.roasted pork tenderloin with apple-fennel garnish.

I admit that I am a friend of pork. Bacon, pork shoulder, pork tenderloin, chops... I'm not picky! This recipe was inspired by an episode of Top Chef or one of those shows. It was a couple years ago because this isn't the first time I've made this dish.

Not only is it easy to prepare, it's delicious and something you can impress your guests with.

Here's what you need:

1 - 4lb pork tenderloin
1-2 granny smith apples, cored and sliced (no need to peel!)
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper, and celery seed
1 bottle hard apple cider


Season your tenderloin with salt, pepper, and celery seed. Heat a little oil in a dutch oven. Pan sear all sides of the tenderloin to lock in moisture. When all sides are browned, top with the apple slices, onion, bay leaf, and pour the hard cider over the top. Cover and pop in a 350* oven and roast for about an hour. You want to pull this out when your thermometer reads 145* because pork tenderloin has very little fat so you don't want to overbake, otherwise you're left with really dry meat.

Remove the pork from the dutch oven and set aside to rest (cover with foil). While it's resting, make the sauce. Dump all the cooked apples and onion into a seive and strain the liquid (make sure you set the seive on a bowl so you save it because we need that liquid for the sauce.

Remove the bay leaf and put everything in the blender. Add a little bit of the liquid to the blender to help smooth out the sauce. Taste and re-season with a little salt, if needed.

Now before you actually pulled the roast out of the oven, you want to make the apple-fennel garnish.

Cut one granny smith apple into matchsticks. Thinly slice one fennel bulb. Heat a saute pan and melt 2-3 Tbsp butter. When hot, add the apples and fennel and saute quickly. Season with salt and pepper. (I sprinkled a dash of celery seed in here, too)

Make sure you saute close to the end of the roasting time, or do it while the tenderloin rests (that's what I did).

To assemble, spoon some of the sauce onto the plate. Put a slice of tenderloin on top and spoon some garnish on top. To make it extra fancy, put a little fennel frond on top.

Farmer's Market #2

Last Monday I posted a recipe from my first batch of Farmer's Market goods. My husband and daughter have been going every weekend and picking up secret ingredients and let me work my magic in the kitchen using the fruits and vegetables they buy.

On their 2nd trip to the market, they bought me zucchini squash, pattypan squash, neon eggplant, garlic, pears, and celery. What on earth? I had some really thick pork chops in the fridge marinating in an asian marinade so I had to think of how I could use those ingredients with those chops.

A-ha! Inspiration struck and I came up with my plan of action. I decided to make a slaw using the celery and pears, and using the squashes and eggplant to make hot and sour veggies underneath.

Pear Slaw

2 celery ribs - removed of strings and thinly sliced

1/2 lime, squeezed

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp gingerroot, grated

2 pears, cut into 1/4" matchsticks

2 green onion, thinly sliced on the angle

cilantro

a dash of crushed red pepper

Mix all these ingredients together in a bowl and let the flavors marry.

Grill your chops on a BBQ grill. I let my husband grill these babies up and they were absolute perfection. Remember you don't have to overcook these. Overcooked pork chops = dry dry dry.

For the hot and sour vegetables.

Peel and dice the eggplant and put in a strainer with salt. The salt will pull out the moisture in the eggplant. Leave it with the salt for 30 minutes. At that time, rinse well, and put on paper towels and wring dry.

Dice 1 zucchini

Cut up the pattypan squash into wedges

Quarter an onion and slice

mince 1 clove garlic

1 green chile, chopped (I used jalapeno)

In a bowl, mix together:

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp chili oil (I didn't use nearly this much because I have kids)

1 tsp salt

Put 2 Tbsp oil in a stir fry pan and heat over medium high heat. Saute the garlic and onion for 30 seconds, then add the remaining ingredients. Saute until the veggies are fork tender. When they're tender, add the bowl of liquid and stir. This will start thickening quickly. Coat all the veggies well with the sauce.

To plate, put a spoonful of veggies on your plate, top with your beautifully grilled pork chop and then using a slotted spoon, put a spoon of slaw on top.

You will find the acidic, bright flavor of the slaw a wonderful companion to the pork and the sweetness and slight spiciness of the veggies underneath is just perfect.

So the next time you're at the farmer's market, think about the vegetables you might necessarily know how to use. In my case, it was the pattypans and eggplant and I was able to find the perfect dish. I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Farmer's Market #1

We just finished watching another season of Master Chef in our house. I am a big fan because I love to cook and being a stay at home mom, a part of me wishes I could be on that show. (But what would I do with my kids while I'm gone!?!?!)

So my husband and oldest daughter decided to go to the local Farmer's Market and pick up some surprise ingredients for me to work my magic on. A fun idea, right? I thought it might be fun to do a Farmer's Market dinner every week and I'll post it on my blog! That's right! Every Monday, come to my blog to find out what I've made with my secret goodies.

On their first trip to the market, they bought me the following:





Peaches, Red Bell Peppers, Cilantro, Carrots, Green Beans and Fennel.

I was able to use items from my pantry (whew!) and I was able to pick out my own protein. Tonight, I used chicken thighs and wings.


The peaches were the stumper but I quickly found something to make with just about everything!

I'm calling my creation Roasted Pepper and Peach Chicken with Sauteed Vegetables and Roasted Green Beans.

Here's how I made it:

1. Peel the peaches, remove pit, and dice. Set aside.



2. Sit the red bell peppers on a burner over high heat and basically burn the skins. You can do this over the BBQ grill, too, which I would have done had it not been raining. When the skin is black all over, remove from the burner and place in a ziploc with a little olive oil. Squish it all around so the pepper is covered entirely with oil. Let sit for 5 minutes, then begin removing the skin under cold tap water.



3. Dice up the roasted red pepper and set aside.



4. Dice 1/2 onion and set aside.



5. Mince 1 clove garlic.



6. Chop a small handful of cilantro.



7. Heat a little olive oil in a saucepan.



8. Saute the garlic and onion with a bay leaf for 30 seconds. Don't let the garlic burn.



9. Add the peaches and red pepper.



10. Chop up some of the fennel frong (the whispy part at the top) and put that and the cilantro in the saucepan.



11. Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes and some celery seed.



12. Add 3 Tbsp brown sugar



13. Add 3 Tbsp cider vinegar



14. Add salt and pepper

Let this cook down for awhile. This shouldn't be runny. It should be the consistency of jam. Taste and see if it needs more salt. If it's too sweet, add a little more vinegar. If it's too vinegar-y, add a little more brown sugar. You really can't mess this up unless you burn it.

Remove the bay leaf. Dump the chutney into a blender and blitz for a quick minute. You don't want this too smooth, but you don't want big chunks either.

Turn your BBQ on low heat and put the chicken on. You want to cook your chicken on low, especially if it's bone in to ensure it's cooked all the way through. Don't put your sauce on until the very end. When you know the chicken is cooked kick up the heat on your BBQ and start slathering your pieces with the chutney.

We want to caramelize that chutney to the outside of the chicken. When it's all good and covered and caramelized, remove from the grill. Serve with the sauteed vegetables and roasted green beans.

Sauteed Vegetable

1. Cut the end off the fennel and slice in half and then slice the entire thing. Don't make these slices too thick or too thin.



2. Slice an onion (or half of what was remaining from the chutney).



3. Peel and slice carrots. Because the carrots will take the longest to cook, I par-boiled them. Bring some water to a boil. Drop in the carrot slices and let cook for a couple minutes. Drain and quickly dump into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.


4. Slice one red bell pepper.



5. Mince 1 clove garlic

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in a saute pan and saute the garlic in a skillet for 30 seconds. Add all the remaining ingredients and toss so everything's coated with the butter.

Season with salt and pepper and then squeeze half a lemon on top. Continue to saute until all vegetables are fork tender. Serve warm.

Roasted Green Beans

1. Trim ends and coat beans with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper.



2. Zest a lemon and toss on the beans.



3. Place in a baking dish in the oven and bake at 350* until the beans are fork tender.

.navajo tacos.

You know those chalupa things you can get at Taco Bell? I love those. My ultimate favorite was the Santa Fe chalupa, but they stopped making and selling them. What gives? That was my #1 craving when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter.

I remember as a little girl having Navajo tacos, which are really just a chalupa. Indian fry bread with some chili, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, onion and avocado. Mm hmm. It really can't get any better than this!

Making fry bread is very simple. Mix together:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp powdered milk
1 tsp baking powder

Add in 1 cup of warm water and mix it all together using your hands. When it comes together, form into a ball and cover with saran. Let this sit for about 10 minutes to relax the gluten in the flour. Make sure you don't knead this dough like you would bread dough. That will work the gluten too much and you'll have a tougher, denser fry bread.

This recipe makes 4 shells so if you want more than this, double or triple (or quadruple!) the recipe.

Divide the ball into four separate balls. Cover again and let rest 5 minutes.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll each ball of dough until it's almost paper thin. No worries, it will puff up a LOT in the fryer.

While you were letting the dough rest, I hope you put a pot of oil on to heat. You need it at 350*. When the oil is warm and your dough has been rolled out, carefully lower one piece into the oil and fry until both sides are lightly golden. Remove and let drain on a paper towel or newspaper. Repeat until all the dough has been fried.

I used my basic chili recipe for these and all that's left to do is top with your favorite toppings!

**A special tip I like when we have Navajo tacos is to make extra fry bread dough. Fry some up for your tacos, then fry up more and slather with butter and honey, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. My fav! Enjoy!

.bang bang shrimp.

Have you ever had one of those nights when you just don't want to cook? This was one of those nights but I knew my husband would kill me if I suggested take out (again), plus he was working late and would be hungry when he got home.

I didn't want to slave for hours, nor did I have that kind of time, so I checked the pantry, freezers and fridge and found some ingredients I knew would work well together. The wonderful thing about this recipe, is that it is QUICK! You can have this made in 30 minutes - no joke.

Here's the list of ingredients I used:

• Shrimp


• Garlic


• Gingerroot (not dried ginger you use in baking)


• Red bell pepper


• Green onion


• Cilantro


• Chili oil


• Oil


• Red pepper flakes


• Coconut milk


• Fish sauce


• Soy sauce


• Sugar

How to prepare:

While the shrimp are thawing in the water, put 2 cups rice in a medium pot with 3 1/2 cups water. Cover with a lid and put on to boil. When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Once the shrimp are thawed, drain well and pat dry with paper towels. The shrimp I use are not small but not huge. I also buy deveined shrimp that have the shell on, but for this recipe, I took off all the shells except for the tail because I just like how it looks. ;)

-Mince 2 cloves garlic and grate 1 tsp fresh gingerroot.

-Slice up one red bell pepper

-Slice 1 1/2 bunches of green onion on the diagonal (slicing on the diagonal makes it look fancy!)

-Roughly chop some cilantro

Heat a skillet or a wok. I use a wok but use what you have. When hot, add 2-3 Tbsp oil and a couple shakes of chili oil. I went a little too crazy with the chili oil which resulted in a pretty spicy dish, so I'm warning you, if you don't want this too hot, use just a little oil, or omit it altogether.

Add the ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds to release their fragrance. Add the red bell pepper and saute for a couple minutes. Then add the green onion, shrimp, and a shake or two of red pepper flakes. Saute until the shrimp start going from translucent to opaque. This doesn't take very long and we want to take care not to overcook the shrimp. Overcooked shrimp = tough and chewy = UNDESIRABLE!

When the shrimp are halfway cooked through, add 1/2 can of coconut milk, 1 Tbsp fish sauce, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, and a handful of chopped cilantro. Cook for another couple minutes until the shrimp are finished.

By this point, the rice should be done. Spoon rice into a bowl and then scoop shrimp, veggies, and sauce over the rice.

A wonderfully fragrant, sweet and spicy dish that is sure to satisfy any craving for Thai/Indonesian food. And the great thing about this dish is that it's not only delicious, but it's easy and quick to make! You can't beat that. Enjoy!

.honey cider glazed pork.

My husband and I got sucked into another reality tv cooking show on Bravo called "Chef Academy". It is run by Chef Jean Christophe Novelli from France. Difficult to understand what he's saying half the time, but for me.. it's all about the food.

Each week he'd focus on different areas of cooking - bread, meat, seafood, desserts. The week he taught how to cook meat, he made a honey cider glazed pork that looked to.die.for. He used pork belly and let it slow cook for 4 hours in the oven. Heaven help me! *swoon*

I wasn't able to find pork belly so I used a Boston pork butt roast and it was amazing. I can only imagine how much better the belly portion would be. This was super super easy to make. If you're looking for something you can pop into the oven and forget about, this is the dish for you!

Take your piece of pork and, with the fat side up, rub liberally with cumin, kosher salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Chef Novelli put 2 star anise on top, but I didn't have whole, so I sprinkled on anise seed. Don't use too much because it can be overpowering. Place on top of the roast 3 bay leaves, 5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme and 2 crushed cloves of garlic.

Put the roast into a pan and drizzle with a cup of honey and 1 1/2 cups apple cider. Slice up two onions and scatter those around the sides of the pork.

Pop into a 300* F oven and let it cook. Make sure you check on it every 30 minutes or so and baste with the juices in the bottom of the pan. The honey and cider will caramelize all over the skin of the pork. If it's looking too black, cover it with a piece of foil.

When it's done, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice or shred and serve with your favorite side item. The flavors are a lot like a bbq sauce. So tender and juicy and aromatic. Enjoy!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTYyZ2NxZDNrZ3I&hl=en

.suzanne's spaghetti.

I was in Seattle this summer for most of July with the girls. When we got back, I went right to work helping my friend plan and cater her son's wedding reception. Four days before the reception, I got a call from my sister telling me my oldest brother passed away. He was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer at the end of July (just days before I came home from my vacation) and we thought he would have more time. Apparently we were wrong.

When I got back to New York from this latest trip to Seattle, we were running low on funds and my husband put me on a pretty strict grocery budget. I'm not used to budgeting! One meal that's very economical and something we all love to eat is spaghetti. If you've never made your own spaghetti sauce, you really should try because it's EASY and usually tastes a whole lot better than what you get in a pre-made jar. Here's what you need.

1 large can tomato puree
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 lb hamburger
2-3 italian sausage links, removed from the casing
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
salt, pepper, and sugar
extra virgin olive oil
herbs (oregano, marjoram, basil)

When I make my sauce, I let it simmer all day long. This is one of the times I pull out my crock pot because I love for all of the flavors to merry together. You can't get that in an hour or two.

I use tomato puree versus tomato sauce because it's slightly thicker. I don't like watery spaghetti sauce! This helps to cut down on the liquid.

In a skillet, heat a little drizzle of olive oil. Brown the hamburger and sausage and break it into fine pieces by chopping it up with the blade of a spatula. When the meat is almost cooked through, add the garlic, onion, and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. When the aroma from the garlic and onion intensifies, dump it all into your crock pot.

Add the tomato puree, diced tomato, some salt, pepper, and about 1/2 tsp sugar. If you don't have fresh herbs, it's okay! I use a lot of herbs to season my sauce so dump in a generous amount of basil and oregano, then a little marjoram. Marjoram is a sister to oregano and has a gentle sweet flavor that is a great compliment to the sauce.

My oldest sister, Ronda, likes to add a splash of burgundy to her spaghetti sauce. I don't normally have burgundy on hand, but if you do, add a little!

Turn your crock pot on and let this cook all day long. Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles and top with some fresh grated parmesan cheese. We love spaghetti with fresh homemade french bread and a vegetable packed garden salad.

(NOTE: I usually have a lot of sauce leftover so I put it in a ziploc and freeze. This way, I have extra sauce for the future for a quick meal, or to make lasagna with.)

Next time you're looking for a cost efficient meal that your whole family will love, don't open a jar. Make this sauce and you'll save on the pocketbook and put smiles on your family's faces!

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTY5Zmd3YmtraHE&hl=en

.watermelon ribs.

Thursday was Jim's birthday so the girls and I decided to have a small party for him. One of his most favorite foods is bbq ribs. He loves them! I always make the same sauce and thought I would try something different this time.

In my cookbook "Top Secret Recipes", there's a recipe in there for Hard Rock Cafe's Watermelon Ribs. The recipe looked incomplete to me so I changed it up and made it my own. Here's what I did.

You're going to need 2 cups watermelon pulp, so cut the rind off of the watermelon, leaving a lot of the white you don't usually eat. Cube and put in a blender. Puree. It doesn't need to be completely smooth. In fact, if you leave it slightly chunky you'll have tiny sweet chunks caramelized to your ribs. Delicious! Set the pulp aside.

Mince 2 cloves garlic and 1/2 of a small onion. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion and garlic for a minute, until fragrant.

Dump in the watermelon pulp, 3/4 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup molasses, a couple shakes liquid smoke, 3 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 cup honey, and a shake or two of crushed red pepper flakes.

This is all you need for the bbq sauce! How easy is that? Now let this simmer on low for at least an hour. The sauce needs to reduce down and let some of that water evaporate out. You should be left with a nice rich and sweet bbq sauce after that time.

Now the sauce can be made days in advance if you need and kept in the fridge. You need to make it at *least* the day before because we're going to marinate the ribs in the fridge overnight.

Normally I use pork loin ribs that are practically boneless and super meaty. I decided to use racks of ribs. They came in this big pack so I cut the ribs into groups of 5 or 6 and put in large ziplocs. Pour in some of the bbq sauce (once cooled) and put in the fridge. Make sure you leave some bbq sauce for grilling!

To make: Heat an oven to 300*. Remove the ribs from the ziplocs and put in a baking dish. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil to lock in all the moisture. Bake for 2 hours.

Prepare your BBQ grill. To finish the ribs, throw them on the grill on medium heat (you don't want the coals too hot). Brush on some bbq sauce. Put the lid on the grill and let that bbq sauce caramelize on the skin of those ribs. Check periodically to turn them and glaze with more sauce. When they're nice and coated and have grill marks, pull from the bbq and serve.

To finish off Jim's birthday dinner I made smashed potatoes, corn on the cob, fresh slices of watermelon, and baked beans. Pun intended - he was HOG happy! LOL

These ribs were delicious. Sweet and tangy with a little kick from the pepper flakes. I'll be making these again!


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTU3cG02M2hkaGI&hl=en

.pan-seared pork chops w/ cream sauce and fried sage leaves.

I know what you're thinking. The title is very wordy. But hey! You can't leave anything out, right?

The newest season of Hell's Kitchen is on again and it always seems to inspire me to cook something uber impressive. Maybe one day I will actually cook something like this for Mr. Gordon Ramsay himself! And maybe... just maybe he won't spit it into the trash on the first bite. I can wish!!!

Do you find yourself making the same kind of pork chop recipe over and over? Do you take the easy way out and use Shake n' Bake? If you want to try something new, that's delicious and impressive (and not too difficult!), I really suggest you try this recipe.

****NOTE: If you haven't noticed, I haven't taken many step by step photos because it's very time consuming. If the recipe is more complicated where you need visuals, I will take more pictures.****

Here are the directions to make this dish-----

Heat a skillet over medium to medium high heat.

Season your pork chops with a little sea salt and fresh black pepper. I bought about 1 1/2" thick chops because the thin ones cook too fast, have less flavor, and are easy to overcook... and when you overcook them, they get really dry. Not what we want. So make sure you get those thick babies!

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil in the skillet and carefully place each chop in. Sear for 3 minutes on each side. Searing is really important because not only does it give the meat more flavor and color, but it seals in all of the juices. If you don't hear a sizzle when you put the chops in, your pan wasn't hot enough.

When the chops have been seared on all sides, transfer to a baking sheet or baking dish and pop into a 350* oven for 15 minutes. When you remove the chops from the oven, they should be perfectly cooked inside with a slightly pink center. If it's too pink, put back in the oven for 5 minutes more.

Don't freak out. The FDA has come a long way in how they handle and process pork so you don't have to cook it to well done anymore. You will find that the chop is so juicy and moist when you do this. Trust me... it's all good.

Let the chops rest for 5 minutes before plating.

Now for the cream sauce ---

When the pork chops are resting, we're going to make the sauce. Heat the same skillet back up on the burner. Make sure you don't clean the pan because we want all of those little stuck on bits to be in our sauce.

When it's hot, add a pat of butter and melt. Saute a clove of garlic, about 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes (halved), and a small handful of chopped maitaki mushroom. (I used maitaki because that's what I bought at the Farmer's Market this past weekend -- delicious mushroom!!). If you don't have maitaki, use cremini or shitaki. Saute for a 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 cup white wine and whisk, scraping the bottom of the skillet to bring up all of the stuck on pieces. Let the wine reduce in half. Add 1 cup heavy cream. You can use half and half if you wish to cut the fat. Let simmer for a couple of minutes. If the sauce is a little thick, add some chicken tock to thin down a little. Taste and season with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Add a pat of butter and whisk in. Make sure you whisk as it melts so it doesn't separate with the cream.

I served this with risotto (I threw some maitaki mushrooms into the risotto, otherwise, it's the same recipe linked). Put a spoonful of risotto in the center of the plate. Place a pork chop on top of the rice, then spoon some cream sauce over the top of that! Garnish with fried sage leaves.

**To make the sage leaves, heat a little oil in a pan. Drop in fresh sage leaves (about 4-5 per person) and fry until they stop bubbling. Pull from the oil and drain on paper towel.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTY2dnFrcmM3ZjQ&hl=en

.flatbread steak sandwich w/ sauteed mushrooms and onions.

The other day I was watching Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill on Food Network and he was making all of these grilled pizzas and flatbread sandwiches.  Well, it got me craving in a big way.  You can make any kind of flatbread sandwich you like, but tonight I'm making ones with grilled skirt steak, sauteed mushrooms and onions, lettuce, tomato, and an herbed mayonnaise.

First, you want to begin by making your pizza dough.  If you don't have time to make dough, you can always buy it from the store, but it's not going to be nearly as good because they have to pump so many preservatives in those things... and you lose that fresh, homemade flavor and sometimes texture.  So do yourself a favor and give yourself an extra hour, hour and half to make the dough.  You will not regret it.

Slice up some mushrooms and onions and saute in a pan until the onions are nice and soft.  If you feel like adding extra veggies to this, by all means.. go ahead!  Set this aside while we make the rest.

In a bowl mix together 1/2 cup mayonnaise, a pinch of sea salt, fresh ground pepper, about 1/4 tsp thyme, and a dash of dill.  Mix everything together and put in the fridge.

Season a strip of skirt steak with salt and pepper.  Pop on a bbq or grill pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.  Skirt steak is very very thin and cooks rather quickly.  I like my steak around medium rare and only kept it on the grill about 10 minutes.  If you want your meat more cooked, keep it on longer.  Give it another minute or two on each side.

Once the pizza dough has doubled, knead in a little more flour, and then divide into quarters.

Use a rolling pin to stretch out each piece.  You want them in a rectangular shape because once they're loaded with stuff, you flip half over the top to create the sandwich.

This is about 6" x 10" in size.  It's not a perfect science.  If you have some big and some small, it's not going to kill anyone, right?

Put the rolled out dough on your grill and cook for a couple minutes on each side.  Pull from the grill and set on a tray.

When that steak is done on the grill, make sure you let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing into it.  Slice against the grain into very thin pieces.  I have to tell you, this was so so SOOOOOO tender and delicious.  I love me some steak!

Put some of the herbed mayo on the entire length of the flatbread.  Put some steak down (as much as you want), and then some of the mushrooms and onion.

Add some chopped lettuce (I used romaine), and sliced tomato.  Now flip the top and tack down with a large toothpick, or do as I did and use a bamboo skewer.

Serve with salad, or chips, or fruit... you name it.  The perfect meal for Spring or Summer!

.grilled swordfish w/ bacon.

I've been looking at making meals that are healthier, and quicker to make for my family. Granted, this has bacon on it, but you can opt out and use turkey bacon, or pancetta. In fact, this dish is inspired by an italian one I saw Giada De Laurentis make the other day called Swordfish Spiedini and she used pancetta, which is traditional.


I, however, did not have pancetta, so I used the next best thing. Bacon. Everything's better with bacon on it, right?



Start by rinsing and patting dry one swordfish steak. If the fish smells bad or is slimy at all, do not use. Cut into bite sized cubes.






























Put in a bowl and drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive oil. Also add about 1/2 tsp basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper and 2 Tbsp lemon juice, or the juice of one fresh lemon.

I let this marinade for about 15 minutes, but if you want to let this sit overnight, it'll taste even better.

Put the swordfish on skewers (if you're grilling outside, make sure you soak the bamboo skewers for at least 30 minutes. This will keep them from burning up.

Take a slice of bacon and skewer it at the bottom, wrap around, then attach to the top of the skewer to keep it in place.

Place the skewers on the grill and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes. It will take 10-12 minutes for these to cook all the way through.

Look how delicious these are. The meat of the swordfish will be firm and opaque, and the bacon will be beautifully crispened on the outside.

The flavor of the swordfish is out of this world. I served it with some parmesan orzo and veggie.

You can have this on your table in 30 minutes flat. So quick, easy, and delicious. Bon appetit!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTU4Y3E2dHAzY3g&hl=en

.pan seared duck with sesame ginger glaze.

Have you ever felt uninspired? Lately I've been feeling that way and then compound it with Spring Break and a husband working wonky hours.... well.. it's enough to drive me crazy.


I hope everyone had a great Easter. It was a crazy busy weekend for us, and since we had no special plans, our big dinner got put off until Monday. I made pan seared duck breast with a sesame ginger glaze, roasted fingerling potatoes, salad, and rolls. I was going to make a coconut mousse cake, but we still had brownies left and I decided not to make the cake until later this week. (I can't wait!)


I looked everywhere for 2 weeks for duck breast. Virtually impossible to find!!! My good friend, Deb was over here last week for scrapbooking and lunch and she mentioned a shop over near her home that had specialty type meats so I called and yesss they had some! So I had the husband pick it up on his way home from work on Friday. Two breasts cost me $20! Yikes. I think I might take up duck hunting in the very near future because this turned out amazing. Paige (my 7 yr old) loved it so much and told me I had to make it again soon. (I'm thinking I might make roast duck lo mein. mmmm)


This is a very easy dish to make. It's uncomplicated, which is refreshing when it comes to a holiday meal.


First, in a saucepan you need to put the glaze ingredients.


1/4 cup water
1 tsp cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 dash red pepper flakes


Bring to a boil until it thickens. Set aside. This can be made days in advance and held in the fridge. I made some last week to have with lettuce wraps and sealed it in a ziploc and tossed into the freezer. All I had to do was pull it out and heat. Perfect!


Heat a little olive oil in a skillet with a couple cloves of peeled and crushed garlic. Sear each side of the duck breast for 4-5 minutes, starting with the fat side down. Use a spoon to continually spoon some of the fat over the top of each breast as it cooks. Pull from the pan and put in a baking dish. Pour some glaze on top of the duck and put in a 400* oven for 10 minutes.


Serve with rice or potatoes, salad, and bread.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTY0azc1ems5ZDY&hl=en

.spicy mango shrimp.

Happy April Fools!  I thought about pulling a joke on you all, but voted against it.  Instead, I decided to post another recipe. :)

I have to tell you about my oldest daughter, Paige.  She LOVES shrimp.  She could eat it every day for the rest of her life.  Okay, maybe not.  She'd probably want to throw crab in there too.  She's only 7 and loves crab, shrimp, lobster.... that's my girl!  Such a refined palate.   This was her choice of dinner the other night.  She was a little concerned about the spice, but I only put a little red chili  pepper in and it was good.  Both she and Perry snarfed their meal!!  I was impressed.

This dish is SO easy and fast.  You can have it made and on the table in 30 minutes flat.  Really!  Let me show you.


You're going to need the following:

2 Tbsp honey, 1/4 cup olive oil, half of one mango (save the other half for grilling), 2 tsp grated gingerroot, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 tsp red thai curry paste (not pictured), and some red chili flakes.  

You can adjust how hot you want this.  If you don't want any heat, leave the flakes out entirely.  Put a few in.  Don't be scared.  It won't be hot, but it will give the sauce a little kick that gives the shrimp a real "wow" factor.  If you want them really hot, dump more pepper flakes in.

Put those ingredients in a blender and puree till smooth.  Transfer to a bowl.

Because of Paige's great love for shrimp, I keep a humongous bag in my freezer.  These thaw so easily and quick by running them under the faucet.  Don't use hot water, but around room temp.   

I buy the peeled and deveined shrimp.. however the last time I was at the store, the only ones I could find still had the shell so if yours have shells.. peel them off.  

Skewer those babies up and get them ready for cooking.

Once they're on skewers, brush both sides liberally with the mango sauce.

Put them on a hot grill, or grill pan and let them sear on each side.  You want some nice grill markings on these but don't let them cook too long or else they'll become rubbery and hard.  

What I did was grill for about a minute on one side, flip.  While it was cooking the other side, I basted with more sauce, flipped and basted the other side, then flipped one last time (so they cooked 2x on each side)

As you can see, I also grilled slices of the mango.  When you grill fruit, it changes the flavor a little because the heat draws out some of the sugars, and the heat caramelizes it a little.  So delicious.

When your shrimp have cooked, pull from the grill and serve!  I made some couscous to go on the side and was a perfect compliment to the shrimp.

So next time you're in a hurry for dinner, think about this dish for your family.  It's sure to be a winner!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_153fvw9csgw

.lemon chicken.

So the other day I asked you guys what I should make for dinner. Mango Shrimp or Lemon Chicken. Well, DH woke up wanting chicken so I went with the latter choice. Here in this town we moved to, there's a chinese restaurant but honestly, in my opinion, it really stinks. The food is just awful and there are no other chinese choices so if we want that type of food, I have to make it myself. I'm not complaining, but making chinese food can be very time consuming. This dish, however, isn't bad at all. In fact, you can have this made in about 45 minutes! You can't beat that!

The chicken is going to take the longest because we have to ensure it's baked through. Yes.. I said baked. Instead of deep frying and having all of those extra calories, we're going to put this in the oven.


Start by taking 4 chicken breasts (or 1 per person) and put on some saran. Wrap the saran so that it's on the top and bottom of the breast. Using a mallet or a heavy saucepan, pound out the thickest part of the breast. We want to make sure the chicken is the same thickness throughout to ensure even baking.







Season the breasts with salt and pepper.












Sprinkle some flour on both sides of the chicken and rub in to coat.











In two separate bowls, put 2 eggs in one, and some panko in another. Panko is japanese bread crumbs that are super super fine and light. I love them and they are essential in Japanese/Chinese cooking.

First coat the chicken breasts in the egg, then put in the panko and make sure they are well breaded.

Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a baking dish and place the chicken breasts in. Pop in a 350* oven for about 30 minutes. To check if they're done, touch the chicken breast and if it's still squishy (which it shouldn't) then cook a little longer. The breast should be firm but not hard.

Now, while the chicken is in the oven, make the rice. The rice will take 20 minutes to prepare. In a pot put 2 cups rice and 3 3/4 cups water. Bring to a boil and stir. Put a lid on, turn the heat down to low low low and let it steam for 20 minutes. You will *always* have perfect rice doing it this way.

Once the rice has been put on the burner, let's make the lemon sauce. So super easy!

Juice enough lemons to make 2/3 cup. This took us about 6 small lemons. Strain so there are no seeds and put in a saucepan.



In the same saucepan, add 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup water, a couple shakes of black pepper and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Whisk everything together.








Before you throw away the juiced lemon rinds, use a vegetable peeler to peel off some of the zest. We don't need a lot but just enough to give a yummy lemon boost to the sauce.

And then, of course, you will want to thinly slice a lemon. Make sure you remove all the seeds. These will be added to the sauce at the very end to give it visual prettiness. :)

The sauce itself, does not take long to cook. Maybe 7 minutes, so don't make too early or else it could form a skin on top.

All you have to do is put the saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil, whisking consistently. Do not add the lemon zest and slices until the sauce has been completely thickened.

That's it! So simple!

Remove the chicken from the oven, let rest for a minute, then slice on the diagonal against the grain. Plate and spoon on some of the lemon sauce. Serve with rice. I also served mine with broccoli made asian style. If you're interested in that recipe, read on. Otherwise, bon appetit!


Asian style Broccoli

3 cups cooked broccoli

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce (aka mushroom soy sauce)

1 cup beef or chicken stock

2 tsp cornstarch

salt and pepper

In a saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp of oil. Saute the garlic for a minute. Don't let burn. Add the broccoli and coat with the oil and garlic. In a small bowl, add all of the liquids and whisk well with the cornstarch. Pour into the broccoli and stir until thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_141cnpwkrq9

.asian style brisket.

***This is probably the EASIEST, MOST DELICIOUS recipe you will EVER EVER MAKE!!!!!****

 :D :D :D

Asian Style Brisket!!!  And this is the ONLY picture you need to make it.  Seriously.  All you have to do is take a 2-3 pound piece of beef brisket, trim the fat off, put it in a baking dish and dump on the asian sauce.

What goes in the asian sauce, you ask?  Easy easy easy.

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp hoisin (found in the oriental section of your grocer)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp minced ginger

Cover the baking dish well with foil and pop in a 200* oven for about 6-7 hours.  You could probably put this in a crockpot too.

It turned out so moist, and so delicious.  Serve with rice and veggie.  The perfect Sunday night meal.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_143kjx4j3dm

.salmon w/ cheesy crumb topping.

I have a very easy, delicious recipe for you.  Salmon with a cheesy, crumb topping.  I received this month's issue of Woman's Day a week ago and while flipping through it came across this recipe.  I tweaked it a little because I didn't have everything they listed, but it was very good and something I will be making again.

I realized I don't make nearly enough fish and that's something I want to fix.  Paige isn't quite excited about the plan though, but she did eat the salmon, and picked off the cheesy topping.  Go figure.

In a mixing bowl, put 1 8oz package cream cheese (I used low fat), 1 cup bread crumbs (fresh preferred), 1 tsp dill, 1 tsp thyme, 1 clove minced garlic, and a little salt and pepper.

Cut a salmon fillet into individual pieces and put in a baking dish that has been drizzled with olive oil.  Make sure you put the skin side down.

Spoon the cream cheese topping on top of the salmon.  Use your finger to push around if you need to.  Pop in a 350* oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  When the flesh is a light pink the salmon is done. 

So super easy and healthy, and delicious.  While the salmon was in the oven, I sauteed some fresh spinach leaves with a little olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper.  I put a spoonful on the plate and rested some salmon right on top.  Delicious!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_1443bjqm8cb