Ratatouille Stoup

I've been trying to come up with new recipes using the vegetable from our garden. This recipe was adapted from Rachael Ray's recipe.

Ratatouille Stoup

1 eggplant, peeled & sliced

1 zucchinni, sliced

1 summer squash, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

28 oz crushed tomatoes

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup instant rice

3 cups chicken broth

garlic & Italian seasoning to taste

Brush vegetables with olive oil or pan spray, season, and broiled until tender but make sure to watch them because they can burn quickly! Meanwhile, cook rice in 1 cup of broth & some of the seasoning by following package directions.

In a stockpot add beans, tomatoes, & remaining broth. Boil on high for 10 minutes adding vegetables as they finish cooking. Add rice & season to taste, turn heat down to low & simmer another 10 minutes.

World Peace Cookies

This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs to read, Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats. To see the original recipe click here.

This is a slice & bake cookie recipe so it requires a little extra time since it needs to be refridgerated 3 hours prior to baking. However, you could freeze it & have it available for a quick treat.

S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies

After our campout this July 4th I had some leftover s'mores ingredients so I decided to try a recipe I found in the local newspaper.

S'mores Sandwich Bar Cookies

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 4-5 crackers)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 chocolate bars

3 cups mini-marshmellows*

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until well blended. Add egg and extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture, mixing until blended.

Equally divide the dough and press half into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Arrange chocolate bars over baked layer and sprinkle marshmellows evenly over the top. Sprinkle and lightly press remaining dough over the top and bake 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into bars. Makes about 12 bars.

Try adding 1/2 cup toasted , slivered almonds and 1/2 cup flaky coconut to the top crust before pressing it into the dessert. Substitute dark chocolate for an adult-appeal.

*I used jumbo marshmellows which required longer baking & made a fluffier marshmellow filling.

Ice Cream Sundae Dessert

In honor of the June birthdays at work I decided to make an ice cream cake. My coworker gave me this recipe that she found in the Taste of Home Magazine. It seems like it would be a very versitile recipe by changing the cookies & ice cream flavors.

Ice Cream Sundae Dessert

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (12 ounces) vanilla wafers, crushed

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

2 quarts vanilla ice cream or flavor of your choice, softened

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt chocolate chips with milk and salt; cook and stir until thickened, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

Combine wafer crumbs and butter; set aside 1 cup. Press remaining crumbs into a greased 13x9 pan. Chill for 10-15 minutes. Pour chocolate over crumbs. Cover and freeze for 20-25 minutes or until firm.

Spread the ice cream over the chocolate. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Freeze at least 2 hourse before serving. Yield 12-16 servings.
I used strawberry ice cream to make it a little different. Don't be surprised to see this in different variations on the blog later since it was very easy to make & very delicious!!

Lemon Gelato

One of my favorite things at the farmer's market is the Italian deli. Dave & I will get one of their sandwiches for lunch then top it off with some gelato for dessert. I thought I'd try to make it for myself. It was a fairly easy recipe I found from the internet & went well with my Italian themed book club night.

Lemon Gelato

6 medium lemons
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 2/3 cups half and half
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Grate the zest of 6 lemons and set aside in a bowl with the sugar.
Or, use a vegetable peeler to remove 3/4 cup zest from the lemons and process the lemon strips with the sugar in a food processor until zest is minced, about 30 seconds.
Set lemons aside.
Whisk the egg yolks with the cream and salt in a heatproof mixing bowl.
Put the half-and-half and lemon-sugar in a medium non-aluminum saucepan.
Bring liquid to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
Remove pan from heat.
Slowly whisk the hot half-and-half into the egg yolk mixture.
Then return the partially cooked custard to the saucepan.
Stir constantly over medium-low heat until mixture begins to thicken slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes (the approximate consistency of unwhipped heavy cream).
Pour hot custard into a bowl without straining.
Stir in the vanilla.
Put a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard to prevent skin from forming.
Set custard aside at room temperature to cool.
(Can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 48 hours).
FREEZING: Squeeze 3/4 cup juice from the lemons and stir juice into cooled custard.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

This is another recipe that comes from my Clovia cookbook. It's so delicious & refreshing, and it always brings back memories from my college days. I highly recommend this for your next summer outting.

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups crushed pretzels, not too fine

3/4 cup melted margarine

Mix above ingredients in 9x13 inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees and then cool. (It will look like the picture above.)

Cream 8oz cream cheese with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Fold in 1 small carton of Cool Whip. Spread over baked layer. (See picture above)

Dissolve 6 ounces strawberry jello in 2 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir in 10 ounces strawberries (I unthawed a bag of 16 ounce strawberries & it worked well. The frozen berries will make jello cool faster).

Chill jello mixture until slightly thickened. Spread over cream cheese layer. Chill. This is best to make the day before.

Strawberry Shortcakes

Here's a favorite Memorial Day's treat...

Another one of my favorite summer desserts is strawberry shortcakes. Instead of using angel food cake, I prefer Bisquick's recipe which can also be found at http://www.bisquick.com/.
Strawberry Shortcakes

2 1/3 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, sugar, and the butter until soft dough forms. Drop by 6 spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Split warm shortcakes; fill and top with strawberries and whipped topping.

For a variation, I grated a lemon & squeezed the juice into a double batch of dough. In another batch, I added about 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips.