Barefoot Pizza

I love Pizza! I have tried many varieties of this dish. My favorite so far has been Italian Style pizza with a thin and crunchy crust. I am always up for trying a new version of this wonderful comfort food. I was excited to try White Pizza with Arugula for my Barefoot Bloggers group. As I started to make the pizza I realized I was out of a few main ingrediants such as goat cheese and Arugula. Since this was the last day of the month to post the recipe, I decided to go ahead and make it using what I had on hand. I made the dough ahead of time and stuck it in the fridge until closer to dinner time. I made the salad dressing and added tomatoes and lettuce and a little extra cheese to the salad. I also used part of the dough for plain cheese pizzas for the kids. Everyone ate all there dinner and I got to use these cool pizza plates that I bought last year. Our picky son even told me he liked it! Thanks to Andrea of Nummy Kitchen for choosing a great recipe.

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Our family has been on vacation for the last 3 weeks. I am out of my normal routine and enjoying this extended vacation in Oregon and Washington. I was so excited that the this month's second Barefoot Bloggers recipe--picked by Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen--was the Contessa's Peach and Blueberry Crumbles. My in-laws just happen to have over 100 blueberry bushes on there property in Washington. My darling niece and daughter picked the berries for me for this recipe. I ended up taking this to our family reunion in Eastern Oregon last weekend. There was not any leftovers so I figured it turned out fine. I did make a few changes to the recipe. I tripled the amount of blueberries in the recipe and I baked in a 9X13 pan. I really liked the addition of lemon and lemon zest as well. I am excited to see what other people did with this recipe. I know it would have been amazing hot out of the oven with vanilla ice-cream on top.

Here is this tasty recipe:

Peach & Blueberry Crumbles (from Barefoot Contessa at Home)
For the fruit
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)
For the Crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.
For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serves 5 to 6.

Ina's Gazpacho

I am a few days late in posting my recipe for Barefoot Contessa Gazpacho. I have never attempted Gazpacho before. I don't know if I was scared of a cold tomatoe based soup or too much chopping involved. I am so happy that Delta of Delta Whiskey chose this recipe. My husband and I both loved it so much. This was a perfect lunch for a hot hot hot day! I did add a little extra spice to it. I loved the addition of olive oil at the end. This tasted like something we would have eaten in Italy with some crusty bread. The only thing that I would have added was some shaved Parmesan and more basil!!! This is my idea of summer food.

I love all of the wonderful produce that summer provides us with. Strawberries are on the top of the list. I picked up some beautiful strawberries the other day and needed something to go with them. I would usually make a shortcake and whipped cream but decided on something a little lighter this time. I never got around to making this Barefoot Contessa recipe for Meringue Chantilly with berries. It looked good and I had everything that I needed. It was a hit with the family. My kids ate every bite of the meringue shell. They thought it tasted a little like cotton candy since it melts in your mouth. I loved the combination of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Another new and healthy dessert to add to my files : )

Curried Couscous

This week for Barefoot Bloggers my good friend Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester chose this recipe. She was my neighbor when we all lived in Montana. Both of us love to cook and shared lots of recipes with each other. I was so excited to hear it was her turn. We talked each other into joining Barefoot Bloggers last summer and it has been so much fun! I love couscous and curry. I thought the flavours were great and enjoyed the crunch from the almonds and sweet cranberries. I would disagree about it tasting better the next day. I made this ahead for a party and loved the flavour the day I made it. The following day I discovered the flavours had mellowed too much and it was lacking something??? This was a healthy recipe that both Mark and I enjoyed. I served this with chicken, feta dip, whole wheat pita's and tomato cucumber salad. Thanks Ellyn for choosing such a great recipe.

Outrageous Brownies

These are my favorite rich and gooey brownie. Since it calls for 1 pound of butter and over 2 pounds of chocolate I would call these my decadence brownies. I have made this recipe a handful of times and each time it turns out different. I halved the batter and made mini brownie bites one day and then used the rest of the batter for a dessert for my Bible Study Brunch. I made breakfast brownies and added a cup of chopped chocolate covered coffee beans to my batter. Goodness Gracious! These were very good. Here is the recipe and you can check out what my other Barefoot Bloggers did as well. Thanks Eva for indulging us with this great brownie!

I don't know if I can ever go back to regular canned tuna again!

This week for Barefoot Bloggers, Kate of Warm Olives and Cool Cocktails chose Tuna Salad. This was amazing! I found tuna at Trader Joe's ( I know that I buy everything at Trader Joe's but it is my favorite store : ). The combination of Asian Soy dressing and lime was a hit! I served this with a salad of cucumbers and carrots. We loved it! I found Wasabi powder in the grocery store. I also added a little ginger since we love the flavour of ginger with Wasabi. I forgot to take a picture before we ate it and there was no leftovers with this meal. I wasn't sure how my family would like the tuna seared and then added to the dressing. This was a mouth tingling meal that we will be enjoying again in the near future!

Croque Monsieur for dinner

This week I made Croque Monsieur for my Barefoot Bloggers group. This recipe was from Ina's Barefoot in Paris cookbook (one of my favorites)! A Croque Monsieur is a fancy ham and cheese sandwich with a rich cheese sauce poured over the top and then broiled for perfection. This brought back so many memories of our trip to Paris a couple years ago.
I found a great crusty french bread to use. I sliced it on the thicker side too. I had read from other peoples blogs that the bread makes or breaks this sandwich. I toasted the bread, added the cheese and ham and then poured over the sauce. It broiled for about 5 minutes and then dinner was served.
I chose the perfect day to make this, since it rained for most of the day. I served this along with a roasted red pepper soup from Trader Joe's. What a great dinner for a busy night. Thanks to Kathy of All Food Considered for this months pick.

Chinese Chicken Salad for dinner

McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen chose Ina's Chinese Chicken Salad for Barefoot Bloggers. I know that I am a few days late in making this recipe but its better late then never. We had this for dinner tonight. I LOVED it as well as my husband and daughter. My husband did eat the entire bowl of Chinese Chicken Salad.

I made a few changes to the original, Ina recipe. I chose a spring green salad mix along with shredded carrots, toasted almonds, and sliced radishes to complete the meal. The roasted chicken was really good mixed with the peanut, garlic and soy sauce dressing. I had to eliminate the toasted sesames seeds since I was out of them. I have lots of dressing left over and can't wait to find ways to use it :- ) I see vegetable stirfry and Asian noodles in the near future.

Here is the recipe Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe from Ina Garten,

Barefoot Contessa Parties! and Food Network

4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on) (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

Good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally ( I didn't add any)

1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded

2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.
Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.
Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Brownie Pudding

I have been putting off trying this recipe. It didn't look great to me. I thought the texture would be too soft almost like a creme brulee. I was totally mistaken! I made this on Friday evening. Fridays are my long run days and I usually eat what I want afterwards. I halved this recipe since I didn't want 8 servings. I could not believe how delicious this was. I baked it in the water bath and let it cool to room temp. I sampled it a couple hours later. I could not stop eating it. I even ate a serving for breakfast the next day. It was that GOOD! I know that others enjoyed this amazing dessert too. It was crunchy on top and then soft and gooey inside. Tia of Southern, Eh? chose Brownie Pudding. You can find Ina’s recipe here or in Barefoot Contessa’s latest book, Back to Basics. Thanks Tia for the amazing recipe choice. This is one of my new favorites recipes. Next time I will make this for a dinner party so there won't be any leftovers.

Real Meatballs compared to Fake...

This week for Barefoot Bloggers Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake selected this dinner recipe, Ina's Real Meatballs and Spaghetti. These were so filling and hearty! I had a special Valentines dinner made by my husband and daughter. It was so sweet of them to cook for us since it has never happened before! They substituted whole grain penne with flax seed pasta, whole grain bread crumbs and used a lower fat hamburger. He has never made pasta sauce but it still had a good flavour. The meatballs were my favorite part of the dinner. I loved them as a kid and have made lots of varites over the years. These reminded me of my mothers type of meatballs. The kids and I all enjoyed this dinner! The meatballs were a little crunchy due to overcooking but it was the thought that counts and the recipe is definitely a good one that we will be making again.

If you give some kids a Pancake....

Karen of Something Sweet by Karen chose the this weeks recipe for Barefoot Bloggers. We all love pancakes in our house. I love to try variations to my favorite breakfast food! Breakfast for dinner is one of our favorite quick meals. My husband was working late the other night so I whipped these up for the kids. They were so good! I had bananas in the freezer (ready for banana bread)so I mashed them up and added to the batter instead of dicing them on top of each pancake. The kids ate all of them. They decided they were as good as my "Famous Saturday Morning Pancakes". They both thought they tasted allot like banana bread. I should have done eggs and bacon along with but the kids were very satisfied with there pancakes, syrup and PB for Jonathan.

Here is the recipe!

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes (Barefoot Contessa Family Style)

1 1/2 cups flour

3 Tbls sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbls milk

2 extra-large eggs (I used large eggs as that was all I had)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp grated lemon zest

unsalted butter

2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving

maple syrup

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined. Melt 1 Tbls of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded Tbls of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup. Makes 12 pancakes.

Soup and good company

I have been very excited to try the Barefoot Bloggers recipe this week. This soup is something both myself and husband love. It brings back memories of the food we ate in Tuscany last year. It is a very satisfying, thick soup called Pappa Al Pomidoro. Natalie of Burned Bits chose this recipe and it can be found in the new Back to Basics cookbook on page 68.

My in-laws came for a week long visit and this is what I made for them. They really enjoyed it as well. We finished off most of the pot at one meal : ) I made chicken Parmesan meatballs to go along with the soup and added a crisp salad. I also wanted a little more garlic and roasted a head of garlic to add to the soup if people chose too. The topping was a mixture of croutons, basil, bacon (pancetta)and Parmesan cheese. It was perfection the way that Ina added the topping to this soup. It makes all the diffence to me! This is one of my new favorites and will be made again and again in our house! Thanks Natalie!

Barefoot Bloggers Roasted Onions

cornbread, soup and roasted onions for dinner

We added some parmesan cheese to the onions at the end.

My friend Jeni sent me this for Thanksgiving.

I love it so much I wanted to share a picture of

it!
Kelly from Baking with the Boys has chosen Herb Roasted Onions which can be found in Barefoot Contessa at Home on page 156. This recipe looked so amazing to me. I love roasted/caramelized onions and one of my favorite soups is French Onion Soup. I kind of lost track of time while cooking the onions. They got a little overdone but we added them to the soup that I had made. It all turned out in the end. These would be great with a pork loin or pot roast. This is definitely on my to make again list. Thanks Kelly!

Mini Orange Cakes

This weekend we had guests over for dinner. I couldn't decide what to make for dessert and then remembered the chocolate orange mini cakes from Barefoot Contessa Parties. I watched an episode of Ina make these and they looked amazing. I have mini bundt pans and this was the perfect opportunity to use them. Lisa from Lime in the Coconut won the challenge for choosing our new BRC Avatar. I still can't figure out how to add it to my blog.... These turned out so moist and delicious. My favorite part was the orange syrup that you pour over the warm cakes and gets absorbed into the cake. It added just the right amount of moist texture without getting soggy. I will be making these again. I like the idea of making them into muffins for breakfast. I can see eating these warm out of the oven with my coffee.

Butternut Squash Risotto tastes even better then it sounds!

I had to thin it with extra chicken stock at the end.

Roasted squash

Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook chose today's recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto. I was very interested in how this recipe was going to work. I was surprised at how easy it was. The stirring the chicken stock into the rice was the biggest part of the recipe. The prefect risotto has always scared me. I tasted awesome risotta on our trips to Italy. I have attempted it a couple times before but never with butternut squash and bacon. I made some chicken stock in the morning to use in the recipe. I par cooked the squash before roasting it. It really helped save on time when I was making this. The butternut squash was awesome. I am going to try my squash roasted next time as a side dish! It was sweet and salty at the same time and had a great caramelized flavour from roasting it in the oven. My husband and I both loved this recipe. We had enough left for leftovers for several days. My husband took it to work the next day and people were asking for samples of it because it smelled so good. Ina always has such great recipes. I can't wait for her new book to come out. I pre-ordered mine and am hoping that it will ship soon! If you want to check out the other Barefoot Bloggers http://www.barefootbloggers.wordpress.com/ .

Apple Turnovers

The bonus recipe this month was chosen by Anne of Anne Strawberry . It was Apple Turnovers. I was supposed to make these by mid September but it didn't really feel like Fall to me at that time. Today is Johnny Appleseed Day and thought this would be a great recipe to make in honor of that . I had great intentions of making these for my kids teachers but forgot to get the puff pastry out of the freezer this morning. I made them after school instead and shared with my neighbors. They were delicious. I drizzled some icing over the top and enjoyed hot out of the oven. I did add dried cranberries instead of the dried cherries. I also doubled the recipe this time so it would make enough to share.

A couple weeks ago my neighbor and I took our kids on an outing to the Apple orchard to pick apples from the tree. Breezy Acres Fruit Farm had so much to offer. The kids had fun picking apples off the trees and we ended up with over 1/2 a bushel of wonderful crisp Gala apples. The farm not only had apples and fresh pressed cider but also plums, peaches, pears, berries, grapes tomatoes and cucumbers. We have been enjoying all the goodies that we bought. We still have enough apples left to make Apple Caramel Cake (companies coming for dinner on Saturday) and Jeni's Upside down Apple Cake. These apples are amazing and incredibly crisp. I can't wait to go back and try some of there other 20 varieties of apples they grow.

Barefoot Bloggers Mushroom Soup

This week for Barefoot Bloggers we made Mushroom Soup. I love mushrooms and soups. I have made Hungarian Mushroom soup (my sister Jennys recipe) a dozen times and always loved it. I was excited about trying this soup. Chelle of Brown Eyed Baker chose Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. It was so good! I loved how creamy it was and the texture between the mushrooms was perfect. This made allot of soup for 2 of us. My daughter tried a little bit and loved the base of the soup but didn't care for the mushrooms at all. I froze several small servings for future lunches.
Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup by Ina Garten Barefoot Contessa At Home
5 oz fresh shitake mushrooms
5 oz fresh portabella mushrooms
5 oz fresh cremini (or porcini) mushrooms
1 T good olive oil
1/4 lb + 1 T unsalted butter
1 c chopped yellow onion
1 chopped carrot
1 sprig fresh thyme + 1 tsp chopped minced thyme leaves,
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 c chopped leeks (white and light green parts)(2 leeks)
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c dry white wine
1 c half-and-half
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Clean the mushrooms by wiping the with a dry paper towel. Don't wash them! Separate the stems from the caps, trim off any bad parts, and coarsely chop the stems. Slice caps 1/4" thick and, if they are big, cut into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.To make the stock, heat the olive oil and 1 T butter in a large pot. Add the chopped mushroom stems, chopped onion, carrot, sprig of thyme, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook over medium low heat about 10 - 15 minutes, until veggies are soft. Add 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid. You should have about 4 1/2 cups of stock, if not add some water. Meanwhile, in another large pot, heat the remaining 1/4 lb butter and add the leeks. Cook over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes, until the leeks start to turn brown. Add the mushroom caps and cook for 10 minutes, or until they are browned and tender. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and stir for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the mushroom stock, minced thyme leaves, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp pepper and bring to a boil Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the half-and-half, cream, and parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Heat through but do not boil. Serve hot.
See what the rest of the Barefoot Bloggers think, check here.
I did not have the three types of mushrooms so I left out the creminis. I used all the cream and half and half it called for. I won't be eating it everyday but enjoyed the richness of it. I thought it was a great Fall Soup. A little goes a long way.

Butterflied Chicken

I am a little late in posting my Barefoot Bloggers recipe for Butterflied Chicken.

Thank you so much to Stefany over at Proceed with Caution, this was a great end of summer pick! The recipe can also be found at foodnetwork.com.
Butterflied Chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 2 sprigs
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 roasting chickens (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each), deboned and butterflied (I used 4 large boneless skinless breasts)
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
Mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.
Place the chickens on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each chicken. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens.
Turn the chicken skin side down and scatter the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary over each chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roll each chicken up, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Heat a grill with coals. Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Unroll the chickens, place them on the grill and cook for 12 minutes on each side.
I have never deboned a chicken before and was a little scared. I received new Henckel knives for Mothers Day and they are sharp! I tried to follow the directions but it doesn't look nearly as pretty Ina's! I made the paste in my food processor and omitted the rosemary since my husband can't stand it. I substituted basil instead of rosemary. We will be having this for dinner tonight with some couscous with saffron and chives that I got from an Amish market this weekend. It tastes so good! I loved how the chicken turned out.

We had such a great Labour Day weekend. I had to do a long run this weekend so the kids and hubby joined me. They rode there bikes and my hubby ran along with me on an amazing bike trail. It was 8 miles to the next town Xenia ( the biking capital of Oh) and then back to our car. I had to do 19 so I added a few miles on during there break. We stopped and bought them pancakes for there hard work! My husband has never ran that far before and I was very impressed with his endurance. I think he needs to join me in my race in 3 weeks.

On Monday we drove to Southern Oh and visited an Amish community. It was such a pretty area. We bought some amazing things from the farmers market. They had beautiful furniture that is all handmade. There bakery offered lots of wonderful baked treats including pumpkin rolls and cinnamon buns with lots and lots of cream cheese frosting : ) We tried there Italian Cream Cake and fresh doughnuts. There were so good! http://www.ohiotraveler.com/ohio_amish_stores.htm#bakery