Wheat Berry Parfait

This isn’t exactly a parfait because I mixed everything together instead of making pretty layers, but it still made a fantastic breakfast! If you cook a large batch of wheat berries on the weekend, you can make this dish very quickly in the morning. I used a Greek-style yogurt which you can see is quite thick, but any style yogurt will work well. The strawberry flower on top is to remind you that spring is here!

1/4 c. wheat berries, simmered until tender
6 oz. plain yogurt
6-7 strawberries, sliced

Mix wheat berries, yogurt, and strawberries, or layer them in a glass bowl.

Chayote

This was the first time I attempted to cook a chayote. First, here’s what it looks like next to a baseball for size reference:

For my first experiment, I decided to keep things simple. I sliced the chayote, leaving the peel on. I heated a few teaspoons of olive oil in a frying pan, and sauteed the slices until they were slightly browned. With just a dash of salt and pepper, they were ready to serve.

The taste is comparable to zucchini, although perhaps slightly sweeter, and the flesh was firm even when cooked. I can’t pinpoint why I didn’t enjoy this as much as I expected, since zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables. There are many other recipes which use chayote though, and I will try one soon!

Spicy Scallops

These scallops are spicy, I promise! This is also a very quick and easy recipe; my dinner was on the table in 15 minutes. Either bay or sea scallops will work, you simply need to adjust the cooking time.

1 t garlic powder
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t thyme
Dash cayenne pepper
6 oz. scallops

Mix spices in a sealable bag, and add scallops. Seal bag, and shake well. Coat a frying pan with cooking spray, and place on medium heat. When pan is hot, add scallops, and cook for a few minutes on one side until browned. Turn scallops, and cook an additional few minutes on the other side.

Manicotti

This post is more than just a recipe, it’s a complete guide to making homemade manicotti. Trust me, this is not as difficult as you may think, and all of the ingredients are very familiar.

Let’s start with the shells. First, mix a batter of 4 eggs well beaten, 1 c. flour, 1/2 t salt, 1 1/3 c. milk, and 2 T melted butter.

We used an 8″ saute pan, rubbed with canola oil. This size pan requires slightly less than 1/4 c. batter for each shell. If you are using a smaller pan, you can adjust the amount of batter. Pour the batter into the pan, tilting to make the crepe as thin as possible, and cook until the top of the shell appears dry. Using a rubber scraper to loosen the edges, slide the shell onto waxed paper to cool. Note that you are only cooking the shell from one side.

While the shells are cooling, mix the filling ingredients in a bowl: 1 T fresh parsley, 1 lb. ricotta cheese, 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella, 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, 1 t salt, and 2 eggs slightly beaten. (Thanks to neighbor Marge for the fresh parsley from her garden!)

Now, it’s time to assemble them. Spread a scoop of filling onto each shell, and roll.

At this point, you can freeze the manicotti to cook later, or you can place them in a pan with sauce on the bottom and then spread more sauce top. Bake for 20 minutes at 350F. Here is the final product:

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and enjoy!

Creamsicle Pie

My last recipe from spring break is Creamsicle Pie. This recipe adapts very easily, using different types of cookies and different flavors of ice cream.


9 oz. box gingersnaps (about 35 cookies)
5 T butter, melted
3 c. vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
1 1/2 c. orange sherbet, slightly softened

Finely grind gingersnaps and mix with butter, reserving a few crumbs for the top of the pie. Press into a 9″ pie plate coated with cooking spray, and bake 10 minutes at 350F. Cool completely.

Swirl ice cream and sherbet, and place in cooled pie shell. Refreeze until firm.

Kelly’s Guacamole

After a long day of reading magazines on the beach, this guacamole hit the spot! My sister Kelly was chef for the afternoon, and she left the evidence on my camera ‘for the blog’.

Harvesting the Cilantro

Gathering the Ingredients

The Final Product

With tortilla chips of course!

Time to enjoy….

Mint Brownies

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! While these mint brownies are not an authentic Irish recipe, they are a fun holiday treat.

1. Make a 13×9 pan of brownies, either from a mix or from scratch, and let them cool completely.

2. Use a hand mixer to cream together 1/4 c. soft butter, 2 T milk, 2 c. powdered sugar, and a dash each of peppermint extract and green food coloring. Spread the frosting over the brownies, and cool in the refrigerator for an hour.

3. In a double boiler, heat 1 T butter and 1 T unsweetened chocolate until melted, and drizzle over the frosting. Cool in the refrigerator until the top layer is completely set.

Wheat Berry Salad

With a bowl full of cooked wheat berries and fresh lettuce, I couldn’t decide between a grain salad and a traditional green salad. Ultimately, I mixed the cooked wheat berries with diced celery and carrots, and then tossed it in a dressing of canola oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt, and cayenne pepper, and finally mixed in some torn lettuce and a sprinkle of asiago cheese. My family enjoyed the salad, even though it was just a bit difficult to keep those wheat berries on the fork.

Dinner entertainment included this graceful bird, on the hunt for his own dinner.

Sunny Side Oats

I am always inspired by the wonderful oatmeal variations at KERF, and I took this opportunity to cook Sunny Side Up Oats for breakfast for my Dad, who loves both oats and eggs. I started with basic oats (1/2 c. oats; 1/2 c. milk; 1/2 c. water) and then sprinkled asiago cheese and placed an egg cooked sunny side up on top. My Dad enjoyed this variation and said that it kept him full for the next 4-5 hours on the golf course.

Chicken Marsala

I am on location in sunny Florida, enjoying spring break. I’ll still be sharing my cooking experiences, starting with this incredible Chicken Marsala. To be fair, I played the role of observer and photographer while my Mom did most of the cooking. First, she coated the chicken breasts in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, and pan fried them in some oil. Then she removed them from the pan and set them aside.

Then, she sliced up some mushrooms, and cooked those in a mix of melted butter and Marsala wine:

She added some fresh spinach to the pan, and she might have thrown in a little more wine as the spinach wilted. The chicken breasts were placed back in the pan with the lid on to finish cooking. Here is the final product, which was amazing.

But the best part is the fantastic view we enjoyed while eating on the lanai.