Recipe

A Weekend in Wine Country & French Onion Casserole

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So last weekend, I FINALLY made the trip out to visit one of my good friends from college in Ithaca NY. It was a blast! Brody and her 1 year old puppy Baxter are now pretty much best friends.

This is in the heart of NY Wine Country, so of course we drank a little wine, visited a few waterfalls, and went to farmers markets. It was great just being able to catch up and playing with our pups. They were so spoiled the whole time. They had all kinds of fun on nature trails at the dog park, and just in the back yard. Little Brody was so tired that he slept the whole way home, and then for the next 2 days as well. The little guy was barely playing at the end of it, but he would not take a nap no matter how hard I tried.

Now while I was gone I wanted to leave Chuck with a hearty dish that he could eat over the weekend, and thought a casserole would be perfect. I wanted something French Onion style but aside from green bean casserole, and minimalist French onion casserole there was really nothing, and definitely nothing hearty enough to keep Mr. Meat and Potatoes satisfied for an entire weekend.

So of course I improvised.

I still wanted something meatless (generally speaking) because of this whole quest thing that I have been on to make vegetables our main focus, but I added some pasta (surprise!), and a few vegetables that I thought would go well with the flavors. These made for a pretty hearty casserole in my opinion, and considering that Chuck now wants me to make it once a week I think it was a hit.

French Onion Casserole

3-4 large onions, sliced thin (I used white & yellow)
1 tbs oil
1 tbs butter
1 tsp salt & pepper each
1tsp thyme
2 tbs flour
1 large carrot, shredded
2 cups of beef (or vegetable)broth
(1 tbs soy sauce if using vegetable broth)
1 cup frozen peas
1 ½ cups frozen French cut green beans
1 lb pasta, cooked aldente
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup shredded gruyere cheese
Sprinkle parmesan cheese

In a large thick bottomed sauce pan heat oil and butter, and layer in the onions with salt & pepper. Sauté, onions for 1-2 minutes, until the edges begin to brown, and reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally until the onions have become caramelized. Bring the heat up to medium high and stir in the thyme, carrots and flour. Continue to stir for 1-2 minutes until well blended, and deglaze with broth. Allow the broth to simmer for 3-5 minutes, while stirring and scrapping browned bits from the bottom of the pan. As the sauce begins to thicken mix in peas and green beans and cook until they have softened. In a large baking dish toss together the vegetable mixture and cooked pasta. Top with both mozzarella and gruyere cheeses, and sprinkle parmesan on top. Place in a preheated oven at 400 degrees and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve warm.

D41: Baked Chicken Risotto

By Jessica

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Since moving out, and trying to adopt a healthy lifestyle, I
have found that it helps to keep leftover shredded chicken in the freezer.
Having it on hand makes so very many meals easily through together on a whim,
or if I happen to have an unexpected guest.

That where this recipe came from. I had roasted a whole
chicken and found out that Chuck had to go out of town the whole week, and an
entire chicken to freeze is a little more than my tiny freezer can handle, so I
made some Pesto Chicken one night, and a variation of this baked
chicken risotto I saw on Giada at Home, with a few alterations of
course.

In her recipe there are a lot of additional ingredients, but
for mine I stuck with just what I had on hand, simply to avoid a trip to the
store. If you don’t have already roasted vegetable leftovers it’s not a big
deal, you can always toss in your choice of frozen veggies, or roast some up
first.

This recipe is actually great for any size family, if you
simply multiply the ingredients. Also if you wanted to make it a one pan
wonder, simply use a Dutch oven or oven safe pan from start to finish. I only
used 2 pans because I really wanted to use the single serving dishes I just
got, and I know that not everyone has a pan the right size for this sort of
thing.

Leftover Baked
Chicken Risotto

½ tbs olive oil
½ tbs butter
2 tbs onion, chopped
¼ cup Arborio rice
¼ cup cooked chicken, chopped
¼ cup roasted carrots and parsnips chopped
2-3 cups chicken broth
1-2 tbs parmesan cheese
1 tsp Fresh chopped chives for garnish

Preheat oven to 375. In a small thick bottomed pan heat oil
and butter over medium high heat. Sauté onion until it begins to turn
translucent and tender (1-2 minutes). Stir in rice and cook and additional 2-3
minutes, as the rice begins to brown. Add additional vegetables, chicken and
broth. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Pour contents into an oven
safe pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the creamy, and the rice is
nearly cooked (you still want it to be slightly firm to bite). Stir in parmesan
cheese, top with chives, and serve warm.

Pistachio Crusted Cod & Roasted Veggies

By Jessica

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I was a little apprehensive about this recipe, it was on my radar for a while before I actually made it, but we have a lot of pistachios right now. Somehow these have become a staple in our Easter baskets for my family. I really love them, but they were on sale a few weeks ago, so I have an overabundance of them and I’m looking for other ways to use them other than just eating them out of the bag. I came across this recipe in my trust ol’ Clean Eating Magazine and thought it might work out well for this task.

See I have this thing about fish. I absolutely love it, but I’m a traditionalist when it comes to its preparation, there are things that just don’t seem right to me. Fish tacos for one; I’m sure when I eventually break down and try one I will love it, but they just don’t sound appetizing to me for some reason. I don’t know I’m just a weirdo.

So if you get my drift I was terrified to make this dish, but lately I have been all about pushing my own limits in the kitchen so I did it just the same. And it wasn’t all that bad; in fact it was kind of good. I
opted not to go with the salad, because broccoli was on sale and roasted some of that up with the sweet potato. I just popped it in when the sweet potato was half way done. Can I tell you how much I loved the broccoli this way? It was great!

Pistachio-Crusted Cod
Olive oil cooking spray
1 tsp salt & pepper each
1/2 cup brown rice flower
1 large egg
1 tbs water
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, finely chopped
4 – 6oz cod fillets

Preheat oven to 425. Line a large baking sheet with foil and mist with cooking spray. Whisk egg and water in a small shallow dish. Season cod with salt and pepper, then dust with flour. quickley dip in egg, and transfer to pistachios, coating top and sides. Lightly press to ensure coverage. Place on baking sheet with coated side facing up and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and cooked through. (serves 4)

Cheaping out on take out

By Jessica

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So you will have to forgive me today. I am in able to
complete a proper post. Someone who shall remain nameless (definitely not the
little guy in the picture below) happened to chew through my computer cord, and
my lap top is dead.

I ordered a new cord but, it won’t be here for a few days. All
of my pictures and picture editing software is on there, so the only halfway
decent picture I have is of this AMAZING grilled cheese I made the other day. It’s
a pesto, bacon grilled cheese. I mean what’s not to love right.

While we are on the topic of grilled cheese did you know
that last month (April) was national grilled cheese month? I had no idea until
April 30th. That might explain my grilled cheese cravings as of
late. Some of the grilled cheese I stumbled
across were so mouthwateringly amazing I had to try them. I think I’ve
overloaded on grilled cheese lately, but to be honest it’s helped out my
wallet.

Chuck and I are trying to yet again reduce the amount that
we eat out, which is more difficult than you might imagine seeing as we are
people who love food, if I am not in the mood to cook we instantly start
thinking of restaurants. I believe I should also insert here that I have a
buffalo & bbq sauce addiction. I swear I need these flavors once a week
in order to remain balanced, and happy. Crazy much? Maybe a little.

Grilled cheese has really helped us because, they are easy, Chuck
can make them, and I can feed all of my cravings with them. Here are a few of the
grilled cheese we have had lately that have helped get me through this rough
time of penny pinching. Hopefully you can enjoy them as much as I have.

Buffalo Chicken
Grilled Cheese

2 slices whole wheat bread

½ cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 tbs low fat cream cheese

1tbs Sriracha hot sauce

1 tbs butter

¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a small bowl toss together chicken, sriracha, and cream
cheese. Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Place cheddar cheese on the
bottom slice, then cover with chicken mixture, and add top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Carmelized Onion
& Barbeque Grilled Cheese

1 tbs oil

1 large onion, sliced thin

½ tsp salt

1 tbs barbeque sauce

2 slices bread

2 pat of butter

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup shredded gruyere cheese

In a pan sauté onions with oil & salt, until they have
become caramelized, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and toss with
barbeque sauce. Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Place both cheeses on
the bottom slice, then cover with onion mixture, and add top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Pesto Bacon Grilled Cheese

2 slices of bread

2 pats of butter

1 tbs prepared pesto

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 slices provolone cheese

2-3 strips cooked bacon

Butter the outside of each piece of bread. Smear prepared
pesto on bottom slice, then stack cheese and bacon and top slice to form a
sandwich. Fry in a pan on medium heat until golden brown and the cheese is
melty.

Sneaking in the Vegetables; Mushroom & Onion Gravy

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

This week at the grocery store there were so many vegetables
that were on sale, and actually looked good! I was so excited I way over spent
on our budget, but for veggies I’m ok with it.

Having so much on hand made taking a classic and vegetizing
it a snap (your starting to like my made up words aren’t you?). Along with my
classic beef tip recipe I simply added onion, and mushroom, which also gave it
so much more flavor, and texture than just plain gravy.

Beef tips with
Mushroom & Onion Gravy

1 tbs oil

1 lb stew meat

1 medium onion, halved & sliced

8 oz cremini mushrooms

1 tsp dried thyme

½1 tsp black pepper

1 tbs flour

2 cups beef broth

Salt to taste

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat; add stew
meat and brown lightly. Add in onions and mushrooms and saut until the onions
begin to carmelize, roughly 4-5 minutes. Stir in thyme, pepper and flour, until
well blended. Deglaze with beef broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer
until the sauce has thickened, and serve. (Serves 4)

If you have a family that enjoys mushrooms slicing is
probably the best way to prepare them, however Chuck still needs some
convincing so I made sure to chop them up small, and I’m pretty sure he didn’t
even notice that they were in there. Also those that prefer thicker gravy can
just add another tablespoon of flour. That is something that is a constant
debate; should gravy be more like jello or thick soup broth? What do you think?

For the mashed potatoes I actually used another recipe from my irish cook bookd for champ, with the slight alteration of addin in a couple cloves of garlic while the potatoes boiled, and then mashing them up right along with the potatoes. You can find a similar recipe here.

Recipe

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