Three Berry Lovely Hostess Gifts

Chocolate-covered raspberries from Sweet Nothings.

One of the best things about summer is getting together with friends. With less carpools and craziness, it’s nice to hang out and catch up. I love that the day seems longer. Last night, we left a concert in our town’s park about 9pm and it was still light.

Summer invitations mean hostess gifts. Here are three berry-lovely ideas.

I found this adorable strawberry basket filled with chocolate-covered raspberries at Sweet Nothings, a chocolate shop in Summit, NJ. How easy is this to make yourself? All you need is a basket, filler “grass,” and candy or berries. How about making a berry mix? Wrap the mix in plastic wrap and nestle it inside the basket. Tie a bow and off you go!

Hand-thrown berry bowls filled with local berries.

Berry bowls aren’t just pretty, they’re practical since they are small colanders. I made the two ceramic bowls above, but I’ve seen them in several stores. How sweet would it be to give the hostess a berry bowl already filled? Want to make it even sweeter? Bring along whipped cream and (dare-I-say?) chocolate sauce.

Photo of Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries from bettycrocker.com.

I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture the last time I made Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries. Click here for a recipe. Know what’s fun about making these? Finishing up the leftover melted chocolate at home.

Berry-yummy!

Sources: Sweet Nothings  and bettycrocker.com

 

Herbed Celery-Potato Salad

Small purple and yellow potatoes.

Herbed Celery-Potato Salad

Herbed Celery-Potato Salad

We hosted a Memorial Day bbq and, in addition to needing dessert ideas (the search resulted in Top Ten Patriotic Desserts), I needed a side dish. The Herbed Celery-Potato salad from a Martha Stewart Living magazine was easy and delicious.

Make ahead. Serve with lunch or dinner. Pack a picnic. Hon, it tastes like summer.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds peewee potatoes, scrubbed (I used both yellow and purple potatoes.)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

5 teaspoons apple-cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups mixed fresh herbs, such as flat-leaf parsley and basil, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 stalk celery, finely diced (1/4 cup)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes with 2-inches of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat and season generously with salt; cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, 10-12 minutes. Drain. (Note: the purple potatoes needed less cooking time, so next time, I’ll remove them earlier than the yellow potatoes.)

2. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, halve and transfer to a large bowl.

3.  Add oil, vinegar, herbs, scallions, and celery. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

4.  Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled.

Tip: “Make ahead to let the flavors meld, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you’re using larger potatoes, boil them longer, and quarter or cut them into one-inch pieces after cooking.”

Serves: 6 (I think it serves more than that, but I guess it depends on how big a serving  people take.)

Source: Martha Stewart Living

 

Puree of Bean and Vegetable Soup

Puree of Bean and Vegetable Soup

Lucky me! One of my daughters made this thick and hearty soup and there was enough for me to have seconds…and thirds. She said that despite the many ingredients, it’s easy to make. Simple and delicious soup are perfect for a cold, winter’s day.

Keep warm, hon.

PURÉE of BEAN and VEGETABLE SOUP

Ingredients

1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained

1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained

1 (15-ounce) can peas and carrots, drained

1 (15-ounce) can sweet corn niblets, drained

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

2 cups water

1 cup liquid non-dairy creamer

4 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons vegetable soup mix or vegetable bouillon

4 frozen crushed garlic cubes or 4 medium garlic cloves

spices to taste (salt, pepper and whatever else you think will add to the flavor)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth, taking care not to overload the blender. Blend in batches if necessary.
2. Transfer mixture to a 6-quart stockpot, cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.
3. Add spices and simmer for a few more minutes.
4. Serve warm, or refrigerate overnight and serve cold as a bean dip.

Yield: 4-6 servings

Source: Quick and Kosher, Recipes From The Bride who Knew Nothing by Jamie Geller

Healthy, hearty and delicious bean and vegetable soup.

 

DIY Raincoat Crisps, Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps

I had never heard of Raincoast Crisps until a friend served her homemade crisps with cheese as appetizers. I couldn’t stop eating them!  Thekitchn describes them perfectly.

“These crackers are thin, crispy, and packed with flavor. The raisins add their chewy texture and sweetness, while the nuts and seeds give the crackers substance. The fresh rosemary gives a breath of pine-y goodness to every bite, just like in the original crackers.”

Rosemary Raisin Pecan Crisps

Gallery of homemade raincoast crisps.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour (to make these gluten-free, substitute with gluten-free flour or rice flour)

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk (to make these gluten-free or non-dairy, substitute with 1 ¾ cups almond milk)

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

1 cup raisins

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup roasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

¼ cup sesame seeds1/4 cup flax seed (ground)

1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary (I used dried rosemary)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Add buttermilk, brown sugar and honey and stir a few strokes.
3. Add raisins, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seed and rosemary. Stir until blended.
4. Spray two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans with non-stick spray, then pour batter into two pans. Bake for about 35 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Remove pans and cool on a wire rack.
5. The cooler the bread, the easier it is to slice really thin. When ready to continue baking, preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Slice loaves as thin as possible and place slices in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. (Tip. One loaf can be sliced and baked, and the other can be frozen to be slice and baked at another time.) Bake for about 15 minutes, then flip over and bake another 10 minutes, until crisp and deep golden.

Yield. About 8 dozen crackers.

Source: Dinner With Julie

Tips from  thekitchn

–freeze loaves before slicing in order to get the thinnest crackers

–bake loaves in mini-loaf pans for the perfect cracker shape

–double quantity of rosemary if you love the rosemary taste

–replace half of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour

–plump up raisins before mixing them into batter if you want them to stand out more in finished cracker

 

Hearty Tomato Soup

Hearty Tomato Soup.

Gather ingredients.

Puree in blender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hearty Tomato Soup

I love a hearty, healthy soup and this delicious recipe is both. A food processor will make easy work of the chopping and grating, although you can certainly prep by hand. At first I used a hand-held blender but, when I didn’t get the right consistency, pureed it in a blender. This soup has body and texture, which is what makes it hearty.

Happy cooking, hon!

Ingredients:

1 small onion. finely chopped

1 small carrot, grated or chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with juice

1 teaspoons chicken soup powder (I used chicken-flavored, parve soup powder.)

1 bay leaf

4 leaves fresh basil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Dried Thyme and Oregano, Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, saute onion, carrot, garlic and celery in olive oil until translucent.
2. Add tomatoes with juice, soup powder, bay leaf, basil, thyme and oregano. Bring to a boil and simmer 30-45 minutes.
3. Puree in blender until smooth and season with salt and pepper and lemon juice.

Yield:  8-10 servings

Source: Kosher Chic, www.kosherchiccookbook.com

 

Italian Stew with Winter Squash and Chickpeas

Italian Stew w/Winter Squash and Chickpeas

Italian Stew with Winter Squash and Chickpeas

Whether you are digging your way out of a blizzard like we are, or are just in the mood for warm soup, this recipe is delicious, hearty and healthy! Shout out to my niece and her hubby who served this at a family gathering. I took one spoonful and said, “Send me the recipe!”

If you have a food processor, it’ll make quick work of the chopping and dicing. One of my daughters and I made this together. We made some for now and some for later so I’m hoping it freezes well.

Happy cooking, hon!

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped onions

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 15-ounce can chick peas, drained

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 cup diced carrots

2 cups diced, peeled butternut squash

1/2 cup diced bell peppers (optional)

5 cups chopped kale (about 1 pound kale=5 cups sorted, stemmed, chopped kale)

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I used about 1/2 Tbl dried basil)

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Directions:

1. In a soup pot on medium-high heat, cook onions and salt in oil, stirring often, until very soft and beginning to carmelize, about 12 to 15 minutes.
2. Add garlic, coriander, thyme, and black pepper, and stir for a minute. Stir in water, squash, chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, and bell peppers. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in kale, cover and simmer 5 to 10 minutes until greens are tender but still bright green. Stir in basil and vinegar.

Prep Time:  1 hour, Serves:  4-6 cups, Yield:  8 cups

 

Roasted Cauliflower

Brown cut-up cauliflower in olive oil over medium heat.

Mix browned cauliflower with spices.

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________

Spread cauliflower on a greased baking pan. 

Bake at 400 degrees F, uncovered, for approx. 20 minutes, until top is golden. Serve.

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Roasted Cauliflower–Easy, Delicious and Healthy.

I used the recipe from David Tanis’ City Kitchen column* as guidance, and then altered the spices. Tanis baked his cauliflower with pre-cooked rigatoni and added cheese for a main dish. Click Rigatoni and Cauliflower Al Forno to see the his recipe. I’ll definitely be making this side dish again.

Happy cooking, hon.

Ingredients:

–1 cauliflower

–olive oil

–1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced

–salt, pepper, thyme, about 1 to 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro or any spices you think will go well with cauliflower

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut cauliflower in half from top to bottom, cut out tough core, stem and extraneous leaves. Lay cauliflower flat side down and cut crosswise into rough 1/4-inch slices.
3. Put 3 Tablespoons olive oil in skillet over high heat. Brown cauliflower for about 2 minutes, then turn pieces over to brown other side. Cook for about 2 minutes, or until cauliflower is easily pierced with a fork. Some pieces won’t be brown.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to coat.’
4. Put cauliflower in a mixing bowl. Add cilantro, garlic and thyme.
5. Spray a foil-lined baking sheet.
6. Spread cauliflower evenly on the baking sheet.
7. Bake, uncovered, for approximately 20 -30 minutes, until top is crisp and golden.

*Source:  City Kitchen column in The New York Times

Stuffed Green Peppers

Stuffed Green Peppers

It all started with salad.

I was shopping for salad ingredients when bright green peppers caught my eye. I hadn’t cooked Stuffed Green Peppers in awhile and I don’t know why.  They’re easy to make, delicious and healthy. If you’re a vegetarian, substitute a beef alternative and I bet this dish will still be delish.  Next time, I might add more spices and golden raisins.  There was enough rice to serve as a side.  So yummy!

1. Cook rice and gather ingredients.

2. Cut and seed green peppers.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Mix ground beef (or beef substitute), egg, parsley and 2 T tomato sauce.

4. Stuff peppers with ground beef mixture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Combine tomato sauce, wine, water and oregano.

6. Pour tomato sauce mixture over peppers.
Bake.

 

 

Out of the oven.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Ingredients:

1 lb green peppers (I used 4), cut and seeded (pepper body is abt 3/4 & top is

1 lb lean ground beef (or beef substitute)

1 egg

1/2 cup cooked rice (I used brown rice)

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

3 Tablespoons dry red wine

1/2 teaspoon oregano, optional

1 cup water

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a baking dish, place green peppers, cut side up.

3.  Mix together ground beef, egg, rice, parsley and 2 Tablespoons tomato sauce.

4.  Stuff peppers with ground beef mixture.

5.  Combine remaining tomato sauce, water, wine and oregano and pour over peppers.

6.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour

 

Homemade Potato Chips

Homemade Potato Chips.

Grilling Season’s Here!

I don’t like potato chips. Plain, I mean. If they’re covered in sour cream & onion or salt & vinegar flavoring, then I could munch away until I practically pay someone to remove them from my sight! So, I have no idea why homemade potato chips entered my “dinner brain” and wouldn’t go away until I made them.  These were delicious! For those friends of mine (you know who  you are) worried about cooking in oil/”it’s not good for you”/”why would I promote these as healthy,” CHILLAX!

I promise not to make these more than a few times the whole summer.

The only flavoring on these is a bit of salt.

I believe when a recipe has less ingredients than fingers on a hand, and those ingredients are not made of chemicals, then the result can be called healthy or a healthy alternative.

So there!

1. Peel potatoes and set up food processor with slicing disk.

 

2. Slice potatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Add potato slices to preheated olive oil.

4. Fry potato slices until golden. Drain on paper towels after removing from frying pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serve.

Homemade Potato Chips

Ingredients:

Potatoes–I used Russet potatoes, quantity depends on how many people you are serving and size of potatoes, I used 4 medium potatoes for 3 people.

Olive Oil–for frying, the oil was so clean that I collected it to use again.

Salt–to taste

Other Spices–optional

Directions:

1.  Peel potatoes and slice in a food processor.

2.  Heat olive oil in pan until its hot.

3.  Fry potatoes in oil until golden brown, turning to cook both sides.

4.  Drain on paper towels and sprinkle salt to taste.  (If using other spices, sprinkle now.)

5.  Serve and enjoy!

Delicious Fish Dish (and Tartar Sauce)

Baked Cod with Steamed Green Beans.

We recently had dinner at Chez Oskar in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I ordered fluke baked with rice and veggies in parchment paper. The dish was so delicious, I tried to replicate it at home. Hon, this is a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants recipe, which means there aren’t exact measurements. The good news:  you don’t need exact quantities to make this healthy Delicious Fish Dish.

Happy cooking!

1. Wash fish and pat dry.

2. Gather ingredients: rice, sauteed veggies, spices, parchment paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Line glass baking dish with large piece of parchment paper. Spread rice and veggies on top.

4. Lay fish on top of rice and veggies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Add a bit of butter, a few capfuls of lemon juice, maybe some white wine and parsley.

6. Wrap fish in parchment paper. Bake.

7. Carefully open parchment paper, allowing steam to escape.

8. Serve fish directly from parchment paper.

Delicious Fish Dish

Ingredients:

Fish Fillet–I used a little under 2 pounds of cod in the dish above.  I might try this with tilapia and sea bass, but I’m not sure about flounder or sole which are much thinner.

Rice and Veggies–Cooked rice and steamed or sauteed vegetables. (any rice and whatever veggies you think will go with the fish)

Spices–salt, pepper, ground Sage, Herbs de Provence, parsley or spices you like.

Lemon Juice, Butter and White Wine–I didn’t use white wine in the dish above, but next time I will.

Parchment Paper–enough to wrap fish in

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  (Start at 400 degrees if fish is thick, like cod, tilapia or sea bass, lowering to 350 after about 15 minutes. If fish is thin, bake at 350 degrees F the whole time.)

1.  Pre-cook rice, and steam or saute vegetables.

2.  Wash fish fillet and pat dry.

3.  Line a glass baking pan with parchment paper, making sure the piece you use is big enough to fold over the fish.

4.  Spread rice and veggies on top of parchment paper, sprinkling with desired spices.

5.  Lay fish over rice and veggies.  Sprinkle remaining spices, small scoops of butter (about 1-2 teaspoons a scoop), a few capfuls of lemon juice, and white wine (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup) on top of fish.

6.  Fold parchment paper up and over fish lengthwise, then fold ends.

7.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Lower oven to 350 degrees F and bake for about another 20 to 25 minutes.  Check fish for done-ness and bake longer if necessary.

8.  When done baking, open parchment paper carefully to let steam escape.  Fish will be very hot. Serve directly from parchment paper.

Note:  I started cod at 400 degrees because it’s thick. If you use a thinner fish, then I recommend baking it at 350 degrees F the whole time.)

Tartar Sauce

Here’s how I make quick and easy Tartar Sauce:

Combine approximately 4 Tablespoons of mayonnaise with  2-3 Tablespoons relish, Sprinkle paprika.  Mix and serve.  (Yield–about 2)