Steak Salad
6 cups spinach leaves
6 cups mixed lettuce leaves torn into 1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded cucumber
2 cups grape tomatoes
1/2 cup bacon bits
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 pounds favorite steak grilled and sliced into thin strips
Crumbled feta cheese
Toss everything but the steak and feta together, spread over your serving platter and then lay the thin slices of seasoned steak over your veggies and crumble your feta cheese over everything. Top with dressing below when serving.
Dressing
Balsamic vinegar
A-1 steak sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Dried Cranberries, diced
Raisins, diced
Walnuts, chopped
These are all to your own taste. I have found that I like more A-1 steak sauce than some, but I put it on everything. Just feel your way through this recipe. Start and build it to your own tastes but remember to write it down so that you can duplicate it later.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Let's get ready for fall.
As the seasons begin to change, and fall is in the picture, we begin to look to things that we can cook that keeps the house smelling like a home from the 1800's or so. It's hard to describe but it's like walking into your grandmother's kitchen on a Sunday afternoon or a holiday afternoon with family. We crave that feeling that life is good. It all starts with a meal. The first thing we crave after we arrive on this earth is food. And that feeling of being satisfied for the very first time never leaves us. We seek that with every single meal. On that note, here we are on the cusp of September, the last month of the 3rd season and we want to "prepare for the winter". Now, having said all of that, we are a "fast food" society with a "throw away" mentality. We need to be able to prepare things not only quickly but simply and yet elegantly. I will be posting some of the great recipes from different cook books that I've collected but adding my own little twists in them. Please forgive me if I go on and on about them, but we are living in a time when food prices are outrageous and we need to make the most of what we have. The first recipe is:
Onion Mushroom Soup
4 cups thinly sliced onions
2 cups thinly sliced button mushrooms
1 stick of butter
1 cup milk (2 cups if you want a creamier soup)
8 cups beef broth
1 loaf of French Bread
12 slices of Muenster cheese
12 slices of Monterey Jack
In a large skillet saute mushrooms and onions in the melted butter. You may need more butter but that is your call. (I use enough to taste the butter as well as the onions and mushrooms) In a large dutch oven or pot, heat up your beef broth. Do not boil. After the onions have become translucent, transfer the whole skillet of mushrooms and onions and butter, into the simmering beef broth. Slowly add the milk and season with salt and pepper if needed. While this is simmering, (again, do not boil) cut thick 1 inch slices of the French Bread and toast these slices in an oven slowly. You want the bread to be "crusty". While these are toasting, prepare your crock bowls (deep oven safe bowls) by filling nearly to the top, with your soup. Take your toasted French bread slices and lay them gently on top of the soup. Layer one slice of Muenster and one slice of Monterey Jack on top of the French Bread toast. Bake in the oven on 400 degrees for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted and begun to ooze over the sides of your crock. Serve with an amazing beef salad and you have a complete meal. (Salad recipe to come)
Monday, March 3, 2014
Every once in a while, I crave Greek. Here's my desire in Greek.
Lets do GREEK!!!
I love gyro's. They are the best! So below here is an easy way to get what you want without having to go out.
MEAT FILLING
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground lamb
2 eggs
1/2 cup minced onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Mix together all of the above ingredients and mold into a loaf and place in a loaf or bread pan. Cook for about an hour at 325 degrees. Please check temperature to make sure that meat is at 165 degrees internally. Drain grease away and remove from pan. Place on a platter and slice in 1/4 inch slices.
SAUCE
Prepare cucumber sauce:
16 ounces sour cream,
1 cucumber shredded,
3-4 mint leaves minced,
pinch of salt and pinch of pepper,
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar,
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar,
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Mix all ingredients together until creamy and well combined.
For assembly you will also need:
8 heated pita bread pockets
Shredded lettuce,
chopped tomatoes
thinly slice red onion
feta cheese
TO ASSEMBLE:
Grill the pita bread pockets. I do this in a cast iron skillet or on a grill. Place several slices of the meat in the middle of the pita pocket. Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, red onion (I leave this out) and nicely crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle the top with your cucumber sauce and serve.
In the next few weeks I will do over any recipe that you wish to make it a little easier and maybe, just maybe a little cheaper. Just comment and let me know. I will take it as a challenge to do your request proud.
I love gyro's. They are the best! So below here is an easy way to get what you want without having to go out.
MEAT FILLING
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground lamb
2 eggs
1/2 cup minced onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Mix together all of the above ingredients and mold into a loaf and place in a loaf or bread pan. Cook for about an hour at 325 degrees. Please check temperature to make sure that meat is at 165 degrees internally. Drain grease away and remove from pan. Place on a platter and slice in 1/4 inch slices.
SAUCE
Prepare cucumber sauce:
16 ounces sour cream,
1 cucumber shredded,
3-4 mint leaves minced,
pinch of salt and pinch of pepper,
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar,
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar,
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Mix all ingredients together until creamy and well combined.
For assembly you will also need:
8 heated pita bread pockets
Shredded lettuce,
chopped tomatoes
thinly slice red onion
feta cheese
TO ASSEMBLE:
Grill the pita bread pockets. I do this in a cast iron skillet or on a grill. Place several slices of the meat in the middle of the pita pocket. Top with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, red onion (I leave this out) and nicely crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle the top with your cucumber sauce and serve.
In the next few weeks I will do over any recipe that you wish to make it a little easier and maybe, just maybe a little cheaper. Just comment and let me know. I will take it as a challenge to do your request proud.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
A little Kitchen Tip--The Best Fried Chicken
Okay so today, I am watching the food network again and it dawned on me that one of our classic favorites in the south has yet to be redone in a way that is actually healthy for you and yet provides EXACTLY what we want. Fried Chicken. Now before you baulk about it, let me explain. I am a great believer that yes, you can coat and bake chicken and it will be good. I love baked "fried" chicken. However, it's not the same. So here's what I do. And while my father, who is an executive chef, "hated" the idea and said that it took away from the flavor when I told him about it, when he tasted it, loved it. Below, I am going to explain everything to you.
I love to use chicken breasts, but I have done the whole chicken pieces.
1. choose your chicken parts.
2. in a pot of water, add salt, pepper, and whatever other "seasonings" you want to.
3. add 2 chicken bouillon cubes
4. boil chicken until it is "almost done".
5. while waiting for the chicken to get par cooked mix flour, salt, pepper, and again your same seasonings if you would like, that you added to your water.
6. remove from boiling water and let it "drain" on paper towels, but do not dry the chicken, it needs to be wet
7. dip your chicken in flour mixture
8. in a pan or deep fryer, heat your oil appropriately to 350 degrees
9. fry the flour dipped chicken for just until the coating is sufficiently browned. It will only take a couple of minutes because your chicken is almost completely cooked. It needs to be 165 degrees when finished. Because you have cooked the chicken previously, the amount of oil soaked up in the cooking process is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS. You get the crunch of the fried chicken and you cut down on the calories and on the unhealthy oil. You have incredible flavor because you can season it however you want to. It's amazing.
ENJOY!!!
I love to use chicken breasts, but I have done the whole chicken pieces.
1. choose your chicken parts.
2. in a pot of water, add salt, pepper, and whatever other "seasonings" you want to.
3. add 2 chicken bouillon cubes
4. boil chicken until it is "almost done".
5. while waiting for the chicken to get par cooked mix flour, salt, pepper, and again your same seasonings if you would like, that you added to your water.
6. remove from boiling water and let it "drain" on paper towels, but do not dry the chicken, it needs to be wet
7. dip your chicken in flour mixture
8. in a pan or deep fryer, heat your oil appropriately to 350 degrees
9. fry the flour dipped chicken for just until the coating is sufficiently browned. It will only take a couple of minutes because your chicken is almost completely cooked. It needs to be 165 degrees when finished. Because you have cooked the chicken previously, the amount of oil soaked up in the cooking process is SIGNIFICANTLY LESS. You get the crunch of the fried chicken and you cut down on the calories and on the unhealthy oil. You have incredible flavor because you can season it however you want to. It's amazing.
ENJOY!!!
Friday, February 21, 2014
Change is good right?
Well it's been a week since I posted, and not that anyone else is reading this or that it is public or anything since I am "computer blonde" but here I am again.. Tonight I was just thinking about all the changes that are happening in this world and in life. My third daughter gave birth to a pre-mature son 8 days ago. February 13th. It was a unique situation since I had given birth to her 9 weeks pre-maturely almost 26 years ago. (May 14, 1988). It changes your life. And just like her, he is extremely jaundice and has the same blood disorder that their father did and all four of my girls did. Sadly, there is nothing that can be done as it is genetic. You learn to live with it and eat what you must and avoid what you must and that's that.
Change.
When I was younger, I would get sick with a cold and my grandmother, who lived with us would make an "onion soup". This was a soup that was really just onions caramelized and then added to a broth. Mind you it made me gag when I was a girl. I hated it. It stunk up the house and I refused to eat it and was force fed many a spoonful on the supposition that it was "medicine" for the cold. Now, I love onion soup. That wonderful deep brown beef broth mixed with those thoroughly caramelized onions and then topped with a thick slice of French bread with a thick melted slice of mozzarella cheese. It is amazing and I will order it almost every time I am able in a restaurant. Saying that, last night and the night before, there was some cooking going on in my house by others and the smell of the onions with their garlic and butter nearly took my breath away. I had to sleep with two fans on me. The smell filled the house and the garlic, while overpowering was only a distant memory by the time you inhaled the smell of the sharpness of the onions. How then can I love them cooked to pieces and hate them raw? The composition of them changes. And they become something that they were meant to be. Now I know people who eat onion sandwiches and dice up or slice up raw onions on EVERYTHING! But that's not me. I would rather have them transformed into the near translucent perfection that clings to the dipped spoon in a hot bowl.
I like the change that is wrought when we put an onion through the paces and turn it into something wonderful. Even if it is just onion soup. The point is, that we need change. Change is good. We can only grow if something changes us. It can be from the inside out or from the outside in. There is something wonderful that can happen if we but let it. Much like that onion that has sat in the basket for way too long, we peel off the layers of skin and finally get down to who we are. We present ourselves sometimes in a way that isn't really truth. It is a facade. Much like that "onion soup" that my grandmother used to make. It was only the beginnings because she didn't know any better. But with people, that facade hides what we truly want out of life. Sure there are people out there that are just as good about not hiding but they are usually the ones that aren't afraid to be a little rude and a little uncouth. However, for most of us, we have these layers of outer skin that hides our fears, our tears, our dreams, and our desires. In order to move towards a more perfect us, we must allow those layers to be peeled away. We must allow our inner goodness and desires to come out of us. Because the change that can happen is, we begin to look for that change ourselves. We can see what we will become and will reach for it. I am excited about all the changes that are going to occur in my life in the next 50 years or so. I do expect, even though now it doesn't always feel like it, that I will live another 5 decades. I will, now that the layers have been pulled back and the pungency of my core has been revealed, I know now, what I can become. It is my goal to reach my fullest potential between now and that next 50 years ending. I will become, what the core of me dreamt me to become. Yes, change is good. And I will embrace it.
Change.
When I was younger, I would get sick with a cold and my grandmother, who lived with us would make an "onion soup". This was a soup that was really just onions caramelized and then added to a broth. Mind you it made me gag when I was a girl. I hated it. It stunk up the house and I refused to eat it and was force fed many a spoonful on the supposition that it was "medicine" for the cold. Now, I love onion soup. That wonderful deep brown beef broth mixed with those thoroughly caramelized onions and then topped with a thick slice of French bread with a thick melted slice of mozzarella cheese. It is amazing and I will order it almost every time I am able in a restaurant. Saying that, last night and the night before, there was some cooking going on in my house by others and the smell of the onions with their garlic and butter nearly took my breath away. I had to sleep with two fans on me. The smell filled the house and the garlic, while overpowering was only a distant memory by the time you inhaled the smell of the sharpness of the onions. How then can I love them cooked to pieces and hate them raw? The composition of them changes. And they become something that they were meant to be. Now I know people who eat onion sandwiches and dice up or slice up raw onions on EVERYTHING! But that's not me. I would rather have them transformed into the near translucent perfection that clings to the dipped spoon in a hot bowl.
I like the change that is wrought when we put an onion through the paces and turn it into something wonderful. Even if it is just onion soup. The point is, that we need change. Change is good. We can only grow if something changes us. It can be from the inside out or from the outside in. There is something wonderful that can happen if we but let it. Much like that onion that has sat in the basket for way too long, we peel off the layers of skin and finally get down to who we are. We present ourselves sometimes in a way that isn't really truth. It is a facade. Much like that "onion soup" that my grandmother used to make. It was only the beginnings because she didn't know any better. But with people, that facade hides what we truly want out of life. Sure there are people out there that are just as good about not hiding but they are usually the ones that aren't afraid to be a little rude and a little uncouth. However, for most of us, we have these layers of outer skin that hides our fears, our tears, our dreams, and our desires. In order to move towards a more perfect us, we must allow those layers to be peeled away. We must allow our inner goodness and desires to come out of us. Because the change that can happen is, we begin to look for that change ourselves. We can see what we will become and will reach for it. I am excited about all the changes that are going to occur in my life in the next 50 years or so. I do expect, even though now it doesn't always feel like it, that I will live another 5 decades. I will, now that the layers have been pulled back and the pungency of my core has been revealed, I know now, what I can become. It is my goal to reach my fullest potential between now and that next 50 years ending. I will become, what the core of me dreamt me to become. Yes, change is good. And I will embrace it.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
MockTails?
Today I watched a show on the Food Network channel called "The Kitchen" and one of their segments every show is: "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere". This is where they create drinks with alcohol. There are several shows that do this and it drives me insane. Sandra Lee does Sit on her show "Semi-Homemade". Again it drives me nuts. It feels like these people believe that we, as American's are constantly drinking. Really? For years I have created combination drinks. I've never called them cocktails or mocktails or whatever, I called them "punch". And so I set about creating unique combinations. Now, I don't drink, but I love uses wine glasses, champagne flutes, etc. I think they are elegant and beautiful and classy. So, I create sparkling drinks that add some excitement. So it doesn't have to be alcohol to look lovely and add to a meal. I love using grape juices to sparkle up the table. I will take a lemon lime soda and freeze them into little cubes or balls, I prefer balls, and drop them into the juice. The juices have to be very cold. Also, frozen grapes make a wonderful addition to any drink. I love to freeze fruit period for drinks. Pineapple chunks, strawberries and blueberries make for a punch that is both fun and amazing and as they thaw, they add a great flavor. Don't be afraid. Even frozen cranberries and oranges make a delightful holiday drink served with white grape juice. It doesn't have to be alcoholic.
So create your own "Mocktails" and enhance even your normal "everyday" meals. Family is more important than any guest but it's fun to treat them as guests at every meal.
So create your own "Mocktails" and enhance even your normal "everyday" meals. Family is more important than any guest but it's fun to treat them as guests at every meal.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
The BIG GAME!!!
I am a sports enthusiast. I love watching sports. I love them live and I love them on the TV and I love throwing super bowl parties. I watch as much of the Olympics as I can and I really do follow certain teams in sports that I love. I'm very eclectic in my choices I suppose. But at any rate, I love watching great athleticism. Having said that, I am in awe of the wonder and amazing things that people do to themselves. Drugs, alcohol, self mutilation, self loathing, self destruction. I am aware of them all. I am a victim of two of those. Self loathing and self destruction. I don't like my physical form. I hate it. And because of that, I have let it become my disability and it has led to a destruction of certain aspects of my body. Looking back, it wasn't intentional, it was simply a bi-product of my circumstances and of the abuse that happened to me. It's not an excuse. It is what it is. However, I have had in my life one reoccurring poem that always gives me hope. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I would do everything I could to turn back the clock. And I know that reading the scriptures should inspire me to do what is necessary to pull me out of my situation. BUT Below is the Poem. I hope it will remind you that there is always hope. For all of the hype and fun and everything that goes on around these athletes and how amazing their skills are and how amazing this Super Bowl will be, there is one game that is far more important. The game of life. And this life...well, it truly is THE BIG GAME!
The Touch of the Masters Hand
T'was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while, to waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried, "Who'll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar; then two! Only two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a gray-haired man, came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening up the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as the caroling of angels sing.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was now quiet and low, said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow. "A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and gone, said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cired, "We do not quite understand, what changed it's worth?" Swift came the reply: "The touch of a master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage," A glass of wine; a game, and he travels on. "He is going : once, and "going twice, he's going and almost gone." But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of THE MASTER'S HAND.------Myra Brooks Welch
The Touch of the Masters Hand
T'was battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it scarcely worth his while, to waste much time on the old violin, but he held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried, "Who'll start the bidding for me? A dollar, a dollar; then two! Only two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a gray-haired man, came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, and tightening up the loose strings, he played a melody pure and sweet as the caroling of angels sing.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was now quiet and low, said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow. "A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and gone, said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cired, "We do not quite understand, what changed it's worth?" Swift came the reply: "The touch of a master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin, is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin. A "mess of pottage," A glass of wine; a game, and he travels on. "He is going : once, and "going twice, he's going and almost gone." But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of THE MASTER'S HAND.------Myra Brooks Welch
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