Mustard-Roasted Potatoes

Everyone has to have a good roasted potato recipe. I have a good sweet potato recipe but I wanted a special regular potato recipe. I mixed both red and white potatoes and the dijon mustard I feel gave the most flavor to this recipe. I will definitely be using this over the holidays.

I just finished cooking this recipe and this picture even after being full, makes my mouth water like crazy. The outsides were crunchy and dark while the insides were creamy and sweet. They taste so mm mmm good!

Ingredients:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1/2 cup whole grain Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3 pounds 1- to 1 1/2-inch-diameter mixed unpeeled red-skinned and white-skinned potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges

Directions:

Position 1 rack in top third of oven and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Spray 2 large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk mustard, olive oil, butter, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, lemon peel, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add potatoes; sprinkle generously with freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat. Divide potatoes between prepared baking sheets, leaving any excess mustard mixture behind in bowl. Spread potatoes in single layer. Roast potatoes 20 minutes. Reverse baking sheets and roast until potatoes are crusty outside and tender inside, turning occasionally, about 25 minutes longer.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand on baking sheets at room temperature. Rewarm potatoes in 425°F oven 10 minutes.

Transfer potatoes to serving bowl and devour.

Wild Mushroom Risotto

I fell in love with risotto when I was on a date in Santa Rosa, California at a restaurant called Flavor Bistro. Definitely an amazing gourmet restaurant. If you ever visit Santa Rosa I HIGHLY recommend eating here for a hot date. :)

Anyway, mushrooms are a great addition to risotto. You have to cook risotto with dry white wine. I won't eat risotto if it doesn't have white wine in it.

I got this recipe from Bon Appetit, my favorite gourmet cooking magazine.

Fast and easy food can taste great but gourmet food is my love.

Ingredients

• 9 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh wild mushrooms (such as cèpe [porcini], hen of the woods, chanterelle, or stemmed shiitake); large mushrooms sliced, small mushrooms halved or quartered
• 7 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup finely chopped leek (white and pale green parts only)
• 1 1/4 cups arborio rice (8 to 9 ounces)
• 1/4 cup dry white wine -(I used Kenwood white white. Phenomenal. If you can't find that, use Kendal-Jackson wine)
• 1/4 cup dry white vermouth
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving (optional)
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Preparation

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 of mushrooms and sprinkle with salt. Sauté mushrooms until tender and beginning to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to medium bowl. Working in 3 more batches, repeat with 6 tablespoons butter, remaining mushrooms, and salt and pepper.
• Bring 7 cups chicken broth to simmer in medium saucepan; keep warm. Melt remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with olive oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add leek, sprinkle with salt, and sauté until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add rice and increase heat to medium. Stir until edges of rice begin to look translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add white wine and vermouth and stir until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup warm chicken broth; stir until almost all broth is absorbed, about 1 minute. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is halfway cooked, about 10 minutes. Stir in sautéed mushrooms. Continue adding broth by 3/4 cupfuls, stirring until almost all broth is absorbed before adding more, until rice is tender but still firm to bite and risotto is creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, if using. Transfer risotto to serving bowl. Pass additional Parmesan cheese alongside, if desired.

Spiced Red Wine-Poached Pears

So while I was looking through a holiday cook book of mine I found this poached pears recipe and it made my mouth water. This is a great holiday dessert that you definitely won't feel guilty about eating too much.

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 15m | Total Time: 55m

Ingredients

• 1/2 bottle (2 cups) red wine
• 1 lemon
• 1 navel orange, quartered
• 32oz pomegranate juice (I use %100 POM juice)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split, or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cinnamon stick -If you don't have a cinnamon stick just some ground cinnamon works just fine.
• 5 cloves
• 4 small ripe pears (Bosc), peeled

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, off the heat, combine the wine, the juice from the lemon and orange, pomegranate juice, 1 of the squeezed orange quarters, the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon stick, and cloves.
2. Add the pears and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, turning the pears occasionally, until they're easily pierced with the tip of a knife, about 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the pears to individual plates.
3. Once cool, cover and chill in refrigerator at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours, turning occasionally, if desired. Gently remove pears from liquid and allow to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, reduce liquid by about half over a medium-high flame for 15 minutes, until liquid is thicker and slightly syrupy. Remove from flame and let liquid come to room temperature. Drizzle each pear with 2 tablespoons syrup and serve.
4. Remove and discard the orange quarter and spices. Return the liquid to a simmer until syrupy and reduced by two-thirds, about 15 minutes, depending on size of pan. Spoon the sauce over the pears.

Vanilla ice cream tastes great with this recipe or I like eating them with Mascarpone cheese.

Holiday Taste Tests

So I am planning on cooking Christmas dinner with my Papa over Christmas and he is an amazing chef so I am planning on trying at least 30 new recipes for just the holidays and 10 of those recipes are desserts. I want to be able to wow the family and I also just want to find that amazing recipe that everyone wants again and again. Yes Christmas is my favorite holiday and some say I am obsessed with planning for it waaaay too far in advance... But I don't care because I love it!

So here is a preview to what I plan on making over the next few weeks....

Bacon water chestnut wraps

Goat cheese crostini with orange marmalade

Belgian endive with Bay shrimp

Cranberry compote with mascarpone cheese

2 different Butternut squash soups

Spiced pecan pumpkin bread

Popovers

Classic dinner rolls

Wild mushroom risotto

Butternut risotto

Orzo with yellow squash

Mustard roasted potatoes

Stewed white beans with tomatoes and rosemary

Sweet potato and sage-butter casserole

Creamy broccoli soup

Oven roasted fall veggies

Cranberry salad

Mulled pomegranate sipper

Homemade apple cider

Desserts:

Sparkling oranges

Pineapple Daze

Apple pie bites

Poached pears

Brownie Thins

Melted Fontina with White Truffles

Milk Chocolate mousse cake with cashew brittle

Double nut Baklava

Orange blossom cheesecake with raspberry and pomegranate sauce

Pecan pumpkin butter pie

Chocolate peanut butter surprise cupcakes

Chocolate popcorn balls

Stay tuned!!!

Cauliflower Soup

After trying some of the Cauliflower soup from Zupas, our favorite salad and soup restaurant, I had to try and make my own and see if I could make one less fattening but still taste great. I found this recipe from Bon Appetit magazine. I don't necessarily like just plain cauliflowers so I was hesitate to try cauliflower soup at all at first. But it is amazing and I love it. I think I like it better than Zupas for sure!

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 cup chopped white onion
1 garlic clove, sliced
3 3/4 cups (1/2- to 3/4-inch pieces cauliflower (from 1 large head)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Coarse kosher salt

Freshly ground white pepper

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add cauliflower, broth, and cream. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer gently until cauliflower is tender, about 18 minutes. Puree soup in small batches in blender until smooth. Return to same saucepan. Season soup with kosher salt and white pepper. Do ahead Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.

The original recipe came with a side of seared scallops, lemon oil and American Caviar. I don't like the idea of caviar so I didn't make the second half of the recipe because I just wanted the soup. But if you like that kind of stuff check out the whole recipe at Bonappetit.com.

Flora's Jam-Glazed Chicken

So I love combining meat with something sweet. So I found this incredible recipe in Country Living magazine and loved it! Sometimes I combine peach jam with apricot jam and it is just as good just with a different kind of sweet taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-pound) chicken cut into eight pieces (or I just bought boneless chicken breasts)
• 1 teaspoon(s) sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3/4 cup(s) peach jam
• 4 clove(s) garlic, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place chicken pieces in a 10-inch, oven-safe skillet or an 8" by 10" baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and squeeze lemon juice over chicken. Stir jam and garlic together and spread over chicken.
2. Bake uncovered, until juices run clear and meat reaches 165 degrees F, about 1 hour. ( I have learned chicken is a very tricky meat with some ovens... With my oven it takes way less time for chicken to cook so I check the meat at 45 minutes to make sure it doesn't get too dry.

Serves 4

Total Time: 1 hr 10 min

Prep Time: 10 min

Posts in the making!

Ok so I have totally sucked at updating this and haven't made as many recipes as I hoped I would by now haha. So I will post new ones soon.

We have just been very busy....

Big Kahuna Chicken Teriyaki Sandwiches

I found this recipe on a blog and I liked the creative idea of adding sliced ham on the sandwich. They were so yummy!!!

4 chicken breasts
1 bottle Teriyaki sauce (we used Lawry's brand)
3/4 c. brown sugar
4 slices deli ham
1 can sliced pineapple (or you can use fresh which would be even better)
4 slices Pepper Jack cheese
4 large hamburger buns

Pound chicken breasts until they are about 1/4" thick all around. Place in a large Ziploc bag. Combine Teriyaki sauce and brown sugar until sugar dissolves. Add 1/2 of the mixture to the bag with the chicken and seal tightly. Place bag in refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours. Separate remaining Teriyaki mixture into 2 separate bowls (to prevent cross contamination use 2 separate brushes too)-- one for the pineapple, one for the chicken. Open pineapple can and save a little of the juice in a bowl. Place chicken and pineapple on the grill (medium heat).

Brush with Teriyaki sauce every few minutes until chicken and pineapple are done-- try to only flip the chicken and pineapple once. Either on the grill or in a frying pan, cook ham with a little of the pineapple juice until it becomes nice and hot. Slice open hamburger buns and place a piece of cooked chicken on each bottom bun. Top with cheese, ham, grilled pineapple, and bun top. Serve immediately with remaining grilled pineapple.

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Shrimp

A couple weeks ago for my dad's birthday, I decided to make him dinner since first of all he is very hard to shop for and second it's what he loves best. I made steamed lobster, roasted sweet potatoes, scallops, and my personal favorite, stuffed shrimp piquillo peppers. This has probably become one of our new favorite appetizers. Dustin doesn't love shrimp but he likes these. The shrimp and the sauce mixture together is amaaaaazing! Piquillo peppers are not spicy either which I love because I don't do spicy or peppers very well.

Piquillo Peppers Stuffed With Shrimp

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 plum tomato
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons medium-dry sherry, such as amontillado
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 6 jarred or canned piquillo peppers, drained

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add to pan, and saute until golden and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Finely chop shrimp, and transfer to a bowl.
2. Prepare an ice-water bath. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add tomato, and cook until skin loosens, about 1 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to ice-water bath until cool enough to handle, about 1 minute. Peel tomato, cut into quarters, and remove and discard seeds. Finely chop tomato.
3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 minutes.
4. Stir tomato into onion mixture, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat; pour in sherry. Return to medium-high heat for 1 minute. Stir tomato mixture into shrimp, and season with salt and pepper. Let cool.
5. Stir in mayonnaise. Stuff each pepper with shrimp salad.

Unfortunately lobster is very expensive and so I could only afford 2 live lobsters that day. He had one to him self and we shared the second one. The lobster recipe wasn't anything special. Just steam em and butter em!

And wa-la! Dinner is served!

These Crab Cakes don't make me crabby at all!

Dustin and my good friend Sierra said these were the best crab cakes they have ever had. I was so proud of these cakes and they definitely were mouth watering. The next week I actually ordered some crab cakes from place in the city and I still liked these waaay more. My favorite of the month for sure.

Ingredients:

LEMON AIOLI

Mayonnaise 1 cup

Finely grated lemon zest (1 lemon)

Fresh lemon juice -2 tablespoons

Garlic 1 clove

Fine sea salt & fresh ground pepper

Fresh lump crab meat -1 pound

Panko or dried bread crumbs, 3/4 cup

1 Large egg

Dijon mustard -1 tablespoon

Worcestershire sauce -2 teaspoons

Hot Pepper sauce -1/4 teaspoon

Fresh parsley -1 tablespoon chopped

Canola oil -1/2 cup

Lemon wedges for serving

Directions:

To make the aioli, in a small bowl, mix together the mayo, lemon zest and juice, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside 1/4 cup of the aioli. Cover and refrigerate the remaining aioli until serving.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of the panko/bread crumbs, the reserved 1/4 cup aioli, the egg, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, and parsley. Add the crab meat and mix gently until combined. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into a thick cake. Spread the remaining 1.2 cup panko/bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Coat the cakes evenly with the panko, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high until it shimmers. Add the cakes and cook until the undersides are golden brown, which is fast. Flip the cakes and cook until the other sides are golden brown. Using a slotted spatula, transfer to paper towels to drain briefly.

Serve the crab cakes at once with lemon wedges if you want and pass the remaining lemon aioli on the side. Don't put too much of the sauce on the crab cake before tasting it. You don't need very much of the sauce.

Tuna Melts just melt in your mouth!

These are absolutely delish!!! They are perfect for lunch and just melt in your mouth.

Tuna Melts

Ingredients:

1. 3 cans (each 6 oz.) white albacore tuna packed in oil or water
2. 1/2 cup mayonnaise, homemade (see related recipe at left) or purchased
3. 1/2 cup minced celery
4. 1/4 cup minced yellow or red onion
5. 2 Tbs. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
6. Freshly ground pepper, to taste
7. 4 large slices firm white sandwich bread
8. 8 tomato slices
9. 6 oz. mild cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat a broiler.

Drain the tuna well and put in a bowl. Add the mayonnaise, celery, onion and parsley and stir well. Season with pepper.

Arrange the bread slices on a rimmed baking sheet and broil, turning once, until very lightly browned on both sides, about 1 minute total. Spread equal amounts of the tuna mixture onto each toasted bread slice. Divide the tomato slices evenly among the sandwiches, then divide the cheese evenly on top. Return the pan to the broiler and broil until the cheese melts, about 1 minute more. Serve immediately. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Variation: You can use rye bread or split English muffins for your tuna melts, and substitute sharp cheddar, Gruyère or Swiss cheese for the mild cheddar. To impart a little tang to the tuna mixture, stir in 2 Tbs. chopped bread-and-butter pickles. If your idea of a tuna melt is not open faced, using untoasted bread, prepare the sandwiches as directed, topping them with a second slice of bread. Spread softened butter on the outside of each sandwich and cook them in a fry pan over medium heat until the cheese melts and the bread is golden brown on both sides.

Chicken Potpies N' taters

This was my first time making homemade chicken pot pies. Everyone loved them! Next time I will probably buy some actual ramekins that are more appropriate than cereal bowls because that is all I had. Haha. But it still worked out great. You have to have this recipe with mashed potatoes. This picture doesn't have some because I was missing some ingredients... but it is definitely a must.

Ingredients:

Unsalted butter-6 tablespoons

Button mushrooms-1/2 pound, quartered

Leeks,white/green parts-1 cup chopped

Carrots-1/2 cup finely diced

Fresh or frozen peas-1/3 cup

All-purpose flour-1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon

Chicken broth/stock-4 1/2 cups

Dry sherry-1/3 cup

Fresh tarragon-2 teaspoons minced

Cooked, shredded chicken-4 cups

Kosher salt & ground pepper

Double-crust flaky pastry dough

1 Large egg

Directions:

To make the sauce and vegetable, in a large frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the leeks and carrots, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the peas.

In a large saucepan, melt the remaining5 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and let bubble gently for 1 minutes. Gradually whisk in the stock and sherry and then the tarragon. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Stir in the shredded chicken and the mushroom-leek mixture and season with salt and pepper. Let cool until lukewarm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Spoon the chicken mixture into six 1 1/2 cup ovenproof soup crocks or ramekins.