Spring Veal Stew

Spring Veal Stew

Serves 4

1 rack of veal chops

½ beef tenderloin

1 chicken breast

2 tbs butter

2 cups dry white wine

1 cup milk

12 pearl onions, fresh

Wild mushroom blend

1 bag of frozen peas

4 strips bacon

1 Tbs corn starch dissolved in ½ cup cold water

Cook the bacon and onions in the butter until bacon is crisp.  Using a slotted spoon remove solids and set aside.  Sear the three meats.  Pour in wine and1/2 cup milk with the meats in the skillet.  Bring mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cover for about 2 hours, turning meats as needed to not dry out.  Once finished all three meats should be tender and break apart easily.  Remove the meat and pour the liquid through a sieve to remove any solid pieces.  Remove the veal chops from the bones and break apart into chunks.

Return liquid back to pot and add in remaining milk and corn starch mixture and stir.  Do not boil, but simmer until mixture has thickened. Add salt, white pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste.   Add in the frozen peas and mushrooms and cover for about 5 mins.  Then add in the meats, bacon and onion to the mixture and mix to cover everything in sauce.  Let sit on low heat until ready to serve.

French Onion Soup

French Onion Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 Tbs Butter

1 tsp white truffle oil

4 medium, Yellow onions; thinly sliced

1 Tbs white sugar

2 ½ Cups hot water

1 bouillon cube

1 Tbs Champaign vinegar

1 Tbs white pepper

½ cup shredded Swiss

½ cup shredded Gruyere

4 Toasts, optional

Directions

Melt butter and oil in pot over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook stirring until translucent.  Cover and reduce heat to medium low.  After about 10 minutes the onions should be starting to brown a little, sprinkle with sugar and stir.  Uncovered cook about 10 mins more until onions are browned and begin to fall apart.   Dissolve the bouillon in the water and add vinegar to mixture.  Stir in to onions and bring to simmer, covered, for about 15-30 mins depending on how fast they cook.  When the soup is done, remove from heat. 

Pour soup into oven proof ramekins or soup bowls.  Remain about 1/3 inch from the top.  Place ramekins on a baking sheet.  Add the toasts, and cover with cheese mixture.  Bake at 450 for about 15 mins until the cheese is melted and starts to brown a little.

Pear Tartlets

Pear Tartlets
I saw a recipe for these online, but when i was trying to make them i realized they must have forgotten some ingredients for the filling bc it only added up to about 1/3 cup of liquid, so i thought about it and i made some additions and i think they turned out fantastic!

Brown Butter Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup almonds,
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
Filling
2 Tbs almond extract
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature and beaten
2 Tbs sugar, and more for sprinkling
2 Tbs flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla rum
1 tsp lemon zest
4 oz Mascarpone cheese
Topping:
2  pears, peeled and cored


Preheat oven to 350°F and spray six 4-inch tartlet pans with nonstick spray; place on a baking sheet. In a food processor add the almonds and pulse a few times until finely ground.  Add in flour sugar and salt and pulse a few more times to mix.  Meanwhile brown the butter over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns darker, but not too dark.  Turn the food processor on, and slowly pour the butter into the work bowl, after just mixed turn off, remove blade and mix a few times more with your hands.
Divide the mixture among the 6 tartlet pans, and press into bottom and sides of the pans.  Bake for about 10 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack.
Increase oven temperature to 375°F. In a food processor add in all ingredients for the filling.   Process a few times until mixed completely.  Divide mixture evenly among tartlet shells. 

Slice pear and cut each slice in half.  Arrange pear slices over filling.  Place in the oven for 20 mins.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with sugar. Put tartlets back in the oven and bake for another 5-10 mins, depending on your oven.  Tart filling should be a little puffy but not brown.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  Remove from pan after completely cooled. 

i had already cut them in half so thats what the line down the middle of them are.  

Flat Bread Middle Eastern Salad

Sorry guys once again i forgot to take a picture of this but it is so easy and so delicious i thought id share!

1 med. cucumber, diced
1 med. tomato, diced
handful of spring mix lettuce, or spinach whichever you prefer
1 piece of flat bread sliced into bit size pieces, (i cut mind into 12ths )
handful of green olives sliced in half
1/3 of  green medeteriannian pepper diced
some feta crumbled

mix it all together pour a little but of olive oil sprinkle with fresh dill and add a drop of white vinegar, add salt and pepper and enjoy!

Cauliflower & White Cheddar Soup

Sry i havent been posting lately.  I keep forgetting to take pictures and to write down my recipes so it makes it difficult to share them with you that way.  Fortunately i remembered last night while i was making this soup.  It was so good, i hope you like it too!!

Cauliflower and White Cheddar Soup

Serves 6

Ingredients

·         1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into pieces

·         2 carrots, shredded or sliced thin

·         1 medium red potato, cut into pieces

·         1 medium yellow onion, sliced

·         Bunch of scallions, chopped

·         1 clove garlic, minced

·         4-6 oz white Vermont cheddar cheese, shredded

·         1 spoon of Better than Bouillon® Veggie Base

·         2 cups fat free milk

·         2 tbs olive oil

·         Optional: ¼ tsp white truffle oil, 1 tsp horse radish

Instructions

Fill a large stock pot with water about ¾ full add salt, cauliflower and potato. Allow it to come to a boil and cook veggies for about 10-15 mins until they are soft.  Before draining take 2 cups of the boiling veggie water and mix it with the better than bouillon, set aside.  Drain veggies discard remaining water.  Return pot to stove over medium high heat, and add olive oil and allow oil to heat for a few minutes.  Then add in the onion and carrot.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and I added a drop, (no more than ¼ tsp!!) white truffle oil.  And if you like your soup a little spicy you can also add in the horse radish here.  This is completely optional. 

Once tender add in cauliflower and potato.  Mix well to season all veggies.  Then add in the 2 cups of bouillon and bring it to a simmer.  Add in the milk and turn off heat.  Once cooled slightly blend everything with an immersion blender until smooth.  (if you do not have one you can add the soup into a regular blender or food processor but be careful and work in small batches so you do not burn yourself!  Once you have achieved the consistency you want (I prefer mine super smooth), turn the heat on to medium low and slowly add in the cheese.  You can make it cheesier and thicker by adding more cheese; I added about 5 oz. to mine. Add in chopped scallions and mix in.   Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Leave uncovered over low heat for about 15-20 mins stirring occasionally, to allow flavors to set.  Serve with either croutons or cheese flake. 

Cheese flakes:

Preheat oven to 375.  On a silicon baking mat sprinkle mozzarella into flake like shape.  Drop a pinch of parmesan on top, and sprinkle with pepper and add 3-5 scallions in the center, depending on how big you make them.  Bake until melted.  I like mine a little crispy so I leave them in for about 7 mins, but make sure they don’t burn!

Eggs Benedict & Eggs Florentine

So This One is not really that Healthy, but sometime you just have to give in and live a little!  I have tried several different ways to make Hollandaise sauce and I wont lie, I don't really have a set recipe i kind of throw it together every time, so I apologize if it is a little strange you just have to experiment until you like the consistency, if you like it thicker, add more egg yolk, if you like it richer add more butter, etc.  

This is enough for two people

Each person gets one English muffin but you put one egg on half so you end up woth two halves per person.

Eggs Benedict:

Two whole wheat English muffins

Two slices of Canadian Bacon

4 Eggs

For the sauce:

2 egg yolks

½ stick butter or butter alternative

Salt & pepper

Lemon juice

Toast the English muffins.  Heat the Canadian bacon in a skillet and place on top of the English muffin.  Poach the eggs and place on top of the Canadian bacon.  To make the sauce, in a double boiler, quickly whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice and slowly pour in melted butter careful that the eggs don’t get too hot or the will cook!  Add  a bit of salt and pepper, pour over the eggs on the English muffins and serve!

Eggs Florentine:

Two whole wheat English muffins

1 cup cooked spinach

½ tsp minced garlic

2-3 Tbsp  cream cheese

Onion powder (optional)

4 Eggs

For the sauce:

2 egg yolks

½ stick butter or butter alternative

Salt & pepper

Lemon juice

In a small sauce pan add garlic the spinach the cream cheese and the onion powder if using.  Sautee until fragrant and cheese is melted.  Toast the English muffins.  Place creamed spinach on top of the English muffin.  Poach the eggs and place on top of the Canadian bacon.  To make the sauce, in a double boiler, quickly whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice and slowly pour in melted butter careful that the eggs don’t get too hot or the will cook!  Add  a bit of salt and pepper, pour over the eggs on the English muffins and serve!

Kale Asparagus Tart with Herb Crust

Kale Asparagus Tart with Herb Crust

I know for some people it can be intimidating to make their own crust, but tart crust is really the easiest thing to make once you get it down.  I hope my instructions are easy to follow!  Now for the next few days ill be posting a lot of egg recipes because there was a little mix up with the grocery list and my boyfriend and i both went shopping and we ended up with about 30 eggs in our fridge.  So i hope you all like eggs!!  This is a very tasty dish, i love Quiche and think it is even better with the tart crust!  i have a few pic, i know im getting better at the picture thing!  

For the Crust:

1 Bunch Basil

1 Stock Rosemary

3-6 leaves Sage

1 Clove Garlic

2 Cups Flour

¼ stick cold butter cut into cubes

1/8 – ¼ Cup Cold Water

For the Filling:

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

3 Eggs

1 Cup Shredded Swiss cheese

1 Yellow Onion

1 Stock Green Onion Chopped

1-2 leaves Kale, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a food processor add in the herbs and Garlic pulse a few times.  Add in flour and pulse more to combine.  Turn processor on and slowly add in butter one cube at a time, stop and feel to see if it holds together when pinched.  If not add a little more butter, if it does, while running, add slowly in the water.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of a nonstick tart pan with a removable bottom.  Poke holes in the bottom of the crust to create vent holes and bake for about 10-15 mins.  Remove and cool on wire rack until ready to fill. 

Cut the Asparagus into about 1 inch strips and place in a bowl with a chopped yellow onion.  Heat a table spoon of olive oil in a pan and cook vegetables until soft.  Remove from pan and place kale in pan and cook until it wilts.  Place wilted kale on bottom of tart crust. Meanwhile chop up the green onion and place it in a medium bowl. 
Add three eggs and whisk them with the onion.  Add in the asparagus and onion and add Greek yogurt.  Add salt and pepper to taste and add in ½ cup Swiss cheese.  Mix to combine.  Pour into tart crust and spread around evenly.

  (I added some cherry tomatoes on the top of mine here) and top with remaining Swiss cheese.  Bake covered for about 20 mins.  Remove cover and bake another 20 mins.  Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

I Love Fall!! Esp for the food and the flavors, my favorite are all the things you can do with squash!  I apologize i forgot to take a picture until i was eating the last one for lunch the next day so if my pic doesnt look that great i apologize, but i promise they taste amazing!

Butternut Squash Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

3 Red Peppers

1 Cup Wild Rice

½ Cup Crumbled Feta

1 Cup Cooked Spinach

2 Cup Butternut Squash, chopped into small ½ inch cubes

1 Summer Squash chopped

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Bunch Basil

1/3 Tsp Minced Garlic

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Note:

It is best to use left over rice for this but if you do not have any you can make it fresh before starting anything else!

Place squash on baking sheet spaced out and spray with olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bake only to make slightly tender about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Cut peppers in half, length wise and de-seed.  Place sitting upright in baking dish. 

In a medium bowl, add the rice and squash.  Over a small bowl squeeze the spinach to get out any extra water, especially if you are using thawed frozen spinach.  Place spinach in medium bowl with rice and squash.  Then open can of tomatoes and pour the tomato juice into the small bowl with the spinach water, add the tomatoes to the medium bowl.  Add half the feta and add the butternut squash and mix well to combine.  Add salt and Pepper to taste.

Stuff the peppers with the filling mixture and top with the extra feta.  Pour the tomato and spinach juice into the bottom of the pan to help steam and keep the peppers from drying out. 

Cover with Aluminum Foil and bake for about 40 mins.  Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how melted you like the cheese and how hot your oven gets.   Enjoy!

Turkey bacon wrapped sea scallops

This is an easy and quick appetizer to make and is delicious!  

Ingredients

Turkey bacon

Sea scallops

Lemon pepper

Salt

Garlic

Olive oil

Instructions 

Soak tooth picks in water.  Fold the turkey bacon in half length wise and  wrap around  the sea scallops.  In a small bowl combine olive oil garlic and a small amount of salt.  Pour over scallops and top with the pepper.  Broil on high with the pan towards the bottom of the oven. Leave in oven for about 5-7 mins based on the heat of your oven.  

Berry pie

Today I decided to bake a pie.  I bake all the time but I have only ever made one pie before and it was pecan pie so It was kind of different than most pies.  So I was craving strawberry rhubarb and I went to publix and they didn't have rhubarb... I guess it's not Abailable down here in the summer. So I thought I'd just make a mixed berry pie!  Here's what I did!

It would probably be better with home made crust but I was feeling kind of lazy ;-)

Ingredients

Pre made pie crust

Strawberry a (2boxes)

Raspberrys 1 box

Blueberries 1 box

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour 

Instructions:

Slice strawberries and mix in bowl w blueberries and raspberries add sugar and flour and mix well.  Unfold one of the pie crusts and place carefully into a greased pie pan.  Pour berries into pie crust.  Make lattice on wax paper then transfer on top of pie.  Brush with an egg and top with sprinkled sugar.  Bake 375 covered for 25 mins.  Remove foil cover and bake for about 40 mins more. 

Caprese Roasted Tomatoes

I was really in the mood for something refreshing but I was also kind of craving comfort food.  (my comfort food is tomato soup!)  So I decided to bake the tomatoes to give a little bit of both!  They are soo good.  You can serve them as a main dish with a salad, or as a side.  Either way, they are my new favorite dish! I apologize about the picture.  I keep forgetting to take pictures after i make a dish, so this one is just the last one the next day.  But it was still delicious! 

Caprese Baked Tomatoes

Makes 4

Ingredients

2 Large Tomatoes

½ C Fresh Mozzarella, finely chopped or shredded

1/3 C Fresh Basil, chopped

1/3 C Fresh Grated Parmesan

White Tarragon Vinegar

Olive Oil

Directions

Cut tomatoes in half width wise, so you have a top and bottom half.  Carefully cut out center of tomato leaving enough room for at least ½” of ‘shell’.  Dice up tomato parts that have been removed and put in bowl.  Add mozzarella and basil to bowl and mix around.  Drizzle in some vinegar salt and pepper, then stuff the tomato shells with the mixture.  Top with Parmesan, and drizzle olive oil over top.  Bake at 400 for about 20 mins, then increase temp to 450 and bake another 10 mins.  Make sure the cheese doesn't start to burn.  If it is getting too brown take out and top with tin foil. 

White Asparagus and Mushroom Tart

So i bought this new rectangular tart pan and I'm obsessed with it!  I've been making everything with it!  So i wanted to use it to make a quiche but i couldn't find any recipes for a non round pan.  So i decided to invent something my self!  I served it at my house last night while i was hosting girls' night and everyone loved it!  i hope you do too!  (i promise i'll add a pic soon...im having camera trouble!)

White Asparagus Mushroom Tart

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/3 a stick of butter cold
A hand full of Basil Leaves
1 Tbs Garlic
1 1/4 C Flour

Filling:
1 C Greek Yogurt
3 Eggs
8-10 Stalks White Asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
3 oz White Oyster Mushrooms, sliced

Topping:
1/3 C Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded



For the Crust:
take a hand full of basil leaves and dump them into a food processor.  Then take about a tablespoon of garlic and throw it in. Pulse until well minced.  Then add flour and pulse to combine.  With the food processor running slowly drop in little squares of butter until small peas start to form, (about 1/3 of a stick).  make sure dough will stick together when pinched with fingers.  Grease a tart pan, and press dough onto bottom and up the sides.  Pierce several holes in bottom with a fork.  Bake in oven at 350 for about 10-15 mins.  remove crust and let cool on a wire rack.

For the Filling:
cut up asparagus and mushrooms into bite size pieces. Cook in frying pan for about 5 mins until vegetables are tender but not fully cooked.  In a bowl add fat free Greek yogurt and eggs, whisk together.  add in vegetables.  (if this does not look like enough add more yogurt to mixture).  Add salt and pepper then pour into crust.  Spread it out evenly with a spatula, the consistency is very thick so it will not spread on it's own.  top with shredded light Monterrey jack cheese.  Bake in oven for about 30-35 mins.  allow to settle, for about 1 hour a RT or in fridge over night.

Espresso Infused Creme Brulee

I added a new twist on a classic, and it was soo good, I had to share!  I Hope you all enjoy!

Espresso Creme Brulee:

2 C Heavy Cream
1/3 C Sugar
4 Egg yolks
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tsp Instant Coffee

1. Warm Cream in sauce pan with vanilla.  Once the cream starts to get warm add coffee and stir to ensure even distribution.
2. Wisk yolks and with sugar together, do not over mix.
3. Temper cream to yolks and mix well to combine.
1. to do this, pour a little bit of the hot cream into the yolks and stir well to heat the eggs, but not too much to cook them.  Once this is done add entire egg mixture into cream.  Remove from heat immediately.  
4. Pour into Remkins, and use torch to remove any bubbles on the surface.
5. Place a paper towel on the bottom of a baking dish.  Add the prepared remkins to the dish, and fill the dish with water, until the water is about 1/2 the way up to remkins.
6. Bake at 325 for 30-35 mins.
7. Refrigerate for about 4 hours or until custard has settled.
8. Pour Raw sugar on top of cold custard and lightly tilt Remkin to distribute sugar evenly.  
9. Once evenly distributed torch the sugar with the torch about 2-3" away from the sugar.

 custard the next day from the fridge.

Sprinkle Raw sugar evenly on top

Torch the sugar a few inches above to ensure it doesn't catch fire!

The final product!

White Wine Garlic Mussels

Last night I made mussels, and i had limited ingredients so i used what i could find, and the simplicity of it was so wonderful!  I took about a tablespoon of butter and melted it in a skillet then added about a tablespoon of garlic, and let it cook until fragrant, then i added white wine, and let it simmer all together, then i added the mussels and let them steam until they opened and served them just like that!  It was delicious!  sorry i didnt take a pic but im sure you can imagine it looked fabulous!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

So i know that a lot of my friends LOVE this low-carb 'pizza'.  There are lots of variety's on how to make this, but after experimenting around a little i found the way i like it with as little extra fat as possible!  I added some toppings in mine but you can change the toppings to whatever you like!

Oh and one more thing...I like thin crust pizza, so i spread mine out very thin on the pizza tray.  If you like a thicker crust don't spread it out as much and make it a smaller diameter!  

Enjoy! <3

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Yield: One 14 to 16-inch pizza (feeds 4 people)

Prep Time: 25 min Cook Time: 18 min

ingredients:

CRUST:

1 LARGE head cauliflower (about 3+ cups shredded cauliflower)

2 large eggs

1 1/2 finely shredded fat free mozzarella cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 clove garlic (or 1/2 tsp minced garlic)

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

TOPPINGS:

3/4 cup tomato or marinara sauce

1 cup crumbled low fat feta or goat cheese

3 chorizo sausages (skin removed and cooked crumbled)

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes

directions:

1.  Chop the cauliflower into smaller florrets.  Place 2-3 florrets in a food proccessor to 'rice' the cauliflower into small crumbles. Be careful not to puree. You'll need the whole cauliflower.  Place the cauliflower crumbles in a microwave safe bowl and microwave them for 8 minutes.  Do not add water.

2. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spread a little olive oil or fat free butter alternative on surface of pizza pan.  In a large bowl, mix the riced cauliflower with the remaining crust ingredients. Spread the "crust" on the prepared pan. Spray the crust lightly with nonstick spray and bake for about 15 minutes (or until golden depending on your oven). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil high.

3. Prepare the pizza: Spread the sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a slight border around the edge. Add the Chorizo crumbles and sundried tomatoes, spreading it evenly over the pizza surface.  Sprinkle the feta or goat cheese on top. Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted slightly.  (some Feta cheeses maintain their crumble shape even when melted). Cut into 8 slices and serve immediately.

Pizza is hard to pick up so it is best eaten with fork and knife

Nutritional info per serving for JUST THE CRUST- per slice

Serving Size: 1 slice (pizza cut into 8 slices)

Calories 84,

Fat 4.3g,

Sat Fat 2.6g,

Cholesterol 40.8mg,

Sodium 166mg,

Carbohydrates 4.6g,

Fiber 1.9g,

Sugar 0g,

Protein 7.1g

WW Points Plus: 2