Sweet Love and Ginger

Jessica

D4Onw: Mozzarella & Herb Grilled Cheese

By

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Ok so this recipe is one that is so darn easy and so darn delicious. A simple grilled cheese sandwich stuffed with mozzarella and herbs, coated in egg and pan fried for a perfectly crispy outer shell. Now serve this warm and cheesy sandwich with a side of hot chunky marinara sauce and you have pure heavenly delight. At least it is in my opinion. I love cheese! The combination of cheese and tomato sauce has got to be one of my favorite things ever! It also made a great late night snack after a busy Christmas Day for me.
I really like this sandwich stuffed with hole chunks of roasted garlic, and chopped fresh herbs (Oregano, Basil, and thyme to be exact) however not everyone has the love affair that I do with herbs. If you are one of these people just start with a few shakes of your favorite dried herbs, and adjust it based on your own tastes.
Grilled Mozzarella Sandwich
¼ lb Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
2 slices bread
1 clove roasted garlic, diced
1 sprig of oregano, finely chopped
2-3 medium basil leaves, finely chopped
1 small sprig of thyme, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
Dash of salt
1 tbs butter
¼ cup warm chunky marinara sauce
Place slices of mozzarella on both slices of bread. Layer garlic and herbs onto one side and close to make a sandwich. Whisk egg and salt together in a shallow bowl. Melt butter in a skillet over medium- high heat. Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture, turning to coat. Place the sandwich in the pan and cook until golden brown, then flip and brown the other side. Serve warm with a side of marinara sauce.

The recipe above reflects how I would normally make it, however since I am still trying to eat healthy I made the sandwich with whole wheat bread, low fat mozzarella, egg whites, extra virgin olive oil and my home made marinara sauce. I also had a chocolate protein shake with frozen banana. The flavor combination reminds me of fried mozzarella and a chocolate shake at some hole in the wall restaurant where you know it’s delicious and terrible for you, but SURPRISE! It’s actually not! Ha! I love it when I come up with a recipe like this!

Chunky Cream of Leek Soup

By

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Notice the massive chunks of potato? Chuck wanted to help. I can’t decide if he was being nice or wanted to speed up the process. Either way I will take it. He may be a little behind on the cooking chopping thing, but he’s learning, and I appreciate that. Maybe someday I will be able to trust him with a whole recipe.

This recipe is one I made up. We had a cream of leek soup at The Bread Basket Bakery in Saratoga Springs a few weeks ago. It was pretty awesome, and I wanted to make it, but I wanted a little more substance so it would be a whole meal. I don’t know about you but I certainly don’t have time to make a soup, and a main course by the time I get home during the week, at least I don’t feel like I do, so I opt for hardy soups instead.
Chunky Cream of Leek Soup
3 large leeks, diced
3 tbs butter
2 cups vegetable stock
2 medium potatoes, peeled & chopped
2 large carrots, peeled & diced
½ lb cooked ham, cut into roughly 1” pieces
2 tbs heavy cream
In a large pan sauté leeks with 1 tbs butter until they begin to soften and brown. Add 1/c a cup of stock and allow the liquid to just begin boiling. Carefully transfer to a blender (ladling in small batches works best) and blend until smooth. Use the remaining butter to begin sautéing potato and carrot. Suate until they begin to soften & brown. Add the rest of the stock, blended leeks and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add ham. Allow to cook for roughly 20 minutes, or until the carrot and potato are soft. Whisk in cream and adjust seasonings. Serve warm. (Serves 2)

Filed Under: Recipe

Christmas Decorations: Minimalist Style

By

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I am a huge fan of minimalist decorations, especially around Christmas. One could go crazy with all the decorations that are available. Being a renter we don’t always have the storage for piles of Christmas decorations, or the room to display them all. Personally I find minimalist decorations to be more suited for our lifestyle. Things like pine boughs and strings of cranberries add cheer, while making our home smell wonderful, and at the end of the season they can simply be thrown into the compost pile. No cleaning, repacking or storing. It’s so much easier, and still fairly cheap!

Popcorn and cranberries cost roughly $5, while the string and sewing needle I used to string them were basically free. The paper snowflakes are made from scraps of paper in the recycling bin at work. The adorable set of jars I found in the cupboard and filled with leftover cranberries, and some tea lights. The front door is adorned with simple cedar boughs, pine needles, and pine cones, all wrapped up with hemp. See simple and easy.

D4One: Vegetarian Mushroom Stroganoff

By

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

I love stroganoff, but then who doesn’t? It’s a heavenly combination of creamy deliciousness. It’s one of my favorite things to make when I am home alone because I don’t have to use meat if I don’t want to, it’s fairly easy, and you can buy nearly all the ingredients in small quantities, so it’s perfect for a single meal. If I am looking for meat I simply brown some stew meat along with the onions and leave it in the pan while I cook the rest of the dish.
What’s funny about this dish is that I typically don’t like mushrooms; though I have discovered it is a textural thing, if they are cooked enough then I don’t mind them so much, which is what happens in this dish. Also I find that I don’t have as much of an issue with dried mushrooms, which are the base of this particular recipe. Fresh mushrooms can be used, just skip the soaking step and use vegetable broth where the recipe calls for soaking liquid. I tend to use dried mushrooms, because they don’t go bad easily, and when I have them on hand I can whip up something like this or vegetarian gravy very easily.
Vegetarian Mushroom Stroganoff
1 cup dried porcini mushrooms, diced
1 ½ cup warm water
2 tbs olive oil
1 small onion (or shallot), diced
2 tbs thyme
2 tbs flour
½ cup sour cream
Salt & Pepper
1 cup egg noodles, prepared according to package instructions
Minced parsley for garnish
Place mushrooms in water for roughly 30 minutes to rehydrate. Heat oil and sauté onion, until it becomes translucent. Add the hydrated mushrooms to the pan (reserve the water), and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. Mix in thyme, and flour, until it is well blended and deglaze the pan with remaining soaking liquid. Cook, stirring continuously until the sauce has thickened, then remove from heat. Stir in sour cream until well blended and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm over egg noodles and topped with chopped parsley.

D4One:Perfect Broiled Haddock

By

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

There is a restaurant near my work that we frequent often. It is a little Greek place in what used to be a bank. I would link their website if they had one. The place is pretty darn fabulous. I pretty much love it there. I also pretty much go there every time I eat out at work, which isn’t often so that’s saying something.
They have this lunch special every week that is mouthwateringly fabulous. It is a broiled haddock served with a rice pilaf, broccoli and warm rolls. My stomach is rumbling just thinking about it, it is so good, and so simple! How do I know? I spent quite a few nights trying to figure out their recipe. I asked the wait staff a few times what was in it to get the jist, and then I went through quite a bit of haddock to perfect it, but now I think I have it, and dare I say mine is better? Well I’m sure that’s dependent on who is eating it. I prefer more sherry to butter, other may prefer more butter to sherry, so I guess it’s a wash.
Since I am making this dish for lonesome self, I decided it was fine to be bad and make extra sauce to toss pasta in instead of making rice pilaf. This was a fabulous decision! Especially after I topped it with fresh chopped parsley (about ¼ cup – you know how I love my herbs!), and a touch of parmesan cheese.
Now if you just want enough sauce for fish, then half the recipe below.
Broiled Haddock in Sherry Butter Sauce
½ a stick of butter (unsalted)
¼- ½ cup of sherry
½ lb haddock fillet
1 cup pasta cooked aldente
Preheat the oven broiler. In a large oven safe skillet melt the butter and allow it to brown slightly. Add ¼ cup of sherry and allow it to cook roughly 1-2 minutes. At this point you may choose to add more sherry or not, but if you add it allow it to cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add fish to the pan and baste with sauce. Place skillet in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until fish breaks apart with a fork. Remove fish and add pasta to pan to toss with sauce. You may need to add a little butter or oil if it has reduced too much. Serve fish and pasta together, topped with parsley and parmesan cheese to taste.
Can you say divine? I can because it was. I felt like I was riding on clouds while I ate it. I am so happy I was able to figure this one out. Now I just need to figure out their creamy chicken soup.