Chris' Recipes

Bon Appetite!

Zucchini & Mint Frittata

Written By: Chris - Oct• 16•12

While on our wonderful vacation, Bill and I enjoyed a fun cooking course in the “bon appetite culinary center” on board the Oceania Cruise Ship with Executive Chef Kathryn Kelly.  What a blast!  This cooking experience was a lot of fun especially because I got Bill’s participation!   We put on our aprons, got familiar with our work station, started off with Mimosa cocktails and got things rolling simpel herunterladen!

One of the terrific dishes we prepared were Frittata’s.  These are wonderfully versatile and you can enjoy them for breakfast or for dinner.  What is great is that you can use whatever you have on hand that is fresh and tasty from your pantry or refrigerator.  This frittata dish comes from Pasqua “Packy” Laghezza, the wife of Franco Semeraro, who is the Sr download whatsapp online. Vice President of hotel operations for Oceania Cruises.  The secret to this frittata is the fresh mint, one of the flavors of the Puglia region of Italy.  This recipe was featured in the Taste of the World cookbook and if Bill and I can make it turn out wonderfully, I’m confident that you can too googleen op pc!

Serves 6 to 8.  You can certainly cut it in half, which is what we did in class and it was a perfect generous portion for two or four sims 4 testversion kostenlos downloaden!

Ingredients:

8 slices White Bread, cut into small cubes (about 3 Cups)
2 Cups Whole Milk
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
3/4 Cup Onion, finely chopped
Kosher Salt
1 small Zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into small cubes or half moons (about 1 3/4 Cups)
freshly ground Black Pepper
10 Large Eggs
3 1/2 Cups grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Tablespoons Fresh Flat-leaf Parsley, finely chopped 
2 Tablespoons Fresh Mint (finely chopped or more, to your liking)

Place the bread cubes in a small bowl and cover with the milk.  Let soak (up to 30 minutes) videos aus zdf mediatheken.

Mean while, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Chop the zucchini into small cubes, (enjoy this. whatsapp auf pc herunterladen. we don’t see Bill with a knife often!)  thinly slice onion and chiffonade the mint.  Heat an ovenproof,  nonstick 10-inch frying pan over medium-high heat.  Add the oil, zucchini and onion along with a generous pinch of salt adjusting the heat as necessary to cook the onion without browning.  Stir gently occasionally, until tender and onions have become translucent, about four to five minutes.  Remove from heat and season with pepper and/or more salt to your liking download microsoft word for free chip.

Crack the eggs into a medium bowl and whisk herunterladen.

Gently squeeze the bread with your hands allowing to remove any excess milk, and discard the milk eplan p8 download for free.

Add the bread to the eggs and whisk until combined.  Stir in the cheese, the zucchini mixture, parsley, and mint.  Pour the mixture back into the frying pan, spreading it in an even layer herunterladen.

Transfer to the oven and bake until lightly golden on top and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit for five minutes before turning out onto a dish and serving.

Chef Kathryn’s tips: She likes to use the ingredients of regional cuisines to inspire frittatas.  For example, you could use jalapeno peppers, cilantro, chorizo and queso fresco (or Monterey Jack cheese) for a Mexican frittata.  For a Spanish frittata, use piquillo peppers, Spanish ham, and manchego cheese.  her favorite Greek-inspired frittata uses roasted red peppers, fresh tomatoes, feta cheese, dill, mint and oregano.

Enjoy!

Cheers!
~Chris

 

Baked Acorn Squash with Maple & Rosemary

Written By: Chris - Oct• 14•12

This is a sweet and savory way to prepare squash.  My friend Jen brought over a bunch of fresh garden tomatoes and several squash for us to enjoy last week.  Bill and I really like all types of squash, but prefer the Acorn variety in particular.  It is a  winter squash with distinctive longitudinal ridges and sweet, yellow-orange flesh.  Although considered a winter squash, it belongs to the same species as all summer squashes (including zucchini and  yellow crookneck squash) download from youtube as mp3. The most common variety is dark green in color, often with a single splotch of orange on the side or top.  As the name suggests, its shape resembles that of an acorn.  Acorn squashes typically weigh one to two pounds and are between four and seven inches long.  This squash is good and hardy allowing you to save throughout the winter in storage.  You can usually keep it several months in a cool dry location such as a cold cellar.  This variety of squash is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium, as well as smaller amounts of vitamins C & B, Magnesium forge herunterladen.

Ingredients:

1 Acorn Squash
1 Tablespoons Brummel & Brown
2 teaspoons Molasses
2 Tablespoons sugar free Maple Syrup
2-4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Sprigs fresh Rosemary, chopped
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees microsoft word starter 2010 download kostenlos deutsch.

Halve each squash, then scrape out the seeds and stringy membranes. Place the halves, flesh side up, in a baking sheet or pan.  Drizzle with Olive Oil  and sprinkle each half with salt & pepper and Cinnamon

Next add about a tablespoon of Brummel & Brown (or butter) to the center of each squash followed by 1 to 2 tablespoons of brown sugar amazon music auf mac herunterladen. Drizzle squash with Molasses (full flavor), (sugar Free) maple syrup and sprinkle with chopped fresh Rosemary

Pour water in the bottom of the baking pan.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Poke or make slices in foil to allow steam to escape.  Bake for 30 minutes exploration lite herunterladen. Remove foil and bake an additional 30-45 minutes uncovered, or until squash is golden brown.

In the last 5 minutes of baking, you may wish to turn on the broiler to allow the tops to get a little more brown and the butter sugar mixture to bubble netflix herunterladen dauer.

I serve them directly as is on the plate.  You can scoop it out and place in a dish if you prefer herunterladen.

Enjoy!

Cheers!
~Chris

Fluffy Fruit Dip

Written By: Chris - Oct• 10•12

I remember Bill’s family serving “fruit dip” at many of the bridal and baby showers when we were younger.  It was always a bright pink color and recall that it was made by mixing a few simple ingredients including dry jello mix.  I recall that it had a bright, sweet and sort of a tangy flavor and that it we had it along many kinds of fruit hörbücher kinder herunterladen.

Although fruit is delicious and healthy for us all on it’s own, I like to have a splurge of the richness of a fruit dip now and again and this recipe is my version.  What’s different is that I use low fat cream cheese and add brown sugar rather than the jello mix.  I also add a hint of vanilla, which makes this taste like a soft Carmel dip.  It goes perfect on fresh strawberries, watermelon, pineapple and grapes.  I’m sure it would also be delicious on melon of any type download netflix ps3!

 

Ingredients:

4 ounces (1/3 less fat) Cream Cheese
4-6 ounces Marshmallow Creme
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Allow cream cheese to come to room temperature.  Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese with marshmallow creme, brown sugar and vanilla.  Whip until blended thoroughly audible hörbuch again.

Serve along side or drizzled over your favorite fruit download kostenlos musik aufs handy laden!

Enjoy sap!

Cheers!
~Chris

Roasted Peppers & Garlic with Balsamic

Written By: Chris - Oct• 08•12

I’ve almost always got the mini sweet peppers on hand!  They have become a refrigerator staple and we eat as many raw as we do cooked.  It’s one of the vegetables I can easily get Bill to eat so I buy them at Costco in the large bag.  They are far more cost effective than paying for the individual varieties at the grocery store.  The red, yellow and orange and much sweeter than green bell peppers and roasting them caramelizes the sugars and intensifies the flavor.  When roasting, we like a bit of the green to add punch motorrad spiele zum kostenlos downloaden.  I usually combine peppers and onions, but this day I decided to try some garlic in the mix for a change.  It was a great!

This is such a simple side dish that anyone can easily make.  The peppers will keep in an air tight container for at least a week refrigerated, although we usually eat them up long before that ringtone iphone!

Ingredients:

Red, Yellow & Orange Peppers
1 Green Bell Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Bulb Garlic
Salt & Pepper
Quality Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash peppers and remove cores and stems.  Peel garlic and place onto cooking sheet.  Sprinkle with oil, salt & pepper.  Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes Download kodak image editing program for free.

 

Remove the foil and turn the garlic.  Stir and add the chopped peppers that have been coated in oil and return to oven.  Season with additional salt & pepper and cook for an additional 20 to 30 minutes turning occasionally until they are the texture you prefer.  We like ours al dente download microsoft word for free mac!

Drizzle with a bit of Balsamic kurantrag herunterladen!

 

Enjoy mit putty dateienen!

Cheers!
~Chris

Zucchini Lasagna

Written By: Chris - Oct• 07•12

My friend Heather gave me a pretty good sized Zucchini the other day and I always appreciate when friends send me on my way with extra garden goods!  I figured that I would create a dish of some sort and remember eating Zucchini in the form of a tasty sweet bread growing up.  The bread was a healthy treat, but have recently been trying to use this summer squash variety in hearty form.  I decided to thinly slice it and add it within my Lasagna in place of some of the noodles r4 nds games for free.

 

I’ve done it in the past and it’s surprisingly quite good!  The truth is that no one would know the difference if I didn’t tell them.  All while I’m saving us half of the carbs intake!  The squash they gave me wasn’t terribly large, but if you let them go in the garden they can reach nearly a meter in length.  Thanks Heather for not giving me the one that David showed me that he had picked that looked like a weapon out of the Flinstones!  I’m not sure what they will do with that one!… Most of the time people usually harvest them at half that size or far less.  Bill and I prefer the baby ones if we’re going to eat them sauteed as a side dish or grilled lightly because they are tender and have little to no seeds hubschrauber spiele kostenlos downloaden.

So we all should know that all dark green vegetables are supposed to be super good for us; but I didn’t know that one cup of zucchini has 10% of the recommended daily allowance of dietary fiber, which aids in digestion, maintains low blood sugar and curbs overeating!  I need that!  The dietary fiber in zucchini helps lower cholesterol by attaching itself to bile acids that the liver makes from cholesterol for digesting fat chip word kostenlos downloaden. Further, the high levels of vitamin C and vitamin A prevent cholesterol from oxidizing in the body’s blood vessels, thus hampering the onset of atherosclerosis.  All good stuff, but in addition I just like to create tasty food for those I love and don’t like to waste a thing!  I’ve found that when I pair my zucchini with other summer veggies that I already have some on hand, I am able to transform healthy ingredients into delicious dishes minecraft mods für ps4 herunterladen!

Ingredients:

zucchini sliced thinly crosswise
Tomatoes
Peppers
Onion
2 1 lb go pro. cans prepared Pasta Sauce
1/2 Cup fresh Basil
1/4 Cup Roasted Garlic
3 Cups Roasted Squash
Italian Seasoning
Cinnamon
1 (15 ounces) package Part-skim Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Greek Yogurt
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
Zucchini, sliced thinly crosswise
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 teaspoons Dried Oregano
no-boil Lasagna Noodles
Shredded Part-skim Mozzarella Cheese

I started by washing the zucchini and using my electric power slicer to cut the larger sized veggie in the thin slices I desired – rather than a manual mandolin that I have.  It includes a safety mechanism that doesn’t allow me to cut larger pieces crossfire ebook for free german.

I pulled some tomatoes from the freezer to thaw; as I always toss them into freezer whenever I have some on hand that may become somewhat soft, over ripe or close to spoiling deezer musik herunterladen!

I gathered other ingredients that I also had on hand… including a variety of peppers, onions, ground beef and garlic.  Chop onions and cook with ground beef.  Set aside

Wash and chop all peppers and cook in a stock pot, with about a tablespoon of oil until soft.  Add tomatoes.  Mix with an immersion blender and add chopped fresh basil and continue to blending until everything is smooth

I had some roasted left over roasted squash on hand so I mixed that in as well.  It adds a nice sweetness and is healthy too!  Combine and blend until smooth

Combine meat mixture with Ricotta cheese, yogurt and dried seasonings

Begin layering by placing sauce in the bottom of a cake pan.  Layer with pasta sheets, meet mixture, zucchini and mozzarella cheese layers.  Continue with at least three or four layers; ending with a pasta sheet and topped with additional sauce

 

I prepared a couple extra pans to freeze for future quick meals.  I saved some of the topping sauce in a separate plastic bag, covered with foil and sealed in a freezer bag.  This will store for about three months.  Be sure to mark and date your meals herunterladen!

For immediate use, cover with foil and bake (in my case I was still using the grill because it keeps the heat out of the house) in a 350 to 400 oven for about 30 minutes.  Remove foil and add cheese.  Cook uncovered about another 15 minutes until hot all the way through.   I placed it under the broiler for about five minutes until cheese was browned

Allow to rest for at least five to ten minutes to set up prior to cutting

We enjoyed this with a nice Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon

Enjoy route downloaden afstandmeten.nl!

Cheers!
~Chris