Righteous Ribs!

September 30th, 2008 by Celeste Mari

Some of the easiest and most satisfying dinners I make involve BBQ Ribs.  People (women especially) shy away from ribs b/c they feel they can’t make them the way restaurants do b/c they don’t have the right equipment, seasonings, etc…  Well, I am here to tell all those folks they are WRONG; the average-jane/joe CAN make delicious ribs in their very own kitchen!  And in true vanilla-style, I have included a twisted recipe for my homemade Righteous Ribs!

BBQing is an ancient practice.  We’ve been cooking meat over an open flame since the cavemen, but what really makes a BBQ is the sauce I think.  Every American family has a BBQ sauce recipe; there are a million of them out there!  Find one that you love and live by it; it’ll work well for any meat you decided to BBQ!  BBQing has also come along way from open flames as well.  Now, you can cook over a flame or coals, on a grill, or even in an oven (baked BBQ).  Whatever your style, make it work for you!  And if you don’t have an outdoor patio, grill, or fire-pit, don’t worry!  BBQed meats taste just as wonderful from the oven!  Work with wat you’ve got!

So, Righteous Ribs!  I chose pork for this recipe, but beef, lamb, or chicken would taste good as well.  I don’t currently have my own grill or fire-pit, so I choose to bake my ribs.  My gas oven works wonders and lets me focus on other tasks (culinary or not) while my ribs cook!

Ingredients:

• Racks of Ribs; 1 rack was enough for us; generally 3-4 servings per rack
• Caribbean-Jerk Seasoning: about 4 tbsp. per rack
• Yellow onion: 1 per rack, cut into quarters
• Water: enough to cover the bottom of your baking pan
• BBQ sauce: at least 1 cup per rack for meat while cooking and more to serve with meat.  I chose Honey BBQ sauce b/c it compliments the jerk flavor in the seasoning.

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (~177°C)
2. You’ll want to start with completely thawed ribs.  Place raw ribs into baking pan.  Using about 2 tbsp per side, generously cover ribs with seasoning.  Place ribs meat-side down in pan.
3. Add onion all around ribs in pan.  Add enough water to just cover the bottom of pan.
4. Cover pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Now is the ‘free’ time when you can focus on other things while your ribs cook!
5. After 45 minutes, remove ribs from oven (keep oven on) and remove foil from pan.  Your ribs should looked cooked on the outside.
6. Using about 1 cup of BBQ sauce per rack, cover both sides of ribs with BBQ sauce.  I suggest using a pastry brush (or something similar) to fully coat ribs and get the sauce in all the crevices.  Feel free to use more sauce than I recommend; make these ribs to YOUR tastes!
7. Place ribs back into oven (no foil this time) for another 30 minutes.  Use this time to prepare your side dishes (if any) or enjoy some more ‘free’ time!
8. After 30 minutes, remove ribs from oven (turn off oven now) and promptly serve!  Don’t forget to offer more BBQ sauce with your Righteous Ribs!

I chose to serve my Righteous Ribs with Twisted Macaroni and Buttered Peas!  I love the way these sides compliment my ribs.  Check the blog tomorrow for those recipes! Enjoy your feast!

Vanilla isn’t plain or boring, my cooking is simple and flavorful with a twist on the classics! Discover the vanilla in you!

Posted in American, Main Dishes || No Comments

Dinner To Go? No! Pull out the Pesto!!

September 22nd, 2008 by Celeste Mari

Oh how I adore cherish llloooovvveeee pesto!!  It is such an easy and delicious topping on pasta, spread for sandwiches, dip for breads, and more!  On nights when I don’t have much time (not that my meals ever take that long), I cook up some quick pasta, toss it with pesto and throw together a salad to go with it.  A yummy Italian night that requires little effort!

Basil pesto is best made from scratch…as are most foods!  Luckily, making pesto is quick and easy!  Plus, it lasts for a few months in the frig (make sure there is plenty of oil on the top) and about a year in the freezer.  So, start with fresh basil (here’s your chance to try home grown basil if you’ve got a green thumb) and blanch it!  Blanching sets the flavor and color of the fresh basil and helps prevent discoloration in your pesto!  Not everyone will blanch their basil, but in my ‘professional’ opinion, blanched basil creates a more flavorful and colorful pesto.  Don’t over-blanch the basil, just dip into boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, then plunge into ice-cold water.  From here, all you’ve got to do is throw all the pesto ingredients together into your food processor!

As for the ingredients, many cooks disagree on the ingredient list, but that’s the joy of creating your own pesto.  You can really tweak it to your tastes, needs, and your available ingredients.  The basic recipe calls for basil, olive oil (the higher the quality, the better), parmesan cheese (Romano can also be used), pine nuts (though almonds, walnuts, and pecans will work too), and lastly fresh garlic.  You’ll also want to season your pesto to taste with salt and pepper.  Generally, pestos are made to taste so the amount of each ingredient used will be up to you!  Place the blanched basil into your food processor, add the cheese and garlic, then start the processor.  After a few turns, throw in the nuts and mix.  While mixing, add the olive oil to your food processor.  Add enough oil until you have a wet, saucy mixture.  As this point, taste your pesto and add seasoning to your tastes!  Enjoy over some hot pasta and think of all things Italian!

Now that you have a wonderful basil pesto in your frigerator, you can use it to make this wonderful variation of Pesto Pasta!  As most know, my culinary passion is in taking traditional dishes and twisting them into new dishes!

Enter my Pesto Pasta Bake.  Super easy to put together and finished in under half an hour!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups basil pesto
• 1 package pasta (I used Rigatoni)
• 1 lb. ground beef (or pork, turkey, chicken, tofu…whatever makes you happy! I used lean ground beef)
• 6 plum tomatoes, diced (or use the can…if you must cheat)
• 1 cup Parmesan/Romano cheese (you could also use Asiago or Mozzarella cheeses)

Process:

1. Heat 6 cups of water to a boil (do not add salt or oil…this will do nothing for you!); while waiting for the water to boil, dice the tomatoes, make fresh pesto (if need be), get all ingredients ready; pre-heat oven to 350°F (~177°C).
2. Once water is boiling, add pasta (set timer according to package directions); add ground beef to another pan (a wok is best) and brown.
3. Once browned, drain beef and return to pan.  Add pesto and tomatoes to pan and heat together with beef on mid-low heat.
4. By now the pasta should be cooked to al dente, drain pasta and rinse with HOT water; add pasta to beef/pesto mixture in wok.  Stir together until pasta is coated with pesto and mixed with beef and tomatoes.
5. Spoon Pesto Pasta mixture into a casserole dish (an 8″ x 11″ will work perfectly) and set timer for 10 minutes.  Use these ten minutes to clean up your two pots, the strainers, the cutting board, and kitchen tools…you’ll appreciate this cleaning-while-cooking after dinner when all you have to do is rinse the plates and add them to the dishwasher.
6. Grab the plates, set the table, prepare the drinks and get ready to serve!!  Pull out the casserole after ten minutes and the cheese should be melted.  All that’s left is to serve and EAT!!!

This recipe should serve a family of four or a hungry couple.  Add a salad and some bread and herb-infused oil for dipping to create a yummy Italian dinner your family will love!  I hope you all enjoy!!

Ciao!

Posted in Food Genres, Italian, Main Dishes || No Comments

Egg-celent Soup

September 14th, 2008 by Celeste Mari

Eggplant is a vegetable most people have no idea what to do with, except to make Eggplant Parmesan.  Well, here is another wonderful soup for this oh so colorful vegetable.  Eggplant-Tomato Soup is a yummy, warm treat for anyone looking for a light and delicious soup.  This is light enough to enjoy pre-dinner (they say we should eat a light course, such as soup, before going out to dinner so we’ll eat less of the ‘bad’ foods..whatever those are) or as a full meal with some scrumptious home-made bread!

Eggplant-Tomato Soup

You will need:

onions (red or yellow), carrots & celery (determine how much you need based on the explanation below); chop into 1/2″ square pieces after prepping veggies (i.e., taking outer shell off onions, peeling carrots, washing and trimming celery)

eggplant (3-4); peel the skin off (all the purple) as well as the green head, chop into 2″ square pieces

tomatoes (plum is best) (6-7); take off stems and core, then dice tomatoes.  You can also use canned, diced tomatoes, but you’ll lose the truly handmade/homemade factor.

Stock (4-5 cups) I would use chicken stock (good quality) or a vegetable stock.  In my opinion, a beef stock would take away from the vegetable flavor.

Oil (1 cup) I prefer good quality olive oil, but canola, peanut, and even vegetable oils will all work.

Butter (1/2 lb.)

Garlic Powder (1 tbsp.)

Celery Salt (1/2 tbsp.)

SnP (1 tbsp.) This is just basic salt and pepper that has been mixed, if you don’t have it mixed together just add 1/2 tbsp. of each to your soup.

Stockpot, stirring spoon or whisk (or fork…don’t scratch your pot though), mixer (hand-held, blender, food processor..whatever works).

So you’ll wanna start with your basic mirepoix: 2 part onions, 1 part celery & 1 part carrot.  Depending on how much soup you want to make, you’ll adjust your mirepoix.  The basic 2:1:1 will suffice for 6-8 servings.  In a stockpot, start melting 1/2 lb. of butter on high (which melts the butter, but also heats the whole pot up).  Add your mirepoix and eggplant to the hot pot; reduce the heat to med-low.  You’ll want to place a lid on the pot or even better place a paper towel or wax paper down into the pot to cover the veggies.  This creates a steam trap which cooks the veggies more evenly.  This is the base of the soup…all veggies!

Stir the veggies every couple of minutes until all veggies are hot.  Then add oil…I prefer a good quality olive oil, but canola or peanut oils will work great too.  Vegetable oil will work as well, but will make the soup heavier and of course more fattening.  At this time you can add the tomatoes as well.  Let the veggies cook down on low heat for 20-30 minutes.  You’ll notice them get softer as you stir them every 5-10 minutes.  The whole concoction will become more soupy and mushy as the water cooks out of the veggies and into the oils.

Now you need to mix the veggies and oils together by either mushing and stiring a lot or (the easier way) blending everything together.  Using a blender, food processor, or a hand-held mixer (best option), blend all the soft veggies and oils together until you get a yummy mush.  You can add the mush back to the same pot (don’t bother cleaning it out) and turn the heat up to medium.

Next add the stock.  Stir in stock until everything is mixed together.  Add garlic powder, celery salt and SnP and give everything a good stir together.  You may notice the garlic powder will clump a bit, but this can be broken up my stiring with a whisk (or fork) or by running the handheld mixer through the soup once more.  Let soup simmer for another 10 minutes or so, until everything is heated through.  Because of the nature of eggplant (add tomato seeds), this soup will be a bit more ‘chunky’ than say the squash soup, but it should in no way be ‘chewable’.  The texture lends to the overall experience!

As always, taste the soup to make sure you like the seasoning combination and ad-lib to your tasts if necessary.  Serve up hot with a nice cold salad or some yummy homemade bread and ENJOY!

Posted in Lighter Fares, Main Dishes, Soups || No Comments

Shot of Squash Soup

August 27th, 2008 by Celeste Mari

August brings us into squash season, which I look forward to every year!  Squash soup is very easy and is delightful to enjoy with fresh, homemade bread.

Materials:

2 carrots

1 red onion

1/2 bunch celery

2 butternut squash

4 cups vegetable stock (or chicken stock to add a little more flavor)

1/2 pound butter

olive oil

salt/pepper to taste

• Ok, so cut all your veggies into 1/8″ by 1/8″ cubes (or there abouts) and set aside.
• Heat up a stockpot (deep pan big enough to hold ~8 cups of soup) on high to the pan pretty hot.
• Drop in all of the butter and let melt in pan.
• Drop all the veggies into the pan with butter.  Stir all the veggies into the butter so everything is coated.  You’ll want to add some oil to the mixture as well, as the butter burns easily if the pot gets too hot.
• Now, reduce the temperature to med-low and cover the pot.  Stir mixture every ten minutes or so for about an hour.  The veggies will slowly soften and mush up as you stir everything together.
• Once all the veggies are softened, mash them with a heavy spoon or a ‘masher’.
• Add the 4 cups of stock and 2 cups of water.  Keep temperature on med-low and stir mash with liquid until fully integrated.
• Let soup simmer on low for another 30 minutes or so, then add salt/pepper to taste.
• When serving, add a dollop of sour cream to create visual interest and add to the overall squash soup experience!

I really love the warmth and comfort this Squash Soup provides.  It is light, but hardy…not too thick, just right for an appetizer or sandwich compliment.

I hope you enjoy your homemade soup…it’ll feel way better serving this soup to your family than one that came out of a can.  You can make this ahead of time and it’ll keep for about a week or you can freeze it for at least 2 months.

Let me know what you think…and remember, fall is full of yummy veggies so get out and try some of them!

Posted in Lighter Fares, Soups || No Comments

Classic dish with a twist

January 15th, 2008 by Celeste Mari

Twisted Shrimp Alfredo

This dish is a spin off one of my ultimate favorites: shrimp alfredo! I just love shrimp dishes and anything with alfredo sauce is good in my book. Unfortunately, alfredo dishes can be very high in fat and calories (not good for someone trying to lose weight for a wedding). So, I decided to do some research and create my own low fat alfredo sauce. Shrimp is fairly healthy, so we’re good there!

So for the alfredo sauce, you need the following ingredients:

• 1/4 c. fat-free cream cheese
• 1 & 1/4 c. fat-free milk
• 1 tbsp. flour (all-purpose or wheat)
• 2 tbsp. butter/margarine
• 1/2 c. low-fat mozzarella cheese
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Mixed the cream cheese, 1/4 c. of milk & the flour all together with a whisk until fully blended. Then, add the remaining cup of milk to the mixture and stir together. Heat butter in a large, non-stick saucepan until it melts. Add the cheese-milk-flour mixture to the pan and heat on medium heat for about 4 minutes (until it begins to thicken). Lastly, stir in the mozzarella cheese and season to taste. Now you’ve got a healthier version of a classic sauce!

For the remainder of the dish you will need:

• 1 package frozen peas
• 1 package frozen broccoli florets
• 1 package of fettuccine noodles (I chose Spinach Fettuccine)
• 1 lb. of medium shrimp, fresh (not pre-cooked or previously frozen)

To the sauce, I added the packages of frozen peas and frozen broccoli florets. I began the boiling process for the noodles (I choose Spinach Fettuccine noodles for their great texture and extra flavor). Keep stirring the sauce as it slowly cooks the veggies. While the water heats up, take the time to peel your shrimp, removing tails as well. Once the water starts to boil, place noodles into the water and bring back to a boil. Add the shrimp to the sauce and stir to ensure all shrimp are covered in sauce. The noodles take about 11-13 minutes and by then the shrimp will be fully cooked!

Drain the noodles (do not rinse) and get your plates out! This recipe serves about 4 and has all the necessary components: protein, carbs, & veggies! Please enjoy…you’ll feel great about eating a healthier version of this dish, while enjoying all the flavor you’d expect!

Cibo Felice!

Posted in Lighter Fares, Main Dishes || No Comments