Let's face it, winter in New England is not the easiest season to get through. Frankly I really hate winters up here; but I believe that you should only go to Florida when you are ready to die. Any way produce this time of year is kind of lacking except for a few things, my favorite being tangerines. Here's a little bit of Tricia trivia; I am allergic to raw edible skin fruit. (So I only get to eat fresh citrus and melons.) The drawback to tangerines is that each little orange globe has about thirty-seven seeds embedded in it. So how am I to enjoy this little bit of sunshine? Juice them and make dinner, of course!
The last month it has been a tangerine fest over here at Chez Tricia; I have added them to just about everything, but here are just three examples.
First I started with Tangerine Beef, due to the fact that I love the beef. Begin by zesting two tangerines and juicing about four of them. Whisk in one tablespoon of olive oil, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar and a few dashes of hot sauce. Marinate about one pound of your choice of beef (I like rib eye myself, but then I have expensive taste.) for at least thirty minutes to all day. Get your cast iron pan screaming hot, or use a wok if you have one, remove the meat from the marinade, reserving said marinade, and cook the beef in small batches. Once all the beef has been cooked and removed from the pan add the marinade and bring it to a boil. Once boiling stir in one tablespoon of brown sugar. once this is melted add the beef and coat all the pieces. Serve this over brown rice.
Moving on to every one's favorite protein, chicken with Tangerine Glazed Chicken. Season about one pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper and saute them until browned and cooked through. Remove them from the pan and add the juice of about six tangerines, half a cup of chicken broth, a quarter cup of tangerine marmalade, two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and a few dashes of hot sauce. Bring this to a boil, return chicken to the pan and let it cook until the sauce becomes thick and sticky. Serve this over couscous.
Finally here is my new favorite quick meal, Tangerine Shrimp and Grits. Make your quick cooking grits according to the package directions but add a quarter cup of grated Parmesan cheese at the end of the five minutes cooking time. Saute about 1 pound of shrimp, two cloves of minced garlic until just about cooked through. Add the juice of three tangerines and a few dashes of hot sauce. Let this reduce a bit and serve it over the grits.
Nothing brightens up my day better than a burst of liquid sunshine at dinner. Currently I have another box of tangerines sitting on my counter just waiting to be turned into one of these great dinner. They might also find their way into a Tangerine-cicle Martini also.
Tangerine Beef
2 lg Tangerines, zested & juiced
2 lg Tangerines juiced
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
1 Tbsp Rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
1 Lb Steak, sliced thin
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Zest 2 of the tangerines and juice all 4 of them, whisk in the olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce. Marinate the beef in this for at least 30 min. Cook the drained meat over high heat in small batches and remove to a plate. Pour the remaining marinade into the pan, bring to a boil, add sugar and meat, coat well.
Tangerine Glazed Chicken
1 lb Boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1 cup Tangerine juice
1/2 cup Chicken broth
1/4 cup Tangerine marmalade
2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
Season the chicken and saute until browned and cooked through, remove from the pan. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, add chicken and reduce to a glaze.
Tangerine Shrimp and Grits
1 lb Shrimp
2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 lg Tangerines, juiced
1/4 tsp Hot sauce
Quick cooking grits
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Make the grits according to the package directions adding the cheese at the end of the cooking time. Saute the shrimp and garlic for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the juice and hot sauce to finish cooking, reduce the sauce a bit and serve over the grits.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
Christmas Party Season
So last night was out annual company Christmas party and we always have it at the bosses house; mostly due to the fact that there are only thirteen employees but also because we like an intimate homey setting. And even though every year we say that we are going to tone down the food that is served, there is always too much left over. This year I decided to try out something new, Candied Bacon. Seriously who doesn't love bacon, except the two vegetarians we have on staff, it is salty, smokey goodness and when you add sugar and spce it gets even better.
For best results try and get your hands on some slab bacon cut a little thicker than what you normally get in the packages of bacon. So I took my pound of bacon, layed it out in a single layer on a baking rack set on top of a sheet pan. For easier cleanup cover that bottom pan with tin foil to catch all the grease that will collect in the pan. Mix together a third of a cup of brown sugar, two shakes of cayanne pepper, two shakes of chili powder, one shake of cumin, two or three shakes of cinnamon and a little black pepper. Rub this onto one side of the bacon and then place the tray under the broiler and cook until it looks good to you. I personally like my bacon a little crispy, but it is all personal preferance. Serve this hot and watch it dissappear.
Our Chiristmas party always has a few traditional foods. like shrimp cocktail and my mothers Christmas meatballs. I don't have her recipee but I can tell you that the little meatballs are a Jewish style Christmas meatball due to the Manaschevitz wine in the recipee. Last night one of the employees brought her new favorite dip which was also a huge hit, Amy's Sausage Dip.
Amy will tell you herself that she is not a cook, but she has a homerun in this dip. Saute one of those logs of sausage until well crumbled and add one drained can of Rotelle tomatoes. Cook this down so that everything is broken up and hot before mixing it up with two packages of room temperature cream cheese. Spread it all into a small baking dish and cook at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
Our annual Christmas party is always a lot of fun, we have a blast with our Yankee gift swap. For those of you who don't know what that is, everyone brings a gift valued between ten and fifteen dollars, wrapped but not labled. All the gifts are placed in a pile in the center of the room and names are drawn. When your name is picked you grab a gift from the pile, if someone else has something you want then you can swap with them. We go through everyone's names twice and it never fails that there is one gift that everyone really wants. This year the Playboy cologne gift set was popular with the teenage boys; I seriously doubt that smelling like Heff is going to help get them the ladies, but more power to them. On a persoal note for the first time in nine years I ended up with what I wanted out of all the gifts, funny thing is that it was the gift I brought!
Candied Bacon
1 lb. bacon, slightly thick cut
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 shake cumin
2 shakes cayanne pepper
2 shakes chili powder
2 shakes cinnamon
black pepper
Lay out the bacon on a rack over a baking tray. Combine the remaining ingredients and rub onto one side of bacon. Broil until done to your liking.
Amy's Sausage Dip
1 pkg. bulk sausage
1 can Rotelle tomatoes, drained
2 pkgs. cream cheese
Saute the sausage until well crumbled, add the tomatoes and cook until everything is well combined and broken down. Combine the sausage mixture to the room temperature cream cheese, pour into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
For best results try and get your hands on some slab bacon cut a little thicker than what you normally get in the packages of bacon. So I took my pound of bacon, layed it out in a single layer on a baking rack set on top of a sheet pan. For easier cleanup cover that bottom pan with tin foil to catch all the grease that will collect in the pan. Mix together a third of a cup of brown sugar, two shakes of cayanne pepper, two shakes of chili powder, one shake of cumin, two or three shakes of cinnamon and a little black pepper. Rub this onto one side of the bacon and then place the tray under the broiler and cook until it looks good to you. I personally like my bacon a little crispy, but it is all personal preferance. Serve this hot and watch it dissappear.
Our Chiristmas party always has a few traditional foods. like shrimp cocktail and my mothers Christmas meatballs. I don't have her recipee but I can tell you that the little meatballs are a Jewish style Christmas meatball due to the Manaschevitz wine in the recipee. Last night one of the employees brought her new favorite dip which was also a huge hit, Amy's Sausage Dip.
Amy will tell you herself that she is not a cook, but she has a homerun in this dip. Saute one of those logs of sausage until well crumbled and add one drained can of Rotelle tomatoes. Cook this down so that everything is broken up and hot before mixing it up with two packages of room temperature cream cheese. Spread it all into a small baking dish and cook at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
Our annual Christmas party is always a lot of fun, we have a blast with our Yankee gift swap. For those of you who don't know what that is, everyone brings a gift valued between ten and fifteen dollars, wrapped but not labled. All the gifts are placed in a pile in the center of the room and names are drawn. When your name is picked you grab a gift from the pile, if someone else has something you want then you can swap with them. We go through everyone's names twice and it never fails that there is one gift that everyone really wants. This year the Playboy cologne gift set was popular with the teenage boys; I seriously doubt that smelling like Heff is going to help get them the ladies, but more power to them. On a persoal note for the first time in nine years I ended up with what I wanted out of all the gifts, funny thing is that it was the gift I brought!
Candied Bacon
1 lb. bacon, slightly thick cut
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 shake cumin
2 shakes cayanne pepper
2 shakes chili powder
2 shakes cinnamon
black pepper
Lay out the bacon on a rack over a baking tray. Combine the remaining ingredients and rub onto one side of bacon. Broil until done to your liking.
Amy's Sausage Dip
1 pkg. bulk sausage
1 can Rotelle tomatoes, drained
2 pkgs. cream cheese
Saute the sausage until well crumbled, add the tomatoes and cook until everything is well combined and broken down. Combine the sausage mixture to the room temperature cream cheese, pour into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Let's Fondue
Every few weeks my friends and I set aside one evening for girl’s night; some times we go out but lately we have been cooking together. After all I do need guinea pigs for all these recipes. To date one of my favorite evenings was fondue night. As we sat around a pot of cheese we talked about everything; work, houses, being single-white-femaled, insane co-workers and roommates, fashion and of course men. (I never have a shortage of stories to amuse them with, maybe I should write a book). Before we knew it we had consumed half a loaf of bread, a garden full of vegetables and more cheese than I care to admit to. But in the process we laughed uncontrollably about all the wacky things that had happened to each of us since we had last been together. See the beautiful thing about fondue is that everything is bite-sized making it the perfect conversation food. You think that you are just snacking but before you know it you’re stuffed and vowing to hit the gym the next day.
Fondue was developed in Switzerland as a food preservation method. See, back in the dark ages (before refrigerators or the hill towns last December) food that was made abundantly, i.e. bread and cheese, would quickly get dry and hard, essentially inedible. That was until some enlightened person melted down that cheese with wine and soaked the stale bread in it. Today we dip everything in fondue: meat, pasta, vegetables, fruit and even cheesecake.
Making fondue is not rocket science; but you kind of need the right tools, by this I mean a fondue pot. These can be as simple as a tea light heated pot to an electric unit with temperature settings. I typically use an electric one because the candle ones don’t give off consistent heat and well frankly it’s what I own. Equally as important are the fondue forks, which should come with your pot. If they are not long enough with heatproof handles you will burn your little fingers. If you do not have these you can substitute wooden skewers.
Okay, so let’s start with the appetizer course, cheese fondue. If you have an electric pot turn it to its lowest setting or create your mixture over low heat on the stove. First melt two tablespoons of butter and stir in three fourths a cup of milk, a dash of garlic salt, one-tablespoon flour and a dash of Tabasco sauce. When this thickens start melting in about three and a half cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Once this is all melted pour in about half a cup of white wine; if your cheese mixture is too thick just add more wine. Make sure to keep the heat at a low setting so you do not burn the fondue. All you need now are things to dip such as bread cubes, raw vegetables and tortilla chips.
Now on to the main course which is a hot oil fondue (Bourguignonne) that you dip meat, potato and stuffed pasta in. All you have to do is heat up peanut oil to between 325 and 350 degrees; once it’s hot just submerge small marinated or seasoned meat in it until cooked to your liking. I know that this sounds kind of bland so to turn up the volume you need to put sauces on the meats. For beef mix three-fourths cup of sour cream with one tablespoon each of minced onion and horseradish. For chicken try mixing half a cup each of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard or one and a half cups mayonnaise, one and a half tablespoons lemon juice, one tablespoon minced garlic and half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce. Finally for chicken, pork of seafood try a spicy oriental sauce made from two tablespoons soy sauce, one and a half tablespoons lemon juice, 1 chopped green chili, one minced garlic clove, and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. Any one of these sauces will add a bit of zing to your meat fondue course.
Finally, la piece de la resistance chocolate fondue. Start by simmering two tablespoons of half and half with one tablespoon each of butter and dark rum. Then remove the pot from the heat and whisk in eight ounces of either chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and one more tablespoon of rum. If the mixture is too thick just add a dash or two of half and half to loosen it up. Now you can go crazy with the dippers; try fresh fruit, pound cake, brownies, marshmallows, cheesecake, pretzels and fortune cookies.
One last thing I want to mention is fondue etiquette. Never let your lips or tongue touch the fondue fork and no double dipping. Also if you drop and lose a dipper in the pot you either have to buy a round, if male, or if female you have to kiss the all men at the table. That’s why I am so selective about whom I eat fondue with, I have kissed enough frogs already.
A few years ago I was taken out to a fondue restaurant for my birthday and my best friend’s husband was hesitant about the choice; I think that he was afraid there wouldn’t be enough food he liked. Ha ha was he wrong, by the time we had finished with the meat course no one was sure how we were going to eat any of the dessert fondue. But have no fear some how we found the space for all that chocolaty goodness. Traditionally this is a communal meal, which means it is meant to be shared with family or friends; let me tell you those Swiss really knew how to bring people together. So the next time you get together with a group of friends put away the box of wine and break out that circa 1976 fondue pot and chat the night away.
Basic Cheese Fondue
2 Tlbsp. Butter
¾ cup Milk
¼ tsp. Garlic Salt
¼ tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 Tlbsp. Flour
3 ½ cups Shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup White wine
Cubed bread
Vegetables
Tortilla chips
Melt butter in a fondue pot then add the next 4 ingredients and cook until smooth and bubbly. Stir in cheese in small batches and cook until melted. Add wine to thin out the mixture, adjust this until your desired consistency. Serve with bread, vegetables and chips.
Basic Meat Fondue - Bourguignon
Peanut Oil
Beef, cut into small cubes
Chicken, cut into small cubes
Shrimp
Raviolis
Fill your fondue pot about half way with peanut oil and heat to between 325° and 350°. Submerge your meat or pasta on forks in the oil until cooked.
Horseradish Sauce
¾ cup Sour cream
1 Tlbsp Onion, minced
1 Tlbsp Horseradish
Mix all ingredients well and serve chilled with beef.
Dijonaisse Sauce
½ cup Mayonnaise
½ cup Dijon mustard
Mix all ingredients well and serve with chicken.
Aioli
1 ½ cups Mayonnaise
1 ½ tsp. Lemon juice
1 Tlbsp Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Tabasco
Mix all ingredients well and serve with chicken or shrimp.
Spicy Oriental Sauce
2 Tlbsp Soy sauce
1 ½ Tlbsp Lemon juice
1 Chili, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Sesame oil
Mix all ingredients well and serve with any meat.
Basic Chocolate Fondue
2 Tlbsp Half and Half
1 Tlbsp Butter
2 Tlbsp Dark Rum
8 oz. Chocolate, semi sweet or bittersweet
Fruit
Marshmallows
Brownies
Cheesecake
Pretzels
Pound cake
Fortune cookies
Melt butter with half and half and 1 tablespoon rum. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted, add the other tablespoon of rum. If the mixture is too thick add a dash of half and half to loosen it up. Serve with bite size cakes, fruit or cookies.
Fondue was developed in Switzerland as a food preservation method. See, back in the dark ages (before refrigerators or the hill towns last December) food that was made abundantly, i.e. bread and cheese, would quickly get dry and hard, essentially inedible. That was until some enlightened person melted down that cheese with wine and soaked the stale bread in it. Today we dip everything in fondue: meat, pasta, vegetables, fruit and even cheesecake.
Making fondue is not rocket science; but you kind of need the right tools, by this I mean a fondue pot. These can be as simple as a tea light heated pot to an electric unit with temperature settings. I typically use an electric one because the candle ones don’t give off consistent heat and well frankly it’s what I own. Equally as important are the fondue forks, which should come with your pot. If they are not long enough with heatproof handles you will burn your little fingers. If you do not have these you can substitute wooden skewers.
Okay, so let’s start with the appetizer course, cheese fondue. If you have an electric pot turn it to its lowest setting or create your mixture over low heat on the stove. First melt two tablespoons of butter and stir in three fourths a cup of milk, a dash of garlic salt, one-tablespoon flour and a dash of Tabasco sauce. When this thickens start melting in about three and a half cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Once this is all melted pour in about half a cup of white wine; if your cheese mixture is too thick just add more wine. Make sure to keep the heat at a low setting so you do not burn the fondue. All you need now are things to dip such as bread cubes, raw vegetables and tortilla chips.
Now on to the main course which is a hot oil fondue (Bourguignonne) that you dip meat, potato and stuffed pasta in. All you have to do is heat up peanut oil to between 325 and 350 degrees; once it’s hot just submerge small marinated or seasoned meat in it until cooked to your liking. I know that this sounds kind of bland so to turn up the volume you need to put sauces on the meats. For beef mix three-fourths cup of sour cream with one tablespoon each of minced onion and horseradish. For chicken try mixing half a cup each of mayonnaise and Dijon mustard or one and a half cups mayonnaise, one and a half tablespoons lemon juice, one tablespoon minced garlic and half a teaspoon of Tabasco sauce. Finally for chicken, pork of seafood try a spicy oriental sauce made from two tablespoons soy sauce, one and a half tablespoons lemon juice, 1 chopped green chili, one minced garlic clove, and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. Any one of these sauces will add a bit of zing to your meat fondue course.
Finally, la piece de la resistance chocolate fondue. Start by simmering two tablespoons of half and half with one tablespoon each of butter and dark rum. Then remove the pot from the heat and whisk in eight ounces of either chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate and one more tablespoon of rum. If the mixture is too thick just add a dash or two of half and half to loosen it up. Now you can go crazy with the dippers; try fresh fruit, pound cake, brownies, marshmallows, cheesecake, pretzels and fortune cookies.
One last thing I want to mention is fondue etiquette. Never let your lips or tongue touch the fondue fork and no double dipping. Also if you drop and lose a dipper in the pot you either have to buy a round, if male, or if female you have to kiss the all men at the table. That’s why I am so selective about whom I eat fondue with, I have kissed enough frogs already.
A few years ago I was taken out to a fondue restaurant for my birthday and my best friend’s husband was hesitant about the choice; I think that he was afraid there wouldn’t be enough food he liked. Ha ha was he wrong, by the time we had finished with the meat course no one was sure how we were going to eat any of the dessert fondue. But have no fear some how we found the space for all that chocolaty goodness. Traditionally this is a communal meal, which means it is meant to be shared with family or friends; let me tell you those Swiss really knew how to bring people together. So the next time you get together with a group of friends put away the box of wine and break out that circa 1976 fondue pot and chat the night away.
Basic Cheese Fondue
2 Tlbsp. Butter
¾ cup Milk
¼ tsp. Garlic Salt
¼ tsp. Tabasco sauce
1 Tlbsp. Flour
3 ½ cups Shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup White wine
Cubed bread
Vegetables
Tortilla chips
Melt butter in a fondue pot then add the next 4 ingredients and cook until smooth and bubbly. Stir in cheese in small batches and cook until melted. Add wine to thin out the mixture, adjust this until your desired consistency. Serve with bread, vegetables and chips.
Basic Meat Fondue - Bourguignon
Peanut Oil
Beef, cut into small cubes
Chicken, cut into small cubes
Shrimp
Raviolis
Fill your fondue pot about half way with peanut oil and heat to between 325° and 350°. Submerge your meat or pasta on forks in the oil until cooked.
Horseradish Sauce
¾ cup Sour cream
1 Tlbsp Onion, minced
1 Tlbsp Horseradish
Mix all ingredients well and serve chilled with beef.
Dijonaisse Sauce
½ cup Mayonnaise
½ cup Dijon mustard
Mix all ingredients well and serve with chicken.
Aioli
1 ½ cups Mayonnaise
1 ½ tsp. Lemon juice
1 Tlbsp Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Tabasco
Mix all ingredients well and serve with chicken or shrimp.
Spicy Oriental Sauce
2 Tlbsp Soy sauce
1 ½ Tlbsp Lemon juice
1 Chili, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Sesame oil
Mix all ingredients well and serve with any meat.
Basic Chocolate Fondue
2 Tlbsp Half and Half
1 Tlbsp Butter
2 Tlbsp Dark Rum
8 oz. Chocolate, semi sweet or bittersweet
Fruit
Marshmallows
Brownies
Cheesecake
Pretzels
Pound cake
Fortune cookies
Melt butter with half and half and 1 tablespoon rum. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted, add the other tablespoon of rum. If the mixture is too thick add a dash of half and half to loosen it up. Serve with bite size cakes, fruit or cookies.
Monday, November 1, 2010
J-E-L-L-O
So I mentioned in my last post that I have two nephews, and I must say that I truly love the little buggers with all my heart. (Well except for the day that the little wild animals were running around the Old Navy making me the woman that you look at and think, "wow she really has no control over her kids!" And to top it all off the five year old interrupted my scolding, i.e. yelling, to tell me that he "didn't really like the way I was talking to him." Seriously who the heck did the kid think he was talking to?) Anyway, I do not get to spend enough time with my two "angels" and look forward to visiting them, and the fabulous mall near their house. Usually I try to bring a new recipe to make for them and last night I tried something that I think will be a home run, Jello Chicken.
Okay I know that you are sitting there going, "gross!!!", and I was also sceptical when I first read it, but with a little tweaking I made it into something that I, and hopefully my little "angels", enjoyed.
First of all you need to make a marinade out of one cup each of soy sauce and orange juice, enough to cover four pieces of chicken. I used leg quarters but you can use breasts if that's the way you roll. Marinate this for at least thirty minutes and then place the chicken, skin side down in a baking dish with about half of the marinade, season with a little salt and pepper. Next comes the weird part, sprinkle half a package of orange jello over the pieces liberally. Bake at 350 degrees for about a half hour then flip the chicken, season again with salt and pepper and then sprinkle more jello over the skin side. Bake this for about another half hour and serve.
The jello gave the chicken a kinda of gooey sweet coating that I really liked and think would go over very well with a five and two year old. It was however a fairly bright orange color which made me happy that I decided against the lime jello that was my first choice. Of course a kid might think that it is fun to eat green chicken so maybe I will try that for them. And come to think of it pineapple jello would also be really good in combination with a pineapple marinade.
I actually can't wait to see those guys again and try out this recipe on them. They are quite the picky eaters, but seriously who doesn't like jello?
Jello Chicken
4 pc. Chicken
1 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Orange juice
1 pkg Orange jello
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Combine juice and soy sauce, marinate chicken at least 30 min. Place in baking dish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with half the package of jello. Bake for a half hour before flipping and repeating. Bake another half hour or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Okay I know that you are sitting there going, "gross!!!", and I was also sceptical when I first read it, but with a little tweaking I made it into something that I, and hopefully my little "angels", enjoyed.
First of all you need to make a marinade out of one cup each of soy sauce and orange juice, enough to cover four pieces of chicken. I used leg quarters but you can use breasts if that's the way you roll. Marinate this for at least thirty minutes and then place the chicken, skin side down in a baking dish with about half of the marinade, season with a little salt and pepper. Next comes the weird part, sprinkle half a package of orange jello over the pieces liberally. Bake at 350 degrees for about a half hour then flip the chicken, season again with salt and pepper and then sprinkle more jello over the skin side. Bake this for about another half hour and serve.
The jello gave the chicken a kinda of gooey sweet coating that I really liked and think would go over very well with a five and two year old. It was however a fairly bright orange color which made me happy that I decided against the lime jello that was my first choice. Of course a kid might think that it is fun to eat green chicken so maybe I will try that for them. And come to think of it pineapple jello would also be really good in combination with a pineapple marinade.
I actually can't wait to see those guys again and try out this recipe on them. They are quite the picky eaters, but seriously who doesn't like jello?
Jello Chicken
4 pc. Chicken
1 cup Soy sauce
1 cup Orange juice
1 pkg Orange jello
Salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Combine juice and soy sauce, marinate chicken at least 30 min. Place in baking dish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with half the package of jello. Bake for a half hour before flipping and repeating. Bake another half hour or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Top O' the Morning
So everyone knows already that breakfast is the most important meal of the day because it provides you with fuel to start your day and jump-starts your metabolism, blah blah blah. I will be honest with you, most mornings I have coffee for breakfast; but I realize that I need to change that habit. I have, however, been known to go all out for breakfast if I am with my nephews or have guests.
Now my older nephew is always eager to help me in the kitchen, but not always that eager to eat what we have made together; he has a follow-through problem, like most males. The rest of us have thoroughly enjoyed the following recipes even if my little angel, and I use that term loosely, only picked at them. Honestly if I filled his plate with just sausage he would devour it and ask for more; but who can live on sausage alone?
So let’s start off with some low-maintenance meals that I have made for the high-maintenance kid. (Okay so maybe he takes after his auntie). First are wafflewiches, these are basically breakfast sandwiches between frozen waffles. You can do these any way you want: egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, peanut butter or bananas, the choices are infinite. Second are PB&J French Toast Sticks. Basically all you need to do is dip a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a mixture of egg, milk and a dash of vanilla. Cook these in a buttered pan over medium heat until golden brown on both sides, and then cut into sticks. If you really want to start the day off on a sugar high dip the sticks into maple syrup. Finally there is my refrigerator clearing egg pie. For this dish just go through your refrigerator and sauté up whatever vegetables and meat you have available, let those cool slightly and than add them to a small container of egg substitute and cheese. Dump everything into a buttered pie plate and bake at 350 degrees until puffy and golden brown, about a half hour.
Now let’s move on to some recipes that take a little more effort and appeal to a little more mature palette. We will start with Orange French Toast, which you should prepare a bit before you plan on eating. Start by combining one cup of fresh orange juice, two tablespoons of orange zest, one tablespoon of frozen orange juice concentrate, five eggs and half a cup of plain low fat yogurt. The recommended bread for this dish is either a braided or brioche loaf, basically any dense loaf of bread that you can cut into one inch thick slices. Dip these slices into the egg mixture so that they are fully coated, then place them in a shallow baking dish with the remaining egg mixture poured over them and chill for at least two hours. Cook these in a buttered pan over medium-high heat until golden brown. To serve the French toast just dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy a breakfast that tastes like sunshine.
I used to work at one of the premier resorts in the Berkshires and they had a stuffed French toast that was out of this world; here is my version, Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast. Start by cutting a loaf of French bread into one and a half inch slices into which you need to cut nice deep pockets. Next combine two tablespoons of strawberry jam, four ounces of softened cream cheese, and a forth of a cup each of chopped fresh bananas and strawberries. (I omit the fresh berries for myself because I am allergic to them). Put a nice rounded spoonful of the filling into each pocket and gently close the halves. Dip each slice in a mixture of egg and milk and cook in a buttered medium-low heat until golden brown. You can serve this with a sauce made from pureeing one pint of fresh strawberries, two and a half tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of Grande Marnier liqueur.
I am a big fan of Breakfast Burritos, which are incredibly easy to make; just make an omelet with your favorite ingredients and pile it into the center of a soft tortilla, wrap and grill it to heat the wrap. Serve this with hot sauce, salsa, and sour cream. I also have started using egg substitutes because they contain less fat and cholesterol than real eggs, that’s not to say that I don’t eat real eggs, I just try to keep it to a minimum.
Finally here’s a dish that is a little off the beaten path, Breakfast Rice. Start by making one bag of Boil-in-Bag rice and let it cool. Once cooled stir in eight ounces of vanilla or apple low-fat yogurt, one teaspoon cinnamon, and a forth of a cup each of dried fruit and chopped nuts. I prefer dried cherries and almonds, because I am not a huge fan of the humiliated grapes, AKA raisins.
Personally I truly enjoy starting the day cooking with my nephews; being in the kitchen with them may be a challenge but it is worth it because they are always eager to help. Plus I am constantly hoping that one of them will eat what we cook because they had a hand in it, but as of yet I have been let down. Anyway, as I said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we all really need to get into the habit of fueling our bodies with healthy foods to start our day. You only get one body, treat it well and it will treat you well.
Orange French Toast
1 cup Fresh orange juice
2 Tlbsp Orange zest
1 Tlbsp Frozen orange juice concentrate
5 Eggs
½ cup Low fat plain yogurt
1 loaf Brioche or braided bread, 1 inch thick slices
Combine first five ingredients and dip the bread into it, place in a baking dish and pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread. Chill for at least two hours. Cook in a buttered pan over medium high heat until golden brown. Serve dusted with powdered sugar.
Strawberry-Banana Stuffed French Toast
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1 ½ inch slices
2 Tlbsp Strawberry jam
4 oz. Cream cheese, softened
¼ cup Fresh bananas & strawberries, chopped
3 Eggs
¼ cup milk
1 pint Fresh strawberries
2 ½ Tlbsp Sugar
1 Tlbsp Grand Marnier
Cut a pocket into each slice of bread making sure not to go through the other side. Combine the next three ingredients until well blended and spoon about a spoons worth into each pocket, gently close the halves. Combine the eggs and milk and dip the bread into the mixture before cooking in a buttered pan over medium high heat until golden brown. Puree the last three ingredients in a blender or food processor to make a sauce to serve over the finished French toast.
Breakfast Rice
1 bag Boil in bag rice
8 oz. Vanilla or apple low fat yogurt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ cup Dried fruit
¼ cup Chopped nuts
Cook the rice according to the package directions, and pour into a bowl to cool slightly. Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve either warm or chilled.
Now my older nephew is always eager to help me in the kitchen, but not always that eager to eat what we have made together; he has a follow-through problem, like most males. The rest of us have thoroughly enjoyed the following recipes even if my little angel, and I use that term loosely, only picked at them. Honestly if I filled his plate with just sausage he would devour it and ask for more; but who can live on sausage alone?
So let’s start off with some low-maintenance meals that I have made for the high-maintenance kid. (Okay so maybe he takes after his auntie). First are wafflewiches, these are basically breakfast sandwiches between frozen waffles. You can do these any way you want: egg, bacon, cheese, sausage, ham, peanut butter or bananas, the choices are infinite. Second are PB&J French Toast Sticks. Basically all you need to do is dip a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a mixture of egg, milk and a dash of vanilla. Cook these in a buttered pan over medium heat until golden brown on both sides, and then cut into sticks. If you really want to start the day off on a sugar high dip the sticks into maple syrup. Finally there is my refrigerator clearing egg pie. For this dish just go through your refrigerator and sauté up whatever vegetables and meat you have available, let those cool slightly and than add them to a small container of egg substitute and cheese. Dump everything into a buttered pie plate and bake at 350 degrees until puffy and golden brown, about a half hour.
Now let’s move on to some recipes that take a little more effort and appeal to a little more mature palette. We will start with Orange French Toast, which you should prepare a bit before you plan on eating. Start by combining one cup of fresh orange juice, two tablespoons of orange zest, one tablespoon of frozen orange juice concentrate, five eggs and half a cup of plain low fat yogurt. The recommended bread for this dish is either a braided or brioche loaf, basically any dense loaf of bread that you can cut into one inch thick slices. Dip these slices into the egg mixture so that they are fully coated, then place them in a shallow baking dish with the remaining egg mixture poured over them and chill for at least two hours. Cook these in a buttered pan over medium-high heat until golden brown. To serve the French toast just dust them with powdered sugar and enjoy a breakfast that tastes like sunshine.
I used to work at one of the premier resorts in the Berkshires and they had a stuffed French toast that was out of this world; here is my version, Strawberry Banana Stuffed French Toast. Start by cutting a loaf of French bread into one and a half inch slices into which you need to cut nice deep pockets. Next combine two tablespoons of strawberry jam, four ounces of softened cream cheese, and a forth of a cup each of chopped fresh bananas and strawberries. (I omit the fresh berries for myself because I am allergic to them). Put a nice rounded spoonful of the filling into each pocket and gently close the halves. Dip each slice in a mixture of egg and milk and cook in a buttered medium-low heat until golden brown. You can serve this with a sauce made from pureeing one pint of fresh strawberries, two and a half tablespoons of sugar and one tablespoon of Grande Marnier liqueur.
I am a big fan of Breakfast Burritos, which are incredibly easy to make; just make an omelet with your favorite ingredients and pile it into the center of a soft tortilla, wrap and grill it to heat the wrap. Serve this with hot sauce, salsa, and sour cream. I also have started using egg substitutes because they contain less fat and cholesterol than real eggs, that’s not to say that I don’t eat real eggs, I just try to keep it to a minimum.
Finally here’s a dish that is a little off the beaten path, Breakfast Rice. Start by making one bag of Boil-in-Bag rice and let it cool. Once cooled stir in eight ounces of vanilla or apple low-fat yogurt, one teaspoon cinnamon, and a forth of a cup each of dried fruit and chopped nuts. I prefer dried cherries and almonds, because I am not a huge fan of the humiliated grapes, AKA raisins.
Personally I truly enjoy starting the day cooking with my nephews; being in the kitchen with them may be a challenge but it is worth it because they are always eager to help. Plus I am constantly hoping that one of them will eat what we cook because they had a hand in it, but as of yet I have been let down. Anyway, as I said breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we all really need to get into the habit of fueling our bodies with healthy foods to start our day. You only get one body, treat it well and it will treat you well.
Orange French Toast
1 cup Fresh orange juice
2 Tlbsp Orange zest
1 Tlbsp Frozen orange juice concentrate
5 Eggs
½ cup Low fat plain yogurt
1 loaf Brioche or braided bread, 1 inch thick slices
Combine first five ingredients and dip the bread into it, place in a baking dish and pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread. Chill for at least two hours. Cook in a buttered pan over medium high heat until golden brown. Serve dusted with powdered sugar.
Strawberry-Banana Stuffed French Toast
1 loaf French bread, cut into 1 ½ inch slices
2 Tlbsp Strawberry jam
4 oz. Cream cheese, softened
¼ cup Fresh bananas & strawberries, chopped
3 Eggs
¼ cup milk
1 pint Fresh strawberries
2 ½ Tlbsp Sugar
1 Tlbsp Grand Marnier
Cut a pocket into each slice of bread making sure not to go through the other side. Combine the next three ingredients until well blended and spoon about a spoons worth into each pocket, gently close the halves. Combine the eggs and milk and dip the bread into the mixture before cooking in a buttered pan over medium high heat until golden brown. Puree the last three ingredients in a blender or food processor to make a sauce to serve over the finished French toast.
Breakfast Rice
1 bag Boil in bag rice
8 oz. Vanilla or apple low fat yogurt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ cup Dried fruit
¼ cup Chopped nuts
Cook the rice according to the package directions, and pour into a bowl to cool slightly. Mix in the remaining ingredients and serve either warm or chilled.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Down With The Blue Box
So the other day I was straightening out the shelves at work and making a mental list of the items I needed to reorder when I came upon the boxed macaroni and cheese. It amazes me that anyone still eats that stuff; obviously they don’t read the ingredients. It’s not even cheese in those boxes, it’s processed, dried cheese food; plus the macaroni isn’t even curved, which I find to be kind of creepy. Anyway, uninformed people have been eating this stuff since 1937 when Kraft unleashed it on Depression stricken people.
Macaroni and cheese can trace its roots back to Italy where it is more commonly known as Pasta Alfredo; it was brought across the Atlantic by Thomas Jefferson in the late 1790’s. American cooks took this recipe and ran with it, but changed the cheese to the more abundant varieties locally and by 1859 the dish was appearing on tavern menus. (Incidentally the Nahant House in Lynn, Massachusetts was the first to feature it on their menu).
People tell me that they make the boxed macaroni and cheese because it is quick and easy; well I bet that I can make it from scratch in the same amount of time. Plus my homemade version is not full of preservatives and tastes like actual cheese, because it uses actual cheese. How novel an idea!
Ready, set, go! Put a pot of water on to boil, this will take about ten minutes; once it boils add some salt and one box of macaroni. Let this cook for about eight to ten more minutes till al dente. This gives me give or take twenty minutes to make a cheese sauce from scratch; I don’t know about you but I think I can do it. Start the sauce by melting a quarter cup of butter to which you add a quarter cup of flour (a roux), cook this for a minute so that it doesn’t taste like wallpaper paste. Then stir in a forth of a teaspoon each of Worcestershire sauce and dry ground mustard, salt and pepper. Once this is smooth and bubbly add two cups of milk and bring it to a boil, when this mixture thickens add two cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and stir the mixture until everything is melted together. All you have to do now is add the drained pasta to the cheese and mix well; voila homemade macaroni and cheese in about twenty minutes.
So now that I have shown you that no one really needs to torture themselves by eating the boxed version let’s turn up the volume. First I’m going to let you in on a little secret; I can’t eat plain macaroni and cheese, I need meat in my meals. I love meat and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Hence I always add some sort of protein to this dish when I make it.
Consider the recipe that I just gave you the basic recipe and everything that follows will just be changes on those basics. There was this woman I used to know who refused to change how she made macaroni and cheese because it was her mother’s recipe; how boring, who wants to go through life eating the same thing all the time. (PS she also refused to get rid of her mom jeans, which is almost criminal). Every recipe out there can be adjusted to suit your tastes, just because mom made it a certain way doesn’t mean it always has to be made that way. Anyway, two years ago I tweaked a recipe that ended up being out of this world, Baked Macaroni, Sausage and Gouda. The first thing you have to do is caramelize two and a half pounds of onions in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Once they begin to soften add salt, pepper, a teaspoon of dried thyme and two teaspoons of sugar and cook until the onions are golden brown, about twenty minutes. (Obviously this version will take longer than the basic recipe). Now omit the mustard and Worcestershire sauce and substitute Gouda for cheddar, all the other steps are the same. Once the cheese sauce is done mix in the pasta, onions and one and a half pounds of cooked sweet Italian turkey sausage. Pour it into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350 degrees about twenty minutes or until golden and bubbly.
There are a million combinations you can come up with for this dish all you need is a little creativity. The grocery stores all have great international cheese sections where you can find a ton of different brands and flavors to play with. Try mixing a horseradish cheddar cheese sauce with freshly made bacon bits, or a Swiss cheese sauce with ham and chicken. You can even make your own version of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni by combining cheddar cheese and cooked ground beef. Just please don’t let me know that you are using Velveeta instead of real cheese because that it just as bad as making the box version.
I recently saw on television how to turn a sandwich classic into a pot of macaroni and cheese; so let’s try a Reuben and Cuban version. For the Reuben add two cups of Swiss cheese to your thickened milk mixture to which you need to add about a tablespoon of spicy brown mustard, one small bag of rinsed and drained sauerkraut and about three quarters of a pound of diced deli corned beef. Stir this all together with a pound of cooked pasta. For the Cuban version add two cups of shredded Swiss cheese to the milk mixture and stir in a tablespoon of yellow mustard. To this sauce add about a cup of diced dill pickles and three quarters of a pound of diced deli ham. Both of these versions have all the flavors of these classic deli sandwiches and are yummy.
Okay, so now that we have made this beautiful pan of cheesy heaven what do we do with the leftovers? Honestly this is not a meal that reheats or freezes well so cooks had to get creative and what they came up with was Macaroni and Cheese Croquettes.
These are very easy to make but they turn a less than figure-friendly meal into a downright sinful one. Start by taking your leftovers and form them into one inch balls, roll them in breadcrumbs, then an egg and water mixture, than back into the breadcrumbs. Brown the balls in oil (canola or vegetable) that is heated to 360 degrees. These are usually served as appetizers.
Hopefully I have convinced you that making a homemade macaroni and cheese is incredibly easy and versatile. I promise once you get the basic recipe down pat you will never go back to the blue box again. Sorry Kraft.
Basic Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Macaroni, cooked al dente
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. Dried mustard
Salt & Pepper
2 cups Milk
2 cups Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Boil the macaroni in salted water about 8-10 minutes until al dente, drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a pot and stir in the flour, cook a minute or so before adding the next three ingredients. Cook this a few minutes until bubbly and smooth. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil before adding the cheese. Cook until melted and then add the macaroni, stir well.
Baked Macaroni, Turkey Sausage and Smoked Gouda
2 ½ lbs. Onions, sliced thin
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Dried thyme
2 tsp. Sugar
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 ½ lbs. Italian turkey sausage, cooked & crumbled
Basic cheese sauce
Sauté onions in a mixture of olive oil and butter until just soft, add the next four ingredients and cook about 20 more minutes, until browned. Cook the pasta according to the box direction to be al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese sauce omitting the Worcestershire and mustard and exchanging the cheddar for smoked gouda cheese. Mix the pasta and cooked sausage into the cheese sauce, mix well and pour into a buttered baking dish. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
Reuben Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 Tlbsp Spicy brown mustard
1 bag Sauerkraut, rinsed & drained
¾ lb. Deli corned beef, diced
Basic cheese sauce
Cook pasta according to box directions until al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese sauce exchanging the cheddar for Swiss cheese. Mix in the remaining ingredients and add the pasta.
Cuban Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 Tlbsp. Yellow mustard
1 cup Dill pickles, diced
¾ Lb. Deli ham, diced
Basic cheese sauce
Cook pasta according to box directions until al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese exchanging the cheddar for Swiss cheese. Mix in the remaining ingredients and add the pasta.
Macaroni and cheese can trace its roots back to Italy where it is more commonly known as Pasta Alfredo; it was brought across the Atlantic by Thomas Jefferson in the late 1790’s. American cooks took this recipe and ran with it, but changed the cheese to the more abundant varieties locally and by 1859 the dish was appearing on tavern menus. (Incidentally the Nahant House in Lynn, Massachusetts was the first to feature it on their menu).
People tell me that they make the boxed macaroni and cheese because it is quick and easy; well I bet that I can make it from scratch in the same amount of time. Plus my homemade version is not full of preservatives and tastes like actual cheese, because it uses actual cheese. How novel an idea!
Ready, set, go! Put a pot of water on to boil, this will take about ten minutes; once it boils add some salt and one box of macaroni. Let this cook for about eight to ten more minutes till al dente. This gives me give or take twenty minutes to make a cheese sauce from scratch; I don’t know about you but I think I can do it. Start the sauce by melting a quarter cup of butter to which you add a quarter cup of flour (a roux), cook this for a minute so that it doesn’t taste like wallpaper paste. Then stir in a forth of a teaspoon each of Worcestershire sauce and dry ground mustard, salt and pepper. Once this is smooth and bubbly add two cups of milk and bring it to a boil, when this mixture thickens add two cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese and stir the mixture until everything is melted together. All you have to do now is add the drained pasta to the cheese and mix well; voila homemade macaroni and cheese in about twenty minutes.
So now that I have shown you that no one really needs to torture themselves by eating the boxed version let’s turn up the volume. First I’m going to let you in on a little secret; I can’t eat plain macaroni and cheese, I need meat in my meals. I love meat and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Hence I always add some sort of protein to this dish when I make it.
Consider the recipe that I just gave you the basic recipe and everything that follows will just be changes on those basics. There was this woman I used to know who refused to change how she made macaroni and cheese because it was her mother’s recipe; how boring, who wants to go through life eating the same thing all the time. (PS she also refused to get rid of her mom jeans, which is almost criminal). Every recipe out there can be adjusted to suit your tastes, just because mom made it a certain way doesn’t mean it always has to be made that way. Anyway, two years ago I tweaked a recipe that ended up being out of this world, Baked Macaroni, Sausage and Gouda. The first thing you have to do is caramelize two and a half pounds of onions in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Once they begin to soften add salt, pepper, a teaspoon of dried thyme and two teaspoons of sugar and cook until the onions are golden brown, about twenty minutes. (Obviously this version will take longer than the basic recipe). Now omit the mustard and Worcestershire sauce and substitute Gouda for cheddar, all the other steps are the same. Once the cheese sauce is done mix in the pasta, onions and one and a half pounds of cooked sweet Italian turkey sausage. Pour it into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350 degrees about twenty minutes or until golden and bubbly.
There are a million combinations you can come up with for this dish all you need is a little creativity. The grocery stores all have great international cheese sections where you can find a ton of different brands and flavors to play with. Try mixing a horseradish cheddar cheese sauce with freshly made bacon bits, or a Swiss cheese sauce with ham and chicken. You can even make your own version of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni by combining cheddar cheese and cooked ground beef. Just please don’t let me know that you are using Velveeta instead of real cheese because that it just as bad as making the box version.
I recently saw on television how to turn a sandwich classic into a pot of macaroni and cheese; so let’s try a Reuben and Cuban version. For the Reuben add two cups of Swiss cheese to your thickened milk mixture to which you need to add about a tablespoon of spicy brown mustard, one small bag of rinsed and drained sauerkraut and about three quarters of a pound of diced deli corned beef. Stir this all together with a pound of cooked pasta. For the Cuban version add two cups of shredded Swiss cheese to the milk mixture and stir in a tablespoon of yellow mustard. To this sauce add about a cup of diced dill pickles and three quarters of a pound of diced deli ham. Both of these versions have all the flavors of these classic deli sandwiches and are yummy.
Okay, so now that we have made this beautiful pan of cheesy heaven what do we do with the leftovers? Honestly this is not a meal that reheats or freezes well so cooks had to get creative and what they came up with was Macaroni and Cheese Croquettes.
These are very easy to make but they turn a less than figure-friendly meal into a downright sinful one. Start by taking your leftovers and form them into one inch balls, roll them in breadcrumbs, then an egg and water mixture, than back into the breadcrumbs. Brown the balls in oil (canola or vegetable) that is heated to 360 degrees. These are usually served as appetizers.
Hopefully I have convinced you that making a homemade macaroni and cheese is incredibly easy and versatile. I promise once you get the basic recipe down pat you will never go back to the blue box again. Sorry Kraft.
Basic Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Macaroni, cooked al dente
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp. Dried mustard
Salt & Pepper
2 cups Milk
2 cups Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Boil the macaroni in salted water about 8-10 minutes until al dente, drain and set aside. Melt the butter in a pot and stir in the flour, cook a minute or so before adding the next three ingredients. Cook this a few minutes until bubbly and smooth. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil before adding the cheese. Cook until melted and then add the macaroni, stir well.
Baked Macaroni, Turkey Sausage and Smoked Gouda
2 ½ lbs. Onions, sliced thin
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Dried thyme
2 tsp. Sugar
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 ½ lbs. Italian turkey sausage, cooked & crumbled
Basic cheese sauce
Sauté onions in a mixture of olive oil and butter until just soft, add the next four ingredients and cook about 20 more minutes, until browned. Cook the pasta according to the box direction to be al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese sauce omitting the Worcestershire and mustard and exchanging the cheddar for smoked gouda cheese. Mix the pasta and cooked sausage into the cheese sauce, mix well and pour into a buttered baking dish. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
Reuben Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 Tlbsp Spicy brown mustard
1 bag Sauerkraut, rinsed & drained
¾ lb. Deli corned beef, diced
Basic cheese sauce
Cook pasta according to box directions until al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese sauce exchanging the cheddar for Swiss cheese. Mix in the remaining ingredients and add the pasta.
Cuban Macaroni and Cheese
1 box Short cut pasta, al dente
1 Tlbsp. Yellow mustard
1 cup Dill pickles, diced
¾ Lb. Deli ham, diced
Basic cheese sauce
Cook pasta according to box directions until al dente, drain and set aside. Make the basic cheese exchanging the cheddar for Swiss cheese. Mix in the remaining ingredients and add the pasta.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Getting Porked
They say that pork is the “other white meat”, but I often don’t make it because I don’t really know what to do with it. There are a million recipes out there for the first white meat, chicken; but the simple pork chop usually is left out. And seriously how many times can you Shake and Bake a chop? So I started the great search for new and interesting pork chop recipes, and have come up with three winners.
The think that makes pork so versatile is that it has a mild flavor that pairs with almost anything like fruit, nuts and even chocolate. I also prefer to pan sear or bake my chops, as I am not a huge fan of the grill. Why this is I don’t know because if I grilled I would have to wash less dishes. I don’t even own a real grill, when I do get my caveman on I do it on a ghetto rigged camp grill. Before we get into the recipes I want to let you in on a little secret. You do not have to cook the crap out of your pork anymore, trichinosis is not a problem these days and it really sucks to eat a chop that has the consistency of shoe leather.
Recently I was perusing my favorite cookbook, Bitchin Kitchen looking for something to make and there was a recipe for Balsamic Chocolate Filet Mignon that I thought would translate well for pork chops, and boy was I right. When you buy your chops look for some that are about a half-inch thick so that they will sauté well. I have to have mine specially cut because we cut them at least one inch to an inch and a half to sell at work and those monsters are just too thick to sauté. In this case bigger is not better. Anyway salt and pepper each side of the chop and sauté over medium high heat in olive oil. In a small saucepan combine six tablespoons each of Balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, bring to a boil and let it thicken before adding about a teaspoon of shaved dark chocolate. I will admit that I used imitation maple syrup instead of the real thing and even though it was tasty I need to bring home some of the real stuff for cooking. I love the fake stuff on my pancakes but it doesn’t translate well in recipes. So once the chops are cooked to a nice medium remove from the pan and drizzle with the sauce. I have recently become a fan of Balsamic vinegar and when combined with the chocolate it is divine.
Another recipe for pan-fried pork with a yummy sauce is Blueberry Chops. Once again sauté your chops in olive oil as in the first recipe, but this time we are going to top them with a tasty fresh blueberry sauce. Sauté a small-diced onion in butter until soft before adding one and a half cups of chicken broth and one cup of fresh blueberries. Bring this to a boil and let it cook until it reduces by half. Serve this over the pork chops. I recommend using wild blueberries for this recipe, and if you do not have any fresh ones then frozen will be fine, just let them defrost first.
Finally here is my favorite way to make pork chops, Pistachio Crusty Chops. Begin by shelling about a half cup of pistachios and dumping them into your food processor, add 2 cloves of garlic, the zest from one lemon and about a quarter cup of whole-wheat breadcrumbs. Process all of this until well combined then dump it all onto a plate. Take four one-inch thick pork chops and dip them into the nut mixture, do this liberally. Bake the chops at 350 degrees for about a half hour or until they are cooked until medium.
So there you have it, no need to constantly grill up a bland pork chop or be reduced to constantly Shake and Baking them. So go ahead and get your pork on and try out your favorite sauces or techniques from other recipes on this versatile meat.
Chocolate-Balsamic Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
6 Tlbsp. Balsamic vinegar
6 Tlbsp. Real maple syrup
1 tsp. Dark chocolate, shaved
Salt & pepper
Season both side of the chops with salt and pepper and sauté over med. high heat. Cook to your desired doneness. Combine the vinegar and maple syrup, bring to boil and let thicken before melting in chocolate. Drizzle the sauce over the chops.
Blueberry Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
1 small onion, diced
1-½ cups chicken broth
1-cup blueberries
Salt & pepper
Season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper and sauté over medium high heat. Sauté the onion in butter until softened and add the broth and berries. Bring this to a boil and then cook until reduced by half. Drizzle sauce over the chops.
Pistachio Crusty Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
½ cup pistachio nuts
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon, zest only
¼ cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
In a food processor combine the nuts, garlic, zest and breadcrumbs. Coat the chops liberally with the mixture and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
The think that makes pork so versatile is that it has a mild flavor that pairs with almost anything like fruit, nuts and even chocolate. I also prefer to pan sear or bake my chops, as I am not a huge fan of the grill. Why this is I don’t know because if I grilled I would have to wash less dishes. I don’t even own a real grill, when I do get my caveman on I do it on a ghetto rigged camp grill. Before we get into the recipes I want to let you in on a little secret. You do not have to cook the crap out of your pork anymore, trichinosis is not a problem these days and it really sucks to eat a chop that has the consistency of shoe leather.
Recently I was perusing my favorite cookbook, Bitchin Kitchen looking for something to make and there was a recipe for Balsamic Chocolate Filet Mignon that I thought would translate well for pork chops, and boy was I right. When you buy your chops look for some that are about a half-inch thick so that they will sauté well. I have to have mine specially cut because we cut them at least one inch to an inch and a half to sell at work and those monsters are just too thick to sauté. In this case bigger is not better. Anyway salt and pepper each side of the chop and sauté over medium high heat in olive oil. In a small saucepan combine six tablespoons each of Balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, bring to a boil and let it thicken before adding about a teaspoon of shaved dark chocolate. I will admit that I used imitation maple syrup instead of the real thing and even though it was tasty I need to bring home some of the real stuff for cooking. I love the fake stuff on my pancakes but it doesn’t translate well in recipes. So once the chops are cooked to a nice medium remove from the pan and drizzle with the sauce. I have recently become a fan of Balsamic vinegar and when combined with the chocolate it is divine.
Another recipe for pan-fried pork with a yummy sauce is Blueberry Chops. Once again sauté your chops in olive oil as in the first recipe, but this time we are going to top them with a tasty fresh blueberry sauce. Sauté a small-diced onion in butter until soft before adding one and a half cups of chicken broth and one cup of fresh blueberries. Bring this to a boil and let it cook until it reduces by half. Serve this over the pork chops. I recommend using wild blueberries for this recipe, and if you do not have any fresh ones then frozen will be fine, just let them defrost first.
Finally here is my favorite way to make pork chops, Pistachio Crusty Chops. Begin by shelling about a half cup of pistachios and dumping them into your food processor, add 2 cloves of garlic, the zest from one lemon and about a quarter cup of whole-wheat breadcrumbs. Process all of this until well combined then dump it all onto a plate. Take four one-inch thick pork chops and dip them into the nut mixture, do this liberally. Bake the chops at 350 degrees for about a half hour or until they are cooked until medium.
So there you have it, no need to constantly grill up a bland pork chop or be reduced to constantly Shake and Baking them. So go ahead and get your pork on and try out your favorite sauces or techniques from other recipes on this versatile meat.
Chocolate-Balsamic Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
6 Tlbsp. Balsamic vinegar
6 Tlbsp. Real maple syrup
1 tsp. Dark chocolate, shaved
Salt & pepper
Season both side of the chops with salt and pepper and sauté over med. high heat. Cook to your desired doneness. Combine the vinegar and maple syrup, bring to boil and let thicken before melting in chocolate. Drizzle the sauce over the chops.
Blueberry Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
1 small onion, diced
1-½ cups chicken broth
1-cup blueberries
Salt & pepper
Season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper and sauté over medium high heat. Sauté the onion in butter until softened and add the broth and berries. Bring this to a boil and then cook until reduced by half. Drizzle sauce over the chops.
Pistachio Crusty Chops
4 1-inch thick pork chops
½ cup pistachio nuts
2 cloves garlic
1 lemon, zest only
¼ cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
In a food processor combine the nuts, garlic, zest and breadcrumbs. Coat the chops liberally with the mixture and bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
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