Lemon Rice Pilaf

This is a tasty and simple rice dish.  I used olive oil to make it healthier, and I just used about 1/4 cup of diced yellow onion in place of the green onions.

Lemon Rice Pilaf

1/4 c. butter or olive oil
4 celery ribs, sliced
6 green onions, sliced
2 C. uncooked long-grain white rice
2 cans chicken broth (14 oz. each)
2 Tbsp grated lemon rind
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter (or heat the olive oil) in a large skillet over medium-high heat; saute celery and onions until tender.  Stir in rice; saute 2 minutes or until golden.  Add broth; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender.  Stir in rind, salt, and pepper.
Yield 6 side-dish servings.

Recipe adapted slightly from the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Avocado and Egg Flat Breads

These are so yummy!  The dough is really chewy and soft (which is always a winner in my book).  You can just make guacamole the way you normally do or you can follow this recipe - either way would work.  I didn't add any hot sauce, but I'm sure it would be good.
This came from http://www.thekitchn.com/ as a breakfast recipe, but I served it for dinner and I think I'd prefer that to breakfast.

Avocado and Egg Flat Breads

For the dough:
3/4 cups (6 ounces) warm water
1 teaspoon active-dry or instant yeast
2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour  (plus or minus)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Toppings:

1 large Hass avocado
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoons lime juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

In mixing bowl combine water and yeast and let bubble.  Add salt and slowly add flour until you have a good dough consistency (we all know what that is right?).  Knead in mixer for about 5 minutes.  Let rest.

In a medium bowl add pitted and peeled avocado, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Mash with a fork until smooth with a few chunks of avocado. Taste and adjust seasoning. (Depending on the size of your avocado, you may need more salt or lime juice.) Set aside.

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. On a well-floured cutting board, roll each piece into a thin, 6-inch circle. (If the dough keeps springing back as you roll it, let it rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten and try again.)

Heat a well-seasoned cast iron skillet (see note) over medium-high heat until very hot. Pour in a small amount of oil and place one of the dough circles in the center of the skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until the underside is browned and the top surface is bubbly. Flip and cook other side until browned, pressing down with a spatula if the dough puffs up off the bottom of the pan. It may be charred in spots, which is fine. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining dough circles. 

Spread 1/4 of the avocado mixture onto each cooked piece of dough.

Fry eggs to desired doneness and place each one on top of each flat bread piece. Serve immediately, with or without a drizzle of hot sauce.

Additional Notes

• The dough can be cooked up to 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container. (It will be softer than when freshly made.) Warm in the oven or on a skillet before adding the toppings.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Chad declared this was 5 stars! 5 thumbs up! 5 children...  Heh heh, we can't do much around here without someone quoting Studio C.

Anyway, I actually used cauliflower and broccoli because I didn't have enough of just broccoli. And I learned that you can use broccoli stems, especially for things like this soup. You just peel the tough outer part with a vegetable peeler and the inside is nicely flavored and tender! It always kind of bugged me to throw away half of what you purchased with broccoli. The original recipe called for bacon too, but I didn't put any in and it was still yummy!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
3 T. olive oil
1/4 c. chopped onion
3 T. flour
1 1/4 lbs broccoli and/or cauliflower, cut into pieces
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper, to taste
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until softened. Whisk in the flour and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the broccoli and/or cauliflower, broth, milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables can be pierced easily with a fork.
Blend until smooth with an immersion blender or in batches with a counter top blender.
Stir in the cream and cheddar and heat through.

Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food.com

Zesty Grilled Sandwiches

These are super delish, but be prepared to be thirsty afterwards... they're salty!

Zesty Grilled Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 8 slices sourdough bread
• 16 slices deli ham
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 1 cup deli coleslaw
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

• On four slices of bread, layer the ham, provolone cheese, coleslaw
• and cheddar cheese. Top with remaining bread slices. Spread oil on
• outsides of sandwiches.
•  
• On a griddle, toast sandwiches until bread is lightly browned on both
• sides. Yield: 4 servings.

Portobello & Basil Cheese Tortellini

This is so yummy.  And Ava ate ALL of her dinner tonight... BEFORE everyone else finished.  That is monumental.  I told her that I would make this every week if she would eat like that!

The original called for twice as much basil, but I liked it how we made it.  This is from Simple and Delicious.

Portobello & Basil Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients

• 1 package (19 ounces) frozen cheese tortellini
• 1 pound sliced portobello mushrooms
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup butter, cubed
• 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 teaspoons dried basil

Directions

• Cook tortellini according to package directions.
•  
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms and onion in butter
• until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in broth. Bring
• to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes or
• until liquid is reduced by half.
•  
• Add the cream, salt and pepper. Cook 4-5 minutes longer or until
• slightly thickened. Drain tortellini; add to skillet. Stir in cheese
• and basil. Yield: 4 servings.

Vanilla bean Custard

This is a fabulous recipe, although it wasn't so fabulous for what I used it for.  I decided to make a crepe cake for Carrie's b-day.  The crepes turned out lovely and this creamy deliciousness turned out perfectly.  The blog I got it from used it to make a crepe cake.  Well, my crepe cake didn't turn out like hers.  At all.  I could tell it was getting a little slippery, and I even used less filling between each layer than she called for.  I was really annoyed at first and I swore off crepe cakes forever.  But by dessert time I was able to laugh about it - it sort of reminded me of the cake that the fairies make in Sleeping Beauty - I was just waiting for the candles to slide down the side.  We called it "cake pile".  As you can see.  So the combination was delightful but I would use something else if you're making a crepe cake.  Or, just be like me - don't make a crepe cake.  : )  We decided that this would be better if we just used it to drizzle on top of crepes with some fresh berries.  Mmmmmmmm......

Vanilla Bean Custard (or pastry cream)

• 2 cups half and half
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 5 egg yolks
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 Tablespoons butter cut into cubes
• 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pour the half and half into a small/medium saucepan. It’s important to uses a saucepan with a solid bottom, or your custard will burn easily. If you don’t have a good quality saucepan, use a pot with a nonstick finish.
2. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and salt. 
3. If you’re using a vanilla bean, split it in half with a knife and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds to the half and half. (Don’t forget to use up the scraped out vanilla bean by making Vanilla Sugar, which, if you have some on hand, you can use in this recipe instead of regular sugar. It will taste phenomenal.) If you’re using vanilla extract, don’t pour it in yet.
4. Bring the mixture to a simmer on medium low heat, just until the sugar dissolves and you see tiny bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the half and half.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl, until the sugar dissolves.
6. Add the cornstarch and keep whisking until it’s completely incorporated into the egg yolks.
7. As soon as the half and half comes to a simmer, ladle in a small amount of the hot liquid into the egg yolk mixture, whisking it all together at the same time, to make sure your eggs don’t scramble. Gradually add 2 to 3 more small ladles of the half and half to the eggs, and then pour the egg mixture into the pan with the remaining half and half mixture, whisking as you add it in.
8. Return it to the stove and cook on low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens. You can make sure it’s thick enough by dipping a wooden spoon into the custard and when you run your finger down the center, the line should remain there and not run together. Another sign to look for is that as soon as the custard thickens, you will see bubbles start to rise from the very bottom of the saucepan and burst at the top. Remove the pan from the heat.
9. At this point, check the consistency of your custard. If there are any lumps, tiny or big, it’s very easy to fix this. Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve and you’ll have beautiful, smooth cream.
10. While it’s still hot, add the butter and mix it all together until the butter melts.
11. If you’re using vanilla extract, add it to the pastry cream now.  Cool the pastry cream before using it.
12. To prevent a skin from forming on the very top of the pastry cream, place a piece of plastic wrap or a bit or parchment paper directly on the surface of the pastry cream.
13. You can make the pastry cream/custard DAYS in advance, which is such a huge plus. Keep it refrigerated and tightly covered.

Recipe from http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/

Eggnog-Cinnamon Scones

I know that these sound a little odd, but trust me - they are so stinkin' good.  I haven't actually made them yet.  Some friends brought some to us this winter and I finally remembered to ask her for the recipe.
I could eat the whole recipe myself but I guess I'll share when I make them.  : )

Eggnog-Cinnamon Scones

2 3/4 C. flour
1/4 C. sugar
3/4 t. salt
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 C. unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and well chilled
6.6 oz. cinnamon chips (2/3 of a Hershey's bag)
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. rum extract
1 C. cold eggnog
Turbinado sugar

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  With a wide whisk, work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly.  Stir in the cinnamon chips.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, rum extract, and eggnog.
3. Add the egg mixture to the dry mixture and stir until all is moistened and holds together.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface (or use a silicone mat).  Divide the dough in half.  Roll and pat each half into a 6 1/2" circle about 3/4" think.
5. Run a large knife under cold water and slice each circle into 6 or 8 wedges.  Transfer wedges to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Carefully separate the wedges just a little bit (about 1/2")
6. Brush each scone with some eggnog and sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
7. Preheat the oven to 425°.  Bake scones for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.  Each scone should look baked all the way through - no wet edges.
8. While the scones are baking, prepare the glaze:

4 T. butter
3/4 c. powdered sugar
Eggnog, to thin the mixture

1. Heat butter in a small saucepan until it melts, then continue cooking until the butter browns.  Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar until mixture is thick.
2. Add eggnog, a little bit at a time, until mixture is smooth and spreadable.
3. Remove scones from the oven and cool briefly on the pan.
4. Glaze scones.  Use a fork to drizzle the glaze across the top of each scone.
5. Serve warm.  Let leftovers cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

(They're still delectable even when they're not warm.)