Recipes

10.08.2014 Across the Line, Cooking, Recipes

Tasty, Tasty

I’m being featured at RomanceCooks.com today! It’s a fun site where romance authors share recipes and books–two of my favoritest things in the world. If you like cooking, you should check it out. The recipe I shared, Asian Beef Lettuce Cups, is cheap and easy.

01.05.2013 Recipes

Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares

This is a FANTASTIC recipe. It’s super easy and fast, too. I make these at holiday time for the neighbors, who rave about them. The recipe is from Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine, but I reduced the amount of nuts because these cookies are a bit pricy to make.

Go here to see a video of them being made.

Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares

INGREDIENTS

14 graham crackers
1 bag (8 ounces) toffee bits
1 cup coarsely chopped toasted natural almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place graham crackers in a single layer on sheet, edges touching. Sprinkle toffee bits, almonds, and chocolate chips over graham crackers.
In a small saucepan, bring sugar and butter to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is syrupy, 2 minutes. Immediately pour over graham crackers. Bake until sugar topping is bubbling, 12 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle salt over graham crackers. While still hot, cut into 2-inch squares with a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)

(Photo from the Martha Stewart website)

07.04.2012 Love It Wednesdays, Recipes

Love It Wednesday #6 – Potayto Potahto

Today I’m crowing about a recipe that I tried out today on my family. I never thought much about anchovies before except that they were sometimes put on pizza. Recently one of the magazines I subscribe to, Everyday Food, did a feature on anchovies. One of their recipes sounded interesting, and it was terrific.

Anchovy Potato Salad

1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
coarse salt
1/2 celery stalk, diced small (I used a whole one.)
1 scallion (I used two)
1 large hard-cooked egg, chopped
1 cup Spicy Anchovy Mayonnaise (recipe to follow)

In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high. Reduce to a rapid simmer and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a bowl, about 10 min. Drain, transfer to a bowl and let cool, about 30 min. Stir in all the other stuff and season with salt.

To store, cover and refrigerate, up to 3 days.

Spicy Anchovy Mayo

Combine 1 cup mayo, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, and a small tin of anchovies, finely chopped.

05.04.2009 Recipes

Roasted Pepper Pasta Stuffed Peppers

1/2 pound short whole wheat pasta
4 large red bell peppers, tops cut off and reserved, seeds
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more for drizzling
4 jarred roasted red peppers
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 small portobello mushroom caps, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 sprigs rosemary, stems discarded and leaves chopped
One 28-ounce can fire-roasted, crushed, or diced tomatoes
2 cups arugula or baby spinach (a few generous handfuls)
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
1 cup grated pecorino-romano cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

2. Trim the bottoms of the bell peppers, without cutting a hole, so that they stand. Season inside with salt and black pepper. Turn the peppers bottom side up in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, set the tops alongside and drizzle with EVOO. Roast for 20 minutes.

3. Using a food processor, puree the roasted red peppers. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the red onion, garlic, mushrooms, crushed red pepper and rosemary and cook until softened, 7 minutes. Stir in the pureed peppers and the fire-roasted tomatoes; season with salt and black pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pasta and toss. Add the arugula and basil and cook until wilted.

4. Preheat the broiler. Turn the peppers upright; fill with pasta. Top with the cheese and broil until melted, 2 minutes. Cover with the tops and serve with any extra pasta.