Gazpacho

22 Jul

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4 cups tomato or vegetable juice plus 2 more cups

3 large tomatoes plus 2 more diced tomatoes

1 cup diced cucumber plus another cup as an extra diced cucumber

1 cup bell pepper plus the leftover pepper, diced

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/4 cup red wine vinegar plus 2 tablespoons

3 tablespoons good olive oil

6 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce…Franks or whatever else you like

4 diced scallions as an extra add-in

4 tablespoons cilantro

3 tablespoons powdered chicken broth

3 tablespoons honey

the juice of half a lime

Put 2 cups of tomato juice, 2 tomatoes,1/2 the pepper, half the cucumber and all the onion and garlic in a food processor.

Then add the vinegar, oil, chicken broth, honey, and hot pepper sauce.

Process till smooth and then add the diced cilantro

Stir in all the remaining diced vegetables, tomato juice, and diced scallions.

Add the lime juice.

Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours

The reason why I have all the extras is that my processor has a 5 cup capacity.

The soup gets nice and smooth if you only use half the vegetables with the tomato juice.

Plus the extra vegetables make the soup nice and chunky when you add them in after it is processed.

 

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Flank Steak

10 Jul

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I had three flank steaks and didn’t know what to marinate them in.

So I started looking in my refrigerator and found my balsamic dressing.

Thats was it .

It had every flavor I wanted.

Salt, slightly sweet, pepper, garlic and of corse the wonderful olive oil.

Marinate the meat at least overnight.

Place on a hot grill and sear for only 3 to 5 minutes each side.

Flank steak is pretty thin so do not overcook it.

Slice it against the grain.

This was a great meal with a big salad, corn on the cob and baked potato.

Can’t get any easier than this.

 

Corn Muffins filled with Pulled Pork

7 May

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This ended up being so good.

I saw Emeril make it on television

This is my version but thank you Emeril for the idea.

One jumbo muffin or popover pan

Jumbo cupcake liners

Start by  generously seasoning a pork shoulder with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Place it in an aluminum pan for easy clean up.

Add about 3/4 cup apple juice to the bottom of the pan.

Place foil on top of the pork and seal well.

Bake at 325 for about four to six hours or until the pork falls off the bone.

Cool slightly or just so you can start pulling the pork.

Discard all the bones and fat.

Pour some of the pork juices over the meat to keep the it moist.

Set aside.

One 8 ounce corn muffin mix or you can make your favorite recipe.

One cup cooked drained corn

One egg

1/3 cup milk

BBQ sauce for the top of the muffins

Shredded Pepperjack cheese, sliced Jalapeño peppers, sliced sweet onion or sliced avocado for optional toppings

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Line the muffin tins with the paper liners

Mix the muffin mix, egg and milk.

Add the corn

Fill the muffin cup about 1/3 up

Add about three generous tablespoons of the pork

Top with about three or four more tablespoons of muffin mix

Do not fill to the top.

Its like making regular muffins, leave some room for them to rise

Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.

Test to see if they are done. Because of the size and the amount of meat inside it may take a little longer but do not dry out the corn muffin.

I used the BBQ sauce as a frosting.

They looked so pretty.

Use you toppings now or just put them out as options for you family.

These are good size muffins.

Green Soup

29 Apr

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This is a great leftover recipe.

I used all my leftover vegetables including that one lonely potato.

One large diced onion

Two diced celery stalks

One diced leftover potato

1/4 cup butter

One cup chopped bok choy

3/4 cups leftover peas

About 12 leftover asparagus spears cut into bite size pieces

One cup water

Two chicken bouillon cubes

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 cups of milk or half and half

One teaspoon grated lemon rind

The juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Melt the butter in a pan

Add the onion and celery

Cook till soft

Add the potato for two minutes

Add the box choy

Mix the water with the cornstarch and mix in the bouillon cubes

Add to the vegetables and bring to a slow boil

Add the milk, asparagus and peas.

Add the nutmeg, lemon juice and rind

Simmer for about ten minutes on medium low till everything is hot.

I made this twice.

Once with all my leftover vegetables and the second time with fresh vegetables.

Both were delicious

The fresh vegetable soup was greener.

Use pepper to taste but be careful with the salt because the bouillon is salty.

I found this and several other  nice recipes from the Genius Kitchen on Pinterest but I did change it a little.

 

 

 

Angies Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

26 Apr

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Angie was my Mom and she could make anything taste delicious.

This is one of her recipes that I changed just a little but I am sure she would love it.

All the old recipes have the oven temperature and pan size at the beginning of the recipe.

Butter and flour 3 nine inch cake pans

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

Grate six to seven large carrots. I just use a pound.

2 cups sugar

1 1/2  cups any vegetable oil. Olive oil is too heavy.

4 large or extra eggs

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

One teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

One cup chopped pecans [optional]

One cup drained diced pineapple

One cup of raisins

Mix the sugar and oil together and beat till the sugar is dissolved

Add the eggs and beat till everything is a pale yellow and smooth

Add the vanilla

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda

Add to the wet ingredients

Mix well

Add the carrots, pineapple and raisins

Mix in with a spoon

Divide into three pans and bake.

Test to see if done and then cool

This frosting is to die either for or from.

4 cups sifted confectionary sugar

16 ounces of room temperature cream cheese

1 1/2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

The juice of 1/2 a lemon

Beat everything together till you have this sinful white frosting.

Put four to five spatulas of frosting on each layer

Use the rest for the top and sides of the cake

I used gummy carrots to decorate the top.

I also put wooden skewers in the cake to keep it stable until the frosting firms up

Must refrigerate

I also grated the carrots in my food processor and it saved me a ton of time.

The pineapple was diced canned so that was easy too

This cake freezes great but I rarely have any leftover.

I love the pecans in this recipe but I have two kids with nut allergies. It is delicious without them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shrimp Burritos

16 Apr

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You can make  burritos with anything but last night I used shrimp.

This took ten minutes.

Two large extra large wraps any flavor.

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 pound medium or even small shrimp

One tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

One large sliced onion

1/2 sliced red pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 sliced avocado

2 diced scallions

6 tablespoons cooked rice

6 tablespoons cooked and drained black beans

1/2 cup grated cheddar

1/2 cup shredded lettuce

6 tablespoons drained salsa

4 teaspoons sour cream

2 teaspoons diced jalapeno pepper

1/4 cup mayo mixed with two teaspoons Sriracha sauce. Add more sauce if you like it spicier.

Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch, salt and pepper.

Just shake it all together in a bag

Heat two tablespoons oil in a frying pan

Shake the excess cornstarch off the shrimp

Place the shrimp in the hot oil and fry till lightly brown on both sides

Drain on a paper towel

Quickly stir fry the garlic, onion and red pepper till still crisp.

Season with salt and pepper

Place the wraps on a board and start layering

First smear the mayo mixture on each wrap

Divide everything above in half and layer on each wrap

Roll up tightly

Cilantro for garnish

Enjoy with more salsa or melted cheese to dip

To decrease calories I have made this is Romaine lettuce leaves and eliminated the wraps

but I did keep the sour cream, mayo and cheese.

There is only so much one can sacrifice…

 

 

 

Pork Udon with Vegetables

15 Apr

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This was so good but my grandchildren hated it because it had vegetables in it.

They ate corn dogs and I feasted on this and I added extra pepper because I love spicy.

Two tablespoons oil

3 cloves of diced garlic

One bag of Stir Fry vegetables with garlic ginger sauce

14 ounces of udon noodles

3 teaspoon sesame seed oil

1 1/2 pounds of ground pork

5  diced scallions

2 teaspoons ginger paste or grates fresh ginger

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/3 cup sweet wine or Mirin

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup diced pineapple plus more if you like for garnish

Heat one tablespoon oil

Lightly brown the garlic

Add the entire bag of vegetables

Do not add the garlic ginger sauce yet

Stir fry the vegetables till they are still crunchy.

This takes only a couple of minutes.

Take out of the pan and set aside.

Soak the pasta in hot water then break them up into long strands.

Strain and set aside

Add the other tablespoon of oil in the same frying pan

Add all of the ground pork

Crumble the meat then don’t touch it until the bottom is brown and almost crispy then stir fry till cooked

Add the wine and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the soy sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes and white part of the scallions

Cook for a minute

Add the  vegetables and noodles

Add the package of garlic ginger sauce from the vegetables and the pineapple.

Stir fry till everything is mixed and well coated only another minute.

Sprinkle with the remaining green scallions.

Next time I would add more sugar snap peas, sliced bok choy, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.

I would also fry up some dried hot peppers to serve on the side

These noodles are good hot or cold.

I got this recipe from  Bon Appetite magazine but changed it around just a little.

 

 

 

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