I am making this right now.

Pumpkin Puree

Then, I will be making these for breakfast this week.

Pumpkin Smoothies

I first tried this recipe last pumpkin season, and fell in love -- I make the healthier option -- with plain yogurt and a bit of honey/maple syrup.

Pumpkin season is back, and I am in full Fall swing.  Is it still 105* outside here in Arizona?  Yes.  But, no matter.  Just crank the AC and put on a sweater!  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin bars, pumpkin cookies -- here we come.  And, don't get me started on apples...

Bobby Flay Did It Again.

Another great BBQ recipe!  There are about ten other recipes I have lined up to share with you, but I made this one tonight and it zoomed to the top -- Bobby Flay's Balsamic BBQ Sauce.  When you see the list of ingredients, you will think there is no way this recipe is worth it -- but think again!  It uses mostly everyday pantry ingredients and makes enough for several servings.  Well, enough ado, here we go!

• 1 1/2 C balsamic vinegar
• 2 TBSP canola oil (I used olive)
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 large clove of garlic (or 5, like I used)
• 1/2 C ketchup
• 1 TBSP ancho chile powder (I used regular)
• 1 1/2 TSP paprika
• 2 TSP dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 TSP red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 TSP Worcestershire sauce
• 1 small chipotle chile in adobo (normally, they come in small cans with several peppers, from the Hispanic aisle)
• 1 1/2 TSP brown sugar
• 2 TSP honey
• 2 TSP molasses
• salt & pepper

Bring the balsamic to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until reduced by about half, 15-20 minutes.  Set aside.  Heat 1 TBSP canola oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Add the onion and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add the ketchup and 3 TBSP water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 5 minutes.  Add the reduced balsamic, chile powder, paprika, mustard, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire, chipotle chile, brown sugar, honey, and molasses.  Simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.  Puree with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  (I used a mini blender, and it worked well.)

Try it.  Trust me.  It's a sauce that will get you excited.

Slainte!

  

Toasting Roasting

By now, you have probably noticed that I love roasted vegetables.  They're simple, quick, and tasty -- the perfect choice for entertaining or cooking dinner after work.  My favorite combination = garnet sweet potatoes + yellow peppers + onions -- which you will notice in one of my photos -- but a variety of veggies can be used, including carrots and cauliflower.  In fact, Roasted Cauliflower Pepper Salad is a new roasted vegetable recipe that I recently tried.  Usually, I just mix the veggies in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and stick them in the oven on a foiled baking pan, for 30-40 minutes, at 375*.  As you can see, paired with this salad is a plain chicken breast, pan-seared in olive oil, salt, & pepper -- another easy, low carb meal that is good for you and your budget.  The next night, I used a leftover chicken breast and the remaining roasted salad and made a quick stir fry in a bit of olive oil and a few seasonings.  Again, quick, simple, and good.

Another wonderfully simple recipe I have been loving lately is what I have so cleverly dubbed Simple Salsa.  Combine chopped tomatoes + onions in a bowl, reserving a half a tomato and a handful of chopped onion.  Puree the reserved veggies with a few splashes of white wine vinegar, a de-seeded hatch chile pepper (or spicy pepper of your choice), and a clove of garlic.  Add puree to the bowl of veggies and blend with a potato masher, pastry cutter, or just a spoon.  I am still experimenting with salsas, but like this one because it goes well with chips or by itself as a side salad.  If anyone has good salsa recipes to share, please do!  I am in particular search of a good recipe for tomatillo salsa...

Hey, ya'll.

Greetings from the Great Southwest!  Even in my online absence, I have been thinking of you and on the lookout for some great local recipes to share.  Haven't come across anything yet, however, I am hoping to make a trip up to Prescott to pick what Food Network claims are the best peaches in the country (eek!) -- pies, cobblers, jams, oh my!

Until that glorious time, however, I will share a handful of the recipes I have made when I have had time to cook.  I have been doing a lot more "clean" eating lately and trying to figure out ways to do so on a small budget while still enjoying cooking.  If you have any creative ideas of your own, please feel free to share!  In this vein, a lot of the dishes featured on my Instagram feed are very simple combinations of veggies and meats -- different ways, different seasonings -- simple combinations of good foods that are good for you.   Most of the descriptions give you an idea of what is in these recipes, however, if you have any questions or want to swap ideas, let me know!

You will notice a particularly wonderful photo of some lovely dishes that I recently purchased for my new kitchen.  Organic. White. West Elm.  Need I say more?  Actually, the only thing that I probably would have needed to say was "West Elm."  It is quite a wonderful place, isn't it?  If you haven't been there, you should go.  Trust me.

Right by that photo, you will find a little collage of tomatoes, and you might be wondering why.  Well, first of all, they are beautiful -- heirloom tomatoes are one of my little summer joys.  These were particularly stunning, and I just had to share them with you.  I also wanted to share my de-juicing technique, which may leave you even a little more confused and worried about my sanity.  Yes, I know tomatoes are juicy.  It's just that, sometimes, it's a little too much. And, let's be real, no matter how hard one tries, it is impossible to keep tomato juice from running off the cutting board.

So, after halving and coring a tomato, you have two options: squeeze the halves over the sink (which is the quickest route but will definitely mangle the flesh) or scoop the insides out (kind of like a cantaloupe - you can either take the solid middle "pillar" with them or scoop around it).  I de-juice my tomatoes for almost all recipes, especially when the liquid content is crucial. This is also an easy way to replace cherry tomatoes in a recipe, without worrying about the tomatoes make a salad, etc. soggy.

All right, gotta run -- but don't worry, I will be back sooner rather than later this time.  Until then, slainte!

Rhubarb cream cheese hand pies

It's been a few months since I made these delectable little pockets of rhubarb and cream cheese, but since I took the pictures on my sister's iPhone, I didn't see them again until I remembered weeks later that I needed to ask for them. 

Smitten Kitchen has a perfect track record with me, and these hand pies continue the streak. I saw the photos posted on her Flickr account, but was agonizing at the end of the day that there was no. recipe. posted. and I had to make the pie dough a day ahead of time. So I went with the classic all-butter crust on her site.

Of course, it ended up being the wrong crust, but these were delicious anyway.