Hey Everyone!!!!!:-) I'm back!!! I noticed that my last blog was 2011. Wow it's been busy couple years!! But I'm ready to give you all some great recipes, cooking tips and fun ideas. I'm currently in Richmond visiting my sister in law and we had an excellent easy Bruschetta last night.


To make the tomato bruschetta I cut up about 4 vine ripe tomatoes and placed in a medium bowl. Then chopped half a red onion, 1 cup of chopped fresh basil, 2 or 3 garlic cloves minced, some olive oil and about 1/4 cup balsamic vinager. Mix thoroughly and add salt and pepper. Pop into your fridge and let sit for a while.

I then cut pieces of bread from a fresh baguette from fresh market. While I was doing that I warmed some olive oil in a large sauté pan. When warm I added my slices of bread and let each side turn a golden crisp brown.

After the bread was done I placed on a serving platter with a small block of a good goat cheese and got my tomato mixture from the fridge. Spread a piece of bread with some goat cheese to your liking and add bruschetta. YUMMMMMM was what Kate and I said:-) delish the goat cheese added an amazing touch!!!!

I didn't take pictures through the process but did snap an after photo. Enjoy!

Finally!!! Ryan's Hamburgers!!!!

Everyone loves Ryan's hamburgers and I'm not sure if its the seasoning or grilling. But the are always so good. So, this time I watched him make them and said I was going to blog it. There really isn't measuring and you can top them however you like. We do three different ways usually. We do Texas style, which is, shredded lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce. We do California, put Monterrey Jack and homemade Guacamole on them with a little onion. And lastly, we do Swiss with grilled mushrooms. But tonight we just wanted good old American burgers with cheese, onion, lettuce and tomato. What is your favorite type of burger?

Ryan's Hamburgers

First, gently break apart the meat and place in a mixing bowl. Ground Sirloin makes the best burgers!

Add about 4 shakes of the following spices. Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, and Oregano. Salt and Pepper as well.

Next, generously pour in Worchestire Sauce.

 

Lastly, gently form into patties. Its that easy but I think that's the key to much spices can make the burgers soo salty!! Put thumb print in the middle, to avoid hard balls of meat on the grill.

Grill to your liking. And add your favorite toppings!!

Bummer camera went dead!! Sorry! They looked so good at the end:)

Black-Eyed Pea Dip/ Salad

We are vacationing at my mom's house in Hilton Head, SC!! I found this recipe that my mom had from my sister Patsy and said it was great. You can make it a dip which we did with Tortilla chips. You could also use Frito scoops or any other type you would like. My mom likes to have it as a salad for lunch. It would go wonderfully with fish or chicken for dinner. We also were able to use our jalapenos we brought from our garden at home!! Enjoy!

Black- Eyed Pea Dip/ Salad

2 cans of Black-eyed Peas (drained and rinsed)
1 can of Shoe peg corn
3/4 cup chopped red onion
3/4 cup chopped red pepper
if you like add a bit of green pepper as well
2 large Jalapenos chopped
1/4 cup Cilantro
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 heaping tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

First drain peas and rinse.

Rinse and drain corn.

 

Add the corn and peas to a large mixing bowl.

 

Chop red onion. Ryan is the best chopper !!!!!!

Chop green and red onion.

Chop jalapeno.

Chop cilantro.

Picture of the chopper:)

He really isn't crying:)


Add the garlic with the other veggies to the mixing bowl.

Pour remaining ingredients of oil, balsamic and mustard.

Salt and Pepper and mix thoroughly. Chill for few hours but best overnight.

Marscapone Pasta

The love for this pasta started about two years ago when my mom and I were getting our hair done from a great friend of mine, Jenn Mustachio. We were talking Italian pasta and she told us about her AMAZING pasta dish with bowtie pasta, sausage, onion, white beans and the one and only marscapone. So, of course after our hair was done away we went to the store for the ingredients and made it. I have never ever tasted something so creamy and delightful that I made at my house. It truly beats any Italian restaurant dish and is really easy to make AND my daughter loved it.  Then my other friend who has a AWESOME cooking blog put her own twist to the recipe and I LOVED that one too. The other night I made the second version that hungrymom-ontherun.blogspot.com made. CHECK HER BLOG OUT ... it rocks. I am posting it here for all my friends who haven't seen it on her blog.  This is truly a gem to be kept in your recipes. And if you are watching closely what u eat ... try to eat 1 cup hahahahahah.

Marscapone Pasta

1 pound Farfelle Pasta
1 medium onion, chopped
2 or 3 garlic cloves
1 cup of frozen peas
1 or 2 cups of fresh mushrooms ( if u like more use 2 cups.. I do 2)
3 Hot Italian sausage (casings off)
8 oz Marscapone Pasta

NOTE: If you would like the original version with Canellini beans omit the mushrooms and peas. Add the a large can of drained Canellini Beans. 

Start by finely chopping a medium onion.

 

Next, heat a bit of olive oil in a large sauce pan on medium. Add the garlic to the heated pan. I am so careful to keep on low because of burning the garlic. Which to me is a terrible flavor.

Add onion and saute till softened.

I do the sausage in a heavy cast iron pan. Drain after the meat is cooked through.

 

Add the mushrooms to the onions. Let the mushrooms slowly soften. As to not overcook. 

When you start the cooking process bring a large pot of water to boil. (woops) And when comes to rapid boil add salt and the pasta.

 

 Add the sausage to the mushroom mixture.

Then add the peas to the mixture let cook just a minute. So they still have a good texture to them.

To this pan add about 3 large scoops of the marscapone and let heat through. After drain pasta and reserve a bit of the pasta water to thin out the sausage mixture when you add it to the pasta.

Lastly mix all together. Lots of pepper and a bit of salt. Enjoy.

Hungry mom and my husband both love it with hot red pepper on it. As so,

Green Green Beans

I have had a lot of luck this season at the farmer's markets and Harris Teeter with wonderful green beans. I really like to saute them and love to serve with steak or fish. This is a simple recipe I have had for a few years and I think it was from Emeril's TV show that used to be on the food channel.  But I like it because it looks sooo nice and is super simple to make. Enjoy

Sauteed Green Beans

2 Tbs olive oil
1 Thinly sliced white onion
2 Cups local green beans, washed and trimmed
1/2 cup of chicken stock ( I make my own with Knorr bouillon cubes, I think tastes better and stronger)
Salt and freshly group pepper

In a large saute pan add the olive oil and onion. Cook 10 to 15 minutes till the onion is caramelized.

Next wash the beans and trim.

Then add the green beans to the saute pan with the stock and the salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and cover and simmer for about 5 minutes. Watch because you want them crisp and tender not mush!!! Serve and Enjoy!!

Simply Flank

My sister in law came into town for the night and wanted to make her and my nephews a nice dinner.  I had a flank steak and marinated that with my moms famous marinade. She got this marinade when my dad was stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas years ago. I think its simple and gives the flank steak a wonderful flavor. I try to marinate it for one day or overnight.

As for my side I was going to do roasted red potatoes but remembered that my friend gave me a unique quick recipe for red potatoes. I am going to call them "Smashed Red Potatoes"

I also decided to do a wedge salad which is quick and everyone likes it. And the kids seem to love it because it has bacon and I make my own ranch dressing with a packet from Hidden Valley. They love it!!!

Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 Tb plus 1 tsp worchestire sauce
2 tsp dry mustard
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tb plus 2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp parsley flake
1 garlic clove
1 Tb of lemon juice

Wedge Salad


1 head iceberg lettuce
Container Crumbled Blue Cheese
Tomato
Bacon ( I have used anything from real crumbles, to store bought jar or already cooked bacon pieces)
Ranch Dressing ( I use the Hidden Valley Ranch packet, I use 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 mayo to try to make it thinner) Also, I do use light mayo and skim milk and still tastes delish!!
Salt and Pepper

For the "Smashed Red Potatoes" boil the red small potatoes till they are soft but not falling apart. Sorry I never time it!!!

On a cookie sheet drizzle a bit of olive oil and place one potato down on the sheet and "SMASH" with a potato masher. After you have done this to all your potatoes add a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper on top.

Bake in the oven on 450 for about 20 minutes or until nice and crispy.. YUMMO

These are my after pictures which I hope turned out good .  Enjoy!!! 

Wedge Salad (AFTER)

Flank Steak (Thank you Ryan for your grilling expertise on this one:) , potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms.

Cucumber Salad

Before Ryan's poor cucumber plant died we were able to get 3 last cucumbers. So, I wanted to make a cucumber salad my mom used to make all the time. Which, we had tonight with grilled chicken and sauteed white corn. A simple summer dinner that was easy and good. I love cucumbers and was nice to have them in the backyard while they lasted:(

Cucumber Salad
1/2 cup Mayo (light or regular) you can also use plain Greek yogurt which I do alot
2 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Vinegar ( I only had white wine vinegar tonight)
2 cups sliced cucumbers
Tad bit of lemon juice

Slice Cumbers

Mix ingredients , I put just a little lemon juice at the end

Lastly, pour over cucumbers.. you can really use any amount of the dressing and save it for next time if you don't use it all.

Enjoy!!!