Cooking in Pajamas

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms With A Kick

GwennW — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:49:00 EDT

I always see recipes for stuffed mushrooms around the holidays or Super Bowl. They make great appetizers and finger foods. Plus there are endless varieties of fillings you can make. Spinach and cheese is pretty classic and always awesome. Oddly enough, I rarely make them on special occasions. I prepare them as a side dish to a weeknight meal. Sometimes, they are my whole dinner. There are always leftovers and I love having them for lunch the next day or as a mid-afternoon snack. They are filling and packed with nutrition. You can even prepare them a day in advance and store the uncooked stuffed mushrooms in the refrigerator. When ready to eat them, pop them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms With A Kick.....click here for recipe.

Pine Nut Tart

GwennW — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:31:49 EDT

I had a piece of Pine Nut Tart at KR Steak Bar a few weeks ago and have not been able to get it off my mind. A Pine Nut Tart (or Pie) is the Italian, sophisticated cousin of a traditional pecan pie. The pine nuts are creamy and have a mildly sweet, nutty flavor. Pine nuts are naturally high in monounsaturated fat which give them an incredible buttery texture. It makes for a decadent and complex pie that everyone will rave over. I like to serve it at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla or coffee ice cream.

Click here for the recipe.

Baked Artichokes With Gorgonzola and Herbs

GwennW — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 17:56:50 EDT

Artichokes are officially in season in early spring. Once I start to see artichokes in the stores, I start to excited. Many people are reluctant to purchase fresh artichokes because it can be intimidating to prepare and cook it Here is a great tutorial. Plan on steaming one artichoke as a practice. It will take the pressure off when you are planning on preparing it for your family and friends.

This particular dish from Giada De Laurentiis is a real showstopper. Once you get over your initial fear of prepping fresh artichokes, the dish is super easy. You start off by doing a basic trimming and steaming of the artichoke. Then you prepare a simple filling and remove the choke. Once the choke is removed you scoop the filling into the center, sprinkle on herbed bread crumbs and bake.

Baked Artichioke With Gorgonzola and Herbs
recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Salt

4 artichokes

3 lemons, plus 1 lemon

10 ounces mild Gorgonzola cheese, room temperature

2 tablespoons cream

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus 1 tablespoon

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons bread crumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Trim the artichokes by cutting off the top 1-inch or so. Cut the stem close to the base of the artichoke so the artichoke can sit up straight, and remove some of the bottom leaves. Using kitchen shears, trim the sharp points off of any remaining outer leaves. Add the artichokes to the boiling water. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice into the boiling water. Toss in the lemons. Cook the artichokes until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the artichokes and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl stir together the Gorgonzola, cream, thyme, 2 teaspoons parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper. In another small bowl stir together the bread crumbs and remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the center choke of the artichokes using a small spoon. Stuff the cheese mixture into the center of the artichokes. Place the artichokes into a baking dish. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of the artichokes. Drizzle the tops of the artichokes with olive oil. Bake until the artichokes are heated through, the cheese is melted, and the bread crumbs are crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer the artichokes to a serving dish and serve.

Golden Chocolate Chip Muffins

GwennW — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 11:11:36 EDT

Wow..it has been a month since my last post. Time flys by so fast.

I haven't been in the kitchen much in the past month. First, my kitchen was closed while we were painting it. Then, I had some minor surgery, and couldn't do too much in the kitchen. This week, I decided to slowly venture back into the kitchen. I began with some simple and easy things. I made a coffee cake over the weekend (total cheat...I used a base of yellow cake mix and vanilla instant pudding), a simple roast chicken dinner last night, and this morning I was craving chocolate chip muffins....which are one of my favorite foods.

Since I couldn't find my usual recipe (I need to organize my recipes better), I went to my favorite source for baking recipes, King Arthur Flour. That is where I found this muffin recipe. Bonus: it is made with whole grain flour! I had purchased King Arthur Organic White Whole Wheat Flour at Publix a few weeks ago, and hadn't yet tried it. This recipe uses the White Whole Wheat Flour, but you would never guess they are whole grain muffins.

Golden Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 c. or 4 oz. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
2 c. King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour * (see note below)
2 c. chocolate chips
coarse or raw sugar to sprinkle on top of muffins

Preheat oven to 350 F (or 325 F on convection). Lightly grease a standard size muffin pan or line with muffin cups and grease the muffin cup.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs then stir in the milk. Mix in the flour and chocolate chips (do not overmix, or your muffins will be tough and dense).

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. The recipe makes 12 muffins, so the cups will be very full. Sprinkle each muffin with a little coarse sugar. Bake 30 minutes (25 on convection), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with no crumbs clinging to it (a little chocolate is OK).

* NOTE: King Arthur's Unbleached White Whole Flour is milled from hard white spring wheat, rather than the traditional red wheat. Use it exactly as you would regular whole wheat flour. It has the same nutritional content as regular whole wheat, but it is milder in flavor and lighter in color.

Whole grains in baking need more moisture and more time, to allow the sharp edges of the bran to absorb moisture, which improves baking characteristics. When first using this flour in one of your recipes thay calls for white flour, try substituting it for 1/3 of the white flour in your recipe; see how you like the results. If you want to increase the whole grain flour in your recipe, add another tablespoon or so of liquid to your dough or batter, and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes before baking for best results.

Use it in brownies, cookies, cupcakes, sturdy cakes, pies, bread and pizza dough.

Coconut Meringue Cookies

GwennW — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:59:01 EST

How could you not love meringues? Let's look at the facts.

They are quick and easy to make. You can get two trays of these cookies in the oven in about 10 minutes. The only special equipment needed is a hand held mixer. I like to pipe the cookies onto the baking sheets with a pastry bag, but a regular plastic bag with a corner clipped off works just as well. When I am feeling really lazy, I just use a teaspoon and dollop the meringue onto the sheet.

An entire batch costs about $1.50 to make. Look at the ingredients. Four eggs, less than a cup of sugar.... These cookies definitely do not break the bank.

They only have 10-15 calories per cookie. I won't go as far as to say they are healthy, because they have a decent amount of sugar. But when you are just craving cookies, and nothing else will satisfy you, these aren't too bad.

There are an endless variety of ways to flavor them. I love this version made with coconut, but these are your cookies, so flavor them like you want. Replace the coconut with any flavoring, or just make them plain. Some ideas to individualize the meringues:

add in any flavor extract....peppermint, almond, lemon, banana...
sprinkle the top with toasted nuts....almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, even pine nuts
add in mini chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, crushed peppermint candies, sprinkles, cocoa powder, a few teaspoons of Jello powder
add in a few drops of food coloring to make beautiful, pastel colored cookies

Coconut Meringue Cookies

4 Egg Whites
2/3 cup of Superfine Sugar *
½ tsp of Cream of Tartar
¼ tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract
Shredded Coconut (1/2 cup - ⅔ cup)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl with a hand held electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they become a little frothy, add the cream of tartar and salt and mix it in until combined.

Slowly add the sugar and beat the mixture until the egg whites become thick and glossy and the sugar has dissolved.

Spoon mixture into a plastic bag and squeeze out most of the air. Cut off one small corner of the bag and pipe cookie-sized dollops of meringue on to cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart. (If done correctly, the cookies will stay in those exact shapes when finished.)

Sprinkle the top with some coconut and bake them for 1 hour and 15 minutes making sure to rotate the baking sheets half way through baking. Turn the oven off and let them cool and dry out with the oven door shut for 3 hours.

Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple weeks!

*To make Superfine Sugar, run regular white sugar in a food processor for two minutes.

The Best Roasted Broccoli

GwennW — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 06:54:45 EST

This is the recipe that will get your kids to eat their broccoli. When I make broccoli this way...roasted at a high heat and flavored with lemon, garlic and Parmesan....it is rare to have any leftover. Seriously...everyone loves this (except my son, who hates lemon).

I suggest you double or triple the recipe, because once you have a batch of this awesome roasted broccol, you will have a ton of options to use up the leftovers. Serve on its own for a delicious side dish. Use the chilled leftovers in a salad or toss with leftover roasted chicken. Serve over a bed of whole wheat pasta, brown rice or quinoa for a healthy lunch or vegetarian supper. Use it in a frittata, omelette or quiche. How about stuffed into a pita with crumbled feta and tomatoes? Use it to top a baked potato. I could go on and on. Get creative and have fun with it.

The Best Roasted Broccoli

4-5 # broccoli, cut into large florets
7 T. olive oil, divided
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 lemon
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 425F.

Place the broccoli florets and garlic slices on a large baking pan (cover pan with foil to save time on clean-up). Drizzle 5 T. olive oil over broccoli and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and zest the entire lemon over the broccoli. Then squeeze the juice from the lemon over the broccoli and drizzle with remaining 2 T. olive oil. Top with Parmesan cheese and nuts. Serve hot.

One Bowl Brownies

GwennW — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:48:38 EST

There is nothing I hate more than cleaning pots and pans. So, when I find a recipe that can be made in one pot or one bowl, AND it is delicious, I feel like I have struck culinary gold.

These brownies can be made using only one microwavable bowl, a spatula and a baking pan. Using only six ingredients, you can have moist, tender and chewy brownies in less than 45 minutes from start to finish. Once you make these brownies, you will never again make brownies from a mix.

One Bowl Brownies

4 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Microwave chocolate and butter or margarine in large bowl at HIGH for 2 minutes or until butter or margarine is melted.
Stir until chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts.
Spread in greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake for 35 minutes (do not overbake).

Enchilada Casserole

GwennW — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:38:06 EST

I make this casserole when I am in the mood for enchiladas, but do not have the time or patience to roll them out. Or I make it when I have some free time, because it freezes beautifully. It is delicious, filling and healthy. I usually make it with lean ground beef, but you can substitute almost anything for the protein like leftover chicken or shrimp. My favorite vegetarain substitution is brown rice which makes a wonderful bean and rice enchilada casserole (add in an extra can of beans to up the protein and fiber content).

It is a foolproof recipe and everyone will love it!

Enchilada Casserole

1 large onion, chopped
1 # lean ground beef, ground turkey or ground chicken
2 1/2 cups salsa
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
6 whole wheat tortillas (8 inches) or corn tortillas
1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (I like Trader Joe’s Fire Roasted Corn)
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream, plus extra for serving
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

In a large skillet, begin to cook the onion over medium heat . After the onions begin to soften (about 5 minutes) add in the meat. Stir and cook until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.

Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 9 X 13 baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a whole wheat or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.

Top the casserole with as little or as much grated cheese as you want.

Cover with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly.

Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro.

5 Ingredient Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies

GwennW — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:06:17 EST

Craving something chewy and chocolately? Yeah...me too. Whip up a batch of these flourless dark chocolate cookies. The flour has been replaced with whipped egg whites, which give the cookies a light and chewy texture. No one would ever guess that there is no flour in these cookies, nor would anyone guess that each cookie has only 72 calories. In addition, look how gorgeous they are. Perfect for a holiday cookie swap, Passover or a bake sale.

Flourless Dark Chocolate Cookies

Makes about 24 cookies
Each cookie is approx. 72 calories

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (about 9 ounces)
3 large egg whites, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar, divided (plus 1/2 cup for cookie coating)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 large baking sheets with nonstick spray. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips in glass bowl in microwave, stirring twice, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.
Using electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl to soft peaks. Gradually beat in 1 (I halved the sugar here) cup sugar. Continue beating until mixture resembles soft marshmallow cream.

Whisk 1 cup sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into meringue
Mix lukewarm chocolate mixture and 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dough will become very stiff).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in bowl. Roll 1 rounded tablespoon dough into ball; roll in sugar, coating thickly. Place on prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake until puffed and tops crack, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on rack 10 minutes.

Transfer to rack, cool.

Baked Honey Sriracha Wings

GwennW — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:55:17 EST

Superbowl Sunday is one of my favorite food holidays. If I could pick any foods in the world to eat (hold the nutritional consequences), it would always be greasy bar food. Pizza, nachos, potato skins, onion rings, truffle fries (I guess I go to some fancy sport bars), mozarella sticks, chicken fingers and, of course, wings. Needless to say, my doctor put the kibosh on that kind of eating. Something about cholesterol, triglycerides, LDLs and HDL's, weight gain, blah, blah, blah.

So what's a girl with low brow taste to do? Come up with her own versions of bar foods that are easy enough to be made at home and are healthy enough to eat whenever the craving strikes. Chicken wings are perfect for this recipe make-over, primarily because baked chicken wings are just as tasty, usually even tastier, than it's fried counterpart. In addition, you can easily swap out any chicken part for the wings to slim down the calories even more. My favorite cut of chicken to use in this recipe is bone-in, skinless chicken thighs. Thighs have all the flavor of the wing, but the pieces are larger, which makes for a better main course dinner.

Baked Honey Sriracha Wings

2 lbs chicken wings
1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup Sriracha
1/4 cup Honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lay out the chicken wings on a baking sheet covered in parchment and completely cover with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the wings are nice and crispy. At this point you could eat them just like this or add any type of seasoning.

While the wings are cooking, add the butter to a small sauce pan until melted. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
Add the Sriarcha, honey, soy sauce, and lime juice and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once the wings are finished, gently remove them from the pan and toss with the sauce.