Curried Tomato Almond Sauce

Our Daring Baker's Challenge for July was cooking with nut butters, this seemed right up my alley! This was really great-- I've been trying to make a tomato based curry for a while now and the almond butter really was the missing piece. I have the left overs in the fridge and I keep sneaking a taste every time I open the fridge :-) I don't eat rice so instead I used zucchini noodles and kelp noodles and it was great!

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.


Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Coconut oil
4 chicken breast halves
Salt to taste
1 large onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato sauce1/3 cup almond butter
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place chicken on baking pan and broil until cooked well. On the stove top melt the butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Chop and add the onion and cook gently for several minutes to infuse the butter with onion flavor. Keep the heat low to avoid burning the butter; a little color is fine. Add the spice blend and garlic and cook for 1 minute or till fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce, stir well, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Whisk in almond butter and milk until thoroughly combined with tomato sauce. The almond butter is thick so it takes a while to make a smooth sauce. Return to simmer. Add broth to sauce to reach desired consistency; return to simmer. Add more broth as needed to thin sauce as desired. Take zucchini and slice thinly, like spaghetti. Boil zucchini in a small sauce pan until zucchini is soft. When zucchini is soft drain and add it into the curry pan. When chicken is cooked, cut into small pieces and add to curry sauce, which is still on low heat. Stir and enjoy!

Sweet Balsamic and Chipotle Marinade

I originally used this recipe on some baby back ribs I made last week. They were SO good that I totally forgot to take a picture, so I guess I had to make it again with some chicken and it was just as good. Its great for a summer BBQ and your guests will definitely be surprised by the original flavor. Because everyone's meat is a different size, and I don't expect you to know how many pounds, ounces etc you dinner is, this recipe will give a rough estimate. The directions will give you a better idea of how much needs to be used too.

Ingredients:
2 parts Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 part Chipotle powder
1 part Honey

Make sure your meat is fully thawed. Get your bottle of balsamic and drizzle it over your meat. Rub the balsamic into the meat with your (clean) fingers, you will want to fully cover the meat and may need to reapply if you did not drizzle enough. Next drizzle honey over the top of the meat. You will want a very thin layer of honey over the top side of your meat. Use your finger again to evenly distribute. Next get your chipotle powder and shake it over the meat, you might want to use more than you think-- this provides a subtle spiciness to the flavor (but not super spicy). You want there to be a light evenly spread amount over the meat, about half the amount of honey. Let your meat sit for awhile (10 minutes is fine, if that is all you have). Fully cook your meat either in the oven or BBQ. While meat is cooking you might want to mix up some extra marinade to pour over your meat as a sauce, I did this and it was really great! Enjoy!

Waffle Crusted Pizza!

I love waffles and I love pizza, so this seemed like a great idea-- and it was! I made a plain cheese pizza but you could use whatever toppings you like! Best thing is that this is a simple and easy but delightful!



Ingredients:
Waffle
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tablespoon Flax meal
1/2 tablespoon Protein powder (if you dont have just add more flax)
1/4 teaspoon Baking powder
1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
dash of garlic powder
dash of basil

Toppings
2 tablespoons Tomato sauce
4 tablespoons Mozzarella cheese grated

Whip egg whites in a bowl until stiff. Add flax meal and fold in gently. Add remaining ingredients, and fold them in gently too. Warm up the waffle maker, and make sure it is well greased. When waffle iron is hot pour mixture into maker, it should make two standard sized waffle squares. When waffle is cooked remove and place on a plate. Spread tomato sauce over the waffle and spread cheese over tomato sauce. Place waffle on baking sheet and broil for a few minutes, until the cheese melts. Remove from oven and eat up!

My break... then "Egg in the Hole"

I took a little break from blogging this past week. I haven't been feeling very well, most of you know I have Lyme disease and it can be a tough battle. I had been really excited to plan some great things to cook up for the 4th of July, which turned out to be a bust so I didn't end up making any of it :-/ SO anyways-- I took a different turn and went back to a basic for me: Egg in the hole.

When I was little I made this with bread, where you cut a hole in the center, crack the egg in the hole and then back in the oven. This was my favorite breakfast EVER, it was probably the first thing I could cook on my own. Well I wanted to make a new adult version and this is what I came up with!


Ingredients:
1 bell pepper
1 tablespoon cheese (any type you like!)
1 egg and 1 egg white (or two eggs)
1 tablespoon chopped zucchini
1 tablespoon chopped olives
1 tablespoon chopped spinach
(you can add your favorite omelet veggies too)

Take bell pepper and cut the bottom third off (horizontally, to make a cup). Place bell pepper cup in the oven for about 15 minutes on 400, or until it slightly softens. When the bell pepper is no longer raw, remove from oven. In a small bowl combine egg white (or whole egg, which ever you prefer) and all of your chopped veggies and cheese. Pour veggie mixture into the bell pepper cup. Next on top of the cup, crack the remaining egg so that it is sunny side up and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes. The egg on top should be a little runny but not raw, if you like your egg well done then leave it in the oven for another 3-5 minutes. Then ENJOY!

Tiramisu Pancakes...a little indulgent

Totally worth it. This is defiently a fancy pants breakfast, but any beginner can make it. I enjoy tiramisu as a dessert, but its not my favorite. I need a rich chocolate or something pretty sweet to satisfy my sweet tooth, so it seemed like a great idea for breakfast. The pancakes are a light chocolaty flavor with a hint of chocolate, topped with a sweet coffee marscapone sauce. I have no idea how you aren't drooling right now. There are a few specialty items in the recipe, so make sure you have them in your fridge before you start. This recipe is for one stack, so keep that in mind if you're cooking for a crowd.

Ingredients:
1 whole egg + 1 egg white
1 tablespoon Flax
2 teaspoons Sour cream
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon Stevia powder
1/4 teaspoon Instant Coffee
1/2 teaspoon coconut flour (you can sub with any starch)

Sauce
2 tablespoons Marscapone cheese
2 tablespoons Whipped cream
1/4 teaspoon Instant coffee
1/2 teaspoon Stevia powder

In a medium sized bowl beat egg and egg white together. Next add flax and sour cream and mix well. Add cocoa powder, stevia and coffee and mix again. Let the batter sit a few minutes so the flax can thicken. Last add the coconut flour. Heat a skillet on medium heat (well greased) and pour silver dollar sized pancakes and cook to your liking.

Once those are finished start on your sauce. Place marscapone in a small bowl and microwave just long enough to soften. Next add the whipped cream, coffee and stevia and mix well. Place mixture in the fridge until its hardened.

When pancakes are done and cream is hardened you can get ready to serve. Place one pancake on a plate and drizzle with maple syrup, then top with a dollop of cream sauce and spread it out evenly. Next place the next pancake on top and repeat process. If you like your pancakes hot, just note that the sauce will melt, so you don't want them too hot! This goes great with a fresh espresso :-) Enjoy!

Favorite Foodie Links

I am always on the internet reading about nutrition or delicious foodie finds. I thought I would start doing a weekly round up of all the interesting and funny foodie finds I come across every week-- just to save you some time :-)

-Irish Times: Sugar bigger health risk than Smoking--I thought that was pretty crazy, they also discuss how decreasing your insulin is essential to anti-aging. So stop spending on all those expensive anti-aging products and cut out the sugar!

-Synergy Kombucha pulled for Alcohol, Owner comments-- Earlier this week my favorite drink Synergy Kombucha was pulled from shelves due to possible alcohol contents. Fermented drinks have detectable alcohol, which may mean alcohol laws may apply to Synergy. The CEO discusses how they will move forward.

-Lion Burgers in honor of World Cup causes controversy-- I think this sounds delicious, I'd try them in a second. But the controversy focuses not on the taste but on the lawfulness of serving this exotic meat.

-The Most WTF Cook Books-- A little humor; the most ridiculous cook book titles. My personal favorite is the "The Testicle Cook Book"-- not sure whether to throw up or laugh.

Italian Fried Egg

I love eggs, at any time of the day, but eating them the same way can get a little boring. I made this Italian dish for breakfast, but you could have it for any meal of the day and it would go great with some garlic toast on the side and a nice espresso.

Ingredients:
1/2 zucchini (about 1/4 cup)
1/8 cup Tomato sauce
1 Egg

Preheat oven to 375. Thinly slice zucchini into spaghetti like pieces. Place zucchini in a pot with boiling water and boil for about 5 minutes, until the zucchini becomes soft. Drain zucchini and place in a small baking bowl and cover with tomato sauce (some people like a lot of sauce, so you can alter the amount to your taste). Create a small dent in the top of the zucchini tomato mixture, like a pool. Next crack an egg in the pool and bake for 5-7 minutes. If you like your egg runny-- keep an eye on it cooking because of differing altitudes cooking time may vary.