Chocolate Biscotti

These biscotti are very firm and are nice to dunk into coffee to soften them up.

Chocolate Biscotti

3 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons honey

¼ cup white wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal (also called corn flour)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, natural or Dutch processed
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons finely ground almonds (about ¼ cup whole almonds)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Beat sugar and eggs until light in color. Add the honey, wine, oil and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients mix the dry ingredients well. Divide the dough in half and shape into a log 2 inches wide. It helps to have damp hands. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave about 3 inches in between the logs.

Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 F until the tops are firm to touch. Remove and cut into ½ to ¼ inch slices (serrated knife works really well here) and return to the oven to dry. I bake these for another 10 minutes and then turn the oven off and let them sit in their until they cool off.

The cookies will keep for a long time since they are dry. Maybe even forever! Just store them in a bag.

Teriyaki Chicken

This recipe is really easy and also very tasty. The only part I do not like about it is the sugar. I tried to cut it back, but it really needs to be in the sauce. The good news is that the sauce covers a good amount of chicken (enough for 3 hungry people), so sugar per serving is not too bad. And if I were to buy a bottle of teriyaki sauce at the store it would probably have more sugar and funky ingredients too.

I like to use low sodium soy sauce, but regular works too.

Teriyaki Chicken
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 garlic clove, made into a paste
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 chicken breasts (skinless or on the bone) or 8 thighs (with bones or boneless)

Prepare the meat by roasting it in the oven or in a skillet with just some pepper (NO SALT). If using the boneless breast meat, I like to cut it raw on a bias and then cook it in the skillet with some olive oil and plenty of pepper. If using boneless thighs, cut into pieces before cooking or after. If using meat on the bone, roast it in the oven and then peel the meat off.

For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir to dissolve the cornstarch (I like to dissolve it in about a tablespoon of soy sauce and then add it to the pan). Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes (constantly stirring).

Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve with some steamed brocolli.

Doughnut Cookies

These cookies are so cute. I saw them in a book and just had to make them. They are really easy to make too. They have a dense and dry texture.

Doughnut Cookies

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup confectioner sugar

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup finely ground nuts, such as almonds, walnuts or pecans

Combine the olive oil, butter, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer until everything is combined. Add the rest of the ingredients mix. The dough will not come together. You will have to press it together into a ball.

Form the dough into balls (I used a 2 teaspoon scoop) and roll into a rope about ½ inch thick. Coil the rope into a doughnut.

Bake at 350 F until the tops are just slightly golden. Remove and cool. When cool, dip into glaze and decorate. Let the glaze set before storing.

Glaze

1 cup confectioner sugar

4 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons honey

½ teaspoon of extract of choice

Food coloring

Combine everything in a bowl and stir until smooth.

Falafel

This is easy falafel. It is very crunchy on the outside and soft inside. The falafel is best eaten right away (within 20 minutes). It is really not that good after that since the crust gets soft. You can eat them with the sauce or wrap them in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and the sauce. Yum!


Falafel
1 cup dried chickpeas (not the canned ones)
5 scallions, coarse chop
1/2 cup parsley, packed
1/2 cup cilantro, packed
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
10 grinds of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Pinch cinnamon

Sauce
1/2 cup yogurt, plain and any fat
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1 garlic clove, chopped fine

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight (cover them up by at least 3 inches of water). When ready to make the falafel, drain them and put them in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Process until smooth paste is formed.

Take a tablespoon measuring spoon and make 1 tablespoon size (exactly) balls. Fry at 375 F for 5 minutes. The balls will turn deep brown, remove on a paper towel lined plate and let cool.

To make the sauce, puree all the ingredients in a food processor (mini one works great here).

Honey Spiced Almonds

We are going to the zoo today. Yesterday I made these nuts for us to snack on. These are not sticky when they cool, so they are easy to transport and are not messy.

Honey Spiced Almonds

½ cup honey
3 cups almonds, raw (not toasted)
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped very fine
½ teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt

Combine all ingredients on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silpat. Stir to combine and bake at 300 F for 30 minutes. Remove and stir again and set aside to cool completely. As the almonds cool, the honey syrup with harden (this is why you have to have parchment or silpat).

If you want to add more salt, do so when they are hot. When cool break apart and store in a airtight jar or bag.

French Toast

I love French toast, especially in the morning. Last year I made a book for my daughter's first Christmas. In the book, I gave a recipe for toast that uses brioche bread. It makes very tasty toast, but this morning I wanted some and did not have any brioche bread. I did have some nice Whole Wheat Trader Joes Bread. It was the denser type of bread and not the one that is very airy with many holes. I followed my previous directions and it turned out very tasty and healthy too.

Remember to keep the heat on the pan on low-medium setting so that the toast does not burn before it is ready. Also, do not use to much butter. The toast is yummy with just a little (as stated in the recipe) and that way you can have 2 or 3 pieces without feeling guilty.

French Toast
2 slices of bread, about 1/2 inch thick
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
½ teaspoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt and cinnamon

Leave slices of bread overnight on the counter to dry out. If you forget, just put the bread into the toaster on a low setting.

Whisk egg in a shallow dish. Add the milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and whisk to combine. Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium low heat.

Place the bread into the custard and poke holes in the bread with a fork. Wait until the bread soaks up the custard, but not too long so that the bread does not keep it shape. Flip on the other side. Wait and then set aside on a plate to wait for the skillet.

When the skillet has preheated, place the tiny amount of butter into a skillet (1 teaspoon or so). You do not need much. Place soaked bread in the pan, cook and flip to cook the other side. Serve right away with syrup and dusting of powdered sugar.

Sloppy Joes

These are very tasty and healthy, but very messy. I added chard to make it more healthy. If you want the chard to be unnoticeable, use 1 cup. If you do not mind noticeable specks of nutrition through your joe, then use 2 cups.

The reason that I use the food processor to puree the onion and chard is to hide them from my husband. He hates onions and chard. You can chop it by hand if you like to desired size.

Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef, as lean as you can get it

1 onion, diced (you can puree it in the food processor)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)

1 red pepper, diced

1 can red beans or pinto beans, drained

1 1/2 cups tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes (this is 1 1/2 of 8 ounce tomato sauce cans)

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 to 2 cups very tightly packed chard or kale, finely chopped (I use food processor)

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon molasses (eye ball it)

1 teaspoon mustard powder or 2 teaspoons mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

8 whole-wheat burger buns

Brown the meat and the onion in a large skillet NO OIL over medium-high heat for until browned. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook for a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Scoop the mixture on top of each bun and serve.

Vanilla Spritz Cookies

These cookies are super easy to make. You just need to have a cookie press. They are very 'sandy' and buttery. I love them! Just be careful not to eat too many since they are pure butter. Yum!

Vanilla Spritz Cookies

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean

1 egg yolk

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Scrape the seeds out the vanilla bean. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the yolk and beat well. Add the flour, salt and cinnamon and mix until everything is nicely combined. Use a cookie press to pipe out the cookies. Bake at 350 F until just golden around edges. While the cookies are hot, sprinkle a little granulated sugar over them and let them cool.

The dough can be frozen for a month or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using.

Enchiladas

I make these Enchiladas all the time and they are really good. I made them healthier by hiding some chard or spinach.

Enchiladas

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon chili powder (makes it mild, if you want spicier increase by a tablespoon)

2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
12 ounces boneless-skinless chicken thighs or breast, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 1 breast or 3 thighs)
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup chard, tightly packed and then very finely chopped (or 1 cup frozen, chopped spinach)
½ cup cilantro, chopped fine
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
1 jalapeno, chopped fine, optional
10 corn tortillas

Preheat pan over medium heat with the oil. Sauté the onion until brown around the edges and then add the garlic and spices and cook for a minute. Add the chicken stir until spices coat the chicken. Add the tomato sauce and water (1 tomato can full) along with the chard or spinach. Simmer until the chicken is cooked. Strain the sauce through not too fine of a strainer (you want some texture in the sauce).

To the cooled chicken add 1/2 cup cheese, cilantro and jalapenos and mix well. Brush the tortillas with olive oil and bake for 4 minutes on two baking sheets in 300 F oven. Put enough sauce on the bottom of baking dish to just cover. Set the rest of the sauce aside.

Place 1/4 cup filling into each tortilla. Spread the rest of the sauce over the top and sprinkle with ½ cup cheese down the center. Cover with foil and bake at 400 F on lower rack for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with diced avocado and sour cream.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I really love pizza, but feel a little guilty eating so much white flour. I love white flour and have to use it sometimes in baking, but I really wanted to make pizza crust whole wheat.

I tried several times in the past and was disappointed. Today I made the pizza with 100% whole wheat flour and it was actually not too bad. I only made it once, so I may make changes to it, but the first time was a success. Even my husband liked it and he is a big white flour fan. I will make variations on the toppings and post them later. 

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

12 ounces soft whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon instant yeast

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water (9 ounces)

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer and mix until the dough comes into a bowl. Knead with a dough hook for 5 minutes over medium speed. It will stick a little to the bottom of the bowl. Place into oiled plastic bag and leave it at room temperature until it doubles in size. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and put each into a plastic bag. Put the bags into refrigerator overnight or up to 4 days (you can also freeze the dough for several months).  

When you are ready to make the pizza, bring the ball of dough to room temperature and let it rise until roughly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to as high as it will go. Stretch it to 1/8 inch (eyeball it) thickness and place on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover with what ever toppings you want.

Side the pizza into oven and bake until the crust looks toasty. You can turn the broiler on to toast the top a little. After baking lightly brush the crust with olive oil.

Pictured Pizza: cover the dough in marinara sauce and sprinkle with good amount of cheese and crushed dried oregano. Bake as directed.

Strawberry Milk

The other day I went to the Trader Joes and they had really cheap frozen organic strawberries. I put some strawberries along with milk and honey into a blender and it turned out really tasty.

Frozen strawberries, thawed a little

Milk or milk in combination with water

Splash of honey

Combine all in the blender and whiz away. You can also add a banana for creamier texture. The color is so pink and yummy!

Googum's Pastichio My Way

Googums makes really good food and one of my favorites is Pastichio. I love the creamy top. She told me roughly how to make it. I added some special ingredients to make it a little more healthy (chard).

Pastichio
8 ounces ziti pasta, whole wheat or regular

Cream sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
5 cups milk (I use 1 %, higher milk fat will make it richer), cold is fine
1 egg
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Meat sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped very fine
1 cup tightly packed chard or kale, trim away the rough stem (or 1 cup frozen or 3 cups fresh spinach)
12 ounces lean ground beef or bison
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crush it with fingers
Pinch of red pepper flakes or more if you like it really hot
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine or made into paste
4 ounces tomato sauce, this is half of a standard 8 ounce can

To make the meat sauce, chop the chard or kale as fine as possible in a food processor (I don't think chopping spinach is necessary).

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion becomes soft and translucent. Add the chard and cook for another couple of minutes. Add the beef, oregano and red pepper flakes and cook until the beef is cooked. Add the garlic and when you start to smell it, add the tomato sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat. Check for seasoning.

To make the cream sauce, add oil to a saucepan and heat it over medium heat. Add the flour and stir it until everything is smooth. Cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the raw taste of the flour. Slowly add the milk. Add about 1/2 cup and stir until smooth, then add another 1/2 cup and stir until smooth. Continue until all the milk is gone. Bring the sauce to a simmer. While it comes up to a simmer, stir it like every minute or so. Once it comes to a simmer, be sure to stir it constantly so that it does not burn. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk the egg and add about 1/2 cup of bechamel to temper the egg. Slowly add the mixture back to the bechamel, followed by Parmesan cheese. Check for salt (the egg was cooked by the bechamel, so don't worry about raw egg).

Boil the pasta until it is just under al dente (you want it to be firm to bite). Drain well and set aside.

To assemble, get a baking dish (mine was 12x10 inches) and cover the bottom and sides with olive oil. Layer the pasta on the bottom and sprinkle it with meat sauce. Pour the cream sauce over and bake uncovered at 400 F for 30 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave it in the oven for another 10 minutes.

The pasta needs to cool at room temperature for an hour because of the cream sauce. It really firms up after a nice chill in the fridge. You can eat right out of the oven. It will fall apart, but that is fine with me.

Spaghetti Pancakes

The other day, when I made spaghetti and meatballs, I made too much spaghetti. I saw this idea to make pancakes somewhere. I played with it a little and it turned out really tasty. I used whole wheat spaghetti, but you can use regular too.

Spaghetti Pancakes

2 cups leftover plain spaghetti (4 ounces dry)

1 egg

1/4 cup or more of parmesan cheese, grated
1 garlic clove, chopped fine (I use a microplane grater)

Fresh herbs such as parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, chives, chopped fine

Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat with enough olive oil that it just covers the bottom of the pan. Grab a little spaghetti with your fingers and put it into the pan. You do not want too much egg. Shake it gently to allow excess egg to slide down the pasta. It is fine to have egg in the bowl after all the pasta is gone.

Spread the pasta out on the skillet so that the spaghetti is a disk that is not too thick. The thinner it is, the crispier it will be and the crispy stuff is what is delicious.

Cook on one side for 5 minutes or so. Adjust the heat so that the spaghetti crisps, but not burns too quickly. You will see that the spaghetti will tighten up. Flip when the side is nice and golden brown. Cook on the other side. Press down on the pancake to get it to crisp up more.

Place onto paper towel lined plate and let cool for a minute or two. You can top it with some more parmesan cheese, if you want. Eat these as soon as they cool off just a little. They do not store very well. Yum!

Marinara Sauce

Hi Everyone, this is my first post. I am very excited to blog and put the recipes that I make for my family here. Two days ago, I made spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce was very tasty, but the meatballs were a bit dry. I used 99% lean turkey meat. I need to work on them some more. I will post the recipe for meatballs when I like them.

The marinara sauce can be frozen for up to a month.

Marinara Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

1 cup red wine

5 tablespoons tomato paste, half of 6 ounce can

4 garlic cloves, chopped very fine

1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped fine

1 whole sprig fresh rosemary

28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

Salt and pepper, to taste

Handful fresh basil, torn or chopped

Add oil to a skillet and let it preheat for a minute over medium heat. Add the onion and cook it until the onion becomes clear and soft. This will take about 20 minutes. Add the wine and let it cook until all the liquid evaporates.

When the wine is gone, add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or two. Add the garlic and cook until you just begin to smell it. Add the oregano, rosemary, crushed tomatoes and plenty of pepper (I love lots of it!).

Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat as low as possible and cover for 20 minutes. Remove off heat and check for seasoning. Remove the rosemary and add basil. The sauce is ready!