Author: Rosemarie's Kitchen

I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and avid home cook.I believe in eating healthy whenever possible, while still managing to indulge in life's pleasures.

Spicy Italian Sausage and White Bean Soup

I know what your are thinking – it’s the middle of July and this woman is talking soup! Has she lost her mind? July in California is usually sweltering. Hot, dry and oh so unpleasant unless you are on the water, or only come out of your climate-controlled habitat after sunset. For this very reason, the Event Industry tends to slow to a snail’s pace, which means down time for Hubby and Kiddo. It also means vacation time! This year, we will be returning to one of our our favorite place to explore – the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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Grilled Grand Marnier Pepper Steak on a Bed of Tomatoes

There are a lot of good reasons to plant a garden, even if it’s just a hanging patio garden. Working the soil is good for you. Eating what you have grown brings satisfaction unlike any other. Every year I look forward to our tomato plants for three reasons – freshness, goodness and full flavor. If you cannot grow tomatoes, please find a good small farm. Tomatoes that are allowed to ripen naturally, that have not been bred for shipping have a flavor unlike any other.

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Jimboy Inspired Beefy Burrito

jimboy2Way, way back in 1949 a man named Jim Knudson and his wife, Margaret, were served tacos for dinner at a friend’s home. What made this experience unique is that neither had eaten a taco before. Jim Knudson was experienced in the food industry and thought offering tacos to the American public was a good idea. After perfecting his recipe that included a dusting of canned Parmesan Cheese, Jim introduced the “Tayco” to the menu of his Grass Valley restaurant. Much to his surprise, customers were not enthusiastic about the new menu item. The taco was not a hit, but Jim Knudson was not about to give up.

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Roasted Chicken Breast with Asparagus Pan Sauce

Pan Sauce. So simple, so delicious. There’s something magical about pan sauce. Maybe it’s the kiss of wine or the meat renderings themselves. All I know is that I adore chicken with a nice pan sauce. One of our favorites was Chicken Breast with Tomato-Herb Pan Sauce. Yeah, it was good. This is even better.

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Yellow Tomato Gazpacho – How Refreshing

What is Gazpacho? Why, thank you for asking. It’s a soup served cold. As a chilled soup, it is popular throughout Spain, particularly during the hot months of summer. Traditionally, gazpacho was made by pounding the vegetables in a mortar with a pestle. Today most of us use a blender or food processor rather than the laborious method of the past.

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Seasoned Broccoli Bursting with Color

Not too long ago, I was cooking up an Italian favorite in our house, Chicken Marsala. On the menu with the chicken was the usual side, Italian Roasted Potatoes. Had I served this with a side of Sautéed Summer Squash, it would have been down right predictable. Can’t have that. Not in my kitchen. If the main dish isn’t new, at least one of the sides needs to be different.

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Dorito Taco Salad with Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

Salads, for the most part, are suppose to be a healthy choice in the food selection. And that’s true, most of the time. This salad is not one of the healthier choices. Now it could be, if you were to make some changes to the recipe. Use light sour cream and light mayonnaise instead of the fully loaded variety when making the dressing. Omit the salt if on a low sodium diet.  As for the salad itself, use turkey or a super lean ground beef. I prefer chuck because ground chuck just as better flavor, and that comes from its fat content.

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Barbecued Tri-Tip Florentine Style

Hubby introduced me to the whole grilling up a Tri-Tip thing. Strange when you think about it because beautiful Santa Maria, California and not a small town in Wisconsin put Tri-Tip on the map in the first place. Or so it seems, depending upon which foodie folklore you subscribe to. Santa Maria, Oakland, Long Beach or Palm Springs. All these places claim to have put the grilled Tri-Tip on the culinary tongues of those who love barbecue. What do these places have in common? The golden state of California!

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Corn Cakes with Whipped Goat Cheese

Hard to believe July is nearly half over. July, that sweltering month smack dab in the middle of summer. And summer means Vacations.

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Make Ahead Picnic Wraps for the Open Road

Summer means two things – road trips and picnics. Whenever possible I like to pack a picnic lunch before hitting the road. This is especially true for our long drives up to Oregon and Washington. With so much beauty along the way, it would be a shame to spend even a minute inside a roadside diner. Growing up we always packed our own foods for the road. I loved it then, and I love it today. The only difference is that today I’ve graduated from bologna sandwiches with stale potato chips to picnics with pzazz.

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Baked Halibut with Vegetables and Cherry Tomato Salsa

Hubby is a big, big fish eater. He loves fish, so long as the fish doesn’t taste “fishy”. Nice, light, white flaky fish, that’s what he’s looking for. Hubby tends to like his fish battered, but I really think that has more to do with upbringing than preference. People from the Mid-West tend to like big, heavy portions of everything. I suppose the same could be said about most things – our preferences are more a product of upbringing. It took a while to get him to move away from heavily battered, deep fried things.

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Classic Mashed Potatoes with Rich Brown Gravy

Hubby is a real fan of meat and potatoes. It’s that whole mid-western upbringing. Most of the time when we are having a roast, I will roast the potatoes right along with the beef. Love roasted potatoes that have soaked in all the beefy drippings from a cross-rib roast, don’t you? Most of the time when making a roast, there’s an ocean of pan drippings perfect for whipping up some gravy. But what if you’re pan searing a steak? Sometimes I am in the mood for steak with mashed potatoes and rich brown gravy.

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Chicken Tender Salad with Buttermilk Chive Dressing

As with anything worth having, it takes time to make a great chicken tender salad. This salad isn’t a throw it together and chow down salad. The chicken needs time to marinate in the buttermilk. The salad needs time to chill. Oh but this is so delicious, you really don’t mind the wait.

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A Celtic Full Monty Breakfast

The Celtic Tree of Life symbolizes harmony and balance in the universe. Celts believed that trees were the ancestors of human beings and that the Tree of Life possessed special powers. Trees were a connection to the world of the spirits, doorways into other worlds. The most sacred of all trees is the Oak Tree which represents the center of the world. The Oak tree is the doorway to other worlds, the realm of Fairies and Magic. It was believed that the roots of the tree penetrated the depths of lower worlds, while the branches stretched out to touch the heavens. The tree is a symbol of long life, wisdom and rebirth.

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Bacon Wrapped Maple Glazed Carrots

Do you have a bacon lover in your house? I swear, Kiddo is the equivalent of the Cookie Monster when it comes to his love of Bacon. When it comes to breakfast meats, I’m a sausage eater at heart. However, I do appreciate a good, smoky piece of bacon every now and again. I don’t know about the bacon eaters in your house, but mine tends to shy away from vegetables. Well, there’s more than one way to get him to eat his carrots . . .

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