Slow cooker apple butter

Ingredients:

• 4 pounds apples, diced

• 2 cups apple cider

• 1/2 cup real maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1 pinch ground cloves

• 1 pinch salt

In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine the apples, apple cider, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 12 hours stirring every couple of hours.

Transfer the apples to a blender and puree until smooth. Cool and store in glass jars in the fridge for up to 1 month. If you choose to can the butter as I did, they can be canned by boiling in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Grilled cilantro-lime flank steak

I’m a sucker for anything cilantro-lime. These two flavors together are heaven to my senses!! This is an easy marinade that adds a lot of flavor! It was a crowd pleaser in my house!

Ingredients:

1 (2 pound) flank steak

2/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh lime zest

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 lime for juicing

Place the flank steak in a baking dish or a ziplock bag. In a bowl, whisk together the cilantro, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Pour it over the flank steak and marinate anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hour or even overnight! I had mine go about 6 hrs.

When you’re ready to cook the steak, you can grill, broil or pan sear it to your liking. I grilled mine. Preheat grill to high heat. Place steak on grill and let go about 5 minutes. Flip and let go another 4-5. This should get it to a nice medium-rare.

Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes before slicing it thinly against the grain.

Top with fresh chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime!

Roasted Brussels sprouts with potatoes and pancetta

This recipe, so far, has been the only one that my boys like. They don’t even remember they are eating Brussels sprouts!

These sprouts came from the St. Paul farmer’s market. Fresh on the stalk!

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/3 pound sliced pancetta, diced

• small yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

• 1 large Idaho potato chopped

• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat oil over medium heat in a roasting pan or large skillet. Add the pancetta and cook until golden brown and crisp. Remove the pancetta to a plate lined with paper towels. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft. Add the Brussels sprouts and potatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and roast in the oven until the vegetables are cooked through and golden brown (about 30 minutes). Remove the vegetables from the oven and top with the reserved pancetta.

Shrimp-Poblano pepper and citrus pasta

This is a recipe that my sister, Gesica, taught me many years ago! It is so quick and easy. It’s a recipe that is adaptable too. My youngest son is not a huge fan of shrimp. I have swapped out the shrimp for chicken before and it’s just as delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb short cut pasta
  • 1 lb large, shelled and deveined shrimp
  • 3 large poblano peppers, cored and sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Zest of one orange
  • Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water. Add pasta and cook as directed on package.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the peppers. Season with salt and pepper. Heat for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant (about one minute). Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp turn pink (about 3-4 minutes per side). Add zest and stir until fragrant.

Once pasta is cooked al dente, reserve 1/4 cup of cooking water. Drain pasta and add to skillet with peppers and shrimp. Add pasta water to combine.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade pizza sauce

This a a quick sauce that only takes about 30 minutes. I used fresh tomatoes from the farmer’s market because they very well could be the last of the season. 😦 However, this recipe calls for canned. Even quicker to make!!!

We have a tradition that was my husband’s idea. We eat pizza every Sunday night for dinner! EVERY Sunday. 🙂 We get take out most often. I do like to make pizza at home and this a my favorite sauce!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• Salt and ground black pepper

Heat a small saucepot over medium heat and add the oil. Add the Italian seasoning and garlic and saute until fragrant; do not let the garlic burn. Add the tomatoes and sugar and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer until concentrated, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Recipe from foodnetwork.com

Roasted cauliflower with shishito peppers and goat cheese

It was time to jazz up my cauliflower recipes. What I love about cauliflower is how versatile it is. This pairing was a great new twist on roasted cauliflower!

This late summer I was lucky enough to benefit from some friends’ garden. They had a extraordinary selection! Carolina reaper, Trinidad scorpion, Thai, Fresno and many more! These shishitos were also from them. Thank you Dan and Joy!💛

I’ve seen them on restaurant menus. They’re kind of the new trendy side dish. I know why, because they are yummy! They are a sweet pepper. However, one in every ten peppers is spicy! It’s like Russian roulette with peppers! Good luck!

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of cauliflower, (any color), cut into florets
  • 6 ounces shishito peppers
  • Goat cheese crumbles
  • Sprinkle of Italian flat leaf parsley
  • Juice from half of a lemon
  • Drizzle olive oil
  • Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Mix cauliflower florets with olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

While cauliflower is roasting heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add shishito peppers to pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, then add lid and let cook for 3-5 minutes until shishito peppers start popping and blister/char.

Remove cauliflower from oven. Arrange peppers and cauliflower on serving platter. Drizzle with lemon juice, more olive oil, goat cheese crumbles and flat leaf italian parsley.

Enjoy!

Chicken and wild rice soup

This is comfort food for me!! The weather is changing and the crisp air calls for soup! This is a thick, creamy soup that actually fills me up!

I grilled the chicken breasts. I had the time and I enjoy the charred flavor. It adds some depth to the flavor. You certainly don’t have to grill yours. Grill, bake, poach, use a store bought rotisserie…whatever you want!

Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme
  • Salt Pepper
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup wild rice (5 ounces)
  • 2 quarts chicken stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 4 cups bite-size pieces of roasted chicken or turkey
  • 1 cup heavy cream

1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, thyme and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables just start to soften, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring, until evenly coated and lightly browned, about 1 minutes.

2. Add the wild rice to the saucepan and gradually stir in the stock and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the wild rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

Enjoy!

Cubanos

Do not EVER throw away pickle juice when your pickles are gone!!! There are many uses for leftover pickle juice. Here is one of those uses.

This will require some planning before making these sandwiches.

Ingredients:

  • 1+ cup pickle juice
  • 1 1/2 lb pork loin
  • Loaf of French bread
  • 1/2 lb sliced deli ham
  • 1/2 lb sliced Swiss cheese
  • Jar of sliced pickles
  • Yellow mustard

1) Place the pork loin and pickle juice in a ziplock bag. Let marinate over night or at least eight hours.

2) Heat grill to medium heat. Place pork loin on grill and do not disturb for 10 minutes. Flip for another 10 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees.

3) Remove loin from heat, cover with foil and let rest while preparing sandwiches.

4) Cut bread in half lengthwise. Remove some of the inside of the bread to make room for filling.

5) Layer sandwich with cheese, ham, pickles and yellow mustard.

6) Slice pork loin into 1/4 inch slices. Layer sliced pork onto sandwich.

7) Cut loaf into preferred size sandwiches.

8) Final step is to grill sandwiches on panini press until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.

The pickle flavor of Cubanos is my favorite and marinating the pork in pickle juice brings this sandwich to a new level!

Enjoy!

Buffalo chicken burger

Today is national cheeseburger day! I had already bought chicken breast before I knew this!!🤦🏽‍♀️ So…I ground up the chicken breasts and this is what I made for national cheeseburger day!!! I’m so glad I did!!

This recipe is for 4 burgers.

Ingredients:

    1 pound ground chicken breast
    4 hamburger buns
    1 tsp grill seasoning
    1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the grill grates
    2 Tbsp finely chopped celery (about half a stalk and save the celery leaves to top the burger)
    Red onion, sliced
    1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
    1/2 cup ranch dressing
    1/3 cup Franks RedHot buffalo sauce

Blue cheese-ranch sauce

Mix blue cheese and ranch together and set aside.

Chicken burger

In a large mixing bowl mix together ground chicken, grill seasoning, diced celery and olive oil. Form into four patties.

1) Preheat grill or grill pan to medium high heat.

2) Oil grates or pan then place patties on the heat. Using a basting brush, brush buffalo sauce onto patties. Do not disturb for 5 minutes.

3) Flip patties. Reduce heat to medium. Brush buffalo sauce on patties and let cook 5 more minutes or until no longer pink inside.

4) Remove patties to buns. Top with celery leaves, sliced red onion and blue cheese-ranch sauce.

God bless #nationalcheeseburger day!

Homemade caramel sauce

Quick Homemade Caramel Sauce is thick, gooey, and made with just five ingredients in five minutes, perfect for apples, brownies, ice cream, or maybe just a spoonful in your mouth!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 2/3 cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

1 In a medium saucepan set over medium-low to medium heat, melt butter. Mix in brown sugar and stir for 2 minutes. Mix in heavy cream and stir for 2 more minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla and salt until well incorporated.

2 Pour hot caramel sauce in a jar and allow to cool completely. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Now go pick some apples!!!