Have you ever noticed that when a fast food or chain restaurant has a hit on their hands, dozens of Copy-Cat recipes flood the foodie world? Everywhere you look, at every turn there’s a Copy-Cat in books, magazines, the internet and even within the restaurant industry itself.
Continue reading “Chorizo Crunch Wrap – Double the Pleasure!”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.
Grilled Rib Eye Streaks with Jack Daniel’s Grilling Glaze
Here’s another quick lesson in cuts of meat. You have heard the expression in Real Estate it’s all about location, location, location. The same holds true for steaks. People often get confused when it comes to certain cuts of meat such as a New York Strip or a Rib-Eye. While both cuts can be purchased boneless, the New York Strip should NEVER have a bone as it is one half of a Porterhouse or T-Bone, the other side of the bone being a small taste of a Filet Mignon. And then there’s that whole location thing. The Rib Eye comes from (wait for it) the cow’s rib area. Imagine that! The New York hails from the cow’s loin area. Rib Eye is fatter and more tender than the New York Strip. The Rib Eye can be had boneless or bone in. Personally, I thing having a bone adds flavor, but that’s just me. Rib Eye and New York both are considered a premium cut of meat. Recently, while dining in the beef capital of the planet, Wyoming, Hubby and I ordered these two steaks. I chose the Rib-eye while Hubby had the New York Strip. This wasn’t done as individual preferences but rather because the Rib Eye had a smaller cut, 14 ounces, while the New York’s -smallest strip was 29 ounces. I’m glad we ordered different cuts of steak. It gave us a chance to sample them side by side. While the Rib Eye was far more tender, the New York had a more intense beefy flavor. While this recipe calls for Rib Eye, you could always use a New York Strip instead.
A few quick tips to help everything come together smoothly.
- Start preheating the oven to roast the garlic first.
- Make marinade and get the steaks into the refrigerator to start the marinating process. By now, the oven should be heated for the garlic.
- Pop the garlic into the oven, begin roasting. While garlic roasts, mix up all the ingredients for the glaze.
- If desired, strain grilling glaze for a smooth finish just before serving.
Grilled Rib Eye Streaks with Jack Daniel’s Grilling Glaze
INGREDIENTS – STEAKS
4 Rib Eye Steaks (8 oz each, ¾-inch thick)
2 Limes
½ Cup Jack Daniels Whiskey
1 ½ Teaspoons Salt
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
Olive oil or cooking spray for grill
INGREDIENTS – JACK DANIEL’S GRILLING GLAZE
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup Teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons minced white onion
1 tablespoon Jack Daniels Whiskey
1 tablespoon crushed pineapple
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
FOR STEAKS: Slice limes in half, rub fresh lime on steaks. Rub salt into steak. Squeeze lime juice into bowl. Whisk in Jack Daniels, garlic cloves and black pepper. Allow steaks to marinade for several hours in refrigerator. Don’t let the strange color of the meat scare you – the lime juice will start to “cook” the meat with its high acid content. The steaks will cook up beautifully.
Remove steaks from refrigerator and allow to continue to marinade while coming to room temperature, about 20-30 minutes.
While steaks come to temperature, prepare grill. Wipe or spray grill grate with olive oil or cooking spray.
Remove steaks from marinade. Pat dry and brush with grilling glaze. Grill to desired doneness, about 3-5 minutes per side, turning only once.
Remove steaks from grill, transfer to round plate (stack if necessary) and cover with stainless steel bowl inverted. Let rest 10-15 minutes before serving. (If you don’t have a stainless steel bowl, cover serving platter with foil).
Serve steaks with any remaining grilling sauce on the side for “dipping” if desired.
FOR JACK DANIEL’S GLAZE: Preheat oven to 325-degrees.
Cut about 1/2-inch off of top of garlic. Cut the roots so that the garlic will sit flat. Remove the papery skin from the garlic, but leave enough so that the cloves stay together. Put garlic into a small casserole dish or baking pan, drizzle olive oil over it, and cover with a lid or foil. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for about 45.
Remove garlic and let it cool until you can handle it. This should take about 15 minutes. As the garlic cools, spread the bulb open to allow for faster cooling.
Combine water, pineapple juice, Teriyiaki sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium/high heat. Stir occasionally until mixture boils then reduce heat until mixture is just simmering.
Squeeze the sides of the head of garlic until the pasty roasted garlic is squeezed out. Discard remaining skin and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and stir.
Let mixture simmer over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes or until sauce has reduced by about 1/2 and is thick and syrupy. Make sure it doesn’t boil over.
Let glaze sit until ready to use, stirring occasionally.
Big Smokin’ Burgers on Toasted Onion Rolls
And so the quest for the perfect grilled burger continues. Not that there is such a thing as the quintessential recipe when it comes to grilled burgers. I’ve been grilling up burgers for years and have yet to find one recipe that outshines all others. Truth be told, each blend of ingredients brings its own signature distinction to the grill. Just as the buns and toppings bring something to the plate. Burgers on grilled sourdough bread (such as patty melts) doesn’t necessarily upstage burgers on a buttery brioche bun or toasted onion bun.
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Aidells Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Meatball Kabobs
Hubby, Kiddo and I are an unusual family. We live together, play together and up until recently even worked together. Yep, for years we all worked for the same party and event rental company. Together we have been involved in the behind the scenes productions of high-end events from celebrity weddings to red carpet affairs, from Grand Prix racing to soccer matches and everything in between. While my guys are still working in the event industry, I am now retired.
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Fabulous Filipino Barbecue
My family spent the summer of 1965 in the Philippines, getting to know Mom’s side of the family. We stayed in her childhood home and immersed ourselves in a world that at first glance seemed very different from the one we knew “back home” in America. Yet, strip away the outward surroundings, and it really wasn’t different at all. The same can be said for families everywhere. Families gathered, visited, enjoyed one another and ate. When you think about it, a typical family scene plays out every day throughout the world. The “native” foods vary from country to country and the language spoken might not be the same, but the warmth, laughter and the love for one another are universal.
Traveling Dinner Party – Part 1 – Introduction
Have you ever had a meal that you wish could go on forever and a day? Have you ever planned an entire menu that was better suited to another time – say in the spirit of the Edwardian in era?
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Franks and Beans and Childhood Memories
Kiddo came wandering into the kitchen and offered to help with dinner. I love that about him – offering to help. I told him I had dinner under control. I mean, how much help do you need when making Franks and Beans?
Pacific Dover Sole Meunière
In my mind, nothing renews the soul more profoundly than spending time in the Pacific Northwest – the morning mist, the rhythm of the sea and forlorn cries of gulls circling overhead – there is no comparison.
Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry with Ramen Noodles
A family that cooks together, stays together. Okay, maybe not, but it sounds reasonable. Kiddo and I have spent enough time in the kitchen together to have that rhythm – almost like a dance, each knowing the other’s style, steps and timing. As for Hubby, we do well together when I prep and he grills. In the kitchen, my Master Griller becomes all-thumbs – and to equate it to dancing, it’s more like a stomp. Hubby tends to want to clean before we are ready to clean. For example, I’ll chop a veggie, place it in the pan, leaving the chopping board and knife on the counter. When I reach for it again, he’s already washed, dried and put it all away. (After a lifetime of marriage, you would think he understood – on counter, going to use again – in sink, okay to wash).
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Pasta Prima Ravioli
This original recipe was inspired by a recipe I found at Taste of Home for Ravioli with Italian Sausage. Their recipe looked yummy. Cheese Ravioli, Italian Sausage, a meatless Pasta Sauce, chopped green bell peppers and Parmesan Cheese – what was not to like? I put it on my meal planner. Yeah, a quick weeknight supper. And it wouldn’t overheat our cozy kitchen on a warm summer night.
Antipasto Platter
Recently, my baby sister invited Hubby, Kiddo and I to her home for an evening of Liar’s Dice. She was making a big pot of Spaghetti, bread and a salad. I wanted to bring something keeping with her Italian supper theme. If you haven’t noticed by now, let me clue you in – when invited to a party I always offer to bring a little something, and then go a little nuts. Dish after dish – not just one appetizer or side dish, but a trunk-load.
Continue reading “Antipasto Platter”A Labor Day Picnic to Bid Summer a Fond Adieu
I love picnics, don’t you? There’s something magical about eating outdoors – be it on the patio, at the beach, along a riverbank or under the canopy of beautiful trees that seems to make everything taste better. And what better way to bid farewell to summer than with a picnic?
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Chicken Breasts in a Caper Cream Sauce
Capers, cream, dill – what’s not to like? Okay, maybe the dill – it’s a seasoning not meant for everyone. I like dill mixed into cream cheese for a spread or over sautéed vegetables. Dill over salmon with lemons – delicious. But dill on chicken which was then covered in a caper-cream sauce? This was most assuredly going to be a new experience. But then, isn’t that the whole point of life and living? New experiences.
Refreshing Compressed Watermelon,Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad
A little while back, I shared my desire to dine out in a gourmet restaurant while wearing my pajamas. If you are ever in Elk Grove, California you can experience the next best thing. Right on “main” street you will find the lovely little Boulevard Bistro hidden inside a 100-year-old bungalow. Seating for 30 – not 30 tables, but a total seating capacity for 30 people at a time. That’s it. The place has been there for nearly 10 years, is a 5-star rated restaurant, and is listed as one of the top 100 restaurants in the country. Yeah, surprise! In the heart of a cow town, who would have thought?
While the exterior is simple, the decor inside is elegant – black tie elegant – yet the patrons arrive in khaki shorts and saddles. The staff is well-trained, slipping in and out and around your table without notice, replacing flatware as it is used, clearing plates and pouring yet another glass of wine in a fresh glass. The chef Bret Bohlmann is a native of Elk Grove and a graduate of the San Francisco Culinary Academy. Together with his wife, they create some of the most awe-inspiring dishes combining Chef Bohlmann’s Old World French techniques and his passion for wild game.
We began our adventure with Pan-Seared Foie Gras – so tender, so wonderful so perfect. The Filet Mignons were so tender, you could almost eat them with a fork. The reduction sauce was to-die-for delicious. Deserts were a work of art that you could eat. Oh my. And the salad – so cool, so refreshing!
Naturally, I had to try to recreate as much of this awesome experience as possible. The salad is my own interpretation of the salad I had at the Boulevard Bistro. While this salad is close, it’s still a work in progress. Baby steps. That’s how I’ve learned – in baby steps.
Compressed Watermelon and Tomato Salad
1 small seedless watermelon
16 small tomatoes, assorted colors
3 oz Goat Cheese, crumbled
4 Basil Leaves, cut into narrow strips
1/4 Cup Fruit Balsamic Vinegar (see note)
1/4 Teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
Sea Salt to taste
Note: Any fruit balsamic vinegar will work. Experiment with Cherry, Raspberry, Blackberry or other flavors to see what pleases you.
Cut one end off the watermelon. (You want to begin working with a watermelon that has a flat; even end). Discard end slice or nibble on it while you work.
Cut round disk from remaining watermelon about 1 inch thick. Remove rind. Using a small shot glass, cut 8 circles from watermelon.
Place circles into a vacuum seal bag. Seal according to manufacturer’s directions.
Cut second round disk from watermelon. Again, cut 8 small circles from watermelon disk and seal in a vacuum seal bag.
Place vacuum sealed bags into the freezer for at least 3 hours. (Note: if bag is not gently compressing watermelon, place a pie tin on top of bag. Place a bag of frozen vegetables on pie tin to compress watermelon).
Once compressed; remove from freezer and let thaw. Keep chilled in refrigerator. You want the melon crisp-cold but not frozen.
When ready to serve, slice small tomatoes (grape size) in half. Stack fresh basil and roll tightly, creating a cigar-shape. Cut basil width-wise to shred into very narrow strips.
Place four watermelon circles on the center of four well-chilled salad plates.
Place tomato halves around watermelon in a pretty arrangement.
Sprinkle each plate with a little goat cheese. Scatter basil around plate..
Drizzle each salad with a little balsamic vinegar. Season with fresh pepper and a pinch of salt. Serve and enjoy.
Beef Enchiladas With Cilantro Cream Sauce
One of the things I look for in a recipe is down-time – you know, that time when the dish is cooking all on its own, without a great deal of attention. That “down” time allows me to do other things – run a few errands, putter about the house, reorganize a closet or simply relax with a cup of tea and watch the clouds roll by.
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Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 