#6: Recipe of the Week

This week’s recipe is for Crab Cakes with Red Pepper Mayonnaise.   They turned out delicious!  The panko instead of regular breadcrumbs provided a nice crunch, and even my husband who normally hates mayonnaise really liked the red pepper version.  The house also smelled delicious after roasting the red pepper.  We really enjoyed these, and it made enough for leftovers for lunch.  It’s wonderful when such a good meal lasts for more than one!

Click here for the recipe.

#6: Recipe of the Week

This week’s recipe is an Apricot-Onion Porkloin.  This turned out really delicious.  The recipe called for a one pound pork loin, but I bought a two pound, and split it in half.  This allowed me to make my own serving of the apricot-onion sauce, and my husband grossed his up with General Tso’s sauce (since he doesn’t enjoy apricots OR onions).  The pork turned out really tender.  I used a Hatfield pork loin, without any flavoring.  Click through for recipe!

#6: Recipe of the Week

I know I’ve been posting a lot of sweets lately, despite my resolution to not eat so many sweets…but I had leftover refrigerated pie crust that needed used (and heaven forbid we let a perfectly delicious pie crust go to waste!), so again we have sweets this week. I tried the Warm Apple-Buttermilk Custard Pie from this month’s issue of Cooking Light. It was really delicious, and had a moist custard filling that was an excellent alternative to the traditional gooey insides of an apple pie. I also really liked the struesel topping, rather than a plain 2-crust pie. Click through for recipe!

#6: Recipe of the Week

This week’s recipe is from the most recent issue of Cooking Light. It is a delicious Cinnamon Apple Cake. It was very moist and fluffy, and even my husband enjoyed it (he’s not a big cake person). I followed the recipe as-written, with the exception of the apples. The recipe calls for Rome apples, but I had some leftover Granny Smith’s from another recipe, so I used those instead. Granny Smith’s are always good baking apples, so this still turned out wonderful, and I would use the Granny Smith’s again.

So without further ado, here is the recipe!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup stick margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ounces block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened (about 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups chopped peeled Rome apple (about 2 large)
Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, margarine, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into an 8-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool the cake completely on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife.Note: You can also make this cake in a 9-inch square cake pan or a 9-inch springform pan; just reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings

#6: Recipe of the Week

This week’s new recipe was from the Follow Your Heart Cookbook - Bean Burritos in 20 Minutes. It turned out great, was a great quick weeknight recipe, was very healthy, and very hearty. We will definitely keep this in the rotation for the future.

2.5 cups white rice (Basmati if you have it)
3 cups water
1 Tbsp. butter
Pinch of sea salt
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 15 oz. cans of organic black beans
2 Tbsp. Tamari
2 Tbsp. cumin
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, diced
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
1/2 bunch of cilantro
Salsa
Cheddar cheese (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
12 white tortillas

1. Mix rice, water, butter, and salt. Heat in medium saucepan until boiling, then reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes more until rice is fluffy and water is absorbed.
2. While rice is cooking, heat olive oil in large skillet. Add beans (including liquids), Tamari, and cumin. Gently simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Turn of heat or turn down to low to keep beans warm.
3. Prepare all vegetables
4. Preheat oven to 300. Warm tortillas
5. Add rice, bean mixture, and vegetable choices to tortillas, wrap, and enjoy!

#6: Recipe of the Week

I made an AWESOME new recipe this week for my office Christmas party potluck.  I was in charge of dessert, and I chose to make a recipe from Emeril - Buttermilk Spice Cake with Fresh Apple Puree and and Roasted Walnut Cream Cheese.   This recipe is a little labor intensive, but I actually appreciated it this time as it gave me a break from finishing up my finals for class.  The cake was extremely moist and fluffy and the apple puree gave a good contrast from the spice as the filling.  It would also work to frost in between the layers if the apple puree is unwanted.  I love cream cheese icing, and this was a basic recipe that I will keep for other types of cakes as well.  One note on the frosting: I had to double the recipe to have enough, but I frosted the cake and also decorated the top, which added additional icing.  Overall, this recipe was excellent and I will keep it for the future.  I may even make it for a family Christmas party this Saturday, it was such a big hit with my office.

#14: Try 10 New Restaurants

Yesterday Joe and I went out for dinner after his office Christmas party was canceled. I requested a new restaurant we’ve never been to, and we ended up at Fiesta Mexico, a new Mexican (duh) place half-way between our house and where his Christmas party was supposed to be.

Verdict: It was ok. Although it was definitely more “authentic” than say…Chilis…the food was good, but not excellent. I had chicken burritos, and basically it tasted like the ones I make at home. On the plus side the atmosphere was really neat, with a lot of hanging star lights on the ceiling and an authentic feel. It was also reasonably priced - the total bill was only $20 for both of us. I would eat here again and not protest if I was with other people, but I’m not sure this is a place Joe and I will be frequenting very often in the future.

#16: Learn How to Make 10 New Cocktails

In conjunction with the holiday party I hosted, I made a new cocktail to serve: Bananas Foster Punch.  This turned out really delicious.  I found the directions to be a little confusing, so I had to do a little interpreting on my own.  I was confused by how to actually blend the mixture, so I ended up just combining half the milk mixture with all the other ingredients, then blending, then adding the other half of the milk mixture.  If that’s not the correct interpretation of the directions, it’s ok because it still tasted great!  It did not make as much as I was expecting, so for a large party (more then 5), I would definitely double the recipe.  I ended up making two batches just because my family is a little lush!  Cooking Light does not disappoint, once again!

#12: Host a Holiday Party - Complete!

This past Saturday I completed my goal to host a holiday party! I invited my entire family, as well as Joe’s. We had a blast - there was a ton of food, and a ton of good company. My finalized menu was:

Appetizers:

1. Garlic Dip
2. Bacon Dip
3. Vegetable Tray
4. Fudge (Thanks Grandma!)
5. Pecan Bars
6. Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
7. Beer Bread

Main Course:

1. Honey Glazed Ham
2. Green Bean Casserole
3. Sweet Potatoes
4. Ranch Mashed Potatoes
5. Rolls
6. Salad

Dessert:

1. Gingerbread Cake with Jeweled Lemon Sauce
2. Pecan Fig Pie

After the party and much eating, we played games and talked. We had a great time, and it was well worth the effort. I may make this a yearly tradition at my house.

#6: Recipe of the Week

I have two new recipes again for this week - last night I made Red Chili Cheese Enchiladas, and Luscious Lemon Bars.

Red Chili Cheese Enchiladas

The first new recipe this week was Red Chili Cheese Enchiladas from the most recent Cooking Light magazine. However…I’m not going to post the recipe this time, because frankly, it wasn’t that good. Our meal turned out edible, and we won’t be throwing any away, but it’s definitely not a keeper. The sauce that goes with the enchiladas took a very long time to make, to the point of it being not worth it. It also required the blender and the food processor, which in my opinion is overkill on sauce. I washed my food processor three times last night for this meal, plus the blender once. On the flip side, the filling was too simple - just cottage cheese and Monterey Jack. Overall, I thought the recipe lacked texture and was too bland. This is the first time I’ve been disappointed with a Cooking Light recipe.

Luscious Lemon Bars

Who doesn’t love lemon bars? This was the first time I made them from scratch (and not from the box). They turned out really excellent, and much better than the box kind! I may make these again for the family holiday party at my house next weekend. My only criticism was that next time, I would kick up the amount of lemon called for the in recipe, it’s not quite strong enough for my taste as-written. Here’s the recipe from Southern Living magazine:

Luscious Lemon Bars

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 c powdered sugar
1 c butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 c sugar
1/3 c lemon juice (I’d personally recommend more)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
powdered sugar

1. Combine 2 c flour and 1/2 c powdered sugar
2. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly. Firmly press mixture into a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
4. Whisk eggs in a large bowl; whisk in 2 c sugar and lemon juice. Combine remaining 1/4 c flour and baking powder; whisk into egg mixture. Pour batter over crust.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until set. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars, and sprinkle evenly with additional powdered sugar.

Prep 15 minutes, bake 50 minutes.
Yield 2 1/2 dozen

This is really turning into an important goal for me to make a new recipe each week. I’m finding it really fun trying out new things (even though sometimes it doesn’t work out well). For next week, I think I’m going to officially pick the cookbook I want to work through, because even at one new recipe a week, it’s going to take a long time to cook through an entire cookbook.