Blog

Well as you know if you follow my blog I had to tweek the recipe. I did not use 1lb of crab. I like crab but that is a little too strong for me. I used a whole small container of ricotta, 1/2 of an 8oz container of lump crab, and I added some lemon zest to the mix. I used fresh pasta sheets instead of dried shells. I made a lemon bechamel. I followed the recipe and added lemon zest and juice to the sauce off the heat. This is comfort food on steroids! https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/crab-and-ricotta-cannelloni-recipe-1945983

I don’t have 2 1/2 hours to roast a chicken during the week, so I used bone in chicken breast and roasted at 350. The tomatoes put off alot of liquid and I did not want to waste the roasted garlic. The original recipes doesn’t use it. I put the tomatoes, roasted garlic, vinegar and some of the pan juices in a bowl and used the immersion blender to make a puree. It was rich an full of flavor. I don’t really care for farro, so I used a multi grain microwave rice for my salad. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020519-slow-roasted-oregano-chicken-with-buttered-tomatoes http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/roasted-broccoli-and-farro-salad-with-feta

I am not a fan of raw anchovies. Cooked they add this nice salty umami to a dish. I grated my garlic, then added the olive oil, anchovies and garlic to a skillet and warmed it until the anchovies dissolved and added the capers and olives to the warm oil and tossed in the pasta. Off the heat I added in the rest of the ingredients. What a quick, briny and herbaceous dish. http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/linguine-green-olive-sauce-zesty-breadcrumbs

Our last vegetable dinner of the week. I air fried the ravioli instead of baking them. I also used a jarred tomato sauce. The whole thing was really good. I love the contrast of the bitter and sweet in the salad. I skipped the grilled bread in the salad and decided to grill the pear. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/275033/crispy-baked-ravioli-with-red-pepper-mushroom-bolognese/ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/radicchio-pear-and-arugula-salad-recipe-2125979

I love mushrooms. This pizza was spot on. I did not grill it. I should have.

I swapped brie for the camembert and added the thyme before cooking instead of after.

http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/magic-mushroom-medley-grilled-pizza

These were amazing tacos. As usual I altered the recipe. I skipped the chayote and added portobellos, poblanos, and shishito peppers to squash for grilling. After I chopped the grilled vegetables I put them in a bowl with halved grape tomatoes, black beans and queso blanco. I tossed the whole thing with some of the pesto. I used pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts for the pesto. I topped the tacos with chopped cabbage, radish, pickled red onion and pumpkin seeds. Sorry, you can’t see that beautiful vegetable filling for all of my garnish. http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/grilled-vegetable-tacos-with-cilantro-pesto

I make different versions of this a lot. I keep puff pastry in the freezer all the time. I usually brush the pastry with dijon and layer on ham and cheese, fold it over, crimp it shut and bake. Today I scrambled some eggs and in the end added in some chive cream cheese, fresh chives and fresh dill. We have dill havarti, ham and scrambled egg turnover. Yum!

The combination of mint, watermelon and feta is phenomenal! The recipe comes from one of my go to cookbooks, Live to Eat: Cooking the Mediterranean Way by Chef Michael Psilakis. I checked it out from the library 4 or 5 times before I finally said to myself, I need to just buy this. I had some of the spinach and artichoke dip that I saved from my twice baked potatoes, so, I used it to stuff some portobello mushrooms. I topped the dip with a slice of tomato, I season the tomato with salt, pepper and oregano. I covered the mushroom with panko tossed in olive oil and added a little feta on top to tie it all together. Baked at 400 for 20 minutes. What a sensational meal.

Happy Mother’s Day to me! These potatoes are so good. I did not follow the recipe. Mistake. I made my recipe for spinach and artichoke dip. When I added the dip to the potato filling I did not add it all. Therefore there was alot of potato and not enough of the gooey dip. I also put a slice of asiago on top instead of the mozzarella and parm. Which would have been cheesier. They were still good, just not as creamy gooey as I had in mind. This dish kicks off my week of meat free meals. https://www.rachaelrayshow.com/recipes/spinach-artichoke-dip-stuffed-baked-potatoes