Cornbread

So I bought a new cookbook and as I was flipping through it I found a recipe for cornbread. Now all I've been thinking about since is CORNBREAD. So I went food shopping, bought my cornmeal but forgot the buttermilk. I searched high and low to find a recipe for cornbread that doesn't use buttermilk and my good friend, Cooking Light, had one. Yay! Either way it was pretty yummy. Nice and crumbly like a homemade cornbread should be. Or how I imagine it should be. And I changed the recipe to shave an extra WW point off per serving. The lighting where I took the photo was really bad...it is much more golden in color in real life, but would probably be even more golden with white flour (not whole wheat like I used)

I think I'll make this for Thanksgiving, but in individual mini-loaves. Way better than the canned, fatty crescent rolls. Ick.

1 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Splenda
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup egg substitute
2 tablespoons light butter
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, applesauce, and egg substitute; stir well. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

Spoon batter into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Melt butter in a microwave safe bowl and drizzle over top of batter in baking dish. Using a knife, swirl it through the batter as though you are "marbling" a cake.

Bake for 20 minutes or until done. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Yields 9 servings.

WW info: 2 points per serving.

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Tomatoes)

After my Tuscan Bean Soup with Roasted Peppers came out too much like hot hummus (delicious, but very hummus-y), I decided that maybe it needed tomatoes instead of the peppers. Holy crap....I could eat the whole pot of this in one sitting.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can of fat free, low sodium chicken broth*
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans
2-3 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 cup diced tomatoes (drained if using canned)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped

*To make this a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth.


Add olive oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they start to get translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan; slowly add the rest of the broth. Stir in garlic paste from roasted garlic cloves. Add beans, tomatoes, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Ladle half the mixture into a blender and puree until you reach your desired texture. Carefully transfer hot liquid to another pot. Repeat process with 2nd half of soup mixture. Return all pureed soup to blender and puree for about 15-20 seconds. If mixture seems too thick, add chicken broth one tablespoon at a time until you have reached your desired consistency.

Return completed pureed batch to stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in fresh basil leaves right before serving and serve with a crusty bread.

Yields 4 half-cup servings.

WW info:
Core-all included
Flex-2 points per serving

Bourbon Chicken

Not at all what I expected, my husband seemed to like it. The way everyone talked about this dish, I thought it was going to taste like the sweet chicken at the Cajun-themed takeout place in the mall food court. Instead, it just tasted like a sweeter than usual stir fry. I'd make it again...maybe substitute applesauce for the juice? Maybe that would thicken it up? I'd also add more ginger and a little less soy sauce. I also added broccoli and water chestnuts to lighten it up and give it some crunch, and served it over brown rice.

Recipe from Amber's Kitchen

WW info:
4 points per serving (not including rice).

Thankgiving Ideas

Nothing to see here. Just bookmarking ideas. I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year and I'm setting the bar high for myself. Its just my parents and in-laws and no one really cares whether I serve a gourmet feast or Boston Market, but I care. :)

Apps
Pesto Bruschetta (my own)
Spinach Dip

Sides
Cornbread (my own)
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Haricots Verts with Browned Garlic
Marinated Butternut Squash
Haricots Verts with Champagne-Shallot Vinaigrette
Roasted Garlic & Herb Potatoes"
Haricots Verts with Warm Shallot Vinaigrette
Wayne's Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Balsamic Butternut Squash & Sweet Potatoes (my own stand-by)
Manchego Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole

Turkey
Herbed Turkey with Roasted Garlic Gravy
Roasted Turkey
Homemade Turkey Stock

Desserts
Apple Cinnamon Wontons a la Mode
Chocolate Maple Pecan Pie
French Apple Tart

Chicken Breasts with Pan Gravy

This is from the October 2007 issue of Rachael Ray's Everyday magazine. I added the mushrooms since I had some leftover that would have gone bad, but you can skip those if you don't have any. I also didn't have shallots and yellow onion worked just fine. The husband gave it tow thumbs up so this one is a keeper! It could totally be thrown together on a weeknight too. Not quite a 30 minute meal, but definitely very little effort involved!

Four (4-5 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup onions or shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter

Lightly season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, then coat with the flour, shaking off any excess.

In a large skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to serving plates to rest.

Add the onions and mushrooms to the skillet and cook until just translucent, about 1 minute. Pour in the wine and cook, stirring up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until reduced and syrupy, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and boil until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter and any juices from the resting chicken. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper and spoon over the chicken.

Yields 4 servings.

WW info:
Core: 1 point per serving
Flex: 5 points per serving

Tuscan Bean Soup (with Roasted Peppers)

I had a random can of cannellini beans in the pantry and did not want to make bean dip so I thought I'd get creative. I searched for soup recipes but nothing really peaked my interest, so I just decided to throw my favorite flavors in the pot and see what comes out in the end.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 (14 oz) can of fat free, low sodium chicken broth*
2 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 small red bell pepper, roasted (about 5-6 strips)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped

*To make as a vegetarian dish, use vegetable broth.




Add olive oil to a large saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until they start to get translucent, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pan; slowly add the rest of the broth. Stir in garlic paste from roasted garlic cloves. Add beans, peppers, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat. Ladle half the mixture into a blender and puree until you reach your desired texture. Carefully transfer hot liquid to another pot. Repeat process with 2nd half of soup mixture. **Always be very careful when transferring and pureeing extremely hot substances. It is safest to do this process in small batches.**

Return completed pureed batch to stove and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in fresh basil leaves right before serving and serve with a crusty bread.

Yields 4 half-cup servings.

WW info:
Core-all included
Flex-2 points per serving

What am I, Chopped Liver?

If you squint, it looks like refried beans with some hard-boiled egg mixed in.
Hmm...that's even grosser than chopped liver!

Undoubtedly, the "grossest" item in my blog....but only gross if you don't like chopped liver! It's like comfort food for me. Anything Jewish and traditional is comforting to me. This is my first time making it and it came out great!

1 pound chicken liver
2 large onions
6 hard-boiled eggs
1 tablespoon chicken fat
salt to taste
3 tablespoons light mayonnaise

Chop one onion into small pieces and place in a large frying pan with chicken fat. Turn heat to medium-high and start to cook until onions are translucent. Drain liquid from liver in strainer and add to onions. Stir well and cover, leaving the lid tilted to vent out steam. You'll want all the liquid to cook off. Reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally.

If after 15 minutes there is still too much liquid, remove lid. Cook until liver is cooked through (liver is cooked when it will break with the edge of a spoon). Remove when cooked through and place in a bowl and allow to come down to room temperature. Do not proceed when warm.

Chop remaining onion into small pieces and place in a wooden bowl. Separate egg whites and egg yolks. Add egg whites to bowl with onions. Using a mezzaluna (mincing knife), cut egg whites and onions together. When they are finely chopped, add cooled liver and onions and continue to cut together until well blended. Add salt and mayonnaise slowly and mix with a fork until desired consistency is reached.

Crumble egg yolks on top and mix with a fork until well blended.

Matzoh Ball Soup

Ok, this recipe is half homemade like your grandma would make, and half Sandra Lee! I've always made matzoh balls by cheating (read: canned chicken broth and matzoh ball mix) since the first time I tried to make them from scratch, it was a total bust. Bu that was like 8 years ago and this time I was feeling inspired to at least try to get half of it done the right way. I'm not quite ready to jump into homemade chicken soup, but I was all about the matzoh balls. I even googled "perfect matzoh balls" for tips.

End result: yummy, fluffy balls. ;)

Matzoh Balls
4 eggs, separated
1 tablespoon shmaltz (chicken fat)
1 cup unsalted matzoh meal
1/2 teapsoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Soup
4 quarts low sodium, fat free chicken broth
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
1 (4 ounce) chicken breast

Beat egg whites in a bowl until fluffy (not stiff, just fluffy) and beat egg yolks and shmaltz in a separate bowl. Add yolk mixture to whites and stir well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Place mixture in refrigerator for an hour.

Add all soup ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. When chicken breast is cooked through, remove and shred. Add shredded chicken back to the soup.

Using a tablespoon, measure out matzoh ball mix and roll into balls. Do not compact the balls to much. Drop into simmering soup. Cover pot, but vent lid. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

Yields about 20 matzoh balls.

WW info: 3 points per serving.

The tiniest tomato and a mushroom forest.

Just some fun pics I took while getting the Chicken Bruschetta ready. The crimini mushrooms reminded me of Smurf houses so I started standing them up to make a Smurf Town on the cutting board. And you have seen a cuter tomato?

Another kitchen disaster, another day.

This is what happens when the steam pressure builds up in your espresso machine when you haven't set it up properly to steam your milk. It craps all over your kitchen. Thankfully Matt made a narrow escape from incurring any steam burns.

Chicken Bruschetta

Another winner! This was devoured by all parties, including the picky eaters, the Weight Watchers eaters, and the eaters who will eat anything! And the colors were amazing! The trick is to not overcook it so that the vegetables retain all their natural colors. For the tomatoes, I found a pint of assorted baby cherry tomatoes in a variety of colors. The end result was gorgeous.

1 teaspoon garlic powder object
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided
6 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (6-ounce) package of crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced (about 8 ounces)
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups chopped tomato (about 1 pint of cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Combine garlic powder, dried basil, dried pregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl; sprinkle chicken with garlic powder mixture and spray lightly with cooking spray. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Grill chicken until cooked through. Remove the chicken from grill, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mushrooms, zucchini, and minced garlic; sauté 4 minutes. Add 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, tomato, onion, basil, and vinegar; sauté 5 minutes. Serve the vegetable mixture over chicken.

Yields 6 servings.

Original recipe

WW info: core - all included; flex - 5 points per serving.

Diet Coke Cupcakes!!!!

WOW! No, seriously. Whoever came up with this ingenious concoction is brilliant. I used Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix and plain old Diet Coke. The frosting is light Cool Whip and sugar free/fat free instant vanilla pudding. I topped them with semi-sweet mini chips for fun.

WW info: 3 points per cupcake.

Mini Crab Cakes with Herbed Aioli

These were fabulous! Very light and fluffy. And healthy! The original recipe from Cooking Light called for lump crab meat, but at $40/lb at Whole Foods, I opted for claw meat and they came out just fine. You have to be really careful when turning them in the pan and transferring them to a baking sheet. The lack of egg in this recipe causes them to be very delicate. Next time I'll add an egg white for good measure. Also, I did not need the canola oil for the pan. Cooking spray did just fine.

Yields 7 servings (1 serving equals 2 cakes and 1 Tbsp of aioli)

WW info: 3 points per serving.