Delishytown
Cooking is fun. Eating is funner. I cook, photograph and write these recipes.
Everything I post on this blog I make from scratch using fresh wholesome ingredients.. I've been cooking since I was a little kid.
My recipes are based on trial and error, along with studying cookbooks, family recipes, blogs and cooking shows.
Some of the veggies and herbs I use are grown in my garden. Yay sustainability!
I'm working on making my yard into an edible landscape. It's really fun to go out in the garden and pick your veggies for dinner!
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Posts I like
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Smitten Kitchen’s zucchini ribbons with almond pesto. Nice no-cook side for a steamy day!
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Marinated Artichoke Pizza: Top this versatile pizza with your favorite veggies.
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Oh, I think there’s kind of a wave of nostalgia going on right at the moment. You know, people recall an earlier time, which they...
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i don’t know how to stop making myself look like i’m from another decade
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Main Street - 1947
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those stickies are important!
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Narrow streets and streetcar in Lisbon, Portugal.
Tips on mastering composition in your photographs.
Photograph by W. Robert...
Tag Results
19 posts tagged yummy
Chocolate Chip & Pistachio Banana Bread
We had 3 very ripe bananas on the counter, so I had to make this. There was no other choice.
This banana bread was the best I’ve ever made! It was so airy and light, chocolatey and delicious. The secret to moist quick breads is that once the wet ingredients hit the dry, you only stir a few times, just to combine, and then bake right away. Once the wet ingredients hit the dry, it activates the baking powder and causes the batter to puff up and become light and airy. If you over mix, it can become dense and dry.
Heat oven to 375. Butter a square baking pan or loaf pan.
Sift together 1¾ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, and ½ tsp salt
Mash 3 large, very ripe bananas and mix with ½ cup melted butter (cooled), 1 tsp pure vanilla extract, and 2 scrambled eggs. Fold in 1/2 bag of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of your favorite nuts.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry just until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, depending on the shape of the pan, until the sides pull away and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Serve with coffee or tea. Yum!
Grilled Eggplant, Bell Pepper and Roasted Tomato Sandwich on Garlic Bread
This was our amazingly delicious lunch today made with the leftover ciabatta rolls (they came 6 to a package) from yesterday. The thing I’m happiest about is that I’m finally starting to learn how to use my camera in manual mode, thanks to my wonderful camera teachers.
Here’s how we made these veggie sandwiches:
First, make the rolls into garlic bread. Garlic, olive oil and foil help to freshen up the rolls. Crush 1 large garlic clove, mix it with 2 tblsp olive oil, salt and pepper and any fresh or dried herbs you like. I used a little chopped rosemary from the garden. Brush onto the cut sides of any bread or rolls. Place in foil packet in a hot oven for about 5 minutes. Then open the foil and open the rolls, face up and bake at 400 until toasted.
Slice some cherry tomatoes in half and place in a small casserole dish with a sprits of olive oil spray and salt and pepper. Bake with the bread at 400 until bubbly & cooked.
Heat a grill pan to high. Slice eggplants and season with some salt. In a few minutes you’ll see a little of the moisture come out. Brush away the salty moisture and blot with a paper towel. Slice onions. Quarter a bell pepper. Spray both sides of all the veggies with olive oil spray and season with fresh ground pepper. Sear on the hot grill pan, reduce the heat to med, cook on both sides, flipping occasionally to cook evenly. Remove to a plate.
Grate some of your favorite cheeses. We had queso fresco, cheddar and parmesan. Chop some lettuce or greens. I used red chard from the garden.
Layer the eggplant on the bottom, top with cheese and return to the oven to melt the cheese. Add the rest of the grilled veggies, the chopped greens and top with the roasted tomatoes. Drizzsle with a little balsamic vinegar. Yum!
Blueberry Banana Whole Wheat Pancakes
I love blueberries, my husband loves bananas. In honor of St. Valentiene’s Day coming up tomorrow, I made a pancake using both. I tried to pretend to be healthy by using whole wheat flour. It makes all that sugar and maple syrup taste extra good. We didn’t have any buttermilk, so I substituted yogurt and regular milk to add fluffy lightness.
In a bowl, mash 1 banana, add 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 egg and 1 tsp oil or melted butter.
In another bowl sift 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tblsp sugar.
Mix the dry into the wet until just combined. Add 1 cup fresh blueberries. Heat your griddle to med high, smear with a small pat of butter, pour the batter on. Flip them over when bubbles appear and they dry out on the edge.
Serve with powdered sugar, coffee, and real maple syrup.
The second pic is my pup waiting for food to drop. Delicious food is her one true love.
Home Made Ribs with Fennel & Apple Slaw
I’ve been making BBQ’d ribs since I was a little kid about 9 yrs old. I used to stand outside in the winter in my purple parka, surrounded by snow, turning and basting the ribs at the gas grill my industrial engineer Dad installed to our home gas line. I thought that was Genius! No tanks to refill and you never ran out of gas.
My family would get so happy when I made these. I remember the first sauce I made from scratch using about 10 thousand ingredients. This perfected version only has about 20 if you include the spice rub. You can use store bought sauce or make your own. I don’t do them on the grill anymore. These are braised in the oven and get really tender and fall apart when they’re done.
Pre heat oven to 325
For the spice rub:
In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp Ancho chili powder, 2 tsp garlic powder or granulated garlic, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp celery salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chipotle powder, 2 bay leaves.
Chop 1 large sweet onion into small dice. Smash open a few garlic cloves.
Using cold water, wash & dry ribs and slice into 2 -3 rib sections.
Place them in a roasting pan and sprinkle with the spice rub along with chopped onions, garlic and a couple of bay leaves.
Cover tightly with foil and bake at 325 for 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
Once they’re cooked, open a corner of the foil and pour off some of the accumulated liquid. (Peeling away just a corner of the foil is the easiest way to tip the pan without the ribs falling into the sink).
Remove foil, coat with BBQ sauce and bake another 30 minutes, uncovered, adding more sauce every 5 minutes.
My favorite store bought BBQ sauce is Trader Joes or Bulls Eye doctored up with extra garlic, ketchup and molasses.
Sauce from scratch is easy: In a sauce pan 1/2 chopped onion and 3 smashed garlic cloves with 1 tblsp butter. Let the onions & garlic cook for a minute, then add 1 small can tomato paste, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 cup ketchup, 1 tblsp liquid smoke, 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1 tblsp hot sauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup maple syrup, dash of chili powder, dash of cayenne, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1 tblsp worcestershire sauce. Cook this in the sauce pan for about 25 minutes on low to thicken.
For the fennel slaw: Chop apples and slice fennel thin. Squeeze 1 lemon over all the cut pieces to prevent browning. Add 1 chopped shallot, salt & pepper, 2 tblsp plain yogurt, 1 tblsp mayo, a sprinkle of dill, 1/2 tsp sugar or honey, a dash of cayenne and toss to combine. Yum!
Cellentani Pasta with White Beans & Veggies in Tomato Cream Sauce
This was our dinner last night and it tasted even better this morning for breakfast. When you reheat it you get to add more cheese on top. It’s one of the benefits of leftovers.
I used zucchini, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, garden tomatoes, fresh basil and baby broccoli because those were the veggies I had in my fridge. You can use any veggies you have on hand. The fun thing about this is that you can pretend that you’re being all healthy because it has so many veggies in it. I love that. Just forget that it has butter and cheese. All those veggies trump the butter and punch the cheese in the face.
Pre heat oven to 375.
Boil water and cook your favorite pasta till a little firmer than al dente. I used these curly cellentani because they were on sale and they hold a lot of cream sauce. Rinse and drain a can of canellini or white beans and combine with the pasta in a buttered casserole dish. Set aside.
Meanwhile: Saute 1 chopped onion and 1 large garlic clove in a little olive oil until fragrant. Push the onion and garlic to one side, Add 1 tblsp butter and 1 tblsp organic flour in the middle of the skillet. Cook the butter & flour until it bubbles. Whisk in 1 cup organic milk and 1/2 cup veggie or chicken stock. Simmer till it thickens. Now add 1 chopped fresh tomato and 1 or 2 tblsp sun dried tomatoes. Simmer the tomato cream sauce for a minute and it will thicken back up.
Chop whatever veggies you have and stir those in along with 1 cup shredded cheese and some freshly chopped basil from your garden. I used cheddar and parmesan.
Pour the cheese & veggies over the cooked noodles & beans. Top with a little more grated cheese. Bake until the top is golden and the liquid is bubbly, about 20 -25 minutes.
Serve with salad so your arteries don’t harden
Apple Berry Turnovers
I made these yesterday because I still had a disk of pastry dough in the fridge leftover from a few days ago when I made Soyrizo Empanadas. It was time to use it up or toss it. I hate throwing away food.
I cheated a little on the filling by using a can of apple pie filling that my hubby brought home last December. I mixed the pie filling with some frozen raspberries and blueberries, which I rinsed and squeezed the excess water from. The berries added a much needed tartness to the too sweet pie filling. Easy.
For the pastry dough:
In a food processor, combine 8 oz cream cheese, 2 sticks (8 oz) butter and 1/2 tsp salt. Pulse until creamy. Add 2 cups sifted flour. I used a combo of whole wheat pastry flour and organic unbleached all purpose flour.
Once you add the flour, pulse until just combined and a dough ball starts to form. Then turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead it together a few times. Form the dough into a disk, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.
One the dough is rested and chilled, roll it out and cut into circles. Fill with a little of the pie filling and seal the edges. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar and share with your neighbors. Yum!
Whole Wheat Kolatchkis
Happy Father’s Day Dad! I made these Kolatchkies for my Dad for Father’s Day. Traditional Kolatchkis are made with all purpose flour. But my Dad is diabetic, so slowly digested carbs are much better for him. I made these using whole wheat pastry flour. They tasted great! My sister came over when I was making them and said she liked the whole wheat version much better. I agree, they tasted nuttier and had a really great healthy flavor.
In a food processor, cream together 2 sticks organic butter with one 8 oz package cream cheese and 1/2 tsp salt. Scrape the sides down and cream it until it’s fluffy. Add 2 cups sifted whole wheat pastry flour, (I used Bobs Red Mill.) Pulse only until combined, being careful not to over mix or it makes the pastry dough tough. Turn the dough out onto a cutting board, and knead it together just until combined.
Roll into a log. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Working in batches, roll out the dough onto a cutting board and cut into circles. Place 1/2 tsp jam or Solo pastry filling in the center of each circle and fold the sides in, sealing with a few dabs of milk.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes till golden. Cool on a cookie rack and dust with powdered sugar. Yummy!
Grilled Shrimp Platter
This was very yummy and so easy.
Marinate peeled and de-veined shrimp in the juice of 1 orange or tangerine, the juice of 1/2 lemon, 2 tblsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger, 1 large freshly grated garlic clove, 1/4 tsp chili flakes or Sambal Oelek, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp apricot jam and salt and pepper.
Cook some rice in veggie broth.
Skewer the shrimp onto skewers alternating with slices of the other half of the lemon.
Slice a tomato in half and sprits with olive oil spray or any cooking spray you have on hand. Chop a shallot into rings and sprits with olive oil spray. Slice a green onion lenghtwise and put it in ice water to curly up.
Heat a grill pan to high and grill the shrimp skewers until pink and cooked through, also grill the shallots and tomato. Serve with a garnish of cilantro.
Shepherds Pie
Yum yum yummer. This was my lunch today, leftover from last night’s dinner. Now I have to go out and ride my bike. It was worth it!
I cooked the Shepherds pie stew last evening in my new enameled cast iron casserole from Macys. It was on sale for 41 bucks! I’ve wanted a Le Creuset type casserole for some time now. The one I got isn’t the fancy Le Creuset brand, it’s a Martha Stewart, but I’m so happy with the way this thing cooks! This stew was one of the best things I’ve ever made.
In a heavy bottomed casserole, add 2 tblsp olive oil, 1 roughly chopped onion and 1 lb grass fed ground beef. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook until the meat gives off it’s fat, & the edges of the pan get some of the color from the meat. Drain the meat and onion in a colander over the sink. (Don’t let your husband see you do this.)
Return the pot to the stove and add 1 tblsp butter, 10 or so baby carrots, 2 roughly chopped small sweet potatoes, 2 chopped celery stalks, and about 10-12 shitake mushrooms, sliced in large slices. Add 1 tblsp flour. Cook the flour and veggies together for a minute to get rid of the floury taste.
Deglaze the pan with 1 quart organic beef stock, chicken stock or veggie stock. Add the meat and onions back to the pot, along with a pinch dry tarragon, salt and pepper, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, and 1 cup wine or beer if you have it. Stir to incorporate the flavorful bits from the bottom of the pot.
Cover the pot and place in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile in another pot, peel and rough chop 3 red potatoes and cook till tender.
Drain off the water, let the potatoes cool a bit (so as not to scramble the egg), and mash with 1 tblsp butter, 1/2 cup milk or stock, and 1 egg scrambled. You could also add a bit of that chopped parsley if you have any left. If the mashed potato mix is too thick add a tiny bit more milk. They will thicken up a little when they cook on top of the stew.
Remove the shepherd pie stew from the oven. If the gravy isn’t thick enough, the mashed potatoes will just sink into the bottom. You can thicken it with a few tablespoons water mixed with 1 tblsp rice flour or corn starch. Stir it in and wait a minute until it thickens up.
Carefully top the stew with the mashed potato mixture and return it to the oven so that the potatoes get cooked and crispy on the peaks.
yum!
Easy Guacamole
This is so yummy! Right now avocados are pretty cheap where I live. This would be a nice addition to any weekend party. I use as many organic ingredients as I can find and afford. You can also add chopped jalapeno, (red or green, no seeds) but I didn’t have any. I wouldn’t use the whole jalapeno, maybe just 1/4 of it chopped very fine.
In a bowl, mash 2 avocados, keeping one of the pits in the bowl. (The pit helps keep the avocados/guac from turning brown) Add the juice of 1 lemon or lime, 1 smashed garlic clove, 1/4 tsp oregano, 2 chopped scallions, 1/4 tsp chili flakes, 6 -8 chopped cherry tomatoes (or 1/2 or any tomato you have on hand), and 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro.
Mix it all together. Serve with chips! Yum!
Blueberry Yogurt Scones
If you’re snowed in and there’s no fresh bread in the house, you can make these. I used to think making something like this was very complicated. It’s not at all! It’s so easy. Just be careful not to overwork the dough once you add the liquid ingredients. See what I mean, the instructions include not doing something. How easy is that?
You can substitute the blueberries for raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips or anything you like.
Sift into a mixing bowl, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 Tbsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt.
Using your fingers, mix in 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter into the flour mixture until it starts to form little flaky bits about the size of a pea or smaller.
Whisk together 3/4 cup low-fat plain (or flavored) yogurt, 2 Tbsp. low-fat or fat free milk, the zest of 1 orange, and 2 tblsp orange juice. Mix the wet ingredients into the flour butter combo until just combined.
Carefully add 1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh blueberries.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently a few times until it comes together.
Place the dough ball on a buttered cookie sheet and pat it flat.
Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Dust with powdered sugar. Serve with jelly. Yum!
