So I gotta ask, isn’t this chicken dish pretty? Swimming in a spicy gravy, garnished with peppers and tomatoes – yum! And just feast your eyes on that gooie melted cheese. Serve this delightful chicken with a side of refried beans, some warm tortillas and maybe Peach Margaritas.
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.
Labor Day – Oh My!
Labor Day is but a week away – can you believe it? When our children were still children, Labor Day wasn’t about picnics or backyard barbecues – it was about running away from home – headed up the California Coast and cool ocean breezes. Now, we are more home bodies – and Labor Day involves extended family – which is fine. I like my nutty family. Besides, planning family events teaches our children (or in this case, our grandchild) the importance of family ties. The older we get, the more we appreciate those ties.
Sweet and Salty Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin
After a day of antiquing, Hubby and I came home to a wonderful pot of falling apart, a little sweet, a little salty Pork Tenderloin. (And just for the record, we know nothing about antiques. We buy what we like and what we like are things that still have usefulness – like old tea cups). Since Kiddo declined to join us on our adventure, he was in charge of preparing supper. Like the dutiful assistant he is in the kitchen, Kiddo followed my recipe to a tee. Personally, I thought it was delicious. When asked their opinions, both Kiddo and Hubby agreed that the flavor was good, but the meat seemed a bit dry (especially for a crock pot) and there wasn’t enough juice. Hum, that was interesting.
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Cannoli Stuffed French Toast
Have I mentioned that I adore Cannoli? I first fell in love with Cannoli while attending an Italian Food Festival over twenty years ago at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. These were no ordinary Cannoli. These were genuine God Father Cannoli, made by the same man who made the Cannoli for the 1972 film, The Godfather. He had a little booth set up at the festival adorned with pictures from the film of him posing with some of the big name stars. An older Sicilian gentleman, he was a talker, sharing his experience with anyone willing to listen. Imagine the delight of my friend and I when he offered to teach us how to make his Cannoli! Hey, if you are going to learn to make Cannoli, why not learn from a behind-the-scenes Cannoli maker? I used to joke that I learned to make Cannoli from the Godfather’s baker himself. Now the problem with having genuine Cannoli is that these delicious, deep-fried shells stuffed with the most luscious of fillings became my yardstick by which all other Cannolis are measured. The key to good Cannoli is that the shells cannot be filled until just before serving. The shells need to be crisp. The filling well-chilled and then piped into the shell mere moments before you take your first bite. But all of that is a posting for another day.
While Cannoli are a dessert, the clever couple over at Two Peas and their Pods have taken this wonderful concept, given it a French Twist and much to our delight have legitimized dessert for breakfast. I’ve taken their recipe and doubled it. It’s an easy recipe to adjust and oh so delicious! What’s that you say? Someone at your table won’t eat Cannoli? That’s okay, leave out the filling and fry up a couple of extra slices of egg-dipped French Bread. Enjoy your stuffed toast and let them know just what they are missing.
Cannoli Stuffed French Toast
2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 slices French bread
4 tablespoons butter
Powdered sugar-for serving
In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Set aside.
In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk the eggs and heavy cream together. Spread 4 slices of the bread with the ricotta mixture, about 1/2 cup per slice. Place the other slices of bread on top and gently press them together. Carefully dip both sides of each sandwich into the egg mixture until well coated.
On a flat griddle melt the butter on medium heat; about 325 degrees. Add the French toast sandwiches and cook until golden, about 4 minutes per side. Cut the sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer to plates. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.
Apricot Sage Honey Glazed Drumsticks with Young Carrots
Recently Hubby, Kiddo and I spent a day at a Flea Market (of sorts) on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay. TreasureFest, as it is now called, is a mixture of vintage peddlers, 
and local craftsmen. There is everything from recycled art to small cottage-kitchen homemade goods. We found a vendor peddling her homemade marshmallows in a variety of flavors (our favorites were the salted caramel and peanut butter mallows). We sampled some wonderful, creamy goat cheeses from a nearby farm (bought four different flavored cheeses), various honey from local keepers, balsamic vinegars, and bottles of the most flavorful olive oils. These vinegars and oils are lovingly made in small batches – a bit pricey, but well worth the extra costs. If you are ever in the San Francisco area on the last weekend of the month, I highly recommend a side trip to Treasure Island. The views of the bay are spectacular, the merchandise offered is unique and the endless assortment of food trucks (the best in the bay) are sure to satisfy whatever craving you may have. Get there early, as the crowds grow throughout the day. And plan for a lot of walking.
Needless to say, we were in hunter’s heaven. Hubby bought a great hand-crafted leather belt. I found vintage dishes, hand-painted serving bowls and all sorts of honey, cheeses, vinegars and oils to stock my pantry. The Cherry Balsamic Vinegar was a great update to my refreshing Compressed Watermelon,Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad. This awesome summer salad was part of my Summer Birthday Bistro. I’ve got big plans for the Lemon-Goat Cheese (for a creamy sauce to add with chicken – but that’s a post for another day). I love these types of markets – so filled with inspiration!
The sage honey was awesome in this glazed chicken recipe. So golden, so delicate, so down right delicious. Both the apricots and young carrots came from a visit to the farmer’s market. While large carrots can be used, or the baby carrots in a bag, there is something sweet about the young, tender carrots with their tops that add to the dish (just be sure to cut off the green tops before using!)
Needless to say, the quality of your chicken will greatly impact the flavor of your dish. Whenever possible, look for hormone-free, antibiotics free, all natural chickens. The “brands” that I prefer are Rocky or Rosie Chicken – both from the same company. Their chickens come from Sustainable Farms in and around the Sonoma area of California. The chickens are then packaged in nearby Petaluma. Beautiful country – great farms, vineyards and awesome foods abound throughout the Sonoma Valley.
Apricot Sage Honey Glazed Drumsticks with Carrots
Chicken Drumsticks
10 drumsticks
Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 fresh apricots
10 young carrots
To prepare Chicken: Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Pit the apricots, then slice into strips. Set aside.
Wash carrots, trim tops and ends. Cut as necessary into 2″ long sections. (Mine were perfect, needing almost no cutting beyond the trimming stage). Set aside.
Heat oil in heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, brown the drumsticks on all sides, about 8-10 minutes, turning as needed. While chicken is browning, make apricot glaze.
Apricot Sage Honey Glaze
1/2 cup apricot jam
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons Sage Honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
To Prepare the Apricot Glaze: Combine apricot jam, red wine vinegar, sage honey, mustard, garlic and salt in a small bowl. Whisk mixture thoroughly to combine. Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of the glaze and set aside.
Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze over the drumsticks on all sides. (You will not use all the glaze in this application).
To the remaining glaze in the bowl, add carrots and apricots. Mix to coat well. Set apricot/carrot mixture aside.
Arrange drumsticks in a large casserole dish. Spoon carrot/apricot/glaze mixture over legs, spread evenly.
To Bake the Chicken: Place chicken in the oven to bake. After about 20 minutes, remove dish from oven, close door to retain heat, Rotate legs, and brush with reserved glaze. Return dish to oven for another 20 minutes.
Check for drumsticks for doneness. If more time is needed, rotate legs once more and return to oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes of baking.
To serve: Plate legs and carrots, drizzle with juices from the casserole dish. Serve with fluffy rice such as Rice Pilaf.
Portuguese Grilled Chili Basted Game Hens
A few years back, I was on a Portuguese cooking kick. I couldn’t get enough of it. In this quest, I stumbled upon a treasure-trove of wonderful dishes at portuguesecooking.com. Not only were there recipes, but stories and tantalizing tidbits of how the dish came to be from folklore and historical facts of many of the dishes. Needless to say, I was in heaven, devouring the tidbits while adding recipe after recipe to my collection. I adore them all.
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Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp in White Wine
So pretty. So delicate. So delicious. Served along side warm garlic bread and a simple salad of leafy-lettuce with tomatoes, this makes for one romantic supper or impressive meal when company comes a calling. I love pasta dishes for entertaining. Maybe that’s just the romantic in me – imagine a table set in the middle of a vineyard – friends gathered round just as the sun begins to set. In the twilight of the evening, we break the bread and let the lively conversation begin. Laughter and love floating in the air, dancing together, intertwined as one. Oh, life is good under a setting Tuscan sun.
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Oh What To Do with those Pesky Left-Overs? Make Sandwiches, of course!
No matter how much I plan, it seems that I always make too much food. Especially when I make things like Spaghetti and Meatballs. Hubby stares down into what seems to be a bottomless bowl and asks “So, when are the guest getting here?”
Continue reading “Oh What To Do with those Pesky Left-Overs? Make Sandwiches, of course!”Frijoles Negros Refritos (Refried Black Beans)
Yesterday I gave to you my latest Mexican creation, Pork Salsa Verde. It was part of a desire to break out of a garden-fresh rut. Yeah, even when whipping up dishes with things straight from my garden, it’s possible to get stuck in a rut.
Continue reading “Frijoles Negros Refritos (Refried Black Beans)”Grilling Up Porterhouse Magic
For our wedding anniversary, Hubby and I decided years ago to forego eating out. Eating out requires too much effort when you’re spending a lazy day together – all that fuss of getting dressed up. Besides, when you’re married to your best friend, every day is a celebration of togetherness.
We were in the mood for an awesome steak dinner with a giant baked potato on the side and a nice bottle of wine. (Kiddo is always in the mood for a good steak, so we didn’t even bother to consult him). We aren’t talking wimpy steaks for our anniversary – we’re talking about monster steaks – about 28 ounces of rich red beef – enough to feed a small country! These bad boys take patience to cook just right. But then, you can’t rush perfection.
Timing is everything to make sure everyone gets their steak grilled “just right”. In our house, there are only two ways to grill a steak – medium for the guys (pink but not bloody) and medium-rare for me (meat warm, with a bright pink color and the natural red juices running all over the plate). To achieve this, the medium steaks are started about 10 minutes ahead of their rare cousins. To keep the medium steaks cooking without over-grilling, a short “nap” on the warming tray of the grill is a must while the rare steaks are seared.
Have I mentioned that Hubby is a grilling master – at least in my book. He’s got grilling foods over an open fire down to a fine art – always turning out grilled foods that are cooked to perfection – never tough, burnt or dried out.
Porterhouse Magic
1 Large Porterhouse Steak Per Person, about 1 ½ inches thick, 28-30 oz each
Salt to taste
Johnny Trigg Champion Meat Rub to taste
This first step is very important – buy your steaks the day of grilling and not a day sooner. Have a conversation with your butcher – ask him to cut your Porterhouse about 1 ½ thick. Tell him to give you steaks that he would have cut for his own family, with a generous side of filet and New York Strip on either side of the bone.
DO NOT put the steaks in the refrigerator. Open the package, sprinkle with salt on both sides. Then sprinkle with Meat Rub, pat into steaks. Allow the steaks to rest on the counter at lease an hour or two to draw in the salt with the rub.
Build a nice fire in the grill. Get it good and hot with a light covering of ash.
For medium – sear steaks for about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to warming rack of grill while searing less-done steaks.
For Medium-Rare – sear steak as above, skipping the transfer to warming rack of grill.
Return steaks to be cook medium back to main grill alongside those to be grilled medium-rare. Lower coals (or raise rack, depending upon grill type) and continue to grill with the lid closed for about 5-6 more minutes. Raise lid, flip steaks, then close grill and cook an additional 5 minutes. (The medium steaks are on the grill about 26 minutes total, the medium rare about 18 minutes).
Remove all the steaks from grill, place on a platter and tent to keep warm. Allow steaks to rest for about 5-10 minutes to regain their juices.
Note: The best way to let the steaks rest and to keep warm is to place the steaks, stacked one on top of the other, on a dinner plate. Place a steel mixing bowl over the steaks to create a dome, keeping the heat and moisture in the steaks.
While the steaks are resting, it’s the perfect time to load up a baked potato with all your favorite toppings – butter, sour cream, chopped chives, salt and pepper to taste.
Place steaks on individual plates and drizzle with any juices that have accumulated on the platter.
Ready, set, enjoy! These are so flavorful, so tender and melt in your mouth good!
Irish Champ Potatoes
It would be safe to say no other food in the world is more closely associated with Ireland than the potato. By the 18th century, potatoes became a food staple in Ireland and the major crop grown there. By the 1840s, there were a half-million peasant farmers growing potatoes on small acreage.
Pork Salsa Verde
Yesterday evening Hubby and I puttered together in the garden at the end of our day. For me, it’s a special time, the highlight of my day. I look forward to just the two of us talking as we putter. We chat about future plans, world events or whatever happens to pop into our heads.
Spaghetti and Meatballs Enough for a Crowd
Did you know that Spaghetti and Meatballs isn’t an Italian dish? At least not in the way we think of Spaghetti and Meatballs. You know, big, juicy meatballs swimming in a rich red sauce poured over a mountain of spaghetti noodles. In Italy, you will find spaghetti noodles, tomato based sauces and even meatballs of sorts (called polpettes). These are not the meatballs we know and love. They are often eaten plain (as the meatballs alone) or in a soup. The meat is anything from beef to turkey to even fish. Often these meatballs are no bigger than a golf ball. In some regions, there are meatballs no bigger than a marble called polpettines. While polpettes are commonly found at the family table in Italy, they are rarely found in restaurants and never served with spaghetti. If you happen to be in Italy and find “Spaghetti and Meatballs” on the menu, then you have stumbled into a tourist spot that caters to American expectation.
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Mousse au Chocolat Nori
Recently I decided to rummage through photos I’ve taken over the years. Most of my personal photos are stored in albums on my personal Facebook page. While strolling down memory lane, I came upon today’s “featured” photo in an album called “Mother’s Day 2013” (back before my blogging days). My wonderful guys had cooked up an awesome Mother’s Day meal for me.
Serving up Sunday Supper on a Saturday Night with an Apricot Glazed Ham
Christmas is coming. Okay, so it’s a few months away, but it is coming none the less. Time to test a few new recipes for the Christmas Table. One thing I know for sure – Christmas will include a ham. In our house, it simply would not be Christmas without a ham.
It seems to me that more often than not, when I’m serving up a ham I tend to stick to the “traditional” glazed ham I know so well. You know the one – with pineapple ring and cherries held into place with whole cloves – such a delicious throw-back to childhood memories. I can almost smell my parent’s kitchen at the holidays, be it Christmas or Easter. That distinct aroma of cloves was undeniable. Our house was always bursting at the seams with cousins, uncles, aunts and assorted “adopted” family for holiday meals. On average, there were at least ten to twelve children – little staggered stepping-stones – twice as many children as adults.
The grownups naturally gravitated to the kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, taking up their respective places at the holiday table. For whatever reason, to my ears they all seemed to be chattering at once – the men in English, the women in a mixture of Spanish, English and Tagalog. Everyone was dressed up in their Holiday best, having just come from Mass.
Upon our return from Mass Dad, with a kitchen towel draped over his left shoulder, heads straight for the oven to check on his ham. The ham always seemed to take forever to reach that perfect doneness when the meat was cooked through, all smokey and flavorful, and the fat curled up nice and crisp. Just when it was that Dad popped his ham into a slow oven is beyond me. All I knew with any certainty is that it made its way into the oven sometime between Santa’s visit and our departure for Saint Paul’s to attend Mass. Satisfied that all is well, Dad would pour himself a cup of coffee and joins the others at the table.
Holiday meals were so special. Christmas Dinner was one of three “special” occasions when real butter would be at the table, along with hot dinner rolls and a big bowl of black olives – perfect for sticking onto the ends of our fingers. (Is there any other way to eat black olives?)
Yeah, we’ll be having ham for Christmas, even if I do decide to serve it along side a Christmas Goose. Some traditions will never die. These days it’s not a matter of “if” a ham will be served but more a question of how the ham is prepared. Recipes need to be tested – and in my book that’s as good an excuse as any to serve up a Sunday Ham Supper on a Saturday evening . . .
Apricot Brown Sugar Glazed Ham
1 (8-10 pound) smoked picnic ham (bone-in)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup apricot jam
1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Place the ham cut side down onto a sheet of aluminum foil, shiny side up. With a sharp knife, score the ham to allow glaze to seep into the meat.
Mix together the brown sugar, apricot jam and mustard powder in a small bowl. Pop mixture into the microwave for about 30 seconds to soften and make it more spreadable.
Brush onto the ham using a pastry or barbecue brush. Be sure to brush cut side as well. The ham should be well-coated with about half of the glaze mixture. Reserve remaining glaze for later. Enclose the foil around the ham and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
Roast in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes per pound.
About 20 minutes before the ham is done, apply all the remaining glaze. Roll foil down, exposing the ham so that glaze with thicken, and any skin or fat will brown nicely. (Note: If glaze has thickened simply zap in microwave for about 30 seconds).
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Hold the presses! Dinner was unbelievable! This recipe produced the most tender, flavorful, moist ham I have ever eaten. I don’t know if cooking the ham in my roasting oven rather than the big oven made any difference. I know I have a few more recipes to try . . . yet I have to admit, this was delicious!
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 