Monthly Archives: August 2011

I Actually DO Like Veggies (Foodbuzz Tastemaker Product Review)

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If I do a review, I don’t suddenly have to lose my warped sense of humor and start talking in a high faluting accent and use really large words do I? I can do the review and just be me, right? Because I willingly am making a post that doesn’t involve mass quantities of chocolate, heavy cream, snack cakes or pork. That alone gives me the right to have fun doesn’t it? Although thinking about it, talking in a high faluting accent and using really large words is quite in line with my personality ANYWAY, so that works too. 😀

Seriously though… or maybe I should say, “moving on” (hehehe… did you notice that it has been a while since I’ve said that?), I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers to try a Birds Eye product that will be coming out in stores soon. I was tickled to be chosen and even more tickled to eat the veggies. Even if they didn’t come covered in chocolate. Is that showing veggie love or what?! I received this *points down*

Birds Eye Chefs Selection Creamed Spinach

I saw this and knew I would be trying it as it and as soon as possible. Contrary to my self made rep as a person who subsists on fats, sweets and caffeine, I actually DO eat healthy foods voluntarily and actually enjoy them. And I love Spinach; always have. Did you hear that and have you snapped a photo of those words in case I deny it later? I’ll say it again just in case.

I LOVE SPINACH! ALWAYS HAVE! And to top it off, I want THIS Spinach every night for a year or three… for dessert. And dinner. Maybe even lunch and breakfast. Then I may have to fit in a snack cake and some caffeine.

This creamed Spinach was AWESOME! I…erhmmm… ended up eating the whole bag… by myself… over the course of the evening. No one else in my family likes Spinach so it was a sacrifice I willingly made 😀 It tastes wonderfully fresh; like I just chopped up some fresh Spinach myself and mixed this up. But yay of all yays, I didn’t have to go to that kind of trouble. Nope! Not at all. I just popped this bag into the microwave for five minutes and then poured it out. Like I said, very very fresh tasting. And even better, it had NONE of that icky dried milk sort of flavor that I have found in so many other types of creamed spinach, even those from a restaurant. I would put this up against them any day. It has a slight garlic flavor which I liked. But nothing overpowering. The flavor is that of fresh creamy Spinach overall. I will be trying this again…and again…and again.

I can’t WAIT for this to come out at the stores. I am planning to eat lots of creamed Spinach.

Hmmm… I wonder if Birds Eye needs a really strange middle aged, fat spokesperson? I would work for Spinach. Just sayin’.

*I received four packages of Birds Eye Chefs Favorites as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program*

Oh Noooooo! It’s….Corn Syrup! RUNNN!!!!

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Ummm, that title was my warped way of saying that yes, I use ingredients that are on todays list of “OMG; eat this and your kidneys will turn purple and fall out through your nose and your children will be born with 17 toes… on their hands… and you will weigh 752 pounds within one week of ingesting it. Then you’ll get a rare terminal condition and they will have to bury you with a bulldozer”.

All corn syrup is not alike. Let me just say that much. Part of what make HFCS so bad for you is the processing method. You can find brands (Karo) of bottled corn syrup that are NOT high fructose.

I’m 46 years old. In that time, I honestly can’t remember how many things I have seen go on the “bad foods” list that later either came off the list and were replaced with a different food after they said  “oops; we didn’t mean it was bad. Sorry ’bout that. Maybe that study that involved 14 people wasn’t defined enough?” or were obviously so NOT too worrisome since you heard about them for maybe a month or two (remember all the fuss about how Twinkies were more akin to chemicals than food? Well…erhmmm… they kinda are still on the shelves, nobody is talking about them anymore beyond saying how state fairs are deep frying them and anyway, nobody better mess with my Twinkies 😛 ) and then suddenly all the hoopla was over and things went back to normal. I think it is just the nature of the media to have to have something to worry people over at any given time.

So yes; I use corn syrup. One of my all time favorite desserts is Pecan Pie and I will be sharing that closer to the holidays. But today I have another that uses the deadly dreaded corn syrup. How many of you have had a Tin Roof Sundae or Tin Roof ice cream? It’s harder to find these days but every once in a while I still see it. For those who haven’t, it’s similar to a Peanut Buster Parfait from DQ but not exactly like it. Think chocolate, salted peanuts, marshmallows and just pure decadent creaminess. What I have for you today is a bar cookie that echos the flavors of a tin roof sundae or tin roof ice cream. An easy chocolate base covered in an ooey gooey marshmallow Spanish peanut topping. It bakes up to a yummy chewy mass of goodness. 🙂 It’s a great after school snack and at our house that time of year starts again today. So give it a try. 😀 This recipe is adapted from one by Karo.

Gooey Tin Roof Bars

  • 1 box chocolate cake mix
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2/3 cups light corn syrup
  • 1/3 cup dark corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups salted Spanish peanuts
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
  • 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine cake mix and 1/2 cup melted butter. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 13×9 inch pan.
  3. Bake in the 350 degree oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until set.
  4. Meanwhile, combine eggs, corn syrup, 1/4 cup melted butter and vanilla in a large bowl.
  5. Stir in peanuts, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Pour over crust.
  6. Bake for another 30 to 35 minutes (took 35 for me) or until filling is set.
  7. Cool on wire rack then refrigerate for at least one hour. Cut into bars… small ones; this is pretty rich.

It’s Panini Doody Time, It’s Panini Doody Time (Again)

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Ok, so that doesn’t fit well with the old Howdy Doody theme song does it? But I get credit for trying right?? Right? Cause I’m adorable and all that kind of stuff.

I think it has been noticed by now that I like paninis. I even like the word. It’s fun to say :-P. Not as fun however as Machu Pichu, Beijing and Monkey which are my favorite words.

Why are you all looking at me that way? I’m perfectly normal. Honest. Monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey. *giggle snorts*

Ummm, yeah. I like paninis. What’s weird is that I don’t really care for cold sandwiches. I like the IDEA of them but the reality never seems to measure up. The best part always ends up being the tomato and the mayo. I guess I just don’t like lunch meats much and they are the typical ingredient on sandwiches. I like REAL meat, not something that was formed from chicken lips, cow brains, piggy paws and llama testicles and then soaked in 352 pints of a salt brine. Yes, you can now thank me for helping you to never look at your lunch meat quite the same way.

So when I make a panini, unless I am in a really weird mood and needing a quick sodium lift, I use real meats… real ingredients in general. Tonight I had some duck left over from one I made the other night. I wanted to use it for something a little different and a panini sprang to mind. So duck it was. But can I leave well enough alone?? HA! Come on now, you all know me better than that! So I added Sopressata Italian salami, Havarti and Asiago cheeses and then topped it all off with a quickly put together mango-apricot chutney I spiced up with ginger and red pepper flakes.

This was delicious! You have the rich taste of the somewhat fatty duck, the saltiness of the asiago and the Sopressata, the creaminess of the Havarti, the crispy bread and the sweet spice of the chutney all combined into a major taste explosion. It tastes like something that would cost you ten dollars at a restaurant but is nowhere near that price to make at home. So if you want a decadent treat in sandwich form, give this a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂 You’ll have leftover chutney. Just put it in a covered container and store in the fridge

Duck, Sopressata, Asiago & Havarti Panini

With Spicy Mango Apricot Chutney

  • 8 ounces sliced cooked duck
  • 4 thin slices Sopressata salami
  • 2 slices asiago cheese
  • 2 slices Havarti cheese
  • 1 jar major grey chutney
  • 1 cup apricot preserves
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 4 slices good bread (I used Pepperidge Farms Potato bread)
  1. In a small pot, combine the chutney, preserves, ginger and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and heat over medium heat until bubbly while you make the sandwich. Turn the chutney off when it is heated so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
  2. Preheat your panini press.
  3. Layer all of your ingredients except the chutney on two slices of the bread. Spread desired amount of chutney onto the other two slices of bread and make the sandwich.
  4. Cook on the preheated press, pressing down some if needed, until the sandwiches are crispy and nicely browned.
  5. EAT!

Make Mine Extra Crispy Momma!

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Is there ANY way to take an appealing photo of a mish mash of warm fruit? Lol

I’ve mentioned my son Jordan a couple of times. He is my sweetheart and I don’t know what I’ll do when he grows up and moves away, though in all actuality the chances are that he never will though my prayers are for him to enjoy as much self sufficiency as possible. On the other side of the situation, there are times I want to send him to live with a band of roving Gypsies in Budapest. Depends on the day. Today I figured I’d keep him.

Jordan is 16, almost 17 but intellectually he will never be more than about 9 or 10 and some days less than that which is why I say that chances are he will always live with us. He has mild mental retardation, high functioning Autism, ADHD and a scope of other issues. Why? I don’t know. He is who and what he is and I love him dearly. He is getting ready to start his sophomore year of high school. Our hopes are that he can make it through without what are becoming far too frequent hospital stays. He gets overwhelmed in school and lashes out which inevitably leads to a hospital stay to try to get his meds adjusted.

Yet this same boy has inherited his mommas warped sense of humor though in him, it is more likely to come out via the worlds worst knock knock jokes or a high decibel giggle over the everyday strange happenings of life. He can one minute be playing “whee” with Joshie, my two year old son, as they both laugh hysterically at something only they get and the next he can be crying as if the world is ending because I have to throw out a pillow he has grown attached to and loves like, as he put it, “another family member”. Life with him is never boring and I never know what will come out of his mouth next. Like today. I was making a fruit crisp. he asked me what I was making and I told him. He “oooed” and “ahhhed” a bit and then looked at me and said “I like crisps. that’s like when we get KFC. make mine extra crispy momma! Just like chicken”. This led to an explanation where I told him that they weren’t quite the same things. This led to his disappointment and my feelings of guilt that I couldn’t make the fruit crisp extra crispy for him. 😛 After all that, he chose to have for dessert the cookies stuffed with frosting that I got for him and Zach (my 14 year old) at the store rather than have the utterly delicious made with love fruit crisp I made. Sheesh. Kids. 😀

Oh well. Maybe YOU’LL like the fruit crisp. I used five kinds of Summery fruits, sweetened it up and covered it all in a crispy buttery oatmeal crumb mix. Oh my gosh, this is good! The fruit wasn’t too sweet or too tangy and the crumbly topping just put it over the top. Try this one before all the fresh fruit is out of seasona nd costs more than your utility bills. You’ll love it!

Summer Fruits Oatmeal Crisp

  • 2 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped
  • 2 cups fresh blackberries
  • 2 cups fresh raspberries
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries
  • 2 cups fresh strawberries
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/3 cup quick cooking tapioca
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned or quick cooking oats
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, sliced into 8 pieces
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine fruits, sugar, tapioca, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss well to combine.
  3. Pour into a greased 13×9 inch baking pan. You’re best off using a glass pan because metal pans can react with acidic fruits and give an off taste and color to cobblers and crisps. If I am making it for someone else, I use the disposable foil ones; they won’t do that.
  4. In another bowl, combine all the other ingredients (from the 1 cup of flour down), using a pastry blender to cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle this over the crisp.
  5. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 375. Cook for approximately 30 more minutes or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly.
  6. I would say let cool before scarfing it down but I would be hypocritical since the serving in the photo was eaten by me in the space of ten minutes. Ummm…oops?

I’m About To Turn One Hundred!! (Giveaway Time!!!!) (GIVEAWAY CLOSED)

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Hey everybody! Thanks so much for having entered my giveaway! Using random.Org, the number picked was #20. That means that the winner is Sandie of  http://sandiesbitchinkitchen.blogspot.com/ Yay!!! I’ll email sandie and she’ll have two days to get back to me. If not, I’ll pick an alternate winner. Congrats Sandie!! 🙂

Yes, yes, I am old. But not THAT old darn it! I am not turning 100 in real life though I will be 47 later this month (please feel free to send me bifocals, Geritol and a walker… and chocolate; lots of chocolate. What?! Old people need chocolate. For their hearts… and livers… or something.). This post, right here, the one you’re reading now, this post here, yep, these words, all these strung together letters (ok, I’ll stop now. Sorry. 😛 ) is my 100th post!! I feel this calls for a celebration. Like maybe giving one of you a subscription to Food Network Magazine (alternate prize if you’re outside of their subscription area). That and CHICKEN FAJITAS!! Why fajitas you ask? Cause it’s what I wanted and made for dinner and it just happened to be on the day that I made my 100th post 😉 In other words, no particular reason lol.

These fajitas are the worlds easiest chicken fajitas. Heck with cooking the chicken, making a home made sauce and all that rot. This is more of a prep and technique than it is a recipe. You know me; if I can make something a little bit easier for you and make a few people think “DOH! Why didn’t I ever do that?!” and give them more time to spend on the important things like family or reading or eating Twinkies, I’m all for it. So that’s what I did today. Tomorrow or Sunday we’ll get more involved when I make  Savory French Onion Bread Pudding With Gruyere Cheese and in the next few days, I will also be making duck with some sort of yummilicious glaze or sauce; I’m still working on that one. 🙂

As for the giveaway, I don’t know about you, but I love Food Network Magazine. I thought about a regular cookbook but I thought it would be more fun to give a gift subscription to them. It’s something, that if you win, you’ll receive for 12 months and I thought that was way cooler than a one time gift :-D. To enter the giveaway, you can do three things; each of them will get you an entry. 1) make a comment here and if you want, tell us all your favorite Food Network Show; that will get you one. 2) Like my facebook page (Look up “From Cupcakes To Caviar” on facebook or find the link right here on the right side of the blog; that’s me 😛 ) and let me know in your comment that you did; that’s a second entry. 3) Follow me on either Networked Blogs in facebook or Google (here on the blog at the bottom) and let me know ; that would be a third. I will randomly choose someone from all the entries. I will keep this going until August 10th, then I’ll pick the winner. 🙂

On to the food!!! Again; not a recipe really so much as it is a method using convenience products and a couple of fresh ones. They taste wonderful and are so so easy; great for a rushed night or just when you’re feeling lazy. Not that I’M  ever lazy *cough cough*. Just trying to help you out is all. In this, I used Frontera Skillet Sauce (these were created by Rick Bayless. Look him up if you’ve never heard of him. He’s a wonderful chef.). I used the Classic Fajita Skillet Sauce but added more lime because I like the lime zing in fajitas. If you don’t, feel free to omit the lime in this. You can find these sauces at pretty much any decent sized grocery store in the same section as the taco shells and such. This feeds four with a little bit of leftovers (maybe more if you’re not feeding teenage boys 😛 )

Chicken Fajitas

  • 2 small deli rotisserie chicken, skinned and deboned.
  • 1 pouch Frontera Skillet Sauce
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 green pepper, sliced
  • 1 orange or yellow pepper, sliced
  • 1 medium red onion, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • juice of one lime
  • fresh cilantro
  • corn and/or flour tortillas
  • cheese, sour cream, cilantro, tomatoes, all the toppings you would use on tacos even though technically they don’t go on fajitas 😀
  1. In a large pan over low heat, saute the veggies until soft. Turn the heat up at the end (and stir frequently) to brown them. Be careful not to burn them.
  2. Stir in the chicken, sauce and lime juice.
  3. Serve with toppings in tortillas.
  4. See how easy this was? 😛 The most time consuming part is pulling the chicken off the bones and slicing the veggies.

 

Show Me The…Pork??

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No, you may NOT reach in and snag a blackberry *smacks your hand* Make your own darn it!

I think that it has been established that I like pork. Maybe even love it and want to bear it’s oinky children. Though trying to imagine how said children would sound when laughing rather frightens me considering I tend to snort like a pig when laughing hard (maybe that’s not info I want out there on the web. Hmmmm…). As well as what their nose would look like. I don’t have the smallest schnoz in the world myself so join that with a piggy nose and Lord help the child socially. Plus, that only being able to cool down by rolling in the mud part could cause issues. I can see it now… “Junior, how many times do I have to tell you not to come into the house after you’ve been wallowing?!!!” But…but…*snort snort*… MOMMMMMM… I was hotttttt and…*snort snort*… you said no more 3 hour cold showers!” “No dear, no more cold showers. You’ll need those later when all the women see your nose. Now go get one of your brothers and the axe so I can make dinner”.

Maybe it would better if it were the children of a Llama. I don’t think I’d ever eat llama meat. Food for thought…. or dinner. *Snorts* I crack me up.

I started a pork loin roast marinating a few days ago. Yes, a few days. I like to do a two day marinating time usually and meant to make this last night but it didn’t happen that way. Why? Because I’m a lazy slug. What can I say?

I was worried that the three days would lead to an overly salty piece of meat with the texture of liver. I was pleasantly surprised when that was far from the case. We ended up with a pork roast that my husband ate I think 4 pieces of, I ate two pieces which is rare for me (unless I’m eating mid rare beef in which case just set a side of beef and a knife in front of me). Let’s just say that out of a four pound pork loin there is enough left for a sandwich. Add in the salsa that I made (which my husband actually tried…GASP!!) So yeah… it turned out. 😀 So if you’re a pork fan or like to have fruity relish/salsas with meat, this may be for you.

The marinade is an extreme adaptation of one from all recipes recipe. The salsa is me though as with 99.9% of the things we think we are creating, I am sure there are 500000000 variations online somewhere.

Roast Pork Loin In An Asian/Mex Fusion Marinade

With a Blackberry Peach Salsa

  • 1 3 to 5 pound pork loin
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 1 small jalapeno, sliced thin
  • SALSA-
  • 1 6 ounce container blackberries
  • 1 large peach, chopped
  • 6 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Leave the lime halves in the marinade. Add the pork roast, turning to coat. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.
  2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. You heard me; 450.
  3. Put roast in a foil lined pan. Again, why make more clean up for yourself if you don’t have to. I want to give a huge kiss to whomever invented foil. On a side note, remember when it was “Tin Foil” not aluminum foil. If you do, that means you too are old like me. Welcome to the club 😀
  4. Cook roast until it reaches an internal temp of 145 degrees; about 40 minutes. Start checking at 30 and frequently there after. It goes up quickly at that temp. But doing it this high, you get a nice crispy outside and a juicy inside.
  5. While it cooks, make your salsa (can also be done earlier in the day)- mix your salsa ingredients. Taste for seasoning but remember all flavors will get stronger as it sits.
  6. When pork is done, let it rest for about ten minutes before cutting. Drives me nuts when people cut meat the second it comes out of the oven. LET IT REST! The juices go back into it and make it that much juicier and more flavorful.
  7. Slice as thin or as thick as you like and serve with the salsa.