September 2025

Recipe – The Loveless Café

Nashville, Tenn.
Prep Time: 15 mins.
Cook Time:10 mins.
Makes 2 16 oz. jars

The asparagus looked so fresh in the market today,  I decided to make a Spring Risotto.

Before I get on with the ingredients, we all know we need to have a good broth simmering.  I had some chicken broth but not enough for the 6 cups I needed.  I went to the freezer and had a small container of frozen stock!  Excellent right?  Wrong – make sure you mark your container when freezing.  What I had in there was a container of egg whites!  What a mess I had.  I just tossed it in the broth I had and went about my business.  Somehow the egg whites burned on the bottom of the pot and I had globs of egg white floating in the broth.  Ok, lets start fresh.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

• 3 oz. genoa salami (or proscuitto) diced

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 Tbsp. minced onion

• 2 tsp. minced garlic

• 1-1/2 cups arborio rice

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Salt and pepper to taste

Simmer broth in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook salami in 1 Tbsp. oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until crisp, about 3-5 minutes; remove and set aside.  Add asparagus to pan; saute until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes, then remove and set aside.

Sweat onion and garlic in remaining 1 Tbsp. oil until translucent.  Stir in rice and saute until each grain is coated in oil.

Deglaze the pan with wine and stir until completely absorbed.  Add broth to the pan in 1/2 cup increments; simmer and stir frequently until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next, about 30 minutes.  Stir in 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, asparagus, peas and carrots and Parmesan.  Season with salt and pepper; top with crispy salami.

~Adapted from Cuisine at Home

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners; coat with nonstick spray.

For the streusel, combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup ground pretzels and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon.  Stir 6 Tbsp. butter into dry mixture, cover and chill.

For the muffins, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 cup ground pretzels, chocolate chips, baking powder, salt and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon.  Whisk together milk and 2/3 cup sugar until sugar dissolves.  Add eggs, oil, 4 Tbsp. butter and vanilla; stir into flour mixture.  Let batter sit 2 minutes, then divide among muffin cups.

Squeeze streusel into clumps; top muffins with it and sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake muffins until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 17-19 minutes.  Let muffins cool in pan 10 minutes.

~Adapted from Cuisine at Home

Sunday Supper is on a Mission to Bring Back Sunday Supper Around the Family Table in every home. Join us every Sunday with great recipes and inspiration. #SundaySupper now trends almost every day of the week!

Simple and Fresh Summer Recipes

We now have the best of both worlds!  Butter and Olive Oil – something I could not do without in my kitchen!

About LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt:  LAND O LAKES® is expanding its popular line of half-stick butter with the introduction of LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt. This new product contains wholesome ingredients: sweet cream, olive oil and sea salt. LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt is an easy and convenient way to simply enhance the flavor of your favorite foods. Available in a pre-measured half-stick size, this new product can be used for topping and cooking a variety of foods, combining the two ingredients consumers often combine separately when frying or sautéing foods. The delicious taste of butter and olive oil will add delicious flavor to any dish.

I could think of a thousand ways to use this product.  This is a simple, tasty bean stew with great Italian flavors!

White Bean Ragout with Grilled Garlic Bread

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2  roasted red bell pepper, chopped (jarred is fine)

1 Half Stick LAND O LAKES® Butter
with Olive Oil & Sea Salt (1/4 cup) plus 2Tbsp. softened

Freshly ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, 1 minced, 1 halved

1 tsp. tomato paste

4 to 6 – 1″ thick slices grilled ciabatta

4 Tbsp. grated Parmesan

2 15-oz. cans canellini beans (rinsed and drained)

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Heat LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and roasted red pepper and season with salt and pepper.  Simmer, stirring often until vegetables are completely softened, about 15 minutes.  Add grated garlic and tomato paste and cook about 3 minutes.

 Spread  bread with softened  LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt and grill until golden and slightly charred.  Rub bread slices with cut sides of garlic clove. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

  Add beans and  2 cups broth to skillet and bring to a boil.  Simmer until liquid is slightly thickened, 5-10  minutes.  Add tomatoes and simmer until tomatoes are tender, 3-4 minutes.  Stir in 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, season to taste.

Divide bread among bowls.  Top with bean mixture and broth.  Garnish with Parmesan and fresh basil.

This makes a hearty main dish.  Serve warm or at room temperature for a great simple weeknight summer meal.  Be sure to add enough broth as the bread soaks up those delicious juices.

The cherry tomatoes make this fast, easy and fresh.

Follow Land O Lakes on Twitter and Facebook  for more great summer recipes!

The fun starts at 3pm EST and lasts all afternoon until dinner time and sometimes beyond.  All you have to do is follow the hashtag #sundaysupper on twitter or follow along on TweetChat.  Our #SundaySupper Pinterest Board will be filled with wonderful Simple and Fresh Summer Recipes. There is always room Around the Family Table for you.

Here are the recipes from our fabulous food bloggers!

About Ree Drummond and Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt: Ree Dummond, better known to her fans as The Pioneer Woman , is helping us explore the delicious flavor of our new Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt. Ree will create blog posts, recipes, and videos that explore how she uses this new butter to enhance simple weeknight meals.

If you would love to try this product, I will be giving away one coupon for a FREE package of the Butter with Sea Salt & Olive Oil to one of my readers.  All you have to do is us tell us about your favorite Simple and Fresh Summer Recipe that uses butter!  This giveaway will run through June 15, 2012.  Winners will be chosen at random and will be contacted via e-mail on June 16.

 ~   Disclosure: The author received a full-value coupon redeemable for LAND O LAKES® Butter with Olive Oil & Sea Salt, for recipe development and review purposes. All opinions are my own.

~Adapted from BonAppetit

  “In the childhood memories of every good cook, there’s a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom.”~ Barbara Costikyan

Have you ever wondered just what it could be that draws us inexorably to the kitchen in times of distress or crisis? Have you ever thought about the difference between “cooking” and “fixing food”? I am honored to share

Regina Schrambling’s words of wisdom on these topics with you…

When the Path to Serenity Wends Past the Stove
By Regina Schrambling
The New York Times, September 19, 2001 “When a friend called to say she had suddenly felt compelled to bake an apple pie last Saturday, I understood why. Anyone who cooks even casually knows the feeling. Cooking is almost always a mood-altering experience, for good or for bad, and at its best it is do-it-yourself therapy: more calming than yoga, less risky than drugs. The food is not really the thing. It’s the making of it that gets you through a bad time. On Thursday, I was motivated to make stew, and not because I had any real craving for meat. I needed to go through the slow process of rendering salt pork, sautéing onions and shallots, browning the beef and simmering it for hours with Cognac and stock and two kinds of mustard. Nothing about the recipe, one I have made every winter since learning it in cooking school 18 years ago, could be rushed, which was exactly what I wanted. Sometimes cooking is its own reward. Experts theorize why it works, but to me it seems clear. Everything about cooking engages the senses. There’s a physical aspect to it, even if you use a food processor more than a knife, and so at least a couple of endorphins have to be involved. But the psychological impact is even more obvious. When you’re all finished, you have something to show for the time and effort: a loaf of bread, a batch of cookies, a pot of stew. On Thursday, those three hours of putting one step after another led to a kind of serenity, the feeling that no matter what was happening outside my kitchen, I had complete control over one dish, in one copper pot, on one burner. But cooking also lets you cede control, if that’s what you need. There’s a reason they call it following a recipe. Sometimes it just feels calming to

know that a cake needs exactly one teaspoon of salt and no less than half

  a pound of butter. It’s why I never try a new recipe when I cook to feel better, and I don’t think most people do. The familiar is what soothes. If I’m having a dinner party, I search through cookbooks and clippings to find the most novel appetizer or dessert. When I need solace, I pull out an old cookbook with a recipe for the corn pancakes with smoked trout or the blueberry-peach cake I have made more times than I can remember. One of the sharpest observations my sister Johanna has ever made is that there is a difference between cooking and fixing food. One is a fulfilling project. The other involves combining easy ingredients fast. Quesadillas are food you fix. Stew is cooking. It’s instant gratification versus satisfac- tion that builds slowly and stays with you. And yet so much of life is just fixing food. I know speed is of the essence in the cooking my consort and I do most days. We buy fish and grill or broil it. We steam corn or broccoli. We sometimes eat mesclun undressed right out of the bag. And we almost never bother with dessert. When I cook for comfort, everything is different. I buy meat, like chuck

or short ribs, and braise it for hours. I make garlic mashed potatoes, an elaborate gratin or potatoes Escoffier, with a whole stick of butter for

two pounds of roasted Yukon Golds. And I get out the sugar and chocolate and bake. The recipes that appeal most are the ones that layer on the richness, that prove more is better with butter. Abstemiousness is not an option

when you’re feeling low.

  I have no desire for sweetness when I reach for the mixing bowls and measuring cups. I just get profound pleasure out of making muffins
that are almost caffeine cakes, flavored with espresso and loaded with chocolate chips and walnuts. I like to see how different chocolate chip
cookies can turn out from batch to batch. And I enjoy the whole idea of having to put together three components for something as simple as maple pecan bars, from the shortbread crust to laying the pecans over the gooey filling. It’s the reason I make céleri rémoulade every fall. I like being able to take the time to cut the celery root into tiny little strips and dress them with sour cream, mustard and parsley and then let the bowl sit until the flavors

have come together. And it’s why I feel so compelled to roast red peppers

this time of year and let them marinate in olive oil and garlic. The process of charring the peppers and peeling them is almost more satisfying than eating them on warm bread. At some point, I slip into a more mellow state of mind. I’m cooking, I’m making something, but it is not just food to be consumed unthinkingly. In a city where any food imaginable is normally available at any time of day, cooking takes on more meaning. If we feel hungry, we can order in

egg rolls or curry. But if we feel hollow, we can bake pumpkin bread or molasses cookies. Comfort food is what someone cooks for you.

Comfort cooking is what you do for yourself. And the reason you do it is very simple: cooking is the most sensual activity a human being can engage in, in polite company. My stew involved smell (onions softening, Cognac reducing), touch (the chopping, the stirring), sound (that sizzle of beef cubes hitting hot fat), sight (carrot orange against the gold-brown of mustard and beef stock) and especially

taste. Making it was a way to feel alive and engaged.

  Whoever said cooking should be entered into with abandon or not at all [Harriet Van Horne] had it wrong. Going into it when you have no hope is sometimes just what you need to get to a better place.

Long before there were antidepressants, there was stew.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dijon and Cognac Beef Stew

Time: About 3 hours
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

1/4 pound salt pork, diced 1 large onion, finely diced 3 shallots, chopped 2 to 4 tablespoons butter, as needed 2 pounds beef chuck, in 1-inch cubes 2 tablespoons flour Salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 tablespoons butter, as needed  1/2 cup Cognac

2 cups beef stock

 1/2 cup Dijon mustard 4 tablespoons Pommery mustard 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into half-moon slices  1/2 pound mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and quartered

 1/4 cup red wine.

1. Place salt pork in a Dutch oven or a large heavy kettle over low heat, and cook until fat is rendered. Remove solid pieces with a slotted spoon, and discard. Raise heat, and add onion and shallots. Cook until softened but not browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a

large bowl.

2. If necessary, add 2 tablespoons butter to the pan to augment fat. Dust beef cubes with flour, and season with salt and pepper. Shake off excess flour, and place half the cubes in the pan. Cook over medium- high heat until well browned, almost crusty, on all sides, then transfer to a bowl with onions. Repeat with remaining beef. 3. Add Cognac to the empty pan, and cook, stirring, until the bottom is deglazed and the crust comes loose. Add stock, Dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon Pommery mustard. Whisk to blend, then return meat and onion mixture to pan. Lower heat, cover pan partway, and simmer gently until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours. 4. Add carrots, and continue simmering for 30 minutes, or until slices are tender. As they cook, heat 2 tablespoons butter in medium skillet over medium-high heat, and sauté mushrooms until browned and tender.

5. Stir mushrooms into stew along with remaining mustard and red wine. Simmer 5 minutes, then taste, and adjust seasoning. Serve hot.

From Dear Michele at La Belle Cuisine – Found someone to find the words for me!

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Although I was going to dedicate most of this month to quick breads, soups & stews, I came upon two of the tropical cocktail glasses we “stole” on a cruise to Bermuda several years ago (I don’t recall the potent rum cocktail that was served in the glass).

Upon arrival

The day being so dismal and dreary, still recovering from three feet of snow, inspired me to make a summer dessert.  The beautiful glasses, swirls of blue and yellow, made me think of blueberry and lemon. So, on a cold, dismal winter’s night, I went back to Bermuda for a little while and prepared this Lemon-Blueberry Parfait.  The blueberry compote is sweet with fresh blueberries (off to the Farmer’s Market I went) and the Lemon Curd Cream is tart and tangy.

Blueberry-Lemon Cream Parfaits

• 1 pint fresh blueberries
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. water
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 6 Tb. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

 Not quite London

Directions: Blueberry Compote:  In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and water and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the berries start to release their juices, about 3 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool. Lemon Curd:  In a heavy saucepan, whisk the eggs with the granulated sugar, lemon zest and juice.  Cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly until warm, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the butter, then continue to cook until just thickened and hot, about 5 minutes.  Immediately transfer to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate until chilled. In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until it begins to thicken.  Add the confectioner’s sugar and whip until the cream forms stiff peaks.  Fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd. Divide the compote between 6 parfait or other tall glasses.  Top with the lemon cream.  Cover the parfaits and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
 This is a light and refreshing dessert.

Horseshoe beach….all to myself 

Optional:  This can also be layered with buttery pound cake or angel food cake cubes.

Servings: 6 Active time:  45 mins. Total time:  2 hrs. 45 mins.

~Adapted from Food & Wine

My homemade version of the San Francisco Treat with less sodium and simple ingredients.

Ingredients

1 oz. vermicelli or angel hair pasta

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups low sodium broth (chicken, beef or vegetable)

Parsley for garnish

Directions

Take a small amount of pasta and break in 1-inch pieces.

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion, pasta and rice and cook stirring frequently until pasta is browned, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add broth and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat, and let stand 5 minutes.  Add parsley and fluff pilaf with a fork.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 Easter Butter Lamb – Baranek Weikanocny The Easter Lamb bearing a Resurrection Banner – like marshmallow Peeps, the butter lamb is an Easter icon of Polish Tradition.

Isn’t he cute?

When I was growing up, I would be the one to make the lamb.  I made it free form, by hand and most of them came out looking like a Sphinx! (sorry, no pics available).  I didn’t have the web to look up instructions, and my mom never told me that they have molds specifically for this.  Maybe she did tell me, but I don’t recall.  I would sculpt my little lamb, put him in the fridge to get hard, then take a toothpick and make all kinds of swirlies on him to make it look like wool.  I put two peppercorns for eyes, and a sprig of parsely in his mouth. Just the smell of the parsley when I decorated this little guy, brought me right back to my mom’s kitchen table.  There are handcarved wooden molds available from Poland that cost over $100.00. 

Swieconka – Blessing of the Easter Food

The blessing of the Easter food is an old lovely tradition that I was raised with.  It is common for most Eastern European Catholics.  On Holy Saturday, we would set the dining room table with all our food to be blessed.  Father Joe – from St. Hedwig’s Parish would make a visit to the house to bless our food.  None of the churches do this anymore. These are the most important part of the Easter table and their meanings:

Baranek – A lamb, representing Christ Resurrected.  A typical Polish Easter symbol.

Pepper and Horseradish – These symbolize the bitter herbs of the Passover and Exodus.

Bread – A symbol of Christ, “The Bread of life”.

Salt – “You are the salt of the Earth”.

Vinegar – Symbolizes the gall given to Christ at the Crucifixtion.

Wine – Symbolizes the blood of sacrifice spilt by Christ at the Crucifixtion.

In the old days, all types of pork were forbidden until the coming of Christ. Father Joe won’t be coming to bless the food anymore, but he has blessed us with many special Easter memories.

Pysanky – Ukrainian Easter Egg art

I tried this once but it’s very involved – but beautiful! Make your own Easter Butter Lamb

Polish Art Center – Plastic Butter Lamb Mold

How to make Ukrainian Easter Eggs

This lamb has joined the So Sweet Linky Party! 

Double the time-saving power of your CrockPot by transforming leftovers into a totally different meal! This brisket is cooked with beef broth and loads of onions that melt down into a luscious gravy.

NIGHT #1

4 lbs. beef brisket

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 large onions, sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. thyme  leaves

1 tsp. black pepper

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cut brisket into 2 pieces to fit in CrockPot.  Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in heavy pan and brown brisket about 2 minutes per side.

Add remaining oil to pan.  Add sliced onions and cook until softened, 3-6 minutes.  Add garlic, thyme and pepper.  Stir in tomato paste beef broth and salt and bring to a boil.  Transfer the onion mixture to CrockPot.  Cover and cook until brisket reaches desired tenderness 5-6 hours on HIGH, 8-10 hours on LOW.

Just add mashed potatoes and a veg.

Be sure to slice this AGAINST the grain of the meat.

NIGHT #2

Brisket Sloppy Joes

3 cups leftover brisket(shredded or chopped)

2 cups gravy

1 10-oz. can diced Ro-tel tomatoes, drained

2 tsp. chili powder

2 Tbsp. molasses

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Heat gravy and brisket in a large saute pan.

Add drained tomatoes and chili powder.  Cook for one minute.

Add molasses and brown sugar.

Stir well.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes to meld flavors.

Serve on toasted buns.

I would make this brisket just for the Sloppy Joes!

~Adapted from Eating Well