I feel the need to grill something!

Most of my meals lately have been cooked inside, partially because of the weather.  Between the rain and extreme heat, I have been relying on the stove top and oven.  But now that the temperatures are dropping, I can't wait to start grilling again.  Tonight I am going to make one of my family's favorites, rib eye steak, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed Bella mushrooms, and fresh broccoli.  This cut of steak is so tender and flavorful that it comes out delicious every time.  The key is the grilling time.  You want it to come off the grill a little more rare than you want.  Place the steak on a serving platter and cover with foil.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes, which is enough time for the juices to settle and for the steak to finish cooking and become medium rare.

This time I chose to marinade the steak in Mr. Yoshida's sauce, which is a teriyaki-style marinade.  While they are marinading, I begin to make the garlic mashed potatoes.  Now, on a weekend, I will take the time to peel potatoes, boil them, drain them, and go through the process of mashing and seasoning.  But, on a week night when time is of the essence, believe it or not, I use Potato Buds!  You will not believe how delicious they come out.  I have gotten the same amount of compliments from the instant mashed potatoes I make, that I have gotten from fresh ones, so please stay with me and try them.

Follow the directions on the box, but add 1 good-sized garlic clove, minced.  I also add about 1/4 tsp of onion powder.  After you have added the potatoes and whisked everything together, you are going to add some Parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup of sour cream or cream cheese (depending on what you have on hand), and salt and pepper.  At this point, you need to taste them.  You may need to add a little more butter, and more garlic if you like them with a strong garlic flavor.  I usually need to add a little half and half, so that they aren't too thick.  That's about it. 

I start the grill and let it heat up pretty hot.  The key to cooking rib eye steak is to use a hot enough fire so you can cook them quickly.  The longer they sit on the grill, the tougher they become, and nine out of ten times they get too well-done.  I usually let them cook for about 10-12 minutes on each side, depending on how thick they are.

Once they are done, I head in to cook the mushrooms and cook the broccoli.  The best mushrooms to use are the Bella mushrooms.  Once they are thickly sliced, I saute them in some butter, just until they start to cook.  I turn off the heat and add  a couple of sprinkles of Tarragon and some fresh parsley.  Sometimes, I will omit the Tarragon and add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, but not this time!

Lightly cooked broccoli, for me, topped with a few splashes of lemon juice, shredded Parmesan cheese,  fresh pepper and a small amount of butter....easy!

So there you have it.  A very easy steak dinner that will get raves.  Hope you enjoy it...

Fall is knocking at my door...time to make Pumpkin Bread!

It's so funny how different seasons make us want to eat and drink certain things.   Pumpkin bread, for example.... I haven't thought about making it since last fall, and now here it is almost fall again, and didn't I go and make it.  The good thing about this recipe is that it makes two loaves, so you can either freeze the second one, or give it away.  

The ingredients go like this:

3 cups of sugar

1 cup of vegetable oil

4 eggs, lightly beaten

16 ozs canned unsweetened pumpkin 

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

2/3 cup water

 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour 2 9x5 loaf pans.  Sir together the sugar and oil.  Next add the eggs and pumpkin.  Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. 

   

Now, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the water.  Only mix long enough for the flour and water are blended.  Divide the batter between the two loaf pans, and sprinkle the tops with sugar. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.   This bread comes out really light and moist.  If you want, you can add either chocolate chips, or raisins, or nuts to the batter.

Happy Fall!

How do you cook thin pork chops???

I purchased a package of pork chops the last time I visited BJ's.  I didn't realize at the time, that they were about 1/2 inch thick!  So I knew I had figure out a way to cook them so they wouldn't come out tough or dry.

I began by brining them for about 12 hours, in a solution of apple juice, salt, sugar, and water.  Just google brining to get the exact measurements.  When they were done, I rinsed them off and mixed up the rub:  1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp five-spice powder, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 ground pepper.

I put the rub on the chops and let them sit for about 1 hour.

In the meantime, I sauteed one half of a vidalia onion, thinly-sliced.  Once done, I transferred them into a separate pan.  Next up, brown the chops on both sides, about 4 minutes on each side.  DON'T OVERCOOK! 

 

 Place the browned chops in the pan, covering them with the cooked onions.  

Add 2 apples that you have peeled, cored, and quartered.  In the pan that you browned the chops in, add about 1/3 cup of apple juice and 2 tbs. red wine vinegar and 1 cup of chicken broth.  Loosen the browned bits and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Pour in about 1/2 cup of evaporated milk and 1/2 tsp. of thyme.  Simmer for another 5 minutes.   Pour this mixture over the pork chops.  At this point, I covered the pan with foil and popped it in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes, just to finish cooking the chops.

I have to tell you.... these chops came out so tender, juicy and delicious.  My family said this was the best chop dinner they have ever had!   WOW.....  I guess this is a keeper recipe!

Ready for more lasagna? How about one without pasta?

Traditionally, lasagna is made by layering pasta, cheese, and sauce, right?  Well, in my world, who says you have to always use pasta?  What I want to share with you today might take a little bit of work, (it is easy work) but the end product is delicious.  Have I ever steered you wrong?

So, this lasagna is made with slices of eggplant that I coat with a batter and brown first.  I will be also layering this with ricotta cheese mixed with fresh spinach, and of course....sauce.  You can make this vegetarian if you use a meatless sauce.  And, if you don't like eggplant, you can slice zucchini up lengthwise.  Don't cook it, though.  When it is built in the layers and cooking in the oven, it will cook just enough.

  

I start by making the batter.  It is a combination of flour, water, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, and some paprika.  If it is too thick, just add a bit of water until you get the right consistency.  You want it to be like pancake batter...thick enough to coat each piece of eggplant.  Now, I  peel and slice 2 small eggplant.  I cut the larger slices in half, so that they are all about the same size.

In a large fry pan, I heat up some olive oil.  I get into a rhythm of dusting the eggplant pieces with flour, coating the eggplant in the batter, and placing it in the oil to brown.  When they are done, I place them on paper towels to drain the excess oil.  This is the only labor-intensive part of this meal, so hang in there!

When the eggplant is all cooked, I mix up the ricotta cheese.  I add 2 small cloves of garlic, pressed, Parmesan cheese, some fresh ground black pepper, parsley, chopped fresh spinach, about 1/2 cup of sour cream, and just a sprinkle of onion powder (I try to add enough so that I can smell it)

The last ingredient to make is the sauce.  Here you can pretty much do whatever you like, either use your favorite jar of sauce, or home made sauce.  Make sure you have plenty of sauce on hand, though.  You'll need it for serving.  I have found a really good sauce made by Barilla, so to that I like to add some finely chopped carrots.  For a change, tonight I poured a jar of Barilla 3 cheese sauce in my blender and added about 2 cups of small carrots.   The flavor was amazing.

You are now going to layer this, starting with sauce on the bottom, then eggplant, cheese, and sauce.  I also spread some shredded mozzarella cheese over the ricotta.  Repeat these layers until you have either used up the eggplant, or the lasagna has just gotten way too tall!  I like to try to end with the eggplant on top.  I spoon on the rest of the sauce over spoonfuls of ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.  When I cut and serve it, I like to spoon some sauce over the individual pieces.

This cooked for about 35-40 minutes due to the fact that it was so tall.  Before I served it, I added some grated mozzarella cheese and popped it under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

I have to tell you.... this tastes so good, that you don't miss the pasta!   I really hope you take the time to make this.  Sometimes, I will cook the eggplant this way, and instead of layering it in a lasagna, I serve it as an appetizer with a dish of marinara sauce for dipping.  Arrange all the pieces of cooked eggplant on a platter and sprinkle with Romano cheese.   It looks amazing and tastes even better.  A really unique appetizer --  Enjoy...

Talk about a great combination for a sandwich!

Today was a picture perfect day to go to my favorite beach, Good Harbor, in Gloucester.  I had my daughter Jillian joining me, along with her boyfriend, Donald.  I wanted to pack the perfect lunch, so at about 6:45 a.m., I got started...The sandwiches first.  If you don't already know, my all-time favorite herb is Tarragon, and it always goes well with poultry, so I thought I would make some turkey sandwiches using it.  I started with some really crispy Italian bread. 

I used real mayonnaise, spreading it on both sides of the bread.  I sprinkled dried Tarragon on the mayo, which will bring it to life.  Layer 2-3 of slices of roasted turkey.  Next up, sliced avocado.  I don't know what it is about avocado, but it makes what ever you add it to, delicious!  After the avocado, a few pieces of Romaine lettuce, and you are good to go.  The turkey, mixed with the lettuce, mayo, tarragon and avocado, was amazing.  I brought a bag of Cape Cod potato chips, along with some lemonade, cut watermelon, and an all-time favorite?  Welches' gummies.  Perfection!

These sandwiches were not run-of-the-mill, ho-hum sandwiches....but true gourmet deliciousness,  and so easy.

Tomorrow night, Saturday, is a big dinner night.  Grilled pork chops that have been brined, and a delicious eggplant dish I know you are going to love!  Stay tuned.......

Risotto without garlic...what??? Didn't even miss it!

So, anyone who has been following me, knows how much I love garlic!  I tend to use it a lot, in different quantities, both fresh and powdered..... but tonight, I wanted to try to cook without it.  I had planned on making some pork chops, but I wanted to brine them first, and didn't start until late.  So, tomorrow's dinner will be pork chops.  Now I am behind the eight ball, and need to come up with a quick dinner.  When in doubt, risotto works--  This dinner got rave reviews, so I hope you like it as well.

I started out by making the risotto the usual way... A tablespoon of butter and once around with EVOO(extra virgin olive oil), saute the risotto for a couple of minutes, then start adding the 3 cups of chicken broth, one at a time, until each one has been absorbed.

 

When that is done, I turn off the heat, set it to the side and start preparing the ingredients that will go in it.  First off, I shave a zucchini into strips and cut up.  I also cut up a whole bunch of asparagus.  I saute them in a pan with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  Only cook for about 5 minutes.  You want the veggies to stay crisp.

I add the veggies into the risotto, and push on...  Next, saute on half of a vidalia (sweet) onion.  I try to cut all the veggies the same size.  Once those are cooked, in they go.

 

I decide the star of this dish will be shrimp, so I defrost them and cut into thirds.  In the fry pan, I have a little olive oil and some freshly chopped ginger. Throw in the shrimp and quickly cook.  As soon as they are white with a little pink on them, they are done.  DO NOT OVERCOOK!  If you do, they become really tough, and you don't want that!  The last ingredient to add is the cut up cherry tomatoes.  They should never be cooked.  Just fold them in.  I did add about 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, because it gives the risotto some body.

So, as I said in the title of this blog, I wanted to try to make something without using garlic, and let me tell you, that was really hard!  One flavor that I absolute love and tend to cook with Jasmine rice is Ginger.  Fresh ginger, either grated or chopped.  For this risotto dish, the grated just wasn't giving it enough flavor, so I reverted to chopping it.....quite a bit of it.  I kept adding more until I could actually taste it.  WOW!  How good is that????  This is the important part I keep telling you about.....taste.  You might need to add a little more salt and pepper if necessary.

So, my youngest daughter is my prime taster.  She never fails!  So I grabbed a spoon and had her try it...

Actions speak louder than words.  Everyone loved it, including a few folks who stopped by with forks in hand!  Really hope you try this.

A great use for leftover stuffing....

I had posted a recipe for stuffed peppers a while ago, and whenever I make them, I always make too much stuffing.  So, I put the leftovers in the fridge and figured I would use it somehow!  Well, the time had come where I needed to use it or lose it!  After giving it some thought, I decided to stuff some boneless chicken breasts.

This is what the left over stuffing looked like... 

I defrosted some boneless chicken breasts, and pounded them to about 1/4 inch thick.  I then placed a slice of honey ham I had gotten from the deli.  I next put enough stuffing mix on top of the ham so that I could roll it up.  I then tied each roll to hold it together while cooking.

Once browned on all sides, I put them into a casserole dish, place a slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken "roll" and cover the dish with foil.  I cooked them in a 325 degree oven, probably for about 15-20 minutes.  They don't take long to cook because the chicken is very thin.  You are basically making sure the stuffing is cooked..

So this whole meal was about using up leftovers and being quick and easy.  If any of this is left over, you can slice them up the next day and put in a sandwich! Really yummy...