#77 :: Fruit Tarts

I tried out this recipe for the Great American Bake Sale coming up on May 30th. These tarts turned out sooo good that I'm definitely going to make some for the sale! I'm going to try them with other fruits as well....the recipe calls for apple, which I think would be amazing....but we had raspberries right there, and that's what we tried first. Blackberry, strawberry, blueberry....so many choices, and I bet they're all dee-lish!

Ingredients

• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
• Sugar, for dusting
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and quartered (*we used raspberries instead)
  
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Apricot jam
• (*we added some whipped cream topping as well)
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Crimp seams of puff pastry together with fingertips. Dust both sides of pastry with sugar. Using a rolling pin, roll pastry in each direction to close seams. Using a sharp pizza cutter (and tracing a small plate) cut out 2 circles of pastry. (*I used a cereal bowl, pressed it onto the puff pastry like a cookie cutter, and I got 4 tarts out of 1 puff pastry sheet). Place pastry circles on a chilled sheet pan and let cool in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Using a vegetable peeler cut wafer thin apple slices. Put apple slices in lemon-juice-spiked water. (*If you're using berries, no lemon water is needed -- it just keeps the apples from turning brown)

Flip pastry circles over on the sheet pans and poke them with a fork to provide an outlet for steam. Put parchment paper on the pan underneath the pastry circles. Sprinkle pastry with sugar and arrange apple slices on top.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Poke the crust; if it feels soft it needs more time in the oven.

Microwave some apricot jam for 30 seconds. Dab (don't brush) the jam on the tarts. Cool tarts at least 4 hours and seal in a resealable plastic bag. Serve at room temperature or heat in the microwave and top with ice cream.

Makes 2 servings.

Recipe from Good Eats on Food Network

Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Snack Dinner

Yesterday we had both worked a long day, it was a getting late, and we just didn't feel like messing with cooking.....so we had snack dinner. :) Apple slices with peanut butter, and summer sausage with cheddar cheese on roasted tomato Triscuit crackers. Not exactly gourmet, but it did the trick and we didn't have to cook. It doesn't really count on the blog as a recipe....but we didn't eat fast food!

#76 :: Easter Dinner :: Macaroni & Cheese

This is another one of mom's holiday staples. It seriously doesn't feel like a holiday meal to me without her homemade macaroni and cheese. I call her every holiday and double check the recipe to make sure I do it just right! We also had one of our new favorites with this Easter dinner, Parmesan Roasted Asparagus.



Ingredients

2 cups uncooked macaroni
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. flour
3 cups of milk
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed
Salt & pepper to taste

In a pot of salted water, cook the macaroni noodles for about 8 minutes or until al dente. Drain the macaroni and transfer them to a 13 x 9 baking dish.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour 1 Tbsp. at a time until it is mixed with the butter. Add 1 1/2 cup of milk and stir for a few minutes until the flour begins to incorporate. Then add the remaianing 1 1/2 cup of milk and continue to stir.

Once the sauce begins to thicken, begin adding the Velveeta cubes a few at a time, and continue stirring until they are all melted in. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Pour the sauce over the noodles, cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.



Makes 8 servings.

Recipe from: My Mom :)

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Recipe from: My Mom

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

#75 :: Easter Dinner :: Glazed Ham

I love Easter dinner. I remember when I was young, my mom would always make Easter dinner and dress me up in my cute little Easter dress. My grandparents would come over all dressed up in their Sunday best, and we'd all eat dinner together. Now that I'm grown and preparing my own Easter dinners, I always have to make my mom's ham. It just wouldn't be Easter without it!




Ingredients

1 pre-cooked sliced ham (choose your favorite, sliced as thick as you like)
1/2 c brown sugar
1 can pineapple rings
Maraschino cherries (optional)


Directions

To make the glaze, mix 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 Tbsp. of pineapple juice from the can of rings. Add more pineapple juice if necessary to get to the right glaze consistency. It should be spreadable, but not watery.

Arrange the ham slices in a baking pan and bake at 325 for 10-15 minutes. Remove the ham, brush on the glaze, and pour the remaining glaze over the ham. Add pineapple rings on top of each slice, and add a maraschino cherry in the center of each pineapple ring. Then put it back into the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes.


Makes enough glaze for 4-6 slices.

Recipe from: My Mom :)

Star Rating: 5+ out of 5 stars

#74 :: Ricotta Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes really are one of my favorites, but I get bored with them sometimes. This recipe uses Ricotta cheese, which isn't something I would normally put in potatoes but WOW is it fabulous. I didn't have the little crocks to put the potatoes in, so we skipped the final broiling stage (which I'm sure is delicious)...but short of throwing the whole pot in there I couldn't do it. It was still yummy with our Sage Butter Chicken, which we've made before and loved!

Ingredients

• 2 pound(s) Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 1/2 cup(s) fresh ricotta
• 1/2 cup(s) whole milk
• 3 tablespoon(s) butter
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) ground black pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to broiler setting. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and continue to cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes more. Drain and return all but 1 cup of potatoes to the pot.
2. Mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the ricotta, milk, butter, remaining salt, and pepper to blend. Add the reserved potatoes and mash just until combined. Spoon 1/2 cup potatoes into 10 six-ounce ramekins and set on a baking pan. Place under broiler until browned. Serve hot.

Makes 8 servings

Recipe from Country Living

Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5

#73 :: Slow Roast Beef

Jamie made the most delicious roast beef! It really was perfect....medium rare, melt in your mouth like butter....I was really impressed! Usually when Jamie cooks there's some sort of disaster, but this time everything came out great! We had our roast beef with sauteed mushrooms and Ricotta Mashed Potatoes.

This is more of a process, rather than a recipe. He wanted to know how to cook the perfect roast beef (inspired by a Good Eats episode on Food Network) so he searched online until he found these instructions from howtocookmeat.com.



Instructions from HowToCookMeat.com

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

#72 :: Sweet Potato Chips & Sausage

Our first batch of sweet potato chips came out great, but Jamie burned the second batch. I mean..... BURNED! Unfortunately, we ate the first batch so quickly that we didn't get a photo of the good ones. Loved the first batch. I got a photo of the bad ones, though! Just one minute too long and this is what happens.... We grilled some smoked sausage outside too, to go with the sweet potato chips.

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (long and thin)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• Kosher salt
  

Directions

Peel sweet potatoes and slice into thin rounds. Heat oil in a shallow pan. Place enough chips to cover the bottom of the pan. Be sure to keep the flame low enough so as not to burn the oil, but high enough as to not let the oil cool down. Turn chips once or twice, being sure to brown on both sides. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Lightly salt and serve.

Makes about 35 chips

Recipe from Sara's Thanksgiving Secrets on FoodNetwork.com

Star Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

#71 :: Crispy Chicken a l'Orange

This was delicious, and a nice change from the every day chicken. Mine took a little longer to cook than the recipe said it would (maybe because we have an older oven) but it came out great just the same! We had a salad with it -- Romain lettuce, blue cheese, bacon and ranch.

From now on, I'll be looking up more grilling recipes for sure. Since it's been warmer out for the past few days, the house is getting warmer and it gets HOT in the kitchen when I use the stove and oven. I need to create a make-shift kitchen out on my deck for the summer!

Ingredients

nocoupons

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 skin-on bone-in chicken breast halves
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
• 4 tablespoons honey

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Liberally salt and pepper the chicken breast halves. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat and sear the chicken, skin side only, until brown and beginning to crisp, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the orange glaze: In a small saucepan, heat the orange juice concentrate, honey, and salt and pepper, to taste, over medium heat, and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Turn the chicken over and brush each piece with the glaze. Turn the chicken skin side up and transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 160 to 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, brushing on more glaze halfway through, about 15 minutes in total. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board. Remove the chicken breast from the bone and slice the meat on the bias. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve.

Makes 4 servings

Recipe from 10 Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian on Food Network

Star Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

First Grill Out of the Year!

Wednesday we grilled out on the patio for the first time this year! We made kabobs with chicken, mushrooms and green peppers on the grill, and then we made Parmesan Roasted Asparagus inside in the oven. Thank goodness the weather is warming up and we can grill outside! We're keeping our eye out for a nice patio set for the deck so we can spend more time out there this summer.

April Food Day

Please join me and several of my fellow bloggers in supporting Feeding America, a non profit hunger relief organization dedicated to helping provide food for fellow Americans in need. You can also directly support your local food bank to accomplish the same good.




APRIL FOOD DAY SUPPORTS FEEDING AMERICA

More and more people in our country are going hungry because they have lost their jobs, their benefits have ended, they can’t find a job and have no place left to turn but to their local food bank. But the nation’s food banks are stretched to the limit because of the increased number of people needing their services.

You might think that none of your friends are going hungry, but I read a comment on a piece NPR did about a photography exhibit about hunger in America, and think it could apply to any one of us:

…a dear friend and community member crossed over. At his one year crossing remembrance, stories began to come out and I realized with great sorrow, our friend went hungry. I feel sad when I think of it, that our dear friend who gave so much and was so generous in spirit and friendship was hungry and we never knew that. How did we not make it our business to know how it was with him we loved so?

Please make a donation to Feeding America, or your local food bank, and count yourself as one of the lucky ones if you’re not going to bed hungry every night. Feeding America has set up a special URL for April Food Day so they can see how much we’ve donated.

http://aprilfoodday.blogspot.com