Loaded Garlic Bread Pasta Torte

Pasta baked in it's very own garlic bread crust!
You'll think you died and went to carb heaven ...

Ingredients:

4 cups elbow macaroni
2 hot Italian sausages, remove casing
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped fennel
2  1/2 cups pasta sauce
1 tbsp fresh or 1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp fennel seed
3 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar)
6 tbsps butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
10 slices white bread, crusts removed

Cook the sausage meat in a large skillet breaking it up as it cooks for about 5 minutes. Drain off excess fat and add the green pepper, onion, celery and fennel. Cook an additional 3-5 minutes. At the end of the cooking just add  1 tbsp of water to the pan and stir up the browned bits. Add the pasta sauce, basil, oregano and fennel seed.

Next stir 2 cups of the shredded cheese into the mac mix.

For the crust:

Soften the butter and mix in the garlic. Cut the crusts off each slice and butter one side. Line a greased 10" springform pan (bottom and sides) with the bread, buttered side to the pan. Butter the top edge of the slices too. Spoon in the pasta and firmly press down. 

Top with remaining shredded cheese (and maybe a sprinkle of parmesan too!)

Bake at 400F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 5-10 minutes. Run a knife along the side to loosen, the remove ring.

And can we just take a moment to admire this crust!

Serves 10-12

Adapted from: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/garlic-bread-pasta-torte/

Blueberry Mojito

Mint in the "mojito garden" is starting to go to seed! Last chance to make this refreshing cocktail with fresh mint from my yard!

Ingredients:

8 fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup blueberries
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tsps sugar
3 tbsps white rum
1/2 cup club soda or tonic water

With a mortar and pestle crush the mint, blueberries, lime juice and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.

Place mixture in a large glass, fill 3/4 with ice cubes then add the rum and soda or tonic water. 

Garnish with mint and more blueberries then get out and enjoy the rest of the summer while it's still here!

Eton Mess with Yogurt

And if your Lemon and Blueberry Pavlova doesn't work out the way you'd hoped there's always Eton Mess, an English dessert traditionally made with whipped cream.

All you need is some crumbled meringue, berries (with a little sugar) and a dollop or two of yogurt.

I took some of the berries and mashed them for a quick sauce to top it off with.

Link to the Lemon and Blueberry Pavlova
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2018/08/lemon-and-blueberry-pavlova.html?m=1

Lemon and Blueberry Pavlova

An impressive dessert that'll WOW with little effort! It can even be (mostly) made ahead of time.

Ingredients:

6 egg whites (or 3/4 cup liquid egg whites from carton)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1  1/3 cup sugar
3 tsps cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar

Topping:

about 1 cup lemon curd (store bought or homemade)
some blueberries and mint leaves

Trace an 8" circle on a piece of parchment paper and place it ink side down on a baking sheet. Spray the corners underneath just to hold the paper down.

Preheat oven to 400F 
NOTE: You will be turning the temperature down!

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar on high until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time while on the run.  Add 3 tsps of cornstarch to the last tbsp of sugar. 

Whip until sugar is dissolved and meringue is stiff, about 10-15 minutes. Fold in the vanilla and vinegar.

Gently place meringue on parchment using the circle as a guide. Form a bit of an indentation in the center where the lemon curd will go later.

Once the meringue is placed in the oven IMMEDIATELY turn the temperature down to 210F !!

Bake for 1  1/2 - 2 hours at 210F
To test for doneness/crispness check the middle with a spoon. It should be crisp. Don't worry about a little hole, the curd will cover it. I checked at 1  1/2 hours and just added an extra 5 or 10 minutes.

When done, turn the oven off but leave the pavlova in to cool completely. It can be made and kept on the counter covered with a tea towel for several days before serving.

Only when ready to serve fill with curd and top with berries and mint leaves to garnish.

Don't worry about cracks in the meringue, that's part of it's charm.

And this lemon curd is so simple to make, just a few minutes in the microwave! Make this ahead of time too.

Here's the link to the recipe:
http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2016/05/microwave-lemon-curd.html

Pavlova serves 8-10

Hummus Mashed Potatoes

Who knew that the humble mashed potato could taste so good?

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes, peeled and quartered
Butter and milk to mash
1/2 cup hummus (either store bought or homemade)
parsley to garnish

Simply boil the potatoes, drain and mash with butter and milk as you would for your regular everyday mashed potatoes.

Then mash in the hummus. That's it!

Serves 4

This Garlic Hummus recipe is awesome with the mashed potatoes! No extra seasoning needed.

Here's the like:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2018/08/garlic-hummus.html

Grilled Fennel and Plum Salad

No middle of the road with fennel. With it's licorice-like flavour you either like it or not, but when grilled even the fennel skeptics will enjoy it!

Ingredients:

1 fennel bulb

1-2 tbsps olive oil

salt to taste

parmesan cheese

2 plums, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

2 green onions, sliced

Dressing:

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp peach nectar (or orange juice)

2 tsps red wine vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp tahini

lemon pepper to taste

Slice the rough end off the bottom of the fennel, BUT keep the core intact as it will hold your slices together. Slice about 1/4-1/2" thick and remove the feathery fronds and tough tops. I just used 2 slices for this recipe. Keep the fronds and the rest of the fennel for other uses, like raw in another salad. Or freeze to add to soups or sauces.

Brush both sides of the slices with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and parmesan.

Prepare plums, celery and green onions and mix the dressing ingredients together.

Heat the BBQ to medium high, oil the grill and place fennel with "fingers" across the grates so they don't fall through. Cook a few minutes on each side until tender and slightly charred.

Remove and set aside. Can be served at room temperature so you can do this step well in advance of dinner time!

When ready to serve place fennel on the plate, then mix dressing with the rest of the salad and spoon it on top of the fennel.

Salad serves 2

Garlicky Sautéed Kale

Yep, I'm on the kale bandwagon! 

Ingredients:

1/4 lb kale leaves (after stems are removed, 4 large ones)
2 tbsps olive oil
red pepper flakes 
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup beef broth or water
2 tbsps balsamic vinegar

1/2 - 1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch salt

Heat oil in a large fry pan or wok. Add some red pepper flakes, you decide how much heat you want. I added about 1/4 tsp. Heat until sizzling then add the garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes more.

Add the stock and kale and cook a couple of minutes, until the kale starts to soften. Finally add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes begin to split.

Toss with lemon juice, add a pinch of salt and this side ready for dinner.

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Date and Cranberry Fruitcake

Fruitcake.  You either love it or hate it. So if you love it, why do you wait until Christmas to have it?

This one is moist, chewy and has a very rich and slightly bittersweet flavour given it by the caramel that's incorporated into the batter.


Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup hot water

Icing sugar to dust

Prepare an 8 1/2  X  4 1/2" loaf pan by spraying with cooking oil and lining the bottom with parchment.

Make the caramel. First heat sugar in a pan until caramelized and dark. Carefully add the hot water, stir to combine and remove from heat. Cool about 5 minutes in the fridge.

Toast walnuts in a small pan 5-10 minutes.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside


Whisk sugar and eggs together, then add the oil. When caramel is cooled add it to these wet ingredients along with the vanilla. If the caramel has cooled too much and starts to set just re-heat a little.

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet just until combined.

Toss the cranberries, dates and walnuts in 1 tbsps of flour, then fold into the batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350 F for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes.
A cake tester should come out clean. It's a dense cake so you can see in this side-by-side pic it didn't rise alot.

Cool about 15 minutes, then remove to rack to cool completely. Don't forget to cover with a clean dishtowel. Once cooled dust with icing sugar.

Wimpy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites on the BBQ

Just enough heat for me, but others might find these a little wimpy. No problem just add more hot sauce!

Ingredients:

4-5 cups cauliflower florets

Marinade:
4 tbsps vegetable oil
2 tbsps cornstarch
2 tbsps sweet chili sauce

Sauce:
2 tbsps hot sauce (mine was Louisiana)
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup your fave BBQ sauce (I used beer and chipotle sauce)

Mix sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Whisk marinade ingredients together.
Microwave florets on high in 3 tbsps of water 5-7 minutes. Toss with marinade in a plastic ziplock bag or wax cereal bag reserved for messy jobs like this.

Let sit in marinade at least 1 hour (or all day)

Oil a BBQ basket and heat the barbecue to medium high. Place the florets in the basket in a single(ish) layer and cook 4-5 minutes or until starting to turn golden. Flip over and brush with sauce, cooking another 3 or 4 minutes, slightly caramelizing.

Take the cauliflower off the barbecue and toss with the remaining sauce.

Serve with a cool dip. Usually served with a ranch or blue cheese dressing, but here we tried tzatziki. 

Balsamic Cherry Tomato Salad

Are you being inundated with cherry tomatoes? I'm about to be. This one plant is growing like crazy! It's about 8 feet tall and growing!

Looks like more cherry tomato recipes needed in the future, like this one...

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbsps olive oil
2 oz feta
6-8 basil leaves
1/4 of a vidalia onion, thinly cut

Toss the tomatoes with the sugar and a pinch of salt. Let stand 30 minutes.

Strain any juices out into a sauce pan, pressing gently. Add the balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper. Heat up and simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce and slightly thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the olive oil.

Toss the tomatoes and onions with the dressing while still warm.

Serve at room temperature topped with feta and fresh basil.

Serves 2