I’m not big on fancy food.

There are to many things in this world that need our special attention & frankly I don’t believe food should be one of them. If recipes are so out of the ordinary, so fussy, it’s not worth my time.

My favorite things to cook probably have less than 10 ingredients in them. I’m a firm believer that if you start with good quality ingredients, you don’t need to add too much to them to make them shine.

This recipe…well it’s a special one. This recipe looks as though it is one of those fancy-pants recipes that I just told you I try to avoid; but no my friends it’s super simple. Serve this with some toasted orzo & sauteed zucchini and you’ve got yourself a elegant simple meal with an explosion of flavor…

Roast Beef with Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce
recipe from Giada De Laurentiis

Roast Beef:

• 1 (2 1/2-pound) sirloin tip or chuck beef roast
• 3 T olive oil
• 4 Roma tomatoes, cut in 1/2
• 2 t herbs de Provence
• Kosher salt and black pepper

Spicy Parsley Tomato Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 t red pepper flakes
• 3/4 t kosher salt
• 3/4 t black pepper
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

To make the beef roast, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Season the tomatoes with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. Place a medium, heavy roasting pan or Dutch oven over high heat. Heat the olive oil. Sear the beef over high heat on all sides. Turn off heat. Place the seasoned tomatoes around the seared beef and place the pan in the oven. Roast until a meat thermometer reads 130 degrees F. for medium rare, 135 for medium, about 30 to 40 minutes. Take the roast out of the oven, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The internal temperature of the meat should rise 5 degrees F more and the juices will redistribute into the roast.

To make the sauce, place the parsley and garlic in a food processor and pulse until the parsley is finely chopped. Add the red pepper flakes, salt, red wine vinegar and the roasted tomatoes from the beef pan and process until pureed. Add the olive oil in a steady stream with the machine running.

Images: sammyw

Of all the wonderful ice cream flavors out there, by far my favorite is Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. Banana ice cream, huge chocolate chunks and chewy walnuts make this ice cream amazing. I tried my luck at a healthier version using maple yogurt. I’ll be honest it’s no chunky monkey, but it is something to get excited about…

Banana Maple Frozen Yogurt
recipe from norecipes.com

• 2 ripe bananas
• 16 oz maple yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until ultra smooth. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and follow manufactures instructions.

Images: sammyw

When Isaac and I got married 3 years ago, I knew we were different, but I could have never predicted how different we really are all these years later. It’s amazing what marriage does.

I mean there are the obvious thing, he’d rather get a root canal than do laundry (I happen to love laundry), he considers smoking a cigar one of the most relaxing things (I cannot stand the smell, and am at a constant thought of ‘cancer stick!, cancer stick!’).

Another striking difference between us two lovebirds is he gags at the thought of raw tomatoes (literally my friends, there’s a story behind that). I happen to love fresh tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, any kind of tomato. An ultra ripe juicy tomato sprinkled with a little salt & pepper, doesn’t get much better than that. I happen to love tomato soup and by definition it’s pretty obvious that Isaac would hate it. Well yep he does. I’ve tried a couple different tomato soup recipes in my day and haven’t found one that meets my standards. Until now…

I made this with a group of friends last week and it was a big hit. Most tomato soup recipes I’ve come across have either milk or cream which I think masks the tomato flavor to much. This recipe does the trick, with the combination of roasted tomatoes and canned tomatoes, the huge amounts of fresh basil, onions & garlic.

Now there are many things Isaac & I are on the same page about. Two words. Grilled cheese.

Now yes my husband and I are quite different, but I assure you we go together like tomato soup goes with grilled cheese sandwiches…perfectly.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
recipe from Barefoot Contessa

• 3 pounds plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup plus 2 T olive oil
• 1 T kosher salt
• 1 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1 t fresh thyme leaves
• 1 quart chicken broth

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes. In a large stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pulse a couple times in a blender. Taste for seasonings. Serve up with piping hot grilled cheese sandwiches.

Images: sammyw

To go with the strawberry cupcakes I had to make some carrot cake cupcakes, they make me think of Easter and stories of my parents wedding, but that’s a story for another time…

Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 3/4 t coarse salt
• 1/2 t ground ginger
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 3 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 cup light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 to 10 carrots, peeled and shredded (about 2 3/4 cups)
• 1 cups walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat 3 minutes. Add vanilla, water, and carrots. Beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture, then finely chopped pecans. Spoon batter into lined muffin tins and bake about 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely.

• 1 package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1 stick butter
• 1 pound powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add butter, beating until incorporated after each addition. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, and beat until fluffy and smooth.

Images: sammyw

As promised, I’ll be posting a couple Easter recipes I made for brunch last week. When trying to decide what dessert to make as soon as I came across this one of Tastespotting I knew it would be perfect. So springy & fresh. It tastes as good as it looks!

Strawberry puree

Strawberry Cupcakes
recipe from milkandhoneycafe

strawberry sauce:

• 2 cups of fresh strawberries, cut in half and stem removed
• sugar to taste

Soak strawberries with about 1-2 T sugar for 15 minutes. Put strawberries in saucepan and heat under medium heat with lid on. Cook strawberries for 15 minutes until strawberries cook down and become soft. Adjust sweetness with sugar until you get the desired sweetness. Puree until you get the desired smoothness or chunkiness. Cool before using in recipe.

cupcakes:

• 1 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup strawberry sauce
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers. Whisk flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Measure out milk and strawberry sauce together. Set aside. Beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds. Add sugar. Beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beat for 30 seconds between each. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter/sugar mixture and beat to combine. Add about one third the milk/strawberry sauce mixture and beat until combined. Repeat above, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture. Scoop into cupcake papers about half full. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

cream cheese frosting:

• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1/2 stick butter
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• approximately 1/4 cup of strawberry sauce

Bring cheese and butter to room temperature by letting it sit out for 1 or 2 hours. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add half of the sugar, beat until combined. Add strawberry sauce until you achieve the right color and flavor, making sure not to add too much or the frosting will be too soft.

Images: sammyw

The dust has settled and we have oodles of leftovers from Easter brunch. We have baked beans, butter croissants, cupcakes and ham. This is a really simple quiche my dear mother has been making for as long and I can remember. Hers are way cuter than mine, she makes darling little individual quiches. She is the best hostess of all time.

Ham and Broccoli Quiche
recipe from mom

• 1 recipe for single pie crust
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/8 t pepper
• 1/4 t ground mustard
• 1 cup cubed cooked ham
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped small
• 2 T chopped onion

Preheat oven to 350. Make pie crust and place into pie plate. Add cheese, ham, onion and broccoli into crust and mix around evenly. In a separate bowl whisk milk, eggs, pepper and ground mustard. Pour egg mixture into pie shell and bake for 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Images: sammyw