Fried Cabbage w/Crumbled Bacon and Onion

You’re probably saying, “Really, fried cabbage?"  

I know I did!

We really like cabbage and bacon too ~ just like magic ~ I saw recipes for it everywhere, and knew immediately it was a "must try," with the operative word being bacon!  

Chicken with Grape Chutney

Why not make some chutney?  It is the perfect accompaniment to chicken ~ there’s something about the delicious way sweet and sour chutney balances out the flavor of savory chicken. 

This recipe is from my Cooking Light cookbook.  It calls for both green and red grapes.  I knew from making Roasted Italian Sausage with Grapes, that it makes no difference in taste or color, which grape is used, so I used only green grapes.  I then added crushed red peppers to the mix for a little heat.  

I really like this recipe, and am looking forward to the next time I make it with chicken straight from the grill.  It will be delicious!

Chicken with Grape Chutney

Adapted

Ingredients:

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup dry red wine

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon crushed red peppers

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cinnamon stick

2 cups seedless green grapes

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

2 teaspoons canola oil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon seasoned pepper

Method:

In skillet over medium-high heat, add oil.

When hot, add chicken breasts.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Sauté until golden brown and juices run clear, turning once.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine first 7 ingredients over medium-high heat.

Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in grapes; reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove cinnamon stick.

Serve chicken with chutney on the side.

It is delicious!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes!

Ham Slices with Shallots & Vinegar

I love, love ham loaf ~ the saltiness of the ham with the luscious brown sugar and vinegar glaze...  So, when I saw this recipe in my Cooking Light cookbook for ham slices, I was ready to try it, and ~ I already had slices of smoked ham in the refrigerator!

This ham is quick and easy and good as an entrée at dinner time, like I served it, or at breakfast or brunch.  The sauce adds the perfect touch, complimenting the smoky taste of the ham.  It’s a great way to use leftover ham from Easter!

The next time, I will serve it with a quiche or breakfast casserole and fruit salad.  It will be delicious…

Ham Slices with Shallots & Vinegar

Ingredients:  

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup shallots, sliced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons water

4 slices smoked ham

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Method:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add shallots and sauté for 2 minutes.

Add vinegar and water; cook until reduced by half.

Add ham and cook for 4 minutes or until heated through.

Remove from pan and sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

ENJOY!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes!

Spicy Sloppy Joes for Super Bowl Sunday

Growing up, this was a favorite messy meal of mine, and still is today!

Sloppy Joes are perfect for a delicious quick meal for your family or a crowd too ~ like for your Super Bowl party that’s coming up Sunday!  It’s a comfort food dish that is cheap also.  I make it just like Mom did, in an electric skillet.  It’s great for Sloppy Joes, but a slow cooker works just as well.

These Sloppy Joe’s are not sweet, like most are, and they’re not runny either ~ making them not so sloppy! Serve these Super Bowl Sunday for raves from your fans!

Spicy Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground round

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cups tomato sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

¼ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons McCormick’s Montreal Seasoning

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon dry mustard

Method:

To a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add ground beef and break it up.

Sauté until no longer pink.

Reduce heat to medium and add onions and bell peppers and sauté for 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato sauce and paste.

Turn heat to low and add remaining 5 ingredients.

Simmer on low for at least 5 minutes.

Serve piled on toasted buns.

4-6 servings

Enjoy with tangy cole slaw and your favorite sides.

Have a great Super Bowl Day and I hope your team wins!  Sadly, mine’s not playing…

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and recipes.

Grilled Red Onions with Meat Candy

I say, “Peel the red beauties and grill ‘em!”   They’re so good they make me cry!

It’s hot here and we’re not used to this day after day. Normally it’s hot for 2 or 3 days, then we have a nice little rainstorm and it cools things off for several days.  Not this summer! It’s hot, hot, hot and very humid with more than our share of severe thunderstorms.  That means ~ DA grill!  (Sorry, I’ve been thinking about DA Bears lately!)

Eating grilled red onions is foodie heaven to me and is one of life’s little pleasures!  I mix them up with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar, lots of garlic cloves, fresh sprigs of basil, and the best meat candy there is:  BACON!  So you know this has to be delicious!  Just be sure to cook the bacon in a skillet until fairly crisp first unless you like the fat.

The smoky spicy aroma floating around while these onions were grilling was intoxicating.  The grilling makes for caramelized onions, turning them into tender natural sweetness.  It’s a perfect little side-dish that goes with about anything!

I wonder how this would be as an appetizer?

Grill 'em!

Grilled Red Onions

Ingredients:

8 bacon strips, cut into large slices and cooked almost crisp

4 red onions, peeled and quartered

10 garlic cloves, peeled
6 basil sprigs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Divide mixture between 2 large pieces of foil.

Fold and seal into a package.

Place on hot grill for 15 to 20 minutes.

Open carefully and serve.

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes.  

Sriracha Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cauliflower

I made this last night and it’s a winner! Stir fry is always a good option for a quick filling meal and we really liked the combination of the vegetables, beef and sauce in this dish. 

Sriracha Chili Sauce is a little tangier, sweeter and thicker than most hot sauces so adjust the amount to cut down the “heat.”  Freeze the beef for several minutes if it is hard to slice.  Be sure not to overcook the vegetables since they will be simmering in the sauce later with the beef.  Substitute chicken for the beef, that’s good also; add red bell peppers for color and a little more flavor.

This is satisfying and mighty tasty:   much better than take-out and you know exactly what is in it!

Sriracha Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Cauliflower

Ingredients:

2 cups rice

1 pound boneless top sirloin steak or flank steak, cut into thin slices

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, divided

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup low-sodium beef broth

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon Sriracha Chili Sauce

2 tablespoons oil, divided

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

3 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 cups cauliflower florets

2 cups broccoli florets

1/3 cup onions, chopped

¼ cup water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Cook rice according to package directions.

While rice cooks, combine beef with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce and sugar. 

Stir together remaining vinegar and soy sauce with beef broth, cornstarch and Sriracha sauce.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add beef mixture; sauté 3 minutes or until browned.

Remove beef from skillet and set aside.

Add remaining oil to skillet.

Add ginger and garlic to pan, cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add cauliflower, broccoli, onions and water; cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add beef mixture and broth mixture.

Cook for 2-3 minutes until beef is heated well and sauce is thickened.

Add salt and pepper, if desired.

Serve beef mixture over rice.

4 servings

Have a great dinner tonight (maybe this?)!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

White Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage and Spinach

I swoon over white bean soup and this recipe for it is fantastic!

I swoon over white bean soup and this recipe for it is fantastic! Bean soup was at the top of the list of my favorite meals when I was young and still is today.  When I was a kid, I loved to be at Grandma’s for Saturday supper since she served bean soup; generally with a ham bone, every Saturday evening year round ~ along with cornbread and iced sweet tea.

Sometimes, I like bean soup jazzed up and spicy.  So, this time I cooked it with andouille sausage.  Bill bought links of it at our great Italian meat market the other day and it has been driving me crazy; smelling the aromatic flavors every time I opened the refrigerator so I could hardly wait to cook it in this soup.  The rich spicy flavor of the sausage is Cajun all the way and a great addition to the beans.  And since I like spinach almost as much as Popeye does, I included a whole bag of it in the soup. 

It’s a tasty soup for supper any evening, plus the dried beans are a great source of protein and easy on your food budget also. Cooking it in a slow cooker makes it so easy with not having to stir it periodically.   And of course, bean soup demands fresh baked corn bread ~ a perfect meal in my way of thinking.  The bean soup is possibly even better the next day!

White Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage and Spinach

Ingredients:

1 pound dried great northern beans

½ pound andouille sausage links, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise

1 large onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced thin

½ teaspoon dried thyme

8 cups low-sodium chicken broth

9 ounces fresh spinach, roughly torn

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In 6 quart slow cooker, combine the beans, sausage, onion, carrots and thyme.

Add broth and stir to combine.

Cover and cook until the beans are tender, on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Skim fat off top.

Before serving, add the spinach leaves and cover.

Cook until the spinach is tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Add the vinegar and salt and pepper.

Serves 6

If you are a white bean soup fanatic like me, you will love this soup.  It is absolutely perfectly delicious, I am not kidding!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes and cookbook giveaway! 

Beets with Horseradish

You just never see many beets as they’re usually hiding out in the ground.  Cooks seldom serve them and actually they aren’t even talked about much in the vegetable world.  But, we love them here and pull them out of the ground to make their appearance on the dinner table often. 

Beets have been around since the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans.  In fact, they were supposedly growing in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world. 

In the vegetable world, beets have the highest sugar content, but have only 75 calories per cup.  They are loaded with vitamins and have many health benefits, such as combating acidosis, normalizing blood pressure, detoxifying the liver, having healing powers for gastric ulcers and gout and aiding constipation.  Regarding anemia:  the high iron content in beets regenerates red blood cells and supplies fresh oxygen to the body.  And should you suffer from dandruff, mix a little vinegar to a small cup of beet juice.  Massage it into your scalp; leave it on for an hour and rinse.  Do this daily and the dandruff will soon disappear but you will smell awful!

Once you’ve tasted fresh beets at their peak in summer and early fall, you will enjoy their good taste and sweetness.  They can be eaten raw, steamed, roasted or sautéed but our favorite way of enjoying them is boiled and served with a horseradish sauce.  This is a simple recipe that’s full of flavor!

Beets with Horseradish

Ingredients:

4-5 beets

2 teaspoons butter

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons horseradish, white prepared

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Place beets into a deep saucepan and cover with water.

Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil over high heat.

Turn the heat down to medium and cook 25-50 minutes until fork tender.

The cooking time depends on the size of the beets.

Pull skin off and slice.  Set aside.

In a skillet, melt butter.

Add remaining ingredients, mixing well.

Place beets in skillet and toss to coat.

Serve

ENJOY!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, at My Kind of Cooking for her great recipes and cookbook giveaway. 

Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

Add some spice into your next barbecue with quick and delicious Italian sausage!  Just light the grill, throw on a few sausages.  What could be easier?  There is an art to it though and Bill has it down pat!

The problem is they may burn easily.  I used to parboil them in water before Bill grilled them and then realized that even if a little beer is added to the water, all the parboiling did was pull the flavor out of the sausages and make flavored water in the pot.

Now they go straight from the refrigerator to the grill.  Bill’s secret to grilling the Italian sausage is to grill them on low heat.  It keeps the flavor in and cooks the middle perfectly.  And he uses tongs, no forks!  Once the skin is pierced, you’re in for some flare ups which leads to burnt sausages.  It takes a while longer to grill them this way but, the appearance is great and they’re packed with delicious flavors. 

Of course, sautéed red peppers are almost mandatory for topping Italian sausage sandwiches!  I go for hot Italian sausage, Bill likes the mild.  They’re great and grill them up Bill’s way for the best Italian sausage and pepper sandwich!

Grilled Italian Sausage and Peppers

Ingredients:

6 Italian sausages

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 large white onion, sliced

1 small tomato, cut into wedges

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Method:

Slow-cook the sausages over low grill heat.

In a skillet, heat olive oil.

Add peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Place onions in with peppers.

Add remaining ingredients and sauté for about 3 minutes.

Cook until onions are limp.

Assemble Italian sausage on a bun, adding pepper mixture.

Top with horseradish sauce or mustard.

Ummmm, gooood!

Visit my friend, Linda’s wonderful blog, My Kind of Cooking, for a chance to win her great cookbook!

Barbecued Chicken Wings

It’s time to grab some napkins and have some finger-lickin’ good chicken wings!

Whether you call them Buffalo wings, chicken wings, hot wings or just wings, they’re a wonderful thing.  I guess I’m not alone in my love for wings and now that grilling season is here, they’re the perfect thing to barbecue. 

They’re called Buffalo wings because that is their city of origin is Buffalo, NY.  There are several legends of how they came about with one being that they were first prepared in Buffalo in 1964 by Teressa Bellisimo, the co-owner, along with her husband, Frank of the Anchor Bar in Buffalo.  Their son, Dominic, arrived late one night at the bar, hungry and unannounced, with his college friends.  Teressa needed a fast, easy snack for them and as luck would have it, they had just received a mis-delivery of chicken wings instead of the necks and backs she had ordered for her spaghetti sauce.  It was then that she came up with the idea of deep frying the wings and tossing them in hot cayenne sauce. 

They are probably Buffalo wings to the rest of the country but, around here we call them chicken wings and they’re a great bite-size morsel of savory goodness.  This time there was neither hot sauce nor blue cheese dipping sauce ~ just a delicious barbecue sauce and this is the way it goes….

BARBECUED CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds chicken wings

1 cup bottled bottled chili sauce

½ cup water

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients except chicken wings, in a large saucepan. 

Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Set aside for basting.

Rinse chicken wings, cut and discard wing tips, pat dry.

Place wings on grill under slow heat.

Cook, turning occasionally and basting with sauce approximately 30 minutes until cooked through.

Makes about 2 cups sauce

Serve

They’re finger-lickin’ delicious!

Balsamic Cucumber Salad with Tomatoes and Red Onions

Did you know “cool as a cucumber” isn’t just a catchy phrase? It’s actually true; the inside temperature of a cucumber is 20 degrees cooler than the outside air!

Going back to the days of Dad’s gardens, I loved cucumbers and still do. 

Summer time is great for this salad but, I can’t wait that long so spring is a wonderful time for it also!  Sweet onions such as Vidalias or Walla Wallas can be substituted for the red onions in this, just double the quantity.  

It’s a quick salad with a little olive oil, balsamic and red wine vinegars and Dijon mustard added.  If you don’t have balsamic vinegar, use more red wine vinegar. 

This salad never fails to satisfy us with all its great flavors.  I think the next time I will add a green chili to it for a little heat.  

I can’t resist a good cucumber salad and this one leaves me yearning for summer!

Cucumber Salad with Onions and Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients:

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and cut in half lengthwise

1 large red onion, thinly sliced and separated

2 medium tomatoes, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon McCormick’s Seasoned Pepper Blend

Method:

In a medium bowl, cut cucumbers into ¼” slices.

Add onions and tomatoes.

Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the cucumber mixture.

Can refrigerate 1 hour or so before serving.

4-6 servings

ENJOY!

Italian-Style Stuffed Mushrooms

  New Year's Eve in Dogville

 

Cassius Coolidge

My, gosh!  It sounds like we have been cheated of a good thing!  Four thousand years ago, the ancient Babylonians were probably the first group of people to celebrate New Year’s Eve and they had 11 days of celebrating, beginning with the first crescent moon after the spring equinox.  Then in the late 1500’s, the Gregorian calendar changed all of that.

                                         

Mushrooms for sale at market in Napoli, Italy - D Evans

                                    
I love appetizers and New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to serve a tempting array of them.  They are fun to make, delicious to eat and they could be the main meal if you serve a variety of them.  Italian-Style Stuffed Mushrooms is my favorite appetizer!!!  They are delicious with the added bonus that they can be prepared the day before, refrigerated and then baked just before serving the next day.  They are the best!

Whoopee!!!  The biggest party day/night of the year is fast approaching.  How do you celebrate New Year’s Eve?  Do you go out for the big bash, have a party at home, watch a movie or just go to bed early?  So many options…
                                              

Italian-Style Stuffed Mushrooms 

Ingredients: 

1 pound large button mushrooms

1/3 cup butter, divided

1/3 cup onion, chopped

1/3 cup pepperoni, chopped

1/3 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon garlic salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs 

Method:

Clean mushrooms with damp cloth. Remove stems.

Chop stems and brush caps with melted butter.  Set aside.

Sauté onion and mushroom stems in remaining butter.

Add remaining ingredients.  Combine well.

Fill caps.

Place in buttered dish.

Bake 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes until hot and bubbly.

 Place on plate and watch them go! 

Yum!!!  Savory delicious!!!

When you make these, please invite us over!