Sherry – Page 21 – Rosemary and the Goat

Breckenridge Bars

In the beginning…. there were those who could ski… & and then some not meant for that sport.

Many, many, manyyyy years ago we went on our first ski trip with our neighbors Mary Jo and Randy (Overland Park, KS) to Steamboat Springs, CO. Of course the kids did well first trip out and by end of trip, the Isler’s were taking them on blue (maybe even black) slopes. Me, on the other hand, had my leg wrapped around a tree the first day and being stubborn like I was (am), refused help down the mountain by the ski patrol — now that would have been a little too embarrassing. And to make matters worse, I couldn’t ruin my first day, so the rest of the day I spend on the bunny slope being pulled up by a rope and making my way down the tiny little hill.

Needless to say, by the end of the trip I couldn’t put my leg on the ground because a piece of the cartilage was caught between the joint. So, did I ever ski again? Once? And after that I stuck to snow mobiles and shopping and now with two fairly new knees I would never attempt those slopes again.

November 7, 2017 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Fontina and Mushroom Tarts

Little bites of puffed pastry and mushrooms.

With the holidays right around the corner this little appetizer will be a favorite of your guest.

Appetizers have always been one of my favorite things to make and when I catered most of the parties I did over the holidays were all appetizers. I would always have extras and they would be in my freezer at Christmas time and I could pull out so many different favorites for my family and it saved me a lot of time in the kitchen.

These days, since I’m not catering anymore, I have decide on some of my favorites to make or come up with something new to surprise my kids. I have a few special ones picked out already for Thanksgiving.

November 1, 2017 By Sherry

Bread/ Morning Foods/ Scones

Pumpkin Scones with a Splash of Chocolate

Ready for fall where ever you are?

Nothing says Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving more than the sight of a pumpkin patch or the smell of something pumpkin cooking in the oven. And, it is starting to feel like fall here in Texas at least for a few days, but it would be great if those hot days were behind us for a few months.

I think pumpkin and chocolate make a great pairing in anything. Years ago I did a pumpkin chocolate chip muffins that is so good you will go back for seconds. And since I love making scones and I love taking baked items to craft circle this was a recipe waiting to happen and happened it did this past week I received so many compliments on this recipe I decided to post it right away because they can be made and frozen so during the holidays all you have to do is preheat your oven and pop these little pumpkins in the oven .

October 26, 2017 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Chicken Avocado Spread

Healthy chicken and avocado spread. Good with crackers or on a sandwich!

I’m not a fan of “diet” foods or even the words low-fat, low-calorie, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, free, free, free equals no taste at all in my opinion.

Remember the “fat-free” phase when it started? I think people gained more weight on “fat-free” product than eating normal products. Then you take gluten-free bread. I haven’t met one yet that I like; I’d rather do without. And, when it goes to vegan; who wants to give up soft creamy butter smeared on a piece of freshly baked bread right out of the oven — NOT ME. Life is too short to do without. Sure we could all cut back some place but where taste is concerned I want the real deal and maybe just not eat as much of the item. Continue Reading…

October 20, 2017 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Pepperoncini Pork Roast

Cute little wrinkled peppers partner with pork butt.

So, even though your name probably isn’t Peter and you haven’t just picked a peck of pickled peppers you don’t know what to do with, keep reading below and I will tell you what to do with the ones you will buy from the market.

I’m sure everyone has had pulled pork. We grew up eating pulled pork bar-b-q and when we first moved to Texas we never saw it on menus — mostly brisket and sausages. Now we see pull pork everywhere.

Have you ever had pepperoncini pork roast? So juicy and tender after cooking for 5-6 hours (oven or slow cooker) it falls apart just looking at it and then whether you put it on top of some homemade mashed potatoes or put it into a flour tortilla shell for a “peppered pork taco” or just eat it as is, you will get the peppery (not too hot) taste of the wrinkled little peppers along with the spices and onions that have almost cooked away to nothing.

I first saw this recipe of Haylie Pomroy (Fast Metabolism Diet) and knew exactly how I wanted to do it. If you want a lot of flavor and a lot of juice, don’t use a pork loin roast. Period. No pork loin, never in my opinion. I use to buy pork loin to cut in pork chops and finally realized that all though there’s no fat/bone, there’s also no flavor. So if I want a pork chop, I’m paying “extra” to get that bone. Just kidding, usually boneless is more expensive but you lose so much in flavor if you aren’t cooking meat on the bone.

October 14, 2017 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ Sandwiches

Shrimp Salad on Puffed Pastry Bread

Don’t you love, crisp, thin, crunchy things?

Ya know how you get an idea stuck in your head and can’t stop thinking about it? Well, I do that all the time. Five or six years ago I was watching one of Giada’s cooking show and she made this turkey sandwich with crisp pieces of puffed pastry. The puffed pastry wasn’t baked the normal way where it gets about two inches high (I am not a fan) but was sandwiched between two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and baked until crisp and brown.

I started thinking about doing this sandwich for a “back to school” post but then what kid is going to take a puff pastry sandwich to school. Maybe same kid that would have a pig roast for his first birthday (grandson Donovan). He might not like puff pastry either but I’m sure you will like this “bread” with either a spread or just put some freshly sliced lunchmeat with some avocado and mayo and have the crunchiest flakiest sandwich ever.

When my kids were in school seems like all they wanted for lunch was either pbj or turkey on white bread of course, plain, no mayo or mustard. When I was growing up my favorite sandwich was probably a thick slice of bologna on white bread with mustard or an egg sandwich made like a toad in a hole but with two slices of bread.

October 8, 2017 By Sherry

Food Stories

Walk This Way! Food Tours

FOOD — One of my favorite things to do on vacation.

Food is so much a part of our lives. You can’t get away from it. Not even on vacation. I’ve said before that I usually research the area we are visiting and find restaurants we may want to visit while there. I’d rather do that than get some place and when you are ready to eat you just go to whatever is close, missing some great local favorites.

When we travel to a city that is known for good food (or some kind of cooking class) we do a food tour of the city. Normally the tours are in the old historic part of the town where there is a high concentration of restaurants all within walking distance of each other. Most tours are about 3 – 3 1/2 hours in length and cover anywhere between 1-2 miles of walking. The tour guide will give you some local history of the area and when you get to the restaurant your group will sit and sample something from that restaurant. You eat, drink, enjoy new friends and think about what you might be sampling at the next stop.

October 2, 2017 By Sherry

Sauces

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Some like it hot!

In the past when I have purchased Thai Sweet Chili Sauce I would buy 2-3 bottles at a time because one time the store was out and I had to go to another brand and it wasn’t good. I’ve seen several sweet chili sauce recipes and after looking at the ingredients on my favorite brand, I decided to make my own.

I’ve used this on my egg rolls, dumplings, I’ve added ketchup to it for a cocktail sauce for shrimp, I’ve brushed it on my husband’s grilled chicken wings and the good thing is I can make it whenever I need it since I always have the ingredients in my pantry.

September 26, 2017 By Sherry

Side dish

Forbidden Black Rice and Mushrooms

Harvey’s gone and I’m ready to cook again.

We survived the black clouds and rainy days of Harvey and I have to say I wasn’t cooking much during those five days either. Lookin but not cookin.

The stores were crazy for days and have calmed down now and back to normal. Even during the busiest days of trying to grab a gallon of milk or bread or chips, I got in and out of the store in record time; sometimes settling for Half & Half instead of milk and taking the only lone loaf of bread on the shelves — Jewish rye and forget those chips, they were mostly gone. The news had reports of grocery lines that were 4 hours long just getting in and out to buy a few staples. I’m glad Harvey is in our review mirrors, he was definitely a unwelcomed guest to Texans.

I had purchased black rice before; never tried it. But, after cooking brown rice, white rice, and red rice for so long I was intrigued with this black colored grain that turns a deep purple color when cooked.

September 20, 2017 By Sherry

Soup

Chicken Egg Drop Soup

Why did the chicken not cross the road?

Why did the chicken not cross the road? Because she knew if she got on the other side, she would be in this pot of soup. Ok, that’s a pretty corny joke.

This may look like the first egg drop soup I posted last January but it isn’t. Recently I made Egg Roll In A Bowl for dinner one night and I did not want to dump the extra ingredients I had left over. I have to look hard to find bean sprouts and when I find them I have to use them within a couple of days so they don’t go bad. So after making that other dish I still had some ground chicken and pork and half a bag of bean sprouts left over and since egg drop soup is my favorite Chinese soup I decided to mess with the other recipe and be a little thrifty.

September 14, 2017 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Entree

Santa Maria-Style Tri Tip with Salsa

Just in time for your Labor Day cookout.

Have you ever come across a beef tri-tip in the market and didn’t know what to do with it? I have to admit I don’t think I have ever heard of it (or don’t remember) until last year and my son, Scott who lives in Chicago mentioned buying one and after seeing how juicy and delicious his looked I was then on the lookout for that particular cut of meat.

Then back at Easter, son, Paul cooked one for a house full of Sunday brunch guest. He served his as an appetizer to his pulled pork he had cooking on the grill. I got to taste his and it was juicy, medium rare and tasted like a great piece of steak.

Santa Maria-Style barbecue is a culinary tradition rooted in the Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County (this from Wikipedia) and dates back to the 19th century and centers around the beef tri-tip, seasoned and grilled over coals. Read the above link for more information.

September 8, 2017 By Sherry

Cake/ Dessert/ Desserts

Julia’s Berry Clafoutis

So what is a clafoutis anyway?

You should make this while you can still get those beautiful, juicy summer berries.

A clafoutis is a French baked dessert of fruit, traditionally black cherries that are arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a batter that is somewhere between a cake and custard. And, when it is dusted with that messy but breathtaking delicious powdered sugar it makes a dessert that you want to hide away from everyone and keep it all for yourself.

If the dish contains anything other than the traditional cherry then it is supposed to be called a flaugnarde. But, if “clafoutis” is good enough for Julia Childs, who am I to argue with a name.

Several years ago I made an Almond Cherry Clafoutis and have made it several times since. The consistency of my Cherry Clafoutis was definitely between a custard and cake but this recipe of Julia’s is more cake-like that mine.

September 2, 2017 By Sherry

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