October 20, 2019

We met at my house for a fall gathering.  I put together some snacks as Mary could not be bothered to bring an appetizer.  NO!  Well yes... but the reason was acceptable and given with prior notice. 

Michelle brought a beautiful and delicious fall sangria as our cocktail.  The 100 pound container full of elixir went down smoothly for our gathering plus the rest of the week for me!  It was lightly sweet with apple cider.

Angelica made this Italian salad with pepperocini peppers and shaved Parmesan cheese. It was simple and reminiscent of Olive Garden!

The main dish was chicken cacciatore over spaghetti. This was a hearty, one pot meal for a fall day and it reheats very well for left overs.

Tonya's beautiful apple tart was our dessert.  She reheated it in the oven for serving and added vanilla ice cream.  I love the combination of fruit and nuts and apples are the quintessential fall fruit.

Pam's Peach Cobbler

This weekend we visited friends and what a treat - I was served home cooked meals for dinner both nights!  For dessert there was homemade peach cobbler and it was the best cobbler I have ever had.  Fortunately, I scored the recipe!!

Pam’s Peach Pecan Cobbler

6 large peaches, peeled and sliced

1 cup white sugar

1 stick butter

1 cup Bisquick

½ cup brown sugar

1 tbs cinnamon

¾ cup milk

1 tbs vanilla

2 tbs whiskey

Topping:

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup pecans (Pam used halves)

Pre-heat oven to 325

In bowl, gently mix peaches and 1 cup sugar.  Set aside.

Melt butter in casserole dish (to be used for baking the cobbler) in pre-heated oven. Do not let burn!  Set aside.

In small bowl mix Bisquick, brown sugar, cinnamon, milk and vanilla.  Set aside.

Pour peach and sugar mixture over melted butter in casserole dish.  Sprinkle with whiskey. Pour batter on top.  Sprinkle pecans and brown sugar for topping.  Bake for 1 hour or until crust is golden brown.

September 22, 2019

We gathered at Angelica's house for our monthly, cooking extravaganza!  

Mary started us off with the most beautiful appetizer, blackberry basil ricotta pizza.  This is like summer on a plate.  She used Caulipower plain pizza crusts and the thin crust was perfect for this dish.  Plus, #lowercarbsyall.  Mary finished the pizza with some dashes of balsamic vinegar to bring out the sweetness of the berries.  

Our main dish was out of a Chrissy Teigen cookbook.  Garlic Honey Shrimp served over rice is sauteed shrimp tossed in a sweet, spicy and citrus sauce.  Mary showed us her trick to heat the oranges in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to release more juice.

Garlic-Honey Shrimp

2 medium oranges
3 tbs honey
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs cornstarch
1 pound large shrimp (we used EZ peeled and de-veined)
salt and pepper
3 tbs canola oil, divided
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs finely minced fresh garlic
2 scallions, white thinly sliced, greens in 2 inch lengths
1 tsp red pepper flakes
cooked rice for serving

Using a vegetable peeler, pull off a 1-inch wide strip of zest from 1 orange.  Zest half an orange with fine zester.  Juice both oranges to achieve 1/2 cup of juice.  Whisk the honey, soy sauce and vinegar into the juice.

In a small bowl combine the cornstarch with 1 tbs of the orange juice mixture to form a paste.  Stir this back into the rest of the orange juice mixture.

Pat the cleaned shrimp with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet heat 1.5 tbs oil until hot and add shrimp.  DFWI (google it, this is a family blog) and cook until underside is bright pink, about 1 minute.  Flip and cook another minute and transfer to a plate.

Add the remaining 1.5 tbs oil to the skillet.  Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and red pepper flakes (caution, 1 tsp is pretty spicy) and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add the orange juice mixture and strip of zest and cook until thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Return shrimp, add green onion tops and toss to coat in the sauce.  Serve over rice and garish with grated orange zest.

On the side was an Asian Chopped Salad by Tonya.  She omitted the chicken and added some honey to the dressing.   Tonya added cashews too and I love nuts in salad.  They add crunch and flavor. 

This was a great salad that would keep well in the refrigerator for days (sans chow mien noodles and dressing) and make for great sack lunches.  Add back in the chicken or shrimp and you have a main dish.

For our dessert I baked S'mores Pie from a Cast Iron magazine that I found at my happy place, Sprouts.  I paid for a subscription to the magazine so there will be more cast iron recipes to come!  The 2 bottom layers of the pie are nothing special yet they are essential beds for the melty chocolate and gooey marshmallows. 

S'mores Pie

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
6 tbs unsalted butter (duh), melted
1 large egg

Filing:
4 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter (duh)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Topping:
1 1/2 cups marshmallows (I used the whole bag)
Hershey's milk chocolate bars (I used 2-3 bars)
coarsely chopped graham crackers (I used crumbs)

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray and flour (or use spray WITH flour) a 9-inch cast iron skillet.

For the crust:  in a large bowl combine crumbs, flour, sugar and salt.  Add melted butter and egg, stirring to combine.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Press into bottom of pan and up sides (mine didn't make it up the sides).

For the filing:  microwave butter and chocolate (broken into pieces) in 30 second intervals to melt, stirring between intervals, for a total of about 2.5 minutes. Whisk in brown sugar and eggs.  Add cocoa, vanilla and salt, whisking until smooth.  Pour into crust.  Using a knife, fold some crust over filing (it will crack).  (Again, I didn't do that part because maybe my pan was bigger.)

Bake until crust is brown (I couldn't see it) and filing is set, about 27 to 30 minutes.  DO NOT go outside to yell at barking dogs during this time.  I think a little under cooked is best.  Let cool 30 minutes (or 5 hours like I did).  

For topping, top pie with chocolate bar then marshmallows and some sprinkling of crumbs and bake at 350 until marshmallows are lightly browned, about 3 minutes.  Remove from oven and add a couple of chocolate pieces for presentation.

August 4, 2019

We met on a VERY hot Sunday afternoon at Michelle's house.  Mary started us off with a creamy orange sherbet margarita cocktail. As always, Mary's cocktails are delicious and dangerous.   We all had at least two.

For our appetizer I made chicken jalapeno poppers.  I added some bacon bits to the outside rather than wrapping in bacon. If you seed the jalapenos, including the membrane, plus look for young jalapenos (smooth skin) these are not too spicy.  The filing also cuts through the heat. These are hearty and I also found recipes for this to be a casserole with chicken breasts layered with jalapenos.  

Michelle picked for our main dish the most delicious chicken enchiladas I have ever had at home.  These really did taste as if from your favorite hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant.  The sauce cooked in a short time yet tasted as if it was stewed with love for hours. 

The side we enjoyed by Tonya was Mexican Quinoa. It is both healthy and tasty with black beans and corn.  Mary also picked up from a parking lot some Mexican Street corn.  If the parking lot was in Mexico, we will never know.

Angelica brought this creamy, cinammony sopapilla cheesecake pie for our dessert.  It seems like such a complicated recipe when in fact it uses crescent rolls which make it simple yet elegant. 

July 14, 2019

We met at Mary's as part of our staycation with Janet weekend!  We partied like it's 1999! There were dinners and brunches, swimming and cupcakes and of course, sad roommate.  RIP sad roommate relationship with woman you barely communicated with.  

For cooking group, I began our meal with two different peach crostinis.  I have two peach trees in my yard and there was a booming crop!  The first was honey ricotta peach crostini with pancetta and the second was fig and goat cheese bruschetta.  For the ricotta one, I simplified the recipe by using peach balsamic vinegar that I purchased at a local olive bar.  I also simplified the fig layer by using fig jam that I bought from Imperfect Produce.  At only $2.99 a jar, that's less than the ingredients I would need to make it!  And I'm saving the earth one piece of ugly produce at a time.

During our this' and thats on Saturday night Mary made us her famous deviled eggs!  The components are:

Egg yolks

Mayonnaise

Mustard

salt and pepper

Minced onion

Dill relish

Mix all together, getting the proper spreadable consistency, and fill egg whites.  

Tonya brought a wonderful, Italian pasta salad that she threw together with the below ingredients.

Cheese tortellini, cooked and drained

Chopped sopressata, or other Italian deli meat

Chopped bell peppers, whatever colors strike your fancy

Jar of marinated artichoke hearts 

Kalamata olives

Grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

Feta cheese

Basil, chopped or chiffonade or whatever

Italian dressing 

Throw it all together and give it some time in the fridge to chill and get happy before serving.

For our dinner we had a spinach salad with black berries, feta cheese and slivered almonds.

The main dish was eggplant casserole.  We used 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound spicy Italian sausage.  

The side as prepared by Angelica was savory green beans. This is a classic side dish that paired well with the eggplant.

Our dessert was a simple pineapple angel food cake with fresh whipped cream and berries.  

March 31, 2019

Our March gathering was at Tonya's.  Tonya treated us with a Butterfingers blind taste test (Joe broke the tie and the OLD recipe won.  Obviously, he does not have evolved tastes like Butterfingers told me when I erroneously thought at first that the old was better than the new recipe.  I have since drank the koolaid and agree with the new owners of Butterfingers.  I am quite passionate about this subject if you have not figured it out yet.) 

We also were treated with a rendezvous with the chickens.  There are two new ones that are being integrated with the two, old broads.

Now, the food. 

Angelica started us off with an appetizer of Mediterranean Cucumber Cups.  These cute, finger foods were healthy as well flavorful.  It is kind of like a tapenade served on top of cucumber chips.

Our cocktail was stirred by Mary and this Sparkling Orange and St. Germain was so refreshing.  St. Germain is an elder flower liquor and is a very unique flavor.  Also, we do not know why the labels on this champagne are upside down.

Some St. Germain Essential Facts:

Don’t hold on to your St-Germain forever. Since it’s made without preservatives, a bottle should be finished within six months.

Looking for an easy and tasty cocktail? Next time you pour yourself a glass of dry white wine or Champagne, add a shot of St-Germain.

HOW YOU SHOULD DRINK ST-GERMAIN:

On the rocks

With sparkling water

With champagne

With white wine

The Greek Salad that was prepared by Michelle had the traditional flavors and was simplified with a bottled dressing.  I am on a huge salad kick lately and after chopping all the vegetables it is nice to not have to whisk and emulsify a dressing.  I also think feta cheese can make any salad more delicious by adding some saltiness and creaminess without over powering the other salad components.

For the side Tonya whipped up the most delicious rice I think I have ever had!  This saffron rice was moist and a perfect accompaniment to the stew.  There are also onions which add flavor on top of the saffron which I did not really notice.  It does make for a nice color.

The main dish picked by Tonya was to celebrate Spring. We had lamb in Middle Eastern Lamb Stew.  This was cooked in an Instapot which in a short time makes tender meat. I am debating purchasing an Instapot but I think the main advantage of it is quick cooking time and that is not my problem as I do most of my cooking on the weekends when I have plenty of time.

The stew gets its Middle Eastern flavors from these spices: cumin, coriander, turmeric and cinnamon. Cinnamon is always an interesting addition to a savory dish and a little goes a long way.  There are chickpeas in the stew which add texture, protein and fiber.

I picked this dessert because it has berries and fresh whipped cream on top of a meringue.  All of it is light yet decadent.  OH. And chocolate ganache. Ganache is a sauce made with chocolate and cream. This pavlova does have alot of sugar but it is not heavy or fatty.  The base is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside kind of like a marshmellow. All the components can be made a day or so ahead of time and then put together immediately before serving.

Our intense, blind, Butterfingers Taste Test

Biscuit likes to remind us of his presence while we cook. He is allowed out when we are done eating.  

February 24, 2019

We met at Mary's house for a Mardi Gras theme!
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

Our appetizer was courtesy of Angelica.  These crab cakes with aioli were a delicious starter.  Pan frying crisps the outside without making the little cakes greasy.

Michelle brought her "A" (alcoholic) game with these Mardi Gras Carnival Queen cocktails.  Good grief!  These went down very smooth.  Too smooth! There is a drop of lemon juice so it would be a lie to say these are all alcohol.

The salad recipe I picked also has Mardi Gras in the name. The colors of purple (cabbage), green (parsley) and gold (oranges) represent justice, faith and power, respectively. Emeril Lagasse concocted this salad and the most complicated component is the poppy seed dressing.  Also, toasting the pecans is a must because it really changes the flavor.  You can either do this in the oven or in a dry skillet over medium heat until fragrant.

Our guest chef, Carol, prepared a beautiful, savory crawfish pie.  Using an egg wash on a store bought pie crust is an easy way to make it look not only homemade but also elegant.  This pie was one of my favorite things we have ever had at cooking group.  The filling comes together quickly and simply and when sandwiched between two pie crusts is a culinary masterpiece.  

Mary picked Shrimp and Grits Dressing as our main dish.  I admit, I did not know what this was going to turn out to be!  I know what cornbread dressing is as it is a staple at my Thanksgiving table.  In this recipe the grits are the "corn bread" and binder for all the other deliciousness.  It is important that you use old fashioned or regular grits and not quick or instant.  Walmart is a good place to find these.  I loved this rich, shrimp dish. 

Our Mardi Gras feast was concluded with Tonya's King Cake. She used the cinnamon roll recipe on the box of Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix. After you roll it into a log, you connect the ends to make a ring. For the filling, she used 8 ounces of cream cheese and mixed it with 1 teaspoon vanilla and powdered sugar to taste, about 1/2 a cup. She also put in blueberries, and you can use whatever fruit or addition that you want. For the icing she mixed 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons soft butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and enough milk to get the right consistency like the icing that comes in a tube of cinnamon rolls.  Then of course on top were sprinkles in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.