Sometimes Simple Is Best- Even When It Has A Touch Of Fancy

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Some of these with a glass of Shiraz and it was a wonderful meal

I’ve never been a fancy person. I mean, for heavens sake, I openly admit that two of my favorite foods are Cheetos and Twinkies. I’d say that qualifies as simple tastes. I also like Liverwurst, pickled herring and ham and cheese sandwiches (those rare times I even eat sandwiches that aren’t hot and gooey) on smooshy white bread spread with butter. Not sure if I just qualified myself as having simple tastes or just never having progressed past age six in my eating habits. 😛

But I do prefer simple foods for the most part. I have the worlds worst appetite especially for a heavy woman and forget to eat half the time. Were it not for my husbands prodding, I would probably live on tea, yogurt and the occasional lean cuisine meal. Give me some cheese, some bread, (a bottle of wine and thou? sorry; tangent) fruit and I’ll be happy unless it’s one of those times when I have a craving for a 20 inch thick ribeye steak cooked to a perfect medium rare.

So what I’ve made today appeals to me a lot on both the simple level and the not too much level and I hope it does to you also. Like the post title says, it has a bit of fancy to it. This comes with goat cheese which unless one owns a goat and makes it oneself is fancy based on price alone if nothing else (thank God for finding it on sale!). But otherwise, this is a simple homey meal (or appetizer) that is fairly quick to throw together and yet fancy enough to serve to guests. That goat cheese thing does that. Makes people think it’s fancy when in reality goat cheese has been a source of food for many many centuries.

Give this a try. I think you’ll like it. 🙂 The creamy slightly salty cheese with the fresh Spinach and the sweet caramelized tomatoes all atop of piece of crusty French bread is pure Heaven.

Goat Cheese, Spinach & Oven Roasted Tomatoes Bruschetta

  • 1 loaf French Baguette
  • 4 ounces goat cheese
  • 1/2 pound oven roasted cherry or grape tomatoes (the store bought ones in oil are fine if you prefer)
  • 1 6 ounce bag prewashed baby spinach leaves, stems removed and thoroughly dried
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil if roasting your tomatoes yourself
  1. If roasting the tomatoes yourself, preheat oven to 325. Slice the tomatoes in halves or quarters. Sprinkle with salt, pepper (and I also use McCormick Garlic/Onion Grill mix. It has nice pieces of both the onion and the garlic and adds both flavor and a wonderful aroma to the roasting tomatoes.) and drizzle with a good quality olive oil. Toss to coat the tomatoes well.
  2. Roast at 325 until the tomatoes are nicely caramelized and softened. You’re not trying for the texture of sun dried tomatoes here; just browned and soft.  Let cool somewhat.
  3. Slice your baguette into thin slices. Toast if you prefer it crunchier. I heated mine up in the oven but didn’t toast it.  Spread with the goat cheese and top with a spinach leaf or two and a little bit of the tomatoes.
  4. Eat and enjoy the simple things.

Eating My Curds And…This Is WHEY Too Good!

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Don't worry about those drips on the edge. I...erhmmm... cleaned them up.

Yes, I know. that was really really bad. But admit it, you smiled a little as you groaned. And that is really all that’s important to me with this blog. If I can get just ONE person to maybe smile a little as they read my nonsensical posts, especially if they have had a bad day, then all the eye rolling and groaning is worth it. Because believe it or not, you only see the silly side of me in this blog. Well, usually. I guess I’m not being particularly silly right now. Other than the post title hehehe.

I think sometimes that people can a certain idea of what another is like and if that perception is challenged, they don’t like it. It’s rather a “stay in the box I put you in because it makes me nervous if you try and get out” sort of thing. And I’m not very good at being boxed. I tend to try to claw at the cardboard and make a mess or I bring really bad snacks into the box and it ends up smelling like old Cheetos.

I lost a handful of fans from my facebook page today. I can only guess it is because I brought up personal things on the page… i.e., left the box. I wasn’t silly Janet. I wasn’t cutting one liners or just talking about recipes. I was opening the box and letting you see the person inside of it; letting you see that I have worries and flaws and sometimes gets scared. Guess what? I’m human. I know the vast majority of you realize this. You’re the ones who have grown to care for me, silly jokes and all; sometimes serious and all, the same way I have grown to care for you and your lives.

But, contrary to urban myth and legend, I am a real person here on this side of the computer screen. I have bad days too. Mind you, I still tend to get through them with one liners and bad puns *glances at the post title* because that is simply my personality; laugh at things and you get through them… but every once in a while, the bad day wins.  Today, it’s winning. Tomorrow, I’ll be fine and probably follow this post with one chock full of idiocy because I’ll be embarrassed at my openness. But, while I know there are many bloggers and readers that are going through worse than anything I have experienced, I’m still human. Today anyway.

Thanks for listening. Now, on to the recipe! I made home made Lemon Curd. It had been a while since I had and I was craving it. I like the jarred stuff but it just can’t measure up to home made. I used a different recipe. This one is from Ina Garten and I love it. BUT… and this is a big but (no, not a big BUTT; that would be MY butt.) I made a double batch and I’m not sure if that is what caused the following issue, but OMG, my back STILL hurts. The recipe says that this will take about ten minutes of cooking with constant stirring before it thickens. Logic dictates that double the volume would mean double the cooking time, especially if you use a large enough pot so that there is more surface area and less depth. Right? HA! My back is still killing me today because I stood over that stove for an hour and ten minutes before this got to temp and thickened lol. AN HOUR AND TEN MINUTES!! I wanted a back transplant when I was done :-P. That or a taller stove. But… I’m full of buts today… it was worth it. I added some vanilla to this and the end result is a lemon curd that is sweet and tart and delicate and has a slight almost floral essence from the vanilla. Doing a double batch, I ended up with two pints of the most delicious lemon curd to put in my fridge… and take back out and eat with a spoon cook with. THAT btw, will be happening later this week. I have a pie idea in mind that involves this curd, mascarpone cheese and all sorts of yummies. But for now; here’s the curd recipe. The regular recipe; not doubled.

Ina Gartens Lemon Curd

  • 3 lemons
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temp
  • 4 extra large eggs
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  1. Use a veggie peeler and cut the peel off of the lemons, making sure not to get any of the white pith. Put the zest and the sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the zest is very finely minced and mixed with the sugar.
  2. Cream the butter in a large bowl and then add the sugar mixture. Add the eggs, one at a time and then add the lemon juice, vanilla and salt.
  3. Pour into a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, which will happen at about 170 degrees. In theory this will take about ten minutes. In reality, who knows lol. The double batch took me over an hour and I even upped the heat to medium at one point. Make sure you have a hot beverage near you and the radio on for company 😛
  4. One thing the recipe didn’t mention is straining this but if you don’t, you will have a LOT of teenie tiny bits of lemon zest in it and the mixture, while it still tastes fantastic, won’t be smooth and creamy. So I strongly suggest straining this through a fine mesh strainer ( I LOVE my strainer) by pouring about a cup or two in it (depends on the size of your strainer) and pushing it through with the back of a rubber spatula. Clean it after every time you finish with a cup or two or it will get clogged and take forever. But straining it like this is worth the little bit of extra effort it takes.
  5. When strained, pour this into a covered container (I use canning jars) and store in the fridge.
  6. Use on scones, biscuits, in recipes or just off the spoon hehe.

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Rhapsody On A Theme

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I mentioned on my facebook page earlier that this is one of my favorite pieces of music-

Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini

 

It’s also kind of the way I cook.  Well, except when the baby is whining, the teens are ornery and my husband is oblivious. Then… not so rhapsodic. 😛 But generally speaking, cooking is a sort of rhapsody to me. It’s melodies and lyrics and booming orchestras all wrapped up in my cooking. But the problem is this…. like those horrid people who cover classics and remake them in Pop music *cough Michael Bolton/Mariah Carey* cough*, I am incapable of making something and keeping it as it was originally intended to be. Sometimes, this leads to total disaster and we just aren’t going to talk about that because I’m old and vain and refuse to have you laugh at me when I haven’t meant for that to happen. 😀

But other times, it works out quite well and that is when we have “Rhapsody On A Theme”.

Today, the theme was me wishing it were already Autumn and wanting something made with Pumpkin;  preferably scones. But could I just make Pumpkin scones and call it done? Nooooooo… not me! As you already know is par for the course, I have to mess with things and make them…well… MINE. So I did. I had just brought up from downstairs a bag of butterscotch candy. You know the ones. The little hard golden yellow ones. So the thought struck me that something about butterscotch and pumpkin and all the spices going with it seemed to go together. So I crushed up some of the butterscotch and mixed it in with the scone dough. Then sprinkled some on top before baking them. Then sprinkled a bit more on after glazing. And when it comes to pumpkiny treats, I have always been of the mind that 99.9% of recipes never have enough spices. I mean, c’mon… 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and other yummy spices!? No way mannnnnnn. I need more! More I say!! So…erhmmm… I added more. If you aren’t as fond of lots of sweet spice, go ahead and use less.

The result was a moist tender scone with a yummy Pumpkin spice flavor and a hint of butterscotch. That came with a spiced glaze and more hints of butterscotch. All in all, I’ll call ths one of my more successful rhapsodies 😀 These are quickly put together if you use the food processor. I didn’t use a mixer but I can’t see it taking much longer if you did. I hope you like it. If not, mail them to me. I’ll eat your share. 😛

These taste like Autumn and I don’t know about you but I’m ready.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Scones With A Spiced Butterscotch Glaze

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 7 tablespoons cold butter, cut into thin slices
  • 35 butterscotch disc candies, ground in the food processor
  • SPICED GLAZE-
  • 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoon milk
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup of the ground butterscotch discs (set remaining aside to use to sprinkle on scones before baking and after glazing), salt, sugar and spices in bowl of food processor.
  2. Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until no chunks of butter remain.
  3. Add in the pumpkin, egg and cream. Pulse until the mixture comes together into a soft ball.
  4. Dump the dough out onto a VERY lightly floured board. Pat out into a round about 3/4’s of an inch thick.
  5. Transfer dough to a lightly greased baking pan. Using a sharp knife, score all the way through the dough, cutting into 6 to 8 scones (I did six very large ones cause I know the guys I live with but normal people would want smaller ones lol) but don’t separate the scones. Sprinkle with half of the remaining ground butterscotch discs.
  6. Bake at 425 for 14 to 16 minutes or until they are light golden brown and firm on top.
  7. Cool on a wire rack.
  8. While they cool, whisk together all the glaze ingredients.  Spoon the glaze on top of the cooled scones, spreading to cover. Sprinkle with the remaining crushed butterscotch. Let the scones sit for about half an hour so that the glaze can set.
  9. Eat. Wish for a warm cozy fire and a cup of hot cider.

 

 

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.

 

Caramel- Butterscotch’s Little Sister

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Or maybe little brother… or cousin… or third cousin four times removed. Or who knows; maybe it’s a step child. That wicked red headed one. But I know that for me caramel has never ranked as high on the family list of sweets. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. Ahem… hello, you DO recall whose blog you’re on don’t you?  Janet… liver hating, sweet loving, the richer and creamier the better silly kinda needs massive therapy blog writer. Yep, that’s me!

I love caramel. Just not as much as I love butterscotch. But please… don’t tell either of them where I rank them. I don’t want to be responsible for gooey hurt feelings. There is a time and a place for both. Butterscotch gets my love on sundaes and in schnapps (Oh.My.God. Is that stuff awesome or what?! Liquid “I’m gonna get you tipsy” butterscotch candy) and as a great add in to coffee. Yes, I know; caramel is the normal add in flavor for coffee but if you’ve never tried butterscotch in coffee, you have to try it. Or just buy some, decide you don’t like it and then send it to me. Caramel is for the guts of candy bars that you freeze and then nibble off layer by layer. It’s also for Dulce De leche which is meant to be eaten by the spoonful. Really; it is. It’s the law. Would I lie to you? It’s also for the following recipe. Along with the dulce de leche. I am currently browsing through the Southern Living 1001 Ways To Cook Southern cookbook and among the 3 million four hundred thousand pages I have folded down, one kept saying “try me… NOW. Do NOT wait, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars” (if anyone wants to send me that two hundred dollars, I’m not gonna argue 😛 ). So I listened. Cause I’m cool like that. When books talk to me, I listen. After I stop cowering in the closet cause a book just talked to me.

So try this. Caramel… more caramel. All tucked into a thick brown sugary square… or circle. Or an octagon if that’s what makes you happy.

Death By Caramel Squares

  • 3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 cups unsalted butter, softened (yes, 2 cups)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract (optional; my addition)
  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup regular uncooked oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 regular sized Snickers bars, chopped
  • 1 14 ounce can dulce de leche
  1. Preheat your oven to 325. Line a 13×9 inch pan with foil (I used the non stick kind) and spray with cooking spray.
  2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
  3. In another bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture, stirring just until blended. Fold in the chopped candy.
  4. Spread batter in the lined pan. It’s quite thick so you will probably have to pat it down some. I used the tips of my dampened fingers so that I didn’t get covered in goop.
  5. Spoon dollops of the dulce de leche onto the top of the batter. Use a knife to swirl it into the batter. Eat some because again… it’s the law. I swear it is!
  6. Bake for an hour and 20 minutes. The recipe said an hour and five minutes but in my oven, it was still very jiggly in the center. Your oven may vary so check after an hour.
  7. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. This is gonna take a while cause these bad boys are thick! Use the foil to lift the brownies out and cut into squares. Or you could do that octagon thing  again. Just sayin’.
  8. These are very chewy which I liked and very thick; also liked. But next time I think I will add something to it… maybe a little maple flavor. It just needs that little something extra.