Category: MISC

TOMATO BISQUE

Tomato Bisque
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped small
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups fresh Roma tomatoes, peeled
4 cups chicken broth
3 or 4 sprigs fresh parsley
5-10 fresh basil leaves
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Sea salt and white pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese for serving

  • Melt butter in a large soup pot over medium heat. 
  • Add chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic.
  • Cook stirring often until soft, about 8-10 minutes.
  • Add chicken broth and tomatoes, stirring well.
  • Tie herbs together in cheesecloth and drop into the soup. This makes it easy to remove later.
  • Season with sea salt and white pepper to taste.
  • Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
  • Remove herbs and discard.
  • Add whipping cream and blend until smooth.
  • Ladle into bowls and top with freshly grated cheese and fresh basil.
Pairs really well with Tuna Melts.

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Orange Glazed Sesame Shrimp

It’s all over but the shouting.  Day after tomorrow (Saturday), we are off to the land of OZ.  So many things I will miss.  But so many things I have missed.  When we left god’s country (Kansas), it was February and there was 6 inches of snow and temperatures were in the teens.  Looking at the forecast, the 100 degree days are done.  Fall is coming and that is my favorite time to grill and entertain.  Nothing like a crisp fall evening, grilling up something fun and ending up with S’Mores around our fire-pit.  
Yes, I loved every minute I was here. 
Yes, I can’t wait to get home.
I have had an amazing time here.  Done so many things, seen so much, and have a new stack of T-shirts to prove it.  

And I learned to stop and smell the tropical flowers.

I highly recommend everyone living on a tropical island for six months (especially if one of them is February). Puts perspective on everything.
Orange Glazed Shrimp

1 cup Sugar
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
2 Seedless Oranges, rind removed
1 TBS Honey
1 pound large Shrimp
Sesame Seed/Sea Salt/Garlic Flake mixture to taste
  1. Combine sugar and vinegar in a small sauce pan and cook over high heat until the sugar is melted.  Add the Oranges and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced by half , 5 to 6 minutes.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and process until smooth.  Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.  Add the honey and season with the Salt and Pepper.
  3. Place half the glaze in a sauté pan.  Heat over medium heat and add the Shrimp.  Sauté until coated and heated.  I was using precooked shrimp, so all i was doing was heating.  Do not overcook the shrimp.  It will only take a couple of minutes.  Longer (but not much) if you are using raw shrimp.
  4. Add the sprinkle of seasonings (click HERE for the recipe of white and black sesame seeds, garlic flakes and sea salt – I LOVE it and use it for many things).  Add the sesame seed mix while the Shrimp is still in the pan.  The heat will open the seeds and add an aroma to the meal. 
Serve over rice.  The glaze can be made in advance.  Stores in the fridge for a week and can be used for lots of other foods.  How about an Orange Glazed Salmon (on the grill), or Orange Glazed Vegetables (on the grill), or Orange Glazed… Bacon (really, click HERE).

And once you Glaze Bacon with oranges, can Chocolate Covered Orange Glazed Bacon be far behind???
But That’s a post for another day.

Oh, and if you do move to a tropical island, get up early enough to see the sun rise from your deck.  It really is a great place to write your blog posts.
This really was the sunrise just 10 minutes ago, just as I was about to publish this post.  Un-retouched photo, but it looked even better in person.

See you next week from my beloved Cul de Sac

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. It really is just this easy!  

 … I CAN COOK THAT! 

And so can you!
…

POSITIVE THOUGHT

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; 
Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; 
Love more, and all good things will be yours” 
~Swedish Proverb
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POTATO OMELET MUFFINS

Potato Omelet Muffins
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes (you could get away with 4, easily)
8 eggs or egg beaters
12 teaspoons bruschetta sauce
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons chives, chopped (you can use dried – I ran out half way through so I added dried for the rest.)
2 slices yogurt-herb cheese or cheese of choice
1 orange pepper, diced
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream (low-fat)
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, put the butter and half the olive oil. Use remaining oil if needed. I used it then took another tablespoon and added it to the skillet.
Peel potatoes and shred.
Cook for three minutes, orange pepper and scallions. Add chives for one additional minute.
Remove from pan and replace with potatoes. I did three batches so not to overcrowd.
I browned the potatoes because we like them crisp. You can cook until translucent and then finish baking it, in the oven.
While potatoes are cooking, mix milk, eggs, sour cream, bruschetta sauce, and cheese.
Add peppers, scallions and chives to egg mixture.
Put potatoes on the side.
I did it again. I forgot the bruschetta. I had already filled a few muffin inserts so I put a piece of bruschetta on top of each and then poured the rest into the egg mixture. It added a great flavor to this. You could use liquid cayenne (hot pepper sauce) instead but I am not sure how much you would need since I chose not to use it. You can add heat to this if you like your food hot.
Take potatoes and put them on the bottom of each insert.
Using an ice cream scoop or ladle, scoop the mixture into each muffin compartment.
Bake for 30 minutes. I put a sharp knife in the middle of a few, like we do for baked goods, to make sure I did not have soft eggs. They came out dry but barely dry, the way I would want it to be.

BOHEMIAN PORK CHOPS aka PORK CHOPS IN BEER GRAVY and a drum roll please…

Let’s start the day off with our big CSN giveaway winner.  Drum roll please…

The winner is Julie from Mommie Cooks!
Congratulations!

This was from another scrap of recipe I found in gram’s things.  I don’t know if she ever made it, but pork chops and beer in the same sentence got hubby’s interest and so we had some fun experimenting with this recipe.

BOHEMIAN PORK CHOPS aka PORK CHOPS IN BEER GRAVY
4-6 thick boneless pork chops
1 small onion, cut into thin rings
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup water
1 beer ~ your favorite flavor
  • In a large skillet, melt butter.
  • Brown pork chops, generously salting and peppering.
  • Remove pork chops, keep warm.
  • Saute’ onion and celery until soft and translucent.
  • Add flour, stirring until golden.
  • Add water, stirring until well blended.
  • Add beer and simmer until begins to thicken.
  • Add pork chops back in and heat through.
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Apricot and Cherry Galette

Pie Dough Ingredients*
For a 9-inch crust
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of butter, cold and cubed
  • 1/4 cup ice water
Filling Ingredients**
For one 9-inch galette
  • 3/4 pound fresh apricots, pitted and chopped
  • 1/2 pound fresh cherries, pitted
  • 2 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup sugar + more for sprinkling
  • Juice of half a lemon
Ingredients for Assembly
  • 1 egg, beaten
ASSEMBLY
  • Cut butter into small cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  • Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. 
  • Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. 
  • Gradually add ice water and pulse until the dough forms a coarse meal. 
  • Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients. 
  • Flatten into a circle; wrap individually in plastic. 
  • Refrigerate dough for at least an hour. 
  • Remove dough from refrigerator; place on floured work surface. 
  • Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rough 11-inch circle. 
  • Trim the edges to a clean circle with a pairing knife. 
  • Transfer the circle to a baking sheet or pizza pan lined with parchment paper. 
  • Mix 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl and spread on the bottom of the dough. 
  • Toss apricots and cherries with the rest of the cornstarch, sugar and lemon juice. 
  • Arrange the fruit on the bottom of the dough, leaving 2 inches of dough left outside. 
  • Fold up and pleat the dough over the top of the fruit, leaving the center uncovered. 
  • Lightly brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle both the dough and the fruit with 1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar. 
  • Place the Galette in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 
  • Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack immediately. 
  • Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
*If you are in a huge hurry, Pillsbury from the dairy case can be substituted.
**1 can Comstock cherries can be substituted.  Just add apricots!

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BBQ BACON ROASTED CHICKEN

I found an awesome sale recently on roasting chicken and more importantly found this awesome 8 pound bird.  Yep, I said 8 pounds.  I’m going to get several meals out of this one!  As for the leftovers, I think we’ll have a Chicken Caesar salad and some Chicken a la King – haven’t had that in eons!
I will write the recipe though based on a standard size bird. I also swear I had bacon in the meat keeper, but it’s not there now so today we made it with hard salami and guess what?  It was awesome!  Honestly the main purpose of the meat is to keep the moisture in.
BBQ BACON SALAMI ROASTED CHICKEN
3-4 pound roasting chicken
6 slices bacon, cut as necessary
1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
3 stalks celery, washed and halved lengthwise
3 large carrots, washed and halved lengthwise
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Clean and wash the chicken well.
  • Layer celery and carrots on bottom of roasting pan.
  • Pour broth over vegetables.
  • Generously salt and pepper chicken.
  • With a silicone basting brush, brush chicken with a layer of BBQ sauce.
  • Basket weave the bacon together over the entire chicken.
  • Brush another coat of BBQ sauce over the bacon.
  • Roast chicken uncovered.
  • Baste with BBQ sauce every 1/2 hour.
RULE OF THUMB FOR ROASTING CHICKEN:  
30 minutes per pound up to 3 1/2 pounds.

22-25 minutes per pound over 3 1/2 pounds
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GARLIC SMASHERS

6-8 small-medium YUKON potatoes, skin on, quartered

sea salt
white pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 – 1 stick butter, sliced thin
6 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Scrub potatoes.
  • Generously spread olive oil on cookie sheet.
  • Group potatoes so they don’t overlap.
  • Sprinkle with lemon juice.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
  • Sprinkle minced garlic over potato tops.
  • Slice butter thin and lay randomly along potato tops.
  • Bake 45 minutes.
  • With a potato masher, SMASH each potato.
  • Bake another 30 minutes or until tops are crispy.

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