I know it is quite late in the season for a soup recipe, but I made this Leek and Potato Soup recently and just had to share it. This is a fairly traditional Irish Leek and Potato Soup, but the simplicity means you can really make it your own with some tweaks if you wanted.
Leeks are in season late winter to early summer, so this soup is great for those slightly cooler days, or when you’re looking for something simple to make that is ultimate comfort food.
This recipe uses under 10 ingredients and can be made in under 30 minutes!
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 leeks (depending on their size), sliced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
I recently came home after a weekend trip to some of the saddest looking bananas I’ve seen in a long time. Which means I spent my Monday making this super delicious Banana Walnut Bread!
This recipe largely uses typical pantry items, so the next time you find yourself with overripe bananas, there is a good chance you will already have everything on hand to make this banana bread — if you don’t have any walnuts, you can substitute another nut or omit them completely.
If kept in a sealed container at room temperature, the bread will last for 4 days so it’s perfect for breakfast for most of the week!
If you want to store it longer, you can also freeze the bread by wrapping it completely in plastic wrap before adding to your freezer.
I originally started this blog as a way to learn to cook and to catalog recipes I enjoyed. So, recently, I have been revisiting recipes from early in my blogging journey and remaking them, like this recipe for Salmon with Lemon Parsley Pesto, served with orzo.
I have been trying to get back in the habit of making a few make-ahead meals on weekends to make weekdays a bit more manageable. While looking through old recipes, I came across a recipe I made nearly a decade ago for Coconut Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I decided to revisit the recipe, adding a bit more lemon flavor through the addition of lemon extract (paid link). These yummy little guys are the result!
Ingredients (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins or 6 large muffins):
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and allowed to cool slightly
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature, or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce to make vegan
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup whole milk, or coconut milk to make dairy free/vegan
Note: I was sent ingredients from Plugra Premium Butter in order to make this post. Opinions are mine alone. Ingredients included: 1 bar unsalted Plugra Premium Butter,1 container of the Spice House’s Vietnamese Saigon Cinnamon, Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, and Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
Do I have a tasty recipe for you today! I was contacted recently by Plugrá Kitchens with a delicious sounding brownie recipe (these Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies) using some of my favorite ingredients, so I knew I had to share it. This brownie recipe is based off the flavors of Mexican Hot Chocolate, which is a hot chocolate that is spiced with cinnamon and sometimes a little bit of chili to bring additional warmth and heat.
Plugra Kitchens was nice enough to send me a package with the best goodies to make these brownies, including (of course) Plugrá Premium Unsalted Butter, Spice House Ground Saigon Cinnamon, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, and Balrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate.
Plugrá Butter is an awesome ingredient to use for baking. Made by Dairy Farmers of America, its slow-churn and extra creaminess has the perfect balance of moisture and fat for use in baking. The Spice House‘s Vietnamese “Saigon” Cassia cinnamon is the strongest and sweetest cinnamon in their collection. The Vietnamese cinnamon bark is ground in house to produce a dark, rich texture that is fiery and fragrant, making it perfect for these brownies. My love of Nielsen-Massey‘s Madagascar Bourbon is well known to those that frequent this blog. Their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla extract is made from premium, hand-selected vanilla beans cultivated in Madagascar, the world’s leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. It then utilizes a slow, cold extraction process to gently draw out and preserve all 300 natural vanilla flavor notes to create the richest tasting vanilla. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla has a flavor profile that is full, sweet, creamy, and mellow with velvety after-tones. Valrhona Chocolate has been a partner of artisans of taste since 1922 and is a pioneer and reference in the world of chocolate.
With ingredients like that, you know this recipe is going to taste good! I adapted the recipe a bit, but the overall gist is still there. These Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies are soft and chewy, with a subtle warmth and heat that pairs really well with the richness of the chocolate.
Ingredients (makes 18 servings):
1 (8 oz) bar unsalted butter, like Plugrá® European Style Butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, like Saigon cinnamon from the Spice House
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 cup dark chocolate, like Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, chopped
Note: I received free cow cash from Crowd Cow to try some of their products in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
This recipe for Wild Boar Tenderloin with Mushrooms is my first time using wild boar! According to the Crowd Cow website, “Wild Boar meat is similar to domestic pork, but the flavor has a slightly sweet and nutty taste to it, derived from their wild foraging diet. Our Wild Boar Tenderloins are lean with low fat content. Searing, roasting and grilling work well, but be careful not to overcook and dry out these lean cuts of meat.”
To enhance the flavor of the wild boar, I sautéed mushrooms in the same pan that I cooked the meat in with some onions and garlic.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (1 lb) wild boar tenderloin
salt and pepper, to taste
2 (8 oz) packages sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
I absolutely love cranberry sauce, but with all of the other delicious sides on Thanksgiving, my family and I rarely finish the entire can. This recipe for Cranberry Turnovers takes your leftover cranberry sauce and turns it into a simple and delicious breakfast!
I adapted this recipe from Country Living, although I kept it fairly close to the original.
Ingredients (serves 8):
1 (17.3 oz package) Puff Pastry, thawed
8 oz cream cheese
2 egg yolks
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, divided
1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon almond extract (or vanilla extract to make nut free)
Note: I received free cow cash from Crowd Cow to try some of their products in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links
As much as I love a nice, quick weeknight meal option, I really enjoy when I have a free Saturday or Sunday to slow it down and make an oven-roasted dish, like this recipe for Boneless Leg of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables.
We’ve had some sporadic fall-like days in Philadelphia recently, so I made the most of a cooler weekend day and tapped into one of the proteins I received in my Crowd Cow box! Crowd Cow is a frozen protein delivery service that partners with ethical farms, fisheries and producers globally. They hand select independent farms to deliver the best craft meat from the farm to your table.
I was super impressed with the selection on Crowd Cow. They have staples like free-range chicken, pasture-raised beef, and sustainable seafood, but they also have some options that caught my eye, including wild boar, elk, bison, and, of course, boneless leg of lamb.
I will have future posts highlighting some of my other purchases, but today, it’s all about the boneless leg of lamb. Boneless leg of lamb is surprisingly easy to make, and doesn’t require a bunch of ingredients to make a great meal. This one-pot recipe cooks the leg of lamb, then tosses some vegetables in the drippings and roasts them to perfection!
My husband absolutely loves Pasta in Vodka Sauce. I don’t make it terribly often, but it is a really simple and delicious dish to make at home, so I figured it was time to share my recipe for Rigatoni Alla Vodka!
“Traditional” vodka sauce includes tomatoes, herbs, and vodka, although every one I’ve ever come across also has a cream element to it as well.
The history of this sauce doesn’t go terribly far back — it was invented in the 70’s either in New York or Italy, depending on who you ask.
This version adds a bit of smokiness from pancetta and some heat from red pepper flakes to the luxurious tomato vodka cream sauce to make a truly wonderful pasta dish!
I’m guessing that I’m not the only one that has been having fewer dinners out at restaurants, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been making fun meals at home!
This recipe for Creamy Pappardelle with Smoked Salmon and Caviar is fancy enough for an at home date night, but is also so simple to make and comes together in just 20 minutes!
After receiving an affiliate box from Sitka Salmon Shares, I enjoyed their seafood so much that I signed up for a Premium Seafood Subscription Box. One of the boxes had smoked salmon in it, so I went to their recipes page to try and find a different way to use it.
Early fall is my favorite time of year. I love that it’s still warm enough to enjoy the outdoors, the selection of produce available is awesome, and the back-to-school vibe fuels me to get things done.
It’s also an awesome time of year to can some jellies and jams, like this delicious Spiced Fig and Pear Jam!
Figs and pears are in season at the moment, two of my favorite fruits, so what better time to make (and can) this Spiced Fig and Pear Jam?
Ingredients (makes about 6 8oz cans):
1 1/2 pounds Bartlett pears, peeled, deseeded, and cut into small bite sized pieces
My husband is a big fan of breakfast, so every now and then, we like to have breakfast for dinner.
Frittata’s are particularly good for dinner – savory, filling, and can be served with day old bread, so I recently decided to make this Mushroom and Spinach Frittata for dinner!
This frittata is an easy Mushroom and Spinach version, but you can substitute in whatever vegetables you’d like.
Note: I was sent samples of Bear Mountain BBQ Wood Pellets in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
With Memorial Day right around the corner, it’s time for more recipes using Bear Mountain BBQ Wood Pellets! This one is a bit different than my previous two posts fort Smoked Potato Salad and Smoked Wings… this time I’m bringing you dessert: a Smoker Grilled S’mores Skillet to be exact!
As a city girl, I don’t exactly get a lot of opportunities to roast some marshmallows over an open fire, but I do love s’mores!
Note: I was sent samples of Bear Mountain BBQ Wood Pellets in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I’ve mentioned many times in the past how much I love to grill, but last summer I began dabbling in smoked foods. I don’t own a smoker, so I just use my grill, and Bear Mountain BBQ Pellets make it super simple to do so! Last year I made an awesome recipe for Smoked Potato Salad using Bear Mountain’s Gourmet Blend. This time around, I’m sharing a more traditional smoked food recipe: Smoked Chicken Wings!
My husband is kind of chicken wings obsessed. His current favorite wings dry rubbed smoked wings from our local pizza place, Pizza Plus, so I decided to try to make some of my own at home. I used Bear Mountain Bold BBQ Pellets for this recipe, but their Gourmet Blend would also work.
Ingredients (makes 3 lbs wings, or 2-4 servings. Multiply as needed):
I absolutely love the flavor of cauliflower, which means I’ve been in heaven these past few years with all of the attention cauliflower has been receiving as an alternative for everything from rice to pizza crust. So I was quite surprised when I realized I hadn’t shared my recipe for Pressure Cooker Cauliflower Puree yet!
This recipe is easy to make and comes together in less than 30 minutes!
