Under The Weather

Soup season has officially begun at our house. Soups, stews and chili keep tummies warm in this cooler weather and leave the best leftovers. This Italian Tortellini Soup is very easy to combine. The vegetables make it healthy while the sausage and tortellini add heartiness. A warm bowl of this soup made me feel much better when feeling sick this week.

ITALIAN TORTELLINI SOUP

4 cans (14 1/2 oz each) Italian style stewed tomatoes, coarsely chopped, plus liquid
2 cans (14 1/2oz each) beef broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 medium zucchini, halved and thinly sliced (and/or squash)
3/4 pound green beans, snapped and cut into thirds
3/4 pound Italian sausage, casings removed, crumbled, browned and drained
1 package tortellini with cheese (6-8 ounces)
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Combine tomatoes plus liquid, broth, basil and pepper in a dutch oven.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat.

Add zucchini, green beans, sausage, and tortellini.

Cook about 10-15 minutes or until tortellini is tender.

Serve with grated Parmesan.

Smashing Pumpkins

This is my first attempt to branch out a bit from the stovetop and share a festive entertaining idea. Goblins, ghosts and spiders are fun but not as beautiful as these heirloom pumpkins. The blue-green Jarrahdale pumpkin is smashing. I want to bottle up the color. The larger coral-orange pumpkin is a more sophisticated version of the common orange pumpkin. Set on a bed of Spanish moss on a burlap tablecloth, these heirloom pumpkins create a festive fall tablescape that will be beautiful well into November.

These white pumpkins are more common than the others. If a pumpkin could be "modern", the little white beauties would fit the description.

S.O.M.B. (some of my best)

Old bananas are unappealing to most people but trust me on this one.... old bananas make the best banana pudding, banana cake and banana bread.

When your bananas get brown and soft- peel them, place the rotten bananas in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. My mom puts the over ripe bananas directly in her freezer with the peel on, but my friends growing up always thought it was weird. Because of this, I tend to peel them and freeze in baggies. Either way, I am always thankful to have frozen rotten bananas when I get a hankering for a banana dish. Plus, it feels good to make use of spoiled food.

Stick with me, I promise to share something appealing- BB's S.O.M.B. Banana Cake. This recipe is her ultimate S.O.M.B. ("Some of my best") dessert. I know for sure it is her family's most frequently requested dessert.

S.O.M.B. BANANA CAKE

You will need:

1-1/2 cups bananas, mashed

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees.

Grease and flour a 9-by-13 inch pan.

Mix mashed bananas with lemon juice in a small bowl and set aside.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat the eggs in one at a time.

Stir in the vanilla.

Beat in flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk.

Stir in banana mixture.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 50 minutes or 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.

And for the kicker...

Remove cake from the oven and put directly into the freezer.

(this odd technique insures that the cake is ultra moist)

Frost with cream cream frosting when cake is cooled.

Devour.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

You will need:

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon milk

Beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until smooth.

Gradually add the confectioners sugar.

Beat on low speed until combined and then on high until frosting is smooth.

If the frosting is too stiff to spread, beat in milk.

Spread on the cooled cake.

Honestly, I usually eat banana cake straight out of the pan- not on a fancy plate.

Pink Princess Sauce

With roasted red peppers on hand, this is an easy but decadent pasta dish for a weeknight meal. I have made it twice in the past week. It might become an addiction. The pasta dish was cleverly called "Pink Princess Sauce" to lure little girls to eat it. I will post soon about another variation of Pink Princess Sauce using tomatoes instead of red peppers.

PASTA WITH ROASTED RED PEPPER SAUCE

You will need:

3 whole red bell peppers

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup heavy cream

flat leaf parsley, chopped

Parmesan, shaved or grated

1/2 pound rigatoni or pappardelle pasta

coarse salt and pepper

Roast Peppers (see previous post).

Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet (or buy toasted pine nuts at Trader Joe's).

Puree roasted peppers with pine nuts in a Cuisinart and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package.

Saute onion and garlic in a skillet large enough to hold the pasta.

Pour in puree and stir together.

Add LOTS of kosher salt.

Pour in cream.

*the addition of Parmesan to the sauce is really good but not necessary.

Toss pasta into the sauce.

Serve with shaved Parmesan and top with parsley.

A Favorite Staple

Homemade roasted red peppers find their way into many dishes in my kitchen- sandwiches, pasta, pizzas and salads. Unlike raw red peppers that are spicy and (might I be bold) not very good, roasted red peppers are sweet, soft and full of flavor. The roasting process is easy and you can store the roasted peppers in the fridge for a week or more.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Place whole red peppers on a baking sheet.

Don't oil them!

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until charred and wrinkled.

Turn twice during the roasting.

Remove from the oven and immediately wrap in foil.

(this creates a steam room that will allow you to easily remove the skin)

Wait about 30 minutes until they are cooled enough to handle.

Remove charred skins.

Store in the refrigerator with olive oil or use immediately.

Place red peppers (dry) on a sheet pan and bake at 500 degrees. Turn every ten minutes or so...

Once charred, remove from pan and place on a piece of foil.

Wrap into a foil package to create a steam bath. Let steam for 30-ish minutes. Open package and peel off the charred skin.

Place roasted red pepper meat (without the skin) in a container. Salvage any of the juices you can.

For marinated roasted red peppers- add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use on a sandwich, in a pasta or topped on a salad.

Quick! Buy Some Peaches!

I have felt terrible because of how poorly I represented my peach cobbler in the last post. The yummy cobbler deserves better. Thankfully, I found a few good peaches at the store, and I got a NEW CAMERA! I hope you find these photos more inspiring and appetizing than the last. So hurry and buy some good peaches before fall settles in and make this cobbler. I plan to try this cobbler recipe with fall fruits sometime soon.

PEACH COBBLER

You will need:

5-6 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place peaches in 9x9-ish dish.

Mix together 3/4 cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add milk and melted butter and mix well.

Pour batter over peaches.

Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl.

Sprinkle over the batter.

Evenly pour the boiling water all over.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Welcome Home Morgan

We hosted our first official family dinner on Sunday to welcome home my sister from school. The menu was an ode to the end of summer and beginning of fall. I would cook every dish again and therefore want to share each recipe with you.

For the menu....drum roll please.....

Appetizer-Jalapeno Thingies (a la Colleen)

Supper- Grilled Marinated Lemon Chicken, Mayonnaise Biscuits, Roasted Caprese Salad

Dessert- Peach Cobbler

JALAPENO THINGIES

-Colleen Williams

(These were gone in .5 seconds and would be perfect for a football party where there are lots of hungry males.)

You will need:

20 fresh whole jalapenos

2 cubes of cream cheese, softened

1 pound bacon, sliced into thirds

Cut jalapenos in half, lengthwise (use gloves if you have them!)

Remove seeds and white membrane- leave a little if you want to leave some spiciness.

Smear softened cream cheese into the scooped out jalapeno.

Wrap with bacon piece.

Secure thingies with a toothpick.

*You can freeze them at this point if needed

Bake at 375 degrees on a pan with a rack for 20-25 minutes or

Broil for a couple of minutes if the bacon isn't brown or crispy enough for you.

GRILLED MARINATED LEMON CHICKEN

You will need:

1 whole chicken, spatchcocked *I'll explain

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

black pepper, freshly ground

1 lemon, halved

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

According to Martha Stewart, this technique is "similar to butterflying but is specific to preparing a whole chicken for grilling or broiling".

1. Rinse the chicken and remove insides.

2. Set the chicken, breast side down, and use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut along the backbone to remove it.

3. Flip the chicken over, then press down firmly on the breastbone with you palm to flatten (or break the breastbone.

Now that your chicken is spatchocked (awesome word), you may proceed with the next steps.

Sprinkle the chicken with kosher salt on each side.

Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and 1 teaspoon of pepper in a ceramic baking dish large enough to hold the chicken.

Add the chicken and turn to coat.

Cover the dish and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but as long as over night.

Turn chicken once or twice.

Time to Grill-

Heat grill as hot as it will go but make sure to create an indirect heat source (ceramic plate or move coals to one side).

Place chicken skin side up and grill for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Weigh down the chicken with a ceramic dish (the one you used to marinate).

Turn chicken skin side down and cook for another 12-15 minutes.

Throw some lemon on the grill just before chicken is ready.

Move chicken to a cutting board and let rest under aluminum foil for 5 minutes.

Cut chicken in quarters.

Sprinkle with coarse salt.

Serve rustically on a cutting board with grilled lemon halves.

*Please note: These photos don't do this chicken justice.

So, I LOVE homegrown tomatoes in the summer. Not sure what is going on around the south but I have not had a single good tomato this summer- not from my house, farmers market, Publix anywhere! Thankfully my mom turned me onto this recipe that makes use mediocre tomatoes. The dish is so yummy that I would make it even when tomatoes are at their best!

ROASTED TOMATO CAPRESE SALAD

You will need:

12 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds (not cores) removed

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons sugar

Kosher salt and fresh pepper

16 ounces fresh salted mozzarella

12 fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Arrange tomatoes on a sheet pan, cut side up.

Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Sprinkle with garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.

Roast for 2 hours or until the tomatoes are caramelized and concentrated.

Layer cooled tomatoes on a tray with sliced mozzarella.

Julienned the basil and sprinkle on top.

And we are still eating...

If you want to serve hot homemade bread for your family or friends but don't have time to yeast rolls or biscuits that need hours of kneading, whip up these EASY and yummy biscuits. They are more fluffy then dense but satisfy the need for hot bread on the dinner table.

FLUFFY MAYONNAISE BISCUITS

You will need:

1 table spoon oil

2 cups self-rising flour

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush muffin tin with oil.

Combine flour, mayonnaise, milk and sugar in a bowl.

Spoon into muffin cups, filling about 1/2 way.

(You can spoon directly onto an oiled sheet pan)

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with butter.

As Ina would say, "How easy is that?"

For the grand finale...

Tomatoes may have been a let down this summer but the peaches pulled through. What to do with an abundance of ripe summer fruit? Make a cobbler!

PEACH COBBLER

You will need:

5-6 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

1-1/4 cups sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Place peaches in 9x9-ish dish.

Mix together 3/4 cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add milk and melted butter and mix well.

Pour batter over peaches.

Mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in small bowl.

Sprinkle over the batter.

Evenly pour the boiling water all over.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.