Oh hello there.

How’s your week going?

We are on February School vacation week here, so we took the kids up skiing to North Conway, NH. It’s been a mixed bag with some wonderful ski days and others so cold we were shivering on the chairlift and huddling for warmth. If you follow me on Instagram you know we’ve reached an amazing point where all our older kids can ski with us down most trails and it is such a joy. Though there are some serious heart palpitations for this momma, we mostly have smooth sailing as we fly down the hill.

But no matter what the weather our days always end apres skiing with friends or sitting around a fire. I knew it would be very hard to be Whole30 compliant on vacation, so I have been MOSTLY eating paleo with a few glasses of wine and beer, giving myself that 10 day lent wiggle room. March 1-March 30 will be my hard core window and I am so excited. I honestly love how I feel when I wake up the days I’m compliant. And I am reading It Starts With Food now, and it is SO interesting. Highly recommended.

Also highly recommended are these jalepeno poppers. Just crazy good. They have 4 ingredients and take 10 minutes to make. Think they will be a ski house staple because my husband and kids were super sad when they were gone. (Note to self: make a double batch). They aren’t even hot at all which I thought was surprising. If you like heat you make want to save some of the seeds and mix it into the cream cheese or leave in the popper.

They are ridiculously easy to make.

I love jalapeno poppers so much, and I usually roll them in crushed corn flakes and fry them. But I saw pics floating around of them wrapped in bacon, and I had to try them. My husband was just a teeny bit excited.

First you put the bacon in a 400 degree oven so they cook for a little bit, 5-7 minutes. While they cook, you halve the jalapenos and remove all the ribs and seeds, which is where the heat comes from.  Then you stuff them with a mixture of cream cheese and sharp cheddar cheese.  I have added cilantro, chives and green onions in the past to my jalepeno popper stuffing – all of which are delicious – but I didn’t have any on hand here.

Take the bacon out of the oven before it is done, blotting them on a paper towel lined plate, and then wrap them around each one. You can use toothpicks, but I didn’t have any and did fine tucking them underneath.

Aren’t they cute?

Then pop them back in the 400 degree oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the cream cheese oozes out. (Yum).

Hope you get a chance to make these soon, you will thank me!

Bacon Wrapped Jalepeno Poppers (printer version here):

Ingredients:

10 Jalapeno Poppers

1 brick of cream cheese

¾ cup sharp cheddar cheese

2 T. chopped cilantro, chives, or green onions (optional)

1 lb bacon

Directions:

Cook bacon halfway at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Slice jalapenos in half and discard stems, seeds and ribs. Mix together cream cheese and cheddar cheese with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add chopped herbs if using. Fill each jalapeno half with cream cheese mixture.

Take bacon out of the oven and lay on paper towel lined plate. Then wrap each jalapeno half in a slice of bacon.

Cook at 400 degrees 15-20 minutes until cheese is oozing and jalapenos are soft.

Hi Friends! Happy Lent, Happy Whole30, Happy Wednesday, or whatever you may be celebrating today.

I know I meal planned on my last post that I would start eating Whole30 after my wine party, but I honestly got so excited about all the Whole30 foods that I just went ahead and started it today even if a few events will mean I am drinking wine this weekend (it will be 30 days by the end of Lent!). I can’t wait to try all the recipes I am discovering with you that are healthy and delicious.

This dish is hopefully something for everyone, since it can be made Whole30 friendly if you cook it with ghee (which sounds weird but is just clarified butter). We eat a lot more meatless meals during Lent too and I am always looking for great fish recipes because we tend to cook fish at home for our dates night.

I just adore rustic food, and this Tuscan dish is just that. Hearty, chunky, easy and full of flavor. It is healthy comfort food that still sticks to your ribs. The brine capers, tomatoes, and onions are the perfect base for the tangy swordfish.

I learned this butter basting technique from Rick Moonen’d cookbook, Fish. He was a Top Chef Master and owner of seafood restaurants in Vegas. I also just reviewed the cookbook Extra Virgin  by Debi Mazar and her husband Gabriele Corcos who grew up in Tuscany, for Coastal Home magazine, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the origins of Tuscan food.

The simple Tuscan flavors of tomato, capers, wine and lemon reflect a clean style of cooking that I love. Tuscan cooking leans more heavily on olive oil then butter, but the end result of butter basting fish is so flavorful I think they would make an exception. You can substitute any white fish for the swordfish and cook it the same way, adjusting the time for thickness of the filet.

Even though it looks like a lot of butter you are really just basting it, or poaching it almost in the butter – most of it stays in the pan.

The result, as you can imagine, is such a tender, butter piece of fish. You can’t believe it is as soft and flavorful as it is, even though it is deliciously browned.

I hope you like this as much as we did. I am dreaming about making this soon with Whole30 compliant ingredients. Lent is supposed to be hard, and it will be! But with food that is so delicious, this is the type of eating I know we’ll keep doing long after it is over.

Cheers friends – Happy cooking! xoxo Katie

Tuscan Butter Basted Swordfish with Onions, Tomatoes and Capers (printer version here):

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

Salt & pepper

½ cup white wine

Juice from 1 lemon

2 tablespoons of capers

2 swordfish steaks

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (this is for the butter basting; don’t worry, you leave most of it in pan)

Directions:

To make the Onion, Tomato & Caper Sauce: Heat olive oil in pan on medium heat. Add sliced onions and a small pinch of salt and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and another 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, then add wine and lemon juice. Cook for 10 minutes, then add capers and stir.  Keep warm in pan to until ready to serve under fish.

To make Butter Basted Swordfish: Have a large spoon, spatula, and paper towels next to pan. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a pan on medium-high heat (watch closely so butter doesn’t burn, but you are looking for a nutty browned butter flavor so browning is good).  Pat dry swordfish and season with salt and pepper. When the butter has melted, place in the far side of the pan and, using a spatula, press down on fish for the first 30 seconds, which helps the fish start to brown. Cut the other 4 tablespoons of butter into pieces and add to the pan. Tip pan toward you and using large spoon, continuously spoon butter on top of fish. Continuously tip, baste and set down pan again over heat, so that butter becomes nutty brown and top of fish is cooked, for 6 minutes. Then turn fish over, turn off heat, and let it sit in butter for 1 minute. Set on paper towels and use another to blot the top. Serve on a bed of the onion-tomato sauce, and sprinkle lemon and salt, if desired, on top of fish.

Hi Foodie Friends – Happy Almost Valentine’s Day! In case you were wondering if all this snow here in New Hampshire is making us carb load, here’s your answer:

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread! So so good. My kids love helping me make this recipe, since they can really help mash the bananas and stir in the chocolate chips.

The batter is really flexible so you can put it in whatever shaped pan you want, and play with the chocolate chips! I love mixing white and chocolate chips together. And I usually make little mini-muffins but how cute are these loaves?

I am going on a ski weekend with my BC college roommates and all of our families and I cannot wait! The perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day – all of the people you love in one place. When I think about all that we went through together – dreaming, comforting, growing, laughing – it is crazy to fast forward to right now and think that we are all beautiful mommas and professionals and doctors!  It seriously makes me teary thinking about being together with these girls. We are going to bring all our kids skiing and to the pool, frost heart shaped cookies, drink champagne and eat lots of good food. Then we are going to sneak away and get massages while the dads take over for an afternoon.

I thought I would make everyone little loaves they can bring into their families condo as a treat for coming out my way this trip. At least the snow is cooperating, so that the ski trails are full of snow.

The recipe is so easy and delicious, moist from the bananas and I love the brown sugar in there. (Feel free to leave out some of the sugar but we like them sweet!) This recipe is great for using up old bananas too.  A great one for the recipe box.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you love this one as much as we do!

Banana Chocolate Chip Loaves (printer version here);

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, softened

¾ c. sugar

½ c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ c. flour

1 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

2-3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 t. vanilla

1 c. chocolate chips (white chocolate or butterscotch are also yummy, sometimes I combine them. If you like nuts feel free to add them too).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Sift together in a seperate bowl the flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mix. Mash bananas with a fork (a GREAT kid job), then stir in 1 t. vanilla to the bananas. Add to the batter mixture. Add 1 c. chocolate chips, stirring gently.

Spray pan with cooking spray. See below to adjust times and temps according to what pan you are using.

For Mini-Loaf Pan: Cook at 350 for 40-42 minutes, checking for doneness.

For Mini-Muffins: Cook at 375 for 12-14 minutes, checking for doneness.

For Muffins: Cook at 375 for 20-22 minutes, checking for doneness.