Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! There is no better way to celebrate the holidays with family and food. I know that I, for one, show my love and appreciation through food. If I cook for you what in my mind is a good meal, it's because I care. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to track my cooking and baking while on the east coast for the holidays. But now that I am back home in the Bay Area with the Nutcracker and holiday season passed, I am dedicated to sharing my 2009 cooking adventures.

I received Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2009, which includes all of the recipes in the 2008 Cooking Light magazines, for Christmas. On the plane ride home, Adam and I looked through it and picked out a few recipes for the week. Last night we made Goat Cheese-Stuffed Jalapenos with Ranchero Sauce and Bacon-Chipotle Twice-Baked Potatoes, both from the December 2008 magazine. They paired quite nicely together; the potatoes helped to soothe the fire in our mouths from the jalapenos.
Goat Cheese-Stuffed Jalapenos with Ranchero Sauce (Cooking Light, December 2008)

Although this recipe serves 10, we made the whole batch. They are so delicious we ended up eating more than just one jalapeno each.

Ranchero Sauce:
1 tsp. canola oil
2 cups vertically sliced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Mexican oregano
1 (15-oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (8-oz.) can no-salt-added tomato sauce

Jalapenos:
Cooking spray
10 large jalapeno peppers (about 4 inches long)
1/4 cup (2 oz.) block-style fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (4-oz.) package goat cheese, softened
1 garlic clove, minced

Remaining ingredient:
10 corn tortillas, warmed according to package directions

1. To prepare ranchero sauce, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; saute 3 minutes. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water and next 5 ingredients. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Unconver and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400.
3. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add jalapenos to pan; cook 9 minutes or until tender and blackened, turning occassionally. Cut a lengthwise slit in each jalapeno; discard stems, seeds, and membranes.
4. Combine cream cheese and next 3 ingredients. Fill each jalapeno with about 1 Tbs. cheese mixture. Place jalapenos on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 7 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with tortillas and ranchero sauce.

Bacon-Chipotle Twice-Baked Potatoes (Cooking Light, December 2008)

We made these without bacon, but Adam is convinced that these would be phenominal with it. I, having not eaten bacon in 12 or so years, didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.

6 baking potatoes (about 3 lbs.)
1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 1/4 cups (5 oz.) shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 Tbs. finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1 tsp. salt
4 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork. Bake potatoes at 450 for 50 minutes or until done; cool slightly. Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shells. Combine potato pulp, buttermilk, 3/4 cup cheese, and remaining ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Spoon potato mixture evenly into 10 shells; discard remaining 2 shells. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese evely over potatoes. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated.