Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Yes, another pumpkin recipe.  But, oh boy, are these delicious!  A very nice friend said these are "Starbucks-worthy" if that gives you any clue about how amazing they are!

Ingredients
1 1/2c packed brown sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c pumpkin puree
3c flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2c chocolate chips
1c semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a baking sheet.  Cream together butter, sugar, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in vanilla and pumpkin puree.  Add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.  Fold in both types of chocolate chips.  Your dough will look and feel like chocolate chip cookie dough - fairly sticky.  Shape into 3 log-looking shapes on the baking sheet.  (These will not expand too much, so try to get them the width you would like your biscotti to be).  Bake for 30 minutes, reduce heat to 300 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more.  Remove from oven and slice into biscotti.  Return the slices to the baking sheet and bake 10 more minutes.  Let cool before serving.  Enjoy!

Source
The Entertaining Kitchen

Lemon & Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

This is a light pasta dish, perfect for summer. It would pair well with chicken or steak and a light side salad. This is quite lemony, so if you want a more subtle flavor, add the lemon juice to taste (or none at all).

Ingredients
1/4 c garlic, lemon and basil infused olive oil
1/2 box spaghetti, cooked according to package directions
1/2 c sun dried tomatoes, julienned
juice from 1 lemon (optional)
parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions
Combine all ingredients and serve.

Source
Inspired by The Entertaining Kitchen

Lemon, Garlic, and Basil Infused Olive Oil

This is a wonderful way to add an extra depth of flavor to olive oil. I have so many variations on this recipe tumbling around in my head!

Ingredients
1 c oil
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon skin
handfull of basil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Once it starts boiling, turn heat off and let sit for 1 hour. At this point it is ready to be used or stored.

Source
The Entertaining Kitchen

Steak Bites

I'm not very good at making steaks. I always seem to either over or under cook them to a ridiculous degree. These little steak bites are perfect because the size makes it easy to control the level of done-ness. They're also a nice kid-friendly size (though my red meat phobic child didn't touch them)!

Ingredients

sirloin steak

salt

pepper

garlic powder

2 tbsp butter

Directions

Trim all visible fat and gristle off the steak and cut into bite size pieces. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt, pepper, and garlic powder on your meat and let sit for 20-30 minutes. The salt needs this amount of time to season the meat. If you leave it on any shorter, it may simply dry it out. Heat up butter in a skillet over high heat (the pan needs to be HOT!) until it starts to turn brown. Dump enough of the meat so that there is only a single layer in the pan. Cook for 30-45 seconds, flip and cook another 30-45 seconds. Remove to a plate, add more butter to the pan and repeat process until the rest of the meat is cooked. Use the leftover butter as a gravy for mashed potatoes or pour over the served steak.

Notes

• I know it sounds like an incredibly short time to cook the meat, but remember that it will continue cooking after you remove it to the pan. Cook it as directed and it will be perfect medium rare deliciousness. (Trust me, I cooked it longer and some of the pieces were overcooked!)

Source

The Pioneer Woman via The Entertaining Kitchen

Mardi Gras Meal - Turkey Jambalaya & Cranberries Jubilee

In college, Philip and I went to a church on campus that used to feed the students dinner after every Sunday evening Mass. Every year on the Sunday before Lent began, a certain parishioner used to make a delicious Mardi Gras dinner complete with Jambalaya and flaming Cherries Jubilee. This was one of Philip's favorite meals of the year, so since I happened to have turkey tenders and sausage in the freezer this year, I decided I would attempt to recreate that meal. The recipes these are based on can be found here and here. I didn't have cherries but I did have cranberries. I figured it was similar enough so I used those instead. I also tried to whip up some ice cream with Michaela using these instructions, but it didn't really turn out. There were some small chunk of ice cream, so I think it would have if we had shaken longer. Oh well, we enjoyed our ice cream soup! Also, since Michaela is not a huge fan of soups, I shredded some of the chicken and turkey and put it in a tortilla, along with some of the rice and some shredded cheese. She loved her jambalaya quesadilla!


Turkey Jambalaya
Ingredients
1/2 onion, diced finely
1 lb Turkey tenders, diced
1lb turkey sausage, diced and casings removed
1/2 red, yellow, and green bell pepper each, finely diced
1 jar salsa
1 can tomatoes, diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 c rice


Directions


Saute onions in a bit of olive oil until translucent. Add chicken to the pan and brown. Add sausage and cook thoroughly. Add bell peppers, salsa, tomatoes, chicken broth & spices and simmer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. When cooked, add rice to the turkey mixture and serve.


Cranberries Jubilee
Ingredients
1 cup cranberries
1/4 cup juice from jar of maraschino cherries
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 cup brandy
vanilla ice cream

Directions
Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Add water and juice a little at a time and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add cranberries and cook 3-5 more minutes or until soft, stirring constantly. Pour into a flame-proof dish. Add brandy to the top and set on fire. Before serving, blow out the flames and pour over vanilla ice cream.