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Sunday, May 25, 2025
Pineapple Jalapeno Margarita
Monday, February 17, 2025
Oven Pasta Bake: chicken, radicchio, mushrooms, & fontina
On Sundays at my house, we eat dinner early so we can get ready for the week ahead. I like to make this in the afternoon, and set it out with plates and silverware in the kitchen--it can be eaten as a late lunch and again later if you're still hungry. We serve ourselves, and everyone eats when they want to. It also comes together quickly so it's a great weeknight meal.
The variations on this are endless. If you want to be totally decadent, you can add crumbled blue cheese when you mix it before baking, but it's so rich I only do it when we're eating it with other dishes. I've also substituted peas and cooked bacon for the spinach and chicken, and found that it's an excellent side dish if you leave out the chicken entirely. In every way, it's good with a dry white wine :)
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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
1 lb. box of pasta (bowtie or ziti rigate), cooked and set aside
2 small heads radicchio, sliced in ribbons like you would for coleslaw
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 jar of your favorite alfredo sauce
fontina cheese, grated (approx 2 cups)
parmesan cheese (the green can is fine for this)
1 bag fresh spinach
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
approx 3 tablespoons butter, plus more for the pan
the breast of one whole rotisserie chicken, shredded
salt/pepper/garlic powder
9x13 baking pan (if you have one of those aluminum disposable ones, even better)
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shredded radicchio |
Heat oven to 350 degrees and butter your baking pan.
In a deep-sided skillet, saute mushrooms, spinach, and radicchio in butter until mushrooms are browned and vegetables are wilted a little. Add alfredo sauce and mix. Add some white wine and chicken broth to the jar, cover, and shake to get the remainder of the sauce. Add to the pan and simmer on low to marry the flavors, this is your sauce. Sprinkle with salt/pepper/and garlic powder to taste.
When everything is cooked down and incorporated: add pasta, half of the fontina cheese, shredded chicken, and the sauce to the baking pan and mix so that all is incorporated evenly. Sprinkle the remainder of the fontina on top with parmesan cheese to cover.
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ready for the oven |
Bake uncovered for approx 45-60 minutes, until hot all the way through. The top will be crusty and the inside will be moist and delicious. If you don't want a crusty top, bake it covered.
Serve on a plate with more parmesan, salt, and pepper
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Spicy White Chicken Chili
Enjoying the winter weather isn't always about hot chocolate and plaid blankets ;)
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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)
SERVES 6
This whole pot of chili takes maybe an hour, including cooking time. So easy--
Olive Oil
3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts--cut into bite size pieces
2 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
2 1/2 teaspoons Chili Powder
2 1/2 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
salt/cracked pepper
butter
2 small yellow onions, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 small cans (4 ounces each) fire roasted and diced green chilies
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 + 3 = 7 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup salsa verde
2 teaspoons Sriracha
2 15.5 ounce cans white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 1/2 cups white rice
garnish: chopped green onions, freshly shredded Monterey Jack cheese (not pre-packaged, it doesn't melt as well)
Cook rice: use 3 cups chicken broth and 1 1/2 cups white rice
Drizzle olive oil and melt one tablespoon butter in large soup pot/dutch oven.
Combine the chicken with cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder in a large bowl. Add chicken to the pot and saute until almost done. Remove from pot and set aside.
Heat another tablespoon butter in the pot, add onions and cook until tender.
Add minced garlic and green chilies into the pot. Stir together and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions, stir, and cook briefly for a few minutes. Add remaining 4 cups chicken broth one cup at a time, stirring each time until smooth.
Add the salsa verde, sriracha, oregano, and beans to the pot. Allow the mixture to come back up to a simmer and add the chicken back to the pot. Simmer for a few minutes on low and slowly stir in the sour cream, one tablespoon at a time.
Serve with white rice and garnish with green onions, freshly shredded cheese, and cracked pepper. Sprinkle salt on top if needed.
Sunday, December 29, 2024
New Year Brunch: charcoal grilled ribeyes, seasoned fried eggs, and parmesan roasted asparagus with garlic-rubbed toast
I usually make this on the first weekend of the new year. By then, you've had time to shake off the haze from New Years Eve and you can turn your attention to the 364 days that remain: impossible resolutions already discarded for doable ones; possibilities and opportunities abound in front of you. Time to sit down and contemplate your next move. Let it be brunch.
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roasted asparagus |
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Warm Citrus Olives
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WHAT YOU WILL NEED
16 ounces of your favorite olives, drained (I use Castelvetrano and Kalamata) - pitted or not is fine, either works
1 orange (you will need the peel and the juice)
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed with the back of your knife
fresh thyme
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
pinch black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
optional: 3 ounces goat cheese and crusty bread
Warm olive oil in a pan over low heat.
Peel one half of the orange with a vegetable peeler and zest the other half. Add to the oil, with the red pepper flakes, garlic, pepper, and thyme. Cut orange in half and squeeze the juice into the oil. Stir and heat slowly for approx 10 minutes so the oil infuses.
When warm and redolent with the delicious smell of orange, add the olives and continue to heat over low, stirring occasionally, to combine.
When ready, add mixture to bowl(s) and serve with cocktails.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Crab Puffs
The cocktail hour. It's so civilized--small bites, refined drinks, scintillating conversation, background music, 5:30 in the evening at the end of a long day before you settle in for dinner. Manhattan, gin, vodka martini, or wine, these crab puffs are the perfect accompaniment to whatever you're drinking. They're cheesy, buttery, garlicky goodness, hand-held and gone in 2 bites so you can pick up another. and another. and another. and still continue to sparkle with your subtle humor and witty remarks, fast and furious with your quips and bon mots. Oh brother, these crab puffs are gonna be the second best thing at your party :)
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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)
makes 96 crab puffs
12 English muffins, split (do not toast)
2 sticks butter, softened
2 jars cheese spread (I use Kraft Old English cheese spread)
2 cans crabmeat, drained
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
ziplock bags, for freezing
Mix together cheese, butter, mayonnaise, seasoned salt, and garlic powder in bowl.
Add drained crabmeat to bowl and mix all.
Split English muffins. Spread mixture on muffins. Cut into quarters and freeze in ziplock bags until ready to use.
When you want them, take a bag out of the freezer and bake on 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I have 2 in my freezer right now:
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in my freezer with the other constants in there: limoncello, gin, and a cannister of shelled Diamond walnuts (so good for snacking on while making dinner) * First published 9/22/19 |
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Fresh Garden Salsa
I can't even take credit for this recipe, it belongs to my husband. He's been making it as long as I've known him, on the grilling holidays of summer and if we're really lucky--Superbowl Sunday.
There are only a few ingredients, so everything should be super fresh from your garden, farmstand, or local grocer. Make it in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator so the flavors can marinate together until you're ready to serve it. Tomatoes need a lot of salt, but only add a little when you make it or all the juices will render out and it will be a soggy, watery mess. Finish it with course salt before serving and the flavors will pop on every tortilla chip you scoop, promise :)
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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)
This is the base recipe. Use as much of the ingredients as you like. My daughter and I are salt-aholics, so we go crazy at the end but you're probably smarter and healthier. I also load on the lime juice. And you can easily make more by just doubling the ingredients--
3 or 4 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2-4 fresh serrano or jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped
fresh cilantro or Italian parsley (or both), roughly chopped
salt
4 or 5 fresh limes, juiced. You will also want the zest from one of them
your favorite tortilla chips (I use the flat lime-flavored chips)
In a bowl, stir together the tomatoes, onion, chilies, herbs, sprinkling of salt, zest of one lime, and some of the freshly squeezed lime juice. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator to blend flavors.
When ready to serve, remove from refrigerator and stir well. Add some more of the lime juice (you may or may not use it all, depending on your preference) and sprinkle generously with salt to taste. Serve with chips.