Roasted Pineapple

A little over a month ago I decided that I was a little out of control in my ice cream consumption. So, I've been looking to fruit-based desserts to satisfy my sweet tooth. This is sufficiently sweet and makes me feel just a little fancy as I eat it. It's based on this recipe from bon appetit.

1 medium ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges and slices

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons honey

coarsely chopped pistachios

mascarpone cheese

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the pineapple on the baking sheet. Roast on a lower rack in the oven for 10 minutes. Turn over the pineapple and roast again on the bottom rack of the oven for 12 minutes.

Whisk together the brown sugar, orange juice, and honey. Divide the pineapple among four plates. Pour sauce over the pineapple and sprinkle the chopped pistachios over the pineapple. Add a spoonful of mascarpone cheese and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Swedish Meatballs

It's possible that I might be addicted to these meatballs. I rarely go back for more meat during a meal, but when I make these, I keep going back for more.

About seven or eight months ago I made the switch to grass-fed, free-range beef and free-range, all-natural chicken. I think both taste better than supermarket meats. They are more costly too, but I think it's worth it.

Back to the swedish meatballs... I didn't make huge changes to this recipe that I found in Food Network Magazine. The first change was in the meat. I wanted to try these, but I didn't have ground pork and I only had a 1-pound pack of ground beef, so that's all I used. Since we enjoyed them so much, I decided that this was how I would always make them. I also just use a whole small onion instead of trying to measure it. It's more than 1/3 cup and that's ok. Another change is in the amount of cream in the sauce. I accidentally measured out 1/3 cup of cream instead of the specified 1/4. So, I've stuck with my mistake. My final change is not refrigerating the meatballs before cooking them. It might be better to do it, but it's a lot faster to not bother.

Meatballs

1 cup breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 pound lean grass-fed, free-range beef

1 egg and 1 egg white, beaten

Sauce

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/2 cups low-sodium beef stock

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup heavy cream

fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put the breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, allspice, salt, and about 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Pour the milk mixture over the breadcrumbs and stir to make a thick paste. Let cool slightly. Add the beef , egg, and egg white and mix until combined. (I generally just use my hands.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Roll the meat mixture into approximately 1-inch balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the meatballs until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook, whisking, until smooth. Whisk in the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Add the cream and meatballs. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with minced parsley (optional).

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I really like brussels sprouts, but David doesn't like them that much. I got all excited when I saw really nice brussels sprouts at Trader Joe's last week. They were on the stalk and looked beautiful. They had a recipe attached to them for a more complicated roasting which involved maple syrup. So I took the idea of using maple syrup and came up with this quick and easy way to roast them. And, perhaps those that aren't crazy about brussels sprouts might enjoy them too!

1 - 1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and quartered lengthwise

coarsely ground sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle sea salt and black pepper over the brussels sprouts. Whisk the maple syrup and olive oil together and drizzle it over the sprouts. Gently toss the sprouts so they are evenly coated. Roast for 20-25 minutes until sprouts are tender and slightly caramelized. Makes about 4 servings.

Lettuce Cups with Stir-Fried Chicken

These actually only mildly interested me when I decided to try the recipe. I decided to try them because they were pretty easy and I wanted to challenge myself to try something different. I'm glad I did because these were really good, pretty easy, and pretty healthy.

The original recipe is from bon appetit and is online. Here's how I made it:

1 head boston or butter lettuce, leaves removed, washed, and left whole

1/2 cup Asian sweet chili sauce

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into about 1/2" cubes

3 scallions, minced

3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon corn starch

2 tablespoons sesame oil

4 medium shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews, chopped

Whisk the soy sauce, scallions, and corn starch in a medium bowl. Stir the chicken in and marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature, stirring occasionally. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add mushrooms and stir-fry for about 15 seconds. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add the chicken mixture and cook, stirring often until golden brown and cooked through, 6-7 minutes. Place a spoonful of the chicken mixture in each lettuce leaf. You'll probably need 12-16 lettuce leaves. Garnish with cashews. Drizzle sweet chili sauce over the chicken and roll leaves around the filling to eat.

Note: don't be dumb like me and spoon the hot chicken mixture into a lettuce leaf with a tear while holding the lettuce leaf in your hand. Wow, that burned! Sometimes I'm amazed at the things I do...

Brown Bread

I found a recipe for brown bread on epicurious.com and tried it. I love brown bread. It was pretty easy to make, but it does take a while to bake. I wasn't so keen on using an old can to bake it in, so I used a pudding mold.

Baked Beans

Yes, I'm still alive and still cooking a lot. In the last few months Adeline (now 8 1/2 months old) has been demanding most of the small amount of free time I once had. Anyway, I made these baked beans for dinner tonight and David and I loved them. They're sort of a combination and variation on two recipes, so I'm making myself add the recipe now so I'll know what I did for next time I crave baked beans.

1 pound dried great northern beans

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons molasses

3/4 pound (12 ounces) applewood smoked bacon, chopped

Rinse the beans and pick them over. Put the beans in a large bowl and add enough water to cover the beans by about an inch. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Drain the beans and transfer them to a large saucepan and add water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Set the lid askew and reduce the heat to medium-low until the beans are barely tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in the salt after 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very tender and golden brown. Remove from heat.

When the beans are ready, drain them in a colander, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the beans to a bowl. Add the cooked onion, ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses and stir to combine.

Line the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish or dutch oven with one-third of the bacon. Add half the beans, then half of the remaining bacon. Top with the remaining beans and bacon. Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to barely cover the beans. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Uncover and bake another 1 1/2 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

BLT Pasta

The first time I made this, it was good. Tonight was the second time I made it and with a few adjustments, it was great. Th
is recipe is my version of a recipe from Food Network Magazine.

12 ounces penne

6 ounces applewood smoked bacon, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 pints grape tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups arugula

1/2 cup asiago cheese, finely grated

Cook the penne in salted water until al dente. Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium heat until just crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and reserve 3 tablespoons of the drippings. In a large saute pan, heat the 3 tablespoons bacon drippings over medium high heat and saute the onion about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic. Saute 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 12 minutes stirring often. Add the cream and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pasta, bacon, and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Stir in the arugula until it is wilted. Stir in the asiago cheese. Remove from heat and serve. Serve with additional grated asiago cheese. Makes about 4 servings.