A Post! Father's Day Feast --- plus sides perfect for summer!

 I know what you're thinking... SHE'S ALIVE!! Or maybe it's more like "Who are you?!" I honestly can't give you a definite reason why I've been MIA this time. I've been cooking, coming up with new recipes... just haven't really felt in the mood to post anything, and most times by the time the food is done, I just want to EAT it, not take pics of it! But Father's Day is here and my husband picked the meal: Filet Mignon, Corn on the Cob and Dutch Oven Potatoes (Mac salad is left overs from last's nights Ribs and Fries -- we don't always eat like this, I promise!! ) I'm on a carb-overload this weekend, for sure!!

Here's my little secret about the steaks: pay attention to your meat dept.'s sales on WHOLE beef tenderloins. When it's on sale, grab one (or two if budget allows). Ask the butcher to filet it into 1.5" steaks. If he's super nice, he'll not only filet it, he'll trim the steaks of fat, and grind the small bits into ground beef for you (it's only happened to me once... but it was AWESOME!). Bring the steaks home, individually wrap each one and place all of them into a freezer storage bag in the freezer. Easy to pull one or two out for thawing the day you need. A whole tenderloin can be pricey, but you end up with about 10 steaks, plus either the pound of ground beef or a pound of stew meat, so at about $4-5/per steak that's a great deal -- especially knowing what GREAT quality they are. I mean come on... these are so juicy and tender and mmmmmm.... Plus, they're perfectly portioned, each one being about 4oz! No need to marinade these beauties!

The other two recipes I'll include in this post are wonderful additions to any summer BBQ. I love Mac Salad with fries and a steak. And Dutch Oven Potatoes go with anything! Just FYI: if you're making this meal, start the potatoes first, preheat the oven, then once you add the potatoes to the pot, you can start the steaks. Macaroni Salad is best made the day before.

Filet Mignon

Ingredients:
4- tenderloin steaks, about 1.5" thick
coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1TBS olive oil

Sauce:
1C drinking wine
2TBS Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Heat oil in oven-safe skillet. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper on all sides, and to scorching hot pan. Allow to sear for 5 minutes -- DO NOT TOUCH! Allow to sit the entire 5 minutes, set your timer.
When the timer buzzes, transfer the entire pan into the oven.
For Rare: roast 5 minutes
For Medium (seen here): roast 6 minutes
For Well: roast 8 minutes

Take pan out of oven and allow to "rest" for 5 minutes. You may cover with foil for this, or just leave it as is.

After 5 minutes, remove steaks from pan to serving dish. Turn stove on to medium and add wine and Worcestershire sauce.  Be careful as the pan may still be hot -- I know from experience! Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes scrapping up any browned bits with wooden spoon or whisk. Serve over steaks. (Great as a gravy for mashed potatoes too!)

Literally, that simple. Just remember this: 425 for 5/6/5. Easy peasy!

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Macaroni Salad -- my mom's version, with a twist of me. 

Ingredients: 

1 pkg cherry/grape tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, peeled (unless using English), and diced
a bunch of Radish, sliced
a bunch of green onions, mainly greens sliced
about 2 C macaroni, cooked and cooled
1C mayo
1C milk
2TBS Worcestershire sauce
1TBS mustard
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Prepare macaroni and allow to cool in colander.

Prep all veggies into a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add macaroni.

In a small jar (great if your Mayo is almost gone, just use it's jar!), add mayo, pour in milk, Worcestershire, and Mustard, close tightly, and shake for a good minute or two. Pour into large bowl. Combine well. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Great to add baby shrimp!

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Dutch Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4"
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2lb bacon
2 garlic cloves, minced
dash of celery salt, red pepper flakes, thyme
salt and pepper
season salt

Instructions:

Cook bacon until crispy in large skillet. Drain all but about 2TBS of bacon grease. Add onion and cook about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add minced garlic, cook another minute.

Add potatoes and all seasonings, gently stir. Add about 1C of water and once it boils, turn the head down to low, cover and allow to simmer about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Careful as to not break apart the potatoes -- trust me, you don't want mush!

Uncover and allow to cook another 2 minutes. Enjoy with ketchup! 

A Meal Fit for a King... (or Queen...)

Beef Wellington.

I first heard about this one day while watching an episode of Take Home Chef. It sounded fancy, and being a French dish, I thought it would be hard. But watching, it didn't seem to bad. So I decided to try it. 

My hubby hates mushrooms. No joke. He will pick them out of everything. And sometimes once he picks them out, he gives them to me. I could eat mushrooms on almost everything, or just raw. Yum. But even though he hates them, I thought maybe this would be a way I could "sneak" them in without him noticing, and if he liked the flavor I could spring it on him and he'd decide they weren't that bad?! It was worth a shot. 

Well my pastry didn't work out so well.. I tell you, I'm not a baker. Anything dough related and I just don't get along. It was too thin and too small and I did the scores too deep. Needless to say, it completely fell apart during cooking. I took the broken pieces and ate them with my meat anyway, but my hubs didn't even try them (the mushrooms came off with the pastry).

And preparing for this meal was an adventure. I have never purchased wine before and had no clue what I was doing. Because of our religion, (and our choice not to)we don't drink wine, or any alcohol for that matter. The thing about cooking with wine is you cook out all the alcohol and are left with the flavor. I picked up a cheap bottle of the same kind they used on the show and checked out. And who do I see as I'm leaving the store? The Missionaries, of course! Of all the days to run into them in the middle of the Southern Bible Belt. What are the odds? Crazy. 

I get everything out and start preparing the meal and I ask my hubs to work on opening the wine bottle. Only problem, we didn't have a cork screw. He tried sticking it with a nail, screwing it... nothing worked. He eventually had to run to the store for one.

Even with all the mishaps, it turned out delicious and definitely something I want to try again (I'd better... I have a more than half-full bottle of wine sitting on my cupboard! It will add a nice flavor to tomato sauces as well!). 

You don't have to use a Beef Tenderloin. I didn't. I found a cheaper roast with little fat that was a uniformly round size. I would recommend cutting all fat off first, no matter what piece of meat you choose. 

I hope you find the courage to try this, it is really delicious and a meal in itself. I paired it with sauteed spinach (1TBS butter in a frying pan, add the spinach, a little lemon juice, salt and pepper and cook just until wilted.). And we used the left over beef for French Dip sandwiches the next day, mixing our wine sauce with an Au Jus packet. 

Yum!

Easter menu

I feel like such a slacker. I have been meaning to post this for a week now... so please forgive me for not getting it up in time. I realize Easter was LAST weekend and it may be pointless to even post this now... but it was so delicious, it deserves to be up.
I had never cooked a ham before, but it didn't seem that hard (and it's not). You don't even need a recipe, the little card attached to it will tell you exactly how to cook it. But I wanted mine to be EXTRA special. Start off by finding a decent 10lb-ish spiral sliced ham. Mine was from the Springfield brand. Highly recommended, and not overly-priced like some of those "Honey" brands. I will also list the recipe for "funeral potatoes take 2" and a super yummy dessert salad.

For the ham:

1 (10lb) fully-cooked spiral cut ham
2/3C brown sugar
1/3C apricot jam
1 tsp dry mustard powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Place ham cut side down on sheet of foil that has been placed on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix together the sugar, jam and mustard in a small bowl (here I added half the bag of glaze from the ham). Brush onto ham using a pastry brush. Reserve any leftover glaze. Enclose the foil around the ham.
3. Roast for 2 hours, or 14 minutes per pound if your ham is a different size. Apply the remaining glaze 20 minutes before the ham is done.

Note: if making funeral pots, start them when you add the final glaze and they will be ready for the oven when you pull the ham out.

Funeral Potatoes - take 2

Ingredients:

1 large bag frozen hash browns
1/2C butter, plus extra for buttering dish
1 can cream soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2C chopped onion
2 C shredded cheese (I like to add about an extra cup)
1C smashed corn flakes
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the soup, sour cream, and cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Add onions.
Butter a 13x9 baking dish and add the potatoes. Pour cheese mixture over and combine well. Cover with corn flakes. Bake for 45 minutes.


Apple Dessert Salad

Ingredients:

1C shredded coconut
1C mini marshmallows
1C pineapple tidbits
1C mandarin oranges
1C cored, diced apples
1C sour cream

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients well and allow to chill at least an hour.

Cola Pork + sides

A friend posted this recipe on her blog the other day and it sounded so good, I had to try it. The picture she had attached looked like she used ribs instead of chops (which she didn't) and that got me thinkin... I don't like pork. Plain and simple... it's not my favorite. But I can say I do like ribs. I prefer the meatier Country Style type without bones... but this past summer we ate PLENTY of baby backs smoked on our charcoal BBQ (recipe to come soon). With this sparked interest, I thought I would try out this "Coke Chop" recipe only substituting the chops for country style boneless ribs. It was yummy... and the best part, it IMMEDIATELY started to smell once the crock-pot was turned on. My mind kept switching between the tragedy in Japan and the BBQ aroma filling my house all during church. I was torn....
And the recipe is so easy. I do have to say one thing.... don't get a strong flavored BBQ sauce. I would use an Original flavored, or something a little more mild. I only had Hickory Bourbon flavored sauce on hand, and it was a little too much. But once again... I recommend Stubbs brand sauce. Yum!

No more waiting... here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

6oz (or 1C) Coke
1C Ketchup
1C BBQ Sauce
Country Style ribs, or 4 Chops

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook either 4-5hrs on HIGH, or 7-8hrs on LOW. Enjoy.


That simple. Now for the sides.
I have grown up on both of these sides... and they will always be a favorite of mine. My husband has come to love the Dutch Oven Potatoes. He hasn't tasted the Mac Salad, otherwise I'm sure he'd like it too. But for now, that's all mine!!

Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

Elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)
cherry tomatoes (halved)
cucumber (peeled and diced)
bunch of radish (sliced thinly)
green onions (sliced)
about 1C Mayo
about 1C milk
2TBS Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Prepare all veggies into a medium to large bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Add cooked/drained macaroni.
In a small jar with a lid (or practically empty Mayo bottle), add the milk, mayo and Worcestershire sauce. Tighten lid and shake well. Pour over macaroni mixture and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour, up to overnight.


Dutch Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 potatoes (washed, peeled and sliced)
1lb bacon
half an onion (diced)
season salt
pepper
garlic salt
pinch of onion salt and celery salt

Instructions:

Cook the bacon in either a large skillet or dutch oven. Do not discard oil. Once browned, add onions and cook about 2-3min. Add potatoes and all seasonings. Add a cup to two cups of water just to almost cover potatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to med-low and allow to cook until potatoes are tender. Turn heat back up to barely brown potatoes and have water completely evaporated.

Sunday Pot Roast Make-over

A post?! It's amazing, right?! I finally have a desire for food again!! And you know what that means? I have some delicious recipes I'll be posting here in the near future. I'm really excited. I love food, I always have. But the past few months have been rough... but I'm finally starting to gain a little weight (1.5lbs in 21 days) and I can stand having my oven turned on again! Yay!!



This recipe comes from an old friend. A few days after my son was born, she surprised me by asking if she could bring over some food. I was so grateful, but I didn't think much about it... and then she arrived.... with an ENTIRE Pot Roast dinner. I could not believe it! She was so sweet to have done that! One bite and I thought I was in heaven. It was the most moist, full of flavor roast I've ever had. Definitely not the regular Sunday Pot Roast. Well.... I have her recipe... will I share? Of course!!! lol.
I was so excited to try this out for myself. After that meal, I had tried over and over again to recreate it... but nothing ever worked. So finally... FINALLY... I got it! And you know... left overs don't get eaten very well around here... not with this meal. It's only Wednesday and it's all gone!! I like to warm everything in a bowl covered in the lovely juice, so once the big stuff is gone the juice is like a soup in itself. YUM!!!

Here ya go...

Pot Roast

Ingredients:

Rump Roast
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Salt (I didn't have, so I used Garlic Powder)
Parsley
EVOO
Beef Broth
Water
Sliced onions
Quartered Potatoes
Baby Carrots
1-2TBS cornstarch

Instructions:

Heat a saute skillet over med-hi heat. Cover meat all over with lots of salt and pepper, garlic salt/powder and parsley. Once skillet is smokin hot, add a little EVOO. Sear meat on all sides until nice and brown.
Add meat to crock pot and fill 1/3 way with beef broth and 1/3 with water. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. After the 4 hours, add baby carrots, onions and potatoes and cook an additional 1.5-2 hours until potatoes are tender.
Pull everything out of crock pot keeping it on high (or you can transfer juice to a stock pot). Add cornstarch, whisking constantly, until desired thickness is achieved. (If using stock pot, bring juice to a boil and add cornstarch whisking constantly.)

Yum!! Pot Roast Sunday will not be boring again... I promise!

Christmas Dinner - Prime Rib

My husband's family has been having Prime Rib for Christmas Dinner for many years now. I think the first time I ever had it was our first Christmas together, right before we were married. Our first Christmas here in Utah, I went to the grocery store and just happened to see a Prime Rib Roast, and it was on sale! So I thought I'd try it out! I searched everywhere for recipes, called his mom and searched some more. I put together my own recipe with all the info I acquired. It turned out DELICIOUSLY! So delicious in fact, we had it again for our Anniversary/hubby's bday dinner. I love love love Turkey at my mom's on Christmas, but this is so tasty also!
And don't be scared, it's really no harder than cooking a regular roast, or even a turkey!
I usually side it with my YUMMY Dutch Oven Potatoes and a green salad... and of course, Apple Cider! My mouth is watering......

If you're going to make it.. check around. A Prime Rib roast could cost you close to $50, if not more, UNLESS you can find it on sale! $30 is a GREAT price for a roast of this magnitude and deliciousness. And you really do need to find at least 6lbs. It just doesn't cook right with anything less. But if you're like my husband, he slices each piece closer to an inch thick... and it disappears quickly! :) Enjoy!


Ingredients:

at least 6lbs Ribeye bone-in roast, chine bone cut off and tied back on (usually already done by the butcher)
3 garlic cloves, minced
sea salt, or kosher salt (gotta be chunky!)
freshly ground pepper
olive oil
3-5can beef broth


Instructions:


Allow roast to sit for 2 hours, at room temp, before cooking.

Heat oven to 450.

Combine garlic, salt and pepper. Rub oil all over roast, and cover with salt mixture. Place in roasting pan with 1/2can beef broth and place into oven for 20 min.

Add more broth every 30-45 minutes, as needed.

Turn oven down to 325 and continue cooking until meat thermometer reads 150 (for medium). Take roast out of oven, tent with foil and allow to "rest" for at least 20 min, or until thermometer reads 160. Clip wrapping and carefully slice into steaks 1/8"-1/4".

Place roasting pan on stove top and boil juices and remaining broth (or add water); using a wooden spoon, scrape up bits on bottom of pan. Add flour or cornstarch mixed in a cup of water to thicken, if desired.

Day #4 of Thanksgiving Posts: Cranberry Sauce

I actually didn't know you could make fresh cranberry sauce until 2 years ago when my cousin brought it to dinner. I always thought it came from a can that you open at both ends and slop down into a serving dish. And I never liked it.
But when I saw K's I was AMAZED. I thought she spent ALL afternoon in the kitchen making it. That was until today when I asked for her secret recipe and she directed me to the OceanSpray site! Lol. Silly girl! :) Love her.
I will probably end up making this for our little Turkey dinner we're having after Thanksgiving. I'm really excited. If you're in the area, feel free to stop by Friday afternoon or anytime Saturday for some grub! I'm sure we'll have lots!
I'm really excited for another posting that will be happening here in a few days once we get to the Thanksgiving Dessert portion! I'm going to make it to take to my mom's. Mmmm... it's gonna be good!!
Thanks for stoppin by... and keep checking back. I have 6 more DELICIOUS Thanksgiving recipes comin atcha! :)

Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 12-ounce package Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, rinsed and drained

DIRECTIONS:

Combine water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries, return to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time.

Makes 2 1/4 cups.

UPDATE as of 11/24: I just made this last night and I was NOT anticipating it being that simple!! Is buying a nasty (who knows how old) can of the jellied stuff really worth it? And if you do what I did and find bags of cranberries for less than $1/bag, it really is worth it to make your own!! Go on... try it!!

BBQ Beef

As I was planning out our Dinner Calendar for the next two weeks, I was trying to figure out quick and easy Sunday dinners that would also be delicious. I'm not a huge fan of the classic Roast with potatoes and carrots. And we had chicken last week. So then it hit me... why not cook up a roast and turn it into BBQ Beef sandwiches?
Mmmm.... I have been so excited. Plus, I already had the BBQ sauce and onion. All I needed was the meat and rolls. Piece of cake!
I also slipped in a "secret ingredient" to help boost the health factor, 1/4C Red Pepper puree (see "Veggie/Fruit Puree" tab above). When I told my husband (who has serious texture issues with veggies) that I slipped a secret ingredient into it, he made me promise not to tell him what it was until he finished eating it. Which, by the way, every bite he kept raving about how delicious it was! Once he was finished I told him what it was that was "hidden" in there. He didn't even care. YES! AND, if you skip the usual KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce and go with Stubbs Mild, you'll save yourself 30 calories and 10 grams of sugar per serving!! It's definitely worth a try... it was so good. And you don't even need rolls. I served it up on rolls and we ended up scooping it up with some chips and not even eating the bread. Yum!!

Is your mouth watering? Mine is and I've already eaten!

Ingredients:

1 Roast (try to find a lean one with not a lot of "marbling", trimmed of all visible fat
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 bottle of Stubbs Mild B-B-Q Sauce
1/4-1/2C Red Pepper Puree (could try carrots or squash too)
1tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1TBS minced garlic (2 large cloves, 4 sm cloves)
1/4C red wine vinegar, plus a little to deglaze
Water to cover

1TBS-1/4C flour, to thicken as needed

Instructions:

Heat a large skillet on med-hi heat.
Combine salt, pepper and garlic and mix well. Spread all over Roast. Add roast to hot skillet and brown all sides. Remove roast to crock pot.
Lower heat on skillet and allow to cool just a bit, about 1 minute. Carefully pour in a little red wine vinegar and using a wooden spoon, scrape up the browned bits from the pan. Add contents to the crock pot, as well as the rest of the vinegar.
Add the onions and 1/2 bottle of sauce. Add water to just cover meat. Give pot a little stir to combine all the ingredients.
Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.
About 5 hours into cooking, add the Red Pepper puree and mix well into liquid in the pan. Continue to cook until the meat is tender and starts to shred easily. Remove the meat to a plate and using 2 forks, shred.
Add a bit of flour to the pot and whisk well. Add the rest of the BBQ sauce and replace the shredded beef. Mix well and allow to cool a bit before serving.

Funeral Potatoes w/ Ham

Is it raining where you are? What's better than a nice plate of comfort food on a day like today? Today's recipe is the epitome of comfort food. It's got potatoes, cream, cheese, cereal, and ham. Yum. My mom gave me the recipe over the phone, so really... nothing's measured. But in her genius words, "Throw it in, and hope for the best!" Love her.

Funeral Potatoes with Ham

Ingredients:

8-12 md. peeled and sliced potatoes
2 sm. onions (or 1 lg) diced
Diced Ham (whatever you may have left over from a previous meal)
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
about 1 C Sour Cream
about 1 C milk
about 2TBS dill *optional
about 2TBS dried chives *optional
about 2 C grated cheese
about 2 C corn flakes

Instructions:

Basically, throw in first 7 (9 if you're using the herbs) ingredients in a casserole dish, top with cheese and corn flakes and bake for about 45-65min at 350, until potatoes are soft.


Super easy, and a great pot luck item! If you're LDS, like me, you've had these very potatoes at many funerals/missionary homecomings/farewells! Perfect.

Sunday Dinner AND Dessert: Herb-Roasted Citrus Chicken w/ Root Veggies AND Peaches 'n' Cream

It's Sunday, it's a special day. Which calls for a special meal! Tonight's menu includes a whole herb-roasted Chicken with roasted sweet potatoes, carrots and onions.
Plus, a yummy dessert of Peaches 'n' Cream. Enjoy!!

Herb-Roasted Citrus Chicken

The chicken recipe is a mixture of Ming Tsai's Cranberry-Glazed Chicken, Jamie Oliver's Herb-Roasted Chicken, and a little of my own ideas.

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken (can also use 4 chicken breasts, cooking time will vary)
8 Cloves Garlic, minced (or pressed is my favorite) and separated
thumb-size piece of fresh Ginger, minced
Olive Oil
Juice of 1 lemon (keep rind to place inside cavity) and 2 limes
Fresh Parsley (I used 3-5 ice cubes - check under Herbs for info on that)
2 TBS Rosemary
1TBS Red Chile Flakes
2 Bay Leaves
Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
2 Yellow Onions, diced
2-3 Sweet Potatoes, diced
sm. bag of baby Carrots (or 2 Fennel/Anise bulbs, cored and sliced)

Instructions:

1. Combine all herbs and spices- except Bay Leaves, half the minced garlic, oil, lemon and lime juices into food processor/blender. Blend well. Pat chicken dry and carefully poor marinade mixture all over. Starting at the neck, lift up the skin to break it apart from the meat and gently stuff a little marinade inside. Pour remaining marinade inside cavity, and add lemon rinds. Allow to sit at least 4 hours, or over night.

2. Pre-heat oven to 500-550 and pre-heat roasting pan. Once heated, place chicken in pan, place bay leaves on top, and brown 15-20 minutes, turning pan around half-way through. In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine potatoes, fennel/carrots, and onions. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Once chicken is browned, reduce heat to 350 and cover with foil. Roast for 45-55 minutes.

3. Uncover and add the veggies to the pan. If you can, lift up the chicken a little so the veg can fall underneath. (Once again, I don't like my veg soggy, and I've found this it the best way to fully cook everything without OVER-cooking anything). Recover with foil and allow to cook another 50-60 minutes, depending on size of chicken (you're looking for a temp of 160-165). Take it out and place it on a cutting board and lightly tent with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving it. Spoon the veg into a bowl.

Enjoy!

Peaches 'n' Cream - Grandma Style

Three simple ingredients and 20-40 minutes is all it takes for this delicious recipe, brought to you by my own mom!

Ingredients:

Peaches (1-2 per person)
3TBS white Sugar (per serving)
Half and Half


Instructions:

1. If you prefer, you can place the peaches into a pot and barely boil them, then dunk them into cold water and peel them. Or you can skip this step and just cut them up.
2. Cover with sugar. Lots. Of. Sugar. Allow to sit at least 20 minutes, until a "syrup" forms.
3. Dowse them in half and half.

Just a side note: I. Love. Half and Half. Yum! This recipe also works with strawberries. When I make it with strawberries, I add about 1/4 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (remember I like texture!) to my bowl, and not as much sugar.

Enjoy! I know I just did!!