for inspiration, and I ended up stumbling upon this recipe from of all people...Martha Stewart. Who would have thought? I altered Ms. Stewart's recipe to fit what I had in the fridge, which was only a GIANT chicken breast. I recalled seeing on either chow.com or some other site about using a food processor to make ground meat for burgers. Mind you, I have a meat grinder for my Kitchenaid , but it was one of those nites when I didn't feel like dealing with it. Instead I decided to use the food processor to make essentially ground chicken. I chopped up the chicken into inch pieces, put into the food processor and let it whirl. What came out what necessary what I would call "ground", but it was more of a chicken puree. Regardless, it was no longer a chicken breast and I could mix what I needed to into it. Feel free to use ground chicken, but if you ever in a pinch, the food processor method works wonders. The kebabs turned out delicious with lots of layers of spices and flavor.

Indian Spiced Chicken Kebabs

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breasts or 1/2 lb. of ground chicken

1 whole cloves
1 whole cardamom pod
4 tablespoons of finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 egg white
2 tablespoons fresh mint
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh coriander
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 jalapeno - chopped fine
naan or pita, for serving

Directions:

Toast coriander seeds, cloves, and cardamom pod in a skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool. I then added the spices, herbs, lemon juice, and egg white into a clean food processor and blended.

Preheat grill to medium-high. Using your hands, combine all ingredients. For each kebab, shape 1/3 cup mixture into a 5-inch log; slide a skewer through center. Grill until cooked through, about 4 minutes per side. Serve with bread and raita.

Cucumber and Fresh Herb Raita

Ingredients:

1 large cucumber, peeled

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 cup greek yogurt or low-fat plain yogurt

Large handful of chopped mint, cilantro, and coriander (coriander is optional as its hard to find)

Couple sprinkles of cumin powder and garam masala

Sprinkle red chile powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Halve the cucumber lengthwise. Using a teaspoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. Either very finely slice or dice the cucumber and place it in a bowl.

Whisk the yogurt, cumin, garam masala, and red chile powder until smooth and add the mint, cilantro, coriander, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper, pour over the cucumber and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.

I tend to taste the Raita and add spices accordingly. Make it your own - if you don't like garam masala or don't have it, you can leave it out.

Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna" of sorts...

2011-06-28T00:02:00.000-05:00

I love spaghetti squash and am always trying to think of some unique ways to use it. So while trying to figure out how to use in as a base in an eggplant parmigiana dish (which I am sure will come later this summer), I decided to use it as "noodle" in a lasagna-esque dish. The dish somewhat resembled a lasagna and had some great flavor, but is quite different for your typical lasagna. However, this is much healthier and for those of you trying to watch your carb intake, this dish could be low-carb if you leave out the breadcrumbs.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you exact measurements, as I was throwing this together kind of late this evening for dinner. You will get the gist and can be creative. I used prosciutto, but you could easily substitute crumbled turkey/chicken sausage or even ground turkey/chicken. If you do use one of those options, make sure to cook it before adding it and season appropriately. The thinly sliced zucchini was just a way to add another vegetable into the mix, but honestly it’s not necessary. Next time though, I will pre-cook the zucchini to add another layer of flavor.

Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna"

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash - cooked and "pulled"

5 cups of tomato sauce - I made a quick sauce - heat a sauce pan on medium-high heat - sauté onions, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper until fragrant - add chopped parsley and basil. Add 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes, then puree, simmer for another 5 minutes, and remove from heat.

1 zucchini - sliced 1/4" thick

1 cup of ricotta

3/4 cup of bread crumbs

3 oz. prosciutto - torn into 1" pieces

1 cup freshly chopped tomatoes

4 tablespoons of Pecorino Romano

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425. In an 8x8 pan, spread a thin layer of sauce, and then begin to layer - spaghetti squash, dot the ricotta around, zucchini, prosciutto, chopped tomatoes, bread crumbs, sauce. Make sure to salt and pepper the spaghetti squash and zucchini layers if they are not seasoned. I layer about 3 times, then on the top layer topped with both breadcrumbs and Pecorino Romano. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with chopped fresh basil and Pecorino. I enjoyed adding a couple of dashes of red pepper flakes for some heat.

Summer Night Risotto with chicken sausage, zucchini, tomatoes, and fresh herbs

2011-06-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

First off a quick apology on not updating recently - I have been traveling, celebrating a birthday and had family visiting. However within the past couple of weeks, I have had some a-mazing food, which I will provide some details on in a later post, but back to tonight's dinner...

It's summertime in Louisiana which means there is a plethora of zucchini and tomatoes at the local farmer's market. I added a TON of fresh herbs as I have them on hand, but if you only have one or two of them on hand, that will work. This dish is a bit time consuming due to having to make the risotto, but worth it.

Summer Night Risotto
(serves 4)

4 to 5 cups chicken stock, warmed
3/4 lb. of chicken sausage - removed from casing
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio or other short-grain rice
salt & pepper
2 cups of diced zucchini
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered or halved
Handful of the following fresh herbs, roughly chopped - basil, parsley, oregano, chives
Small palmful of chopped rosemary
freshly grated Parmesan

1) In a small saute pan, crumble and cook chicken sausage, place in serving bowl.

2.) In the same saute pan, add zucchini on low heat, add a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place in whatever serving bowl.

3.) Chop tomatoes, add to serving bowl. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the zucchini, tomato, and sausage mixture and toss, set aside.

2.) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes until it softens.

2) Add the rice and stir until it’s coated – about 3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.

3) Use a ladle or measuring cup to add the warmed stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring occasionally until most of the stock has been absorbed. Add additional stock as each new addition is absorbed, stirring frequently but not constantly.

4) Taste the rice after about 20-25 minutes. Once the stock has been mostly absorbed, remove from heat, add to the serving bowl, add chopped herbs, Parmesan, and stir to combine. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil right before serving.

Gilt Taste = Trouble

2011-05-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

For those fashion savvy and thrifty peeps out there who already belong to Gilt Group, check out Gilt Taste. I have only briefly started looking at this fantastic site, and what it seems to be offering is a foodie geeks wet dream. To quote Ruth Reichl, who is the Editorial Advisor of the Gilt Taste Magazine, "Gilt Taste is a radical venture. On one hand it's a showcase for the artisanal products that talented bakers, butchers, candy and cheese-makers are now crafting all over the country. It's a place to meet a new generation of farmers, the men and women who are tilling the land in sustainable ways, saving seeds and raising happy animals. It is a celebration of food, mostly American."

I'm in love with the idea and have a feeling the weekly specials are going to especially dangerous for me...

Culinary School: Three Semesters of Life, Learning, and Loss of Blood

2011-04-29T17:29:00.002-05:00

Read an excerpt for this book and can't wait to read the rest. This book is only available as an e-book.

Rosemary Scented Scallops with Potato Fennel Puree

2011-04-19T23:38:00.001-05:00

Isn't it pretty?

The concept from this dish came from the fact I had fresh fennel from the Farmers' Market and John got into my head the craving for scallops. Earlier in the week I was searching for recipes for potato and fennel puree and came across a great one from Epicurious. I was reading through the comments and people were complaining about the color of the dish. In order to help that problem, I blanched the fennel fronds, which gave the dish a bright green color. The idea for the rosemary scallops came from the Epicurious recipe, which called for rosemary butter. I have to say, this is one of the prettiest dishes I have ever made and one of the most delicious. This could easily be served as an appetizer or add another scallop or two for an entree. This was our appetizer for our 1 year anniversary dinner.

Rosemary Scented Scallops with Potato Fennel Puree

Ingredients:

2 large fresh fennel bulbs (about 2 1/4 pounds total), remove fronds and cut bulb into 1/2 inch chunks
1 medium onion, cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 1 3/4 cups)
2 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 pounds red potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4 tablespoons of butter
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 cup of skim milk
1 lb. of large sea scallops
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine fennel, onion, garlic, oil, and 1 teaspoon sea salt in large bowl; toss. Spread in single layer on prepared baking sheet; sprinkle with pepper. Roast until fennel and onion are very tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer fennel mixture to processor and puree until almost smooth.

Fennel fronds: Remove the fronds from the fennel bulb. Blanch the fronds in boiling salted water for 30 seconds, drain and purée with remaining fennel mixture, 1 tablespoon of the blanching water, and heavy cream.

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender. Drain well. Cool slightly. Place in large bowl and mash with potato masher until smooth. Mix in roasted fennel puree and 1 tablespoon of butter - set aside.

**I did all of the above ahead then chilled in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then before serving slowly microwaved the puree, adding skim milk to thin it out to the consistency I wanted.***

Scallops: Melt 2 tablespoons of butter with rosemary and 1 teaspoon sea salt in small saucepan over medium heat. Allow butter to brown. Sprinkle each side of the scallops with salt and pepper. Cook scallops for 3-4 minutes on each side. Place puree on plate, add scallops, then drizzle each plate with remaining rosemary butter in the saute pan. Garnish with some fennel fronds if you so desire.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake a/k/a Anniversary Cheesecake

2011-04-14T12:29:00.001-05:00

This was taken after John took his first slice...

Warning: Before you read any farther into this post, this is NOT a healthy recipe. Except at the bottom I did add my two-cents on what to do with leftover strawberry puree to make a "healthy" tequila cocktail. I substituted one (1) package of cream cheese for one (1) package of Neufatel cheese (33% less fat than normal cream cheese), but did not want to make any more substitutions. To be honest I was scared to death as I was baking and there were several "firsts" involved. It was my first making a crust, using a spring form pan, and making a cheesecake. I used this recipe from Epicurious for Strawberry-Strawberry Cheesecake as a base for my cake. I swapped out the shortbread cookies for pecan shortbread cookies, which gave a nice little nutty taste to the crust. I used fresh strawberries instead of frozen as it is strawberry season in Louisiana. Seeing I was making this cheesecake for my husband for our 1 year wedding anniversary, I thought what would make this cheesecake better....chocolate ganache topping of course. One tip I found out was to chill the spring form pan before you butter it, so that way you can see the butter on the pan and make sure you cover it completely.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust

10-ounces pecan shortbread cookies
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling

10 ounces fresh strawberries (about 2 3/4 cups)
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter spring form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Grind cookies in processor to coarse crumbs. Add butter and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture over bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until just golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Puree strawberries in food processor until smooth. Measure 3/4 cup puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use). In a mixing bowl, mix together cream cheese and sugar. Blend until smooth. Using on/off turns of your mixer, blend in flour. Add eggs; mix until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add 3/4 cup strawberry puree, lemon juice, vanilla extract; process until well blended. Transfer filling to prepared crust.

Bake cake until center is softly set and edges begin to color, puff and crack, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Place hot cheesecake on rack. Refrigerate uncovered on rack until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.)

Chocolate Ganache

4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate

3 tablespoons of heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon of butter

Directions:

Place chocolate in metal bowl about a pot of boiling/simmering water. Allow chocolate to melt, then add heavy cream and butter. Heat until there are tiny bubbles on the along the outside of the mixture. Then pour over the cooled cheesecake. Chill for 1 hour and serve.

This cheesecake tasted fabulous with champagne. Also, if you have any leftover strawberry puree leftover - put it a container and save it! It can be frozen or used in say a cocktail...I mixed the leftover strawberry puree with tequila and fresh lime juice, so much better than a margarita and better for you.

Versatile Avocado Sauce

2011-04-10T19:50:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love avocados. Not only are the delicious, but good for you. Yes high in fat, but high in the GOOD fat. The other night I was making some Mexican spice rubbed pork chops and I had a pretty ripe avocado that needed to be used. Originally, the plan was to slice up the avocado to use either on the side or in the orzo salad, but it was just too ripe. The proverbial light bulb went off and I decided to make a "sauce". This stuff was delicious - it would be great on fish or chicken. One of my taste-testers was devouring it with tortilla chips - so it could be even be used as dip if you increased the amounts below.

Versatile Avocado Sauce

1 ripe avocado, peeled

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Good handful of fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove, minced

1 scallion - chopped

1 tablespoon of cumin and chili powder

4 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients about in your blender or food processor and blend until smooth. ( I used my hand-blender.) Serve chilled.

Crab Boil Potato Salad

2011-03-30T17:24:00.001-05:00

This past weekend had perfect bbq weather - not a cloud in the sky, warm, and no humidity. I was inspired to make a potato salad to accompany the ribs I was slow cooking for dinner. At some point in time over the week, I saw a restaurant that had crab boiled potato salad as a side dish and this idea was stuck in my head. Mainly, I think it was stuck because I have been craving crawfish for about a month now, but I thought it also sounded delicious and the crab boil would give the potato salad a great spicy kick. Needless to say, this ended being relatively true. I used greek yogurt in place of mayonnaise, but feel free to use the mayo instead. Next time I am going to boil the potatoes and then allow them to sit in the water for awhile in order to try to infuse more of the crab boil into the potatoes themselves.

Crab Boil Potato Salad:

5 medium medium potatoes (scrubbed and peeled)
1 package Crab Boil dry (not liquid) seasoning - divided into 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons
2 hard boiled eggs - diced
4 scallions - diced
4 stalks of celery - diced
3 cloves of garlic
1 cup Greek Yogurt
Handful of fresh parsley and chives - chopped (optional)
3 tablespoons. Spicy Brown Mustard or Creole Mustard
Creole Seasoning, Salt, Pepper

Directions:

Place potatoes, garlic, and 1/4 of crab boil in pot and cover with water. Boil on medium-high heat until you can stick the potatoes with a fork easily. Drain and allow potatoes to cool, then dice into bite sized pieces. Combine potatoes and all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop. You may want to add more or less yogurt and/or mayo depending on how creamy you like your potato salad. Also you may want to add less of the crab boil seasoning depending on how tolerate you are of spice.

Exciting News - First Published Recipe - Open Faced Chicken Salad Sandwiches

2011-03-28T10:31:00.001-05:00

I received in the mail the other day a complimentary copy of Taste of Home Healthy Cooking 2011 Annual Recipes hardback cookbook. At first I thought this was a cookbook some how being sent to me so that I would buy it, but then as re-read the letter that was attached to the package, I realized that it was being sent to me because I had a recipe in it! I am proud and happy to say that Taste of Home Healthy Cooking 2011 Annual Recipes Cookbook includes my Open Faced Chicken Salad Sandwiches recipe on page 50. To view the link you must be a member of Taste of Home - it is free to join.

CSN Stores Giveaway

2011-03-22T17:56:00.002-05:00

I have some great news for everyone - CSN Stores have offered to host a giveaway on Little Girl, Big Knife. For this giveaway, you’ll be entered to win a $25 gift code to be used towards anything at the CSN Stores. I personally would use it towards a Le Creuset stoneware baking dish, but that is just because I have been dying to have one to make some delicious spring vegetable gratins in. For all you foodies out there CSN Stores carries a wide array of brands for all your cooking wants and needs. And for all my non-foodies, you can put the gift code towards shoes, stuff for your house, and items for the kiddies.

To enter leave a comment telling me what you would put your $25 gift code towards and in your comment tell me how you helped spread the word about Little Girl, Big Knife and CSN Stores giveaway. You can spread the word by:

- Tweeting a link to this giveaway and @LittleGirlBigKn
- E-mailing a friend a link to the giveaway
-Tell you friends on Facebook and post a link to the giveaway
- Blog about the giveaway

Remember to tell me in the comment how your spreading news!

This contest will run until Monday April 4th at 6pm Central Time. Good luck!
This giveaway is limited to only the U.S. & Canada.