Remember, when I posted about my mom’s homemade apple sauce, last year? Well, I started tinkering with that recipe the other week. You see, I love that applesauce but I wanted something a bit different. I served up a juicy pork loin and my Gratin Dauphinois alongside of this gorgeous and uber flavorful (and festive) cran-applesauce. Cranberries are a luxury food item that we only get to really embrace and cook with for a whopping 2 months (ok, maybe 3 months) out of the year!
I’m a big fan of chunky applesauce. Pureed applesauce doesn’t always fly for me so I tend to keep my applesauce a bit more on the chunky side. However, if you like it 100% pureed — do it! Get your puree on. That’s the great thing about recipes–you can always adapt and modify to your liking. Of course this applesauce doesn’t look like traditional applesauce thanks to the red dye in the cranberries. This is a sweet and tangy applesauce and pairs well with pork and of course you could always serve it next to your turkey tomorrow. Simple enough to make the day of and serve hot or make it tonight and pull it out of the refrigerator just before your ready to serve your Thanksgiving meal.
Peel, core, and chop apples. Place in a medium pot on medium heat. Rinse the cranberries and add them to the pot. Add sugar, cinnamon and apple juice. Give the contents of the pot a stir, place the lid on the pot, turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer for 30 minutes (mixing periodically). *Don't be alarmed, your cranberries will begin to pop. Depending on your stove you may need to reduce the heat if the apples and cranberry begin to boil. Apples and cranberries should be soft to touch. Let cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
*If you don't like chunky applesauce feel free to run it through a food processor or blend with an emersion blender.
Before my husband and I left for Europe I was on an Italian cooking kick. It also didn’t help that the September issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray was her Italian issue! In my mind, I thought I was doing a good job preparing ourselves for all the amazing food we were about to encounter during our 6 days in Italy!
Boy, was I wrong. Later this month you’ll get to read about my foodie travels throughout Italy. Like I’ve told family and friends… my taste-buds have been forever changed! I digress though… I’m back to reality and am learning to re-adapt my taste-buds. This is a very common and traditional appetizer you would find in the Tuscan region of Italy.
When I think of bruschetta, I think of plump juicy bite-size pieces of tomato with lots of basil. So when I saw and read about various styles of bruschetta I was intrigued! I love white beans and knew that I would equally love this appetizer. If you are entertaining, you could prepare the beans ahead of time and just reheat them before serving to your guest. Oh, and did you know, that if you buy a baguette from your local bakery that they can run it through the bread slicer for you. This frees you up a few additional minutes! If I’m entertaining, I typically have the bakery cut the bread for me! It comes out equal in size and doesn’t cause for all the additional crumbs in the kitchen.
In a small bowl mix thinly sliced onion with lemon juice. Let this sit while you prepare the beans.
In a medium-sized skillet heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low hear. Grate the garlic in the pan. Add rosemary, and stir for one minute. Add the beans and cook until warm (about 5 minutes). Mix in parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve:
Add one spoonful of bean mixture to each slice of baguette and top with lemon-onions. Enjoy!
Notes
Adapted from: EveryDay with Rachael Ray, September 2012
Earlier this year, I vowed to start making more homemade dressings and consuming less pre-packaged dressings. Of course, there are a few dressings I love and can’t live without, but for the most part you won’t see my refrigerator door loaded with salad dressings. I love to cook with lemons and had yet to make a dressing with them.
Since my herb garden is overflowing right now I figured this was an ideal dressing to make. Plus, who doesn’t love a light and refreshing dressing during the dog-days of summer? I also did a little experimenting and marinaded some chicken with this dressing (only for 30 minutes). Baked it with shallots and slices of lemon and garlic. It was divine.
In a pint size mason jar (with lid) add the lemon juice and lemon zest. Followed by the honey, dijon mustard, and olive oil. Next up, add the freshly chopped chives, parsley, and dill; followed by salt and pepper to taste. Seal lid and shake until all ingredients are well incorporated. Refrigerate for up to 5 days.
This recipe is brought to you by Katie Jasiewicz of Katies Cucina
psst… if you love lemons you will love this weeks Google Hangout. Christine from Cook the Story and myself will be chatting with Beth & Julia from Live Pretty about lemons!
I love guacamole. This is one of those foods that I didn’t appreciate until my early 20′s. I had no idea how amazing it was until I got over the color and just tasted it! I think that’s the problem with this dip–people either love it or hate it and the lovers out there. Boy, do we truly love it.
To my surprise I have never blogged my go-to guacamole recipe I developed a few years back. Don’t get me wrong in a pinch I love to use Wholly Guacamole and keep it on hand and in my freezer at all times, but their is nothing like making your own guacamole. When avocado prices are manageable you’ll find me making my own. In my opinion what makes a great guacamole is the flavors used within the dip.
My guacamaole isn’t bright green–it’s a darker green because I like to spice up my guac. I also like to mince a few veggies because I like to have additional flavors other than avocado and spice in my guac. Make sure you pair this guac with the most amazing (Salt & Lime) Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips.
Do you know how to tell if your avocado is ripe enough to turn it into guacamole? According to the Hass Avocado website unripe, firm or green fruit can take four to five days to ripen at room temperature. When your at the store look for avocados that aren’t green but a brownish green; gently squeeze in the palm of your hand without applying your fingertips (that can cause bruising). If it’s a tad soft it should be ripe in a few days. If you buy an avocado that is already soft to touch you can store it in the refrigerator for 1-2 days until your ready to cut it up. That will delay it’s ripening process.
In a medium size bowl mash together 2 Haas Avocados. Then add red onion, jalapeno, plum tomato, cilantro, and lime. Followed by the chili powder, ground coriander, salt, and cumin. Mix well and serve immediately.
Notes
*You can store leftovers over night by placing plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole and pressing the plastic wrap on top. This will lessen the browning.
2.2.6
*I’ve been known to put together the spices and minced vegetables and herbs prior to leaving for a weekend getaway. Once your at your destination, peel, de-seed, and mash your avocados into your spice/vegetable mixture and serve.
*For cold guacamole, refrigerate your avocados up to one hour before your ready to mash.
In recent years I’ve become a lover of all things curry. It has taken my husband a while to warm up to this fragrant spice. I’ve been cooking up quite a few new vegetarian dishes to add to my recipe book, and this is one that will be a keeper! Loaded with protein and veggies–it’s full of flavor and sure to warm the soul on a cold winters night.
This recipe calls for roasted cauliflower and tomatoes. You can roast them the night you make this dish or a few days prior cutting your cook and prep time in half! I had roasted the veggies a few days prior and whipped up this meal in no time during the work week. “Toasting” the curry powder for the minute the recipe calls for helps intensify the flavors. I am a salt-phene and found myself adding quite a bit of salt to my dish. This in my opinion is a low sodium dish.
*If your concerned about your carnivorous counterparts add a grilled breast of chicken to their plate. Season the chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a dash of curry powder; cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. You could even grill shrimp on skewers and add it to this dish.
Author: Katie Jasiewicz of Katie’s Cucina Adapted from Everyday Food, January 2012
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 cup basmati rice, cooked
2 tsp olive oil + 1 tbsp
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
4 tsp curry powder
2 cans Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups cauliflower, roasted
1 pint cherry tomatoes, roasted
4 cup spinach
1 tbsp cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower and tomatoes in one tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. On a baking sheet roast cauliflower and cherry tomatoes until golden brown for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat and add onion; stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and curry powder; stirring until fragrant about 1 minute. Add chickpeas, roasted tomatoes, and 2 cups water; bring to a boil over high. REduce heat to medium, cover, and gently simmer for 8 minutes.
Add cauliflower and cook until cauliflower is warmed through and chickpeas are tender about 8 minutes. Stir in spinach and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately on a bed of basmati rice and sprinkle with additional cilantro if desired.
Not too many people love brussel sprouts, but for those who do love them this is typically the time of year you can find them in the grocery store (harvest season from June-January)! I love the mix of sweet carrots and roasted garlic with these baby cabbage gems. Simply seasoning them with olive oil and salt and pepper keeps their flavors in tact.
If you are looking to add additional flavors to your brussel sprouts you may be interested in my Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon. This is obviously a non-vegetaraian dish, and for those who love bacon and are on the fence about brussel sprouts… after this recipe they will be a brussel sprout lover!
Source: Katie Original
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
1lb Brussel Sprouts
1/2 bag of baby carrots
6 cloves, garlic, smashed
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat oven toe 350 degrees.
2. While the oven is preheating rinse the brussel sprouts, cut the ends off, and cut in half. In a large casserole dish that has a cover add brussel sprouts, baby carrots, smashed garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Mix well until everything has been well incorporated.
3. Place a lid on the casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes or until carrots and brussel sprouts are tender. You can remove the lid from baking the last 5 to 10 minutes, but be cautious… the olive oil can tend to splatter. Serve immediately once the vegetables are done!
I’ve cooked up yet another vegetarian recipe from Marie Simmons, Fresh & Fast Vegetarian cookbook published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade. I love seafood paella, and never thought to make a vegetarian version. When I saw this recipe (which just so happens to be pictured on the front cover of the cookbook) I knew I wanted to give it a try. I made this after work one evening, and within an hour we were eating a flavorful meal. This vegetarian version was just as filling as its seafood counterpart. If the meat-eaters in your house demand meat I guess you could always serve grilled chicken on the side of sliced on top. But to be honest. They won’t miss the meat in this hearty dinner!
6 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps halved
2 tsps fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1-1/2 cups cauliflower florets
1 cup green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups chopped onion
1 garlic clove, grated
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1-1/2 tsps smoked paprika
1-1/4 cups medium-grain rice
6 cups water
lemon wedges and sprigs of thyme for garnish
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, bring 6 cups water to a boil; cover and keep hot over low heat.
2. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepper and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the peppers are blistered and browned and the mushrooms are golden, 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with one teaspoon of the chopped thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and a grinding of black pepper. Remove the peppers and mushrooms from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add one tablespoon of the olive oil and the cauliflower and green beans to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium-high head until the cauliflower begins to brown and is crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining one teaspoon of chopped thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and a dash of black pepper. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, keeping them separate form the peppers and mushrooms.
4. Add the remaining two tablespoons oil to the hot pan. Add the onions and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until softened and golden, 5-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and boil over high heat, stirring, until all the tomato juice evaporates. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the paprika. Add the rice and stir until coated with the tomato mixture, about 1 minute. Add 4 cups of the hot water and the remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, at a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, without stirring, until most of the liquid is evaporated and the rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Spoon the mushrooms and peppers onto the center of the rice. Spoon the cauliflower and green beans around the edges. Pour 1 cup of the hot water on top and cook, uncovered, on medium-low until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not stir. (If the rice is still slightly firm, add about 1/2 cup more hot water and cook for another 5 minutes.)
6. Turn the heat to high for 1 to 2 minutes until the rice forms a browned crust on the bottom of the pan. Push the tip of a spoon into the rice to take a peek. Let the paella stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes before sreving. Garnish with lemon wedges and thyme.
Disclaimer: The opinions of this post are solely mine and do not reflect the publisher and/or author. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt sent me the cookbook to cook and blog from.
If there is one thing in life I’ve grown to love it’s grilled vegetables! I love grilled vegetables! Now that it’s much warmer out we probably grill vegetables once a week! So I as soon as I saw this recipe on the Tapeña® site I knew I had to make these. I like to use mini bell peppers, but large bell peppers work as well. This was our first time grilling eggplant. Next time I’d cut them much thicker and brush a better coat of olive oil on them. I never make a “sauce” to pour on the vegetables, but this complimented it well!
4 small zucchini, sliced diagonally into 1/2” thick slices
5 slender eggplants, sliced diagonally across the width
3 red, green, orange or yellow bell peppers
2 small onions, halved
4 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced and salted
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Directions
1. If using a charcoal grill, start the coals and get the grill heated. Or if using a gas grill wait until zucchini and eggplant have been layered to dry. Lightly salt the zucchini and eggplant slices. Layer the salted slices on double thickness of paper towels, so they are lying flat, adding layers of paper towels as needed. Finish layering by covering with a double thickness of paper towels and press flat with the bottom of a heavy pan or platter to squeeze out the moisture. Let the eggplant and zucchini rest for 15 minutes
2. Brush zucchini, eggplant, peppers, and onion with oil. Grill the vegetables for 3 – 8 minutes until done.
3. Core and seed the peppers and cut into thick slices. Cut the eggplant, zucchini and onion into 1” thick slices. Arrange the sliced vegetables on a platter.
4. Whisk olive oil, paprika and garlic and drizzle over the vegetables. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve with crusty bread slices.
Last year, I pitched to one of the publishing giants, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade, to be a guest blogger for their blog. They agreed on a quarterly “contract” as I’ll call it. Disclaimer: They send me a cookbook for free. I unbiasedly read through it and cook recipes from it. It’s that simple.
Last year, I made multiple guest blog appearances on the Trade blog about Pam Anderson’s Perfect One-Dish Dinners cookbook, chocked full of awesome recipes. It is now my go-to cookbook whenever I know I’m going to entertain for a large group.
My first cookbook I’ll be guest blogging about this year, is an awesome new Vegetarian cookbook! Coming from an almost self-proclaimed Vegetarian, (although I guess I’m really considered a flexitarian) this cookbook is wonderful! Marie Simmons, the author of Fresh & Fast Vegetarian offers over 150 recipes that can quickly be assembled. I will admit some of the ingredients called for (in some of the recipes) you probably won’t have sitting around in your cupboard; however, that’s what make this book awesome. It will introduce you to obscure ingredients and make you a more well-rounded cook at the end of the day. This was the first recipe I tried from Marie’s cookbook, and I absolutely LOVED it. I could have made a meal out of the peppers alone. They were so tasty. Even my husband who is not the biggest fan of rosemary LOVED this side dish! My husband and I had two portions each, that’s how good they were!
On a side note, I almost had an oven fire with these peppers… to be honest, it was quite comical. The little bit of oil that was on the peppers was splattering all over the oven. I ended up tenting some tin foil over the peppers and they came out just fine and at the end of the day my house is still in one-piece! *I also roasted the clove of garlic for the first 15 minutes. I like to have a lighter tasting garlic–not as pungent as being fresh.
I found an amazing deal on mini bell peppers at Costco (a massive bag for about $5)! Essentially, this side dish cost me less than $5 since I only used half the bag, I grow my own rosemary, and I always have garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper on hand. Great inexpensive side dish to make any day of the week! I hope you will love this recipe as much as I do!
Ingredients: 16 mini bell peppers, rinsed and dried, left whole with stems attached 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 1 tsp coarse salt freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1 garlic clove, bruised with the side of a knife
Directions: 1. Place a large baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Heat the pan in the hot oven for 10 minutes. 2. Toss the peppers and oil in a bowl. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and generous grinding of black pepper. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven and spread the oiled vegetables in a single layer on the pan ( including if you’d like the garlic clove, remember to tent the pan with tin foil). Roast for 15 minutes. Turn and stir the peppers with tongs and move them around on the pan so they’ll roast evenly. Roast until blistered and tender, about 10 minutes more. 3. Place the rosemary, garlic and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pound to a paste with the pestle. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, grate the garlic, combine it with the rosemary and salt on a saucer and mash together with the back of a spoon. 4. In a serving dish, stir the hot roasted peppers with the rosemary and garlic mixture until combined. Serve hot or cold.
We love chips and salsa in my house, and since growing our own jalapeno plants we’ve had an influx of jalapeno. The first thing that came to mind was home-made salsa. I must admit I’ve tried making a wide variety of home-made salsa’s in past years, and none have ever came out as good as my newly created recipe. I’ve made several batches of this salsa since first perfecting this recipe. *Please make note that you should only refrigerate and eat the salsa for up to 5 days in the refrigerator since this is 100% fresh ingredients and absolutely no preservatives!
Prep: 10minutes
Serves:4 (about 2 cups)
Ingredients:
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, stems removed
1 jalapeno, stem cut off (de-seed if you don’t want it spicy)
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lime juice
Directions: 1. Using a food processor, place jalapeno, garlic, onion, cilantro, and lime juice in food processor. Food process until all items are minced.
2. Add spices and tomatoes to the mixture, and puree until tomatoes are well incorporated and have broken down to small bite size pieces. We like a chunky sauce so I like to keep chunks of tomatoes too… Just monitor the food processor and pulse until your desired consistency.
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. {more}
I'm Katie Jasiewicz: home cook, food blogger, and recipe developer. I’ve always had a love for cooking, and more so in the past few years a love for eating!
Join me on a culinary adventure where life always tastes good. 
