A Bunch of Yummy

OK - I haven't posted in ages, but it's not because I haven't been cooking. It's actually because I've been too busy to even sit down and upload the photos. It's about all I can do to remember to take pictures of the food. So tonights post is the down-and-dirty on what's been going on in my kitchen. I'm only going to post a few recipes, but if you want one in particular that I haven't posted, you're welcome to email me and I'll send it to you. So here we go...

My new favoritest way to eat broccoli. In fact, I don't know that I'll ever eat it any other way again. It's Ina Gartner recipe (Barefoot Contessa) and IT ROCKS!!!!

ROASTED BROCCOLI

• 4 to 5 pounds broccoli
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• Good olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

Cut up the broccoli, toss with olive oil and garlic slices, put on baking sheet. Bake in 425 degree oven (yes, I know that's hot) for about 15 min, just until barely fork tender. Take out of oven and immediately squeeze lemon juice on the broccoli. Toss with pine nuts and put in serving bowl/platter/plate. Add parmesan and basil just before serving. YUM YUM YUM (BTW, just did some broccoli like this last night and added it to orzo pasta with tomatoes, yellow peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, and fresh parmesan...again, fabulous.)


Tropical Cupcakes -- I had to whip up a birthday treat for one of my bosses last week. In scavenging through my cupboard all I could find was an old box of coconut cake mix. "Coconut?", you ask. "Yes," Coconut. Don't ask me where I got it or how old it was. I was desperate. Fortunately I found a way to "kick-it-up" a notch. I added chopped pineapple to the cake mix and then made coconut cream cheese frosting and then toasted coconut to add to the top. Tada! Tropical Cupcakes.

Oh, yum, kitty litter! On April Fool's day I took this delicious "Kitty Litter Cake" in to work. It was a HUGE hit. Several people stood around it and dared each other to take the first bite. After waiting till the sacrificial lamb declared it, they all dug in. You can find the recipe all over the internet. I would also recommend making it the night before you serve it and allow it to sit in your fridge over night. I think it helped the cake meld together.


Several years ago while at BYU I started a tradition of making crepes on General Conference morning. This year I invited a few of my friends over to join me. And let me tell you...They were the BEST DARN CREPES I've ever made. The toppings were amazing.

Crepes
8 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
3 1/3c. milk
2 2/3 TBS sugar
1 1/3 tsp salt
1 TBS oil

Wisk all together and cook in pan. Hint: Crepes are supposed to be VERY thin. I usually pour little less than 1/4 in a pan and then swirl the pan around until the crepe batter essentially stops running because it's baking up. If you get it thin enough in the pan you only have to cook it on one side, because it will cook all the way through.

Lemon Cream -- this lemon cream was truly what set all of these crepes apart from the others.

1 c. cream cheese
1 c. confectioners sugar
1 TBS lemon zest
1/2 c. lemon juice
1/4 ts. lemon extract

cream it all together. We spread a little down the center of the crepe and added fresh strawberries, rolled them up and then topped them with homemade chocolate sauce. Aggghhh!! They were fabulous!


And finally a delicious soup/stew, or as I like to call it a "stoup". I got the recipe from Better Homes And Garden magazine and it was the perfect stoup for the crockpot. I deviated from the recipe a little because I was too cheap to by pork shoulder, and I used healthy turkey sausage instead of polish sausage, but it was still DELICIOUS and tasted just a great the 2nd and 3rd day. If you want the recipe let me know and I'll email it to you.

Slow Cooker Holiday Pork Stew - Better Homes and Garden