Marshmallow Sauce for Pineapple – Tasty Tuesday!

When I was a child, we used to go to the Nut Tree located in Vacaville. After ordering your food, they delivered to your table sliced pineapple with marshmallow sauce. Looking for a sweet treat for after dinner with friends the other night, I tried my hand at marshmallow sauce. There are recipes out on the internet for this sauce and most use corn syrup. I do not use corn syrup, so I made my own sweet mix that is a substitution that is better for you. So, let’s head off into the kitchen to make some of this tasty treat that goes well with pineapple! This recipe makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.n Here is a preview…

Preview

Ingredients for the corn syrup substitute
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup of boiling water

Ingredients for the sauce
1 large egg white
2 TBS cold water
sugar syrup from above
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

Ingredients

Place the egg white in a mixing bowl and using your hand beater or stand mixer, beat the egg white on high speed. To check if the egg white is ready for the next step, lift the beater out of the egg white and you should have soft peaks form. Here are three photos showing the progress.

Begin with the egg white

Midway through beating the egg white

Egg white is ready for the water

When this is ready, the next step is to add the water. On low speed incorporate the water and then add in the sugar syrup.

Water and sugar syrup added

Increase your speed to medium high.

Just about ready for the powdered sugar

The mixture will become creamy, white in color, and should be almost double in size. This process should take about 8 minutes. Here it is when it is done.

Ready for powdered sugar

Turning the mixture back to low, gradually add in the powdered sugar.

Powdered sugar added

When this has incorporated into the mix, add in the vanilla.

Vanilla added

Once this is done, refrigerate the sauce for about 4 hours. You will need to stir it before using. Here is what this sauce looks like over a couple of slices of pineapple.

Sauce served over pineapple

You can use this sauce over ice cream, brownies, strawberries…the list is endless! I hope that you try out this delightful recipe! It is one that is sure to please you, your family, and guests!

Thanks for dropping by for another issue of Tasty Tuesday! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Tasty Tuna for Tasty Tuesday!

We are back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! How about some fish? Today we head into the kitchen to have some fun with Tuna! If you have not had this fish before, let me tell you it is reminiscent of steak! Here is a preview…

Preview

So, let’s head into the kitchen and see what we can do with this fish. This recipe is for two, and takes 45 minutes for preparation and 6 minutes to cook.

Ingredients
2 tuna steaks
6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 TBS lemon pepper
1 TBS Old Bay Seasoning
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS dried parsley (two if you use fresh)
1 TBS lemon juice

Ingredients

Take the tuna steaks out of the refrigerator and set aside. Take the remaining ingredients and add them to a food processor. Run this until the ingredients are well blended.

Blend the ingredients

Rub all sides of the fish with the blended seasonings.

The fish is rubbed and sits waiting

Now let this sit for 30 minutes. Then, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Add the fish to a baking pan and bake 3 minutes per side for a total cooking time of 6 minutes. If you cook the fish any longer than this is will be tough and chewy.

Plate up the fish with your choice of vegetable, and a starch. I served this with buttered Lima beans and jasmine rice with parsley.

Serve up the tuna!

Well that’s it for this edition of Tasty Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for another easy dish next week! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Broccoli Slaw – Tasty Tuesdays!

Welcome to another edition of Tasty Tuesdays! It is still spring here in the Foothills, but it feels like summer! Our unseasonably warm weather has me thinking of barbecuing. What goes well with a great steak, ribs or chicken from the grill? Broccoli Slaw!

Now if you are looking for convenience, they do have a mix of broccoli and other veges in the pre-made section of the grocery store. I like to put this together myself. It is easy, and you can clean out your vegetable drawer. To make this side salad, prepare this about four hours before you plan on eating it! This allows the lovely flavors of the mixture to meld. So, come along with me as we head into the kitchen to make this very tasty slaw!

Ingredients
1 cup of mayonnaise
4 TBS sugar
2 TBS white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 broccoli crown, medium in size
2 green onions
5-7 radishes
1 carrot
1 large stalk of celery
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

First, I like to get the dressing made for the cole slaw. This is so easy! In a bowl mix together the mayo, sugar, and vinegar. You want to make sure that the mixture is smooth. Add a bit of salt, and several grinds of fresh black pepper. Set this aside.

Slaw sauce mixture

Now get out a large mixing bowl. Wash the broccoli. Cut the broccoli close to the flower heads. Do not throw away that stem! With the flower head make small cuts so that you have a bunch of little florets. Add these to your mixing bowl. Now for those stems…Using the larger part of the stem, trim away the hard outer covering, the slice and dice the stem and add this to your bowl.

Take your green onion, trim off the roots and about an inch off of the green tops and slice. Add these to the mixing bowl. Now for the radishes, trim off the root and the greens. Slice the radishes so that you have little circles, then slice those circles into strips and add to your mixing bowl. For the carrots: Wash, then peel. Cut the carrot in four pieces. Then cut the pieces lengthwise into four. Then slice the quarters into little cubes. Add these to the mixing bowl. Was and trim the celery, Cut these the same way we did the carrots. Into the mixing bowl these go! Now stir this up until you have an even blend of veges. It should look like this:

Vegetable mixture of broccoli slaw

Pretty colors, eh?

Now, add to this the cheddar cheese. And mix it up good.

Slaw with Cheddar added

The cheddar gives this an amazing texture!

Now add in the dressing and stir it up so that the vegetables are evenly coated. Let this sit for 4 or more hours, and then when your grilled meats are ready, serve it up!

The finished slaw

Now wasn’t that easy? Other vegetables that would be good in this recipe are red cabbage, kale, fresh peas…I leave that up to you!

Thanks for stopping by today for another edition of Tasty Tuesday and stay tuned for a new recipe next week! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Twisted Chicken – Tasty Tuesdays

Thank you for coming back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Opening the refrigerator door I find that I have 4 chicken leg and thighs to cook for dinner tonight. And, I have left over fresh Shiitake mushrooms, some carrots, ginger, garlic and artichoke hearts. What can I do with these as my ingredients? Maybe add a bit of white wine, fresh cracked pepper and a bit of sea salt? EVOO? How about heading into the kitchen to help me create a new dish!

Main Ingredients

Ingredients
4 chicken leg and thigh combination
1 – 12 oz. pack of frozen artichoke hearts
1/2# shiitake mushrooms, quartered
1/2# peeled baby carrots
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 glugs of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 cup dry white wine
sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

So, this is what I have to work with. Grabbing a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, I spray it with a bit of non-stick spray. Then I fit in the 4 pieces of chicken.

Legs with thighs go into a glass baking dish

Taking the rest of the ingredients I put them into a large mixing bowl and mix it up with my hands. For the salt and pepper, a couple of twists on your salt mill, and 4 twists of the pepper mill should do! Mix this in. Next, I pour this over the chicken…

A mixture of veges top the chicken

With this ready, I turn on the oven to 350 degrees. I lean down and smell the dish. This will be good! When the oven is hot, I put the pan into the oven. Let’s let this bake for 30 minutes.

Taking the pan from the oven, I move the chicken pieces so that they now rest on the vegetables. This will allow the chicken skin to brown, and the vegetables will caramelize below.

Move the chicken so that it sits on the veges

I think that another 30 minutes shall do it. So I set the timer. When the bell goes off, I am rewarded with amazing aromas and this lovely pan of cooked chicken!

It’s done!

I serve this up.

Dinner is served!

The flavors on this dish are amazing! Feel free to add cooked rice as a side if you like! This dish will serve 4. Total time to prep and cook: About one and a half hours. We are only two here, and the leftovers were even better!

Stay tuned for the next edition of Tasty Tuesday! If you try this dish, let me know how you like it!

Thanks for stopping by today and remember: Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Ooops!

I was working on a post for tomorrow and accidentally hit the publish button rather than save…Pardon the hiccup and stay tuned for tomorrow’s Tasty Tuesday post!

Read Full Post »

Simple Beef Stroganoff – Tasty Tuesday

It is another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Today we will be preparing a simple yet elegant beef stroganoff that is sure to please you and your family! It is the addition of whole grain mustard that really “beefs” up this recipe! Ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1/2# of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 TBS butter
1# steak, cut into 1/4″ slices
1/3 cup of brandy
1/2 cup beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1 cup of sour cream
egg noodles, buttered with parsley

Ingredients

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook until gently browned.

Brown the mushrooms and onion

When these are done, remove from the skillet and set aside. Now we turn to the beef. Add this to the skillet and brown the meat.

Brown the beef

Once the beef is browned, slowly add in the brandy.

Gratuitous pouring shot of the brandy

Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the broth, bay leaf and whole grain mustard. Now tell me, doesn’t that mustard look amazing?

Bay and whole grain mustard are added

With everything now incorporated, add back the mushroom and onion mixture.

Mushrooms and onion are added back

Cook for another couple of minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add in the sour cream.

Add the sour cream

Stir continuously until steam begins to rise from the pan.

Heat through

The dish is now ready to serve! I like serving this over buttered egg noodles that have a bit of parsley added. Here is what the dish looks like before you gobble it up!

Serve over buttered noodles with parsley!

There you have it! With preparation and cooking time, expect to spend an hour in the kitchen. This dish will serve four.

Thanks for stepping into the kitchen with me, and I hope to see you back next week! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Let’s Make Enchiladas! Tasty Tuesday

Hello world! Today is Tasty Tuesday and have I got an easy and very tasty recipe for you to try! The recipe featured today is my favorite Enchilada recipe! Let me entice you with a preview!

Preview

Doesn’t that look good? This dish will serve 6. Well let’s head on into the kitchen! We begin with our list of ingredients…

Ingredients
1 1/2# ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, lightly chopped
1 7 oz. can fire roasted diced green chiles
2 TBS cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tub medium hot salsa
1 28 oz. can of enchilada sauce
1# of Mexican cheese blend, split 1/3# and 2/3#
1 package of large flour tortillas
Sour cream
Cilantro leaves

Let’s start by getting all the ingredients together and ready to use. In a large skillet, heat over medium high heat, and add the ground beef, the onion and the lightly chopped cilantro.

Burger, onions and cilantro

Cook the meat until browned, breaking it up as you go. It should look like this:

Brown burger and drain

Drain the meat but leave about 1 TBS of the liquid in the pan with the meat. Next, add in the green chiles and stir to blend.

Add in fire roasted green chiles

Oh, boy does the kitchen smell good! Now let’s add in the cumin, oregano and 4 TBS of salsa.

Add in cumin, oregano and salsa

Cook for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add in the 1/3# of the cheese blend.

Add in the cheese to the beef mixture

Your mixture should now look like this:

Cheesy yummy goodness!

Now is the time to preheat the oven. Set your temperature to 350° F or 177° C. Let’s get our pan ready for the enchiladas, shall we?

Use a 9 x 13 glass baking pan. I use glass because it will not react to the tomato in the sauce. Coat the bottom with about 5 TBS of the enchilada sauce and 5 TBS of the salsa and stir them together. Your pan should look like this:

Prepare the baking pan

Now, let’s go on to making the enchiladas! Take a tortilla and lay this on a plate. To the center spoon in 3 heaping spoonfuls, and spread as this next photo shows.

Meat goes onto a tortilla

Now fold in the sides, then take the edge closest to you and roll it up! Add this to your pan with the seam side down. When you are done with all the enchiladas your pan should look like this:

Enchiladas all wrapped up

Now pour the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas leaving about 1/2 cup as reserve. Then spoon two good size spoonfuls of salsa over each enchilada. Let’s take a look!

Cover with sauce and salsa

Now, for the remaining cheese. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining cheese spreading it evenly over the enchiladas.

Cover with remaining cheese

Now pop that pan into the oven and set the timer to 30 minutes. Midway through cooking, check out your enchiladas. I like to spoon some of the sauce over them at this point.

As it cooks spoon sauce over the cheesy enchiladas

When the timer goes off, serve this up with a hefty spoonful of sour cream topped with cilantro!

Dinner is served!

Now doesn’t that look good? Tuck the reserved sauce away in the fridge if you are not going to eat all 6 servings. This will give you a bit extra to add to the enchiladas when you reheat them!

Well, I am going to go eat! Thanks for stopping by today and see you next time for another fabulous recipe! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Crown the Pork! Tasty Tuesday

We are back once again for another round of Tasty Tuesday, and for today I am featuring a very tasty pork recipe! This recipe uses pork loin chops and something a bit different: Crown Royal! Are you ready to head on into the kitchen? I am! So, let’s go!

Ingredients
4 boneless pork loin chops, 3/4″ thick
2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp fresh ground sea salt
2 TBS flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
4 oz. pancetta, diced
3/4 cup Crown Royal
1/4 cup of heavy cream

Simple ingredients

Take the pork out an hour before cooking to allow it to warm up. This helps the meat to cook more evenly. After the hour, mix the fresh ground pepper with the sea salt. Rub this mixture into the meat on all sides.

Salt and pepper each chop

In a shallow dish, mix together the flour, garlic powder and parsley flakes. Take each chop and dredge in the flour mixture to coat. Shake off any excess flour.

Dredge in flour mixture

In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium heat. When it is hot add in the pork chops and cook about 5 minutes per side, or until browned.

Brown the chops on both sides

When done set these aside and cover with foil…

Set aside the meat

Turn the heat down on the pan to medium low. Add in the shallots and garlic, and be sure to scrape up any browned bits from the pork.

Add the garlic and shallot to the pan

When the onions are translucent, add in the pancetta.

Add in the pancetta

Cook the onion, garlic and pancetta until it has caramelized as shown in this next photo!

Cook until caramelized

Now let’s crown the pork! Add in the Crown Royal slowly and stir as you add in the fluid.

A pouring shot for Conor Bofin!

Cook until it almost disappears, which should be only a couple of minutes. Next, add in the heavy cream.

Add in the cream

When this has warmed, add back the pork chops to the pan, turning them in the sauce and heat through. This should take only a couple of minutes.

Add the pork back to the skillet

Turn the heat off the pan and serve this up, covering the pork with a bit of sauce!

Dinner is served!

Doesn’t that look good? I hope that you try this dish out! It is fairly simple and has huge flavors.

Thank you for taking the time today to visit, and stay tuned next week for another edition of Tasty Tuesday!

Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Slow Cooked Beef with Mushrooms – Tasty Tuesday

Good day and welcome to Tasty Tuesday! For today, I wanted to share with you an easy beef recipe that takes about a half hour to prepare and then 8 hours of cooking time in the crock pot. The flavors are amazing, and the aromas that will fill your home while this is cooking will make others believe that you have been slaving in the kitchen! Here is a preview of this dish…

Preview

Looks good, doesn’t it? Let’s head into the kitchen…

Ingredients
6 tri-tip strips or 6 medium hanger steaks (I used a combo of these because of limited availability in the store)
1# cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 onion sliced and separated
1 TBS fresh thyme, leaves stripped from stems and minced
1 tsp of Spanish paprika
3/4 cup of chicken stock
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup of flour
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS dried parsley
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Ingredients

The first thing that I do is get all of the ingredients prepped and ready to use. This cuts down the prep time of this dish, or any other.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 TBS of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms begin to brown.

Brown the mushrooms

Move them to the crock pot. Then add another TBS of oil to the skillet and heat. Add in the meat and brown on both sides. Remove the meat to a plate.

Browned beef

Add the remaining oil to the pan, heat and then add the onion, thyme and paprika.

Cook up the onions, paprika and thyme

Cook until the onions become translucent. Then add in the flour. Stir to coat.

Flour is incorporated in to the onions

Add in the chicken broth and sherry. This will be a bit thick. Add it to the crockpot.

The mushrooms and onions provide a bed for the beef

To the crock pot, add in the meat and any juices that have accumulated on the plate.

Beef is added

Cover and cook for 8 hours.

After the timer goes off on the crock pot, remove the meat to a plate and cover with foil. The meat will be very tender. To the liquid remaining in the pot, add in the cream and cook on high for about 15 minutes.

Sauce

Add the meat back to the crock pot and stir to coat the meat. I served this dish with green beans and baked potatoes! Check it out!

Dinner is served!

Thanks for joining me in the kitchen on this Tasty Tuesday! Enjoy your day, and be well…

Read Full Post »

Pollo con Pancetta e Senape – Tasty Tuesdays!

Good morning and welcome to Tasty Tuesdays! For the last few weeks I have featured the remodel of our kitchen, and now I can finally return to cooking! Today’s recipe is another one that is easy to make and chock full of lovely flavors! The translation of the name of this recipe is chicken with pancetta and mustard! Total time in making this recipe is about an hour, and it serves 4. Are you ready to head into the kitchen? OK! Let’s go!

Ingredients

4 chicken thighs and 5 drumsticks, bone in, skin on
1/3 cup of Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp Spanish style paprika
Salt and pepper
4 oz. chopped pancetta
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems and finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3/4 cup Pinot Grigio
3 TBS heavy cream

Ingredients

Let’s start this out by marinating the chicken. Place the first four ingredients into a zipper bag, and toss to coat the chicken well. As this sits, prepare and measure out the next four ingredients.

In a heavy skillet set to medium heat, add the pancetta. Cook until the pancetta is nicely browned.

Brown the pancetta

Remove the pancetta from the skillet and set aside. Drain off all but 1 TBS of the fat. Then add in the onions and cook until they are lightly browned. Now add in the thyme. Cook until the aroma of the thyme raises up and caresses your nose.

Onions and thyme

Remove the onion mixture to the bowl with the pancetta.

Next let’s turn our attention to the chicken. Add a bit of the EVOO to the pan, and heat. We are going to cook the chicken in batches. When the oil is hot, add half the chicken to the pan and brown on both sides.

Brown the chicken

Remove this to a plate, and repeat with the last bit of chicken. Remove this when done.

Slowly add in the wine to your skillet and stir up all the little browned bits.

The wine is added

As this starts to bubble, add back the pancetta and onions and stir.

Pancetta, onions and thyme are added back to the skillet

Then add back the chicken. Cover and cook this for about 20 minutes turning the chicken every so often. Check the chicken to see if it is fully cooked through. If it is not, go another 5 minutes or so and check again. When the chicken is done, remove it from the skillet to a plate and cover with foil.

Now get out that heavy cream, and add it to the pan juices. Stir this up until the sauce is heated through.

The sauce after the cream has been added

Add the chicken back to the pan and stir to coat the chicken with the gravy.

The chicken goes back into the pan

Heat through and serve!

Dinner is served!

To go along with this dish I prepared a porcini risotto, and I served the remaining Pinot Grigio.

If you try this recipe, please be sure to let me know if you liked it! Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today! Have a terrific Tuesday! Be well…. ^..^

Read Full Post »