Tuna Steaks – Tasty Tuesday

Welcome back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Today I am featuring marinated tuna steaks. The flavors of the marinade made for a lovely fish dish. It is easy to make. Total time with preparation and cooking is 40 minutes. Are you ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
2 – 1″ thick tuna steaks, 8 ounces each

Tuna Steaks

1/4 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 TBS dried parsley flakes
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crushed
5 twists of fresh ground pepper

Take out your tuna steaks and place them in a zipper bag. Then in a measuring cup, add the remaining ingredients. Stir well to combine.

Marinade

Pour this over the tuna, seal the bag, and shake it to get the tuna well coated with the marinade.

Marinating tuna steaks

Place this back in the refrigerator.

After 30 minutes take out the tuna. In a glass baking pan, add the tuna and the marinade.

Ready to bake

Bake these at 350 for 5 minutes a side. Turning the steaks after 5 minutes, spoon some of the pan juices over the steaks.

Midway through cooking

Here it is when it is done.

A perfectly cooked tuna steak

You want to have pink in the middle of your tuna steak, otherwise you will end up with a tough piece of fish.

Very tasty steaks! While these were very good, I think that the best way to cook these would be over a grill. Let me know if you try this recipe. Have a great week and stay tuned for another amazing recipe next week!

Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Ginger Orange Short Ribs – Tasty Tuesday

I love cooking in my crock pot and today’s recipe adds another one to the list of crock pot recipes that I have shared with you. Today I feature another tasty beef short rib recipe that is rich and flavorful! Let’s stop for a preview.

Short Rib Preview

For this easy recipe, plan on a half hour of prep time and 10 hours of cooking. This recipe serves 8. Are you ready to head into the kitchen? Let’s go!

Ingredients
2 packages of short ribs, there will be 7-8 ribs
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 small leeks, greens trimmed off and discarded
5 large cloves of garlic
1 1/4″ slice of fresh garlic, skin peeled off
1 star anise
2 chile de arbol
even mix of sherry and brandy, poured to 1/3 cup total
2 oranges, juiced, and skins cut into strips
1/4 cup of light brown sugar, packed tight
fresh cilantro
4 oranges to serve with the dish

Rub the ribs with the salt and pepper.

Ribs are ready to brown

Pre-cook them under the broiler until brown on all sides. While these are browning, let’s get the remaining ingredients ready. Take the leeks and cut into thick slices. Remove the papery skin off the garlic and slice thinly. Set aside the star anise and the chiles. Pour out the sherry and brandy. Juice the oranges and cut the skin into strips and measure out the soy sauce and brown sugar.

Now put the leeks into the crock pot.

Leeks are added to the crock pot

Place the browned short ribs over the leeks.

Browned ribs are added to the crock pot

Now add the garlic and ginger slices and the chiles. Break up the star anise as you add it.

Add in the garlic, ginger, chiles and star anise

In a bowl combine the sherry, brandy, orange juice, orange rind (give these a bit of a twist so that the essential oils get added), soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir well to combine. Then pour this over the ribs.

Mix the sherry, brandy, orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and orange rinds together

Pour the mixture over the ribs

These are now ready to cook! Set the crock pot on low heat, set the timer for 10 hours, cover it and let it do its thing.

When the timer goes off, remove the lid, remove the ribs from the crock pot. The bones should slide right out of the meat. Set the meat aside. Toss the chiles, orange peels, and skim the fat. Slice up the oranges. Wash and chop up a good fistful of cilantro. Serve the ribs over rice, spoon a little juice over the meat then top with cilantro and serve with some sliced orange.

Serve the short ribs over rice

I think that you will enjoy the amazing flavors of this dish. Please let me know if you try this dish.

Thanks for stopping by today and stay tuned for another amazing recipe coming to you next week! Be well… ^..^

Now place the

Read Full Post »

Lemon Pepper Scallops – Tasty Tuesday!

Welcome back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday. This is the day that I devote to sharing an easy to prepare recipe that is chock full of flavor. Today is no exception. The secret ingredient to this recipe is fresh cilantro. Are you ready to head into the kitchen? Let’s go!

Ingredients
8 large fresh scallops
1 TBS lemon pepper
1 1/2 TBS butter
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
handful of fresh cilantro

Let’s start with the scallops. Looking at them you will notice that on one side there is lighter colored piece that runs from top to bottom. This is this is a ligament. You need to remove this. It actually peels off fairly easily. If you leave this on, that area of the scallop will be very tough to chew. The actual scallop that you eat is called the abductor muscle.

Now let’s get the rest of the ingredients ready. Add the butter to you fry pan. Chop up the garlic, measure out the wine and the lemon pepper. Wash the cilantro very well. They grow this in a sandy soil, and you need to get that off the cilantro before using it in any dish.

Now turn the heat up on your skillet to medium heat and let’s get that butter melted.

Melt the butter

When it has melted, add the garlic.

Add the garlic

As the aroma of the garlic rises, take a deep breath in and enjoy that amazing fragrance. Let this cook for about 2 minutes. Then add in the wine.

Add in the wine and reduce

Bring the heat up to medium high and reduce until the fluid to half. Turn the heat back to medium and then add the scallops.

Add the scallops

Let this cook without disturbing them for about 4 minutes. Watch the scallops as they cook. You will notice that from the bottom the color of the scallops changes from a fluid white to a bright white. When that color hits the middle of the scallops, turn them.

Ready to turn

Turn the scallops

Now turn off the heat and cover the pan. Let this sit for 5 minutes. While they sit, get out your plate and cover the middle with the chopped cilantro. After the scallops have sat for the 5 minutes, they are ready to serve. Center them over the cilantro, and spoon some of the pan juices over the scallops.

Serve them up on a bed of cilantro

Serve some french bread with this dish and use the bread to dip into the sauce. You can serve this as an appetizer or as a main dish. The flavors of this dish are amazing, and your guests will think that you worked hard making this dish.

I hope that you enjoyed being in the kitchen with me today, and that you try this easy and flavorful dish. Stay tuned for another exciting recipe coming up next week. Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Merluzzo con il Vino – Tasty Tuesday

Welcome back to another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Today we are heading into the kitchen to make a lovely fish dish using cod, or merluzzo. This dish is easy to make and chock full of amazing flavors. This is a dish to impress. The recipe today is for two, and prep time is about 15 minutes. Cooking time for this dish is 20-25 minutes. Ready to head into the kitchen? OK! Let’s go!

Ingredients
2 cod filets
1 stalk of celery
2 cloves of garlic
1 slice of a medium onion
1 TBS Italian parsley
salt and pepper
3 TBS of butter, divided into 1 TBS and 2TBS
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
dry white wine

Ingredients

Get out a baking dish, and using the 1 TBS of butter, grease your pan. Lay the 2 pieces of cod in the pan. Set your oven for baking at 350 degrees.

Fish in a buttered baking dish

The next thing we are going to do is to finely chop up the celery, garlic, onion and parsley. As you chop these add them to a small mixing bowl. Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste.

Celery, onion, garlic and parsley

Stir this up so that the mixture is evenly blended.

All stirred up

Now take your mixture and cover the fish with it.

Fish covered with the mixture

Slowly pour over the fish the white wine until there is about 1/4″ in the baking pan.

Pour wine over the fish

Now for the breadcrumbs. We want to melt the 2 TBS of butter in the microwave. I set the time for 20 seconds. Then to the bowl add in the breadcrumbs and mix until all the butter has been absorbed. It should look like this:

Bread crumbs mixed with melted butter

The next step is to cover the fish with the bread crumbs.

Bread crumbs go over the fish

Now pop this into your preheated oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. Here is what the dish looks like as it cooks.

Checking out the fish as it bakes

While my fish is cooking, I prepared jasmine rice and broccoli with carrots. The aromas in the kitchen are delicate and fragrant. Check your fish to see that it flakes, which is when this will be ready. Once all is done, plate it up and dinner is served!

Dinner is served!

Doesn’t that look good? As cod is not a fishy tasting fish, you will find that this dish really does not need lemon, but feel free to serve it with lemon wedges if you choose to.

Thank you for stopping by for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Stay tuned for another exciting and easy to prepare recipe next week. See you then! 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 »

Brine for Chicken – Tasty Tuesday!

Tasty Tuesday’s are all about food! I am really excited to share this recipe with you! I was having company over for dinner, and I kept thinking about how good my brine was for pork, so I decided to try it with chicken! Ready to head into the kitchen?

Brine Ingredients
8 cups of water
1/3 cup of salt – a heaping cup
1/3 cup of sugar – also heaping
1 TBS black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 lemon, juiced and reserve the rind
1 TBS lemon pepper
1 tsp dry rosemary
8 cups of ice cubes

Ingredients

Notice that the rosemary is missing from the photo? Just a bit of an oversight!

Get out a non-reactive pot and add the water. Then add in all but the ice cubes. Stir it up to help dissolve the lemon pepper. Don’t worry at this point about the salt and sugar.

All ingredients in a pot

Turn the burner on to medium high heat and bring this to a boil.

Bring to a boil

Let this cook for about 5 minutes. The idea here is to get the salt and the sugar to dissolve into the mix. The flavors will intensify a bit too.

As this is boiling, place your ice cubes and the lemon halves into a very large bowl. After the brine has cooked for the 5 minutes, turn off the heat and pour the mixture over the ice cubes.

Pour over ice

What we are doing here is cooling down the mixture. Stir this up until the mixture has cooled. You can test this with your finger. There will be enough brine here to use on a whole cut up chicken. Not being able to find one of these in our grocery store I used 5 chicken legs and 4 thighs.

Next, take the chicken pieces and add to a gallon zipper bag. Then pour the brine over the chicken. You will need to recruit some help with this step. Once the brine is in the bag with the chicken, remove as much air as possible. Here is what my bag looks like.

Brine and the chicken

Now, stick this in the refrigerator for two hours. Turn the bag several times as it sits.

I made oven fried chicken with this meat. I drained the bag, and took the pieces individually and dusted them in flour. Then I dunked them into beaten eggs. Next the chicken pieces went into a bag of flour mixed with garlic powder, paprika and a bit of lemon pepper. I let the pieces sit for about a half hour on a wire rack. Then I baked the chicken for a good hour, turning half way through at 350 degrees.

When you brine the chicken, the flavors of the peppercorn, garlic, rosemary and lemon pepper get sucked into the meat by way of the salt, which breaks down the chicken. The addition of the sugar is the help the chicken pieces caramelize a bit during baking.

Here is what the chicken looked like when it was done.

Brined oven fried chicken

The flavors of the chicken were extraordinary! You can also use this brine if you are planning on making Dijon Chicken! Please let me know if you try this simple brine!

Thanks for joining me in the kitchen today! I hope to see you back next week for another incredible Tasty Tuesday dish! 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 »

One Easy Amazing Dinner!

I love cooking, as you know, and I love to find, or come up with new recipes! Over this last weekend I tried two recipes. One that I wanted to try for some time now is a potato recipe that I found from the site Walking on Sunshine. Her recipe: Bacon Cheese Potatoes. I thought that this would pair perfectly with another recipe that I got from my friend Conor Bofin over at One Man’s Meat. His recipe: Steak Frites. Then I added to this my simple recipe: Simple Sauteed Mushrooms!

I prepared the potatoes first as they were to be cooked in the crockpot. This simple recipe consisted of bacon, cheese and potatoes. Slice four red potatoes thinly, grate plenty of cheddar, and dice some bacon. Lois indicates that you can pre-cook the bacon, or not. I did not, but next time I make this I will because of the amount of fat. I used non-stick spray in my crock pot then layered potatoes, then bacon, then cheese. Lois likes to add salt and pepper on top of each layer. Forget the salt as the cheese and bacon add plenty! I was able to knock out three layers, dotted it with butter, and after 6 hours on low here is the finished recipe!

Bacon Cheese Potatoes

Now Conor’s steak recipe was a perfect pairing with these potatoes! And, it is a simple recipe too! I purchased two rib eye steaks that were about 3/4″ thick. Taking a big bunch of fresh thyme, I stripped the leaves off the stems and chopped up the thyme and then pressed the steaks into the thyme. The recipe says to get a cast iron pan very hot and then add 1 teaspoon of salt. I forgot this step. After adding the salt you are to place the steaks in the pan. It was at this point that I added the salt. The important thing with this recipe is not to disturb the steaks. I cooked them for 5 minutes then turned them over and cooked another 4 minutes. And, they came out beautiful. Check these out!

The Steaks

I cooked the mushrooms while the steaks were sizzling in the pan. Another easy recipe. Add butter and garlic to a hot pan, and when the aroma of the garlic comes up add the mushrooms and saute. Here they are!

The Mushrooms

And here is the finished dinner!

One easy dinner!

The flavors of this dinner: Amazing! Worth the time and one that will make your family and friends think you spent hours in the kitchen!

Have a terrific Tuesday! Thanks for stopping in for a bite! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Cooking Different Kinds of Fish!

I love fish! The delicate flavors are amazing as are the different textures that you can find in fish. Let’s take a moment to check out some different ways to cook fish. Ready to head into the kitchen?

When we were in Arizona, we stopped by this restaurant and had amazing fish and chips with the fish being Mahi Mahi! It was delish! So, I made this for us here at home! The recipe: Mahi Mahi Fish and Chips

Dinner is served!

Tilapia is a very mild fish, and I love to make Oven Fried Fish with this delicate gem. Check this out!

Dinner is served!

Doesn’t this look good?

Salmon can be cooked a number of different ways. I like to oven bake it and featured this recipe, which I dubbed The Salmon Fishing Queen Cooks Salmon! This fish is flaky and tender!

Dinner is served!

If you would like something a bit different, my friend Steve from college days, would make what I call Steve’s Baked Fish. I use tilapia in this dish, but you can also use snapper or cod! The yellow peppers kick the heat up a notch on this dish!

Dinner is served!

Yummy!

Thanks for stopping by today, and enjoy your day! Have fish for dinner tonight! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Chicken Chorizo Chili!

I wanted to make something yummy for dinner last night and decided on chicken chili. I decided to “kick it up a notch” by adding some chorizo to it! This chili is easy to make, which is one of those things that I really like!

I am really particular about the type of chorizo I use because most of the chorizo that one finds in the grocery store is made from the salivary glands of either the pig or the cow. Doesn’t sound appealing to me…The brand that I buy is from Mulays Sausage Company. I discovered their chorizo (and they have some mighty tasty sausages too!) at a food show years ago! Their chorizo cooks up beautifully, is not overly greasy, and is made from pork shoulder. It is not too spicy either. It is great mixed with scrambled eggs, and cooked with chicken, as I did here in this recipe!

Preview

Ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients – 6 servings

1# Mulay’s Chorizo
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1# boneless chicken breast, cut up into small cubes
1 15 oz. can of diced petite tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles in adobo (not cans, just two of the chile’s from the can)
1 15 oz. can each of pinto, red kidney and black beans, drained and rinsed well
1 TBS Mexican chili powder (available in the specialty food section)
1 TBS cumin
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
1 24 oz. bottle of Mexican beer (I used Modelo)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup of corn flour
1 lime, juiced
2 cups medium cheddar, shredded
cilantro

First, cook up the chorizo. When I put this in the pan, I break it up as I add it to the pan. When just cooked through, drain on paper towel. Be sure to blot the top! Set aside.

Next, heat your oil in a soup pot. When hot add the onion and garlic and cook until just transparent. Then add the chicken and cook until the chicken turns white. Then add in the chorizo and stir to combine.

Cooked chicken with chorizo added

Then add in the chipotle chiles, tomatoes, beans, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Stir this up to combine and then slowly add in about 3/4 of the beer.

The chili is ready to cook for an hour

Reserve the rest. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to simmer and cook for about an hour.

Next we will use the corn flour. A quick note on corn flour: Do not use corn meal, which is gritty. I find my corn flour in the regular baking aisle of the grocery store. It should be a powder and you can use this too for making tortillas!

Corn flour

If you are in the UK, do not confuse this with what we here in the U.S. call corn starch! It is not the same!

Add the corn flour to a bowl. Then slowly add in the rest of the beer and combine making sure you do not have any lumps. Then add the mixture to the chili slowly.

Corn flour and beer mixture added to chili

This will thicken up the chili. Next follow this by adding in the lime juice, then stir well. Bring this back to a boil, then turn down to simmer. Cook another 20 minutes.

Then serve it up! I like to put some of the cheddar at the bottom of the bowl, then top with the chili. On top, put more of the cheddar, a dollop of sour cream and a few of the cilantro leaves for zest!

Dinner is served!

Each bite is lovely! This chili is a bit spicy because of the chipotle chiles and the Mexican chili powder! By adding that beer at the end with the corn flour, the flavor of the hops in the beer really makes a good show!

Any takers on making this? Joe? Conor over at One Man’s Meat?

Have a great Friday! And, thank you for taking the time to drop by! Be well! ^..^

Serve with

Read Full Post »