BIZZY BAKES

I love Nigella Lawson's style in writing.  She is homey and makes one feel like a friend.  She uses some of the cutest words and her books are fun to read without cooking although the cooking makes it all worthwhile. Curly Pasta with Feta, Spinach, and Pine Nuts (adapted from Nigella Lawson) Shells with Feta, Broccoli and Pecans Ingredients: 1/4 cup pecans, rough chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 onion, sliced 1/2 pound short pasta like shells (mine are brown rice shells - gluten free) 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 pound frozen chopped broccoli 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese Method: Heat water to boiling. Once it’s come to a boil add the pasta and cook until tender. Toast the pecans in a dry pan over medium-low heat until they are golden brown. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in large sauce pan and add the onion. Cook until the onion is tender. Add the b...

" PONDERABLE "We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one heck of a time."  --- Art Buchwald" Have some chocolate. All from Bing Images

This week, I selected, eggs in a skillet with spicy tomato and bell pepper sauce  which resulted in a healthy delicious recipe.  My son-in-law had come to NY to help with my husband and I fed this to him and he was clearly pleased with it, You will find the recipe in Weeknight Wonders by Ellie Krieger.  Cooking with Ellie has turned out to be delicious and easy to make at least 90% if the time.  To top it off, she promotes healthy cooking.  Ellie is one of my favorites. This had a strong tomato taste.  I cooked it longer than I should have my eggs were more like hard boiled but that is the way I like them . To see what others have made, go on over to our Eating with Ellie page and check them out on Thursday.  If you would like to join us, make the weekly dish and add your link.  There is no requirement to make a certain amount of dishes. Linked to:    Fat Tuesday               ...

My husband is in the hospital with pneumonia.  Until, this is resolved, I am putting the blog aside. He is doing very well.  Temperature down and white count normal so we are looking to quick recovery.  I just time to dedicate myself to what is important. The nurses run the show.  They are fantastic.

I had some beautiful tomatoes and knew if I didn't use them right away, they would not be so beautiful any more.  I needed a quick and easy dish to get them used up and still enjoy them.  I used to make something like this with Mozzarella and Parmesan but I was serving this with meat and could not have dairy products. I threw this together and topped each one with less than a teaspoon of mayonnaise which looked like cheese, in the finished product. Baked Tomato Slices Ingredients : 4 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick 1/2 cup fresh gluten-free Panko crumbs 2 teaspoons parsley salt and pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon olive oil a few teapoons of mayo Method: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place tomato slices close together in prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs, parsley, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Cover each slice with les...

This week, our group, Eating With Ellie, made a salad with sugar snap peas, tomato, watermelon and feta cheese.  I had to sub in green beans which I think worked well.  I did omit the mint that was called for but other than that the oil, lemon and black pepper were included. Kayte selected this recipe and I was intrigued.  I could not imagine watermelon with vegetables and feta cheese but I wanted to find out what it would be like.  It is great. The very best part is the combination of feta and watermelon, the cool sweetness against the tang of the cheese. There is a reason, we venture into new territories, and it is because we would never know about those good food combinations that exist although the sound less than appealing. Check out the other members of our group at Eating with Ellie (EwE) .

Earlier in the week, I mentioned hubby made the selections for this week.  Granted, he only asked me to make something with kasha but I am still giving him credit for this one.  I would never have gravitated to kasha and I ended making up delicious muffins and this chili. I get the impression, many of you don't usually make kasha.  Take a chance and try it out.  It is particularly good with noodles.   Kasha Chili   Adapted from Wolff's Ingredients  1 can diced tomatoes  1 cup vegetable broth  1 (14 1/2 oz.) can pinto beans  1 tablespoon chili powder  1 teaspoon paprika  1 teaspoon minced garlic  1 teaspoon cumin  1/2 teaspoon ground oregano  1/4 teaspoon pepper  3/4 cup  Kasha (uncooked)  Method:  In large skillet: add tomatoes, broth and spices. Bring to a light boil for 10 minutes.  Add kasha and pinto beans, cover and reduce to a s...

One never needs an excuse to make mashed potatoes, the ultimate comfort food, in my opinion.  Adding spinach just makes it even more tempting.  Mashed potatoes goes with anything. I remember as a child, when I didn't feel well, my mother made mashed potatoes and carrots.  For years, I say that I should make it and I don't.  I think, although I loved it, it brings back memories of being under the weather. Mashed Potatoes and Spinach Ingredients: 4 potatoes, peeled 1⁄2 cup sour cream 3 tablespoons  butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper 3 cups Baby Spinach  Method: Cut potatoes into quarters. Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 1 inch in a large saucepan and simmer, uncovered, until tender, 15 - 20 minutes. In a small saucepan place sour cream, butter and pepper and bring to a simmer. Drain potatoes. Mash potatoes. Stir spinach into warm cream sauce, Mash potatoe...

This week, I asked hubby to give me a list of meals, he would like me to cook, and that is how I made my plan for the week.  Do go on over to Menu Plan Monday and see what everyone else is making this week. Sunday - Leftovers (Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Sliced Tomatoes_ Monday - Salmon with Brown Sugar Glaze with Mashed Potatoes and Spinach Tuesday - Barbecued Chicken Cutlets with Oregano Tomatoes   Wednesday - Kasha Chili Thursday - Mac and Cheese Plus Goat Cheese Delight Friday - Chicken Loaf, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Apple Kasha Muffins Saturday - Chulent

This morning, my husband asked me to make a dinner from kasha.  Of course, the first recipe, I came across that I liked, was muffins so before I thought about dinner, I made these.  Using a fine ground kasha made the texture no different from regular flour muffins.  The spices gave it life and it turned out to be an enjoyable muffin. Then came the time to figure out dinner and I found a recipe on the kasha box for a kasha chili which we are having during the week and which I will post.  I made it ahead of time and took a taste and I think, it is going to be good. Apple Kasha Muffins     adapted from Recipe.Com          Ingredients : 1 cup orange juice  3/4 cup finely ground roasted (kasha)  1 egg  1/4 cup oil  1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour  1/3 cup packed brown sugar  2 teaspoons baking powder  1/2 teaspoon baking soda  1/2 teaspoon salt  1/2 teaspoon ...

It is those two words that brought this pie into being, GOAT CHEESE.  I really do love it and find reasons to use it, whenever possible. This got me wondering as to how you select recipes to make.  Do you use Cook Books, the Internet, family favorites, cooking magazines or your instincts?  What appeals to you most, a photo, the ingredients, what type of dish it is or any of the many reasons that we all  have? A good photo will sell me but I am more attracted to those magic words like, goat cheese, cauliflower, onion, corn, soup, etc.  If it were up to me, it would cheese, every night. Tomato Goat Cheese Pie Ingredients  1  9-inch pie crust 2  tomatoes, thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon basil 6 ounces goat cheese 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup mayonnaise Method: Preheat oven to 425 degrees or temperature on package. Bake crust in according t...

Goat-cheese is one of those words that get my attention every time.  Goat cheese has an enchanting flavor in its creamy frame.  Add it to salads, vegetables, muffins, breads and you have made a good dish - a great dish. I have a bunch of goat cheese recipes to try and I started with this one from Bev Cooks .  I added about a teaspoon of smoked salmon to each muffin, cut into small pieces for extra taste.  I used gluten-free flour and skipped the rosemary and used herbs de provence. This was easy to do and took little time.  It basically is mixing everything  (except the goat cheese)after chopping the onion.  This is my kind of cooking. Savory Goat Cheese Muffins Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter 1/3 cup  chopped red onion 3/4 cup gluten-free flour 1/2 tablespoon baking powder 1  pinch coarse salt 1/2 cup milk 1 large egg 1 tablespoon  Greek plain yogurt 1 tablespoon herbs de provence 2 ounce softe...

I made these once before and I didn't learn my lesson or more to the point, I didn't leave myself a note, not to add the spinach.  Even though I chopped it into small pieces, it was still too big to fit easily into the batter.  It caused some of the patties not to adhere easily.  As you can see, I could not get nice round patties.  They tasted fine despite this. Baked Southwestern Style Salmon Cakes adapted from Cook's Illustrated Ingredients: 2 cups flaked cooked salmon 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped fine  3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed 1 cup chopped baby spinach 4 scallions minced 1 teaspoon dried cilantro  1 cup dried Panko crumbs  1/4 cup mayonnaise  1 large egg Salt and ground black pepper to taste Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees In a small bowl combine  the breadcrumbs with the eggs, mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Mix well. Ge...

The first time, I went through Ellie's book, "Weeknight Wonders", this soup was on my list of first choices for our cooking group, Eating with Ellie .  It sounded so right and so healthy.  Go to our site for more information. This is a blended soup and mine was rather thick and lumpy.  I added some more broth but it remained thick.  I thought about it and this made it more into a meal than a course and I left it bumpy and lumpy.  It was not a mistake.   It is another easy recipe. Toast the cashew, mix the ingredients, blend them together and cook them. Top with carrots and cashews. A snap....... Sarah selected this soup for the group and I give three cheers for her good taste in soup. Savory Carrot Cashew Soup is a soup, I think you would enjoy, so give it a try. Whimsy Wednesday                   Waste Not Want Not Wednesday           Lou Lou Girls    ...

I was at Kim's blog, Stirring the Pot and saw a photo of this wonderful recipe. Like everyone else who looked at it, I wanted to get into that kitchen and make it. I did just that, just not at that moment. It took me one whole day to make it happen. I love hard boiled yolks but I am not crazy about the whites of the egg.  I was a bit hesitant about that and I didn't love the whites in the finish dish but the sauce was delicious and almost negated the whites.  I would like to try this with vegetables.  I could see a spinach gratin being delicious. I seem to be getting back to  I Heart Cooking Club and I hope, I can keep committed.  With summer vacation coming, I just may be able to get back to this and other fun blogging activities. It has been a hard two years for our family and what I need the most is a nice normal life and blogging is part of "normal" for me. Jacques Pepin is not a chef I know a lot about and I am excited to learn more about h...

One of the most difficult choices, I have to make, is when we select our dishes for the upcoming months.  I guess, if this was really the most difficult, I would have a pretty easy life with little challenge and that certainly is not true. Regardless, picking recipes when there are so many wonderful ones to choose from and the desire to write down a dozen instead of one, can be frustrating.  It is a good frustration, knowing I will be making these dishes but until I get to that point, the road is bumpy. As the weeks go by and I make my choices and those of the other members, I am happy for these moments of indecision.  I get to eat tasty plates of goodness or at times a disappointing food which i can eliminate from future meals.  Either way, I feel like a winner. When I selected the pasta with smoked salmon and dill sauce, I thought it had cheese so when I got my ingredients together, I was surprised to find this was quite different than what I had expecte...