We went from having our furnaces on overnight to possibly needing to turn the ac units on with a pending tornado watch. Since I was awakened by a storm at 5:30 complete with hail, I cooked swiss steak in the crock pot just to be on the safe side with the weather. I concocted a new veggie side dish to accompany it ~
Green beans with pears & bacon
10 oz green beans, cooked, drained
2-3 slices bacon, diced, cooked
1 large D'Anjou pear, peeled, sliced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp raspberry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Cook green beans (the microwave in the bag ones work and taste great). Cook bacon slices. I like to cut them up before cooking into small slices. I also put in an additional slice because I like to nibble.
In bottom of large sautè pan, melt butter and add brown sugar and raspberry vinegar. Add in slices of pears and cook about halfway so they maintain some crispness.
Add in green beans and bacon until warm and then season to taste.
Servings: 6
Don't misunderstand, I truly love my job but long weekends rock. I've gotten my project list completed and I've had time to create in the cave and have another day to go.
Tonight I grilled a filet mignon and had this tomato dish as a side ~
It is one tomato, peeled and sliced in 1/4" slices. A light splash of extra virgin olive oil on top with a dash of salt. Then I added some slivers of Kammerude cheese which is a delightful garlic & basil gouda. I zapped it for 20 seconds and added a cooked & crumbled slice of bacon and some fresh chopped oregano.
Now it's time to relax with my new favorite adult beverage ~ my version of a mimosa Michele style. Orange juice is not my friend so I made 2 substitutions...not bad on a 2 ingredient drink. I used an Italian raspberry sparkletini spumante and mixed it with peach juice. Very refreshing and relaxing.
The picture gets star billing today because it deserved it. So sweet and tender and the peach topping with it's juices that delicately blended into the caramel...you just didn't want to have just one. I didn't. Now I'll have to work out to burn off the calories...perhaps, after a nap.
Peach caramel rolls
1/2 cup butter melted
1 1/3 cup brown sugar firmly packed
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp cream
1 cup peaches, peeled and diced (frozen work great)
1 loaf sweet bread dough, thawed
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Thaw bread dough so it's workable to make a rectange of about 10 x 13". Spread out and sprinkle 3 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon on dough and roll up (the 13" way). Let sit while you work on the caramel sauce.
Melt butter. Add in brown sugar, corn syrup and cream. Mix together and add in peaches. Cook for a few minutes and the put at the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.
Cut dough. I cut in half, in half again and then half for the final time so you end up with 8 equal slices.
Put down in your baking pan & spread out evenly. Let rise again for an hour or to when the dough has risen to the height of the pan.
Bake until a nice golden brown.
Carefully turn over pan onto a aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Be careful...the peaches might have caused the sauce to become looser than other caramel rolls you've made because they release juice while baking.
Serve warm.
Servings: 8
Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes
It finally stopped raining long enough to grill so I took full advantage of it despite the wind gusting up to 20 mph. I wanted a fun side for chicken so I cut sweet potatoes into 1/2" slices, drizzled olive oil on top and added some salt and pepper and grilled them on top of aluminum foil on the top rack for about 30 minutes. I had the grill on high so I could keep it going in the wind. I brushed on raspberry chipotle salsa when they were almost done cooking,
So good!
The trick is finding a way to do it justice. The latest cheese to find a home in my refrigerator is Pepperori & Marinara cheese. It's excellent on it's own but what kind of cooking blog would it be if I left it in it's original state? Look at the thin lines of flavor ~
Sour Dough Cheese Bread
1 loaf round sour dough bread
1/2 cup butter melted
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
6 ounces pepperoni & marinara cheese cut into thin slices
1. Melt butter and mix in garlic powder and oregano.
2. Cut sour dough bread into 1" squares by making slices all in one direction and then all the other direction. Do not cut below 1/2" from the bottom.
3. Place cheese slices in each of the cuts.
4. Pour butter mixture over top.
5. Wrap in foil and bake covered for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.
Well after yesterday's rapture failure, I was still in the mood for chocolate so off to the cave and I found Nutella and peanut butter chips in the pantry. Seemed like a match made in heaven...trust me, it does taste pretty darn good.
Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup Nutella
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter chips
Cream together butter and sugars. Add in egg. Stir in Nutella and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients. Once completely mixed, stir in peanut butter chips.
Bake on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Servings: 46
Bake at 325°F for 10-12 minutes
A diet just won't matter if the world ends today so I treated myself and made a homemade pizza. So I threw some Stones in the cd player and started cooking.
Pizza sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 medium onion finely chopped
1 tbsp extra light virgin olive oil
1 6 oz tomato paste
1 15 oz tomatoes peeled, seeded and diced
4 oz water
1 tbsp Italian seasonings ~ crush between your hands and sprinkle into the sauce
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste
Heat olive oil in sauce pan and add in garlic and onion and cook until tender. Add in tomato paste and water. Add in tomatoes and spices. You can also mix in 1/4 cup of your favorite red wine. Let cook for about a half hour for all the spices to blend into the sauce.
Servings: 2
I used half of the sauce and froze the other half for a future pizza...if there is a future beyond today.
The dough is very easy to make.
1 package dry yeast
1/4 tsp sugar
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
Mix together sugar, yeast and add warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes. Put flour and salt into a medium sized bowl. Add in water mixture and stir or mix by using your hands and turn out onto a floured flat surface. Knead for 3 minutes and roll out onto a pizza pan. Leave a lip for your sauce. Use a fork and poke holes all over the dough surface. Bake for 5 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Remove from oven, add sauce and your favorite toppings. I used a combination of pepperoni and Canadian bacon and topped with fresh mozzarella with oregano sprinkled on top. Bake until the crust is a nice golden brown.
Now I'm wondering if I should continue my evils ways and go back into the woman cave and create some rapture chocolate treat...
