Year: 2020

Spicy Mayo Sauce

Spicy Mayo Sauce

Simple recipe, but one not to forget. My son always likes to make a Sriracha mayo for his egg sandwiches. This one has just the right zing and kick.  Ingredients: 1 cup / 230 g. Kew Pie Mayo½ cup / 126 g. Sriracha Chili Sauce1 

Pineapple Slaw

Pineapple Slaw

During the last few months (COVID) I have been watching Christina Tosi on Instagram, and learning a ton. Recently, she has been featuring guests and their recipes. The recipe for Pineapple Slaw from Ash Ledet, is a perfect sandwich topping or side to any spicy 

Stein’s Swedish  Meatballs & Lingonberry Sauce

Stein’s Swedish Meatballs & Lingonberry Sauce

This is the Swedish Meatball recipe from Chef Zane at the Stein Eriksen Lodge –  Glitretind Restaurant. I made these meatballs at home, and then a few weeks later had them at the restaurant. If you follow the recipe and use the right ingredients, this recipe is exact. While dining at Stein’s Troll Hallen Lounge I had the opportunity to tell Chef Zane that I made his mom’s famous recipe, and that they were just as good as the ones I had ordered. He was pleased that I had success with his recipe, and he encouraged me to freeze them and keep them handy for quick meals. Thanks to Chef Zane, I now have a another quick meal always ready to make. 

Recipe Serves 8 People – Approximately 48 Meatballs

Swedish Meatball Mixture:

2 lbs. ground pork

1lb. ground veal

1/2 yellow onion

10 sprigs parsley

2oz. Utah honey

Kosher Salt/pepper to taste

2 Whole Eggs

1/4 cup Panko Bead Crumbs

Lingonberry Sauce:

8oz. of Lingonberry Jam

3 cups veal demi-glaze (can be found in specialty food stores)

3/4 cup heavy cream

Combine all ingredients, simmer and reduce until sauce has a nappé consistency.

Method:

Small dice the yellow onion, pick parsley leaves from stems and finely chop. Combine all ingredients together, mix thoroughly and place in refrigerator to rest overnight.

Roll mixture into 1 inch uniform meatballs. Place meatballs, evenly spaced, on a non-stick sheet pan.

Cook at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and place in Lingonberry Sauce.

Serve & Enjoy!

Italian Dressing

Italian Dressing

This is such a nice Italian dressing, and it is very easy to make. It is made with ingredients that I always have on hand. Make it early, so you can chill it a bit before dressing your salad. Ingredients: ½ cup olive oil 5 

Poppy Seed Dressing

Poppy Seed Dressing

I have always enjoyed when someone makes a salad with a good poppy seed dressing. I found this recipe years ago in a Saveur magazine and have kept it in my recipe file for years.The note on the recipe says: Popularized by Texas cookbook author 

Instant Pot Ranchero Beans

Instant Pot Ranchero Beans

After experimenting with several recipes, I have come up with this one on my own. Beans are so easy to make in the Instant Pot, you will never want to open another can of pinto beans for dinner again. You can adapt this recipe and leave out the bacon and you can either mash the beans or leave them whole. 

Below I have also included an alternate recipe that is even less time consuming.

Ingredients:

2 strips of bacon, diced
1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 white onion, diced finely 
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 Tablespoons Chicken Bouillon
Kosher Salt or Lawry’s garlic salt
fresh ground pepper
5 cups water
1lb. bag of pinto beans

Directions:

Rinse and sort the pinto beans to make sure you don’t have any pebbles or shriveled beans. Set the beans aside.

Select Sauté High on your Instant Pot. Add 1tablespoon of oil. Add your diced bacon and render out the fat until the bacon is almost crispy. If the pot seems like it is getting too hot, lower the heat to medium. 

Add the 1/2 finely diced onion to the pot and cook until tender and starting to brown. 

Next add the cloves of garlic and cook until lightly browned. 

Add the dried oregano, beans, water, chicken bouillon and bay leaf. 

Stir the pot to combine all of the ingredients. Attach the lid and select Pressure Cook- High for 40 minutes. When cooking is complete, use the natural release to depressurize. Press Cancel.

Remove the bay leaf. Stir the beans and season with salt and pepper to taste. 

** Mash your beans if you want when the cooking is finished. If you have too much liquid, just simmer the beans with the lid open and the liquid will reduce. 


Alternate Recipe:

If you want to make things even easier on yourself, you can skip sautéing completely, and add in all of the ingredients (excluding the bacon) at the same time. Instead of dicing the onion, put the half of onion in the pot without chopping. When the beans are finished cooking, you can then pull out the onion and bay leaf. Then you can also decide if you want whole beans or mashed. 





CPK Potato Leek Soup

CPK Potato Leek Soup

This is such an easy and flavorful soup. When it was on the menu at CPK, I ordered it all the time. I haven’t made this soup in years, but while on Quarantine Week #3, I decided to revisit some of my old recipes and 

Bristol Farms -Chili Con Queso Dip

Bristol Farms -Chili Con Queso Dip

A friend of mine introduced us to this dip from Bristol Farms, and we have been addicted ever since. I asked an employee in the deli for the recipe, and he told me about the mix and the other ingredients they use. Super easy! Finding 

Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque

Fire-Roasted Tomato Bisque

This is my go to tomato soup. I always keep a couple cans of Organic Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes on hand to make this recipe. I have cut the recipe in half and doubled it for dinner parties. Everyone asks for the recipe, so I thought I would share it on my site. The recipe makes soup for 10-12 people. I use a 9 1/2 quart – large oval dutch oven when I make this recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cube unsalted butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
2 celery ribs finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
8 cups chicken stock
2 28 oz. cans Organic Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, drained
6 Tablespoons tomato paste
4 teaspoons sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
1/2 cup garlic or cheese croutons, for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Melt 6 tablespoons of butter, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Sauté the vegetables, until they are just beginning to brown. 
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir over low heat for 1 minute, or until flour is fully incorporated.
Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar and bring to a boil. 
Cover partially and cook the soup over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, 20 minutes. Don’t worry about overcooking!
Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. You can also transfer the soup in batches to a blender. 
Add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
Ladle into bowls and serve with croutons.
Recipe adapted from: Food&Wine November 2002
Overnight Oats

Overnight Oats

I know that Overnight Oats should be simple, but I wanted a recipe that worked in small jars and was easy to prepare before going to bed. This recipe can be adapted to ingredients you have on hand, and topped with your favorite things. You