Bean Salad

Bean SaladYep, this is another old recipe. Mom’s salad recipes are on my mind as Mother’s Day approaches. Of course our eating habits are quite different from the 60’s. I’ve made a few changes to this recipe but it can even be brought closer to date by simply adding blanched green & yellow beans instead of the canned variety … Just as mom’s Layered Salad might better include baby spinach leaves or a spring lettuce combination instead of iceberg to make it more palatable for many. Those are easy fixes. But sometimes it’s just fun to “remember when” and leave the recipe as it was … Especially on Mother’s Day! OK, I have to admit 3/4 cup sugar in the dressing is way too much. Yikes!

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Salads and Dressings

Vegetable Salads for Days

Salads and DressingsToday begins my Vegetable Salads for Days posts. I’m starting with recipes of times past (mom’s) and moving forward to more calorie-concious salads & dressings. All are great and have a place. This layered salad is perfect especially in this single serving jar. All the ingredients can be visualized … Important if your family is like ours. Not everyone likes all the ingredients. These single servings are fun and can be individualized. Truly very little extra time on your part. Especially great for those barbecues or picnics!

 

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Cinco De Mayo Recipes

We’re getting a head start on this celebration. Believe me, we don’t need an excuse to celebrate with these recipes! Mexican cuisine has always been an important part of our family’s food history. I hope you enjoy viewing some of our favs and give them a try. Search our Mexican Food for more!

Taquitos & Guacamole

Taquitos

Mexican Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cakes

Shredded Beef

Shredded Beef

Quick Cheese Enchiladas

Enchiladas

Tortilla Soup

Tortilla Soup

Chicken Chile Enchiladas

Chicken & Chile

Enchiladas & Beans

Plain Beans

Albondigas Soup

Albondigas Soup

Enmoladas

Enmoladas

Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake

Salsa

Salsa

Chorizo & Eggs

Chorizo & Eggs

 


Portuguese Turnip Green Soup

Portuguese Turnip Green Soup

 

Soup that pairs nicely with Portuguese Sweet Bread, Portuguese Meat Bread or Rustic Cornbread. Or no bread at all! If you’re concerned about the bitterness of turnip greens in this soup it’s pretty much without need. With the little bit of meat, olive oil and vinegar the greens are pretty tame. Let’s not totally take away the characteristic of this vegetable. Piquant can be a good thing.

 

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Portuguese Meat Bread

Portuguese Meat Bread

 

Backyard chickens are busy this time of year. With the extra eggs I opted to bake this delicious Portuguese Meat Bread, a meal in itself with a little side of greens or green salad. My choice as a side today with my Portuguese Turnip Green Soup … coming up next!

This bread is rich in eggs & butter! What this means to bakers? This recipe requires extra time to rise … about 2 hours. Plus, it’s a little sticky during kneading.

It’s a forgiving recipe and certainly worth the effort because the outcome is amazing.

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Easy Tenderloin Roast

Easy Tenderloin Roast

 

But did I say pricey! Save this for a special occasion because a tenderloin roast can cost. This one was $22 a pound and weighed just a little over 3 pounds. Enough to serve 6 generously. A delicious cut of meat you don’t want to ruin. So, if your guests are into medium well or well cooked meat you may want to skip this.

This was served with a blue cheese and mushroom sauce. So delicious.

A salad and potato dish complete the meal. Yes, the slices are a bit thin … about 1 inch. Can you imagine this roast is for 6? 3 pounds! We might be carnivores … This was even too much beef per serving for us. Keep your guests’ appetite size in mind when purchasing this cut. Leftovers are good but not ideal here.

 

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Wood Oven Pizza

Wood Oven pizzaIt absolutely works! The little terra-cotta pizza oven I bought at Cost Plus World Market is worth it. Now 40% off too. Start the fire, let it burn for 15 minutes to reach a peak temperature, bake pizza in two minutes. Amazing!

Wood Stove PizzaChoose your favorite pizza toppings and add them to this amazingly quick and easy pizza dough. In fact, I would say this is a no fail pizza dough recipe. Yep, while at World Market I picked up this great pizza recipe book, Patio Pizzeria by Karen Adler & Judith Fertig. Lots of good and delicious ideas. I decided to try their simple “Classic Pizza Dough” with slight variations. It was pretty near perfect. They did suggest ’00’ flour for wood burning ovens … providing a thinner crust. But I used bread flour as the original recipe suggested and it worked well. In fact, the recipe was to make four 6 inch size pizzas. I found it made four 8-9 inch pizzas instead … It was easy to stretch out with semolina flour dusted on the working surface.

It was fun using this method of cooking. Just have the right wood for your oven, small enough and safe to use with food. I like the idea of a pizza stone and I didn’t have any trouble removing the pizza when done. When transferring onto the heated stone the pizza dough should be resting on a cornmeal covered surface. This helps tremendously. I had the pizza resting on a large wooden paddle covered with cornmeal and lifted/slid the pizza onto the heated stone with a 6 inch round spatula. Worked perfectly.

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Coq Au Vin

Coq Au VinHere’s the second chicken from my discounted double pack. Truth is the second one had a bit of an off smell when I removed it from the package, and although it was not over the draw date given I decided to take it back to the market for a replacement. This is the replacement. Chicken and fish are the two food products I go the extra mile to attain the very freshest.

This recipe is especially for those on the fence about chicken. Often chicken, especially breast meat, is overcooked with dry tasteless results. The richness of this dish will please even the most ardent beef eater.

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Easy Garlic Roasted Chicken

Garlic Roasted Chicken

We’re having chicken noodle soup tonight with these amazing leftovers.

Precooked garlic chicken at your grocer’s can be expensive when you can make it easily yourself at half the price! I know, I know, sometimes the convenience is worth the store bought but just in case you can buy two large roasting hens for less than $10 like I did here you might give this a try.

 

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Chicken and Pineapple Stir Fry

Chicken and Pineapple Stir FryStill into Pineapple! Here is a very simple stir fry with a 15 minute prep. That side of rice may take longer … Especially if you’re using brown rice. Enjoy this quick chicken recipe in no time. It’s so delicious and so easy!

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