Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

Ok first off I must say, I only subscribe to 2 magazines!! Cooking Light and Food Network....and I love them both!! So anyways every month I get my magazines in the mail and I sit down and go through all the recipes and cut out the ones I am pretty sure I will use. When I was going through Cooking Lights Jan/Feb issue I came across this little gem!!

This soup......or chowder as they call it has an absolutely lovely flavor to it. It is packed with healthy things and even looks beautiful. I made a few changes to adapt to what I had on hand. It came out so good and even my teenage boys loved it. That is a hard enough task to accomplish!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

2 tsp olive oil

3 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 tsp peeled fresh ginger, grated on micro plane

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground curry

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbls brown sugar (I used agave, because I don't use sugar)

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 packages Turkey Italian Sausage, chopped

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes until cooked almost completely. Add next next 6 ingredients through ginger. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients through cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds. Add broth and agave or sugar. Add thyme and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in tomatoes and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cilantro and stir. Discard bay leaves. Yield six servings

Mole Chili......an invention.....I think???

Ok....I could be mistaken....but I think I came up with something today. If there are recipes out there Ive never heard of them......but......I really haven't checked either. Ok....ok....maybe its because I want to take credit for the creation of Mole Chili and possibly because of my fear of rejection....but that is a whole other topic of discussion!!

Anyways back to the subject......Mole Chili......so I was talking with a co-worker today and she mentioned that her husband won a chili cook off at a local casino here in my town not too long ago. That got me thinking.....it's cold out side and chili sounds soooooo good and it screams warm comfort food. But I have never been able to make a chili that blows my hair back....until today!!

AND.....the best part is I did it with things that I had in the pantry and fridge!! Granted not everyone probably has a tub of homemade salsa from last Thursdays Christmas party......but....well that is not for me to worry about now!! ;)

Ok ok I'll shut up now and tell you the recipe!! Oh...by the way, instead of serving this with corn bread (which you can totally do) I served it with corn tortilla quesadillas which was super yummy to dunk in my chili!!

Mole Chile

2 cans of your favorite beans, drained (I used white)

1 lb ground beef, or any other ground meat you'd like

2 chipotle peppers chopped until pretty much mush

1 large onion, diced

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

dash of cloves

5 gloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 Tbls Mole paste (I used the jarred kind)

2 cups homemade salsa (tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapenos, salt and lime)

1 small can tomato sauce

1 -2 tsp salt depending on taste

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 Tbls chili powder

1 heaping Tbls agave nectar (or 1 Tbls sugar)

Saute ground beef and onion until cooked thoroughly, then add all the other ingredients and simmer for about a half an hour or more. Top with cheese and sour cream and serve with corn bread or quesadillas like I did!!

Paella......I cant believe I did it and it was good too!!

Um hello....Paella!! I did it!! Yeah me!! It was super fly good!! I got myself a Paella pan today with my gift card from my bro and his wife. So I thought I'd give'r a try.....and it totally worked. I got online and checked out a bunch of different recipes and kinda combined them into one. I will definitely make it again and this is definitely something you can make for a crowd cause I got alot of stinkin leftovers!! Might not of been the best idea to make for just me and the kids....lol....oh well too late now!!

1 lb Sausage or Chorizo

3 Boneless skinless Chicken breast, cubed

1 lb Shrimp

1 lb Scallops

1 lb of another seafood, I used calamari rings but you can use whatever you want ie: clams or mussels

4 cups rice

6-8 cups water or broth

1/2 tsp saffron

salt, pepper, paprika and oregano to taste

1 can diced tomatoes

1 large onion diced

1/2 bunch of cilantro, diced

5 cloves garlic, crushed

Sprinkle raw chicken with paprika, oregano, salt and pepper to taste and drop in paella pan that has olive oil in it. Cook 1o minutes. Remove from pan and add sausage ( which should be precooked) cook for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Add onion, cilantro and garlic with more olive oil and fry for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and fry until caramelized. Add rice and fry for about 7 minutes. Add water/broth, salt (about 2 tsp) saffron and simmer for 10 minutes. Check to see if you need to add more water and cook for another 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Add seafood and cook for another 10 minutes adding more water as necessary. Serve with fresh lime wedges!!

Hawiian Themed Cake with Marshmellow Fondant

This was my first try with MM fondant.....I wouldnt have been able to do it without the help of my fabulous friend Annie!! She was a lifesaver, she stayed until midnight last night to help finish this cake!! I owe her big!!

This cake was made for my work for our last day of school and graduation party!! It came out great!! The bottom layer was pina colada cake with pina colada filling. The top layer was chocolate with a creamy chocolate filling.

Crabby Cakes with White Wine Butter Sauce

I love crab!! So naturally I love crab cakes!! I made these precious little ones the other night and I have to say....they were deeeeeee-licious!! My only complaint...I got full!! So here is my take on crab cakes, I came up with this recipe from several crab cake recipes that I have seen and added all the flavors that I love!!

1 lb crab meat, make sure you run your fingers through it to make sure there is no shells!!
2 Tbls mayo
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
juice of 1 lemon
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbls garlic, grated on microplane
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbls Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp hot sauce
1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbls yellow mustard
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbls chopped parsley

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. When well mixed grab out a golf ball sized portion and shape into the crab cake. Now in a frying heat 1 Tbls butter and 1 Tbls olive oil. When that is heated add 3 crab cakes to the pan and brown on both sides.

White Wine Butter Sauce

Melt 2 sticks butter, just until melted but still creamy
1/4 cup good quality white wine
2 garlic cloves, grated

Serve with crab cakes.

Dessert Pizza

Sugar cookies + marshmallow fluff and cream cheese + strawberries and chocolate = A good thing!!

sugar cookie dough (packaged, refrigerated or homemade if you have like a zillion years to wait for a delicious dessert!!)

1/2 pkg cream cheese

equal amount marshmallow fluff

approx 15 strawberries sliced in half

1/2 cup milk chocolate, white chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips....or all three or a combo of 2....whatever floats your boat!!

Now....spread cookie dough out on cookie sheet to form as close to a circle as possible. Or whatever shape you want....heck if you feel like shaping like your dog Spot...go for it!! Bake according to package directions....well kinda....I had to bake mine longer cause it was like a giant cookie. While that is baking, mix marshmallow fluff and cream cheese in a separate bowl. Now cut the green leafy thingy off the strawberry and cut it in half. (After you wash them of course!!) By this time your ginormous master piece of a cookie should be done. Let it cool for a couple of minutes......if you can stand the wait!!

Spread the fluff mixture over the entire surface of the cookie, strategically place strawberries forming a circle, being careful to measure with a ruler........NO WAY....JUST KIDDING....just put the strawberries on the cookie!! If your feeling adventurous form a pattern!! Lastly stick the chocolate chips in a ziploc baggie in the micro for like 30 seconds. Take bag out of micro and massage it to mix chocolate. Snip a small corner off the bag and drizzle chocolate all over cookie and strawberries.

Cut using a pizza knife and serve. Now enjoy the silence while the kids are quietly eating!!

I cant even tell you how good this was!! Big hit with the kids!! They think I'm some sort of super mom.....but it's only cause they don't know how easy it was!! ;o)

Carne Asada Arroz y Frijoles con Guacamole

Have you ever gone to a Mexican restaurant with the anticipation of having a great, authentic meal and left....hugely disappointed, unsatisfied and barely full cause the food wasn't even good enough to stuff yourself?? Yeah well that happened to me recently and I swore I was gonna come home and duplicate the meal and it was gonna knock my families socks off!!

I still think it's sad though that I had to be the one to do it!! I'm just some mixture of Italian and Portuguese among other things!! ;o) Oh well....I got the job done!!

This dinner came out just divine!!! It was by far the best guacamole and carne asada I have ever made!! I love it when that happens!! And well...beans and rice....I can do in my sleep.

Carne Asada

carne asada meat (they usually sell it sliced like that at the grocery store)

1 lg lemon, zested and juiced

2 limes, zested and juiced

1 Tbls chili powder

3 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic, mashed into paste

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp black pepper

3 Tbls oil, I used canola

Put meat and all ingredients in a large ziploc or large bowl or plastic container and mix until all meat is coated!! Refrigerate at least several hours or preferably overnight. Cook either on the bbq or in a frying pan or on a griddle.

Guacamole

2 avocado's

1 small tomato chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, made into paste

small handful cilantro chopped

salt to taste

1/2 lime juiced

(I also added about 2 Tbls of the green tomatillo salsa that I posted a few days ago. You can do that too, or add chopped jalapeno or leave it out. Whatever you like!)

Mix all ingredients, I don't like to completely mash my avocado's I like it kind of chunky. But you can do what you like!!

Make mexican rice.....I think the key to rice is frying it before you cook it!! Just fry it with oil and tomato for about 7-10 min, then add your liquid and salt.

Boil your pintos with an onion cut in half, 3 cloves of garlic, a jalapeno, and salt until beans are cooked. Approx. 1 1/2 to 2 hours. I usually reserve about a cup of whole beans then throw the rest in the food processor. Then mix them all together. Then in a frying pan I heat some oil and add 1/2 of a very thinly sliced onion. Brown the onion, then add the beans and fry.

I served this meal with corn tortillas....of course!!