Apple and Grape Salad with a Caramel Yogurt Dressing

Use what is in season.  This is a fantastic recipe for fall as apples are so plentiful, as are pears.  The combination gives a healthy treat that satisfies your sweet tooth.  Farmers cheese, better yet a hard Farm Fresh Cheese with mild flavor, or grilled chicken would add some nice protein to complete the salad as a full meal while the recipe below is a great side salad or appetizer to a fall dinner.  The caramel dressing is a nice complement to the spiciness of the arugula.

Apple and Grape Salad with a Caramel Yogurt Dressing

1 Tbsp honey (acai honey was used in this recipe)
2 tsp white wine vinegar
6 oz caramel yogurt (Liberte brand used in this recipe)*
3 cups baby arugula (you can mix in other greens as well, such as baby spinach or a "spring mix" but keep them of a more delicate variety)
1 gala or red delicious apple, sliced
1 cup red grapes (moscatto grapes used in this recipe)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup raw walnuts
1 Tbsp caramel topping (Smuckers was used in this recipe)*

Plate the arugula.  Chop apples and toss with lemon juice.  Place apples, walnuts, and sliced grapes on top of arugula.

In a blender or Cusinart blend the yogurt, vinegar, honey and caramel topping until smooth and well blended.  Drizzle over the salad and salt and pepper per taste.

*The caramel yogurt can sometimes be hard to find.  You can easily substitute a plain or vanilla yogurt but then increase the caramel topping to achieve the right flavor for your taste.

Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake

A phenomenal twist on the classic pesto pasta dish.  You will be sneaking an extra spoonful before you know it.  The panko adds an extra crunch with a fluffy light finish that complements the pesto, tomatoes, and spinach.

Pesto Chicken Pasta Bake

Ingredients

6-7 cups basil leaves, stems removed
5 garlic cloves
6 oz pine nuts
2 x 15 oz jars Alfredo sauce (combination of Classico and Newman's Own brands work well for this, or you can make your own - approximately 4 cups worth)
1 pound chicken breast
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 pound box Rigatoni pasta
6 oz bag baby spinach (use 9 oz bag if you like lots of spinach)
2/3 cup grated mozzarella (optional)
1 cup fine grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (regular breadcrumbs may be substituted)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter (or use olive oil to substitute)

In a large pot, bring water to boil.  Add chicken breasts and boil for approximately 20 minutes.  Remove breasts when cooked without draining the water.  When cool to touch chop chicken into 1 inch cubes.

Salt the water after removing the chicken and add the pasta to the boiling water.  Cook pasta approximately 10 minutes (2-4 minutes less than package instructions) then fully drain.

Meanwhile, in a Cuisinart or blender add basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Alfredo sauce and blend until smooth. 

Drain the tomatoes and set aside in large mixing bowl.  Add spinach and chicken cubes and toss.  Add the warm, drained pasta to the mixture and toss.  The spinach will begin to wilt slightly.  Add the basil Alfredo sauce and mix in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and the heavy cream.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Mix in 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese if using

Scoop the pasta mixture into a pyrex baking dish or aluminum pan.

Mix 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle over top of pasta mixture and dot with butter or sprinkle with oil.  Bake at 350 degrees approximately 30 minutes until warmed through.  Brown the topping under the broiler for 1-2 minutes after.  Serve warm.

Italian Sausage Christmas Soup

Italian Sausage Soup

A surprisingly rustic yet elegant dish.  Hearty for winter and delicious.  Packed with veggies and healthy.  I often use turkey Italian sausage to keep it a bit leaner but it still packs the full punch of flavor given all the wonderful ingredients.  Serve with a crusty Italian bread and you have a dinner that will have everyone in the family wanting more.

2lbs Sausage ( 1 lb mild/ 1 lb spicy or stick with the mild for both if you prefer )

2 large cans crushed tomatoes, drained

6 Carrots Peeled and diced finely

6 Tablespoons FRESH basil, chiffonade ( very important)

5-6 Zucchini’s sliced and chopped finely

2 Tablespoons minced oregano ( fresh or dried)

2 Bell Peppers cleaned and chopped finely( no seeds)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 Medium Onions- finely chopped

1 cup Orzo,  uncooked ( rice shaped pasta )- NOTE- Cook this separately- then add to avoid sticking to pot

10 cloves of fresh garlic minced

1 ½ cups grated Parmesan Cheese or more

2 cups of Red Wine or more- to taste

2 49oz cans of Chicken Broth

1 can Diced Tomatoes ( Optional but I always throw one large 28oz can drained)

Directions-

In a large soup pot, add chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, and basil on low heat. 

In skillet pan add sausages with casings removed, and with spatula or wooden spoon, mash sausage meat until it looks like its all ground together. Turn on heat, and brown, until meat is no longer pink. You do not want big chunks, so keep mashing it into small pieces. Drain fat from meat and add to soup pot. 

Using remaining fat ( very little) add onions and garlic, cook, stirring until softened, not browned.  Add to soup pot. 

Add to soup pot the rest of the chopped vegetables, and wine. Bring soup to a slow boil Add ½ of the Parmesan cheese, and reserve the rest for topping the soup when finished. Cook for about 40 minutes. 

Cook Orzo per directions on package in a separate pot then add to soup at serving.

Serve and sprinkle parmesan cheese.

The BVC Candy Apple Martini

The BVC Candy Apple Martini is a wickedly delicious cocktail for the fall.  

The BVC Candy Apple Martini

Ingredients

1 1/2 oz Smirnoff Green Apple Vodka

1/2 oz Smirnoff Kissed Caramel Vodka

3 oz cranberry juice

1.  Fill a martini glass with ice and water and let chill while making cocktail.  

2.  Fill a shaker with ice.  Add ingredients to shaker and shake vigorously for 30 seconds.  Pour out ice and water from martini glass.  Strain vodka and cranberry mixture into martini glass.

Skillet Chicken with Apples and Onions

A wonderful fall dish combining the sweet flavor of apples with the savory spices of chicken.  Unique and delicious for a great meal at the end of a day.

Skillet Chicken With Apples and Onions

Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breasts, with skin (you can also use chicken thighs or a combination of chicken breasts and thighs)

1 medium onion, diced

1 granny smith apple, peeled and cored and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

4 TBSP unsalted butter, softened

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp sage

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp lemon zest

1/8 tsp rosemary 

1 garlic clove, chopped

salt and pepper

2 TBSP Canola Oil

1/2 cup chicken broth, heated (heat in microwave for 1 minute)

**Ingredient Note: for the thyme, sage, and rosemary it is ok to use dried herbs.

1.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

2.  Combine butter, thyme, sage, onion powder, lemon zest, rosemary, and garlic.  Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel.  Using your fingers lightly lift up skin from chicken and spread some of the herbed butter underneath the skin.  Lightly spread more of the herbed butter on top of the chicken/ skin.  Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.

3.  Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat until hot and barely smoking.  Gently lay chicken breasts, skin side down, in cast iron skillet.  Cook over high heat for 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low-medium and cook for an addition 7 minutes skin side down.  Flip chicken over.  Add diced onions and apples to skillet.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add chicken broth to skillet.  Move skillet to oven and cook for an additional 13-15 minutes.

4.  Remove skillet from oven.  Transfer chicken to plate or cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.  Cook apples and onions in skillet over low heat for 3-5 minutes and let reduce.  (If you want more of a sauce add one packet of Swanson Chicken Flavor Boost packets to the apple and onions while they reduce).

Pumpkin Gnudi (with Brown Butter Sage Sauce)

Let's get Gnudi!  Gnudi are little dumplings of love.  They are very similar to Gnocchi but where Gnocchi uses potatoes, Gnudi uses Ricotta Cheese for their base giving them a lighter feel.  For the autumn season we have given a twist to gnudi by adding pumpkin.  Usually gnudi calls for very little flour but because the Ricotta and Pumpkin Puree are both wetter ingredients these gnudi call for a little extra flour.  They still come out super light and with the combination of the sage browned butter, this is the perfect comfort dish for an fall day.

Pumpkin Gnudi
(with Brown Butter Sage Sauce)

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk Ricotta cheese**

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 large eggs

1 cup flour (may need extra)

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, finely grated  

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

4 tsp unsalted butter

4 sage leaves, chopped

salt and pepper 

**Ingredient Note:  To try to get some of the moisture out of the Ricotta, a few hours before you are ready to prep (or the morning of) place the Ricotta in a cheese cloth and sit it in a colander that is in a bowl.  This allows the Ricotta to drain a little and you may not need to use as much flour.

1.  Fill a pot full of water and slat and bring to a boil.

2.  In a large mixing bowl combine Ricotta cheese, Pumpkin Puree, eggs, flour, Parmesan, and nutmeg (be careful as to how much nutmeg you use.  If you are using fresh nutmeg, just a few grates will be sufficient).  You want the consistency of the dough to be firm.  If your dough is still not firm after 1 adding 1 cup of flour, keep adding 1/4 cup at a time until the dough holds nicely together.  (A good test to see if your dough is ready, take a small spoonful of dough and add it to the boiling water. If it stays together than you are good to go.  If it falls apart then you know you need to add a little more flour)

3.  Fill a pastry bag with the dough (you will probably have enough to refill the pastry bag a couple of times).  Cut the end of the pastry bag about 2 inches from the tip (you can make the cut smaller or larger all depending on what size you want your dumpling to be).  Hold the pastry bag over the pot of water.  Squeeze the dough about 1/2 -1 inch out of the bag and cut with a pair of cooking scissors.  Keep cutting dough into the water until you have about 20 or so pieces or however many your pot can hold without cramming them together (be careful when doing this as the dough dropping into the water can cause it to splash.)  Once the dough rises to the top of the water (takes about 1 minute), they are done and can scooped out with a slotted spoon and added to the browned butter sauce.

4.  For the brown butter sage sauce:  add butter to a sauté pan.  Let the butter melt.  Once you see the butter start to turn brown around the edges of the pan, swirl the melted butter around the pan.  Add chopped sage leaves, salt and pepper and sauté for a minute to let the butter be infused with the sage.   Once the gnudi are done, carefully add them to the brown butter and toss in butter (I personally like to let the gnudi get a little brown on one side.)  Plate and shave some Parmesan on top.

Sage and Lemon Meatballs Braised in Beer Broth with a Light Parmesan Sauce

Thinking a little outside the box this time I was trying to come up with something to do with ground beef for our "Prince Spaghetti Wednesday Dinner" since I had the meat already in my refrigerator, but I wanted something new and fresh and more summary than just plain old meatballs since we have been having crazy hot weather on the west coast or a hearty meaty pasta dish that we will be exploring in plenty during the upcoming "-ber" months.  This hit the spot.  Still a wonderful dish for those colder winter days when you just want a change from the same-old pasta and meatball dish.  The lemon adds a nice summery sweet and fresh flavor and the sage is subtle but gives a light aroma that is not the heavy standard Italian spice mix kind of blend.  Combined with a lemony Parmesan sauce that is not a thick or heavy as a traditional alfredo, but complements the pasta and meatball flavors perfectly.

Sage and Lemon Meatballs Braised in Beer Broth with a Light Parmesan Sauce

1 lb ground sirloin
1 Tbsp dried minced onion
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated fine
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp dried sage or 1 Tbsp fresh finely chopped sage
zest of 1 large lemon
1 wheat beer (Blue Moon Honey Wheat preferred)
1/2 cup chicken stock

1 box pasta of choice (short pasta works best, rigatoni used here)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated plus additional for garnish
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh basil (optional)


Combine sirloin, onion, garlic, 1/4 cup Parmesan, breadcrumbs, sage, lemon zest and form into balls.  Place in nonstick pan and pour in beer and chicken stock.  Liquid should cover a little over 1/2 the height of the meatballs.  Be sure to leave enough room in the pan so the meatballs do not touch one another.  Simmer for approximately 30 minutes, "flipping" the meatballs about 1/2 way through, until liquid has evaporated and meatballs are cooked through and slightly browned.

Cook pasta per directions on package and drain.

Meanwhile, in a pan with meatballs melt butter.  Add cream and 1/2 cup loosely grated Parmesan cheese and stir until well warmed through.  Add lemon juice (optional), salt and pepper.  Toss with pasta.  Top with additional Parmesan and fresh sage or basil.

The BVC Bailey's Kiss Coffee

We love this coffee drink.  It is like a warm hug on a crisp fall day.  The Bailey's and Caramel vodka blend nicely with the rich aroma of the coffee.  The Disaronno (or Frangelico) whipped cream melts into the coffee infusing the drink with it's flavors.


The BVC Bailey's Kiss Coffee

Ingredients:

For the drink:

Coffee

1 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

1/2 oz Smirnoff Kissed Caramel vodka

For the whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 TBSP sugar

2 TBSP Disaronno Originale (or Frangelico)

1 oz cube of semi-sweet chocolate, shaved (for garnish)

1.  To make the whipped cream you can either use an electric handheld beater or a Kitchen Aid (with whisk attachment).  Pour 1 cup heavy cream into mixing bowl and beat on high speed until cream starts to thicken (about 2 minutes).  Add sugar and Disaronno and keep whipping for another minute until the whipped cream becomes nice and firm.

2.  Pour Bailey's and Vodka in the bottom of a coffee cup.  Fill cup a little over 3/4 full of coffee leaving room for whipped cream (you can use instant or brew your favorite coffee.  If you use instant, add 1 heaping teaspoon to coffee cup with Bailey's and Vodka and then fill with hot water and stir).  Spoon whipped cream on top of coffee.  Using a fine grater, grate semi-sweet chocolate over whipped cream.