Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients:
-6 red peppers, cut in half, seeded and ribs out
-1 yellow onion, sliced
-a small palm full of paprika
-EVOO
-S&P
-1 small can of chicken broth (about a cup and a half)
-8 oz. of cream cheese
-2 cloves of garlic
-a handful of parsley, chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 500°
Salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil the red peppers and arrange them on a foiled-lined sheet pan and roast for 20-30 minutes. Halfway into roasting, flip the peppers and continue to roast. Immediately put in a bowl cover in plastic wrap to cool before taking the skin (however, you can leave the skin on as I did).
Saute onion and garlic with EVOO with paprika until soft and lightly browned and add in Cuisinart with the roasted red peppers. Pulse until chunky to add in half of the chicken broth until puree, add in parsley to pulse one or two times, and put back in the same saute pan used for the onions/garlic. Add the rest of the chicken broth and the cream cheese, stirring until melted and blended in the sauce. Add in about small slice of butter before serving with pasta

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

-About 12 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 

-half to entire stick of butter  

-cinnamon (eyeball, about a tablespoon or two)

-nutmeg (eyeball, about a tablespoon or two)

-ground ginger (eyeball but less than cinnamon and nutmeg)

-2 and a 1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk

-salt and pepper  

-about a cup of candied pecans, grind to crumbs

-jumbo marshmallows  

Method:

Preheat oven to 400°

Boil the sweet potatoes until tender and drain

While sweet potatoes are in the colander, using the same pot- preferably a Dutch oven- melt the butter and add the spices and add the sweet potatoes. Add in the vanilla almond milk and start mashing away (if your pot is overflowing, use the mixer but be careful, it'll be hot). 

Pour the mixture in a casserole dish (or remain in the pot). On top, add the candied pecans and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Add the jumbo marshmallows and using the boiler and a watchful eye, for a minute or two until lightly browned on top

Serve

To serve a smaller crowd, cut the measurements in half 

Mango & Raspberry Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 mango, peeled, unseeded and chopped
a handful or two of raspberries
about a cup of plain yogurt
1/4 cup of honey
1 can of coconut milk

Method:
-Put mango, raspberries, plain yogurt, honey, and coconut milk in blender. Puree until smoothie consistency. Serve. Store the remaining leftovers in the refrigerator

Black Bean Cheeseburgers

Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans, drained and washed
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of bread crumbs
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 egg
pinch of salt & pepper
a small palm full of cumin (eyeball)
a small palm full of paprika (eyeball)
a quick dash of Worchester sauce (eyeball)
a couple of slices of cheddar cheese (or any other kind of cheese you like)
1 small onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
vegetable oil

Method:
-In a hot saute pan with vegetable oil in medium-high heat, cook the large chopped onion and let cook for a couple of minutes until translucent and getting brown at the edges. Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes before adding the beans (try not to let the garlic burn) so they could heat through- about 5-7 minutes- stirring often. Add cumin, paprika, salt and pepper along the way
-Put the hot bean and onion mixture in the Cuisinart to puree; add the cilantro and puree until well mixed. Wipe the hot saute clean to reuse to cook the bean burgers. Put the bean/onion puree in a mixing bowl and let cool (so it won't cook the egg) with the bread crumbs, Worchester sauce, and egg to mix. Divide the bean mixture to 4 and shape them into burger patties. Heat vegetable oil in the saute pan before adding in the bean burgers. Let cook on both sides for about 5-7 minutes. After you flip, add the cheese.

-Meanwhile, while the bean/onion mixture is cooking, heat another saute pan in medium-high heat with butter (about 2 tablespoons) and vegetable oil. Add in the sliced small onion and cook for about 3 minutes before adding in the sliced red pepper. Saute until the veggies are starting to get roasted-looking. Add to the bean burgers once the cheese is melting.

Serve

Isabel Gillies' Pan-Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables

 

Writer Isabel Gillies tosses together this summery dish with cod fresh from the Maine shoreline and seasonal garden greens. Rainbow chard, bibb lettuce, spring peas, and fresh herbs contrast with the richness of butter-basted pan-seared cod. 
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup olive oil 
4 (8-oz.) skinless cod fillets, pin bones removed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
2 tbsp. unsalted butter 
1 tsp. minced rosemary 
1 tsp. minced thyme 
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1 bunch rainbow chard, stems minced, leaves roughly chopped 
½ cup fresh or frozen peas
½ head bibb lettuce, roughly chopped 
2 tbsp. chive batons 
Grated lemon zest, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:
Heat half the oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Season cod with salt and pepper; cook until golden on one side, 3–4 minutes. Flip fillets; add butter, rosemary, and thyme. Continue to cook while basting continuously until fillets are cooked through, 2–3 minutes. Transfer fillets to a plate; keep warm. Wipe pan clean and add remaining oil; heat over medium-high heat. Cook garlic until soft, 1–2 minutes. Add chard stems; cook until soft, 4–5 minutes. Stir in chard leaves, peas, salt, and pepper; cook until leaves are wilted, 1–2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lettuce; divide mixture between 4 plates. Top with cod; garnish with chives and lemon zest.

I am not a seafood eater but I am a fan of Isabel Gillies and I know there are seafood lovers out there

My Dark Red Drink

Ingredients
-1 1/2 beets
-1 1/2 cups of strawberries
-2 cups of orange juice
-pinch of salt
-2 handfuls of ice

Method
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap 3 beets in aluminum foil with olive oil and put them on each corner of the edge of the pan (the edges get more hotter in the edges quicker than it does in the middle); roast for 30 minutes. Gently open the foil (carefully so you won't burn) and let cool until easy to manage. Rub with a paper towel to get rid of the skin before dicing it to put in the blender. Cut in half the 2nd beet and reserve the other beet and a half for another time.

In the blender: strawberries, orange juice, a pinch of salt and beets (after you diced them). Puree for a minute or two before adding the ice. Puree well so it's not chunky.

Pour in glass and serve

Sweet Tomato Ravioli

Filling
-1 small container of whole milk ricotta cheese
-a few basil leaves
-garlic, chopped
-a handful of parm cheese (romano cheese is also a good optional choice to use)
-about two handfuls of sundried tomatoes (don't get the ones packed in oil; I got the bag 'dry' kind)
-1 egg
combine all together in food processor until well mixed
-won ton wrappers
wet the sides with water to help seal and with a small spoon, put the filling in and seal it. Set aside to work on other raviolis until either the filling or the wrappers are gone. Cook the pasta in boiling water until they start to float on top.

Sauce
-10 to 12 plum tomatoes, half seeded and pulp removed and the other half left alone
-1 clove of garlic
-1 cup of starchy pasta water
-some basil
Heat oven to 400 degrees and roast plum tomatoes (seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil) for about 30 minutes. In the food processor, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil together and add water to help thin out the sauce to your preference.

In a serving bowl, put the sauce in and once the raviolis are finished cooking, add them into the sauce and mix together to coat the raviolis before adding in the parm cheese on top to serve.

Jane Asher's Soaked lemon cake

175g spreadable butter

175g caster sugar
3 medium eggs, lightly beaten
Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and the juice of 2 (about 3 tbsp)
175g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
3tbsp milk
50g granulated sugar
For the drizzle:
50g sieved icing sugar
A little lemon juice
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/165C fan. Line the bottom and sides of a 900g (21 x 10 x 6cm) loaf tin with baking parchment or a liner, to come a couple of centimetres above the top edge.
Cream the butter and caster sugar together, beating well until really pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs little by little, beating well all the time.
Add the grated lemon zest, then gently fold in the flour and salt.
Stir in the milk, then turn the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until springy to the touch and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven but leave in the tin.
Put the granulated sugar and lemon juice into a small pan and bring it to the boil, stirring all the time as the sugar dissolves. Boil strongly for about half a minute. Make several holes in the cake with a skewer, going right to the bottom of the tin. Pour the hot syrup all over the cake, letting it seep into the holes. Leave to cool.
Carefully lift the cake from the tin, by holding the edges of the paper or silicon. Gently peel away the paper or liner.
Add the lemon juice little by little to the icing sugar, beating well, until it's of pouring consistency but not too runny. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides.

Jane Asher's Devil's food cake

(Makes 12-14 slices)

250g light soft brown sugar
75g spreadable butter
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
175g plain flour
200ml milk
75g dark chocolate drops
1tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the butter icing:
50g spreadable butter
100g icing sugar, sieved
Warm water

For the chocolate frosting:
125g dark chocolate chips
300g icing sugar, sieved
1-2 tbsp hot water
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
50g butter, melted
Pre-heat the oven to 175C/160C fan. Prepare two 8-inch sandwich tins.
Cream the butter and sugar together and beat well. This will have a strange texture – not pale and fluffy like usual creaming – because of the high proportion of sugar to butter.
Add the egg, little by little, beating well all the time. Stir in the flour, very gently, bit by bit (or use the pulse setting on the mixer, and add the flour through the feed tube in spoonfuls). Stir the bicarbonate into the milk, then add it to the cake mix, stirring all the time.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water or in the microwave (this takes about two to two-and-a-half minutes on full power). Let it cool a little, then stir gently into the cake mix.
Turn the mix into the sandwich tins, dividing it evenly, and smooth the tops. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are springy or a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the tins, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely.
To make the butter icing, put the 50g of butter and 100g of sieved icing sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together. Add a few drops of warm water to soften it if necessary, and keep beating until the mixture gets really light and fluffy.
To make the chocolate frosting, melt the 125g of chocolate in a bowl over hot water, or in the microwave. Stir in the 300g of icing sugar with a little hot water. This will be tricky and the texture will become very granular, but keep going until it's nearly mixed in, then, using an electric mixer if possible, gradually beat in the egg yolk and butter, adding a little more hot water as necessary, to reach a smooth, spreadable consistency.
Sandwich the cakes together with butter icing, then spread the entire cake with chocolate frosting.

Jane Asher's Chocolate fridge cake

(Makes nine or 16 servings, depending on size)

350g dark chocolate drops
125g butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
450g cake crumbs (any leftovers, even stale, will do)
4 tbsp brandy
225g crushed digestive biscuits
50g glace cherries
Icing sugar, to serve
Grease and line an 8-inch square or rectangular tray bake tin.
Put the chocolate, butter and golden syrup into a large, heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until all is melted together (or melt it in the microwave).
Take the pan off the heat and stir in all the other ingredients.
Turn the mix into the prepared tin and chill until set (about two to three hours). Cut into nine or 16 squares, then dust the tops with sieved icing sugar.

Canistel & Chia Seed Drink

1 canistel (seeded, just scoop the filling out into the blender)
a sprinkle of nutmeg
a sprinkle of cinnamon
about 2-3 spoonfuls of vanilla yogurt
a squirt of agave nectar
about a cup of vanilla or plain almond milk
about a small handful of chia seeds

Blend
Serve

Corn Soup

Ingredients:
3 cans of corn, drained- but not all together
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 potato, chopped/diced
3 lbs of chicken broth
1-2 bay leaf (depending on it's size)
smoked paprika (about a teaspoon or so- eyeball)
cumin (teaspoon- eyeball)
celery seed (teaspoon- eyeball)
dried or fresh tarragon (about a palm full- used twice for puree and garnish)
EVOO
S&P
about two slices of butter

Method:
In a pot on medium-high heat, put some EVOO and 1 slice of butter before adding the onion (3 minutes), carrots (3 minutes), potato (5 minutes), bay leaf, 2 cans of corn (drained), the spices and herbs with chicken broth, adding salt and pepper along the way. Cover and let it boil/simmer for about 20 minutes to allow the potatoes and carrots to soften.

In batches and using big bowl, puree the soup in the blender. Once the pot is empty and back on the stove, heat up with the other slice of butter and the other drained can of corn and let it saute for about 2-3 minutes before adding in the puree soup and the remaining dried tarragon. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, season to taste.

Serve.

Note:
If you want it to be vegetarian, replace the chicken broth with the vegetable broth