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Undergoing chemo has really made me watch what I am eating. We had my easy taco casserole one night and I was instantly affected by it in a negative way. So, I was a bit hesitant with this recipe, but all turned out well. Here is an easy pasta dish whose recipes comes from Ree Drummond over at The Pioneer Woman. I did tweak the recipe a bit, but I really fell in love with the sauce. The cheese was just a bonus! Here is a preview…

Preview

Preview

Shall we head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
2 TBS olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 medium onion, diced
1# Italian sausage
1# ground beef
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 14.5 oz. cans of tomato sauce
2 tsp. Italian seasonings
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
16 oz. uncooked mostaciolli (The Pioneer Woman says to use Ziti but I could not find this in our grocery stores)
15 oz. tub of ricotta
1 1/2#’s shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup blend of asiago, parmesan, and reggiano
1 egg

Let’s get started! In a large skillet heat up the olive oil. When hot add the garlic and the onions and cook until just transparent. Then add the Italian sausage and hamburger and brown breaking these up into little bits as it cooks.

Brown the sausage and beef

Brown the sausage and beef

Drain most of the fat off. Leave just a bit so that it adds flavor.

Leave a bit of the fat in the pan

Leave a bit of the fat in the pan

Next add the tomatoes along with the juice, tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, and red pepper flakes. Stir this up really well and then set it to a simmer for about a half hour.

The sauce

The sauce

While this is cooking let’s get the cheese mixture made and get the pasta cooked! For the cheese, in a bowl add the ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella and the cheese blend. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Crack in your egg and slightly mix.

The cheese before stirring

The cheese before stirring

This should be lumpy.

The cheese after stirring

The cheese after stirring

Get your pasta cooked until it is al dente. Drain your pasta and run it under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Cool down the pasta

Cool down the pasta

Now preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

By now your sauce should be done with the simmering phase. Remove 4 cups of sauce to a bowl and allow it to cool. Turn the heat off on the sauce. After a bit, check on the sauce that you set aside. It should be cooling nicely! Once the sauce has cooled add it to the bowl of cheese and stir to combine. Then toss in the pasta and give it a nice even coating.

The pasta mixed with the cheese and 4 cups of sauce

The pasta mixed with the cheese and 4 cups of sauce

Take a lasagna pan or casserole dish and spoon in 1/2 of the pasta mixture.

The first layer

The first layer

Top with 1/2 the sauce.

The second layer

The second layer

Top with 1/2 the remaining cheese.

The third layer

The third layer

Repeat the layers and it is ready to bake!

Ready for the oven

Ready for the oven

Bake this for 20 minutes until it is bubbly!

Just out of the oven

Just out of the oven

Remove from the oven, let it sit for 5 minutes and then serve it up! Serve this up with some crusty garlic bread and a green salad!

Dinner is served

Dinner is served

Here are some suggestions for some other changes and additions. Instead of using Italian sausage, try the basil Italian sausage, or the hot Italian sausage. Or, increase the canned tomatoes with the addition of one can and add in 1 1/2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms.

I love this sauce so much that the next time I make a lasagna this will be the sauce that I use!

I hope that you give this recipe a whirl!

Thanks for stopping by today, and may you have a magnificent Monday! Be well! ^..^

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There is a little town along the California Coast, just south of San Francisco, called Pescadero. This little town is one block long, and it is home to Duarte’s Tavern (pronounced Dew Arts), which is a small pub and restaurant. It is at this little hole in the wall place that I discovered their Cream of Chile soup mixed with their Cream of Artichoke Soup. Absolutely fabulous! If you find yourself in the area do stop in and order these two soups mixed together!

We are having dinner next week with friends who are vegetarian, and these two soups came to mind. Here is the recipe that I came up with for one of the two soups. The other, well, you will have to wait for that post, but it is coming! Ready to head on into the kitchen?

Ingredients
20 fresh Anaheim chiles

20 Anaheim Green Chiles

20 Anaheim Green Chiles

1 TBS butter
1 medium onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 1/2 cups of vegetable broth, or chicken broth if you prefer
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat your oven to broil. Prepare a couple of cookie sheets by covering them with foil. Plan on roasting the peppers in 4 batches. Next, wash the peppers. Then trim the tops, slice in half and remove the seeds and membrane.

Slice in half and remove the seeds

Slice in half and remove the seeds

Then lay flesh side down on a cutting board and smash with the heel of your hand to flatten.

Smash the chile to flatten with the heel of your hand

Smash the chile to flatten with the heel of your hand

Place the peppers skin side up on the cookie sheet. Place the pan in the oven with the rack about 4″ from the heat source. Each batch will take you about 8 minutes. Check these after 5 minutes. I look in on them every minute or so to make sure I do not truly burn them to a crisp! When they are done they should look like this:

Chiles after broiling

Chiles after broiling

Once out the oven wrap up the chiles in the foil like this:

Wrap up the chiles in the aluminum foil

Wrap up the chiles in the aluminum foil

Why are we doing this you ask? Well, by wrapping them up the additional heat as they sit will help the skins peel right off. Let these sit for a total of 15 minutes after the last batch has been broiled. When they are done resting, open one pack at a time, peel and place in a bowl. Any drippings that accumulate in the foil, well let that drip into the bowl. It will only add flavor! Check out how wonderful the chiles look after peeling them! Can’t you just smell them?

Chiles with the skins removed

Chiles with the skins removed

While that seems like a lot of work, it really does not take too long. You can always use canned green chiles, but the flavor will just not be the same as fresh! Ready for the next step?

Now take the butter and add it to your soup pot. Turn up the heat to medium and let this melt. Once melted add in the onion and cook until they just get soft. Then add the garlic. When the garlic aroma begins to hit your nose, add the green chiles to the pot and stir to combine.

Add in the green chilis

Add in the green chilis

Then add the broth. For Conor over at One Man’s Meat, here is my gratuitous pouring shot!

Gratuitous pouring shot of the vegetable broth being added

Gratuitous pouring shot of the vegetable broth being added

Bring this to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. Cook until the chiles are extremely soft.

Soup is cooked and ready for the blender

Soup is cooked and ready for the blender

Turn the heat off and get out your handy, dandy blender or food processor. Have a bowl at the ready! I use the smoothie setting on my blender and I let it run for about 3 minutes until the mixture is creamy smooth!

Blend the soup until smooth

Blend the soup until smooth

Once you have the whole lot blended, add it all back to your soup pot. Turn the heat back on to medium heat and then add the heavy cream stirring it in slowly.

Add the cream

Add the cream

Heat this through until hot and then season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Cream of green chile soup

Cream of green chile soup

Now you can eat this as it is, or you can wait for my post on Cream of Artichoke Soup, then make the two together, and serve up an unexpected delight! Want to see a preview? OK!

The preview of the two soups...

The preview of the two soups…

I hope that you enjoyed this souper post! Have a great day and thanks for dropping in!

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I am working on two recipes. Two which need to be combined. One I have known as a “Cream of Green Chile Soup;” the other is known as a “Cream of Artichoke Soup.” Why? Well, there is a little place located in the town of Pescadero, south of San Francisco, but for us is about 175 miles away. When I lived in the area I used to go to this fabulous little place, called Duartes Tavern, for a mixture of their Cream of Green Chile and Cream of Artichoke Soup! This restaurant has been around since 1894! If you have the chance – GO THERE and have them mix a bowl for you of both of these soups!

So where this is taking me is to the different types of soups that one can make. I have not done a post on this yet, and thought that this would be a good topic for those who love to be in the kitchen like I do! And I am wondering: Is the Cream of Green Chile Soup and the Cream of Artichoke Soup really Bisques or Cream Soups? So here is what I discovered:

Basically, there are 6 types of soups: Stock, Broth, Cream, Bisque, Chowder and Consommé. So, what are the differences?

A Stock begins with water and bones, and sometimes incorporates vegetables into the mix. Fish stock, which is the finest of stocks, can be made with fish bones and water, but if you cook it too long it can become bitter. Beef and chicken are the most common stocks that are made. Stock is made by cooking bones in water with some vegetables and seasonings. Stock can be cooked down and reduced for the flavors to intensify without being overly salty!

A Broth, while being a bit similar to stock, has more seasoning than a stock. It also begins with water, but uses less bones than stock, and still includes some vegetables.

Broth in the soup kettle

Broth in the soup kettle

Meat is usually added, but this is not cooked down to the degree of Stock or it would be too intense in flavor. Bullion that you can buy in the grocery stores should not be confused with broth. Those bullion’s you can buy in the store: Loaded with salt, which is usually the first ingredient.

A Cream Soup generally uses a bechamel, which is a white sauce made with butter and flour. The trick to a good cream soup is to “sweat” the aromatics in butter that you are using for the basis of your soup. This intensifies the flavors. Then you add a bit of flour to create a roux, and add your liquids.

The flour mixture with the addition of the broth

The flour mixture with the addition of the broth

Usually this liquid is a stock, and to finish this soup, you finish it with a bit of cream. I like to toss it in a blender which will smooth and thicken the entire lot of what you are cooking!

A Bisque Soup (pronounced “bisk”), is a soup that begins with a strained broth of shellfish. Traditionally, this soup is made from shells that are ground into a fine paste, which are then added to a broth to help thicken it. Rice can also be used to thicken a bisque. The term Bisque can also refer to a vegetarian style soup which are processed through a food mill or food processor. These more commonly use tomatoes, peppers, squash or mushrooms.

Add potatoes, mushrooms and carrots

Add potatoes, mushrooms and carrots

These really are considered a cream soup but needed to be mentioned here as they are more often than not referred to as a “Bisque.”

A Chowder is more like a stew than a soup. It is similar to a cream soup but it is not blended.

Midway through cooking

Midway through cooking

So with this soup you get chunks of food, while it is still creamy. Most chowders include corn, fish, clams, or potatoes. Again, a chunky cream soup!

The last is Consommé. By its very definition this soup is a strong, rich soup where the flavors are concentrated. What sets this apart are the strong flavors and the clarity of the soup. What clarifies this type of soup are egg whites. They are basically a filter for this type of soup! As the soup cooks the eggs capture the sediment in the broth, which rise to the top of the cooking pot. This is called the “raft.” The raft is then spooned off resulting in a clear, flavorful broth!

I hope that you found this post interesting! I was amazed at the differences between all these types of soup!

Now go out and have a great Wednesday! Thanks for dropping by!

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One of the first bloggers that I met when I started this blog is Conor Bofin of “One Man’s Meat.” What we have in common is a love of food! The first recipe of his that I tried was Black bean beef in 30 minutes. This dish was so easy to make, and it was so tasty, that we ate the whole dish in one sitting! He recently featured another recipe that caught my eye, and that recipe is Open your mind with lions head meatballs! My husband and I loved this dish too, and Conor gave me permission to feature his recipe on my blog! Thank you Conor, not only for allowing me to do this, but for being a long-distant friend!

Conor’s List of Ingredients
5 pork chops
6 heads of bok choi
1 pint of chicken stock
1 TBS of garlic
1 TBS of ginger
3 or 4 spring onions
1 heaped TBS of cornflour (cornstarch here in the U.S.)
a splash or two of soy sauce
a splash of rice wine or sherry
salt and pepper to taste

Now Conor’s recipe calls for grinding your own meat (including the fat). Not having a meat grinder, I went off to the grocery anticipating having the butcher do this for me but I was able to find a nicely marbled ground pork. Not sure how much to buy, I bought two packages to make sure that I would have enough meat.

Heading into the kitchen, I began to prepare this easy dish. I apologize now for not taking a lot of photos…

Starting with the pork, I added this to a mixing bowl. The recipe calls for adding the garlic, ginger, spring onions, cornstarch, rice wine and soy sauce. I got busy chopping. I used 3 large garlic cloves which came up to a good heaping TBS which the recipe calls for. Next I cut the ginger into chunks, then peeled and chopped this up too. Another good heaping TBS! Next on the chopping block: The spring onion, of which I used 3 as they were fairly big. Then I added the rest of the list.

Now Conor has a fancy device in his kitchen and his photos show mixing the meat up with what appears to be Captain Hook’s hook! Not having this luxury, I dove in with my hands and mixed the lot up! I actually did this hours before cooking them so that all those lovely flavors would meld. Then I took the meat out to warm up an hour before I started cooking, shaping them into golf ball sized meatballs.

The lovely meatballs!

The lovely meatballs!

The next step is to brown the meatballs. I did add a bit of peanut oil to the pan, heating it up over medium heat, and then fried up the meatballs browning them on all sides until they are mostly cooked.

Browned meatballs

Browned meatballs

In a separate pan I added the pint of chicken broth. Now I added two other ingredients to the broth for an extra zing! I added about 1 TBS of sesame oil, and a couple of shakes of ground white pepper. When the meatballs are browned, remove them from the fry pan to the broth. Bring this up to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Next add the bok choi.

Lovely baby bok choi

Lovely baby bok choi

I used baby bok choi cutting off the root end. When the bok choi has wilted, the dish is ready! I did as Conor suggested and served this with steamed long grain rice. And here is what the final dish looks like!
The finished dish!

The finished dish!

Very, very tasty stuff there Conor! And again, I thank you for allowing me to feature your recipe, and for giving us another recipe that is a definite keeper! We will be having leftovers of this dish tonight and I know that they will be just as good! Please do go and check out some of Conor’s other amazing recipes! To get to his site, just click here!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I wish you a magnificent Monday, and an excellent week too!

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I love a good Carnitas, or Carne Asada, but I really enjoy Picadillo, which is Mexican Shredded Beef that is cooked in a red chile sauce! I have looked all over for a good recipe, tried many, but this one, from Food and Wine magazine, with some modifications, nailed it! Let’s get to it!

Ingredients:
4 dried Guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried Ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
3#’s beef brisket
2#’s pork butt

Brisket and pork butt

Brisket and pork butt

salt
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
9 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
5 Roma tomatoes, cored and seeded
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 2″ piece of cinnamon stick
2 cups of chicken stock
1 tsp Mexican dry oregano
pepper

First start with the dried chiles. In a bowl add the chiles with hot, hot water to soften. Give these about 30 minutes to do their thing.

Soaking the peppers

Soaking the peppers

While these are soaking, add the vegetable oil to a cast iron dutch oven. Heat and start to brown the meat, one piece at a time. Each piece should take you about 10 minutes. As the meat browns I work on the prepping the other items. As the pieces brown move them off to a platter.

Browned meat

Browned meat

Turn the oven on to 325. Mix the onion, garlic, cumin and coriander together.

Onions, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds

Onions, garlic, cumin and coriander seeds

Prep the tomatoes.

Cored and seeded tomatoes

Cored and seeded tomatoes

Chopped tomatoes and cinnamon

Chopped tomatoes and cinnamon

Prep the peppers. Drain the water on the soaking peppers and chop. Set aside in a bowl.

Seeded and chopped peppers

Seeded and chopped peppers

Once the meat is all browned, toss the onion and garlic mixture into the dutch oven and cook until the onions turn translucent.

Cooking the onions and garlic

Cooking the onions and garlic

Then add in the chiles and jalapeno, tomatoes, and the stick of cinnamon.

Lovely colors  with the tomato, cinnamon and peppers

Lovely colors with the tomato, cinnamon and peppers

Add the oregano and stir to combine well. Then add the meat back to the pot.

Add the meat to the pot

Add the meat to the pot

Season with salt and pepper.  Pour the broth over the meat then cover and place in the oven.  After one hour, turn the meat and remove the cinnamon stick.  Cook another hour or until the meat is tender.  When done remove the meat from the pot.

Remove the meat

Remove the meat

Take the juices from the pot, and in batches puree. Strain the blended mixture.

Strain the sauce

Strain the sauce

Once the meat has cooled, shred it.

Shred the meat

Shred the meat

Then add the strained sauce to the meat.

Add the sauce to the meat

Add the sauce to the meat

You can use this meat in enchiladas, tacos, or try it in a tostada!

This was really yummy and I hope that you try it! Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Monday!

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We have not had a stew since the winter season, and I decided that it was time for another! I modified a recipe that I found in the cookbook “Herbs and Spices Cookbook” written by Virginia and Robert Hoffman. The aromas wafted through the house as this cooked and they just got better and better as it slow cooked in the oven! Use a cast iron dutch oven if you have one!  A quick preview:

Preview!

Preview!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of flour, with salt and pepper added
3#’s boneless beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
5 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, sliced thin
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of Cabernet Sauvignon
1 can of beef stock
3 TBS chopped Italian parsley
8 sprigs of fresh oregano
10 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
2 slices of bacon, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
3/4# crimini mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 large portobello mushroom, sliced and each slice cut into four
3 TBS butter
fresh parsley for garnish

The first thing I did was get my initial ingredients together. This includes the flour mixture, cutting up the beef, slicing the onion, mincing the garlic, measuring out the wine, opening the beef stock, and chopping the parsley, and removing the leaves from the stems of the oregano and thyme, and then crushing them to release their oils. This took about an hour to do.

Cut up chuck

Cut up chuck

Onions and garlic

Onions and garlic

Fresh thyme and oregano

Fresh thyme and oregano

I then got out the cast iron dutch oven and add two TBS of the olive oil. Then take all the beef and add it to the bag of flour. Shake the bag so that the meat gets coated. Heat the oil over medium high heat, and set your oven to 325 degrees. When the oil is hot add pieces of meat in a single layer in the pot.

Start browning the beef

Start browning the beef

You will be doing batches of the meat, and I was able to brown all of it in three batches. Brown the meat evenly. Set aside the browned meat in a bowl as you cook the remaining meat.

Browned beef

Browned beef

For the third batch you will need to add a bit more oil.

When all the meat is browned, add it all back to the pot, including the juices that have accumulated at the bottom of the bowl. Then stir in the onion and garlic.

Add the onion and garlic

Add the onion and garlic

Turn the heat down to medium. Cook until you see the edges of the onion just starting to soften. Then add in the Cabernet and enjoy the aromas! Next add the beef stock so that the meat is covered. Next add the fresh herbs and the bay leaf. Cover the pot and place this in the oven. Cook this for 2 hours.

After about an hour and a half, cook the bacon until it is just done, and then set aside on paper towel to drain.

Brown the bacon

Brown the bacon

Then add the tomatoes to the bacon grease and cook down for about 5 minutes.

The tomatoes are ready

The tomatoes are ready

Add back the bacon to combine, and then add this to the stew in the pot. Add a bit more red wine and beef stock if the stew appears to be thick. Cook for another half hour.

While this is cooking, get your mushrooms prepared

Mushrooms are ready

Mushrooms are ready

and in a skillet add the butter. Heat over medium high heat and saute the mushrooms until they are just tender.

Sauteed mushrooms

Sauteed mushrooms

Turn the heat off, and let this sit. The mushrooms will continue to release their juices.

After the 30 minutes of cooking has gone by, remove the stew from the oven, add the mushrooms, and combine.

Mushrooms are added to the pot

Mushrooms are added to the pot

Then serve it up in bowls and top with a sprig of parsley!

Dinner is served!

Dinner is served!

Don’t forget to have a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with your stew! It is a perfect pairing!

I hope that you enjoyed this post, and that you try this wonderful stew that is chock full of intense hearty flavors! Let me know if you do!

Thank you for stopping by, and have a splendid Sunday!

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Armed with chicken breasts, Roma tomatoes and mushrooms, I head off into the kitchen. What else do I have here that I can add to this? How about some fresh basil, artichoke hearts and capers? It has been a while since I have taken you into the kitchen, so why don’t we head on in?

My inspiration for this came after having a dinner at one of our local spots where I had a chicken dish that was pretty amazing…could I create those flavors at home? This recipe, Chicken Trieste, comes pretty close! How about a preview?

Preview

Preview

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup of flour seasoned with garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
4 TBS butter
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
8 crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 small shallot finely chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, peeled
1 TBS capers, rinsed
12 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted
14 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup robust red wine
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

The first thing to do is get everything prepped and ready to go. The dish takes about a half hour to cook, with prep time, give yourself one hour.  Pound the breasts until you get them to about 1/4″ thick. Wash and slice the mushrooms, and set aside. You need to keep these separate from the rest of the veges. Get your garlic and shallot ready. Heat water in a pot and when it boils, drop in the whole tomatoes and stir. After about a minute, turn off the heat and pull them out of the water. Run under cold water and peel as you go! Then slice and dice and add to a mixing bowl. Next add the capers and artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Get your herbs, broth, wine and cream ready.

Prepped and ready to go

Prepped and ready to go

Now take the chicken breasts and cut into 8 pieces.

Chicken is ready for breading

Chicken is ready for breading

Dredge in flour mixture, then drop into the egg to coat, followed by the breadcrumbs. Set these on a rack to dry for a bit. Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees. Then take 1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of olive oil and add to a fry pan. Heat over medium heat and when hot start browning the chicken. Do this in two batches so that you do not crowd the pan. You will need to add additional butter and olive oil on the second batch. When cooked place in the warmed oven.

Chicken is cooked and kept warm in the oven

Chicken is cooked and kept warm in the oven

Now on to the sauce! Wipe out the pan and add another TBS of butter. Melt the butter over medium heat then add the mushrooms, garlic and shallots. When all have softened add the tomatoes, capers, and artichoke hearts. Heat for another 5 minutes. You will notice that the vegetables will be giving off juice. This is great as it adds their flavors to the dish!

The veges and juices

The veges and juices

Next add in the chicken broth and the wine.

Wine and broth added

Wine and broth added

Add 3/4 of the basil and the oregano and continue to stir.

Let this cook for 5 minutes. Then slowly add the cream. Stay attuned to your sauce and stir as you do not want to burn it!

Cream added

Cream added

Let this cook at a simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 TBS of butter to help thicken the sauce. Add in the Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes. Then add the chicken back into the pan to coat with the sauce.

Serve this up and top with the remaining basil!

Dinner is served!

Dinner is served!

Please let me know if you try this dish! Thanks for joining me in the kitchen today, and have a great weekend!

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I have been thinking about food lately and the fact that I have not done a food post of late. So I got to thinking about past posts and decided that today I would share some of my favorite food shots with links to recipes in case you would like to see how to make something.

Let’s start with my Oven Fried Pork Chops. This recipe is one that has made many, many boards on Pinterest.

Oven Fried Pork Chops

Oven Fried Pork Chops

Oven Fried Pork Chops

I love prawns and just wish I could get my husband to eat them. Here are some yummy Tequila Prawns!

Tequila Lime Prawns

Tequila Lime Prawns

Break Out the Tequila!

I love Pizza and we have it quite often. Here is a different kind of pizza, one with carne asada and salsa!

Carne Asada Pizza

Carne Asada Pizza

Carne Asada Pizza

How about a pasta dish that is to die for? I got this recipe from Gregg in Hawaii…

Italian Chicken with Orzo

Italian Chicken with Orzo

Gregg’s Italian Chicken with Orzo!

In case you missed the burger challenge, here is a cheeseburger that will get your juices flowing!

One cheesy bacon burger!

One cheesy bacon burger!

Burger Challenge – One Man’s Meat

I hope that you have enjoyed this visit to the past with recipes and food photos! Enjoy your Wednesday, and thanks for visiting today!

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Tomatoes are coming in and that means it’s time to make some fresh salsa! Ready to head into the kitchen to make a real tasty treat? Put on some Latin music and let’s get started!

Ingredients

5 fresh tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers
1 pasilla pepper
1 bunch of cilantro, wash well and chop
1 medium onion, chopped
3 limes, juiced
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Start with fresh tomatoes.

Start with home grown tomatoes

Slice the tomatoes and then cut into cubes. Place in a glass mixing bowl.

Tomatoes cubed and in a glass bowl

Cut the peppers from top to bottom and remove the seeds. I usually wear gloves when I do this as the oils from the peppers will burn if you touch your eyes, nose or mouth. Add to the tomatoes and stir to blend.

Tomatoes and the chopped peppers

Add the remaining ingredients. Let this sit in the refrigerator for a day or two before using. Stir this up occasionally. It will then look like this:

Salsa after sitting for a couple of days...

I use my salsa in other foods, like guacamole, burritos, quesadillas, soup, and I also use it with just plain tortilla chips. Want a good Spanish rice? Use a couple of spoonfuls in the water before cooking!

Have a great Thursday, and thank you for stopping by!

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On the weekends, I am all about easy in the kitchen! And, after having worked all day in the garden, I wanted to do something that I could let slow cook to really take it easy on myself. So I pulled some baby back ribs out of the freezer the day before and took out the crock pot in the morning. Plan on 10 hours on low heat, and do not remove the lid until the meat is done!

Ingredients
Baby back pork ribs
Chipotle sauce
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Cumin
Salt and Pepper

Spray the crock pot with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the ribs on foil and rub with the chipotle sauce. Then sprinkle with the remaining ingredients.

Ribs with sauce and herbs

After 10 hours in the crock pot, remove them to a cutting board and cover with foil. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Then separate the ribs into two ribs.

Ribs are done

Serve this with my broccoli cole slaw. Click below for that recipe:

Broccoli Slaw

Don’t forget a really good beer or have a glass of Barbera!

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