Ratatouille

Here is a recipe that is both beautiful and delicious! 


Ingredients:

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
eggplant 
zucchini
yellow squash
red bell pepper
1 tsp thyme
Salt and pepper


Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Mix tomato puree, sliced garlic, chopped onion, a tablespoon olive oil, and about 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour into bottom of a baking dish, approximately 10 inches across. A circular pie pan or oval shaped dish works great!

3. Thinly slice eggplant, zucchini, squash, and red pepper into circular disks. Aim for 1/8 inch slices or smaller, 1/16 is ideal. 

Note: If at all possible, it would be ideal to get vegetables that have approximately the same diameter. We were forced to get a gigantic eggplant because there were only 3 to choose from. We worked around our eggplant issues by quartering some of the slices, but the red pepper was also awkwardly large. Its doable, just perhaps does not look quite as pretty. 

4. Place vegetable slices on top of the tomato sauce. Alternate vegetable slices so as to create a variety in color and flavor. 

5. Drizzle remaining olive oil on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle about a half teaspoon each of salt and pepper and the thyme evenly on top of the vegetables. 

6. Cover the dish securely with either aluminum foil or parchment paper and place in the oven. Cook 45 minutes to an hour, or until vegetables are slightly brown at edges and soft. 

 

Brownies from Scratch

 Here is a gooey delight for when your in a baking mood! Insider tip: substitute one egg with 1/3 cup applesauce to make a more fudgey brownie without the need for extra oil.

Ingredients:
1 stick melted butter
4 Tbs cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 well beaten eggs
¾ cup flour
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix all ingredients.
3. Spread in greased 9*9 pan
4. Bake 30 - 35 minutes

Optional Topping:
Melt two tablespoons of butter or peanut butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup milk and a tablespoon of the cocoa powder and mix over heat until smooth. Adjust proportions as necessary. Milk will thin the mixture, more chocolate will make it thicker and more chocolately, and adding the butter or peanut butter will increase richness and a smooth texture. If you want a thicker mixture without adding more chocolate, simply cook longer.

Peasant Style Rutabaga and Cabbage Stew

OK, so we don't know if peasants actually ate food this way, but this stew goes a long way and doesn't cost much to make. On top of it, its actually pretty tasty too.

Ingredients:

1/2-1 pound ground beef

2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp sage

2 Tbs olive oil
1 rutabaga

1 small head cabbage

1 sweet potato

2 potatoes

1 onion

4 cups beef broth

Instructions:

1. Brown ground beef with rosemary and sage in a skillet.

2. Cube rutabaga, onion, sweet potato, and potatoes into bite sized chunks. Chop cabbage into short, thin strips. 

3. Place olive oil in a large pot and cook rutabaga until somewhat soft (10-20 minutes).

4. Add the rest of vegetables, beef, and beef broth to pot and allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes or until all ingredients are soft.

Serve hot. Tastes great with bread. We used homemade rolls.

Simple Flour Tortillas

Ever wondered how to pros do it at Pancheros? Here's a recipe to get you started in the art of tortilla making. Homemade tortillas fresh and hot off the skillet trump store-bought tortillas any day of the week!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 Tbs butter
1 1/4 cups water

Instructions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in bowl.
2. Soften butter then mix with dry ingredients until evenly distributed.
3. Add water a little at a time until dough is soft but not sticky. May not need all of the water.
4. Split dough into about 12 balls. Let sit 10 minutes.
5. Preheat skillet to medium to medium-high heat while waiting.
6. Roll out dough balls into tortillas. Lightly flour to keep rolling pin from sticking. Should be thin and about the size of the skillet.
7. Cook tortillas one at a time about a minute per side. First side should bubble while cooking.

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Fantastic! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bread

Here's a wonderful recipe my fiance and I discovered while playing the "let's cook something with the things we have on hand" game. A delicious dessert bread for anyone who loves cinnamon. Note: we used powdered buttermilk and added the powder to dry ingredients and the water to wet ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 Tbs & 1½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 Tbs butter

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Grease 9x5 loaf pan.

3. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1½ tsp cinnamon, buttermilk powder, and salt.

4. In separate bowl, combine water for buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla. Beat well.

5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

6. In third bowl cut butter into small chunks, add 1 Tbs cinnamon, combine into pea size bits.

7. Fold cinnamon butter mixture into batter.

8. Pour batter into loaf pan.

9. Bake 45 minutes. Insert toothpick, if isn't clean or bread seems unstable, cook another 5 minutes. 

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Teriyaki Stir-fry with Chicken

Stir-fry is an excellent way to get that gives you a good serving of fresh vegetables. It cost Wayne and I about $15 to make (about 4-6 servings), so its an inexpensive meal as well!

Ingredients:
½ green pepper                                       ¼ cup chicken broth
½ red bell pepper                                    ½ cup teriyaki sauce
½ zucchini                                              ½ tsp honey
1 bunch broccoli                                    1/8 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 onion                                                    green onion
2 cloves garlic                                         2 Tbs corn starch
1 chicken breast (defrosted)                    2 cups rice
1 Tbs peanut oil                                      1/8 cup vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

Directions:
1. Add 1 Tbs peanut oil and 1 tsp sesame oil to skillet.
2. Heat skillet to just below high.
3. Add rice to pot with 3½ cups water. Cover and let simmer on medium to medium high heat.
4. Cut chicken into bite-size cubes
5. Add 1/8 cup each teryaki sauce and vinegar to chicken. Let sit several minutes.

6. Add chicken with liquids to skillet. Cook until golden brown and thoroughly cooked.
7. Meanwhile, cut up broccoli, peppers, onions, zucchini, and garlic.

8. When chicken is done, remove and place in bowl.
9. Add vegetables in this order: garlic, broccoli, onion, zucchini, peppers.

10. Add vegetables a handful at a time until all are added. Mix each handful into pan and let cook roughly a minute or a little less, allowing vegetables to heat up so the pan stays hot.

11. Mix ¼ cup teryaki, ¼ cup chicken broth, green onion, cilantro and honey to make a sauce. Add this to skillet once vegetables are cooked.

12. Add chicken back to skillet. Mix everything.
13. Add a mixture of cornstarch and ¼ c chicken broth and mix again.

14. Turn off heat. Leave ingredients in skillet.
15. Serve rice and vegetables together.

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Tuna Noodle Cassarole

Here's a slight twist on an old classic using bread crumbs and sauteed onions.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1 can (10 1/2 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 can (6 oz) tuna
1 onion
1 clove garlic
3 slices bread
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook macaroni noodles. Strain.
3. While noodles are cooking, finely chop and saute onion and garlic in about 1-2 Tbs olive oil. Cook until onions are soft and have a slight browning to the edges.
4. Mix noodles, tuna and cream of chicken soup and place in a 9*9 pan.
5. Top the noodles with cheese and sauteed vegetables.
6. Cook 20 minutes. While casserole is i oven, toast 3 slices of bread and spread olive oil, salt and pepper evenly on all slices. Break into crumbs.
7. After 20 minutes, sprinkle bread crumbs evenly over casserole and cook 5 more minutes. Serve hot.

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