Peanut butter and?

As I am sure I have mentioned a time or two, I am not a baker. The idea of exact measurements makes me crazy! This food blogging has forced me to measure things and keep track of what I am cooking so I can share it with you. I suppose it is a good lesson...

I read awhile back a post by my friend the Spirited Miu Flavor about a peanut cake...this was shortly after reading about homemade peanut butter by the Duo Dishes...this made me hungry and made me actually want to bake!

So while I really wanted to make these items exactly as they had...I didn’t. I cheated! Baking from scratch still scares me.

I decided one morning that peanut butted muffins would be wonderful. So I got my ingredients together and began baking.

The only thing I did different than the box was instead of oil I put in 1 cup of chunky peanut butter and baked as muffins.

Now I am dreaming of some kind of topping for these...Should they be peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting? Or maybe Peanut butter muffins with a homemade strawberry jam type topping? Thoughts? I will have to make them again when I figure it out because these muffin/cupcakes plain have been consumed pretty fast!

Pasta with NO Pasta?

Pasta for me, as I am sure it is for so many, is a great weakness! If I lived someplace like Italy this would be no problem. The Italians can have pasta of some sort for every meal and it is acceptable along with drinking wine like its water...Maybe I should just move!

In an attempt to keep from exploding or becoming as big as a house,or having to move to another country I will try to put a limit on my pasta intake. This is very difficult and sad, but I have found a pretty good replacement, that is healthy, tasty and cheep!
Yellow Squash fettuccine With Bolognaise Sauce

With a vegetable peeler, peel off strips of squash the length of the squash and as even thickness as possible.

When you hit seeds, stop and go to another side.

Stack the strips and slice into thin strips the width of fettuccine.

Pile them in a bowl and pour the heated sauce over the raw squash.

The heat from the sauce cooks them to al dente texture!

I would Recommend using only thick hearty sauces for this. The squash does have a lot of water in it and will release it in the sauce.
Top with cheese and dig in! No guilt and after dinner you will not feel that sluggish over full feeling Pasta can give you.

Truth be told this was breakfast for the Wino...and since I do not live in Italy (yet!) no wine for now...

Let me know if you have found any other great substitutes for pasta and Bon Appetit!

Farmers Market Inspiration!

Wednesday afternoon I finally made it to my local Farmers Market, after missing it for the past few weeks, and found some fantastic vegetables. This had me thinking dinner...what can I make for dinner? When I spotted the beautiful Anaheim chilies it came to me! Chili Relleno, roasted Anaheim's stuffed with goat cheese...hmmm. Then there were shiny red bell pepper, ah ha! Roasted red bell pepper sauce, I love roasted red peppers with goat cheese. There is nothing like a Farmers Market to inspire a great meal. Unfortunately there were no goat farmers at my market, so I was forced to buy my goat cheese at Trader Joe’s.
If you have never roasted a pepper it is really quite easy, the goal is to burn it! First you coat them with oil and then either place them under a broiler or over a flame (like the BBQ). Turn them occasionally until they are charred on all sides, the blacker the better. Then you place them in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, so that it steams. Let them sit for a bit covered, then start pealing the skin off. If you have rubber gloves this will keep you from staining your hands and perhaps keep from burning them also. Very important, DO NOT RINSE the peppers, this just washes away flavor!
In this recipe I am only feeding two of us so if you are feeding a crowd you will need to adjust the amounts.
4 large Anaheim Chilies roasted, and carefully de-seeded. I did this by taking the stem off and carefully scraping the seeds out with my finger...if there is an easier way please tell me. I wanted the chilies to remain whole. set them aside.
The filling:
4 oz soft goat cheese
½ cup shredded jack cheese
1/4 cup diced mild green chilies
mix all together with a fork and put in a plastic zip top bag
slice a corner of the bag, making a hole big enough that the chilies fit through, this is a quick disposable piping bag.

Red Pepper sauce:
In a blender;
3- 4 large red bell peppers roasted and de-seeded
2 garlic cubes (from Trader Joe’s) or 1 large garlic clove
½ teaspoon of cumin
1/4 of a cup of vegetable stock
blend until smooth
sea salt to taste
If the sauce is a little bitter add a dash of sugar or agave syrup.
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees

To assemble pour sauce into a baking pan (or individual pans like I did)
Carefully pipe cheese mixture into the Anaheim chilies, if they tear just put them seem side down.
Nestle the cheese filled chilies down in the sauce and pipe any remaining cheese mixture on top.
Bake for 20 minutes
When the 20 minutes are over turn the oven to broil and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the cheese on top is slightly golden.
Top with cilantro sour cream and serve with a side of black beans.

Recently I was thrilled to discover that Zinfandel is wonderful with spicy dishes, so while at Trader Joe’s I picked up an inexpensive Zin blend from Lodi California, about $6.
TBD Rouge 2007 is a combination wine with Zinfandel being the lead variety, followed by petite sirah and malbec.

This wine is robust and spicy with a dark ruby color and a fruit forward aroma. It was excellent with the black beans and the Relleno.
This was such a delicious dinner and almost entirely local, organic, healthy and home made! Almost!

Cheers and Bon Appetite!

Y'all hungrey?

If you are from or have lived in Texas, you know what I am talking about when I say Frito Pie! Those of you who have never had this totally bad for you food, are probably thinking "Frito? In pie?" Yeah that's what I said when I first moved to Texas. I have since escaped Texas, but Frito Pie and the word "y'all" have stuck with me!
Oh yeah...and that Tattoo...Frito Pie...its not really pie. This is how it starts! This is the loaded version, so if you are on a diet...just skip this one. In Texas the chili used for this pie is usually bean free, you can use whatever you like best!

My Mise En Place

Heat the chili and pour it over a handful of Fritos.

Sprinkle with cheese

Add a dollop of Sour cream.

Last but not least, Salsa! Bon Appetite Y'all!

Oh Baby!

It is summer...here in Phoenix this does not usually cause celebration. But summer means BBQ right? So on this very warm day I decided to make Baby Back Ribs, and usually I bake them in the oven on low for a few hours...But I am in Phoenix. I probably could have just wrapped these babies up in foil and set them in my garage for the day and that would have had the same result as the oven!

Contrary to the term BBQ I don't use my BBQ Grill for these ribs at all...


I opted for my trusty crock pot that substitutes as my oven, in the summer months. My favorite way to cook pork ribs is to make a dry rub, smear it generously all over the ribs, let it sit and soak up the flavors in the fridge. Then of course slow cook them till they are falling off the bones.


Normally I am not the biggest fan of BBQ, I lived in Texas for many years...I still can not stand to be anywhere near Mesquite! BBQ is also very messy...something about having it all over you and under your nails, disturbs me a bit. My guy on the other hand loves BBQ, and ribs especially, so I decided I would figure out how to make ribs that we both would enjoy!


As I am sure you all have heard by now, I am not the kind of cook who measures things, I am a bartender by trade so I measure by count or parts... and of course by taste!


Dry Rub for Pork Baby Back Ribs:

Parts are probably like table spoons...


3 parts brown sugar
1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1/2 part cumin
1 part kosher salt
1 part red pepper flakes or cayenne
1 part black pepper
2 parts pumpkin pie spice


I like to place all these in my handy little Magic bullet blender and grind it into a fine powder. It should taste sweet, spicy, with a hint of salt. Adjust to taste.


Ribs:

Cut the ribs into portions of about 4 ribs per piece. Score the back membrane, and coat generously with the dry rub. Make sure you save about a shot glass sized amount of the rub, to add to the sauce...yeah there will be some sauce.


I like to place these in foil, wrapping so that they are overlapping but have foil between, so they don't stick together. Place in the fridge for at least an hour but can be done up to 24 hours. Also you might want to put this into a bowl or bag just in case it drips. Then place the entire thing (minus plastic) in the crock pot on high, or the oven on 250. Cook for about 5 hours. the house will smell fantastic at this point! If you do this in the oven, place it in a roasting pan to catch the drippings. This time, I actually used an oven bag inside my crock pot and there was no mess!



The sauce is whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is plus the shot of dry rub simmered in a small sauce pan. This just tied it all together.



After about 5 hours of cooking remove the ribs...carefully, and place them on a cookie sheet and bast with the sauce. Place them under the broiler on high. Keep an eye on it or they will burn and smoke like crazy! I like to get them toasted just enough so there are some blackened crispy edges...that's the best part!


In Texas the beverage of choice would be some light beer in a can...I of course chose to serve a white wine with my ribs! Nothing like a chilled glass of wine on a hot summer day!


Panilonco

2008

Chardonnay/viognier

Chile


This wine has a combination of crisp fresh citrus and a rich apricot and honeysuckle flavor that complimented the BBQ sauce quite well! I bought this wine at my local Trader Joe's and it was only $4! Now in this economy, that is a steal! Even though I am new to the white wine world, I think this wine is very tasty! I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do...even if I do need a bath after eating it.

Now Thats Amore!

That's Bolognaise to you!

One of my many weaknesses is spaghetti (or any pasta for that matter)with a thick hearty, meaty sauce....Maybe its the pasta, or the sauce...or the fact that you can not eat it without drinking red wine! what ever the reason it is hard to say no!

Usually when I am cooking I don't measure ingredients...ever, but since I wanted to share this recipe with you I figured I better have at least a guideline for you to follow. You can either follow this to the Tbs or just

use this as a suggestion, my feelings will not be hurt. If you happen to change things or add something that makes it great let me know, so I to can try it! Another thing, I would prefer to use all fresh herbs, but since I didn't have any on hand...I didn't.

My Bolognaise Sauce:

5 cloves of garlic minced

1/2 medium sized yellow or white onion small diced

1-2 large portabello mushrooms diced

1.5 lb ground beef

2 Tbs dried oregano

2 Tbs basil (dried or 5 frozen cubes)

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 large green bell pepper diced

6 oz tomato paste

8 oz tomato puree

1 cup beef broth

1/2 cup red wine

up to 2 Tbs sugar

salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a large heavy sauce pan. Add onions and saute while stirring for about five minutes until slightly translucent, add garlic and oregano. Keep stirring for about 2 more minutes keeping the garlic from burning. You want the garlic and onions to be soft not brown.

Add the ground beef , cook while stirring for about two more minutes or till the meat is cooked almost all the way through. Add in the mushrooms and bell pepper and saute for another minute or two.

Add beef broth and red wine, cook down for 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, puree, basil and sugar (one Tbs at a time to taste) let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes on low.

Add a pinch of salt and taste. I personally believe salt adds flavor, so I can not put a measurement on it, this is all up to you.

Cook on low for approximately an hour, keep tasting...that's my favorite part. NO DOUBLE DIPPING THOUGH!

This makes enough for, four large portions. I froze half for a later meal and ate half...with help.

I served this over angel hair pasta instead of actual spaghetti noodles, I prefer the texture. I topped it with some Parmesan flakes (would be great with some fresh basil on top also) served with a Caesar salad. Yes in my house we are fans of tomatoes on our Caesar salad.

Don't forget the wine!

The 2007 Seghesio Barbera has Aromas and flavors of ripe blackberry. A rich velvety texture that is balanced with vibrant acidity. This wine pairs well with most hearty Italian dishes, such as my meat sauce, and sells for around $25 dollars.

Bon Appetite!