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Roasted Tomato Relish

Tomato relish

Slow roasted grape tomatoes with golden raisins and garlic makes for a great tomato relish to put on top of fresh mozzarella, salads and sandwiches. I ate it on top of sliced mozzarella, dressed with balsamic vinegar and fresh basil. It was so good! Next time, I’ll add the relish to cold pasta with some pesto sauce and fresh spinach for a light pasta salad. Here are the steps for the relish:

  • Pre-heat oven at 300F
  • Place tomatos (any kind goes) on a baking sheet
  • Coat with olive oil, salt, peppers and slices of garlic
  • Roast for 40 minutes (until the skin looks wrinkled like in the picture above)
  • Add golden or black raisins
  • Roasted for 10 more minutes
  • Cool off
  • Keeps in the refrigerator for one week
  • Enjoy it!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed Bell Peppers Comfort

 

You can pretty much stuff bell peppers with anything. Add some ground beef or fresh sausage to your leftover rice, quinoa or even thanksgiving stuffing and you have the perfect filling for the peppers. These ones were stuffed with fresh chicken basil sausage, spinach and cheese. Here are the steps:

  • Wash and cut vertically  3 bell peppers, removing all the seeds and stems (I like to stuff the peppers by cutting them in half vertically and stuff each half but you can just cut the tops off and stuff the whole thing upright.
  • Preheat oven to 360F
  • Brown 3 medium fresh sausages of your choice (I used chicken basil from Sprouts) in a skillet with 1 medium onion and 2 medium roma tomatoes diced (you can substitute with ½ cup of tomato sauce of your choice)
  • Add 1 cup (or more) of cooked rice, or cooked quinoa, or cooked couscous to the sausage mixture. I used only sausage for the batch in the picture.
  • If you want the filling to be more compact you can add a beaten egg to the rice mixture before stuffing the peppers
  • Coat a baking pan with some olive oil (just enough to not let the peppers stick)
  • Place the stuffed peppers in the baking pan and top it with shredded mozzarella or parmesan cheese
  • Cover pan with foil
  • Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes remove the foil for the last 10 minutes.
  • Eat
  • Repeat

Life gives you lemons? Make Tiramisu!

Lemon Raspberry Tiramisu with Greek Yogurt Topping

The lemon tree in our backyard was overly productive this summer. We had pretty much all sorts of lemon creations. Some good…some awful not so good. But the Lemon Raspberry Tiramisu was a big winner. I made a lemon cream filling from scratch, soaked the lady fingers in homemade raspberry lemon simple syrup and topped with greek yogurt mixed with sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. The creamy tanginess of the greek yogurt really  compliment the overall flavor and texture of the dessert.

Greek Yogurt Topping:

  • 8oz greek yogurt (I used Fage for this recipe)
  • Remove excess water if any
  • Mix in 1 tbsp of lemon juice+1tsp of vanilla extract
  • Add 1/8 cup of confection (substitute for 1/4cup of honey or agave syrup)

Two Numbers

Two numbers I’ve decided to change…160 and 219. One is my cholesterol the other my weight. Among other favorites, this salad is definitely on top of the list and it can be found in my fridge every week. It works as a snack too.

Confession…Not dieting, just on a health kick.

Big Lots! Pizza

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw an entire shelf of Bob’s Red Mill products at Big Lots. And they were NOT expired. Not even close to be expired. And they were heavily discounted. So I bought one of each and went back for seconds. The whole grain gluten free pizza crust mix is a winner. Easy to make and delicious.

My lack of hand tossing skills made the pies look sloppy  rustic.

Featured Pizzas toppings:

Pesto+Fig+Goat Cheese+Caramelized Onions

Fresh Mozzarella+Pear+Arugula+Caramelized Onions+Balsamic Glaze

Cream Cheese+Banana+Caramel+White Chocolate Chips

12 pics of 2012

I can’t really find the inspiration nor the right mood to tell why there was such a big hiatus. Who cares, really?

I’m still cooking…most of the time great food but sometimes angry food. I no longer go food shopping every Wednesday. Rather, I run out of food (or fun) and I hit Ralph’s, Costco, Von’s, TJs and occasionally Whole Foods. I clip coupons…and most of the times forget to use them. I do shop consistently what’s in season and what’s on sale. Budget? Ah, I tried hard, but it’s more challenging than I thought.

So the “deal” part of “dealicious cooking” is still valid but no longer the focus of this blog. I’m still shopping and cooking sensibly but the real “deal” is…I love to splurge!

Although, I’m documenting some of my cooking, eating and drinking moments on Facebook, it has been basically one year without sharing here. I’ll post one picture a day for the next 12 days of some of these moments. No recipes (I rarely follow them anyway). Just my best 2012 food memories. I hope you find some inspiration or even entertainment in it!

I’ll start with this insane Chorizo & Mushroom Crostini.

(Chorizo (from Whole Foods meat counter)+red onions+Crimini mushrooms+shaved Manchego cheese+cilantro on top of toasted ciabatta bread.)

Cheers!

Week 9: “Bon appetit”

We had a free Starz preview this weekend from Directv and I finally watched “Julie and Julia”. I had NO idea that the movie was based on a real blogger’s project and how it related to Mrs. Child. The movie is cute and brought me back to the day I first watched Julia Child’s show The French Chef on TV. Not being familiar with the cooking icon, I totally thought it was a comedy cooking show. Recently, I came across Julia Child unique ‘culinary action’ again on The Cooking Channel. I enjoyed every minute of it.

I decided that this week I’ll come up with a Julia Child inspired menu. I had a great time researching a little bit about her life and recipes. I stole  some original recipes and made them – let’s just say – a little more practical.

This week’s picks:

I’m a HUGE fan of O.N.E. coconut water. The passion fruit flavored one is the kids favorite. Sprouts has all varieties for $1.00 each. I’m stocking up!

Italian Squash for 49c a lb. Ralph’s has lean stew meat for $3.99 lb and chicken breast for $2.49 lb.

Thursday: Julia’s Spice Blend grilled chicken breasts with Lundberg risoto

Friday: Gourmet (Not cooking)

Saturday: BBQ?

Sunday: La Tarte Tatin upside-down apple tart

Monday: Soup and cheese/veggie quiche (Meatless Monday)

Tuesday: Julia Child’s inspired Beef Bourguignon

Wednesday: Leftovers

Julia Child Spice Blend

1 teaspoon ground bay leaves

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon mace

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon savory

2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper