Pear Mozzarella Salad

Pear Mozzarella Salad

The original intent was to make burrata, but with the shell a little too thick, and the filling not quite creamy enough, the end result was still basically mozzarella (the cheese was still delicious, so not a huge loss).  Instead of the classic tomato, we decided to serve along with pears from our latest Urban Acres pick up. 


Ingredients
2 Servings

1/4 lb mozzarella cheese
1 Bartlett pear, cut into 1/2" pieces
Lettuce, cut into thin slices
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions
Place pears and mozzarella on a bed of lettuce. Drizzle with olive oil and salt/pepper to taste

Steamed Lamb Wontons

Steamed Lamb Wontons

The filling for these wontons can be made in advance and frozen, allowing for a quick dinner preparation.  Our local grocery started carrying lamb shoulder, which is much cheaper than other cuts and still tastes great.  Feel free to substitute the lamb for pork or chopped shrimp.  This also provides an opportunity to sneak in a lot of other vegetables. 

Ingredients

Serves 4; approximately 32 wontons

1 lb ground lamb (we use shoulder, and grind it at home)

2 tsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil

4 carrots, grated

4 leaves Napa Cabbage, sliced thin 

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

½ C fish sauce

2T Maggi seasoning

4T sugar

½ tsp ground black pepper

Directions

Heat a large skillet on high heat, and add oil, garlic and lamb.  Sautee for 4-5 minutes, then reduce to medium heat.  Add carrots, cabbage, jalapeno, fish sauce, maggi seasoning, sugar and pepper.  Sautee until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat, and allow filling to cool to the touch. 

While filling is cooling, spread wonton wrappers out on a flat surface.  These are delicate, so take care not to tear any of them.  Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling into the center of the wrapper, and use some of the liquid from the filling to brush the edges. Bring the corners together and press together to seal.

Steam for 8 minutes.

Monica's Chicken Curry

Monica’s Chicken Curry

Indian food is not something we were very familiar with, but had always wanted to learn more about.  Luckily for us, Greer grew up with a family from India (and quite skilled at cooking).  After several scheduling attempts, we met with family and friends at Monica’s house for a demonstration.  Again, knowing very little about Indian food and flavors, we were surprised to find the basic ingredients were ones we were very familiar with and used regularly.  A flavor profile that had seemed exotic now seemed approachable as we could see and taste ties into Mexican, Mediterranean and Southeast Asian flavors.  We always enjoy cooking classes; add friends and family and you get a great night with a great memory to accompany future meals.

Ingredients

Serves: 4-6

¼ C Canola oil

1 tsp Cumin Seed

2 White onions, diced

4 Garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp ginger, finely chopped

2 Curry Leaves

½ tsp Tumeric

½ tsp Ground Coriander

½ tsp Cayenne

½ tsp Ground Cloves

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Ground Cardamom

3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 Jalapeño, finely chopped

2 Chicken Breasts, cut into ~1” cubes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cilantro for garnish

Directions

In a 5.5 quart French oven on medium heat add oil and cumin seed, cook until the seeds pop and you can smell the cumin (2-3 minutes).  Be careful not to burn the seeds.  Make the curry base by adding onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves; sauté until the onions are well colored (12-15 minutes).

Add the spices, tomatoes and jalapeño to the base and stir until well mixed.  Add cubed chicken and water for desired thickness; cover and cook until chicken is cook through (~5-7 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with basmati rice.

Cost

Onions $2.02

Garlic $0.15

Ginger $0.20

Spices $0.75

Tomatoes $2.54 

Chicken $4.97

Cilantro $0.25

Total: $10.88

Per serving: $2.72

This will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheats well.

Oatmeal and Eggs

Oatmeal and Eggs

With the weather turning a little cooler, a hot bowl of oatmeal is a great way to start off the day.  Add some milk and honey, top off with a fried egg, and a simple breakfast gets a lift.  If you have the time, get your hands on local honey; the depth of flavor is incomparable to your grocery store variety and unique to your community.

 

Ingredients

1c rolled oats

1c water

1c goat milk

2Tbsp honey

1tsp salt

4 eggs

½ Tbsp butter

1 Roma tomato, sliced 

Directions

Serves 2

Add water, milk and honey in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add salt and oats to warm liquid and bring to a simmer.  Let cook for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

While the oatmeal is cooking, add butter to a hot skillet.  Once the butter is melted, crack the eggs directly into the skillet giving each yolk as much room as possible.  (In an 18”skillet we can fit four eggs; any smaller than that and it would be best to cook in batches.)  Cook the eggs for 2-3 minutes for a runny yolk, or longer depending on your preference. 

Spoon the oatmeal into a bowl.  Top each bowl with two eggs and two slices of tomato. 

Cost

Oats: $0.50

Milk: $0.78

Honey: $0.30

Eggs: $0.80

Tomato: $0.65

Total: $3.03

Per Serving: $1.52

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree

Versatile and delicious; this is a great recipe to have on hand.  You do need to set aside some time to roast the squash, but the puree will last for several days in the fridge.  It can be a lot of work to take the skin off an uncooked squash, so don’t bother.  Use a cleaver to split in in half and scoop it out after roasting.

Shown here, the puree is tossed with pappardelle noodles and topped with oyster mushrooms, bacon and shallots.  Cook down in a skillet to remove moisture and use it for ravioli filling.  Add chicken stock for a tasty soup.

 

Ingredients:

6-8 Servings

3 lbs butternut squash (2-3 individual squash)

1 lb white onion (1-2 onions)

6-8 garlic cloves

¼ cup finely chopped fresh sage

3 oz Chevre (goat cheese)

Up to ¼ c chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Split the butternut squash and scoop out the seeds.  Cut the onion in half.  Place squash and onion on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.  Add the garlic cloves for the last 10 minutes.  Smaller garlic cloves will cook much quicker, watch to make sure they do not burn.

After the squash, onion and garlic have slightly cooled (~5 minutes), scoop out the squash into a food processor with the onion, garlic and sage.  Blend until smooth.  You may need to add chicken stock at this step for a smoother puree.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the Chevre.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Cost:

Butternut Squash $5.97

Onions $1.99

Garlic $0.25

Sage $0.75

Chevre $4.50

Total: $13.46

Per Serving: $1.69

Spinach Salad with Caramelized Onions and Dried Cranberries

Spinach Salad with Caramelized Onions and Dried Cranberries

We have certainly taken an extended break from posting.  Here's a quick salad, great for the fall, to get things going again.  The yuzu gives it a bit of an Asian feel, but your favorite vinaigrette should work as well.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Serves 2

Total time: 15 minutes

2 handfuls spinach leaves

½ white onion, sliced

¼ cup dried cranberries

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons yuzu

 

For croutons:

Baguette, 4 thin slices

1 tablespoon goat cheese

salt

pepper

olive oil 

Place onions in skillet over medium heat with 1 teaspoon olive oil, and cook until browned, 8-10 minutes. Set aside

Toss spinach leaves with yuzu and remaining olive oil. 

Place spinach on plates and top with onions and dried cranberries

While onions are cooking, drizzle baguette slices with olive oil and lightly salt and pepper. Spread goat cheese on half.  Place on cookie sheet under broiler until toasted; 2-3 minutes.

Soft Shell Crab BLT

Soft Shell Crab BLT
Greer first tried this at The Grove in Houston before an Astros game.  After a few tries, we ended up with our own recipe.  If you like BLTs, you will surely enjoy these additions.  This does take a little bit of time, but worth it in the end.  This makes enough for two.

Ingredients

2 softshell crabs, cleaned

Milk (enough to cover crabs in a bowl)
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ c flour
Vegetable or Canola Oil for frying

2 teaspoons mayonnaise

2chipotles, finely chopped

½ bunch watercress

1 roma tomato, finely diced
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
½ avocado, sliced

4 slices bread

Directions

Place the cleaned softshell crabs  in milk, and let soak for about an hour. 
While crabs are soaking, remove watercress from stems, combine with diced tomato and bacon, set aside.  Mix mayonnaise and chopped chipotle.  Spread mixture on bread, and toast. 
Coat crabs with beaten eggs, dredge through flour and repeat.  Fill wide pan with tall walls with about 1.5 inches of oil.  Place crabs in hot oil and fry until golden brown, flip once.  Remove from oil and place on rack and lightly pat dry.
On toasted bread, generously heap watercress, tomatoes and bacon.  Place one crab on top.  Finish with avocado slices.

Feel free to add some spices (like pepper, chili powder, paprika) to the flour to give a little kick.

Cost

Softshell crabs $13.98
Watercress $0.89
Tomato $0.31
Bacon $0.79
Bread $0.50
Avocado $0.99
On Hand $2.oo
Total: $19.46
Per Sandwich: $9.73

Crab Pepper and Mint Pasta

Crab, Pepper and Mint Pasta

We first saw this dish on television.  The combination of mint and pepper sounded appetizing and we both really wanted to try it.  It is a simple dish that we enjoy eating throughout the summer.  Even better this year was being able to pick the mint leaves and peppers from our garden.  Makes 3-4 servings.

Ingredients
½ lb spaghetti noodles
½ lb lump crab meat
2 Serrano (or jalapeno) peppers, chopped
5-6 mint leaves, chopped
2 medium garlic cloves
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Directions

Cook pasta per box directions
In large skillet, add olive oil.  When warm, add garlic and lightly toast.  Add crab meat and cook for 4-5 minutes.  Add peppers for last minute of cooking and salt to taste.  Remove from heat and add mint.  Toss with cooked pasta.  Serve immediately, garnish with parmesan cheese if desired.

Leftovers

This reheats really well the next day, turning an easy dinner into an even easier lunch.

Potato Slices with Spinach and Goat Cheese

Potato Slices with Spinach and Goat Cheese

This was supposed to be a hash for a Mother’s Day brunch.  However, cooking in a new kitchen and running out of time before the rest of the meal was ready, we changed plans at the last minute.  It turned out to be a good decision, as it was one of the more popular things we served.  Served as an appetizer, just a few ingredients go a long way.  Makes about 15 slices.

Ingredients

1 yukon gold potato
3 oz fresh spinach
4 oz goat cheese
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt
Vegetable Oil for frying potatoes

Directions

Slice the potato approximately 1/8” to ¼” thick.  Place slices in hot oil until golden brown on both sides, flip as necessary.  Remove slices from oil, pat dry and place on drying rack.  Lightly salt.

Rough chop spinach and sauté.  When cooked down, place in a small mixing bowl and combine with goat cheese and peppers. 

Place potato slices on a baking pan and top with spinach and goat cheese mixture. 
Cook in oven on broil for 6 minutes.

Cost
Potato $0.76
Spinach $1.65
Goat Cheese $3.59
Total: $6
Per Slice: $0.40

Apple Ginger Scones

Apple Ginger Scones
Breakfast for the work week usually consists of Brandon grabbing a scone on the way out the door.  Unfortunately, these had always been store bought.  A couple weeks ago, we figured we should learn how to make them ourselves.  It turned out to be surprisingly simple, and one fewer item on the weekly grocery list.  This makes about 16 scones.

Ingredients

2 ¼ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 ½ tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ sticks butter, chilled (or frozen) and cut into ½ inch squares
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Gala Apple, diced
1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped
¾ cup buttermilk

Directions

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, butter and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl.  Beat with electric mixer until the mixture is the consistency of a fine meal.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together with your hands until combined.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface and hand pat, or roll out until ½ to ¾ inch thick.  Cut out circles and place onto a baking sheet.  Pull together trimmings and cut out remaining dough.
Cook at 400F for 16 minutes or until the surface cracks.

Leftovers

The dough can be made the day ahead.  Cooked scones will last in the refrigerator for a week.

Zucchini Mini Muffins

Zucchini Mini Muffins

Like most kids, Greer didn’t like eating vegetables growing up.  And like most mothers, she had to find ways to sneak vegetables into foods.  These muffins served that purpose quite well, and Greer eventually grew up to enjoy eating vegetables.  We recently made these for a weekend brunch for some of Brandon’s family, and everyone enjoyed them.  With a recipe endorsed by two different families, how can you go wrong?  With compliments to Greer’s mom, here is the recipe.
 

Ingredients
½ C Honey
6 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Eggs
½ Teaspoon Vanilla
1 7/8 C Whole Wheat Flour
2 ½ Teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Teaspoon Allspice
½ Teaspoon Nutmeg
½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
½ Teaspoon Salt
3 C Zucchini, finely grated (approx 3 zucchinis)

Directions

Cream together honey and melted butter, add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder and spices.  Add honey mixture to dry ingredients and blend well.  Fold in zucchini.  Spoon into mini muffin pans. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Makes approx 30 muffins.

Leftovers

They taste best straight out of the oven, but reheat really well the next couple of mornings. 

Kale Salad with Avocado Dressing

Kale Salad with Avocado Dressing

During a trip to Tucson visiting a childhood friend, Greer tried out a few of the local spots.  At one of them, she had to grab a bite of a Kale and Avocado salad that one of her friends had ordered.  Given her love of avocado, it’s really no surprise that she wanted to create a similar salad at home.  We know kale is healthy, but had never been able to really enjoy it.  This dressing makes it a really great dish for the spring.  As a side, this will serve 3-4 people.

Ingredients

1 bunch of Kale, leaves torn off
10-12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Dressing

1 Avocado
1/3 C Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Lime, juiced
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
½ tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients for dressing in a bowl and mix until smooth.  Add water as necessary to thin dressing.  It should be about the consistency of mustard.

Toss kale leaves and tomatoes with dressing until well coated.  Chill for 10 minutes.  Keep any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.

Leftovers

The dressing will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
 
Cost
Kale: $0.99
Avocado: $1.50
Lime: $0.20
Spices, vinegars on hand: $0.75
Total: $3.44
Per serving: $0.86

Apple Cobbler

Apple Cobbler

Greer loves cobblers, but wasn't allowed too many sweets growing up.  Now that we are all grown up, we do enjoy desserts every once in a while, and this one tastes great, and makes the house smell great too.  It is similar to apple pie, but comes together quicker.








Ingredients:
10 small gala apples
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves

For topping:
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup boiling water
sprinkle a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg on top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss Apples with sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in an 8x8 baking dish
and bake in middle of oven for 10 minutes.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingers until mixture
resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove apples from oven and drop topping over them. Lightly sprinkle with cinnamon and
nutmeg. Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.



Leftovers:

Keep in the fridge and reheat, it keeps for about a week.

Bratwurst

Bratwurst
 
One of our wedding gifts was a meat grinder and sausage stuffer.  Some people thought it was one of those gifts that would never be used.  Not true (we actually use everything we got).  Making sausage at home at first seemed like quite an undertaking.  After a little practice, we got the hang of it.  It takes a little time, but much more satisfying than just going to the store to buy premade.  If you’ve got about two hours, you can get start to finish in one night.  If not, grind and mix the meat ahead of time.  Brats are great on the grill, and with the weather warming up the meat grinder will get plenty more use. Makes 16 links
 
Ingredients
This recipe is based on the homemade bratwurst recipe found at: www.lets-make-sausage.com.  They’ve got a lot of other great styles of sausage as well.

5 lbs pork shoulder

2 tablespoons salt
1.5 tablespoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup cold milk
2 whole eggs, beaten
1 cup  bread crumbs (the recipe calls for dry milk powder for a binder, but we didn’t have any on hand)

Directions

Cut pork into 1-2 inch pieces and run through the fine plate in the meat grinder twice.
Mix milk, spices and eggs together.  Add to ground meat and use hands to mix well.
Add bread crumbs (or dry milk powder) to mixture and combine thoroughly.
At this point, the sausage stuffer attachment comes in really useful.  Use natural hog casings, and follow the instructions on the attachment.
As the casings are being filled, twist to forms individual links.
Cook or freeze immediately.

Be careful with the ratio of spices, it doesn’t take too much nutmeg to overpower everything.

Cost

Pork Shoulder: $14.95
Milk: $0.75
Eggs: $0.40
On hand: $0.75
Total: $16.85
Per Link: $1.05

Leftovers
Grilled bratwurst are still good the next day.  Frozen, uncooked links also hold together pretty well and can be made ahead of time.

Strawberry Goat Cheese Balls

Strawberry Goat Cheese Balls
We’ve made fried goat cheese balls before to use in salads, and really enjoyed them.  This twist came about this weekend at a food truck festival where one of the trucks put strawberry jam and goat cheese on a beef slider.  We were intrigued, and the combination was great.  We had some homemade jam at home, and an idea was born.  These are delicious by themselves, and also go great alongside a steak.  Makes 5.

Ingredients

4 oz goat cheese
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
Bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
Canola oil, for frying

Directions

Combine goat cheese and jam.  Form into 2 inch balls.  Dredge balls in egg and coat with bread crumbs.  Cook in hot oil until golden brown all over (about 5 minutes).  Let sit for 5-10 minutes, serve warm.

Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad makes a great quick and easy lunch.  This particular recipe was based on a local bakery Greer used to frequent.  Being primarily mustard based, this one feels lighter and healthier than a lot of traditional chicken salads.   Serve on a sandwich, or over a bed of lettuce.  Makes 5 servings.

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, grilled
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 Apple, diced
Sauce:
2 tablespoons Dijon
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon mayo
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
½ teaspoon paprika

Directions

Grill the chicken breast, and shred.  Combine with cranberries walnuts and apples and sauce, mix well.  Serve chilled. 
Sauce:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Cost

Chicken $1.52
Cranberries $0.99
Walnuts $0.75
On Hand: $1.00
Total: $5.01
Per Serving: $1.00

Leftovers

This keeps well in the fridge for 4-5 days. 

Salmon Sliders

Salmon Sliders

At lunch on a business trip, conversation got around to what people like to cook.  One of the people Brandon works for mentioned salmon burgers were a big hit with his family.  We have salmon a couple times per month, but usually don’t get to creative with it.  This turned out to be a quick, inexpensive dinner and a nice change of pace.  Makes about 6 patties. 

Ingredients

1 lb salmon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon curry powder
1 egg
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground horseradish root
2 teaspoons sesame oil
¼ c chopped cilantro
½ c bread crumbs
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil (for cooking patties)

Directions

Remove any skin from the salmon.  Chop salmon into fine pieces.  In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients together until well incorporated.  Once mixed, form into 3 inch patties. 
Add vegetable oil to a skillet on medium high heat.  Once hot, cook patties about 3 minutes per side.
Serve on buns with lettuce and tomatoes.  Greer preferred tartar sauce, Brandon preferred Dijon mustard.

Leftovers

We were able to enjoy these one day later for lunch.

Cost
Salmon: $7.99
Everything else on hand: $1.50
Total: $9.49

Per patty: $1.58

Stuffed Tomato BLT

Stuffed Tomato BLT

We both really like BLTs, and have tried to make them in different ways.  This was a version without bread.  It was also a great way to use some of the arugula from our garden (which is growing like crazy right now).  Worked great for dinner for the two of us, and we look forward to sharing it as an appetizer with some of our friends.

Ingredients

Arugula Pesto
2 oz Arugula
1/8 c peanuts
1/6 c olive oil
1/8 parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt

4 slices bacon

2 tomatoes
½ c ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped

Directions

Pesto:
Put all ingredients into food processor and puree.

Cook bacon until crispy, and crumble.

Cut tomatoes in half, and remove insides, save juice and seeds. 
Mix ricotta, bacon, tomato juice and oregano together
Spoon pesto inside tomatoes.  Add ricotta and bacon on top of pesto.

Cost

Parmesan Cheese: $0.31
Bacon: $1.25
Tomatoes: $1.20
Ricotta Cheese: $1.00
From garden: Arugula, Oregano
On hand: peanuts, olive oil, salt: $0.50
Total: $4.26
Per Serving: $1.07