Sweet-Potato Hash with Bacon

I made this Sweet-Potato Hash with Bacon as an experiment for Thanksgiving last year. I knew it was good, real good, when I put it on the table, but my older brother was just about in tears over it. While this dish isn't going to win any awards for health because of the bacon, it will win you the love of all to whom you serve it.

Caprese Salad

This a quick, delicious addition to a meal especially in summer. I love it when I can serve this with tomaotes and basil from my vegetable patch.

Caprese Salad

2 large ripe tomaotes
1 container of fresh mozarella (comes as a ball floating in liquid NOT a shrink wrapped ball)
15 or so fresh basil leaves
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
freshly ground pepper

1. Slice the tomatoes and mozerella into rounds.
2. Sprinkle the cheese with salt.
3. On a plate arrange tomato and mozzarella slices and basil leaves, alternating and overlapping to form a circle.
4. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

A few thoughts from an LDS cook about cooking with wine or other alcohol:

(This entry refers to the recipe posted below)

Do you eat yeast raised breads or doughnuts? Do you eat cookies or other goodies made with vanilla extract? If you do, then you should not object to dishes cooked with a bit of wine as long as it has been prepared in such a way that the alcohol is surely cooked out. Since alcohol flees at the mere thought of being heated and in this dish the sherry sauce is boiled for 3 minutes, the alcohol is LONG gone by the time it is served leaving only the delicious flavors and enhancements provided by the other components of the sherry. In fact, some flavors, particularly those in tomatoes, are only alcohol soluble – meaning that they are only unlocked by alcohol. But once unlocked they remain in the sauce even after the alcohol is cooked out. Thus, every Italian nonna (grandma) that you will ever meet will pour a glass of red wine into her spaghetti sauce as it simmers on the back burner all afternoon and feed it to her grandkids with a clean conscience….unlike the young couple we sat next to at a café in Rome earlier this month who let their one year old baby boy have repeated tastes of beer when he asked……..not kidding. Buon Appetito!

Pork Chops Au Poivre

When I cook Pork Chops Au Poivre for dinner, my family knows that there is a temporary suspension of good manners at the dinner table and the knife and plate licking begin. You won't want to reliquish even one drop of this divine sauce to the dishwasher.

Onion Roasted Potatoes

This is an old standby recipe for us and we love it. When I pulled these out of the oven last night I got a big hug around my legs from Carina (age 5) and was told that I was the "the best!"

Onion Roasted Potatoes

1 1/2 lbs any type of potatoes
1 tsp salt (I prefer kosher salt for this)
1 envelope Lipton's dry onion soup mix
2-3T olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Slice your potatoes into 1" pieces
3. Sprinkle on salt and soup mix
4. Drizzle on olive oil and mix till all is evenly coated
5. Roast for 30 minutes in the oven - or longer, they only get better as they carmelize

When you serve them be sure to scrape up the yummy bits from the bottom of the pan.

Skirt Steak with Peppers, Raisins, and Almonds

We had this Skirt Steak with Peppers, Raisins, and Almonds for dinner tonight, and I had a hard time limiting my portions.
Notes 1) The recipe says it's Cuban-inspired, but I found the hint and cinnamon and cloves along with the raisins and almonds to be more Moroccan, but not so much so as to scare off American eaters - just 100% delicious.
2) I used my new favorite cut of meat the flat iron steak and I didn't use the full 1 3/4 lbs called for in the recipe. I think that would be too high of a meat/peppers ratio. I used about 1 lb.
3) I used golden raisins. I think they are more tender and work better in this kind of dish.
4) I served it with simple steamed broccoli and Onion Roasted Potatoes (see next entry)

Bon Appetit!

Toasted Barley Minestrone

This soup was delcious and loaded with fiber! It is a great meatless option and you do not miss the meat one bit. The recipe is from Good Housekeeping. Notes 1) Don't skip the pesto. It adds a lot of flavor and the soup would just kind of be so-so without it. 2)Don't be scared by the cabbage. After the meal, my husband was busing dishes (yes, he's a keeper 'eh?) when he spotted the leftover cabbage on the counter and said "This had cabbage in it?" 3) The recipe for the pesto calls for Romano cheese. I used good-quality Paremesan and it was delicious. If you still have a green bottle of Kraft Paremesan in your pantry please stop reading this blog, get up, go to your kitchen and throw it away. Thank you. You can buy inexpensive good-quality Parmesan at Trader Joe's. 4) The pesto recipe says to blend it up in a mini-processor. I used my regular blender. I had to poke the leaves around a few times, but we got there. Instead of stirring this in to each individual bowl, just stir it into the whole pot before serving. That way the pesto doesn't get all used up at meal time and leave the leftovers naked. Let me know what you think!