Fritters

October calls for pumpkin goodies. Cookies. Pies. Lattes. Waffles. Oh yes. Apples too! I just found this recipe. It's on! Holy yummo.

via

If they are good and I like you, you may just have some end up on your doorstep. :) Happy October!! A favorite month in or house! (No more flip flops, but Rory boycotted today. The sun is out, mom!)

     cheers

Food Friday

Been meaning to post a quiche recipe for a while now. I have a couple that I go to, but this one is so savory. I love it! Found it from Giada. Food Network was my vice during both of my maternity leaves. ;) Giada was a must. I usually start with a recipe and alter it, but I follow this one pretty closely.

Ingredients
Butter, for greasing pan
Flour, for dusting pan
1 unroll and bake refrigerated 9 inch pie crust (or sometimes I use a frozen deep dish)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tsp oil
3 ounces pancetta, cut (or I use several pieces of baked bacon)
5 eggs at room temp, lightly beaten
(sometimes I add another egg + a splash of whole milk to increase mixture)
1/2 c of Marscapone cheese, room temparature
2 cups shredded Gruyere
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Grease your pan if not using a frozen crust. Brush egg white on crust. Bake for 5-8 minutes. (Recipe calls for 10, but I like to underbake mine a bit). Let cool. Grab a skillet and saute pancetta in oil. Or bake your bacon (400 degrees on a lined pan) until slightly crisp. Drain on papertowel to get rid of grease. Put eggs in a bowl, slightly beat. Mix in Marscapone, add in Gruyere, onion, salt, pepper and bacon/pancetta (milk if desired). Pour into pie dish once that is cooled. Bake for 20-28 minutes. Depends on your oven, etc. (I bake mine a bit longer when I add milk and another egg in a deep dish crust). Bake until the top is slightly browned and your middle isn't wobbly. Don't overbake. :)

Enjoy it! Happy weekend!

 cheers

Wknd Grub

Had a fantastic weekend outside. Yard time, play time, good grilled grub.

On Saturday hubs grilled burgers. We only had venison in the freezer, so I took that and added some randoms to make it wow.

1 lb ground venison
1/2 of an onion, minced, sautéed in a little butter
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tsp or so of horseradish
1 tsp or so of Worcestershire
1 egg
sprinkle some fresh parmesan
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Mix it all up and patty. Grill. Don't do well done, venison is better slightly pink. A couple of burgers had american cheese on them. "Best burgers ever mom," Rory, 4 years old.

Mom and Dad had a burger topped with herbed goat cheese, spinach and sundried tomato tapenade on a bakery bun. Fantastic! Recipe keeper for sure. "You outdid yourself on this one, honey," Klint, 35 years old. :)

Venison Burger with Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato

Sunday salad day. Marinated chicken, hubs grilled and I threw this salad together. YUM! Also boiled corn on the cob. Perfect combo. Recipe is now saved and will be great for summer parties. Took a little prep time, but so fresh and good! I used organic chicken and it was so moist and flavorful. I also substituted Sesame Teriyaki marinade for the hoisin sauce because I was out of that. I only used white sesames as well. Fresh ginger is everything! And the smell is so amazing!

Grilled Ginger-Sesame Chicken Salad 

Please ignore my horrible picture here and my teak table. It needs something! I'm trying to decide what to do with it. Suggestions? Done treating it. Paint perhaps? New patio furniture next year. For now, teak has to do. Grill season is upon us. Must act soon. Happy springing...pin these recipes!

    cheers

Cinnamony goodness

The only grandmother I knew was pretty special. Loved her dearly. We spent a lot of time together and one of my fave memories of her was making cinnamon rolls; I was always excited to help. Though, the best part about it was around the holidays. All of my cousins would end up at her house at some point devouring her rolls and of course the cookies, fudge and candies she had spread throughout the house spoiling us. She made enough food and baked goods for an army! Yummy smells in the air with holiday music lingering in the background. Miss all of that. I think I'm slowly morphing into Grandma ... developing those anal tendencies she had, her soft voice, her control issues in the kitchen...and of course all of her loveliness. ;)

Grandma would have adored Rory. My girl is a big help. She LOVES baking and taste testing too. We made the infamous cinnamon rolls last night. YUM, cannot wait to eat them. :) They are simple and bready, not too sweet. I never put icing on them. Perfect warmed, knife a bit of butter and pair with coffee or juice!

mommy's little helper

I sort of throw them together, but here is a rough recipe:

7 c flour (I combine white and wheat flour)
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 c milk (I use organic whole milk)
1/2 c sugar (I use organic sugar cane)
1/2 c margarine
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling, extra butter/margarine for spreading (I use spreadable butter or Earth Balance natural butter spread or combo of both)

4 cups flour into mixing bowl. Add eggs, mix a bit with wooden spoon. Add yeast to a mug with about 2 inches of warm water and a tbsp of sugar. Let rise. Put 1 stick of margarine in saucepan to melt. Then add sugar, salt and milk. Heat until warm. Add to flour, stir and then add yeast to mixture. Stir, add remaining flour, stir, your arm will get tired, (wishing I had a KitchenAid) stir some more. Cover and let rise in a warm place. I usually have my oven warmed, turn it off and let it sit in there for awhile. Over an hour for it to double in size.

Cut dough in half. Roll out onto counter not too thick, not too thin (I use some flour if it is a bit sticky). Spread butter onto entire surface of dough. Sprinkle sugar heavily, then sprinkle with cinnamon heavily. Roll tightly. Gently put onto a cutting board and cut rolls about 2 inches thick and place into a buttered round dish or pie pan, either work. Then onto the second half of dough. It makes about four pans.

After they are all placed in their dish, cover again and let rise. (I allowed them to double in size over night and baked this morning. Worked out perfectly). Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

I'm sure if you add some icing or nuts they would be heaven, but this is the way I like them. Grandma's style. Reminds me of her.



ready to eat

    cheers

My Mango

So, found GP on the cover of June's bon appetit issue and had to buy it...last month; I know, I'm late on reading things. Sorry IM, I haven't read our issue in two months.

Yummy recipes peeps! Last week I went for the Grilled Halibut w Mango Salsa. Who doesn't like Mango? AND, I need to prepare myself for cooking lots of fish. I expect my husband to bring back a plethora of goody fish from his Alaskan trip. He better, he's been unreachable for days and he's been saving/dreaming for this trip since he was like 5. Pray the men make it home safely. Bears freak me out!

So I used GP's recipe, but gave it a few twists...

 Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
• 1 medium ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2" dice
• 1 cup diced garden fresh tomatoes
• 5 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro (more or less to taste) 
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for brushing
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons of diced red onion, to taste
• dash of cumin
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 6-ounce halibut
• 4 lime wedges

Preparation

• Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Gently combine the avocado, mango, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, onion, 1 tablespoon oil, and 1 tablespoon lime juice in a large mixing bowl. Season salsa to taste with cumin, salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature, gently tossing occasionally.
• Place fish fillets in a 13x9x2" glass baking dish. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon lime juice over. Season fish with salt and pepper. Let marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes, turning fish occasionally.
• Brush grill rack with oil. Grill fish until just opaque in center, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates. Spoon mango-avocado salsa over fish. Squeeze a lime wedge over each and serve

Serve it with Quinoa. It's amazing, try it if you haven't already. I added garlic powder, salt, pepper, cilantro, mint, a squeeze of some lime and a tiny bit of olive oil. Put it over a bed of greens aside fish and mango salsa. Refreshing summer dinner! Tasty and quick!


marinating halibut



preparing salsa



dinner is served

  My photos are a bit drab, too lazy to break out the good lens. iPhone shall do though. Enjoy your mango!
 (Note to self: get a mango slicer).

     cheers