Recipe #80 - Super Bowl Snacks: Hot Bacon-Blue Cheese Dip

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I originally bought the ingredients to this recipe for a football game. A kinda of tail gating dip if you will. However, I got behind so I made it as an appetizer for one of my entrees.

In a large skillet, fry the bacon over moderate over moderate heat till almost crisp, drain on paper towels, and crumble coarsely. 

Pour off all but about 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet, add the onion, and stir 3 minutes. 

Add the flour and stir 3 minutes longer. Whisking, add the milk and beer, then add the Worcestershire and cayenne. Bring mixture to a low boil, whisking, cook for 2 minutes, and remove from the heat. 

Add the bacon and blue cheese and stir till the cheese is melted. 

Transfer the dip to a small bowl and serve with pita chips or bread sticks. 

Now I'm not the biggest blue cheese fan (unless it's in an olive). Teresa was the one that convinced me to make this recipe. I couldn't get over how overwhelming the taste of the blue cheese was. I couldn't even get past the second chip, so I'm not the the best to one to judge this recipe. However, everyone else inhaled it. For me the only redeeming quality was the bacon!

Rating: I would say 3, but the blue cheese lovers would say a lot higher. 

Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

6 thick slices lean smoked bacon

1 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup lager beer

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Cayenne pepper to taster

1/2 pound blue cheese, crumbled

Your favorite breadsticks

Recipe #77 - Flank Steak Salad with Jalapeno Poppers

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Recipe idea courtesy of Chuck Hughes from the cooking show Chuck's Day Off.

For the steak salad:
Rub the flank steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy skillet on medium-high heat and cook the steak on one side for 6 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 6 more minutes.

Meanwhile combine the red onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, mint and lime juice in a bowl and mix well. (Side note: this step called for 2 tablespoons olive oil, but I left it out and it tasted just fine with just the lime juice.)

Season the salad with salt and pepper, to taste and set aside.

For the jalapeno poppers:
Heat oil in a deep fryer or a heavy-bottomed skillet to 350 degrees F. Carefully slice down the side of the peppers and remove the seeds. Set aside. In a bowl combine all the grated cheeses, season with pepper, to taste and stuff the peppers.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, egg, and beer to form a batter. Dip the stuffed peppers in the batter.

Fry in the deep fryer or in a heavy skillet for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Slice the flank steak into thin pieces.

Pile the salad on a plate with slices of flank steak, and top with 1 popper, sliced in half.

This recipe turned out really well. The colors where bright. It had a very fresh, summer taste to it. I've never tasted mint and cilantro together, but it was a memorable surprise pairing perfectly with the lime juice. It has been raining all day, so it's was a nice, uplifting, healthy lunch that brought some sunshine back into the dull house today.

Rating: 9
Time: 1 hour (there's a lot of cutting involved)
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
For the Steak Salad
2 pounds flank steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, sliced
2 cucumbers, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tomatoes, diced
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and diced
1 cup torn fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup torn fresh mint leaves
Juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons olive oil, optional

For the Jalapeno Poppers
6 jalapeno peppers or milder peppers (which I recommend)
1/3 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1 cup flour
1 egg
3/4 cup beer
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil, for frying

Recipe #71 - Pork Tenderloin with Fig and Onion Preserves

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I was flipping through "Food" section in The Commercial Appeal when this recipe caught my eye. My parents had a few fig trees on their property that were overflowing with fruit this year. I had been wanting to do a recipe with figs, but hadn't found the right one. Until now.

Though looking back now, I think I could have found one with more ingredients and levels of flavor, because it didn't turn out very well in my opinion. However, I hadn't preserved anything on this blog, so it wasn't a total loss. Ultimately, it's what this blog is for - trial and error.

Preserves:
Caramelize the onions, cook in a large saute pan over low heat in the oil for about 2 hours or until very dark. Add garlic about halfway through the cooking. Or, you can add the onions and  garlic to a slow cooker and cook for about 12 hours. (Grease the inside of the cooker with vegetable oil spray before adding onions.)

To prepare figs, wash, remove stems and cut them in half. Add port and cook over low heat for 1 hour or perhaps longer, until most of the liquid is gone.

Combine the onion and the figs, season with salt and pepper, and pack in a 1-quart jar or 2 pint jars. Seal in a hot water bath or refrigerate.

To make tenderloin, season with salt and pepper and place in a shallow cover dish. Mix preserves, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, and pour over. Cook covered at 275 degrees F for about 30 minutes, then uncover for 10 minutes, careful not to overcook the pork.

Remove pork and set aside to cool, and put pan sauce in a small pan to reduce slightly. Add a pat of butter to thicken if desired.

Slice pork and serve with sauce.

Rating: 4
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Preserves:
3 pounds onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil, optional
2 pounds figs
About half a 750-ml bottle port
Salt and pepper, to taste

Tenderloin:
1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fig and onion preserves
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon butter, if desired

Recipe #61 - Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

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Cook rice according to package directions. Cover to keep warm; set aside. 

Meanwhile, whisk soy sauce and cornstarch in a medium bowl until cornstarch dissolves. Mix in orange peel.

Heat oil in large wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Stir-fry 30 seconds.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add to wok and stir-fry until is crisp-tender and chicken is just cooked throughly, about 4 minutes. 

Add broccoli and juice mixture. Toss until sauce thickens and comes to boil and broccoli is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice.

Rating: 8
Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice or long-grain white rice (10 to 11 ounces)
3/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoon finely grated orange peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, halved, thinly sliced
Large pinch of dried crushed red pepper
1 1/2 pounds chicken cutlets, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
1 head of broccoli

Recipe #37 - Black Bean Quinoa Salad

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This is an award winning recipe I found in the Commercial Appeal created by Megan Murphy, a Tennessee-licensed registered dietitian.

She writes, "Quinoa is a seed that kind of masquerades as a grain. Its consistency is grain-like, but its is noat a grain, and there is no gluten in it. The tiny uncooked quinoa particles swell up when you cook them into small round pellets and give a satisfying chew to dishes, including this one"

Quinoa also contains all 8 essential amino acids (proteins) needed in the human diet. Which makes it very poplar with vegans.

In a small bowl, toss the drained beans with the vinegar, salt and pepper. Let stand for about 30 minutes before draining off any excess liquid.

Meanwhile, in another bowl wash the quinoa in cold water, drain into a coffee filter or fine sieve set over a bowl or pot.

Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot, add quinoa. Lower heat and cover; cook for about 15 minutes until most of the water is absorbed. Set the pot of quinoa off the heat, and let it stand for about 20 minutes to finish absorbing the water.

Once quinoa has absorbed all the cooking water, transfer it to a large plate or bowl and allow to come to room temperature (using a plate spreads it out more so getting to room temperature doesn't take as long).

Once the quinoa is room temperature, put it in a good sized bowl or container. Add the drained beans, red bell pepper, red onions, jalapenos and cilantro; toss gently to combine.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the lime juice, salt, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Add the oil in a stream, whisking continuously. Once the oil is all incorporated, add the dressing to the quinoa/bean mixture and stir gently to combine.

Love, love, LOVE, LoVe this one. Anything with black beans (the healthiest of the the beans) is good in my book. The cilantro, freshly picked from the garden, was of course perfect with the fresh lime juice. The cayenne pepper along with the jalapenos and roasted red pepper gave it a little punch that spiced up the quinoa.

The dressing was definitely my favorite part. I put together a salad the next night and made the exact dressing for the topper. I also made this recipe again about a week later for lunch. Very healthy. Very tasty.

Rating: 9
Time: 40 mins
Serves: 6, about 1 cup each.
Per serving: 260 calories, 13 gm fat, 2 gm saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 29 gm carbohydrates, 6 gm fiber, 7 gm protein, 219 mg sodium.
Ingredients:
For the salad:
1 1/2 cups black beans, canned, drained and rinsed (1 15-oz. can)
1 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 large red pepper, roasted, seeded, peeled and diced (can be from a jar)
1 small-medium red onion, diced (about 2/3 cup diced)
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno chiles, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

For the dressing:
4 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 ground cumin
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Recipe #31 - Dominican Chimichurri Burgers

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So my attempt at stepping outside the box and making something a little different didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I wanted to make a burger with a twist and found this recipe at epicurious.com.

What pairs perfectly with a burger?! Home brewed beer, of course! My dad just finished putting his home brew into a keg that my brothers bought him for Christmas. All day he kept saying, "You know what would fix that? A beer from the keg." or "You know what would go well with that (talking about cereal)? A beer from the keg." So, finally, he got to have his beer from the keg.

Start by mixing together the beef onion, bell pepper, garlic, cilantro, oregano, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, a scant 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Form into 4 (4 1/2-inch-wide) patties. I had a little more beef than the recipe suggested, so I had enough to make one more patty.

Heat on a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until hot, then lightly toast buns. Oil skillet, then cook patties, turning once, about 8 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer to buns.

Mix together cabbage, carrot and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then cook, turning occasionally, until slightly wilted, about 2 minutes. Divide among burgers.

Oil skillet again, then sear onion and tomato, turning once, until slightly charred, about 2 minutes total. Divide among burgers.

Stir together ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard, then top burgers with sauce.

Looks pretty huh? There was just a lot going on in this recipe. A lot of different flavors and ingredients that seemed to clash rather than blend together like I was anticipating. At least in my opinion. My sister and mother, however, loved this recipe. It really wasn't that bad I guess, but the flavors were very confusing for my father and I.

Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 4
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 1/4 pound ground beef chuck
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 hamburger buns, split
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1 carrot, coarsely grated
1 small red onion, cut into rings
1 tomato, sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard

Recipe #24 - Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

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My mother and I drove down to Houston, TX to watch my niece for a week last week. Knowing that I was going to have to cook, I started reading recipes out loud to my mother. Mya over heard from the other room and I kept hearing "ew!", "that's gross!", "I don't like shrimp!" to everything I was saying. So I had to find one that was kid friendly. The first dish that popped into my mind was Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo.

I looked up several and found one that seemed complex enough with simple ingredients that a child wouldn't mind (as long as you didn't tell her what is in it, lol).

In a large skillet over medium heat, combine chicken, 2 tablespoons butter, 2 garlic cloves, and Italian seasoning. Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Meanwhile, melt 4 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Saute onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and mushrooms (I excluded these for Mya) until onions are transparent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper; cook 2 minutes. Slowly add milk and half-and-half, stirring until smooth and creamy.  Stir in Parmesan and Colby-Monterey Jack cheeses; stir until cheese is melted. Stir in chicken mixture, tomatoes, and sour cream. Serve over cooked fettuccini.

I paired this with frozen organic spinach. Which is Mya's favorite veggie.

This turn out very well. I've never been a fan of the jarred Alfredo in the grocery stores. So I don't make it very often, if at all. You can really taste the difference from making it by scratch. Especially the onion and garlic.

Rating: 7
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients:
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into cubes
6 tablespoons butter, divided
4 cloves of garlic, minced, divided
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 pound fettuccini pasta
1 onion, diced
1 (8 ounces) package sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
3 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream

Recipe #18 - French-Style Tuna Melt

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This recipe I got from the Rachel Ray website. I watched the video online before I went grocery shopping. I liked the way she grated the garlic into mush instead of mincing it with a knife. It was much easier and, like she said, it saves you from having to bite into chunks of garlic. I like the bursts of garlic in some recipes, but I could see where it could be distracting in this one in particular.

First, I pre-heated the oven to 375F. Then combined the onion and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. 

In the same bowl, I stirred together the tomato paste, garlic, Herbes de Provence, pepper, and EVOO. Then I added the tuna, olives, capers, parsley and mixed to combine and broke up the tuna slightly. 

Side note: Herbes de Provence is a new spice I just learned about. It contains a bunch of different spices including: savory, fennel, basil, thyme flowers and other herbs. Supremely yummy. 

Then I divided the tuna mixture between the two slices of bread, transferred to a baking sheet and topped with cheese. Then I toasted them in the oven for about 10 minutes (or until the cheese is melted and the tuna heated through).

I made this one on the first Friday of lent this year. I absolutely loved it. It was light and fresh, great for a midday meal. This was the first time I've use or even had brioche bread. Bread very rarely surprises me, but I was taken aback by the sweetness of this one. It reminded me a lot of the Hawaiian bread that I usually serve with spinach dip. I much prefer the taste of brioche now. 

Time: 45 mins
Rating: 7
Ingredients:
1/2 red small onion, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 garlic clove, finely grated or minced
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
Freshly ground pepper
1.4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 can line-caught or Italian tuna (6 ounces)
1/2 cup Nicoise (oil-cured) or Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped 
2 tablespoons capers
1/4 cup parsley leaves, finely chopped, a small handful
2 slices thick-cut brioche bread
1/2 cup Gruyere cheeses, shredded