Well, New York has truly said its farewells to summer and has welcomed autumn with open arms.
The leaves in the Hudson Valley are truly a stunning sight at this time of year.
Golden yellow, crisp orange, and deep reds are all around.
With these gorgeous leaves comes cool weather which makes it the perfect time for soups and stews.
Here's another delicious soup to add to your collection.
This recipe is adapted from Emeril Lagasse and was found through Food Network Online.
Serves 8
Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes Here's What You'll Need!
1 14 oz. can dark red kidney beans
1 14 oz. can cannellini beans
1 14 oz. can chickpeas
3 tbs. olive oil
1 8 oz. container of diced pancetta
1 large yellow onion
3 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 large potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt
Pepper
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used ones with garlic and oregano too)
2 quarts chicken stock
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/4 tsp. ground thyme
1/4 tsp. Italian seasonings
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 lb. elbow pasta
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach
Parmesan cheese for serving
Looks like a ton of ingredients, but so easy to make and so flavorful!
Put it All Together!
In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and the pancetta to render the fat. Cook until crispy, about 3 minutes.
Saute the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and potatoes for about 3-4 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the diced tomatoes, kidney beans, chickpeas, and cannellini beans along with the chicken stock.
Add the herbs-rosemary, thyme, Italian seasonings, bayleaf, red pepper flakes, as well as more salt and pepper.
Cook for 15-20 minutes (until potatoes are tender) and then add the handfuls of spinach and allow to wilt. (If you want, add some elbow pasta in about 8 minutes before soup is done)
Serve with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread and get ready to warm yourself up from the inside out.
I am a huge fan of very hearty soups, so if you like your soup with more broth just add less of everything I added!
Looking forward to more soups and stews as fall leads us to winter :)
My favorite types of foods are mostly one-pot comfort foods like pastas or rice dishes, but they aren't always the most healthy!
This recipe adapted from Food and Wine Fast was a delicious medley of savory and sweet!
My husband really gobbled this one down!
Here's What You'll Need!
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
2 tsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup dried apricots
1 tbs. olive oil
3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 scallion, chopped
Zest of one lime
1 green chile, minced
1/2 cup white wine
2 tbs. maple syrup
Put it All Together!
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds out evenly in a cake pan and bake for about 5 minutes or until browned. Set aside and let cool.
2) Melt the butter in a skillet and add the apricots. Cook over medium heat until browned, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
3) Add olive oil to skillet and heat up while seasoning chicken with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken over medium heat for about 3 minutes, then lower heat and flip breasts and cook for another 7 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate with the apricots.
4) Add the ginger, scallions, lime zest, and chile to the skillet and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the wine to deglaze and simmer over medium heat, scraping all those yummy bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the maple syrup, apricots, chicken, and simmer until all heated through.
5) Top with cracked almonds and a side of green beans and you have a savory, sweet, and healthy treat!
I think my husband was a little skeptical when he heard I was mixing fruit with our protein, but he absolutely loved this dish. We can't wait to have it again :)
I will admit that this was my first time cooking pork, but I'm positive that it was the most delicious and simplest recipe I have ever made!
I adapted this one from Food & Wine Fast magazine, and the flavor of the pork was simply incredible.
I'm telling you, spice up Taco Tuesday with this one! (nudge nudge Joe)
Serves 4
Time: 15 mins
Here's What You'll Need!
2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasonings
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. pepper
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of allspice
1 1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 tbs. white vinegar
A handful of minced cilantro
Fixings! You could use salsa, sour cream, shredded lettuce, etc. I used Mexican cheese blend and guac.
Put it All Together!
1) In a large bowl, mix the chili powder, salt, Italian seasonings, cumin, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice.
2) Add the pork, onion, vinegar, and cilantro.
3) Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the pork and stir fry over medium high heat until browned outside and just cooked through.
(For my guac, I mashed 2 Hass Avocados, some onion, lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, and called it a day. Delish! If you haven't yet, check out my post on Frontera's Guacamole Mix which is also delicious)
4) Assemble and DIG IN!
Like I said before, these tacos were incredible. I may have to make them once a week.
Also, here is my adorable cat, Ollie, who also loves tacos.
My husband and I first tried Indian food about 2-3 years ago after we were both curious to expand our palettes. We had to ask the waiter for recommendations since we weren't familiar with the cuisine, but after taking my first bite I knew I was in love! I remember saying, "I have never tasted anything like this!" We were both completely blown away by the exotic spices and couldn't get enough.
Chicken Tikka Masala & Coconut Curried Veggies
If you have never had Indian food before, I'd recommend getting Chicken Tikka Masala. Tikka means that the meat has been marinated in yogurt and cooked on a Tandoori grill, and Masala refers to a common spice used in Indian cuisine. The dish is served in a tomato based sauce full of rich Indian spices. This is my husband's absolute favorite dish, and while I try to be adventurous and try other dishes, I always have to take a bite of his as well! When I found this recipe to make an Indian style dish at home without the inconvenience of using a ton of spices, I was very excited to try it. The recipe comes from the Food & Wine Annual Cookbook of 2011. Total Time: 1 Hour and 15 Minutes Servings: 2-3 Ingredients
2 lbs of butternut squash in 1-inch cubes
1 lb of brussels sprouts, halved
1 large red onion cut into slices
1 cup of canola oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup of plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless, chicken thighs
Warm naan for serving
The first thing I did was preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Autumn Veggies!
I decided to buy the pre-cubed butternut squash since the squash is so difficult to break down and I'd prefer to keep my fingers, thank you! I took the squash cubes, the halved brussels, and onion slices and mixed them together in a bowl with 1/2 a cup of canola oil, salt and pepper. I also added a little Vegeta spice mix to my veggies. Then I spread them out on a baking sheet.
In the same bowl, I combined the yogurt, ginger, garlic, curry powder, the other 1/2 cup of canola oil, and salt and pepper. I decided not to use Greek style yogurt, just because I'm not a big fan. Also, I found the Madras curry powder right in the spice aisle of my local supermarket, you shouldn't have to go to a specialty store.
Coated Chicken Ready to Bake!
Next, coat the chicken in the yogurt and spices mixture and lay the chicken on top of the veggies.
The recipe suggests cooking the chicken and veggies for a total of 60 minutes, but I found that both the chicken and veggies were done after 40. I set a timer for 20 minutes and turned the pan halfway through cooking. I also drained some of the juices halfway through cook time.
All done!
After 40 minutes I was left with golden brown chicken and caramelized veggies. Feel free to serve with naan bread or over rice. We chose to keep it low-carb.
This recipe can also be prepared the night before and baked the next day.
My husband, who is more of a meat and potatoes guy, ate all of his veggies and even had a second helping! We both loved the sweetness of the squash, with the slight bitterness of the brussels. The Madras curry spice was warm and inviting, and we didn't have any leftovers!
Can't wait to make this again...maybe in the fall or winter!
The first few steps of this recipe are very basic and easy. If you are a tried and true baker like what I would want to call myself, you would probably understand why simply creaming butter and sugar, then adding eggs and all of your various flavorings is more of a habit than anything else.
Now, this wouldn't be a true "post" if I hadn't put my own spin on this wonderful recipe. First, I added about a 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the batter for a bit of kick. Now, my second twist really amped up that minty flavor I was going for. The original recipe said to stuff the cupcakes with mini York Peppermint Patties-I, however, spooned out the peppermint filling of the candies and baked it inside the desserts instead. For the technique I used to get access to the filling, watch my Sweet Tip #2 below. If you are reading this and the thought popped into your head, "I'm not going to take apart 18 peppermint patties!" than I highly recommend that you stuff these treats with the whole candy instead, or add more extract. I am saying this because, well, the author of this recipe intended these to be chocolate cupcakes, and well, even with my addition of the peppermint extract, the candies inside were what really added the flavor I was looking for.
To get the filling in the cupcakes, I used an ice cream scoop to place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter into my tins. Then, using my fingers I placed about a teaspoon of filling into the cupcake. Then, push it down into the batter so that it is not as clearly visible as it was before. Finish off with about a teaspoon more batter on top to seal things off.
After being in the oven for 17 minutes, my cupcakes were done. I enjoy more of a cake kind of texture, but for my savory and sweet hearts out there who want a moist cupcake, I would shoot for about 14 to 15 minutes in the oven.
As you can see in the pictures, the peppermint filling ended up spilling out of the cupcakes! However, the unsettling first impression you receive from these cupcakes can easily hidden by frosting. I also chose to let these babies sit a little to set as well as cool - I was definitely not content on letting the filling mix with my icing!
This delish Hint of Mint buttercream frosting also came from Bakingdom.com as well.
Here is a minuscule problem I ran into during this process, and I am sure I am not the first.....I didn't have any heavy cream on hand! Ironically, I ran into a similar problem a few days prior while baking with my cousins, and found a substitute that worked just as well as the suggested ingredient. If you ever find yourself without heavy cream, just beat flour and milk together in loo of the desired amount in the recipe. In my opinion, it is easiest to just eyeball it, but you should have a good bit more milk than flour.
After a splash of green food coloring, the icing is complete! I think the consistency of it is wonderful, light, airy, and a perfect companion to the chocolate cupcakes. A small change I made to the frosting is the addition of more peppermint and vanilla extract than the recipe called for. When I first tasted it, I really couldn't taste any mint! However, after alternating splashes of the two flavors I was able to find a happy medium of the flavor that is a significant part of these tasty candies. I do have one complaint with this icing...I felt like it was too buttery. I don't know whether it was because I undermixed, or because I used salted instead of unsalted...all in all though, this frosting is too good of an opportunity to pass up. If you choose to recreate this recipe, I suggest using 1 1/2 sticks of butter. If the consistency ends up being off, than it is a good idea to add more sugar and a little less liquid.
Here are the final cupcakes! I think that this recipe was consistently easy to make, and I was able to get lucky with the various changes I made to the batter. As Jasmine and I learned a few posts ago with our Buttermilk Blueberry Raspberry Breakfast Cake, while baking, it is difficult to just add in ingredients as you please, which is the case when cooking. To pipe, I used a freezer bag equipped with a medium sized opening to frost the treats. After realizing that a plastic bag really wasn't doing the trick (my Wilton kit was with Jasmine, as she was taking a class), I ended up smoothing the cupcakes over with an icing knife. I also garnished them with pieces of the candies that were left from my filling. These cupcakes were a hit with my family, and I personally could not get enough of them! And I will let you in on a little secret - I usually do not eat what I bake! Although I am payed many positive compliments on various treats I bring to parties or share with family and friends, I usually do not end up personally liking tastes of my creations. Anyway, long story short, if I like them, than you'll LOVE them! I will definitely be making these candy inspired cupcakes again!
