Cooler temperatures really do require comforting and hearty foods. Sometimes the simplest of ingredients can truly make the most satisfying of meals. Plus you don’t have to sacrifice good nutrition or big bucks in the process. Those are all qualities of a winning meal in my book!

I am a big fan of beans. I really could eat them everyday, they are so versatile and packed with nutrients. But, I know not everyone likes beans as much as I do…I had some leftover cooked Borlotti beans from Rancho Gordo that I got in San Francisco during the Foodbuzz Food Blogger’s Festival.  I needed to use them up, so I asked Roberto how he would like them to be prepared. He asked for “Cowboy Beans”. This comes from his growing up in Italy and watching old American Westerns on TV. In many of the movies, there were scenes of cowboys eating baked beans from a can. So as a child he always wanted to know what those cowboy beans tasted like. He tells me that he never imagined them tasting as good as when I make them. What a sweet husband I have.

I love baked beans, and we make them often at home. My grandmother was famous for her beans. I guess it is a family thing!

My most recent rendition of cowboy beans also included carrots, and potatoes, to stretch the recipe and make extra for leftovers. I slow cooked them with smoked polish sausage. A perfect winter time meal!

INGREDIENTS:

1 strip of bacon, chopped
½ a large onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 small potatoes, chopped
4 small carrots, chopped
1 cup of leftover beans
1 can of tomato paste
1 empty tomato paste can full of water
dash of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 TBS maple sugar or syrup
salt & pepper to taste
1 package of smoked Polish sausage (or any kind of sausage), cut into smaller chunks

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a dutch oven, or large oven proof pot add the bacon and brown. Add onion, garlic, potatoes and carrots, and sautee for about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly. Once the veggies are getting browned, add the beans, tomato paste, water, BBQ sauce, maple and seasoning. Stir until veggies are coated with the sauce. Then add the sausage and put the lid on the pot. Cook at 350 for about an hour. Check to see if more liquid needs to be added. If so, add more water – and then check your seasoning. Cook for another 30 minutes. You can keep the pot simmering at a lower temperature, like 200 F, to keep warm until you are ready to serve. Just keep checking your liquid amounts.

Serves 4 big portions. Less than $3 per serving.

This is a great dish to serve your loved one(s) for Valentine’s day. The flavors are unique, as are some of the ingredients which makes it a special kind of meal. Yet at the same time it is quite easy to prepare – the oven does most of the work. It is like fancied soul food.

Lately, I have been trying to familiarize myself with artisan brews. For years, like a lot of people, I thought I just didn’t like beer. But I have come to find that once in a while, I do enjoy a bit of the bubbly. I prefer unique brews, generally dark porters and stouts, and I love British style hard cider (which isn’t beer either…), but sometimes a lighter beer catches my fancy. I have always been fascinated with the Ancient world, especially in Northern Europe. The myths, stories and legends of Scotland, England, Ireland, Brittany in Northern France, and Scandinavia have always been my favorites. Of course due to my food obsession, I have also been curious about ancient feasts – the foods and cuisines.

Years ago I found an amazing ale, the likes of which has been made in Scotland for over 4,000 years. This ale is brewed with heather flowers and Scottish malt and has a very floral flavor. It is quite refreshing and crisp, and goes really well with roasted chicken. It can also be enjoyed on it’s own, or with really earthy cheeses, like raw cow or sheep milk cheeses, which often have a grassy quality to them.

In light of recently finding out a bit more about my biological ancestry, I decided that it would be fun to start exploring more of the foods and dishes of Northern Europe (perhaps that explains my long held fascination with that area of the world, and its history). I also happened upon a pack of Fraoch, Scottish Heather Ale,and felt inspired to make roasted whole chicken legs and root veggies with a heather ale sauce. In honor of our upcoming move to Vermont, I also added some maple syrup to enhance the sweetness of the ale, and used Herbs de Provence to enhance the floral qualities. I can honestly say the result was one of the best dishes I have made in a while. If I had known how good this was going to be, I would have made it for Valentine’s Day. It is definitely special enough for that. Thank you kitchen muses for this wonderful meal! Sometimes, hobbies and interest outside of the kitchen, can really inspire us, IN the kitchen. This dish is certainly a testament to that.

For dessert, be sure to try my Spicy Mayan Hot Chocolate . It is a recipe from my e-book The Secret Energy of Love Through Food .

Here is a sweet way that you can give a little this Valentine’s Day – I will be giving all the proceeds for the book, during the month of February, to blogger efforts on behalf of Haiti relief.

Half will go to H2Ope for Haiti (a way to raise funds to supply water to Haiti by BloggerAid-CFF) and the other half will go to

Stir It  28 for Haiti

So please buy a copy today!  And please spread the word! This is a perfect cookbook  for Valentine’s Day and any day to share a delicious meal with any loved one!

You can also send a donation directly to Stir It 28 by going to Bren’s blog There is a Paypal donation box on the upper right hand side and to H2ope for Haiti by going to this Justgiving Page .

Recipe under the cut…

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Shepard’s pie has got to be one of the most comforting meals around. I love this dish, and this is THE BEST one I have ever made. The most rewarding thing for me, since I have started cooking exclusively with Happy Meat, and local and organic vegetables, is when I make simple dishes like this, that I have always loved and made a billion times before, and realize how much better it tastes when you are using the freshest and best ingredients you can find.

Ingredients really do matter – not just in terms of health, but also in terms of taste. It really does take it up to a whole new level. I can attest to this, because even Roberto, can taste the difference. He will marvel at how good it tastes, and wonder how it can be so, since I used the same ingredients – and then he will realize that it is because the quality of the ingredients have changed since the last time I have made this. Lately he has been saying that everything I cook is the best thing he has ever tasted! Now, I know I am a good cook, but I can’t take all the credit.

Making a dish like Shepard’s pie, doesn’t take much effort – and the cost is minimal – even when you use the best of ingredients. All it costs you is about 10 – 15 minutes of prep time. The rest of the work is done in the oven, or on the stovetop, where you don’t have to do anything, but smell how good it is!

This meal is less than $3 per person – and that is with a hefty man-sized portion. Less than a fast food meal, or something out of a box or a bag – way better for you too, and I guarantee a thousand times tastier. Even your kids will love this one! This meal can serve six, but Roberto and I ate half each – divided over 2 meals – and that was under $3 per serving. Seriously.

Treat yourself to something good and hearty tonight!

INGREDIENTS:

5 large potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks – I used Idahos
water
butter
cream

8 oz. of reserved potato water
1 tsp better than bouillon, beef
(or you can use 8 oz. Homemade beef stock)
splash of wine or stout beer
1 TBS non-GMO cornstarch

1 lb of grassfed ground beef
2 carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 small onion peeled and cut into small chunks
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup of mixed leftover roasted potatoes (sweet and white)
handful of corn
handful of peas
sage
thyme
salt & pepper
Malt vinegar

METHOD:

Boil the potatoes until tender. Reserve 8 oz.of potato water. Hand mash potatoes with butter and cream, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

If using better than bouillon instead of homemade, in a small saucepan, mix potato water and bouillon, and stir together. Heat over medium, and add a splash of red wine, or stout. Whisk in 1 TBS of corn starch, and keep whisking over heat until gravy thickens. Then set aside.

In a cast iron skillet place ground beef, carrots, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until eat begins to brown, and veggies start to soften. Then add your leftover veggies, corn, peas, and spices. Mix together. Pour gravy over top, and stir. Then dollop the mashed potatoes on top and spread evenly over the top of the other ingredients. Sprinkle a hearty bit of malt vinegar over top for that real pub taste!

Enjoy!

Thanks everyone for all your great comments recently – especially as it pertains to my two posts on year 2010 goals. I think we all have goals, but for me, putting it out there and in some sense therefore being more accountable makes it more fun – and more of a challenge for me! So thanks for all your lovely comments and feedback!

In my last post, as it pertains to one of my food goals for this year, I told you I was going to post a recipe for creamy tomato soup that I prepared in my Vitamix for lunch last week. I was lucky enough to receive one of these AWESOME machines from my lovely husband for my birthday. I have been wanting one for over 3 years, and this year, I guess I was a good girl! These machines are not cheap, but they do take the place of a blender, food processor and grinder (you can actually grind coffee beans in it) all in one. In fact you can make fresh fruit and veggie juice in it too – not pulpy but rich and creamy from all the natural fibers – the blades are that powerful. You can even make a kind of ice milk or fruity dessert in it as well.

We have really been enjoying all the above mentioned treats have we make with it, especially our nightly smoothies, but one of the things I love the most about the Vitamix is that is actually MAKES soup – I mean you don’t even have to cook it – the heat created from the friction of the ultra fast blades heats it up! So you literally have soup in 5 minutes.

Here is what I did:

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Pomi strained tomatoes
1 ½ organic roasted red peppers (jarred)
dash of organic heavy cream
salt
freshly ground pepper
dried oregano
dried basil

I put all of this in the Vitamix and let her rip. In about 3-4 minutes you could see the steam coming out of the lid, telling me that it was done. That’s IT. The soup was so rich and creamy. The taste of the black pepper was very prominent – I guess it go so pulverized that it really infused the entire soup. I put a dollop of homemade yogurt on top and it was a wonderful, filling and super healthy lunch full of one of my favorite things – Lycopene, because it is oh so good. So go ahead and enjoy some tomato soup today!

On another note my friend Betherann from Kitchen Courage gifted me with a Beautiful Blogger Award and asked me to share 7 things about myself. So here they are:

1) I just took a DNA test for ancestry and health. I am adopted and know nothing at all about my birth family, my ethnic heritage or the types of health problems that run in the family. I have been waiting 33 years for this – and decided to finally do it. If we are facebook friends, keep checking my status update for how you can be involved in this life changing event! Trust me, it’ll be fun!

2) My favorite flower is the Thistle.

3) If I never had asparagus again in my life, I wouldn’t miss it.

4) I believe in life you have to be willing to take risks in order to realize your full potential.

5) My favorite color is Rust – which is why I probably love eating pumpkin, squash and sweet potatoes so much!

6) I spent a year in Norway and speak some Norwegian  – I used to be fluent – but it has been 15 years!

7) I am a very accurate and passionate archer – makes sense since I am a Sagittarius!

*Disclaimer: Photos in this post are from the video camera – so excuse the quality!

Christmas dinner this year was a small family affair this year – just me, Roberto, my mom and the furry babies. Again I was looking for simplicity. Having just prepared the Feast of the Fishes the night before, I wasn’t feeling like spending hours in the kitchen, again, no matter how much I love cooking! But I did want something special and delicious. So I let my beloved Tagine do the work for me. We added a quick starter and easy side dish and called it dinner!

We started with a tortellini soup. This is something Roberto loves having every year around the winter holidays, because his Mamma used to make it every year this time of year. She uses beef broth in hers, but this year I used some more of my Thanksgiving turkey stock that was in the freezer. Basically I put 2 cups of stock and 1 cup of filtered water on the boil – and added a splash of white wine, some fresh thyme and salt and pepper. Once it came to a slow boil, I added a small package of tortellini. In about 3 minutes it was done. On top we grated some pecorino dolce, and called it the first course!

For the second course, on my mom’s suggestion, we prepared my Nana’s famous stuffed artichokes. You make a stuffing of fresh bread crumbs, Italian parsley, freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enough olive oil to make it come together. Season with salt and pepper. You then stuff the first several rows of outer leaves with the stuffing. Then place stuffed artichokes in a pan with about an inch of water and some fresh squeezed lemon juice. Bring to a boil, lower the temp, put the lid on, and let steam for about 45 minutes. I hadn’t had these in years, and they were so good! I really should make them more often.

For the main course, I wanted something festive, that wasn’t turkey, since we had just roasted one a few weeks ago, for Thanksgiving. I saw some lamb at the store – which is a rarity in these parts, so I picked up a few packages of chops (and some for stew, later). I marinated the lamb chops in a healthy drizzle olive oil, splash of red wine, fresh thyme, and a splash of balsamic. I wanted to serve the chops with our favorite vegetable side – roasted carrots and potatoes! So I chopped 5 potatoes and 6 carrots in large chunks, drizzled them with olive oil and placed them on the bottom of the tagine. I arranged the chops on top, poured the rest of the marinade on top and put on the lid. I placed the tagine in a 350 F oven and cooked it for 1 ½ hours. I didn’t even need to add any liquid. The meat came out falling off the bone.

For dessert it was leftover Pandoro from our trifle the night before. We had a nice and relaxing time – a delicious and festive meal without too much time in the kitchen!

(Me, Mom and Michelle)

This year it was my turn to host the Christmas festivities for my family. For a variety of reasons, we didn’t have a huge Christmas celebration, like the days of yore. In days gone by my great aunt hosted a Feast of the Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve for the whole extended family and we went every year to Western Pennsylvania to enjoy it followed by Christmas Dinner the next day, at my Grandparents house. The feast on Christmas Eve was held in my aunt’s basement and when you walked down there, from the main part of the house, it always smelled so good! Like you were entering a restaurant with so many smells. I remember those warm, happy times spent with my extended family, when everyone was still with us. We will never have those days back and so…

This year I wanted to honor those old and cherished family traditions and memories. I have found often, in my life, that food can bring back the past . One small bite of something or a long forgotten smell, can make the past come swooshing into the present. If only for a second. Since we will be moving in April, I don’t know when the next holiday will be that I can share it with both my mom and my cousin Michelle who both live in Florida. So I decided this was the year to bring back the Feast of the Fishes!

This feast is an Italian American tradition – not celebrated in the motherland, and is derived from a time of abstinence, as it says on Wikipedia: “ in this case, refraining from the consumption of meat or milk products—on Fridays and specific holy days. As no meat or butter could be used, observant Catholics would instead eat fish, typically fried in oil”.

But I must admit, that for me, it was always about the food!

We haven’t done a Feast of the Seven Fishes in my immediate family for years, but it is certainly a tradition that we all enjoyed. So this year, since I was in charge of the menu for Christmas Eve – I decided to bring this tradition back. It was a small gathering this year, only 4 of us, so I decided to do 4 fish courses – including 5 fishes, not the copious amounts of fish dishes from the past, but a revised menu. The menu was dictated by what was available at our local fish store the day before, and what the guests enjoyed from the past. I also wanted to make each course easy to prepare, so that I could enjoy time with my family without being too stressed. Most of these dishes we prepared in between courses together, or while we were eating other courses. So much fun was had in the kitchen with family!

Roberto and I love ceviche, but have never made it at home. In fact it is one of my favorite things, first having fell in love with it in Jamaica on our honeymoon. It is kind of become a “special occasion” dish for us. We had it for our one year anniversary, and most recently for my birthday. So I knew I wanted to make a version of ceviche for this special occasion. I found and used a recipe for Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche from The Ravenous Couple which was excellent. It was the perfect course to enjoy with our champagne toast. The beauty of this dish is how flavorful it is, and also so easy to prepare. It would surely be a hit at any dinner party – elegant, beautiful and fresh.

Next up was Bergensk Fiskesuppe, Bergen Fish Soup. I had received a soup starter from my buddy and Norwegian food blogger Siri, from Transplanted Baker. I was saving it for a special occasion, and this was the perfect one. I added fresh clams to it, and it was very much like a clam chowder, creamy and delicious. Again, with minimal effort. Everyone loved it. All that needed to be added was a bit of cream, water, a splash of wine and the clams. Bring to a boil and serve. Perfect and delicious! I am going to have to get Siri to send me some more!

The third course was Zeppole con Alici. These are basically Italian donuts. However, there is a surprise stuffed inside these Calabrase zeppole or zippoli – they are not sweet like donuts, but savory, and filled with anchovies! I grew up with these, and they were the treat that everyone in my family looked forward to the most at my aunt’s Christmas Eve dinners. Since I entered the world of food blogging, I had seen various recipes for zeppole, but never our anchovy filled ones, until one day, I read my friend Michelle’s post on Bleeding Espresso . Then again last year, here . Apparently Zeppole con Alici, or anchovy filled zeppole are common among the Calabrese, and she grew up in PA with them as a child too. Michelle and I have a lot in common besides being born in PA and growing up with Calabrese relatives! But this post was a revelation to me! Finally a life long mystery solved! Especially since my Italian husband had never heard of these! He loves them now too!

Although my great aunt never did give away her secret recipe, my mom did a bit of recon this year, and found a recipe for zeppole dough. Although you can use Michelle’s – it is pretty much the same one – except her’s has a splash of wine added…yum….We had a great time making zeppole – all of us got in on the action, me, my mom, cousin Michelle and Roberto! Even the pups and cat were excited, smelling all the anchovies. These turned out differently than the zeppole of our youth, but were still delicious. So good in fact that we ate the entire plate of them!

The next course was the main dish, a Stuffed Flounder prepared by my mom. She made a stuffing of toasted pine nuts, bread crumbs, Italian parsley, and capers. Then used it to stuff rolled fresh flounder fillets. You then bake them in some white wine, until flaky. We served this with an easy spinach salad. They were delicious – an easy and great way to make fish. I will certainly do it again in the future.

The last dish was dessert – Trifle with an Italian Twist and no fish included. A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of the Barefoot Contessa and she was making a holiday meal for a blogger – for her blog (lucky girl). For dessert she made a Red Berry Trifle with a cognac pastry cream, and it looked delicious and festive. I adore trifles – well any desserts made up of cream and custard is a winner in my book! So I decided to make a version of her trifle, except with more Italian flavors. Instead of cognac cream, I made frangelico cream. I also put frangelico in my whipped cream, and skipped the sugar. I also skipped the strawberries, opting for full on raspberries and sprinkled it with more frangelico instead of framboise. And I opted for Pandoro – which is a plain version of Panettone, in lieu of pound cake . Pandoro is usually served this time of year in Italy. The trifle was delicious. So delicious that my cousin, Michelle, who vows that “eating any dessert not made with chocolate is a waste”, ate every bite and loved it!

We had a really great night, full of laughter, and good times! This is how I remember Christmas Eve’s of yore and so I guess it all worked out!

Happy Yuletide!

Today marks the day of the Winter Solstice, which means we are in the full swing of the winter holiday season! So if you are like me, you have been attending lots of holiday parties and gatherings. Some of you, like me, may also have some dietary restrictions that keep you from enjoying food at many parties. Or perhaps some of you are trying to watch what you eat during the holiday season or maybe you are tired of going to the grocery store everyday for more food! My advice for you, is when you are asked to bring a dish to a party – keep that in mind. Make sure that you make something you can enjoy from what you have on hand and if you are still worried you will be hungry at the party, have a little snack before you go!

For me, grains are my biggest battle. I can tolerate them if I soak them, but even at that, I try not to overdo it. Sometimes, I may risk the consequences and just go for it, but other times, I try to do the best I can to avoid those foods and with all the parties I have been attending as of late, I have already been overdoing it. Our friends Chris and Erin, who host a weekly community dinner, had a Christmas dress up party theme for last week. Of course, because of my love for reindeer, Roberto and I went sporting antlers and painted noses. I also brought along a nice layered dip – that was both grain free and veggie friendly – since there are a lot of vegetarians at these community dinners and made from stuff I had in the pantry and fridge.

My fridge is a disaster right now and I really didn’t want to go out and buy a huge list of ingredients for this dish. So I looked in the fridge and pantry. I had some canned beans (I am trying to get rid of those – kept on hand for this year’s Hurricane Season) and some salsa and guacamole from Wholly Guac which I received from a PR firm that is sponsoring a giveaway this month on Foodieblogroll.com (you still have until Friday for your chance to win an awesome prize package!!! ). So I ran out to the store just to get some shredded cheese and FAGE Greek yogurt (in place of sour cream), and tortilla chips and I was all set!

The dip was a huge hit and I thought it looked rather festive with all the reds and greens! I am wishing all my readers and fellow bloggers a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. Whatever holiday you celebrate – or even if you don’t celebrate, I hope you have a great week leading up to the New Year! I may not be blogging much between now and the new year. So have a happy, happy, jolly, jolly season!

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(This photo is my submission to this month’s No Croutons Required – the ceramic reindeer was handmade by my Nana (there is a second deer to complete the set) and was handed down to me last year. I love Reindeer decorations and ornaments this time of year!)

I feel like I am so behind on my holiday cookie posts! My friend Judy has been doing the 12 days of cookies, Maria and Amy have been baking up a storm, even Peter who says he doesn’t really fancy baking has several cookie recipes posted and here I am, with only my first cookie post! Oh well, it was worth the wait, because not only are these cookies delicious, one is even packed full of healthy delicious goodness and they are both quick to make! Perfect for a busy holiday schedule!

I was on the quest for some different cookies these year. My family has traditional Sicilian cookies ( Cuccidata and Pizelle ) that we usually make every year. I even made cute little night before Christmas mice one year. But this year, I felt like I wanted to branch out and explore some new…and old flavors.

Growing up, I remember having these yummy no-bake apricot-coconut balls and I really wanted to make them this year. So I found a recipe on World Famous Recipes. I went to the store and got all the ingredients. On the day that I decided to make them, I had a change of heart and got inspired to give them a healthy make-over. So instead of using sweetened condensed milk, like the recipe calls for, I used a combination of Coconut Peanut Butter and Coconut Cream Concentrate – so there is no added sugar in these, only that which comes from the natural fruit sugars. These cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free!

I received samples  of both of these items from Tropical Traditions. They are going to be sponsoring a giveaway in January on Foodieblogroll.com and so they sent me a box of the products that they will be giving away to sample! The substitution worked wonderfully. I also used a mixture of unsweetened dessicated coconut, and fresh coconut, since all four brands of the baking coconut at the grocery store have propelyne glycol in them – which is a “safer alternative to anti-freeze”, and just doesn’t sound too good to me. I only had a little bit of the dessicated coconut in my pantry, so I got some fresh because I was in a pinch! These are really cute bite sized cookies – perfect for those who want something a bit healthier for the holidays. If you don’t have coconut peanut butter or coconut cream, you can use a regular organic peanut butter, tahini or any other nut butter you have on hand. Recipe to follow…

As for the second cookie…I love egg nog, in fact besides Gløgg it is my drink of choice during the holidays. I have it in my morning coffee, straight up or sometimes with a little booze mixed in to keep it festive in the evenings! I sometimes make my own eggnog, and other times just buy the organic stuff at the store. This year I was inspired to make cookies with it! These cookies are a breeze to whip together. I used a recipe from KickedUpCookieRecipes.com and followed it to the letter. These cookies took no time to mix up, and only 25 minutes to bake. You can have 3 dozen of these babies in less than 45 minutes! That is what I call quick holiday baking.

(No bake apricot-coconut balls/ Egg nog cookies)

I brought both of these cookies to my friend Sunshine’s house. She hosted a really fun cookie exchange party last weekend. Basically it was an open house, and all you had to do was bring a plate of holiday cookies. She had holiday beverages and some snacks. She also had some blank cards, where she wrote down what everyone brought to place next to each plate of cookies. Then while at the party you could walk around and sample some, and then before you left to go home, she gave you an empty bag to fill up with a variety of cookies! It was a lot of fun and a great way to try out some new holiday cookies! Also an easy and stress-free way to have a holiday party! Happy Holidays everyone!

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