Lemon Cream Pasta with Veggies

I will always associate this dish with celebrating nephew Jonah's arrival, when we had it for Sunday dinner at Mase and Amanda's. Really, really delicious- and such a happy memory.

Lemon Cream Pasta with Veggies

1 T. olive oil

1 garlic clove

2 C. heavy cream

3 lemons

salt and pep

1 pound pasta of choice

2 medium zucchini

2 medium yellow squash

1/2 C. freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook just for a few seconds- not more than 30, or it will burn, and burnt garlic is so bitter and nasty. Add cream, zest and juice of two of the lemons, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Simmer sauce for about 20 minutes on medium-low.

Bring large pot of water to boil. Add 1 T. salt and pasta. Cook according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot. Immediately add cream mixture and cook for about three minutes. Steam zucchs and squash, and add to the pasta. Toss in parmesan and tomatoes. Slice the last lemon and add a few slices to the pasta, to make it purty. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.

* We've also made this with broccoli and it's yum too.

Pumpkin Cranberry Pancakes

We are LOVING our pumpkin pancake/waffle mix from TJ's. I was there a couple weeks back and this was their tasting sample. Knocked my socks off. If you don't have the mix, I am sure there are a number of simple recipes for pumpkin pancakes on the net.

Pumpkin Cranberry Pancakes

(This is more of a method than a recipe.)

Pumpkin pancake dry mix

egg, milk, and butter as box directs

fresh cranberries

real maple syrup

pecan halves

Prepare batter as box directs. Preheat griddle or skillet. Grease pan and pour batter by 1/4 cupfulls. Add cranberries to batter. When pancakes are dry round the edges and bubbles start to burst, flip and continue cooking on other side. Meanwhile, heat maple syrup in saucepan over low heat. Add pecans to syrup, warm through, and serve over finished pancakes. Perfect fall recipe!

Cuties and a menu, 11-15-09

Happiness filled my heart when I came accross this box of clementines at Trader Joes last week. I proceeded to buy two boxes on the spot, and another at Costco later that day. There have been a couple times when I've been duped into buying a box of mandarins... and they're not the same. Gotta be clementines.

Here's what we're eating for dinner at our house this week:

Sun- spaghetti, garlic breadsticks, pizza salad, and Texas sheet cake

M- roast chicken, steamed broccoli and rice

T- mini hamburgers and glazed carrots

W- leftovers

Th- lemon fusilli pasta with zucchs, squash and tomatoes (recipe to come)

F- out (carbing up for Chris' bike race Sat. am)

Sat- cold cereal, most likely.

Ravioli & Vegetable Soup

My diet has been extremely lacking in the area of fresh food (mainly fruits & veggies) for the last few weeks. This week, I recommitted to eating more vegetables and decided that this soup would be a good start.

My notes:

• I used fresh bell pepper, left out the onion, and used cheese tortellini.
  
• It was a bit spicier than I thought it would be, but I still liked it. If you're planning to serve it to kids, I'd probably omit the crushed red pepper flake.
  
• Next time I might opt to just use regular canned diced tomatoes, not fire roasted.
  
• Other than that, it was a nice hearty soup that was delicious with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top and a nice piece of crusty bread for dipping.

Ravioli & Vegetable Soup

From EatingWell.com

Fresh or frozen ravioli cook in minutes and turn this light vegetable soup into a main course. Look for whole-wheat or whole-grain ravioli in the refrigerated or frozen section of the supermarket. Tortellini can be used instead of ravioli as well.

4 servings, about 2 cups each | Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups frozen bell pepper and onion mix, thawed and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed crushed red pepper, or to taste (optional)
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
• 1 15-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or marjoram
• 1 6- to 9-ounce package fresh or frozen cheese (or meat) ravioli, preferably whole-wheat
• 2 cups diced zucchini, (about 2 medium)
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pepper-onion mix, garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, broth, water and basil (or marjoram); bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add ravioli and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions. Add zucchini; return to a boil. Cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Season with pepper.

Nutrition

Per serving : 264 Calories; 9 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 28 mg Cholesterol; 38 g Carbohydrates; 11 g Protein; 8 g Fiber; 763 mg Sodium; 762 mg Potassium

2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Thin with broth before reheating, if desired.

Pie

For my husband's thirtieth birthday party, I made those pies in jars I had been dying over a few weeks back. They were lots of work but lots of fun. I made some apple, some peach, some pumpkin, and some blackberry, at Chris' request. I found the short squatty jars at Ace Hardware, since they were sold out on Amazon. Here is the blackberry pie recipe I used, adapted from a Blueberry pie I found in my ATK cookbook. This recipe makes one regular pie, follow the link to the pies in jars for instructions on making and baking those.

Blackberry Pie

6 cups blackberries

1 C. plus one T. sugar

4 T. potato starch

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. allspice

pinch nutmeg

1 recipe double crust pie dough

2 T. unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Toss blackberries, 1 C. sugar, potato starch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and spices together and let stand for 15 minutes. Place bottom crust into pie plate and roll out top crust to a 12 inch circle. Spread berries in the unbaked crust bottom and dot with butter. Lay top crust over berries, seal and crimp the edges, and cut four vent holes. brush crust with egg white and sprinkle with 1 T. of sugar. Place pie on baking sheet and in the oven, then lower the temp to 425. Bake til top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, reduce oven temp again to 375, and continue to bake til crust is deep golden brown, about 30-35 minutes longer. Transfer to wire rack and cool before serving. You can store this pie at room temperature wrapped in foil for two days.

Double-crust Pie Dough

2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

8 T. vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces and chilled

12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cun into small pieces and chilled

8 T. ice water

Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food proccesor til combined. Scatter shortening over top and process about ten seconds. Scatter butter over top and, using short pulses, process til it resembles coarse crumbs, about ten pulses. Transfer to a bowl. Sprinkle ice water over mixture. Stir and pressdough together with a rubber spatula. Divide dough into to even pieces and flatten into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate one hour. Let dough soften slightly before rolling out.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd publish a few pumpkin recipes that I think are delicious. Hope you enjoy!


This Pumpkin Cheesecake was a hit at our Thanksgiving dinner last year. Recipe complements of my friend Katy.


Ingredients

For the crust

* 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
* 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
* 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled


For the filling

* 1 1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin
* 3 large eggs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* three 8-ounce packages cream cheese, cut into bits and softened
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 2 tablespoons heavy cream
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Make the crust:
In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.

Make the filling:
In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, the egg, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the ginger, the salt, and the brown sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and the granulated sugar, beat in the cream, the cornstarch, the vanilla, the bourbon liqueur, and the pumpkin mixture, and beat the filling until it is smooth.

Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set, and let it cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread

This AMAZING pumpkin bread recipe was given to me by a friend. It is very likely the best pumpkin bread I've ever tasted. If you like pumpkin, you must try!!!



INGREDIENTS

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease
two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until
smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin,
ginger, allspice and cinnamon.
3. In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all
ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.
4. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Mango Smoothies

We love a good smoothie round here, and we've had our fill this week. Mango smoothies are up there in our top couple faves. Recipe from Williams-Sonoma.

Mango Smoothies

2 cups frozen mango cubes
1 cup plain yogurt
2 cups milk
1 banana, coarsely chopped
2 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Blend and serve. (Trader Joes has delicious frozen mango year-round.)

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Our menu is very flexible this week- we're nursing our daughter back to health after she had a tonsilectomy on Monday. I made this soup last night, and it was just what the doctor ordered, for all of us. Recipe adapted from one found on For the Love of Cooking.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 T. olive oil
2-3 T. yellow onion, finely diced
2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
couple dashes of oregano
couple dashes of thyme
1 chicken bouillon cube
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken broth
3 cups of baking potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of roasted chicken, shredded
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup half n half
2 cups uncooked egg noodles

Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery; sauté for 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for an additional 60 seconds, stirring constantly.
Season the cooked vegetables with oregano, thyme, chicken bouillon, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Add 5 1/2 cups of chicken broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer partially covered, 20 minutes or until the potato is tender.
Combine the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix thoroughly. Add cornstarch mixture, chicken, half-n-half and egg noodles to the broth, and cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.