Monthly Archives: April 2010

Weekend Fare & A Giveaway!

Posted by Alaina in Giveaways, Weekend Fare and tagged with , ,

It’s hard to believe the end of the week is nearly here! I finally am getting back in to the cooking groove – just in time to leave. :) This week I made a salad with chicken and veggies, bbq chicken pizza, and today’s featured recipe – chicken salad. Yes, it was chicken week. I cooked four chicken breasts on Monday and made them last for three meals. It worked well and everyone enjoyed the dinners!

A good chicken salad is wonderful and yet I have a hard time finding it. I vary mine with one exception – it always has some kind of fruit in it. The fruit is often grapes but I’ve also used craisins and various other things. My version today includes apples as well as grapes. I like the natural sweetness the fruit adds as well as the color! 

ALAINA’S FRUITED CHICKEN SALAD
Print This Recipe

1 1/2 – 2 chicken breasts, diced
1 apple, cored and finely diced
1/3 c. red or green grapes, quartered
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 Tb. red onion, finely diced
1 Tb. lemon juice
1/3 c. mayonnaise (I often use half mayo and half plain yogurt)
1 tsp. dried dill OR 1 Tb. fresh dill
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Serve over spring greens or lettuce or as a sandwich filling. (We really liked this served over the greens with water crackers on the side). Serves about 4.

_____________________________ __________________________

Nothing like waiting until the end of the month for our giveaway! This beautiful cookbook is the Williams-Sonoma Seasonal Celebration Spring book by Joanne Weir. The pictures alone will inspire you to try recipes and experiment with spring produce! It offers recipes such as Fresh Pea Soup w/Lemon Creme Fraiche, Asparagus-Parmesan Cheese Puffs, Spicy Deviled Eggs, Spinach & Bacon Souffle, Lemon Cloud Tart, and many more.

TO ENTER:
- Leave a comment on this post telling us your favorite cookbook or spring recipe.
- Make sure we have a way to contact you!

For additional entries (just leave us a comment telling us which ones you have done!):
- Subscribe via the link to the right or with google reader.
- Add us to your blog roll.
- Join our facebook group – The Cooks Next Door.
- Facebook about this giveaway.
- Tweet about this giveaway.
- Blog about this giveaway.

There you go! You could earn as many as 7 entries. And if you already are in our group, subscribe etc, let us know and we will add in the extra entries!

I leave tomorrow so I will try to close the giveaway sometime next week but the winner will not be announced until after May 9.

New Arrival!

Posted by Alaina in Blog, Blog Business

We are so excited and pleased to announce that Heather had her baby girl yesterday! Both she and baby girl are doing well! There will be a few more posts from her as she was so on top of it and had some pre-planned. Please join me in congratulating Heather and her family!

Off The Shelf: The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , , ,

The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam is the latest book I’ve been raving about to my friends. Why am I so excited? Elana begins the book by showing the nutritional benefits of using almond flour (versus white wheat flour or rice flour): there is more than twice the protein in almond flour than the other flours and far more vitamins and minerals. Not to mention: it’s also gluten-free!

Combined with her exclusive use of agave nectar as a sweetening agent, Elana’s recipes produce food that is much lower on the glycemic index than normal cooking which is a boon for people who need to monitor their blood sugar or want to avoid going the route of diabetes.

So what does this 126-page book hold? Chapters on breakfast, breads and crackers, entrees, pies, pastries and crusts, cakes and cupcakes, cookies and bars, and toppings, syrups, and sauces. Some of the recipes featured include: Banana Blueberry Muffins, Orange Apricot Scones, Pancakes, Cinnamon Coffee Cake, Scrumptious Sandwich Bread, Olive-Rosemary Bread, Herb Crackers, Chicken Pot Pie, Herbed Turkey Loaf, Eggplant Parmesan, Savory Vegetable Quiche, Pecan Pie, Peach Blueberry Crisp, Strawberry Creme Tart, Pizza Crust, Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Raspberry Torte, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Snickerdoodles, Lemon Bars, and Ginger Macadamia Brownies.

Now, before you get all excited and run out to the store to buy some almond flour, let me tell you the bad news: almond flour is expensive. Not having time to shop around for the Carrot Cake I chose to make, I spent $11.79 for one pound of Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour. I later found out I could have gotten it for $8 a pound at a different local healthfood store, and, if I’d ordered it online in bulk I could pay only $5/pound. However, it is worth taking the health benefits into consideration as well as spacing out your sweet consumption. (The best deal we’ve found on agave nectar is at Costco.)

Another word of advice from a friend: ideally you want fine almond flour, not grainy almond meal (such as my Bob’s Red Mill turned out to be). However, despite my grainy textured almond flour the carrot cake still came out quite well. So, if grainy is all you have, try it anyway.

Oh, and if you want more inspiration from Elana, check out her food blog here.

And now, for the amazing, incredible, hard-to-believe-it’s-gluten-free, carrot cake:

CLASSIC CARROT CAKE
(The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook)
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3 cups blanched almond flour
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 c. grapeseed oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup agave nectar
5 large eggs
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup raisins (I like golden raisins)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans with oil, line with parchment paper, and dust with almond flour.

In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, agave nectar, and eggs. Stir the wet ingredients into the almond flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Fold in the carrots, raisins, and walnuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 1 hour, then serve.

Note: I topped this cake with a low-sugar, cream-cheese/whipped cream icing (recipe follows). You could use your favorite cream-cheese icing recipe. Elana suggests using her Creamy Coconut Frosting which is also dairy free.

WHIPPED CREAM/CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
(Heather)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
zest of 1 lime or 1 orange (your preference)

Beat the softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the cream, sugar and zest. Continue beating until icing is thickened. Add more sugar if desired.

My Kitchen View

Posted by Alaina in Baker's Delight, Kitchen View and tagged with , , , , , ,

This week I’m preparing for my mission trip to Kazakhstan! One of the things I’m looking forward to is enjoying the food. I would characterize myself as an adventurous eater – I will try nearly anything once. When we were in Kazakhstan bringing home our oldest sons, we spent a few meals just pointing to random things on the menu. We enjoyed it all! We also lived on meat pies for the last week we spent there. They were so good! I hope to have a chance to blog a bit about the food we eat.

As I may have mentioned, life has been a little crazy for my family lately and it made me think of some of the quick things I make and the kitchen shortcuts I take when we are so busy. A favorite quick dessert is espresso brownies – they start with a brownie mix and we love them!

ESPRESSO BROWNIES
(inspired by Giada DeLaurentiis)
Print This Recipe

1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. plus 2 Tb. strong brewed coffee or espresso, divided
2 lg. eggs 
1 (19.8-oz) box brownie mix
3/4 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips (plus more for garnish)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 Tb. butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Pour brownie mix into a large bowl; add 1/3 cup of coffee, oil, and eggs in a large bowl and mix until combined. Stir until well blended. Stir in the chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 Tb. espresso, and butter and whisk until smooth (I add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it). Spread the glaze over the brownies. Garnish with more chocolate chips. Refrigerate until the glaze is set. Makes 24.

Market Fresh: Radishes

Posted by Heather in Market Fresh and tagged with , , ,

Radishes are one of the fastest and earliest crops to harvest from the garden. I think that’s why my mom always let us kids plant them when we were young. Our patience wouldn’t be as tried by the radishes as it would be by the tomatoes or green beans.

I think we only ever planted the bright red variety of radish that is most commonly seen in the supermarkets. But, there are many varieties of radishes. Last year I planted “Easter Egg” and “White Icicle” (as seen above on this month’s header). Most of us found the White Icicle radishes to be a bit too spicy for our liking, but we enjoyed the more milder Easter Eggs.

Usually, when our family enjoys radishes we eat them either as part of a veggie tray with dip, or alone with salt sprinkled on them, or sliced into a green salad. It was fun to find some recipes that used radishes in a different way. You might want to give one of these a try!

RADISHES WITH BUTTER AND SALT
(adapted from the Barefoot in Paris)
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2 bunches of radishes, tops intact
sea salt
good salted butter or herbed butter
1 French baguette, sliced diagonally, and lightly toasted

Herb Butter:
4 oz. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. minced green onions
1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh dill
1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (or, try 1 tsp. lemon zest)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine the herb butter ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until combined. Do not whip.

Thinly slice the radishes. Spread the herb butter on the toasted and cooled bread. Arrange the radishes on top of the buttered bread. Sprinkle with plenty of salt.

Serves 6-8.

This salad was delicious! We loved the taste of the sesame combined with the cucumber and radish.

RADISH AND CUCUMBER SALAD
(www.bbcgoodfood.com)
Print this recipe

1 cucumber, halved, peeled and thinly sliced
10 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 red onion, finely chopped and soaked in lemon juice for 10 minutes
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 small red chilli, seeded and finely chopped (I left this out)
2 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted
salt & pepper

Put the cucumber, radish and onion (straining off any excess juice) in a bowl.

Whisk the rice vinegar, oils, chilli and some seasoning together and pour it over. Toss well and leave to sit for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.

Serves 4-6.

I could not resist trying a recipe for cooked radishes. Although it was a completely foreign idea to me, I thought it was definitely a novel idea to keep in mind when you need something new and exciting to accompany a dinner. The taste seemed somewhere akin to a Brussel sprout, but a different texture.

GLAZED RADISHES
(Food Network)
Print this recipe

radishes
butter
salt
sugar

Place radishes in a saute pan and add water until it comes a third of the way up the vegetables. Add a slab of butter (I used 2 Tbsp.) and a hearty pinch of salt and sugar. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium-high heat until most of the liquid evaporates; toss radishes in the buttery glaze.

Weekend Fare: Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Posted by Alaina in Weekend Fare and tagged with , , , ,

This recipe is delicious as well as quick and easy! I found the recipe in the November 2009 issue of Cooking Light. We enjoyed these sandwiches with oven fries. I really like the combination of flavors – it makes a smoky, sweet, slightly spicy, bbq.

BLACK PEPPER AND MOLASSES PULLED CHICKEN SANDWICHES
( adapted slightly from Cooking Light, November 2009)
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3  Tb.  ketchup
1  Tb.  cider vinegar
1  Tb.  prepared mustard
1  Tb.  molasses
3/4  tsp.  chili powder
1/2  tsp.  ground cumin
1/4  tsp.  freshly ground black pepper
1/8  tsp.  ground ginger
12  oz.  skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breast, cut into 2-inch pieces
4  sandwich rolls, cut in half horizontally
12  dill pickle chips

Combine first 9 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes or until chicken is done and tender. Remove from heat; shred with 2 forks to measure 2 cups meat. Place 1/2 cup chicken on bottom half of each roll. Top each with 3 pickles and top half of roll.

Off The Shelf: Jamie At Home

Posted by Heather in Off the Shelf and tagged with , , , , , ,

Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver is a perfect cookbook to peruse in the spring just as you may be planning your garden or beginning to haunt the farmer’s markets for seasonal produce.

This book is designed around the seasons, giving an outline for what is available when, tips on how to grow the fruits and vegetables, and delicious and creative recipes to use the produce.

Here’s what the contents of the book looks like:

SPRING: asparagus, eggs, lamb, rhubarb

SUMMER: barbecue, cabbage family, carrots and beets, climbing beans, zucchini, onions, peas and fava beans, pizza, potatoes, strawberries, summer salads, tomatoes

AUTUMN: chillies and peppers, feathered game, furred game, mushrooms, orchard fruit, pickles

WINTER: leeks, pastry, squash, winter salads, winter veg

As with all of Jamie’s books, there are plenty of gorgeous pictures.

I tried Jamie’s Creamy Asparagus Soup and it made a lovely lunch, complete with a salad and some homemade bread. We ate the leftovers the next day and agreed that the soup tasted even better after sitting overnight.

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP
(adapted from Jamie at Home)
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1 3/4 pounds asparagus, woody ends removed
olive oil
2 medium white onions, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
2 leeks, trimmed and chopped
2 quarts good-quality chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

cream for serving (optional)

 Chop the tips off your asparagus and put these to one side for later. Roughly chop the asparagus stalks. Get a large, deep pan on the heat and add a good glug of olive oil. Gently fry the onions, celery and leeks for around 10 minutes, until soft and sweet, without coloring. Add the chopped asparagus stalks and stock and simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on. Remove from the heat and blitz with a handheld immersion blender or in a standard blender. Season the soup bit by bit (this is important) with salt and pepper until just right. Put the soup back on the heat, stir in the asparagus tips, bring back to the boil and simmer for a few more minutes until the tips have softened.

Note: I dribbled a little cream over the top before serving. If you like really creamy soup, you could stir in 1/2-1 cup of cream before dishing the soup out.

Counter Culture

Posted by Heather in Counter Culture and tagged with ,

I’m expecting a baby at any moment now. And, contrary to better judgment, I haven’t put a bunch of meals in the freezer. So, I’ve been racking my brain for a list of easy-to-fix dinners that are also somewhat nutritious. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Beans and Rice
Spaghetti with ground beef and a jar of decent sauce
Taco salad
Cheese and Bean Buritos
Crustless quiche or a version of this Tortilla-Crust Quiche
Homemade pizza
Italian sausage with roasted peppers and onions mixed with pasta and cheese
Fajitas with roasted peppers and onions and sauteed chicken
Baked chicken with baked potatoes
Cottage cheese, baked potatoes, salad and fruit

I intend to have the ingredients for these recipes on hand so we won’t be stuck at dinner time with nothing to eat!

I just came across this fun idea for a kid’s snack on one of my favorite craft blogs. Essentially, you split the banana lengthwise, leaving just a little bit attached at the middle. Cut the inside into bite-sized pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice, brown sugar (or honey or agave nectar) and nuts (I used hazelnuts, Betz suggests walnuts). We added mini chocolate chips. Yum!

Market Fresh: Arugula

Posted by Alaina in Market Fresh and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Arugula is a peppery leafy green. It’s often put in the herb section. The tasty leaves are a wonderful addition to pasta or salad (I think this recipe looks awesome!). It is also known as rugola, rucola, roquette, garden rocket, Mediterranean rocket, salad rocket, Roman rocket, or Italian cress (http://www.ochef.com/151.htm).


This week, I made two different appetizers with arugula. We enjoyed both, though I can take or leave prosciutto – I don’t care much for the texture. These were so quick to put together and so pretty!


ARUGULA & GOAT CHEESE TARTINE
(adapted from Ina Garten)
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1 loaf country white bread, French bread, or Italian bread, sliced and toasted if desired (I did not) 
4 oz. goat cheese
4 oz. baby arugula
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Lay out the bread slices and spread them with the goat cheese. Place the arugula and sliced tomato on top of the goat cheese, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Serve.

 PROSCIUTTO W/PEARS & ARUGULA
(adapted slightly from Rachael Ray)
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1 bundle arugula leaves (about 1 c. or a little more)
1 ripe bosc pear
1 lemon
1 Tb. fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 slices prosciutto di Parma

Place arugula in bowl. Quarter the pear lengthwise and remove the core. Cut each quarter in half again so you have 8 pieces. Dress the pear with the juice of 1/2 lemon, thyme leaves, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place a few leaves of dressed greens on each slice of prosciutto with a slice of pear and roll up into a tight bundle. Cut each bundle in half, to make 16 pieces (I didn’t bother as there were only five of us but I would for entertaining).

Weekend Fare: Mini Cheesecakes

Posted by Alaina in Baker's Delight, Weekend Fare and tagged with , ,

I’m digging through my archives today because the truth is, we are still living in a hotel. The only opportunities I’ve really had to cook are at my parent’s house. Hopefully we will be back home by the weekend. I’m anxious to begin cooking again – I’ve missed it!

This recipe is so simple and so delicious! I love them for showers or holidays or pitch-ins. You can easily modify this recipe by omiting the lemon zest and adding mini chocolate chips or by using lime or orange zest, or whatever else sounds good! They are wonderful and quick for unexpected company or weekend treats.


MINI CHEESECAKES
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1 c. crushed vanilla wafers
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Fresh fruit – strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, whatever you like tossed with a bit of sugar and citrus juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line miniature muffin tins with miniature paper liners. Place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top.

Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Top with fruit just before serving. Garnish with whip cream if desired. Makes about 48 miniature cheesecakes.