it's nota frittata – no egg veggie casserole – take 2

I made this based on an earlier version with the types of veggies we had on hand, and it's just as delicious.

Olive oil cooking spray

medium bunch of kale
8-10 small spring turnips, sliced
8-10 radishes, sliced
5-6 small to medium tomatoes, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
handful of thyme
handful of parsley
2-3 tablespoons butter, melted or olive oil1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Tear kale into pieces and spread along the bottom of a 10-inch dish coated with cooking spray. Toss together radish and turnip, salt and pepper, thyme and parsley. Salt and pepper tomato slices separately so they don't break up. Layer radishes, turnips, and tomatoes over kale, alternating and overlapping slightly. Drizzle with 2-4 Tbsp. melted butter. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

strawminty ice cream

I haven't tried this yet, but I've found a couple of recipes that I want to combine to make a delicately minty strawberry ice cream.

2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 5 cups)
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large handful of mint

Soak the mint leaves in the cream and rest in the fridge overnight.

In a large bowl stir together strawberries and sugar until combined well. Chill mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, overnight.

Drain strawberry mixture in a sieve set over a bowl and reserve 2 cups strawberry slices. In a food processor purée remaining slices with strained liquid until smooth and transfer to a bowl. Stir in cream and vanilla extract until combined well.

Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker for 25 minutes. During this time, place remaining strawberries in the freezer. After 25 minutes, add reserved strawberry slices for the last 5 minutes of freezing time.

Adapted from Epicurious

mustard green beans

Spring CSAs mean lots and lots of mustard greens. Lots and lots. And now I've come up with a recipe I'd be happy to eat every week they show up. This recipe is based on the idea of red beans and rice crossed with green gumbo, and hits all the right notes: a little sweet, a little spicy, and lots of umami.

1 half package smoky bacon (I like North Country)
1 can of white cannellini beans
2-3 types of greens (mustard, radish, etc.)
5 green garlic stems (if unavailable use an onion)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Crystal cayenne pepper sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and chop the greens. Chop the green garlic or onion into half inch pieces. Cut raw bacon into half inch pieces. Fry bacon and garlic/onion in a deep cast iron pot. When bacon and garlic/onion have begun to brown add greens and stir until they wilt. Then add the can of beans with their liquid and stir. Add remaining ingredients, stir and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

creamy chicken and mushrooms

Quick and easy chicken dinners are harder to come by than I would like so finding this recipe, and adjusting it to be even faster, was great.

1 lb chicken thighs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 tablespoons gluten-free flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Pinch of hungarian hot paprika
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 5-6 minutes. Push vegetables over to the side of the pan and add another tablespoon of butter the empty side. Add chicken and brown on all sides.

Sprinkle everything with flour and mix until lightly browned, about 1 minute.

Gradually stir in half and half, thyme, basil and paprika; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.    

Adapted from Damn Delicious

strawbarb crumble

My man loves all things strawberry rhubarb, and though it's not my favorite when I found rhubarb on sale at the store I thought I would give a crisp a try. I wanted to make it with as little flour as I could, so I adjusted the recipe I found for a regular crisp.

4 to 5 stalks of fresh rhubarb
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled
1 cup turbinado sugar
half an orange worth of grated orange zest
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/2 cups Kind Oats and Honey Clusters granola
1/2 stick butter
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and cut the strawberries into pieces the same size as the rhubarb. In a large, ovenproof bowl, toss the fruit with 3/4 cup of the turbinado sugar, the orange zest, and the cornstarch dissolved in the orange juice.

For the topping, melt the butter and 1/4 cup of sugar in the microwave. Once melted and combined, stir the granola into the butter and coat well. Spread the topping over the fruit, covering it completely. Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Let cool for 10 minutes and serve warm with ice cream.

Adapted from Food Network

smoky spinach cheese steak roll ups

A super quick, super delicious meal.

steak tips
smoked cheddar cheese
frozen whole leaf spinach

Heat a cast iron pan in a 500 degree oven.

Split the steak tips so they are laying flat. Slice the cheese. Defrost spinach in microwave for 2 minutes. Squeeze the water out of the spinach. Lay the slices of
cheese along the steak, spread with spinach, and roll. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and rub with olive oil.

Place the cast iron pan on the stove top on a high heat. Lower heat in oven to 400 degrees. Heat each roll up in the pan for 2 minutes on each side and then place in the oven for 4 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

crispy chicken and sauce

We've made this a few times already and the chicken comes out moist and the skin comes out perfectly crispy every time. We've tried a couple different flavor combinations and the only thing we need to watch is how much acid gets added, avoid adding too much. we also use chicken breasts instead of the original thighs and it's only way I've found that makes the breasts nearly as juicy as chicken thighs.

3-4 skin-on chicken beasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
8 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag of baby carrots
3 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving it until well browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip chicken and brown lightly on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add bacon to pan and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, lemon juice, sugar, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer.

Nestle chicken back into sauté pan, leaving the skin above the liquid but submerging most of the meat. Transfer pan to oven and cook, uncovered, about 45 minutes (do not cook longer even for larger pieces of chicken).

Remove from oven and transfer chicken and pieces of onion, carrot and bacon to a serving platter. Stir butter into sauté pan, reduce sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Serious Eats

my best steak seasoning

My favorite steak seasoning has been McCormick's Steakhouse Seasoning for years, which I can no longer find. So it was time to make my own before I finished the last of the McCormick's. Here's my version, which comes pretty close.

4 tsp mixed peppercorns
2 tsp onion flakes
2 tsp garlic flakes
1 to 1 1/2 french grey sea salt
2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika

crustless pasty

2 turnips
3 red potatoes
1 red onion
3 carrots
1 bottom round or eye round steak, chopped into small pieces
springs of thyme
butter
oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roughly chop turnips, potatoes, carrots and thyme.

Melt butter and oil in large cast iron pan, add finely chopped onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add turnip, potato, carrot, and thyme to the cast iron pan, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on medium high for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Remove vegetables to a separate plate. Add another tablespoon of butter to the cast iron pan. Add the chopped steak and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until barely browned. Add vegetables to steak and stir to combine.

Place uncovered cast iron pan in 400°F oven. Cook for 10 minutes and then broil for 3 minutes to lightly brown top.

fancy gluten-free cranberry cake

We made a gluten-free version of this clafoutis recipe, and while our first version didn't turn out the way the pictures online look, it tasted great, was easy to make and we had all the ingredients on hand. It's an easy, and impressive, dessert to throw together for guests. For Thanksgiving, I would start to make it after dinner is over, so that by the time the 90 minutes to make it has passed you and your guests will be hungry again and it can be served warm.

3 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 cup turbinado sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup gluten-free flour (we used Cup for Cup)
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier/orange-flavored brandy (we used triple sec)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Unsalted butter, for the baking dish
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, halved
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Combine the eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar, the half-and-half, gluten free flour, orange brandy, vanilla and salt in a blender. Pulse until the sugar has dissolved and the batter is smooth, about 1 minute. Let sit at room temperature, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Butter the bottom and side of an 11-inch ceramic tart pan or pie plate and set on a baking sheet. Toss the cranberries with 5 tablespoons turbinado sugar in a small bowl; spread in the bottom of the prepared tart pan. Bake until the mixture starts to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F.

As soon as the batter is done resting and while the cranberries are still warm, carefully pour 1 cup of the prepared batter into the hot pan and let sit 5 minutes, then pour in the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar on top. Bake until puffed and almost set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Food Network

forget about it cranberry sauce

This was the new hit of Thanksgiving 2015. While it's based on a basic recipe, I made changes on the fly based on what we had in the house as well as the fact that I let boil way longer than originally intended because I forgot about it while I was cooking other things. We ended up with our own jellied cranberry sauce.

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 tangerine

Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries into a saucepan and leave aside 1/2 cup of the cranberries.

Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of water, and zest from half the tangerine. Squeeze the juice from the tangerine into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries burst, about 20 minutes. Continue cooking until the liquid is completely reduced, another 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Serve warm or cold.

Adapted from Food Network