Autumn Appetizer Tray

For last Sunday's dinner, I thought a cheese and fruit tray would be a nice change of pace. A mixed bag of Fall colored Fiestaware saucers mimics the beautiful color of Fall leaves. A wooden serving tray/bowl from World Market was appropriate for the cheese and fruit.

In the center bowl, is a nice "Sweet Cajun Mix" of peanuts, honey roasted AND Cajun sesame sticks, almonds, and corn nuggets. Sweet and spicy in each bite.

Now for our cheeses: 

At the bottom of the tray is a delicious cranberry white cheddar. Delicate cheddar blended with the tartness of the cranberries makes for a wonderful cheese paired with grapes and pears.

The crackers are Town House Focaccia crackers. They're sturdy enough to hold a nice slice of cheese and the flavor is amazing. Next up is Chèvre, a goat cheese having a unique tart and earthy flavor. This one is a semi-soft cheese. Now add some lovely dark purple grapes to that tray!

 

We'll move on around from the grapes to one of the best new cheeses I've tried in a LONG time. Morel Mushroom & Leek Monterey Jack cheese has an earthy flavor from the morel mushrooms complimented by leek onions and the creamy and buttery flavor of the monterey jack. I purchased this one at Publix and eaten bite for bite with Bosc pear....Oh my.  

A thinly sliced baguette finished out the appetizer tray. Seriously, I think this would do just fine as DINNER one night.

November Sunday Dinner Table

How better to continue to celebrate Fall than to set a lovely Sunday afternoon dinner table with gorgeous Fall colors?

I used place mats and napkins from Wal-Mart.  I love the plaids. Fiestaware NEVER disappoints. You can mix and match Fiesta colors with anything and it always looks like a million bucks.

The bright and colorful large pheasants were purchased at a yard sale in Ohio! They made the trip South without incident and look perfect next to the small pheasant salt and pepper shakers which were a find on e-bay.  The pheasant glasses? e-bay as well!

The silverware is courtesy of World Market. 

Chicken Pot Pie x 2!

This recipe will make two chicken pot pies. Trust me, while you're making one, it's just as easy to make two. Bake and freeze one of them for those times where you know dinner is going to be a problem. Put the frozen one in the fridge that morning and pop it in the oven to heat through that evening.

I like the filling in my pot pies to be thick and creamy. I don't like cutting into a pot pie and the filling oozing everywhere across the plate. This filling is almost like a casserole filling.  I hope you enjoy.

3 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled and shredded (or rotisserie chicken -- you'll need about 3 cups of chicken

2 cans cream of chicken soup with herbs

1 can cream of onion soup

16 oz. sour cream

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

2 - 16 oz. bags of mixed frozen vegetables thawed

4 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a bottom layer of pie crust into two separate baking dishes (pie plates).

In a large bowl, whisk together soups, sour cream, and black pepper. Gently stir in vegetables and chicken until well combined.

Spoon into pie crusts and place another pie crust on top of the filling and crimp edges of crusts together. Pierce the top layer of crust with a fork several times to allow steam to escape.

Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until filling is hot and and the crust has browned. If crust begins to brown too much, place strips of foil around the outer edges until the filling is hot.

The Black Cat: Chocolate Gateau with Raspberry Puree

I always have trouble deciding whether to refer to this type of dessert as a cake or a pie. It’s very dense like a fudge brownie, and the texture is definitely unlike a sponge cake. Why don’t you just make one and help me decide?

A word of caution: Serve very small slices.  It’s rich!

¾ cup superfine sugar, plus some for sprinkling in spring form pan

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 t. vanilla extract

5 eggs, separated

¼ cup flour, sifted

Pinch of salt

For the fruit coulis:

1 lb. berries, plus extra for garnishing

½ cup superfine sugar

Juice of one lemon

Put the berries in a pan with ½ cup sugar and heat very gently, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time. When the mixture comes to a simmer, cook gently for another 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender or a food processor and whiz to a puree, then strain through a cheesecloth lined strainer into a bowl. Let the coulis cook, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming. When cold, stir in the lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Generously butter a 9 ½ inch spring form pan then sprinkle the pan with a little sugar and tap out the excess. Set aside 3 T. of the sugar, you are going to use it for the egg whites.

Place the chocolate, butter and remaining sugar in a heavy saucepan and cook over low heat until the chocolate and butter have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract and let the mixture cool slightly.

Beat the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture, beating each in well, and then stir in the flour.

In a clean, grease free bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites slowly until they are frothy. Increase the speed, add the salt and continue beating until soft peaks form. Sprinkle over the reserved sugar and beat until the whites are stiff and glossy. Beat one-third of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remaining whites.

Carefully pour the mixture into the pan and tap the pan gently to release any air bubbles.

Bake the cake for about 35 – 45 minutes until well risen and the top springs back when touched lightly with a fingertip. Transfer the cake to a wire rack, remove the side of the pan and let cool completely.

Remove the pan base and transfer to a serving plate.

From www.melangery.com  

Scallops with White Wine Sauce

Some people are hesitant to cook scallops. This is a great recipe to try if you've never cooked them before or if you want to try a new version

2 pounds of sea scallops, rinsed and dried by gently patting with a paper towel
1/8 cup olive oil 
2 T. minced garlic 
1/2 cup white wine (we used Pinot Grigio) 
Juice from 1 lemon 
2 T. fresh chives, chopped
2 T. green onions, chopped
2 T. butter 

Add the olive oil to a large cast iron skillet over high heat. Carefully add scallops to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes on each side. 

Remove scallops from the skillet, place on a serving platter or bowl, and cover to keep warm. Lower heat slightly and slowly add wine to the skillet.

Next add the lemon juice, garlic, and butter to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium low and let the sauce thicken while you stir constantly for 4 - 5 minutes.  

When thickened, pour the sauce over the scallops and sprinkle with the onions and chives. Serve immediately. 

Feeds 6 or 4 REALLY hungry people.

Roasted Potato Salad

When dining with friends this past week, our host made this potato salad on the fly. I loved it enough to beg the recipe and to get everyone to wait about eating until I could snap photos.  

These potatoes were grown in the garden and have been waiting patiently for their turn to make it to the dining table. Here's his recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Wash the potatoes well and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the potatoes roast for about 45 minutes. During that 45 minute time, stir them around every 15 minutes or so.  

Remove from oven and spoon into a serving bowl. Sprinkle with lots of chopped green onions and chives. Top with about a quarter cup of sour cream and 2 T. butter.  

Brought to the table for serving, this made a lovely presentation. THEN, he mixed all the ingredients together. WAIT. Time for another picture!

Roasted Honeyed Carrots

 

The garden continues to bless us with carrots. Beautiful, colorful, healthy, delicious carrots. My favorite way to enjoy them is to simply roast them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Here's how we prepared this batch:

Trim away the greens from the carrots and wash them thoroughly.  

Preheat oven to 350 degree. Place carrots on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let the carrots roast for about 20 minutes and, using a spatula, turn them over and cook for another 10 minutes or so.

Remove from oven and gently spoon about 3 T. of honey over the roasted carrots. You can add a little chopped parsley if you want.

Children's Thanksgiving Table 2015

It's the season for the Gobble! As always, I love playing mix and match with different pieces to come up with "new" tables each year.  I hope the little ones will enjoy the Turkey Theme of their table.

The tablecloth and napkins are from Kohl's.  The chargers are from J.C. Penney.

 The dinner plates are Fiestaware and the turkey salad sized plates are from Wal-Mart.

Silverware was purchased at World Market.

These cute little mason jar type glass mugs were steals for $1 each at Dollar General.

Mr. Turkey was purchased at a church bazaar about 30 years ago!  He's very special to me.

 

The candle holders were purchased at a dollar store about 30 years ago as well. The wooden pumpkin is a current item for sale at Hobby Lobby.

Annabel Lee's Kingdom by the Sea Seafood Chowder

This is great chowder to serve to guests when you want the ease of preparation the day before, but BIG flavor and impressive presentation the night of your gathering.  Seriously, how can you go wrong with fish, scallops, heavy cream and LOBSTER??

¾ cup butter, divided (divide into: ½ cup, ¼ cup)

2 medium onions, diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups seafood stock

1 lb. cooked lobster, chopped into bite sized pieces – fresh or frozen

1 T. dried basil

1 T. oregano

1 T. celery salt

2 T. paprika

½ teaspoon pepper

three dashes Tabasco sauce

½ lb. haddock*

½ lb. cod*

½ lb. scallops – fresh or frozen, no need to defrost

2 cups heavy cream (35% milk fat)

* you could use just haddock or cod if you don’t want to use both – use a pound of whichever you choose.  I used all cod.

In a large Dutch oven, melt ½ cup butter and then sauté the onions, carrots and celery over medium heat, just until they begin to soften, about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the potato and seafood stock. Stir to combine and then cook until the potato is just barely tender, 8-10 minutes.

As the potato is cooking, melt the remaining ¼ cup of butter in a skillet over medium heat and then add the lobster pieces to the skillet. Cook the lobster until the butter has taken on an orangey-red color from the lobster, and the lobster has heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. If you are using pre-cooked lobster, just heat through, 2 – 3 minutes.

Add the basil, oregano, celery salt, paprika, pepper and Tabasco sauce to the vegetables in the Dutch oven and stir to combine. It will seem like a lot of spices, don’t worry. Layer the fish and scallops on top. Gently press the fish down so it is just covered with liquid. Cook only until fish barely flakes, 4-5 minutes.

Add the lobster and every last drop of butter from the skillet to the Dutch oven. Reduce the heat to low. Add the heavy cream.

Allow the chowder to warm through. Keep on low heat until serving or refrigerate and slowly heat up before serving. Don’t allow to boil.

I made this the day before the party and placed it from the refrigerator straight onto the stove on LOW heat.  Stir it every five minutes or so.  It took about 40 minutes for it to heat through.  Once again a reminder, do not BOIL.  When the steam begins to rise from the pot, you’re getting very close to your serving temperature.

Adapted from a recipe posted by Cravings of a Lunatic.  

The Tell Tale Heart Artichoke Salad

This was the perfect salad to fit in between the cured meat appetizer, the seafood chowder and the stuffed bell peppers. The vegetables were light and crunchy and topped with a zingy, herb filled vinaigrette. This one would also be delicious served in the summer with grilled shrimp as a topping.  You'll need to Pin this one!

Salad Ingredients:

2 cups English cucumber, unpeeled, scored vertically with fork tines all the way around, quartered and then diced

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1 14 oz. can marinated artichoke hearts, drained 

1/4 cup fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely minced and densely packed

¼ - 1/3  cup basil, julienned

Lemon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 t. Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 T. fresh thyme leaves, densely packed

1/2 T. fresh marjoram leaves, roughly chopped and densely packed

1/8 t. crushed red chili pepper flakes

1/8 t. ground black pepper

1/8 t. salt

Place salad ingredients into a bowl and set aside. Pour salad dressing ingredients into a salad dressing cruet (or beaker), seal lid tightly, and shake to blend. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Let marinate (in the fridge in a covered container) for at least a half hour before serving, to allow the flavors to meld. Serve and enjoy.

Thanks to Cooking with Corey for this delicious salad recipe!  

Halloween "Drink" Station

A couple of more fun pictures from the Halloween drink station.  But, seriously, would you want to drink anything from this selection???

Mesquite Mini-Meatloaves

I have been craving meat loaf for a week. Regular readers know how I love, no, really I LOVE meatloaf. I decided this go round to bake the meat loaf in my divided Lodge Cast Iron skillet. There was enough meat loaf mixture left over (after filling this skillet) to make 4 mini loaves. So your options here are: 1) if you have a skillet like this one, consider cutting the recipe in half; 2) bake in two loaf pans.  

2 lb. ground chuck

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. ground coriander

1 t. kosher salt

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup Mesquite flavored BBQ sauce, plus more for using as a glaze

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, add all ingredients and lightly mix by hand. Spray loaf pans or baking dish/skillet with non-stick spray.

Lightly spoon meat loaf mixture into pan(s). Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully spoon additional BBQ sauce over the top for a glaze. Return to oven for about 5 minutes.

Let meatloaf rest for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Cactus Shaped Cornbread

I absolutely LOVE my Lodge cast iron cactus shaped baking pan. Instead of Mexican cornbread, I made the tried and true Lolly cornbread recipe but cut the recipe in half.  I have two of these cactus shaped pans, and the following recipe was the perfect amount.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine 1 cup self-rising cornmeal, 1 cup buttermilk and 1 T. melted bacon grease.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray pans with baking spray or brush inside of pan shapes with melted bacon grease.

Spoon batter into pans and bake for 18 - 22 minutes until golden brown.

The Bells: Stuffed Red Peppers over Bloody Mary Linguini

The main course of our Evening with Edgar was based on The Bells and The Mask of the Red Death. Beautiful and LARGE red bell peppers were sliced lengthwise through the stem and then were stuffed with spicy Italian sausage and served over linguine noodles covered in spicy tomato sauce. Very coarsely grated Parmesan cheese was the perfect addition to the top of the stuffed peppers.

I made this one up as I went along and used jarred spicy red pepper marinara sauce. This one is a definite keeper.

4 large red bell peppers, sliced lengthwise through stem (remove seeds and membranes)

1 pound hot or mild Italian sausage

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 1/2 t. dried Italian seasoning

2 cloves garlic, pressed or micro planed

1 cup Minute Rice

8 oz. tomato sauce (divided)

8 oz. water (divided)

Parmesan cheese for topping

Finely chopped parsley for topping

2 jars of spicy red pepper marinara sauce

16 oz. linguine noodles, cooked according to package directions

In a large skillet, add Italian sausage over medium high heat. Cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, stirring occasionally, until sausage is about halfway cooked through.

Add chopped onions and continuing cooking until sausage is cooked and onions has softened. Lower heat to low, add Italian seasoning and garlic and cook another minute or two.

Add Minute rice, 4 oz. of tomato sauce and 4 oz. of water. Stir to combine well. Remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Carefully take prepared peppers and gently add sausage rice mixture to each pepper. Lightly pack until all the peppers are filled.

Add the remaining tomato paste and water to the baking dish and stir to combine. Place peppers into baking dish. At this point, you could cover them with plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate over night.

If you're ready to go ahead and bake, place them in preheated oven and let cook 30 - 45 minutes until peppers are tender. Gently insert  knife into the pepper to test for doneness.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.

While peppers are baking, heat sauce in a medium sauce pot over low heat, stirring occasionally. If you like, you can add a tablespoon or so of Vodka to the sauce.

Drain noodles when they have cooked and either mix with the sauce and top with peppers OR plate noodles, top with sauce and a pepper or to for each serving.

The Gold Bug

I served this alongside a seafood chowder and an artichoke salad. The citrus flavors in the drink paired well with both of those courses.

1 1/2 oz. vodka

1 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier

1/2 oz. dry vermouth

dash of orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a martini glass.

The Raven

A delicious, potent drink to celebrate The Raven and Mr. Poe.

Shake together in a cocktail shaker filled with ice:

1 oz. vodka
1 oz. rum
1 oz. blue curacao

Strain into a martini glass. Carefully pour 1/2 oz. Chambord over the back of a spoon into the drink. Garnish with blackberries.

The FOOD of An Evening with Edgar

Last night we celebrated Halloween with an Edgar Allen Poe themed meal.  Each course and accompanying drink had a reference to Mr. Poe's works.  Here's an overview of the meal and I'll be posting individual recipe posts.  The pictures were taken in dim lighting, so some are better than others.  

We started the meal with The Raven.

And as the appetizer course, we had a selection of cured meats, blue cheese, dark bread, black olives, and dark purple grapes which was based on The Pit and the Pendulum.

The soup and salad course started with The Gold Bug.

Annabel Lee's Kingdom by the Sea Seafood Chowder

And followed with The Tell Tale Heart of Artichoke Salad

We began the entree course with The Cask of the Amontillado Spanish Red Wine

The entree course was based on two stories:  The Bells and the Masque of the Red Death.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers over Bloody Mary Linguine

And we finished with the dessert course consisting of The Black Cat Gateau with raspberry puree and a lovely glass of port.

Lemon Pepper Salmon

I had some frozen salmon filets in the freezer.  I put them in the fridge to thaw yesterday morning before leaving for work.  They were thawed and ready to go last night.

With a few minute prep work and only FIVE MINUTES of cooking time, we had this lovely lemon pepper salmon over fresh green with a light vinaigrette.  YUM!  Yes, it tasted as great as it looks.

4 - 6 salmon filets (6 oz. each)

3 T. olive oil

3 T. lemon juice

1 t. lemon pepper

For the salad:

3 - 4 cups of your favorite salad greens

3 T. olive oil

3 T. red wine vinegar

juice of one lemon

1/2 t. lemon pepper

1/4 t. salt

1 large clove garlic, pressed

2 t. Dijon mustard

2 small tomatoes, cut into thin wedges

1/2 red onion, sliced into very thin rings

In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon pepper. Add salmon and let it marinate while you make the salad.

Divide the salad greens onto plates. Divide the onions and tomatoes over the greens. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Add lemon pepper, salt, garlic, and Dijon mustard and whisk until well combined. Set aside.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat. When a drop of the marinade sizzles, add the salmon and let cook for 4 minutes. Carefully, turn the salmon and let cook for 1 minute or so to let the other side brown well.   

Place the salmon over the greens and drizzle the salad dressing over the top.  Serve with lemon slices on the side, if desired.

Place the salmon over the salad greens