justJENN recipes

The Farmer’s Market is in full effect, yo. Everything inspires me lately.

ingredients:
3 medium sized tomatoes
salt & pepper
breadcrumbs
garlic
olive oil

Sorry, no measurements here folks, to taste or by eye is how this one is going to go. I wash and cut the tops off my tomatoes. Depending on the density of them, sometimes I cut out a bit of the ‘heart’ or the center. It can be tough to eat.

Put them in a baking dish, salt and pepper them. Sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs. Add chopped garlic if you like. Drizzle with olive oil.

Turn the oven to broil and stick ‘em in. Watch it. It’ll only take about 3 -4 minutes. I like them kinda charred, so don’t mind the horrible photo.

These make great side dishes but sometimes I like to just eat them alone. When I am in the mood. I am moody.

The Kid is allergic to chocolate so I substitute white chocolate chips. My boys love these muffins because they are soft - the mascarpone adds a nice texture to the muffin.

ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package mascarpone cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners. Beat mascarpone and butter together until fluffy. Beat in egg, cream and vanilla.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into wet mixture until just combined. Don’t overmix! Fold in chocolate chips. If you are using white chocolate chips, use less, they are MUCH sweeter than regular chocolate. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling them 3/4 full.

Bake in oven, about 20 minutes. Take out of pans and let cool on a wire rack. If you can’t find mascarpone, cream cheese works as well, but I like the texture that the mascarpone gives. Try it out!

This is how to, since it’s just a bunch of layering. But you can use whatever you have around. Cereal, crushed cookies, sprinkles, fruit. The healthier the better of course. If you want unhealthy - go for a pudding parfait. MMM.

ingredients:
yogurt
berries
cereal
whipped cream

Get a small clear glass and layer the ingredients. I like to start with the yogurt on the bottom, much like a trifle. It holds the rest of the stuff in place. Then layer the berries, whipped cream, cereal. And do it again til you’ve got a good size. Don’t make it too big or your kid will never finish.

I serve these for breakfast as well as dessert. The kids can’t get enough!

You know what’s better than egg salad? An egg salad with bacon. And be sure and use those colored hard boiled eggs from Easter. The dye makes it that much more colorful.

ingredients: (makes two sandwiches)
4 hard boiled eggs
3 TB mayonaise
2 tsp yellow mustard
4 cornichons (or a dill pickle spear) chopped
1/4 tsp onion powder
freshly ground black pepper
3 slices bacon
toast

Fry the bacon until extra crispy. Drain really well. REALLY WELL. You don’t want an oily eggs salad. Blech. Once drained chop up the bacon into small pieces, set aside.

Hard boil 4 eggs. If you get a little person to help you make sure the eggs have been COMPLETELY deshelled. And by little person I don’t mean midget, but any help is good help. Chop the boiled eggs into very a fine mince. In a bowl combine the eggs, mayo, mustard, and chopped cornichons, onion powder and pepper. Mix well.

Add the chopped bacon and give a final mix in. Spoon mixture onto toast, add lettuce or tomato if you’ve got it.

Great anytime, not just at Easter.

Fish is good for you. I know a lot of people have an aversion to it, the smell, what have you. But if you have kids you should suck it up and make it for them. It really does help form their tiny brains and junk.

This is a recipe for the Kid’s FAAAYYVVOORRITE dinner, Salmon Cakes. No, not like cake, cake. Like yummy cake. Like cake, like crabcakes, ya dig?

ingredients:
2 14oz cans salmon
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup corn
3 TB olive oil

more oil for pan

I am not a fan of canned stuff, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I always keep a few cans of this in the cupboard in case I want to make fish and I don’t have any fresh on hand. Trader Joe’s brand is pretty good, once you toss all the disgusting skin and bones. Bones make me want to hurl, quite frankly. Even though the ones in the canned salmon are edible, I still think it’s gross. So I am diligent about picking them all out.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Form into patties and set aside.

Put a large pan on a medium high heat. Pour a TB of oil into the pan. Place the patties in the pan, and cook on one side until browned. Flip and brown the other side until cooked through the middle.

You should get a nice brown crust on the outside, yum!

I think I originally got this recipe from Everyday Food years ago, although I can’t find it anywhere. I like pork loin because it’s small, and when you cook it you can slice it into little individual boneless medallions. Perfect for kids. The spices in this combo smell and taste wonderful. You can kick it up and add cayenne if you like it super spicy, but that’s not me.

ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
olive oil

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp allspice

Set your oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil. Put the tenderloin on the pan, and rub with olive oil.

In a small bowl combine all the spices to make a dry rub and rub onto the pork.

Place in the middle top of your oven. Cook for around 20-25 minutes, turning regularly. Broil is high, but don’t worry. Watch it now, the sugar in this will BURN like a mutha. It’s ok, it’ll still taste good, just warning you.

You can use a meat thermometer to check the center, it should be about 150 degrees. Take it out of the ovem cover with foil, and let the meat rest for 10 minutes. Slice and serve.

A great combo of lemon and ginger. I like to make them super small like little buttons of chewy goodness.

ingredients:
2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 sticks of butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
zest of one lemon

sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and salt. Set aside.

With an electric mixer in a separate bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and molasses. Stir in the flour mixture AND the zest until blended.

Roll the dough into tiny 1/2 balls. If the dough is too sticky, put it in the fridge for a bit. Roll the balls in sugar and then place on the baking sheets. Press them down so they look like ‘buttons’. I use a small shot glass.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove and let cook on a baker’s rack. They are nice crispy, but if you leave them in an unsealed jar they will be soft and moist.

I packed these up and used them for party favors!

The Kid likes to look through my cookbooks and pick out what he wants to eat. He ran across a picture of Frog in the Hole, not to be confused with Toad in the Hole. I like to cook mine up with a bit of cheese to give it a little more substance.

ingredients:
1 piece of bread
butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon shredded cheese
a dash of milk
salt
pepper

Using a glass or a biscuit cutter, cut a hole in the center of your bread. I like to keep all the bread circles and make cinnamon toast rounds, but that’s a recipe for another day.

Butter the edges of the bread and put it in a pan, buttered side down. Butter the face up side a bit, as well. Turn the pan on to medium heat.

Crack the egg into a bowl. whisk it up with the dash of milk and cheese. Pour into the circle in the bread. Salt and pepper lightly.

Wait a few minutes for the toast to brown and the egg to set, check the underside using a spatula. Then flip the bread over. Careful, there may be spillage, but don’t worry it will still taste great.

Wait for the underside to set, and serve. This is a hearty yet easy breakfast.