How’s the planning of your Traveling Feast coming? Is your head just swimming with wonderful thoughts and ideas? If you are anything like me, the biggest struggle has been to narrow down the choices.
Continue reading “Traveling Dinner Party – Part 5 – Sorbet Between Courses”
Such bright, beautiful colors! Wonderful flavors. A little kick to spice up the day. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so I’ve been told. Rarely do we have time for breakfast during the week. I wish I could tell you that we make up for it on the weekends, but the truth of the matter is MAYBE with a little luck, Sundays might include breakfast at home.
This pan-roasted broccoli has a hidden “kick” in the red pepper flakes. A kiss of lemon juice adds a wonderful flavor while enhancing the bright green of the broccoli. And the butter at the end just brings it all together.
The up-side, this bright side dish cooks up quickly. The down-side, you will need to keep an eye on the broccoli and turn frequently to keep it from browning too much. It’s a fine line between pan-seared an burnt.
Broccoli is a cool-weather crop, hitting its stride in the spring and fall. Now is the time for broccoli, as the markets are full and the broccoli is fresh. While I am not a fan of Cabbage, broccoli ranks up there as one of my favorite spring/fall vegetables even if it is a part of the Cabbage family.
Pan-Roasted Broccoli with Garlic
1 bunch broccoli
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 pinch red pepper flakes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
Trim and peel the broccoli stems. Cut the florets into 1-inch pieces, and cut the stems on the bias 1/4 inch thick.
In a 10-inch skillet or fry pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until just golden and fragrant, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a small bowl.
Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the broccoli and red pepper flakes, and season with salt and black pepper. Sear, turning frequently.
Pour in the water and lemon juice. Lower heat to medium. Cover and steam for about 3 minutes. Uncover, lower heat to medium-low, add butter, stir. Continue to cook until the broccoli is lightly browned and crisp-tender and the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minute more. Transfer to a serving dish. Scatter the garlic on top and serve immediately.
Hubby loves scallops. He would eat scallops for breakfast if he could (now there’s a thought – hum). This recipe calls for either Sea or Bay Scallops. What’s the difference, you ask. The long and the short of it is that Bay Scallops are much smaller, about 100 count per pound. In the US, these scallops come mainly from the East Coast. Their meat is much sweeter, less chewy than their less expensive “cousins” – the Sea Scallop.
Way back when I was first learning to cook, we didn’t have all the modern conveniences that are at our disposal today. No microwaves or convection ovens No pre-packaged, pre-measured, pre-seasoned foods. No bottles of spice blends or sauces or all the other things we have today. We were on our own. It might also be why some of the foods I ate growing up were either over-cooked or under-cooked and at times bland. A little salt. A little pepper. That was about it. Sometimes we forget how to do things all on our own with all the modern conveniences. Sometimes it’s okay to forget.
Zapped Broccoli with Butter and Lemon Herb
½ lb Broccoli
2 teaspoons McCormick Perfect Pinch Lemon Herb Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Butter
Cut broccoli int individual pieces. Place broccoli, seasoning and butter in a micro-wave safe plastic bag. Sprinkle with a little water, seal shut with a small slit to vent.
Microwave on HIGH 3 minutes.
Carefully open the bag (it will be steaming hot) and empty broccoli int a serving dish. Toss to evenly coat in seasoned butter and serve.
Did ya check out the photo for this recipe? This isn’t your typical Beef Stew. No carrots, no peas, none of your usual chunks of vegetables. Just stew meat, slowly simmered in a crock pot until fork-tender, a thick gravy made with beer, some herbs for seasoning . . . yeah strictly speaking this is meat and potatoes all the way. A man’s-man kind of stew.
Continue reading “French Beer Beef Stew over Mashed Potatoes”
While I know Italian food isn’t necessarily pasta, salads and bread, that’s what usually springs to mind when someone says “Italian”. This dish is truly “beautiful” in the sense that it has all those typical “Italian” foods conveniently located inside a single dish. You’ve got your pasta, your bread, and your salad (hey – tomatoes and basil counts).
Top of the morning to you. Today is National Pancake Day. In honor of this special day, I’d like to share a pancake tale of long ago and a sumptuous Irish recipe. If you have never eaten Irish Pancakes, just imagine the love-child of an Omelette and a Crêpe. Irish Pancakes have the eggie qualities of an Omelette with the light, delicate finish of a French Crêpe. Before we get to cooking, let me share my tale . . .
When my son was all of three years old, I was attending Business School in the mornings, working in the afternoons and studying late into the night. With two small children in the house, there wasn’t much time left for little things like sleeping. I had been up until the wee hours of the morning deciphering a particularly difficult shorthand assignment. Finally, the assignment was complete and I was able to crawl into bed to grab a few minutes of sleep before the children woke up. It was Saturday, no school, no work, just fun with my children. (Which meant making a game out of mundane household chores).
No sooner had I drifted off to sleep when Jay came tip-towing into my room. He pressed his cute little face up against mine and whispered in my ear “You sleep, mommy and I’ll make breakfast.”
Half asleep, I whispered back “Okay, sweetie. You do that.” Mind you, I was floating in that fuzzy in-between dream-like state. Not truly awake, but awake enough to respond, although my response was far from thought out. As I drifted deeper into sleep, his words came back to me again and again. “I’ll make breakfast.” Wait – what? Make breakfast? But he’s only three! He can’t be in the kitchen alone. Suddenly, I was wide awake, shooting straight up in bed. I grabbed my robe and rushed into our tiny apartment kitchen. There was my beautiful little boy standing on a kitchen chair at the stove. Flour, milk and shattered raw eggs littered the floor around him. And in the biggest skillet we owned was the biggest pancake I had ever seen, with bits of egg-shell sticking up through the batter.
“Hi mommy.” He said with a smile as he lifted the pancake with a spatula to check its progress in the pan. “Your breakfast is almost ready.”
The exhausted adult in me wanted to scold him for turning on the stove and making such a mess. The mother in me was touched to the point of tears. I ate that pancake and it was delicious, made with the most important ingredient of all – love.
It really doesn’t matter what pancake recipe I use. Anytime I make pancakes, I remember that wonderful morning so long ago. And my heart melts like butter.
Buttery Lemon-Kissed Irish Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1 & 1/2 cups milk
1/4 stick butter (2 oz melted)
1/4 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/4 stick melted butter (for frying)
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice, about 2 lemons (for finishing)
1/2 cup Fine Sugar (for finishing
Additional Melted Butter for serving
Powdered Sugar for Dusting
Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whip eggs until well blended. Pour eggs over the flour. Add milk and beat by hand for a minute or two, just to incorporate the ingredients.
Melt butter, allow to cool slightly and pour into the batter. Add 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice (more if a deeper lemon flavor is desired). Whisk once more.
Heat a 6 or 8-inch skillet over medium heat. Brush the inside of the pan with melted butter. (Butter will give the light pancakes a little extra flavor that you cannot get from oil or sprays).
Pour a little more than 1/4 cup of batter into the warmed pan. (I use 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill it about one and a half times to cover bottom o the pan with a thin layer of batter). Slightly tip and swirl pan to distribute batter evenly.
Cook the pancake for about two minutes, swirling the pan a couple of times as the pancake cooks. The pancake is ready to flip when the upper side appears dry and doesn’t “giggle” when swirled. With a thin flexible spatula, carefully life pancake from the pan, flip and cook underside for another 30 seconds or so.
Turn pancake out onto a warm plate. Set skilled aside (off heat) between pancakes. Brush pancake on plate with a little lemon juice, sprinkle with a little fine sugar. Roll pancake with a cigar to form a long cylinder. Transfer to serving platter and hold in a warm oven.
Repeat the cooking and rolling process until all the batter has been used.
Just before serving, brush pancakes with a little butter (you should have enough left over from the frying butter) and dust with powdered sugar.
These same pancakes can be filled with jams, hazelnut spread, fresh fruits such as sliced bananas or berries or whatever you like. The possibilities are limited to your imagination and the ingredients on-hand.
This Smoked Sausage One-Dish suppers is one that I know my picky Broth Dear would have grumbled about. How he loved his smoke sausage and potatoes. I swear, he could have eaten smoked sausage seven days a week and not grown tired of it. As much as he loved sausage roasted with potatoes, there is no way he would have even tried this recipe. That’s because this yummy, one-pan wonder has green beans. Delicious, bright oven roasted green beans. And we all know what happens when something green comes in contact with other foods – it becomes contaminated with vegetable goobers. Brother Dear never knew what he was missing.
This is an awesomely easy recipe that I picked up from 78 Recipes. It’s one of those perfect recipes when you really don’t feel like cooking but your family is hungry.
Smoked Sausage with Potatoes and Green Beans
2 lbs Smoked Beef Sausage, sliced
¾ lb. fresh Green Beans, trimmed
1 lb Small Red Potatoes, quartered
1 medium white onion, coarsely cut
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt or to taste
½ teaspoon Black pepper or to taste
½ teaspoon of organic garlic powder
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Coin cut smoked sausage and place in a large bowl.
Trim green beans, add to the bowl with the sausage.
Wash red potatoes, cut into quarters. Add to the bowl with the sausage
Rinse and trim the green beans, add to the bowl.
Drizzle mixture with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss to coat. Pour the mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil
Place in the heated oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil, stir the mixture and continue to bake for an addition 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
This is a complete supper in a single dish. All you need to do now is serve and enjoy.
A few years back, I came across what seemed to be a quick, easy way to prepare a perfectly marinated flank steak. The recipe called for a combination of McCormick’s Grill Mate Baja Citrus Marinade to be mixed with a little oil, water, vinegar and Tequila. Let the steak marinate for 15 minutes, fire up the barbecue and grill. What could be easier? So off to the market we went. Flank Steak was on sale – great news! However, the Baja marinate mix was no where to be found. After stopping at three different markets, I gave up on the convenience of a mix. A little internet surfing, a little imagination and a little luck produced an awesome marinated Flank Steak.
When I was first diagnosed with Diabetes, I thought my life was over. I would be eating like a rabbit while preparing wonderful, flavorful meals for my guys. Cooking two meals and resenting every minute of it. Have you ever noticed that people seem to react to a diagnose one of two ways? The first reaction is complete denial or over reacting. For me it was denial, until I spent three days in the ICU. Then the pendulum swung the other way – insanity set in and all I ate was lettuce. Okay, lettuce with chicken that had been poached without any seasoning. Uck!
I adore the smell of Autumn. The sweet, smokey scent of wood burning in fireplaces lingers in the air. This is my all time favorite time of the year. Nothing compares to curling up on the sofa with a warm bowl of soup and my family all around me. Often Kiddo and I have a blanket over our laps. Comfort all the way. We love a fresh pot of soup to take the chill off the day.
This wonderful soup was inspired by a recipe from William-Sonoma. Naturally, I did my own tweaking, more sausage, less black bean and the introduction of corn the first time around.
That initial pot of soup was wonderful – all smoky, with wonderful big chunks of sausage and just a little kick from the cayenne pepper. When my guys sat down to the table with soup spoons in hand and began to “slurp” their supper, all I could hear were a lot of “yums.” Thanks guys!
It never ceases to amaze me how one or two tiny changes in a recipe can make a world of difference. The first time I made Smoky Black Bean I added the corn and it was yummy-good. The recipe cooked up enough soup for my family to have two meals. Having so much soup left over was the perfect excuse to tinker around a bit more. By adding 1 pouch of Uncle Ben’s Roasted Chicken Ready Rice to the soup, it knocked this already wonderful recipe right out of the ball park. Wow! What an amazing difference!
Smoky Black Bean Soup with Corn and Rice
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Orange Bell Pepper, cored and diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1/2 Onion, finely chopped
4 Smoked Chicken Sausages, fully cooked
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
3 cans Chicken Broth
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juices
1 can (14 oz) corn, drained
1 Package Uncle Ben’s Quick Rice – Roasted Chicken
Sea Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
Coin cut smoked Chicken Sausage. Set aside until ready to use.
In a heavy pot over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the bell peppers, celery and onion and sauté until the onion is tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the sausage and sauté until browned, about 2 minutes.
Add 3 cans of chicken broth. Season with the cumin, smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
Empty 1 can drained, rinsed black beans. Add tomatoes and corn. Stir and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.
Lower heat to simmer. Let soup simmer gently for 20 minutes. Soup is now ready to serve. If desired, soup can continue to summer as much as 45 minutes. If too much liquid evaporates, thin soup with additional chicken broth.
Ten minutes before serving, zap Uncle Ben’s Quick Rice in the microwave; add to simmering soup and give everything a nice stir.
When ready to serve, ladle into warmed soup bowls. Remember to scoop all the way down to the bottom of the pot so that each bowl has a nice helping of sausage and vegetables.
For reasons I cannot explain, people feel compelled to give me jars of Orange Marmalade when they come to visit. Bottles of wine and little jars of Orange Marmalade. I’ve heard tell that Orange Marmalade is delicious on toast. Truth be told, I wouldn’t know. Rather than find its way onto a slice of warm, buttery bread, in my kitchen the Marmalade has always been used in cooking. The bright orange glaze for this chicken dish relies on the marmalade to sweeten the sauce and provide a beautiful glisten to the sauce.
I love this chicken dish. It’s bright – like a burst of sunshine on my plate. The chicken is moist and flavorful. The dish itself isn’t overly complicated and is perfect for a weeknight supper or casual Sunday dinner.
Orange Glazed Chicken
2 Tablespoon Butter, divided
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, divided
6 Chicken Breast halves, boneless, skinless (about 1 ½ lbs total), butterflied
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Can (14.5 oz) Chicken broth
½ Cup Orange Marmalade
Arrowroot
Orange Slices for garnish
In a small bowl, stir together the honey, sugar, broth, marmalade and lemon juice until smooth.
Set aside until ready to use.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in two batches, about 10 minutes or until browned on both sides and is only slightly pink.
Remove from skillet, repeat with second batch of chicken. Keep warm.
Add sauce to empty skillet. Cook, uncovered, until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
Return chicken to skillet. Reduce heat to low and cook 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring often.
Using tongs, remove chicken from sauce to a warmed serving platter. Hold chicken in a warm oven. If sauce is not thick enough (remember, it’s a “glaze”), add a little arrowroot, stir to blend and allow sauce to thicken up. Spoon sauce over chicken, garnish with sliced orange. For added color, sprinkle with a little chopped parsley.
This is a recipe I originally shared as my first post, almost a year ago. It received very little attention since I was a novice on the blogging scene. Actually, I’m still pretty green and at times I feel as though I’m wandering around in the dark. Still, this delicious Minestrone deserves a little attention. And what better day than today, the first day of Autumn.
Continue reading “Autumn Minestrone with Tortellini Pasta Revisited”
Fish! Yeah, we’ve reached the Fish Course! Now we’re talking – getting down to the real food – the larger courses. For those of you keeping track, it’s the 4th course of a ten course traveling feast. For an eight course meal, the fish course could be one of two “main” courses; for a six course meal fish could be the only “main” course of the night. Confused? Let’s back up a moment.
Continue reading “Traveling Dinner Party – Part 4 – Fish Course”
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 