Category: OKK MEMES & PRIOR CONTRIBUTORS

Leftovers Pizza – Monday Munchies

I do a lot of meal stretching. I spend a lot less time in the kitchen during the busy weekdays that way, and it saves a lot of money in the grocery store as well. When I think of stretching out meals I usually think in terms of cooking extra so there are always leftovers – enough for a different meal created from the main dish a second night, and sometimes even a bit of extra for a third meal or appetizer. When it comes to those small amounts of leftovers I think soups, salads, appetizers, strata, and pizza toppings. Cooking like this makes life easier during the busy holiday months too!

Here’s an example of using up just a tiny bit of leftovers to create a quick yummy meal or for the appetizer buffet for game days. This time I used store bought pizza crusts (I like the Mama Mary brand, thin crust), add sauce, shredded cheese and toppings. Bake until cheese is bubbly and just barely starting to brown.

Toppings shown here are a teeny bit of leftover steak (not enough to do much of anything else with), a little bit of leftover roasted asparagus, cherry tomato halves and sliced portabella mushrooms. It’s a bit different, but I promise it’s great! Almost anything can go on a pizza – GET CREATIVE! 🙂

*Originally posted at Menagerie

Meat & Bean Tostadas

What I really love about this recipe is that all the parts can be made ahead and then you can assemble them cold one at a time or all at once.




Meat & Bean Tostadas

2 pounds ground beef
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped and divided in 1/2
1 can Rotel original tomatoes
1 small can chopped green chiles
1 recipe Taco seasoning
1 batch Refried beans
grated cheddar cheese
1 tomato, chopped
chopped olives
taco sauce
sour cream

  • Brown ground beef with 1/2 of the chopped onion.
  • Drain off fat.
  • Add Rotel tomatoes, green chiles and Taco seasoning. Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
  • Layer tostada shells with a layer of Refried beans, a little cheese, meat, tomatoes, olives and a little more cheese.
  • Bake 10 minutes until heated through.
  • Top with taco sauce and sour cream.
  • Enjoy.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter~ Simple Saturday with girlichef

I’m a big fan of all things apple…and apple butter is no exception. Did you know that it is very simple to make? Especially when you can just throw everything into your slow cooker and come back 13 hours later and it’s done! Okay, for smooth apple butter, you’re gonna want to peel your apples…but I was feeling far too lazy for that, so I just cut off the core. Mine was a bit chunky. I don’t mind it, but if you do…peel ’em!


Slow-Cooker Apple Butter
by girlichef
makes ~2 quarts ~ 8 apples – core, peel & chop rough
1 cup sugar (or try brown sugar, agave syrup, honey…experiment!)
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Okay…ready for this? Put all of your ingredients in a slow cooker and cover. Cook on high for an hour, then turn to low. Cook it for another 12 hours. Fin! Seriously, that’s it. Keep it in the fridge. Slather it on toast with butter…or anything. Use it in recipes in place of applesauce…try another slow-cooker recipe… Caramelized Apple Upside Down Spice Cake…still fairly simple and it uses apple butter in the recipe!

Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner – Joanne of Eats Well With Others

So I have to admit. I’m a little nervous. This is my first time.

Cue awkward silence.

AS A GUEST BLOGGER!

But have no fear, I will try to make the experience as pleasurable and painless as possible. I am Joanne from Eats Well With Others, a first year MD/PhD student from NYC who spends most of her time avoiding studying by either (a) running or (b) cooking. These may seem like two antithetical things but they are actually one vicious cycle. I run so that I can eat what I want. And then I cook so that I can eat to fuel the running. I also like taking long walks on the beach and watching sunsets. And am just looking for someone who will make me laugh. Just thought I’d throw that in there in case this paragraph didn’t sound enough like a singles ad.

So let’s see, what do I cook? When people used to ask me this I always used to say, “Well, I can do just about anything with a sweet potato.” Which used to be very true and still is to some extent (sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables), except that they have kind of been usurped by winter squash. And pasta. When you train for a marathon, you need to eat a lot of pasta. So that is by far what has been dominating my blog for the past five months. In general, though, I cook mostly vegetarian dishes, not necessarily by choice but mainly because I am a med student on a budget and it is cheaper this way. I use a TON of vegetables in my cooking and I truly believe that no meal is complete without them. I have also recently started baking. Which is infinitely more of a challenge than cooking is. But the end products are usually equally tasty.

Anyway, that’s enough about me. Let’s get on to our feature presentation!

Whenever I go home to visit my parents and siblings, I am the one who does the cooking. Mainly because if I don’t take the reins, we end up eating Chinese take-out at 10PM. And no one wants that. Except, of course, for my brother who is a stereotypical 20-year-old boy and could happily live off of Tex-Mex and General Tso’s Chicken for the rest of his life. Until his metabolism catches up with him. But that is another grievance for another day.

This dish is one of the few successes that I have had when cooking for my family. They are very picky eaters and so every dish I make is scrutinized heavily for spice content (my dad hates almost all herbs and spices. He can handle basil in small quantities. It is a situation. We are working on it) as well as for veggie content.

Two things that they do like, however, are chicken and potatoes. I’ll take what I can get.

Thus, I present you with grilled Hoisin chicken breasts, accompanied by a side of maple mustard glazed potatoes and string beans. I hope they are as celebrated in your kitchen as they were in mine.

Thank you to the ladies of the Krazy Kitchen for gracing me with the opportunity to share these with you all! Enjoy!

Grilled Hoisin Chicken Breasts
Serves 4

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients except for the chicken in a small bowl. Heat up your grill.

2. Arrange chicken on a platter and brush lightly with the hoisin sauce mixture. Turn to the other side and coat as well. Place the chicken on the grill and cook, occasionally brushing with sauce and turning every 5 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Maple Mustard Glazed Potatoes and String Beans
Serves 6, adapted from Vegan With A Vengeance

2 lb red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1 lb string beans
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat your oven to 400.

2. Arrange the vegetables in a 9×13 casserole dish. In a mixing bowl, stir together all of the other ingredients. Pour over the vegetables and mix until everything is coated. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss everything. Turn down the oven to 350 and cook, uncovered, for another 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, toss again, and cook for another 25 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

Giveaway, dinner guests, breads, party and Save Room for Dessert of course!

  • Looking for bread recipes? Tamy and I host a bread roundup each year, and it has been a hit. All together, we are nearing a total of 100 recipes, with some participants offering several breads, some even have 11 and 12 recipes on a single post. So head over to our blogs to grab some new family favorites, or to link up your own bread recipes. It could be yeast breads, or quick breads. It could be muffins or flat breads. We’re rounding up all bread recipes on our blogs, and you get to link to both blogs too, just link back to us. Tamy’s bread roundup and my Joy of Desserts bread roundup are ready for YOUR links now!
  • Get ready for another party right here at Our Krazy Kitchen, too. We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving all together from November 15-28. Bring your favorite recipe, decorating idea, pictures, anecdotes, and let’s have some fun together. Help us spread the word by linking to us.

Pick your favorite badge!

Please leave a link to your post, not your homepage, and be sure to link back to this post or blog.

Cream Soda Chocolate Toffee Cupcakes


Save Room for Dessert is hosted by Joy at OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN
Vintage Recipe Thursday is hosted by Joy at Joy of Desserts
hosted by Kristen at OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN

CREAM SODA CHOCOLATE TOFFEE CUPCAKES with MOCHA SOUR CREAM FROSTING
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon Hershey’s cocoa
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 JUMBO eggs, Beaten
1 tablespoon Grandma’s molasses
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup IBC cream soda*
3/4 cup Heath Bar toffee chips

  • Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and brown sugar.
  • Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and molasses.
  • In a large bowl beat together the softened butter and cream soda.
  • Add in the egg mixture and beat until smooth.
  • Gradually add in the flour mixture and continue to beat until even consistency.
  • Fill cupcake tins 2/3 full.
  • Bake 20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched.
  • Cool completely.
  • Frost and Enjoy!

MOCHA SOUR CREAM FROSTING
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon PURE vanilla
3 tablespoons Hershey’s cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar

  • Beat butter until smooth.
  • Add vanilla and sour cream.
  • Add powdered sugar and cocoa and beat until smooth.
  • Frost and enjoy!

*also good with root beer

Would you like to be a guest host at Our Krazy Kitchen? We are selecting guest hosts for our new Thursday meme Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner. If you have a good recipe to share let me know!

wildatheart

Oven Barbecued Chicken ~ Simply Delicious Sunday

OVEN BARBECUED CHICKEN

2-3 pounds boneless chicken breasts
olive oil to coat pan well
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup roasted garlic rice vinegar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

  • Heat oil in a large skillet
  • Brown chicken on all sides
  • Transfer chicken to 9×13 olive oiled baking dish
  • In a saucepan melt the butter and saute the onion
  • Stir in the remaining the ingredients and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes
  • Pour the sauce mixture over the chicken
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour
  • Baste periodically
  • We like to use the excess sauce over a serving of rice and serve this with home made Potato Salad

Previously posted at 3 Sides of Crazy May 2008

San Antonio Chicken~ Simple Saturday with girlichef

This is a delicious Tex-Mex dish from my Gloria’s books The Foods and Flavors of San Antonio…with a few modifications. It’s very simple…yet packed with flavor…give it a try!San Antonio Chicken

From Foods & Flavors of San Antonio by Gloria Chadwick–slightly adapted

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts I actually used 3

1 1.25 oz. pkg. taco seasoning (or 1/4 c. of your own blend)

3 Tbs. water

2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped coarsely

1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped

1 c. frozen corn, thawed I used 1 can Mexican-style corn

1 2 oz. jar pimientos I omitted this

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed

3 c. cooked white rice, hot

1 c. picante sauce I used 1/2 c.

Place chicken in saucepan and cover with water. Let simmer slowly until cooked through. Let cool in broth (I think it makes the chicken more flavorful) until cook enough to handle. Then chop or pull apart and toss with taco seasoning and water. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, green bell pepper and corn. Saute until tender.

Add pimientos, black beans, reserved chicken .

Stir it up well. Allow all to heat through. Stir in picante sauce.

Gloria also mixes in the rice, but I decided I wanted to serve it over the rice. Garnish w/ your favorite toppings. I used sour cream, cilantro and shredded “Mexican Style” cheese & crumbled queso fresco. I also toasted up a flour tortilla to eat with it. DELICIOSO!*originally posted at girlichef

Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce

I found some Lender’s cinnamon bagels on clearance for $.79 bag and grabbed four.  We had some for breakfast, but they weren’t on clearance for nothing…they were sadly stale.  Solution: bread pudding.
with Butterscotch sauce.
Bread Pudding:
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
7 torn up cinnamon bagels (or enough bread product to fill a 2 quart casserole dish)
Tear up bread and place in a greased casserole dish.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon then sprinkle over bread and mix with hands.  Combine milk, eggs, and vanilla and pour over the bread.  Let sit for 45 minutes on the counter to soak up the liquid.  Bake 350 degrees, uncovered for 30 minutes.  If not eating immediately, let cool on the counter and then refrigerate.
Butterscotch Sauce:
1/2 stick butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
1/8 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes.  Refrigerate leftovers.
What Did You Bake Today?

Carne Asada ~

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is being hosted by Dave from My Year at the Grill over at OuR KraZy KiTcHeN today. Head on over and see what he has going on.

According to Wikipedia Carne asada is a roasted beef dish, literally meaning “roasted meat”[1][2]. The dish mainly consists of pieces or thin cuts of beef (e.g. flank steak, skirt steak), sometimes marinated, sometimes lightly salted or rubbed with salt, pepper and/or spices, and then grilled. It can be eaten alone, with side dishes, chopped and eaten as tacos, or chopped and used as filler for tortas, burritos, etc. It is commonly accompanied with guacamole, salsa, beans, and grilled scallions and tortillas.

The dish is commonly prepared in the northern parts of Mexico (in the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Coahuila, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas) as well as in the American Southwest (especially Texas and New Mexico). It can be found as the main ingredient in tacos, tortas, burritos and fajitas, or is simply served as a stand-alone. It is sold at Mexican meat markets called “carnicerias” in the American Southwest; especially those states with Mexican/Mexican-American enclaves.

When purchasing carne asada from meat markets, consumers have two options available to them regarding the amount of preparation the steak has undergone pre-purchase: preparada, marinated meat as described above, serving as a time-saver for the home cook but typically at higher cost; and no preparada, unprepared meat, allowing for a home cook to create one’s own marinade. I buy unprepared meat and doctor my own.

All my pictures are before as we’re having it for dinner tonight. I’ll add an after picture later.




What you have left after the marinating.

CARNE ASADA
2-3 pounds flank or skirt steak, sliced THIN
1 medium Vidalia onion, sliced thin
2 lemons, 1 sliced thin, 1 wedged for squeezing
1 lime, sliced thin
1 orange, sliced thin
1/3 cup champagne vinegar
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon FRESH ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

  • Soak the meat in the vinegar for an hour or so.
  • Remove meat from vinegar and dry on paper towels.
  • Sift together all the seasonings and rub into the meat on both sides.
  • Layer the meat into a container alternating with the slices of lemon, limes, oranges and onions squeezing lemon juice on each layer as you go.
  • Let marinate for overnight or a day or so.
  • Grill on a VERY hot grill to desired doneness.
  • Serve with warm tortillas, Fresh Guacamole and Garden Tomato Salsa.

wildatheart

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner – MY YEAR ON THE GRILL with a Vegetable and Cheese GALETTE with Balsamic Vinegar

WHAT AN HONOR, to be invited to be a guest blogger on this wonderful site! I was only introduced to this site last week when Chris from NIBBLE ME THIS hosted the first “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” guest post, and I have really enjoyed everything about it. I love the idea of blogging to begin with, but to have such a group band together to create a whole better than the parts is amazing. Thanks to Tamy and the girls for letting me be a part of this. I called in a couple of favors to thank not only the active participants on the site, but also the readers and followers of the site for something special… A wonderful giveaway contest for one of Oprah’s favorite things… Read on, details about the contest to follow at the end.

My name is Dave, and I am a hairy knuckled neanderthal fire cooker. I love to grill, smoke and use my backyard for entertaining (although the Kansas winter is setting in, so my entertaining is starting to move indoors. My site is called MY YEAR ON THE GRILL, and I certainly invite any and all of you to come take a look by clicking HERE! But today, I am going to abandon my grill and honor all these wonderful bloggers by stepping out of my comfort zone and publish an original recipe I created as part of a dinner party I recently hosted for my wife’s boss. Lots of pressure on making that dinner work (I likened the pressure to hosting your first Thanksgiving for your Mother-in-Law). I did extensive research, found a few ideas, and adapted them to fit my likes and came up with…

Vegetable and Cheese GALETTE
with Balsamic Vinegar

Galette, or more properly Breton galette, a fancy name for flat, round or free form crusty cake. Kind of tart thingies (pretty fancy word for a hairy knuckled Neanderthal, but I was putting on airs for my wife’s boss… and you all).

Here’s what I did…

As always, assemble the ingredients first. Nothing worse than getting ankle deep in the cooking process and finding out you are short something crucial. I needed…

For the Cornmeal Dough, BTW, this recipe makes 4 Galettes.

1-1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons top quality olive oil
1/4 cup ice water

Combine the ingredients and mix well. The dough needs to be chilled well in order to work for the look you want. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Which gives me time for a commercial about the giveaway contest…

OK, here’s the advertisement for the
giveaway contest to come…

I was recently contacted by O. No, not “that” O, but O OLIVE OIL (Which you can reach by clicking HERE). O Olive Oil is the original maker of organic CITRUS-CRUSHED Olive Oils and premium Barrel aged Wine Vinegars. I was given a sampling of their extensive product line, and was asked to “PLAY – ENJOY – WRITE/BLOG AWAY”. Well, while waiting for my shipment to arrive, I took a look at their website for details about their company… Oh My is all I can say. These are artists in the art of oil press and aging vinegar. For details, click this link for the process an Abruzzese olive mill that crushed lemons along with the olives creates. From the humble beginnings, they have been recognized by OPRAH (yeah, that O), Bon Appetit, Gourmet, magazines, as well as Good Morning America, The Tyra Banks Show and the New York Times as perfect products! While you can make this recipe with generic products, the top quality artisan products that O OLIVE OIL company provide really made this recipe sing… And keep reading, as you will get a chance to win some of these as well!

I used about a tablespoon of the extra virgin oil to saute sweet onion rings. When using EVO, be careful not to get the oil too hot, or the oil will burn.

I then added some green pepper rings and let these simmer for about 15 minutes to caramelize.

And now, get the dough out of the fridge, and separate into four equal parts. The dough separates easily, and you want a well floured surface to work on. work the dough into small thin circles, about 6 inches across.

Put them on a parchment paper sheet, or a well greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle a little EVO on the circles, flip over and sprinkle a little more on the other side.

Add the stuffings… For these, I used …

Onion rings Green bell pepper rings sliced cherry tomatoes diced mushrooms (but I saved a presentation mushroom slice to put on the top of each)

Before closing up, I added some grated fresh provolone cheese. I like using provolone to cook with, it not only tastes great but it melts better than most cheeses.

I was making this a vegetarian dish. But you can make the same thing with any number of ingredients, including bacon (everything tastes better with bacon), sausage, peperoni… squash, or any number of vegetable combinations. And as to cheese, imagine brie or goat cheese or fresh mozzarella or how about a good Stilton, blue cheese… This is a very versatile and adaptable for whatever you might have in mind, or what is left over in your pantry.

And now, sprinkle on some wonderful Balsamic Vinegar! I love balsamic, but not all is created equal. I like to have a bottle of really good stuff to use for specialty items or occasions like this.

Next, close up about one inch of the dough all around for that Galette look (instead of a pizza). BTW, I am not a fan of the texture of mushrooms, so I left them off mine (It’s good to be the cook).
Everyone else got that presentation mushroom slice put on the top. I then brushed on a little butter to make sure the edges would stay shut while cooking.

Just as I was putting in the oven, I topped with a little more grated provolone so that it would brown up nicely while cooking…

In a preheated oven at 375 degrees, for 45 minutes…

And Viola! I served this in place of a salad, as an appetizer. You could also make these larger, and if there happens to be a vegetarian in your midst and don’t want to hog tie them and force bacon down their throats, this would make an excellent vegetarian option. Also, as I was serving, I drizzled a little more fresh Balsamic Vinegar on the top, with a little splashing to one side of the tart (maybe a tablespoons worth total per Galette). Nice little extra taste, and for presentation. The holidays are coming up, those inconvenient vegetarians are out there, and need to be treated with the same respect you show your fowl (eating) guests. This is a nice little item to have ready, prep time takes about 2 hours (because of the dough temperature issue), but well worth it.

Bon Apetite!

OK… Contest time…
3 ways to win!
3 prizes to win!!!

I LOVE these products. Quality will show, and I was inspired to create something special with them. O Olive Oil has been very generous in offering not just one gift, but three combinations of their oils/vinegars. So, I will be offering three ways to win…

First, I will be running a similar contest at MY YEAR ON THE GRILL, (which you can reach by clicking HERE)! Follow the link, follow the rules about posting a comment on that site and you double your chances.

Next, on this site, just follow the link I am posting to the O OLIVE OIL HOME PAGE (that you can reach by clicking HERE). Surf around and see what they are all about. take a look at their about us page, and especially enjoy their “crush” page where you can really see the quality and difference they put into their product. Finally, head to their products page and follow the links on the side to see all the different items they have for sale. then come back here and just make a comment about which is your favorite product. Everyone who leaves a comment on this page listing a product that O OLIVE OIL sells will receive an entree into the contest/ I will assign each entry a data base number, and use WWW.RANDOM.ORG to pull a virtual number out of a hat and let you know who won! This contest is open to US and Canada only (sorry to the international readers, but the shipping is prohibitive). You can get a second entree if you become a “follower” to this site (those little pictures of faces at the middle of the lefthand sidebar). If you are already a follower, just drop me that message in the comment section. And finally, if you post a note on your blog advertising OUR KRAZY KITCHEN and the contest, you will receive 5 additional entrees. Be sure to leave a comment so I know to follow and see what your blog is all about!

One more time, here is what the winner wins… a bottle of each of the EVO and Balsamic I used to make this recipe…

O extra virgin olive oil This fine Extra Virgin Olive Oil is our house blend of our favorite oils from around the world. Small family farms from around the Mediterranean and California. Hand blended. Spain for fragrance. Greece for richness. Tunisia for mystery. Italy for love. And California for taste. A house favorite for everyday use. $9

AND a bottle of…

O california balsamic vinegar. The beloved balsamic vinegar, California style. Aged in the traditional way in oak wood. Hand-crafted in small batches right here in Sonoma. Rich, sweet, round & smooth flavor. Our obsession with quality and healthy ingredients led us back to California. Excellent brushed over grilled chicken with rosemary and black pepper. Drizzle over fresh strawberries or pears. Great in vinaigrettes and sauces. $12

Good luck to all!

Oh wait… that’s just two ways to win (comment here, comment on MY YEAR ON THE GRILL, I promised a third…

How about a …

RECIPE CONTEST!
The good folks at O OLIVE OIL COMPANY want to see what you might do with their oils or vinegars. Now, you do not have to list an original recipe, simply comment here a link to something you have posted in the past. It can be a magazine recipe, original or great grandma’s recipe. It can even be just an idea for something you might like to try. I will forward all these ideas to the vice president of O OLIVE OIL and he will decide which recipe he would most like to see made with any of their products. Please leave these comments separate from the comments you made above so I can keep track. The comments must be attached to this post, and are only open to residents of the US or Canada. Again, no need to post the recipe on my comments page, just send me a link to what you have posted previously. If you have not posted, you have a week to post and get the link to me. Or, you can comment with just your idea of what you would like to do with their oils.vinegars. One hint I should pass on from O – remember these are mostly finishing oils and do not do well when heated—the citrus portion tends to dissipate under certain temps. Though our blood orange does well on roasted fowl and grilled seafood so often it depends on the recipe/use. Jalapeno lime does great on grilling veggies so…depends. That’s what makes it fun to experiment. The vinegars, of course, are another thing. They are great for reductions, for punching up soups/stews, adding flavor texture to most any thing. Experiment. Play. Enjoy.

Feel free to submit a recipe post on this site AND submit a recipe on my home, MY YEAR ON THE GRILL site. There will be only one recipe contest winner from both sites, but this way you can enter twice to double your chances. If you have any questions, drop me a note. The contest closes at midnight, next Friday, November 13th, and a winner will be announced over the weekend. It will take just a few days longer to announce the winner of the recipe contest…

Oh yeah, the winner of the recipe contest will receive a gift box of your choice of one of the seasonal box collections…

  • fall collection O Zinfandel Vinegar, O Blood Orange Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar. Imagine roasted beet salads with chunks of insalata ricotta cheese. $38 value
or
  • spring collection O Ginger Rice Vinegar, O Jalapeño Lime Olive Oil, O Citrus Champagne Vinegar. Early spring fish tacos with crunchy slaw will sing with these exotic flavors. Crumble feta cheese in there for the Wow! $38 value
or
  • summer collection O Champagne Vinegar, O Meyer Lemon Olive Oil, O Pomegranate Vinegar. Perfect for late summer heirloom tomato & garden lettuces. $38 value
or
  • winter collection O Sherry Vinegar, O Ruby Grapefruit Olive Oil, O Porto Vinegar. The Ruby and Porto in this gift set will dazzle home chefs gathered around warm fires with crusty bread & brie. $38 value

And now… Good luck to everyone! And thanks for letting me come and play on your site… it was fun!