Terri's Table

Top Five Most Popular Desserts of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:16:00 +0000

When I do my year in review, I don't usually single out a specific category of food because my stat counter doesn't count categories, only general activity and page views relating to specific posts.

But, because many of you have asked specifically for desserts.... well, who am I to question what you like to read about....or is the photos?

No matter. What's that line from the movie? "As you wish..."

So, I gathered all my stats, did the math and came up with the top five desserts that received the most hits during 2011.

Number 5: Chocolate Raspberry Panini - Originally posted February 15, 2009

I made a simple pound cake from a box mix and sliced it. Then I covered one slice of the pound cake with squares of a Hershey bar and topped it with a few raspberries. I used a George Forman grill to brown both sides at the same time, but you could just as easily use a frying pan and brown both sides as you would a grilled cheese sandwich.
The pound cake is like a sweet toast. The chocolate gets all melty and oozey and the fruit is softened and luscious.

All I can say about this is.....Yum!

Number 4: Orange Mascarpone Tart - Originally posted December 26, 2010

We've made many dishes from Bon Appetit magazine and this is one of them.

I love the combination of the creaminess of the mascarpone cheese and the sweet freshness of the orange.

Although the original recipe called for the tart to be sprinkled with chopped pistachios, we didn't think they added much to the flavor of the tart, so the second time Tom made it he merely sprinkled it with shaved chocolate. Better.

Number 3: Sugar Donut Mini-Muffins - Originally posted February 26, 2010

One word: addicting.

You know those two-bite brownies you buy in a bag at the grocery store? Don't buy them. Make these.

Tender little mini-cupcakes with the texture of a moist cake donut, brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar or even rolled in powdered sugar. Betcha can't eat just one.

Number 2: Oreo Cream Cheese Cupcakes - Originally posted January 30, 2010

What is it about Oreos that elicit such love?

I don't know a faithful blog reader who doesn't collect a cache of recipes containing Oreos.

And every food blogger I know tries to create some new dessert using Oreos. I'm certainly not any different.

I've added crushed Oreos to brownies. I made these Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n' Oreo 'n' Fudge Brownie Bars

And I've even made this Oreo Cookie Cake, the recipe for which I've never posted. But that's another post.

And Number 1 ~ You guessed it: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie - Originally posted April 27, 2011

Can you say 'sugar induced coma'?

It's still a favorite in many readers' households.

So what's in store for 2012? I'm good at keeping secrets so you'll just have to stay tuned.

My Top Five Favorites of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Let me start out by saying 2011 was an incredible year for me.

My blog traffic has more than tripled. The photo of my S'more Chocolate Chip Cookies was selected to be featured in Feast Your Eyes on by NBC's Today.com. BonAppetit.com featured my goat meat adaptation of their Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots recipe in their What People Are Cooking column. My recipe for Linguine with Chorizo, Clams, Shrimp and Calamari was featured as Winner of Editor's Pick on Food52.com. And, as I mentioned in yesterday's post, those simple little Caprese Skewers were featured all over the web.

I would have never thought when I started to blog about food the summer of 2007, I would have touched so many hungry eyes and stomachs.

I was touched, too, by so many of my fellow bloggers. Two of my top five come from the blogs I read religiously.

I love to try new recipes and new foods from different cultures, in addition to creating new copycat recipes from foods I've tasted at restaurants. With that in mind, my top five favorites of 2011 are as follows:

Number 5: Spaetzle

Believe it or not, I had never made spaetzle until this year. I saw Elly's recipe back in September, quickly saved it to my recipe file and ordered this spaetzle maker. I haven't looked back. It is the perfect accompaniment to stews or soups and it's faster to make than boiling noodles.

Number 4: Chicken Scaloppini ala Macaroni Grill

I've been making this dish for several years, but just posted it last March. I have modified it significantly from the "original" recipe you can find online, cutting down on the fat just a little bit. It remains one of our favorite pasta dishes.

Number 3: Goat Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots

This is the dish featured on BonAppetit.com and "Tagine" is the traditional Moroccan stoneware cooker used to prepare stews and other traditional dishes, but I made this dish in my electric roaster. We loved this Moroccan stew and I will make it again and again, with either lamb or goat.

Number 4: Pork Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Slaw

When I can find daikon radish, I always buy quite a large one and make the Vietnamese slaw, even if we're not having the Banh Mi Burgers. Tom is addicted to the slaw. He will eat it for lunch with his sandwich or as a snack. We've even had it as a side with Bang Bang Shrimp or even barbecued ribs. But those burgers topped with a nice big spoonful of the slaw and a side of sweet potato fries....irresistible.

Number 1: Bang Bang Shrimp

Yes. What was number 5 on my readers' list, was number one on ours. I made the dish for the first time last October and I'd guess I've made it no less than another half a dozen times since then, including over the Christmas holiday at our son's house.

The method of preparing the shrimp with milk, cornstarch and panko bread crumbs renders the crunchiest, perfectly cooked fried shrimp I've eaten anywhere.

So, what's in store for this year? Stick around for the adventure.

Cranberry Salsa

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:57:00 +0000

I know I've been posting quite sporadically since just before Thanksgiving. I'm still a little sick. No fever, but I have what I call my mucous moments that last anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes....coughing, nose blowing, head draining disgusting moments. Then I'm just exhausted. But it's getting better.

My Thanksgiving was nice, but a little overdone. I made too many "heavy" items and it really took it's toll on the meal, but maybe that was just me. Everyone else seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

You know what was the really big hit of the meal? Not the turkey or gravy or mashed potatoes or cauliflower gratin or the stuffing or even the pumpkin latte cheesecake for dessert. It was one of the appetizers, Suzanne's Cranberry Salsa!

I have to admit, after I started putting the ingredients together, I didn't think I would like it all that much. I thought it would be too sweet for me, but boy was I wrong. This salsa is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

All my guests loved it and kept going back for more. Tom and I ate it for two days afterward and finally froze a small bag full for another time.

An added bonus was that, with all the other stuff to do for a holiday meal, this salsa was a cinch to prepare. Roughly chop the veggies, dump all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it's the salsa consistency you like. How easy is that?

I did change a couple of the ingredients. Instead of using stewed tomatoes, I used fire-roasted diced tomatoes, and I swapped out the fresh jalapeno for the candied jalapenos I posted HERE. Everything else was strictly according to Suzanne's recipe.

Cranberry Salsa
Adapted from You Made That?

1 28 oz. can of stewed tomatoes (I used 2 - 14-oz cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes)
1 small can of whole cranberry sauce or homemade
2 sticks celery chopped
8 baby carrots chopped
1 red onion chopped
1 cup fresh cranberries
1 jalapeño seeded (I used 1/4 cup of chopped candied jalepeños)
1/2 bunch of cilantro
3 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 T. spicy vinegar or red wine vinegar

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the consistency of salsa. Chill in refrigerator until cold and serve with tortilla chips.

Suzanne also notes that you could make this recipe without the cranberry sauce, but I used the cranberry sauce and I really liked it.

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew with Homemade Spaetzle

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:17:00 +0000

I know that I have been AWOL since before Thanksgiving, but I have a really good excuse. I've been sick since the day after Thanksgiving. Nothing life threatening. Just a very bad cold. But when you're old like me, a cold can really take its toll on your body.

I'm finally on the road to recovery and cooking.

We've had lots of rain since October and November, so I've been craving comfort foods like soups, chowders and stews, all of which have been on the menu at least twice a week.

Rather than serve the stews with just crusty bread on the side, I decided to use this spaetzle maker that had not seen the outside of my kitchen cabinet since it arrived in the mail a year ago and try the simple spaetzle recipe posted on Elly Says Opa! It is so easy, fast and delicious. It's actually faster than boiling dried noodles....and a whole lot tastier.

After removing the spaetzle from the boiling water, I strained it and put it in a frying pan with a little butter and chopped parsley. This batch browned a little, but it was still delicious and perfect with the stew.

The marsala wine adds just the right touch of sweetness to accent the flavor of the sweet potatoes.

Beef and Sweet Potato Stew

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, finely minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, finely minced
1 cup Marsala wine
4 cups beef broth
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

To season and coat the meat:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked hot paprika

Put all the beef seasoning/coating ingredients in a bowl and mix together with a whisk, then transfer to a large zip-lock type bag. Add the beef chunks to the bag, close the bag securely and shake until all the beef chunks are evenly coated. Remove the beef chunks from the bag to a plate or bowl, shaking off excess flour. Set aside. Discard flour mixture.

In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, rosemary and thyme and gently saute until the onions are tender and translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one more minute, being careful not to brown or burn the garlic.

Turn up the heat to medium high and add the coated beef chunks to the pot. Cook until the beef is browned on all sides, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the Marsala wine and beef broth to the pot, making sure to stir up all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Bring the stew to a full boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and simmer the stew for one hour.

After an hour, add the sweet potato chunks to the pot, cover and simmer on low heat for another hour.

Keep stew warm while making the spaetzle.

Spaetzle
Adapted from Elly Says Opa!

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (I always use freshly grated whole nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter butter
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 teaspoons of the salt. Reduce to a gentle boil/simmer.

Using a whisk, mix the flour, nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together. Add the eggs/milk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Secure the spaetzle maker over the simmering water and position the basket portion in the middle of the spaetzle maker. Add the dough to the basket and gently move the basket back and forth over the grater base. The dough will be thin enough to be forced through the grater base with the back and forth action and drop into the simmering water. Continue until all the dough is used. Cook just a few minutes until the spaetzle are done and rise to the surface. Lift the spaetzle out with a mesh strainer or slotted spoon.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and add the spaetzle. Stir to coat the spaetzle and cook about 2 minutes or until they start to get a little color. Stir in the chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.

It's Final

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:24:00 +0000

There's no going back. The menu is committed to MS Word and printed, with lovely graphics of course.

For appetizers, bite-sized Asian Turkey Meatballs. I found this recipe at Gina's Skinny Recipes and loved them. I made them for the first time and posted the results in March 2010. I've made them many times since then, both for appetizer and entree.

To keep things simple, we will steam some shrimp and serve it with a quick and Remoulade Sauce.

I was going to keep the appetizers down to only two, but I've been wanting to try Suzanne's Cranberry Salsa, so I put that on the appetizer menu as well.

The turkey is in a cooler in the garage submerged in apple cider. Tom will make the stuffing in the morning, but tonight he's going to prepare the mashed potatoes, refrigerate them overnight in a casserole dish and we'll warm them in the oven tomorrow just before dinner.

The turkey giblets will be thrown in a pot of water with some onion, carrot and celery to be simmered all day on the stove. That wonderful turkey stock will be used for my gravy.

Instead of the traditional overly sweet candied sweet potatoes or sweet potato pudding, I'm going to roast chunks of fresh sweet potato with a little butter and a touch of pure maple syrup.

Fresh green beans will not be in the form of a casserole. They will be cooked until just done with bacon and butter. Simple, easy, delicious. I don't know why I never thought of cooking them that way, but I guess you have to have the vast experience of the chef who introduced me to them ~ my niece's husband, who is a chef and culinary instructor in southern California.

We may not have green bean in casserole form, but we will have casseroles of sorts. First, my son Mike's recipe for Cauliflower Gratin, which combines cauliflower with cream and copious amounts of Parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheeses for one of the best gratins I've ever eaten.

The second casserole is Marie's Parmesan Roasted Onions. To. Die. For. Honestly.

I don't like canned cranberry sauce. But I saw David Hahn, a filmmaker, on some cooking show a few years back promoting Cranberry Fool, a cranberry topping that he and his wife use to make and gave as gifts. Since he was trying sell his new product, he didn't give the recipe, but the ingredients are listed on the jar: cranberries, cherries, currants, raisins, vanilla and NO SUGAR, although I do add about 1/2 cup. How hard is that? I think his product contains fresh cherries, but we obviously can't get them year round, so I use dried cherries. I've made it ever since in place of cranberry sauce and I've even added candied jalapenos and served it over cream cheese as an appetizer. Pretty darn yummy...and I don't care for cream cheese.

We cannot have Thanksgiving dinner without rolls. I found the recipe for Sweet Potato Buttermilk Dinner Rolls at Pinch My Salt in 2008 and made them for Thanksgiving that year, too. They are absolutely delicious.

Finally, for dessert I am making Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake that I saw at The Pastry Affair. The recipe calls for 3 teaspoons of espresso powder, but I already know I'm probably going to use a little bit more.

Here's the menu in a more formal state:

I have a lot of prep work to do, so I better get started. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday weekend filled with fun, love and good food! Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Rainy Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:49:00 +0000

I am sipping Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Coffee from my Starbucks mug, coffee that was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law because we don't have a Trader Joe's here.

It's raining, but it's not supposed to continue all day, and it's a little on the cool-ish side.

I finished making my Thanksgiving grocery list and I'll do my shopping this afternoon after I finish volunteering at the Clothes Closet that we're organizing to provide clothing to folks in need.

This afternoon I will make and freeze the Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls to bake on Thanksgiving Day and tomorrow I will bake the Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake for Thanksgiving dessert.

What is everyone else doing to prepare for Thanksgiving Day?

Stuffed Salmon with Sriracha Cream Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

I don't mean to offend anyone, but I don't understand the popularity of cream cheese? Over the last year or so I've seen recipes for cream cheese in everything. Cream cheese in spaghetti sauce??? Arrrggghhh!

And what's the deal with cream cheese in sushi? {turning slightly green}

Obviously, I don't care for the taste of cream cheese. For me, it's a lot like Velveeta - an alien adopting a cheese form. It resembles cheese, but something isn't quite right. That's not to say that I don't use it occasionally. I use it for my cream cheese/onion spread for smoked salmon, but I cut the sweetness by adding low fat sour cream. So, you see, I walked into this recipe with a clear bias.

There are a lot of recipes out in the blogosphere for dishes similar to this and most of them use the same basic ingredients and measurements, including cream cheese. I knew I wouldn't use cream cheese and I initially made a little side-bar note to possibly use sushi rice for the stuffing because that's more like sushi. But when I finally got around to making the dish, I had about a cup of homemade ricotta leftover in the refrigerator and decided to use some of that instead of rice. I also used my own teriyaki sauce that I had saved in a bag in the freezer.

The key is to this preparation is to make certain the pocket in the salmon isn't too large and that you don't over-stuff the salmon because once the cheese gets hot it melts and an overabundance of cheese melts out into the baking dish. As you can see from the photos, I used too much stuffing. Had I used the rice, as I initially thought, it wouldn't have been a problem. But I don't think it would have been as tasty either.

Then I got to the ingredients in the cream sauce. The basic ingredients for this sauce are universally Sriracha, mayo and sweetened condensed milk. I wasn't about to open a can of sweetened condensed milk for just a couple of tablespoons and wind up throwing the rest away. And just those three ingredients didn't sound all that appetizing together, so I made a couple of adjustments there, too. I loved the sauce for Bang Bang Shrimp, so I figured I'd use that sauce as the base for the sauce for this dish. So I mixed some mayo, Sriracha and Thai sweet chili sauce, which gave it the sweetness the sweetened condensed milk would have added. I also added a little soy sauce for a little salt and a splash of sesame oil (since sesame seeds are sprinkled on the salmon).

It worked. It all worked. The combination was so darn tasty - the marinated salmon, the not-too-sweet stuffing, the sweet/spicy Sriracha sauce, all of it sprinkled with the sliced green onions, served with steamed brown rice and stir fried Chinese pea pods. As my granddaughter would say, Yum-may.

Stuffed Baked Salmon with Sriracha Sauce

2 - 6 to 8 oz. salmon fillets, preferably center cut about 1-inch thick
1 cup Teriyaki sauce (recipe follows)
Sriracha Sauce (recipe follows)
3 - 4 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1/2 teaspoon Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
2 green onions, thinly sliced
sesame seeds

Place the salmon fillets in a zip-lock bag with the Teriyaki sauce and allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour (I marinated mine for most of the day).

Preheat the oven to 400˚

In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese and the 1/2 teaspoon of Thai sweet chili sauce and set aside.

Prepare a small baking dish by spraying well with cooking spray or thoroughly brushing with oil.

Remove the salmon from the marinade. Make a long slit in one side of each salmon fillet to form a pocket, being careful not to pierce all the way through. Stuff the pockets with about a tablespoon or so of the cheese mixture. Place the stuffed fillets in the baking dish. Sprinkle each fillet with sesame seeds. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the salmon is cooked through.

Remove each fillet to individual plates, drizzle with the Sriracha cream sauce and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

For the Teriyaki Sauce:

This is the Teriyaki sauce I used for Chicken Teriyaki, but it is the basic Teriyaki I use for everything from chicken wings to steaks.

1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 cup beer
1 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon finely minced green onion
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Add all of the marinade ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer very gently for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the marinade to cool to room temperature before using to marinate meat or fish.

Place the chicken, meat or fish pieces in a large zip-lock type plastic bag. Pour the teriyaki marinade over. Seal the bag and refrigerate for at least one hour. The flavor is best when the chicken or beef is marinated for several hours or overnight.

Any remaining unused sauce can be frozen for use at another time. Discard any used marinade.

For the Sriracha Cream Sauce:

1 tablespoon Sriracha
1/2 cup mayonnaise (use full-fat or lite)
1-1/2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Adjust to your taste by adding more Sriracha or chili sauce.

Drizzle over cooked, stuffed salmon.

An Honor

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I'm so excited!

My post for Goat Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots....

...is featured in the "What People Are Cooking" column at BonAppetit.com

I read my Bon Appetit magazine from cover to cover every month and have tried many dishes. I am so honored to be singled out for this particular one.

Candied Jalapenos and My Thanksgiving Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:54:00 +0000

In my last post I said I would post the recipe for the candied jalapenos that I used in the Vietnamese Slaw and on the Pork Banh Mi Sandwich. We love these at our house. We use them for everything, from salsa to topping sandwiches. I took a jar to my son's house and they were a hit there as well. I've known folks who just chop up a few, mix them with cream cheese and serve it on crackers.

The recipe is the lazy person's method and has only three ingredients: a jar of pickled jalapenos, sugar and a touch of alum (which is optional). No picking jalapenos from the garden. No slicing. That's all done for you.

I buy the pickled jalapenos in the 64-oz. jar, so that's the amount I will use for the recipe. If you decided to use a smaller jar, just reduce the amount of sugar and alum by the same ratio.

You should keep the Candied Jalapenos in the refrigerator. Fair warning: they won't last long!

Candied Jalapenos

1 - 64-oz. jar pickled jalapenos
2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon alum

Drain the liquid from the jar of peppers into a non-reactive pan. Add the sugar to the pan with the liquid and bring the mixture to a full boil. The sugar she be completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in alum. Allow the liquid to cool for 30 minutes.

Pour the cooled liquid back into the jar with the peppers. Do not allow to overflow. If there is any liquid remaining in the pan, discard it. Screw the lid back on the jar and refrigerate for a few days. Keep refrigerated.

That's it. I told you it was the lazy person's method.

Now, I'm already planning for Thanksgiving dinner. I think Tom's sister and brother-in-law will be coming, depending on their travel schedule, but whether we have company or not, we will have the traditional roast turkey, stuffing and gravy.

It's the rest of the meal I'd like to change up some.

Let's start with appetizers. First of all, I will make mini-sized Asian Turkey Meatballs. And a few days I saw a recipe for Baked Brie Bites @ Plain Chicken and I think I'd like to give those a whirl sometime before Thanksgiving, but they sound yummy without all of fuss of an En Croute.

The main course will, of course, be roast turkey, but I will put it in an apple cider brine the day before. The bird will be stuffed with a traditional bread stuffing, but Tom likes to add some fruit as well, like chopped apples and dates, along with the onions and celery. When we put the bird in the oven, I put the giblets and neck in a pot of water with some onion, carrot and celery and, when we are ready to serve, I make a gravy with the rich turkey broth.

I feel like switching up the side dishes this year. We usually make the traditional mashed potatoes, but I made Parisian Potatoes last month and I think I'll make them instead of mashed potatoes this year.

Not wanting to stray too far away from the traditional, green beans will still be on the menu, but not in the form of a casserole. A few years ago at a family reunion, my niece's husband made the tastiest green beans I've ever eaten. The dish consisted of simply fresh green beans, crisped bacon and butter, all of which were cooked together until the green beans were tender. Amazing.

A couple of years ago, I visited Marie @ Proud Italian Cook and copied her recipe for Parmesan Roasted Onions. They are rich, savory, creamy and delicious. And even if I'm the only one who eats them, they will be served Thanksgiving Day.

It's hard to decide what to do with a sweet potato. I'm not fond of the overly sweet candied sweet potato, nor do I care for the grated sweet potato casserole I've made the last 3 or 4 years. I'm thinking of roasting sweet potato rounds or wedges this year.

Of course, I will have my version of Cranberry Fool, a cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, a little sugar, dried cherries, raisins with a touch of vanilla.

For dessert, I am making a Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake posted at The Pastry Affair

I don't think anyone will leave hungry.

What are you serving for Thanksgiving dinner?

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Pork Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Slaw

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:38:00 +0000

I love to cook. But I suppose that's pretty obvious because I wouldn't be a food blogger if I didn't.

Unlike most couples, Tom and I don't eat out much. We'd rather cook at home and eat dinner, wearing our shorts and a t-shirt or sweats, in the comfort of our backyard patio when the weather permits.

But I have a hard time finding ingredients, particularly fresh ingredients like the daikon radish required for the Vietnamese Slaw for this dish. The first time I made this slaw, there wasn't a daikon radish to be found between Conway and Little Rock, not even at Fresh Market. {pouting face} Since a daikon radish is more mild than the common red radish, Tom stopped at the store and bought a jicama, which has a similar color and texture, though sweeter than a daikon. When Tom got home, I started the slaw preparation, but when I cut the jicama in half, it was brown all the way through. Tom headed back to Kroger, rotten jicama in hand.

I opted to make the slaw with red radishes and tediously grated about a dozen of those little suckers, which yielded just about a cup, so I cut the recipe in half. I also didn't use a fresh jalapeno. I used candied jalapenos, which I make myself (a recipe I will share next time).

The night before I had prepared chicken fried pork steaks for dinner, and as we almost always do, we had leftovers - two pork steaks. I hate seeing food go to waste, so I decided to make the Banh Mi sandwiches using the leftover fried pork steaks. I can't even describe how delicious they were. The slaw is crunchy because the carrots and radish are julienned instead of grated, and slightly sweet from the pickling step, with a little heat from the jalapenos and sriracha. What a wonderful combination.

A week or so later, when I decided to make the Pork Banh Mi Sandwich, I happened to be in Kroger and lo and behold, they had three large daikon radishes! Yippee! I grabbed one daikon and a bag of julienned carrots, paid for my groceries and headed for home to make the slaw.

This time I did not grate the radish. I wanted the daikon to be the same texture as the carrots. I have a mandoline (this one) my son gave me over six years ago. I swear I use it almost every single day. Anyway, the daikon is much larger and easier to use on my mandoline, which has a julienne blade. I cut up two cups in no time.

This...

Became this...

We've used the Vietnamese Slaw on the chicken fried pork burgers and as a side with Bang Bang Shrimp. But on top of those juicy, flavorful, herby, slightly spicy pork burgers....oh my! I served the burgers with oven baked sweet potato fries, which was the perfect compliment to the spiciness of the burger.

Pork Banh Mi Burgers with Vietnamese Slaw
Adapted from Chaos in the Kitchen

For the Burgers:

1 pound ground pork
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 green onions, minced
1 tablespoon fish sauce (if you don't have fish sauce, substitute soy sauce)
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 ciabatta rolls or other crusty rolls, sliced in half

In a medium sized bowl, combine the pork, basil, garlic, onion, fish sauce (or soy sauce), sriracha, sugar, cornstarch, salt and pepper until evenly combined. Divide the mixture into four equal parts and pat into four patties.

Heat a grill pan or large skillet over medium heat. Brush the pan with sesame oil. Cook burgers about 7 minutes minutes on one side until lightly browned, then turn the patties over and cook another 5 - 7 minutes or until the patties are cooked through. The internal temperature should be 145˚.

Remove the burgers from the pan and keep warm.

Place rolls in the same pan used to cook the patties, cut side down, over the heat until toasted.

Serve burgers on rolls topped generously with slaw. Top with additional fresh cilantro sprigs and sliced fresh jalapenos if desired.

For the Vietnamese Slaw:

2 cups carrots, julienned
2 cups daikon radish, julienned
1 jalapeno, chopped (I used candied jalapeno)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced thin
1 tablespoon sriracha
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro, minced

In a medium sized bowl, combine the carrots, daikon and jalapeno. Pour the vinegar into a measuring cup, add the sugar and stir until sugar is mostly dissolved. Pour the mixture over the carrot/daikon mixture. Stir well to combine. Set aside for about an hour, stirring occasionally so that all of the vegetable mixture is submerged in the vinegar mixture from some time.

After an hour, drain the liquid from the carrot mixture and discard the marinade.

Add the green onions and cilantro to the carrot mixture and mix to combine. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and sriracha and stir until combined. Add to carrot mixture and mix well. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

Chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate Flan Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Flan is a creamy, soft custard baked on top of a layer of sugar syrup that has been cooked to the caramel stage. It is baked in a water bath and when served, the custard is turned out of the ramekin onto a plate and the caramel becomes the topping.

There is not an ounce of cream cheese in an authentic Flan recipe, nor would any self-respecting Mexican cook use a jar of cajeta (pronounced kah-Heh-tah) or Smuckers Caramel in which to bake her authentic Flan, but for the purposes of this recipe I will call it Flan and I will also use cajeta.

Now that we know what this recipe isn't, let's begin with what it is: A thick-ish layer of caramel poured into the bottom of a bundt pan, over which is poured a prepared chocolate fudge cake and then a blender-ful of three milks, eggs, cream cheese and vanilla is poured into the cake mix, then it's baked in a water bath for two hours. The cake rises through the flan to become the base of the cake and when the cake is done it is inverted onto a serving plate with the caramel bathing the flan and the cake.

It's simple to make. It's impressive to serve. It's rich, creamy, velvety, chocolatey and caramely, and once your guests starting eating the cake, your dining room will be silent save for an occasional mmmmmmmm, ooohhhhhhh and aaahhhhh.

This is, without a doubt, the cake most requested by my dinner guests and the tendency for the flan to crack has never dissuaded anyone from eating their portion.

There are a couple of things you should know before you begin.

First, be sure your bundt pan will comfortably hold 12 cups. This cake will ultimately almost fill the entire pan.

Second, before measuring the Cajeta, spray the inside of your measuring cup with cooking spray. It will release the Cajeta easier. Also, although many recipes list Smuckers Caramel Sauce as a substitute, I have always used Cajeta.

Third, your serving plate must have a slight rim or you will have caramel spilling off the plate all over your counter. You don't want to waste an ounce of that caramel.

Chocolate Flan Cake

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (I use Duncan Hines), plus the ingredients to prepare the cake mix according to package directions
1-1/3 cups Cajeta or Smuckers Caramel
1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 - 12 ounce can evaporated milk
1/2 cup whole milk
1 - 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
5 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°

Spray a 12-cup bundt pan generously with cooking spray and pour the caramel topping evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions and pour the batter into the pan on top of the caramel.

To make the flan, pour the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk into a blender and add the cream cheese, vanilla and eggs. Blend until smooth, being careful to start the blender at a slower speed and gradually increase it as your blender will be pretty full. Pour the flan mixture slowly over the cake batter.

Spray the underside of a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray, cover the pan and seal tightly around the edges and center with your fingers.

Set the bundt pan into a large pan (like a lasagna pan) and put in the oven. Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the bundt pan is sitting in about 2-inches of water.

Bake for two hours. Carefully remove the cake pan from the water bath to a rack and allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Peel off the aluminum foil.

Invert the cake on to a large plate. The caramel will flow down the sides of the flan cake. Cool, then refrigerate.

Bang Bang Shrimp

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:18:00 +0000

In the spirit of full disclosure, I've never been to Bonefish Grill, which is apparently where this recipe originated.

I've seen the restaurant many times because it is across the parking lot from Fresh Market, my favorite grocery store/butcher/deli (if they ever opened one in Conway, I'd never shop at Kroger or WalMart again). But I make my trips to Little Rock in the morning. I like to get my grocery shopping out of the way early and, sadly, Bonefish Grill isn't open at 8:30am.

Many people I know have extolled the virtues of "Bang Bang Shrimp," so when I Googled the name, I got back a list of recipes. Some of them recommended using Dinni's Spicy Shrimp Sauce, while other recipes listed ingredients for the sauce. At five bucks a bottle plus shipping, I wasn't about to purchase the sauce when I could make it myself with what I have in the refrigerator: mayo, sriracha and Thai sweet chili sauce.

Of course, all the measurements for the ingredients in the sauce were different in each recipe, and since I didn't have any preconceived idea about what it should taste like because I'd never tasted the dish, I pretty much just measured to suit my own taste.

I don't know if this tastes exactly like Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp, but it was delicious. Instead of serving it over cabbage as an appetizer, I served it as an entree for dinner with some Coconut Rice. It was really good and left us wanting more. The sauce was sweet and spicy, the shrimp was crispy on the outside and succulent on the inside. I may even make it again...as an appetizer...this weekend.

I cook a lot, probably 28 out of 30 days a month, so (as I'm sure I've mentioned before) I buy a lot of my products online in larger sizes. I've only seen a couple of brands of Sriracha sauce, but this one appears to be the most prevalent. I purchase Mae Ploy Thai sweet chili sauce here in the 32-ounce size. When I first purchased this brand a year ago, I had a little bit left of a bottle of another brand and when I tasted them both, I threw the other bottle away. Mae Ploy chili sauce tastes like fresh ingredients. The other brand I purchased in a much smaller bottle at Kroger tasted like spicy paste in comparison. And there you have an unsolicited testimonial.

My Bang Bang Shrimp

18 medium sized shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha (or more, according to your taste)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Enough milk to cover the shrimp (I used 2%)
1-1/4 cups Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup corn starch
oil for frying
green onions, sliced for garnish
shredded cabbage for serving

Put the peeled shrimp in a bowl and add enough milk to cover. Set aside and allow to soak while making the sauce.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce, Sriracha and rice vinegar. Whisk until completely combined and set aside.

Preheat oven to 200°.

Measure the Panko bread crumbs and corn starch on to two separate plates or in two shallow bowls.

In a medium sized skillet, add about an inch of canola, peanut or vegetable oil, enough to cover the shrimp when frying and bring the oil to about 325°.

Remove a shrimp from the milk, dredge it in the cornstarch, then back into the milk, then dredge in the Panko bread crumbs. Set aside on a plate until you have 4 or 5, then add them to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, about 2-1/2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the hot oil and place on paper towels on a heat proof dish to drain. Keep warm in the oven. Repeat with remaining shrimp.

When all of the shrimp are cooked, transfer to a large bowl, add the sauce and toss gently until all of the shrimp are evenly coated. Serve on top of a mound of cabbage (or rice, as I did) and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:15:00 +0000

Why oh why do I continue to bake such sweet morsels. It's a very bad habit. But I just can't seem to help myself. When I see something ooey and gooey and nutty and sugary, I just have to bake it to see if it tastes as good as it looks.

Mostly, I'm a little disappointed. Usually the photo is better than the real thing. This recipe is an exception.

If you're looking for a sugar rush that will make your eyes roll back in their sockets and produce a near coma, all you'll need is a 3-inch by 3-inch square piece of this cake. Coupled with a cup of strong French roast coffee, you might survive without any remaining side effects.

But then you will go back for more. You see, because you won't be able to help yourself. It's sweet alright, but it's cakey and smooth and buttery and a little nutty and a little spicy and oh so ooey and gooey, all at the same time.

I did not share this cake....and I share almost all of what I bake. Most of the time, I am satisfied to merely try one serving of whatever is the pastry of the day, then I pack up the rest and head for a neighbor's house, any neighbor, to get rid of the cake, or pie or cookies or bars so I can move on to try the next luscious, delectable recipe.

After one piece of this cake and about ten Oh My God's, we cut it into 2-inch squares, wrapped them in plastic wrap and stuck them, selfishly, into the freezer. My neighbors did not receive one morsel.

I baked this cake back in August. Last night, Tom ate the last piece. I'll make another one next week and give it to the neighbors. Maybe.

The cake is relatively simple to make. All you do is mix up the cake batter and pour into 9-by-13-inch pan. Then mix up the topping and drop it as evenly as possible over the cake batter.

Then you run a knife through the clumps of topping and the batter to swirl the topping throughout and bake. When the cake comes out of the oven and cools a bit, drizzle the glaze all over the warm cake.

And, voila! You have a cake that smells and tastes like an ooey gooey cinnamon roll.

Just remember to tell your loved ones not to be alarmed if they find you slumped unconscious on the couch. It's merely your body shutting down peripheral functions in order to transform the sugar and butter into energy and you'll be fine by morning.

Cinnamon Roll Cake
Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

For the Cake:

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

For the Topping:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans (I used pecan chips)

For the Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the cake batter first. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. With an electric or stand mixer, add the milk, eggs and vanilla to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until fully combined and smooth. Mix in the 1/2 cup of melted butter until combined, then pour the batter into a well greased 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan.

Make the cinnamon topping by combining the 2 sticks of softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans in a medium sized bowl until well combined. The consistency will be similar to a paste. Drop tablespoons of the mixture evenly over the cake batter. Use a knife to swirl/marble the topping mixture through the cake batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes (mine took 32 minutes) or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean from the center. It may have some melted sugar on the toothpick, but not cake batter. When done, remove from the oven to a rack to cool.

Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:28:00 +0000

It's cooling off. Even though it is supposed to hit 90 tomorrow, the rest of the week should be in the 70's and evenings are cooler yet.

When it starts cooling off, I crave soup. Served with French bread, cornbread, foccacia, rolls, it makes no difference. I'm there for the soup.

Earlier this week the publisher of our local newspaper wrote a blog post about the "5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke." Canned soup was on the list.

Luckily, I don't eat canned soup. I happily ingest the other four items - crackers and chips, smoked and processed meats, diet soda and red meat - but not the canned soup.

Okay, I have to take that back. I actually do eat canned soup, but do so rarely. I still use a couple of casserole recipes that call for canned soup, but I don't make them very often - maybe a couple of times a year. But, I'm not so sure that particular qualification would render me immune to the risks.

Anyway, I don't eat canned soup as soup, as in a bowl with a soup spoon and with a sandwich or piece of bread on the side. I always make my own soup. I just think it tastes better and it's better for you.

Now, when you were in college, if you made broccoli soup with canned cheddar cheese soup and frozen broccoli on a single burner hot plate and you thought it tasted good....I'm sorry. You probably won't like this recipe because it doesn't taste anything like that.

My recipe is fresh, flavorful and creamy with not a hint of pastiness or chemicals. And, though it takes just a few more minutes to prepare than canned cheddar cheese soup with frozen broccoli, my recipe still comes together pretty quickly.

A couple of tips before you start. First, do not discard the stalks of the broccoli. Peel them, chop them up and add them to the pot with the other vegetables. The stalks add more flavor and texture.

Second, yes, I said peel, unless you like your broccoli stringy. You don't have to peel every single surface, but peel off the as much of the skin as you can. Simply slide the edge of your knife under the skin, hold it in place against the blade with your thumb and pull up like so....

Easy peasy.

Broccoli Cheese Soup
PRINT RECIPE

2 tablespoons blended oil (which is 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon olive oil)
1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced (I always scrub my carrots, but rarely peel them)
1 large celery stalk, diced
2 large stalks broccoli cut into bite-sized flowerettes and the stalks peeled and diced
5 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups half & half
2 cups cheddar cheese, finely grated (sharp or mild, whatever your preference)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat the blended oil over medium high heat and add the onion, carrot, celery and broccoli stalks. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the vegetables until they start to brown slightly and caramelize, about 10 to 12 minutes. Be careful not to burn. The caramelized vegetables are going to add a rich flavor dimension.

Add the broccoli flowerettes to the pot, then add the chicken broth. Return the heat to medium high and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes until the broccoli flowerettes are very soft.

In a small fying pan over medium heat, melt the tablespoon of butter, then whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook the roux until it is just barely golden in color. Add about a cup of the soup broth to the roux and whisk until smooth. Add about another cup of the broth and whisk again until smooth. Add the mixture to the soup pot, stirring gently until well blended. Add the half & half, stirring constantly. Add the cheese a cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.

When the soup begins to come back to a simmer, correct the seasoning by adding kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Goat Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:43:00 +0000

I am a California gal, born and bred. But my dad grew up on a farm in Minnesota.

My father and his family either grew or raised nearly everything they ate. My dad used to tell stories of milking cows before school, slaughtering pigs on weekends, gathering eggs daily, planting the garden in the spring, filling the root cellar with potatoes and beets and canning bushels of vegetables.

When I was growing up, my dad planted a garden in the backyard wherever we lived, particularly in Fresno. He harvested fresh tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, carrots, cucumbers, corn, melon, citrus and peaches all summer long. Artichokes, plums, apples, pomegranates, avocados and grapes were abundant and cheap at the grocery store.

We lived in an average suburban neighborhood, so my father did not raise cows, pigs or chickens. Instead the meat we ate was purchased from the grocery store and usually the cheapest available: hamburger, pot roast, chicken and an occasional fried pork chop. The fish that graced our table was the crappie my parents caught at the local lake or the mackerel they hooked off the pier at Sunset Beach State Park about 15 miles south of Santa Cruz on the Pacific Ocean. No matter what species of fish we ate, it was always fried.

Although I began cooking in my teens, the food was always from the menus my mother created. Before she got home from work, I'd prepare the hamburger/bean filling for the burritos, or the hamburger for tacos using packages of taco seasoning mix, or the spaghetti sauce using packages of spaghetti sauce mix. Not particularly adventurous eating.

I didn't have my first taste of lobster until I was 18 years old. I think I was in my mid-twenties before I ate lamb. I was probably in my thirties when I really started to experiment with food, both while cooking at home and dining out. Which is, one culinary step at a time, how I got to preparing goat meat.

Now, goat meat may not seem like an adventurous step for people who live in rural communities and raise their own meat. In fact, it may be commonplace. For this gal, however....one who has given a name to and made a pet of every animal she's ever owned including rabbits, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese (not to mention dogs and cats)....goat meat is an adventurous step. But I figured if I could try venison (Bambi), rabbit (Thumper) and duck (Daffy), I could give goat a try since I didn't watch it's mother give birth, bottle feed the kid at all hours and fret over what I was going to name it.

I was thrilled to hear of the new international food store opening in our small town and I think Tom and I were one of the first customers. During our first trip, we wandered around for about 45-minutes examining all the familiar and not so familiar products on the shelves, in the refrigerator and freezer. It was the goat meat in the freezer piqued my curiosity.

This week I went back to the international food store and bought goat meat, and with my newest issue of Bon Appetit in hand, the page turned to Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots, I proceeded to prepare the dish with goat instead of lamb.

The recipe calls for a lamb shoulder and for the meat to be cubed, but there was no way I was going get this goat meat into cubes. At the top side of the slab was the backbone and there was no way my knives would get through it.

I started by cutting off the skin, then paring away as much excess fat as I could. What I discovered underneath was a silver membrane covering the entire surface of the meat.

I always remove the silverskin from the bone side of ribs and I thought this would be similar. It was actually more difficult and time consuming because it didn't peel off readily. I had to cut it off with my boning knife. It took awhile, but I think I did a pretty good job for someone who has been known to butcher a piece of meat beyond recognition.

So, now I was ready to begin preparing the dish. Since I wasn't going to attempt to cut the meat into cubes, I decided I would braise the meat in the sauce until it was tender enough to remove from the bones. I generously salted and peppered the meat, browned it on all sides in a large skillet and then removed it from the pan.

I then prepared the "sauce" in the frying pan, mixing the onions, spice blend, garlic, grated ginger, tomatoes and chicken broth according to the recipe. When all the ingredients were mixed together and brought to a boil, I poured it into my electric roaster, set the piece of goat in the middle, put the lid in place and braised it for about 2-½ to 3 hours, until the meat was tender and the bones were easily removed.

I removed the meat from the roaster and allowed it cool a few minutes. When I was able to handle the meat, I began removing the bones and remaining gristle and connective tissue. The only thing I found a little off-putting was the sight of these veins below the skin.

Undaunted, I cut the meat into pieces and returned it to the roaster and added the chickpeas, which I allowed to cook in the stew for about an hour because they still weren't quite done when I put them in. When I was sure the chickpeas were done, I added the chopped apricots and cooked the stew for another 30 minutes.

I served the stew over couscous made with chicken broth instead of water, and garnished with chopped cilantro.

The results were delicious. The goat meat is not gamey at all, like I anticipated. It was sweet, rich and densely flavored, a perfect compliment to the Moroccan spices in the dish. I would not hesitate to make this dish again.

Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots
Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

3/4 cup dried chickpeas
5 garlic cloves (2 whole, 3 chopped)
1 large cinnamon stick, broken in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds 1" cubes lamb shoulder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, diced
5 teaspoons Ras-el-Hanout spice blend (I used all of the spice blend that I made using the recipe below, probably an extra teaspoon)
1 tablespoon chopped peeled ginger (I grated the ginger)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with juices (I used a whole 14-oz can)
2-1/2 cups (or more) chicken stock (because I had to braise the meat for such a long period of time, I wound up using an additional cup of chicken broth to thin the stew)
1/2 cup halved dried apricots (I chopped the apricots into smaller pieces)
Steamed couscous
Chopped fresh cilantro

Place chickpeas in a medium saucepan. Add water to cover by 2". Let soak overnight.

Drain chickpeas; return to same saucepan. Add 2 whole garlic cloves and cinnamon stick. Add water to cover by 2". Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until chickpeas are tender, about 45 minutes. Drain; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season lamb with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown lamb on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer lamb to a medium bowl. Add onion to pot; reduce heat to medium, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until soft and beginning to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic, Ras-el-Hanout** , and ginger. Stir for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and lamb with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil. Add 2 1/2 cups stock. Return to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lamb is tender, about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Stir in chickpeas; simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes. Stir in apricots; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Spoon couscous onto a large, shallow platter, forming a large well in center. Spoon tagine into center. Sprinkle cilantro over.

**The recipe for the Moroccan spice blend, Ras-El-Hanout, requires a spice mill. I have an old coffee grinder that I use for grinding spices, but I would not recommend using a coffee grinder that you currently use for grinding coffee. These spices are pretty aromatic and tend to cling to plastic. If you don't have a spice mill or coffee grinder, I think it would be fine to use pre-ground coriander and cumin seeds, but before you add them to the sauteed onions, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat, add all of the spices to the oil and gently warm them until they are quite aromatic, being careful not to scorch them. Then add the warmed spice blend to the onions with the garlic and grated fresh ginger.

Ras-El-Hanout Spice Mix

1-1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Toast coriander and cumin seeds in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until aromatic and slightly darkened, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a spice mill; let cool. Add crushed red pepper flakes. Process until finely ground. Transfer to a small bowl. Add remaining ingredients; whisk to blend.

"A prudent man does not make the goat his gardener.” ~ Hungarian saying

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 21:33:00 +0000

Since we've been back from our Florida vacation, I have been working on compiling a family cookbook of my late mother-in-law's abundant recipes. But I need to take a break because I've hit a slight snag.

My task started out pretty straight forward. I created a simple version of a template and started entering the recipes, making sure to include additional comments my mother-in-law noted for different temperatures, times, tips, etc.

I should have looked at all the recipes first and organized the lot, but I didn't. I began by pulling out a stack of cards, newspaper and magazine clippings and pieces of paper in all shapes and sizes from the large zip-lock bag my sister-in-law gave me. I left the additional 8-inch X 11-inch box full of handwritten recipes untouched for the time being.

I put the recipes from the zip-lock bag in a pile on the desk beside my laptop and started typing away, working my way, recipe by recipe, into the pile. I entered one recipe and once I finished, I moved on to the next.

Halfway through the pile, I came across a recipe cut out from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette for a pastry called "Chrust", a recipe of Polish origin. However, my mother-in-law was Hungarian. Her parents were Hungarian immigrants and migrated to America before she was born and apparently the recipe is common throughout that part of the world because she penned a note at the top of the article said, "My mother used to make these. We called them Knot Pastries."

When I finished entering the recipe, I picked up an envelope that was next in the pile. I opened the envelope and discovered six more handwritten versions of the same recipe I just finished entering (or at least with the same title), each with different measurements, times and ingredients! Arrrggghhh!

I decided to go through the entire box and found the same thing with other recipes. My mother-in-law, if nothing else, was a consummate annotator.

Not knowing which recipe was the "family" recipe and unsure how to proceed, I emailed my sisters-in-law and brother-in-law asking for their input. The cookbook is on hold for a few days.

You might be wondering what that has to do with goats.

Now, I have a pretty adventurous palate and I've been wanting to try to make something with goat meat since I first saw it in the freezer at our new international food store, so when I received my October issue of Bon Appetit a few days ago and came across a recipe for Lamb Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots, I thought it would be the perfect recipe to swap out the lamb for goat meat.

So, today I bought some goat meat. The recipe calls for lamb shoulder, but she didn't have any goat shoulder so I purchased a nice slab of ribs.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

This is going to be interesting.

Will I Need A Note for My Absence??

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:17:00 +0000

I know I've been absent for a while now.

First, on vacation in Florida and now I'm working on a cookbook. Not my own, mind you. I am putting together a cookbook of my late mother-in-law's voluminous collection of family recipes. Because of this huge distraction, my posts here on my blog will be somewhat sporadic.

The good news is she is inspiring me to cook. Every recipe, with all of the handwritten side notes and instructions, makes me want to cook and bake every single one just to see if they taste as good as I remember.

I love going through all of them, reading her words written in her distinctive, precise cursive. It is like having a conversation with her and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Be back soon.....I promise.

Feast Your Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:26:00 +0000

This morning while I was reading online newspapers, I came across a headline on MSNBC.com titled "Feast Your Eyes: Photos of Your Homemade Dishes." Since I am a sucker for food porn, I clicked the link.

As I scrolled through...and drooled...I came across an open invitation for anyone to submit their own photos of homemade goodies. So, I did it. I stuck my neck out and submitted 6 photos for a feature on TODAY.com called Feast Your Eyes.

These are the six photos I submitted:

Carnitas Enchiladas and Mango-Jicama Slaw
Enchiladas stuffed with spicy slow roasted pork and cheese, topped with a sour cream green chili enchilada sauce and a side of spicy sweet slaw

S'more Chocolate Chip Cookies
Served with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup Drizzle

Linguini with Chorizo, Shrimp, Clams and Calamari
Selected as Editor's Pick on Food52.com in the Your Best Seafood Pasta Recipe category

Seafood Risotto
Risotto with Peas and Shrimp infused with a Seafood Broth

Ricotta Bruschetta
Homemade ricotta cheese spread on a crostini and topped with fresh chopped tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Caprese Skewers
This is my most 'pinned' photograph ever on Pinterest

Wouldn't it be awesome if one of them was selected as a featured photo? Well, yeah.

Okay, back to painting Adirondack chairs...

Tortilla Black Bean Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:22:00 +0000

I have become an addict. I am addicted to Pinterest, a site where people "pin" photos of things they love to their galleries and where other people, like me, who love to drool over photos of great looking food, projects, clothes, organization ideas and just about anything else you can think of, "repin" those photos to our own galleries in addition to whatever we may come across on the web.

I saw a photo of this dish on Pinterest with a link to the recipe on MarthaStewart.com. I've already made it twice.

The first time I made it, I only had one can of black beans. My bad. So I used one can of black beans and a can of cannelini beans instead. It worked out fine.

The second time I made it, I decided to make a sauce to go with it. Well, "make" is kind of an exaggeration. I didn't do anything from scratch. I poured a small can (10 oz.) of Green Enchilada Sauce into a saucepan, whisked in a 1/4 cup of sour cream and heated it up. The taste and texture is similar to the sauce for Enchilada Suizas. I ladled the sauce over a slice of the tortilla pie and topped it with some sliced avocado. It was even better.

The recipe also calls for a whole minced jalapeno chili. I substituted the jalapeno chili both times with a whole roasted, skinned, seeded and chopped poblano pepper. You get the heat in addition to the smokey flavor from roasting.

The pie is baked in a spring form pan, the same kind of pan in which you would bake a cheesecake, for easy removal and serving.

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie
by MarthaStewart.com, Everyday Food, October 2003
PRINT ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE

4 - 10 inch flour tortillas
2 tablespoons oil
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno chile, minced, remove seeds and ribs for less heat (I used a whole roasted, skinned, seeded and finely chopped poblano pepper)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces beer, or 1 1/2 cups water (Using water will significantly change the flavor. If you will not use beer, I would recommend using chicken broth instead of water)
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
4 green onions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

With a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan, using the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add beans, corn and beer, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in green onions and remove from heat. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Put the bottom of the springform pan in place and secure the lock on the side of the wall. Put a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 of the beans and 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer.

Bake in the preheated until the pie is hot all the way through and the cheese has melted, about 20 to 25 minutes. Place the pan on a serving dish. Unlock and remove the side of the pan; sprinkle pie with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n' Oreo 'n' Fudge Brownie Bar

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 16:37:00 +0000

I'm not a dessert person. I know you can't tell from my blog posts because I post so many of them, but they're not for me. I'm happy with a bite or two or maybe nothing at all after a good meal. But Tom, my sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, other family members, friends and guests...that's another story. They all have their favorites and I aim to please.

When I saw this dessert at Kevin and Amanda's, I knew I'd have to bake it.

Now the photo isn't as pretty as theirs, but I think you get the overall idea: THIS IS GOOD!

Look at that. A layer of chocolate chip cookie, topped with a layer of double-stuffed Oreos, topped with a layer of soft, fudgey brownie. I took the recipe one step further by adding a cup of peanut butter chips to the brownie batter. Top it with a scoop of ice cream and a little warm caramel and it's as good as any dessert you'd get anywhere in town.

How good is it? The day I baked it, Tom looked at the pan and said, "Get most of that out of here or I will eat the whole thing by myself." So, I cut a nice big piece off, leaving about a third of it for us, put the larger piece in a pan and Tom took it to our next door neighbor who has three growing girls. A couple of days later, my neighbor brought back the clean pan with two handmade thank you cards. This is how much my 11-year old neighbor loved this dessert (I've erased her name to protect the innocent):

You just can't get a better endorsement than "It fell from heaven."

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n' Oreo 'n' Fudge Brownie Bar
Adapted from Kevin and Amanda
PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12-oz package) of chocolate chips
1 package Double Stuf Oreos
1 package family size (for a 9X13 pan) Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1/4 cup hot fudge topping (this goes into the brownie batter)
plus you will need the ingredients called for in the brownie mix: eggs, water and oil
1 cup peanut butter chips (this is my addition)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 9-inch X 13-inch pan with parchment paper, making sure the paper goes all the way up the sides, folding in the corners of the pan so that it lays flat against the sides. Spray generously with cooking spray.

Cream the butter and both sugars together in a large bowl for 3 to 5 minutes at medium speed with with an electric mixer until the mixture is light fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Turn the mixer back on to low and slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter mixture until the flour is just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the cookie dough evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Top the cookie dough with a layer of Oreos.

Make the brownie mix according to package directions, adding in the hot fudge topping and peanut butter chips. Mix well to combine. Pour the brownie batter over the Oreos and cookie dough. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes.

Note: The parchment paper makes it easy to remove the entire bar from the pan in one piece for easy service. And, of course, you may not want to double up on the bars as I did in the photo. A single brownie bar with a scoop of ice cream and some caramel sauce or chocolate sauce, though not as spectacular looking, is just as satisfying...

Piggy Pudding

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:39:00 +0000

During my vacation this past May, I spent the first week with my youngest son, Chris, and his family in Florida, which just so happened to correspond with the Mother's Day weekend and Chris' birthday.

Chris and Kelly put on a huge spread for Mother's Day, inviting friends and co-workers to enjoy their culinary efforts:

Eggs Anna - Chris' re-creation of a breakfast dish he used to order at a small cafe in Encinitas, California. A toasted English muffin, spread with a nice layer of mashed, lightly seasoned avocado, topped with eggs scrambled with bacon and heavily drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Without a doubt, my favorite breakfast dish.
An egg, ham, cheese and green chilis casserole
Piggy Pudding - Paula Deen's recipe for a sausage, apples and cornbread casserole topped with pure maple syrup
A beautiful fruit tray
And, of course, champagne

I'm coming out of the closet now. I'm not a Paula Deen fan. I know. There must be something drastically wrong with me, but I just don't care for her food. I've tried several of her recipes, none of which has impressed me or Tom. If Tom won't eat it, it's no good.

So, surprisingly, Paula's Piggy Pudding is a hit in this house. I think I've made it at least three times since I've been home. Tom says it is one of his favorite breakfasts.

I have changed the recipe somewhat by using pre-cooked link sausages, pre-cooking the apples a little and lowering the baking temperature so the cornbread doesn't dry out.

I sprayed a an 8"x8" pan with cooking spray, then cut the link sausages into pieces.

I melt the butter in a medium frying pan, add the apples and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and cook about 5 minutes, turning the apples frequently. Then layer the partially cooked apples ~ butter, maple syrup and all ~ over the sausages.

Then I mix up the cornbread according to package directions and pour the batter evenly over the layer of apples.

Bake the casserole in a 400 degree oven for 22 to 25 minutes, until the cornbread is done and starting to brown, then remove it from the oven and drizzle with remaining pure maple syrup. Allow to sit about 5 minutes before serving.

To serve, cut into squares and serve with more maple syrup if desired. Our favorite way to eat this casserole, by far, is topped with an egg fried over-easy.

Piggy Pudding
adapted from the recipe by Paula Deen

PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 package of 12 Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Sausage Links (I use Turkey Sausage)
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 envelope Martha White Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix (which calls for 1/2 cup of milk and 1 egg) or you can use a small box of Jiffy brand cornbread mix prepared according to package directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray an 8-inch X 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Cut the cooked sausage links into pieces and spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the apples and 2 tablespoons of the 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, reserving the remaining syrup. Cook the apples for about 5 minutes, then layer evenly over the sausage pieces. If there is any remaining liquid in the frying pan, drizzle it over the apples.

Mix up the cornbread according to package directions and pour it evenly over the layer of apple slices.

Bake at 400 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes until the cornbread is done and just starts to brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle the remaining maple syrup evenly over the top of the casserole. Allow to sit for a few minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

Orange Dreamsicle Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 20:40:00 +0000

First, I would like to thank my foodie friend, Alison of Wish Upon a Chef for turning me on to this recipe.

As noted in her blog post, this recipe is not for purists. It contains two highly processed ingredients: a boxed cake mix and a box of bright colored jello. If these ingredients make your nose curl in disgust, simply hit your back button. I won't be offended.

However, if your response to those ingredients is something along the lines of, Well, that's sounds somewhat interesting. Please continue, well, stick around.

One of those highly processed, pre-packaged ingredients is a box of Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix. To be able to acquire a box of this specific cake mix, you must be lucky enough to live in a part of the country where this cake mix is readily available. I'm not. I have never been able to find this product in Conway, Arkansas, where I live.

But I loved the idea of making a cake that is reminiscent of the orange sherbet and vanilla 50-50 ice cream bar I used to buy from the guy who drove the ice cream truck through our neighborhood every summer afternoon during my childhood in the 1950's. So, since Alison's post over two years ago, I made sure to visit every grocery store in every city I've visited since then to see if I could find the elusive cake mix. I struck gold....er, orange....during a visit to my son's house in Savannah just before he moved to Florida almost a year ago and I bought two boxes. They've been sitting in my pantry ever since then.

It's been hot here...hot and sunny...which reminds me of growing up in Fresno, California, where temperatures reach well above 100 degrees daily all summer long, and I've been thinking about those 50-50 bars....and Alison's cake.

Alison adds flaked coconut to her icing and I did, too, but when I make it again, I think I'll leave it out. I love the creamy, silky vanilla icing in concert with the sweet orange of the cake and I thought the coconut was more of a distraction than an enhancement.

I also baked my cake in two 9" round cake pans instead of baking the cake in a 13" X 9" rectangle pan, mostly because the only plate I have large enough to hold a rectangle that size is a cookie sheet and...well...presentation IS everything and I'm just not a beautiful-cake-on-an-old-cookie-sheet kinda gal.

Orange Dreamsicle Cake
by Alison @ Wish Upon a Chef

PRINTABLE RECIPE

For the cake:

1 box Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix
1-1/4 cups orange juice
1/4 cup oil
1 small box orange jello
3 eggs

For the icing:

8 ounces heavy whipping cream
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup orange juice
1-1/4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I will leave this out next time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9"X13" baking pan or spray with cooking spray.

Pour all cake ingredients into a bowl and mix well (about 3 to 4 minutes). Pour batter evenly into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely before icing. (Alison's note: You can leave the cake in the pan and ice only the top, but I like to turn it out onto a cakeboard and slather a ton of icing on the top and sides)

For the icing: Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. While you continue to mix, slowly add the orange juice and confectioner's sugar whipping into to stiffer peaks.

Place the sour cream and coconut in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Gently fold the whipped cream into the coconut mixture until just combined. Smooth over cake and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Our New Internationl Food Store, Plus Thai Peanut Noodle Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:59:00 +0000

I'd read about it in Rachel's Rumors, a column in our local newspaper but quite frankly completely forgot about it until Tom and I were driving down a main road in our little town, heading toward the next county to purchase a bottle of white wine to serve with dinner and Tom yelled,"Hey! There's a new international food store!"

I didn't want to take my eyes off the road because I am, of course, a careful and conscientious driver, so I said, "Let's stop on the way back." I am so glad we did.

Comfort International Foods & More is a small store, but it's packed with lots of goodies, some familiar and some very unfamiliar. We very slowly and deliberately perused every aisle and shelf, reading the labels of cans and packages of vegetables, fruits, sauces, condiments, spices and dry goods.

The owner and her daughter were very patient with all of our questions about unfamiliar ingredients and products, explaining how to cook the unusual fresh produce items they carry and how some of the ingredients are used in traditional African dishes. Amongst the couscous, various rices and beans, Tom came across an item we'd never heard of: Fufu flour. According to the owner's daughter, the flour is made into a paste and, with the fingers, dipped into a sauce, soup or stew for additional flavor. As she described the dining ritual, Tom remembered seeing something similar in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Who would have ever thought we'd have the opportunity and the ingredients to recreate such a culinary experience right here in our little town in central Arkansas? We are a town of Walmart and Kroger. Not many international culinary adventures going on here.

I didn't purchase anything exotic this time. I bought a large bag of red jasmine and wild rice and a large package of Chinese noodles labeled "Family Noodles." But the store also carries unusual and intriguing items like goat meat and cow feet. I remembered somewhere in the movie, Julie & Julia, the character of Julie Powell needed a cow foot for a dish she was preparing from Julia Child's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but, for the life of me, I couldn't remember the dish she was going to make....until I got home and looked it up. Aspic. Beef jello. Um. No, thank you. But I'm really toying with the idea of making something with goat meat.

I cooked the red jasmine rice first in some chicken broth for a simple steamed preparation. It was nutty and flavorful.

The large package of dry Chinese noodles resembles the ramen noodles that are sold in individual packages with "flavor packets," except the Chinese noodles are of much better quality. Like you, I buy Top Ramen occasionally, but I always throw the seasoning packet away...way too salty for me. Sometimes for lunch I'll boil just the noodles in chicken broth, add a few shredded carrots, a handful of broccoli or cabbage coleslaw mix, some slices green onions or whatever vegetables I have on hand. It makes a nice soup. But without the other ingredients, the ramen noodles have kind of an "off" taste to me. The Chinese noodles I bought at Comfort International Foods & More are packaged stacked in sixteen individual servings, perfect for an individual soup lunch or using two or three for a salad or noodle side dish for dinner.

Sunday night I made this Teriyaki Chicken and decided to use some of the noodles I had purchased in a Thai Peanut Noodle Salad.

Thai Peanut Noodle Salad

1 package spaghetti or linguine noodles (I used three individual rounds of the Chinese noodles I purchased at Comfort International Foods & More)
1 small bag cabbage coleslaw mix
1 bag broccoli slaw mix
6 green onions, sliced thin
1/4 cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

For the Thai Peanut Salad Dressing:

3/4 cup peanut butter
juice of 1 lime
3 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar (you can use cider vinegar instead)
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup roasted peanut oil (I cannot find this product here, so I order it online at Famous Foods. You can use vegetable oil, but the roasted peanut oil makes all the difference in the flavor.)
2 to 3 teaspoons of sriracha chili sauce (sriracha is hot, so proceed with caution and taste as you go)
2 tablespoons water

For the dressing, put all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Remember to add the sriracha a little at time to get the amount of heat desired. Set aside.

Boil the noodles in salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse in cold water. Drain well again and transfer to a large bowl. Add the prepared salad dressing and mix well.

Add all of your vegetables to the noodles and toss well to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts if desired.

Roasted Potato Salad and Date Pudding Cobbler

noreply@blogger.com (Terri) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 16:40:00 +0000

After the whirlwind month of May, I'm back from vacation.

I spent a week on Anna Maria Island (Florida) with my youngest son's family, a week in the San Francisco Bay Area with my oldest son's family and a weekend in Fayetteville for my nephew's wedding. My trips included 5 days of driving and 3 days of flying, one of my flight days interrupted by flight cancellations due to weather. Whew!

It was a great vacation, but I'm glad to be home and back in the kitchen.

I made these ribs for dinner last night and served them with a Roasted Potato Salad and a simple tomato, cucumber, onion and artichoke heart salad marinated in a vinaigrette.

While I was in Florida, my son made his delicious version of potato salad. As he was putting it together, he called out the ingredients as I quickly noted them in my iPhone. I've already made this salad twice since then -- once while in San Francisco and again for last evening's dinner.

When I was in local grocery store on Tuesday, I picked up a bag of beautiful purple potatoes and used them with the Yukon gold potatoes called for in the recipe.

For this salad, the potatoes are roasted instead of boiled and the dressing is a cross between a mayonnaise and vinaigrette -- a little creamy, a little tangy but with a little bite. And, of course, you can't go wrong with bacon.

Chris' Roasted Potato Salad
PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

7 small to medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
5 green onions, sliced thin
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease)
1 small container crumbled Blue cheese

For the dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used reduced fat)
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons grated prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon reserved bacon grease

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the cut up potatoes in a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle lightly with the salt and pepper. Mix until all the potatoes are lightly covered.

Place the potatoes in an even layer on a large cookie sheet and bake 35 to 40 minutes until done. You should be able to easily pierce the potato with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the potatoes are roasting, fry the bacon until crisp (I cut up the strips of bacon before frying). Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel, reserving bacon grease.

To make the dressing, put all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well until smooth.

Place the cooled potatoes in a large bowl. Add the cooked and crumbled bacon, green onions and crumbled blue cheese and toss to combine. Add the dressing and toss the salad until all the ingredients are coated well.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

The Date Pudding Cobbler isn't really a pudding or a cobbler. It's a very moist, gooey cake-like concoction.

I was looking for something tasty for last night's dessert, but I didn't want to run to the store for anything, so I started scouring my cookbooks and recipes for something that would use what I already had on hand. I already had the staples: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, etc. I had some medjool dates leftover from when I made these scones and a few walnut pieces. And there was an unopened tub of Cool Whip in the freezer. Cool.

I used all of my remaining medjool dates, which measured just over 1 cup after seeding and chopping. That was the only change I made to the recipe.

Date Pudding Cobbler
PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

1 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups packed brown sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cold butter
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
3/4 cup chopped dates (I used just a little over 1 cup)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (I think pecans would be good, too)
1 cup water
Whipped cream or Cool Whip and ground cinnamon if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with butter or cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and the baking powder with a whisk. Cut in the butter until it is crumbly.

Add the dates and walnuts and toss to combine.

Gradually add the milk a little at a time mixing until combined.

In a saucepan, combine the water and remaining 1 cup brown sugar and bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the date mixture and mix well (the batter will be thin).

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes (mine took 40 minutes) or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool.

Cut into squares and serve topped with a little whipped cream or Cool Whip and a sprinkling of cinnamon.