Summer Salsa

This is a really quick and easy salsa recipe. You can always add more ingredients or replace some.

Ingredients
3 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 jalapeño, stem removed and roasted
3-4 small cloves garlic
2 tbsp cilantro
3-4 tbsp water
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste
½ tsp. crushed red pepper

Directions

In a blender/food processor, add tomatoes, jalapeño, garlic, cilantro and water and pulse a few times until completely smooth.

Add oil to a deep skillet, then pour in tomato puree. Season with salt and crushed red peppers and simmer uncovered stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 minutes.

The color of the salsa will be really light at first, but as it simmers you will see it become a really beautiful dark red.

4 Cheese Penne

I had originally bought these ingredients for a different recipe... but then I lost the recipe! So, I made this one up instead.

Ingredients

2 TBS butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper

2 cups heavy cream

1 TBS fresh chopped parsley

2/3 cup freshly grated Romano

2/3 cup shredded Parmesan

2 cups shredded mozzarella

2 tbsp. ricotta cheese

1 pound penne rigate pasta

 Directions:

Cook pasta according to directions

In a large skillet, melt butter and add minced garlic on med-low heat cook until barely golden

Add the heavy cream, parsley, salt and pepper heat through on Med heat
stir in Romano, Parmesan, and 1 Cup mozzarella until cheese is melted and well blended.
Add ricotta and mix until well blended.
Add Pasta and toss to coat.
Add the remaining cup of mozzarella toss to blend/melt.

Enjoyyyyyy.

cheesy creamy caprese... pasta

Ingredients

• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1 cup of pasta sauce (I made my own, see recipe below)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream or half and half
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese + more for garnish
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
• 1 pint of grape tomatoes (I cut mine into 4ths)
• 1 bunch of fresh basil leaves (julienned)
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Directions

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat pasta sauce over low heat in a large saucepan.
3. Once its warm, stir in heavy cream and grated parmesan.
4. Once pasta is done cooking, drain and mix in with the sauce, mixing to coat and turning off heat.
5. Fold in mozzarella cubes and tomatoes, then julienne 3-4 fresh basil leaves and add them in too.
6. Once combined, spray a baking dish with non-stick spray and pour the entire pasta mixture into the dish.
7. Top with shredded mozzarella.
8. Bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Top with additional fresh basil and grated cheese.  Yummmmm

Pasta Sauce

 Ingredients

• Drizzle of olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup tomato sauce
• ½ cup tomato paste
• ¼ cup water
• 1 tsp dry oregano
• 1 tsp dry basil
• 1 tsp dry thyme

Directions

1. Add olive oil to sauce pan and warm the garlic (don’t over cook)
2. Mix in the tomato sauce and paste and water
3. Add oregano, basil, and thyme
4. Simmer about 5 minutes

Party of the Year

And a Three-Layer Pink Velvet Cake with Butter Cream Filling

Alright folks. This may have been one of our proudest accomplishments. Making a cake is hard work. And I definitely couldn’t have done this without the help of Miss Jade. Not only was this “Happy-Birthday-Presley-Cake so cute, it was delicious!
If you are up for the task… and it is QUITE a task. Here is the recipe:
 

(We doubled this recipe in order to get three good-looking layers

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring (amount may vary depending on the color of cake you want)
• 1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepping the cake pan is critical in order to get the cake out safe and sound. I think the pan we used was 9X9 circular. Grease the bottom and sides of a nonstick pan then coat with flour

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.
In a large bowl gently beat together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla with a handheld electric mixer.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

We filled the pan about half-full with batter and baked for about 30 minutes. We only cooked one at a time. You’ll know it’s ready when you stick a fork...or knife…or toothpick through the middle and it comes out clean and batter-free. It’s really important to check because no one likes a soggy cake.

After the cake was finished baking, we put it directly into the freezer to cool. The cooler the cake, the easier it is to get it out of the pan.  Even then, you still might want to loosen up the sides of the cake before you try to take it out of the pan. Place a plate on top of the cake pan and flip it over… If you did it right, you’ll know – and it will be a joyous moment. Hahaha.

Before trying to layer with the filling, you really want to make sure the cake is completely cool. We used a knife to shave off the top and create a flat surface.

Butter Cream filling

Ingredients

• 2 Sticks of butter  (Room Temp)
• 8 Oz Cream cheese  (Room Temp)
• ½ Tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 ½ - 2 Cups of Powdered sugar (depending on the thickness you want)

Directions

You want to make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature or the consistency will be weird. In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, mix the butter until it is smooth then mix in the cream cheese and vanilla. Slowly mix the powdered sugar until you fill like you’ve reached your desired thickness…

Add a pretty thick layer to the top of the first cake layer, then add the next cake layer to the top of that. The frosting we used on the outside of the cake was different from the filling. We frosted the first two outside layers of the cake with a thin layer of frosting before adding the next layer (repeat the same steps as before with the filling, you know the drill) Then we frosted the top and sides with a thin layer (thicker in between each cake to get smooth sides.)

You’ll have to ask Miss jade for the frosting recipe she found. We wanted something that was pretty thick in order to make the little sparkle-star-spikes. Jade spent over an hour frosting the cake. You can frost it whatever way you please…because this is a long process and you really need patience.

We kept the cake in the freezer until an hour or two before the party.
It was delicious.
The princess party was perfect
for a perfect little 5-year old Presley.

oy vey pink velvet cake…

Shredded Chicken

A few months back, I posted a recipe for shredded chicken burritos. I have since perfected my recipe for shredded chicken. I apologize, this isn’t even my picture. We ate those burritos right up before I even had the chance to take a picture. So this picture is courtesy of google image search!

Anyway. This is really pretty easy and quite delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) cans Tomato Sauce
• ½ tablespoons water
• ½  tablespoons chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons White Distilled Vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, Minced
• 3 1/2 teaspoons chile powder
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 2 teaspoons Oregano  - dry
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• ½ tbs medium hot sauce (whatever your favorite is)
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (if you want you can buy the one’s with the bone-in. I think they might make it tastier

Directions

1. In medium bowl, mix together tomato sauce, water, chicken broth, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, hot sauce, and sugar. set aside.
2. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, turning once, until light golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Add reserved tomato sauce mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium low. Simmer, covered, until cooked through, flipping once, about 20 minutes.
3. Transfer chicken to cutting board; reserve sauce in pan. Using two forks, shred chicken breast. Transfer chicken to skillet with sauce, mixing to combine; continue to cook until sauce reduces and blends into chicken, and mixture begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes more.
4. Transfer chicken mixture to serving bowl.

You can use this chicken in tacos, burritos, enchiladas…whatever! But I promise you, its sooooooo good.