Portuguese Short Ribs
Short Rib Stew or layered over rice!
Pozole Verde Soup Portuguese Style
Three bowls later I’ve decided this is a keeper. My guy friend checking out the local sports bars in Visalia fell for Rookie’s Posole Verde Soup. Three days in a row or was it four! His excuse was Fitbit steps as each day around noon off he went walking Main Street. I’m not sure if he topped it off with a draft, his usual reason for stopping at Rookies. But he couldn’t say enough about this soup. I decided then and there to create Posole Verde Soup, my style, Portuguese style. Would you believe I’m not the first to use linguica.
Chicken or pork or a combination is most often used for the authentic Mexican style soup or stew. Posole or Pozole means hominy, a main ingredient. And verde is everything green; tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, avocado, cilantro and lime.
What fun creating this soup! And yep, I did have three bowls to determine just how much I loved it. The lime adds just what’s needed to bring forth the flavors. So, don’t skip it!
Blackberry Sorbet
It was a big deal and even a bigger job … making ice cream with a crank style maker when I was a kid. Mom would put together the specifically purchased ingredients while Dad drove off to the ice house for a burlap bag of chunked ice. And hopefully one of them remembered the rock salt. Dad was the only one with the strength to turn the ol’ rusty crank and even he had a time. It seemed like hours but I’m sure more like 30 minutes of constant churning before Dad would declare it was done. I miss those days but I can make ice cream so much easier. I use a Cuisinart.
It wasn’t until almost noon that we decided we might enjoy a Blackberry Sorbet for dessert. The bowl insert needed freezer time before use. Popped it into the freezer … no ice or salt with this. We’d be ready to rock-n-roll in 6 hours, the time it takes the liquid inside the bowl to freeze solid. Just put together the berry mixture … 4 easy ingredients.
Tartlets
Lemon Curd & Raspberries with Chantilly Cream
Blueberry with Chantilly Cream
Love this dessert. Absolutely perfect for the Fourth! The rich crust is amazingly simple with only three ingredients. The flavorful Lemon Curd is refreshingly tart. And the Chantilly Cream is just what’s needed to tame a bit of the tartness. The blueberries with just a hint of nutmeg are juicy delicious. Red-White-Blue … Happy Fourth of July!
Macaroni Salad
Perfect for the Fourth
Whatever macaroni or pasta you use this is sure to please those hungry picnickers. Try this patriotic pasta from World Market but don’t be surprised when all the color disappears with the cooking. The shapes get a little lost too in the thick dressing. With that said, this is an amazing macaroni salad. That’s a bit patriotic too, isn’t it? Once you have the pasta chosen, your choice, the rest is really simple. Add or subtract ingredients to cater to family and friends. Delicious!
Triple Layer Cookie Bar
Shortbread Brownie Chocolate Chip Bar
Motivated by the Brookster. Didn’t even know about The Brookster or Baked until my recent trip to Tribeca. The cookie was amazing. Thought about recreating it, two of my favorite cookies baked together. Weeks went by and I hadn’t made any cookies at all … unusual since I love homemade cookies right from the oven. I began feeling cookie deprived, craving my favorites. Why not bake my three favorites together. Know it will work! And here it is, a three layer cookie bar!
Take a tour of Baked while I put together the Triple Layer Cookie Bar recipe.
Brookster
Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
It’s been a busy month and while food is always a priority I haven’t been cooking much. For the past month I’ve been flipping a house … you’re becoming a regular Leona Helmsley, says a friend. Ha! So not. I’ve been doing a lot of the cleaning and detail work myself. AND I just got back from my first trip to New York City … My youngest son playing Carnegie Hall. Check out his site, here. Much adventure with a little stress calls me back into my kitchen for a little cooking/baking therapy. Okay, so my first recipe here isn’t spectacular. It is a kid’s favorite, easy to put together and feeds a crowd. I say it works for that potluck this summer. Spicy? no Chicken filled? yes You just have to try it!
I’ll be putting up photos of my house flipping soon. Here are a few of the before.
And guess what we found under this carpet! Yes, beautifully finished wood floors and more, here.
Memorial Day Week-end
Baked Strawberry Shortcake
Family is gathering and for me it’s a time to cook recipes that are tried-and-true. This is a simply baked strawberry shortcake for a crowd. It’s an old time favorite, here. Some feel it’s not dessert if it’s not chocolate. If this is you try my chocolate category for great ideas. Potato salad is one of my favorite BBQ sides and I do have a variety of recipes. If you’re into sweet potato fries you might find this sweet potato salad irresistible. A few of my favorites to get you started into Summer 2017:
Baked Beans
Sweet Potato
Barbecued Corn
Classic Potato Salad
Purple Cow
Portuguese Beans
Happy Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was much different decades ago. Mainly a greeting card day. I loved the crafts created by my children and have saved almost all to their horror. For my mom I often made cookies because while she always claimed she didn’t like sweets she never refused them especially cookies. Today, I’ll be celebrating with a nice brunch at the VP, one of my favorite local restaurants. My children have made this day a big deal and I’m almost a little embarrassed but I love it! Enjoy some of my Mother’s favorite sweets. And Happy Mother’s Day!
Pistachio Salmon
And Easy Rice Pilaf
Salmon is so easy and so delicious. It really doesn’t need to be dressed up but I like the simple addition of pistachios and cilantro. This recipe doesn’t have exact measurements for the ingredients. It’s to your taste. You can’t go wrong. Use raw or roasted pistachios, salted or unsalted. Just make those allowances when adding salt to taste. Here you go….