Poor Man's Lobster Thermidor

I got this recipe out of the Mennonite cook book More With Less. I have had tilapia in my freezer for the longest time and was looking for new recipes to use it in. I added celery to this recipe, as well as extra random spices. I topped it with buttered breadcrumbs mixed with spices and grated Parmesan cheese. It was really good1

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. chopped onions
1/2 c. mushrooms
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
Dash of paprika
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. cooking wine (optional)
2 c. cooked white fish pieces
Buttered bread crumbs
Grated cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Saute first 3 ingredients. Add next 4. Cook until bubbly, add next 3. Cook, stir until thickened, add egg yolk and wine and fish. Place in shallow baking dish, top with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake about 8 to 10 minutes until brown.

Nutella Fudge Brownies--Posted by Joy

Taken from savorysweetlife.com

Nutella Fudge Brownies*

Makes 12 Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Nutella spread
1 large egg
5 tablespoons all=purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12-cup mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

2.  Put the Nutella and egg in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended.  Add the flour and whisk until blended.

3.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts.
4.  Bake until a pick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, 11 to 12 minutes.  Set on a rack to cool completely.  Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.




 



*JOY'S NOTES: Nutella brownies?! Seriously, what could be better than that?! Only nutella brownies with whipped cream, a tall glass of milk and a friend to share them with!! Tessie came for dinner tonight and I was randomly searching for easy dessert recipes and happened across this one.  I didn't have chopped hazelnuts or mini muffin pans so I just mixed up the unbelievably easy batter, poured it into a lightly greased glass dish and baked it til they were set (probably 20 or so minutes). Totally easy recipe and totally a keeper!

Zuppa Toscana--Posted by Joy

Taken from Tuscanrecipes.com: 

Olive Garden® Zuppa Toscana*

This is a much requested recipe on the site given its name! Someone who used to work at the Olive Garden sent in the original recipe and I've adapted it to serve just 6-8. Try it since it is really yummy!

It is a very good soup and hits the spot on cold winter days. I've included this and a few other Olive Garden-inspired recipes on the site for all of our visitors that enjoy eating at the restaurant chain. In my opinion, making these recipes at home makes them even better than the ones you eat at the restaurant! :)

Makes: 6-8 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 2 tsp garlic puree
• 10 cups water
• 5 cubes of chicken bouillon
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• ¼ of a bunch of kale

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve. Delicious!

Buon appetito!



*JOY'S NOTES: This recipe is really good! I used hot Italian sausage so I didn't add as much red pepper. I didn't have bullion cubes, and I don't like them anyway, so I used 10 cups of turkey stock. I didn't have heavy cream so I used half and half. And I used baby spinach instead of kale. It turned out really yummy :-) A little bit time consuming, but I cooked a lot of extra sausage so that was the main work. Obviously not the healthiest soup...but really tasty :-)

Polenta Casserole with Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Ricotta - Posted by Jessica

Joy - here is that polenta casserole I told you about. You could use regular pasta sauce (maybe 1 1/2 cups?) in place of the diced tomatoes or a jar of chopped roasted red peppers would probably be good. One thing I would change about the instructions is to just do less layers and omit the butter on top as I couldn't tell that it added any flavor. The mushroom wine mixture has plenty of good flavor. I belive I used a mixture of baby bellas and white mushrooms. And used Merlot for the wine. Let me know if you try it. It was softer for the first serving. The leftovers firm up a lot. It does freeze well. It is a lot of chopping, but I like the different flavors/textures.

Polenta Casserole

2 tsp olive oil, divided
2 c chopped onion
3 c coarsley chopped cremini mushrooms (about 12 oz)
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
2 chopped garlic gloves
1/3 cup dry red wine
1 tsp dried rosemary (I used 1 tsp Italian seasoning)
1 Tb tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
4 cups water
1 cup instant polenta (I just used 1 cup regular cornmeal and cooked covered over medium for 15 min stir often)
1/2 c (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan
1/4 tsp black pepper, divided
1/2 part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 tsp butter, in small pieces

Oven 400.
Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet over med-high. Add onion, 8 min. Add shrooms, 1/2 tsp salt and garlic; cook 4 min stirring frequently. Stir in wine, rosemary and tom. paste. Reduce heat to medium and cook 3 min. Stir in tomatoes and cook till thick (about 10 min). Remove from heat.

Bring water to a boil; stir in polenta and 1 tsp salt. Reduce heat to low, cook until thick (about 5 min), stirring frequently.

Spread 1/3 polenta mixture into 13 x 9 dish coated with 1 tsp oil (cooking spray is easier!). Spread half of tomato sauce over and top with 2 Tb parmesan and 1/8 tsp pepper (I would combine the ricotta and pepper beforehand, sprinkling the pepper on top made for super peppery areas and not so peppery areas!). Drop half of the ricotta onto the Parmesan. Repeat layers ending with polenta. Top with 1/4 cup parmesan and butter. Bake 25 min or till bubbly.
Yield 6 servings
Nutrition: Cal 235 Fat 7.5g (sat 3.5g) Fiber: 2.2g

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread with Baked Apples - - Posted by Jessica

A yummy treat for a fall or holiday breakfast! I have found that the bread dough is very thick and it can be difficult to swirl the cream cheese mixture into the bread when poured on top as the recipe indicates. It just stays on top and gets way too brown while the bread is baking. I baked a loaf last night and put a little more than half the batter in the pan, topped it with the cream cheese mixture and dropped the last of the batter on top; this produced a much better swirl effect and prevented the top from getting too brown. The bread doesn't have a stong pumpkin flavor, but I love the subtle pumpkin spice flavor mingled with the creamy sweet cream cheese! I used half white whole wheat flour and half all purp flour.

The baked apples are also good served on oatmeal and would probably be good on pancakes or waffles. I use less sugar than what the recipe calls for as apples and dried cranberries are already quite sweet. I love that this recipe utilizes the microwave to 'bake' the apples; much faster that way, though the oven could be used if you want to be more traditional.

I have been making these recipes every fall for a few years now, usually when I have pumpkin left over from another recipe. Happy baking!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

1/2 c (4 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
2 Tb sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg white
2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/4 c packed dark brown sugar
3/4 c canned pumpkin
3 Tb vegetable oil

350 oven. Combine first 4 ingredients till well blended.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients. Combine egg, egg yolk and brown sugar. Add pumpkin and oil. Add to four mixture, stirring just till moist. Spoon into greased 9 x 5 loaf pan, top with cream cheese mixture and swirl with knife tip (or put the cream cheese mixure in the middle for better swirling)

Bake 1 hour or till done. Cool 10 minutes in pan then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Serve topped with baked apples if desired.
Yield: 12 to 16 slices

Nutrition: (for 16 slices) Cal 208; Fat 5.1 g (sat 1.7 g) Fiber 1.6 g
Baked Apples

2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 c packed brown sugar
1 cup water
2 tsp cinnamon
6 gala apples, chopped

Combine all in large microwave safe bowl. Microwave 20 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring occassionally.
Yield 6 cups (1/4 cup serving size)
Nutrition: Cal 126; Fat 4.1g (sat .4g) Fiber 2.3g

Cinnamon Streusel-Topped Pumpkin Pie --posted by Jessica

This is a really yummy take on pumpkin pie; compliments of Cooking Light. I have made it for the past 2 Thanksgivings with great results. And it is pretty simple to make. It says it make 12 servings, but they are pretty small slices which is fine if having with another pie or dessert, otherwise, I would cut it into 8 to 10 slices for a more normal size. (I suppose that takes away from the whole 'cooking light' thing, but oh well! It's pumpkin so mostly healthy! :-))
Had this with the decadent peanut butter pie on Thursday! Two pies are always better than one right? :) Jess

Filling:

3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
2 large eggs
1 (15 oz) can unsweetened pumpkin
1 (14 oz) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 pkg refridgerated pie dough

Streusel:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup regular oats
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
2 Tb chilled butter, cut in small pieces
2 to 3 tsp water

375 Oven. Combine first 8 ingredients with whisk.

Fit dough into 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray.

To prepare streusel, combine flour through ginger. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle with water and toss with fork just until lightly moistened.

Pour pumkin mixture into crust and sprinkle with streusel. Place pie on baking sheet and bake 50 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack.
Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!

Nutrition: cal 273; Fat 9.4 g (sat 3.7g) Fiber 1.7 g

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie --Posted by Jessica

This is one of the best peanut butter pie recipes! Had it for Thanksgiving along with the traditional pumpkin pie. It is good with or without the drizzle; It makes a full pie and the hot fudge tends to run over a bit, but it is definitely 'decadent!'

Ingredients:

1 chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup creamy p.b.
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
12 oz cool whip
1 11.75 oz jar hot fudge topping

Drizzle:
2 Tb hot fudge and 2 Tb p.b.

Beat together p.b., cream cheese and sugar. Fold in 3 cups cool whip. Spread in crust. Reserve 2 Tb hot fudge. Heat remaining hot fudge in microwave 1 minute. Stir and spread over peanut butter layer. Refridgerate pie until serving time.

Just before serving, spread remaining cool whip on top. Place 2 Tb hot fudge in small baggie, cut small hole in baggie and drizzle on pie. Do the same with the 2 Tb pb going in opposite direction of the hot fudge.

8 servings.
Enjoy!