Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette

For my son's 5th birthday in December last year, I made a salad to go with the homemade pizza.  The salad was sort of like a salad my sister-in-law Kandi made for family holiday dinner's.  Our friend Carmen asked me for the recipe.  I told her I would be posting it, and here we are months later.  I'm sorry Carmen, this took way too long to post.  This salad even won over her husband Tom, go figure! If you happen to be like my friend Angela, and love salads, then this is for you. 

 If you like salad, and your into everything in your salad, this will fit the bill nicely.

Brown Sugar Pecans Ingredients

1 cup raw Pecans

3 tablespoons Butter

1/2 brown Sugar

 Place a medium size skillet over medium heat.  Add butter to pan and allow to melt.

 Add brown sugar to butter and stir.

 Allow butter and sugar to melt and bubble.

 Place pecans in pan with melted sugar.

Stir pecans until coated and shining.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes.
Be careful they will burn.

Pour pecans on a piece of parchment paper on the counter to cool.  Break up when cool.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

2 tablespoons Honey 
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard 
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt 
1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed Black Pepper
1 large crushed Garlic Clove
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar 
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Place all ingredients in a pint size mason jar with lid and ring screwed on.
Shake the jar to combine.

Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

Brown Sugar Pecans
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spring Salad Greens
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Feta

Rinse and dry spring salad and place in a large bowl.  Add pecans, cranberries,
and crumbled feta.  Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette.   Add as much you prefer.

Serve with pizza or any other entree.  

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar Pecans Ingredients

1 cup raw Pecans

3 tablespoons Butter

1/2 brown Sugar

Process

Place a medium size skillet over medium heat.  Add butter to pan and allow to melt.

Add brown sugar to butter and stir.

Allow butter and sugar to melt and bubble.

Place pecans in pan with melted sugar.

Stir pecans until coated and shining.  Allow to cook for a couple of minutes.  Be careful they will burn.

Pour pecans on a piece of parchment paper on the counter to cool.  Break up when cool.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

2 tablespoons Honey 
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard 
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt 
1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed Black Pepper
1 large crushed Garlic Clove
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar 
3/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Process

Place all ingredients in a pint size mason jar with lid and ring screwed on.  Shake the jar to combine.

Spring Salad Balsamic Vinaigrette Ingredients

Brown Sugar Pecans
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Spring Salad Greens
1/2 cup dried Cranberries
1/4 cup Feta

Rinse and dry spring salad and place in a large bowl.  Add pecans, cranberries, and crumbled feta.

Toss with Balsamic Vinaigrette, add as much you prefer. Serve with favorite entree.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Turkey Pizza

Remember that cranberry sauce you made for Thanksgiving ages ago and didn't eat all of it?  Oh, you ate it all?  Well we had some and I thought it would make a delicious barbecue sauce.  My recipes almost always have destiny.  This particular recipe is destined for a turkey and cheese pizza.  Yep I was reinventing Thanksgiving dinner as a pizza.  Anyway, you don't have to try my idea, but if you do, I think you'll like this new spin on a Thanksgiving pizza.  

Pizza is our Friday tradition, and this was a great addition to our traditional pepperoni. 

Cranberry barbecue sauce, the secret sauce of the delicous cranberry turkey pizza.

Cranberry Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tablespoon Worcesthershire Sauce

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Pour sauce into small saucepan and boil over medium heat and reduce heat to low
and simmer until thickened about 10 minutes.

Remove sauce from sauce pan and pour into lidded container, I used a pint sized Mason Jar.

Refrigerate remaining unused sauce.

Cranberry Turkey Pizza Ingredients:

Cranberry Barbecue Sauce
4 Slices Turkey Breast (sliced into strips)
2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)
Pizza Dough

Preheat oven to 500 Farhenheit for atleast a half hour after the oven has reached temperature.

Roll out pizza dough to 12 inch wide thin circle.  Spread a thin layer of sauce.

Add all the cheese, then the turkey and finally drizzle some more sauce on the pizza.

Bake pizza on the bottom of the oven for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown around the edges
and underneath.  Rest for three minutes before slicing, this allows the cheese to cool
enough to cut and become slightly solid.

Enjoy!

Cranberry Turkey Pizza

Cranberry Barbecue Sauce Ingredients:

1 cup Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Orange Juice
1 tablespoon Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tablespoon Worcesthershire Sauce

Process:

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.

Pour sauce into small saucepan and boil over medium heat and reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened about 10 minutes.

Remove sauce from sauce pana and pour into lidded container, I used a pint sized Mason Jar.

Refrigerate remaining unused sauce.

Cranberry Turkey Pizza Ingredients:

Cranberry Barbecue Sauce
4 Slices Turkey Breast (sliced into strips)
2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese (grated)
Pizza Dough

Process:

Preheat oven to 500 Farhenheit for atleast a half hour after the oven has reached temperature.

Roll out pizza dough to 12 inch wide thin circle.  Spread a thin layer of sauce.

Add all the cheese, then the turkey and finally drizzle some more sauce on the pizza.

Bake pizza on the bottom of the oven for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and underneath.  Rest for three minutes before slicing, this allows the cheese to cool enough to cut and become slightly solid.

Enjoy!

Frikadellers

Two days after my last post, I went into labor and baby Gwendolyn was born on December 8.  She has been taking all of my time.  Maybe an apology is in order for not posting sooner, but she is so cute, and I'm kind of tired.  My mom made frikadellers when I was a kid, little meatballs in a sweet sauce. Traditional frikadellers are a Danish pork/veal meatball in brown gravy.  Now my mom's version is different.  I asked about the history and she said my grandmother made them with a sweet sauce and found the recipe and used it because it was Danish. My mom is the youngest of three daughters, so I decided to ask her older sisters about the recipe. The middle daughter, Julene, responded to my request and told me the history of the recipe.  My Aunt Julene's husband worked for Hunt-Wesson, and the company had a campaign promoting Hunt's Ketchup and a frikedeller recipe was created and shared.  My uncle Val changed the recipe to include apple sauce, which is the sweet element in the sauce.  This recipe is a family favorite thanks to my Uncle Val.  My fikedellers are a little different from frikedellers that my family grew up eating.

 Tender meatballs with a sweet tangy sauce, reminds me of my mom and childhood.

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup
ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Puree apple mixture with an immersion blender.

Chop onion in blender.  Remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread
in blender.  Remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Frikadellers

Ingredients:

1/3 lb. ground Veal
1/3 lb. ground Pork
1/3 lb. ground Beef
3 large Honeycrisp Apples
1 Yellow Onion
1 Egg
3 Slices of Bread
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
Olive Oil

Process:

Wash, core and cut apples into big chunks.  Place in pressure cooker with 1/4 cup ketchup and brown sugar.

Cook on high for 8 minutes.

Chop onion in blender, remove from blender and put in a mixing bowl.  Chop bread in blender, remove crumbs to bowl with the onions. 

Mix onion, bread crumbs, meat, salt, pepper, egg, and nutmeg together.

Heat 1/4 inch of Olive Oil in 12 inch skillet over medium heat.

Form meat into 1 inch balls and cook in skillet until browned on all sides.

Pour apple tomato sauce on frikadellers.  Cover pan with lid and cook for 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

Oat Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

I'm excited about this muffin, I was wanting to make muffins that used what ingredients I already had on hand.  Not to mention I have a big bowl of fresh pureed pumpkin puree that I NEED to use, no really it would be a shame for it to go to waste.  These muffins smelled divine when they came out of the oven, and the taste was over the top delicious.  It made 32 muffins, you are welcome to split the recipe but as my husband pointed out for my family that is only 5 muffins per person and likely they'll be gone before the end of the day.  Yes my friends these are that good.

 These have the most fantastic smell, and the taste is just as yummy.

Ingredients:

2 cup Pumpkin Puree

1/2 cup Molasses

2 cup Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

1 cup Coconut Oil (or melted butter, cooled)

2/3 cup Water

2 teaspoon Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour (or all-purpose flour)

1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Ginger

2/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit

 Whisk eggs, water, coconut oil, vanilla, molasses, and pumpkin puree together.

 Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt together in a seperate bowl.

Add half flour mixture to wet mixture, whisk until combined.  Add second half od flour mixture and whisk.  Do not over mix.

Grease two 24 cup muffin pans or use paper liners.  Fill each well 2/3 full.

Microwave Nutella for 30 seconds in a microwave safe bowl.  Scoop 1 teaspoon of Nutella on top of each muffin batter.

 Swirl chocolate with a toothpick in a figure eight shape.

 Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning them halway through and switching them.

Enjoy!

Oat Pumpkin Nutella Muffins

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

2 cup Pumpkin Puree

1/2 cup Molasses

2 cup Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

1 cup Coconut Oil (or melted butter, cooled)

2/3 cup Water

2 teaspoon Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Oat Flour (or all-purpose flour)

1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Ginger

2/3 cup Nutella

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit

Whisk eggs, water, coconut oil, vanilla, molasses, and pumpkin puree together.

Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt together in a seperate bowl.

Add half flour mixture to wet mixture, whisk until combined.  Add second half od flour mixture and whisk.  Do not over mix.

Grease two 24 cup muffin pans or use paper liners.  Fill each well 2/3 full.

Microwave Nutella for 30 seconds in a microwave safe bowl.  Scoop 1 teaspoon of Nutella on top of each muffin batter.

Swirl chocolate with a toothpick in a figure eight shape.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning them halway through and switching them.

Enjoy!

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

Rememebr when I made Phở Bò (Beef Pho)? This is a chicken version, and I've made it as simple as possible.  We all like simple right?  This was our dinner shared with two bachelor friends. Our gentlemen guests were so excited to have a home cooked meal and were completely impressed.  It has been cloudy and cold, so soup was wonderful to come home to.  Plus when I went to pick up our friends, I was on the wrong side of the street.  Anywhere else this woudn't be a big deal, but next to the Queensboro Plaza Train Station, it meant a whole lot of lanes and barriers, dividers, and no way to cross.  I ended up turning too soon and going across the bridge to Manhattan and coming back to Queens.  Thankfully, we finally made it back to the apartment and a wonderful wafting smell from my pressure cooker where the broth was cooking.  I highly reccomend making broth of any kind in a pressure cooker.  The results are always fabulous and fast.

 This is a steaming hot bowl of flavor beyond any chicken soup you have ever experienced.

Ingredients:

4-5 pound Rotisserie Chicken (Costco really has the best price and sized chicken)
2 large bunch of Green Onions
7 large cloves of garlic
3 pieces of Dried Ginger
Roots and Stems of 1 bunch of Cilantro
2 whole star anise
12 cloves
2″x1″ piece of Cassia Bark (a.k.a. Saigon Cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
80g Light Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Jalapeno

1 Lime

Water

Japanese Noodles or Rice Noodles

Remove chicken from bones.  Place chicken bones in pressure cooker pot with 1 whole bunch
 of green onions, 1/2 bunch of Cilantro, star anise, cloves, cassia bark, black pepper, sugar, fish
sauce, salt, and add water to the top of the fill line for your pressure cooker (mine is 16 cups).  

Set pressure cooker to high for one hour.

Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large stock pot.

Bring to a boil.  We used Japanese noodles, but you can use traditional rice noodles if you want.  Cook noodles in broth according to package instrucitions.

Slice jalapeno thinly.  Slice remaining bunch of green onions.  Remove remaining cilantro
from stems.  Place all ingredients aside on a serving plate.  Cut chicken or shred chicken into bite
size pieces and serve next to the broth and plate of vegetables.

This is a build your own Phở Gà bowl.  Add ingredients then the noodles and broth over top.
We really had fun building our soup bowls and customizing how much of each ingredient.

Enjoy!

Phở Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)

Printable recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

4-5 pound Rotisserie Chicken (Costco really has the best price and sized chicken)
2 large bunch of Green Onions
7 large cloves of Garlic
3 pieces of Dried Ginger
Roots and Stems of 1 bunch of Cilantro
2 whole Star Anise
12 Cloves
2″x1″ piece of Cassia Bark (a.k.a. Saigon Cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
80g Light Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Jalapeno

1 Lime

Water

Japanese Noodles or Rice Noodles

Process:

Remove chicken from bones.  Place chicken bones in pressure cooker pot with 1 whole bunch of green onions, 1/2 bunch of Cilantro, star anise, cloves, cassia bark, black pepper, sugar, fish sauce, salt, and add water to the top of the fill line for your pressure cooker (mine is 16 cups).  

Set pressure cooker to high for one hour.

Strain broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large stock pot.

Bring to a boil.  We used Japanese noodles, but you can use traditional rice noodles if you want. Cook noodles in broth according to package instrucitions.

Slice jalapeno thinly.  Slice remaining bunch of green onions.  Remove remaining cilantro from stems.  Place all ingredients aside on a serving plate.  Cut chicken or shred chicken into bite size pieces and serve next to the broth and plate of vegetables.

This is a build your own Phở Gà bowl.  Add ingredients then the noodles and broth over top.  

Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Pie

I thought long and hard about what recipe I wanted to share.  This is the 200th post for Queens Foodie Mama.  We have come full circle.  December 12, 2013, was my first post.  Almost a year later, I'm sitting here contemplating this past year and all the culinary adventures we have shared. My friends who have been here in person to help me create these recipes and my friends and family across the country helping me and sharing the memories with me.  This has been a journey all about love of family, friends, and especially food.  That has been my guiding inspiration while I have created recipes to share with my friends and family and thought about what I know about their likes and loves.  If you have found a greater appreciation for ingredients you might never have thought about, if you have come to love sharing with your family new experiences of food, then we have shared that experience together, you and I.  

Okay enough of my foodie philosophy and deep thoughts on food.  Why did I choose to make pumpkin pie?  Did you know pumpkins have a long history here in North America, since 7000 BC. In 1850 John Greenleaf Whittier even penned a poem about the beloved pumpkin pie.

Ah! on Thanksday, when from East and from West,

From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;

When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board

The old broken links of affection restored;

When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,

And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;

What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,

What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

My son Donovan loves pumpkin pie and requested mini pumpkin pies.  He was even my sous chef while we made them for our Thanksgiving feast. These are not your simple mini pumpkin pies, come on you knew they wouldn't be. I wanted to switch up the crust and use something a little more flavorful.  What could be a great alternative to traditional crust? Cookie crust of course, but not just graham crackers.  I decided to go a step further and choose ginger snaps.

 Isn't it so cute, itty bitty, so cute and little?  This is a full flavor dessert in a small package.

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves
12 tablespoons softened (1 1/2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 large Egg
1/4 cup Molasses

Pumpkin Filling Ingredients:

16 ounces Pumpkin Puree (I used homemade, you may use canned)
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup Milk
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 large Egg Yolk

Preheat Oven to 350 Fahrenheit 

Let's begin with the crust.  Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Whisk butter, molasses, and brown sugar together in a stand mixer.

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients including egg and whisk until combined.

Place aluminum/paper liners in two 12 cup muffin pans.  Place one tablespoon of batter in each muffin cup. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

After they have baked, using the back of a tablespoon, smoosh the cookie down to create
a well.  The crust is complete.

Whisk all the pumpkin puree ingredients until combined.

Pour pumpkin filling into cups within a 1/3 inch of the top of the liner.

Increase the oven to 400 Farhenheit

Bake pumpkin pies for 15-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

They are so cute.  My son was super happy.  Allow to cool on counter and eat at
room temperature.

Serve pumpkin pies with whipped cream, homemade whipped cream preferred.

Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Pie

Printable Recipe Found Here

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves
12 tablespoons softened (1 1/2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 large Egg
1/4 cup Molasses

Pumpkin Filling Ingredients:

16 ounces Pumpkin Puree (I used homemade, you may use canned)
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 cup Milk
1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 large Egg Yolk

Crust Process:

Preheat Oven to 350 Fahrenheit 

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Whisk butter, molasses, and brown sugar together in a stand mixer.

Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients including egg and whisk until combined.

Place aluminum/paper liners in two 12 cup muffin pans.  

Place one tablespoon of batter in each muffin cup. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.

After they have baked, using the back of a tablespoon smoosh the cookie down to create a well.  

The crust is complete.

Pumpkin Filling Process:

Whisk all the pumpkin puree ingredients until combined.

Mini Pumpkin Pie Process:

Pour pumpkin filling into cups within a 1/3 inch of the top of the liner.

Increase the oven to 400 Farhenheit

Bake pumpkin pies for 15-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Allow to cool on counter and eat at room temperature.

Enjoy!