Roasted Beef Tenderloin

This year, as a gift to my mom I made Christmas dinner. Every family gathering we have my mom spends hours in the kitchen preparing a meal or two or three. She grew up in a restaurant family and she just can’t shake her inner hostess. I wanted to give her the gift of time this year. Time to spend with her houseguests and her grandson. While I know it was tough for her to step back and stay out of the kitchen on Christmas Day, I could tell that she was much more relaxed once we sat down for dinner.

True to form, I tried out new recipes for Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve I did panic a little and asked myself what the heck I was thinking! Thankfully Christmas dinner turned out beautifully. I spent very little time in the kitchen thanks to a little prep work ahead of time.

Little one playing with a new toy from
his MN grandparents.

Christmas dinner menu:

Green Salad
FourBean Salad
ShreddedBrussels Sprouts
SwedishPotatoes
RoastedBeef Tenderloin
French Bread
CranberryUpside-down Cake
 
Husband was on the phone with his Minnesota parents the other night and told them about the beef tenderloin that I made for dinner. I had never made tenderloin before and after this experience I may try to make it every year. I ordered the tenderloin from our grocery store and it came already trimmed. The meat was amazingly tender and flavorful. My father-in-law asked if the recipe would be on my blog. He’s a foodie like me, one of the many many reasons I love him so much! This recipe is for you Papa Rich, I hope you are able to make and enjoy this delicious recipe. It is one of Giada’s so I already know you will be trying it soon.

Enjoy!

Cooking spray

2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 tsp. coriander seeds
3 garlic cloves garlic
2 ¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
2 T.  olive oil
4 lb. beef tenderloin, trimmed

Arrange an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a heavy baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray. Set aside.

In a mortar and pestle, or spice grinder, finely grind the cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the spices and cook for a few seconds until aromatic and toasted. Put the spices in a small bowl. Chop the garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt. Holding a chef's knife at a 45 degrees angle, scrape the garlic and salt together to form a paste. Add the garlic paste to the bowl with the spices. Add the remaining salt, black pepper, and oil and stir until smooth. Put the meat on the prepared baking sheet and rub with the spice mixture.

Roast for 35 to 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 125 degrees F, for medium-rare. Remove from the oven and transfer the meat to a cutting board. Cover the meat loosely with foil and let rest for 20 minutes.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/roasted-beef-tenderloin-with-basil-curry-mayonnaise-recipe/index.html

*Follow the links in the menu for additional recipes.

Bubble Up Pizza

Little one finger painting Christmas gifts

Spending time with family reminds me of how much fun I have sitting around the table and playing games. Cards games, board games and dice games are all on my list of fun family activities. Our family has some old favorite: Canasta, Backgammon, Pass the King, 4-5-6, Dominoes. Last night we had friends over for game night. Our friends indulged me in a dice game I enjoy and they also brought over a new board game they received for Christmas.   

Nothing goes better with game night than pizza. I tried a new pizza recipe that I found a few weeks ago.  Our friends we had over for dinner are fans of simpler foods which after so much holiday cooking was very refreshing. I think it may have taken me five minutes to put this recipe together. I used two cans of jumbo biscuits. This made the crust HUGE. Two cans of regular biscuits would be just fine. Because the biscuits were so big I had to add about 15 extra minutes of cooking time but the cheese turned a lovely golden color that husband was crazy about. I ended up with 12 servings.

Enjoy!

2 cans refrigerator biscuits

1 ½ cup pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella, shredded
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 T. pizza seasoning
Pizza toppings of your choice
 
Preheat oven to 400° F.
 
Remove biscuits from cans and arrange on the bottom of an ungreased 9X13 casserole dish. Tear up biscuits to fill in any gaps.

Spread pizza sauce over the biscuit dough. Layer with desired toppings, mozzarella, parmesan and seasoning.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Adapted from http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/recipes/bubble-pizza

Southwest Chicken Wraps

Last night we had some friends over for dinner. Husband likes to try to sneak in a dinner with each of our “couple” friends before the holidays. I’m completely on board with that! I love having an excuse to cook for our friends and it’s so nice to just spend time with the people you love. Hopefully in the future we will have a bigger house that is more suited to entertaining all of our friends at once, but until that happens I am so happy to entertain our friends in my little cozy kitchen. I have beautiful visions of holiday open houses complete with festive cocktails and jazzy Christmas music.

G and Mrs. J
at the Bacardi factory in Puerto Rico

The friends we had over have been our friends for over five years. I met Mrs. J while working for the school district before I was engaged to husband. The first time Mr. J and husband met you could almost see fireworks in the room. They became friends instantly which makes hanging out with the J family so so so much fun. While our busy schedules keep us from spending as much time together as I would like, when we do get together I always end the evening with a warm fuzzy feeling.

I’m thankful that our friends know me well enough to know that I have no problems treating them as guinea pigs. Usually when we sit down to eat I will announce that it is the first time I have ever made this recipe and if it’s not good we can order pizza (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before). My feelings aren’t hurt if not everyone likes what I cook, after all I’m usually following a recipe so the concept isn’t mine.

This recipe went over well. Husband and I decided we did need to kick up the spices a notch or two but overall it was very tasty. Pulling this together actually happened quickly because I prepped everything the night before. I cooked the chicken and rice, chopped the veggies and mix everything that needed mixing except for the cilantro. Then I popped everything into the fridge and headed to bed. I added the cilantro right before cooking time. Since the wraps don’t spend much time on a heat source I do recommend heating up the chicken mixture before spreading it on the tortillas. If your tortillas look like they may crack when you fold them, go ahead and warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds.

Enjoy!

½ cup rice
1 cup chicken, shredded
15 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
1 green onion, finely sliced
½  red bell pepper, diced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 T. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic salt
2 cups cheddar, shredded
6 burrito sized flour tortillas

½ cup sour cream

Cook the rice in a rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked mix the rice together with the beans, green onion, bell pepper, cilantro, lime juice, chili powder, cumin and garlic salt.

Lay out the tortillas on a work surface and evenly sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving ½ inch border around edges. Arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla.

Fold the tortillas like a burrito.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Arrange two or three wraps, seam side down, and cook until golden brown, about two to three minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps.

Serve with a side of sour cream and a green salad.

Adapted from http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2009/09/crispy-southwest-chicken-wraps.html

Italian Hummus (White Bean Dip)

If you are a fan of hummus you will enjoy this dip. I’m not a fan of hummus and I enjoy this dip. Honestly, I just can’t jump on the hummus band wagon. It’s another one of those foods that I really want to love but I just don’t. Oh well. I have only made this recipe twice. Both times were at the request of husband for one of his functions. Husband knows I’m not a huge baker and I would rather make appetizers for a get together than a dessert.

The simplicity of the ingredients makes this a great last minute appetizer. The lemon juice makes it taste light and fresh. The recipe encourages you to serve the dip with pita chips but any cracker will work just as well. Depending on the size of your gathering it is very easy to double this recipe – or quadruple it as I did.

Enjoy!

15 oz. cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 garlic cloves
2 T. lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ fresh Italian parsley leaves
Salt and pepper

Place the beans, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and parsley in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the bean puree to a small bowl.

Everyday Italian – Giada DeLaurentiis

Ranch Oyster Crackers

I remember growing up, that each year my family would make the journey back to the Midwest for Christmas my Grandpa Bud always had a large container of Ranch Oyster Crackers in the cupboards. I thought these were one of the best treats. Sure, holiday cookies and sweets were amazing, but these were Grandpa’s crackers! No one else ever made Grandpa’s crackers.

Once I moved to Minnesota for college I really started to get interested in cooking. I asked my mom for Grandpa’s recipe. I’m sure once I had it in my hot little hands I was shocked at how simple and easy it was to make these delicious little crackers. I’m not sure what I had envisioned, but surely there was more to the recipe than what was written on the card.

My skepticism quickly changed into me making these crackers a few times a year. I’ve altered the recipe over time. Grandpa’s recipe called for a cup of oil and over the years I have slowly decreased that amount. Husband knows these crackers are a special treat. Even though they are easy to make, I feel that if I made them all the time it would take away a little bit of that specialness that accompanies them.

There are many versions and variations of these tasty little crackers floating around. I’ve seen ones with taco seasoning and Montreal Steak seasoning. Ranch, however, is my favorite. There is also a pretzel version that I just may share in the future!

Enjoy!

16oz. oyster crackers

1 pkg. Ranch seasoning mix
½ cup vegetable oil
½ tsp. dill
¼ tsp. lemon pepper
¼ tsp. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250.

In a large bowl whisk together ranch seasoning mix, oil, dill, lemon pepper and garlic powder. Fold in oyster crackers. Stir gently until each cracker is coated with ranch mixture.

Spread crackers on a large cookie sheet. Cook for 20-25 minutes.

Allow crackers to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Six years ago I found this recipe and it became “the” cookies I make each year around Christmas. There are a few cookies out there that just scream Christmas to me (Russian Tea Cakes, krumkake, gingerbread) but this is the cookie that I make to share. I don’t like making cookies that need to be cut out and decorated. I get impatient with that process and now my time is much more precious than it was a few years ago. The scooping and plop method is much more my style when it comes to cookies and aside from pressing the cookies into a little crushed peppermint these are that simple.

Chocolate and peppermint make such a lovely combination. This cookie has just the right amount of peppermint to go with the chocolate. I like that there are two different peppermint sources and two different chocolate sources. When husband saw all of the ingredients for these cookies out on the counter his eyes got huge and he actually said “wow.” Honestly there aren’t THAT many, I had a few duplicates out – my vanilla was down to its last drop.

After making these cookies a few times I’ve made some adjustments to the original recipe. I bumped up the cooking temperature, subtracted some of the peppermints and added some time for the cookies to firm up after taking them out of the oven. I always use a silpat when I bake these beauties. I found that trying to get a spatula under them to move them to the wire racks turns the spatula into a mess, the melted candies can be a little gooey. With a silpat you can lift the cookies after they sit for a few minutes and they transfer perfectly. Also, the silpat lets you discard any melted candies that may get stuck on your cookie sheets. The cookies do spread while cooking so make sure you place them at least two inches apart.

If you have a food processor I highly suggest crushing your peppermints in it. Husband happily took my ziplock bag of unwrapped peppermints to the basement to crush them with a hammer. It worked but I also had a mish mash of pieces and peppermint dust in the basement, on the stairs and on the kitchen floor.

Enjoy!

1 ½ cups flour

All packed up and ready to go to the Cookie Exchange

½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. coarse salt
4 oz. milk chocolate chips
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. pure peppermint extract
3 large eggs
40 round swirled peppermint candies, coarsely crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Heat for one minute at 50% power, stir and repeat until completely melted.

Pour chocolate in a mixing bowl. With a paddle attachment mix in sugar, extracts, and eggs on medium low speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and mix in the flour mixture. Stir in one third of the candies.

Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.

Using a 1 ½ in ice cream scoop, form mounds of dough. Dip cookie tops into remaining candies to coat. Place cookies, candy sides up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper (silpat), spacing two inches apart. Bake cookies until just set, about 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets for five minutes then transfer to wire racks.

Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

Adapted from http://www.marthastewart.com/334692/chocolate-peppermint-cookies

Andouille Barley Soup

I’m so proud of the meal that I pieced together last night. Let me start off by saying this evening could have been a disaster. Husband was at a fundraising meeting for a theatre downtown so it was just me and little one. Little one was in quite a mood. One minute he was very content to sit down and read a book and the next he was pulling on my skirt and throwing himself down on the floor trying to get attention. In all reality I should have grabbed the frozen pizza from the freezer, sat down, read an upside down book to little one and just called it good but I was bound and determined to make a pot of soup.

I was planning on making a mushroom barley soup but for some reason my mushrooms were missing. Goodness knows if they at the bottom of the freezer or if I just forgot to buy them. Either way I was stumped. The more I rummaged through the fridge the more little one pulled stuff out. Clearly this was not going my way. Finally my eyes fell on the container of leftover Andouille sausage from the night before (we had a friend over for dinner and I made Oven Baked Tortillas with Andouille sausage added as an extra ingredient – yummy!). I decided Andouille can take the place of mushrooms.

I mostly followed the original recipe but I added a little celery to the soup pot because I had it and I thought it would go well. I gave a stalk of celery to little one and he was completely happy until I was finished putting the soup together. I did have to let little one and the dog know that celery is not for sharing, but it was so cute to watch little one hold his celery so the dog could lick it. Little one licks the fridge and chews on shopping carts so I’m not too worried about dog germs.

In the end this soup was filling and tasty. I had to add water because I found it to be very thick. Beef broth may have been a better choice than chicken broth but I’ll try that some other day. Two teaspoons of dill seemed like way too much while I was adding it tot he soup but the flavor really mellows, or is taken over by the Andouille spice. While the soup was boiling away little one and I sat down and played. Little one ate his veggies while I had soup so we were able to eat together. I paired my soup with some bread and goat cheese.

Enjoy!

2 T. butter
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
8 oz. Andouille sausage, diced
3 c. water
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. pearled barley
2 tsp. dried dill

Melt butter in a pot over medium high heat. Sauté the onions, carrots, celery and garlic. Once vegetable have become soft, add water and broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the barley, Andouille and dill. Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook soup at rolling boil for 45 minutes, or until barley has cooked through.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

Adapted from http://www.5dollardinners.com/2010/01/mushroom-barley-soup.html#ixzz1f6v7cML7

Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I’ve really been enjoying trying out all of these new fast recipes. My goal is to have dinner on the table by 6:00pm or 6:15 so that little one can eat at the same time husband and I do. I like having all of us eat together. Growing up my family almost always sat down to eat dinner together so that’s a tradition I would like to continue.

Little one 'helping' unpack the tree.

Now that my time in the kitchen has shortened I’ve had extra time on my hands to spend with little one and husband as well as getting some of my holiday tasks completed. This is the first year I have had a tree that is half decorated. I decided not to put ornaments on the bottom half of the tree since little one is so interested in taking them off and playing with them. I figure it’s not worth the fight of constantly telling him to not touch something he finds interesting.

Last Thursday Amazing Friend came over to have dinner with us. Her husband is in med school and spends lots of time studying so I benefit from having a friend with a little extra time on her hands! She’ll watch trashy TV with me (we just finished season one of Storage Wars) and when little one goes to bed we can find some time to get crafty with yarn. She’s also recruited me to start going to Zumba so I feel a little less guilty about the fat content in some of my newest recipes!

I had some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving tucked away in the freezer so this was a natural fit for this recipe. Though, buying a rotisserie chicken when it’s on sale and freezing the meat is a great way to make sure you have precooked chicken on hand. I used a tablespoon of dried cilantro since I didn’t have any fresh but fresh is always better when you can. I decided this recipe needed more enchilada sauce so I added more. Our thoughts around the dinner table were that this would make a great dip as well if you omitted the corn tortillas and served with tortilla chips instead.

Enjoy!

2 cups shredded chicken

½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. coriander
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
15 oz. black beans, rinsed and drained
4.5 oz. diced green chili peppers
2 cups enchilada sauce
8 6 in. corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375°.

In a medium bowl mix together the chicken, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, cilantro, black beans, and green chili peppers.

Spread half of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 11x7 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Place four tortillas over the sauce, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle with half of the cheese and dot with half of the sour cream.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese, and top with remaining tortillas. Layer the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the cover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese and dot with remaining sour cream. Cook, uncovered, for an additional five to ten minutes, or until cheese melts.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Adapted from: http://www.sweettreatsmore.com/2011/10/chicken-black-bean-enchilada-casserole.html

Taco Bake

I’m not really sure what prompted me to make this recipe. Maybe Kraft sent me an e-mail on a day I was especially swamped and the ease of the ingredients appealed to me or I was tempted by the thought of turning Mac and Cheese into a Mexican meal. Either way I bought the ingredients and tried it out.

I have to admit, the Mac & Cheese portion of our shopping trip really stumped me. I stood in front of the Mac & Cheese section for a few minutes completely overwhelmed by all the choices. I’m not really a boxed Mac & Cheese type of girl and on the rare occasion it sounds good I usually buy Annie’s. What happened to the good ol’ days of my childhood when your choices were Original, Spiral and on an exciting day Wagon Wheel? There were so many shapes, characters, types of cheese, types of noodles and intensities I just didn’t know what to do. Finally I grabbed a box of whole grain pasta (something that resembled healthy) and got out of that aisle.

The recipe was easy to follow and easy to make. I halved the recipe because in my Mac & Cheese aisle anxiety attack I picked up a regular size box instead of deluxe. No biggie. I made the whole pound of taco meat and stuck half in the freezer for later. Since I used my own taco seasoning I had to guess what the directions were to make taco meat. I used two tablespoons of taco seasoning and ¼ cup of water. It turned out well.

Husband and I both thought it turned out pretty yummy. This isn’t a meal that will make it into our frequent rotation but I would be happy to make it a few times a year. It was nice Saturday night meal. Little one had a couple bites and really enjoyed it too. It was his first time eating salsa so we had fun laughing at the faces he made.

Enjoy!

1 Kraft Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

3 T. butter
3 T. milk
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
¾ cup sour cream
1 ½ cups cheddar, shredded
1 cup salsa
 
Heat oven to 400°F.

Prepare macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

Stir sour cream into prepared macaroni. Spoon half the macaroni mixture into an eight inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with meat mixture, one cup cheese and remaining macaroni. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with salsa and remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for five minutes or until cheese is melted.

Adapted from:  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/taco-bake-63779.aspx