Sherry – Page 7 – Rosemary and the Goat

Orecchiette Snap Peas and Italian Sausage

What a combination of YUM!

I just say “little ears” because oh-reck-ee-ET-tay is a little hard say. So let’s cook some “little ears” pasta also know as Orecchiette.

Orecchiette in Italian translates to “little ears”. It’s a small, ear-shaped pasta that originated in southern Italy and it’s the perfect pasta to pair with rich creamy sauces because the little bowl shaped pastas hold all your yummy sauce.

A few weeks ago I was laying under a machine for an hour and half looking at the ceiling while having a HIAD test (gallbladder). Anyway, I’m thinking about this post and what I was going to write about and all these visions of pasta came to mind. Remember Lady and The Tramp movie where the little dogs are sucking the spaghetti and end up at the same end of the noodle and “kiss”. Don’t ask me why that was the first thing I thought of; but then I’m thinking of canned spaghetti “o’s” my kids use to eat when they were younger. Can’t believe I fed that to them.

I have brought back different shapes and colors of pasta from just about every trip we have taken. I packed Italian pastas in my suitcase, chocolate pasta from Pikes Market in Seattle, little tiny squares of pasta for soup that I found in Canada and there is always a special pasta waiting for me in any little specialty shop I might go into.

February 16, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

White Beans, Rice and Sausage

No, not Red Beans and Rice but White Beans and Rice!

Red beans and rice fan? I like red beans and rice but think I like the white beans and rice with sausage even better. Although, cheese doesn’t really pair that well with white beans so I may keep them both on my menu list.

My sister and I, from almost the day we were married, use to write down our menus for the week. I would not vary from what I had planned for the week. If I said I was having pork lo mean on a Thursday then that’s what I prepared. These days, I still make out menus for the week but hardly ever do I stick to a schedule because it seems like most of the time we end up going out to eat and that is usually for Mexican food or to local JW Steakhouse for fish or chicken night. If I want something really good and different I’m going to make it myself at home.

February 4, 2022 By Sherry

Side dish

Potatoes, Broccoli and Cheese

Potatoes, Broccoli and Cheese OH MY!

Who doesn’t love potatoes? Whether they are whipped (not really suppose to whip potatoes though), French Fried, American Fried, hashed, smashed, paved, loaded, twice baked or AuGratined (the list goes on and on and on) there is no wrong way to prepare a potato. I use to eat them raw with salt when I was a kid. Have not done that in at least 60 years. Not sure why not, just never took the time to single out a few freshly cut potato sticks and salt and crunch away for a pre-dinner snack.

Take a look when you have a minute or two at my “side dish” section of this blog at some of my favorite potato dishes. I love my Potatoes Pave, beautiful to look at and fun to eat. One night I was looking for a side dish to go with some steelhead trout we were grilling; I should say GA was grilling. I’m not sure I could even light the grill or start the Kamado Joe smoker. I happened to have a bunch of potatoes left over from Christmas that weren’t used because our holiday was cut short (what a bummer), there was half a bag of broccoli left from a salad I had made on pizza night at the Brewery over Christmas and several packages of cheese that would eventually get used up.

January 24, 2022 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Roasted Cabbage Steaks

New Year’s Cabbage, Pork, and Black-eyed Peas and Friends.

So It’s been 11 days since New Year’s Day and I’m still waiting for my good luck/money/prosperity. Well, it will come but I will have to wait awhile I guess.

It’s been a busy few weeks with kids coming from Chicago and Austin for Christmas and all six little grandsons able to play together for first time in 2 years. And, a little covid to bring things to a close earlier than expected. But as I told our son, Scott, we at least got together for Christmas, had a great steak dinner for his Christmas Birthday, a fish fry and lots of new games we got to play. Things will get better and I’m looking forward to at least a couple of trips to Chicago this year. We also did a pizza night on Sunday after Christmas after the brewery closed. Paul made all the crust, I got together the toppings and GA grilled them on the Big Green Egg at the brewery.

On top of holiday fun/blues/COVID, my Mac computer died and it had to live at Best Buy for a week just uploading all my thousands of pictures. So, blogging hasn’t been on top of my list of things to pick from everyday to keep me busy. Of course, I’ve been busy helping in the kitchen at the brewery and that is always fun to see what new menu items Paul is going to come up with for the weekend. This past week it was a country pate to go along with his chicken liver pate. They look and taste wonderful.

January 11, 2022 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Roasted Rainbow Carrots and Green Beans

Love those rainbow vegetables!

Anytime I see any rainbow colored vegetables they end up in my shopping basket. The last time I was at Central Market I snatched up some rainbow radishes; shades of purple, pink, reds and whites (and even black) were just waiting for me when I cruised the produce section. These beautiful rainbow carrots yelled out at me while walking through Whole Foods in Austin one weekend when we were there visiting our daughter and her family. At the time, I did not have any idea for these other than slicing them up in a salad and how boring would that have been.

So Thanksgiving eve morning I’m cruising the internet and came across this beautiful recipe from grilledcheesesocial.com and knew MacKenzie Smith’s (2 time Food Network Champ) recipe would be a hit at our Thanksgiving meal. Thank you MacKenzie for sharing this recipe. I will definitely be “lurking” your blog for more yummy ideas. (Note: it took my green beans forever to even get close to being tender and if I ever did these again I would probably blanch for 6-7 minutes before roasting.) Good dish but the green beans just tasted too undercooked. I decided that my green beans might have been about a week too old to use and I should have used fresher ones or even frozen.

December 7, 2021 By Sherry

Salads/ Side dish

Field Pea Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

Love those field peas!

How time flies. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything and that is because I’ve been baking/cooking at our son and DIL’s Lollitop Sweet Shop and now opened Round Top Brewing. I usually go in Thursday-Sunday and bake at sweet shop and help with breakfast tacos/biscuit sandwiches etc and when done walk a few steps and UP 20 steps to upstairs kitchen at the brewery. Both or fun but I have to say the “food” part of the brewery is my favorite. It’s nice to work with Paul on his ideas and creations and I do not mind one bit taking directions from him and doing things his way.

I’m always looking for new salad or cold side dishes to prepare because it takes the pressure off of having everything hot and ready to go at dinner time.

November 17, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish

Creamed Red Potatoes with Snap Peas

Don’t you just love the crispness of a sugar snap pea?

(Note on what I’ve been doing instead of posting here–Baking at Lollitop Sweet shop four days a week and the kids Round Top Brewing just opened the first day of Round Top’s Fall Antique Show. So 10-12 hour days of baking and cooking for other to enjoy. Fun to do but too tired to cook my own food. Now that the show is over, time to get back to cooking up some new recipes.)

Here’s another recipe from Southern Living magazine I received a few months ago with a twist or two. When I first saw this recipe I thought it was going to be like my mother’s “Shooked Potatoes” that she use to make. But a closer look and I realized that these had a cream sauce. I just posted a potato and turnip dish but with Fall here (It’s about time!) I’m always thinking of different ways to prepare potatoes.

There was a package of very fresh sugar snap peas in my refrigerator and I knew these potatoes needed a little freshening up so after blanching the peas a minute or two and then plunging the cute little things in an ice bath they were the last addition to the potatoes and cream sauce. Oh, I almost forgot – I also added 1/4″ parmesan cheese to the cream cheese and some really nice black sea salt to dress them up before serving.

November 2, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish

Potatoes and Turnip Au Gratin

Potatoes with what you say !

Can’t say I have always loved turnips; my taste has changed over the years (decades) since I was a kid and would ask my mother or grandmother what the smelly stuff was cooking away on the stove.

I’ve done some different things with a turnip other than cooking them. Take a look at my Turnip Rose garnish I use to make as a platter garnish for parties I would cater. ( I love playing around with vegetables.) I would say it takes me less than 10 minutes to make one. I love cooked turnips but my hub does not but he liked this dish. Who wouldn’t with a cheesy sauce and browned to perfection. Mix just about anything with potatoes and you have a delicious side dish.

October 11, 2021 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork/ Salads

Grilled Pork and Peach Salad

Southern Living recipe with some tweaking.

I have always loved Southern Living’s recipes. Back in the 70’s I submitted and had accepted about 5 recipes for the SL magazine. For having a recipe published in the magazine I received the yearly annual SL cookbook and also 50 recipe cards with “my recipe that appeared in SL magazine”. I actually still have a few of those cards somewhere in boxes in storage.

When I first saw this recipe and made it I could still buy good “cling free” peaches. This salad would be just as delicious for a Fall dinner using roasted apples. Pork and apples make the perfect combo.

The recipe begged (I think) for some charred corn and definitely some avocado. Wished I’d had some cilantro and I would have given it a good sprinkling. The bread slices are so crusty and oily and when it mixes with the greens and pork make for the perfect bite of food.

September 18, 2021 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Crab and Shrimp Endive Appetizer

Cool appetizer for these hot summer days.

I always thought of Fall starting when school starts back. I remember when we (twin and I and I’m always saying WE instead of me or I) couldn’t wait to get a package from our local JC Penney’s, Sears, or Montgomery Wards catalog department with a new dress. Yes, we actually wore dresses back then and seems like the ones I remember that came in those little brown packages were plaids and then maybe madras and then paisley prints.

Well, fall doesn’t officially start until September 22 so I still have time to get another summery appetizer in before I start thinking of heartier things to make and serve with my cocktails.

September 12, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish

Mashed Potatoes with Mushrooms

Who doesn’t like a good mashed potato dish?

Ok, I’m back in my cooking mode and even though we still are eating out 2-3 times a week, I’ve decided to get back to doing what I have loved doing all my married life, (52 years) and that is cooking and trying new recipes.

I remember as a new bride (and this is way before it’s time) ordering computerized menu plans with recipes and preparing some good and some not so good. I have to say the worst was a Tuna Noodle Rosey; to this day I cannot stand hot tuna casserole type dishes. Another thing I did back in the early 70’s was to order my groceries over the phone using a catalog and talking to “Rosie the robot”, or that was what she sounded like. The groceries were delivered and for an extra charge they would even put them away. I never took advantage of that service since all I had to do was take care of a baby.

August 31, 2021 By Sherry

Side dish/ Vegetables

Roasted Brussel Sprouts Green Beans and Dates

Vegetables with dates? Yum!

Since moving to Round Top in July 2020 I have not been cooking as much as I use to and I guess that’s because I’m baking at Lollitop Sweet Shop (Paul and Brooke’s place) four days a week. There aren’t a lot of places to eat around here especially on Monday-Wednesday and one would think I would be cooking more at home, but I’m not.

I’ve always enjoyed cooking my own meals and having friends over for dinner more than going out to eat. Recently (and this is the second time I have tried this service) I joined Martha Stewart and Marley Spoon’s meal boxes or whatever those plans are called where they send you all the food and you cook it. Maybe those are meant for people who don’t want to shop for their groceries or don’t have access to a big grocery market. Well, that would be me, (now) but this service lasted three weeks before I cancelled. I would have to say I wasn’t happy with some of the meals I chose (tough meat or flavors a little off for me.)

August 19, 2021 By Sherry

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