Blueberry Muffins with Crumble Topping

There are few things more comforting than a blueberry muffin.  My mom used to make blueberry muffins in the mornings before school.  Other days, we would stop by Norman's bakery in Northampton on the way to school and I would always get a blueberry muffin.  They made them with these huge muffin tops that were crusted with sugar.  Oh my I still dream of those!  I was visiting my mom this weekend and baked blueberry muffins for her in her large country kitchen, the old oven warming the room against the cold November morning.  They were incredible.  We ate them hot from the oven and managed to have one each and only split a second one, although I could have probably eaten four of them!

Ingredients:
This recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com.  Makes 8 large muffins (I made 9 from this recipe)

Muffins:
 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
milk
1 cup blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, diced

Instructions:

1.  Combine dry ingredients

2.  Measure 1/3 cup vegetable oil into 1 cup measuring cup

3.  Add egg, and then enough milk to fill the cup

4.  Add to dry ingredients and mix to combine

5.  Add blueberries.  Trick from my mom: If using frozen blueberries, coat them in flour before adding them to the batter to ensure that they do not clump together.  Brilliant!

6.  Spoon batter evenly into greased muffin pan

7.  Combine topping ingredients, pinching clumps together with your fingers (or use a fork) and sprinkle generously over muffins

8.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm and enjoy!

Kale and White Bean Soup with Kielbasa

Sausage in soup sounds weird... but yum!  This soup is so good!  It is in our new list of favorites.  I dig it.  A lot.  I used a chicken/pork Kielbasa for this and it was super tasty.  Delicious.  Satisfying.  It is even better after sitting a day or two.

Here's the ingredients you need:

2 T olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
5-6 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 lb of Kielbasa (or other sausage)
1 cup or more of potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 cups kale, stems removed, chopped
4-5 peeled whole plum tomatoes, cut up
5 cups chicken stock
2 cans cannellini beans
water
chopped fresh rosemary

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large heavy dutch oven over medium heat.  Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occassionally.

While the onion and celery are cooking, stir fry the Kielbasa in a separate pan until browned on all sides.

Add sliced carrots to the onion and celery, and then the cooked Kielbasa.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the cutup potatoes and cook a few minutes, stirring to combine.

Add the kale and cook, turning until it cooks down some.

Add cut up tomatoes and their juices, and then chicken stock, and water if needed to cover, as well as fresh rosemary.

Bring to a boil, and then cover, turning down to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes to an hour.   Add cannellini beans, turn up heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage

OK so last week my dad told me they were making stuffed cabbage and that sounded so good, I thought about it all week and decided to give it a go this weekend (mind you mine is made with meat and eggs and they are vegan so, as good as I'm sure their dish was, mine is quite different...)

This was SOOOOO GOOD!  I can't begin to describe.  I wasn't even sure if I liked stuffed cabbage, to be honest, it has been a long time since I had it and who knows where that was and if it was good.  But as much work and care as this recipe took (this is another afternoon-long cooking project), it was worth every second.  Brandon and I ate until we were stuffed.  It is like a Polish (or German or Hungarian) version of meat loaf... but wrapped in cabbage... and the SAUCE is so good... and with mashed potatoes it is like a slice of heaven in every bite... YUM.  I want to eat it now, for lunch, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day... HAHAHA no just kidding.  But we do have a lot leftover so we can eat it for another dinner and I can possibly take some for lunch as well this week.  NICE!

I looked at so many recipes and read so many comments, I am not quite sure where my final recipe comes from.  I took what I liked from each and this is what I ended up with.  The sauce is close to the one used by Ina Garten.  It was killer.  I wont change it next time at all.

Ingredients:

1 large head savoy or green cabbage
1 28 oz can sauerkraut (optional)

Filling:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground sausage or pork
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 generous cup COOKED rice
1 tsp. dried thyme

Sauce:

2 T good olive oil
1 cup diced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans crushed tomatoes, with their juices (I used one can crushed tomatoes and 1 can crushed tomato in thick puree)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2-3 T brown sugar
generous pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 T fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

1.  With a paring knife, cut out the core of the cabbage, and immerse cabbage head in pot of boiling water.  Boil for about 15 minutes.  Peel off the leaves one at a time with tongs, being careful not to tear them, and set aside.  (I got the largest cabbage head you have ever seen from the farmer's market yesterday... it didn't really fit in my pot at first... but I made out OK!)

Ha! yes it is huge. The picture doesn't do it justice.  Anyways..

2.  Saute the diced onion (1/2 cup) and minced garlic cloves (4-6) for the filling in a T. or so of oil, until translucent (you could probably skip this step but I thought it would add flavor to the filling... like I said... whatever I did worked so I would do this again!)

3.  Meanwhile, start the sauce by heating 2 T. olive oil over medium low heat, and then adding the minced garlic (4 cloves)  and diced onion (1 cup), until softened.

 4.  Add the crushed tomatoes and their juices.

 5.  Then add the vinegar (1/4 cup) and the brown sugar (2-3 T).

6.  Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste, and turn the heat to low.  Let it simmer for about 30-40 minutes while you make the filling.

7.  While sauce is simmering, make the filling.  Combine beef, sausage (or pork), eggs, rice, green peppers, sauteed onion and garlic, bread crumbs, thyme, salt and pepper. 

8.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

9.  Now we can assemble cabbage rolls.  Lay out a cabbage leaf, cut the triangular rib from bottom of leaf. 

10.  Scoop a half cup or so of filling into middle of leaf, across spine, and roll upwards toward top of leaf, folding edges under.

11.  Repeat until all filling is used up.  I ended up with 11 stuffed rolls.

12.  Pour a cup or so of filling in the bottom of a large dutch oven.

 
13.  Pour in sauerkraut (drain it first), if using.

14.  Add a layer of stuffed cabbage rolls, and then cover with more sauce.

15.  Put in remaining rolls, pour in remaining sauce and, if necessary, add water to cover the rolls.

16.  Cover with tight fitting lid and cook at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until meat is cooked.  Mine was done in an hour and 15 minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes (trust me) and enjoy!

Sausage , Garlic, Tomato and Cream Pasta

This is one of my staple recipes that I make at least once a month.  It is very satisfying on a cold night.  The only problem with it is I have a hard time stopping!  I can eat several helpings and still wish I had room for more.  It is also very simple and an easy weeknight meal.  I made this dish for my mother-in-law and she also loved it. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasta (I like cartwheels or Rotini with this dish)

3 T. light olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 lb. sausage 

1 (28 oz) can Italian whole peeled tomatoes

2/3 cup cream

2-3 T fresh diced parsley

Parmesan for serving

Instructions:

Heat oil over medium heat in cast iron pan (or other skillet).  Crumble sausage into oil and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until brown, add minced garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Add 2/3 of the can of cut up tomatoes with their juice (I usually do not use the entire can but you could).  Simmer over medium low heat for about 20 minutes, until tomatoes are cooked down.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta until al dente.  A couple minutes before the pasta is done, add the heavy cream and turn the heat to high, cooking for 3 minutes or so to thicken the sauce slightly.

Pour sauce over pasta and add parsley.

Toss well to combine.

Serve and enjoy!