Rosemary and Garlic Cannellini Bean Dip with Parmesan

A couple of weeks ago I went on a mass food blog binge and found LOTS of new yummy looking blogs, including the on that provided this very yummy dip - bakingequalslove.com/.

http://www.bakingequalslove.com/2011/07/bean-there-done-that-rosemary-garlic.html

1 x 400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly
1-2 tsp rosemary finely chopped (thyme works really well as well.)
handful of flat leaf parsley
2 - 3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup really fruity extra virgin olive oil + extra for drizzling
zest and juice of 1 -2 lemons, to taste
a pinch of salt and 2-3 Tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese to taste or 1/2 tsp sea salt or 1/4 tsp normal salt to taste.
Loads of freshly cracked black pepper

Crackers or pita crisps to serve

1. Place rinsed beans, rosemary, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper into a food processor and blitz until just blended, leaving it a little bit chunky for texture. Taste and adjust seasoning as you like it. And voila, you have bean dip. Yip that's it...done burger!

2. Serve with crackers, pita crisps, on toast, in sandwiches or just eat with a spoon! Keep in the fridge and it's even more delicious the next day.

Sweet Chile Pineapple-Glazed Tofu with Mixed Veggie Stir Fry

http://spoonwithme.com/2011/10/16/sweet-chile-pineapple-glazed-tofu-with-mixed-veggie-stir-fry/

Doesn't that look absolutely delicious?! Well it is :) My family has named it their favorite stir-fry. I stumbled across the blog Spoon With Me a couple of weeks ago, and after browsing through her sight, I have a feeling it will be often visited.

Inspired by The Best International Recipe from Cook’s Illustrated

This recipe, like most stir fries, can be adapted to your tastes and what is fresh and available. The veggies are added based on how long they take to cook, and stir-fried until crisp-tender. Orange juice can be subbed for the pineapple juice, for a different spin.

I was out of carrots so I threw in some green beans and next time I'm going to add fresh ginger to the glaze.

Makes 4 servings (when served over rice)

I doubled the recipe because I have teen-aged son but I didn't double the cornmeal mixture for the tofu (and had plenty) and next time I won't double the glaze. It's yummy glaze, but my stir-fry was swimming in it.

Glaze:

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons chile garlic paste, such as sambal oelek (to taste depending on desired level of spiciness)*
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Tofu:

• 1 block medium-firm tofu (14 ounces), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3/4 cups cornstarch
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• salt to taste
• Canola oil, for frying

Stir Fry:

• 1 medium (or two small) onion, cut into bite-sized squares
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into short strips
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 small head broccoli or broccolini, cut into bite-sized pieces (the stem may be thinly sliced)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

For the glaze:

Whisk all of the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until the glaze bubbles and thickens. Cover and set aside.

Stir Fry the Vegetables:

Heat the oil in a wok, large frying pan, or saucepan. Add the onions, bell pepper, and carrot and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often, until almost crisp-tender. Add the broccoli, soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook for an additional 2 minutes, or until all the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Coat and Fry the tofu:

Place the tofu on a plate lined with a few layers of paper towels to drain. Place a few layers of paper towels on top of the tofu, and press gently to extract more of the moisture. Once drained, season the tofu with salt.

Mix the cornstarch with the cornmeal and salt in a small bowl. Fill a non-stick saucepan with 1 1/2 inches of canola oil, and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering.

Working in batches, toss the tofu in the cornstarch mixture to thoroughly coat. Fry the tofu immediately after coating until golden and crispy. Spread the tofu on a plate lined with a few layers of paper towels to drain.

Mix it all together:

Put the fried tofu into the wok with the vegetables. Pour the glaze over, and gently toss until thoroughly coated. Garnish with the green onion and serve while hot.

*Sambal Oelek can be found in the Asian aisle of most grocery stores

Recipe is copied from http://spoonwithme.com/ my comments are in bold.

Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans

I made this dish awhile back for the family, and everyone ate more then their fair share :)

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/skillet_gnocchi_with_chard_white_beans.html

From EatingWell: January/February 2009

In this one-skillet supper, we toss dark leafy greens, diced tomatoes and white beans with gnocchi and top it all with gooey mozzarella. Serve with a mixed green salad with vinaigrette.

6 servings | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 16-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi, (see Tip)
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 cups chopped chard leaves, (about 1 small bunch) or spinach
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings
• 1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat, for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and water. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chard (or spinach) and cook, stirring, until starting to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and pepper and bring to a simmer. Stir in the gnocchi and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 3 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving : 325 Calories; 7 g Fat; 2 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 8 mg Cholesterol; 55 g Carbohydrates; 14 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 616 mg Sodium; 360 mg Potassium

3 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 lean meat, 1 fat

Tips & Notes

• Tip: Look for shelf-stable gnocchi near other pasta in the Italian section of most supermarkets.

Chocolate Wine Brownies

The blogs name says it all.... Dying for Chocolate (http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/)

http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/2009/05/chocolate-wine-brownies.html

1 cup Merlot
3/4 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (always choose the very best)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)-optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease (o.k. I use butter) a 13x9-inch baking pan. In a small saucepan, simmer wine over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup. Pour into large bowl and set aside. In top of a double boiler, melt butter and chocolate. Pour into wine and whisk until smooth.
In top of double boiler, whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla until very light and thick. Pour into chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Stir in flour and ½ cup nuts. Pour into pan and sprinkle with remaining nuts.
Bake 40-45 minutes (give it the toothpick test)

I think this is a great icing for the brownies above. Let the brownies cool before frosting.

Chocolate Wine Ganache for the Icing from Brownies Chocolate-Wine Ganaches in Diana's Recipe Book

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 tablespoon sweet red kosher wine (or any sweet red wine/try a late harvest dessert Zin)
Whisk all ingredients in small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted and smooth.

I promise you. You won't be disappointed. My cousin raved about them, and he does not like wine, so if you're worried about that, don't be! Jump right in and enjoy :)

Pretzel Dogs

Found these delicious little treats from Joy the Baker (http://joythebaker.com/2012/01/mini-pretzel-dogs/). One thing that I found was that a good quality hot dog (or kielbasa) that has good flavor is your best bet for "filling" your pretzel. Spicy Brown Mustard is my favorite dipping sauce :)

makes 16 pretzel dogs (made from cutting hot dogs in half)

recipe adapted from Alton Brown

1 ½ cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

about 14 cups of water

1 cup baking soda

1 large egg, beaten, with a splash of water

salt and pepper for topping

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to foam and froth. If it doesn’t, throw the mixture away and start again with new yeast.

Once the yeast and water is frothy, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will be soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky. That’s perfect. Scrape any residue out of the bowl and coat the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and store in a warm place to rise. Allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Place baking racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly brush the paper with oil. It’s important to brush the parchment paper or the pretzels will stick!

Combine water and baking soda in a large pan (8 quart is fine) saucepan and bring to a boil.

While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly oiled work surface. Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces, depending on how large you’d like your pretzel dogs. 8 pieces of dough for whole hot dogs. 16 pieces of dough if you’re doing to slice the hot dogs in half.

Start with the fingers of both hands in the center of the dough, and roll, moving your hands outward as you roll. Roll the dough along the oiled surface until you have about a 24-inch or 12-inch piece of rope (depending on how large your piece of dough was… the more dough the longer the rope).

Wrap pretzel around a hot dog, making sure to seal the ends.

When water has come to a boil, gently lower a few pretzel dogs into the boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds. Remove carefully, using a flat, slotted spatula. Place on prepared baking sheet. Brush boiled pretzels with beaten egg, and add coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Bake until deeply golden brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for a few minutes before serving warm.

Soft pretzels are best enjoyed the day they are made.

If you’re not going to enjoy all your pretzel dogs, double wrap them in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. When ready to serve, transfer out of plastic and into a piece of foil. Wrap well and bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until heated through.