Raspberry Coconut Macaroons Recipe

I love making macaroons.  They were even a featured dessert in the 2012 PammiCakes 12 Days of Christmas Indulgences last year.  Macaroons are sweet, fluffy and satisfying little cookies that make me smile.  Adding fresh raspberries to this recipe creates a special twist to this traditional cookie that makes them irresistible.  I made these over the summer for a family cookout, but with Fall upon us, these would be great any time of year.  With the fresh burst of raspberry flavor and the sweet coconut, they will brighten up the dullest of gray winter days. 

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons Recipe
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Makes approximately 50 cookies
Preheat oven to 325°F

14 ounces sweetened, flaked coconut
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large egg whites
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon flaked sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 pint (6 ounces or 1 1/4 cups) fresh raspberries (if washed, patted very dry)

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

This recipe mixes everything in a food processor.  Blend the coconut for a minute. Add sugar, blend another minute. Add egg whites, salt and almond extract and blend for another minute. Next include the raspberries in the food processor, and pulse machine on and off in short bursts until the raspberries are swirling through the mixture.  About 10-14 pulses.  By just pulsing in the raspberries, it will just streak through the crisp white mixture adding lots of bursts of bright red color through the batter.  Do not stir the batter as this raspberry swirl effect will look beautiful in the cookies. 

With a cookie scoop, scoop batter into 1-inch mounds. These cookies don’t spread out, so you can place them close together on the sheets. 

Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, until they look a little toasted on top. Let them rest on the tray for 10 minutes after baking, as they’ll be hard to move right out of the oven. They’ll firm up as they cool, but still remain softer and less dry inside than traditional macaroons.

 

Sage Chicken Recipe

We are all so busy during the week with work, errands, cleaning, etc. and there is barely any time to make dinner.  I was having one of those busy nights this week, and I was pleasantly surprised that {with very little effort}  I could make this sage chicken that packed a lot of flavor! 

Honestly, how can you go wrong with a butter, sage, wine sauce!  We picked some beautiful sage from our CSA herb garden and came up with this simple, easy and only 6 ingredient recipe.  The chicken cooks nice and plump in the wine, while being coated with a silky, smooth sage infused butter.  Just heavenly.  We served it up with some CSA string beans and yellow squash.  This sage chicken was definitely the star on the plate!  Have I sold you yet? 

Sage Chicken Recipe

Serves 4

4 skinless chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

4 large fresh sage leaves, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

First, pound your chicken breasts to create an even thickness through the entire piece of meat.  To do this place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap, and with a meat mallet, rolling in, or flat surface of a small frying pan, pound the chicken breasts out about 1/2 inch thickness.  Next, season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large frying pan, add butter and chopped sage.  Melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the seasoned chicken breasts to the melted sage butter and cook for 6-7 minutes.  Once the first side of the chicken has browned, add in the wine and flip each chicken breast to brown the other side.  Cook for another 6-7 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. 

Place chicken on a serving dish and pour the wine sauce over top. 

Edamame Salad Recipe

Here is another salad for you!  I hope you tried the panzanella salad at one of your latest BBQ’s.  I made it again for our 4^th of July Celebration! It went perfectly alongside our 16 lobsters while we ate alfresco in my parents back patio by the pool. 

On to the feature of today, Edamame Salad!  I am a huge edamame fan! They are one of my favorite snacks to enjoy while in the pods sprinkled with a little salt.  It is just fun food to eat.  My husband and I ate bowls full of salted edamame pods while relaxing at a poolside bar in Maui on our honeymoon. 

Edamame is perfect as a snack, but they also go well as a side dish warm or in a salad.  This salad allows the simplicity of the edamame bean to shine through while accompanied pecorino cheese, cannellini beans and garlic!  The snap of the edamame beans goes perfectly with the soft, smooth cannellini beans.  With only 8 ingredients, this salad is so simple to put together.  My sister and I love this salad, so I always make a little extra for leftovers. 

Edamame Salad Recipe

Adapted by Giada De Laurentiis

Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped dried basil

4 cups (18 ounces) shelled edamame beans

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

5 ounces pecorino, cut into 1/4 -inch chunks

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

In a small, nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, but not brown, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the basil and set aside.

If your edamame beans are frozen, you will need to cook them before assembling the salad.  Boil 4 quarts of water seasoned with 1/4  teaspoon of salt.  Cook for 5 minutes until thawed through.  Pour into a strainer and run cold water over to increase the cooling time. 

Once the edamame beans are cooled, combine them with cannellini beans, cheese, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper in a serving bowl. Add the garlic mixture and toss well until all the ingredients are coated.

Tips:

1)      There is no exact science to this salad.  If you want to add more pecorino cheese, you are more than welcome too! I am sure I usually use more than 5 ounces.

2)      The original recipe calls for less edamame beans, but I wanted to showcase them in the salad.

3)      Feel free to try different types of herbs.  If you want to try oregano, rosemary, thyme, go for it!

4)      As I mentioned above, this salad is great leftover! So if you have time, make it a day in advance for a party.  The flavors will meld together nicely.

5)      I buy my shelled edamame at Trader Joes in the frozen food aisle.  For this salad I use two bags.

Panzanella Salad Recipe

With summer officially here, that means lots of BBQ’s with family and friends!  This is a time to allow the fresh summer flavors to shine through and complement BBQ favorites.  I love to bring different salads to parties that everyone can try.  Panzanella salad is a rustic Italian salad made with day old bread and fresh produce.  It is a match made in heaven!

This salad is simplistic and purely shows off the amazing produce of the summer.  Plus, the homemade bread croutons soak up the tangy dressing, while still adding a lot of crunch.  The croutons are predominant in this salad, and not your typical salad with just a few on top.  If you bring this to your 4^th of July festivities, all of the guests will love this salad. 

Panzanella Salad Salad

Adapted from Barefoot Contessa

Serves 12

For the Salad:

3 tablespoons good olive oil

1 small French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick

2 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

3 tablespoons capers, drained

For the Vinaigrette:

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Tips:

1)   If you are going to bring this to a party and make the salad ahead of time, I would suggest bringing the croutons in a separate container.  Then just add them to the salad with dressing when ready to serve.  This will allow the croutons to maintain their  crunchy perfection.   

2)  Feel free to add some of your favorite produce items to this salad.
3)  I only had red peppers the day I made this salad, but to make this salad even more
      colorfuly, you can use one yellow and one orange pepper. 
4)  The original recipe called for Champagne vinegar.  I didn't have any in the house, so I     used red wine vinegar and it worked out perfectly. 

Teriyaki Ginger Meatballs Recipe

I love when my recipe experiments turn into successes! Like when I made Mac n' Goat Cheese, Baileys Oreo Truffles, or Roasted Vegetable soup to name a few.  These meatballs definitely fit into the category of a successful creation.  Every Sunday morning as I prepare my weekly grocery shopping list, I run through the recipes that will be made for the upcoming week.  Sometimes this list gets pretty redundant and to be honest, a little boring.  So I decided that I want to try a new spin on meatballs!

These meatballs hit all of the flavors I wanted to achieve, plus my husband LOVES them!  He now requests them for dinner on a regular basis.  The trick to these meatballs is using slices of bread soaked in milk to keep the meatballs nice and moist.  Then, layering in different Asian inspired flavors to differentiate them from your ordinary meatball.  These are perfect for a meal if you roll them a bit larger.  I am excited to make these for my next gathering in an appetizer size and maybe serve with a dipping sauce!

This recipe made more meatballs than Bill and I could eat in one night {although if we didn't stop ourselves I am sure we could have eaten a lot more}, so we froze the extras in hopes for another tasty meal later.  When we craved them again, I took them out of the freezer and placed them in a skillet with a little water, and then put the lid on to allow them to steam through to retain their moist consistency. They were just as good as we remembered the second time!  Enjoy!

Teriyaki Ginger Meatballs Recipe

Makes 15-17 large meatballs or

Makes 30-35 cocktail meatballs

2 slices of whole wheat bread

2 tablespoons skim milk
2 pounds ground pork

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

3 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

1 egg

2 scallions, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, tear up bread and cover with milk.  Wait for all milk to be absorbed by the bread and break down the bread further.

Add remaining ingredients into the bowl with the bread.  Mix well with your hands to incorporate everything together.  Roll 3-4 tablespoon sized meatballs and place on a broil pan. 

Bake meatballs for 25-30 minutes until cooked through.  Serve over sautéed spinach.

Tips:

1)  If you want to make them cocktail size, make them 1-2 tablespoons in size and cook for 15-20 minutes

2)  The pork make these fabulous, but if you only  have ground turkey or chicken on hand, that would work. 

Blueberry Lemon Corncakes Recipe

This past weekend I went to my parent’s house to celebrate Father's Day! My dad always made us delicious breakfasts growing up {and still does}, so I wanted to return the favor and cook him breakfast for Father's Day! He loves pancakes, so I wanted to share with him the pancake recipe that I have been working on that puts a new spin on the traditional pancake.

The blueberries are in full season and have been amazing! I can't leave the grocery store without picking up two pints each week! I add them to oatmeal, cereal, salads, and of course, pancakes! These blueberry lemon corncakes are bursting with sweet blueberry, complemented by tangy lemon zest and all surrounded by a cornmeal pancake batter. I love the combination of sweet and tart, so these corncakes do just that! They are so good that maple syrup is optional. Who wouldn't want to start their day off with these?

Blueberry Lemon Corncakes

Makes 8 corncakes

3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup fine corn meal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons sugar
Zest from 1 lemon
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 pint blueberries

In a small bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest.  With your hands massage the lemon zest into the sugar to infuse the lemon flavor into the sugar granules. 

Sift together the remaining dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Combine egg, vanilla, milk, and oil in another small bowl. Add wet ingredients and lemon sugar into the large bowl with all dry ingredients.  Fold in the blueberries. 

Measure out batter onto a hot griddle that has been greased. Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Fish en Papillote Recipe

Hello, is there anybody out there?!?! 

Wow, it has been a long time since my last blog post and I apologize for that. There have been lots of fun and exciting things happening that have distracted me from getting any blog posts up.  Since March, we celebrated both my husband and my birthdays, went to the Bahamas, Quebec City, and Pennsylvania, celebrated Mother's Day, completed a very successful local MS walk, and I started a new job!  We sure have been busy, but with all of this celebration comes lots of fun food and recipes for me to share.  So stay tuned to lots of great recipes to follow this one. 

Fish en Papillote has become a very popular recipe in my house.  Don't let the fancy name fool you, this is a simple and easy fish dish that packs a big punch.  The recipe bakes the fish and vegetables together in a parchment paper packet to allow the layers of flavors to meld together.  The fish stays nice and moist by steaming in the packet with some white wine and olive oil.  Plus, the presentation is beautiful!  Each person gets their own packet, and seeing the steam escape from each packet around the table makes everyone feel special. 

I have modified the original recipe, but feel free to test out different vegetables and white fish types.  This recipe has so much flexibility, so use what you have on hand and make it your own!

Fish en Papillote Recipe

Recipe modified from Melissa d’Arabian

Serves 4 

1/2 red onion, julienned

1 red pepper, julienned
1 large carrot, julienned
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & Pepper
4 (4-ounce) cod fillets or other white fish
1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed
8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup white wine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix together the onion, red pepper, carrot and garlic. Add the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then toss to combine.

Put each fish fillet in a large square of parchment paper and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Arrange the vegetables on top, dividing evenly. Top the vegetables with 2 lemon slices, 2 sprigs thyme, and 1 tablespoon white wine, layering in order. 

Fold the parchment paper around the edges tightly in 1/4-inch folds to create a half moon shape. Make sure you press as you crimp and fold to seal the packets well, otherwise the steam will escape. Arrange the packets on a baking sheet. Bake until the fish is cooked through, about 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

To serve, cut open the packets and serve directly in the parchment on a plate or remove the fish to the plate using a spatula, being sure you don't leave the juices behind.