Posts from — February 2016

On Friday night we had a little reunion of sorts. Our dear friends and former neighbors, Lori and Jonathon, were in town for the week.

In December, Tram and I flew to Chicago to visit them and do a bit of Christmas shopping. We had an absolute ball! I meant to blog about our trip but I never got around to it, you know, with the holiday rush and all.

Tram and Steve and Lori and Jonathon came over for dinner and we had the very best time! I’ll be posting recipes all week; appetizers, cocktails, starters, salads, and even a salt block cooking recipe. I’m going, to begin with a gorgeous smoked salmon appetizer. It’s hard to take that first chunk out of it because it’s so beautiful, but once you get going on it, it’s hard to stop. It’s as delicious as it is lovely.

There is no cooking involved and you’ll be using a food processor to put it together. As such, I’ll be tagging this one as an Easy-Breezy Recipe.

Once you add the herbs, you want to use the Pulse button ONLY. You don’t want the mixture to turn green from the herbs or the processor to turn the salmon and cranberries into baby food. What you’re going for is a cohesive mixture with a bit of texture.

Fresh Fruit – Smoked Salmon Spread

• 4-ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon each; fresh minced dill, mint, and thyme
• 24-ounce package of smoked salmon
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped dry roasted almonds
• Fresh sliced peaches, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and fresh sprigs of thyme, basil, dill, and/or mint for garnish
• Crackers for serving

Place the cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor and blend; add the mayonnaise and salt and blend until smooth.

Using the pulse button, add in the fresh herbs with only 2 or 3 short pulses.

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A dear friend and neighbor has gone through an especially tough time. I offered to bring dinner over for her family. She tried to say no, but I wouldn’t have it, so we decided that Sunday would be a good day. I brought over an Italian pasta dish and this Mexican dish.

I made another pan of the Mexican dish for our family’s Sunday meal. I hadn’t planned on putting up a post of it, but after Connor asked for the recipe and another neighbor asked for it too, I decided I’d better get it up here.

I hadn’t taken any photos, meaning I had to remake them. One problem though – I was out of black beans so I used kidney beans in their place. It’s far better with black beans! I also forgot to add a dollop of sour cream for the photo… it’s tastier with the sour cream too. In other words, don’t rely on the photos, just follow the recipe and you’ll be all good.

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Do you like liver and onions? I do not! But my dad and Dave are fans, so every now and again, I treat them. Valentine’s dinner was one such occasion. Although I enjoy pâté and a few other liver dishes, the bad taste of liver and onions has stayed with me from childhood, when we were forced to eat them.

Oh, the stories I could tell about how I would “dispose” of the food I disliked from my childhood. The various methods I used to get rid of my oatmeal, on nearly a daily basis every winter, are genius by my account and legendary in my family.

The liver was more difficult to avoid, the dogs were my only saviors and my parents picked up on that one early and the dogs were put outside during the dinner hour when the liver or other undesirables were served. My list of undesirable food was long; lima beans, sauerkraut, all cereal (cold and hot but especially oatmeal) spinach, most vegetables (they were all canned) with the exception of corn, and the list goes on.

Liver and lima beans were at the very top of the list. So the fact I even make liver for others is a testament to my love for them.

I will admit that this gravy smells darn good though. The addition of Worcestershire sauce is the trick.

It’s difficult to make liver, onions, and gravy look good in a photo (all that brown on brown on more brown) so please look beyond that. If you or your loved ones crave liver, give this recipe a try, I’m told it’s excellent. I wouldn’t know, Connor and I had beef tenderloin for Valentine’s dinner this year.

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It’s not always practical to serve a salad. For instance, at a cocktail party or any occasion where guests will be standing. These colorful and flavor-packed little salad skewers come to the rescue! They are a nice alternative to the standard crudités platter.

You’ll be using a knife to cut iceberg lettuce. There is an old wives’ tale that warns that using a knife on lettuce will cause the cut edges to quickly turn brown. This is not true. Not if you are using the lettuce within a day or so. All torn or cut lettuce leaves will eventually turn brown, under the same scientific theory that causes an apple or avocado to turn brown after cutting.

Even though you cut the lettuce well ahead of time for this recipe there is no fear of the edges turning brown because the cut pieces are held in ice water to keep them crisp and free of any browning.*

Even so, you’ll see that I do use a hard plastic knife especially made for lettuce. It’s one of the many tools crowding my kitchen drawers and cupboards that former students have given me. I have it, so I use it, but it is in no way a necessity.

*It is important to cut and assemble the lettuce portion of the skewers well ahead of time, not only to crisp the lettuce but because this step of the recipe, although extremely simple, is time-consuming and it is the last thing you’ll want to do at the last minute.

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I love the thick cut bacon from Costco. It’s the only kind I buy, so it is what I used to make these yummy tater tot poppers. That was a big mistake! By the time the bacon baked enough to get crispy, the tots were nearly falling apart. Be sure to use cheap thin-slice bacon … my mistakes are all for your benefit. You’re welcome!

These poppers are spicy-sweet. You can amp up the wow factor by replacing the maple syrup used in the brown sugar glaze with jalapeño jelly. I didn’t think of it until after I made them, but I’ll be doing that next time, for sure! For some unknown reason, the jar of pickled jalapeño didn’t make it into the “ingredients photo” but be sure to include them when you make this ~ otherwise, they are not poppers at all ~ just boring bacon-tots.

Lastly, I don’t give you quantities here so make as many or as few as you’d like. I suggest many. They are addicting.

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For the last two years, I’ve served as the vice-president of our HOA. I decided not to run again so yesterday my term ended. On Monday night, I hosted our annual meeting to vote on new board members.

I love my neighbors and I love my neighborhood, so it’s always a joy to cook for them. These next few days I’ll share the dishes I made for the meeting, beginning with this easy and yummy dip.

Pictured above are the main ingredients, less than one package of the Boursin. Boursin comes in this three-pack at Costco and I made the recipe to use it up before the expiration date. I had bought it back in December, thinking I’d use it in some holiday cooking and entertaining, but no. Any savory flavor of Boursin would be just fine in this recipe.

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This recipe is one I found on Pinterest and nipped, tucked, and tweaked to make this killer vegetable side dish.

I hadn’t planned to post it until the end of the week, but a couple of you asked for it ASAP, so here it is.

The 4-ounce package of diced pancetta is from Trader Joe’s and makes this dish a snap.

When you’re in the produce department looking at leeks, always pick out the leeks with the most white. The dark green goes in the trash. White and light green = Good. Dark green = Waste.

Also, always wash your leeks after you’ve sliced or diced them. To do so, fill a bowl with cold water, drop the leeks in and swish around. Then use your hands to lift the leeks out of the water, transferring them to a dish or plate. Next, pour out the dirty water and do it all over again. Pour out that water and if it’s clear, your leeks are ready to use. If that water is still sandy and dirty, do it again and again as needed. It’s important to not pour the leeks into a strainer. Doing so will leave the dirt you removed from the leeks all over them again.

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Here is the last of the week’s worth of slow cooker recipes. This was the perfect thing to get me back into a blogging routine and a great way to feed visiting family while we were on the run.

We are finishing as we began, with a yummy soup. I’m pretty proud of myself for limiting the soup recipes to only half of those put forward.

To recap – A week’s worth of slow cooker recipes:

Wild Rice and Shredded Chicken Soup

Balsamic-Dijon Glazed Baby Back Ribs with Great Northern Beans

Lemony Turkey Meatball and Orzo Soup

Ropa Vieja

Mississippi Pot Roast

And here is todays…

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My dear friend and colleague, Kim Howard, sent me this recipe from the NY Times for my week’s worth of slow cooker recipes. I was very grateful for the recipe since it was for a pot roast. I had a serious need for a new pot roast recipe because my dad loves pot roast and had already requested it for our Sunday supper.

My “go-to” slow cooker roast recipe for my dad is This One, I was beyond excited to try something new. A huge plus was that it is by far simpler and even tastier than the old standby.

I minimally changed the original recipe, but the change I made was a major health change. How I did that was to remove a majority of the fat after cooking.

Kim, I thank you!

My dad thanks you.

Basically, we all (Dad, Dave, Connor, my visiting brother-in-law, Roger, and I) thank you for the great recipe! xoxo

By the way, the recipe for the lovely asparagus you see on the plate above will be posted later this week. It is A. MAZ. ING!

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