In our house, Christmas Dinner always meant a smokey, salty ham. Dad would slow-cook that giant ham all day. Back then, hams weren’t pre-sliced or scored or made all trimmed and pretty. Dad baked up a nice, smoked picnic ham. It would feed everyone, and the bone (with a little meat still attached) makes for the best ever pot of ham and beans for New Year’s Day. While I don’t bake up a giant ham, I do select one that is spiral-cut and with the bone.
Japanese Inspired Sea Scallop Tiradito
When I saw this, my thoughts immediately went to the holidays. The scallops are white, like Christmas snow. The garnish of chili paste and cilantro leaves gives us that kiss of red and green. And the presentation, three to a plate, is so symbolic of the season. It was love at first sight. What an elegant start to a Christmas Eve supper of seven fishes, don’t you think?
Christmas Appetizers – And the Winners Are . . .
It seems whenever I am planning a party, or attending a pot luck, I always run into the same problem – what do I make? It’s not a question of what so much as in a lack of ideas or inspiration. It’s more a struggle of narrowing things down to a reasonable amount of foods. There are times when I throw sensibility right out the window, and make everything. There are times when my guys rein me in with a firm “are you out of your mind?”
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Christmas Eve – An Intimate Supper
While we are thinking about all the office parties and pot lucks and baking projects galore; I’m also thinking about Christmas Eve – my lovely family, and a quiet evening together. Sometimes simple is best. Simple can be elegant. A few years back, I created this simple but elegant Four-Course Christmas Eve Supper for my beautiful family. This year, it’s coming out again. It’s one of my favorite menu collections, perfect for the three of us.
Italian Cube Steak and Sautéed Vegetables
Cube Steak is one of those cuts of meat that is best served in some sort of gravy or kept moist under a mound of vegetables such as in this beautiful Italian rendition. Recently I served up a cube steak family favorite, Cube Steak with a Golden Mushroom Sauce. As always, it was a big hit. Cube steak is also the best choice for a down-home country favorite, Chicken-Fried Steak. As a fan of this versatile cut of beef, I knew this Italian rendition would be another family favorite.
Just for the record, cube steak is usually cut from the top round or top sirloin. The cuts are then tenderized using a meat tenderizer or run through a machine that punches holes into the meat. The mechanical tenderizer is called a meat cuber or swissing machine. and the resulting steak is know as a cube or Swiss steak because of the cube-shaped indentations made by the machine. While it is true that the cut of meat is traditionally taken from the Round, in reality it can be made using any tough cut of beef. When buying your cube steak, be sure to examine it carefully. Some cuts are riddled with streaks of gristle or overly fatty. Can you make your own cube steak? Sure. The electric machine is expensive, the crank or hand-held variety will give you a workout. While there are chefs out there that swear by cutting your own meats, I actually looked into getting a hand-held model. The biggest drawback is that they are all difficult to clean and meat can become lodged between the razor-sharp blades. Besides, with a little care in shopping or a conversation with your butcher and you can bring home a nice cube steak.
Italian Cube Steak and Sautéed Vegetables
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, cut in strips
1/2 Yellow bell pepper, cut in strips
1/2 green bell pepper, cut in strips
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 pound beef cubed steaks
1 (14-1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, no salt added
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. While the skillet is heating, cut onion and bell peppers into strips. Set aside until ready to cook.
When the skillet is hot, sauté the peppers and onion. As the vegetables cook, season generously with garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Continue to sauté for 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.
Add the cube steaks to the same skillet and cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until browned, turning once.
Add the tomatoes to the skillet . Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Return peppers and onions to the skillet and continue to simmer another 10 minutes or until meat is tender.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve.
This delicious Italian steak can accompanied by a bowl of steamed rice, linguine with butter or for something a little extra, serve with Herb Risotto. A nice salad would round out the meat perfectly.
The One-Hour Holiday Meal Miracle
Have you seen the awesome recipe from Chelsea’s Messy Apron? Not only did she bring together all the traditions of Easter Dinner, she did it in two baking sheets and all in under an hour! Too good to be true! While this might not serve a large group, it’s perfect for a small family gathering. And it doesn’t require a kitchen turned up-side-down. While the dinner is cooking in the oven, a quick wash of a few bowls and pans makes clean-up a snap. Line the baking sheets with heavy foil, and clean up just got even easier. This is a great idea not only for Easter, but anytime you want to serve up a wonderful “Sunday” supper without a lot of work.
Italian Roast Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce
As a child, we seemed to have Roast Beef Dinners on a fairly regular bases during the winter. Part of that (I think) was because a big roast went a long way – there were always leftovers to help stretch of food budget. Warming the leftovers involved some creativity. You must remember, this was way back in the stone ages – you know, before the invention of micro ways.
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Lightening Quick Balsamic Dijon Pork Chops
On the meal planner was a recipe I picked up from Mary over at Bare Feet in the Kitchen. Mary promised a recipe that was quick and delicious. I’ve seen a lot of recipes that claim to be “quick”, but by the time all the chopping, prepping and preheating is done, not to mention the additional cooking time it seems to take, quick might not be as quick as they claim.
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Bacon-Onion Barbecue Meatballs
“We are having a pot luck”. We’ve all heard them – those dreaded words from a co-worker. It means coming up with something that can be made in advance – or at the very least started in advance, that can be easily transported and that will satisfy a crowd.
Beautiful Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad
As I was reading through some prior posting that contained an ensemble of recipes in a single post, I found this beautiful Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad. It was originally featured as part of my Father’s Day Cookout for the Whole Gang. It got me to thinking – the colors are so beautiful – the green of the bean, the bright red of the tomato – perfect for the holidays. It would also make a lovely dish to bring to a pot luck as it is served cold and can be made in advance, just add the dressing the day of serving.
The recipe can easily be doubled for larger groups. If fresh green beans aren’t available, frozen would work just fine. This beautiful salad is definitely worth a second look.
Hope you enjoy . . .
Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad
Salad Dressing
2 Tablespoons Shallot, finely chopped (about 1 medium shallot)
2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest, finely grated (about 2 medium lemons)
2 Teaspoons Kosher Salt, or to taste
1 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper, or to taste
6 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice (about 3 lemons)
1/2 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Place the shallot, lemon zest, and measured salt and pepper in a medium, nonreactive bowl and add the lemon juice. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the oil and whisk until evenly combined. Set the dressing aside.
Note: If making a day in advance, make dressing and keep in an air-tight container. Add dressing the day of serving.
Salad
2 lbs Green Beans, trimmed
2 Pints Cherry Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Italian Parsley, chopped
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil and prepare an ice water bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice and water; set aside. Meanwhile, make the dressing.
Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and transfer to the prepared ice water bath. When the beans are chilled, drain again and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
Place the beans, tomatoes, and parsley in a large bowl, pour in the dressing, and toss to coat thoroughly. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. Set aside at room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve.
One-Skillet Ziti Bake with Cucumber Salad and Warm Bread
It’s been a while since I last shared a complete dinner menu. It’s been a while since we last indulged in one of my favorite cuisines – Italian. This one-skillet Pasta dish has been on the weekly menu for a while now, but you know how plans go – by the wayside. Especially during the holidays – last-minute shopping, errands and other distractions such as pot lucks and decorating and on it goes.
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Honey and Spice-Glazed Pork Chops
What’s that you say? Another “kissed with honey” recipe for this, I love Honey Day? No problem . . .
I love pork chops. For the most part, they cook up quickly and easily. A little of this, a little of that and you’ve got a meal that is delicious in no time at all. Although not the fastest among my pork chop recipes, one of our favorites is my Mexican Pork Chops with Ancho Chile Cornbread Stuffing. I thought the Mexican Pork Chops were going to remain Hubby’s all-time favorites until recently, when Hubby, Kiddo and I got together and cook up to-die-for Hunter’s Pork Chops – Heaven on a Plate. I’m always on the lookout for a new recipe to try. When Kiddo was a little Kiddo, we were big on the Book Fairs. He would tell me “you can’t have too many books”, which is exactly the way I feel about new recipes. There’s no such thing as too many. This little ditty is a recipe I picked up at Everyday Tastes.com – the recipe seemed very straight forward, and the photo on their website showed beautiful, glistening chops. Food needs to be appealing to the senses – the look and the aromas are the first things that greet you long before that first bite. If it looks bad and stinks, it’s hard to get that fork to your lips, although I must admit I’ve sampled some mighty tasty dishes over the years that at a glance were down right ugly!
While cooking up these chops, I learned a few things and needed to adapt quickly. The original recipe had the pork chops brushed with the glaze immediately after browning. While I started to follow those instructions, a little of the glaze dripped from the brush and the sugar in the honey began to brown quickly. It was necessary to turn down the heat more to the low of medium-low. Fearful that the chops would dry out, I added the chicken stock, let them “steam/simmer” in a covered pan. Once I was sure the chops were cooked through, I brushed on the glaze. Adding a little butter at the end gave a nice finish to the pan drippings. A little drizzle over the finished chops gave everything a deep, beautiful color.
Honey and Spice-Glazed Pork Chops
1/4 cup honey
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
2 Tablespoons Butter
In a small bowl, combine honey, mustard and spices. Set aside until ready to use
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.
Reduce heat to medium-low and chicken stock. Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer, or until pork is cooked through, turning once.
Brush pork chops with honey-spice mixture. Cook 3 minutes more. Turn, brush with remaining mixture. Add butter to pan and cook another 3 minutes.
Remove from pan and serve immediately.
If desired, serve on a bed of rice such as butter and garlic or a rice pilaf. You can also drizzle a little of the pan drippings over the chops.
Spicy Beef and Chorizo Tacos
Growing up, Dad made the best tacos. What made his tacos so flavorful? It was the blend of meat filling – Ground Chuck and good quality Chorizo. By good quality Chorizo, I mean the good stuff you find in a Mexican Meat Market – the stuff sold in bulk, not in plastic tubes in the grocery store. And there was more.
Continue reading “Spicy Beef and Chorizo Tacos”Chili’s Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers
Today is a special day for Honey. Not just National Honey Day, but I Love Honey day – a celebration of all things with honey. These wonderful Chicken Crispers are sticky with sweet honey and spicy with chipotle – the best of two worlds. Yeah, I love honey . . . and Chipotle . . . and Chicken . . . and, well you get the idea.
Have a Sweet Day!
Chili’s Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers
Honey-Chipotle Sauce
3/4 cup Sage Honey
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons chipotle powder
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Make the Honey-Chipotle Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk and bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes, letting it reduce. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Chicken Crispers
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon chicken broth
1 1/2 cups panko
1 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
Make the Crispy Chicken: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup. Insert baking rack (a cookie cooling rack will work) inside rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.
Set up three bowls as a breading station. In the first bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder. In the second bowl, the beaten eggs with chicken broth. In the third bowl, combine panko and paprika.
Cut each chicken breast into three strips lengthwise. Use tongs to dip chicken strips into flour mixture, coating both sides, then into the egg mixture, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl and finally in the panko mixture.
Place dipped chicken on a baking rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Once all the chicken has been dipped, let rest for 10 minutes for the breading to better adhere to the chicken.
Once rested, place baking sheet into the heated oven. Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes.
To finish, toss tenders in Honey-Chipotle sauce, coating each one, and serve.
This can be enjoyed as a finger snack food, served with French Fries or for a casual meal, add corn on the cob and enjoy!
Beef Enchilada Skillet
I love to collect recipes. I have hundreds of cookbooks (an ever-growing collection that hubby claims borders on obsession). I seek out cookbooks everywhere we go – flea markets, antique stores, used book stores – even the grocery store checkout lines. I read my cookbooks the same way some people read a novel – from cover to cover. Generally speaking; unless it’s a multi-step, complicated recipe with techniques I’ve never tried before; I tend to read through a new recipe and then tweak it a bit. Most of what I “create” are actually inspired by others, prodding me ever forward to create a rendition which reflects my unique style. Like most cooks in this modern age, my quest for new revelations in the kitchen is not limited to those bound in books – the internet is an ocean of tantalizing dishes just waiting to be discovered. My inspired creations are then added and saved to my online stockpile of cookbooks on yumprint.com (over 4,000 recipes thus far. It can be months or even years before a recipe is taken for a test drive). Most of my online collection is composed of recipes created by others that have inspired me to try new things, to reach new heights and learn through trial and error. That said, I invite – no make that encourage – you do the same with anything you like. In my humble opinion, recipes are designed to evolve with each individual, taking on new depth and flavors as they are joyfully passed along.
Recently I was inspired (by necessity mind you) to tweak a simple one-skillet dish I stumbled upon four years ago while perusing the recipe collection at 99cooking.com. The original recipe wasn’t complicated. I liked it just the way it was. Simple, straight forward, flavorful and perfect for a busy weeknight meal. So I added the dish to my weekly menu plan (one of the features I love so much in Yumprint – the ability to create menus and shopping lists from that).
In our house, we have our assigned “duties” when it comes to food preparation. Mine is to create and execute a weekly meal plan. This includes creating the shopping list for the week. My husband’s contribution to the “creative” process is to take that shopping list, rummage through the pantry; refrigerator and freezer, marking off the ingredients we have on-hand. That way we buy only what we need. I bring this up because the recipe I am about to share called for “Mexican Hot Chili” seasoning. I love my husband dearly, but he’s not necessarily the best person to check our spices. We had chili powder, so he marked it off the list, not realizing that there is a difference. When it came time to prepare dinner, I realized we didn’t have the correct chili seasoning, so I improvised. This improvisation resulted in an enchilada sauce that was HOT!!! So if you like it hot, use the notes at the bottom of the recipe. Or make up your own . . .
Skillet Beef Enchilada
Enchilada Meat
1 ¼ lb ground chuck
1 cup uncooked Minute Rice
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese (more if you like)
Enchilada Sauce
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons Hot Mexican-Style Chili Powder (McCormick)
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon unsweetened coca powder
1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Mexican Oregano
1 can (8 oz) Hunts Tomato Sauce (plain)
2 Cups Water
1 Cup Beef Broth (from 32 oz container)
Brown the meat in a large skillet. Drain off any fat.
While the meat is browning, make the enchilada sauce. In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients using a wire whisk to blend well. In a medium sauce pan, add 1/2 cup water and dry spices. Whisk until smooth. Add tomato sauce and remaining water and the broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until sauce thickens, about 8 minutes.
Add the rice and about half of the enchilada sauce to the cooked beef. Cook over medium heat until the rice is cooked, about 8 minutes. Add more enchilada sauce as needed to keep moist.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the mixture and lower the heat to prevent rice from burning. Cover and cook until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with the chopped green onion and serve. If desired, top with a dollop of sour cream.
* NOTE: To replace 3 tablespoon Hot Mexican-Style Chili Powder, I used 1 tablespoon each: Chili Powder, Chipotle Powder & Cayenne Powder. Next time I’ll use a little less Cayenne Powder – this blend was SUPER hot! My guys loved it, but then they like to each roasted jalapeno peppers, so they aren’t exactly shy when it comes to spicy foods. I thought it was a little over the top in the heat department.
On a closing note, the enchilada sauce was super easy to make. I plan to play with it a bit – maybe use the sauce to create a chicken dish (similar to a Mole). Like I said in the beginning, recipes are a source of inspiration, meant to deviate from as one sees fit. When I do make my chicken dish, I’ll be sure to share.
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 