Sherry – Page 59 – Rosemary and the Goat

French Country Roasted Chicken

Magnifique!

We always love watching the Tour de France every year and after watching it just a few days I found myself laying around the pool day dreaming. I have the best day dreams and in this particular dream I was in France and I’m in a little convertible taking in beautiful panoramic views on roads clinging to the sides of cliffs. It’s so beautiful I can hardly breath. Of course there’s a picnic basket in back seat full of wines, pates, sausages, some smoked salmon, cheeses, fruits and some chocolate for dessert. (Hey, it’s my day dream so I can put whatever I want in that basket.) We (I guess I included my husband in this daydream) stopped at this quaint little restaurant and had the most delicious roasted chicken along with several glasses of their best wine.

Suddenly I wake up to this heavenly aroma waifing in my direction and realize that the passenger in my cute little car dream is smoking this delicious meal on his new Kamado smoker. And, he’s heading my direction with a glass of wine.

Oh, well. Goodbye France, see you in my dreams or maybe in person some day. I’m going to go create my own little bistro setting and enjoy a dinner that I did not have to cook and watch some more of the Tour de France.

July 10, 2011 By Sherry

Bread/ Breads/Biscuits/ Morning Foods

Cheesy Bacon Biscuits

Who doesn’t like bacon? No one!

It is hard to imagine anyone not liking bacon or the smell of bacon. The smell of bacon cooking and sizzling in the morning is awesome and makes you want to jump out of bed and get on with your day.

I know bacon is full of fat but would you honestly turn down a BLT on toast with garden ripe tomatoes and freshly picked lettuce. NEVER. This recipe is a different take on bacon/cheese biscuits like you might get from one of those fast food places that we don’t like to talk about.

I read recently that men prefer the smell of bacon to babies. Ya know, my husband never seemed to be able to smell a dirty diaper on any of our kids and now the grandkids. But, for some reason, he seems to know when I’m cooking bacon. Maybe it is the sizzling sounds coming from the kitchen or me yelling when I get popped in the face with grease splatters.

Bacon can be eaten by itself, put on a cheeseburger, goes wonderfully with eggs (any way), great on salads, wrapped around a stuffed jalapeno and grilled or my FAMOUS Parmesan Bacon Wraps which I have catered for 20 years and they are still a favorite with guest.

July 5, 2011 By Sherry

Dessert/ Desserts

Mile High Berry Dessert

Red, white and blue, so fitting for the 4th of July!

Dessert is one of my favorite food groups. I don’t know about you, but when I finish a meal, I want something sweet. I don’t care if it is a Popsicle, ice cream, fruit, or if I’m desperate a bowl of jello. But, don’t dare deny me of a sweet ending to my dinner. I just want a bite!!! That is, unless I can have the whole thing.

Some of the desserts I made and my mother use to make when I first got married just disappeared off the radar for about 40 years, but some have started reappearing in some magazines and TV cooking shows. Paula Deen is always making something on her show that my mother use to make back in the 50’s and 60’s.

On a recent trip to Missouri, my twin sister made the Strawberry Mile High dessert that our mother use to make many years ago. I had forgotten how good it was. This is a light summery treat that will cool you on the hottest summer days.

You do need a stand mixer to make this dessert. A hand mixer is the next best thing but you will have to hold that mixer for 15 minutes while the mixture beats and gets so light and fluffy. I did notice that using my Kitchen Aid mixer with the wire whisk that it beat almost to the top of the bowl in about 9 minutes. So what you want in the end is something about 4 times the volume you started with.

Something old, made new again and updated a bit. The original recipe was just frozen strawberries with a nut crust and whipped filling. I have decided since I recently picked blueberries and got a great deal on some raspberries to add these to my dessert for a berry treat of red, white, and blue. My mother always used Cool Whip but I substituted real whipping cream in place of the whipped topping. I think it gives it a much richer taste and I also decided to use some fresh strawberries along with the carton of frozen strawberries.

June 29, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish

Grilled Tomatoes and Onions

Got burgers on the grill? Try these.

Can we ever get enough burgers in the summer time. There’s just nothing like a good grilled burger with just about anything you want to put on it. Last Sunday night we were invited to friends’ house and had some delicious grilled burgers and it got me thinking that we don’t do burgers nearly often enough at our own house.

Seems like when our kids were still home we had hamburgers once a week. Then it got to where I hardly ever fixed them for just the two of us. If you were from the town we grew up in, Caruthersville, MO and you ordered a burger it would almost certainly have mustard, pickle, onion and slaw. Yes, slaw. Not really coleslaw but a grated cabbage with a little Miracle Whip, sugar, and mustard.

My mother always made thin crispy burgers and those were really good but now I really like a thick juicy burger with a lot of stuff piled on top with a toasted bun and the toasted bun really makes a difference.

I love making our doubled stuffed burgers which are two very thin patties with a slice of tomato, onion, jalapenos and cheese in the middle, grilled, put on a toasted bun and ready to ooze cheese all over you when you bite into it. The double stuffed burgers are also great with caramelized onion, Swiss cheese and mushrooms.

We decided to do some burgers a few nights ago with no bun (gotta cut those calories someplace because I have several ice cream recipes I want to try this summer) and I was looking for something else to throw on the grill. The tomatoes and onions were perfect. The tomatoes were the on the vine type and I just cut them in half. The onions were our Texas 1015 which is Texas’ version of the Vidalia onion from Georgia.

June 25, 2011 By Sherry

Morning Foods/ Pastries

Blackberry French Toast

It’s blackberry pickin’ time again.

Last year was my first time to pick blackberries and I couldn’t wait to go again this year. So, armed with some bug spray, sun screen, and some bottles of water, we set out for the farm to pick-pick-pick until we had enough to last for months in my freezer.

Was it ever hot the day we picked the berries. I picked about 12 lbs. before I finally said “uncle” and gave up. It was hot as blue blazes, but did I get some beauties! A couple were the size of a golf ball and I had those laid out on a plate alongside a golf ball to take a picture for you and before I could, someone in my house and I won’t say who (but there are only two of us here) ate the golfball size blackberries.

I don’t know about you, but when I go picking, whether it is strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or any other kind of fruit I seem to get really picky. I look for the plumpest berries I can find, stopping occasionally to pop one or two into my mouth. I don’t think I have ever seen a sign that says “no tasting”. If there were such a sign I would just hold my breath on the way out and hope they don’t ask to see my tongue. If they did, they would find a tongue stained purple from the berries I have been sampling. You have heard of “taste test” haven’t you?

Why is it when we pick things ourselves the foods we prepare with our bounty seems so much better. I made my own peach preserves last year and can’t wait to do it again this year. Even though I don’t eat preserves that often, someone will benefit from my making it though I’m sure. I don’t ever use acronyms when texting or typing but for this recipe, all I can say is OMG this is a delicious recipe.

So on father’s day my husband had something more special than his bowl of Cheerios.

June 21, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Jalapeno Potato Salad

Some like it hot!

A roasted red pepper makes the perfect vessel for this potato salad. This may look like an ordinary potato salad but it has a lot of punch.

I know, we are having hot enough days as it is this summer and why make anything a little bit hotter. BUT, it is summer and you just have to make potato salad once this summer even if you are trying to get into that swimsuit. You aren’t going to eat the whole bowl and a small serving of anything isn’t going to kill you.

Have you ever thought of all the things you can do with a potato. It has to be the most versatile vegetable ever. It is made into all kinds of dishes that are fried, baked, boiled, steamed, broiled, hashed, torted and even stamped (?). The potato is made into all kinds of chips, different shaped fries and even potato flour. They can be the star of a pot of potato soup or just have a supporting roll in a big pot of stew. Gnocchi is a great main dish and it is totally made of potatoes.

You can make vodka from a potato. A slice of potato will take away your puffy eyes. A potato can cure warts, help you sleep, relieve a headache, clean rusty knives, remove stains and I’m sure a million other uses. Hey, it’s the miracle vegetable.

As a kid I remember cutting a design into the bottom of a potato and using it as a stamp with an ink pad to make beautiful patterns on paper. Seems like we made do with what we had because we didn’t have all the nice craft stores to shop at like we do now.

You kind of wonder what more can be done with a potato that we don’t even know about. A potato contains no fat and 80% water. Now, how can that hurt us. I guess it is what we have done to the potato that makes it bad for us.

June 16, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Grilled Romaine Salad

Grill lettuce? Yes, and it is delicious.

Right off the grill. Give it a few chops and you are ready for another new salad recipe.

This is grilling season and we grill everything around this house — just about any kind of fruit, all kinds of fish, meats and sausages, and all sorts of vegetables. So, why not salad? Have you ever considered grilling lettuce?

Over the last few years I have seen chefs do this on different cooking shows and last year I tried this for the first time. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to getting around to posting the recipe.

I don’t think it ever gets too hot or even too cold that we don’t cook out when the mood hits. We decided to grill some fish one night and I though, why not give my husband one more thing to do. After all, that will give me one less thing to do and more time to do something else. As always, I made some changes to the original recipe which was just romaine, oiled and grilled.

There are several ways you can do this recipe. One is to just brush the halved romaine with oil, grill and then drizzle dressing over the grilled romaine. The other is to take the cut romaine and put in Ziploc bags and add the dressing to marinated about 15 minutes before grilling. When grilled, top with toasted pine nuts (optional) and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. This time I did the recipe, I brushed the halved romaine with some of the balsamic dressing, grilled on flat side first until it was nice and grilled, turned it and grilled a few more minutes. I did use the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese and it was fantastic.

I know you will look at these pictures and see a mushy bunch of lettuce that looks like someone forgot it in the refrigerator about a month after it’s prime but this was the sweetest tasting salad. I think grilling the lettuce brings out some sweetness and then of course the balsamic in the dressing adds to the perfection of this recipe.

June 12, 2011 By Sherry

Morning Foods

Scotch Eggs

Move over dull dry scrambled eggs.

I have made it clear in the past how I feel about plain old, curdley, dry, hospital tasting scrambled eggs. I am not a fan. I do love egg dishes for breakfast or even dinner and I have posted several recipes here that are now favorites, like my Ham and Egg Brunch Cups, Shirred Eggs with Kale, Souffled Cheddar Egg Nest and the Eggs Benedict with a twist.

Amazing things can be done with a plain ordinary egg so why should anyone every be forced to eat a scrambled egg for breakfast. For instance, throw in a little tomato, cheese, green onions and a little crushed up tortilla chips and serve with some salsa or pico and you have Migas.

Boil an egg, peel it, wrap some uncooked breakfast sausage around it, dip in beaten egg, roll in some bread crumbs and then fry it and you have a Scotch egg. It is so pretty when you cut it open to serve. Add a little fruit on the plate and a good muffin or cinnamon roll and you have a great start to the day.

Scotch Eggs are claimed to be invented by Fortnum & Mason department store in London in 1738. They are usually considered a picnic food and eaten cold. (I like them hot out of the frying pan.) In the US these are served hot with dipping sauces like ranch dressing, hot sauce or hot mustard sauce.

June 7, 2011 By Sherry

Morning Foods/ Side dish/ Vegetables

Sweet Potato Hash

Hash of a different color.

Everyone knows how good sweet potatoes are for your health. They are full of potassium, Vitamin A, low in fat and high in omega 6 fatty acids. Did you know that one small sweet potatoes provides you with twice the daily recommended amount of Vitamin A. That’s amazing.

Several decades the sweet potato was introduced in the southern United States and since that introduction, oh what we have done with them. They are delicious mixed with herbs and spices and different flavorings. They are in every thing from baby food to main dishes, casseroles, salads, and pies like Sweet Potato or even Sweet Potato Pecan Pie. I have done an appetizer with sweet potatoes (coming soon). This past weekend, for my daughter’s birthday dinner, I did a Bobby Flay recipe that had sweet potatoes mixed in with grits and topped with shrimp. Just another delicious sweet potato recipe. This recipe for Sweet Potato Hash is good with just about anything.

June 1, 2011 By Sherry

Salads/ Side dish

Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

Fresh asparagus and mushrooms make a great salad.

Anyone who lives in the north and has dealt with inches or I should say FEET of snow this past winter is excited to see the crocus pop up in the Spring. I remember when we lived in Iowa and had 120 days of snow cover and spotting our first crocus popping up through the snow and I knew that Spring was just around the corner. Now summer is here and I’m looking for more salad recipes to try with our great bar-b-q that my husband will be doing all summer long. This would be a great additional to your Memorial Day celebration. Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Asparagus is one of those Spring vegetables that I can hardly wait for because I know the price will get much lower than what I have to pay in the winter months. The day I made this recipe I paid $1.77/lb. So, I have quite a few asparagus recipes I’m going to be posting.

Most people tend to think that only the tiny thin asparagus is tender but that’s not true. I have bought asparagus as thick has my finger and it has been just as tender as the thinner variety. You will also see white asparagus and when we were at a farmer’s market in Chicago last spring, we bought some purple asparagus which was beautiful and wonderful. Now that would make a pretty salad, purple, green and white asparagus. That is, if you could find all three varieties at the same time.

May 28, 2011 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Dressing

Can be prepared ahead of time and just waiting for your guests.

Whatever you are planning for your Memorial Day celebration, these vegetables are easy to make and will be a hit at your party.

I loved grilled vegetables mainly because I don’t have to cook them. Usually, anything grilled falls on my husband. For this recipe though, I decided to do them on my cast iron grill top inside because sometimes my husband tends to over grill vegetables leaving them charred and burned.

I did make a cool discovery doing these vegetables. I used my waffle cutter to cut my vegetables. So when I put the vegetables on the flat top grill, the waffle cut of the vegetables left marks on them like they had been done over a grill.

For some reason every time I make grilled vegetables (and I posted some roasted root vegetables back in the fall) I can never get a good picture of them. They taste wonderful but do not photograph well. I’m thinking if you see a beautiful picture of roasted or grilled vegetables in a magazine, the photographer must have waved his magic wand and created some magical setting that took a great picture of a heap of grilled vegetables. Maybe a little torching, painting with oils, I don’t know but I want to eat mine, not just look at them.

So I hope you will try this recipe even though the pictures don’t do justice to the recipe.

May 24, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Dates

Another salad recipe to add to your collection.

I think I am on a roll trying new salad recipes. I said a few weeks ago that I led a pretty sheltered life when it came to trying different salad recipes. Growing up eating a “combination salad” or wilted lettuce salad made me yearn for something more. I knew there was a whole world of salad ingredients and combinations of dressings, fruits, and nuts that could take an ordinary salad to a whole different level.

I love salads of almost any variety and use to think they were better when I had them in a restaurant. Now, I am rethinking that thought because I have been trying some wonderful recipes and usually come up with my own variations. This particular salad came out of aWilliam Sonoma salad book. It called for spring mix and goat cheese. Now how boring is that. The baked goat cheese was a nice addition but, I decided to add some chopped dates to add a little sweetness and I just happened to have some pea sprouts on hand and I added some toasted walnuts. Those changes really perked up this salad. If you don’t have access to pea sprouts maybe try some alfalfa sprouts or arugula. I think figs would be a good substitute for the dates. Also, next time, I’m giving the baked goat cheese rounds a drizzle of honey.

The first time I made this salad, I served some warm bread with the meal and we had two goat cheese rounds on our salads. We spread the goat cheese on some of the bread and it was delicious.

May 20, 2011 By Sherry

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