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… ^..^

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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! ^..^

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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…

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Fresh – A WordPress Photo Challenge!

Jen H. over at WordPress has chosen the topic “fresh” for this week’s photo challenge. What came to mind: Fresh vegetables from the garden! Are you ready to see my view of fresh? Here we go!

Who doesn’t like fresh sweet corn from the garden?

Sweet, sweet corn

There is nothing better than fresh broccoli fresh from the garden!

Broccoli

Tomatoes from the garden beat store bought hands down!

Heirloom tomatoes

Here is a photo of some freshly picked potatoes that I grew last year.

Colorful potatoes

I love the sweet fresh sequoia strawberries from my garden!

Sweet, sweet strawberries!

Love my raspberries too!

Raspberries!

Fresh acorn squash is a perfect accompaniment to ham!

Acorn squash

I love those green beans too!

Green beans

Well, there you have it! My view of fresh!

Thanks for stopping by today and be well! ^..^

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Pork Stew with Chiles – Tasty Tuesday!

I wanted to find out if you would care to join me in the kitchen today for Tasty Tuesday! Today’s recipe is a very tasty stew made with pork and poblano and anaheim chiles. I like to prepare easy dishes and this one fits the bill! The aromas during cooking will have everyone’s stomachs growling as it cooks! Ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients

Don’t forget the carrots!

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 1/2#’s boneless pork shoulder
Salt and pepper
10 garlic cloves
4 large carrots
2 poblano chiles
1 anaheim chile
2 limes
2 bay leaves
48 oz. chicken stock
6 Roma tomatoes

First, lets get everything cut up. Start with the pork. Cut the meat into 1″ cubes. Set aside.

Pork cut into cubes

Now let’s get working on the vegetables. Beginning with the garlic, smash the cloves, remove the skin and trim the bottom. Add to a mixing bowl. Peel the carrots, cut into four sections, then cut into quarters. Add to the bowl. On to the chiles: Cut the cap off the chiles, then cut the chile in half. Remove the seeds and veins. Then cut the chile in the middle horizontally, and slice into thin strips and add to the bowl. Juice the two limes and add the juice to the vegetables. Add in the two bay leaves.  Mix it up!

Colorful mixture of veges

On to the tomatoes. Cut the stem end out of the tomatoes, then cut the tomatoes in quarters.

Tomatoes cut into quarters

Now that every thing is ready, let’s get to cooking! Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Add the oil to a cast iron dutch oven. Heat over medium heat and when it is hot add half the pork and brown. When done, removed from the pot and set aside. Brown the remaining pork. When this is done, add the first batch back to the pot.

Browned pork

Now add in the vegetables. Mix it up and then add in the broth.

Add the broth

Doesn’t that look good? Now grab your bowl of tomatoes and tuck them in around the meat.

Tomatoes added

Bring this to a boil. Now turn the heat off, cover the pot with a snug fitting lid and place this on the second to the lowest rack in the oven for 3 hours. Stir once per hour. Here it is when it is almost done.

Almost done!

Doesn’t that look good? The aromas are making my stomach growl! 🙂

Time’s up! Pull your pot out of the oven. Get out some bowls and serve this baby up!

Dinner is served!

You can serve this over rice or, if you prefer, mashers! To kick it up a notch, you can dress this up with a bit of cilantro!

Hey, thanks for dropping by for Tasty Tuesday! Have a great day and be well! ^..^

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Introducing Tasty Tuesday!

What is tasty Tuesday? Well…I came to the decision, after realizing that I have been posting recipes sporadically, and cooking is one of my passions, that I would devote every Tuesday this year to posting recipes…As I write this, my belly is full, the smell of mushrooms and garlic permeates my home! Dinner was fantastic tonight! And, yes, that is a tease for a post tomorrow! Recipes on Tasty Tuesday is my own personal challenge which I will share with you….

If you want to check out recipes that I have posted so far, click on that button on the right that says “Category” and then scroll down and click on “The Recipe Box.” Feel free to check it out! There are some good ones, and quite a few are featured first on Google search! 🙂

I do love reading food blogs too, and highly recommend that you stop by and check out Conor’s One Man’s Meat. Conor’s posts are full of humor, great kitchen tips, and some of the best recipes! I have tried a number of them and he has not steered me wrong with any of them! Thank you Conor!

I also recommend Lesley’s blog Lola Rugula for fresh, tasty and easy to prepare recipes! I have gotten some great information from Lesley’s site, and the dog loves the PB biscuits!

And from down under, my friend Gaz does some amazing breakfasts and dinners! He is reviewing places to eat in Canberra, Australia, and should you decide to visit, check some of these places out before you go! His website is: Yummy Lummy!

So, stay tuned for the beginning of Tasty Tuesday! Tomorrow, the recipe features mushrooms and garlic! It is easy to cook and full of amazing flavors!

Be well! ^..^

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Shades of Yellow! – A WordPress Photo Challenge

In celebration of the holidays, rather than the traditional colors, Krista over at WordPress, has chosen the subject “Yellow” for this week’s photo challenge! Here are my photos featuring the color yellow!

Daffodil ruffles

The Skirt of the Daffidol

Contrasts of rust and yellow

The curves of a cut lemon

Honey bees on hibiscus

The sun rises!

A sunflower

There you have it! Shades of yellow!

Have a great Friday and weekend too! And, thank you for stopping by to visit! Be well! ^..^

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Vegetables from the Garden

I had every hope of having a bounty from my vegetable garden this year. There was not as much as I hoped for. Even so, here are some of the amazing home grown veges from my garden over the years!

I love acorn squash baked with maple syrup and butter!

Acorn squash

There is nothing like the sweet flavors of home grown corn on the cob! These were very sweet!

Sweet, sweet corn

Here is a brilliant display of some colorful tomatoes!

Pretty slices

I love taking a huge zucchini, hollowing out the middle, stuffing it with tomatoes, herbs and then topping it with mozzarella! It tastes just like pizza! Here are a few of huge zucchini!

Huge zucchini picked fresh today!

For some reason, fresh home grown onions seem to be stronger in flavor than store bought. So, I now grow these every year!

Just plain onions!

And I love the flavor of a fresh artichoke! How about you?

Artichoke

Now I am hungry for some fresh, fresh veges!

Thank you for stopping by today! May you have a terrific day! Be well! ^..^

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Comfort Foods!

Comfort food! It makes you feel warm and cozy on a cold day. The amazing flavors of comfort foods helps you to sleep at night. Cooking comfort foods can bring a family together in the kitchen when it comes to putting it all together! Let’s check out some comfort foods from past posts. See what you think!

Let’s begin with a hearty beef stew. Here is a recipe for one made with a hearty Cabernet! The wine makes this dish as done the addition of a bit of bacon! Just enough bacon to make this rich! The recipe: Hearty Cabernet Beef Stew.

Hearty Cabernet Beef Stew

There is something about a hearty sauce over pork that just makes my mouth water thinking about it! Check out this recipe for Sierra Foothills Chops!

Sierra Foothills Chops

I love a good soup that warms the bones. To do this I love a Cream of Broccoli with Mushroom Soup! Doesn’t this look yummy?

Cream of Broccoli with Mushrooms

Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzle is another comfort food that comes to mind. The flavors on this recipe sure does pop! Yummm…

Dinner is served!

Please let me know if you try any of these! They are all very tasty dishes!

Have a wonderful day, and thank you for taking the time to check out today’s post!

Be well! ^..^

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Harvest 2014

You might remember that this year was the first year of using wine barrels in the garden. The barrels were to thwart the gophers and they did their job. What they did not deal with, though, were the ground squirrels! Yes, my garden has been ravaged by ground squirrels! Ground squirrels know how to climb!

At the beginning of the season the zucchini and acorn squash were doing rather well. Then the eating began! As the fruit started to develop the little rug rats discovered them. I had to share! Not that I minded at that point because we were getting plenty to eat. Then they started to eat the flower blossoms! Yup! They ate the blossoms! And, the birds? Well they picked the leaves off the green beans, wax beans, Tuscan melons, and the watermelon too!

We did get some amazing corn! And, we are waiting for the hundreds of tomatoes to turn red. Due to having turned my ankle, I sent my husband to the garden yesterday to harvest onions, carrots and potatoes! So, today I share this bounty with you!

The potato seeds indicated these were to be fingerlings. Clearly they are not but they sure are a nice mix of different potatoes!

Colorful potatoes

Check out these carrots and onions! The aroma from the onions: Amazing!

Carrots and onions

Let’s look at them a bit closer!

Onions before cleaning

Carrots before a good scrub

One of the carrots was a mutant!

One odd carrot!

My husband got busy scrubbing and here is the cleaned up produce!

Cleaned up!

The entire bounty

The best part? Fresh vegetables to go with our dinner!

Eating fresh!

Pretty aren’t they? The taste? Phenomenal!

I hope you enjoyed our little harvest! Now go out and have a great Monday, and week for that matter! Thanks for stopping by! Be well! ^..^

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