Desserts And Good Food

      A thanks to my daughter Stephanie for making this satisfying and delicious soup. She's always looking to create food to please her picky eater son and she was delighted when he ate a full bowl of it.                   Ingredients: 4 tablespoon butter 1/4 cup flour 1/2 cup onion, small dice 1/4 cup carrot, small dice 1/4 cup celery, small dice 2 bay leaves 2 Idaho potatoes, medium dice 2 fresh basil leaves, minced 32 ounces organic chicken broth 1/4 cup of whipping cream 1 organic chicken breast salt and pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced 2 tablespoon olive oil        In a small bowl mix in the olive oil, salt, ground pepper and thyme . Season the chicken, place it in a roasting pan and b ake at 375°F making sure to turn it halfway through the cooking process. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you insert a meat thermometer, and the temperature reaches 160.  ...

     When you take care of a grandson like my Logan you need time and imagination to make him eat. Everything for him is yucky or disgusting.      I developed this recipe looking for a way to make him eat some vegetables. I pureed  his portion and served the chicken on the side, and to my surprise  he tried it and said it was yummy!  That made me smile.      This comforting and satisfying soup is full of fr esh vegetables with a taste the whole family will love. P uréeing some of the white beans and vegetables gives the soup a more interesting texture.  You can serve this  as a meal by itself or paired with a side salad.                        Ingredients: 1-pound organic chicken breast, cubed 5 cup low sodium, organic chicken broth 3 tablespoon, organic extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoon unsalted butter Kosher salt, and ground black pepper to taste...

      My family loves pizza, especially my grandson Logan. Fridays are his favorite day of the week, Pizza and appetizer night. He gets very excited when he sees me start measuring the ingredients for the pizza. He steps on a chair and tries to help me make the dough. When the pizza is ready for the toppings, he loves to help me. It is his best opportunity to eat some extra pepperoni.    On Fridays we can't make Logan eat anything else yet. For him grandma's pepperoni and cheese pizza is the only food he wants to eat, except for the dessert.      The pizza dough I'm sharing with you today is very simple to make, the recipe is a version of the one I learned in culinary school.     Looking at the fresh pineapples at the Supermarket I decided it.  was time to share my favorite pizza recipe with you.                                      ...

     After a few months the appetizer night turned into a family tradition. Thursday night at the dinner table the conversation is about what's going to be on the menu the next day. I usually make pizza for my grandson because other than that he only wants to eat dessert.   But I always try to see if something else might make him curious.       I was looking for something fresh to finish our family appetizer night and this one with a few ingredients was perfect . At least Logan ate the chips!!                       Ingredients: 3 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and diced 1 small red onion, diced 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped  the juice and zest of 1 lime   1 small jalapeño, seeds removed and diced Salt and ground black pepper to taste In a medium bowl add all the ingredients and gently mix until combined. Serving suggestion:  With organic yellow corn chips.

    Tomato Concassé is the technique of peeling, seeding and chopping tomatoes for use in garnishes, sauces or  salsas.                                                        In a small saucepan over high heat bring the water to boil. Cut a cross in the base of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in boiling water for  10 seconds.           Lift them out using a slotted spoon and plunge them into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process. Drain the tomatoes.  The skins will have begun to peel back from the crosses. Remove the skins completely. Cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds with a teaspoon, and cut the flesh in small dice.

       Thanks to my niece Karina who took the time from her busy life as a professional chef to share this recipe with me.      Last week I was making my menu for my Friday night appetizers, and I decided to add my recipe for potato croquettes. Looking for a sauce to serve with the croquettes, my niece's creole sauce came to mind. I pureed the sauce, and it was a perfect pairing. I served the sauce in its original form with chips and pureed for my potatoes croquettes.   Ingredients: 1 small yellow onion, small diced 1 large tomato, small diced 1 red bell pepper, small diced 1 clove of garlic, minced 1/4 cup olive oil 1 teaspoon tomato paste salt and pepper to taste 2 ounces of red wine In a medium saucepan add the oil. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and cook for 1 minute. Add the rest of vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook until the vegetables are tender but crisp. Add the tomato paste and cook another min...

       Specially on Mondays after the weekend when you go out to eat there is nothing better than a simple salad to make your body feel better. Serve beside roasted chicken breasts and oven baked French fries for a complete meal.        I like to make my own dressing but when you are in hurry it is a good thing to have alternatives.  I found a good quality raspberry salad dressing in the local supermarket that goes great with this salad.                                                   Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, torn   Mini Marzano tomatoes, sliced Red onion, sliced 1 Cucumber, seeded and sliced 1 Carrot, Julienne cut 1 small red bell pepper, Julienne cut Homemade Seasoned croutons Raspberry vinaigrette, store bought To make the croutons: 2 cups 1/2 in-diced 1 or 2 days old French bread 2 tab...