Cooking for 2.

Best of friends Oliver (cat) and Carson (dog), relax after checking out some luscious fondue recipes courtesy of Cooking for 2!

Tostada Pizza.

What do you get when you cross the ubiquitous taco dip with a pizza - why the tostada pizza of course! This is a pretty simple and flexible recipe which I made for dinner, but think it's more of an appetizer than an entree. Just about any mashed bean would work as a base for this pizza. Additionally, ground turkey or chicken could work in place of the beef or just skip the meat all together.


Tostada Pizza

1 pound lean ground beef
1 4-oz. can diced green chile peppers, drained
1/2 of a 1.5 oz. envelope taco seasoning mix (about 2 Tbs.)
1 tsp. chili pepper
1 Tbs. cornmeal
1 10 oz. package refrigerated pizza dough
1 15 oz. can pinto beans with jalapeno peppers, rinsed and drained
1 c. shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onions (about 4)
Bottled taco sauce

1. In a large skillet cook meat until brown. Drain off fat. Stir in 3/4 cup water, chile peppers, taco seasoning mix and chili powder. Bring to a boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone.

2. Meanwhile, grease a baking sheet and sprinkle with the cornmeal. Pat pizza dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle on the baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

3. In a bowl mash beans with a fork; spread over partially baked dough to within 1/2 inch of edges. Spoon meat mixture over beans. Bake, uncovered, 10 minutes more until crust is golden. Sprinkle with cheese cheese. Bake 1-2 minutes more or until cheese melts. Top with lettuce, tomato, and onions. If desired, serve with taco sauce.

Yield: 6 servings
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

Nutritional Information: 384 cal., 17 g. total fat (7 g. sat. fat), 67 mg. chol., 882 mg. sodium, 34 g. carbo., 5 g. fiber, 27 g. pro.

What I did: Pinto beans with jalapenos do not exist at my grocery store, I had sliced jalapeno' but forgot to add them. The added heat would have been greatly welcome.

Warm Pancakes For A Cold Day.

I simply adore pancakes, they really are one of my favorite foods. I especially love pancakes when they are slightly crispy on the edges and still a little undone in the center - a technique I have yet to master. It's a technique my Grandpa had down pat and is generally served in the best greasy spoon diners. Even though I haven't mastered this technique yet, these pancakes still delivered a hearty and delicious breakfast. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination would also work wonderfully in this recipe.

Blueberry Pancakes with Maple-Orange Syrup

1 egg

1 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. milk

1 Tbs. sugar

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed and well-drained)

Margarine, butter or shortening to grease griddle

1. Make maple-orange syrup (below).

2. Beat the egg in a medium bowl with a fork or wire whisk until yolk and white are well mixed. Beat in the flour, milk, sugar, oil, baking powder and salt just until smooth. Gently stir in the blueberries.

3. Heat the griddle to 375 or heat the skillet over medium heat. To test the heat, sprinkle the griddle with a few drops of water. If the bubbles jump around, heat is just right. If the griddle or skillet is non-stick you can cook the pancakes without any margarine. Otherwise, melt 1-2 teaspoons of margarine each time, before pouring the pancake batter onto the hot griddle.

4. For each pancake, pour a little less than 1/4 cup batter from a measuring cup or pitcher onto the hot griddle. Cook 2-4 minutes or until edge of pancake is golden brown and slightly dry and bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Run a turner under edge of pancake, and flip pancake over. Cook other side of pancake about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.

5. Serve pancakes immediately, or keep warm by placing pancakes in a single layer on a wire rack in a 200 degree oven for up to 15 minutes. Serve pancakes with syrup.

Maple-Orange Syrup

1 c. maple-flavored syrup

3 Tbs. orange juice

3 Tbs. margarine or butter

1. Heat the maple syrup, orange juice and margarine in the saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warm.

Yield: 4 servings (two 4-inch pancakes each)

Recipe obtained from: Betty Crocker's Entertaining Basics

Nutritional Information: Calories 580 (calories from fat 180), fat 20 g. (saturated 5 g.), cholesterol 60 mg., sodium 780 mg., carbohydrate 94 g., fiber 1 g., protein 7 g.

What I did: Using a little less than 1/4 cup of the batter this recipe made 11 pancakes. Next time I would half the syrup recipe, it made a lot.

Northernized Muffuletta.

Technically, I shouldn't even call this a muffuletta as it's by no means the standard authentic New Orleans version you may be familiar with. For the authentic version, check out Nola Cuisine's delicious looking sandwich! The reason my sandwich is not authentic is it completely lacks the olive salad goodness. Since the husband seriously dislikes olives in any form, I opted not to include it and was simply too lazy to make some for my side of the sandwich. In the end it's more like an Italian sub than it is a muffuletta, but who cares? It was still good and it's still Fat Tuesday - bring on the Paczki!

Northernized Muffuletta

thinly sliced Italian ham

thinly sliced salami

provolone cheese

mozzarella cheese

1 small loaf Italian bread

1. Slice loaf in half and top with the meats & cheeses. Top with peppers or olives if desired.

2. Bake in 350 oven for about 15 minutes or until your sandwich looks they way you like it. I do not place the top part of the bread back on, instead I lay it alongside the bottom half. That way the cheese & meat get more direct heat.

3. Top with lettuce or anything else your heart desires, slice in half and enjoy.

Quick Breakfast = Muffins.

Today I decided it was time to make a few more batches of muffins to freeze for those hurried mornings when you need to eat on the run. There are some clever people, like my mother, who never eat on the run. My mother manages to sit down and eat a proper breakfast every morning and if you are like her, you can can enjoy these muffins on the weekend - without having to bake anything.

These muffins split 50-50. The banana blueberry muffins were heavenly and the husband and I nearly ate all of them on Sunday alone! I think the key was the pureed banana which gave the muffin a subtle flavor. Substituting blackberries or raspberries for the blueberries would also be good. The coffee cake muffins weren't bad, just not what I was hoping for. The muffins were more dense than I like them, which I admit could be a stirring error. Overall they just felt like they were lacking something, perhaps chopped nuts included in the batter and more spices would make them better.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 extra ripe, medium bananas
6 Tbs. margarine
6 Tbs. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 c. frozen blueberries, rinsed & drained

1. Puree bananas in a blender (1 cup)

2. Beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in bananas and egg.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel. Blend into banana mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

4. Line 6 large muffin cups with paper liners. Coat lightly with vegetable spray. Divide batter evenly.

5. Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Yield: 6 muffins
Recipe obtained from: Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale Cookbook

What I did: I had enough batter to fill about 9 cups and I didn't use liners - just spray & fill. I also used fresh blueberries, because that's what I had and there was no issue.

Coffee Cake Muffins

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
3 Tbs. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. buttermilk or sour milk

1. Grease twelve muffin cups or line with paper cups; set aside.

2. For topping, in a small bowl, stir together the 3 Tbs. flour, brown sugar, and the 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Cut in the 2 Tbs. butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts; set topping aside.

3. In a medium bowl stir together the 1 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. In another bowl combine egg and buttermilk. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy)

5. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one-third full. Top with half of the topping, the remaining batter, and the remaining topping. Bake in a 400 oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.


Yield: 12 muffins
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens

Nutritional Information (per muffin): 180 cal., 8 g. total fat (4 g. sat. fat), 34 mg. chol.,196 mg sodium, 25 g. carbo., 1 g. fiber, 3 g. pro.

What I did: I had less than 12 muffins and used walnuts.

Comfort, It's What's for Dinner.

Dinner tonight was also in celebration of the husband starting his new job tomorrow. The meatloaf was profiled on here awhile back and I didn't change anything, except to bake it this time. Along with the meatloaf we had Williams and Sonoma's stuffed baked potatoes, which were really good. For the potatoes I used a combination of broccoli and cauliflower, sharp cheddar cheese and did not add any meat. Both dishes were comfort food at its finest and will make for excellent lunches!

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies.

Tomorrow the husband starts a new job and I wanted to treat him to some cookies. A friend mentioned making these cookies last week and the husband decided that's what he wanted too. I already had two of these cookies yesterday at book club and am keeping mum on how many I've had today! This recipe made a lot of cookies and it's becoming harder to eat healthy with these sitting around! I may be leaving cookies around town tomorrow!

Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 c. butter, softened

1 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp. ground cloves (optional)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 c. rolled oats

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and, if desired, cinnamon and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in rolled oats.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375
for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Oatmeal-Chip Cookies: Prepare as above, except after stirring in oats, stir in 1 cup semisweet chocolate, butterscotch-flavored, or peanut butter-flavored pieces and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.

Yield: about 48 cookies
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook

Nutritional Information (1 cookie): 86 cal., 4 g. total fat (2 g. sat. fat), 17 mg chol., 51 mg. sodium, 12 g. carbo., 1 g. fiber, 1 g. pro.

What I did: I did not add the cinnamon and cloves and did not add any nuts. My cookies needed to cook a little bit longer than the suggested time - as with all ovens time will vary.