Sherry – Page 33 – Rosemary and the Goat

Ribeye Fettuccini with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Love that goat cheese!

Why do we all want comfort food when it starts getting cold, damp and wintery? That is not Texas weather right now but it may be getting cooler in your area. Last year after trying for weeks to sell my Ethan Allen dining set that we had purchased back in the 70’s, I ended up donating it to a women’s organization then I ordered a French bakery style table to use for a dining table and I envisioned having this dish on my new table set with an Italian table cloth, some beautiful pasta bowls, flowers in some old olive oil cans and some good bottles of wine and couldn’t wait to try and put together this recipe.

Pasta always reminds me of eating our way around Italy several years ago. I can only think of one bad meal we had on that trip; all the rest were memorable to the point that I can shut my eyes and taste every dish. I can’t wait to go back some day.

While visiting in Nashville a couple of years ago I had this dish at the Firefly Grille and it was delicious. As always, I’m thinking can I make this and I never know how it’s going to turn out. I love goat cheese either in an appetizer or breaded and baked to top a salad, so putting it in with some good steak and fettuccine was easy. After reading the menu and quizzing the waiter I found out all the ingredients; so who needs a recipe to recreate this dish, not me, it was fairly easy.

October 6, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Sandwiches

Egg Salad with Avocado on Baguette

A quick and easy little appetizer.

I saw a post at Sugarlaws.com for a breakfast baguette with scrambled eggs and avocado on a baguette and decided I would try a different spin on her recipe, since scrambled eggs are my least favorite method of preparing eggs, and make an easy appetizer using egg salad, avocado and some finely diced tomato. It turned out to be one of the easiest appetizers I’ve made and pretty tasty too.

Egg salad is one of those things that I’m sure everyone makes. It can be put on top of cucumber slices, made into finger sandwiches, rolled in a tortilla for a wrap or just top a cracker with it. I want mine on a crispy garlic baguette mixed with a little avocado, tomato and garnished with some minced fried bacon pieces. Stuff it in celery or in a tomato or put some in endive boats; stuff it in a hollowed out baguette and then slice it up or roll some of it up in small pieces of smoked salmon or put it on a good ole Ritz cracker. You decide what you want to do with it and if you come up with an idea other than what I have mentioned, please leave a note in the comment section below.

Egg salad can fit any occasion — I think egg salad is probably the most versatile spread one can make. And, the mixture can be jazzed up with some dill weed, tarragon or any other herb of your choosing. Capers, celery, and relish can also be added. This is one of those recipes that “you can make your own”. Just try it on a buttered, crusty, toasted baguette slice.

October 1, 2015 By Sherry

Cake/ Dessert

Autumn Apple Cake

Been making this for years and still a favorite.

This is one delicious apple cake that you may want to try out for your Autumn or Fall dinner.

Autumn is a season somewhere between summer and winter. When I think of Autumn or Fall I think of trees shedding their leaves after they have shared all their beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves. Summer is gone and there SHOULD be a little chill in the air or at least that feeling of “fallness” that I use to know before moving to Texas. The skies may be a little grayer. When you go for a walk there may be a crunch in your step as you step on all those fallen leaves. If I’m out riding my bike, I make sure I ride over any of those leaves. If you have kids or grandkids, they probably love playing in piles of leaves (see my grandsons below — they borrowed a neighbors leaf pile).

But, if you are living in Texas (our part anyway), there sometimes really isn’t a Fall or Autumn season; we go from summer to winter which isn’t always cold but doesn’t quite feel like that Autumn time of the year. We may not have those beautiful trees (ours sometimes don’t lose their leaves until December and January) but my husband can play golf 12 months out of the year. Sometimes shorts can be worn in December and January; our skies always seem to be blue and of course “the stars at night are big and bright” deep in the heart of Texas.

September 26, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Spicy Shrimp and Guac Bites

Another use for your guacamole.

When catering parties in my “catering heyday” I always looked for ways to stretch the boil shrimp appetizer which I never liked making for parties because there were also “shrimp hogs” (that’s not nice) hanging around the bowl or platter of boiled shrimp eating them as fast as they could get their little tails pinched off. Lucky for me most of the time the hostess would say she would do the shrimp.

I did come up with some shrimp appetizers which definitely stretch a one bite shrimp into a more filling one or two bites. Take my Jalapeño Shrimp on Tostones (I always did this on a cracker for parties.) or my Parmesan Shrimp Toast (which someone at a party once called it sex on toast — that was a crazy comment.); they are shrimp appetizers that will stretch your budget and fill up the tummies of those guests who love shrimp and can never get enough of them. Bang Bang Shrimp is a spicy shrimp appetizer that will make you want to go back for more, but I would only do this for a dinner party; don’t think I would ever attempt to make this for more than a handful of people

September 21, 2015 By Sherry

Cookies/Bars/ Dessert

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

Thanks Sherry K for this great recipe.

There’s a funny story about biscotti I have to share with you. Years ago when I was doing a lot of corporate catering I liked to try new recipes and drop them off at offices. Well, once I made some biscotti and dropped it by a company and the next time I went in I asked the secretary how her boss liked them and she said he did but they were a little hard and crunchy. That was so funny, I guess he had never eaten a biscotti before and didn’t realize they are dipping cookies to be dipped in either coffee, hot tea or even a good cup of hot chocolate will do the job.

These are so easy to make and keep so well I don’t know why I don’t make them more often. When I worked at Williams Sonoma I worked with another Sherry which I always called “the other Sherry”. Everyone said her recipe for biscotti was one of the best they had ever tried. I worked there 6 1/2 years and never tried the recipe and years later I have finally make them and, in fact, several times.

Who wants to pay $2 for one biscotti from Starbucks when you can have a jar full at home just waiting to be dunked in your favorite hot beverage.

September 16, 2015 By Sherry

Bars/ Cake/ Dessert/ Morning Foods

Lemon “Goat” Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Nothing better with a cup of tea than this lemon coffee cake.

Something about the word “lemon” always makes me pucker. Several years ago after returning from Italy I decided I was going to make some
limoncello; we enjoyed it while there and I though how easy could that be to make. So, I go about gathering my ingredients which were a lot of lemons, sugar and vodka. I still think I had either cheap vodka or to0 high of a proof of vodka. Here’s what happened in my little experiment. I did the first stage which might have taken 20 days (not the link I gave you), then I strained it off and did something else to the mixture and I think I had to wait another 20 days. So the morning of the 40th day I couldn’t wait to try it and 8:30 in the morning I poured myself a shot. Wow, it was terrible. I ended up throwing it all away and just bought some at the liquor store.

You won’t throw away this this lemon cake. When I found this recipe at My Lovely Little Kitchen I notice the different cream cheese she used. So when I went to the store to get my ingredients I bought goat milk cream cheese not remembering that she used Greek yogurt cream cheese. I had never heard of either one. When I traced her recipe back to see where she got the idea I ended up at Two In The Kitchen and she had used regular cream cheese and looking further, I saw her recipe came from a fruit filled coffee cake recipe from a Better Homes and Garden book. Interesting how recipes evolve with each time they are baked.

September 11, 2015 By Sherry

Entree/ Pasta/ Poultry

Butterflies with Chicken, Asparagus and Snap Peas

Thanks Ferrari-Carano for your inspiration for this dish.

I’ve said before that some of my favorite places to look for new recipes are winery sites; and I found this recipe at Ferrari-Carano.com.

Even though I have made pasta many times, I wasn’t up to making the bowtie pasta this time around. You may not remember me talking about our pasta making experience in Italy several years ago; believe me, it was an I Love Lucy moment for sure. We did make bow tie pastas along with about 5 other varieties. I remember the strip of pasta for the bow ties and tortellinis getting bigger and bigger as we rolled through the machine and we were folding it over our arms to keep up.

But, when I found this recipe a couple of years ago, I remembered some beautiful striped pasta I had seen in my grocery and what better pasta to use to make a butterfly pasta dish. If you want to try and make your own butterflies, visit their website and give it a go. Of course, when I went looking for the colorful little pieces of pasta, they were no where to be found but on Amazon. My Amazon Prime membership has really paid off because I order food products from them all the time and with no shipping it is a lot easier than driving all over the place looking for something. So, if you want to try the pasta I used, you can order it here.

September 1, 2015 By Sherry

Bread/ Morning Foods/ Pastries

My High School Cinnamon Roll

Do you have fond memories of high school?

One of my high school memories that I can close my eyes and am transported back to the 60’s is from my home economics class. I loved home ec class, is that hard to believe? Not really. I liked the sewing somewhat but the cooking was more fun. I don’t remember what we cooked any of the four years that I took Home Ec except for our cinnamon rolls. The class would make these cinnamon rolls and sell them to students during lunch. Could you EVER smell the yeasty, cinnamony aroma up and down the halls of our two-story building. And, the kids couldn’t wait to get a break to go buy one. If I remember correctly, we charged 10 cents each, what a bargain!

Years ago in culinary school one of my instructors told us he had a friend who was a franchise owner of a TJ Cinnamons and that one of their secret ingredients for their cinnamon rolls were crushed “red hot” candies. So, over the years I have made these rolls with and without the cinnamon candies; you can decide whether to add them or not.

Our class also made pecan rolls, which I will also make one day for you to try. They were the gooiest, pecan rolls ever and sticky but in a very good way.

August 27, 2015 By Sherry

Cookies/Bars/ Dessert

Lemon Raspberry Bars

Lemon and raspberries make this a sweet delight.

Don’t you think lemon desserts make for the perfect sweet ending to a summer meal. I do and lemon happens to one of my husband’s favorite flavors. I’m sorry he didn’t get to finish off the bars after I took a few pictures (he did get one). I took them to share with a group of ladies and they were gone by lunchtime.

I use to make lemon bars for catering jobs all the time. Whether it was a luncheon or for a sweet pickup to go with a cocktail party, I knew these would be eaten and I did them so often I never looked at a recipe. Those days are gone and I have to refer back to most of the recipes I use to make from memory. Not that my memory is going, I just haven’t made these lemon bars in years.

With a freezer full of raspberries I was looking for something to do with them. I happened up on this Raspberry Lemon Bar recipe from Lovely Little Kitchen but decided not to use my frozen berries and bought fresh ones instead. I think the frozen berries would have too much moisture in them for this recipe and I found raspberries on sale again but I only bought one package. I used my favorite lemon bar recipe that I have used for over 20 years but added the raspberries to them.

The above picture was taken as soon as they were sprinkled with the sugar. If they sit too long, the raspberries that were on top soaked up the sugar; so the next time I make these, I’m putting the raspberries on the top of the crust and then pouring on the lemon filling.

August 22, 2015 By Sherry

Entree/ Pasta

Pasta Carbonara Primavera

Wow, a one pot meal.

I’ve always thought of one pot meals as being something you would throw in a crock pot and let cook all day or the way my mother use to make a pork or beef roast and put everything in one of those speckled dark blue roasters (I still have one and love it.) and put it in the oven and 3 hours later have a great dinner.

Tasting Table.com is a great site that sends out tips and chef recipes and lots of other information and when I saw their take on a Martha Stewart’s recipe for a one pot meal, I knew I was going to have to try it. Aren’t we all looking for ways to cut down on cooking time? I still like cooking and baking after almost (August 16) 46 years of marriage. Wow, that is a longggggg time but my cooking style, I think, has changed a lot over the years and I’m definitely more adventurous than I was as a newly wed who thought she had to do everything exactly by the book.

Still waiting on that outdoor kitchen to get started and as soon as it started, I will post some pictures along the way. Can’t wait to cook out there. Well, maybe when it starts to cool down a little; 96° doesn’t really make me want to even walk out the backdoor let alone cook out there but one day we will be out there cooking and entertaining.

August 17, 2015 By Sherry

Bread/ Morning Foods/ Muffins

Raspberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

Chocolate chips make this raspberry muffin chocolicious.

There is definitely one advantage of growing older. And that is that I don’t have to get up until I’m ready. And, well I can stay up as late as I want watching TV, go anywhere I want to go, when I want to go. I guess there are quite a few advantages. I love going to the movie at 10:30 in the morning and I average 1-2 movies a week (and I do ask for senior rates — didn’t think I would ever be glad to say I wanted “senior rates”).

Do you think “hoarding” is something that happens as we age? I get an upset stomach watching those hoarding shows. I do, on the other hand tend to hoard food; especially berries that I pick in the summer months or in the case of these raspberries that I got for .99 cents and bought 40 cartons to put in the freezer.

So, one Tuesday morning after a good 8 hours of sleep I decided to whip up these muffins to take to my craft circle. Do you see that happening a lot lately? I know they will be eaten. I have to be honest, a few weeks ago, I tried a gluten-free orange muffin and decided to add some extra orange extract. They were AWFUL, tasted like a mouthful of alcohol and when I noticed they were not being eaten, I threw them away. Gluten-free items are not my favorite things to make and I learned my lesson about adding too much extract; and, I would like to be known as that lady who brings “good” stuff.

August 12, 2015 By Sherry

Pasta/ Salads

Cubano Orzo Salad

The rice looking pasta.

This is another recipe using my Pappardelle’s pasta I bought at the Pike’s Market in Seattle last summer. (Can’t believe it took me a year to get around to using it.)

Years ago I tasted a rainbow orzo that I bought at Central Market in Houston. It had beautiful colors of purple, orange, green and white and for some reason it was discontinued and after that I could only find green, orange and white. That is until I happened upon this southwest blend that is made with blackbean, red pepper, red bell pepper and spinach and a lot of other flavors that make this beautiful and delicious.

For this recipe I am using what I remember from my favorite Central Market salad (and the ingredients were printed on the nutrition label, so how easy is that) but added in some of the ingredients from Pappardelle’s recipe they gave me when I bought the pasta.

August 7, 2015 By Sherry

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