I’ve tried a number of different Mexican rice recipes over the past few years, but none of them were quite right. When I saw this recipe on Dinner & Dessert, I knew I needed to give it a whirl. Since my husband Mike and I were planning a Mexican night with company last weekend, this seemed like the perfect side dish to try out.

This Mexican Rice recipe is a great find! It does take awhile to prepare this dish, but the finished product is certainly worth the effort. It has a great flavor, and was the perfect accompaniment for our black bean and turkey burritos. This recipe makes a lot of rice, but I’ll be following Erin’s recommendations and freezing the leftovers. It will be nice to be able to pull perfectly-flavored rice from the freezer any time I want.

Mexican Rice (source: Cook?s Illustrated September 2004)
found on Dinner & Dessert

2 ripe tomatoes (about 12 ounces), cored and quartered

1 medium onion, preferably white, peeled, trimmed of root end, and quartered

3 medium jalapeno chiles

2 cups long grain white rice

1/3 cup canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 4 teaspoons)

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ? teaspoons table salt

? cup minced fresh cilantro leaves

1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Process tomatoes and onion in food processor until smooth and thoroughly pureed, about 15 seconds, scraping down bowl if necessary. Transfer mixture to liquid measuring cup; you should have 2 cups (if necessary, spoon off excess so that volume equals 2 cups). Remove ribs and seeds from 2 jalape?os and discard; mince flesh and set aside. Mince remaining jalape?o, including ribs and seeds; set aside.

Place rice in large fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear, about 1 1/2 minutes. Shake rice vigorously in strainer to remove all excess water.

Heat oil in heavy-bottomed ovensafe 12-inch straight-sided saut? pan or Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat, 1 to 2 minutes. Drop 3 or 4 grains rice in oil; if grains sizzle, oil is ready. Add rice and fry, stirring frequently, until rice is light golden and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and seeded minced jalape?os; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in pureed tomatoes and onions, chicken broth, tomato paste, and salt; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil. Cover pan and transfer to oven; bake until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, 30 to 35 minutes, stirring well after 15 minutes.

Stir in cilantro and reserved minced jalape?o with seeds to taste. Serve immediately, passing lime wedges separately.

My husband and I are big fans of salsa. He’s been known to eat it by the spoonful, and his college roommates like to tease him about a time he ate an entire jar in one sitting. Needless to say, it’s hard to keep enough of it in the house.

This recipe for homemade salsa from Annie’s Eats is delicious and easy to make. With minimal effort, you can create flavorful, restaurant-style salsa at home. Using the food processor simplifies prep work, as you only need to rough chop the vegetables before processing them. I’m also submitting this post to the Tasty Tools: Food Processor blogging event hosted by Joelen’s Culinary Adventures.

My food processor is pretty small, so I had to work on this recipe in two separate batches. I processed the first 8 ingredients, and then removed half of the pureed mixture from the work bowl. Next, I added half of the fresh vegetable and herbs to the food processor, pulsing as instructed. Once the first batch was done, I moved onto the second.

The only jalapenos I could find were on the larger side, so I only used one. Next time, I’ll probably add about 50% more to increase the heat a bit. I opted to drain the diced tomatoes to prevent the salsa from becoming too watery.

The resulting homemade salsa isn’t chunky, but it has noticeable bits of vegetables. It’s is fresh and spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. After serving this to company last night, we have plenty of tasty salsa left over. It’s out mission to finish consuming the batch this week!

My Favorite Salsa
from Annie’s Eats

Yields 4 cups

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and very coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, halved
juice of one lime
1 (28 0z.) can diced tomatoes (drained or not, depending on how much liquid you want in your salsa)
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
2 large vine-ripened tomatoes
1/2 sweet yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the jalapenos and garlic. Process until finely chopped. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add all other ingredients to the food processor. Pulse in very brief pulses until the vegetables have reached the size you desire (it does not take many pulses so don?t overdo it). Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

When I saw this recipe on Elly Says Opa, I knew I had to try it! My husband and I love potatoes, mushrooms, Smoked Gouda cheese and bacon, but we’ve never had them all in one dish.

In an effort to reduce the amount of dairy, I increased the amount of broth by 1/2 a cup and decreased the amount of milk by 1/2 a cup. I opted to use skim milk instead of half and half or cream. In retrospect, half and half would have lent more creaminess to the soup. I have included my changes to the original recipe in italics below.

In trying to add body and make up for the reduced amount of dairy, I went a little too crazy with the food processor. Pureeing nearly 2 full cups of soup produced a rather dingy looking dish. Despite it’s appearance, the soup was delicious!

Served with crusty homemade bread, this soup was the perfect meal for a chilly winter night. It’s warm, tasty and quite filling. The leftovers reheated nicely. We’re both looking forward to making this again.

Mushroom, Potato and Smoked Gouda Chowder
from Elly Says Opa

Yields 4 Servings

1/4 lb. bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
1 lb. mushrooms (your choice, I like to use a variety), sliced
a few sprigs of fresh thyme or a good pinch of dried (I used 1/4 tsp)
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
1 bay leaf
3-4 cups Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth (I used 3.5 cups)
1.5 cups half and half (or milk, or cream) (I used 1 cup of skim milk)
2 oz. smoked Gouda, shredded

In a stockpot or dutch oven, cook the bacon until it has rendered its fat. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In the bacon fat, cook the diced onion over low heat for about 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms. Add a little salt and pepper and continue cooking over low or medium-low heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture, about 10-15 minutes. Increase the heat and add the sherry or wine. Cook until almost all of the alcohol has cooked off.

Add the potatoes and the garlic, stirring to combine. Add the bay leaf and broth. Bring to a light boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the bay leaf. Put as much or as little of the mixture as you want into a food processor and pulse it. This isn?t necessary but it creates both texture and thickness to the soup. Return the pureed soup to the dutch oven. Add the half and half and Gouda. Simmer until the soup has heated through and the cheese has melted.

Garnish bowls with diced bacon and more cheese, if desired.

I got this Cavatelli and Broccoli recipe from a friend of mine whose Italian cooking is second to none. It’s one of my favorite vegetarian dinners. It is very easy to make, and the only tip I have is to make sure to use fresh broccoli! It really just isn’t the same without that crisp texture that frozen broccoli lacks. This serves about 4 people as a main dish, more if you serve it as a side.

Cavatelli and Broccoli

Ingredients -

• 2 average-size broccoli crowns, cut into bite-size florets
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bag of frozen ricotta cavatelli (located the frozen pasta section of the grocery store)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In the mean time, put the olive oil into a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic when the oil is heated and saute until lightly browned. Add the broccoli florets to the skillet and saute until the broccoli becomes a brighter shade of green, about 5 minutes.

When the pot of water comes to a boil, add the frozen cavatelli straight from the freezer to the water. These cook really fast – once water returns to a boil, let cook for 1-2 minutes then drain.

Mix the cavatelli into the skillet with the broccoli. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the cavatelli and broccoli and serve!

I spotted these Hostess cupcake look-alikes in the February/March edition of the Food Network Magazine. The recipe is provided by Sally Russo, the owner of Lulu’s Bake Shoppe in Boston. With their shiny, smooth ganache topping, these cupcakes looked mouth-wateringly good. I’ve wanted to try making them since I bought the magazine a month ago, but figured they were worth saving for a special occasion. Since my husband and I did not out on Valentine’s Day, these were the perfect treat for our night in.

Since I filled the muffin cups a little more than I should have, I ended up with 21 cupcakes, and not a full 2 dozen. Despite the fact that the cupcakes baked through perfectly, the centers of most of them did not rise completely. Filling the cupcakes was easier then I thought, but I had a hard time following the “do not overfill” direction. I only used about half of the filling. I’m not sure if this is because my dimpled cupcakes had less room for filling, or because it’s a generous recipe.

I ran into a little bit of trouble with the ganache topping. I think I let is cool a little too long, so it started to set up as I was still working on the cupcakes. Because of this, the ganache went on thickly and only a few of the cupcakes have a really glossy finish. The finished product still looked and tasted great.

This cream-filled cupcake recipe was pretty time-consuming to work through, simply because there were so many components. None of the steps are complicated, but you need to prepare the cupcakes, cream filling, ganache topping and decorator frosting. It’s a lot of work for one baking session. Next time, I will plan to bake and fill the cupcakes one day, and then top them with ganache and frosting the following day.

These cream-filled cupcakes were well worth the time I invested. The cupcake itself has a rich chocolate flavor, and a dense, moist consistency. The cream filling is a fun, sweet surprise and the bittersweet ganache topping is rich and smooth. I will be definitely be making these again!

Lulu’s Cream Filled Cupcakes

Yields 24 cupcakes

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

FOR THE FILLING
4 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 cup marshmallow creme

FOR THE GANACHE AND ICING
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick, plus 1 tbsp butter
2 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp milk
2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in two 12-cup muffin pans.

2. Prepare the cupcakes. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Bring the sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about three minutes. Pour into a large bowl; add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly. Stir in the vanilla.

Using a mixer, beat in the eggs, then mix in the dry ingredients.

3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (about 1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in teh center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for about 25 minutes, then transfer cupcakes to rack to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Using a mizer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tbsp heavy cream; beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and 2 tbsp heavy cream in batches, alternating after each addition. Beat in the marshmallow creme; set aside.

5. Prepare the ganache: Place the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tbsp butter until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate; let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 tsp vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.

6. Spoon the filling into a pastry bag wit a medium tip. Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier (do not overfill). Dip the cupcake tops in the ganache. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, prepare the icing: using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 tsp vanilsl, the milk and confectioners sugar until smooth. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip; pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate.

When I married my husband, he told me that he did not like pork chops. This Spinach & Feta Stuffed Pork Chops recipe changed his mind! I found it perusing the Cooking Light magazine website a few months ago, and I’ve made it many times since. The addition of feta, sun dried tomatoes and lemon give the dish a lovely Mediterranean flavor, and the spinach keeps it full of veggies. It looks special enough to serve to company or on a special occasion, but start to finish it takes me about 30 minutes to make.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 4 garlic cloves, minced and divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 5 sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil, diced
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) block-style fat-free cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 2 garlic cloves; saut? 1 minute. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomatoes, and spinach; saut? until moisture evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and rind.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each pork chop to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup spinach mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper over pork. Arrange pork on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray; place rack in pan. Combine remaining 2 garlic cloves, juice, mustard, and oregano in a bowl; stir well. Brush half of mustard mixture over pork. Broil 6 minutes; turn pork. Brush remaining mixture over pork; broil 2 minutes or until done. (Broiling usually takes me more like 8 minutes on each side.)

I was a relatively late adopter of the KitchenAid stand mixer. Just about everyone that I know registered for one when they got married. I looked at it and said “It’s big, heavy and expensive. Why would I possibly need it?” While I certainly could get by without it, I have come to love mine. Making breads, cookies and other concoctions is just so effortless. As Lisa’s husband said “You put things in, and food comes out.”

When I decided I was ready to jump on the KitchenAid bandwagon last fall, I researched prices and rebate deals. I was fortunate to catch the end of a fantastic rebate deal: purchase a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer from anywhere but Bed Bath and Beyond and get a slicer/shredder attachment or ice cream maker attachment free.

Armed with a 20% off coupon, I visited my local Linen’s ‘n Things (right before they started their going out of business sale) and emerged with an Artisan Stand Mixer in Metallic Chrome. I happily filled out my rebate form, figuring that my ice cream maker attachment would arrive in time to make delicious frozen concoctions in the dead of winter.

I’ve been bookmarking ice cream, sherbet and sorbet recipes in anticipation of my gadget’s arrival. It arrived on Friday. I was so excited. I think my husband was amused by how much effort I put into deciding what I would make first.

Ultimately, I decided to make chocolate sorbet, using a recipe that Lisa gave me (originally from Recipezaar). since my husband and I love mint chocolate, I added 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract.

I was amazed at how easy it was to make this sorbet. After heating the base, I chilled it in the refrigerator for about four hours before processing it in the ice cream maker. After running the maker for 30 minutes, the sorbet had a soft-serve consistency, so I transferred it to a 2-quart airtight container and put it in the freezer.

Four hours later, we sampled the chocolate mint sorbet for the first time. Wow. It’s amazing that something with so few ingredients and so little preparation can be so decadent. The finished product has a smooth, dense, luxurious look and feel. It has a rich dark chocolate flavor (almost bittersweet) with a cool hint of mint. If you’re looking for a lighter flavored chocolate dessert, this is not the one for you. But, if you want a taste of intensely satisfying dark chocolate, I highly recommend it.

Chocolate Mint Sorbet

Yields 6 servings

1 cup cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1. Combine all but vanilla in a saucepan.
2. Heat on medium, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches a boil.
3. Turn off heat, and stir in vanilla and peppermint extract.
4. Chill in fridge for several hours.
5. Put in ice cream maker and run according to manufacturers directions until it reaches desired consistency.

The sorbet will have a soft-serve consistency. Sorbet will be firmer after several additional hours of freezing.

I started making Biscotti over the holidays because I found a recipe I liked, and I really love a tasty cookie along with my coffee in the morning. Between all the holiday parties and family functions we attended, I’ve tried a bunch of different recipes since – I find that this one has a great taste and texture without huge amounts of fat. It is modified from a Cooking Light recipe for plain lemon biscotti - my main modification includes adding dried cherries, which I personally like the best, but I have tried this recipe using chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts as well. They supposedly freeze well (after baking but before the glazing step!) but I’ve never had enough left to try to freeze them.

Ingredients

Since the New Year, I’ve been making an extra effort to create a thorough meal plan for the week. In doing this, I’ve also been taking more time to flip through cookbooks and search out new recipes. During my last pass, two recipes caught my eye: Ellie Krieger’s Tuscan Vegetable Soup (from The Food You Crave) and Cooking Light’s Tuscan Chicken Soup (from The Best of Cooking Light: Everyday Favorites)

Both had some sort of tomato product, chicken broth, spinach, onion and cannellini beans. I liked that the Cooking Light recipe incorporated chicken and roasted red peppers, while Ellie Krieger’s had more vegetables. I combined the best of both worlds, adding mushrooms in place of carrots and celery and substituting dried basil and oregano for thyme and sage. In my house, you never have too many mushrooms or too much oregano! I was happy to have the opportunity to use my homemade roasted red peppers.

The finished product was attractive and delicious. Served with crusty bread, it was a perfect dinner!

Tuscan Chicken Vegetable Soup

Yields 6 Servings

1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup diced zucchini (about 1 medium)
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (about 10 oz)
1/2 cup diced roasted red pepper
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 15 oz. can plain no-salt-added tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes w/ juices)
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped frozen spinach *
1/8 tsp garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic minced)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano

1. In a small bowl, mash half of the beans with the back of a spoon and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, zucchini and mushrooms and saute, stirring frequently until the vegetables are tender (about five minutes).
3. Add the broth and tomato sauce. Season with garlic powder, pepper, basil and oregano.
4. Add the chicken and whole beans. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium. Add spinach and mashed bean (stir well to dissolve). Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

* You can either heat the spinach ahead of time, or allow it to defrost in the soup.

When I went to the grocery store last week, I found big, beautiful red peppers on an excellent sale. Since I had my eye on some recipes that used roasted red peppers, I decided to try my hand at roasting my own. I decided to start with only two peppers, just in case things didn’t go too well.

A quick Google search turned up a number of tutorials detailing various roasting methods. I opted to follow the instructions by The Wednesday Chef, because they seemed very straightforward and didn’t use the broiler.

It was just as easy as it looked! I took heed of the advice given in some of the comments and placed the red peppers in a shallow dish covered in plastic wrap while I waited for them to cool. Despite the fact that my peppers didn’t blacken as much as those pictured on the instruction page, they were tender and easy to peel.

My house smelled amazing and the finished product was delicious! I’ve used the roasted red peppers on pita pizza and in my Tuscan Chicken Vegetable Soup. I plan to roast more to freeze, so that I’ll always have a stash of roasted peppers on hand. I really don’t know why I didn’t try this sooner!