Sherry – Page 30 – Rosemary and the Goat

Tomato and Cauliflower Soup

A delicious combination of vegetables.

I said years ago that after moving to Texas I was tired of waiting for it to turn cold to make soup and decided that whenever the cravings for soup arose (they do often) I would make it whatever the temperature may be outside. Now that our temperatures are edging close to 80° (I hope we still have some cool temperatures left for the Spring.) I’m still trying out some soup recipes that I find interesting.

Last weekend our grandson Thomas came to visit. He won’t be two until May but he is developing some pretty good cooking skills. Recently I saw a video of him at the Kitchen Aid mixer helping mom make some banana bread. The fingers almost got pinched by the paddle but he survived to eat some of that bread. It’s kind of hard watching some of those videos cause I’m saying “watch out he’s getting ready to reach into the mixing bowl with the motor on”. He knows how to make the blade turn slower or faster so I think he is on his way to earning an apron in my kitchen. Of course I would never turn down help from a grandson. We had a pot of gumbo while they were here which was really good on a coolish day.

March 5, 2016 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Cruciferous Chicken Crunch

This is Cruiciferous!

Ok, you are probably not like me and thought that Cruiciferous is another word for delicious or stupendous or another word for boy is that delicious.

I’m always on the lookout for some new green veggie combination and when I first ran across this bag of veggies at Trader Joe’s I thought they were just salad ingredients but upon reading the bag I saw that the veggie blend could be used in sautés also. Here’s what I did one day for lunch then improved upon it the next time I used the bag of veggies.

So my first attempt was to throw it in a skillet with a tiny bit of oil, some garlic and onion powder and after it was cooked for a few minutes I added some chopped smoked chicken thighs I had left over in the refrigerator; it was so good that I told myself that I could easily eat this every day for lunch and what a great “green” thing to make for St. Patrick’s Day.

My second attempt was even better. I used about 1 teaspoon of sesame oil along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sautéed the veggies, added in the chicken as I did the first time along with about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and then sprinkled in some sesame seeds at the end. I’m giving you the second version recipe but know if you just want to throw it in a skillet, sauté, add some chicken, it is still delicious. Continue Reading…

February 29, 2016 By Sherry

Salads

Blood Orange and Mango Salad

There’s nothing prettier than an orange salad made with a blood orange.

Can’t say I’ve ever been a big OJ fan. (I love the orange but just not in juice form.) I use to drink OJ when I bought it for the kids when they were little but I would have much rather had a glass of grapefruit juice. Have you ever had a grapefruit mimosa instead of one made with OJ. Once you have, you will never go back.

Did you ever get oranges in your Christmas stocking. I remember getting them, don’t know how often, or why I remember that but maybe that was a way of filling up the stocking; who knows.

Some of the most delicious oranges I have tasted were in Madrid. I’m not sure what they were called but they were candied. I attempted to make these after returning from that trip and the first time they turned out great (Second time I think I burned them.). These Candied Orange Quarters were the best thing I ever tasted. Ya know those little sugared orange slices you get in a bag for $1, well those are my husband’s favorite candy, but the candied ones were 1,000 times better than those and he loved them.

February 24, 2016 By Sherry

Breads/Biscuits/ Morning Foods

Sweet Potato Waffles

What a beautiful way to start a weekend.

Back in 2012 I posted my Bacon Belgium Waffles and told you about how my mother always use to put one slice of raw bacon across the batter after she had pour it into the waffle iron; and oh what a waffle that made. Once you have tried the bacon in the waffle, you will never want a waffle without bacon.

So, I have this new Paderno Spiralizer machine and was thinking about trying a different version on that waffle. Here’s how the morning progressed. My husband was up early and had already had a bowl of oatmeal so I had to convinced to try my waffle. After spiraling the sweet potato, which took all of about 2 minutes, I proceeded to try and cook them in the waffle iron (see pic below) but when I piled them onto the cooked waffle, they were pretty sad and pathetic looking.

My next step was to try deep frying them which only took about 5 minutes and I had a crunchy pile of coiled sweet potato fries which went on top of the bacon waffle, lathered in butter and surround with some pure maple syrup. Now, this was ready for him to eat and it got a thumbs up.

Then I started thinking of other breakfast ideas where I might use this new gadget of mine. How about some eggs benedict and you make a big pile of white potato curls and pile them high over the bendict or some scrambled eggs on top of a big plate of crunchy curly potatoes. I guess you are getting the idea that I love this new gadget that I got from Amazon.

February 19, 2016 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ Pasta

Red Chard, Shrimp and Artichoke Stir-fry

Beautiful and so easy and something red for Valentine’s Day.

These days when I’m trying to make things move a little slower I’m doing a stir-fry. Now does that make sense. A slow day but with a quick fast dish at the end of the day.

I’ve always got some shrimp in my freezer. In fact, when the x-large goes on sale here, I will buy 2-3 bags and put in my freezer for last-minute dishes like this or a quick shrimp cocktail. So, I can have a slow and relaxing day doing whatever I want and wait until the last-minute and do a quick dinner to feed the hungry.

I’ve been busy trying to catch up on all these new movies that I’ve missed out for the last few weeks, getting back into craft circle and trying to come up with a couple of projects I would like to make for the year, and still working on getting the outdoor kitchen finished up. I bought a cool copper vessel type sink to use but still have not had the granite cut or picked out a faucet to match the sink. Gotta get this done because before you know it we are going to want to be outside again.

February 14, 2016 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Beef/Veal/ Entree/ HotApp

Mini Corn Dogs with Mustard Dipping Sauce

Get them while they’re hot.

So, what’s so special about a corn dog? Nothing really but I’ve never been able to pass one up once that smell of a frying dog is in the wind and my hose catches the drift.

Use to be, back in the day, (maybe even before my day) one would go to a carnival or state fair and would be confronted with things like the Bearded Lady, the wolf man, person with two heads (ok, maybe that one was in an old movie I saw when I was a kid), the snake woman, sword swallower, little person, very big person, and probably things your mother would have never let you go in to take even a peek.

I would have been more concerned with what are they going to feed us. There are so many things that are fried at state fairs and I’m sure depending on where you live, there may even be some I haven’t heard of. Here are just a few I have seen and come across looking for the next “big” fried things on a stick. Chicken Fried Lobster with champagne gravy (sounds pretty good), Fried Butter, Fried Snicker Bars, Funnel Cakes, Fried Cheese Curds, Frog Legs (Now I would like that one.), Batter Dipped Deep Fried Twinkies (and I thought those were gone.), Fried Jalapeños, of course, and the list goes on and on for those artery clogging treats.

Personally, I don’t think you can beat a good hot dog turned into a corn dog. I’ve made these with plain yellow mustard but I have also made the dipping sauce recipe below to go with these. Cutting the dogs into thirds make such a cute little appetizer and ya don’t have to feel guilty about eating a couple. Ok, so who could stop at just a couple. And, these are the perfect size for the kids, that is if you let them have hot dogs.

February 4, 2016 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Bourbon Teriyaki Chicken

No bourbon in this bourbon chicken.

So, what do you do in the winter months to pass the time, all that shopping for the holidays is past and even if you resolved to get in the gym more often, that still leaves a lot of time on your hands; that is if you are not working or taking care of the kids. I would like to go back a few (a bunch) years and still have the kids at home, cooking and taking care of them, running them all over the place. OUCH, I just pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. I love being a mother for three of the best kids I know, but its fun watching them be parents and watching the five little grandsons grow up.

There are probably eight million ways to do chicken and this is just one of them. (Hey, recognize that line — “There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” (The Naked City TV series from 50’s/60’s). Who doesn’t love chicken and like I said, there are a kazillion ways to prepare it.

January 30, 2016 By Sherry

Entree/ Soup

Slow-cooked Chicken Tortilla Soup

Slow down your moving too fast…..

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy…..

–Simon and Garfunkel’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling’ Groovy)

I woke up one morning before Christmas thinking “why does time seem to go by so fast”. After a little internet search (I knew there had to be an answer there) I came up with two article from Huffington Post.

It’s always bothered me that with a wink of an eye the day is gone, then the week, month, and before you know it, it’s Christmas again. At my age I want to put the brakes on things and enjoy and remember all the things that tend to flash by the window while we are driving/sailing/flying through life.

My goals this year are to slow things down, read a little each day (I don’t read nearly enough) and make a point to not just watch the days drift by. Read these two articles (Why Life Goes By Faster As We Get Older and Simple Mental Trick Can Slow Down Time) and I think it may help you to slow things down a bit.

My word for the year is going to be “slow” or in two words “slow down”. Cooking in a crockpot isn’t exactly what Slow Food Movement had in mind but if you have something simmering away in a crockpot/slow cooker, you will definitely be enjoying those smells and the excitement of anticipating what’s coming out of that pot at the end of the day.

January 25, 2016 By Sherry

Salads

Shaved Zucchini Salad

Shaved Zucchini Salad with Pumpkin Seeds Parmesan Cheese.

Are you looking for some new salad ideas to start the year off right?

You don’t have to wait for summer vegetables to make this zucchini salad. There is no reason to wait to make this salad since we can always find fresh zucchini and yellow squash in the market. Of course, if you had it growing in your back yard, then that would be even fresher/better.

Zucchini was developed in Italy in the late 19th century; and is a vegetable that is typically served cooked and has a delicate flavor and requires very little cooking in a little butter or olive oil. On the other hand, you always see zucchini on vegetable platters so it can be used in many dishes; zucchini bread is the best.

What attracted me to this recipe in the first place was the way the zucchini/squash was cut; most recipes you see for zucchini salad has it sliced in circles, shredded or cut into long thin ribbon pieces. I like the bigger slices because you can still tell what the vegetable once was.

I once worked for a catering company in Kansas City and I always remember how they always wanted vegetables, whether they were for a salad or for grilling, cut into large chunks/pieces because they thought it made for a better presentation. I agree.

This recipe came from Silver Oak Winery and they suggest it for a summer salad. I’m saying put with any grilled meat and you will have a great salad in place of your normal green salad you may serve.

January 20, 2016 By Sherry

Appetizers

Coconut Shrimp Wontons

Here’s another Shrimp Wonton with a different twist.

I love coconut, I love shrimp and I love anything crunchy/crispy like fried wontons. That’s starting to sound a little like Bubba Gump and if I remember correctly, the first time I ever ordered Coconut Shrimp was at Bubba Gump’s restaurant in San Francisco. I did another Shrimp Wonton back in July 2015 but this has a little different twist on it.

Coconut and shrimp belong together just like jelly and peanut butter (although I don’t like jelly on peanut butter). Our Republic Grille here in The Woodlands serves an appetizer of coconut shrimp with a habanero marmalade that is crazy sweet/hot and delicious. I’m always on the lookout for new appetizers to try out on friends.

On our trip last year to Seattle we visited Chateau Ste Michelle winery one day and I discovered several of their wines that I had never tried (mostly because they were above the price I normally want to pay for wines.) The lady who was doing our tasting told me about the recipes on their site and when she mentioned coconut shrimp I knew I was going to had to pay the website a visit; and you may just find a few recipes you want to give a try.

January 15, 2016 By Sherry

Soup

Four Bean Chili

Is it cold enough at your place for chili?

This was going to be my last post of the year but my Asparagus and Shiitake mushroom dish nosed it out and besides it is just now cold enough to make chili here. Christmas day was 80° in our part of Texas but now it’s down in the 40’s (what a difference a couple of week make.).

Thanks Katherine Heigl for your Chili recipe. I love Katherine Heigl. She seems like the most down to earth movie star (do people still say movie star?**) and I have watched every movie she’s been in since she left Grey’s Anatomy. I’ve seen her cooking on several shows recently and this particular day she was on the Today Show making her chili.

Now chili is something I have never been good at making. My family use to say that my chili never tasted the same from one time to the next. In fact, if I want chili now I use Wick Fowler’s Two Alarm Chili mix. My mother always used the little package of Chili-O and I thought her chili was wonderful.

When we lived in Louisville, KY and you were served chili you were asked if you wanted beans or no beans and that’s the first time I had macaroni in my chili — chili-mac and then learned to put out toppings like cooked spaghetti, chopped onions, cheese and chopped fresh tomatoes. Recently I had some chili at a local bar in The Woodlands, no beans; what do you mean NO beans! To me chili without beans just taste like meat and chili sauce. Ya gotta have beans in chili if you ask me.

January 10, 2016 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Bread/ Morning Foods/ Pastries

Granny Hester’s Sweet Potato Biscuits

Wish I knew this Granny.

I don’t often get foods from companies to try out for the blog so I was excited to get a note from Darlene, PPR Communications, Granny Hester’s Sweet Potato Biscuit asking me if I would like to try their sweet potato biscuits. The company is doing some testing in our area in Sam’s Club and she came across my blog. Their sweet potato biscuits are already being sold there and at our Trader Joes.

I love their story of how the biscuit recipe came about. Granny Hester came up with this recipe while experimenting for the perfect biscuit for her husband before he left for the Navy in WWII. The recipe was eventually handed down (like all good grandmothers do) to a granddaughter who started making these biscuits for family and friends and now works out of a 50,000 sq. ft. building (former sock mill) in Ft. Payne, Alabama.

I’ve done sweet potato biscuits before for an appetizer so I couldn’t wait to try out their biscuits with a couple of other recipes. For my first try I used the frozen biscuit, split it and then grilled it on a panini grill and topped with some pulled pork, slaw and pepper rings for a fancy slider for New Year’s Eve. It was really good that way because the biscuit got kind of crisp, almost like a chip.

My second try was using the biscuits with ham and orange marmalade; I made these many times when I catered. Cooked biscuits, split, top with ham and orange marmalade then back in the oven to warm up.

On Granny Hester’s site they have a Sweet Potato Cinnamon Roll made from their biscuits so that was definitely going to be breakfast one Saturday morning and those are in the opening picture.

January 5, 2016 By Sherry

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