These appetizers are actually from one of our Bachelor watch parties in February, but I am just now getting around to putting them on the blog. This honey-tomato bruschetta with ricotta from Food & Wine and these rosemary roasted cashews were FANTASTIC! Seriously, I would plan a party just so I could make these again. We've actually made the nuts a few times since - it's impossible to stop eating them once you start!
We had friends over on Saturday to watch basketball (and watch our brackets implode) while we munched on these layered pork quesadillas from Tyler Florence. These are a fun variation on a typical quesadilla because it uses pork tenderloin that is marinated in a DELICIOUS rub. The recipe calls for blue cheese, but I subbed monterey jack in half of mine because I'm not a fan of blue cheese. Yum!!
As expected, the spring weather didn't last long and it has cooled off around here again. It is perfect weather for soup, so we made this chicken verde stew from Cooking Light. Next time we make this I'll add a jalapeno for some extra spice, but the tomatillo sauce is fantastic, and we licked our bowls clean!
Since the Bachelor finale was an hour longer than usual, I made this easy pimiento cheese to accompany my usual sweet snack. This recipe has been on my to-make list for a few weeks - she had me at pepperjack cheese, one of my favorites! I made a pimiento cheese recipe from Southern Living earlier this year, but Robert and I agreed that we prefer this version- we like the spicier cheese and no nuts. I served it with Ritz crackers, but it would make a great sandwich, too!
Monday night was the big Bachelor finale, and I made these chocolate, peanut butter & marshmallow cookies for our watch party. These were gooey, fudgy bites of deliciousness! They were easy to make and got rave reviews from the group.
Dinner tonight was Brazilian feijoada, a pork and black beans stew. This is a slow-cooker recipe, which makes it a winner in my book, although it does take a bit of prep before you can just throw everything in for the long simmer. We garnished ours with orange slices, scallions, and hot sauce, and served it over rice. Expectations were high for this dish because I had to go to three different grocery stores to gather all of the ingredients (helpful hint: Fresh Market has beef short ribs every day, while Whole Foods only has them occasionally. In fact, I suggest calling around and finding a store that carries both pork shoulder AND the ribs before you venture out). Also, I kept an eye on it and added extra broth throughout the day when it looked too dry. Anyway, despite yesterday's frustration of hunting down those ribs, I licked my bowl clean and smacked my lips on this one. Robert nicknamed it Meat Heaven, so I think he'll be requesting this again.
Dinner tonight was a taste of India: bombay sloppy joes and apple-lime-peanut slaw, both from Aarti Sequeria of Food Network fame. From the smell of the sauce simmering on the stove, I knew we were going to like this - and our dinner guests walked in the door and immediately commented on how good everything smelled. The ingredients were easy to find, with the exception of Garam Masala, which I didn't see at Kroger, but bought from the bulk bin at Whole Foods (which is even better, because I just bought what I needed for these recipes vs a whole jar). And my sister who doesn't care for slaw (or "salad", as she insisted on calling it), went back for seconds. These are a fun way to combine Indian flavors with familiar American dishes!
We made this slow-cooker Italian hand-cut steak chili recipe from Rachael Ray this week, and we finished it in record time. Robert loves chili with steak vs ground beef, so I knew this would be a hit with him. The pancetta is a nice touch, and definitely use the optional garnishes - we did fontina cheese, onion, and pepperoncinis. Delicious!!!
We made french onion grilled cheese sandwiches from Rachael Ray last week. They are simple to make, as long as you're patient enough to let your onions caramelize (20 minutes or so). I made a few substitutions based on what we had on hand: brie cheese instead of camembert, sourdough bread instead of regular white, and fontina cheese instead of gruyere. Yum!
We took dinner this week to friends who have a new baby: on the menu was a repeat of chicken parmesan with pepperoni, but with the addition of these cheese straws from Ina Garten. Oh my. So simple, yet SO delicous! I mean, puff pastry paired with cheese is a no-brainer, right?!
My notoriously picky toddler has hummus on her approved foods list, so I tried this recipe from Cooking Light made with black beans. If I told her it was black beans she wouldn't have touched it, but hummus was the magic word. Simple to make, and everyone loved it- young and old!
