Easter Love

In one more day I will be leaving for Europe! I know I am so excited. My mom and best friend Ang and I will be going to Paris, Marseille & Barcelona. My brother and sister in law live in France and we will get to see them as well. I am so excited to try all the Foods, experience the Culture, visit the awe-inspiring sights and just BE on Vacation in the most Awesome places ever! I will definitely be blogging about the trip and all the foods I get to experience, I may even get some tips from the Chefs! France is however where Julia got her start.

The only sad part of my trip is that I will be missing Easter with my family.

My sister in law Heather brought this by today, how freaking cute is that. She grew her own grass in these plastic baskets, then made them cute with fabric. How cool is that. Plus it has Trader Joes Peanut Butter Eggs -which are the Best things ever! Thanks Hezz

My mom had a dinner last night in place of our family Easter dinner. I had been wanting to make a couple of things so I told her I would bring the veggies and dessert.

A couple of weeks past for our Relief Society Enrichment night they served this amazing veggie casserole- it was to die for. My sister and I had like 3 helpings.

So here it is ( this will be a perfect dish for the summer gardens) It is filled with squash and carrots and has Amazing flavor. Everyone loved it, even the kids.

(onions not pictured)

ZUCCHINI – CARROT CASSEROLE

4 medium zucchini, sliced 1/2"thick 3 cups or 1 box Pepperidge Farm

5 large carrots, pared and sliced Classic Cut Seasoned Croutons

1 1/2 cups chopped onion (2 med.) (small croutons)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup 1/2 cup sour cream

1 cube margarine

Preheat oven to 375°F. Steam or boil zucchini and carrots just until tender. In a

large saucepan, sauté onion in 4 Tbsp of margarine until the onions are tender. Stir

in 1 1/2 cups croutons, soup and sour cream. Gently stir in zucchini and carrots.

Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch pan or casserole dish. Put mixture into pan. Melt

remaining margarine in a small saucepan. Add remaining croutons. Toss gently

and sprinkle over the casserole mixture. Bake for about 15 minutes or until mixture

is bubbly around the edges and the croutons are toasted. Makes 10 servings

This beauty I found on Mels Kitchen cafe, as soon as I saw it I was looking for an opportunity to make it.

Now it has 3 sticks of butter and like 3 cups of brown sugar, so the chances of it Not being good are Zero! We all loved it and I will definitely be making it again.

( I used gala apples since I already had a ton and it tasted great so use what you got)

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars with Streusel Topping- Mels Kitchen Cafe
Printable Version
Printable Version with Picture

Base:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apples:
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup caramel sauce (homemade recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, two tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine all the streusel topping ingredients and mix until crumbly. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is crumbly but combined. Press evenly into a 9X13-inch baking pan lined with aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Then add eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix well. Pour over the warm crust.

Spoon the apple mixture evenly over the cheesecake layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the apples. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set.

Cool the bars to room temperature. Drizzle with the caramel topping (or plate individual slices and drizzle with topping one by one).

Caramel Sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cups half-and-half or cream
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix butter, brown sugar, half-and-half or cream, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thickened slightly. Add the vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold. If the caramel sauce has cooled in the fridge long enough to harden, warm slightly before drizzling on bars.

Recipe Source: Bars adapted from my brother, Nate (I think he originally found them on the Food Network), caramel sauce from Pioneer Woman

Calbacitas

I got this recipe off of Becoming Betty, always in search of a great Squash recipe. Well it looks like I found a new one, which is great since you can never have to many. Everyone loved it and I can not wait to make it again.
I added some red pepper as well since I just loved red pepper and basically this is one of those great recipes that is so easy to add to or take away from.
CALBACITAS ( little squash)

Ingredients:
1-2 medium zucchini
1-2 medium yellow summer squash (or all one type)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup chopped, peeled roasted green chile (or canned, drained and rinsed)
1 cup corn (frozen or fresh, cut off cob)
2Tbs tomato paste (or 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes)
chopped cilantro (optional—add at end)
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or jack cheese)
* diced red pepper (optional)
Directions:
Cut squash into halves lenghtwise, then cut up into half moons about 1/4 inch thick. Cook diced onion in a large skillet in some oil or butter until it is softened. Add squash and garlic and cook on medium-low heat for about 10 minutes. Add green chile and corn, season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste or diced tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid is cooked down.and stir in. The liquid from the veggies will thin it out the tomato paste. Remove from heat and stir in ciantro. Immediately sprinkle cheese on top so it will melt. You may also place in a hot oven for 15-10 minutes to better melt the cheese. **NOTE: I add about 1/2-1 t. of sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Summer Veggie and Pesto Pizza

While reading my Family Fun magazine I came across this recipe for a Veggie & Pesto Tart made with pie crust. It looked so amazing I just had to make it. Also being that we were knee deep in squash I thought it a perfect time. Instead of doing a tart I made a pizza, using the whole wheat pizza dough from Fresh & Easy, which is in my opinion the best way to do pizza dough ($1.50 for a spectacular dough either white or wheat).

This Veggie & Pesto Pizza was absolutely incredible! I loved every last bite of it. I will be making this many more times and am hoping to introduce it to as many people as I can.

Summer Veggie & Pesto Pizza

8 servings

Ingredients:

1 pizza crust ( mine was a wheat one from Fresh and Easy)

2 tsp. olive oil

2 small zucchini, sliced into thin rounds

2 small yellow squash sliced into thin rounds

Kernels cut from ear of 1 sweet corn

salt and pepper

2 Tbsp. of your favorite basil pesto

2 oz. fresh goat cheese or cream cheese at room temp ( I did a combination of both)

1 large egg

5 to 10 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

5 basil leaves thinly sliced

Heat oven to pizza instructions or 450. Roll out pizza dough onto pizza stone or sheet.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add zucchini, squash, corn and season with salt and pepper. Cook vegetables until the they are lightly browned, about 5 min.

Transfer to a bowl to cool, then toss with the pesto

In a small bowl, whisk together the goat cheese and or cream cheese with the egg until almost smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the egg and cheese mixture over the crust. Spread the cooked veggies on top then scatter on the tomatoes and parmesan cheese. Bake until crust is golden about 20 min. Let it cool slightly on a wire rack. Sprinkle it with basil before serving.

The Farmer- Roasted Veggie Sandwich

Probably my most favorite restaurant of the moment is Liberty Market. It has the BEST sandwiches EVER! I have 2 favorites the first is the "The Rancher" ( which I will try and make at a different time) and "The Farmer". The sammy includes the following roasted vegetables, red pepper, portobello mushroom, zucchini, squash, & sweet potato. Now they have the recipe drawn on the walls in one of their bathrooms but I forgot to write it down, though it seems pretty self explanatory. The only thing I couldn't find is the great sesame bread they use, so I got a multi grain bread with sesame and poppy seed crust.

I started out by thinly slicing all the veggies to fit nicely on the sandwich, then I drizzled olive oil and salt and pepper to coat and arranged on a cookie sheet with tin foil and put in the oven for 20-25 min. on 400 degrees. ( i also turned halfway through)

I smeared some softened goat cheese on the bread

loaded it all up

put it in my george forman, since I don't have a panini press

and ta da. How beautiful.

I thought it was great, my kids however just ate the bread.

In conclusion, while I loved the sandwich I think I like LM's a little better. I don't know what it is, I guess it is just the restaurant curse for me. They must do something special I don't know about. :) But if you like all these veggies you will love this sandwich wether you make it for yourself or try out my fav place Liberty Market! p.s. if you go don't forget to get the Red Velvet it Rocks ( and I don't even really like red velvet)