Tomato Sauce with Butter

This is another family recipe, created by one of my uncles. It is amazing and really not hard to make! The veggies are delicious.

A bonus? This freezes and reheats well.

Tomato Sauce with Butter

2 lb ripe plum tomatoes (or 2 cups canned work as well)

1/4 lb butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 med. onion, peeled and quartered

1 med. carrot peeled and quartered

1/4 tsp. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

If using fresh tomatoes, wash and cut in half and cook over low heat in a covered pan for 15 minutes. Put through a food mill to have a fine puree. If using canned tomatoes, measure 2 cups into a food mill along with about 1/2 cup of the juice and process for a fine puree (or press through a sieve to puree and remove seeds).

In a medium saucepan, put butter, onion, carrot, sugar and salt. Add tomato puree. Simmer over low heat for 40 minutes uncovered. Stir frequently and make sure it doesn't turn to a boil. Add more salt if needed and serve over pasta.

Rhubarb Streusel Cake with Warm Vanilla Sauce

Does anyone else out there love rhubarb? I love it, but have a hard time thinking of anything better to do with it than throw it in a cobbler/crisp. I found this recipe on Mel's Kitchen Cafe and it was delicious. Because I love Rhubarb, I would recommend adding more than she suggests...but maybe you aren't as big a fan as me.

Rhubarb Streusel Cake with Warm Vanilla Sauce

*Serves 6

Cake:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Vanilla Sauce:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for the cake. Beat in the egg. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter/sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beating just until moistened. Fold in the chopped rhubarb. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the batter to the edges.

In a medium bowl, combine the streusel topping ingredients, mixing them together until the mixture is coarse and combined. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the batter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For the sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened (it will thicken more as it cools slightly). Remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla. Serve warm with the cake.'

{from Mel's Kitchen Cafe}

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I have been cooking...lots actually. I just forget to take pictures (and partly on purpose because I can't take nice pictures like Jessica) and then figure why post a recipe for something yummy without a picture? No one will even be tempted to make it because, let's be honest...we all love pictures of good food, right? Well, sorry to say. No picture here. But Ryan (brother) was visiting us for a few days and I made this recipe and he said to me "This is really good. Is this on the food blog?" - Uh, he KNOWS about the food blog? Yeah, because his wife is the one that mostly posts on this blog. So, I decided to post it on the food blog. Just for him...and for his wife, if she ever wants to make them. Make them...they were yummy. And it's a little bit of New Mexico right in your home! :)

Filling:
1 Rotisserie Chicken, skinned, and chopped...or about 3-ish cups chopped chicken
2-4 oz. cans of diced green chiles
1-8 oz. package of softened cream cheese, cut up into cubes
1 can black beans
1 cup corn (I use costco corn and just run tap water over it to thaw it out a little bit)

Sauce:
2 T. Butter
1/2 C. chopped onion*
2 Tbs. Flour
1/3 C. chicken broth
1/4 C. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1-10 oz. can green chile enchilada sauce
1/2 C. sour cream

8 oz. monterey jack cheese, shredded (I've used mozzarella but it just wasn't quite the same)
Flour Tortillas (I use the Costco ones....love them!)
Fresh Cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combing cream cheese, and green chiles. Mix together well. Add the chicken, black beans, and corn. Mix to combine. Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and begins turning translucent, this will take about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions as you stir. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. As you whisk and the mixture cooks, the flour will get less lumpy around the onions and the mixture will become smooth. Cook over medium heat until it begins to bubble and has thickened (about 3-4 minutes). Add salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in enchilada sauce and sour cream.

Spread about 1/4 C. of the green sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 dish. (Or, if you have a smaller family, like me. Use a 8x8 pan and a tin 8x8 pan and freeze one of them for another quick dinner in the future. This freezes well!) Fill each tortilla with about 1/2 C. of the chicken/cream cheese filling. Top with a small handful of shredded cheese, a couple Tbs. for each enchilada. Save at least 1/2 C. cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortillas up and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling enchiladas until the dish is full.

Pour the green/white sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling, hot and lightly browned. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve.


*Go buy a Vidalia Chopper right now if you don't already have one. Jess, do you like yours? I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine. Honestly, if there was a fire in my house, it would be the second thing I'd grab second only to my child! :) I buy a big bag of onions at Costco and chop about half of them up right away and freeze them (about one onion per freezer bag) and it makes it SO nice when I'm cooking something with onion, which I do often. I just pull out an already chopped, frozen bag of onion. If I know I'm going to use it early enough, sometimes I'll pull it out and let it thaw, but it really doesn't matter.

I adapted this recipe from my kitchen cafe

Ricotta and Spinach Calzones

I have been too intimidated to try this recipe. But now that I'm living with my mom for awhile she showed me the ropes. It was surprisingly easy and very very delicious. We added sausage to some calzones and that was delicious.

DOUGH

4 cups flour

1 T yeast

1/2 T salt

2 T olive oil

1 1/2 cups water

Add yeast to warm water. Let it begin to foam. in food processor fitted with plastic blade mix flour, salt, oil and yeast mixture. Pulse until dough forms a ball and is smooth and elastic. Put dough aside to rise in a covered bowl for 1 hour. Cut dough into 6 pieces, roll each into a ball, and then cover to keep warm for up to 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 500 F.

FILLING

2 cups ricotta

8 ounces mozzarella, shredded

1 cup grated parmesan

1 egg yolk - or whole egg

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 T olive oil plus 2 T for brushing calzones for baking

1 yellow or red pepper cut into small chunks

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

4 cups chopped frozen spinach or 1 pound fresh, washed/dried baby spinach

SAUCE

1 T olive oil

28 ounces crushed tomatoes in puree

2 medium crushed garlic cloves

1 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp sugar

1/2-1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling and the sauce. For filling, mix the cheeses, egg, oregano, salt and pepper. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat the oil, then add the peppers and cook for about 3 minutes until they are beginning to soften. Add the garlic, spinach, and dried red pepper flakes. Cook until the spinach is just beginning to dry. Set aside cheese mixture and vegetable mixture.

For sauce, heat oil in a small sauce pan. Add garlic and cook only until fragrant - don't let it brown. Carefully add tomatoes. This will spatter if you add the tomatoes too fast, so guard your clothes and stove. Add oregano and cook for 1 minute. Add sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. continue to cook very slowly to thicken a bit while you finish the calzones.

Preheat oven to 500F.

Roll the balls of dough into 9 inch circles. Keep each of the circles separated from each other with plastic wrap or parchment paper. To form each calzone, cover half a circle with 1/6 of cheese mixture, leaving a 1 inch edge. Cover the cheese with 1/6 of the vegetable mixture. Fold the dough over the filling, this time leaving a 1/2 inch edge, sealing the top dough to the bottom. Form each remaining calzone the same way. Cut a few air vents in the top of each calzone, brush with olive oil, and bake for 12 minutes.

Serve with the tomato sauce either hot from the oven or after cooling for 30-60 minutes.

Grilled Pizzas

During the summer I hate turning the oven on. So for dinners, my favorites include anything cooked on the grill. This pizza was perfect, fast, and really, really yummy. this recipe suggest tomatoes, sausage and fresh basil but I just did personal size pizzas and let each person make theirs as they wanted. They were a huge hit.

Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used half white and half wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
Vegetable oil cooking spray

Topping
1 lb red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved (or only red if your grocery store doesn't carry yellow)
1/2 lb turkey sausage, cooked and thinly sliced
1 cup grated part-skim mozzarella (I used half fresh mozzarella and half grated)
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Or, really, whatever toppings you want.

Directions:
Mix flour, yeast and salt in a bowl. Gradually add 1/2 cup warm (110°) water until a soft dough forms. Divide dough into 4 portions. Using hands, roll dough into balls, coat with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise 30 to 45 minutes. When ready to cook, place each ball of dough on a piece of wax paper and flatten into a 4-inch circle. Coat grill with cooking spray and heat on high. Gently lift dough onto grill and cook until dough puffs and underside stiffens (about 30 seconds); flip and reduce heat to low. Mix topping ingredients, then divide among crusts; cover grill. Grill until cheese melts, 5 to 6 minutes more. Slice and serve.

Chocolate Toffee Crumble Cake (or BTS Cake)

For my husband's birthday he requested this delicious cake that his aunt makes which I had never made before. But, being the loving wife that I am, I did a little research and found some recipes online...categorized as the "Better than Sex Chocolate Cake." Every single recipe I found used a cake mix and cool whip. I couldn't bring myself to use either, so I did my own thing. And I'm sorry, but the name...has got to go. So here is the Chocolate Toffee Crumble Cake. Delicious.

Chocolate Toffee Crumble Cake

(double this recipe for a double layer cake)

2 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

6 ounces caramel sauce (I used squirt-on ice cream topping kind)

3-4 Chocolate covered toffee candy bars

Whipped Cream

Set oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar and oil and beat with a hand mixer. Alternating with boiling water, add flour mixture in 3 additions. Stir in vanilla.

Pour into a prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

While cake is cooling, heat sweetened condensed milk and caramel sauce until warm.

(For making my double layer cake, I used whipped cream between the cake and sprinkled with crumbled candy bar)

While cake is still warm, poke random holes into the cake with chopstick/end of spoon/whatever you want. Poor the milk and caramel sauce mixture into the holes.

Whip your own whipped cream to your desired taste. Use this as frosting on the cake. Sprinkle the whipped cream with crumbled candy bars.

(the Chocolate Cake recipe is from Rookie Cookie).

Corn Chowder

OK, so it's sort of getting to be beyond soup season, but I wanted to post this anyhow. This is a recipe that I tweeked and really really liked! So...if you have a cold spring day...make this! You'll love it. Well, if you like corn.

1/3 C. Bacon Pieces (I just buy that large bag from Costco) - Or you could just bake and chop some regular bacon.

2-4 Tbs. Oil

6 C. corn kernals (again, frozen from Costco)

1.5 C. cubed red potatoes (about 1/2 inch in size)

3 C. chicken broth

1/2 C. heavy cream

1/2 C. sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

3 Tbs. sugar (optional)

1/4. tsp. cayenne pepper (optional if you want a little kick. I did it once with and once without)

Cook your bacon pieces and oil on medium high heat for a few minutes. Obviously, this is already cooked stuff...but I just crisp it up a bit and get the bacon taste in the oil/drippings/pot. Remove all or most of the bacon from the pan leaving the oil and set aside. Add corn and potatoes to pot with oil. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer uncovered over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer 3 cups soup to blender. Puree until smooth. (Be careful to not let blender splash or spill this. It's hot!) Return puree to soup in pot. Stir in cream, cheese, and bacon...(and sugar and/or cayenne if using this). Bring chowder to simmer, thinning with more broth if too thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy this bad boy! I LOVED it. Sorry there is no picture. You'll have to just imagine it. It's fabulous!