Strawberry Salad

My wifes mother always had a strawberry salad every thanksgiving and she kinda got a craving for one but she could not remember how it was made. We have since got the recipe but that will be fixed at another time. We did use the frozen strawberries but added in some fresh ones also. Since we had a few fresh strawberries left that needed to be used and not enough to do anything with we thought this would be a good one to make. This one come from a falling and I do mean falling apart old Bell south cook book called Calling All Cook . It has just about everything.
1 10 oz pkg frozen strawberries
1 60z pkg strawberry Jello
1 small can crushed pineapple do not drain
1 cup boiling water
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese (room temp)
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 80z pkg cool whip
1 cup pecan pieces
2 bananas, mashed.
Mix strawberry Jello with boiling water reserving ¼ cup Jello. Pour into 13 x 9 Pyrex dish.
Add frozen strawberries, and fresh strawberries (we had about 3), pineapple, and bananas. Stir until strawberries melt. (We had ours out and thawed.) Put in refrigerator to jell.
Meanwhile soften cream cheese at room temp. Cream with confection sugar 1 cup at a time. Add ¼ reserve Jello and stir. Add cool whip and stir well. Fold in nuts, pour over Jello mixture and garnish with pecans and or fresh strawberries.

Coconut Chicken

I can not remember where I got this recipe but we had some left over yogurt we need to use and was looking for something different to fix. This smelled out of this world when it was cooking but we were a little let down when it came to taste. In fact we added a bit more of most everything in the spice department. Our taste buds want things to zing.

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic
¼ teaspoon turmeric1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional .. but we like)
¼ teaspoon garam masala (this was the first time to use this and it smells divine)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
juice and zest of one lime
1.5to 2 lbs chicken drumsticks (we used some chicken thighs.)
1 onion sliced
1 can (13.5 oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon dried cilantro or 1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro

In a large bowl combine yogurt, olive oil, garlic. Turmeric, cayenne pepper, garam masala, salt cumin, lime and lime zest. Place chicken in marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Remove chicken from marinade and reserve marinade.
In a large skillet, cook chicken over medium heat until it browns slightly, about 4 minutes each side.
Add onions and cook 2 minutes. Pour coconut milk and marinade over the top, stir. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low heat. Simmer for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Stir in cilantro just before serving.
Can serve as is but we put over rice.

Side dish of steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Lamb chops

We love lamb and wish we could get it more often, so when we see some chops at Sam's we grab them. We used the same marinade that we used on the chicken Slovakia and grilled them. Melt in your mouth goodness.

Again we had roasted potatoes and grilled some asparagus wrapped in bacon. We also had some mushrooms cooked in butter and then cream cheese placed in top of cap and placed under the broiler to melt the cheese. This was a simple way to do the mushrooms and if you have never made them its so simple to taste so good.

4th dinner crock pot pork

Well better late than never. We cooked something new for us this 4th. It was so hot here the thought of getting out to grill just makes me cringe. I cooked out for the chicken we had a week or so ago and I thought I would melt.105 heat index is not my idea of fun in the sun. One of the local grocery stores had a sale on a pork shoulder or a Boston but so I got one to try. I had come across a recipe for one cooked in the crock pot and wife has been wanting some pulled pork barbecue. I put this in the crock pot Friday night before we went to bed with a package of Lipton onion soup mix and depending on how big your piece of meat is let it cook low and slow over night. Ours was not ready at 10 the next morning so we kicked it up to high and by 1 we were in business. Sine we had potato salad last week we had roasted potatoes with it and baked beans.

Roasted potatoes were cut and sprinkled with the Lipton onion soup mix and baked beans had a little bell pepper,bacon and onion added. Some brown sugar and dash of dry mustard. We did cheat and buy a bottled barbecue sauce but we did doctor on it some.

Balsamic Black Eyed Peas

This is from a friend of mine from work. Mike C loves balsamic vinegar and has turned us on to some good recipes. This is a good one for the summer months and goes great with some fresh home grown tomatoes.

1 Ham steak (we had some frozen pieces of a honey ham left over and used this)
1 can black eyed peas drained

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 bell pepper chopped

1/2 cup celery chopped

1 teaspoon honey or syrup- we used honey as we are on the honey for health kick right now.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil.

Cook ham steak until golden then chop in pieces

Place back in skillet and add honey,black eyed peas and olive oil. Heat for a few minutes

Add balsamic vinegar gently stir

remove from heat and add other ingredients and stir.

Serve cold.

Leftovers put to good use

We had some leftovers on the chicken and pita bread so today we had it as a sandwich with a little yogurt dressing, tomato, feta cheese and green onion.

It is just way to hot around here this month we are hoping for some relief soon.

Heat index has been up to 105-108. It is just way to hot to do much cooking. We are looking for some good pasta salads so if any one has one they like a lot please pass it along.

Garlic Chicken Souvlaki

OK we are on the Greek thing ever since we went to the Greek fest and thought we would try our hand at making our own souvlaki. We used chicken thighs and they did not do well on the skewers, I may have cut the pieces to small. Will try with chicken breast next time and there will be a next time as this was finger licking good. The recipe says you can also use a pork tenderloin.

Oh we also thought at the last minute to throw in some shrimp in the marinade and cook them.

We did not have any wild rice which is what we would have liked to use but only had white rice at the time. Time to make a run into town for some supplies.

2lbs of chicken

10 garlic cloves crushed (sounds like a lot but it is not)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 tablespoons oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything and blend well

place in plastic bag with chicken and marinate overnight.

soak skewers or use metal

cook on grill until done.

Fried egg

Yes there is a fried egg under this, we had some left over sauce from our previous post and used it on the eggs with a few more shrimp added. We also read about the health benefits of honey and cinnamon and have been adding it now to our coffee and this is some on a banana

2 tablespoons of honey to one teaspoon cinnamon

This is supposed to help with cholesterol and a whole host of other ailments.

Using this has cut out the sugar wife adds to her coffee. Also can use in tea.

Hummus our take on the dip

We found a bunch of hummus recipes out there and kind of took a little of this and that to create our own.
I must say the first time we made it we must have had a bad batch of tahini because it was just nasty so it has been a while since we tried again but after our meal at the Greek fest we decided to give it another try. This time we used Krinos brand tahini and this one was much better.

3 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon tahini
3-4 cloves garlic
juice on 1/2 lemon (we added a little more)
1/2 teaspoon cumin (may add more to taste-we did)
3-5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt to taste
3-4 tablespoons yogurt
1 roasted pepper from jar.
we also added a little chipolata chili powder
paprika, fresh basil or Italian parsley to garnish also can use cilantro or mint. what ever you prefer.

Combine chickpeas with all ingredients except water and olive oil.
We used a food processor.
Mix till mixture becomes somewhat smooth. Add water as necessary to help with the blending, at end add olive oil and blend just to incorporate.
Serve with pita chips, pita bread or even corn chips

Orange Roughy with Sauteed Asparagus

Orange Roughy with Sautéed Asparagus (from TV noon day meal.)

2 T butter melted
1/4 t extra-virgin olive oil
2 pieces orange roughy
1 bunch fresh asparagus
1 clove fresh garlic
1/2 fresh lime squeezed
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste

White Sauce

1/4 T butter melted
1/2 t dill
1/4 fresh lime juice squeezed
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 lump crab meat optional (we used can)
In large skillet melt butter with olive oil over medium heat. Place asparagus and roughy in together along with the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Turn asparagus 3-4 times. Turn fish only once. Total cook time 5 min. You want the roughy to just begin to flake and asparagus to remain crunchy not soggy.
Sauce
Over medium high heat melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add remaining ingredients. Cook until sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon, About 5 minutes. (we also threw in a few shrimp)

(We had more white sauce and saved it to use the next morning over some fried eggs.yumm)

We liked this of course it has some of our favorite foods, We could have used a little more heat may add some red pepper flakes next time. we had a good Chardonnay wine to go with it. We had a little sauce left over and used in in a dish the next morning.

Pork Chop and Feta Skillet from Sisters Cafe

God this was so good we are going to have to fix this one again soon. We had the Cilantro and Lime rice with this. My wife said this was the best squash she has ever eaten. And on top of every thing it was so simple to do. Erin from Sisters Cafe we send you a big kiss. Please check out their site we have a link here on the right.
We did make a few changes as we have some rosemary and basil growing in the yard.
1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary(we used fresh)
1 teaspoon dried basil (we used fresh sweet basil)
1 teaspoon minced garlic(we used more because we like garlic)
1 pinch black pepper(we may have used a little more)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 pork chops (we had 2 really large ones)
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (we added a little zest) about one lemon in dish large enough to dip chops in.
2 oz crumbled feta cheese with basil and sun dried tomatoes (we only had plain)
1-2 yellow squash or one zucchini. We used 2 cups of summer squash we had put up last summer to make room for new.
We also had 1/4 head of cauliflower we added this wasn't part of original recipe but what the heck we like cauliflower and know it kinda absorbs the flavors (and we were right.)
In small bowl stir rosemary,basil,garlic,and pepper.
Heat oil in large skillet. Dip chops in lemon juice sprinkle with herb mixture.
Place chops in hot skillet, drizzle some lemon juice over them, sear both sides. About 7 minutes each side.
(Now we fix our chops a little different here in that we simmer them in a little water and covered for about 1 1/2 hours turning every 30 minutes and adding water if needed. the chops are so tender they fall off the bone)
Add sliced squash to edges of pan and pour remaining lemon juice and herbs if any, simmer when squash(we also added cauliflower here)is near done add feta cheese and cook till melted. About 5 minutes. I know you are gonna love this one.

Cilantro Lime Rice from Closet Cooking

We have been trying some of the good looking recipes from some of the sites wife and I visit. This one caught our eye as we don't know what we did before we discovered cilantro
This is from Closet Cooking.... link to the right and boy has he kicked up his recipes.We are wondering it he is not a chef in disguise.

1 tablesboon oil

1/2 onion chooped
1 clove garlic chopped

1 cup rice

2 cups water

cilantro chopped about 1/4 cup
1 lime juice and some zest

heat oil and add onion and saute until tender or clear

add garlic simer about 1 minute

add rice and toast in oil for a few minutes (this was a new way for us to cook rice but we have seen it done this way on cooking shows)

Add water bring to boil reduce and simmer covered for 20 minutes,

Remove from heat and add cilantro and lime jiuice and zest.

Now this was a little bit sticky not the light and fluffy rice we are used to.but it was good.

Whipped Cream

This is a picture of a gardenia from our bush. The bush is by our back door and smells so good when you walk out the door. We had a few cooler days where we could open the window beside it and have the smell come in as the wind blew. This close up made me think of whipped cream.

Shrimp and asparagus in white sauce

We both love shrimp and asparagus is in the stores now. This calls for a shrimp and asparagus dish.
I would like to thank Deborah's blog Taste and Tell (April 26 2007) for this one and we will be making it again as it was fairly easy. We may try adding some onion and red pepper flakes next time. A nice salad and a crusty bread to get that last bit of sauce. Yum Yum

Shrimp Pasta in White Sauce

1/2 cup butter
c cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 onion, diced
1 lb shrimp
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 c cream or evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
dash of nutmeg
1/4 garlic powder (we used fresh garlic)
3/4 cup steamed asparagus
12 oz pasta noodles
Cook noodles in sauce pan till al dent a
Steam asparagus
Melt 1/4 cup of butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly cook onions,(we added garlic here) and then add mushrooms and cook till tender. Add shrimp and cook till shrimp have changed color.
In another sauce pan melt 1/4 cup of butter add flour and stir till combined for about 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, cream and pepper to taste. Add garlic powder here if using the powder along with nutmeg to taste. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Simmer for 5-10 minutes until it thickens. Stir in mushroom shrimp and asparagus into sauce. Serve over pasta.

Jackson Greek Fest was delicious

The Martins have been bad this weekend. First off the Greek Festival was going on this weekend. We have been every year that it has been held and a wonderful way to try new food. If you have never gone try to make a point to go next year. I don't know but the food this year was just so tasty. We did come home with a few cookies. We hate that we did not have our camera with us.
Just to make your mouth water here is what we had.
Me.
Roasted Lamb,
Dolmathes (grape leaves stuffed with ground beef, rice and herbs, topped with lemon sauce)
Spanikopita (spinach and feta puff wrapped in filo)
Moussaka (sliced eggplant topped with a meat and tomato mixture. Covered with a white sauce and baked and garnished with cheese
Greek salad
Spouse
Souvlakia (pork shish-ke-bob grilled)
Tiropita (cheese feta wrapped in buttered filo)
Pastichio (pasta and meat with tomato sauce seasoned with onion,garlic,cloves, and cheese topped with white sauce.
Greek salad.
We bought a sample box of cookies with two each of Baklava, Paxmemadia (buttery almond cookie topped with apricot glaze and a cherry.... wifes favorite.)Kourabiethes (butter cookie topped with powdered sugar... reminds me of a wedding cookie.)
We wish lamb was more available as we are liking the taste of that meat more and more.
Next year we will take pictures.