am on my way into the kitchen right now to cook this, saw that I never reblogged it and wanted to share the best turkey meatloaf recipe with all of you.Enjoy!

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Fully Cooked turkey loaf
ready for the oven turkey meatloaf with ketchup/brown sugar topping

 It’s Sunday our kids are still out here and I am in the mood for turkey meatloaf . We haven’t had turkey meat loaf in a very long time and it is a perfect crowd pleaser for the family table.

The first time I made this was in Aspen with my friend Susan many moons ago. We found the recipe from Barefoot Contessa and it was back in the day I wasn’t living out there yet and before my blog was born. We collaborated on it, and Joel and Drew liked it so much they used to tell us to open a shop with turkey lasagna and turkey meat loaf (uh uh, not happening) In any event , it has long become a staple in both of our households and even Drew makes it now. I hope you enjoy it…

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I am starting to post my Passover Recipes, any questions feel free to contact me right on this blog and I will be happy to get back to you. This is a hands down winner, very easy to make and a real crowd pleaser and once you’ve made it you always will. Enjoy!

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This is most definitely a “must have” Passover recipe.  It has been a winning recipe ever since my friend Audrey gave it to me many years ago. This one is probably one of the most favorite Passover staples. Recipes are funny in that -they tend to spread out to a wide group of people and people start passing them down to their people and so forth and so on and before you know it no one remembers where the original recipe came from , they just remember that it was on their Passover table and they can’t imagine a Seder dinner without it.  Enjoy this one; it is sweet and makes for a delicious side dish with poultry or beef. This has always been a crowd pleaser. I know, the amount of eggs is obscene on this holiday! This one has 7 eggs in it!!!!!

Make this part of your…

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Chicken and Mushroom Ragu over Pasta

I kind of winged this one but it came out so well I just had to post it . I had mushrooms , I had skinless chicken thighs, and all of the other ingredients. Pappardelle type pasta would have been awesome, but I only had fettucine. It was perfectly fine, just try and get as fat a noodle as possible, fettucine, pappardelle type of spaghetti. This is a rustic type ragu, of course you can use white meat chicken just cut into 1/2″ pieces. Firstly what is a ragu?  In Italian cuisine it is a meat-based sauce, commonly served with a pasta. In the northern Italian regions, a ragu is typically a sauce of meat , and cooked with sautéed vegetables in a liquid. Meats are varied and the liquids can be broth, stock, water wine, milk , cream or tomato, and often includes combinations of these. Characteristically, a ragu is a sauce of braised or stewed meat that may be flavoured with tomato, to distinguish it from a tomato sauce that is flavoured with the addition of meat. In southern Italian regions, ragus contain substantial quantities of meat, cooked with vegetables and tomatoes as well. This ragu is a winner, and pretty easy. You’ll need a food processor to get the mushrooms chopped, and a 12″ heavy skillet.

I might also add that I added the arugula and Joel had quite the time picking it out. It added a wonderful flavor despite his picking, I would have loved to do a pod cast of him picking it out, but I was too busy enjoying the dish! photo (8)photo (11)photo (10)photo (12)

Picture of a beautiful Colorado Day from my kitchen to yours. Just have to add that my family is out here now and they loved this dish! especially my son-in-law Brian.

*serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients:

6 oz. cremini mushrooms

3 garlic cloves

1 1/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into app. 1/2-inch pieces

1 small onion chopped

3/4 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes in juice

1 lb. box of pasta, Pappardelle, Fettucine, any thick spaghetti will do nicely

5 oz. baby arugula, kale, spinach whatever green you like and have in the house will work just fine (use as much or as little of this as you want, 5 oz. was an estimate)

grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Pulse mushrooms and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped

Heat olive oil in a 12 inch heavy skillet over medium high heat. Cut chicken into 1/2″ pieces ( approximately) and season chicken with about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and  about 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Cook chicken in olive oil until a golden color, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Reduce heat to medium and cook onion in oil, stirring occasionally until softened , about 5 minutes.

Add mushroom mixture, rosemary , 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, stirring constantly until it begins to brown up, again about 5 minutes.

Add vinegar and cook until evaporated for about 3 minutes, Add chicken and tomatoes ( with juice) then bring to a simmer, breaking up whole tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon, stir occasionally, cook until sauce starts to thicken up, about 30 minutes or so.

Meanwhile cook pasta until al-dente (according to package directions)

Add arugula to sauce and stir until wilted , it will wilt immediately, reserve a cup of pasta water before draining pasta and add to sauce as needed, I probably used 1/2 cup of pasta water to thin it out . Serve sauce over pasta, it was delicious.

Spring is almost here= Passover and Easter around the corner

Can’t believe that it’s almost Spring and with that comes Passover and Easter. Spring is March 20,  Passover is March 25 , Easter is March 31!  I am always on the hunt for new and exciting recipes and welcome any and all suggestions. I have a couple of recipes from last Passover from some of you that I still haven’t even tried yet,  I have every intention of doing so. I will start reblogging all of my recipes that have already been posted for new readers and to make it easy on my faithful following. Please send me any recipes and ideas that you may want to share, I obviously love sharing my recipes and hope you will too.  I cannot post all of the recipes or even try them all , but the one that lands on my holiday table this year will win a prize from CWC. So good luck and look  forward to hearing from you and feel free to email me at cmk55@sopris.net

I originally posted this in September 2011, so decided it was time to make a re-appearance for those of you who may have missed it, and for those of you who may have forgotten about it. It’s a perfect week night go to pasta, or any night of the week pasta for that matter. Good for vegetarians and if you want to add protein go right ahead! Enjoy

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Le Creuset Pot
Dreamy Creamy Penne with Vodka Sauce
Vodka Sauce Ingredients

This is what I’m dreaming about today: vodka sauce over pasta. You can add shrimp, sausage, chicken, meatballs…whatever you like. Or, keep it vegetarian and just use pasta. I’ve played around with this sauce a few ways. I prefer to start with whole plum tomatoes in the can with their juices. I use an immersion blender stick to blend the ingredients along the way and reach that perfect, creamy consistency that vodka sauce is known for. The stick radically changes your life since you don’t have to pour hot liquid into a blender. It’s worth the investment. However, if you don’t have one, you can use the blender. Just wait until sauce is cool before pouring it into the glass blender. This is a tasty delicious sauce slow-cooked in the oven rather than all on stove top. I…

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Banana Cake in a Bundt Pan- more things to do with rotten bananas

photo (5) photo (2) photophoto (3) photo photo (2)I have been staring at three very brown, ugly bananas for about a week already. Joel kept asking me what am I doing with them? should he throw them out or what. I have to admit , these were 3 of the most pathetic looking rotten bananas I have ever seen. I kept saying I am going to do something with them, and days would go by. Finally , I had enough of them staring up at me day after day. I wanted to make a banana bread in a bundt form for a while now, so what better day than today? I had yogurt in the house, 3 lousy looking bananas, and all the other ingredients on hand. This is what I did.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter ( softened)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

2 eggs ( room temperature)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 very ripe (over-ripe large bananas) app. 1 1/4 cup, mashed

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 container plain yogurt ( you can use nonfat) just use plain ,a small container app. 6 oz.

*3/4 cup chopped pecans , optional

*confectioner’s sugar to sprinkle on top , I didn’t but if you’re serving it’s a nice

touch

Bundt Pan for baking , or 10″ tube pan

Shopping List:

plain yogurt , 6 oz. container . I usually have the Greek one in the house nonfat is fine.  * chopped nuts

Staples:

butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, all-purpose flour, table salt, baking powder, baking soda ( check expiration dates* see note) ripe bananas.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. I sprayed bundt pan with baking spray, you can butter it and sprinkle with flour if you don’t have spray. Why not save on the calories? and clean up is a snap. I am loving Bakers Joy Spray these days .

Beat softened butter and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat one egg into butter/sugar mixture until completely blended, then beat in vanilla and second egg, fold in bananas. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir flour mixture into creamed banana mixture alternating with yogurt, mixing until just combined in electric mixer, do not over-mix. Fold in pecans if you’re using them and pour batter evenly into prepared bundt pan.

Bake in preheated oven until a cake tester comes out clean, my cake baked in app. 43 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, all ovens are different and out here in altitude I find it’s always a challenge. You may have to bake for a full 50 minutes or more, just keep checking. Cool for at least 15 minutes before turning out. I cut into it and it was warm and delicious. If you’d like dust with confectioners sugar before serving. Feel free to freeze this cake for another time. Wrap well, and usually I cut into 2 halves, and wrap and place in freezer bag that is labeled with date and item. Allow cooked dishes to cool to room temperature and then wrap tightly before storing in the freezer or refrigerator.

Note about stale flour, baking soda and baking powder:

You may think these pantry staples never go bad but they do, they all have expiration dates and while I believe they are fine for a while after those dates you must use your nose. I tend to throw away baking soda and baking powder when they’re expired because they can cause your baking to fail .

Remember to smell and taste ingredients for freshness, always check dates on flour, baking soda , baking powder etc. Flour has a distinct smell when it has gone bad. I slip a piece of the original wrapping in my flour jar with expiration date, I bake a lot so I stay on top of it but you want to be sure. If an ingredient is slightly off it will wreck all your hard work, so be diligent. Even cooking spray has expiration dates, I am particularly crazy about this little detail and because I go back and forth to 2 houses, sometimes it’s really crazy, but necessary.

One of my most favorite cookie recipes for sure. If you love crispy chocolate chip cookies, this is the one. Glass of milk is a must! Enjoy.

cookingwithcandi's avatarCooking with Candi

I just love a crispy chocolate chip cookie. Plain and simple. I don’t love the chewy ones nearly as much.  While perusing through all of my magazines and books, trying out new recipes, etc., I found this one. It’s similar to many I have but the few key ingredients like superfine sugar and vegetable oil make all the difference. The recipe was in The Food Network Magazine. This recipe produces a crispy cookie pretty simply. Nothing beats a comforting cold glass of milk with a dunked chocolate chip cookie. I’ll take it any day of the week. These cookies are great with tea and coffee, as well. You can freeze them and take them out as you want them. I cannot keep these cookies around because I will eat them all. I keep only a few out and freeze the rest in a big Ziploc freezer bag, they defrost very…

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Orzo and Lamb Shanks – Winter Comfort Food

photo (7)photo (8)photo (6)photo (5)photo (4)photo (2)photoI had just purchased Ina Garten’s new “Foolproof” cookbook back in 2013 and this amazingly delicious recipe was in there. I have to admit, I didn’t care for the way the lamb shanks looked raw but luckily I got past this. It was Oscar night 2013 and I couldn’t wait to sit down and watch. My idea of an Oscar party is to eat dinner at home and be in my pj’s by the time they start. Being out in Colorado means they start red carpet at 3, so dvr was set and I got to work on dinner. I like to watch the Oscars themselves live, so I had my work cut out for me. I also like watching alone, with texting and tweeting its like you are never alone anyway. It was a perfectly cold winter night, and Joel and I both love braised meats. This was pretty easy to pull together and I did it in under an hour, put in the oven and 2 hours later we were ready to eat this delicious meal. I must say the orzo was spectacular, and I would make this without meat as well.

This was my original post and then this New Years Eve it was on the menu again! We shared New Years Eve with our dear friends and spent the afternoon shopping and cooking! Now that’s my kind of meal. It takes a little work but totally worth the effort .I put up some pics of this as well.

Ingredients:

*this recipe serves 4, I cut it in 1/2 for Joel and I, but I made the 2 cups of orzo which we ate the next night as well.

1 cup all-purpose flour

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

4 lamb shanks ( app. 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. each)

Grapeseed oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chopped yellow onions

2 cups diced carrots ( app. 4 – 5 carrots)

3 stalks diced celery ( medium diced)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes , including the juice

2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 cups dry white wine, plus 3 tablespoons

2 bay leaves

2 cups orzo

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and dredge the lamb shanks in it, shaking off any excess flour. In a large Dutch oven such as Le Creuset , heat 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil over medium -high heat . Add lamb shanks and cook for about 10 minutes, till browned on all sides, using tongs let them brown on all sides, be careful not to burn oil. Transfer the shanks to a plate. Don’t crowd the shanks, so do 2 at a time, you may need to add a little grapeseed oil for the second time.

Let pot cool a little and wipe Dutch oven with a paper towel, removing all remnants of old oil. Add the olive oil and heat over medium to medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, rosemary and cook for about 10 minutes until all veggies are tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the can of tomatoes, beef broth, wine, 3 teaspoons kosher salt and 2 teaspoons pepper. Add the lamb shanks, try and submerge them as much as possible in the liquid. Put in the bay leaves and bring to a simmer on the stovetop. Once it is simmering, cover the pot and place in the oven for 2 hours, I turned the shanks around after the first hour.

After 2 hours, add the orzo, stir it in and return the lamb shanks to the oven for about 20 minutes, until orzo is fully cooked and the lamb shanks are very tender. Discard the bay leaves, stir in 3 tablespoons of white wine, and taste for seasonings. Mine didn’t need any more seasoning, I also cut original salt in the recipe to 3 teaspoons instead of 4 and it was perfect. You can always add additional salt at the end.

Serve hot and enjoy!

White Bean and Tomatoes with Veggies Soup- can be vegetarian

photo (2)photo (2)photo (2)photo (2)photo (5)I decided to take a little bit different spin on my usual vegetable soup.  I did use chicken stock but you can certainly keep this completely vegetarian with vegetable stock. Play around with it and use whatever ingredients you like and whatever vegetables and stock suit your tastes best. This was delicious and heartwarming,  we ate some and froze the rest for another time. This should stay frozen for about 3 months in freezer. When you defrost you’ll thin out with a little stock while heating it up. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic , chopped

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

1 can yellow corn, drained ( 15 oz. can)

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

5 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

2 15 oz. cans of white beans, drained and rinsed I used Cannellini but butter beans would be nice too, any white bean would work here

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried thyme

5 – 6 small red potatoes , cut into small pieces (had them in the house and they added a really nice flavor)

*fresh kale , rib removed and torn into small pieces.  This is totally optional, I had some kale on hand and decided to use it. Spinach would also be delicious.

Directions:

In a large stock pot ( Le Creuset) over medium heat , saute onion and garlic until tender and onion is translucent , approximately 5 minutes or so. Stir in carrots and corn, season with salt and pepper. I just throw in some kosher salt and a few grinds of the pepper mill. You will taste for salt and pepper towards the end , so don’t worry about seasonings. Cook carrots and corn for a few more minutes, give it a few stirs. Pour in chicken broth, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and thyme. Bring soup to a low boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for app. one hour.

Separate soup into 2 equal portions, I just took out 1/2 of the soup into another bowl. Allow soup to cool to room temperature, once cooled down sufficiently puree  the half that you took out in a blender or food processor until smooth. Return that pureed batch to the remaining soup in stockpot and heat until warmed through. Adjust your seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. If soup appears to be very thick you can thin it out with a little water or broth, add a little at a time. I also added some fresh kale at this time, I removed the rib and tore the leaves into small pieces.  This is totally optional, but since I had the kale I figured I would. Serve hot with a nice crusty bread . I love the pretzel rolls from Whole Foods, check them out.

Here’s a great recipe that I posted last March. If you haven’t made it as of yet, give this one a go. It’s healthy and delicious, and pretty easy to make. Perfect for Sunday night dinner, go and buy ingredients and enjoy!

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This stew cooked up super fast, and was very tasty and very healthy. I only used 3 oz. of spinach even though the recipe calls for 6, because 6 oz. would be way too much spinach to get past Joel. Even with just three oz., he picked out all the green from his plate. Oh well, there was more for me, and I love spinach.  This whole recipe–from start to finish–took under an hour. It should serve 4 nicely.  A nice loaf of crusty bread would be perfect alongside. The beans give this recipe enough that you don’t really need pasta but if you want to stretch this recipe you can add pasta or rice. Oh and the spinach adds a little green for St. Patricks Day!

Ingredients:

1/2 tsp. fennel seed

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. fresh minced garlic

1 tsp crushed rosemary (dried)

1/2 tsp. oregano

1/2 tsp. black…

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