Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

Oh my goodness. I think I stepped into creamy sauce heaven when I took my first bite of this delicious recipe. It's very rich and absolutely perfect for beef and mashed potatoes. It was probably one of our favorite recipes of the night.

Ingredients

• 4 cups heavy cream
  
• 3 to 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola (not creamy or "dolce")
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Bring the heavy cream to a full boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, then continue to boil rapidly for 45 to 50 minutes, until thickened like a white sauce, stirring occasionally.

Off the heat, add the Grogonzola, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk rapidly until the cheeses melt and serve warm. If you must reheat, warm the sauce over low heat until melted, then whisk vigorously until the sauce comes together.

Crock Pot Braised Beef

As you may know my husband and I LOVE the Food Network. This past weekend we had our best friends, Jake & Tanya, over for a comfort food meal to try out some new found recipes. This braised beef recipe was the main dish. I thought I'd post all the recipes we used Saturday night. It was such a yummy meal and I thought it would be nice to share.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper
1 (3 pound) beef brisket
1 cup beef broth
1 (12 ounce) bottle chili sauce
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions

Lightly salt and pepper the roast on all sides. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Put roast in the skillet and sear the meat on each side for 1-2 minuted or until lightly browned. Place the roast into a slow cooker. Pour beef broth in the skillet with the juices from the seared meat, stir it around to incorporate any browned bits from the pan and pour the juices over the meat in the crock pot.. In a medium bowl, mix together the chili sauce, onion soup mix, and garlic powder. Pour over the brisket. Cover, and cook on the Low setting for 8 hours. Pull meat apart into equal-sized juicy-chunked servings.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Yes, it is that time... Fall time = amazing food!! Yay! And you know what, I don't care if it's STILL hot outside. Fall has always been my favorite time of the year. Now that I'm obsessed with cooking and baking yummy food it has made Fall all the more exciting. Mr. Niu has been working so hard every day. He works part-time, goes to school full-time, he is taking a GRE prep class (4 hours per class) AND he still makes time for his church callings and most importantly the love of his life, me! I wanted to surprise him one Saturday afternoon. He has been craving pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Sooo... I found this moist and chocolatey bread.

Ingredients

• 3 cups white sugar
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup water
• 4 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional) - We prefer no nuts in our breads ;)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 1 pound size coffee cans, or three 9x5 inch loaf pans. (Or you can use muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.)
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill cans 1/2 to 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 1 hour, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from cans or pans.

Servings: 36
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 1 hour Ready in: 1 hr. 30 min.
Amount per serving: 177 calories, 6.9 grams fat

Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints

I have wanted to try these for quite some time. We decided to make them for an end of summer BBQ. WOW! These delicate babies have so much flavor and melt in your mouth! Instead of raspberry jam I used my Mom's famous strawberry jam..... mmmm..... so good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened not melted
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
3. Place the cookie sheet with the cookies in the freezer for 10 minutes.
   
4. Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
5. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

Servings: 36
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 18 min. Ready in: 1 hr. 15 min.
Amount per serving: 104 calories, 5.2 grams fat

Tomato-Cream Sauce

We eat a pasta dish every week. Through the weeks I have learned that the hubby is very particular about his pasta sauces. He LOVES all cream sauces, which usually means loads of calories. I've been trying to convince him for some time now that red sauces can be just as wonderful. We're both not huge fans of the canned sauces. After I made this sauce he was hooked! And thank heavens for me it's so easy and cheap.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream/milk (I usually just use milk)
  
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Make sure it doesn't burn. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and continue to boil 5 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in whipping cream and butter. Reduce heat and simmer 5 more minutes.

Servings: 5
Prep time: 5 min. Cook time: 15 min. Ready in: 20 min.
Amount per serving: 182 calories, 16.2 grams fat (if you use the heavy cream)

Baked Salmon Dijon

One week day after work I was CRAVING salmon. It's all I could think about. So, my sweet husband picked up some oh so delicious salmon on the way home. I needed to find a quick, yummy recipes and with my trusted source Allrecipes.com I found this. The topping melts in your mouth. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• 3 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil.
2. Place salmon skin-side down on foil. Spread a thin layer of mustard on the top of each fillet, and season with salt and pepper. Top with bread crumbs, then drizzle with melted butter.
3. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: 15 min. Ready in: 25 min.
Amount per serving: 331 calories 21.5 grams fat

Stuffed Green Peppers

The first time I ever tried stuffed green peppers was on my mission in Washington D.C. I don't remember ever enjoying peppers before I served my mission in D.C. I was definitely missing out. I LOVE peppers now. They have so much flavor and they are so good for you! Okay, below is the original recipe, but we made some changes I wanted to mention. First, we cut the recipe in half. We used 1/2 lb. ground turkey instead of beef and it was delicious. We cooked the rice separately and added it to the tomato mixture to warm with the mixture. We added more Worcestershire sauce to the mixture and didn't even bother to use and pour the tomato sauce on top. We cut the peppers in half length-wise and filled each pepper halved. It was perfect for us with the changes.

Ingredients

• 6 green bell peppers
• salt to taste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
  
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• water as needed

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Note: The changes in the recipe would make the calories and fat less than below per serving.

Serves: 6
Prep time: 30 min. Cook time: 30 min. Ready in: 1 hour
Amount per serving: 467 calories, 24.3 grams fat