Monthly Archives: April 2010
Spanish Bell Pepper Saute
I found a delightful recipe in a new blog, to me, In a Vegetarian Kitchen and with a few adaptations, ended up with a really delicious dish.
SPANISH BELL PEPPER SAUTE
4 to 6 servings
1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium red bell peppers, cut into 2-inch strips
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 2-inch strips
1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into 2-inch strips 
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, (oil-cured or not) cut into strips
- 2 medium firm, ripe tomatoes
- 2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, optional
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and sauté over medium heat until it is translucent.
Add the garlic, bell peppers, wine and dried tomatoes.
Stir in 1/4 cup water and bring to a simmer. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat until the peppers are tender but not overdone, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and continue to cook, uncovered, just until they have lost their raw quality, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the optional parsley, cumin, cayenne, balsamic vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at once.
Submitted to Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Vegetarian Fridays
Smoked Salmon Muffins with Cream Cheese Topping
I really like smoked salmon and look for ways to use it in all kinds of recipes. Give me an excuse to add it to any recipe and I am there.
When thinking about making a breakfast muffin, what would be more logical than cream cheese and lox.
This month, Naomi from Straight Into Bed, Cake-free and Dried, the originator of the group, “Go ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free” hosted and came up with the brilliant theme of breakfast. It is brilliant because I love breakfast. I could have made eggs, French toast, waffles, pancakes of what I did make, muffins. These are not just muffins, not with all the goodies inside and the cream cheese topping, no, indeed. These are truly a delight to eat.
Smoked Salmon Muffins with Cream Cheese Topping
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons of guar or xanthan gum.
2 large eggs
1 cup Rice Milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cut-up lox
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Topping – 1/3 cup cream cheese. Add spices to taste.
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Mix with a whisk.
In a separate bowl, combine the milk, scallions . beaten eggs, oil, honey and scallions.
Mix with whisk until well-blended.
Mix the flour mixture well and then add the smoked salmon. Mix gently.
Bake for 22 minutes,
While these muffins are baking, microwave the cream cheese for a few seconds so it spreads easily.
Two minutes before the muffins are completed, remove from oven.
Using cookie scoop, make a ball to place on each muffin. I spread it like an icing after it baked for two minutes to soften.
These were really good but I think after the muffin bakes, it should be removed from the oven and split in half, horizontally. Then, spread cream cheese mix. I thought the muffin was slightly dry and the cheese 
would have moistened more of it than spreading it on top.
I would add some spices to the batter to give it a little more oomph.
Try this and I think you will be a happy camper.
Check this out – 11th Heaven’s Homemaker Haven and Tasty Tuesdays and Make it From Scratch and Foodie Friday which is a gracious blog.
If you would like to see me Strut (my) Your Stuff, here is where you will find me.
Potato Dish a la Paula
I was looking for a recipe for My Girl Paula and thought potatoes would be good for dinner. I admit, this is not a skinny recipe but Paula is known for her use of butter. I did make changes which I will add, as I go along.
Potato Casserole 
Ingredients:
- 2 cups mashed potatoes
- 1/2 cup sour cream (cut to 1/4)
- House Seasoning, recipe follows
- 1 small onion, sliced thin
- 1 small bell pepper, sliced thin
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter (one tablespoon margarine)
- 1 1/2 cups grated Cheddar (1 cup)
- 4 medium potatoes, cooked
- 6 slices bacon, cooked crisp not kosher
Method:
Although Paula said that leftover mashed potatoes would work well, I did not have any so I first boiled up the potatoes and mashed them.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread mashed potatoes evenly on bottom of casserole dish. 
Layer sour cream evenly over top.
Sprinkle House Seasoning, to taste.
Saute onion and bell pepper in margarine.
Evenly layer over top of sour cream.
Slice potatoes and layer over onions and bell peppers.
Sprinkle House seasoning.
Finally top with cheddar cheese.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
House Seasoning:
- 1 cup salt
- 1/4 cup black pepper
- 1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months
Give-Away – And the WINNER is………
And the winner is:
29 - Sharon Congratulations Sharon who has let me know how happy she is. I am happy for her and I know she will enjoy her choice, the Paula Deen set.
Random numbers generated May 4 2010 at 10:48:32 by www.psychicscience.org
Sharon – Please contact me with your home address which I will give to CSN who will send you the gift of choice. Please include which gift you want.
This will be held for you for 48 hours. At that point, another winner will be selected, also by Random.
Congratulations and Enjoy.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
I was contacted by CSN with a generous offer of giveaway for you gals and guys. First thing, as a foodie, I ran to cookware .com to look for something to choose. I felt like a kid in a toy store. I wanted every item, I came upon. So much practical and attractive stuff. I finally narrowed it down to a few items and was ready to go.
First, I had to check out some of the other stores. There are over 200 CSN stores and I ran into a problem, again. Where do I start? I looked at a few which really interested me and ended up at all barstools.com, I had no idea there were so many different kinds of barstools and certainly, I had no idea they had kitchen stools which I have been talking about getting for years. The fun began as I checked out different ones. I plan to continue looking until I find the perfect one for me.
Take a peek at their home bars to go with the bar stools.
Now, let’s see what you could receive. You have a choice of four items. Have I mentioned, it is hard for me to make certain decisions? It was very difficult to pick one item so I asked, if I could offer a few for you to choose from. If you should be the lucky winner, you will be able to select one of the four below.
From Paula Deen – bean pot plus
Cuisinart Immersion Blender with Attachments
Join in on the fun and participate to win these items. To do this, stop over at All Barstools.com and make a suggestion for the kind of kitchen stool you would like for me to purchase. Leave a comment telling us which one you chose. That is how easy it is to enter.
I am sure you would like some extra opportunities to win one of these wonderful pieces, so let me make this easy for you. Do any of the following and leave another comment, giving the information about, your action.
Follow me on Twitter by clicking here. Leave another comment.
Tweet the following message and come back and post another comment.
Add Comfy Cook to your blogroll. Post another comment. If I am there already, let me know.
Follow me on Face Book. One more comment, please.
Blog about this giveaway and come back and leave a separate comment.
Here is a new one. Go http://comfycook.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/i-challenge-you-to-bake-this-delicious-bread/ and bake the quick bread and send me the URL on your blog where it is posted. Worth five chances so write 5 comments.
Good luck. I wish you could all win.
A giant thank you to CSN who has been more than generous to the Foodies in Bloggerville.
A personal thanks for allowing me to have so much fun with this.
I plan to select a winner through the random generator on May 4th, 11:00 PM, EST. I will announce this, in the morning of the 5th.Please make sure to leave your e-mail if it is not in your profile. This giveaway is open to those living in the US and Canada. The prize will be sent directly from CSN to the winner. If the person chosen does not respond within 48 hours, another winner will be announced.
Disclosure: I did not receive any type of compensation for this post. CSN stores is sponsoring this giveaway and will handle prize fulfillment. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced to post them.
Check out Tasty Tuesday for the greatest recipes. Submitted to Tuesdays at the Table where good food flourishes. Food on Fridays is a great place to visit. Catch up with the crowd on Follow me Fridays and Friday Food. Take a look at Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays for great recipes.
An Unusual Bunch of Ingredients – My Pal Mark Bittman IHCC
With each recipe, I make from M. Bittman, the happier I am. Who would think that food has this much power? As much as I enjoyed cooking with Tyler Florence and Nigella, they don’t come close to the number of delicious, yet simple recipes that I have found in Bittman’s books and online. Not only that, reading his books is gaining a fount of knowledge. This is for IHCC. Go over and see how clever, the ladies are and check out some more Bittman recipes.
I was hungry tonight when I didn’t expect to be. Must have been the pasta, but bottom line, it was the soup that caused me to take a second bowl. I, even, forgot to take a photo. Fortunately, there is soup left and I will put up, some more noodles and have this for lunch, tomorrow and hopefully remember to take a picture of the noodles and soup together.
I must warn you that, there is nothing that will, most likely, attract your intention, to this recipe. Indeed, the ingredients might just push you away. So, I am asking you to trust me, and go ahead and make this simple soup and enjoy every spoonful.
I read about this in the Wednesday Chef and almost laughed when I read what went into this soup. She was quite persuasive so here it is and here I am, full and happy.
Egg Noodles With Soy Broth
The Minimalist: From a Simple Base, Endless Possibilities (March 25, 2009) adapted
1/3 cup ketchup or 3 tablespoons tomato paste and a pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar, more to taste
A few drops dark sesame oil (optional) (I used.)
A squirt of sriracha or other sauce, or a dried red chili to taste (optional) (did not use)
1 scallion, chopped
1 pound egg noodles
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. In a smaller pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil; once boiling, reduce heat so water bubbles gently.
2. To the smaller pot add soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, sesame oil if using and sriracha or chili, along with a pinch of salt. Stir and let simmer.
3. Add egg noodles to large pot; fresh noodles will be ready in just a couple of minutes; dried will take longer. When tender but not mushy, drain. Taste broth and add more soy, salt, vinegar or heat as you like. 
4. In the last three minutes, add scallions to broth.
Divide noodles into bowls and pour hot broth over all.
Yield: 4 servings.
I bet, I will make this, in the winter, many times. It takes almost no time and it is easy as can be. Most important, it tastes great.
Submitted to Real Food Wednesdays and Friday Food and the Grocery Cart Challenge. For Gluten Free Recipes, visit Amy at Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.
I Challenge You to Bake This Delicious Bread
This is one of the best quick breads, I have made in a long time. It has a nutty flavor and a richness, hard to find. One bite leads to another. So, take my challenge and make this bread.
Are you sitting there, puzzling, as to why I am challenging you to make a great bread? I would be more than puzzled.
This bread is a beet bread. Keep on reading. I am making this for a challenge which calls for beets and I wanted to make something different than the great beet salads. When I saw this recipe at Astray, I knew this was for me. Of course, at that point, I did not know that this was going to be a fantastic cake. I prayed that it would not be too red so hubby would at least, try it, before we threw it out.
I took it out of the of the oven, fearing what it would look like and then what it would taste like. It looked like any other cake with some red speckles from something like strawberries or rhubarb or BEETS. When you see what the batter looked like, you will understand my very real fear. After, I got over a sense of relief, that it looked normal, meaning hubby would, at least taste it. I still thought this was going into the garbage and you are right, I don’t love beets. How could you tell?
I took a tiny bite and it was heaven, so I quickly gobbled down the piece with a huge smile on my face. Hubby was going to like this. I drifted away from the kitchen, leaving a cut piece of cake waiting for the man of the house to come along. Of course, he did what you would expect. He ate the piece of cake and called to me that it was delicious. In our discussion about the cake, I asked him what he thought the red was, not that he had noticed it. He immediately guessed, “cranberry”. I was tempted to leave it at that but honesty prevailed. He questioned me as to why I did such a thing. He must have loved my response. “There was a challenge on one of the blogs……” This is for BSI – Bloggers Secret Ingredient, hosted by Part of the Whole and 
I decided that was the moment to leave him to enjoy his cakey bread which he did and I am taking bets, a few pieces will go to work with him tomorrow. A success…… Now, you be brave and make this and let me know how much you like it.
Beet Nut Bread adapted
| Ingredient | |
|---|---|
| ¾ cup | canola oil |
| 3/4 cup | Agave |
| 4 | Egg Beaters “or vegan substitute” |
| 2 teaspoons | Pure Vanilla Extract |
| 2 cups | Shredded beets |
| 3 cups | gluten free Flour mixture |
| 2 teaspoons | Baking powder |
| 1 teaspoon | Baking soda |
| 1 teaspoon | Cinnamon |
| ¼ teaspoon | Ground nutmeg |
| 1 cup | Chopped walnuts |
This is for the Sweet and Savory Challenge on Diet, Desserts and Dogs.
I submitted this to one of my favorite gluten free blogs, who has Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays.
Submitted to Tuesdays at the Table and Gluten Free Wednesdays. Make a quiche-gluten free to share with Linda of GF Wednesdays and Pennywise Platter Thursday and Sunday Favorites.
I have linked this recipe up because it is delicious and unusual and can be versatile.
Pecan Cajun Salmon – Baked
Each week, I face the challenge of coming up with a new salmon recipe and each week, I search through blog recipes, cookbooks, the Internet, magazines and my collections of “to do’s.” Then, I walk away, go into the kitchen and start pulling ingredients off the shelves. Mind you, these ingredients, may have been suggested in five different recipes but they ring a bell for me, in my combination.
I did find a recipe on Food Network for Cajun seasoning. I have a nice bottle of spice for Cajun seasoning but it has gluten in it, so I can’t use it for hubby. This, searching for gluten brings new knowledge, daily. I remember the time, I made a dish with canned lentils to find that they add gluten to the lentils. Sigh.
Cajun Seasoning: (1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
(I cut back on the cayenne pepper and eliminated the black pepper, knowing my husband’s pepper alarm which works similarly to his garlic alarm.) Mix all spices together.
Pecan Cajun Salmon
2 salmon fillets
1/2 cup Rice milk
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup ground pecans
2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning (above)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a square or small rectangular pan with cooking oil.
Place salmon in a dish with rice milk and vinegar. Turn so, the fish is entirely covered. Put aside
In a plastic bag, put pecans, cornmeal, rice flour and seasonings. Shake so they are mixed well.
Coat salmon on both sides , putting one piece at a time. I cut my salmon fillets in half and used a one pint size bag. It just fit with enough space to share the fish inside and coat it. Shake well.
Place coated salmon pieces in prepared pan. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I was nervous about how this would taste. My husband took a bite and complimented the fish, immediately. Then, I took a bite and shared his enthusiasm.
submitted to Crazy Daisy Tuesday Tastes and Fight Back Fridays
Caramelized Apple-Pecan Cake – Mark Bittman-My Hero
When I was looking for simple sides, I came across this dreamy recipe. What is it about the word, “caramelized or even caramel” that turns a plain Jane into a glamorous princess?
This was not a difficult recipe but it left me with a lot to clean up. I was doing several jobs, at once, and my husband tells me, I am simplex and can’t do that. I did it though and with him talking to me. So there! I mixed the batter, caramelized the sugar, sliced the apples and greased the pan at the same time. Fortunately, I had ground pecans, on hand and I did not have to chop them, as well.
1 stick (4 ounces) soft unsalted margarine (I split it half and half with Canola oil. 2 ounces oil and 2 ounces margarine)
3/4 cup pecan halves
2 large tart apples, like Fuji, peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Method:
1. Use a little butter to grease a 10-inch glass pie plate. Arrange 1/4 cup pecan halves in a pattern in pie plate. Arrange apple slices over and around pecans, in a single layer in a pattern. Scatter any extra slices randomly on top.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, finely grind remaining pecan halves. Mix with flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
3. Whisk 1 cup sugar and remaining salt together in a skillet and mix with 1/3 cup water. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture turns amber. Swirl pan from time to time if necessary. Immediately pour caramel over apples in pie pan.
4. With a mixer, cream remaining butter and remaining sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla extract. Fold in flour mixture. Spread batter over apples. Bake 30 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool.
5. Run a knife around edges and invert cake onto a serving dish, one that is heatproof if you want to warm cake before serving. Serve with ice cream.
I could not turn the cake over as is suggested so I served it with the crust on top. I did show a photo of a single piece that I cut out and turned over so you can get an idea what the cake could look like.
Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
The bubbly photo is the process of caramelization. 
I submitted this to Sunday Favorites and IHCC. and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays. 
Related Articles
- 7 Low-Fat Holiday Desserts (lifescript.com)
Vegetable Pancakes IHCC
The topic, this week, for IHCC is Pantry Raid. Raiding my pantry after Passover is humorous. In certain areas, I have nothing at all stored and in others, the shelves are overflowing. Regardless, it is easy to find food to make for a pantry raid and Mark Bittman is a big help is sharing recipes to make the results, a tasty treat. Check out My Sweet and Savory for Tomato Cobbler, a truly delicious recipe with a burst of flavor.
Vegetable Pancakes Makes: 4 servings Time: At least 30 minutes
1 zucchini
4 scallions
1 sweet potato, peeled
1 turnip, peeled
1 sweet potato, peeled
4 baby carrots
2 slices of bell peppers
fresh parsley
2 egg s
1/4 cup rice flour, more or less
Salt and ground black pepper
Olive or vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan
- Heat the oven to 275°F. Grate the vegetable or vegetables by hand or with the grating disk of a food processor. Mix together the vegetables, onion, egg, and 1/4 cup of the flour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add a little more flour if the mixture isn’t holding together.
- Put a little butter or oil in a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted or the oil is hot, drop in spoonfuls of the batter, using a fork to spread the vegetables into an even layer, press down a bit. Work in batches to prevent overcrowding. (Transfer finished pancakes to the oven until all are finished.) Cook, turning once, until nicely browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Submitted to Foodie Friday and Colleen’s Weekly Swap and Family Recipes and Weekend Cooking.
Swedish Meatballs for Debbie Our Crockpot Lady
Wednesdays are Debbie days. Dining with Debbie has what most of us know as Crockpot Wednesdays. To me, collecting crockpot recipes is a service to most of us, who have crockpots and perhaps don’t use them enough or are on the lookout for more recipes to make in the crockpot. Thus, it is important for me to support Debbie by participating.
I have not been able to share in the last few weeks because I do not have a crockpot that I can use on Passover but now I am back. Today, I pulled out the crockpot and some chopped meat and asked myself, “Now what?” Thinking it through, I realized, we have not had good ole meatballs, in a while and my decision was made.
I was not in the mood for spaghetti since we had pasta, the last two evenings. I chose Swedish meatballs and we paired them a little strangely. I took a yummy piece of challah and covered it with meatballs and loads of sauce. My husband had some leftover rice and beans which he added the meatballs too.
I started with high hopes for smooth sailing until I went looking for my spices. Some of them have not turned up, since Passover. I have most of them but I did not have allspice which I was planning on using. The best laid plans……..
Ingredients:
1 pound chopped meat (only had beef – prefer turkey or chicken)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper
1/2 cup potato starch (you can use corn meal, rice flour, soy flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 egg beaters (the advantage of eggbeaters – you can have half of an egg)
1/4 cup Rice Milk (soy or almond will work as well)
Sauce:
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoons milk
(Instead of adding Tofutti sour cream to the pot, at the end, I added some to my bowl but did not give hubby any.)
Method:
In a medium sized bowl, mix chopped meat, onions, parsley, salt and pepper, potato starch. Add liquids, Worcestshire sauce, Rice Milk and eggs. Mix well. Using your hands to mix is more effective than a utensil, if you don’t mind working with raw meat.
Take prepared mixture and make meatballs. I like them about an inch in size but many like them larger. Make them according to your preference in size.
Turn crockpot on high and brown meatballs. In my pot, it took 30 minutes to be lightly browned. In the future, I am going to brown them in the oven first so there is not fat in the sauce.
Add vegetable broth and non dairy milk.
Turn to low and leave cooking for three hours.
Serve on rice, pasta or bread. I bet it would be good on quinoa.
Enjoy. Submitted to Trendy Treehouse Share Wednesdays and What’s Cooking Wednesdays?
