Recipes – Page 21 – Fervent Foodie

My first attempt at Biscotti

February 9, 2011 8 Comments

I don’t recall when I made the life transition from thinking of biscotti as a dry and dull unappetizing biscuit to thinking of biscotti as one of life’s true pleasures that should be savored as frequently as possible.

Thank god for maturing palates.

Biscotti now holds a special special place in my heart, and I would eat it every day if it didn’t hurt my teeth so much.

A while back, I decided to try and make biscotti on my own via this recipe for Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti. I headed to the local grocery store to buy up the necessary goods, and much to my dismay I found pistachios to be outrageously expensive. $10 a bag?!? Come ON! Then I noticed that the pistachios with the shells still on them were nearly half the price, so of course I scooped them up.

How hard could it be to crack a few shells?

About 45 minutes into my shell husking I was beginning to seriously doubt my frugal decision. …

Seriously…

How many freaking pistachios does it take to get 3/4 of a cup???

When I finally had my 3/4 cup pistachios and my fingers were aching from all the husking, I mixed the following together in a bowl:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/8 teaspoon orange extract

Then I beat in 1 egg and combined the following in another bowl:

3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

I slowly incorporated the dries into the wets, and then mixed in:

1/2 cup craisins
3/4 pistachios (painstakingly deshelled by hand)

Looks like christmas!

Can’t wait to eat you!

Once combined, I rolled the dough out into a log on parchment paper:

Kind of surprising how perfect this looked, given that I couldn’t feel my fingers at this point.

I baked the biscotolog in a 300 degree oven for 35 minutes. Then I removed it from the oven and covered it with a dish towel to cool for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I reduced the oven heat to 275.

I transferred the biscotolog to a cutting board and cut into 18 slices:

PERFECTION!

Then popped the biscottis onto the cookie sheet again and put them back into the 275 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Once the biscotti was completely cooled,I drizzled the tops with some melted Bakers Chocolate

YES!

Overall, I really loved this biscotti. I think some of my friends and fam were a little thrown off by the orange extract though. I’m excited to play around with this recipe. I’m thinking almond and craisins next time!

Really any nut that doesn’t require deshelling would be superb….

Recipes

Shrimp & Mac & Cheese

February 8, 2011 15 Comments

WOW guys. WOW.

Drooling yet??

For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin. During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit! You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.

What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic.

Hello lover.

Clearly this was destiny.

First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water.

I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes. Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day. Don’t worry. I won’t judge you.

After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth. It should look like grits, ya’ll:

By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.

1

Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:

1 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)

Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside. Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese.

It should be gloriously thick.

Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta. Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the top with

1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Sprinkling of dried parsley

Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:

Cheesy deliciousness:

Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:

No joke. Big. Arse.

Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.

I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:

I also roasted up some broccoli that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese. Don’t judge.

VOILA!

That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!

I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are!

The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot. But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:

Can’t get over how delicious!

Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp): 275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp: 322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber

Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )

1 large Vidalia onion
9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
1/2 cup water
8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
1 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups reduced fat cheddar
2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Sprinkling of dried parsley

Recipes

Shrimp & Mac & Cheese

February 8, 2011 15 Comments

WOW guys. WOW.

Drooling yet??

For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin. During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit! You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.

What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic.

Hello lover.

Clearly this was destiny.

First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water.

I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes. Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day. Don’t worry. I won’t judge you.

After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth. It should look like grits, ya’ll:

By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.

1

Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:

1 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)

Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside. Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese.

It should be gloriously thick.

Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta. Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.

Sprinkle the top with

1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Sprinkling of dried parsley

Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:

Cheesy deliciousness:

Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:

No joke. Big. Arse.

Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.

I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:

I also roasted up some broccoli that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese. Don’t judge.

VOILA!

That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!

I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are!

The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot. But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:

Can’t get over how delicious!

Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp): 275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber

Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp: 322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber

Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )

1 large Vidalia onion
9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
1/2 cup water
8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
1 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups reduced fat cheddar
2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Sprinkling of dried parsley

Recipes

Seriously. Make this. Now.

February 6, 2011 6 Comments

Last weekend, I posted a super simple super quick recipe for the Ahmygawd Breakfast Sandwich.

Today, I made a repeat of that masterpiece with the addition of some Frank’s Red Hot:

I swear to you, this breakfast sandwich is eyes-roll-into-the-back-of-your-head delicious.

If you are a yolk lover like me (and a sausage lover for that matter) do yourself a favor and make this for breakfast. Immediately!

Stats on the life changer: 255 calories, 24g carbs, 10g fat, 20g protein, 3g fiber

Recipes

Mini Cheesy Meatloaves

February 3, 2011 8 Comments

Helloooooo cheesy meaty goodness!

Continuing on with my Cooking Light recipe rampage, the other night I cooked up some of the Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis featured in a recent issue of the magazine.

Super simple to throw together, and really really friggin tasty.

First up, I measured out all my ingredients like the oober organized little cook that I am (see the list at the bottom of the post).

Here are the goods:

I decided to go with New York style white cheddar cheese. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried that type of cheese before, but holy cow (no pun intended) is it delicious!

Cheeeesseeeeeee 🙂

Next up I sautéed the onion and garlic… The recipe called for 1/2 cup onion and 2 cloves garlic. Of course we all know that means you are actually supposed to use 1 whole cup of onion and no less than 3 cloves garlic.

Naturally.

The recipe also called for toasting of the breadcrumbs… Just be careful not to burn them! (AKA I burnt my first.. and second batch… dangit!)

Once the onions were nice and soft and the bread crumbs were toasty, I tossed all the goodies into a bowl along with 11 ounces of 90% ground sirloin.

Why do I always feel the need to include pics of the raw meat on my blog?

Good question…

This batch made 3 mini meatloaves, one of which I had for dinner along with some steamed broccoli with lemon juice:

This picture makes me start salivating uncontrollably….

Apparently, my body has been secretly feigning for a little red meat in its life!

Mmmmmgghhhhhhhhhh……

Meat.

Stats on 1 mini cheesy meatloafy: 350 calories, 19g carbs, 17g fat (red meat, folks), 29g protein, 1g fiber

Mini Cheesy Meatloaves Ingredients List (serves 3)

1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup bread crumbs
11 ounces 90/10 ground sirloin
1.5 ounces New York style white cheddar cheese, cubed
1/4 cup ketchup, divided (2 tbsp mixed in, and 2 tbsp for basting the tops)
1.5 tsp dijon mustard
1.5 tsp prepared horseradish
3/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg

Instructions: Mix all ingredients (except 2 tbsp ketchup) in a large bowl. Divide into 3 equal sized loaves. Place on cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Baste tops of the loaves with remaining 2tbsp ketchup. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Speaking of droolworthy, I went to El Jalapenos in Barberton for dinner this evening and got a seriously amazing chicken fajita salad. I literally did not stop to drink, speak, or breathe from the moment it hit the table. Check out the insanely huge burrito my friend Allison got:

Insanity!!!

Can’t believe the weekend is here! Woot!