Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

 

 Ingredients

1. 1 pound asparagus
2. 1 tablespoon olive oil
3. 2 teaspoons salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
5. 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6. 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
7. 1 pound penne
8. 1/4 pound butter, cut into pieces
9. 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1. Heat the oven to 400°. Snap the tough ends off the asparagus and discard them. Cut the spears into 1-inch pieces. Put the asparagus on a baking sheet and toss with the oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until 3 tablespoons remain. Stir in the brown sugar and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat.
3. Cook the penne in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just done, about 13 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the butter, vinegar, asparagus, Parmesan, and the remaining 1 3/4 teaspoons salt. Serve with additional Parmesan.

Notes Variations:
• Penne with Roasted Broccoli and Balsamic Butter When asparagus is not in season, cut 1 pound of broccoli into small spears for roasting. Toss them with 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and roast for about 15 minutes. Continue with step 2.
• Penne with Roasted Vegetables, Toasted Nuts, and Balsamic Butter Toss in 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts, hazelnuts, or walnuts at the end with either asparagus or broccoli.


Ref: Food and Wine via Pinterest

Sea Themed Cupcakes

Just because I loved them.... :) It was my SCUBA dive instructors birthday, so I made these fun little decorated cupcakes for him. :)

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

12-16 jumbo pasta shells
water for boiling pasta
4oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese + 1/4 cup for topping
3 tablespoons prepared pesto (homemade or store bought)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot over high heat, boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking when the dish is baked. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts.

Ref: Joelens Blogspot via Pinterest

Ribs

Ingredients

• 2 pounds pork baby back ribs
• 1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Rays)

Directions

1. Tear off 4 pieces of aluminum foil big enough to enclose each portion of ribs. Spray each piece of foil with vegetable cooking spray. I used my roasting pan lined with foil instead so the juices wouldn’t spill out, sprayed with oil. I used the below rub on the ribs and marinated overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
3. Bake ribs wrapped tightly in the foil at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 2 1/2 hours. Remove top foil and brush BBQ sauce on and broil for 15 min

Prepping the ribs with the rubbing spices!

Rubbing Spice:

1/4c. brown sugar, 1 1/2 Tbsp. paprika, 1 Tbsp. kosher salt, 1 1/2 Tbsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1/4-1/2 tsp. cayenne red pepper. (Definitely remove the back membrane before rubbing spices on)

the cooked ribs in all their sticky delicious goodness!

Ref: Allrecipes.com


This recipe is one of my favorites for entertaining and the response I got last night after the first bite was "Right on Jami, RIGHT ON". LOL This rib recipe is incredible, the meat falls right off the bone. A lot of reviewers on allrecipes didn't feel this qualified for a "recipe" because you're supposed to just use your favorite BBQ sauce. But those reviewers must not have ever had dried out ribs before. Cooking is key with these babies. But the rib rub I found hunting through the 1000+ reviews is what MAKES this recipe, HOLY COW. Try it. It's super easy, something you can prep the night before with the rib rub so all you have to do is pop it in the oven the next day so you can enjoy the day with your guests. I kept the sides super simple too. Tossed some asparagus with olive oil and TJ's 21 seasoning salute (I heart that stuff!!) and threw it on the grill with a salad on the side. 

Chipotle Chili

Ingredients

• 1 (1.3 lb) package of ground turkey or beef (I used 2 pounds of ground turkey. I like it meaty...hehe)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 Tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can of black beans (I used two cans. I like black beans)
• 3/4 cup refried black or pinto beans (or use whole can for thicker chili, I did)
• 1/2 cup Chipotle salsa (I added more salsa since I had more meat than originally called for)
• 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays and closer to 1/2 cup)
• sour cream (optional) (duh)
• shredded cheese (optional) (double duh)

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook onions 5 min. Add ground turkey and cook until brown, breaking it up as it cooks. Add ground cumin and cook 1 min longer.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Stir in refried beans until broken up and dissolved

Ohhh Sweet Baby Ray's! (Again note ridiculous amount of recipes I need to try marked by green tags)

3. When chili comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 min

4. Garnish with cheese and sour cream

Ref: Trader Joe's Cooking Companion

Delicious, delicious, DELICIOUS. Chili always makes me nervous because everyone has that distinct memory of "mom style" home cooking chili that can never be replicated. Well. This will be mine. Minus the mom thing for now since the only kids I have are 4 legged furballs. :D Now here's what I tweaked. I sauteed the onions with some chopped garlic because its only right and I used two packages of ground turkey instead of one. I knew Mike would prefer more meat in his chili. I added an additional can of black beans because it looked like it needed it. And I also decided it needed corn and l magically had a bag in the freezer. I love corn. I up'd the amount of salsa and BBQ sauce because of the amount of meat I put in. I'm always weirded out when there's not any seasonings really. Cumin? Just cumin? Really? YES really. I forced myself to stick to the recipe in that regard and didn't add salt and pepper and what ever else on my spice rack and I'm so proud of myself because it really is that delicious without it. I topped it off with cheese and a dollop of sour cream when served and it was uh-maze-ing. If I was scuba diving, there would be a fin high in order. I'm just saying.

Beef Stew

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds of beef stew meat or beef chuck cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup of flour
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of beef broth
• 1/4 cup red wine (yes!!!!!!)
• 2 tsp steak sauce (I used A1 sauce)
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme or 2 tsp of dried thyme
• 1 pound small potatoes (I used small red potatoes)
• 2 carrots (I used 4 because I love carrots in stews!)
• 1 small onion cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 cups of green beans (I forgot them, oops, but I'm sure they would have been great! hehe)
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley (Since my black thumb killed my parsley plant, I went without, LOL)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Lightly salt meat and dredge in flour, shaking off excess (omit flour for gluten-free recipe). Sear meat in hot oil until browned, about 1 minute per side. Browning meat seals in juices, for more tender meat. Don't overcrowd the pot or you'll steam rather than brown the meat. Cook in 2-3 batches.

I added TJ's 21 seasoning Salute to the flour before dredging

2. Return seared meat to pot. Add remaining ingredients (except green beans and parsley) and stir. When liquid is boiling, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours. If you prefer to bake, place covered pot in oven for 1.5-2 hours, making sure to use an oven-proof pot.

3. Add green beans during last 15 minutes of cooking to preserve crispness. For softer green beans, add during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

4. Remove from heat and remove bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Sprinkle on fresh parsley right before serving.

See all those green tags on my TJ cookbook? Eventually stopped marking pages because I want to make everything. haha

Ref: Cooking with Trader Joe's Cookbook Companion

First recipe out of my Trader Joe's cookbook companion and it was UH-MAZE-ING. Nice thick hearty stew full of flavor and hits the spot after a long day on a chilly night. Few things I tweaked because you all know how well I listen and follow directions... hehe. Dredging the beef through just flour seemed boring to me so I added the Trader Joe's 21 seasoning Salute blend to the flour to coat the meat. The seasoning just smelled so good! I totally smoked out the kitchen searing the meat... Maybe I'll get that kitchen remodel sooner than later with a new fan vent. :D It was worth it though in the end and nothing a few table fans couldn't remedy. :) I was of course, super excited about the red wine ingredient. Not that I need an excuse to open a bottle of wine, but its just more fun. :D The only other thing I added was a a little cornstarch diluted in water at the end to thicken up the sauce. Probably about a teaspoon of cornstarch and 3 teaspoons of water. No idea where I got that combo, I just winged it. :) I taste tested it from there adding a little salt and pepper and 21 seasonings salute till I was happy with it. Didn't need much, just a little bit

I'm dedicated this year to taking pictures as I go so enjoy. Now that I Mike and I live together I'm finally publicly expressing my dislike for his ugly chili pepper dish set you see in the photos and I'm currently looking for new pretty ones. I'll keep you posted. :)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Whole Living

 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 2 red Bartlett pears, cored and cut into wedges
• 6 shallots, quartered
• 10 fresh thy me sprigs
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On two large rimmed baking sheets, toss Brussels sprouts, pears, shallots, thyme, and oil; season with salt and pepper.
   
2. Roast until Brussels sprouts are tender and browned, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Toss with lemon juice and serve warm.
   
   
   Ref: Whole Living
   
   
   I made this as my side to the quinoa crusted chicken breasts and I LOVED it. Amy never had brussel sprouts before and Mike had previously expressed his dislike for them earlier but I made them anyway. And you know what? They both liked it! I'll admit I also threw in some roasted red potatoes to this mix just in case my brussel sprout rebellion backfired. Since I didn't have thyme on hand I used my Herbs de Provence spices which has thyme in it. :D But the pears really gave it that something extra, that sweet to the bitter taste of the brussel sprouts. It was so good!