Tapenade

Tapenade is an olive spread, I use it all the time on bread, or in salads to give the olive flavor with out the big pieces of olive, I use it to top fish or chicken (actually why I made it today). It is a nice flavorful spread that gives a lot of punch. If you don't like olives you will not like this spread but if you are normal and like olives ;o) then you will love it.

Ok...so dump some olives, a clove or 2 of garlic (made into a paste) half a lemons worth of juice (or a splash from a bottle) about 2 teaspoons of capers (I am not the biggest caper fan so I think less is more here) a few anchovies WHAT.. HEY did she just say ANCHOVIES???? Is she out of her freaking mind I mean really who the heck eats anchovies?!?!?!?!? Yes people anchovies, and if you leave out this step I will know and I will haunt you.. anchovies do not make your food "fishy" you know what makes Worcestershire sauce so yummy on just about anything??? YEP anchovies! They are great in many sauces, they add so much flavor to your dishes and leaving them out would be a mistake.. but do what you will... OK so where was I... oh yes, olives, garlic, lemon juice, capers, anchovies, and basil to a food processor and let her rip... Oh and I added more calamata olives to this after taking the picture so I had about a half a jar of olives added to what you see here.



Give it a whirl and there you have it fast and fabulous!
Much like this post! ;o)

Oven dried tomatoes

Today we made a batch of oven dried tomatoes... they are the less expensive version of "sun dried tomatoes" You can use them in any recipe that calls for sun dried at a fraction of the cost... so here is what you do....

Have you cutest sous chef help you out by taking all the seeds and inners out of the tomatoes. Today we used grape tomatoes, I usually use roma but this is all I had on hand today so it is what I used... Ok now a note here you are drying them so you want them as dry as you can get them before you start.... don't go crazy just take the juice and seeds out of the middle...

So they look like this (below)

Season them up with a little garlic paste (see earlier post about garlic paste) salt, pepper...

And some olive oil

Give them a gentle toss

Then put them on a cookie sheet (or as we used here a cast iron pan... all my cookie sheets were dirty from making cookies and I really didn't want to wash them! :o)

See they are looking yummy already! Heat your oven to 250-275 and pop them in.


This is them half way through the cooking time... this is when I would take them out if I were using them in a sauce and I wanted the flavor of roasted tomatoes but not the chewy texture of dried tomatoes.. but alas today I want dried so we let them cook...



and cook... and forgot they were in there so a few of them burnt but.. I got enough for what I needed them for tonight.. I lost about 12 of them :o( but hey it happens. You want them dry and chewy and not crispy, think raisin not potato chip! ;o)


You can toss these in a salad, in just about any dip, the possibilities are endless! Now at this point if you cover them in olive oil they will stay in your fridge for about forever or you can baggie them dry and freeze them and they will stay forever.. I usually just bag them I like them better that way.


Now a note here.. I am a roasted garlic girl... I could eat the stuff alone (ok not quite, but almost) but if we had added roasted garlic to this we would have had burnt garlic... we needed the garlic to roast along with the tomatoes to flavor them.

Smashin' garlic into mush! YUM?!?

This is going with my roasted tomatoes post (hence the tomato juice all over the cutting board) I know this sounds simple but I wanted to post it anyway... I usually buy my garlic, roast the whole 3 lbs and section it out to freeze... there are very few times where I don't substitute raw garlic for the roasted. But when I need to use raw I use it in paste form or thin slices...I don't mean to insult anyone here but it took me a few times to get my garlic into paste so I am putting this out there for all of you that are like me and need a little help in the oh so obvious things! LOL

Alrighty then...
so you start with a smack to peel (my garlic was super easy to peel today so I just pulled the paper off first but if you give the clove a good smacking it will come right out of it's paper).

Then you smack that sucka again to get it nice and flat!!!

I chop it a little, most people say they just smash but it takes too long for me so I chop really fast then I add some coarse salt. For those of you that have read this blog you know I am a pincher and have nothing against you shakers... that being said, here coarse salt would be better... if you don't have it then I would use a tiny pinch of sugar (you won't even notice in the end and it is coarse enough to do the job) mixed with the table salt.

Use the flat part of your knife, press it against the garlic and pull the knife back toward you all the while applying pressure to the part of your knife that is pressing on the garlic you only have to do this a few time and it turns into... this less than pretty glob of garlic goodness. When you use it like this you don't end up having bites of sharp garlic in what ever you are making with it.


Now doesn't that look good?!? OK so it looks really nasty but I promise the 45 sec it takes to do this is worth it. I am sure you could do a big ol batch in a food processor if you wanted to...I mean if you like the raw garlic taste over the roasted (which would be just plain weird! ;o)) then you could freeze it at this stage for later use.

Brisket in the crock pot

It took me forever to dare to cook a brisket. They always looked so intimidating in the store. Sitting there almost screaming "It takes a man and a grill to conquer me!" But one day I just picked one up and figured it was big enough to cut into a few pieces and try it different ways and if I screwed it up there was always PB&J. That is, by the way, how I learn to cook most things I always have a back up just in case it is a disaster and it is usually PB&J! And on more than one occasion I have had to use my back up!

So this is the way that we like it best...

I start with a rub of brown sugar, granulated garlic, salt, pepper and New Mexican chili powder.(see note at bottom) I like there to be a little spicy/smoky/sweet note to mine. I think the brown sugar helps in the crock pot because you almost, kind of "carmelize" meat and that is near impossible with crock pot cooking unless you sear your mead before hand (which I do to just about any meat). But the brisket is so big that I would just rather not sear it first.

First things first if you are going to cook this in the crock pot you need to do it in two batches. It is too big to cook the whole thing at once.

Ok so now that you have done that you need to season it up...How much do I use???? A lot! This is a big ol' piece of meat and you need to really season it up. This is about 1/2 cup brown sugar and same with the chili powder ( if you are using regular chili powder I would suggest you only use a few tablespoons and maybe a little cumin)

And about 2 tablespoons of so of granulated garlic

Mix it up......

And rub that piece of meat like it is no body's business! You want to get that rub in all the little creases.Then just throw that bad boy in the crock pot and let it cook for the whole day on low. I have to apologize for no end result picture of this but my husband borrowed my camera this day I forgot I didn't have an end result until just now!

This freezes well too, I usually shred mine up add a little of the juice (who am I kidding, it is fat) and seal it in a freezer bag. The left over makes great sandwiches or Texas chili.

So lets say you want to have a BBQ and you want to impress everyone with your "skills"
throw this bad boy in the crock pot and let it cook, then before your guest come over (like 10 min before) throw it on a med hot grill and let it get that BBQ char we all love and no one ever has to know they just had the easiest BBQ you have ever made! The will see brisket and (unless you have left your dirty crock pot sitting out) they will think you got up early and slaved away all day so this ton of meat would be cooked to perfection just for them! Lovely!

***Note about New Mexico Chili Powder*** Being married an Albuquerque man, this is something I have used my entire adult life, it is a staple in New Mexico and we just love the flavor. While you can buy this in "hot" if you get the "mild" this is loaded with flavor but not heat. It IS NOT the same as your "chili powder" you find in your spice jar, trust me! I had a less that great relationship with my mother in law for a little while and refused to have her send me the good stuff so one day I thought chili powder is chili powder these New Mexicans and just full of themselves, so I bought a bottle and made "New Mexican Red" ( I will post on here one day) and it was so inedible it wasn't even funny, needless to say I made up with my mother in law and she supplies me with it regularly! The best way I can describe it is... if a recipe calls for a cup of green bell pepper you wouldn't substitute a cup of black pepper, it isn't the same thing and you would end up with a nasty end result. For those of you that don't have my kind of "connections" LOL here is a link where you can buy New Mexican Chili powder. . www.madeinnewmexico.com/hatchchilepowder.html

Step 3

I like to group mine into grocery store categories. Then I add up the duplicates and take anything I already have in the pantry off. I always stick my menu on the fridge this helps me remember what all I have the fixens for and I don't have to hear "what's for dinner?" they just check the fridge.

MEATS

Beef tips (2 meals)

Pork tenderloin

Chicken breast (2 meals)

Flank steak (for NM red)

PRODUCE

Potatoes

Onions 2 bags

Basil

Garlic 3 heads

Scallions

Parsley

DELI & DAIRY

½ lb prosciutto (parma)

½ lb provolone

Heavy cream

Eggs

Cheddar cheese

BREADS

Ciabatta

Corn tortillas

CANNED & DRY GOODS

A1

Rice

Teriyaki sauce

Angel hair

Soy sauce

Panko

Kidney beans (dry)

FROZEN

Frozen peas

Nice and painless!

Step 2

Copy and past the ingredient list from the database.

Chicken Enchiladas **New Mexican red**	Chicken breast Corn tortillas Cheddar cheese Onions Flank steak (for NM red) Beef stock (freezer)
Texas Chili **red gravy, NM chili powder**	Kidney beans (dry) Onion Beef tips
Garlic Chicken and Pasta **parm, white wine**	Chicken breast 2 heads garlic Angel hair Panko Parsley Chicken stock (from freezer)
Asian Pork Tenderloin	Pork tenderloin Garlic Teriyaki sauce
Fried Rice	Rice Eggs Scallions Soy sauce Frozen peas
Tomato soup **red gravy**	Heavy cream Chicken stock (from freezer) Basil
Prosciutto and Provolone Panini	½ lb prosciutto (parma) ½ lb provolone Ciabatta
Steakhouse Stew **red wine**	Beef tips Potatoes Onions Garlic A1 Beef stock (freezer)

The process

Here is what it looks like from menu to list... step 1... the menu...

Monday

Chicken enchilada, w/ pintos

Tuesday

Texas chili w/ crusty bread
(freeze leftover for Friday)

Wednesday

Garlic chicken and pasta

Thursday

Asian pork tenderloin, fried rice & roasted veg

Friday

Chili cheese baked potatoes

Saturday

Tomato soup w/ prosciutto & provolone panini

Sunday

Steak house stew (crock pot)

Menu Planning

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

Do you know there are websites where you pay a monthly fee for someone else to give you a menu and list??? Years ago I joined one because I was lost in the sea of confusion every night when it came time for dinner I had gone to the store, bought what looked good and when it came time for dinner I was lost. Oh I had food in the pantry, fridge and freezer but nothing to make!! I had taco seasoning and shells but no lettuce, tomato ect... because when I reached for the pack of seasoning I told myself I would go back to the other end of the store to get these things but I had forgotten or we had used them the night before because the only thing I cold think to make was baked chicken and salad. So I signed up for one of these thinking it would solve all of the problems in my life! LOL I ended up with a weeks worth of recipes where half of the things my family didn't like and the ones that were a hit there was never enough made because I had followed the plan. I did get something out of it though, I walked away with the "you big sucker" feeling that made me start my recipe databases. In the coming weeks I will post a few others so you can see what works for me. It may not be exactly what will work for you, but any ideas you get from me come without the monthly fee! :o) And that has to be a good thing!

Since seeing the light, I have been a big fan of my own menu planning, being a one income family with some boys that eat us out of house and home this is a necessity for our budget. Going to the store without a list in hand can mean an extra 200 bucks a month on groceries. I don't know about your wallet but mine can't handle that kind of bump.

As the price of food keeps going up I have had to get a little more creative. I have started a database grouping the meals my family enjoys, the ingredient list and the approx cost and then dividing them into price categories. Depending on where you shop your cost may be greater or less than mine. I do not add things that I always have on hand so that I can just copy and paste when I go to make my shopping list for the week. I do add some things under the recipe name that I usually have on hand but I need to double check.

Another little saving tip... things that you use a lot, make a lot and freeze. In our house we use a lot of red gravy, red sauce, marinara sauce what ever you want to call it, So I make HUGE batches and divide it up and freeze it. Same with roasted garlic paste, chicken or beef stock. This saves me time and money. If I have the red gravy in my freezer I have made the whole batch, usually 10-12 meals worth of use for about 7 bucks (thanks to Sams). Now, if I don't have that pre made in the freezer, I have to spend anywhere from 2-5 dollars every time I need a pasta sauce, or a base for chili, pizza sauce ect... That little bit of time and money has saved me. And because I made it I know it is going to be what my family likes (no sugary sweet sauce in this house... eeeek lol).

So here is an example of what my food budget planning looks like. I like that I can copy and paste the ingredient side into another document print and I am off to the store without a lot of fuss and muss. It is amazing how easy things start to work when you find a system that works for you! Forgive any spelling errors I cut and copied this straight from my file and I don't spell check cause I know what I meant when I typed it out! Plus they always highlight any foreign/shortened words :o)

COWBOY DINNER (CROCK POT BEEF TIPS, PINTOS AND ROASTED POTATOES)	($6-8) Beef tips 1 onion Dry beans Beef stock (from freezer) Onion 4 potatoes
RIGATONI W/RED GRAVY **need parm on hand**	($8-10) 2 boxes rigatoni Onion Garlic 2 large cans tomato sauce (or from freezer) Crusty loaf
PAELLA **need saffron on hand**	($8-10) **2 meals** Rice Chicken thighs Choizo Frozen peas Onion Garlic Green pepper Chicken stock (from freezer)
FRIED RICE WITH CHICKEN THIGHS	($5-7) **meal plus left over** Rice Onion 3 eggs Scallions Frozen peas Chicken thighs
MINESTRONE W/ PANINIS	($10-12) **lunch meat left over** Penne Cannellini beans (dry) Carrots Onions Peppers Chicken stock (from freezer) Baguette Ham Provolone
CHILI **Left over options** chili dogs, loaded baked potatoes, nachos.	($10-12) **2 meals** Roast Kidney beans (dry) 3 large cans tomato sauce Onion Crusty bread or crackers
BEEF VEGGIE STEW **have red wine and french onion mix (homemade) on hand**	($10-12) **meal plus left over** Roast Frozen carrots, corn, green beans Onion Garlic 6 large potatoes Beef stock from freezer
WHITE BEAN SOUP W/ CROSTINI	($6-8) Cannellini beans (dry) Beef stock (from freezer) Frozen spinach (2) Onion Garlic Baguette (2)
GARLIC CHICKEN AND PASTA **parm on hand**	($8-10) Fettuccine Chicken thighs Garlic (3 heads) Chicken stock (from freezer) Heavy cream
RED BEANS AND RICE	($6-8) **meal plus left over** Kidney beans Beef stock (from freezer) Onions Bratwurst Rice
GREEN CHILI PORK CHIMICHONGAS	($12-15) *pork could be used for 2 meals* Pork roast 2 cans green chilies Tortillas Cheese Oil for frying
HOME MADE PIZZA	($10-12) ** left over flour/dough** Flour Yeast Marinara (from freezer) Salami Spinach Onion Cheese

Home made pizza!!

My family loves Pizza! But far too often I find myself buying fast food pizza or frozen pizza, for sake of convenience. But they are so full of grease and have so many calories and junk in them that you feel guilty eating more that one slice but one slice is never enough. Yes a salad on the side is nice... I don't know about your family, but with mine, the intentions are there but the salad is rarely made and never eaten on pizza night. This is one of my family's favorite meals and this pizza crust is so easy to make. It is a Wolfgang Puck recipe that I make in the food processor and it really couldn't be easier. So here is how I did it... the crust... oh wait first things first turn your oven on the lowest it will go for about 10 min then turn it off and leave the door opened just a little.. I will explain later, go on I will wait right here for you... ok now on to the dough

• 1 package active dry or fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup warm water, 105 to 115 degrees
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for brushing

When ever you are working with yeast you need to make sure it is alive otherwise you end up doing all the work to get a flat dough that cooks up like a brick. So, how do you see if it is alive you ask??? You need to "proof" it... in a bowl put the warm water, yeast, and honey let it set for a few minutes while you get everything else measured out (measure it out into the food processor bowl it is one less step later) after a few minutes the top will turn all foamy this means it's alive and you are good to go... once your yeast has proofed add this mixture to the food processor and pulse until it is combined then turn that sucker on and let it go until your dough turns into a ball. One that is done you will kneed it a few times and roll it around it in an well oiled large bowl (this will triple in size so please make sure your bowl is large otherwise you will have a mess) and cover it with a little plastic wrap and a towel on top of that. Now you are going to check and make sure your oven is not still hot you should be able to touch the racks and it be warm but not hot when your oven gets to that stage put your bowl in there and walk away. It will need to sit in there about 2 hours or so until it at least doubles in size you can see here how it has worked its way up to the plastic wrap
Then find your cutest sous chef to help you punch the dough down.


Roll it out on a floured surface sprinkle a little corn meal on the bottom of your pan (or pizza peel if you are cooking it on a stone)
Top as you like. Today we used a little fresh mozzarella and salami, once it came out we topped it with fresh basil.

Roasted Garlic!

OH I love this stuff... I feel like the green eggs and ham guy that follows the other guy trying to get him to eat green eggs and ham.. Yes I would eat this here or there... on a boat or in the air.. I do like roasted garlic it is Divine!! Thank you for introducing it to me friend of mine! :o) Thank you Thank you I will be here all week!

OK now for the golden delight. I use roasted garlic in soups stews sauces dips.... I use it for just about everything and it is GOOD!!

The cast
Garlic
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

This my dear friends is a head of garlic. When you are shopping for garlic you want tight, closed bulbs (heads). Make sure there is no sign of mold or green sprouts growing out of them. Sometimes the paper is loose from them being transported and that is ok just make sure it is tightly closed.

You want to cut the tops off of them, if you have big heads (the garlic not you! :) you can cut them in half but you need to look at how we get the meat out, you can't really cut the little ones in half so just make sure you cut the tops off and expose the cloves inside. Like this... then drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper them. Cover tightly.



Roast at 400 for about an hour or so keep an eye on them ... you don't want them to burn. You want them to turn a beautiful carmel color and you will see some of the cloves trying to get out of the paper, like this.

OK so they are beautiful and golden what now?? Let them cool most of the way, not too cold, they come out easier if they are warm. Then squeeze the meat out (this is why the small ones wouldn't work if you cut them in half... they would fall apart here),

I mash it up with a fork and from here I put a few spoons in little snack size bags and freeze it.

You can use this for so many things. I use it in my tomato sauce, or just toss some noodles with a little butter, roasted garlic, and parm... YUM. A little soft butter and this makes KILLER garlic bread! There are so many other uses I don't have time to list them all... I will try to put some on here later.

What?!? No roasted garlic post?!!??

I came on here thinking I had posted roasted garlic but I don't see it on here... (I was going to pass it along to a friend for reference.) So today I have 2 lbs of garlic I need to roast anyway so I will post it later today... I am just in shock... I use roasted garlic just about 3-4 times a week... just a shame I haven't put it on here yet. But it is coming.................................................

New Mexican Roasted Pork

This is one of my favorite ways to make pork... who am I kidding... pretty much any way is my favorite way to make pork. :o) But here is the way we made it the other night.

In this bowl our spice rub

New Mexico green chili powder (you may not be able to find it if not that is ok it is still good without although it won't be New Mexican Pork!)

paprika
garlic powder
salt
pepper

sage

I have no idea how much just a hand full here and a pinch there.

You add a little oil to this bowl until you get a paste. Then you rub it all over that beautiful piece of pork.

Sear it on all sides... look at that color!!! YUM! Then de-glaze the pan with a little chicken stock. This is where I would put it in the crock pot and let it cook but tonight I started it too late and I had to finish it in the oven. Either way is delish.


For our side tonight I ran a few zucchini threw the mandolin and tossed them in a little egg whites and panko bread crumbs. And baked them at 400 until they are golden. Basically it was a baked, healthier version of tempura. (battered and fried veggies )

There you have it a quick delish week day meal.

French Toast

I know that french toast is one of those things that you can't really mess up, but just because you can't mess it up doesn't mean you can't make it better! Now which one of these is gonna fill your belly and make you smile on a Saturday morning??

The other night we went to one of those pancake houses, and I never order breakfast food from those places but I wanted something sweet so I did... I ordered french toast, when it arrived it got me thinking about how many people settle for this stuff that they call french toast. I have visited Paris when I was a young girl but I have never lived there so what I am about to say is just my 2 cents and may be wrong but I think in France the bread is as good as it is in Sicily, Spain, Italy... it isn't flat sandwich style bread. It is a nice hearty bread. It is the kind of bread you can make a meal out of. I don't think french toast was ever meant to be the flat flimsy stuff we eat these days. OK rant over... we had french toast this morning, and I thought I would share it. Although I am not sure it needs a recipe but I will let you know what all I used.



The custard
6 eggs
1-2 cup or so of whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla (I don't measure but it was close to that)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon




The most important part of the meal the bread...I try to get the day old bread so my type of bread will vary from a french loaf to a brioche (the best but really costly) again, what ever is on the reduced rack. Today it was a mountain loaf, sometimes called farmers bread.




You need to slice the bread the night before and let it sit out and get a little dry. Please slice it thick about 1-2 inches. I usually put it in a paper bag so I don't have to worry about the kids finding it and eating it all before breakfast! You want to soak the bread in the custard for a min or so before throwing it in the pan. We are coming along nicely here!! I used a lot of sugar in the custard so the sugar will caramelize (burns... caramelize just sounds yummier) on the toast so I like to let it get a little darker than this that caramelized sugar on top is just so yummy. Plus you want to make sure you give it time to cook inside since it is thicker.



Time to eat!

Now in my opinion this is what french toast is suppose to look like.


It was so yummy my little girl couldn't stay out of it, I told her not to touch it until we were all sitting... so she licked it! :o)

Flank steak with Chimichurri sauce and corn on the cob with compound butter

Chimichurri sauce is a great one to know. This is a great sauce to use as a maranaide or as a topping for any meat. You can flavor it as you like the basic recipe I use is 2 parts parsley to 1 part cilantro. A lot of people really love the flavor of cilantro and if that is you then use equal parts but I think cilantro can be a little overpowering.
Here is what is in it today.
2 bunches parsley
1 bunch cilantro
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
a few tablespoons red wine vinager
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoonsish of olive oil (here I like to use the extra virgin becasue I use this as a finishing sauce)
a shake of crushed red pepper flakes


Throw it all in the food processor and let her rip!

And here you have the star of the show. It is best to let this sit in the chillbox for at least an hour so the flavors mix up for you.

I rubbed both sides of the meat with this and let it sit about 30 minutes.

Then we threw them on a nice HOT grill.


A compound butter is also a wonderful thing to have on hand. This one has a mexican flare with cliantro and lime zest that is it 3 sticks of butter 1 bunch of cilantro and the zest of 1 lime. Toss it in the food processor and .....

When it is mixed roll into a log in a little plastic wrap and put in the chill box or the freezer. You will see the beautiful specks of cliantro on the corn in the later pictures it is so beautiful.

Speaking of corn all I do is peel back the husks and get all the strings off, then pull the husks back over the corn and throw it on the grill... it is a great way to have corn the flavor is so wonderful you almost don't need the compound butter... almost :o)

And then you can pull the husks back and you have great corn "handles". See the pretty green specs on the corn?

A little extra chimichurri sauce on the steak and you have a very flavorful dinner! YUM!!