Blue Cheese Dressing

Do you buy salad dressing? I don't... I know what you're thinking, what??? She does not buy a salad dressing??? No, I don't...There is something about a bottle of dressing that has been seating in your fridge for weeks or months and still appears to be good... I often wonder what's in it that keeps it fresh for so long...it just can't be good for you. Instead, I prefer to make my own, if I feel like having a salad, I just whip up a batch of my favorite and voila! One of my all time favorite is Buttermilk-chive dressing ( I'll post recipe one day) and blue cheese is close second. If you are looking for healthy/low calorie recipe, this is not one of them, although it can be made healthier but substituting most of the mayo with Greek yogurt.

I was wondering what is your favorite homemade dressing/vinaigrette? If you prefer store bought one, is there one brand that you can't live without?

Here it the recipe:



1 1/2 cups mayonnaise ( used 1 cup of Greek Yogurt and 1/2 cup of mayo)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 cup coarsely crumbled blue cheese
Buttermilk (optional)

Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add blue cheese and stir until well blended. If too thick, thin with buttermilk by tablespoonfuls to desired consistency. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Steak with mushrooms & pesto roasted potatoes...

Let me start by saying that I would be a vegetarian if it wouldn't be for great juicy steak.. I LOVE a well cooked, flavorful piece of beef. We do not eat a lot of beef in general but every now and again we indulge! I try to change things around every time I cook steak, from different marinades to side dishes. This being said if you'll ask my husband, mushrooms are always a must, so I always try to incorporate it in some way. There is something in the beef-mushroom combination that he LOVES. I served steak with rice, couscous, bread, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes etc. My favorite are roasted potatoes, but they can be a little boring, so I try different variations of roasted potatoes. Here is the menu: marinated rib eye steak with pesto roasted potatoes and roasted red wine mushrooms.

Steak:

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, October 2002 issue.

* 2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
* 1/3 cup coarse salt
* 1/4 cup chili powder
* 1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 2 teaspoons ground coriander
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 9 garlic cloves, pressed
* boneless rib-eye steaks
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil

There is enough spice mixture for 8 16 oz steaks, you can cut the recipe in half if you are making fewer steaks.

Mix first 7 ingredients in medium bowl. Using fork, mash in garlic. Using 3 tablespoons spice mixture for each steak, rub spices onto both sides of steaks. Whisk corn oil into remaining spice mixture; set oil rub aside. Place steaks in two 13x9x2-inch glass dishes. Cover; chill steaks and oil rub at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush steaks with some of oil rub. Grill steaks to desired doneness, brushing occasionally with oil rub, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare; let stand 5 minutes.



Pesto-roasted potatoes:

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, June of 2002 issue.

* 8 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
* 2 large shallots
* 4 garlic cloves


* Nonstick vegetable oil spray
* 2 lbs of your favorite potatoes
* 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Blend 4 tablespoons olive oil, basil, shallots, and garlic in processor until smooth. Season basil sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Toss all potatoes with 4 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper in large bowl to coat. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Roast potatoes until almost tender, about 35 minutes. Pour basil sauce over potatoes and toss to coat. Continue roasting potatoes until golden brown and tender when pierced with skewer, about 20 minutes longer.

Transfer potatoes to serving bowl. Add cheese and toss to coat.

Roasted mushrooms:

# 3 lb fresh porcini mushrooms
# 6 garlic cloves, minced
# 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
# 1/4 cup dry Marsala wine
# 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
# 1 teaspoon salt
# Handful of chopped parsley

Halve or quarter larger mushrooms, keeping smaller ones whole, and transfer all to a baking pan. Toss all mushrooms with, garlic, thyme, wine, 3 tablespoons oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Roast mushroom mixture, covered with foil, in upper third of oven are tender and golden brown, about 45 minutes total. Season mushrooms to taste with salt and pepper. Add chopped parsley and serve.

Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread

Yes, you guessed it- My oven finally works!!! After much aggravation and frustration trying get it up and running, it was finally fixed last week. I had huge baking extravaganza planned for the weekend but with temperatures over 115'F, I wasn't really into using my oven too much. I did manage to bake this lovely bread, with the leftover zucchini I had in a fridge and was somewhat surprised at how well it turned out. The recipe called for zucchini and sweet potato, which I would never thought of combining but what a delicious mix! This recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, November of 1992 issue. I did modify recipe a little... I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup of granulated sugar instead of 2 cups of granulated sugar, recipe called for. I felt that it was plenty sweet but you can adjust it for your own taste. I also used 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and 1/4 cup of yogurt in lieu of 3/4 cup of oil asked for in the original recipe. I served it with homemade Apple Butter (recipe follows)

SWEET POTATO & ZUCCHINI BREAD



* 2 cups all purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups sugar( I used 1/2 cup brown & 3/4 cup of granulated sugar instead)
* 3/4 cup vegetable oil ( I used 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 of plain yogurt)
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
* 1 1/2 cups grated peeled sweet potato
* 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Sift first 5 ingredients into medium bowl. Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla to blend in large bowl. Mix in zucchini and sweet potato. Add dry ingredients and walnuts and stir well.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool bread in pan on rack 15 minutes. Cut around bread to loosen. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Wrap in foil and let stand at room temperature.)

SPICED APPLE BUTTER



4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1 cup apple cider
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp each ground cloves and allspice

Combine apples and cider in a very large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently for 20 minutes or until mixture is reduced by half.
Stir in sugar, spices and lemon juice. Return to a boil, reduce heat, and boil gently for about 25 minutes or until mixture is very thick. There should still be some tender apple chunks remaining. Remove from heat. You can puree if you'd like a smooth butter