It was hubby's birthday on Friday and with our daughter's social calendar, we didn't get to celebrate when we wanted to. We had also been putting up new moulding and painting most of the weekend and finally decided we had enough for the day and realized we had never eaten breakfast. I always keep a frozen pizza dough and shredded mozzarella in the freezer just in case we decide last minute to have an afternoon snack on a Sunday. So I whipped up this bread to hold us over until his birthday dinner was finished. This is a quick appetizer idea and is especially good for those who do not eat meat. It's loaded with flavor, has minimal ingredients, and takes about 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish.
Mushroom, Tomato & Goat Cheese Stuffed Bread
1lb. Pizza Dough
1-10oz. Pkg. Mushrooms, sliced
4 Cloves Garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. Fresh Rosemary
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil + extra for top
2-3 Plum Tomatoes (depending on size), sliced
1/2 c. Crumbled Goat Cheese
6 oz. Shredded Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese
Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms, garlic and rosemary. Saute until mushrooms have softened. While mushrooms are cooking, roll out the dough into a rectangle about ¼” thick. Add the mushroom mixture to cover the dough area leaving ¼” border around all sides. Next, add the sliced tomatoes. Top with the goat cheese then the mozzarella cheese. Gently roll from left to right, sealing the ends by pinching the dough together. Place seam side down on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush top of loaf with some olive oil and bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 slices.
Enjoy!
Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not a huge fan of "heat" in my food. A little bit is ok once in a while but I can't overdo it. So when I found this recipe in my recipe box from years gone by, I wanted to try to make this one again but noticed it had a lot of spices in it that I don't necessarily like. I think I originally got this from one of my bridesmaids over 17 years ago but I'm not sure where she got it and unfortunately I haven't spoken to her in years. So here is my version of the Jambalaya and it was delicious. I was actually able to put this together in less than 15 minutes (bonus!) which was a big help to me this week. I also only had quick rice in the house not long grain, so if you do use that kind of rice, you might want to add a bit more liquid so that the rice is fully cooked. It was definitely a "stick to your ribs" kind of meal, as my husband likes to affectionately call these types of dishes.
Chicken & Sausage "Jambalaya"
1 lb. Boneless Chicken Breast, cut into 1" pieces
6 Links Italian Sausage, cut into 1" pieces
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
2 Stalks Celery, chopped
1/4 c. Red Onion, chopped
1 tbsp. Fresh Rosemary, chopped
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp. Ground Thyme
1 1/2 c. Instant Rice (or long grain)
2 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
2 tbsp. Tomato Paste (I use Hunts)
1 c. White Wine
1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
In a large, non-stick frying pan, add the oil and cook chicken until no pink. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add the sausage and cook until most of the pink is gone and remove from pan; set aside. Add the garlic, celery, onion, rosemary, oregano and thyme to a Dutch oven and saute for 2-3 minutes over medium heat on top of the stove. Add the rice and mix well. Next, add back in the cooked chicken and sausage along with the chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, and tomato paste and bring to a slight boil. Cover the Dutch oven and bake at 300°F for 1 hour, stirring halfway through. Serves 4-6.
Enjoy!
First, I want to wish my husband a very Happy Birthday today. The poor guy is exhausted after being in London and Amsterdam this past week and only just came home last night around 2am. Luckily, he took the day off to catch up on some sleep. We don't have much planned for a celebration tonight since my older daughter has a football game tonight (don't worry, she's not a linebacker, she's a cheerleader for my new friends reading this). But I do have to cook. Each week, our Booster Club makes dinner for the girls before each game and there are 20 of them...who, as I'm told, LOVE to eat! When they found out it was going to be my turn about a month ago, they all decided that they wanted me to make them the Asian Chicken Wings and Fried Rice. So as I'm typing this, I have 10 lbs. of wings soaking in the marinade, ready to cook later and bring to her school later today. As for my husband's dinner, he wants me to make him a huge pot of sauce with bracciole and sausage on Sunday so we'll have his birthday celebration then. :)
Now, onto food... That pesto I purchased the other day only contained about 3/4 cup in the jar, so I had 1/4 cup of it left after I made the Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese. I decided to make this with the turkey to complement the flavors for that evening's dinner and I'm embarrassed to admit that up until about 4 years ago, I never would touch the stuff. As a kid, if the vegetable wasn't frozen, we didn't eat it. I'm so glad my Mother's food palette expanded over the years and now she's an incredible cook and loves to try new things all the time. There is something about roasting fresh cauliflower that brings out such a great flavor and no matter what I seem to add to the mix, it just keeps tasting better and better.
I also happened to pick up the most recent copy of Real Simple magazine the other day(I don't subscribe to any magazines, can't stand the clutter...told you I'm a little OCD) and cut out an article they had on cauliflower that I thought might be useful to someone. So, since I'm actually posting about it this week, here is what Emily McKenna had to say.
How to Choose
Look for cauliflower with compact, creamy white florets and crisp bright green leaves. An old cauliflower will have a yellowish tinge and tiny black mold spots on the surface.
How to Store
Refrigerate cauliflower unwashed and tightly wrapped in plastic for up to 5 days.
How to Prepare
Remove the hard core by breaking of the leaves, turning the cauliflower upside down and cutting around the core with a small, sharp knife. Cut the rest of the cauliflower into similar sized florets so that they cook at the same rate.
Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Roasted Cauliflower
1 Head Cauliflower, core removed and florets cut and rinsed under cold water
1/4 c. Giada De Laurentiis Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
1/4 c. Pecorino Romano Cheese, grated
1/4 c. Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
Add all ingredients in to a bowl and mix well until all of the cauliflower has been coated. Place in a 9"x9" baking dish and bake at 350°F for 1 hour, turning occasionally. Then, place under the broiler for 5-10 minutes until they turn golden brown. Serves 4.
Enjoy!
