Bacon-Wrapped Dates

One of our favorite restaurants, Mesón Sabika in Naperville, serves these with a red pepper sauce.

Pit and stuff 12 dates with blue cheese, a slice garlic or slivers of almond.

Wrap each with a half slice of bacon and fasten with a toothpick.

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 10 minutes until bacon is crispy.

Pasties

This is an old family recipe that my German grandmother used to make. My mother wrote down the recipe. I made them for my sister's birthday.

2 recipes pie crust
1 pkg. Round steak, diced
1 pkg. Pork steak, diced
1 onion, chopped
thinly sliced potatoes
thinly sliced carrots (optional)

Mix filling ingredients in large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Roll out crust into oblong shapes. Place about 1 ½ C of filling on each. Top with a dollop of butter. Fold over and pinch edges together. Vent top with several slits. Make little balls for top with left-over crust. Bake in preheated 450 oven for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 and bake 45 to 1 hour longer.

Pie Crust
2 C flour
2/3 C shortening (Butter-flavored Crisco)
1 t salt
5-7 T cold water

Mix flour, shortening and salt with a fork, until the consistency of small peas. Add water 1 T at a time to a portion of the flour mixture. Do not over mix.

Garlic and Artichoke Dip

This dip is served warm with pita chips or toasted bread. It satisfies if you have a craving for warm, gooey and cheesy. And it's great for that Fantasy Football Draft Party!

4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 green onion, cut in several pieces
1/3 C Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1/3 C low fat mayonnaise
1/4 C low fat cream cheese
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts in water

Chop garlic and onion in food processor. Add cheese (reserving a couple tablespoons for topping), mayonnaise, cream cheese, lemon juice and pepper flakes. Process until nearly smooth. Add artichoke hearts and process until a few chunks remain. Place mixture in 1 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with reserved cheese. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes until bubbly.

Pasta e Fagioli

This is a traditional meatless Italian soup. Fagioli can be pronounced as it is spelled or even closer to "fazool" depending on the Italian dialect.

4 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 16 oz. can canellini beans, drained
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
1 1/2 C zitti or penne pasta, uncooked
parmesean or romana cheese, grated

Heat pan and add olive oil. Sauté onion, carrot, celery and garlic until tender. Add beans, tomatoes and rosemary, 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove half of the soup mixture to a food processor and process until smooth. Return to pot. Add pasta and 1-2 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is tender (10-15 minutes).

Spoon into bowls and top with romana or parmesean cheese. Serve with crusty slices of Italian bread.

Blueberry Muffins

Muffin Mixture
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Water
8 oz. Yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1 Cup Sugar
3 Cups Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Salt
1 1/2 Cups Blueberries

Crumb Topping
3 T Butter, softened
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 t Cinnamon

Mix together oil, water, egg, yogurt and sugar. In separate bowl, mix together flour, powder, soda and salt. Stir dry mixture into egg mixture until just moistened. Carefully fold in blueberries.

Mix together ingredients for crumb topping until mixture is the consistency of small peas.

Spoon muffin mixture into greased muffin tins. Top each muffin with a spoonful of crumb mixture. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 20-25 minutes until slightly browned.

Makes 12 muffins.

Guacamole

Now that it is finally summer in Chicago...

2 large ripe avocados
2 green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
1-2 serrano peppers, diced
juice of 1/2 lime
Cilantro, chopped (optional)
salt to taste

Mix together and serve with corn chips. Yummy!

Key Lime Martini

Perfection! At last!
It took a while to recreate this favorite, but I think it's finally right.

1 T Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 t Sugar
2 Lime Wedges
3 oz. Vanilla Vodka
3 oz. Key Lime Liqueur
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Heavy Cream
Crushed Ice


Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar, smashing crumbs with back of a spoon until fine. Run lime wedge over rim of martini glass and roll rim in crumbs to coat. Shake vodka, key lime liqueur, pineapple juice and cream with crushed ice until cold. Pour into martini glass and garnish with remaining lime wedge.

Meatballs

I have been asked for this recipe several times. I don't really have a recipe written down. It is in my head and differs every time I make it, but I will do my best...

2 lbs. Ground Turkey
1 lbs. Ground Beef (or more turkey)
1/2 lbs. Ground Italian Sausage (mild)
1 Onion, finely chopped
5 Cloves Garlic, minced
1/4 C Celery Leaves, chopped
1/4 C Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/4 C Green Pepper, minced
1 t Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 1/2 C Bread Crumbs
3 Eggs
1/4 C Olive Oil

Mix all ingredients and form into balls (1 to 2 inches in diameter). Arrange in a 9 x 13 pan, cover with plastic wrap and microwave at 80% for about 10 minutes, until done. Cool and freeze for later use, if desired.

Bruchetta, of Course

My version of this Italian favorite.

2 Cups Tomatoes, chopped & seeded
4 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 T Olive Oil
Basil, finely chopped
Pinch of Sugar

Italian bread
Olive Oil
Basil, torn for garnish

Mix first 5 ingredients together and let stand at room temperature for several hours. Thinly slice bread and drizzle with olive oil. Toast until just brown. Spoon heaping spoonfuls of tomato mixture onto warm toast. Top with basil and serve immediately.

Grandma's Sweet Red Cabbage

This recipe is my first attempt at recreating a recipe from my childhood. My grandmother used to make red cabbage for Easter. I made this for Easter dinner.

1 Head Red Cabbage, shredded
1 Large Granny Smith Apple, cut in small wedges
4 Slices Bacon
5 T Brown Sugar
2 T Vinegar
2 T Sweet Pickle Juice
Salt and pepper

Fry bacon and remove from pan. Add rest of ingredients to bacon drippings. Cover tightly and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until tender. Add bacon in just before serving.

Triple Berry Cobbler

This is the first weekend in some time I didn't have to be somewhere. I had time to bake this cobbler. Serve it warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

1/2 C Butter (melted)
1 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Baking Soda
1/2 C Baking Powder
1 C Milk
2 C Mixed Berries (rinsed and dried)
      Blackberries, Raspberries or Blueberries
1/4 C Sugar

Mix sugar and flour. Mix in milk. Add butter and mix well. Pour batter into buttered baking dish. Arrange berries on top. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the top and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. Sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Blizzard Pizza!

Well, not really. So far, only about 4 inches. We were supposed to get 8 - 10 inches. But at least I got to leave work early and had time to make this favorite recipe.

1 Tbsp dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Cup luke-warm water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 Cups flour
grated mozzarella cheese
pizza sauce
pizza toppings

Add yeast and sugar to water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in food processor (if you have one), add olive oil, salt and flour and mix. When the yeast mixture is bubbly, add all at once to the flour mixture. Dough should pull away from the edges as it mixes. If it does not add more water 1/4 Cup at a time until dough forms a ball.

Place in an olive oil-greased bowl and let rise until double.

Punch down and form into pizza. Top with a thin layer of mozzarella and then the sauce.

Add toppings (mushrooms, pepperoni, olives, onions, etc.). Finish with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 425 oven for 30 minutes until bubbly.