While reorganizing the chicken recipes in my yumprint file, I came across this yummy recipe that had a note “on blog”. Really? So I searched, and I searched – have I lost my mind? Was that note intended to remind me to share the recipe with you or had I truly shared this wonderful dish and now it was gone? It turns out, I had shared it in a way – as part of a collection of recipes. There it was, buried in part 7 of the Traveling Dinner Party series. If I had a hard time finding my recipe for this Chicken dish, how could I expect anyone else to find it? So I’ve pulled it out, shaken off the cobwebs and shared it once again.
A Sweet Holiday Tradition – Christmas Baklava
A few years back, for Christmas my sister gave me a wonderful cookbook – a first for Ree Drummond (aka The Pioneer Woman). I loved it – the recipes were wonderful, the photographs heartwarming, and the little stories woven along the way were charming. Reading it was a lot like sitting down with a big cup of coffee in a friend’s cozy kitchen and talking about our two favorite things in life – family and cooking.
Continue reading “A Sweet Holiday Tradition – Christmas Baklava”Joyful Christmas Nibbles to Brighten Your Table
One of my all time favorite things to do is create themed tables for holidays or special events. I can spend hours upon hours reading through recipes, visualizing the beautiful table in my mind. Holidays such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving are some of the easiest to bring together. Just check the internet – there are entire sites dedicated to holiday entertaining. And not just the big holidays. Do a little digging and you can find recipes and decorating tips for just about anything. I love them all. It’s the attention to detail that pulls me in. I am such a stickler for detail.
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The Pink Stuff
What is it about this simple Jello Salad that is so popular? Seems like at every family gathering throughout the summer; someone brings a big bowl of “the pink stuff”. Be it Auntie May or Cousin Mary. When families get together for a pot-luck in warm weather, someone always pipes up with “Oh, and I’ll make the pink stuff.” Or the question is raised “Who’s making the pink stuff?” It’s expected, like Uncle Bob grabbing you in a headlock and rubbing the top of your head or Aunt Virginia kissing everyone and leaving a big, red impression of her lips on your cheek. At the end of summer, the Pink Stuff is gone, only to reappear at the Thanksgiving or Christmas Table, then poof, gone again until the following summer.
Chicken Escabeche
This recipe is one I picked up at the Filipino Food Store.com – and being half Filipino, I knew I had to give it a try. Those of you who have been following me know by now – “trying” equates to playing around with a recipe while making it for the very first time.
Wintertime Tomato Soup with Grilled Ham and Two-Cheese Sandwiches
There’s something about Tomato Soup that just naturally goes with grilled sandwiches. Some people go for the grilled cheese variety. Others like a Tuna Melt (my personal favorite); while my guys go for Grilled Ham and Cheese on Sourdough. Hubby is strictly an American Cheese kind of guy, while Kiddo and I like to mix it up a bit with Pepper Jack or Smoked Gouda.
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Irish Coffee To Warm The Toes
Every year in mid-March, Hubby, Kiddo and I drive over to Sonora California for their two-day Celtic Celebration. For anyone living in Northern California, this is a hoot and a half.
Golden Perfection Oven-Roasted Capon
Up until about three years ago I had never eaten, much less cooked a Capon Chicken. The first time I ever heard of a Capon was shortly after Hubby and I were married. In conversation, my mother-in-law mentioned that she served a Capon for Thanksgiving, once most of the boys had left home. Having never heard of a Capon, I imagined a small bird – much like a game hen.
Continue reading “Golden Perfection Oven-Roasted Capon”Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Kiddo and I put on our Baking Hats today. At Hubby’s request, we baked up three dozen of the most moist, soft and oh so good Gingerbread Cookies on the planet. That said, let me utter a quick disclaimer – if you are looking to make gingerbread people, this is NOT the recipe for you. The dough is very soft and sticky, making rollings and cutting with a cookie cutter an absolute nightmare. You will be pulling your hair out. These cookies are rolled in sugar, flattened slightly and baked into round, wonderful ginger delights.
I am not a cookie baker by nature. Cakes, pies, complicated souffles and I’m there. But cookies – it’s just not my thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that cookies are too simple. On the contrary, cookies are anything but simple. Over mix and you wind up with a tough cookie. Over bake and you’ve got hard crackers. Measuring and achieving just the right consistency in the dough is critical in the cookie department.
Whenever Hubby asks for home-baked gingerbread cookies, I dreaded it. That is until I came across this recipe. It is so easy and so good – it’s darn near fool-proof. All the while, the kitchen smells wonderful – the scent of ginger and spice lingers in the air long after the baking is done. There is nothing more homey than the aroma of fresh-baked cookies.
There was no need to call my guys into the kitchen today. I pulled the first dozen soft cookies from the oven and placed on a rack to finish cooling. Before I had the second dozen in the oven to bake, my guys had gobbled up half a dozen cookies! Can’t blame them, these are really good!
Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
3 ¼ Cups Flour
3 Teaspoons Ground Ginger
1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
3/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves
¼ Teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Margarine, softened
1 1/2 Cup Sugar, divided
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Dark Molasses
Preheat oven 350-degrees. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture.
Place dough in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to chill. This will make it a little easier to work with.
Using a small scoop (about 1 tablespoon) scoop up a walnut sized ball and drop a small bowl of remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Roll cookie in sugar and then roll into a ball. Place the gingerbread balls onto a silicone lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. With the palm of your hand, flatten slightly. (If your mat has circles like mine, make the rounds about the size of the inside circle) Sprinkle tops of flattened cookies with about a pinch or so of the sugar, then press and spread around for a light dusting of sugar.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Serve warm, if desired. Store uneaten cookies (if there are any left) in an airtight container.
Yields about 3 dozen cookies (including those you’ve already eaten).
Remembering Pearl Harbor
I know, I’ve hinted in the past that I’m a cranky old lady, but I’m not old enough to have any first-hand memories of the attack on Pear Harbor 77 years ago. My parents were just children in 1941, living worlds apart. Yet Pear Harbor had an impact on my life. Growing up in Central California, the scars of Pearl Harbor remained just below the surface. We lived just outside the farming community of Florin. Before the war, Florin was once the Strawberry capital of California thanks to the Japanese who worked the rich lands. The internment of the Japanese community forever changed the landscape of this sleepy little town. While the resentment and hostility were not in the forefront when I was a child, many people remembered the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the term “Jap” was still a part of everyday language.
Butter Glazed Carrots with Tarragon
I love the flavor of Tarragon, don’t you? Not only does Tarragon impart that wonderful licorice flavor, but the health benefits abound. Tarragon leaves are high in potassium, essential for healthy hearts, livers and kidneys. Did you know that raw tarragon also contains anti-inflammatory properties and helps keep blood vessels free from artery-clogging plaque? Tarragon leaves lower blood sugars and reduce water retention. There are all sorts of wonderful health benefits to using Tarragon as more than just a flavor enhancer in foods. But then again, the biggest benefit has to be flavor. And the flavor of butter glazed carrots with tarragon goodness is awesome!
I love the colors of this dish. It’s great as a side at Thanksgiving with its bright autumn orange color and pairs beautifully with my whisky-infused Irish Roasted Salmon.
Butter Glazed Carrots with Tarragon
1 lb Carrots, cut into ½-inch rounds (about 2 ½ cups)
Water as needed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ½ teaspoon Sugar
Kosher Salt to taste
2 tablespoons Tarragon, finely chopped
Wash and peel carrots. Cut into rounds. Place cut carrots into a small sauce pan. Make sure carrots are arranged snugly. Add enough water to the pan to just barely cover the carrots. Add butter, sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring carrots to a boil over high heat.
Continue to cook carrots over medium-high heat, shaking the pan occasionally until the liquid is reduced to a glaze and the carrots are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Should the carrots be done before the liquid has reduced to a syrup-glaze, use a slotted spoon to remove the carrots from the pan and continue to cook liquid until it has a glaze consistency. Should liquid boil off before carrots are tender, add more water in ¼ cup measurements as needed and continue to boil until a syrup consistency is achieved.
Lower the heat to medium-low. Add the tarragon and toss to combine. Taste and season the carrots with additional salt as needed. Place carrots in a serving dish and enjoy.
Asparagus, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Crepes
These yummy, beautiful crepes can be served as an appetizer, a beautiful side dish or main course for a light meal. Have you ever wrapped asparagus in slices of ham? This is similar, only better. I love the flavor of Prosciutto, don’t you? 
Anything wrapped in Prosciutto is great. Prosciutto adds that salty and flavorful kick. In the summer, I adore Prosciutto wrapped slices of melon. As for vegetables, asparagus is the perfect pairing with thin slices of Prosciutto. I know, asparagus is hardly a winter crop, but then that’s the beauty of foods grown ’round the world – with the exception of your local farmer’s markets, the mega stores have fresh asparagus even in winter. Some farmers grown asparagus in mini-tunnels, increasing the harvest time from spring to nearly year round. This type of farming is especially prominent in England, where the harvest season is from February to November. Not bad for a typical “spring” crop.
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Cracked Peppercorn and Herb Rubbed Garlic Roast Beef
Today is the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas, the real-life saint that inspired Santa Claus. In years go by, this feast day was a big deal in our house, if for no other reason (besides the Catholic implications) than it was a great way to bring the “present giving” aspect of Christmas to a better suited day, leaving Christmas commercial free.
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French Vanilla Christmas Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Today is the Feast Day of Saint Nicholas. It seems only fitting that on the feast day of the Patron Saint of Children, that I share with you a delicious cake recipe. This cake is a blank slate for children of all ages to decorate. Great fun for the entire family.
In the past, I have risen before the sun to bake a cake for whatever “special” occasion was at hand – from family birthdays to the 4th of July. The cake was made from scratch, and depending upon the recipe, involved sifting and measuring and all sorts of mulit-steps. Once the cake was baked, I then spent hours frosting and piping to create my master piece. While everyone was “wowed” I was exhausted. Then it hit me, it really didn’t matter how elaborate the piping or details – in the end it was cut into pieces and quickly disappeared into the satisfied tummies of my well-fed family.
Once that light came on, things changed. A few years back I decided to tackle the dessert with a slightly different approach – one that works well for just about any any special occasion that involves children.
First, I baked a cake from a box (yeah, I know . . . but with a few alterations, it was buttery, moist and delicious). The cake itself wasn’t much work, baking in about 35 minutes. The cake was allowed to cool 10 minutes in the pan, then inverted onto a cutting board, to be inverted a second time on the cake board, thus turned right side up. Once the cake had fully cooled (about 2 hours), Kiddo made the frosting. (Team effort all the way). I frosted the cake and brought it to the party “naked”.
Over the years, I’ve made a number of Gingerbread Houses. In so doing, I’ve collected a few reusable pieces from my Gingerbread village. Here’s the fun part – I brought those food-safe decorations to our Christmas gathering and put the children (in this case my young niece) in charge of decorating the cake. My instructions were simply – I spread out all the pieces (she elected not to use everything) and told her whatever she did would be “beautiful” – have fun and be creative. Putting my niece in charge let her be a part of the kitchen festivities that occupy so much of our time during the holidays. It gave her a sense of pride when the cake was placed front and center on the table, receiving all the praise from those gathered. She placed candles on her creation, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and had a wonderful dessert.
French Vanilla Christmas Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients – Cake
2 Boxes French Vanilla White Cake Mix
6 Eggs
½ Cup Vegetable Oil
½ Cup Butter, melted
2 Cups Water
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 13×15 baking pan with Wilton’s Cake Release. Set aside until ready to use.
In a mixing bowl, beat vegetable oil, butter and water until blended. Add eggs, one at a time and incorporate into liquid.
Add cake mix, beat 30 seconds on low, then slowly increase speed and beat 2 minutes on medium, until well blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Tap lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles that may have gathered in the batter.
Place cake in oven and bake until just done, about 30-40 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and continue to cook until cake is just cooked, checking often to avoid over-cooking.
Remove cake from oven, cool in pan 10 minutes.
Remove cake from pan, invert onto large cutting board, then invert again onto cake board so that cake is right-side up.
Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Ingredients – Buttercream Frosting
½ Cup Solid Butter-Flavored Vegetable Shortening
1 ½ Cup Butter, softened
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
8 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar
6 Tablespoons Heavy Cream (approximately)
Cream vegetable shortening and butter in a mixing bowl. Add Vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl, sift powdered sugar. Add sugar to creamed butter mixture 1 cup at a time.
Whip, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, until all the sugar has been added. Frosting will appear dry and stiff.
Add cream, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.
Frost top of cake, then continue down the sides. If desired, pipe a border around the bottom of the cake.
Using food-safe decorations from a craft or bakery store, decorate as desired. See the cake as a wonderful, blank canvas and get creative. (Great project for kids – let them express themselves).
A Simple Salad
Often, when sharing a recipe, I will end by saying serve a simple salad to complete the meal. No biggie – everyone knows what a simple salad might be. The reality of a simple salad is just what the name suggests – some mixed greens, tomatoes and whatever else you feel like tossing into the mix.
Sometimes we will serve a simple salad alongside the main dish instead of a vegetable dish or as a way of adding color to the plate. More often than not in our house, a simple salad is the conclusion to supper. Call it European style dining if you like, having the salad at the end of the meal does two things – it allows you to have the hot foods while they are still hot, and it’s a refreshing end. Cool, crisp – perfect.
I am sure everyone has their own take on a simple salad. Here is mine.
A Simple Salad
2 Green Onions, chopped
½ Cucumber, sliced
4 White Mushrooms, sliced
1 Package Leafy Mixed Greens
Grape or Cherry Tomatoes, handful
Salad Dressing, your choice
Salad Croutons, if desired
Grated Cheese, if desired
Chop green onions, separating green tops from onion, and set aside. Slice cucumber, set aside. Wash and slice mushrooms, set aside.
Toss mixed leafy greens with the white parts of the green onions in a large salad bowl. Tuck cucumber slices around outer edge. Sprinkle sliced mushrooms and tomatoes on top of leafy greens.
Serve salad on chilled plates, sprinkle with remaining green onions.
Garnish salad with croutons and cheese, if desired. Serve with an assortment dressings on the side.
For more great salad ideas, check out my Ode to The Salad.
Welcome to Rosemarie's Kitchen 