Do you have any recipes from your childhood that you still enjoy just as much now that you are an adult? I do. Macaroni and tomatoes happens to be one of them. It’s simple. It’s quick. It showcases the wonderful sweetness of tomatoes. One small problem: Ryan does not like it. Like at all. This, along with tuna casserole topped with potato chips, are meals that I  reserve for myself when Ryan isn’t going to be home for dinner. However, I was bound and determined to get him to love this dish so I decided to use the vine ripened tomatoes that I bought to make Macaroni with Fresh Tomatoes. I threw in a little basil for good measure and voila! He ate 2 bowls.

I have always wanted to make tomato sauce from scratch but it always seemed too complicated. Boiling the tomatoes, tossing them in an ice bath and then peeling them just seemed too much. But like I said, I was determined to get Ryan to like this dish so I bit the bullet and tried it. And guess what? It is really super easy. It only took about 10 minutes from the time I put the water on the stove to boil. And the results left me wondering why I waited so long.

Now, any suggestions on how can I get him to go for the tuna casserole?

Serves 4

You will need:

• Ice
• 2 pounds vine ripened tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 pound dried elbow macaroni
• 5 basil leaves

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Fill a large bowl with cold water and some ice cubes to make an ice bath.
3. Using a paring knife, make an “X” on the bottom of the tomatoes. Do not cut too deep, just through the skin.
4. Once the water starts boiling add the tomatoes and cook for 30 – 60 seconds or until the skin starts to fall off of the tomatoes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer tomatoes to the ice bath.
5. Once tomatoes are cool enough to handle remove skin. Slice tomatoes in half and remove the seeds inside. Reserve 1/2 cup of tomato seeds and juices. Dice tomatoes
6. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook just until fragrant. Stir in diced tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 30 minutes.
7. After 30 minutes, begin cooking your pasta according to package directions. At this time you can also chose to leave the sauce as is for a chunky version or use an immersion blender to make it a little more sauce like. It’s up to you.
8. Transfer cooked pasta to the tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Adjust salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to serving dish.
9. Roll basil leaves together and chop. Sprinkle over the pasta and serve.

Enjoy!

When you read this recipe title you may have thought to yourself “Des another chicken wing recipe?” or maybe you thought to yourself “Des! Another chicken wing recipe!”or maybe you didn’t think anything at all because you don’t have any feelings about chicken wings whatsoever to which I say I hope this recipe changes your mind because frankly these things are delicious.

I chose the word delicious deliberately. I chose it because I like to describe food as delicious from time to time. That’s just what I do. Ask my friends and family. When I try something that I absolutely love, like the Maple Bacon Doughnut, yes bacon ON a doughnut, the first thing out of my mouth is “this is DELICIOUS”. I think it conveys very nicely what I’m trying to say. Although it is not very descriptive, when you hear the word delicious you know that its going to taste good and chances are you are going to like it.

Why am I bringing all of this up? Well this past weekend I got to attend the International Food Blogger’s Conference here in Seattle. It was a weekend full of food, drinks, friends and information. Lots and lots of information. There were sessions on writing where we were told that some people think the word “delicious” is a four letter word in the food writing world. There were sessions where we got up close and personal with a lemon and others where we learned that sometimes the awards that restaurants receive can be a reflection of cold hard cash rather than anything noteworthy. There were sessions about how to pitch your book and how to get your blog to the top of Google searches by using SEO tactics. Like I said lots of information. And while I am still trying to digest it all, as well as the lunch from the food truck crawl on Sunday, a few things hit me immediately.  One, yes I am one of those food bloggers that uses the word “delicious”  and that is okay because it’s who I am. Two, I also learned that I absolutely love the food blogging community.  They are some of the nicest, sweetest, most creative and talented people I have ever met.  It is an honor to be a part of such wonderful group of people and I cannot wait for next year’s conference when I get the chance to meet them all again.

Now, onto the recipe for these delicious spicy, sweet and crispy chicken wings.

Serves 2 – 4

You will need:

• 1.5 pounds party wings
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Rinse and pat dry the chicken wings.
3. In a bowl whisk remaining ingredients together. Place chicken wings in a bowl and pour jalapeno mixture over the top. Seal bag and shake to coat.
4. Place chicken wings in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 15 – 20 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and cooked through.
5. Serve.

Enjoy!

Want to make friends at the office? Make these cookies. Want to make enemies at the office? Tell your co-workers that you made these chewy, chocolaty, peanutty cookies and don’t bring them in. Unintentionally, I did the latter. I told them about the cookies, they proceeded to ask where they were and when I said I didn’t have them one co-worker went all Sandlot on me and said “You’re killin’ me smalls” I suppose I’ll just have to make another batch now. Shucks.

If you have been around the blog for a while you will notice that this cookie recipe is the same cookie recipe that I used for my Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Nutella Cream Sandwich Cookies and that is for one simple reason: it produces the perfect, chewy chocolate cookie. With this recipe,  I simply took it in a different direction and instead of complimenting the cookies with nutella I used everyone’s favorite chocolate partner: peanut butter.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper set aside.
2. Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over the lowest heat possible. Stir continuously until all chocolate and butter is melted. Remove from heat and cool completely.
3. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl beat melted chocolate, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Slowly mix in dry ingredients. Batter will be thick.
6. Fold in chocolate chips. (Note: At this point, if dough seems too soft to work with, you can refrigerate for 30 minutes)
7. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet, taking care to make sure they are all the same size.
8. Cook 8-10 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to cooling rack to cool completely.
9. In a bowl beat cream cheese, peanut butter and vanilla together until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until frosting is thick and spreadable.
10. Frost cooled cookies.

Enjoy!

I wasn’t lying on the last post when I mentioned that I bought almost every kind of tomato imaginable. So it only seemed logical that the next recipe that I shared included some of those tomatoes. And what better than a dish that incorporates lovely sweet tomatoes, tender chicken and crisp, fresh green beans? According to the friends who ate with us the evening that I served this “this is really good. really light. perfect for summer.” I think that sums it up very nicely.

This was actually one of those times where I got in the kitchen, needed to cook dinner and decided to wing it. Our friend’s were coming over and I didn’t have much time to prepare. The original plan was to make some green beans with tomatoes and some chicken on the side. Then I decided what the heck, lets put it all together. It will be quicker and I’ll have less dishes to do afterward. And to make it a more complete meal, I served it over rice. It is definitely a meal that I will be making more often.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1.5 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs diced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound green beans trimmed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

1. Season chicken with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and basil. Toss to coat.
2. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook 3 minutes. Add in chicken and cook just until browned. Add in green beans, remaining kosher salt, black pepper and chicken broth. Cover and cook 10 – 15 minutes or until beans are softened but still firm and chicken is cooked through. Stir in tomatoes cook 2 more minutes.
3. Serve.

Enjoy!

I am trying to stretch summer out as long as possible before I break down, get out my pumpkin spice candle and start cooking mashed potatoes and gravy. That is why when I went to the grocery store on Sunday I happened to pick up what seemed about every kind of fresh tomato they had. I bought grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, regular vine ripened tomatoes and some very lovely, sweet campari tomatoes. It was the first time that I purchased campari tomatoes but it won’t be the last especially if I keep stuffing them with toasted bread crumbs and a little arugula walnut pesto.

Campari tomatoes are bigger than cherry tomatoes but smaller than your standard tomato. They are perfect for little bite size appetizers such as these. And they couldn’t be any easier. Simply remove the insides and stuff them with a little toasted bread crumbs, garlic, olive oil and arugula walnut pesto. The result is a sweet burst of summer flavor.

You will need:

• 6 campari tomatoes
• kosher salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 tablespoon arugula walnut pesto
• 1 tablespoon parmesan or romano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Gently remove the flesh and seeds inside and reserve 1 tablespoon. Season the cavity of the tomatoes lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Place olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and bread crumbs. Cook until bread crumbs are toasted. About 2 minutes.
4. In a bowl combine bread crumbs, reserved tomato juices, and pesto. Mix well.
5. Spoon mixture into tomatoes. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place in preheated oven and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until the top has browned slightly and the tomatoes have softened.
6. Transfer to serving platter. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday all! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Ryan and I did. Quite wonderful actually as we spent the last week in sunny San Diego. We had a blast. We attempted to get tan at the beach and we got knocked around by some waves. We ate good food and enjoyed even better company. All in all it was a great vacation that came to an end all to quickly. And sometime between when the plane landed yesterday and I the time I got up this morning I had to go grocery shopping and make dinner. Needless to say it was a light supper for us that all started with this arugula walnut pesto.

Most of you have probably tried basil pesto and this is essentially the same concept only a couple of differences. Instead of basil I use arugula and instead of pine nuts I use walnuts. Other than that the ingredients and process for making this pesto is exactly the same but the taste will be quite a bit different. Where basil is sweet, arugula is peppery and it brings a nice bite to this classic.

Makes about 1 cup

You will need:

• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1/2 cup shelled walnuts
• 1/2 cup romano cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup olive oil

1. Combine arugula, walnuts, cheese and kosher salt in the food processor. Turn processor on.
2. With the processor, running slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Serve.

Store in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap. Press the plastic wrap down on the top to prevent the pesto from oxidizing. Use within a few days.

Enjoy!

Why in the world did I never think of grilling potatoes before? I love every kind of potato there is: mashed potatoes, potato chips, potato balls, potato salad and of course tater tots.  Basically, chances are if it has potatoes in it I will love it. But despite trying and loving potatoes in a variety of ways, grilling never occurred to me . That is until it was just too hot to cook inside.

Last week we experienced some super hot weather. I’m talking mid-90’s and while that may sound perfect to those of you in other parts of the country or my crazy friend who keeps her heater on even if its 80 degrees outside,  it is just too hot for a city where no one has air conditioning. That is why Ryan and I decided to cook most of our dinner on the grill to keep the house nice and cool. I say most because these potatoes do need to be par-boiled just until tender, but the 4 minutes that you need for that doesn’t heat up the house too much. Serve these along side some grilled steak and maybe even some watermelon salad and you have a perfect “Dog Days of Summer” supper.

Serves 2 – 4

You will need:

• 5 medium red potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons minced chives, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a pinch more
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Place sliced potatoes in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook just until fork tender, 3 – 4 minutes. Drain.
2. In a bowl combine mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix well.
3. Preheat grill.
4. Reserve 1/4 cup of chive sauce. Dip boiled potatoes into remaining chive sauce, coat completely. Repeat until all potatoes are coated.
5. Place potatoes on the grill and cook until browned and tender.
6. Transfer to a plate. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Place a dollop of remaining chive sauce on each of the potatoes. Garnish with chopped chives.
7. Serve.

Enjoy!

When I get ideas for food, it kind of just hits me and then, since he will be the taster, I always run it by Ryan too. Well, when I said to him “I’m going to make a watermelon salad with feta cheese, onions and mint, ” his response was, and I quote, “Well that doesn’t sound good at all.” Not one to be discouraged, I made it anyway. And guess what….Ryan devoured it.

I too thought the idea of watermelon, cheese and onions was a crazy combination but when I looked in my copy of The Flavor Bible and noticed that it said feta was a great combination with watermelon I was a intrigued. And alas, the book did not let me down. It was fantastic. It was cool. It was flavorful. The watermelon sweet and the cheese creamy. There is no other word for it, it is simply divine.

Serves 2

You will need:

• 2 cups diced, seeded watermelon
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• juice of one lemon
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Serve.

Enjoy!

So apparently last week was national S’more day. I don’t know about you but I had absolutely no idea. If I had known, I would’ve shared these little gems with you then. But since I missed the official day, I’ll just have to share them with you now. They have all the chocolatey, marsmallow-y, graham cracker-y goodness of s’mores, but you can enjoy it in one bite. You don’t even need a campfire.

These were actually inspired by a trip to the Melting Pot. I remember liking the cheese fondue well enough. I remember not liking the meat or seafood fondue at all, not a fan of boiling meats I guess. I remember, however, absolutely, loving, the dessert chocolate fondue. It came with all kinds of things to dip in it like strawberries, bananas and graham cracker covered marshmallows. These are a take on that but instead of dipping the graham cracker covered marshmallows in chocolate, I dip marshmallows in chocolate and then coat them in graham crackers. And to be completely honest, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t get much better than chocolate covered marshmallows. Except chocolate covered marshmallows with a sweet graham cracker crust.

Makes 10 – 12 skewers

You will need:

• 10 – 12 jumbo marshmallows
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 1 cup crushed graham crackers

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place the marshmallows on skewers. Place graham crackers on a plate or other flat surface.
3. Place chocolate in a double broiler and cook over low heat until melted. Remove from heat.
4. Dip skewered marshmallows into melted chocolate. Make sure to coat all sides.
5. Roll the chocolate dipped marshmallows in the crushed graham crackers.  Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Chill in the refrigerator until chocolate hardens.
6. Allow to come to room temperature 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

First of all I wanted to say thank you for all of the wonderful thoughts and prayers you have sent our way during this difficult time. It has really meant a lot to us. We have been so busy lately with house and family issues that we haven’t really had much time to spend in the kitchen. Not to mention it has started to get a little hot here. Every time I turn on the news lately I hear “Dog Days of Summer” which translates into hot hot hot. When it is this hot its always nice to have a meal that doesn’t require you to do any cooking indoors. This salad is just that. Its cool, its flavorful and the use of garbanzo means that is is also very filling.

I was looking at the front page of the blog and began to notice a little bit of a trend: tomatoes. That must mean its August. Sure you can get tomatoes all year round but there is just something about the sweet, succulent vine ripened tomatoes that make August tomatoes taste so much different then January tomatoes. This is why during August I try to make as many dishes as I can using tomatoes. I use heirloom tomatoes for this recipe but you could easily use any tomatoes that you can get your hands on.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained well
• 2 heirloom tomatoes diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 handful parsley, chopped

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Serve.

Enjoy!