September 2010 – Rosemary and the Goat

Banana Rum Muffins

Tipsy Banana muffins make a great little breakfast bread.

I’m always looking for a muffin to do for breakfast and brunches (for myself or someone I’m catering for) that isn’t overly sweet. If a muffin gets too sweet it seems more like a cupcake than a muffin. A muffin is typically a quick bread recipe that you portion it out into muffin cups whereas a cupcake is a cake batter make into individual portions.

I use to cater a lot of business breakfasts and this was one of the muffin recipes I frequently used. I normally use a dark rum but on this day someone had drank all my dark rum and I had to use an orange flavored. It was good but I like the dark or even light rum better than flavored rum.

September 26, 2010 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ Pasta

Lemon Cream Pasta with Shrimp

Pasta with a creamy lemon sauce — Rich, creamy and lemony.

I love pasta, I love lemon and I love anything with shrimp in it. So, this recipe was a match made in heaven.

We watch a lot of food shows in this house. My husband is even into all the competitive ones. And, even he is getting ideas of different things to try out on his grill. I leave the grilling to him because I can’t improve on perfection. 🙂

I was watching Paula Deen one day and and she was making this recipe with lemon pasta and sour cream. I know all of her recipes are loaded with butter, cream and everything good (or not good for you) but for some reason I perked up and started paying attention to her show. I made a few changes; blue cheese for the Parmesan cheese, and I added some sauteed shrimp to the finished dish. Thank you Paula for inspiring my version of your recipe. I loved the blue cheese in the sauce.

September 20, 2010 By Sherry

Dessert/ Ice Cream

Banana Foster Ice Cream

When I made this I was thinking of our upcoming trip to New Orleans.

I love bananas. I prefer mine on the green side and my husband likes them when they look like they are about 2 days away from decomposing. Of course, the dark over ripe ones are the best for making banana breads and anything else you want a really intense banana flavor. Seems like they have a much more sweeter banana taste than the green ones.

September 16, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Corn and Crab Fritters

Corn and Crab Fritters with Mango Butter

I first had these delicious little fritters at my son Paul’s house. He is a fantastic cook and so much more creative and inventive in his cooking skills that I will ever be. He made them again last summer for our 40th anniversary party and they were a big hit. So, I decided it was time I try making the recipe.

I picked up some fresh corn the other day and crab meat was on sale so I decided to try his recipe for the fritters. My daughter was home for the weekend and we had friends over for dinner and I thought these would be delicious with our Cuban Black Bean Rice dish and our Pork Medallions (Michael Symone’s recipe) and a Strawberry Dill Spinach Salad. I thought right.

September 12, 2010 By Sherry

Dessert/ Morning Foods/ Salads

Frozen Fruit Salad

A treat anytime of the year.

I love fruit and this recipe pleases anytime of the year. It’s great for brunch, dessert, or snack anytime of the day and I think I’m going to go have one right now.

Back in the early 70’s we moved to Ft. Madison, Iowa. We were living in Louisville, KY at the time and I remember people telling us we were moving to the “Florida of Iowa” area of the state. How wrong that statement turned out to be. We had 100 days of snow cover one year and if it wasn’t for joining the Welcome Wagon club and church functions I would have gone crazy. When I first heard doctors on TV talk about “cabin fever” I didn’t know what they were taking about. But, when you are huddled in a house with three kids all day trying to stay warm and keep them entertained, then you catch on quickly. (We weren’t really huddled in the house staying room, but it was too cold for the kids to go out and play.) My daughter use to ride her trike in the basement because it was too cold to go outside. We had lots of Easter egg hunts inside because of the weather.

This Frozen Fruit Salad recipe was one that we did at a Welcome Wagon brunch one year. I have never forgotten it. When my kids were younger I use to make this and have in the freezer for snacks. About 15 seconds in the microwave and a few chops, you have a nice slushy snack for anytime of the day.

September 8, 2010 By Sherry

Egg Dishes/ Morning Foods

Souffled Cheddar Egg Nest

Great way to start the day. So elegant looking but easy to make.

This souffled egg cup was topped with a jalapeno creme fraiche.

I have said before that breakfast has always been my least favorite meal of the day. If I have to scramble eggs, I will turn them into migas (scrambled eggs with onion, jalapeno, tomato, cheese and at the end you throw in a handful of crunched up tortilla chips.). If my husband wants a fried egg I usually talk him into Toad In A Hole (bread with hole cut out, buttered, grilled and you drop a cracked egg in the hole and continue cooking). If I want a extra special boiled egg, I will make Scotch Eggs (peeled boiled egg, surround in pork sausage, brushed with egg and dipped in bread crumbs and fried). Well this egg dish is no ordinary egg either. It looks hard to make but very easy and will delight your weekend guests or do it just for your family.

I first saw this recipe at Sugarlaws blog and I think she got the idea from Eating-SF. Who ever made it first, thank you. I love this recipe. I have added a few extra things. For a garnish I did use some jalapeno lime cream fraiche that I had made the night before to go with some fish tacos. On some of the cups I added fried bacon to the bottom of the cups before adding the whites. I like the surprise at the bottom of the dish. I also sprinkled a little bacon on top of some when they came out of the oven. A side of toast would be great to dip in the egg yolks that are still runny when you take them out of the oven.

September 4, 2010 By Sherry