Mamma Mia Reprise Party

So it appears that the Mamma Mia Sing-A-Long party may become an annual event for me. Ever since my party last year, my friends (who were reluctant at first) and I have been known to turn a regular evening into a night filled with ABBA songs, much to Joe (and my neighbor's) chagrin. This was easily solved by making sure Joe was far far away, and inviting said neighbor, who responded, 'if you can't beat em, join em'.

I was in London for work in January and got to see Mamma Mia (with some of the original cast!) at the Prince of Wales Theater. I went by myself, sat front row center and am not even kidding when I say this was one of the BEST experiences of my life! I was singing ABBA songs for weeks after seeing it and decided it was time for a reprise - hence the 2nd annual party.

This year, I timed it for when my sister was visiting me from Houston while the school she teaches at was on spring break. As you can see, she had a wonderful time (except for the part where she got out of the cab coming in from the airport and had to wait on the sidewalk outside my condo with her luggage and wait for Dancing Queen to be over so I could hear my phone ring - oops: )

As far as the menu went this year, since I had the party on a Friday and my friends specifically requested I make baklava again, I was a little constrained in terms of taking on any extra challenges. The one thing I really wanted to incorporate this year though was lamb, and I found an easy way to do it in the form of lamb meatballs (don't worry Mom and Dad, we didn't eat them until midnight since it was a Friday during Lent, I swear : )

Menu:

Olives & Feta

Pita with Tztatziki & Melitzanosalata

Lamb Meatballs

Spanakopita

Baklava

Last year, I had way too much food, so this year's smaller menu worked out perfectly. With a little pre-planning and the help of a friend, this was a totally stress free event to pull off.

I made the tztatziki and melitzanosalata on the Wednesday night before the party, and my friend Melissa came over to help with the baklava and meatballs on Thursday night. That actually translated to me rolling the meatballs (which took all of 20 minutes), then drinking wine and watching - I mean 'supervising' Melissa make the baklava for the next hour and a half. Worked for me, and while it tasted every bit as good as last year's, her final product was much prettier than mine. So hopefully that becomes an annual thing too....



I'll repost any recipes that I made again here this year.

Tztatziki
adapted from elly says opa

Ingredients:

1 16 oz low fat Greek Yogurt
1 seedless cucumber
4 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 lemon

Peel & seed the cucumber. Using a box grater, shred cucumber and squeeze out all the excess moisture (I used a towel, which Elly also suggests) - you really want to get it as dry as possible.

Mix together the yogur with the cucumber and grate the garlic over the mixture using a micro-plane (or you could make a garlic paste). Mix in the vinegar and lemon juice, then salt & pepper to taste.

Like I said, I made mine a couple days in advance, but Elly recommends letting it sit at least a half hour in the fridge to let the flavors marry.


Melitzanosalata
source: About.com

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons of wine vinegar
3 cloves of garlic, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Pierce the eggplant with a fork and broil for 10-15 minutes until the eggplant turns black and is very soft. Set to cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath.

As soon as it can be handled, peel by hand (the skin will come off easily), and transfer to a bowl. Chop the pulp into small pieces with a knife, and mash with a fork. With a wooden spoon, stir in oil and vinegar slowly, alternating between them, until well blended. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper.

Serve chilled or at room temperature, with pita wedges.

Spiced Lamb Meatballs
source: elly says opa



These little devils were heavenly - the cinammon and spices really makes for a rich flavor, I've been craving them ever since I made them!

1 lb. ground lamb
1/2 small onion, grated or finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil for pan frying

I prepped these the night before, mixing all the ingredients together for the meatballs (except the olive oil) and formed the meatball, letting them sit in the fridge until I was ready to fry them the next day.

Using a dutch oven or heavy pan, heat up the oil for frying, and brown the meatballs until cooked through.

I served mine with the tztatziki.


Baklava:
source: Elly's recipe on bakespace.com


1 package phyllo dough (16 oz.)
1 cup butter, melted
1 lb. chopped toasted walnuts
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp. lemon juice

Remember to thaw your phyllo before working with it! Your best bet is to put it in the fridge the night before.

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x13 pan. Mix walnuts,cinnamon and cloves, and set aside.

Layer 1 sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the prepared pan, keeping a moist towel over the phyllo that you are not working with.

Brush melted butter over it and top with a second sheet. Continue this until you have layered 8-10 phyllo sheets.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture over the phyllo and then repeat the layering 2 times, ending with layers of phyllo. I cut mine into square inches. Bake for 45 minutes.

For the syryp, heat sugar, honey, water, lemon and cinnamon in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil to thicken slightly, and then remove from heat. Allow to cool before pouring it over baklava.





Until next year Dancing Queens.....

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Honey Syrup

I'm typically not a pancake lover but the other morning I got a craving out of the blue for chocolate chip pancakes and found some peanut butter chips in the pantry as well. Peanut butter and chocolate is never a bad idea, so I knew it would be a great addition to these pancakes.

Since I've never made pancakes before, I found a highly rated recipe on allrecipes.com. I'm glad I found it - the pancakes themselves were super fluffy so I'll definitely use it again with other variations. The syrup was delicious and super easy, I think the next time I make these, I'll make blueberry pancakes and add some lemon to the syrup.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1/3 peanut butter chips

* Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

* In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk and oil, then add it to the dry ingredients and mix well with a whisk.

* Stir in the chips.

* Using a 1/4 cup measuring spoon, spoon the pancakes one at a time onto a lightly greased hot griddle. Turn when bubbles start to form on top and cook until both sides are golden brown.

Cinnamon Honey Syrup:

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp ground cinnamon

* Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave about 60 seconds, allowing the butter to melt and syrup to heat. Stir and serve with pancakes.

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Minestrone Soup and my new purple Le Crueset

So I got this beauty for Christmas and have been using it to make all kinds of soups and stews like this delicious Minestrone soup recipe - and I realized I haven't even given her a proper debut on my blog yet! (A purple Le Crueset would be female, right?)

Purple is my favorite color and when I decided I wanted one, I knew it had to be purple. Not easy since they only sell the purple ones in Europe but I was able to find this one on ebay (and just went ahead and ordered it making Christmas shopping easier for my mother : ).

I am really enjoying looking for new recipes to make with at, as well as making some old ones even more delicious (bolognese made in this thing is heavenly!). And it looks gorgeous sitting on my stove when I'm not using it.

This particular recipe actually called for it to be made in a slow cooker, but since I was working from home the day I made it I was able to watch it all day so used this instead.

I found this while looking for healthy soup recipes on Food Network and this one was very highly reviewed. I did add sausage which I realize makes it less healthy - but so flavorful. I enjoyed leftovers for a week!

Minestrone Soup

Adapted from foodnetwork.com, Robin Miller

Ingredients

• 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups pasta (I used shells)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1/4 lb italian sausage

Directions

In a slow cooker or dutch oven, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add pasta and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Also at this time, brown sausage, drain fat from it and add to the soup.

Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

Not your Mama's Salmon Patties

Growing up Salmon Patties were always one of those groan inducing meals (as in - eww Mom, really Salmon Patties?). Well looking back, salmon patties really weren't all that bad, they were just easy to pick on, kind of like meatloaf.

Turns out Joe had them growing up too, and similar to my family, they were made using canned salmon. He wasn't thrilled when I told him what we were having for dinner, especially when I told him it was a healthy recipe too. Turned out he loved them - it does help that there is no canned salmon involved in the dish : ) So much so that as I am posting these a week later and he saw the photo on the computer he reiterated how much he liked them!

I loved this recipe not only because it was delicious, but yes it was healthy as well AND a great way to stretch your dollar! Because the base of the patties are potatoes, 1 serving of salmon is more than enough for two people.

Salmon and Potato Cakes with Mixed Greens

***Recipe note - I reduced the amount of oil used in the original recipe and substituted 2% milk for the heavy cream.***

Original recipe - from myrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons vegetable oil (for frying)
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• salt
• 1/2 onion, grated
• .5 pound skinless salmon fillets
• pepper
• 3/4 cups water
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 scallions, white bulbs only, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dill
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon red- or white-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 pound mixed salad greens (about 4 quarts)
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

Preparation

1. Brush the bottom of a large deep frying pan with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Put the potatoes in the pan and sprinkle with salt. Top with the onion and then the salmon. Sprinkle with another layer of salt and pepper over the salmon. Add the water to the pan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the salmon and potatoes are done, about 15 minutes.

2. Remove the salmon and flake. Drain the potatoes well and put in a medium bowl. Add the milk and mash, leaving the potatoes fairly chunky. Add the salmon, more pepper to taste, the scallions, and half of the dill. Form the mixture into four cakes.

3. Wipe out the frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat over moderately high heat. Add half the salmon cakes to the pan and brown well on both sides, about 5 minutes in all. Drain on paper towels and repeat with another tablespoon oil and the remaining salmon cakes.

4. In a medium glass or stainless-steel bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, and the remaining dill and salt and pepper to taste. Add the olive oil slowly, whisking. Add the greens, toss, and put on plates. Top each salad with two salmon cakes and a lemon wedge.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Stuffed Shells with Brown Butter Sage Sauce

I know I've declared my love for brown butter sage sauce before...but if I could just take this moment to reiterate HOW MUCH I LOVE IT. Okay moving on, I realize it is not the healthiest of options, but hey, we're in that magical month between Thanksgiving and Christmas where you can eat whatever you want, right (or am I the only one that subscribes to this philosophy)?

I saw these guys on Lime in the Cocunut, who originally saw them on the Proud Italian Cook. Sadly, neither of their delicious looking posts had recipes with measurements, and you can see that my shells came out looking a bit different than theirs.

From the looks of it, it seems I added a bit less parmesan (oh - and now I just realized I didn't add the egg from PIC's recipe either!) than they did, although I must say, these were still incredibly delicious and I have no regrets!


Adapted from Proud Italian Cook

Ingredients

8 pasta shells
1/2 butternut squash
1/2 bag fresh spinach
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup ricotta
pinch nutmeg
salt
pepper
olive oil
1/2 stick butter
6 - 8 sage leaves

*Dice the butternut squash and roast at 425 for 15 - 20 minutes or until tender, tossed in olive oil, salt & pepper

*Cook the shells to al dente

*Meanwhile, saute the fresh spinach with olive oil, garlic and salt & pepper until cooked down.

*In a bowl, combine butternut squash and spinach and blend using an immersion blender

*Mix in the parmesan and ricotta cheese

*Spoon the mixture onto the cooked shells and put back into the oven (no need to adjust temp) for about 15 minutes, until heated through.

*While shells are cooking, make the brown butter sage sauch (melt the butter in a pan with the sage, allow butter to brown and sage to get crispy)

*Spoon the sauce over the cooked shells and serve.

Broken LG Dishwasher : (

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile - but its been rather difficult to maneuver in our kitchen lately due to our dishwasher acting up.

After several repair calls, we've come to the conclusion that our (not even two year old LG model LDFL7811ST) is definitely terminal. Instead of pumping any more money into repairs - we've decided to buy a new one...any recommendation (NOT and LG!)???

Cheesy, Bacony Potato Soup

As the weather starts getting colder, nothing beats making a big pot of soup and letting it simmer on the stove all day.

In our house, I can never go wrong with cheese, bacon and potato combinations : )

And while I wouldn't dare call this soup healthy, this method of cooking it is a nice way to get a thick, velvety texture without the traditional method of making a rue. I suppose if you forgo the bacon and cheese topping you could call it healthy, but I'm not sure its worth it.

Potato Soup

Soup:
4 russet potatoes
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup milk or cream
1 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper (season to taste)

Toppings
4 - 6 strips bacon, chopped and cooked till crispy
Shredded cheddar cheese
3 - 4 scallions, chopped

* Cube the potatoes, and add to a pan with the chicken stock. The chicken stock should completely cover them, if it does not add water. Add a dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder and bring to a boil.

* Turn down to medium-low heat and simmer until the potatoes are cooked thoroughly. Turn off heat.

* With an immersion blender (if you do not have one, you can transfer this to a regular blender) blend the soup until the potatoes are thoroughly incorporated and you a smooth consistency

* Add the milk and heat till simmering

* Serve and top with cheese, bacon and scallions

Pumpkin Bread & I discovered the macro setting on my camera!!!

So this time of year, there are no shortage of pumpkin bread posts - but I just had to share this one because it was while I was taking the photos that I finally discovered the macro setting on my camera. I'm really not sure why it took me this long, every photo tutorial I read for food photography says to use it. I think I just assumed that I already was or my camera didn't have it.

Regardless, I am really jazzed about being able to actually show you my food up close (however I have some very blurry pictures of our friends tailgating the next day, I'll have to show Joe how to switch it back to people mode : ). The last few entries I have used it, but I felt like this was a really good example of how you can see the detail of the bread.

Although this bread was super delicious, this is a very bittersweet post for me, as our Jack Russell Terrier was the one who really got to enjoy it. After Joe and I were able to enjoy a slice each, Molly jumped on the counter and treated herself to the rest of it.

I highly recommend making this bread, and keeping it away from your dog!



Pumpkin Nut Loaf
Source: Good things Catered


Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/3 c. milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp oil
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 c. chopped walnuts, plus more for topping

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare loaf pan (or mini loaf pans)
-In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, powder, salt, spices and whisk to combine.
-In large bowl of mixer beat oil, butter and sugars until creamy until lightened in color and texture, about 3 minutes.
-Beat in eggs one at a time.
-Add pumpkin puree and beat until combined; scrape down sides of bowl.
-Add milk and vanilla and beat until combined; scrape down sides of bowl.
-With mixer on lowest setting, add flour mixture just until barely combined.
-Remove bowl from mixer and fold in 1 c. walnuts.
-Scrape batter into pan(s) and spread evenly.
-Top with extra chopped walnuts and place into oven.
-Bake about until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour for regular loaf and 35-40 minutes for mini loaf.
-Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 20 minutes.
-Turn out onto wire rack and let cool completely.

Beer Bread

While I've been getting more confident with baking since I started my blog, bread has always been something that's intimidated me. The other day though, I got a craving out of nowhere for beer bread. My (irish) Grammy used to make it when we were growing up.

I found a recipe online with lots of good reviews and sounded pretty simple - it actually was super easy, I was surprised! This bread was so delicious, moist and sweet.

I did add cheese in the bread as you can kind of see from the pictures. Actually a question for all you bread bakers out there - I wanted to add the cheese on top of the bread but didn't think that I could put it on top right away because I thought with an hour of baking time it might burn.

I went to add it halfway through but the top was already too crusted to make the cheese stick. Joe helped me do some surgery and sliced through the top layer of bread and put the cheese in the middle. It actually worked out fine but I would have preferred to put it on top.

So - is it okay to put the cheese on top for the whole baking processes?

Beer Bread

Recipezaar.com

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (sifted)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
• 1 (12 ounce) can beer
• 1/2 cup melted butter (1/4 cup will do just fine)
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Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Mix dry ingredients and beer.
• Pour into a greased loaf pan.
• Pour melted butter over mixture.
• Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes

Pumpkin Risotto with Shrimp and Pancetta

In case you didn't know - there is a pumpkin shortage this fall. If you want a little hint on where to find it, higher end stores like Whole Foods seemed to be pretty well stocked on organic canned pumpkin. You'll pay a little more for it, but hey what's fall without pumpkin?

Pumpkin in hand, I wanted to make a savory dish and found this risotto recipe via Tastespotter.

I really just used that recipe for inspiration and decided to do shrimp instead of crab and add pancetta. The pancetta was a great addition, the saltiness of it was a great contrast with the sweetness of the cinnamon in the pumpkin.

This was a delicious, one dish meal that I will definitely be making again!

Pumpkin Risotto with Shrimp and Pancetta

1 cup arrabrio rice

olive oil

1 white onion, chopped

salt

pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 cup white wine

4 cups chicken stock

15 oz. can pumpkin puree

8 - 12 pieces shrimp

4 strips pancetta

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in heavy bottomed pan and saute the onion about 5 - 10 minutes over medium heat with salt and pepper to season.

Add the rice, cinnamon and cloves and allow rice to brown slightly. Reduce the heat to low and add the wine and let simmer until all the liquid is gone. Then add one cup of the chicken stock, one cup at a time, cooking until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup (about 30 - 40 minutes total). While the risotto is cooking, brown the pancetta in a separate pan and set aside, reserving the grease in the pan.

Cook the shrimp (seasoned with salt and pepper) in the same pan as the pancetta, about 3 minutes on each side. If not enough grease in the pan add a bit of olive oil. Once the last cup of stock is almost absorbed, add the pumpkin, shrimp and cheese and mix to combine. Top with the pancetta and serve.