Oven Fajitas & Classic Enchiladas

Oven Fajitas & Classic EnchiladasTwo thumbs up! Love no fuss dishes that have the food on the table in a flash. These Oven Chicken Fajitas are not too spicy and the chicken is so juicy good. If you’re looking for something healthy, simple, presents well (cook & serve in a paella pan) and is delicious, this is it! The Classic Enchiladas take just a little longer to put together but let’s admit it, the clean up, yikes! I love both of these recipes. The fajitas are pretty much a complete meal. By adding the perfect garnish to the enchilada it too can be a meal in itself.

As I have said so many times enchiladas are a family favorite. I have many recipes, here, here, here & here. The significance of this recipe, it unlike the others is made with a tomato base. And as a classic, cheese is the only filler. Hope you enjoy these recipes. We sure did!

If you are interested in an enchilada sauce from pod to finish … Try mine! And here are two wonderful enchilada casseroles, Green & Red. As I said, we are big on the enchiladas!

Continue reading


Bloody Beer

IMG_0867What has she done to my beer! Yep, I’ve become a beer drinker. I’ve always had a prejudice … Never liked it! But today, many years after my step into the world of wine I’ve become a beer drinker too. I don’t need all these ingredients to love it.

It just seems appropriate for Halloween with our Classic Enchiladas and Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas. All three recipes coming soon!

And just around the corner, my Portuguese version of Queso Fundido with malagueta and linguica. I recommend Portuguese vinho verde. It’s the perfect accompaniment!

Fajitas Ready For The Oven

Fajitas Ready For The Oven



Chai Cake with Pecan Topping

Chai Cake with Pecan Topping White cake to Chai! And because I wasn’t satisfied with the height, after all, this was  for someone’s special birthday, spiced nuts in caramel sauce were added. It was an absolute hit!

Friends and Family Blending Palettes! A little wine and fine (fun) painting … this cake, a platter of Italian meats and more … It was a perfect evening.

Chai Cake, Chai Candied Pecans, Caramel Sauce and Buttercream … all here!

Chai Cake

 

 

Continue reading


Quick & Easy Bolognese

BologneseThere is nothing more delicious in the world of pasta sauces than a good bolognese. This sauce is often a long cook and if you have a “want it now” mentality like I do now and again, a four hour recipe is just not going to get it. You may even prefer this to a slow cook … maybe because the ingredients have not broken down in the cooking process. I love serving this sauce over tagliatelle pasta. I think you’ll like it!

Enjoy these recipes too, Spaghetti Sauces & Slow Cook Meat Sauce. Delicious Meat Sauces and More!

Continue reading


Ricotta Stuffed Meatballs & Baked Spaghetti

Ricotta Stuffed Meatballs & Baked Spaghetti

Tasty best describes this dish. A little twist on meatballs and spaghetti. Pesto meatballs with ricotta stuffing top this baked spaghetti. The inspiration for the pesto comes from America’s Test Kitchen, here. The next time I give this a try, my favorite meatball recipe will top it off. Adding ricotta stuffing was my idea but not an original one apparently. These meatballs are made with lean beef and the texture is more firm than my favs. The ricotta stuffing might be tastier in a more tender meatball. This recipe just may become your family favorite.

Ricotta Stuffed Meatballs & Baked Spaghetti

Continue reading


Portuguese Pork and Beans

Marinated Pork and White Beans

Portuguese Pork and BeansThe perfect meal for Dan’s birthday. Two of his favorites baked together, melding the flavors for an amazing taste experience. Add a beer and my brother is going to be a happy guy.

Portuguese Pork and BeansI’ve simply combined two of my Grandmother’s recipes into one. Try this combination or if you prefer bake them separately. In our family these recipes, marinated pork & white beans, were meant to be served together. The beans take a good amount of time and are best baked long hours without a lid. If you are baking these together the meat will cook much faster. It is best to add the meat at the end of baking to assure the meat isn’t overcooked. It is unlikely you will over bake the beans.

Continue reading


BBQ Pizza

BBQ PizzaPretty popular these days and you may have seen a recipe or two for BBQ pizza already. But I can tell you what ‘not’ to do! Because I did it all with my first try. This is going to be my fallback this weekend because my air is out. Sounds horrible, no air conditioning, with 105 temps. But these old houses (built 1927) are perfectly insulated with walls feet thick. If I avoid creating heat indoors the house remains a comfortable 80. Of course, I must follow my Mother’s wise words to my children when they complained about her house being too hot, be very still. That was impossible for my children and actually for me too today. It’s time to get out the short shorts. Ha! I’ll leave that to my daughter.

Get your favorite toppings and here we go!

Continue reading


No Cook Lemon Cheesecake Pie

No Cook Lemon Cheesecake PieSweetened condensed milk leftover from ice cream making was an incentive to creating this pie. Can’t let food go to waste! Have you ever given thought to what’s in sweetened condensed milk. It’s really not that scary. In fact, you can make it yourself right on your stove top. Only two ingredients. How about vegan condensed milk? It’s easy. Check out these great recipes, here.  Yep, this whole pie can become vegan in a second. There are no eggs! Use vegan whipping cream, here. And well, the cream cheese can be eliminated … making the pie more chiffon-like. Vegan cream cheese? Yep, bet you can find a recipe for this too.

About the pie crust, make it graham cracker, chocolate, cookie, or meringue shells. All work!

This is a recipe with very few ingredients. Let’s get started.

Continue reading


Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

This delicious recipe has churned vanilla ice cream taste with only 3 ingredients and a pinch of salt. Several weeks ago I was in an ice cream-sorbet-sherbet mood. Try the blackberry sorbet … it was fabulous! Anyway, I found the cooked ice cream recipes I tried had little resemblance in taste or texture to the churned ice cream I enjoyed as a kid. The vanilla bean and raspberry ice creams were pricey and left me wanting more in taste. The good flavor of the vanilla bean with the $10 bean ingredient gave my mouth an unexpected feeling I sometimes get with Cool Whip. I moved on to raspberry. I had forgotten my near miss with raspberry ice cream in the past and cooked up the recipe again. The recipe just needs more flavor, a blackberry or two.

Craving the ice cream my parents used to put together, I pulled out the recipe. The first thing I noticed … 6 eggs? Hmm, my mother didn’t precook any ingredients. What would happen if I left out the eggs? It always seemed too sweet. What if I left out the sugar? Mother always made a big batch … It was such a production with a special trip to the ice house. Yep, for the ice. In the day we had a freezer only large enough for an ice tray or two. Dad cranked the old rusty freezer without much help. Our backyard in the summer was always filled with neighbors usually playing ping pong or badminton, or just chatting about the heat Seconds were unlikely and within minutes all was gone. So good! Fast forward a bit … we were given an old deep freezer and ice was no longer much trouble. Mother would fill empty milk cartons with water and freeze for ice cream making. Dad bought an electric churning freezer. The fuss was over. The recipe remained the same. Neighbors were miles away now. Lots of left-overs. Mother would freeze the left-overs in individual serving containers. The problem with freezing after churning … the homemade texture is lost. The ice cream became flavored ice … hard to spoon out and lacking in taste & texture. This recipe makes just a little over a quart for this reason. Left-overs are just not recommended.

A Cuisinart ice cream maker works very well for this recipe. It will hold the ice cream for some time if left on the countertop without much of a texture change. Putting the Cuisinart bowl in the freezer with the freshly churned ice cream will change the texture. Not recommended.

Enjoy this simple recipe. It’s a keeper!

Continue reading