Homemade Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato Sauce

I have to admit that I have always been afraid to make gnocchi.   I recently found a website with pictures of each step of the process and decided to give it a try.  It was surprisingly easy and they turned out awesome!  click here for the step by step photos and recipe. 

No Bake Cookies

In honor of my brother's birthday today, I made his favorite cookies.  There is a family story of when my brother, Ryan, was young that he snatched an entire pan of these cookies from the fridge, hid under my mom's kitchen desk and proceeded to eat every last one.  Somehow he still loves these cookies today!

Here's the recipe for a 1/2 batch of no bake cookies (makes 18-20 cookies):
1 cup sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 1/2 T cocoa
1/4 cup milk
In a heavy saucepan bring ingredients above to a rolling boil for 1 min.

Remove from stove and add:
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (steel cut - not instant)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 t. vanilla

 On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Baked Vidalia Onions

My family lived in Georgia for a few years when I was young.  During our Georgia time, my mom started making baked Vidalia onions and every year when I see the Vidalia onions in the grocery store I get excited to make these!

They are super easy - Slice the onions into 1/4 inch rounds then put a small amount of butter on each onion and hand crumble Ritz crackers on top.  Bake at 350 for about 30 min (until the onions are soft).

Here is an in progress picture:

Chicken and Asparagus Risotto

From the Williams-Sonoma Pasta Cookbook

Ingredients:

Grated zest from 2 lemons

1 lb. Asparagus, cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
5 ½ cups Chicken Stock
4 tablespoons olive oil

1 whole chicken breast, skinned and boned, cubed

1 onion, chopped
2 ½ cups Arborio or medium-grain rice
2 cups dry white wine
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Optional Garnish:

Fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley sprigs

Strips of zest from 1 lemon

1. In a small saucepan of boiling water, blanch the grated zest for 30 seconds. Drain. Repeat, using fresh water.

2. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the asparagus until just tender-crisp, about 5 minutes. Drain.

3. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the Chicken Stock to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and keep hot.

4. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and saute the chicken, stirring frequently, until it is just opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a plate.

5. In the same saucepan over medium-low heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and saute the onion stirring frequently, until it is translucent, about 8 minutes.

6. To the onion, add the rice and stir until a white spot appears in the center of the grains, about 1 minute. Add the wine and stir until it is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add ¾ cup of the stock, adjust the heat to simmer, if needed, so that the liquid bubbles and is absorbed slowly. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue cooking, adding the liquid ¾ cup at a time and stirring almost constantly, until the rice starts to soften, about 10 minutes. Continue cooking, adding the liquid about ½ cup at a time and stirring almost constantly, until the rice is just tender but slightly firm in the center and the mixture is creamy, about 10 minutes longer.

7. Add the chicken, asparagus, half of the lemon zest, the Parmesan cheese, and chopped parsley.

Garnish with the chopped parsley, parsley sprigs, and strips of lemon zest.

Serves 6.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart

I love Vidalia onions, so when I saw them in the store a few weeks ago, I bought a big box of them.  Now I am baking onions, caramelizing them and adding onions to almost everything!

My dad called this "fancy pizza".  Gotta love him!

I found the recipe on foodnetwork.com to see the full recipe click here.

Limoncello Asparagus Spears

I am cleaning out the fridge and I had wonton wrappers and asparagus so I googled "asparagus and wonton recipes" and this is what I found...click here

Only 6 ingredients - 1. asparagus 2. wonton wrappers 3. limoncello 4. cream cheese 5. lemon 6. egg

Surprisingly simple and delicious.  Asparagus is one of my favorite veggies, so you are sure to see more asparagus recipes on this blog soon!

Fish Tacos

I recently found a tortilla stand at my local farmers market and bought some fresh corn tortillas. Once I brought them home, fish tacos sounded yummy.  Here is my recipe:

Fish - 4oz of halibut per person.  Cut the fish in 2 oz. strips and soaked in a mixture of lime juice (1/2 lime), salt, pepper and olive oil (2 T) for 20 min.  Flipping the fish at around 10 min to soak both top and bottom sides.  Then pan sear the fish on med/high for approx. 2-3 min on each side until cooked.

While the fish is cooking, make a chipotle cream sauce with plain yogurt (2 T), mayo (1 T) and some dried chipotle pepper (1/4 tsp.).

Once the fish is finished, I put corn (1/2 an ear of corn cut off the cob) into the same pan and roast it a little bit.

To assemble the tacos, warm the tortillas, then layer with coleslaw, fresh cilantro, roasted corn, fish and top with the chipotle cream. 

Cherry Limeade Bundt Cake

Found a great blog called mix and match mama - click here

Her cherry limeade bundt cake based on the Sonic drink sounded great.  I made it and took it into the office where one of my coworkers proceeded to scrap every last bit of icing off the serving plate.  Yes, it was that good.

Iced Coffee

I have finally made an iced coffee that tastes like the one I get at my local coffee shop!  I use a french press and add  5 Tablespoons of coffee for 24 oz water and let it sit over night.  In the morning I pour it into a glass and add sweet cream.  To make sweet cream - combine 14 oz of evaporated milk and 12 oz of sweetened condensed milk and shake til them combine.  I found the sweet cream recipe on a blog - click here.  You can add a little sweet cream to start and then add more if you want.  Once you have the perfect sweetness factor for your palate, add the ice and enjoy.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gruyere Quiche with Oat Crust

I love a good quiche and this one certainly fit the bill.  I made my first one of these quiches and shared with family...so just a couple days later I made it again.  Yep, its that good!

The recipe link - click here

According to the recipe its only 270 calories...not bad for something that tastes so good.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these cupcakes because I had leftover frosting from a cake... 

Here is the recipe for my cream cheese frosting:
2 blocks of cream cheese softened (8 oz each)
1/2 cup butter softened
2-3 cups powdered sugar - depending on consistency and how sweet you want the frosting

Whip the cream cheese and butter until smooth, then add powdered sugar.
I put it in a ziploc bag and let it firm up for about 10 min in the fridge before I frost the cupcakes.  I snip one corner of the bottom of the ziploc and frost the cupcakes.

The cupcakes are just a regular box of red velvet cake mix and I topped them with shaved chocolate.  Enjoy!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Just made some wonderful baked buffalo chicken rolls and served them to the parents.  Dad even when back for seconds. 

I found this recipe at a really fun blog - click here

Mine needed a bit longer in the oven to get crispy and I liberally sprayed olive oil on them to get the crunch factor.  Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Hamburger with Cherry Sauce

Welcome to Tara's Kitchen Adventures blog!  This is my first foodie blog post.  I have blogged before  - about my time living in Ireland http://tarasirishadventure.blogspot.com/ and during my Mom's recovery from a traumatic brain injury http://taniarexroth.blogspot.com/ 

This blog is just for food!  I enjoy creating new recipes, adapting recipes I find and sometimes simply enjoying a tried and true recipe.  In this case I adapted a recipe from FoodNetwork's Michael Chiarello for a 3 pound buger.  Here is a link - click here

I absolutely do not need a 3 pound burger so here is my 1/3 pound version for 1 person:
Ingredients

For the hamburger:
1/3 pound ground beef
1 oz soft goat cheese
Fresh Bread for the bun - I used sourdough from a local bakery

For the cherry sauce:
1/2 cup bing cherries (cut in half with pits removed)
1/2 T butter
1 tsp. dried shallots
1 T. white balsamic
1 tsp. brown sugar

Make 2 flat patties out of the ground beef.  Spread the 1 oz goat cheese in the middle of one patty, add the other patty on top and press together the edges.  Cook the hamburger on the grill to your prefered temperature.

In a saucepan melt the butter, add the dried shallots until they turn golden and then add the white balsamic and brown sugar.  Once it is all combined, add the cherries until they are softened and the sauce is a beautiful cherry color (about 2 min).  Now it is time to build your burger.  Put half the cherry sauce on the bottom of your bun add the burger and then top with the other half of the cherry sauce and the top of your bun.  Enjoy!