Sherry – Page 41 – Rosemary and the Goat

Cauliflower Steak and Onions

Steak and onions, simple and beautiful.

A while back I was saying I started getting a food magazine that I did not order and in fact quit taking it about 15 years ago. Come to find out I got the magazine because I ordered a few Xmas gifts from a company and it was a gift from them. So, I guess I shouldn’t complain about getting something unwanted in the mail except all that junk mail that makes up about 99% of what we get each day.

I was flipping through the magazine on a recent road trip and I came across a cauliflower recipe where they cut the cauliflower in florets and looking further I found a recipe at Jaxhouse.com where she cut her cauliflower into steaks for cauliflower-steak-au-poivre and knew where these recipes were going to lead me. I like the idea of the onions and thyme but then I really liked her idea of using the crushed black pepper and broth. So a new recipe emerged thanks to the two sites I came across in my internet search.

The internet still amazes me. We had our first Apple IIE computer in 1984 when we lived in Chicago, then after living five years in Kansas we still had a “green screen” and after moving to Texas in 1990 we still had that really big computer with that same screen and the internet was just kicking up for us commoners. I remember my husband telling me about the internet and that there wasn’t much out there yet. Wow, 25 years later and it is the first thing I turn to for information. In fact the other day I was searching for a friend who I use to cater for (C. Black if you are out there) and I couldn’t find her phone on the internet and was getting really frustrated and then my husband said “why don’t you just call information”. Now, why didn’t I think of that!

See note at bottom of recipe for how I will do this dish the next time.

May 30, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Honey Walnut Shrimp

What’s the secret ingredient?

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day weekend. I always think of my dad on Memorial day and the letters I have read that he sent back to his mom. He was just 17 when he signed up and this one particular letter he talked about cookies his aunt was going to send him and that all the guys wanted him to go out drinking but he didn’t want to. He was just thinking of home and probably his mom’s cooking.

I thought of him yesterday when I bought a Vitamix and remember at least 25 years ago him seeing an ad in one of his magazines and telling me this machine would make ice cream and soup and how could one machine make both hot and frozen things. Well, I don’t remember the machine but it had to be the Vitamix because it has been around since 1921.

I can’t wait to try out this new appliance — like I need one more appliance. But I say, why not! Both of my kids in Austin have one and they love it.

It’s been almost three weeks since we were in Austin for the birth of our newest grandson, Thomas. We were there almost two weeks and I missed him the minute I walked out the door. I always miss all our grandsons as soon as the kisses, hugs and goodbyes are said. One of the weekends we were there before his birth we went to an Asian restaurant and had a honey walnut shrimp dish that was so good and it had a sweetness (just like my babies) that I could not figure out.

For all my surfing the internet for a recipe for Walnut Shrimp ALL results came up with the same secret ingredient. The secret is out and the secret ingredient of Walnut Shrimp has sweetened condensed milk.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with condensed milk and it seems like everyone loves the sweet gooey mixture in many desserts. But for an entree? Yes. Believe me you will go back for seconds. The truth is there’s only about two tablespoons of it in the sauce that coats the tempura battered shrimp.

May 25, 2014 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Cheesy Baked Olives

Yes, those olives…

After years of cooking and trying different recipes, all those old favorites got shoved to the back of the recipe box (don’t use one of those any more) or hidden away on my computer some place.

I always like thinking I can come up with new recipes from being inspired from things I’ve had in a restaurant or looking at someone else’s recipe and changing it up to “make it my own”. Don’t you just hate that saying “make it your own”. Most of the time after trying a recipe I will definitely change it up to suit our likes or dislikes.

So, this Cheesy Baked Olive recipe is something I made way, way, way back in the 70′s as a newlywed (that was 1969) for guest and it seems like they were always enjoyed. I’m sorry Cheesy Baked Olive recipe for forsaking you for so long in favor of other more trendy appetizers. And, I promise to make you more often.

I doubled the pastry for the olives since my jar had about 50 olives in it. I think the larger green olives that are stuffed with jalapeños or garlic would make a wonderful bite and you would definitely need more pastry to cover these olives. I think a little cayenne pepper would spice these up a little.

I have to apologize for the pictures. When I was making these I thought no one was going to want to try this old recipe so I snapped the pictures with my phone instead of getting out my camera, lights and tripod. So, please excuse the blurry pictures.

May 20, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Pork Marsala with Creamy Spinach Grits

Wonderful pork and the creamiest grits.

The hot days of summer will soon be here and you may not want to be cooking that much indoors. For us, we do most of our cooking outdoors once the weather is hot enough to jump in the pool with a glass of wine while the aroma of something on the grill or smoker drifting our way. You have to eat, right, whether you are cooking indoors or outdoors and you can’t eat COLD food all summer anyway.

So, I guess it doesn’t really make much difference if this dish sounds like “comfort food” or not, everyone needs a little comforting every once in a while anyway.

This is one of those recipes that I started with about 4 recipes, pilfered this and that from them all and came up with the one I made for the two of us one night. I had no mashed potatoes so I decided to serve with creamy grits.

One weekend my friend was beaching it with some friends and texted me and asked if I had heard of grits and greens. They were having them for dinner that night and the though intrigued me. I knew I loved grits and adding something green would be visually appearing to the dish. I think they were using kale or chard; spinach my my choice of greens since there just happened to be some in my refrigerator.

Don’t you just love buying those little packages of pork tenderloin. They are so easy to prepare just about any way. Open the package, remove a little of the silver skin, slice and you are ready for this recipe.
Continue Reading…

May 15, 2014 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Sauces

Jalapeño Shrimp Tostones

Last longer than a platter of boiled shrimp.

Several months ago on a stormy rainy day (my favorite of all days) I had lunch with friends in Houston at Churroscos. We were brought plate after plate after plate of plantain chips sliced into long thin pieces and served with chimichirri and pureed mango salsa and as usual that got me to thinking about using these chips as a base for one of my old appetizer recipes. I decided to try tostones instead of a chip. You can decided whether you want a cracker or go to the trouble to fry the plantains or maybe, just buy some plantain chips.

I’m always looking for a way to reinvent a recipe. The filling for this little appetizer is one that I first used about 20 years ago for a party I catered and was always so easy to make and the fact that I could make the filling in advance made it even better. I really started using this recipe because if I put out cocktail shrimp at a party, it was gone in a New York minute. With this little bite you have the tostones (or cracker), shrimp and cream cheese. So, it’s a bit more filling than inhaling a half dozen of boiled shrimp. (And a lot cheaper too.)

If you are looking for a quick, easy appetizer, you can’t get much easier than cream cheese, shrimp, pickled jalapeños and some cilantro. Throw in a crisp plantain chip (or cracker) and a drizzle of chimichiri sauce (or not) and you have a delicious, spicy treat to serve at your next party. When I use to make these I used only the cracker, shrimp topped with the ruffle of jalapeño cream cheese mixture and a cilantro leaf for a garnish (see pic below). So you do not have to make the chimichurri or the tostones if you don’t want to.

For some reason I always loved this shrimp and spread on a cracker (and it had to be a Ritz) then I tried the plantain and knew it was a good alternative to the cracker. Using a decorating tip to pipe out the cheese onto the back of the shrimp makes a beautiful presentation.

May 10, 2014 By Sherry

Dessert/ Desserts

Nutella Strawberry Banana Crepe with Chocolate Cream Sauce

Chocolicious!

Two days ago I became a Gran again to my fifth grandson, Thomas Huntington Russell. That’s five little fellows under 5 1/2. I’m so proud of my daughter and her husband; they did such a great job bringing the little guy into this world.

A few years ago my daughter took me to my first food trailer. A silver stream trailer which sold nothing but crepes and that was my first Nutella and banana crepe.

What is a crepe but a pancake on a diet. I’ve been making crepes for years and still know that I’m going to have to offer up the first few as a sacrifice to the crepe pan. That’s just the way it goes.

I went years, maybe decades after beeing married before attempting to make crepes. I don’t know what I was afraid of. Over the years I have had about 4 different types of crepe pans. My favorite now is a blue steel pan. One of my least favorites was a pan that you dipped the bottom into the crepe mixture and then turned the pan upside down over a ring that is set over the burner. Never quite got the hang of that one.

For a savory crepe you could simply fill a crepe with…..say… spinach, bacon and mushrooms, or a SW take of sausage, onion, peppers, mushrooms, cilantro with some salsa, or a crab mornay. Or how about a proscuitto and fontino with a béchamel sauce. You get the idea… a crepe is the wrapping to hold all your ingredients. If you look on Pinterest alone you will see a gazillion crepe recipes.

For dessert crepes the possibilities are endless. I’ve done a simple one filled with apricot or peach preserves folded twice into a wedge and dusted with powdered sugar and I’ve even seen a cake made with about 50 crepes stacked on on top of the other.

May 5, 2014 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Peach Whiskey Chicken

I don’t like whiskey but this is really good.

The other day I was watching Pioneer woman out on her ranch in Oklahoma cooking up something good for her family and ranch hands. I imagine myself on one of their horses galloping all over the thousands of acres they own. Don’t know if I could even get on a horse or even if I could stay on one after swinging myself up on the saddle but I can dream anyway.

Anyway, she was making some whiskey chicken that caught my attention and since I had a jar of peach preserves still in my pantry that I bought on a trip to Nashville last year I thought I’d give the recipe a try. Loveless cafe is a neat little breakfast/lunch place just outside Nashville and I’ll go back again next time we are in Nashville.

The two changes I made to PW’s recipe was I didn’t really want to add fresh peaches since this isn’t really peach season and I didn’t really care for the idea of peach chunks in with the chicken. I wanted to add some heat to the dish so I added some thinly sliced jalapeño peppers to the onions and then used some to garnish the dish. Her dish called for chicken pieces with bones and I will probably use bone-in thighs and legs next time I make it.

The Whiskey Chicken can be served on top of mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower or even some pasta or rice would do. The saucy part of this is very tasty and I love what the jalapeños add to the dish.

I hope you will give this a try and if you do, please leave a comment below.

April 30, 2014 By Sherry

Side dish

Creamy Kale au Gratin

Awwww gratin and it’s with kale.

Recently we went to a new restaurant in our area that has become very popular. I like their concept which is everything made fresh on site from sauces to breads and they even cure their own bacon, their beef comes from 44 different farms, and most of their ingredients are local, natural, hormone and antibiotic free.

This recipe came about from something I had there that I happened NOT to like although it had a great flavor.

They have a kale au gratin on the menu that they serve in cute little black iron skillets that has hardly any kale in it. Shouldn’t any dish that starts with KALE have that has the main ingredient. Well this kale au gratin was mostly beige with a few streaks of green through it. By a few I think maybe three small pieces of kale in the whole serving. The taste was good but the kale was MIA (missing in action).

What dish isn’t made better with some cream cheese and crunchy Panko bread crumbs on top and this can be made with any kind of greens like spinach, or Swiss chard.

I do want to give the restaurant another chance so I will probably order the kale the next time I’m there but I will probably say, “is there any kale in the dish”. Ok, I shouldn’t really say that because it kind of makes me a smart$$$. But I want some greens with my creamy au Gratin part of this dish.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Proscuitto Rolls is a very quick and easy appetizer that you can throw together in a moments notice.

April 25, 2014 By Sherry

Egg Dishes/ Morning Foods

Sunny Morning Breakfast Tart

Worth making for a weekend breakfast.

Happy Easter everyone. I’m sure you already have your Easter morning breakfast planned but keep this in mind the next time you want something special.

I promise not to say breakfast is my least favorite meal ever again. I keep saying that and yet I keep coming up with more breakfast recipes to share with you. I think most of the ones I post here are probably not something I would make during the week but something I want to try for a lazy weekend breakfast treat or most would be wonderful to serve to visiting guest or maybe for that Sunday brunch you have been wanting to have.

This is one recipe I will definitely be making for my daughter and her husband while helping with the baby (or household chores) when we are there (soon).

I look forward to greeting the new baby and I also looking forward to being able to cook for them for a few days OR until they kick us out. I told them up front we could stay as long as we are needed but don’t feel bad saying it’s time to go. What is it they say about fish after three days?

April 20, 2014 By Sherry

Salads

Easter Egg Radish Salad

The bunny came through early and left this salad recipe.

Easter is fast approaching and so is the birth of my 5th grandson in Austin. I can’t wait to meet the little guy. I’ve been trying to get some recipes made ahead so while I’m there helping out with “their” cooking I can still post recipes to the blog.

I love radishes and the spiciness they add to salads. Do you remember the French Breakfast Radishes I cooked last year and I also used them to make a very simple little baguette appetizer where I spread softened butter on a fresh baguette and topped with sliced French breakfast radishes and then a sprinkle of sea salt. Makes my water water just thinking about it.

Now that my favorite grocery, Hubble and Hudson, is out of business I will have to look to Whole Foods or Central Market to find my unusual vegetables. I’m hoping to find the Easter Egg Radishes before Easter so I can make this salad again.

Do you have favorite Easter dishes that you make each Spring? If so, please leave a comment below sharing your favorites.

April 15, 2014 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ HotApp

Bang Bang Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb. shrimp peeled and deveined
Sauce
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
1 tsp. chili garlic paste
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. rice vinegar
Egg mixture:
3 egg beaten
1/2 c. flour
Breading mixture
1/4 c. flour
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs crushed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Slap Your Mama seasoning or Old Bay
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
4 green onions thinly sliced
Lettuce leaves or shredded lettuce to line dish
Oil for frying

Instructions

Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate.
Beat the eggs in a shallow pan and set this aside.
In another bowl, combine the 1/4 cup flour, cornstarch, panko, salt pepper, onion, garlic powder and Slap Your Mama.
To bread the shrimp first dredge in 1/2 cup flour. Shake off excess flour. Next dip the shrimp 5 or 6 at a time into the beaten eggs then put in bowl with the breading mixture and toss to make sure they are coated well. Arrange the breaded shrimp on a plate and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or cook immediately.
Heat the oil to 350. Use about 1-2" of oil in your pan. When oil is hot fry shrimp 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels. When you have fried all the shrimp put them in a large bowl that contains the sauce mixture and toss the shrimp until coated. Sprinkle in the green onions and put in dish and serve.

DO NOT USE honey — Ok, the story about this honey is I was fussing at my husband one day about him using so much honey for his cereal (sometimes 3 times a day) and when I need it to make a salad dressing or some other “real” food, there’s no honey. So he goes out and buys two huge bottles of honey and writes “do not use” on the bottle”. SORRY GA, I had no honey to call my own and had to use his honey for the Bang Bang Shrimp.

April 10, 2014 By Sherry

Candy/ Dessert

Brown Butter Pecan Bark

Can’t get much easier than this. Stack of sweetness

Who doesn’t love an easy recipe? If you are having a sweet craving or if you need something easy to take to a gathering considering making this. After making this you may want to keep some graham crackers on hand for that last minute dessert that literaterly takes minutes to make.

Graham crackers and chocolate always remind me of s’mores so when I found these two ingredients in my pantry and I needed something sweet for a group I started with “Google” (where else would we start). There are always pounds of pecans in my freezer so I knew I had the ingredients to make the recipe I found.

My results were not quite the same as the recipe I found online at the domestic rebel.com. Her recipe actually looked a little better than mine. She had a more caramel look to hers. I will try this again making sure my pecans are at room temperature and not still cold from the freezer. I feel like that might have lowered the temperature of the cooking sugar mixture and kept mine from getting brown like her recipe. Whatever the results, everyone loved these little pieces of crunch. (I couldn’t resist adding some mini chocolate chips to the top when it first came out of the oven.)

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Honey Pecan Stuffed Snow Peas never fail to delight those brave enough to pick one (or two) up and put them on their plates. The last time I looked at this recipe it had 2,180 views. Now it’s up to 4,656 — like I always say “someone out there is looking”.

April 5, 2014 By Sherry

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