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Monthly Archives: January 2009
We made these baked potato wedges to serve alongside turkey burgers. They were a great accompaniment! I love potato wedges, and these were no different. I was a little worried that they wouldn’t be as crispy as I wanted, as that often happens when I bake things that are normally fried. However, these potato wedges were wonderfully crispy. I thought these were great with just the rosemary, but I think I’ll try adding some different herbs/spices next time.
 Baked Potato Wedges
Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes, unpeeled
4 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 400°.
-Scrub the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, then cut each half in thirds lengthwise.
-You’ll have 6 long wedges from each potato.
-Place the potatoes on a sheet pan with the olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary.
-With clean hands, toss all the ingredients together, making sure the potatoes are covered with oil.
-Spread the potatoes in a single layer with 1 cut-side down.
-Bake the potatoes for 30 to 35 minutes, turning to the other cut side after 20 minutes.
-Bake until they are lightly browned, crisp outside, and tender inside.
-Sprinkle with salt and serve.
Source: Ina Garten
I have a confession. I’m not really a fan of brownies. So when I saw this recipe for blondies on one of my favorite blogs, I knew I had to try it. Plus, I really wanted to give my new Edge Brownie Pan a try. Another plus is that I already had all the ingredients needed for this recipe (except for the toffee pieces, which I made). Yet another plus is that the butter is melted, so there’s no waiting for it to come to room temperature. The biggest plus of all? The taste. These are fantastic and have infinite possibilities for add ins. For these blondies, I used 1/4 cup toffee pieces, 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped.
Basic Blondies
Ingredients:
6-7 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (optional, creates lighter blondie texture)
“Add in” (see below)
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.
-In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter.
-Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
-Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth.
-Beat in egg and then vanilla.
-Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder (if using).
-Mix in any additions (some ideas below).
-Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle. (Mine only took about 18-20 in the Edge pan.)
-Cool on rack before cutting.
Add in ideas:
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, white chocolate or butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds
1/2 cup M&M candies1/2 chopped Reese’s cups
1/4 cup toffee pieces
1/2 tsp mint extract in addition to, or in the place of vanilla extract
Source: Baking Blonde
Last Saturday, we went canoeing to celebrate our friend Chris’s birthday. Our friend Marlyn, his wife, was bringing all the sandwiches, chips and drinks, so I decided to make a surprise dessert (that would stand up to being in a cooler for a few hours). I decided on blondies and found a wonderful recipe. However, we didn’t have any toffee pieces, and I really wanted to include them. Realizing that I had a new candy thermometer that hadn’t been broken in, I decided just to make the toffee myself.
I didn’t cover my toffee my toffee in chocolate like the recipe calls for, but only because I wanted the plain toffee pieces for the blondies.
 English Toffee
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 semi-sweet chocolate baking squares or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
Directions:
-In a heavy saucepan, combine butter, sugar, water, and salt.
-Cook to hard-crack stage (300°) stirring constantly and watching carefully.
-Immediately pour into 13″x9″ pan, lined with a Silpat or wax paper.
-Once slightly cooled, top with chocolate chips or finely chopped baking squares.
-When chocolate is melted, spread using an offset spatula.
-Top with nuts.
-Let stand 2-3 hours or chill 30 minutes.
-Break into pieces and enjoy!
Source: Adapted from RecipeZaar
We’ve never made risotto before. After having this dish, I’m not sure why we waited so long! Eric did all the work for this one, because I wasn’t feeling too well the night we had this. This is a wonderful dish and definitely a comfort food. If you’ve never tried risotto, this is a great recipe to make!
The only change we made to this dish was to use sweet Italian sausage instead of spicy, and that’s only because we couldn’t find any spicy Italian sausage.
 Dirty Risotto
Ingredients:
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 ounces pancetta, chopped
1 link (about 6 ounces) spicy Italian sausage, casing removed
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 ounces button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
Directions:
-In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer.
-Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.
-In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
-Add the pancetta and sausage and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
-Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute until tender, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes.
-Season with salt and pepper.
-Add the rice and stir to coat.
-Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute.
-Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.
-Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 25 to 30 minutes total.
-Remove from the heat.
-Stir in 3/4 of the Parmesan.
-Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl.
-Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.
Source: Giada de Laurentiis
I love smoothies, but I can never find a recipe that really tastes the way I think it should. Inspired by a blurb in Publix GreenWise Market (a little publication that’s free at Publix), I decided to mess around with some fruit and yogurt I had at home to see what I could come up with. This is the result. A cool, refreshing and filling smoothie. It can easily be adapted to your favorite fruits, too.
Blueberry Strawberry Smoothie
Ingredients:
1/2 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
1/2 cup ice cubes
splash of orange juice
honey, to taste
Directions:
-Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth.
-Serve immediately.
For those that want to blend your own flavor of smoothies, here’s the original recipe.
Pick-Me-Up Smoothie
Ingredients:
1 cup fruit (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup liquid (such as milk, soy milk, juice, green tea or water)
1/2 cup yogurt
Optional Ingredients:
1 teaspoon wheat germ
1 teaspoon flaxseed oil
1-2 tablespoons nut butter
1/2 cup ice cubes
Honey, to taste
Source: Publix GreenWise Market
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