Category: Recipe

This is Pioneer Woman’s (Ree Drummond) French Onion soup recipe. I saw her make this on her Food Network show and checked it on her website too. My husband loves this soup. I’ve made this before and it’s a really simple, cheap kind of soup. I had everything in my pantry too (even the gruyere cheese). Her recipe called for the oven, but again this time I used my crockpot and it turned out good. I still have leftovers and we plan to finish it this week.

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter
• 4 whole Large (or 6 Medium) Yellow Onions, Halved Root To Tip, And Sliced Thin
• 1 cup (generous) Dry White Wine
• 4 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 4 cups Beef Broth
• 2 cloves Minced Garlic
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Several Thick Slices Of French Bread Or Baguette
• 5 ounces, weight (to 7 Ounces) Gruyere Cheese, Grated

 

Hello family and friends! Happy weekend! Just relaxing here at home and  currently watching 3 shows (Miss Universe 2015/Pro-Bowl/NBA). I wanted to post another recipe (Rachael Ray again!) because I really enjoyed this Short ribs dish. Short ribs are one of my favorite meat cuts (if it’s on a restaurant menu, I will most likely order it). I found this recipe on Rachael’s website. I did tweak it a bit because her original recipe called for Rigatoni pasta (my Hubs is not a big fan of this kind of pasta,so I used mashed potatoes to go with the ribs). It’s just a comfort food. And instead of cooking this in the oven (like her original recipe called for) I used my crockpot and it still turned out delicious.

Short Ribs in Red Sauce with Rigatoni (but I used mashed potato for us;I will just use the original recipe by Rachael Ray)

Ingredients

Hello family and friends! I hope you’re all are having a great day. I wanted to share this recipe (a Rachael Ray) from her Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. I’m not a big fan of her (she’s too “exag” as a host and find her annoying sometimes) but every now and then I still watch some of her reruns on the food network. I do subscribe to her magazine because I enjoy the food pictures and it’s easy to follow her recipes. This pasta recipe was delicious and will probably make this again sometime (we do eat this kind of food in moderation because of the high cals). Her original recipe called for fusilli pasta.  I have fusilli in my pantry but I prefer spaghetti, so that’s what I used instead. I also added some shiitake mushrooms because they’re my fave kind of mushroom. If you like pasta dishes,you should try this one (simple and tasty!).

Creamy Mushroom Pasta (recipe:Rachael Ray)

Ingredients (serves:4)

1 lb. fusilli                                                        1 onion,chopped

3 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. olive oil                            2 cloves garlic,chopped

1/4 cup panko                                                  3/4 cup heavy cream

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced                 1/2 cup grated Parmesan

2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage                            2 tbsp. white wine

 

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add the fusilli;cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.

2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet,heat 1 tsp.oil over medium-high. Add the panko and toast,stirring, until golden, 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.

3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over medium-high. Add the mushrooms and sage. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until browned, 5 minutes. Transfer to another plate. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook the onion and garlic in the remaining 1 tbsp oil, stirring, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes;season.

4. Add the mushrooms,fusilli,reserved pasta cooking water,cream,parmesan and wine to the large skillet. Cook over medium, stirring often, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes;season. Divide among the plates;top with the panko.

 

Hello Friends! Hope you’re having a good weekend, we just saw the Seahawks beat the Panthers in NFC playoffs game minutes ago. So Seattle is pretty happy right now! Anyways, I wanted to share the Cornish Game recipe I used for our NYE dinner because it was really tasty and so simple. I will definitely put this in my recipe binder for future use. I cut the recipe in half because it was just me and the Hubs.

Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

4 Cornish Game Hens

salt and pepper to taste

1 lemon,quartered

4 springs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons olive oil

24 cloves garlic

1/3 cup white wine

1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth

4 fresh spring rosemary for garnish

Directions:

• 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
  2. Rub hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Lightly season hens with salt and pepper. Place 1 lemon wedge and 1 sprig rosemary in cavity of each hen. Arrange in a large, heavy roasting pan, and arrange garlic cloves around hens. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
  3. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a mixing bowl, whisk together wine, chicken broth, and remaining 2 tablespoons of oil; pour over hens. Continue roasting about 25 minutes longer, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear. Baste with pan juices every 10 minutes.
  4. Transfer hens to a platter, pouring any cavity juices into the roasting pan. Tent hens with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices and garlic cloves to a medium saucepan and boil until liquids reduce to a sauce consistency, about 6 minutes. Cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce and garlic around hens. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, and serve.

 

 

We had this Clam  dish a couple of weeks ago, and my Hubs, Zach, cooked this for us. Although I did the prep thing, like cleaning the clams (you have to make sure you really clean the clams because who wants “sandy” broth to dip their bread in?), Zach is the one who makes this for us. I just assume that whenever we have steamed clams, he’s cooking. This is such a simple and quick recipe, I think that’s why he doesn’t mind it! Anyways, Hubs tweaked this recipe by Robert Irvine from food network.  Hubs found some bargain priced moscato de’ asti that we paired with our meal!

Steamed Clams (recipe:Robert Irvine)

6 dozen fresh clams (littlenecks or middlenecks, your choice)
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup white wine
2 cups clam juice or water
Chopped parsley leaves
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

Directions:

Wash the clams thoroughly and remove any blemishes. They should have no odor. Heat oil in a large saucepan (with a cover) over medium heat and cook garlic and onion until translucent. Add the wine and let cook for a couple of minutes to combine the flavors. Add the clams and clam juice (or water) and cover the pan for about 10 minutes until the clams open. Discard any clams that do not open and remove clams to serving bowls. Season the juices in the pan with salt and pepper to make a sauce. Pour the sauce and melted butter over the clams.

 

I made this brûlée last week because it’s been a while since I’ve made cream brûlée and “saffron” sounded so decadent to me that day! This recipe was just OK for me, I still prefer the Vanilla cream brûlée, I’m still glad I tried the recipe though! My Hubs liked it and so did my Father In law, so maybe I will make this next time for them.

Saffron Brûlée (recipe: Sara Lewis)

Ingredients: (serves 6)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup light cream

1/2 teaspoon saffron threads

8 egg yolks

1/4 cup superfine sugar

1/4 cup superfine sugar,to finish

 

Procedure:

1. Pour the heavy and light creams into a saucepan, add the saffron threads, and slowly bring almost to a boil. Take off the heat and allow to stand for 15 minutes for the flavor to develop.

2. Use a fork to mix together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Reheat the cream, then gradually mix it into the yolks, stirring continuously.

3. Place 6 heatproof ramekins or custard cups in a roasting pan, then strain the custard into them. Pour warm water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, until the custards are just set with a slight softness at the center.

4. Leave the dishes to cool in the water, then lift them out and transfer to the refrigerator for 3-4 hours to chill well. About 20-30 minutes before serving, sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar. Caramelize with a blowtorch, then leave at room temperature until ready to serve.

Nothing says Fall like Pumpkin Spice Latte! It’s one of Starbucks famous fall drinks. I was looking forward to drinking this despite all of the information going around online about the ingredients of the famous starbucks pumpkin latte (how it doesn’t contain pumpkin!). I’ll still drink it, moderation is key! So when I was browsing Pinterest a couple of nights ago, I saw this recipe and tried it the next day because I checked our pantry and we had all of the ingredients. It was so easy and we really liked the result, though we had to add more sugar because my hubs and I prefer our drinks “sweeter”. I will definitely make this again for sure!

Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte (recipe from Young Wife’s Guide)

I made this Pork Belly Humba a couple of weeks ago and I just wanted to share this because it’s really easy and such a hearty filipino dish. It’s similar to the famous adobo (cooking style) but the major difference is the flavor because of the pineapple juice. One of my favorite sites to follow for Filipino dishes is the Panlasang Pinoy site. The directions are simple, and he also has a video so it’s easy to see and follow the procedures. Although I “adjusted” the recipe (I only put 1 bay leave;no banana blossom) because my Hubs doesn’t like bay leaves, and seasoned it to my liking (I added lots of pepper). It turned out great! I only wish I had doubled the recipe so I could have extra humba in my freezer. Oh well, I can always go to the asian market and get all the stuff I need to make this dish again.

Humba Recipe (www.panlasangpinoy.com)

Ingredients

2 lbs pork belly
1 cup Pineapple juice
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons salted black beans
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
½ cup dried banana blossoms
2 pieces dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole peppercorn

Cooking Procedure:

Heat the cooking pot then brown the pork belly.
Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions are soft.
Put-in the soy sauce, peppercorn, bay leaves.
Pour-in the pineapple juice and let boil. Simmer until the pork is tender (add water as needed).
Add the vinegar and wait for the mixture to re-boil. Simmer for 3 minutes.
Spoon-in the salted black beans and brown sugar then simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the dried banana blossoms and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes.
Transfer to a serving plate and serve. Share and enjoy!
Number of servings (yield): 6

We went to the Asian Market last Sunday after church and they had non-frozen ducks available. So Hubs and I decided we’d try preparing it this week. Growing up in the Philippines, I don’t think I ever had duck, but since living here in the States and being with my foodie husband I’ve had it a couple of times in restaurants but never at home. It’s just so intimidating and looks like such a difficult thing to prepare. But with the help of youtube and blogs, I’ve realized that it’s preparation is similar to that of a chicken! I’ve prepared roast chicken countless times already so I was thinking why not try duck. If it will not turn out good,there goes my $16 and I can try it again!  We really enjoyed this and we will definitely be doing duck at least once a month!  The recipe I followed: Duck Recipe.