Garlic-Rosemary Mushrooms

One night last week I made these as a side dish. I'll be making them again - and often. I used half a pound of button mushrooms since it was just the two of us, and adjusted the rest of the ingredients accordingly. The rosemary came from my garden. I just love being able to run outside and snip fresh herbs for my recipes!
(This recipe is from EatingWell)

GarlicRosemary Mushrooms
Makes 4 servings, about 3/4 cup each
Ingredients
1 ounce bacon (about 1½ slices), chopped
1 ½ pounds mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, shiitake (stemmed) and portobello, cut into ¼-inch slices
2 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or ½ teaspoon dried
¼ teaspoon salt Freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ cup dry white wine

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until just beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost dry, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour in wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Nutrition Information
Per serving: 87 calories; 3 g fat (1 g sat, 1 g mono); 8 mg cholesterol; 8 g carbohydrate; 7 g protein; 1 g fiber; 316 mg sodium; 795 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Potassium (23% daily value).

Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce

This recipe came from a South Beach Diet recipe web site so it's healthy and low-fat. Instead of cream I used 2% milk. I wanted to use fat-free half and half, but the store was out of it and I didn't care to drive all over town to buy some. The 2% worked fine.
This was moist and tender, and the sauce was mild, but tasty. Plus, it's easy!

Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 pounds)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup light or fat free cream
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon or 3/4 teaspoon dried
Salt
Pepper
Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter with oil. Brown chicken breasts on both sides. Reduce heat and cook, covered, 15 minutes, just until chicken is cooked through. Transfer chicken to a serving platter; tent with foil to keep warm. Add cream to skillet, scraping up brown bits. Stir in mustard and tarragon. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken. (I found it was salty enough just by lightly salting the chicken. The sauce didn't need any.)

Roast Sticky Chicken

Greg wanted to make a rotisserie chicken on the new grill last weekend, and we feasted on this succulent bird one night for supper.

He used a recipe I got from the Busy Cooks Web Site many years ago. It used to be on About.com, in their freezer-cooking section, but I think that is long gone.

I have made this many times in the oven, and whichever way you choose to cook it, you won't be disappointed. It has always made a juicy, tasty bird. (BEN - YOU NEED TO TRY THIS!) Just make sure you put the rub on the day before and let it sit overnight. Trust me. It's much better that way.

Roast Sticky Chicken
4 tsp. salt (we use kosher)

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. cayenne powder

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. white pepper (we use black)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 large roasting chicken

1 C chopped onion

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all spices. Clean chicken well, and pat dry. Rub spice mixture into chicken, both inside and out, distributing evenly and deep into skin. Place in a zipper bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to roast chicken, stuff the cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees for 5 hours (yes, 250 for 5 hours). After the first hour, baste chicken occasionally with pan juices. The juices will begin to carmelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the bird has a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving.

This is a great way to roast a large chicken ( or 2) for planned leftovers. If your chicken has not been frozen, you can put the rub on, bag and freeze, then thaw and roast. Or you can roast, carve, and freeze the cooked meat.

Pot Roast, Southwestern style

This is the second time I've made this excellent recipe for crockpot chuck roast. The sauce is a little labor-intensive, but so worth it. The recipe comes from Kalyn's Kitchen - linked on my sidebar.

I served it with refried beans, fresh homemade guacamole, sour cream, and shredded cheese.

ENJOY!

Southwestern Pot Roast Cooked in the Crockpot

(Makes about 4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

3 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed of visible fat

1 can reduced sodium beef broth 1 cup + 1/4 cup your favorite salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce - mild

steak rub or your favorite seasoning for steak to rub on meat before browning

1-2 tsp. olive oil for browning meat
Put beef broth in a small saucepan, removing any fat that has collected on top in the can. Boil until the broth is reduced to 1/2 cup.

While beef broth is reducing, trim all visible fat from chuck roast. You may need to cut the roast into several pieces to remove big pockets of fat. Rub pot roast on all side with steak rub (or your favorite seasonings for steak.) Heat olive oil in heavy frying pan (pans that aren't nonstick will give the best browning.) Brown roast well on all sides. Don't rush this step because browning provides flavor, and I think it's especially important in crockpot cooking. When roast is browned on all sides, put pieces of meat in crockpot, arranging them in a single layer.

Pour reduced beef broth into frying pan and use a metal turner to scrape off any carmelized bits from the browned meat. Add salsa and stir into broth, then pour salsa/beef broth mixture over pot roast.

Cook on high for one hour, then turn to low and cook 3-4 more hours, or until meat is very tender when pierced with a fork. (You could also cook for a longer time on low setting. If you don't have a slow cooker, cook in a heavy dutch oven on stovetop at lowest setting for 2-3 hours.)

Remove meat from crockpot and pour sauce into small saucepan. (If there is a lot of fat on top of the sauce, spoon it off or use a fat separator to remove the fat. You may not need to do this if you did a good job trimming.) Put meat back into crockpot to keep warm, then add final 1/4 cup salsa to the sauce and simmer until reduced to about 1 cup.

To serve, slice meat across the grain and serve hot, with sauce spooned over the top. I also think this meat would be great served as a filling for tacos or burritos.

Zuppa!

This recipe has been in my notebook, forgotten and untried, for at least a few years. Last weekend I had an opportunity to sort through the notebook and it was rediscovered. I made it Saturday for supper and was glad I kept it. It made enough for supper for four of us, and Greg and I each got a bowl for lunch on Monday.

It came from either Taste of Home or Country Woman magazine.

First I'll copy the recipe as it was printed, then in my notes at the bottom I'll give you the changes I made so I could use what I already had on hand. The only thing I purchased to make this recipe was the ground beef - only because I didn't have any thawed.

Meatball Minestrone

1 pound ground beef

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 15oz. can tomato sauce

2 1/2 cups water

1 15-1/2 oz. can kidney beans with liquid

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

1/4 cup chopped parsley

In a mixing bowl, combine beef, egg, onion, crumbs, salt, and pepper. Shape into 30 1" balls. In a large saucepan, brown meatballs on all sides. Drain excess fat.

Add remaining ingredients except macaroni and parsley; cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add macaroni; simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in parsley.

Yield: about 2 quarts Can be frozen.

My changes: I baked the meatballs for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven instead of browning in a pan. While they baked, I prepped the rest of the soup ingredients.

I only had a 20-something ounce can of crushed tomatoes, so I used that, and cut the amount of water back to 2 cups. Made for a richer soup.

I doubled the amount of oregano and thyme, and even that wasn't enough. Next time I'll quadruple it, or more.

I used black beans instead of kidney. Didn't have any kidney beans, and I don't like them anyway. And Angela said black beans are better for you, anyway. :o)

Skipped the parsley and we topped the soup with shredded Parmesan.

Greg and I discussed some options in addition to, or instead of the meatballs. He thought some Italian sausage would be good, and I was thinking some chunks of Kielbasa would add some depth of flavor.

We just had a hard roll with this, but it would be really good with garlic bread. Mmmm...

Cup o' Salad

Here we have a very delicious spinach salad in what Giadia DeLaurentis calls a "frico cup". It's a pile of parmesan cheese that was melted in the oven, then shaped in a muffin tin to make a little edible salad bowl. (I wish I'd gotten a photo of the bowl-shape, but I was more interested in the salad...)

I began with her recipe for the spinach salad: fresh spinach cut in a chiffonade, thin-sliced red onion, and sliced almonds. Then I added some sliced fresh mushrooms and dried cherries.

I made my own balsamic viniagrette dressing instead of using her citrus dressing. It was really simple, just one part balsamic vinegar (I used the 18 year-old stuff we bought at Pike Place Market), two parts olive oil (extra virgin), and a teaspoon of crushed garlic. Put it all in a little jar with a lid and shook it up. Oh. My. That aged balsamic vinegar is a little sweet, and thick, and oh, so tasty.

I know not everyone has aged balsamic, so if you use some that is a little "younger", it will be a bit tangy, but still good. I found a wonderful viniagrette recipe website here. I'm thinking the strawberry sounds good...

Here's the recipe from Giada's Food Network page:

Spinach Salad in a Parmesan Frico Cup

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

For the Parmesan Frico Cups:

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan

For the Citrus Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon orange juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Spinach Salad:

6 ounces baby spinach leaves (about 6 cups)

1 orange, cut into segments

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Special equipment: a silpat mat, a muffin tin, and a small drinking glass

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

For the Parmesan Frico Cups: Place a silpat mat on a baking sheet. Place 6 (1/4-cup) mounds of Parmesan cheese on the mat and gently tap down until each mound is flat and 4 1/2 to 5 inches in diameter. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Working quickly, use a thin spatula to transfer the Parmesan Frico to a muffin tin. Gently place a small drinking glass on top of the Parmesan Frico to mold it into the shape 1 of the muffin cups. Let cool until firm, about 5 minutes. Continue with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

For the Citrus Vinaigrette: Combine all the ingredients in a jar or a tight-sealing plastic container. Shake to blend.

For the Spinach Salad: In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Drizzle with vinaigrette and toss to combine. Divide the salad among the Parmesan Frico Cups and serve immediately.

Bueno!

Tonight we had fish tacos for supper. I wanted to do a post about those, but we ate them up before I got a photo. I used tilapia and the marinade and sauce recipe from Guy's Big Bite. I wasn't a huge fan of the sauce, but the marinade was much better than just sprinkling the fish with some spices. I didn't bread the fish, and just sauteed the pieces in a skillet.
These were placed in corn tortillas with the sauce, some shredded cabbage, some crumbled queso fresco, and homemade guacamole.
I LOVE good guacamole. This means made fresh, and I prefer that it be a little bit chunky. I'm okay with diced tomatoes, but I don't put them in mine since Greg wouldn't eat it if I did. My method is simple, and one I developed as I tried different recipes.
First off, make sure your avocadoes are ripe. That means a little bit soft when you give them a gentle squeeze, but not too soft, and keep the squeeze really gentle. I cut the fruit in half, remove the pit, and scoop into a bowl with a spoon.
Add finely diced red onion (white onion works, but I prefer red). Diced finely, remember, unless you're running it through the food processor.
A splash of lime juice - I prefer fresh, but bottled will do.
A sprinkle of salt - trial and error here. Just remember you can always add, but you cannot remove...
If I have fresh cilantro, I'll chop some finely and toss it in.
Mash it together with a fork. Let it sit awhile before scarfing it down - lets the flavors "marry". My guacamole is smooth, not spicy, and so VERY yummy!


Oh, and avocadoes are GOOD FOR YOU! YEA!