I’m reposting this June post in honor of the Carnival of Recipes. Anne-Marie at A Readable Feast is hosting this coming week and her theme is “tried-and-true kid-tested and kid-approved recipes” While we have many kid-friendly recipes this one has been the biggest on going hit.

June 8, 2007-
Tonight the kids and I came across a new favorite recipe:

Fried Ravioli Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis
See this recipe on air Thursday Jun. 14 at 1:30 PM ET/PT.
Show: Everyday Italian
Episode: Italian Street Food

Olive oil, for frying
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups Italian-style bread crumbs
1 box store-bought cheese ravioli (about 24 ravioli)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated, for dipping

Pour enough olive oil into a large frying pan to reach a depth of 2 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 325 degrees F.
While the oil is heating, put the buttermilk and the bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls. Working in batches, dip ravioli in buttermilk to coat completely. Allow the excess buttermilk to drip back into the bowl. Dredge ravioli in the bread crumbs. Place the ravioli on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining ravioli.

When the oil is hot, fry the ravioli in batches, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried ravioli to paper towels to drain.

Sprinkle the fried ravioli with Parmesan and serve with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce for dipping.

The raviolis got thumbs up all around. Except from Kaleb, poor little guy, it was his idea to make them but with a 103 degree fever he just didn’t feel up to eating. I promised to make some more later.

These were quick and easy, although not very healthy…I was thinking of coming up with a great marinara and a pesto cream sauce and making this my signiture contribution to all the holiday parties next year. MMMMM

While we’re talking about store bought raviolis I thought I’d give them a little plug. My kids love them! We buy the Great Value Frozen variaty from Wal*Mart. I’ve bought more expensive brands but this is the one the kids like the best. A bag costs around 2 bucks and they take only 3 minutes to boil up. We use them in a multitude of ways, topping them with anything from homemade marinara, roasted garlic mayo, pesto, or alfredo. We even use them in place of lasagna noodles and ricotta to make a speedy mock lasagna. Simply boil them up and layer them with your meat or veggie sauce. You’ve already got the cheese and noodles so all you have to do is top it off with a bit more cheese and put it under the broiler till it looks golden and bubbly. WhaLa! Lasagna in less than 30 minutes. If we’ve got more time to bake it I do like to add a little more cheesy goodness to the mix. Rarely can you have to much cheesy goodness you know.

(Yes, I did get the idea from Racheal Ray of 30 minute meals. She uses this techique in multiple recipes. The first I tried was a creamy spinach version with lemon and thyme which is no longer available online but here are two still listed on her site: Ravioli Lasagna, Ravioli Vegetable Lasagna

Delicious!

Savory Gorgonzola Spread

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
4 oz Crumbled Gorgonzola Cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped chives
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage

Mix till blended.
Enjoy with yummy whole grain crackers, crunchy pita chips, garlic toast or toasted bagels.

After a trip to town I came home craving something savory, I pinched some herbs from the front yard and mixed up a this fabulous spread. YUMMO! At first I thought I’d invented a fabulous new recipe, until just now when I found quite a few similar recipes online. Oh well, great minds think a like, right? Mine was the only one with sage though…I think I’ll go have some more.

Julie at Paging Polly Prissypants has this weeks Carnival of the Recipes up. In search for quick and easy fare, she came up with quite a few…here are the ones that stood out to me.

Riannan shared a fabulous Rigatoni with Brie, Grape Tomatoes, Olives and Basil. Can’t wait to try that one! Except for maybe the olives, I’m not much of an olive girl…

We’ve gotta try out the Mushrooms a la creme next time we grill burgers.

Another soon to be favorite came from KeeWee’s Corner, I can’t wait to try the gooey lemony goodness that is sure to come with KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF SUPER EASY LEMON CAKE

There were quite a few good submissions this week, another great one was from Amanda at Eat…and be Merry. She shared a great story and recipe for Blueberry Muffins

Last week Revka at The Porch Light had a lot of great Carnival offerings as well. Her theme was Italian and I’ve already tried some of the great recipes.

My favorite find in last weeks carnival was more of an inspiration than the actual recipe. I’ve used The Common Room’s Basil Walnut Mayonnase in various ways. First I substituted toasted pecans for the walnuts added a bit of milk and extra virgin olive oil and made a Fabulous salad dressing. I mean FABULOUS! And good for you too, I used a light mayo so it was quite healthy. After making that dressing I was reminded of how simple it is to make a fresh dressing for each salad so I’ve been making all kinds of delicious concoctions.
Later I made the Mayonnaise recipe just as directed but served it over some tasty chicken breasts. The kids loved that one too. I look forward to trying it on a pasta salad like she did. I think it would make a great addition to any potluck. Yum.

With the theme of Italian there are so many recipes I’ve got to try from last week. One of them being the Spinach, Mushroom & Four Cheese Lasagna from Everything and Nothing. Yum! Let me know if you find any good one’s I’ve missed.

Next week will be hosted over at Trinity Prep School with an international theme. Submit your Recipe and join the party.

“Stoup” is a word created used by Rachael Ray, it’s thicker than a soup and thinner than a stew therefore a “stoup”
This stoup got a definite thumbs up from the adults in the family. I gave it a high 8 thanks to its quick and easy preparation. It’s also very healthy and quite tasty. I of course had to modify the recipe a bit due to lack of ingredients but it still turned out great. I didn’t have carrots so I substituted more sweet potato. I exchanged extra chicken stock for the white wine and I left out the bay leaf simply because I didn’t have one. In hindsight I would add only one chipotle chili. The stoup wasn’t too hot to handle but it may have been a bit more comfortable with one less chili.

Mom gave the Stoup an 8 she also thought one less chili would benefit us all. Mom’s normally not a big “chipotle” fan but liked it this time. Kurt and Dad also cleaned there bowls and gave positive marks.

As for the Roasted Poblano Quesadillas we were all pretty pleased and ratings ranged between an 7 and 9. They went well with the stoup and made good “dunkers”. I do think and Mom agrees the quesadillas would be tastier with a smoked cheddar. This was my first time to roast peppers and I found it to be really simple. I will definitely be doing more of it in the future.

What did the kids think about the stoup? Well…us grown ups ate it all before they got a chance to taste it. Actually after trying it myself I thought it a bit spicy for their taste so I made them some extra quesadillas. To sum it up this is one you’ve got to try! Here are the recipes below, I altered the one found on foodnetwork.com to match the way she made it on the show. There were a few variations in preparation so I went with how I saw her do it.

Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray- 30 minute meals
See this recipe on air Saturday Apr. 28 at 8:30 AM ET/PT.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 ribs celery
1 large onion, peeled and halved
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 2 chipotle chili in adobo, finely chopped, plus a spoon of sauce from the can
Salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon dry thyme, eyeball it
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine, eyeball it
5 cups chicken stock
1 large sweet potato
3/4 to 1 pound chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces
4 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, a generous handful, roughly chopped
1/2 cup sour cream, for garnish, optional

Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 turns of the pan.

While soup pot heats, peel and cut the sweet potatoes into quarters lengthwise, then thinly slice into bite size pieces. Add the sweet potatoes to the pot while it heats, stirring to coat the potatoes in the oil. Chop carrots in half lengthwise then slice into thin half moons, add to pot. Finely chop and drop in celery then thinly slice the onion and add it as well. Add the garlic, chipotle, and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Season the veggies with salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook the veggies together 1 minute. Add the wine and reduce a minute. Add the stock to the pot, cover the pot, and raise heat to high. Bring the stoup to a boil, remove the cover, add the cut chicken and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through. Turn the heat off and add the scallions and cilantro. Serve each portion of stoup with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Serve with

Roasted Poblano Quesadillas
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

2 large poblanos
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Heat the broiler to high.

Char the poblanos under the broiler to blacken their skins on all sides, 7 to 8 minutes. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand 10 minutes.

Peel and seed the peppers, then slice. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and add a tortilla, cover the tortilla with 1/2 cup cheese and 1/4 of the peppers. Fold the tortilla in half and cook 2 minutes to crisp and char the tortilla evenly and melt cheese. Remove and cut into wedges; repeat.

We’ve tried many new recipes lately here are two worth sharing:

Chicken Taco Cups
from Taste of Home

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
1 small onion, chopped
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa, divided
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided
36 wonton wrappers
Sour cream, chopped green onions and chopped ripe olives, optional

Sprinkle chicken with taco seasoning. In a large skillet coated with nonstick
cooking spray, cook and stir the chicken over medium heat for 5 minutes or
until juices run clear. Transfer chicken to a food processor; cover and process
until chopped. In a bowl, combine the chicken, onion, half of the salsa and 1
cup cheese. Press wonton wrappers into miniature muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 5 minutes or until lightly
browned. Spoon rounded tablespoonfuls of chicken mixture into cups; top
with remaining salsa and cheese. Bake 15 minutes longer or until heated
through. Serve warm. Garnish with sour cream, green onions and olives if
desired.

Yield: 3 dozen.

These rated about a 7 on a scale from 1-10. Joshua loved them, Kurt and Charleigh said they were “ok” and Kaleb didn’t like them at all. I think we can tweak this a bit. It looks promising. 

Bacon Quiche Tarts
from Quick Cooking


6oz cream cheese, softened
5 teaspoons milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded Colby cheese
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tube (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add the eggs,
cheese, green pepper and onion; mix well. Separate dough into eight
triangles; press onto the bottom and up the sides of greased muffin cups.
Sprinkle half of the bacon into cups. Pour egg mixture over bacon; top with
remaining bacon. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 18-22 minutes or until a
knife comes out clean. Serve warm.

Yield: 8 servings.

Simple, quick and easily modified. I made these in little heart muffin tins and the kids felt extra special. It’s not necessarily the recipe I liked but the technique and the ideas it gave us. The first time we made this I replaced the bacon with smoked ham and exchanged fresh chives for the onion and left out the bell pepper. That combination received a thumbs up from Kurt and I but the kids said it needed less cheese and more egg. The second time I used cooked ground sausage in place of the bacon, Cheddar in place of the Colby, I used red onion and red pepper. Reduced the cream cheese and added an egg. The kids loved this one but I had to increase the bake time for it to get done. The third time I actually had bacon, I used chives, left out the peppers but added 2 TB of chopped fresh mixed herbs. I think it we used a bit of rosemary, flat leaf parsely and maybe some thyme. I used the original amount of cream cheese and egg but doubled the recipe. Everyone was happy.  

Tonight I’m trying out Rachael Ray’s Smoky Sweet Potato Chicken Stoup and Roasted Poblano Quesadilla

Oh, and while we’re at it here’s a recipe that didn’t rate so well:

Amaretto Dream Cupcakes

Photos from the Taste of Home website/magazine

Bird Nests

4 cups Crunchy Chow Mein Noodles
1/4 cup Butter
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 pkg Mini Robin Egg candy
Package of Peeps
Cooking Spray

Use a 6 or 12 cup muffin tin depending on desired size of
nests.  We made only 6 nest with this recipe so we could overlap the top
and give an "edge" for our bird to sit on.

1.  Heat butter and marshmallows over medium heat

2.  Stir till melted

3. 
Add noodles and stir till completely coated

4.  Spray muffin tin then
hands with cooking spray.

5.  Place mixture into muffin cups and
shape with hands to form "nests".

6.  Refrigerate approximately 30
minutes later, gently remove nests from muffin tin and perch a Peep on the side. 
It helps if the nest is still a bit sticky, this will "glue" the peep on.

7.  Place nests on a tray and put back
in the fridge till completely set.

8. Fill with candy eggs.

 You could serve these right away or
wrap them in a pretty cellophane bag and give them as a gift. 

Actual work time: 6-8 minutes

Total time:  45minutes

These
nests are a great project for kids!  There are many various recipes
including chocolate and peanut butter but this is the one Joshua thinks looks
the most realistic.  It also happens to be the easiest and least time
consuming which makes mommy pretty happy too.  We couldn’t seem to find any
yellow peeps, what’s up with that?

For some reason there’s been many people landing here via a search for “Mexican Lasagna”. They arrive only to find I have none. It is for all of the anonymous “Mexican Lasagna” searchers I post this:

Easy “Taco” Lasagna:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup water
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Mexican diced tomatoes, undrained
• 6 flour tortillas (8 inches)
1 can (16 ounces) refried beans
3 cups (12 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend

DIRECTIONS
In a large skillet, cook the beef, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Stir in the black beans and tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

Place two tortillas in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Spread with half of the refried beans and beef mixture; sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese. Cover and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Yield: 9 servings.

This came from a Quick Cooking Magazine, I always alter it a little to fit the situation and have even made it with lasagna noodles. Whenever and however I make it it’s always a big hit at potlucks. Lately I prefer using homemade refried beans instead of canned, perhaps I’ll share that recipe later…

The above recipe would be good served with my Fiesta Spanish Rice, Cilantro Sour Cream, or even my Colorful Black Bean Salad.
Of course if you have an aversion to black beans like my dear friend Janae you could leave them out of any of the above recipes except of course the Black Bean Salad which simply wouldn’t work without it’s namesake.

For those of you searching for a “low fat Mexican lasagna” Here’s you a recipe from Light & Tasty Magazine

This one from The Taste of Home Ground Beef Cook Book sounds pretty tasty as well.

Last week we went to the Restaurant Round up in Amarillo. There was music, wine tasting, a “Battle of the Chefs” and a sampling of more than 30 restaurant’s fare. While there was tons of fabulous food offered by all the vendors the sampling that stood out the most to me was Basil Doc’s “Basil Bread with Bruchetta”

The next afternoon I had an incredible craving for more bruchetta, I would have drove on over to Basil Docs if only it wasn’t an hour a way. Despite the distance I thought about going anyway but decided against it. Alas, I had to make due with what I had in the fridge and to my surprise it didn’t turn out so bad.

Bruschetta for One:

1 pita bread

1 Roma tomato seeded and finely diced
1 small garlic clove finely sliced
1 TB fresh Basil (chiffonade)
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small squeeze of fresh lemon juice (maybe 1tsp)

Slice Pita in half and put in toaster.
Meanwhile toss the remaining ingredients.
Once Pita is nicely toasted cut into wedges and serve topped with tomato mixture.

Yum, and really healthy too!
Well until I made my second batch. I crumbled in some blue cheese with the tomatoes. WOWZER! Delish! Now this is happy food.

Cook’s Helps:

To Chiffonade stack leaves, rolling them tightly, then cut across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons.

To Seed tomato cut in half (side to side) and gently squeeze out seeds and juice. Be careful not to squish tomato other wise it will be difficult to dice. FYI: this technique is also helpful to do on tomatoes before putting them in a salad. It keeps your greens from getting soggy and seedy, thus keeping your salad crisp and clean.

**********

Oh, and on a side note. No, I didn’t take part in the wine tasting. For two reasons, one being that I’m not really a drinker and two that they didn’t believe I was over 21! When we walked in the door the ticket takers attached to each person a red bracelet. When asked why they said it was so you could take part in the wine tasting. When it came to me they wanted my ID. I had left it in the van but told them I was 29 (almost 30), the first lady was really nice about it but the man made it quite obvious he thought I was lying. I considered going back to the van to get my license just to prove it but decided against it. It was too cold out to walk all the way back to the parking lot and I hadn’t planned on drinking anyway. It seemed like too much effort just to prove my honesty. I decided to take it as a complement and move on. Now if they’d asked for my ID to taste that Bruschetta I would definitely had walked back to the van…