It’s funny how you can go years, even decades, thinking that you don’t like a certain food only to find you can’t get enough of it when you’re older. Fish tacos is one of those foods for me. They pack a ton of flavor but are a healthier option than other proteins (as long as the fish isn’t fried, that is). I also love how quickly you can cook them up, perfect for a weeknight dinner! Cooking Light always has the best taco recipes so I naturally went in search of a fish taco recipe there. I found this recipe in the myrecipes.com new cookbook: Myrecipes’ America’s Favorite Food Cookbook, which you can win by entering below!
Ingredients
Crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lime rind (I just used the zest of one lime)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (I used the juice of one lime)
If you’ve never heard of these lovelies, you are not alone. Rainbow cookies are made of almond cake dyed fun bright colors with apricot preserves all sandwiched in between two thin layers of chocolate.
They really aren’t cookies at all, more like thinly packed cake. But whatever the heck they are, they are delicious!
I don’t really recall these cookies growing up, but my boyfriend (who is from Long Island) absolutely loves them. In fact, he was kind of taken aback when I mentioned I didn’t really know what they were. One of his friends was absolutely horrified; he basically forced me to eat one right then and there which I didn’t complain about. I love them now!
So I wanted to try to make these little guys… I’m not sure why. They are awfully difficult (well, more time consuming than difficult). But I was so darn proud of myself when they were done, I don’t even care about the effort I had to put in! The cookies go by a ton of names… Rainbow, Seven Layer, Neapolitan, Tricolor… but I’m pretty sure they tend to be a Christmas staple in Italian households. I found this recipe on Epicurious.
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained
I am very vocal about my love of Cooking Light and myrecipes.com in general. I think it is a fantastic resource to find delicious recipes of all kinds and sort them easily and helpfully. I was recently sent a copy of myrecipes’ America’s Favorite Food: 200 Top-Rated Recipes from the Country’s Best Magazines which is a collection of recipes from All You, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Health, Real Simple, Southern Living, and Sunset magazines.
What makes this cookbook different than any I’ve ever seen, is that it incorporates a Scan-It/Cook-It technology. Once you download the free Digimarc Discover app onto your smartphone, you are able to scan photos and info boxes in the cookbook which opens up how-to videos, shopping lists, and related recipes. Brilliant!
When I scanned the photo of the recipe I was making (Halibut with Coconut-Red Curry Sauce), it opened a how-to video to see how to prepare the dish, which is a wonderful tool for beginner cooks. The recipe also includes a side bar with substitutes and even tips on how to cook fish without smelling up the whole house.
This is the perfect cookbook for all levels of home cooks and I’m happy to be able to giveaway a copy of this cookbook! Check out the widget below to enter…
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (or a punch of ground ginger)
I need more sides in my life. Couscous is a great weekday choice because it’s so quick to make, maybe 20 minutes in total. This recipe is from the Fresh & Healthy DASH Diet Cooking Cookbook which I absolutely love. The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute a encourages increasing whole grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean proteins and minimizing processed gains, high-fat meats and dairy, sugars and sodium… which is basically more just eating healthy versus a diet.
This couscous recipe is made with vegetable broth to give it some flavor with bites of pine nuts, dried cranberries, and scallions.
So, I found myself in the odd position of craving farro. Yes, farro. So after some searching, I came across a Cooking Light recipe that sounded fantastic. The recipe not only has farro, but it also uses apple cider (how autumnal!) AND it’s a risotto! I’ve never thought of using farro in a risotto but, better late than never.
Ingredients:
Risotto:
1 cup farro
1.5 cups fat free, less sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups apple cider
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup chopped fennel bulb (1 small fennel bulb should cover you)
What is it about tiny treats that make the food taste better? I love perfectly portioned food so I was excited to be sent Petite Treats: Mini Versions of Your Favorite Baked Delights. The cookbook has recipes for mini donuts, muffins, scones, pies, and bundt cakes. The recipes sound absolutely delicious but to make most of the treats, you’ll need quite a bit of hardware: mini bunt cake pans, mini donut pans, mini scone pans, mini cupcake pans, etc. There are a few recipes that use a normal muffin pan that sounded really appealing, including mini cakes, but I decided to make the mini coffee cakes so I could have breakfast all week.
Ingredients:
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 cup fresh cranberries (I used frozen cranberries, thawed)
2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter,at room temperature, divided
I wanted to make another batch of the Applejack Spiked Hot Cider but *gasp* I couldn’t find any apple cider anywhere! There must have been a Thanksgiving rush, but I wanted some darn Apple Cider. But then I remembered I bought a Babycakes Cake Pop Maker (paid link) and figured I could at least make Apple Cinnamon Donut Holes as a sweet apple-y substitute. (Because I couldn’t find apple cider, I substituted apple juice)
One of the best parts of Thanksgiving doesn’t even take place on Thursday. I (and I’m assuming many others) look forward to the leftovers as much as the original meal. Friday always includes a Thanksgiving sandwich (which you can actually get a version of in Delaware all year long at Capriotti‘s called the “Bobby” mmm). Saturday tends to be my own version of the Wawa Turkey Bowl. By Sunday, I’m starting to run out of creative ways to mush my leftovers into a new meal.
The makers of Clos de los Siete came to my rescue! Clos de los Siete is an Argentine red wine that is made from seven vineyards in the foothills of the Andes. The wine is a mixture of 57% malbec, 15% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 10% syrah and 3% petit verdot that is a really nice complement to turkey. Azul Argentine Bistro in New York created a recipe that uses Thanksgiving leftovers along with some spices to create Wine Infused Thanksgiving leftover Empanadas, how fantastic does that sound?
Ingredients:
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 sweet potato, peeled and finely diced (about 1 cup)
1 pound turkey breast, shredded (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Clos de los Siete wine
1-2 packages store-bought empanada discs (note: mine have annatto in them which is why they are orange)
I’ve got turkey on the brain with Thanksgiving fast approaching and I wanted to do a post that used turkey. But if you’re like me, you don’t have 15 people around to help me eat an entire roasted turkey. So instead, why not make an Herb Infused Turkey Breast?
This recipe for Herb Infused Turkey Breast is cooked using the Ninja Cooking System, I thought it was a fantastic alternative for a smaller Thanksgiving. If you don’t have a Ninja Cooking System, you can still make this recipe; you’ll just need a saute pan that is also oven safe.
It isn’t Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce. We’ve always had the canned cranberry sauce at my Thankgivings growing up; I honestly believed the ridges from the can were there so I knew where to cut. I am all for the canned version, but I thought I’d attempt to make a homemade version in my slow cooker. I based it slightly off of Cooking Light’s Classic Cranberry Sauce but changed up a few ingredients and the method of cooking.
Two years ago today, I decided to begin writing a blog to help track my progress as I learned how to cook. I am in the process of updating the look of my blog (it’s still a work in progress) and was looking over some of my most recent posts. They were so much fun to read but my goodness the photos were awful! I still have a lot to learn both in cooking, blogging, and photography so I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
Knowing others read this and actually care about what I post has been a huge motivation. I wanted to thank you for reading my posts and keeping me going on my cooking journey. So what’s a birthday party without some presents? In celebration of my blog turning two, I put together a little giveaway.
With the holidays coming up, I figured most people are starting to think about their next baking project (or at least I am). One lucky reader will be all set to bake his or her little heart out because I am giving away a cookie baking kit!
The baking kit (~$125 value) includes the following:
Airbake Nonstick Insulated Cookie Sheets
OXO “Good Cookie” Spatula
OXO Silicone Whisk
OXO Angled Measuring Cup
Dry Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
A Mixing Bowl Set (3 bowls)
Two spatulas
Holiday Cookie Cutters
A Metal Cooling Rack
1 Copy of “Cookie Swap: Creative Treats to Share Throughout the Year” Cookbook
To enter, just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck to everyone!! I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I enjoy writing them!
I love a good mashed potato recipe. They are definitely my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. Classic mashed potatoes will always be a favorite of mine, but this recipe from Nigella Lawson that I found on The Chew sounded really fantastic. My aunt and uncle always use horseradish cheddar in their mashed potatoes and I love the tanginess that the horseradish brings. I thought it would be the perfect complement to the sweetness of the apples.
Ingredients:
4 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 – 1 1/2 cup horseradish cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 fuji apples
4 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
You need a red apple that can stand up to being sauteed and maintain its shape. Look for Liberty, Fuji, Jonagold, or Pink Lady apples.
Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Peel your potatoes. Cut into smaller pieces and add to the pot.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, add the bacon to a saute pan over medium heat. Heat until cooked through, turning once, about 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and add to a plate lined with paper towels. Roughly chop.
Add the shallots and the apples to the saute pan with the bacon drippings.
Saute over medium-low heat until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Mix with the chopped bacon.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain. Take the pot that you used to boil the potatoes and add the 1 cup whole milk over low heat. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash the potatoes back into the pot, stirring to combine with the milk.
The horseradish cheddar I used was really soft so I just broke it into smaller pieces and mixed into the potatoes. If you have a harder version, you can grate the cheese and add it in, mixing to combine. Add the butter and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Top with the bacon and apples.
I had no idea apples would go so well with mashed potatoes! The slight sweetness with the shallots was such a perfect complement to the subtle tang of the horseradish cheddar. And obviously, everything is better with bacon.
This would be a fantastic spin to traditional mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving without adding too much extra work to your day. You could make the mashed potatoes and the bacon and apple mixture both the day before. The day of, you can heat both separately and then top the potatoes with the mixture.
Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes with Bacon and Apples
Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
4 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 – 1 1/2 cup horseradish cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shallots, chopped
2 fuji apples
4 strips of bacon
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
You need a red apple that can stand up to being sauteed and maintain its shape. Look for Liberty, Fuji, Jonagold, or Pink Lady apples.
Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. Peel your potatoes. Cut into smaller pieces and add to the pot.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
While waiting for the potatoes to cook, add the bacon to a saute pan over medium heat. Heat until cooked through, turning once, about 10 minutes.
Remove the bacon from the pan and add to a plate lined with paper towels. Roughly chop.
Add the shallots and the apples to the saute pan with the bacon drippings.
Saute over medium-low heat until the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm. Mix with the chopped bacon.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain. Take the pot that you used to boil the potatoes and add the 1 cup whole milk over low heat. Using a ricer or potato masher, mash the potatoes back into the pot, stirring to combine with the milk.
The horseradish cheddar I used was really soft so I just broke it into smaller pieces and mixed into the potatoes. If you have a harder version, you can grate the cheese and add it in, mixing to combine. Add the butter and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
The only upside to the colder weather, is that it is now appropriate for me to make eggnog. And not just any eggnog, but pumpkin eggnog. Pinnacle Vodka came out with a pumpkin pie vodka this year, and I’ve been waiting and waiting for the right weather to make this drink. I actually used a recipe that came from The Cookbook of Ellen M Emlen, which is a recipe book from from the 1860’s that The Historical Society of Pennsylvania found in their collection. I’ve written about this cookbook before on this blog and I just love it.
One of the issues in the cookbook though, is that it is written before standard measurements were invented so the recipes aren’t easily reproduced. (For example, this recipe called for a wine-size glass of milk. White wine or red wine glass? Completely full, or what a serving in the glass would be? You get the picture.)
But I figured if it was good enough for the 19th century, it’s good enough for me!
Oh pasta, how I love you. Pasta, or any Italian food for that matter, is my ultimate comfort food choice. I was sent Lidia Bastianich’s newest cookbook: Lidia’s Favorite Recipes– 100 Foolproof Italian Dishes, from Basic Sauces to Irresistible Entrees, which after my first page through, I already knew would be one of my favorite cookbooks. Lidia Bastianich obviously knows her Italian dishes, she’s been in the cooking industry for most of her life; she has a number of best-selling cookbooks, owns 6 restaurants, and is basically the face of Italian cooking on PBS. I’m also happy to let you all know that I will be giving away one copy of this awesome cookbook! More on that after the recipe…
The cookbook makes Italian recipes approachable. A lot of the recipes include childhood favorites of mine, Chicken Parmigiana, Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Italian Wedding Soup. There are recipes that the photos look so fantastic I can’t wait to try them (I’m specifically talking about the rice balls. Oh. My. Goodness.)
But I had to test out the cookbook with my favorite Italian staple: a pasta dish. The Tagliatelle with Wild Mushroom Sauce sounded just wonderful. But something didn’t want me to make this recipe. My supermarket didn’t have wild mushrooms or tagliatelle! Well, the show must go on. This is my somewhat adapted version of the recipe, Pasta with Wild Mushroom Sauce.
My goodness it dropped in temperature quickly! It feels like we went straight from September weather to December weather. Luckily, I have the perfect warm drink to keep you toasty. This is a (probably) oversimplified version of a drink my aunt and uncle always have at their house for the holidays: Wassail. It’s basically a mulled wine that warms you up from the inside out. I’ve been thinking about Wassail since the change in temperature so I decided to make a quick batch with things I already had in my house.