There is nothing like coming home to a wonderful meal, all cooked up in a slow-cooker, just waiting for the final touches. These Shredded Pork Tacos are absolutely delicious. The pork can be started in the crock pot while still frozen, perfect for forgetful cooks or last-minute decision makers – no need to defrost ahead of time. The slow-cooked pork is then finished in a large skillet, adding all the “taco” seasonings at the end. There will be plenty of meat left over for a second meal or to use as a filler to make pork enchiladas. The flavors are mild, lending easily to other creations.
Continue reading “Shredded Pork Tacos – Slow Cooker Style”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.
Mom’s Chuck Roast Beef
This week Hubby and I will celebrate 32 years of marriage. I wanted the entire week to be “special”. One of Hubby’s favorite meals is Roast Beef with roasted potatoes and baby peas. I thought a nice Italian Roast Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce would be perfect. I could add some small Red Potatoes and buttery peas. A roasted tenderloin would make the cut of meat as special as the man I married. Perfect right?
Browned-Butter Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots with a Kiss of Kahlua
If you have been around for a while, you know that Brother Dear was not a vegetable eater. Corn – that was the extend of his vegetable tolerance. While Brother Dear was with us, his biggest complaint every night at dinner was that the table was set with the vegetables at his end. Meat at the head of the table, starches (potatoes, pasta and so forth) in the middle, vegetables at the foot of the table. Our plates were passed around the table until everyone had a serving of what was offered. Naturally, Brother Dear passed on the vegetables, unless it was corn. Every night, Kiddo would bug his Uncle to at least try a vegetable. Kiddo’s argument was how do you know you won’t like something if you have never given it a try. (Same argument I use with Kiddo. And guess what? Sometimes he will try something new to discover that he likes it.) Brother Dear liked both the butter and the brown sugar, so when it came time to finally give in to Kiddo’s nagging, he was willing to try Browned-Butter Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots. Much to his surprise, he liked it. So picky eaters be warned – you just might like this wonderful dish.
One of the things I like best about glazed carrots (besides the taste) is how colorful it looks on my plate. I love to serve anything with bright color.
Browned-Butter Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
1 Bunch Baby Carrots, tops intact
2 Tablespoons Water
Pinch of Salt
4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Kahlua
Trim tops of carrots, leaving about 1 inch of the “green” intact.
Wash and peel carrots. Place in a microwave safe dish.
Add water and a pinch of salt. Microwave on HIGH for 3-5 minutes, until carrots are tender-crisp.
Heat empty skillet until almost smoking. Remove skillet from heat, add butter. Butter will begin to brown almost immediately. Swirl pan around and let butter become a light amber color. Add brown sugar, swirl until sugar has dissolved to create a nice glaze.
Add Kahlua, swirl pan to blend. Place carrots in pan with butter. Swirl to coat carrots, spooning the glaze over the carrots. You really want the glaze to be thick and shiny rather than have the carrots swimming in syrup. Place pan on low heat. Continue to swirl until carrots are nicely glazed and everything is hot.
Transfer to serving platter, allowing excess glaze to drip back into the pan. Serve immediately.
Grilled Smoked Sausages with Barbecue Sauce
This is almost a silly posting – such a simple “recipe” – yet one of the favorites with my guys for a quick, easy dinner. Only two ingredients. From prep to table in about 20 minutes. Can’t beat that for easy. It’s one of those family favorite “junk” comfort foods. Coupled with the right sides, it’s both filling and delicious. There is a little more to this posting then what meets the eye. When I miss Brother Dear, I take to cooking his kind of grub. Grilled Smoked Sausage was one of his favorites.
These yummy grilled sausages not only make a great quick and easy supper, they would feel right at home at any backyard barbecue. Served along side such popular backyard favorites as barbecued chicken, these grilled sausages bring a little variety to the feast while stretching your food dollar in the process. The flavors of the grilled sausages and barbecue chicken would complement one another and take very little time to prepare. A boneless chicken thigh or two cooked up on the grill and kissed with your favorite barbecue sauce, a serving of “J” shaped barbecued sausage, some fried potatoes and maybe an ear of corn – your guests will be both full and satisfied. Sometimes we’ll have a “big barbecue” – some chicken, maybe a tri-tip or two, and I’ll trow on a few Smoked Sausages, knowing that Brother Dear will be sitting at the table with us, if only in spirit.
Grilled Smoked Sausages with Barbecue Sauce
2 Packages Hillshire Farms Smoked Beef Sausage
1 Cup Barbecue Sauce, any flavor
Heat small gas grill for direct cooking. Split sausages in half width-wise to create 2 halves. Split again lengthwise to open sausage. You will now have 8 “J” shaped sausages.
When grill is ready, place sausage haves on grill skin side up until nicely cooked. Turn, brush with barbecue sauce and continue to grill until heated through.
Serve with additional barbecue sausage if desired.
Great with Country Style Southern Fried Taters and corn.
Looking for more of Brother Dear’s favorite sausage? Try Brother Dear’s Smokes Sausage and Fried Potatoes
Summer Squash Sautéed with Garlic-Dill Weed
One of my favorite side dishes is also one of the easiest to make. A little slicing, a dash of seasoning, quick swirl in a pan and that’s it. The vegetables are seasoned just right with a kiss of garlic and a pinch of dill. Salt is purely an optional thing – a little Himalayan Pink Salt will go a long way to bring out the flavors of the squash.
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Butterfly Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
This is one of those recipes that has made several appearances on our meal planner, only to be pushed aside, opting instead for fast food, a night of left overs or cold sandwiches. For whatever the reason, the dish could not find its way from the planning stage to the execution process. Finally, I painted myself into a corner – two beautiful breasts wrapped in butcher paper sat it the refrigerator, along with fresh broccoli from the farmer’s market and a bright orange pepper. No excuses – no backing down.
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Kiddo’s Awesome Brown Sugar Bacon
Sometimes it’s better when you don’t know the “proper” way to do things. A few nights ago, Hubby and I came home from running errands, opened the front door and were promptly greeted by the aroma of bacon. Not just bacon, but brown sugar bacon. No doubt about the smells. Kiddo was in the kitchen, eager to greet us. He had cooked up some brown sugar bacon (Kiddo loves bacon – could live on bacon) and had managed enough self-control to save us about a quarter of a slice to “sample”. It was awesome – smoky and sweet without being overly sticky. Wow!
As I sampled my little bite of yummy brown sugar bacon, I noticed there were no baking pans soaking in the sink with caramelized brown sugar. No racks dripping with the goo. Not even a hint of a sticky piece of foil. The only thing in the sink was a griddle pan, and it wasn’t a huge mess either.
“How did you cook this?” I asked, surveying the lack of mess in my kitchen.
“Simple.” Kiddo replied with a big smile, his chest all puffed up with pride. “I added brown sugar to the fry pan.”
Really? Fried brown sugar bacon? Not baked, not broiled but fried, as in cooked on a flat fry pan. I was amazed.
For Sunday’s breakfast of French Toast I asked Kiddo to cook up his brown sugar bacon. It was really simple – so simple there’s really no need for a real recipe. It’s all a matter of how much bacon, and go from there.
Brown Sugar Fried Bacon
2 tablespoons Bacon Drippings or as needed
1 tablespoon Brown Sugar or as needed
6 Slices Smoked Bacon or as desired
Heat a flat skillet or griddle pan over medium heat.
Add about 2 or 3 tablespoons bacon drippings to the warm pan. Stir in about a tablespoon or so light brown sugar to the melted drippings. Lay bacon over the brown sugar flavored drippings and fry bacon as you normally would, turning as needed to prevent bacon from burning.
As the grease in the pan increases, add a little more brown sugar to keep it a glaze consistency. Continue to cook bacon until it is golden and crisp.
To cook up additional slices, transfer cooked bacon in an oven safe rimmed dish and keep warm in the oven. To the now empty skillet, add a little more brown sugar to the pan and continue to cook a second batch of smoky, yummy bacon.
Each batch of bacon takes about 10 minutes or so to fry up – much faster than baking in the oven with the same yummy results.
Clean-up is a snap. Dump grease into the can you keep under the sink for grease (you know, the one that is later thrown out with the trash – please don’t tell me you dump grease down the sink!) Then wash the pan in warm soapy water. No soaking necessary.
Mema’s Macaroni Salad
This delicious and super simple Macaroni Salad has been in our family forever (or at least since the 1950s). With the exception of cute little garnishes and presentation ideas, very little has changed. It’s Mom’s recipe and growing up I loved it. Hubby’s favorite, too. He’s a basic kind of guy, so uncomplicated foods suite him just fine. Rather than leave this little gem of a recipe obscured in a montage of recipes, I thought it would be nice to bring it out of hiding. After all, these are the fading days of summer. Soon enough we will be packing away the picnic baskets, backyard grills and whatever else is a part of our summer fun in the sun. In our house, macaroni salad is all a part of this type of year.
When entertaining, I usually make Mema’s Potato Salad to go with my Macaroni Salad. Have you noticed that there are Potato Salad eaters or Macaroni Salad lovers – preferring one type over another? For big gatherings or when I’m asked to make a few dishes, I like to make both just to keep everyone happy.
Mema’s Macaroni Salad
6 Eggs, hard-boiled
1 lb Salad Macaroni
¼ Cup Green Onions, finely chopped
¼ Cup Red onion, finely chopped
2 Celery Stocks, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Dill Pickle Relish (more to taste)
1 ½ Cups Best Food Mayonnaise
½ Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Green Onions for Garnish (Optional)
½ Cup Chopped Black Olives (Optional)
Peel hard-boiled eggs and set in refrigerator to cool completely.
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions. Drain and rinse well under cold running water. Set aside to continue draining.
In bowl, combine onions, celery, pickle relish, mayonnaise and red wine vinegar. Whisk to combine. Taste dressing and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Adjust seasoning according to personal tastes.
Chop 4 eggs. Add to dressing. Cut V marks in remaining 2 eggs to create tulip flowers. Reserve 3 flowers, chop remaining flower and add to dressing. Taste dressing a second time, adjust seasonings as necessary.
Place macaroni in a large bowl. Pour egg dressing over macaroni. If desired, add chopped olives and toss to coat. Smooth out top.
Using the back of a spoon, create 3 indentations in the top of the salad. Place Egg flowers into indentations. If desired, sprinkle lightly with paprika. Cover with plastic and refrigerate until well chilled.
Note: Did you know you can color the macaroni to suite the celebration? Check out the photo below – same salad, colored for the 4th of July. Orange for Halloween, maybe red and green for Christmas – you get the idea.
Country Ribs with Golden Eagle Barbecue Sauce
On the outskirts of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin stood the Golden Eagle Tavern. The bar itself was small, with living quarters on one side and a separate building on the other side that made and sold the most amazing barbecue sandwiches. The location was perfect – right along the highway between Wisconsin Rapids and Steven’s Point. On any given day, travelers along the picturesque wooded state route would pull off the road and mosey on up to the rustic log establishment to order some of the best barbecue around. What set the Golden Eagle Tavern and Grill apart was their barbecue sauce.
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Homemade Pico De Gallo
Pico de Gallo. Just what the heck is Pico de Gallo? Is it a salsa? A dip for chips? A tomato-based topping? Or just maybe all of the above and more.
Awesome Make-Ahead Snacks for Vegging-Out
How often do you find yourself vegging out in front of the TV with a big bag of chips and some store-bought dip? Your vegging all the way – shoes off, feet up, flipping around the channels and wondering if there is anything worth watching on the Boob-Tube (Kiddo always snickers when I call the TV a Boob-Tube).
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Seared Scallops with Jalapeno Vinaigrette
Hubby and I have a wedding anniversary coming up. Seems to come up around this same time every year for as long as I can remember. Our anniversary got me to thinking – and planning a meal for my soul mate, the love of my life. Something special – my gift to him. Hubby adores bounties from the sea. Scallops are right up there on his hit parade. As are dishes that contain a bit of heat. This bright, beautiful recipe for scallops contain both.
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Spinach and Tomato Omelette
Okay, I wasn’t planning to post yet another recipe today. I mean, four in one day is a bit much, even for me. I was actually nursing a cup of coffee, and reading a rough draft for Marseille Omelette (Rosemarie Style). Some of you Mimi Cafe lovers out there might be familiar with this open-faced egg-white omelette.
Continue reading “Spinach and Tomato Omelette”Movie Night Hot Dog Delight
This is one crazy way to make hot dogs. It’s more about the fun of recreating a night at the movies at home than it is about cooking hot dogs. When Kiddo was a wee-bit younger, we would hold “Movie Night” right in the living room – with all the trappings of “going out to the movies” at least once a month. It was our family date night. A night at the movies at home meant popcorn with lots of butter, soda served from a paper cup with a lid and a straw, really bad nachos (you know, stale chips, microwave cheese and some jalapeno peppers). And hot dogs wrapped in foil. Then we would pile all the food onto trays, rent a couple of age appropriate movies and have a ball.
The Coney Island Dog
A Coney Island Dog (or Coney Dog or Coney) is a hot dog in a bun topped with a savory meat sauce. Often featured as part of a menu of dishes of Greek Origin and classic American diners; the Coney Island reference is largely a phenomenon related to immigration from Greece and the Macedonian region to the United States in the early 20th century.
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 