Steak rub and roasted corn

Again we got lucky and got some steaks on sale found this rub that is supposed to be like Outback Steak house. Now this was one of our favorite steak houses to eat out at as they also had add on shrimp. We love the Cesar salad and have tried to duplicate the recipe but to no avail. To go with this we thought we would try a roasted corn on the cob as we had a little queso fresco cheese left over. This is a very mild cheese and when we made this again we used feta as it has more of a kick. We also did it in the oven as it was raining outside. Steak was cooked on the George. Oh yes the purple looking stuff is mushrooms and cauliflower with a little red wine and cream. Looks funky but tasted good. And the corn was to die for. We made this also at another time in our little black skillet with frozen corn and it turned out pretty good.

Steak rub

3 teaspoons of salt

4 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (start out with 1/2 if you are scared of this one and then adjust)

1/2 teaspoon coriander

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Mix all together and rub onto steaks then cook.

Roasted corn

4 ears fresh corn (we did use frozen and only needed half of this)

1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise per ear.

1/2 cup queso fresco (can use feta or Monterrey jack) we have not tried with the jack

2 teaspoons chili powder

salt and pepper

2 Tablespoons lime juice. we just cut a wedge and squeezed it over the corn

roast corn in oven or on grill

mix chili powder,salt and pepper

coat in mayo then coat in cheese and sprinkle with the chili powder and sprinkle lime juice on.

(to use in black skillet we added the mayo to corn then cooked with chili powder,salt and pepper and cheese on top and added lime juice just before serving. We don't have a picture of that one as we took it to the jam that night.

Heirloom tomatoes and green beans

I thought I would post a picture of my baby tomato plants that were given to me by a friends daughter. She has a wonderful sunny yard for a garden. Alas our yard is mostly in shade. She also is into planting heirloom plants and we were so excited to see that. We will keep you up to date as the tomatoes grow but I did want to hit on a subject about the food we now eat.


Above is an old photo from my mother in laws thanksgiving or Christmas dinner back in the 80's that my wife took (this was before we were married). Now my mother is law is a to die for cook. She is 83 and cooke's breakfast and dinner almost every day, my father in law will be 85 in May and they both are doing fine for now. There is nothing I have ever put in my mouth that was not a absolute delight. And she is the master of deserts. I think it is because my mother in law does not use processed foods. Food pictured is strawberry salad, green beans, potato salad, creamed corn, chocolate pie, and Carmel cake. Sweet potato casserole and a baked hen.

One day when we were there (and I know I bug her hovering in her tiny kitchen hoping to absorb some of her secrets) Wife and I commented on that we followed her directions on how she cooked her green beans but alas they never tasted like hers. She asked us what kind of green beans did we use? We had no idea, Kentucky wonders was the only one we could think of we did go to the farmers market but was not sure what type of bean it was. She told us rattle snake beans was the ones she used. Never heard of those. She said they were kind of speckled but when cooked that they were all the same color. She also preferred silver queen for her corn and purple hulled peas.


This was like a light bulb going off. Wife and I had commented several times food just did not taste the same as when our parents cooked. Now we are talking food in a bowl and placed on the table not serve your self off the stove. Yes we also remember helping to clean and shuck the corn snap the beans and shell peas to but up in the freezer but we never paid attention to the kind or type.

We looked in vain for several years at our farmers market for the rattlesnake green beans and last year they had some. We found out that they are considered an heirloom type plant. Our friends daughter has some of the seeds of the rattle snake and silver queen. We hope she grows some.

So the lesson learned is to buy or if possible plant some of the older ones and you may find the taste is so much better than the mass produced ones. We heard that about the tomatoes so we will keep you up dated.
By the way my mother in law said there was a sweet potatoes she would eat as a child in LA. that was very red on the inside and very sweet. She has not seen any since she moved away from Houma. So if any one knows what the name is or if they are still around please let us know.

Cilantro Lime Mayonnaise with shrimp,oysters and fish

OK we just love cilantro. With that said, the other day when we were in town we did a bad thing and went threw a drive Thur as we were starving and it was another 45 min to an hour home. So we whipped into a place we have not been to in I guess about 4 years. Bugger King.

(One of the bad things about a new HD TV is all the food commercials just kill us especially the Olive garden and there is no were to go to get even a Burger unless you drive 16 miles)

On their menu was a limited time only a fish sandwich with cilantro lime mayo. Needles to say we got one and it was delicious and of course our next thought was we can make this at home!

So we turned to our trusty computer and found this one by epicurious. We were going to have our Seafood night with this. We are also thinking of salmon burgers with this at another date.

We use the Zatarains fish fry as our batter for our catfish, and the shrimp, oysters and we also did some cauliflower with it.

1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves

3 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 garlic peeled

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise

Blend all first 5 ingredients in processor until cilantro is finely chopped up. Add mayo and process to just blend. Season with salt and pepper cover and chill. Should keep up to one month. That's if it last that long.

Rosemary Pork Loin roast in crock pot

I had a dish like this at a friends house a few years back and have been wanting to fix one my self. This is a comination of several I found on Zaar

1 3-31/2 lb pork loin roast

1 Tablespoon rosemary

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 package dry onion soup mix

8 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons veg oil

1 small onion diced

4 carrots sliced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

add water if needed

3 med potatoes (red) cubed

Fresh or can of mushrooms

With a strainers separate dried onions from the dry powder in a small bowl mix in rosemary black pepper and sage add olive oil and whisk together. Rub all over roast.

Heat 3 Tablespoons veg oil and brown roast on all sides remove and when cool enough to handle make slits and insert garlic cloves.

Place in crock pot add soups add carrots potatoes onion

add water if needed.

cover and cook on low 6-8 hours depending on your crock pot.

Remove and if gravy is not thick enough can add a little flour or cornstarch.

Serve with rice.

Salmon with Honey glaze

This was really good and of course we got it from the Zaar and they claim it was like the dish at Applebee's. We have never had this dish there but this was a real keeper.

3/4 cup honey

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 dark brown sugar(packed)

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1 lemon juiced about 2 tablespoons

2 Tablespoons white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

4 8 oz salmon fillets without skins

Combine all ingredients but salmon in a medium sauce pan and cook over med low heat.

stir occasionally until sauce begins to boil, then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until syrupy. Watch so it does not bubble over.

Take the salmon and rub with a little vegetable oil and a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Place on grill and cook 4 to 7 minutes per side or until done.

We did this on our George as it was raining(seems like we have got a lot of rain this year) and it turned out fine but we will have to try on the grill as wife loves stuff cooked on the grill.

Serve salmon with the sauce over salmon and a little in a cup on the side.

Spaghetti Pie

This is one my wife made and it was pretty good we both thought it was a good quick meal and of course would be better with our homemade spaghetti sauce but a jar will do in a pinch.

4 oz spaghetti

1 Tablespoon butter

1 beaten egg

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pam

1 cup cottage cheese

8 oz ground beef

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup bell pepper

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 bottle spaghetti sauce

can add crushed red pepper and Italian seasonings

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to directions, drain and return to saucepan and add butter stir in egg and Parmesan cheese. Spray Pam into 9 inch pie plate. Press spaghetti into bottom and sides forming a crust. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti on bottom and up sides.

While spaghetti is cooking saute onion,bell pepper,garlic with ground beef till cooked. Drain off fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce and adjust to taste. Cook for about 5 to 6 minutes. Place over cottage cheese and sprinkle mozzarella cheese over sauce.

Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes or till bubbly, cut into wedges and serve.

Beef Tips

There is a restaurant here in Jackson that always had the best beef tips and rice. As we can't make their lunch any more we looked for a recipe we could do here at home. This one was pretty good but I felt it had to much Worcestershire tast. I think I'll cut back on it next time.

2 lbs cubed stew meat

1 onion chopped

1 pkg brown gravy mix

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 cups water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon garlic (we used 1 clove)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup water.

In a large skillet heat oil and saute onion until they are translucent.

Add meat and cook on high until meat is browned on all sides.

Add 2 cups water,soy sauce, Worcestershire, garlic,salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce heat.

Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours

Combine gravy mix with 1 cup water mix thoroughly and stir into meat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently until it thickens.

Serve over rice.

Mona's Pot Roast

Can you believe it we had snow flurries here yesterday, now it is up near 70 got to love the South.

This is my mother in laws pot roast and it is very yummy.

2 Tablespoon vegetable oil

3 1/2 to 4 lb round or Chuck roast

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pkg dry onion soup

6 medium potatoes quartered

6 carrots cut in 2 inch pieces

2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

several cloves of garlic

Make several slits in meat and place clove of garlic in

Heat oil and brown roast well on all sides

Stir in mushroom soup, onion mix and 1 cup of water, reduce and heat and cover and simmer for 2 hours. Turn occasionally.

Add vegetables cover and cook 49 minutes or until roast and veg. are fork tender.

Remove roast and veg.

In cup stir together flour and 1/4 cup water till smooth and gradually stir into pot, cook till boils and thickens stiring constantly. Serve with roast.

total cook time 3 hours.

Italian Crescent Casserole

This has been a bad week, Last Sat. our little town had a major water leak and the water went out early in the morning. Now we had just gone to the grocery store Friday and had our weekend and weeks dinners planed out. That was blown to heck and back. Water didn't come on till around 6:30. My wife was worried about getting the laundry done. Needles to say we had to boil our water so for the next few day (till Thursday afternoon) so we had a lot of sandwiches this past week. This is one of our casseroles that turned out pretty good.

1 lb ground beef

(we had some peperoni and thought it would co good so we added you can leave out)

1 small onion

1/4 cup celery

1/4 cup bell pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings

1 cup spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can crescent rolls (8 oz)

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese rated

2 tablespoon butter

Heat oven to 375

brown beef onion, celery, bell pepper,garlic, drain

add spaghetti sauce

In separate bowl combine mozzarella cheese and sour cream

Place meat in 9x13 greased baking dish.

(we had some left over peperoni and added a layer)

spoon cheese mixture over top

Unroll crescent roll dough over top

Mix Parmesan cheese and butter together and spread over top of dough

Bake 18 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Lime baked fish

This was a Zaar recipe and turned out pretty good. A little lighter fare from all the heavy winter comfort foods we have been having. Maybe because it was warm today and we have had the door and windows open and the Bradford pear across the street has bloomed overnight.

1 lb fish fillet (we used flounder)

3 Tablespoons butter

2 Tablespoons lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon chives

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 lime wedged

Place butter in baking pan melt in oven and coat pan

Place fish in pan and drizzle lime juice over fish

Combine remaining ingredients and sprinkle over fish

Cover with foil and bake at 359 for 10 to 15 minutes

Garnish with lime wedge.

Sweet potatoes and Ground beef casserole

Snow is all gone but I got some good pictures of the birds at our feeders. Here is a different casserole that is a tad sweet. We really like stuff more spicy but this was still good. Again we found it on Zaar wanting to use up two sweet potatoes we had.

1lb ground beef

one onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

2 large sweet potatoes

1/4 cup brown sugar (we used dark as that is what we had)

1 cup pineapple juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons white vinegar

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoons pepper

Preheat oven to 350

Mix ground beef,onion,bell pepper,salt and pepper.

Press in a thin layer in greased (Pam)baking dish. (We used a 9x11)

Peel potatoes and slice thin (the gadget works great for this just don't slice your fingers off.)

Now layer over meat mixture.

Mix pineapple juice,vinegar,soy sauce together now add brown sugar and flour and pour over potatoes and ground beef.

Cover and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Check that potatoes are done before taking out we had to cook a tad longer.

Snow in the South

Well I was talking about snow the last post so I thought I'd put some pictures up. Now I know you all up north think we have not seen Snow like you all have up there and yes it is nice to have this much and it virtually be gone the next day. But that's why we get so excited down here. In fact my wife was up (keeping me awake) every 2 hours to look outside as most of the snow came in the night and next morning she was up and out taking pictures and calling her mom. I finally had to get up as she was not letting me sleep as she was in the bed room every 30 minutes telling me how pretty it was. And they just said we might have another dusting this week.

About 4 inches Feb 13 2010

African Bean and Sweet Potato Soup

Well its back to soup again as it has been cold and we put some of this up in the freezer. I forgot to write it up so here it is now. This was tasty and made a good bit as we are enjoying it now as it is a cloudy and ucky day....Again. I don't know when we have had so many chances of snow. When we moved here as we are a little more south than Jackson we didn't think we would see snow but on very rare occasions. Especially after all the people calling the end is near with global warming. Tell that to the 4 inches we got. And its in the forecast again of course its most likely not here again but you never know.

1 tablespoon olive or peanut oil

1 1/2 teaspoons curry or cumin (we used cumin as we like it)

pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice

1 medium red onion diced

4 cloves garlic minced

1 med sweet potato pealed and diced

1 yellow bell pepper diced (we used a green that's what we had on hand)

1 jalapeno or other chillies pepper seeded and diced (be careful with peppers use gloves if you can and do not rub you eyes till after washing hands real well)

1 14 oz can black eyed peas rinsed and drained

1 14 oz can white beans rinsed and drained

1 14 oz can black beans rinsed and drained

1 quart broth we used chicken

1/2 cup natural peanut butter melted in a half cup of boiling water or broth.(we just threw in pot and we used crunchy Jiff and it worked just fine.)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (we added more because we like it hot)

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon brown sugar

salt and pepper to taste

chopped fresh cilantro

can add 2 cups chicken
Heat oil and cook onions,potatoes,garlic,bell pepper,jalapeno, for about 5-6 minutes

add chicken broth, beans, chicken,cumin and simmer for about 30 minutes
add in peanut butter pinch of cinnamon,lime,crushed red pepper

salt and pepper to taste.
garnish with chopped cilantro. we also used sour cream

Steak with Cherry-Balsamic Reduction

This was so good. We do not get a chance to have a steak very often as we are no longer a two income household. But we got the steak on sale and thought what the heck we even splurged for a bottle of wine. Sure do miss the wine tastings we used to go to but alas the times are changing.

For two

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 shallot chopped(we used a little red onion)

1/2 large clove garlic minced

8 teaspoons dry red wine (shiraz or zinfandel)

8 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoons cherry preserves

1/cup frozen dark cherries thawed

2 fillet Mignon we used rib eyes

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and cook onions until soft and wilted not browned. about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir for 30 sec. Add wine, preserves,vinegar and cherries. Increase the heat to bring to a light boil, stirring occasionally. Let the sauce reduce to half the original amount. About 10 to 12 minutes It should get thick and syrupy.

Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper and cook steaks until your taste.

Serve sauce on side or over steak.

Goat Cheese Craisin and Pecan Pinweels

I know the big V day is coming up and these make a tasty and attractive treat. Yes I know every one wants chocolate but these are also good. We first had these at Christmas.

2 8oz pkg of cream cheese very well softened

1- 5 1/2 oz chevre goat cheese.

1/2 cup finely chopped green onion(we added just a little bit more)

6 oz craisins

2/4 cup chopped pecans

4 large flour tortillas

In a bowl combine cream cheese chevre cheese green onions crasins and pecans.

evenly spread 1/4 of mixture on each tortilla and roll up tightly and wrap each in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight

Slice and serve makes about 32.