Farmer's Market

In early September, the hubs and I took a quick day-trip over to Bainbridge Island. We took the ferry over, which is a short 35-minute ride and then walked in to the tiny town of Winslow. We wandered into a little farmer's market, and I took some pics of all of the different booths. There was a surprising variety of booths for such a tiny town! While we didn't buy anything, we still enjoyed roaming around looking at all of the pretty vegetables and home-made items.

Wrap me up...in lettuce

The first time I ever had lettuce wraps was at PF Changs. I loved the idea; they just seemed so fresh and a wonderful change to the standard tortilla. The PF Changs version is very heavy on the sodium, so I wanted to find a lighter sodium option to make at home. These fit the bill! The apple gives it an interesting crunch but doesn't really affect the flavor. Top these with lots of vegetables!

Asian Lettuce Wraps
from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1½ tsp. hoisin sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. rice wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. Sriracha hot sauce

For the filling:
2 tsp. canola oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
½ tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 green onions, chopped
1 lb. ground turkey or chicken
2 cups mixed vegetables
½ green apple, finely chopped

To assemble:
Butter lettuce leaves, washed and separated
Shredded carrots for topping (optional)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and mix to blend.

To make the filling, heat a skillet on high heat with cooking oil. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic, ginger and green onions to the pan, and stir fry for a few seconds, just until fragrant. Add the ground turkey or chicken, breaking into small pieces, and cook until almost cooked through. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the sauce and cook for about 1 minute until thickened slightly. Add the apples to the pan and toss to coat. Immediately remove the pan from the heat.Serve the filling in lettuce "cups" and top with shredded carrots, if desired.

Here fishy, fishy

I first tried rockfish in Alaska (Skagway, to be exact) and I loved it. It was tender, buttery, and wonderfully mild. I was excited to try cooking it at home. Unfortunately, the recipe I chose was nearly inedible. It was so bad that we ended up throwing it all away and eating cereal for dinner. I don't know if it was because I used red peppers instead of tomatoes, or if the meal was just too watery and gross for us. I won't be making this recipe again, but I'm still on the lookout for good rockfish recipes!

If you want to see the recipe, you can check it out here. I don't think it's worth retyping!

Here are a couple pictures of the meal:

Stuffed Shells

I asked The Husband what he wanted for his birthday meal (back in August) and he immediately proclaimed "Stuffed Shells!" It's been several years since I've made these, and honestly it's a shame! They are everything that's right with a good pasta recipe, including copious amounts of cheese and lots of marinara sauce. Definitely a must-make-again type of recipe!

This particular recipe is from my mom, although I'm pretty certain she got this recipe from somewhere else. There is a very similar recipe on the jumbo shell box, so she might have gotten it from there.

Giant Shells
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
16oz cottage or ricotta cheese
6oz cheddar cheese, grated
6oz mozzarella cheese, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp dried parsley
16oz giant shells
1 quart spaghetti sauce
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Combine cheeses, eggs, salt, pepper and parsley.2. Cook shells according to package directions.
3. In 9x13 pan, spread 1 & 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce across bottom.4. Arrange shells in single layer. Pour remaining sauce on top of shells.5. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese across top.6. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

You need how much garlic??

I hate having to peel just a couple cloves of garlic...let alone the 40 that this recipe called for. I took one for the team (well, for all of you lovely readers) and spent 20 minutes peeling garlic for this recipe. After all that hard work I really wanted to love this recipe, but honestly it was just OK. Surprisingly the flavor of this dish was just underwhelming.

Crockpot Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

40 garlic cloves, peeled, about 4 heads

3 1/2 lbs chicken pieces, skin on breasts, skinless legs and thighs

2 onions, finely chopped

4 celery ribs, peeled, diced

1 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, cracked

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 cup dry white vermouth or 1/2 cup white wine

Directions:

In a skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat.

Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until it softens and begins to turn golden.

Remove garlic to stoneware with slotted spoon.

Increase heat to medium and add chicken in batches and brown. Transfer to stoneware.

Add onions and celery to pan and cook, stirring until softened.

Add tarragon, salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook, stirring for 1 minute and then add wine or vermouth and bring to a boil.

Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until juices run clear when pierced with a fork.

Chocolate Cake Roll

When a recipe goes wrong, it often surprises me. I seem to expect things to work out perfectly all the time, and that's just unrealistic. Take this recipe, for example. I have made other roll cakes before, and they've always turned out great and looked...well, like a cake roll should. This recipe, however, didn't turn out all that well - I had to scrape the cake off the parchment paper, in pieces. There was no "rolling" of this cake, we ate it out of bowls in pieces and topped the chaotic mass of cake with whipped cream. In the end, it tasted the same, it just didn't look all that sexy! Oh well, it's just food. :)

Heavenly Chocolate Cake Roll

Ingredients:

Cake layer:

6 ounces semisweet bittersweet chocolate, chopped or 1 cup semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons water or strong coffee
6 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, divided

Filling:
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar (use more if you prefer a sweeter filling)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons liqueur of your choice, such as Grand Marnier

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or oil a 10-by-15-inch shallow baking or jellyroll pan. Line the bottom lengthwise with a piece of waxed or parchment paper that extends up the short sides one inch.

Melt chocolate with water or coffee in a small saucepan over very low heat until it is 75 percent melted. Remove from heat and stir until the remaining chocolate is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Beat egg yolks with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to beat until yolks are pale and ribbony. Gently stir the chocolate into the yolk mixture.

In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites with salt until they hold stiff peaks.

Stir 1/4 of egg white mixture into the chocolate-yolk mixture to lighten it. Fold the remaining whites into the cake batter in three additions. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until cake layer feels dry (but very soft) to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. It will still seem a little underbaked.

Transfer to a cooling rack and cover the top with a light damp towel or two layers of damp paper towels for 10 minutes. Gently remove towels; don’t fuss if they have a bit of cake stuck to them. Run a knife around the edges of the cake. Sift one tablespoon cocoa over the top of the cake and cover the cake with a thin tea or flour sack towel that is a little longer than the pan. Place the back of a baking sheet or a large flat tray over the towel and invert the cake and paper onto it. Gently peel back the parchment or waxed paper that lined the pan.

Sift the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder over the top of the cake (that was, one minute ago, the underside). Using the towel underneath to help lift and roll the cake, roll the cake from short end to short end with the towel inside. Let cool completely, encased in its towel.

Once cool, beat heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until it holds stiff peaks. Get your serving plate ready and place it near your cake roll. Gently unroll chocolate cake and remove tea towel. Spread whipped cream filling evenly over cake. Gently use waxed or parchment paper once again to reroll cake. Place on serving platter, seam side down.

Serve immediately in 1-inch thick slices or refrigerate until needed.

Chicken Parmesan

I love how versatile chicken is; it really can go with just about anything. This is a super simple recipe, and we even used the leftover chicken in tacos the next night. Serve this with a big green salad, a side of pasta, with potatoes, cooked veggies, bread - you name it, this chicken can be served with it.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tbsp. water
vegetable cooking spray
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into halves
2 cups marinara sauce, warmed
about 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp. minced fresh basil

Directions:
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Combine the breadcrumbs and oil in a 12-inch skillet and toast over medium heat until golden, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Spread the breadcrumbs in a shallow dish and allow to cool slightly; when cool, stir in the Parmesan.

In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper together. In a third shallow dish whisk together the egg whites and water.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with vegetable oil spray. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge each chicken piece in the flour to coat completely, shaking off the excess. Then dip into the egg whites and finally coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Press on the breadcrumbs to make sure they adhere. Place the chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake until the chicken is no longer pink and feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken from the oven. Spoon 2 tablespoons of marinara sauce over the top of each piece of chicken and top with 2 tablespoons of the shredded mozzarella. Return the chicken to the oven and continue to bake until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the fresh basil and serve as desired, with extra Parmesan and marinara sauce.