Roasted Cherry Tomatoes 2

Ingredients:

• Two pints cherry tomatoes, roughly 32 ounces
• 3 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
2. Dump tomatoes and garlic in a nonreactive 9-by-9 inch baking dish. 
3. Whisk together oil, vinegar, thyme, brown sugar, and salt in a measuring cup. 
4. Drizzle over tomato mixture. Stir gently to coat.
5. Bake until tomatoes are softened and caramelized, about 1 hour.

Dutch Baby with Lemon Curd and Berries

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup lemon curd or jam
• 1 pint of berries, your choice

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. Add eggs, flour, milk, sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon zest together into a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Place butter in a 8 or 9 inch cast-iron skillet and place in the oven until butter has melted. Pour the batter into each pan, return it to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pancakes are puffed and golden. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake five minutes longer.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool for several minutes. Spread with the lemon curd and top with berries.

Slow Cooker Corn on the Cob

Ingredients:

• 6 ears of corn
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparations:

1. Lay an ear of corn on a piece of foil. Butter the corn, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and wrap the corn up in the foil.
2. Lay corn in layers in the slow cooker.
3. Cook on High for 2 hours or Low for 4 hours.

Freezer Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil, preferably roasted garlic oil (see here for recipe)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced, preferably roasted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 loaf French Bread

Preparations:

1. Allow the butter to come to room temperature. Combine it in a small bowl with the garlic, olive oil, salt, and dried parsley. Mix the ingredients together until they form a smooth paste.
2. Cut the bread loaf into one-inch slices. Scoop 1/2 Tbsp of the butter mixture onto each slice, then spread it over the surface with a knife.
3. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and then place them in the freezer to allow the butter to firm up. Once firm, stack the slices two at a time and place in quart sized freezer bags. Store in the freezer up to three months.
4. To cook the frozen slices of garlic bread, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the oven is heated, take as many slices out of the freezer as you'd like, carefully separate the stacked slices, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
    

Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 6 large potatoes
• salt
• olive oil

Preparations:

1. Wash the potatoes well. Dry them off with a clean cloth or paper towel.
2. You’ll want to prick holes in the potato skins to allow the steam to escape as they cook. Take a fork and stab them each several times all over.
3. Take a little bit of olive oil and rub it all over the potato skins, then sprinkle on some salt. This helps give the skins a really great texture.
4. Wrap each potato in a piece of foil. Nestle the potatoes down into the slow cooker, place the lid on top, and then cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10.
5. Slice the potato down the middle and then push each end in towards the center to make it pop open. Now it’s ready for any toppings.

Simple Curry

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp salt, for water
• 2 pounds potatoes, cut to 1-inch cubes
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 4 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained
• 1 15 oz can peas, drained
• 1 14 oz can coconut milk

Preparations:

1. Place potatoes into a large pot or dutch oven and cover with well-salted water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and let the potatoes cook until tender, roughly12 minutes. Once cooked, drain the potatoes and set them aside.
2. Return the pot to the stove and add oil. Add onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until onion is tender and starts to turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add cumin, cayenne, curry powder, salt, pepper and ginger. Stir to combine before adding tomatoes, chickpeas, and peas.
4. Increase heat to medium-high and stir in the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer before adding the potatoes back to the pot. Reduce heat to low and cook everything together for 3-5 minutes before serving.

Honeycomb Toffee

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 Tbsp baking soda

Preparations:

1. Line a 9 inch baking dish with parchment paper and grease thoroughly.
2. In a large saucepan (this will more than triple in size) over medium/high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Stir briefly to incorporate then leave to boil. 
3. Insert candy thermometer and continue to heat, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 300F. 
4.  Working quickly, remove from heat and add the baking soda. The mixture will begin to expand. Quickly whisk, no more than 5 seconds, to prevent deflating the toffee. Pour it into the prepared pan and leave to set for several hours.
5. Once the toffee has cooled and set, remove the paper from the toffee and transfer to a larger baking dish. Using a blunt object, shatter the toffee into bite size pieces.
6. In a double boiler , melt the dark chocolate.  Dip the toffee pieces in chocolate and place on a lined baking tray. Place in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Southwestern Pasta

Ingredients:

• 13.5 oz. of rotini (or any pasta you like)
• 2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 medium green bell pepper cut into thin strips
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
• 1 15 oz. can Rotel canned tomatoes and chilies (or just diced tomatoes) 
• 1/4 cup taco seasoning (roughly one standard packet)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese, plus more for topping (Optional)

Preparations:

1. Add all but the last three ingredients (beans, lime, and cheese) to a large pot. Stir, cover, and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. There should still be some liquid in the bottom of the pot when the pasta is cooked.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in the black beans, lime juice, and cheese. Let it rest for 5 minutes to warm the beans, melt the cheese, and absorb the excess liquid.

Chili Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 Tbsp ground red pepper or cayenne
• 1/2 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
• 15 oz can black beans
• 15 oz can pinto beans
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese

Preparations:

1. Saute the onion and garlic with olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, or until the onions are soft and transparent.
2. Add the flour and peppers to the onions and garlic. Continue to stir for about two minutes, or just until the flour and chili powder begin to coat the bottom of the pot.
3. Drain and rinse the beans. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, all the beans, corn, and vegetable broth to the pot. Stir to combine and to dissolve any flour and chili powder off the bottom of the pot. Turn up the heat to medium high.
4. Add the uncooked macaroni noodles and stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot and let the pot come up to a boil. Stir every other minute or so to loosen the noodles from the bottom of the pot as it heats up.
5. When the pot reaches a boil, turn the heat down so it continues to gently simmer. Let the pot gently simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the liquid is thick and saucy.
6. Once the pasta is tender, add the shredded cheddar and stir it in until melted.