Main Dishes

Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells with Marinara Sauce

May 5, 2020

Mother’s Day is coming up fast, and due to our current set of worldly circumstances it may not be possible to sit down with our mom around the same table this year. This, however, may not necessarily prevent you from taking dinner to your mother, or any other special someone who you remember on Mother’s Day. One idea for such a delivery might be these Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells. I first made these for my husband Dick’s large family Christmas party in December, and can attest that they travel well, bake and reheat beautifully, and are usually happily greeted.

My 89-year-old mother, Neeners, ate three gigantic shells of my last batch and started looking around for more. “This is a keeper – take it to the County Fair” was her verdict. This is a big step up from other ratings. I often use Neeners as a recipe tester, and she is brutally honest. There has been more than one occasion when I’ve heard “Move on – don’t waste any more time on this” if my attempts do not meet her standards. Over the last six months, Neeners has suffered a stroke and two seizures that have set her back a step or two, but as she often says, “I’m fine from the neck down”. She is still as strong as an ox, has the appetite of a linebacker, and has not lost one little bit of her oftentimes brutal wit. “I hope you inherit my sense of humor” she told me recently, after cracking herself up over something she said that made her laugh so hard she snorted. “Oh gee – me too” I replied.

The recipe makes about twenty stuffed shells, and that will serve six people with no problem. Feel free to double it if you want, then you’ll have plenty to keep for yourself and a big dinner’s worth to give away.

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Focaccia Pizza

March 19, 2020

We are living in unusual times, aren’t we? How has your life changed? For me, a lot of it is about missing the little, everyday things we all used to take for granted. For example, one of my favorite activities is grocery shopping. I know – how strange can you get? But for me, it’s always been like a competitive sport. I love searching the aisles for new products, the freshest produce, the best deals, and will also admit a love of snooping in other customers carts to see what they were buying. When all the recent panic buying started, I was interested to see what people were piling into their shopping carts. My neighborhood store did a good job of keeping most shelves stocked, but one item that was nowhere to be seen was frozen pizza. That got me to thinking…. since everybody is spending more time at home, maybe it would be fun to share a recipe for a super easy do-it-yourself focaccia pizza that lets you top it however you want?

Here we have it: Focaccia is a lot like pizza, but a whole lot less fussy. Focaccia dough tends to be thicker and lighter than traditional pizza dough, but the ingredients are pretty much the same. The main difference is that focaccia uses a lot more water in the mix, creating a very wet dough. This is a plus for us, because wet doughs have enough moisture in them to replace the process of kneading (a bunch of science is behind this which we are not in the mood to learn at the moment, so let’s just go with it for now). In this recipe, we mix the dough together and toss it in the refrigerator overnight. This allows the dough to pick up a lot more flavor and overall personality. The next day, you’ve got a couple of choices. You can either spread the dough out in a 13×9 inch pan, or form two, 12-inch pizzas. Top with what you like, pop it in the oven, and enjoy. All the fun and flavor of pizza, with a lot less fuss. Let’s be kind to ourselves during these crazy times, and pizza seems like a pretty good place to start.
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Vegetarian Chili with Skillet Corn Bread

March 3, 2020

There’s a lot to be said for creating chili from scratch and watching it slowly simmer over a warm stovetop for hours as it develops deep flavor. On the other hand, on many days there is also even more to be said to opening some handy cans of good quality tomatoes and beans, adding some other odds and ends, some savory spices, and just going for it. This is where we are with this chili. It’s a do it yourself kind of recipe, and I am leaving it entirely up to you as to how much heat you would like to add (since I am personally a wimp in that department and don’t add any myself), and how much other stuff goes into or on top of it. This chili comes together in minutes, and will fill your house with the mouth watering scents of tomatoes, onions, chili powder and cumin. While you’re heating up the chili, grab a cast iron skillet, melt some butter, and pour in an easy, made from scratch cornbread batter. Cast iron skillet cooking gives you an almost crispy outer crust and a moist and creamy interior. Serve it warm, slathered with butter and honey, and you’ll soon see what a perfect marriage it makes with the spice of the chili. Enough said, now let’s get down to business and to this thing.

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Mac and Cheese

January 8, 2020

Life takes an unhappy turn sometimes, and during those situations I find it helpful to find peace and joy in comfort food. I haven’t posted anything on the Blog for a couple of months because my mom, otherwise known as Neeners, suffered a pretty big stroke the first of November. The good news is that she is physically as strong as an ox and eats like a horse. The more challenging part of the picture is that her vision is fairly limited now, and short-term memory is a struggle. These issues seem to be improving, but it has resulted in my sister, brother, husband, aunt, and I to adopt an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to making sure she gets the care she needs. I am so thankful for them all, and thankful Neeners is recovering well and has been a pretty good little trooper through the whole thing. She retains her signature warped sense of humor about the whole thing, and relishes kicking me – hard – when we do our leg strengthening exercises together.

Back to comfort food then…..I’ve been making this mac and cheese since my college days, when my roommate shared her mother’s recipe. I’d never hear of such a thing!!! Mac and cheese that didn’t come out of a box??!! Holy cow!!! I’ve been hooked ever since and hope you find this recipe helpful in times of need, or any other time you feel like a big bowl of creamy comfort. To tell the truth, I ALWAYS double this recipe, so if you are so inclined, please feel free. It’s a nice thing to share if you can’t polish off the whole thing yourself and is just right for whenever a crowd appears, seemingly out of nowhere.

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Mexican Spoonbread with Poblano Chilis & Corn with Fresh Tomato Salsa

September 19, 2019

Do you ever have one of those recipes in your head you’ve heard about and that sounded droolingly delicious, but you’d never even tasted it before? Such is the case with yours truly and Spoonbread. Just the sound of the name made me think of something creamy and most likely irresistible. Spoonbread is a classic dish in the South and is usually made by cooking some cornmeal and milk on the stove top, then adding some eggs and maybe some cheese and baking it into a soft, creamy side dish. I started upon my quest by looking at several recipes, made my own tweaks and came up with this one. It’s my own spin on this Southern classic, with some amped up flavor from the Poblano Chilis and Corn. I also snuck in plenty of jack cheddar cheese to ensure the gooey factor in the equation. And since there are still good tomatoes to be found, stirred together this quick fresh salsa with some jalapeno, lime, and cilantro to top things off. Bake your Spoonbread until it’s just set and prepare yourself…. this one will knock your socks off.

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Zucchini Noodle Lasagna with Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce

September 5, 2019

I, like many others, am buried alive by garden zucchini, and it has reached the point where we can’t give them away fast enough. I am getting the feeling friends and neighbors are closing their curtains and locking their doors when they see me appear with my little bag of garden treats in hand. Add to the fact that while deliriously happy to see our first cherry tomato appear, I began to avert my eyes and guiltily ignore the little guys when the big tomatoes began to ripen. A person can handle only so much guilt, so this recipe was designed to alleviate any that was associated with excessive garden production. The cherry tomatoes are picked, halved and quickly sautéed to develop rich flavor and to drive off excess moisture. The zucchini are thinly sliced lengthwise, baked for a few minutes just to soften, formed into spirals and set down in that fresh tomato sauce. After that, a rich, cheesy filling is spooned into the center of the spiral…top the whole business with a little more tomato sauce, cheese, and buttered breadcrumbs for crunch. Rich, satisfying, remarkably good for you, and fun to make. Besides that, I can now look those cherry tomatoes in the eye again.

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Shrimp Burgers with Tartar Sauce

August 1, 2019

Tired of the same old burger routine? Here’s a super-simple idea to add to your burger repertoire. Just a few simple additions changes shrimp into an irresistible supper. The burgers are rich with shrimp, thick, and juicy, with just a touch of lemon and green onion. After they come off the stove, they get slathered with a homemade tartar sauce to jazz up the whole works. Add the bun of your choice, a fresh tomato, and go to town.

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Grilled Lemon Chicken with Limoncello Vinaigrette

July 18, 2019

Summer is here in all it’s glory. Gardens are bursting, tans are forming, and cold desserts and beer are always on the menu. The first glimmer of sunshine always sends me straight to the grill, and that translates into it being it high time to make some Limoncello chicken. This is not your ordinary lemon chicken – we’ve got the ultimate lemon infused marinade, but that’s not where this story ends. An after-grilling generous drizzling with a creamy lemon vinaigrette that has both Limoncello and the juice of grilled lemon halves takes this one over the top. Heaven on a barbecue…

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

June 27, 2019

Our first trip outside of the continental US was to Jamaica, many years ago. I had never travelled much outside of my home state and was used to the whole ‘white picket fences’ and ‘everybody has a television’ kind of life. This trip changed all that, and it also brought on my very first case of over the top culture shock. I had never seen such poverty in my life, and I couldn’t figure out how everybody could be so darned happy when many lived in plywood sheds with tin for a roof – but that all became clear very shortly after we arrived. In fact, I think it must be nearly impossible not to be happy there. It is a magical, beautiful, and peaceful place, and the people there could not have been more friendly. The food was incredible, with seafood fresh off the boat every day, and amazing tropical fruits (and drinks by the way) that I’ll never forget. One of my favorite dishes was Jerk Chicken, and here’s my attempt at trying to recreate it at home. The term ‘jerk’ means the meat is either dry rubbed or wet-marinated in a hot spice mixture that includes hot peppers, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme and allspice, among other things depending on who is doing the cooking. It is typically cooked over a wood fire to ensure that irresistible smoky flavor. Traditional Jerk Chicken is made with Scotch Bonnet peppers, but I am a total baby when it comes to anything spicy, so I just used a nice big pinch of red pepper flakes. If you prefer to live on the wild side, please feel free. As we say in Jamaica, “No problem”.

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Grilled Salmon with Fresh Mango & Lime Sauce and Coconut Rice

May 30, 2019

Grilling season is upon us, and I’d love to share one of my favorite ways to serve grilled salmon. I love the smoky flavor of grilled salmon but have to admit the thing I love best about this is entire endeavor is the fresh mango and lime sauce. This sauce has it all – rich and creamy mango, a kick of lime, and just the right balance of salt. Better yet, you can make it in five minutes. It’s also one of those recipes where you are completely in the driver’s seat. More lime? Add more. More salt? Go for it. Want to spice it up with some sriracha? You’re driving. Drizzle this beauty on grilled seafood or chicken, serve alongside fresh or steamed vegetables, or eat it with a spoon – it’s that good. I’ve also dreamt up a coconut rice to go along with the fish, that made with Jasmine rice, and flavored with coconut milk, unsweetened coconut, and lime, and chives. It’s always a good strategy to make sure you manage to accidentally on purpose get some of that mango sauce mixed in too. Aloha!!

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