Roasted Paprika Chicken and Gravy

August 31, 2015

Have you ever been to the grocery store and found chicken on a “Manager’s Special”? It usually means they want to move the chicken out of store because they have a sell by date that is that day or the next, so they mark it way down… That was the case with today’s Sunday dinner. I went to the market and found a big family size package of chicken drum sticks (10 in all) for $4.11. I mean, how do you pass up a price like that? That’s like a $1.50 per pound.

So, I decided to take it home and make it into a lovely meal. This dish is simple to put together with just 7 ingredients you probably have in your pantry already. This recipe will work with any cut of chicken… if you find thighs at a good price, use those, breast, use those… But, I have to warn you, you may start making this meal even if the chicken isn’t on sale because aside from being inexpensive, it’s also super yummy! With Crispy roasted skin that is pan seared first and a lush gravy over the top combined with melt in your mouth onions, mmmm. I chose to plate my chicken on a platter of plain white rice, but you could certainly whip up some mashed potatoes or cous cous, or even buttered noodles. I put it right on the platter mainly so it could soak up some of the silky gravy.

I should also mention that this chicken is on the table in under an hour and uses only one pan! Let me show you what I did…

Look at all this chicken!

Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Then sprinkle with Hungarian Paprika. Hungarian Paprika is one of my most favorite ingredients, it’s got a nice heat to it that isn’t overwhelming. However, if you don’t have Hungarian Paprika handy, just take some plain, run of the mill, sweet paprika and add a little cayenne pepper to it and you’ve got something pretty similar. (1 Tbs paprika + 1/4 tsp. cayenne)

In a heated skillet with about 1/8 cup of olive oil, place chicken seasoned side down.

Then repeat the seasoning process on the other side of the chicken as the first side is cooking.

Slice up a large onion… I have to tell you, I only used one onion, but you could definitely use two if you prefer, yum.

Slice up some garlic… My garlic was on some kind of steroids I think, so I just used one clove, but if you are using normal size garlic, you can use 3 cloves.

Turn the chicken in the skillet until each side looks lovely and golden brown just so.

Then add in your onions.

And your garlic.

Then just before you are ready to put it in the oven, drizzle with a bit more olive oil.

This is what you should see.

Now place a lid on it and place in an oven heated to 350°F for 35-40 mins. (I should note that if your skillet is not oven safe, you may want to transfer to a baking dish at this point, cover with foil)

When it comes out of the oven, you should see that the meat is ready to fall off the bone.

On a family sized platter, make a bed of rice (or mashed potatoes or cous cous or buttered noodles)

Place chicken on rice and tent with foil while you make the gravy.

When you remove the chicken from the skillet, you will have a good amount of liquid left… this will be the base for your gravy.

There is one additional ingredient needed for the gravy… a heaping spoonful of corn starch. That’s it.

Be sure the heat has been off and wisk the cornstarch in to incorporate into your drippings until there are no lumps left.

You should see a nice smooth liquid. Now turn the heat to medium and constantly wisk.

When your gravy gets to this consistency, you could either thin out with a bit of water or if its thickened to your liking, then serve.

I like to pour the gravy right onto the platter.

Recipe for Roasted Paprika Chicken and Gravy:

(Serves 5-6)

3-4 lbs. chicken drum sticks (or thighs)

1/8 cup olive oil

1 large onion, thickly sliced

3 cloves garlic, sliced

1 tsp. Hungarian Paprika

kosher salt

For gravy:

pan drippings

1 heaping Tbs. corn starch

1/2 cup water

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle one side of raw chicken with kosher salt and paprika. In a heated skillet add in 1/8 cup olive oil. Next add in chicken, seasoned side down. Once chicken is in the pan, season the other side that should be facing up. Allow chicken to crisp up and become golden brown on all sides turning as needed, but not too often.

To the browned chicken add onions and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Once the chicken comes out of the oven, set aside and tent with foil.

Drippings will remain in your skillet. With the heat off, add in 1 heaping Tbs. corn starch. Wisk in until there are no lumps. Turn heat on to medium and continue to wisk until thickened. If too thick, add in water. Wisk another few seconds. Pour over chicken.

*note: This is a gluten-free recipe.

Surf’s Up Birthday Party

August 27, 2015

Following the party each guest got this image on a card thanking them for coming to his party!

(image by Picture People)

My baby boy turned 3 years old this month! I honestly don’t know where the time has gone. One day I was picking out fabric for the nursery and before you know it, he is a walking talking boy. For his first birthday, I created a giant Candy Land game that the kids could actually walk through like a little obstacle course for a one year old. For his second, it was all about his very favorite, Thomas the Tank Engine. We are lucky that his birthday is in August and we (knock on wood) have always had great luck with the weather. So this year, I decided he would have a Surf’s Up beach theme. In order to create this, I knew I needed two things… a beach and water.

At the center of my design is a hand-made beach. I approached the water on three fronts. My parents offered to host the party and they have a yard large enough for everything I wanted to do. They already have a pool, so that was water feature number one. BUt, this is a party for a 3-year-old and if I wanted him to have fun while we still were able to host the party we needed to have more than that. So we had a smaller scale kiddie pool as the second water feature. And for the third , we ordered a giant bouncer with a water slide attached! All of it was a hit.

But not only cool water activities does a party make. We also had a big spread of food. I actually kept it pretty simple for the food. We served hamburgers, hot dogs and Salsa Lime BBQ Chicken Skewers hot off the grill. We did a couple of super simple sandwiches… My mom made her Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches, and I made some super fun “Crab Stuffed Crab” sandwiches. On the side we served corn on the cob, Stacy’s Best Potato Salad, Shells Pasta Salad and Veggie Straws (my kids favorite). For dessert, cake and ice cream, Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles, a watermelon and blueberry salad inside a watermelon cut out into a shark and Shark Attack Jello.

In addition, we had some special activities for the little ones. You can’t have a beach without sand castle building. So I made a board for magnetic sand castles. We had an extra little bouncer with a ball pit for the under 5 crowd that was shaped like a castle. Instead of throwing a football on the beach, we had a football pinata. And lastly we had a magnetic fishing game.

Oh, and I don’t want to forget to mention that my husband made up a great playlist for the party of the Beach Boy’s Greatest Hits! Music is always important no matter the function!

I hope you enjoy taking a look at my party creativity…

To make the beach, I sewed 25 yards of fabric together and pinned it down with landscaping staples. I lined the beach with palm trees I made from pool noodles I wrapped in packing paper and green fabric mesh.

The kids loved it!

My sand castle board was a sheet of sheet metal a friend of mine procured for me. Then I grabbed a bunch of sand paper and some sparkly foam for fun and got to cutting. I backed each piece with some self stick magnets and walla.

Even some of the bigger kids had fun in the kiddie pool with the little ones.

Got to remember beach balls… this one is a giant!

The pool was a big hit of course… I neglected to take a picture of it, but with a party this size I though it important to make a “pool rules” sign. Mainly, no kids in the pool without adult supervision.

And there it is… the Bouncer/Water slide! The kids had a ball with this one!

And the little ones loved this one too!

This was the only thing I needed to cook during the party.

Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches

Crab Stuffed Crab sandwiches

Aren’t they cute?

All of m serving trays and bowls were beach themed.

We used sand pails for serving bowls where ever we could and conveniently they come with a little shovel to scoop out the goods… Here you see the Shells Pasta Salad, Stacy’s Best Potato Salad, and Veggie Straws. Also, decorating the table is original art work from my big 3-year-old! Painted shells and a lovely colored fish!

Shells Pasta Salad: Cooked large shells pasta, mini motzerella balls, grape tomatoes and fresh basil. For the dressing just a simple oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper with a touch of dried italian seasoning.

Shells Pasta Salad: Caprese Style Pasta Salad – Cooked large shells pasta, mini mozzarella balls, grape tomatoes and fresh basil. For the dressing just a simple oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper with a touch of dried italian seasoning.

Stacy’s Best Potato Salad

Veggie Straws served as “pool noodles”… if you will notice my card holder… it’s just three wooden dowels cut to varying sizes and tied with rope as though they are little dock posts.

Sand Dollar Snickerdoodles.

Yum!

My sister and brother-in-law were assigned with the task of creating this bad boy… I think they did a stellar job!

“Da da, Da da, Da da…” Shark attack jello… at the other end of that shark fin is a little spoon!

Did I mention we also had a snack table???

Fish as “Shark Bait”

"Chum" My own little Chex Mix... Chex Cereal with different gummie sea creatures mixed in!

“Chum” My own little Chex Mix… Chex Cereal with different gummy sea creatures mixed in!

“Beach Balls” Peppermint candies… the kind that are all puffy and melt in your mouth, yum!

"Surf Boards" aka sugar waffers... and I didn't get a good picture of it, but in the background you'll see I used Triscuits as "Rafts"

“Surf Boards” aka sugar wafers… and I didn’t get a good picture of it, but in the background you’ll see I used Triscuits as “Rafts”

Bring on the waves! Here is my 3 year old’s Wave cake!

This was the first year he understood how to blow out his own candles! Yay!

How to blow one of the party favors is another story LOL

Having a so much fun!

Football Pinata!

Woah!

Fishing!

This game is just simple fish cut out of foam paper with a couple of paper clips attached… then I secured a magnet to the end of some twine and tied that to the end on half a real fishing pole… You could use a stick 🙂

(image by Picture People)

Following the party each guest got this image on a card thanking them for coming to his party! (image by Picture People)

All in all, the most important thing is that my boy had a blast at his birthday party. It had been quite the build up… the entire month of July was filled with an excited almost 3-year-old telling everyone who would listen that his birthday was on its way! We made sure he had a nice long nap just before the event and off he went, he was the life of the party! I hope you enjoyed seeing all my ideas… I have to give a big thank you to my parents for hosting this fun day and my many helpful family and friends without whom it never would have all come together!

Stacy’s Blueberry Mojitos

August 27, 2015August 28, 2015

There is no more refreshing summer cocktail than a Mojito… Not too sweet, just a little tang and just the right amount of alcohol to, well, to not taste like alcohol. This blueberry Mojito was inspired by a local restaurant that was right on the water and charged me $10.50 for one drink… I had to try to recreate it… What I did was take the inspiration and ran with it adding in little touches that appealed to me. I love blueberries and this time of year is a great time to pick some up at farm stands everywhere. And an entire pitcher doesn’t come near $10.50!

Soon, I was serving it at parties and gatherings with friends and it became a frequently requested treat! My friend Jennifer recently hosted a girlfriend of ours, Virginie, from Paris and we had a little get together, so I made a fresh pitcher right at her house! Take a look…

I started off by making a simple syrup. Just one cup of white sugar and one cup of water.

Bring it to a boil and let it cool.

I brought over some freshly cut mint from my garden. Tear up about half of these leaves and save some for garnishing individual glasses.

Three fresh limes.

I cut up two of them into 8 chunks each… I saved one lime to slice into individual glasses as garnish.

This is my favorite Mojito pitcher! Isn’t it pretty with all the blue and green running through it? I gave it a quick wash and it’s ready… I mix everything right in the pitcher, no need to dirty a bowl… If you are making this for a party, i would suggest a large bowl so that you can refill… but, we are just having a small get together.

Plop the limes into the pitcher, squeezing them as they go in.

Jen didn’t have a wooden spoon handy, so I used a regular utility spoon to start the muddling process. To muddle, you are basically just squishing everything down.

Add in mint and continue to muddle everything together

Add in one quart of freshly washed blueberries and continue to muddle. You want to work it so that about half the blueberries are popped open.

Add in mint and continue to muddle everything together.

Add in about half of the simple syrup and continue to muddle.

Add the rum in with what you have muddled so far and stir. At this point, refrigerate for about an hour or so. Make sure you are using white rum, no spiced rum in these babies.

To finish off your mixture, add in sparkling water and stir.

To this mixture, add in a few cups of ice.

Add some ice to the glass and pour.

Recipe for Stacy’s Blueberry Mojitos:

(serves 6-10)

1/2 cup simple syrup

1 quart blueberries, washed

3 limes

1 bunch fresh mint, about 8-10 sprigs

1 liter lime sparkling water

1 cup white rum

Directions:

Prepare the simple syrup by bringing one cup of sugar and one cup of water to a boil and cooling. Also, keep sparkling water refrigerated until it is time to add in.

Cut 2 limes into 8 chunks each. Slice the remaining lime into circles for garnishing. Strip 3-4 sprigs of mint and tear the leaves. Reserve the remaining mint sprigs for garnishing.

In a pitcher muddle all the fruit and mint together with a wooden spoon. Add in simple syrup and rum, stir. refrigerate mixture for at least one hour or up to a day.

When ready to serve, add in sparkling water. Add 3-4 cups of ice and serve. Garnish with lime circles and mint and add in ice to each glass.

*This is a gluten-free recipe if using Cruzan rum.

Farmer’s Market Chicken & White Bean Soup

August 23, 2015August 24, 2015

I simply love this time of year. Harvest is starting to come in, we are nearing the end of the hot days and looking into Indian Summer. The farm stands are all stocked and Farmer’s Markets are booming! I had the occasion to visit a local Farmer’s Market today and I feel like I struck gold with the beautiful vegetables that made their way to my kitchen..

I love going to a Farmer’s Market with nothing in mind at all. I let the freshness of the produce sweep me into a frenzy of creativity. Today, I left the house with a fresh chicken stock cooling on the stove, so I did have a little bit of direction… cooked chicken and wonderful stock. When I returned home, I found that I had some gorgeous native carrots some almost red in color, others purple! I got some cool crisp green beans and a few other things that will be heading onto my dinner plate later this week.

As for today, both my son and my daughter each have a little case of the sniffles. So, I thought it appropriate to come up with a sort of chicken soup. They are both big fans of chicken, carrots and green beans and with a few more ingredients to include cannelloni beans for a little extra protein, yummy egg noodles for their velvety heartiness along with some onions, celery and some fresh and dried herbs and we were good to go. Let me show you what I did…

Aren’t they beautiful? Orange, purple and a deep orangey red… all of them are super fresh and super sweet.

A fresh basket of green beans, yum.

Look how gorgeous these are.

Saute in a little touch of olive oil.

Add in a diced onion.

Chop up some celery.

Add your celery into the saute.

Cut a few sprigs of thyme.

Add your stock to the pot along with a few of these sprigs of thyme.

Here are my farm fresh green beans.

Chop them up... I do a pretty small chip for my kids, you can cerainly chop to whatever size suits you.

Chop them up… I do a pretty small chip for my kids, you can certainly chop to whatever size suits you.

These egg noodles are considered a nice smooth starch.

Add in a pinch of salt, crack some fresh black pepper and add in your Herbs de Provence.

Add in your white beans.

Then cover.

I like to chop and then shred the chicken a bit.

Allow to simmer for a few minutes so all the flavors can really marry.

Recipe for Farmer’s Market Chicken & White Bean Soup:

(serves 6-8)

1 cooked chicken breast

2 native carrots, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup green beans, chopped

3 cups dry extra wide egg noodles

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed 8 cups prepared chicken stock

.1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil for sauteing

Directions:

Saute onions, carrots and celery in olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add in a pinch of kosher salt. Once tender, add in chicken stock. Bring to a boil over high heat. Then add in green beans, beans, egg noodles, salt, pepper, thyme and Herbs de Provence, cover and reduce to med/low heat. After about 10 minutes add in the chicken. Continue to cook until noodles are tender and chicken is heated through. Taste for salt and pepper.

Sausage Stuffed Peppers

August 21, 2015August 21, 2015

Bell peppers and I have had a tumultuous past. As a kid I hated all of them, but someone once told me that every 7 years your taste buds change. In my case this is definitely true. I still don’t care much for the green bell peppers, but the red, orange and yellow ones are super sweet and really lovely. I think one of the reasons for my aversion to bell peppers started when I would try to eat the traditional stuffed bell pepper, over cooked mushy green bell pepper with some pretty bland ground beef, rice and tomato sauce… Now that I have an appreciation for this fine vegetable and we are in the time of year that they are popping out of people’s gardens across the nation, I decided to give the bell pepper the status it deserves. So, I created the Sausage Stuffed Pepper!

In this beautiful little pepper you will find not only lean ground beef, but hot Italian sausage, brown rice, onions, tomato sauce and my secret ingredient… Swiss cheese. I decided to keep the ingredients super simple and let the sausage do most of the work for me. It’s a super simple and delicious dinner to get on the table to spice things up. And as a mom, I have to tell ya, I love it when a fully balanced meal is all in one tidy package like this.

Now, my husband is still at odds with the poor little bell pepper, so I simply took some of the filling and placed it in an individual casserole dish for him. If you have pepper haters in your life or just want to try something different, this filling can be placed in a hollowed out zucchini, eggplant or ooooo spaghetti squash, yum. It’s super versatile and easy to work with. Give it a try!

The recipe I am going to go through with you is for my small family, so I am only making three peppers and a small casserole as I mentioned… but, you can absolutely double or triple without a problem… You could even double and freeze half if you like…

Start with some lean ground beef, the sausage will provide plenty of fat. I use half a pound. Start this sauteing in a large skillet over medium heat.

Then I used three hot Italian sausages… If you don’t care for spicy food, you could certainly use mild, it will be super yummy too!

I cut down the side to remove the casing.

Give one medium onion a medium dice.

This is a small can of plain tomato sauce. You will use half now and half when you bake and serve.

You’ll want to shred up about a cup for the filling.

then you’ll want to shred up some more for the topping.

Brown up your ground beef while breaking up and browning your sausage meat.

Add your onions right in while you are doing this.

Let them get all nice and brown and lovely in the pan.

Add in about a cup and a half of cooked brown rice. (this is great to do when you have left over rice from dinner the night before… you might even cook a bit extra if you know this is your plan… saves you a step)

Once all combined, I like to transfer to a bowl to cool it a bit. If you want to stick to the pan, that’s fine too, less dishes.

Add in half a small can of tomato sauce.

Combine.

Then add in your cup of cheese and mix in… if your mixture is super hot, you will have to work quickly here so that the cheese doesn’t all clump together.

Once combined, just taste for salt and add a pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Here are my peppers, aren’t they pretty? Notice, I left out the green 🙂

You’ll want to cut off the top and remove the seeds from both top and bottom. I try and cut just the very top so there is lots of room for stuffing.

They are all ready, you don’t need to do anything to the insides other than remove those seeds.

Now to prepare the baking dish, I put in some olive oil. (This baking dish I am using is stone, if you are using a metal baking dish, be sure to really coat with a non-stick cooking spray or a bit more oil)

And about half of what is remaining in that small can of tomato sauce… I like to reserve some for serving.

Place the peppers in the pan standing up.

Fill each one evenly.

It’s great if you over stuff a bit.

Then top with your remaining cheese. Pile it on, don’t be shy.

Pop the top back on and it’s ready to go into your preheated 350°F oven for about half an hour. (I like my pepper a bit on the firm side and the filling is fully cooked so that’s just really getting heated through. If you like a softer pepper, go for 45 minutes, etc, until you get the pepper to the consistency you like)

And this is what you get when they come out of the oven… Still firm enough to stand up and hold the filling and heated to perfection.

Recipe for Sausage Stuffed Peppers:

(serves 3-4)

1/2 lb. lean ground beef

3 Hot Italian Sausage links, removed from casing

1 medium onion, diced

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 small can tomato sauce, divided

1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded

3 bell peppers, seeded

kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

1 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a skillet brown the ground beef, sausage and onion over medium heat. Once fully browned and onions are soft, add in cooked brown rice. Combine and transfer to a mixing bowl for easier handling. Add in 1/2 can of tomato sauce. Combine. Add in 1 cup of shredded cheese. Combine.

Prepare peppers by cutting off the top and removing the seeds from the top and bottom. Prepare a baking dish by adding in the olive oil and 1/2 of the remaining tomato sauce. Spread.

Add filling to each pepper, overstuffing if possible. Top with remaining cheese. Add on the top of each pepper. Bake for 30-45 minutes uncovered.

Serve with remaining tomato sauce, Enjoy!

*This is a gluten-free recipe.

“UP!” Birthday Party

August 20, 2015August 21, 2015

I had the pleasure of attending this little girl’s second birthday party this summer. Her name is Kaedence and she and her mother and father are very good friends of our family. Her mother, my girlfriend Lisa, and I share a love for designing and throwing a detail rich party aimed at making sure that not only the adults at the party have a great time, but that the little guest of honor and all her little friends especially have the best time!

Lisa chose the movie UP! for her inspiration this year! She went to town on balloons and rainbows galore and added in special touches straight from the movie. Some of the touches were literal and some were a play on the theme… But, first she set the stage with making sure the backdrop of the party would go right along with things! Let me show you how she did it!

In keeping with the Up! theme, Lisa sent her husband, Carlos, up to the roof of the house with a helium tank and a bag of balloons to get started on this special project! (I think here is where I am supposed to give you a “don’t try this at home” or a “before attempting to scale your roof, speak with your doctor first” warning!)

A welcoming display as people cross the breezeway to enter the back yard. Lisa took Kaedence for a photo shoot before the party and painted an inexpensive frame to match!

She made sure that her landscaping and flower beds and pots were color coordinated with the rainbow theme!

Such interesting displays throughout the yard.

My daughter was checking it all out!

There was the “Spirit of Adventure” with a “Happy Birthday Kaedence” burlap banner moving across it.

A waterfall.

This guy.

Painted wine bottles were turned into "Grape Soda" centerpieces holding baloons.

Painted wine bottles were turned into “Grape Soda” centerpieces holding balloons.

I made a two tier cake designed by Lisa that contained two rainbows… as you can see the rainbows have pink in place of red… with some rainbow balloons atop the cake. The top tier was covered in butter cream, but she wanted the bottom tier with raw edges to show off the rainbow-colored layers. (psst… check out the squirrel hanging out by the cake! “Squirrel!…”)

Even the top tier that was covered was rainbow inside!

She wanted to make sure that each piece was served with all 7 layers!

Food was all set up atop a balloon printed table covering.

Fruit kabobs… super colorful!

Rainbow Popcorn!

There were fun activities to be had!

The girls had lots of fun with these hoola hoops! And check out the birthday girl’s cute outfit! Lisa made the tutu herself!

There was a picture booth setup with the waterfall behind it… Some of the props here are a wilderness sash and yellow ball cap, glasses and mustaches.

We had lots of fun with that!

Over at the gift table, there was a mailbox ready for cards…

And check out these favors! Each child got a little mailbox that Lisa hand painted with their name on it, they also got an adventure book and a candy bar… oh and a balloon!

A plain chocolate bar served as “Snipe Food” for the kids to take home.

She painted the outside of each cloth book and it gave the effect of leather… and notice the little gold trim detail.

Just a little photo album, but kid’s can have lots of fun with this one all summer!

(Lisa, shown here on the right, is even wearing her take on a scout costume)

And everyone at the party received this special party favor… Little Miss Kaedence flying away wishing everyone a summer full of adventures!

Portuguese Onion Medley (Cebolada)

August 19, 2015August 19, 20157 Comments

My father attended a Portuguese Catholic Elementary school when he was a boy after he and his family moved to Fall River, Massachusetts from St. Michael, Azores in Portugal. He recalled for me that every day he and his siblings (he had 8) would return home for lunch and Cebolada was almost always on the menu. My Vavó would serve it along with chouriço and a fresh Portuguese pop-sec (bread roll).

Although my mother’s family came from a totally opposite side St. Michael, she told me that her mother would make this quite often as well… She said that her favorite time of year to make Cebolada was in the summer when she had lots of fresh tomatoes coming out of the garden. My mother said she remembers her mother either eating Cebolada as is or over a left over piece of fried fish.

Cebolada is a quintessential Portuguese staple. All the flavors that you will find in almost any Portuguese dish is concentrated right here in this recipe. Many, like my grandmother will eat Cebolada just as is and it’s a great vegetarian dish just so. I personally love Cebolada over some velvety soft, boiled yams and make it each and every year as a side on my Thanksgiving table. A cousin of mine says that her mother always pairs Cebolada with crabs. But, more often than not, Cebolada is used to stretch food, either left overs or if only a little protein is had. And of course I can’t be certain, but my guess is that this was the original intention of the dish.

I start off with 3 large onions.

Peel the onions leaving them whole.

Then slice up some fairly thick slices.

You will want to cover the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil.

Place your onions in the skillet over medium heat…

Add in a pinch of kosher salt.

Slow cooking is key here, this is not something that can be rushed.

While the onions are cooking… prep your remaining ingredients…

I am using two fresh from the garden, ripe tomatoes. Any type of tomato will do here. Whatever you have on hand is fine.

Today I have decided to dice them up pretty largely. You can go smaller or you could slice in rounds, it’s totally up to you… In the winter when tomatoes aren’t fresh I use either a diced can tomato or a whole Roma tomato that i break up by hand… or sometimes I will just use a tomato sauce… so just do what you like best!

Three cloves of garlic… please use fresh here, it makes a difference as there are only 4 ingredients and two seasonings.

I dice/mince the garlic.

When the onions start to get soft, you know you are ready for the next step.

Add in your garlic.

I put in only about a half a tsp. of Portuguese Allspice.

Once you have given the garlic a minute to play with the onions, add in your tomatoes.

Then drop in two heaping Tbs. of wet ground red pepper. You want to be careful here though, you really need to know your ingredients… I put in two Tbs. because I like the flavor and my pepper is not particularly spicy, if yours is be conscious of that… Also, be aware of the salt content.

Stir it right in and lower your heat to about a medium/low.

Keep at it, stirring every few minutes so that nothing sticks to the pan and the flavors will really start to meld. Once everything starts to mush together a bit and the onions are starting to break down and melt, you are done… Check for salt and serve.

Recipe for Cebolada:

(serves 4-6)

3 large onions, sliced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 heaping Tbs. mild wet ground red pepper

1/8 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp. Portuguese Allspice

1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste as needed

Directions:

Saute onions (add salt to onions) in olive oil over medium heat until softened and pliable. Add in garlic, saute for another minute. Add in Allspice and pepper. Add in tomatoes. Turn down heat to medium/low. Continue to saute, stirring every few minutes until onions appear to be breaking down and tomatoes are soft. Taste for salt, add if needed. Serve.

Enjoy!

My favorite way to eat:

As I mentioned, I love to serve mine over yams… not sweet potatoes, yams. I boil them in salted water, then toss them in the emptied skillet I just used to make the Cebolada and fry them in olive oil for about two minutes and serve.

Add on the Cebolada and Yum!!!

Beef Burrito Casserole with Pico de Gallo

August 17, 2015August 17, 2015

I love a good burrito, but I must confess, I don’t always have the time to make each one out separately. Sometimes, it’s just easier to throw it all together and make what is essentially one giant burrito… A Beef Burrito Casserole!

Filled with fresh veggies, lean ground beef, protein packed beans, cheese, brown rice and whole wheat flour tortilla, you’ve got everything thing you need to make a balanced meal in one 9×13″ casserole dish! And all in under 30 minutes from start to finish!

Top this plate off with a dollop of sour cream and a nice fresh Pico de Gallo. I like to start with the Pico de Gallo so the flavors have time to hang out together a bit while I prepare the rest.

This meal is perfect for hungry families, company and pot lucks! Once you make it once, it is sure to become a family favorite that you will find yourself making time and time again!

I start by dicing half a large red onion.

Then I like to soak it in water to take the bite out of the onion.

While your onions are soaking, gather up about a dozen grape tomatoes… if you only have cherry that’s fine too…

Chop them up to a medium dice… I like grape tomatoes because aside from them being super sweet, they are also low in liquid.

Drain water from the tomatoes and start building your Pico de Gallo.

Add the tomatoes in with your onions.

Chop up a good handful of cilantro.

Chop up a good handful of cilantro

Add in with onions and tomatoes.

Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Now my little surprise add in is some pickled hot peppers.

Chop them up and add them in to your mixture.

To finish it off grab a lime.

Add the juice of half a lime.

And here you have it, fresh Pico de Gallo. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit until it’s time to top your plate.

Now we can start building our spice mix:

You can make a spice mix big enough for this one casserole or multiply the amounts in the recipe below and keep your burrito spice mix in a mason jar. It can then be used for burritos, tacos and any manner of Tex-mex and Mexican dishes. And, if you can’t have time or all of the necessary spices, you can always pick up a burrito seasoning packet from the supermarket (I won’t tell anybody).

Mix it all up and it’s ready to add in to your casserole.

Now start prepping your ingredients for your filling:

Start off by dicing one medium onion.

Grab a red bell pepper. Halve and seed it.

Slice it up.

Dice it.

Now bring a large skillet to a medium/high heat.

Brown up some ground beef.

To the meat, add in about half the seasoning mix.

Once browned, move the meat to one side of the pan… You can always remove from the pan, but to me this is easier than getting another bowl dirty.

Add the onions and peppers into the other half of the pan and start to saute.

Open up a can of pickled jalapeno. These are not only easier to use than dealing with chopping up fresh jalapeno, but I like the brine that comes along with it.

Add in a big spoon full of the jalapenos, reserving the rest with the liquid in the can.

Stir it all in together.

Rinse off some canned or frozen black beans.

Add in the black beans.

Rinse off some pinto beans.

Add them in.

I would normally use corn on the cob, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I opened up a can of corn to add in.

Add in about half a bottle of beer. This is a light Mexican beer.

Open up the tomato sauce. Add it into your mixture.

Add in about 2 cups of cooked brown rice. (any rice will do)

Mix everything together and let simmer for about 10 minutes to cook out the alcohol and allow the flavors to mingle a bit.

Once the filling is all set, it’s time to build your casserole:

Grab some medium whole wheat tortillas. I normally really like plain flour tortillas, but I find that these hold up well in this dish and you really can’t taste the flavor difference, so why not go with the healthier option?

Pour about 1/4 cup of olive oil into your casserole dish. Be sure to coat the bottom and sides of your dish.

Now line your pan, bottom and sides with the tortillas.

Pour in your filling.

Add on a layer of shredded cheddar cheese.

Now gently start folding in the edges of the tortillas all the way around.

Add a layer of tortillas to the top being sure to cover all the mixture.

What you essentially have now is a giant burritos in your casserole dish.

You should find that coming up around the edges is some pools of olive oil, use that to brush right on top of your burritos.

Once that is all set, you will need to make a quick sauce and top it:

Take what is remaining of your tomato sauce and add it into a bowl.

Then add in the remainder of the peppers in with that.

To that add in a pinch of kosher salt.

Then some fresh cracked black pepper and that’s it! Just stir together and top your casserole.

Spread the sauce all over the top.

Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.

When it’s time to serve, top with some sour cream and your freshly made Pico de Gallo! Enjoy!

Recipe for Beef Burrito Casserole:

(serves 6-8)

1 1/4 ground beef, browned

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can pinto beans, rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 onion, diced (small dice)

1 red bell pepper, diced (small dice)

2 cups brown rice, cooked

1 can chiles, divided

1 can tomato sauce, divided

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

9-10 medium tortilla wraps (whole wheat or plain flour)

Taco spice mix (recipe to follow)

For sauce topping:

1/2 can of tomato sauce

1/2 can of jalapeno

pinch of salt

fresh cracked black pepper

For Taco spice mix:

1 Tbs. cumin

1 Tbs. paprika

1 Tbs. kosher salt

1 Tbs. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. Hungarian paprika

For Pico de Gallo:

1/2 red onion, diced and soaked

12 grape tomatoes, diced

handful of cilantro, chopped

3 Tbs. hot pepper rings, chopped finely

Juice of half a lime

kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare Pico de Gallo: Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Cover and set aside.

Prepare spice mix: Add all spices into a bowl, stir and set aside.

Prepare filling: Saute ground beef and brown. Add in half the spice mix and stir. Once browned and seasoned, push to one side of the pan. On the other side of the pan, add a little olive oil and saute the onions and peppers until tender. Add in one spoon full of canned jalapeno. Combine with the meat.

Add in beans, corn and rice. Then add in half a can of tomato sauce and half a bottle of beer. Add in the remaining spice mix. Once the filling is prepared, set aside and prepare the casserole dish.

In a 9″x13″ casserole dish, add in about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Line the dish with tortillas being sure to go up the sides of the pan. Add in filling and top with cheese. Fold the tortilla sides in and cover the top with tortillas. Brush with olive oil.

Prepare the sauce: To a small bowl add in the remainder of the tomato sauce, the remainder of the jalapenos, a pinch of salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Stir.

Top the casserole with the sauce. Bake for 45 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and Pico de Gallo.

Enjoy!

London Broil Grinder

August 14, 20152 Comments

Grinder, Hoagie, Subway, Sub, Torpedo, Hero or Dagwood… whatever you like to call a big perfectly designed sandwich is up to you… but no matter how you slice it, this dish is pretty delectable. London Broil as a deli meat is fairly new to me. I love to make an actual London Broil Roast in the cooler months, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it available at my local grocer in the deli department! Basically it is a kicked up sort of roast beef. London Broil comes from a much more flat and narrow piece of meat, unlike your traditional roast. This means the surface to flavor ratio goes up by quite a bit.

Fresh and flavorful ingredients are a great start to a good sandwich, but the key to a good grinder is all in the details of how to build your sandwich. For example, I like my bread to be soft on the inside, but to have a toasty exterior. There needs to be the correct meat to bread ratio. Then there are the seasonings. In this sandwich we will season the meat and be sure to have oil and vinegar.

This sandwich is great for lunch, dinner or just a snack if you’re super hungry… It’s great for a meal on the go, a picnic or to cut up for Sunday Football! It’s very versatile and travels well wrapped in foil.

Start with a good sandwich roll… this one happens to be a portuguese roll from a local bakery and is about 7-8″ long.

Take a serrated knife and cut along the side of the bread, careful not to cut all the way through.

Grab some good olive oil and pour it into a bowl for easy use.

Brush onto both exposed insides of the bread.

Once you have it moderately coated, stick it in under your broiler for a minute or two. With the oil this goes pretty quickly… I like my bread a little over toasty, but it that’s not your preference and you don’t like scraping black, watch the oven, don’t send a text, don’t answer the door… watch the bread.

Here is the London Broil meat. This one is Boar’s Head… I’m sure your local deli has either Boar’s Head or another brand, if not, you can use roast beef.

Once your bread is properly toasted, add on your deli meat individually.

We are using a 1/4lb. of meat here, so you want to pile it on with some volume.

The outside of any good roast is usually a pretty yummy seasoning, however, the inside is usually in need of a little help. So, just a sprinkle of some kosher salt will do it.

Then a couple cracks of black pepper.

Can’t have a good sandwich without the right cheese… My favorite for this particular sandwich is a nice Provolone.

Now layer it on. You are going for full cheese coverage here. Again, pop this under the broiler for a minute or two, but watch it.

I am not a fan of burnt cheese, so this a nice melt and warm through was all I was after here.

Now I am brushing on a bit more olive oil.

Add on a good mayonnaise. If you want to roast some garlic in with your mayo, that would be really yummy here too. Of course you may be of the mustard persuasion and that’s o.k. too… but not me.

Evenly distribute your mayo. Here would be the step where you would add in any fresh veggies you would like to add… so lettuce, tomato, pickles etc… none for me thanks. I would rather have a salad on the side than to interrupt this perfectly balanced sandwich. (Also, if you want to add fresh veg. just be sure you aren’t traveling too far otherwise you may want to bring it along separately so they don’t get all wilty.)

Just one last addtion... the peppers... you can use sweet peppers of course, but there is something about the kick of a nice hot pepper ring that I love here. Pickled hot peppers also provide your sandwich with that briney vinegar... If you don't like peppers at all, still add in some vinegar for the flavor and balance.

Just one last addition… the peppers… you can use sweet peppers of course, but there is something about the kick of a nice hot pepper ring that I love here. Pickled hot peppers also provide your sandwich with that briny vinegar… If you don’t like peppers at all, still add in some vinegar for the flavor and balance.

Now add on those hot pepper rings. Don’t be shy about including a few drops of the yummy liquid they are kept in too!

Recipe for London Broil Grinder:

(Serves 2)

1/2 lb. sliced deli style London Broil

4 slices deli style Provolone cheese

2 sub rolls, Portuguese rolls

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 cup mayonnaise

1/8 cup hot pepper rings

kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:

Pre-heat broiler set to low. Prepare a sheet pan with a layer of foil or parchment paper.

Slice into bread lengthwise with a serrated knife. Be sure not to cut all the way through. Brush with olive oil. Pop under the broiler to toast. Watch the progress.

Take out of the oven and build your sandwich. Place each piece of London Broil on individually splitting between the two sandwiches. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add cheese up on top of each sandwich. Again place under the broiler for one minute or so until cheese becomes melty.

Remove from oven and brush with a little more olive oil. Then add on mayonnaise and hot pepper rings. Close up and wrap in foil to keep warm.

Enjoy!

“Spoon Full of Sugar” 1st Birthday Party!

August 13, 2015August 10, 20152 Comments

When my daughter turned one, I knew I wanted to have a “girly” kind of party with pink and green being the featured colors. But, her birthday is in December. December birthday’s are tough because you are not only dealing with the weather (so you really can’t plan anything outside), but also the holidays. So, before picking a party theme, I thought the best thing to do would be to find a venue first. That tactic turned out to be the best way to go! I found a local carousel that was set up for parties and tons of kid fun! I was able to bring in all my own food and decorations and between the actual carousel, the bounce house on site and little coin operated machines, the entertainment was taken care of!

So, I found the venue, now to come up with a theme that had something to do with a carousel… And it came to me! One of my all time favorite scenes in Mary Poppins was the whimsical carousel scene and a theme was born. The carousel horses were there of course. In the movie there are lots of beautiful sidewalk chalk drawings… So, I made a chalk board detailing all the growing my baby girl had done throughout the year… I then added chalk boards as the party favors and had the kids use them as food place mats to keep them busy as they waited for the pizza to arrive. I didn’t have dancing penguins, but I did make penguin centerpieces. Instead of traditional party hats, I got cute top hats for the boys just like Dick Van Dike wore and cute little maid hats just like Julie Andrews wore. And the centerpiece of the decor was the cake that was dolled up in hand painted stripes to reflect Julie Andrews’ dress in the carousel scene and of course two tiny sterling silver spoons that I sugared to adorn the cake.

As for the party food, I kept things really simple. I made a couple of finger sandwiches I thought would be great for the adults, Chouriço & Peppers sandwiches, Caçoila sandwiches, Lebanese meat pies and (ordered) pizza were the main courses… A salad, some pop corn and chips and a pasta salad for sides… and individual crudettés were the appetizers.

The venue supplied us with lots of tables, we just brought in table coverings and the food.

Sandwiches on the left, sides in the middle and aps over to the right.

Sandwiches on the left, sides in the middle and apps over to the right.

Salad.

Some ice tea and punch for drinks. And boxed coffee from a local coffee shop. The chalk boards and chalk are all ready for the kids to take… I was originally going to use them to set the kid’s place setting, but with the set up in the room, I thought it was just better to hand them out. That worked out best because of the age of many of the guests, they needed to eat with moms and dads.

Spoon Full of Sugar Cake surrounded by the maid hats for the girls on the left and the top hats for the boys on the right. To make the hats, I just got some $.50 little mini party hats from my local party supply store and embellished the top hats with ribbon and a little lady bug and the maid hat was embellished with a ribbon and a little flower just like she has on her hat in the movie!

Centerpieces were made with recycled formula cans with the label peeled off for the base, then hand cut out characters glued onto shish kabob skewers and napkins and tissue paper for flare.

Some of the details in a hand made keepsake chalk board… I made this with a black foam core board and a Sharpie chalk marker. Today, this board is hanging in her bedroom.

There is my son making use of his chalk board… To make these chalk boards, I just got a couple boxes of linoleum floor tiles, the industrial strength kind, painted them with chalk board paint and softened the edges with pink or green duct tape. Then I just got some pink, green and white chalk and tied a couple of pieces together for each child.

One of the keys to any 1st birthday parties is to make sure the party is not just for the adults… I always like to be sure my child is going to have fun at their own party!