Christina's Spicy Spaghetti with Sausage

original recipe

3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage
1 medium onion
6 cloves garlic
1 recipe Scalloped Tomatoes, prepared but not baked
6 oz fresh spinach
1 pound spaghetti
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Cook spaghetti according to package directions and set aside.

Meanwhile, brown sausage in large skillet. With 3-5 minutes remaining, add onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in scalloped tomatoes and heat through. Stir in spinach until wilted. Stir in cooked spaghetti and heat through. Add red pepper flakes if desired. Serve.

Christina's Brazilian Limeade/Lemonade

from Our Best Bites

4 juicy limes (try and find ones with thin, smooth skins; they're the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)
1 C sugar
6 C cold water
6 TBSP sweetened condensed milk

Mix cold water and sugar very well and chill until ready to use. Wash limes thoroughly with soap. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in your blender. Add 1/2 of the sugar water, place the lid on your blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher (the one you'll serve the lemonade in) and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. Dump the pulp and stuff in the strainer into the trash. Repeat with remaining limes and sugar water. Add sweetened condensed milk.

Serve immediately over ice. This does not keep well, so don't make this in advance (although you can cut the limes, mix the sugar water, and measure the sweetened condensed milk in advance).

Christina's Cherry Macaroon Tart

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1/2 pound (2 1/2 cups) cherries, washed
1 1/4 cups flour (can add some whole wheat flour if desired)
2 1/2 cup shredded coconut (divided)
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed (divided)

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350F degrees with racks in the middle. Butter an 9-inch tart pan and line with parchment paper. Pit the cherries, cut each cherry in half, and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, 1/2 cup of the coconut, 1/2 cup of the sugar, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and mix until dough is crumbly but no longer dusty looking. Press the mixture into the prepared pan (it should form a solid, cohesive base), and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.

In the meantime prepare the coconut topping by combining the remaining 2 cups coconut and egg whites. Mix until well combined.

Evenly distribute most of the cherries across the tart base. Now drop little dollops of the macaroon topping over the cherries, and mush/press the coconut topping around a bit into the spaces behind the cherries. Be sure to let at least some of the colorful cherries pop through the topping for visual flair. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the peaks of the macaroon topping are deeply golden. Let tart cool, and garnish by sprinkling any remaining fresh cherry halves across the top.

Christina's Orange Thai Beef Skewers

from Our Best Bites

Here's the thing: once again, this is not authentic Thai. But it's pretty darn good. 

1 orange

1/4 C soy sauce

1/4 C seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 T honey

1T sesame oil

1 t ground ginger

1 t coriander

4 cloves garlic

2-4 t Sriracha chili sauce*

1 1/2 lb flank steak (or whatever you've got) skewers (if using wood/bamboo make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before use.)

*Again, if you don't have it, just throw in some crushed red pepper or cayenne.

In small bowl, zest your orange. Cut the orange in half and juice into the bowl. You should have at least 1/4 C orange juice.To the orange mixture, add soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, coriander, and garlic. Add Sriracha/spice to your taste. Whisk.

Take the flank steak and slice it across the grain into about 1/4" slices. It helps to pop the steak into the freezer for 20 minutes or so before hand. Place steak in a zip-lock bag and pour the marinade in. Allow to sit in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

After time has elapsed, remove steak from fridge and place into bowl. Thread steak onto skewers and discard additional marinade (or save some for basting, if you want to). The original recipe explains how to grill these. I don't have a grill. I put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes per side and they turned out great.

Serves 4-6, depending on if you use these as an appetizer or part of a main course. The best way, of course, is to serve them with sticky rice and peanut dipping sauce. 

Christina's Thai Peanut Dressing

from Our Best Bites

Can be used as a salad dressing (add 2-4 TBSP water to get a good consistency) or a dipping sauce for satay.

1/2 C peanut butter
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 1/2 t sesame oil
1 T seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 T honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 T minced ginger
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 t kosher salt
2-3 t Sriracha chili sauce*

Blend it all together. Makes about two cups.

*If you don't have chili sauce or can't find it, just toss in a little crushed red pepper, but not too much! Chili sauce isn't actually very hot, and you don't want any hot spice overpowering the flavor.