Spiced Pear and Cranberry Crostata

A crostata is one of my favourite desserts. It's basically like a pie, but it's free form so you don't even need a pie pan to make one. They are so easy to make (especially when you cheat and use refrigerated pie crust like I do) and I love the crust to filling ratio. With a pie, I feel like there is too much filling for that little amount of pie. A crostata is thinner so there is a perfect amount of crust for the filling. I had bought some cranberries for a loaf of orange cranberry pound cake and didn't want the rest of the cranberries to go to waste. So I bought a couple of pears and threw this together. It was so easy and so delicious. The pears were just as sweet as the cranberries were tart and the spices warmed everything up and made the crostata sing!

Ingredients:
2 pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 c cranberries
1/4 c sugar (taste a piece of your pear and if it is really sweet, just use about 2 T of sugar)
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 refrigerated pie crust
1-2 T milk and sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl combine all ingredients from the pears to the cloves, including the cloves. Mix together well and set aside while you roll out the crust. On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, gently unroll the pie crust and put in the center of the pan. Carefully spoon the pear mixture into the middle of the pie crust, try to drain most of the liquid off before putting on the crust. Spread the mixture out leaving about 1-2 inches of pie crust around the outside. Or if you are like me and really love pie crust, leave about 4 inches of pie crust around the outside. Then gently fold the crust over the fruit. To help the crust brown and look pretty you can lightly brush the folded crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 for an hour or until the crust is golden brown.

Bacon Brussles Sprouts

I never had Brussels Sprouts growing up because my mom hated them. As Greg and I have tried expanding our horizons with vegetables, we tried roasted Brussels Sprouts. And we loved them! I decided to try sauteing them with some bacon and onions because as much as we loved the roasted version, some piece did get quite cooked and I thought sauteing might help that. Cook up some chopped bacon and then cook the cut sprouts and chopped onions in the bacon fat, add some chicken stock and cook until it's gone and you're all set! Maybe not the healthiest veggie since you're cooking it in bacon fat, but man it is good!

Ingredients:
1 pound cleaned and quartered Brussels sprouts
1/2 a small red onion, chopped
3-4 bacon pieces, chopped
1/2 c chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste


In a large, cold skillet, add the chopped bacon. Bring heat to medium and let bacon cook until done. Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon from the pan, leaving most of the grease behind. Drain any excess grease so you only have about 2 T in the pan. Add the Brussels sprouts and chopped onion. Let cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and sprouts are starting to brown. Add the chicken stock and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let cook until the stock is reduced to about a tablespoon or gone completely if you don't want any liquid. Add the chopped bacon back to the pan, remove from heat, and stir to combine.

Mulled Juice Poached Pears

I have always loved the idea of mulled wine. I don't drink alcohol, but the idea of a warm drink with all those yummy holiday spices thrown in... Yum! I was watching Food Network and these mulled wine poached pears were made and they looked so good! I used it as a base recipe for some poached pears I made. These were so good! Sweet and warm with spices, almost a little spice, the crunchy almonds on top added the perfect textural difference and the creamy and bright sauce was such a good contrast.

Ingredients:
4 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and quartered
4 c cranberry juice cocktail
1/4 c honey
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz Neufchatel, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 c honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c chopped, toasted almonds

In a pot, add the cranberry juice, 1/4 c honey, cloves, cinnamon, pepper flakes and vanilla. Bring to a boil and then add the quartered pears. Turn the heat down to medium. I used a small bowl to put on top of the pears in the pot so the weight of the bowl kept the pears submerged in the liquid. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Mine were not very ripe so it ended up taking about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and put the pot into the fridge. The pears should still be submerged in the poaching liquid for about an hour in the fridge. While the pears are in the fridge, make the sauce. In a bowl, put the softened Neufchatel, zest, juice and other 1/4 c of honey. Mix together with a hand mixer until well combined. The sauce can go under, on top of or next to the pears. Sprinkle the toasted almonds on top and enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Basil Bisque

At Noodles & Co I always get their tomato bisque. I love it! Herby, rich and warm, it's perfect! My homemade version isn't as good, I'm pretty sure they use wine in theirs and it gives a wonderful flavour, but it is still really good and I can make 6 servings of it in one go!

Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
1 medium white onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
3 c chicken stock
3 T chopped basil, divided
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 c half and half

In a heavy bottom pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add diced onion and carrots and let cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Add crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, 2 T chopped basil, red pepper flakes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. If using Parmesan rind, add in now. The Parmesan rind adds this incredible umami flavour. I just freeze the rind whenever I go through a wedge of Parmesan and throw it right in. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and Parmesan rind and discard. Let cool slightly and then blend until it reaches desired consistency. Return to the pot, add half and half and remaining basil. Bring to a boil and then serve

Honey-Ginger Chicken Drumsticks

I love a sweet and sticky glaze on chicken. There is just nothing more satisfying than eating a juicy piece of meat with a sweet sauce on it and licking your fingers clean. I saw this recipe for Honey-Ginger Chicken Wings on an episode of Dinner at Tiffani's (recipe is here). Looked like just what I was looking for! Some of those great Asian flavours I love, but still sweet and sticky. I don't really like wings though so I decided to try it on drumsticks and I just had to change how I cooked them. I made a 1/2 recipe since I was only cooking 6 drumsticks. I marinated them for 6 hours, but I used the whole sauce to marinate the chicken and then cooked the leftover marinade until it was reduced by about half so it was safe to eat. I baked these at 375 for 30 minutes and then flipped them to the other side to cook for 25 minutes. After 20 minutes on the first side, I brushed the reduced marinade on the chicken and then put on more marinade after 5 more minutes. I flipped the chicken over and let it go 15 minutes before brushing more marinade on. Again I put more sauce on after another 5 minutes. After another 5 minutes I put a generous amount of sauce on and then turned on the broiler and cooked these under the broiler for just a minute or two to crisp up the skin and get some of that grill-like char. This sauce was sooo good! It was sweet and thick and slightly bright/tangy from the lime and then there was the most pleasant ginger/garlic spice that came through. Greg and I both loved it! This will definitely be made again in our house

Lemon Cream Sauce

This sauce is just a few ingredients and is really easy to put together. Letting it cook down is the key. It makes the sauce thick and intensifies the flavours. It would go great with pretty much any protein. Toss it all together with some pasta and I bet you'll feel like me in never wanting to eat pasta at Olive Garden again.

Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, grated
1 T olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
1 c half and half (could also use cream, but the half and half makes a full, rich sauce and is way lower in calories)
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces cooked pasta

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add grated garlic and let cook until just fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the pepper flakes and stir. Add the lemon zest and half and half. Stir to combine and let simmer, uncovered, for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally during this time. Remove from heat and toss with pasta

Fancy Mac and Cheese

I love fancy food. Fancy food to me just means that there is something to take a dish over the top or make it special. This mac and cheese is FANCY. Well, as fancy as mac and cheese can get anyway. Onions, garlic, lemon, ham, and garlicky bread crumbs on top make for such a good mac and cheese. This takes a little more time than I usually spend on dinner, but it makes a lot and it was definitely worth the work.

Ingredients:
1 T garlic oil (directions below)
1/2 red onion, minced
4 c half and half
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Zest of 1/2 a lemon
5 roasted garlic cloves, minced (directions below)
1/2 c grated Parmesan
2 c shredded Cheddar
4 ounces cooked ham, cubed
1 pound pasta, cooked al dente
1 c Italian bread crumbs
1/2 c grated Parmesan
2 T garlic oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Roasted garlic and garlic oil: In a small oven proof dish, like a ramekin, put 5 garlic cloves and 3-4 T olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper and cover with foil. Bake at 375 for about 30-35 minutes. Let cool and then you can use oil and garlic

Heat 1 T of garlic oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add minced onion and cook until tender. Add half and half, thyme, zest, and the minced roasted garlic. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until it's reduced almost by half. Add the first of the Parmesan and the Cheddar. Stir until all combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the ham and toss in the pasta. Preheat oven to 350. Put pasta mixture in a greased baking dish. Combine the bread crumbs and rest of the Parmesan. Spread evenly over pasta. Drizzle remaining garlic oil over top to help brown the breadcrumbs and give flavor. Bake for 20 minutes.