Sun dried tomato and basil pesto

1 - 3oz package sun dried tomatoes
1 bunch fresh basil
3 cloves garlic
1/4C finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4-1/3C olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined.  Use on pasta, slather on bread, or use it for my wild rice sausage egg bake.

Wild Rice and Sausage Egg Bake

What do you do when you all of the sudden have to make breakfast for 7 people? You improvise.  I had everything I used in this egg bake in the house already.

4 cups wild rice, cooked
1lb mild Italian sausage
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4C sun dried tomato pesto
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

12 eggs, whisked
1/2C sour cream
1/3 bunch parsley,  chopped
1tsp Dijon mustard
1tsp siracha
Salt and pepper

2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Sauté the onions in 1-2T olive oil until they become translucent.  Add the minced garlic and sausage and sauté until the sausage is done.  Add the wild rice, salt, pepper and pesto into the pan and combine.  Remove from heat.
Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour the wild rice and sausage into the dish.

I another bowl, add the eggs and whisk.  Add sour cream, Dijon mustard, siracha and the salt and
pepper.  Whisk to combine.  Add in parsley.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the wild rice and sausage.  Top with shredded Swiss cheese.

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 30 min.  Top with tin foil and continue baking for another 10-15 min or until center is set.

Everyone said this was the best egg bake they'd ever had.  This is a definite make again.

Wild rice, chicken and mango salad with poppyseed dressing

For the salad:

The meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
1 Celery heart
1/3 bunch of parsley
3 Mangoes (I used Champagne mangoes, they're smaller than traditional mangoes)
4 Cups cooked wild rice
3-4 cloves garlic

Cashews or almonds for topping if desired.

For the dressing:

1/3C sour cream
1/4C mayo
3T honey -or- 3T frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (do not add water).  Add more if needed.
1/2C milk
1tsp Dijon mustard
1T poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper

Chop all of the salad ingredients and place in a large bowl.  When cutting your celery, make sure you also chop the leaves, they're the most flavorful part of the celery.

Combine all of the dressing ingredients - I just put everything in my Tupperware salad dressing shaker. You can also whisk or use an immersion blender.

Pour half of the dressing over the salad and stir to coat.  Continue adding dressing as desired.
Top with cashews or almonds just before serving.

Ham and Swiss Stromboli

1 package pre-made pizza dough (I use Trader Joe's).  If you have time, this is the recipe I use for pizza dough
3/4 lb deli ham, diced
1 1/2C shredded Swiss cheese (please shred your own!)
10-15 green olives, chopped fine
1T finely chopped garlic (I use the pre-chopped garlic in the jar from TJ's)
1T fine ground Dijon mustard
1tsp Italian herb seasoning
olive oil -or- 1 egg white

Chop and saute the ham for a few minutes.  Place on a paper towel and press with another paper towel.  You need to get all of the moisture out of it otherwise you're Stromboli will be wet and mushy and that would be gross.

Flour your work surface and roll out the pizza dough until thin.

Combine the garlic, mustard and Italian seasoning in a bowl, stir and spread evenly over the dough (it will look sparse).

Spread the ham, olives and Swiss over the dough, keeping the toppings about an inch from the edges.

Starting farthest away from you, roll the dough in on itself forming a log.  When you get to the end, pull the edges up and around nice and thin and pinch to seal.  Roll the Stromboli over so it is seam side down.  Tuck the ends under, making sure there is no ham or cheese sticking out (it will burn).

Place on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Brush the entire Stromboli with olive oil or an egg white.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 min (mine was 30) or until crust is golden brown.  Let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

And enjoy.  Its pretty freaking amazing.  

Homemade Tartar Sauce

3/4 C mayonaise
1/4 C sour cream
6-8 mini pickles, chopped fine
2T capers
1T dijon mustard
2tsp minced or crushed garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
pepper to taste

Combine all but 1/2 of the pickles in a food processor, or use an immersion blender.  Mix until combined well.  Stir in remaining pickles.

This is also great with chicken, or as a spread on a sandwich.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 pkg of chicken breast (3-4 breasts)
1 container chicken stock (from Trader Joes) (about 3-4 cans)
½ bottle of Frank’s Red Hot BUFFALO sauce
1 whole celery heart, chopped fine (including leaves)
4 large carrots, shredded
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ white onion, chopped
1 container sour cream
2 small cans cream of chicken soup
3-5 cups milk, depending on the consistency you want
Juice of 1 lemon
Celery seeds 1 tsp
Celery salt to taste, 1-2 tsp
Smoked paprika to taste (start with 1/8 tsp, I used about ¼ tsp)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 packages of frozen Jasmine rice (from Trader Joes) microwaved for about 2 minutes or about 4 cups       cooked jasmine or basmati rice.
1 wedge blue cheese, split in half
Green onions, chopped

1. Place chicken, stock, celery seeds and hot sauce in stock pot and simmer on low for 1-1.5 hours until chicken is cooked through and you’re able to shred it with a fork. Leave all of the broth in the pot.

2. While the chicken is simmering, chop celery, onion and garlic and set aside.

3. After chicken is shredded return it to the pot with the cooking broth and add celery, onion, garlic, paprika and celery salt. Set heat to medium. When the soup starts to boil, add milk (start with 3 cups, add more to desired consistency), cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Crumble ½ wedge of blue cheese. Return to low boil and add lemon juice and crumbled blue cheese. At the end of cooking time, add cooked rice and stir.

4. Top with crumbled blue cheese and chopped green onions.

French Onion Soup

I recently invested in a hand held mandoline from Target. Best $15 I've spent in awhile! It will make the job of slicing all of these onions much faster and will spare you the burning eyes and tears!

8 Medium-large onions, sliced thin, and then cut in half.
3T Butter
4 Cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4C Soy sauce
1/4C Balsamic vinegar
2T Worchestershire sauce
1/4C Beef stock
3/4CWhite wine
Salt and pepper to taste
10C beef stock
1 french baguette, sliced in 1" slices
Guyere, swiss or provolone cheese - 1 piece per planned serving.

1. Thinly slice the onions and mince the garlic. Melt butter in large saute pan and add onions and garlic to pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, worchestershire sauce, beef stock and white wine. Mix and add to onions.

3. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours, until all the liquid has been absorbed and onions are a dark brown color. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Add the beef stock to the onions. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Add more liquid if necessary.

5. While the soup is coming to boil, place baguette slices on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for a few minutes at 400 degrees.

6. Set oven to broil. Ladle soup into oven safe bowls. Place 1 pc baguette on top of soup, and top bread with cheese. Place bowls on a cookie sheet and set in oven for 1-2 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve immediately.

**The bowls will be VERY hot!

Mama B's Beef Stew

1 large roast
1 large onion, diced
2 lbs baby red potatoes, quartered
1lb carrots, sliced
1/2 bottle red wine - I used a Cabernet
1T Worcestershire sauce
1/4C soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
4C beef stock
corn starch, for thickening


1. Place roast, liquids, veggies, salt and pepper in your crock pot. Set it on low heat to cook for 6-8hours, or high heat to cook for 4-5 hours.


2. When roast is done, it will fall apart. Separate meat and veggies from cooking liquids. Place cooking liquids and beef stock in a stock pot and heat to boiling. Remove about 1C of liquid and add corn starch, about 3T. Mix well so there are no lumps, and add back to liquids, stirring well to combine. Add meat and veggies when liquid is at your desired consistency.


3. Cook over med heat to heat through.



I served this with popovers with cinnamon honey butter. Heavenly.

Mama B's Marinara Sauce

Makes 12, 16oz jars

1 stick butter
4 large onions
8 cloves garlic
1/3 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C soy
3T Worcestershire sauce

1C Cabernet (I use 3 buck Chuck from TJ's)

2- 6lb cans crushed tomatoes (the institution sized can at you're local warehouse store - they're less than $3/each)
10-12 leaves of basil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

1. Slice your onions and place in large stock pot (I'm talking LARGE). Mince garlic and add to pot as well. Add butter, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire and Cabernet to onions and garlic and simmer covered over low/medium heat for 1 hour.

2. Remove stock pot from heat and spoon onion mixture (juices included) into blender of food processor and puree until smooth (unless you like chunky sauce, then just set to grind for 20 seconds). Pour mixture back into stock pot.

3. Puree crushed tomatoes if desired. Add to stock pot with onion mixture.

4. Chop and add basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to sauce. Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Be sure not to scrape the bottom of the pot with the spoon. If there is any sauce burnt to the bottom and you scrape it up, it will ruin the sauce.

5. Remove from heat and spoon into 12 quart sized containers (I have been using these and LOVE them - they have a twist top). Freeze for future use.

This sauce ended up costing me $0.83/jar vs. the $5 I usually spend. I use red sauce in cooking about once/2 weeks, so this is a cost savings of over $100/yr!

Mama B's Caramelized Onion and Gorgonzola Bruschetta

1-2 French baguettes
5 Medium-large onions
2T Butter
4 Cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4C Soy sauce
1/4C Balsamic vinegar
2T Worchestershire sauce
1/4C Beef stock
1/2C White wine
1/2C Gorgonzola cheese crumbles
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Thinly slice the onions and mince the garlic. Melt butter in large saute pan and add onions and garlic to pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, worchestershire sauce, beef stock and white wine. Mix and add to onions.

3. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours, until all the liquid has been absorbed and onions are a dark brown color. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Slice baguettes to about 1/2" thickness, on the diagonal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet in a single layer and bake at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes, until nicely crisped on outside.

5. To serve, place about 1-2T of onions on baguette slice and top with gorgonzola crumbles. Serve hot.

*As usual, measurements are approximate, as I do not measure when making my creations!

Mama B's Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Pasta Salad

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1/2 C Louisiana Hot Sauce, or other Buffalo sauce
1- 1lb package bow tie pasta, cooked
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 small purple onion, finely chopped
3/4C blue cheese dressing - I use Lighthouse brand, in the cold case
1/2C real mayo
1/2C sour cream
1/4C blue cheese crumbles
1/4tsp celery seeds
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp black pepper

1. Add the hot sauce to uncooked chicken pieces, let marinade in refrig for 1-2 hours before cooking. Saute in frying pan with small amt of olive oil. Cool.

2. Mix wet ingredients.

3. Add everything together in large bowl. Place in refrig for at least 1 hour.

This is best prepared in advance and eaten on day 2, 3 etc.