Tortellini Pasta Salad

Whenever Spring rolls around, I have a craving for pasta salad. I asked around for a tasty one a few weeks ago and this recipe was highly recommended. I can see why too! It is super quick, easy, and tasty pasta salad to try for your next picnic. Dr. Sweetpea loves tortellini but thought this would be better with penne next time. If any of you use penne for this recipe, please let me know how it turns out!

Tortellini Pasta Salad

(Source: Journal Sentinel)

6 cups frozen cheese tortellini pasta, cooked and drained

4 cups fresh baby spinach, washed, dried and coarsely chopped

2 carrots, shredded

1 small red onion, chopped

1 cup toasted pecans

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup canned mandarin orange segments (drained, reserve juice to use in dressing)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil

2 teaspoons sugar

DRESSING:

1 1/2 cups your favorite Italian vinaigrette dressing

1/4 cup mandarin orange juice

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and cool. In large bowl, combine with vegetables, pecans, cranberries and orange segments. Add salt, pepper, basil and sugar and mix well. Prepare Dressing and dress pasta as desired.

DRESSING:

Combine ingredients and mix well.

Dr. Sweetpea's Favorite Pizza Sauce

If' you've been following my posts lately, you've already figured out that Dr. Sweetpea loves my homemade pizzas. It's much easier to order pizza and have it delivered but I'm all about making sure Dr. Sweetpea eats a healthy meal. So I've even started making pizza sauce at home too. To be honest, I was very apprehensive about this pizza sauce when I found the recipe online, but after watching Dr. Sweetpea devour his pizza, I can 100% say it was a total hit. I don't have a picture for this recipe, but I'm still posting it below so it's easy for me to access whenever I make this sauce.

Exquisite Pizza Sauce

(Source: All Recipes)

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

6 fluid ounces warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional)

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

 salt to taste

In a small bowl, combine tomato paste, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic, honey, anchovy paste, onion powder, oregano, marjoram, basil, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes and salt; mix together, breaking up any clumps of cheese. Sauce should sit for 30 minutes to blend flavors; spread over pizza dough and prepare pizza as desired.

Sugar Coated Pecans

A couple years ago, while Dr. Sweetpea and I were living in Chicago, we went to the Christkindle Market to enjoy some holiday festivities. While we were walking around we were overwhelmed by the smell of cinnamon wafting through the air. Eventually we caved and bought some cinnamon-sugar coated pecans. They tasted as good as they smelled and we inhaled all of it within minutes. Dr. Sweetpea has been asking me to replicate those pecans for a while now and I FINALLY found a recipe that comes close. These turned out absolutely amazing and definitely brought back memories of eating pecans while walking around Chicago during the holiday season. Dr. Sweetpea devoured handfuls after coming home from work. 

Sugar Coated Pecans

(Source: All Recipes)

1 egg white

1 tablespoon water

1 pound pecan halves (4 cups)

1 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup and thought it was perfect)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Skillet Chicken Fajitas

I've been trying a variety of marinades over the last several weeks so we can grill outside while the weather is nice. I came across this Skillet Chicken Fajitas recipe from my Cooks Country Meats cookbook and decided to give it a try. Needless to say, Dr. Sweetpea and I were blown away by how good these fajitas turned out. We grilled our chicken instead of cooking it on the stovetop but I'm willing to bet it's just as good cooked when it's cooked using a skillet. I'm posting the skillet version of the recipe below. If you're going to grill the chicken like we did, just cut the chicken into chunks before marinating. Then skewered the chunks on to a metal skewer and grilled until done. 

Skillet Chicken Fajitas

(Source: Cooks Illustrated Meat Cookbook)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons lime juice

4 garlic cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Trim away any excess fat from the chicken breasts and pound them until they are 1/2″ thick. In a medium bowl, mix vegetable oil, lime juice, pressed garlic, paprika, sugar, salt, cumin, pepper, and cayenne together. Whisk to combine, add the chicken to the bowl and toss to evenly coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinade at room temperature for 1 hour. Set skillet over high burner and preheat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil until it begins to smoke. Cook chicken for 4 minutes without moving; until the bottom becomes charred. Flip chicken, cook for 2 minutes until the chicken registers 150 degrees. Bake for about 10 minutes until chicken internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees Put cooked chicken on cutting board, tent loosely and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Don’t wash the skillet. Cut chicken cross-wise into 1/4″ wide slices. Put the chicken back into the skillet and coat slices with the juices remaining in the pan. When serving, put a few chicken slices in a warm flour tortilla. Put some vegetable mixture, cilantro on top. Squeeze a lime wedge. 

Hot Artichoke Dip

One of my favorite dips to order as an appetizer is Artichoke Dip. Absolutely love the creamy, hot, and cheesy dip with chunks of artichoke. I found this recipe online a few weeks ago and decided to give this recipe a try. I read that this is the recipe served at Chancery restaurants in Wisconsin. It literally took all of 15 minutes for me to whip everything together before the dip went in the oven to bake. The end result? The best Artichoke Dip that I've made at home so far. This is by far my favorite that I've eaten at home AND and restaurants.

Artichoke Dip

(Source: Journal Sentinel - Chancery Restaurant)

1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese room temperature

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño pepper, seeded

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain unsweetened yogurt

7 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

Chopped tomatoes (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Chop artichoke hearts and mix with remaining ingredients, using electric mixer. Divide mixture among 4 ovenproof dishes that are at least 1 inch deep and 5 inches wide. Using a spatula or rounded knife, smooth top of mixture, being careful not to get any on the sides as it will burn. Bake in preheated oven 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on top. If desired, top with tomatoes. Serve with a small round loaf of whole-grain or herb bread.

*Since I used a wider and deeper dish, I baked mine for 1 hour. 

Buttercake Bakery Marbled Bundt Cake

Every once in a while, I'll come across restaurant recipes from LA Times. The readers usually request the recipes of their favorite food from various restaurants in California. The newspaper isn't always successful at getting recipes because some chefs don't want to share. But when there is a restaurant/chef that does share, the recipe is published in the Culinary SOS column and they always turn out amazing when I make it at home. I made the Marbled Bundt Cake from Buttercake Bakery this week and it was PHENOMENAL. Delicious swirls of vanilla cake mixed with chocolate cake. This is probably one of my favorite bundt cakes that I have made so far. Definitely make this at home if you want a quick cake to make but is sure to impress!

Buttercake Bakery Marbled Bundt Cake

(Source: LA Times)

2 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

2 2/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips (I didn’t include chocolate chips, and it still turned out great!!!)

Powdered sugar for dusting

In a small saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup of the sugar, the cocoa powder and corn syrup with 1/2 cup hot water. Bring just to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla off the heat and set aside.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer), cream the butter with the remaining sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups sugar) until light and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then whisk in the remaining vanilla.

Whisk about a third of the flour mixture into the batter, then a third of the milk. Continue whisking in the flour mixture and milk, alternately and a little at a time, until everything is added and the batter is light and smooth.

Gently fold in the chocolate chips, then divide the batter into thirds. Pour a third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

Whisk the chocolate syrup with another third of batter, then pour this into the prepared bundt pan. Pour the remaining third of batter over this, lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a "marble" effect and place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 1 hour. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

I decided to make homemade Buttermilk Pancakes for Dr. Sweetpea this morning since it is Easter. I have tried soooooo many recipes in the past but they were all a disappointment. Then I came across this one from Cook's Illustrated. They are PERFECT!!! These pancakes are super light, fluffy, and are absolutely addicting. This recipe will be my go to from now on for perfect pancakes in the morning. As for Dr. Sweetpea? He couldn't stop saying how good these pancakes were. In fact, he even said these are better than the pancakes at restaurants. 

Buttermilk Pancakes

(Source: Cook's Illustrated)

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 to 2 teaspoon vegetable oil, for greasing the pan

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. In a second medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and melted butter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with a few streaks of flour). Do not overmix. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes before cooking.

Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Using a paper towel, carefully wipe out oil, leaving a thin film of oil on the bottom of the pan. Using 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan in 4 places. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes immediately. Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining oil as needed.

Cajun Pasta a different recipe

Dr. Sweetpea is officially addicted to Cajun Pasta. I decided to try a new recipe for dinner and Dr. Sweetpea was raving about it again! We will for sure be making this again in the near future.

Cajun Bowtie Pasta

(Source: St. Louis Today Newspaper - Frazer's Restaurant and Lounge)

1 pound box of bowtie pasta

4 tablespoons butter

1 onion, sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, julienned

1/2 red bell pepper, julienned

12 large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined*

4 ounces Kielbasa, cut into 12 slices*

4 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon blackening spice

1 1/3 cup chicken stock

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups heavy cream (I only used 1 cup)

1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and keep hot. Melt butter in hot skillet. When butter begins to sizzle, add onion, bell peppers, shrimp, and sausage.* Cook for 3 minutes, stirring twice. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, blackening spice, and chicken stock. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and cream. Stir in cooked pasta and simmer until pasta is heated through and sauce has become quite thick, about 3 to 5 minutes. Serve in a shallow bowl, garnishing with Parmesan and Parsley.

*I used chicken thighs instead of the shrimp and sausage. I cut up the chicken into 1 inch pieces, tossed them in 1 tablespoon of the blackening spice and cooked on the skillet until they were almost done. Then I took the chicken pieces out of the skillet and cooked the veggies until they were tender. Once the vegetables were done cooking, I added the cooked chicken back into the skillet before adding the remaining sauce ingredients.

Homemade Blackening Spice:

4 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

Mix all together in a small ziplock bag. 

Spicy Whipped Feta with Roasted Red Peppers

This is seriously the best dip to go along with the Grilled Chicken Kabobs. So freaking quick to make and absolutely addicting.

Spicy Whipped Feta with Roasted Red Peppers

(Source: Cooks Illustrated)

1 pound feta cheese, rinsed and crumbled (about 4 cups)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 (6 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, rinsed and patted dry

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. Refrigerate for at least two hours, until firm. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

If you haven't noticed by now, we absolutely love grilling our food. So I'm always looking for new and different ways to marinate our meat, especially since we like flavorful food. I came across this Grilled Chicken Kabob recipe in my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and we absolutely loved it. The chicken is marinated in a flavorful yogurt mixture and it's absolutely perfect to eat with a pita bread. Dr. Sweetpea loves this marinade so much that he wants me to make these kabobs again later this week! 

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

(Source: America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)

1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts/thighs, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 large red onion, cut into 1 inch pieces, 3 layers thick

Whisk yogurt, 1/4 cup oil, 1 tablespoon garlic, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper, and cayenne together in large bowl. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours. 

Whisk remaining 1/4 cup oil, remaining garlic, basil, and lemon juice together in bowl; set aside for serving. 

Remove chicken from marinade. Thread each of four 12 inch skewers with 2 pieces pepper, 1 section onion, 2 pieces chicken, and 1 section onion. Repeat twice more, ending with 2 additional pieces of pepper. Grill on until done. Transfer onto plates and brush with the lemon/oil mixture.***

Suko's Note: I didn't make the lemon/oil mixture. Instead I added the 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and fresh basil to my marinade and left out the 1/4 cup of olive oil.