Beef and Snow-Peas

We LOVE, LOVE stir fry!!! They are so easy, fast, and yummy!!!  This is a classic recipe, and our family loves it! If we aren't making Thai Cashew Chicken (on blog, June 2012), we are making this!!! Serve over cooked Jasmine rice!!

SAUCE recipe 

1/2 cup, to 3/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cooking sherry

1-2 Tbsps fresh, peeled, minced ginger

2 to 3 Tbsps brown sugar~ to taste

2 Tbsps cornstarch

2 Tbsps minced garlic

1/8 to 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes~to taste (we like it spicy!) 

2 pounds skirt or flank steak-cut into thin, bite size pieces-against the grain

1 large onion-cut into big pieces

10 ounces fresh snow peas-strings peeled off

Fresh, thin cut carrots- as much as you like

Make up sauce. Put cut steak into plastic ziplock bag with part of the sauce. (Only about 1/4 of sauce)  Close baggy, with as little air in it as you can get, and with your hands, massage it around, so all beef has some sauce on it. Let sit for 30 minutes. 

In wok, or sauté pan, put a few tablespoons of vegetable oil, or whichever oil you prefer, and heat up to medium~ throw in the thin cut carrots~ toss around, with large kitchen spoon, til soft. Remove from oil and put on a plate. Next, in a bit more heated oil, throw in the onions. Cook til opaque, but not soft! Take out of oil and put with the cooked carrots. Now for the snow peas~ add oil if needed, and only cook and toss around for about a minute. Take out of wok and put with the other vegetables. Add more oil to wok,  and throw in the beef. Toss, til they are no longer red on the outside. It's steak, so you don't have to cook it too long! Drain any oil, if needed, then pour rest of sauce over beef, and add all the cooked veggies! Stir, and serve over cooked Jasmine rice! YUMMY, YUMMY!! 😊

Pierogy Gratin with White Cheddar, and Rosemary!

My family loves potato au gratins, but sometimes it's time consuming to peel and cut up all the potatoes into thin slices. I thought, what if I use pierogie's instead of potatoes and use the same recipe I love for potato gratin! WELL, I think I'm a genius on this one! SCORE!! So much faster, and unbelievably GREAT tasting!!  I served it on Christmas Eve with my extended family as a side to our beef tenderloin and everyone loved it! You'll thank me for this one!! :) 

1  2 pound bag frozen potato and onion pierogies (or potato and cheese)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 small onion, minced

2 cups sharp white cheddar, grated

1 stem of rosemary, needles taken off stem and chopped

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp black pepper

Take the frozen pierogies and sauté them in a big sauté pan with some olive oil, and sauté them until they are no longer frozen, and have some golden brown to them.

In a measuring cup, bigger than 1 cup, pour in the whipping cream, add the minced onion, rosemary, pepper and sugar.  (doesn't need salt, as the pierogies and white cheddar are salty. You can be the judge on that.) Stir.

Place cooked pierogies in a 13X9 pan, sprayed with Pam.

Pour the cream and onion mix over the pierogies, top with the white cheddar cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly! 

The final masterpiece!! I tell you~ you will LOVE IT!! Like I said~ you can thank me later!! ;)

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Apricot, Brown Sugar, Mustard Glaze!

Who doesn't LOVE St. Patty's Day?! It's fun, you drink green beer, and you get to eat Corned Beef and Cabbage! This is the best recipe for it, ever!  You will need~

6 Lbs Corned beef brisket- flat ones (our family makes 12 pounds, when we have anyone over, and doubles cabbage and veggies!  So, double spices, and glaze, too!)
1 large onion- sliced
8 cloves of garlic- minced
20 whole cloves
6 bay leaves
bag of small red potatoes
2 lbs baby carrots
15 whole all spice
Spice blend packet, that comes with each brisket
1 large head of green cabbage- cut into wedges

For glaze~ (may not need to double, if you double recipe, if you want a light glaze)
1 jar of apricot preserves
4 Tbsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
dash of red pepper flakes

Place corned beef in a dutch oven; barely cover with hot water. ( if you put too much water in, you lose flavor. Put into 2 different dutch ovens if you double recipe) Add onions, garlic, and seasonings. Bring to a soft boil, then Cover; turn stove down to a simmer. Simmer about 1 hour per pound. ( if you have 3, 3 pound briskets, just simmer for 3 hours, not 9!) :) Remove meat from liquid, put in the potatoes and carrots to the same liquid, cover; bring to a boil, and cook them for 10 minutes. Add the cabbage, and cook 20 minutes more! (be careful not to over cook cabbage, as it will turn to mush!  No one likes that!! Ha!) Place your corned beef on a sheet pan, while vegetables are cooking, cut off excess fat, then put the glaze all over the top of them. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

When corned beef is done, cut it into slices against the grain.  Drain the cabbage and vegetables, and serve in a bowl. Make sure you have butter, salt, and pepper for the potatoes that everyone smashes up on their plates!  HAPPY ST. PATTY'S EVERYONE!!! Cheers with your green beer!!!

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Split Pea and Ham Soup!

We LOVE homemade Split Pea and Ham Soup!! We make it the day after we have a baked ham for dinner.  It's the best recipe to use up all the rest of your ham! This recipe has TONS and TONS of flavor! Your house smells amazing while it is cooking!!! Serve it with some crusty bread!!

SLIT PEA AND HAM SOUP!

1 pound dried split peas-ready to go peas

1 1/2 pound cooked ham-cut into small pieces

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 medium onion, minced

1/2 cup celery, minced

1/2 cup carrots, minced

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 50 oz. cans chicken broth-more if needed

2 bay leaves

2 tsp thyme

1 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes- the perfect amount of heat!! :)

1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp sugar~ Or, to taste

Cut up about 1- 1 1/2 pounds cooked ham, set aside.

Rinse peas~

To the melted butter, add onion, celery, carrots, and bay leaves.  Cook on med-high for about 5 minutes, til they soften, then add the garlic and cook for about a minute or 2!

Add the chicken broth, and spices. Bring to a boil. When it is at a boil, add the split peas, and stir well! Let simmer for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours, with the lid on, but slightly cracked, until peas are soft. Sometimes they get soft faster than other times.  Just keep cooking it until they are soft. :)

After peas are soft, add the cut up ham, and simmer until the ham is warmed through. 

All cooked up, and ready to serve!  Bring on that crusty, buttered bread!!  DIG IN!!  This is the best recipe! 

Halloween, 'Bloody Zombie Eyes'!

Soooo 'spooky'~ my creative sister, Jill, sent me these pics of her hard boiled Quail eggs, that she made up for Halloween!!! A FUN, easy, great idea!!!!!  (can do these with regular eggs, cooked longer, and maybe they'd be called, MONSTER eyeballs!!)

Boil quail eggs in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, drain! 

Shake them all up to crack them all up, then put into a large container with cold water, red food dye, and some vinegar!  Put into refrigerator, overnight! 

When ready to serve, peel them, and you now how 'Bloody Zombie Eyes' for Halloween!! Serve with salt, pepper, and HOT SAUCE!!!! YUMMY, and healthy!!! THANKS JILLY!!  Fun, easy Halloween recipe!!! 

BLT~ Candied Bacon, Arugula, Avocado, Tomato Sandwich! Even better than BLT!

The BEST BLT, that isn't really just a BLT!!! It's a C-BAAT sandwich! That's a Candied-Bacon, Arugula, Avocado, Tomato Sandwich, and it is awesome!!

Sprinkle THICK CUT bacon with brown sugar!  Don't be stingy with it!! Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  Depending on how crisp you like your bacon!  I like mine crispy, so I do around 30 minutes.  Watch near the end as it can burn fast at this stage.  (bits of char still tastes good, though!)

Toast up your bread,  mayo it up (I mayo both pieces of bread!)  Now, start stacking the goodies on top! Some arugula, or lots~ I like lots!! Next, the tomato, then the candied bacon, then the avocado! 

Oh, yeah!!!  This is a heaven sandwich on earth!! LOVE IT!  Hope you love it, too!!  :)

Sashimi Salmon Ceviche!!!!!

My family LOVES sashimi, especially sashimi salmon!! Made like this, and it is the BOMB!! We have a great specialty market, in the Dallas area, so it is easy for us to find sashimi grade salmon! YEA! Try this, you won't be sorry!  So many flavors exploding in your mouth, and it's really healthy, too!! Forewarning~ you'll be fighting over the last few pieces!! :)

Sashimi Salmon Ceviche!

What you'll need~ (it's up to you on the quantities!)

Sashimi grade salmon- cut in 1/4 inch thick slices

Bunch of arugula-tossed with some olive oil, bit of lemon juice, bit of seasoned rice vinegar, and some black pepper.

A large ripe peach, or nectarine- cut into slices

1 jalapeno pepper- cut into thin rounds on a mandoline (mine is from my garden, and was very ripe, so is red in pic)

Cilantro- chopped (use as much as you like, we always add more to each piece!)

Scallions, chopped small

Lemon juice from fresh lemons-coat each piece of salmon, completely

ponzu sauce-lime flavor, if you can find it, if not just regular ponzu

secame chili oil

course finishing salt

Assemble in this order~ tossed arugula all over bottom of platter, sliced salmon, lemon over all, slice of peach, thin slice of jalapeño, drizzle all with ponzu sauce and sesame chili oil, and top with chopped cilantro, scallions, and end with some course finishing salt! 

Plate, and enjoy all the delicious flavors together with that chilled buttery salmon! It's so amazing!! Have some 'cheers' with some hot sake and you'd swear you were in heaven, or maybe at Nobu! ;)