Mushroom Garlic Marinara Sauce

Today's harvest! 19 of these beauties are waiting to be transformed into something magnificent!! I'm thinking a fresh tomato & garlic pasta sauce?!?

TOMATOES: From the garden to pasta sauce.

 

 

 PEELING AND SEEDING:

Wash the tomatoes. Cut off the stems and use a serrated knife to remove the core. Use the knife to score an "x" on the bottom of the tomato. Place your tomatoes into a pot of boiling water and let them simmer for just a few minutes. The goal here is to loosen the skin, but not to cook them.





Using a slotted spoon, remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and place them in an ice bath. Let them sit for just a minute, long enough for them to cool for handling. At this point the skins should slip right off when giving the fruit a little squeeze (this is the reason for the "x"). Using your fingers, carefully peel the tomato open over a sieve placed on top of a bowl. The goal is to remove as many seeds as possible while reserving the juice that drains into the bowl beneath. Discard the skins and seeds and add the reserved juice to the meats of the tomatoes. At this point you can either leave the tomatoes as is for a chunkier sauce or you can break down the tomatoes a bit using an immersion blender. I chose to give my tomatoes a quick whirl with the immersion blender leaving them semi-chunky.


My apologies for not getting a better picture, I try not to act like a food loving weirdo when we have company over... So I snuck into the kitchen to snap this quick photo when nobody was looking! :)

 

Once in awhile we all impress ourselves in the kitchen. This sauce gave me one of those very proud moments. :) All listed measurements are only an approximation since nothing was actually measured out.

MUSHROOM GARLIC MARINARA SAUCE:

2 TBSP olive oil
1/4 C chopped onion
4-5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried rosemary (crushed)
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 C sherry
1 1/4 C sliced baby Bella or cremini mushrooms
30 Roma tomatoes peeled and seeded
Salt

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over Med. heat. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic and dried herbs. Cook for a few more minutes. Add the sherry to deglaze the pan, add the mushrooms and simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add the prepared tomatoes and season with salt. Allow to simmer for at least one hour. enjoy! :)

Chicken Enchiladas in a Creamy Avocado Sauce

Chicken Enchiladas in a Creamy Avocado Sauce! I had my picky eater close his eyes and taste the sauce before he saw what color it was. :) He loved it!

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
2 C. chicken broth
3/4 C. sour cream
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp.garlic powder
1/4 tsp.pepper
2 California avocados, peeled and pitted
1/2 C. chopped fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
6-8 flour tortillas
Cooked shredded chicken (I used 5 thin sliced chicken breasts)
Monterey Jack Cheese shredded (about 1lb)

 

DIRECTIONS:

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the flour, whisking until golden and bubbly. Slowly whisk the broth into the flour mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, cumin, salt, garlic powder and pepper, whisk to remove any lumps. Remove from the heat and transfer mixture to a blender. Add avocados, cilantro and lime juice, and pulse until smooth and well-blended. (an immersion blender works well for this!)

To assemble the enchiladas, place a tortilla on a flat surface. Spread a tablespoon or two of the avocado sauce down the middle of the tortilla. Then layer on some shredded chicken and cheese. Carefully roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in to a 13x9 glass baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Drizzle the top with about half of the remaining avocado cream sauce, cover the dish with foil and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, or until heated through.

Serve enchiladas drizzled with the remainder of the avocado cream sauce. You can also garnish with additional cilantro, cheese, and/or sour cream. I also served with homemade salsa! Mmmm! Enjoy!

Homemade Caramel Sauce

I've been wanting to try making homemade caramel sauce for quite awhile now. And after a recent family trip to Apple Hill and regretting the whole way home not buying a caramel apple, I thought it the perfect opportunity to finally give it ...a try. I had been eyeballing a few recipes online, but when I found this recipe by HowDoesShe?.com I knew I had a winner. Let me tell you folks, this is one of the most satisfying sugary treats I have ever concocted! I'm not sure if it was the farm fresh apple or my mad kitchen skills, but I was left literally scraping what I could out of the bowl and licking it off of my finger!!! AH-MAZING stuff here!!!

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

3/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C corn syrup
1/3 C butter
2/3 C whipping cream

 

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the first four ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a full boil over medium heat. This should take 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in whipping cream and pour into a container. The sauce will thicken as it cools.