Bourbon Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

***Crust:***
1 1/2 cup gingersnaps, finely ground
2 tablespoons light- or dark-brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (more if needed)


***Filling:***
1 1/2 cup solid-packed pumpkin
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
1 1/2 pound cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons bourbon or dark rum


Directions:
To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch or 10- inch spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Combine gingersnap crumbs and sugar in bowl. Mix in melted butter and stir until crust holds together. Press crumbs onto the bottom of pan. Bake crust 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. 


To make the filling: Blend together pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt and 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping. In mixer, cream together cream cheese and sugar on low speed until smooth. Add cornstarch, vanilla and bourbon. Add pumpkin mixture to cream-cheese mixture and beat just until combined and smooth. Pour mixture into pre-baked crust and bake 50 minutes to 55 minutes, or until cake is just set. Let cool 5 minutes. 

Chill cheesecake, covered, overnight. Remove sides of pan. Top with additional caramel ice cream topping.


Recipe courtesy of my husband--Steve.  I have to say our holiday meals are much better when he's cooking and baking!!

ChocoVine Chocolate Raspberry Sundae

Ingredients

• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Fresh Raspberries
• Chocolate Syrup
• ChocoVine Raspberry Chocolate Wine
• Whip Cream
• Mini Chocolate Chips

In a Sundae bowl, add 2 scoops of ice cream, some fresh raspberries, and drizzle with chocolate.

Then add 6 ounces of ChocoVine Raspberry Chocolate Wine.

Top with Whipped Cream and mini Chocolate Chips.

Alt:  You can use 1 scoop of ice cream and 3 ounces of ChocoVine.


Stop by and read about the Columbus Wine Festival!!  
Columbus Wine Festival Part 1
Columbus Wine Festival Part 2
Columbus Wine Festival Part 3

Cannelloni Recipe from 'Pasta-tively Scrumptious'

Pasta dough is not hard at all to make! Just a few pointers: Set your eggs out for a bit so they come to room-temperature....they mix in with the dry ingredients much better. Some recipes call for Semolina flour. I have not worked much with it so I am no expert for sure, but the little bit I did work with it I actually found it slightly more difficult to turn out pasta the way I wanted. I've just been using regular "All-Purpose" flour (unbleached) since.

In the past I've made pasta that was 'too thick' and just 'too much'.....so I try to roll my pasta pretty thin. You will need to adjust according to your preferences. But remember that pasta will 'plump up' more after you boil it. I have an electric pasta machine (which I use to make noodles, but I haven't used in awhile, admittedly)....what I do use fairly often is my manual pasta machine. I set it up and 'clamp' it on the counter, insert the 'crank' handle and I'm good to go. If you're concerned about cleaning them, no need to be. You just might have to be prepared to let it set out overnight so any 'residual' pasta can dry (depending on what attachments you use). Fresh pasta can be impossible to clean out, but dried can often just be 'knocked-out' by dropping an attachment against the counter. I really only use my flat rollers to roll pasta sheets, and they really don't get dirty....even still, I wipe them with a damp paper towel (while turning the crank) the next day. If you do have pasta stuck in there (maybe it wasn't the right consistency, it was too wet and got stuck), don't fret...just allow it to dry overnight then run a dry paper towel through the rollers a few times (as if it were a sheet of pasta)...that should clear the problem.

Don't let manual pasta rollers scare you, they are actually easier to operate than trying to pull out and put together an electric pasta machine! (Though those have their place in the kitchen, too!). If you don't have any 'machinery' to make fresh pasta at home, don't fret. In this case, to make Cannelloni, just buy some dried Manicotti shells. Just cook them according to package directions to "al dente". Anyhow, for those of you who want the fresh pasta recipe, on to that......!

Black Pepper Pasta (serves 4-6 as an entree) (*to make this PLAIN pasta, just omit the pepper)

2 cups All-purpose (unbleached) flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs (at room temperature)
1 1/2 tbsp. water
2 tsp ground black pepper

Put the flour in a bowl, add the salt & black pepper and stir around with a fork or whisk to blend. Add the eggs and water and stir with a wooden spoon. It may seem firm/dry, but keep stirring. Once mixture seems 'together' enough, dump out on a barely floured counter top. The dough mixture may seem quite 'crumbly' to you, but keep kneading it with your hands to try to get it to 'come together'. (At first it seems like way too small amount of water, but a lot of times, it is the right amount...just keep kneading to see). If the mixture still seems way too crumbly, try adding droplets of water at a time. But before you start adding, you may want to try to pass the dough through the pasta machine first to see what happens.

Pasta dough is drier than bread doughs you may have dealt with, so you may have to 'get a feel' for it. First, pat it out with your fingers/hands as flat as you can, like 1/4" thick. Then pass through the machine at the highest (widest) setting. You can pass it through a few times to get it right, and you'll have to 'flip over' the odd-shaped ends (to make a neat, rectangular pasta sheet) and re-run them, especially in the beginning. If after 2-3 passes it still seems "crumbly" (like at the edges or maybe a few holes in the center), you can try dabbing water on the edges/holes with your finger and then re-running. If the pasta is outright tearing/sticking to the roller, it is probably too wet. So it is better to start off with the minimum amount of water and add more in droplets as needed!

Start turning the machine settings down in steps. My manual pasta machine starts at "7". I go down in steps from there and keep rolling and drawing out the pasta, till I get down to the thickness I like. The setting I've used recently was "2" (I used this for lasagna a few months ago, but my husband admitted he would have liked the pasta sheets to be a little thicker), which I'd used for the cannelloni, too....I feared, since they were 'rolled', they could seem like too much pasta, so I rolled them to a "2". Now, my husband was quite happy with this setting. I think it could have probably been a "3" and been good still. And my lasagna before really should have been a "3". It can be hard to tell, as pasta can swell a great deal when it is boiled. This is more of a "try and see what you like" sort of thing. It helps to only boil fresh pasta VERY briefly, to avoid it becoming too puffed up and soggy. I only boiled the fresh cannelloni sheets about 1 minute. Fresh pasta cooks MUCH faster than dried!

Cannelloni Filling

Ricotta cheese (I used a 15 oz carton, but I had a few leftover pasta sheets...you may need more cheese if you want to make a bigger pan of pasta)
1/2 cup cooked, crumbled Italian sausage
grated parmesan, Asiago & Romano cheeses (to your preference)
dried basil & oregano (about 1/4 tsp or so of each)
1/2 tsp (or s0) granulated garlic (or you can use powdered or minced)
1/4 tsp minced dried onion
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg

Mix filling well. Divide evenly among pasta sheets and roll up. Place pasta rolls in a pan (like a glass casserole/lasagna pan) that has been 'greased' with olive or vegetable oil. Pour your favorite spaghetti (meat) sauce recipe over the cannelloni. Sprinkle liberally with shredded mozzarella and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes to 1 hour. (You can do only 30 minutes of baking if all the ingredients are still hot/warm. But if you've chilled them overnight in the fridge, you will need to first bring the dish to room temp as best as possible--don't try to slide a cold glass dish into a hot oven! -- then bake it for a full hour to be sure it is fully heated through and all the cheeses are melted). Enjoy!! This is great with some crusty garlic toast and a hearty red wine like Chianti or Zinfandel! :)

Surfer Sandwich

First I made homemade 'Seaweed Bread'. To be honest, I thought the recipe was a little 'heavy' due to the half-content of whole-wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is certainly good for you, but to be honest, to make a more appealing 'burger', I think next time I will try my own recipe of all "bread flour". So this is what I say to you: Pick your favorite bread recipe (like maybe a french/italian or regular white bread) and just add "diced" Nori sheets (dried seaweed usually used in sushi-making). I cut them into strips (approximately 3 per loaf of bread), then dice them with kitchen scissors. Just add it right in with the dough and mix it in real good. It has an uncanny ability to taste "of the sea". This recipe was inspired by the great cookbook: "DOUGH- Simple Contemporary Bread by Richard Bertinet".

Next I took 2 Tuna Steaks and rubbed some Teriyaki sauce on them with my hands. Then I grilled them on the "grill" plates of our "panini grill". You could also use your 'George Foreman' grill, a regular charcoal or gas grill, or saute' them in a pan. Depending on the grade of tuna you have, you can leave them medium-rare or do them well-done. We bought frozen steaks from Publix, so they were fine to be cooked medium-rare. We cooked them to barely pink. Then the steaks were placed atop lightly-toasted, split seaweed bread buns (that'd been buttered after), topped with a slice of Pepper-Jack cheese, some prepared Wasabi-Mustard (with regular mayonnaise mixed in) , sliced fresh tomato and shredded lettuce. YUM!! The taste of the sea. Serve with crispy fries.

"Sweet Tomatoes' Recipes

PIZZA DOUGH (from a recipe in the St. Pete Times Parade, by Bobby Flay....a chef I really respect!):

3 1/2 -4 cups Bread flour
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast (I use the dry yeast in a jar---2 1/4 tsp)
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

First: Make a "sponge": Put 1/2 cup of the bread flour into a big bowl. Pour on the yeast. Add the sugar. Then add the water. Stir around with a (preferably) wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then a dish towel and let rest for 10 minutes, allowing to "proof".
You will notice that yeast has "proofed" because the mixture will be foamy/poofy....obviously more "grown" than when you started. Once proofed, add 1 cup of the flour, then add the olive oil....mix in. Then add the remaining 2 cups flour with the salt on top, then mix in. Mix up in bowl, then turn out onto lightly floured countertop. Mix around and knead, using as little flour as possible (for stickiness). Pour a dollop of olive oil in bowl and put kneaded dough on top. Turn dough (to expose oiled side), and spread oil around to edges. Then wrap with plastic wrap and towel. Let rest in warm place for about an hour. You will see that it has expanded by about double. Turn it out onto a lighty-floured countertop. Divide the dough in half. Each half will make 1 large pizza. You can choose to either make 2 pizzas or to only make 1 pizza right now, and freeze the other half for later. If you freeze the other half, take a gallon freezer bag, spritz it will an oil spray (either a "misto" pump with olive/canola oil) or PAM, throw a handful of flour in the bag, seal the bag and shake it around to coat the bag evenly with flour. Then insert the extra ball of dough and immediately freeze for use another time. ....For making pizza now: HAVE a PIZZA STONE on the bottom rack in the oven and "preheat" the oven to 500 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper to size (per pizza) then "pat" with hands & fingers the dough out to a full, large pizza size. (Press/pat the dough right onto the parchment sheet, don't worry that it will stick). Half a pizza dough will make a large pizza! The dough should be fine to press out (you may need to dip hands/fingers in flour occasionally to prevent sticking).....if the dough becomes really resistant (unusual), you can cover it with the leftover platic wrap & dish towel and let rest for 10 minutes, then continue pressing it out again. Once pressed out to size, spread with sauce, some shredded mozzarella, diced green bell peppers, & diced red onion & ground italian sausage. Then spread with a little more mozzarella shreds, fresh sliced mushrooms, sliced black olives & sliced pepperoni. The sliced pepperoni should be on top so that it "fries/crisps" in the high heat. Trust me. "Pull" the pizza (by the parchment edge) onto a flat-edge cookie sheet or pizza peel. I usually trim the corners of the parchment incase they burn. Slide the parchment with the fresh pizza onto the hot stone in the oven.....I usually just "jiggle/vibrate" the pan to carefully encourage the parchment/pizza off onto the stone. After 10 minutes in the 500 degree oven, the pizza will be done FOR SURE!! Yes, just 10 minutes!! Don your oven mitts with the same cookie sheet (or pizze peel?) and carefully slide the pizza/parchment onto it. I usually slice the pizza directly onto the couter (sans the parchment), let it cool for a minute ( it will still be piping hot), then cut it into pieces. Then you can garnish with hot red pepper flakes and grated parmesan as desired.

FRESH TOMATO PIZZA SAUCE FROM THE GARDEN

Several fresh from-the-vine-tomatoes (plum, grape, etc)
minced garlic
olive oil
red wine (I used a splash of Oak Leaf Shiraz)
dried basil & dried oregano
salt & ground black pepper
a pinch of sugar


Wash the tomates and "process" them in the food processor till "pureed". They will smell awesomely tomatoey!! Heat some olive oil in a pan and scoop in the fresh pureed tomatoes. Stir/sautee' around and add the fresh garlic (just some to taste, like 1/2 - 1 tsp), then a pour of red wine (maybe 1/4 cup or so?), keep stirring around......add a bit of sugar, 1/2 tsp dried basil & 1/4 cup dried oregano (adjusted to taste per amount of tomatoes used!), ground black pepper & salt. Allow to cool, then spread on a pizza(s). Top pizza with whatever toppings you like: Mozzarella, red onion, green bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, black olives, italian sausage & sliced pepperoni.

Recipes from "Summer of Pork--Part II"

The marinade recipe for my pork (a fresh ham) is inspired by "The BBQ Bible" by Steven Raichlen....you should really consider buying all his books, he is the KING of BBQ!!

Pork (a picnic, a fresh (unsmoked) ham or loin
fresh-squeezed lime juice (I used 2 limes for probably about a 6-8 lb ham)
fresh-squeezed orang juice (I used 1 orange)
olive oil (I used around 1/4 cup)
Dry sherry (I used around 1/4 cup)
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp kosher salt
around a tsp or two of dried oregano
around a tsp or two of ground cumin
1/4 if a sweet vidalia onion, sliced and cut into 1-2" pieces
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cilantro

I mixed all the above ingredients (except the ham, of course). Then I put the ham into a pan (I used a ceramic, square dish, like a lasagna pan...do NOT use an aluminum pan), cut slits in both sides of the ham, then poured the marinade over it, wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the fridge. After 24 hours, I turned the ham and put it back in the fridge for 24 more hours. You can also turn it more frequently, and you don't have to marinate it for a full 48 hours. I'd at least marinate it overnight, but in that case, you should try to turn it in the marinade several times. Obviously a pork loin would not require as much marinating if that is what you are using.

Prepare a BBQ grill for indirect grilling. Put a deep-sided foil drip pan (like a disposable foil lasagna pan) in the center of the grill. Heat the coals in a chimney starter. When the goals are hot and glowing, carefully tip them out onto either side of the foil pan. You will have coals on both outer sides of the grill with an aluminum pan in the middle. Make sure you add a good amount of water to the pan before the grill gets hot. This will help with controlling grease fires. Place the ham (or other piece of pork) directly over the drip pan (make sure that you have a pan that is slightly bigger than the piece of pork you are grilling to help ensure all the fat dripping off the pork lands in the pan). Close the grill. Your grill should be up around 300-325 degrees. Remember, if you are using a WHOLE fresh ham, you will need to increase the marinade, probably more than double. In that case, the cooking (BBQing) time would be 6-8 hours. If using a fresh ham as I did above, the cooking time would be around 31/2-41/2 hours, you be the judge. If using a shoulder (4-6 lbs) use the same marinade (roughly) as above and grill for 4-6 hours. For a loin (2-3 lbs), about 1-2 hours. You be the judge! Differences in temp (both outside and actual grilling temps, especially with charcoal) vary, as well as individual preferences.
I became concerned during grilling that my fresh ham (which was more of a big, fat 'slice' taken from the portion, didn't have enough skin/fat over the meat to prevent drying the meat, so during BBQing I basted it with a mixture of fresh-squeezed orange juice, beer and a little olive oil, just to keep the meat moist. But don't lift the lid to often. I basted liberally every hour, and then I basted a little again after removing it from the grill. Then I covered it with foil and allowed it to 'rest'. After it has cooled a little, you can 'shred' it by hand or slice/chop it up and then drizzle 'mojo' sauce over it: (1/4-1/2 cup olive oil, 4 tbsp minced garlic, 1 fresh squeezed lime, 1/4 fresh squeezed orange, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and a couple tsps chopped cilantro. (Double if making the WHOLE ham).

Spanish Risotto

short-grain rice (about 3/4 cup for 4 servings, adjust to your preferences)
olive oil (2 tbsp or so to put on bottom of pan for sauteeing rice)
2-3 pats butter
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup (or more?) canned diced tomato with mild green chilies
beer (about 1/2 cup)
chicken broth (1 cup + more!...all extra that is necessary as you cook)
2-3 pinches saffron threads
1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
generous pinch white pepper

Heat olive oil and pats butter in saucepan. Pour in short-grain rice. Stir around and 'sautee'. Add the onions & red bell pepper. Stir all around some more. Do not allow the rice to brown, but stir around/sautee quite well. Add in minced garlic and keep stirring. Add the diced tomatoes and keep stirring. Add in beer and stir around. The liquid will be absorbed quite rapidly. Add a good amount of chicken broth and keep stirring. As the rice plumps up and absorbs the liquid, add more. Add the saffron threds, rubbing them with your fingers to sort of 'break them up' a bit as they go into the pot. Add the Lawry's Seasoning Salt and white pepper. Stir around. Keep stirring the rice and adding chicken broth as needed to get to the consistency you want. Some people like 'soupy' risotto, some like more firm, creamy risotto. We tend to prefer the more firm, creamy piles of risotto. The most important thing is to give them enough moisture (broth/water) so they plump up and get creamier. Play with it and see what you like.

Zucchini & Green Bean Medley

John plucked an '8 ball green zucchini' from our garden and I sliced it into wedges and put it in foil along with some whole green beans, a bit of olive oil, a couple pats of butter and some Lawry's seasoning salt. I folded up the packet of foil and let it steam/cook over the remaining heat of the coals after I removed the pork (while I was letting the pork 'rest'). Our veggie packet turned out quite yummy! You can make all sort of veggie packets this way and add all sorts of things...we would have added yellow summer squash, but our garden hadn't produced one right then. You could also add broccoli, red bell pepper or onion. Your choice! Add some olive oil & maybe some bits of butter and a little minced garlic, and you are good to go! Have a Happy Summer!!

Kathy

Simple Tortilla Bowl Salad

• 1 edible Tortilla Bowl
• Romaine Lettuce
• Cucumbers, sliced
• Peppers, chopped or diced
• Carrots, shredded
• 3 ounces of grilled steak
• Feta cheese crumbles
• Bacon bits
• Grated Parmesean /Romano Cheese blend

Start with a freshly baked tortilla bowl.

Then add some freshly chopped Romaine Lettuce.



Add some shredded carrots and sliced cucumbers

Then add some chopped bell peppers and some feta cheese crumbles

Add the 3ounces of steak



And finally add some bacon bits and sprinkle a bit of shredded parmesean /romano cheese blend to complete the salad.

You can add 2 ounces of any salad dressing that you desire or you can eat as is.  The tortilla is a great replacement for croutons...and is quite tasty too!



Gasparilla Recipes

Rosemary Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Cooked, sliced chicken breast pizza dough jar alfredo sauce
garlic powder (or minced garlic) couple sprigs fresh rosemary, needles pulled off
sprinkling red pepper flakes *optional: splash white wine, sliced mushrooms
shredded mozzarella

Purchase pizza dough or make your own favorite recipe. After rolling out dough, spread with Alfredo sauce, sprinkle with garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Top with some shredded mozzarella. Top that with the sliced chicken, the rosemary and more mozzarella. Bake and serve! Yum! *Optional: I did not have the time, but I would have preferred to saute' some sliced mushrooms and minced garlic in a little olive oil, then add a splash of white wine, then sprinkle the rosemary leaves over this, then the alfredo sauce. Then apply to pizza dough.


Seafood-Stuffed Whole Grilled Trout

1 whole trout (cleaned) olive oil Butter sundried tomato green onion
minced garlic dressing/stuffing mix (cornbread is a good choice)
assorted seafood (cooked) of choice: artificial Krab, crab, lobster meat, scallops, diced shrimp, etc
clam or chicken broth diced onions, celery and carrot salt, pepper, tarragon

Make compound butter: To softened, room-temp butter, add diced sundried tomato, green onion and minced garlic. Spread on parchment, fold over and pop in freezer for awhile to harden. Meanwhile, make stuffing: Saute' onion, celery, carrot & a little minced garlic in olive oil. Add broth. Add to stuffing mix to moisten. Fold in seafood and seasonings.

Break off pieces of compound butter and put in cavity of fish. Carefully stuff cavity with stuffing. Tie fish with kitchen string. Rub fish with olive oil. Grill over medium hot coals for about 10 minutes total, 5 minutes per side. (This, of course, will depend on size of fish. You may also substitute a fish other than trout). Put fish on platter. Carefully slice fillets off the skeleton and pick out any remaining pin bones from the meat. You can either toss the skeleton or freeze to throw in a seafood stock pot later on. Enjoy!

Spicy Veggie Soup

2-cartons of Veggie Soup Stock
1-bottle of V8 Spicy Hot
2-bags of frozen italian style veggies*
1-lb of italian sausage**


Cook the italian sausage thoroughly, drain.

Put the Veggie Soup Stock into the soup pot, then slowly add the V8 Spicy Hot until it is spicy to your tastes.  Bring to a boil.  Add the veggies and the sausage, and allow to boil for at least 20 minutes then simmer.

*You may always use fresh veggies if you have them or you may use other varieties of frozen veggies.
** Ground Turkey makes and excellent substitute but doesn't have the added italian seasonings.

Recipes from "Happy New Year!" menu

This year we enjoyed a "small plate" dinner along with a large assortment of appetizers. The below recipes (except the spicy cabbage, which is a full batch) are primarly made for 2 people. You will need to expand the recipes as you see fit to serve more.

Grilled Teriyaki Tuna Plate

2 Tuna steaks Teriyaki marinade with a little olive oil

Grill tuna over Medium-Hot coals for about 2 minutes per side for "medium-rare" tuna. On this particular occasion I think my coals were slightly hotter because the tuna did not turn out medium-rare, but rather slightly pinkish. However, the tuna was perfectly tender and tasty! This was the first time I have ever made good tuna steaks. I grilled according to the time on the Publix package (instead of grilling it to death!), and I believe had my coals been slightly less hot (it can be hard to judge, but I honestly should know better by now, I have grilled for many years), they would have turned out medium-rare. Just the same, they still turned out moist, tender and delicious! Pull off the grill, loosely cover with foil, let sit just a little, then slice and fan out on 2 plates. Serve with dabs of Wasabi Mayonnaise (see below).

Wasabi Mayonnaise

Wasabi powder or paste Mayonnaise

Mix wasabi with mayo till at the desired taste/heat level. I mixed mine with both the paste wasabi and some dry, and it turned out to have quite a bit of heat! But it was very good. Small dabs on the plate, in between the slices of fanned-out tuna, was perfect.

The Sides:

"Fried Rice" Risotto

Around 1/4 cup short grain rice pat butter Olive oil
dash white wine around 1 cup chicken broth (you be the judge)
1/4 cup chopped "stir fry" vegetables around 1 tbsp soy sauce

Melt butter and olive oil in small saucepan. Pour in rice and stir around, lightly sauteeing it in the butter and oil mixture for a bit. Add the wine, stir. Add half the chicken broth and stir. Keep stirring here and there, encouraging the rice to absorb the liquid. You will ultimately have to be the judge of how much liquid (broth) you need to pour in, depending on the consistency you want. Add the stir fry veggies (I just used a mix of frozen stir fried veggies...carrots, broccoli, etc, which I thawed first). When adding the last addition(s) of chicken broth, add the soy sauce and stir around. If your risotto is not too "soupy" (depending on if you like it soupy or firmer), you can pack some in small "molds" (like tiny bowls) that have been lightly oiled, then unmold them on your plates like I did (see picture in "Wine n' Chat "Happy New Year!" blog").

Spicy Cabbage

1 head green cabbage Olive Oil "Tony Cacheres" Creole Seasoning
Kosher salt water

Thinly slice up the cabbage on a slicer or in a food processer. You can do it by hand with a sharp knife and it will work fine, but it may take slightly longer to cook down. I like to use a rather deep, wok-shaped pan (non-stick) to do mine. Put the pan over medium-high heat. Pour olive oil in the pan then dump in the cabbage shreds and stir around to coat with oil and sautee' them a bit (they will be mounded quite high in the pan, but don't worry, they will cook down quite a bit). Stir around a bit more. Then add a little water (maybe 1 cup) and cover the pan with a lid (this will help the cabbage to "steam down"). You don't want "stewed cabbage", so don't make the mistake of putting in too much water...you want this water just to help steam it down (and prevent burning)...the water should evaporate by the end of cooking. You just need to keep an eye on it to be sure the water hasn't cooked entirely away during cooking. Every now and then, lift the lid and stir the cabbage around. After awhile, when it has wilted down pretty good, remove the lid, add a generous amount of olive oil, stir around, add the Tony Cacheras Creole seasoning (or another Creole/Cajun seasoning you may prefer), and stir around, letting the cabbage further wilt down and any remaining "puddle" of water in the pan to evaporate. Taste the cabbage for seasoning. You may want it spicier or saltier. Most seasoning blends come with salt in them, so it's a good idea to not add salt till after you are finished adding your seasoned blend. This batch will make plenty more than 2 people can eat at once. But it refrigerates well and can be eaten the next day or so, or shared with family and friends. Enjoy!

We also enjoyed a spread of appetizers, such as the usual chips n' dip, mozzarella sticks and mini corn dogs. But we enjoyed a few specialty appetizers as well:

Baked Tortilla Cups with 2 fillings

Fajita-sized flour tortillas, cut into quarters canola oil cupcake pan

Oil the tortilla quarters...I just dip my fingers in oil and rub it on them, both sides. Push each quarter into a spot in a cupcake pan (gently pushing the center down to the bottom), the 3 sides will stick up along the sides of each cupcake spot in the pan. If you make a total of 12 baked quarters (standard cupcake pan), 3 tortillas, that will be more than enough for 2, especially along with your other appetizers! Bake the tortilla "cups" at around 350 degrees till they lightly brown. Unmold them and put them on a platter, they are now baked firm and can hold whatever filling you like!

Filling # 1: "Southwest Eggroll" (adapted from Chili's Restaurant Appetizer)

Grilled chicken breast, diced canned black beans (1/2 can), drained
roasted, diced red bell pepper diced canned green chilies
frozen corn kernels (1/4 cup?) generous amount of cumin (1/2 tbsp?)
salt, pepper, "taco" or "fajita" seasoning to taste
shredded cheddar (1/4 cup?) salsa (a couple tbsp) squeeze of 1/2 a Lime

Mix filling ingredients, heat in microwave for a bit. Mound hot filling in half the tortilla cups. Top with sour cream OR mix up a batch of Avacado-Ranch sauce (peel and mash a ripe avacado half with some ranch dressing, a pinch of salt, a splash of lime juice). Enjoy!

Filling #2: Spanakopita

8-10 oz. Frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and squeezed dry) Feta (1 cup?)
Olive Oil squeeze lemon white pepper splash white wine
Cavender's All Purpose Greek seasoning
Good pinch garlic powder/granulated garlic or minced garlic, if desired*

Warm olive oil in saute' pan. Add spinach and stir around, sauteing. Add a splash white wine. Stir around. Add squeeze fresh lemon juice and crumbled feta (as much or as little as you like...the feta will start to "melt" some and will become dispersed throughout the spinach as you stir). Add the seasonings, keep tasting till done to your liking. (Remember: You probably won't need salt, feta is pretty salty on it's own. For this reason you should also go easy on the Greek seasoning blend, tasting as you go). Put dollops of the hot filling into the other half of the baked tortilla cups. Enjoy!

Roasted Mango-Chili Mayo to go with mini crab cakes

We purchased a box of gourmet mini crab cakes which were simply luscious! This mayonnaise went perfectly with them:

1/2 a ripe mango, peeled Olive oil bottled chili sauce
prepared mayonnaise

Lightly coat the mango with the olive oil and broil (or grill) to help caramelize the flavors of the mango. You don't necessarily need to see black char on it. I actually put mine next to some red peppers I was roasting, and the peppers turned black before the mango. But I took them all out at the same time and the mango was done perfectly! Cut up the mango and blend in a blender or small food processor. Scoop the mango puree' into a bowl and stir in some mayo (1/2 cup?) and some chili sauce (this is entirely up to your taste...you will need to add some and taste as you go! I think I added around 1/8 cup). Gently stir around and serve! Delicious!! A sweet and spicy, decandent blend.

Hope you enjoy these recipes! And they aren't just for New Years!

Recipes from "Heat n' Serve" blog

When I set out to make these recipes, the main idea was to do anything that would help heat the house, since we were not using our heat at the time, due to our air handler's odd behavior and fears of a possible fire. So I chose to bake chicken and potatoes in the oven to help generate some heat. So along with the extra warmth, we got a bonus of some delicious, roasted food that was quite simple to throw together!

Roast Chicken Thighs

*Since there is just my husband and I, we can cook in small amounts. A family of 4 will wish to either have 4-6 thighs or roast a whole chicken.

2-chicken thighs, with the bone and skin on
assorted seasonings (any you like. I used kosher salt, pepper, Lawry's Poultry Seasoning,
Thyme & a little granulated garlic)
Olive oil (and a drop of canola oil to "oil" the baking dish with)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pat chicken pieces dry and lay, skin-side up, in oiled baking dish. Rub a bit of olive oil around each piece then season as you like. Bake, uncovered, about 45-50 minutes.


Scalloped-Gratin Potatoes

2 medium-sized white potatoes, peeled and sliced (rather thin slices, like 1/8" wide)
small amount chicken broth
small amount half n' half or milk (if desired) *I did not use this, but it is common with scalloped
potatoes).
Grated cheese, your choice (suggested: Fontina or Mexican cheese blend, can also be cheddar...
your choice).
A couple pats butter, cut up
Assorted seasonings: Lawry's seasoning salt, white pepper, chives. (Whatever you like).
Drop of canola oil (to "oil" baking dish)

Place sliced potatoes in a small baking dish. (You can increase the potatoes, ingredients & dish, depending on how many people you are feeding). Pour in broth (and a bit of milk, if using), not too much, just till you can see it when you look down into the potatoes. Put in the cheeses and seasonings and toss around. Lay on the cut up pats of butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You can either put this in the oven uncovered the whole time, or loosely cover it with foil at first, then remove part-way. This time I covered it loosely till partway ('cause I did not want to darken the cheese too much), but I'd added a little too much broth, and this would have probably completely boiled down nicely had I left it uncovered the whole time, allowing evaporation. You will have to be the judge. The other option is you leave it uncovered the whole time, then the last 15 minutes, sprinkle the cheeses on. Enjoy!

*We enjoyed this was some Smoking Loon Chardonnay.

Crème Brûlée Cheesecake

To Make The Crust:

• 2 cups of finely crushed Vanilla Wafer crumbs
• 3 Tbs of Granulated Sugar
• 7-8 Tbs of Unsalted Butter, melted

Place your oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375F

Then in a medium bowl, stir together the vanilla wafer crumbs and 3 Tbs. granulated sugar. Mix in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moist and clump together slightly. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the pan (to press, use plastic wrap or a flat-bottom measuring cup). Bake until the crust is  slightly darkened about 9 to 12 minutes. Let the pan cool on a rack.

Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.

Cheesecake:

• 3- 8 ounce packages of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 8 ounces of mascarpone
• 2 Tbs of all-purpose flour
• Pinch of table salt
• 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 1 Tbs of pure vanilla abstract
• 4 Large Eggs, @ room temperature
• 2 Tbs granulated sugar

In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, flour, and a pinch of table salt on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently, until very smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure the cheese has no lumps.

Add the 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar and continue beating until well blended and smooth.


Add the vanilla and beat until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. (Don’t overbeat once the eggs have been added or the cheesecake will puff too much and crack as it cools.) Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top.

Bake at 300°F until the center jiggles like Jell-O when nudged, 55 to 65 minutes. The cake will be slightly puffed around the edges, and the center will still look moist. Set on a rack and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours and up to 3 days.
Unclasp and remove the side of the springform pan and run a long, thin metal spatula under the bottom crust of the cheesecake. Carefully slide the cake onto a flat serving plate.

Sprinkle the 2 Tbs. granulated sugar evenly over the top of the cheesecake and slowly pass a hand-held kitchen torch over the sugar until melted and caramelized.

To cut, run a thin knife under hot water, wipe it dry, and cut the cake into slices, heating and wiping the knife after every slice.

Recipes for a "Leaner" Christmas!

Baked Tilapia with Sage-Butter Sauce (served with steamed blue potatoes & carrots and spinach salads)

for 2 people (multiply recipe as needed)

2-Tilapia filets
asst'd seasonings (such as lemon-pepper, Old Bay, Lawry's Seasoning Salt, etc.)
drizzle olive oil

Spray or coat a glass baking dish with canola oil. Lay fish filets in it and season (not too heavily, but don't be too "light", either). Drizzle with a little olive oil over each filet. Preheat oven to 350. Put, uncovered, in oven and bake till done (anywhere from 15-25 minutes--you be the judge!).

Butter sauce: Clip a few leaves of fresh sage. Chop them and add them to a few (3-4) pats of melted butter and stir around. Add a pinch of kosher salt and stir around. When ready to plate meal, spoon sage-butter sauce over both the fish and whole roasted potatoes.

Steamed Potatoes & carrots: *You should start steaming these before you bake the fish. You will have to be the judge of of when they are done to your liking. I used a large pot with a lid and put a steamer "basket" on the inside, filling water up to the basket. I steamed a total of 8 blue potatoes (4 apiece) along with some diagonal slivers of 1 peeled fresh carrot. Just steam until they are tender to your liking and a fork easily pierces them.

Spinach Salad: Put fresh baby spinach leaves in a bowl. Add slices of 1-2 hard-boiled eggs, diced/sliced tomato, bacon bits and croutons. *Of course, all of these toppings are optional, you can omit any of them and add what you like. Use the salad dressing of your choice.

*This meal paired with M'enage 'a Trois Chardonnay 2007.



"Moussaka Stacks" based on a recipe in "How to Roast a Lamb" by Michael Psilakis

We had a hunk of pork in the freezer (a shoulder or ham). We seasoned it with kosher salt and black pepper and seared the pork in a pot with some olive oil. Take out the pork and put on a platter. To the pot, add: 4-5 cloves chopped garlic, 1-2 stalks chopped celery and a chopped carrot. Saute' till the veggies start to become soft. Add around 1/4 cup of tomato paste and stir around. Add a cup of dry red wine to the pan and stir around. Then add a couple Tbsp red wine vinegar. Allow the wine/vinegar to nearly cook away. Add about 2 tsp dried Oregano (preferably Greek), 2 tbsp Dijon mustard, a few sprigs of thyme, around 2 sprigs of rosemary and some water (a couple quarts?). You will have to adjust water and seasonings as you see fit...I never really cook specifically to a recipe. Return pork to the pot, bring to boil, reduce temp and simmer under a partly covered lid. Simmer till meat is tender. somewhere around 2 hours?... Transfer the meat and any veggies to a platter. Reduce pan juices over high heat till thickened and swirl in a garlic puree' with fresh herbs. Drizzle over pork, along with a drizzle of olive oil THIS is the pork I use to make the "Moussaka Stack".
Moussaka Stack: Peel & thinly slice (preferably on a mandoline) 1 white potato and 2 Japanese-style or a slimmer style eggplant (like "Hansel & Gretyl"). Blanch the potato disks in salted, boiling water for about a minute, then immediately remove and "shock" in an ice water bath. Season eggplant slices with salt & pepper and dust lightly with cinnamon. (I like to pour a small amount of cinnamon in my hand, then dump the cinnamon back in the container. Then "dust off" the residual cinnamon from my palm onto the eggplant slices). Saute' the eggplant in olive oil. Drain and set aside. Roll out fresh pasta sheets (made with about 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 room temp eggs and around 1 1/2 tbsp water) to their thinnest setting on a manual pasta machine roller. Cut out circles (anywhere from 3-4" across). Boil briefly in salted water till they rise to the surface. (*Using the above measurements, you will be left with a lot more pasta than needed for this recipe. You can use the remainder to make lasagna or cannelloni with fresh pasta, or you can use the "cutter" attachment to cut strands of spaghetti or fettucini from it for other dishes). Make a "bechamel sauce". Put a few pats of putter in a pan (3-4), melt down, add some flour (1/8 a cup?). Stir around a bit to get rid of any "raw flour" taste. Add some warmed milk (around 1 cup or more?) and stir well. Add in a pinch of ground nutmeg, a couple pinches ground white pepper, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and a faint "dusting" of cinnamon (I'd suggest pouring some in your hand, pouring it back into the bottle, then "dusting" the remainder off your palm into the sauce).
Place a spoonful of bechamel sauce on each plate, speading into a circle around 3" in diameter. Top with a fresh pasta disk, some sliced eggplant & potato, and a spoonful of braised pork. Repeat with another layer just as the first. Repeat again with a third layer, finishing with a final spoonful of the bechamel sauce. Top with some fresh parsley leaves. Serve!
To go-with: Steamed asparagus spears and a bottle of Faustino VII Rioja. Also, I made some homemade goat cheese biscuits that paired very well!
Goat cheese biscuits: These are a "drop" style biscuit, not the kind you cut out. Go outside and clip a handful of fresh chives if you have them. Then cut them into 1/4" pieces to place in the dough. Mix your dry ingredients: About 2 cups Unbleached, All-Purpose flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground white pepper, 1/8-1/4 tsp dried lemon peel (Or fresh lemon zest, your choice), and 1/8 tsp granulated garlic (or use 1/4 tsp minced garlic). Don't forget to add your freshly chopped chives. Now mix in your "fat". Normally you'd use shortening, but I did not have any, so I substituted regular butter. Usually you'd use 1/2 cup shortening (1/2 cup butter would be a full stick, 8 Tbsp). Since I was also incorporating goat cheese, I figured I could cut down on the amount of butter; after all, the goat cheese would provide additional fat. So I used about 6 Tbsp. butter. Then I mixed in about 3/4 cup or so of crumbled fresh goat cheese. I love Laura Chenel goat cheese, that is THE BEST!! Mild and luscious enough to spread thickly on bread and eat...no offensive odors or off-putting tastes. After opening, as it sits in the fridge a little while (a week or slightly longer), the odor/taste can become slightly stronger...at THAT time, it is PERFECT for these biscuits! Anyhow, "cut" the butter and goat cheese into the flour mixture until very crumbly. Then add 1 cup of milk (skim is fine). Mix around. Grease a pan. Use an ice cream scoop to "scoop out" balls of the loose "drop" biscuit dough. Put on baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees (preheated oven) for around 10-12 minutes. I placed my biscuits on the lowest rack. After removing from the oven, push the biscuits off the baking pan onto a rack or counter and let cool. Yummy!


Chicken "Bryan" (serves 2; adjust as needed)

I've tried to "duplicate" this recipe from Carrabas. Theirs is grilled over oak wood, which I've done, and it is very tasty! This particular time, I opted to go the "easier" route and just 'bread' and sautee' it. I lightly pounded one skinless/boneless chicken breast and cut it in half. Then I lightly breaded each piece with a mix of cornmeal, Italian breadcrumbs and Lawry's Poultry Seasoning. Then I panfried them in olive oil. Once done, they were topped with rounds of goat cheese (Laura Chenel is the best!), some sliced, rehydrated sundried tomatoes, drizzled over with some lemon-butter sauce (lemon juice with some melted butter), then topped with freshly sliced basil leaves. They were served alongside an already-made lemon-herb risotto, using short-grain (or Aborio) rice. I used around 1/3 cup for us. You will need to adjust as needed. Sautee' the raw rice in a blend of olive oil and a pat of butter. Stir around. Add a splash of dry white wine and stir around. Have some chicken broth ready to go...add some freshly squeezed lemon juice (to taste). Start pouring some of the broth/juice mix into the rice and stir around. Keep stirring and wait for it to absorb most, then add more. Keep stirring and adding till the rice is at the consistency you prefer. Add some kosher salt (if needed) and ground white pepper, along with various herbs such as thyme, tarragon & chives. Plate the dish along with some sweet sugar snap peas. Yum! These are great served with Meridian Chardonnay.

Easy Veggie-Goat Cheese Pasta

1 cup steamed/grilled/sautee'd veggies of your choice (in this case, I used grilled yellow summer squash and zucchini)
olive oil (1-2 tbsp)
minced garlic (1/2 -1 tsp)
dried minced onion (about 1/2-1 tsp)
dried basil (a couple dashes)
dried red pepper flakes (a couple dashes)
a pinch of kosher salt (if needed)
1/4 -1/2 cup diced tomato
1/2 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese
*optional: 1/2 cup tomato sauce with meat (beef and italian sausage)
Enough penne pasta for 2 people (about 1/2 box)

Heat olive oil in pan, then sautee' veggies, garlic, minced onion, basil, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt ( if needed). Stir in diced tomato and *optional tomato sauce with meat. You will need to increase/decrease diced tomatoes/tomato sauce with meat depending on your prefrence for sauce-to-pasta ratio. Boil enough pasta for 2 people (you will have to adjust recipe/other ingredients for more people). Add some salt to boiling pasta for flavor and to reduce stickiness. Drain and put hot-cooked pasta in with sauce, crumble on goat cheese and stir in. Serve with hot rolls or garlic toasts. Can also serve a salad to go along if you like. *Suggested wine: a semi-light Spanish red wine like Faustino VII Rioja. You can also try: Chianti, Zinfandel, Shiraz or Merlot. Light some candles and enjoy!

A "Floribbean Turkey"

A Floribbean Turkey

This recipe was inspired by the "Cuban Thanksgiving Turkey" recipe in "Miami Spice" by Steven Raichlen. This is a GREAT book that I strongly suggest you purchase if you would like to indulge in truly-Floridean/Florribean cuisine.

1 11-12-0z turkey (brined)


1/2 head (several cloves) garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp salt
about 1 tsp black pepper
Other spice blends (optional)

Canola oil, with a pat or two of butter melted in (optional)


Thaw the turkey. The day before you plan to make it, "brine" the thawed turkey in a solution of water and kosher salt (at minimum). You can also add other spices, like whole peppercorns. The next day, drain the turkey, rinse and pat dry. Make a paste of the garlic, salt and lime juice (the best way is to mash with a pestel and mortar). Add the cumin and oregano and mix. Loosen the skin all over the turkey breast and spread a lot of the paste underneath it. Reserve at least 1/3 of the herb and lime mix for the top. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Oil the turkey all over (on the top and down the sides) with canola oil. The best approach is to use your fingertips to spread it all over. Afterward, spread the remaining herb and lime mix over the turkey. At this point, you can also add other seasonings to the skin. I added "Lawry's Perfect Blend Seasoning and Rub for Chicken & Poultry", "Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning" and "Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning", which are optional. Cover semi-loosely with foil. Add a small amount of water to the pan for moisture (maybe 1/2-3/4 cup water?). Roast for around 2 hours. Baste the turkey. Turn the heat up to 350 degrees. At this point, you need to watch your turkey, depnding on size and elements. In this particular case, with a turkey just under 12 pounds, I loosened and half-moved the foil off (moreso leaving it over the breasts, which will tend to dry out quicker) for an hour. After that (at the end), turn the oven up to to 400 degrees and remove the foil and finish roasting the turkey for 15-30 minutes. You will have to keep an eye on it, every turkey and oven is a little different. When done, transfer to a platter and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before carving. Enjoy!

SIDES: Along with this turkey we served mashed sweet potatoes and green beans. To make: Peel, cut up and boil a 2-4 sweet potatoes (based on how many people you are feeding...a couple smallish ones for us fed two people). After boiling till soft, drain and mash with a pat of butter and a tbsp of mayonnaise. You can also add a tbsp of brown sugar and some cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and a pinch of white pepper, if you want. For our dinner, we only had the mashed sweet potatoes with a pat of butter, mayo and a pinch of white pepper. We steamed the fresh green beans and then while hot, added a pat of butter and a pinch of "Lawry's Seasoned Salt".

We served our turkey dinner with "Pepper Grove Pinot Noir".

"Surf N' Turf" at Home

Surf N' Turf at Home (for Two)

1 medium-sized boneless NY strip steak, cut in half equally
olive oil, salt & pepper or "steak seasoning"
2 lobster tails

Grill the steak over hot coals and oak wood (or Mesquite, your preference). Grill very briefly, depending on the heat of the fire. I find that steaks that are "medium-rare" (hot pink on the inside) taste best. You want to get a good sear on the outside while not overcooking the inside! You need a nice hot fire. Coat each steak with olive oil and seasonings and set over a hot/medium-hot fire. After a few minutes (maybe 3-5, depending on the heat), season the other sides of the steaks and flip over, cook for 2-4 minutes longer. All this depends on thickness and the heat of the fire. It is not an exact science, but that is partly what makes it fun! I find if you press on the center of the meat with tongs, if it feels sort of like the 'fleshy' part between your thumb and forefinger, it is probably at optimal temp (I like mine medium-rare.....seared on the outside and still quite red on the inside! Seems to be the most tasty!). You have to play around and experiment with it, especially since wood fire temperatures differ, as well as outside temperatures and thicknesses of steak. This is part of the fun!
Cut down the middle (on the belly) of the lobster (to allow for the flesh to expand). Oil the lobster tails and place on the grill, shell-side down. As the tails turn red, flip over and cook very briefly on the "belly" side. Slather with butter & serve.

For the Sautee'd Mushrooms

I sautee'd a few sliced white button mushrooms with a few slices red onion in olive oil/butter. I tend to prefer sweet onion, so you could try that instead of red. But you can also use whatever you have on hand, like I did. Partway through sauteeing, add a small splash of any dry white wine, then continue to sautee'. Season mildly with kosher salt and pepper. When done sauteeing, add a pat of real butter and stir around.

For the "Luscious "Cheese Sauce

Most steak preparations will call for blue cheese, and I will admit, I LOVE blue cheese, especially with steak! But on this particular night, I did not have a wedge of blue cheese. I substituted what I thought was the next most logicle cheese that I had on-hand...FETA!! Feta has an 'assertiveness' to it that can serve just as well. And it came out quite good!

Heat about 1/4 cup or so of heavy whipping cream in a saucepan. Add lots of coarsely cracked black pepper! Stir and stir as it thickens. Then add a narrow slice of Feta (or Blue cheese), crumbled, and stir to melt. Keep stirring until you see the sauce form as you like. Taste for seasoning. I also added fresh-cut, minced chives from my garden. If you prefer, you can add freeze-dried chives, minced dried onions, or just leave the sauce as-is. At the end, when you take it off the stove, add a pat or two of real butter and stir around.

After grilling the steaks, spoon some of the cheese sauce over them, followed by the mushrooms. Enjoy!!


** If you want, you can accompany them like we did: I made garlic mashed potatoes (for both of us, I peeled & boiled 3 medium-sized white potates with a tbsp. minced garlic. Then I mashed them with a couple pats butter and a tbsp. real mayonnaise, a splash of half n' half). We also grilled a packet of yellow squash, zucchini & vidalia onion (sliced and wrapped in foil along with olive oil, minced garlic, kosher salt & black pepper). Yum!

Optional Krab-Stuffed Mushroom Appetizer**

6 medium-sized whole button mushrooms, (wiped & de-stemmed)
Small amount of Krab, about 6 tbsp (broken up into smaller flakes)
1/2 cup thin-shredded cheddar
1/2 cup (or so) real mayonnaise
1/8 (or so) tsp dried dill weed (you don't want excessive dill, but a good amount can be quite
quite tasteful).
1/4 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs

Mix the filling ingredients together. Stuff into hollow of de-stemmed mushrooms (pile on!). Set in baking pan (sometimes I even set mine on a sheet on the Non-Stick Reynolds Foil in the toaster oven) at about 350 degrees. Watch them until the filling browns on top real well, like 10 minutes or so?

Enjoy!!

Steamed / Grilled Kielbasa and Veggies

This is a dish that you can throw together to suit your tastes.

• 1 lb of Polish kielbasa
• 1 zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 broccoli
• garlic powder
• grilling spices
• pepper

Slice the kielbasa into round slices about 1/4 inch thick. Slice zucchini and squash into round thin slices, about 1/8 thick at most.  Slice the red bell pepper into long strips.  Cut the broccoli stems into short florets.

Take mixture of veggies and kielbasa and stir together, adding some spices, pepper and garlic to taste.  

Then put into the steamer until the veggies and meat are steamed through*.

Sprinkle on Parmesan Cheese and some Three-Cheddar cheese to your liking and serve.

Tonight's meal was tossed in Angel Hair Pasta.  Just one of the many ways you can make this dish to suit your tastes!!  Delicious!

(Okay, I am no food photographer...and I know you're supposed to "Stage" the food...but I literally thought to take the pic with my cell phone while I was cooking it. So....here you go!)

*You can chose to grill the mixture after steaming to bring out some additional flavors.  This is delicious, but optional. 

**Also, you can add and remove the veggies in the above list, to suit your tastes.  For example, you may chose to add onions and chili pepper to the steamer for a spicier dish.

3-Cheese Manicotti

• 1 lb of sausage
• 1 pkg of Manicotti Shells
• 8 oz of Ricotta Cheese (whole milk)
• 8oz of Cottage Cheese
• 1/4 of Parmesan Cheese
• 6 oz of 3 Cheddar blend Cheese
• 6 oz of Mozzarella Cheese
• 2 cups of Spaghetti Sauce
• 1 Cup of Water

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.  Spray the bottom of a 13 x 9 with cooking spray and take 1/4 of spaghetti sauce and spread on the bottom of the pan just enough to cover the surface.

Cook the sausage thoroughly and drain.  In a bowl, blend the cheeses and sausage together.

Stuff  the cheese mixture into the Manicotti shells raw and place them in the pan.

Microwave 1 cup of water for 2 minutes and add to the remaining spaghetti sauce and stir.   Pour spaghetti sauce over the shells and cover evenly.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook for 50 minutes.  Shells will cook in the covered dish and the sauce will not be thin at the end.

*For more flavor, fine chop baby spinach and parsley and add to cheese mixture for taste.

**If cooking for adults, try serving this dish with an Italian Merlot.

Homemade French Fries

• Russert Potatoes, about 1 per person
• Peanut Oil
• All Purpose Seasoned Coating Mix (Miracle Bake is a great brand)
• Deep Fryer

Peel Potatoes if desired and cut them length wise and then turn and cut again into a long rectangular shape. Use a Julienne cutter if available.

Soak the potatoes in cold water for about 15 minutes.

Put the peanut oil into the deep fryer and heat to 350F.

Take a plastic Ziploc bag and pour some seasoning into the bag. (Enough to coat about 1/2 cup of potatoes).

Take about a half cup of sliced potatoes, ( dry them with paper towel first) and put them into the bag with seasoning. Zip it up and shake to coat. Immediately remove the potatoes from the bag and put them into the deep fryer (please follow the instructions for your deep fryer).

Fry them for 2 minutes and pull them out and place them on a paper towel to cool. (The French Fries are not done at this point).

Repeat until all potatoes are cooked.

Now turn up your deep fryer to 375F.

Start with the first batch that cooled and insert into deep fryer. Cook until golden brown (usually 2-3 additional minutes).

Remove and place on clean paper towels to pull up excess grease.

Repeat until all the potatoes are done.

They are now ready to serve!! Enjoy!!

Spicy Pretzels

1 16 ounce bag of pretzels
1/2 cup of Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2 tsp of Garlic Powder*
1/2 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
1 1-gallon zip lock bag
Mix all ingredients above in your zip lock bag and shake well. When you get it all mixed together...they'll be ready to eat.
Use a paper towel to dab off the excess oil if needed.
Store in a dry container.
* You may use Garlic Salt instead of Garlic Powder but plan on it being salty!!