Twice - Baked Sweet Potatoes

2 Medium-large sweet potatoes
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3/4 cup stemmed and chopped Tuscan kale
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated Parmsean
2 tsp. chopped thyme
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 C crumbled feta

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Rinse sweet potatoes and pick them a few times with a fork.  Roast in a baking pan until tender, 45 - 60 minutes.  Let cool for 20 minutes

2. In a medium skillet, warm oil over medium-low heat.  Saute onion until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add kale; saute until wilted, 1-2min.

3. Slice sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, carefully hollow out with a spoon and place flesh in a large bowl.  Add kale mixture, yogurt, parmesan, thyme, and salt; mix thoroughly.

4. Carefully spoon a quarter of the filling into each potato skin.  Top with feta and return to roasting pan.  Bake until cheese is golden and sweet potatoes are thoroughly warmed.  15-20 minutes.

-Health Magazine January/February 2015

Whole grain bran muffin

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups wheat bran (about 4 1/4 ounces) 

1 cup whole pitted dates (about 6 ounces) 

3/4 cup fresh orange juice 

1 cup fat-free buttermilk 

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 medium) 

2 tablespoons butter, melted 

2 tablespoons canola oil 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

4.5 ounces whole-grain pastry flour (about 1 cup) 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

2  large eggs, lightly beaten 

Cooking spray

Preparation

Hands-on: 25 Minutes

Total: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Spread bran on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring once.

3. Combine dates and juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Remove from heat; uncover and let stand 5 minutes. Place date mixture in a food processor or blender; process until smooth. Add buttermilk and next 4 ingredients (through vanilla); process until smooth.

4. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, bran, baking powder, and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add date mixture to bran mixture, stirring just until moist. Add eggs, stirring just until combined. Place 12 muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan; cool on a wire rack.

Pulled Pork- Italian Style

2-3 lb pork butt or roast.  Have the butcher tie it for you
1 small yellow onion chopped
3 garlic cloves smashed
1 bulb of fennel chopped
4 carrots chopped
2 bay leaves
2 tbs salt
1 tbs pepper
1 tbs paprika
1 bottle of red wine
1 small can of tomato paste
1 small can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 300
Coat pork in mixture of s, p and paprika.  Brown on all sides in a large Dutch oven with coating of olive oil. Remove and add in all chopped vegetables and bay leaves. deglaze with red wine. Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. add in all cans of tomatoes. Being back to a simmer.  Place pork in the center and spoon liquid over the top. Cover tightly and put in the oven for 3 hours.  Remove from oven.  Shred the pork with two forks. Place back in the oven uncovered for 30 mins.  We serve with either polenta or fettuccini noodles and top with parsley and parm.
Enjoy!

Gwyneth Love

GP's Chicken Soup with Kale and Carrots

For those of you who don't have Gwyneth Paltrow's two cookbooks I am sharing her Chicken Soup.  I highly recommend both of her cookbooks.  The recipes are great.
I copied her recipe exactly.  She just adds chicken, kale, and carrots, but obviously you could add whatever you like to the soup.

• 1 whole 3-4 lb chicken
• 1 celery stalk roughly stalked
• 1 large leek, thoroughly washed and roughly chopped (including the dark green parts)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped, plus 
• 2 more carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 yellow onion quartered
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 leafy sprigs of thyme
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 2 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1 bunch of kale, leaves stripped off the stems in bite-sized pieces
• freshly ground black pepper

Combine the chicken, celery, leek, 1 roughy chopped carrot, onion, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water (it will take about 10 cups).  Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer soup for 2 hours.  Strain the stock into a clean soup pot and discard the cooked vegetables.  Pull the white meat off the chicken and cut into a rough dice.  Reserve the dark meat for another use (or you can add it to the soup if you like).  Add the diced chicken breast, the 2 diced carrots, and the kale to the soup and simmer for an additional 20 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Using Roz's broth!

Simple Chicken (Noodle, Vegetable, Whatever the hell you want) Soup

• Roz's Chicken Broth
• Leftover cooked chicken breast cut into pieces

Optional Ingredients.

• 1/2 packaged of No Yolk Noodles
• 3 Carrots peeled and chopped
• 3 Celery stocks chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 package of sliced mushrooms
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• bunch of chopped parsley
• bunch of chopped dill

Bring Roz's amazing chicken broth (or any broth of your choice) to boil.  Add carrots, celery, and onions.  Turn heat down to a simmer.  Let the vegetables cook for 3-5 minutes and then add noodles, mushrooms, zucchini, peas, and chicken.  When noodles are tender add herbs let simmer for another minutes, stir and serve.  Easy Peasy!

The Columbia Restaurant's Arroz Con Pollo

Ingredients

1/2 teaspoon saffron

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup Spanish extra-virgin olive oil

1 3-pound chicken, cut into quarters (or 4-6 boneless chicken breasts)

2 large Spanish onions, chopped into eighths

1 large green pepper, chopped into eights

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tablespoon salt

1 whole bay leaf

2 cups long-grain rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup Le Sueur early canned peas 

Diced Pimentos in a jar  

4 white asparagus tips

Directions:

Using a mortar and pestle, pulverize the saffron to create a powder.  In a small saucepan, heat chicken stock and add saffron.   Allow saffron to dissolve; keep warm until use.  In a large ovenproof casserole, heat olive oil on stove and cook chicken until skin is golden brown on both sides.  Remove chicken and set aside.  In same oil, saute onion, green pepper, tomatoes, and garlic until onion is transparent.  Scrape bottom of pan to loosen any chicken drippings.  Add chicken stock, salt, bay leaf, and rice; stir well.  Return chicken to pan.  Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and bake in oven at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until chicken and rice is done.  Sprinkle with wine and garnish with peas, pimentos, and asparagus tips.  Serves 4 to 6.

Bourbon Butter Sauce

Delish on brownies, cookies, bars, vanilla ice cream, etc.

Don't burn yourself with the whisk!!!  OUCH!

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons Makers Mark
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Optional (add semi sweet choc chips)

Combine butter and brown sugar in saucepan, whisk over med-high heat until combined.  Add bourbon mix well.  Reduce heat to low, add sweetened condensed milk  and choc chips.  Cook until all sugar dissolves and chocolate melts.  Refrigerate if not ready to use immediately

GF Oatmeal Cookies (Trader Joe's Recipe)

1/4 cup coconut oil or melted butter
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup
3 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
6-8oz of semi sweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 cup pecans/walnuts
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup PB or almond butter

Combine sugars and butter until creamy.  Add eggs, vanilla, baking soda, mix well.  Add PB or almond butter and mix.  Stir in oats, choc, chips, and nuts.

Bake 350 degrees.

Cookies-  bake on parchment paper on top of cookie sheet for about 8-10 min or until golden brown
Bars-  9x13 greased pan, bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown

Corn Pudding

Always a hit at Thanksgiving!  Super easy and everyone loves it!

1 box Jiffy Cornbread Mix
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
8 oz light sour cream
1 stick butter

Mix first 4 ingredients together.  Melt butter and stir it into mixture.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 min, or unitl golden brown.  I usually check around 25 min (my oven runs hot).

*I used a 9x9 pan and it bubbled over the edges and started a small fire in my oven this year...make sure to use the 9x13 pan.  :)

Roasted chicken stock in the crock

Two roasted chickens minus the breasts. Probably 3 carrots and celery. Whole garlic head sliced down the center not peeled. Same for the onion, don't peel just quarter and throw in. A half bunch of parsley and thyme. I used dill because I knew I was going to use it for this soup. About a tablespoon of salt and black peppercorns. I usually stuff the herbs inside the chicken to save space. There's minimal prep on the ingredients so you can get it in the pot in less than ten minutes then cover with water and let the magic happen. I turned the crock on high for 5-6 hours. Then let it cool a bit and strain the ingredients and put the stock in the fridge over night so the fat rises to the top and hardens. Scrape off the fat in the morning and you're ready to go. My pot makes about 8 cups.