Asparagus Ceviche

I was looking for something “different” to do with asparagus.

I mean, yeh, I could blanch it (which I do a lot), I could sauté it in some garlic infused olive oil, grill it, roast it, you name it, but I was just not in the mood for any of that.

So, I went to Food Network and came across this wicked simple, and incredibly delicious recipe for asparagus ceviche.

You don’t even need to cook the asparagus!

INGREDIENTS
•1 lb asparagus spears, chopped
•1 lb shrimp, cooked
•1 bunch green onions, chopped
•1/2 cup chopped red onions
•1 cup chopped tomato
•2 cups coleslaw mix
•1 jalapeño, sliced
•6 tbsp lemon juice
•6 tbsp lime juice
•2 tsp steak seasoning

Note: the original recipe called for adding crab, but I am allergic to it, so I skipped it.

Place all of the ingredients together in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice, lime juice, and steak seasoning.

Stash in the fridge for 45 to 60 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve as a dip with corn chips, as a fish taco in tortillas, or enjoy as a salad.

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Garlic Balsamic Grape Tomatoes

I needed some tomatoes, and the market had this buy one, get one free deal going on, so I did.

except…

I really did not need that many tomatoes.

Happily, I came across this recipe on, I think, allrecipes.com, and decided to offer it up as a side dish for dinner. Leftovers, as it turned out, made a frozen pizza a true thing of beauty.

INGREDIENTS
•1 pint grape tomatoes
•2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
•3 garlic cloves, minced
•2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
•1/2 tsp steak seasoning
•1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet, then add the tomatoes and garlic.

Cook for 15 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the tomatoes begin to soften.

Add the balsamic vinegar, crushed red pepper, and steak seasoning and continue to cook until the tomatoes begin to burst and any pan liquids have reduced and thickened into a sauce.

Serve as a side, which, as I noted above, was lovely, or scatter on top of a frozen pizza before cooking, which was really good.

I might even go so far as suggest just spreading it on crusty bread.

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Apricot BBQ Meatballs

I have this recipe filed under “Korean Barbecue Meatballs,” but really it is at best, I think, only kinda Korean-adjacent; and so I am opting for the more appropriate “Apricot BBQ” label.

Still wicked tasty, though.

I used a bag of frozen home-style meatballs, and served them with mashed potatoes and some veggies as a main course, but they would work a treat as an appetizer as well, which I am thinking of for Easter.

INGREDIENTS
Sauce:
•13 oz jar apricot preserves
•1/2 cup barbecue sauce
•1/4 cup orange juice
•1/4 cup Zesty Catalina salad dressing
•2 shallots, minced
•2 tbsp lower sodium Tamari
•1 tbsp chili crisp
•1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

Meatballs:
•1 bag frozen home style meatballs

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Combine the sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the preserves are melted and the sauce is thickened a bit.

Pour the sauce over the meatballs in a slow cooker and cook on high for four hours.

Note: this a last minute meal choice, and I did not have the four hours to slow cook, so I set my cooker on ‘Simmer” and cooked the meatballs in the sauce for 30 minutes or so before resetting to “Slow Cooker” for another hour or so. This allowed me to thicken the sauce further into a glaze.

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Lamb Chops, Marinated and Air Fried

One of our biggest reasons for shopping at Costco was their pretty frikkin’ fantastick lamb chops.

Well…

ok, and their wine selection.

But now, one of our local markets has been stepping up their lamb game, and one day recently, the chops were on sale, so…

bring those puppies home!

INGREDIENTS
Marinade:
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
•1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
•2 tbsp hot honey
•2 tbsp olive oil
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1 tsp black pepper
•1 tsp steak seasoning
•1 tsp Aleppo pepper

Lamb Chops:
•4 to 6 lamp chops

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Combine the marinade ingredients together (an immersion blender works a treat for this) and pour over the lamb chops in a gallon sized zipper bag or a glass container with a tight fitting lid.

Stash in the fridge for at least a couple of hours or (always more better) overnight, turning the chops over whenever you remember to.

When ready to cook, bring the chops to room temperature and remove from the marinade (discard the marinade).

Heat your air fryer to 400º and line the basket or tray with parchment paper.

Arrange the chops in a single layer on the parchment lined tray and air fry for five minutes.

Turn the chops over and air fry for another five minutes. Remove from the air fryer, cover loosely, and let rest for five minutes before serving.

Lamb-y perfection!

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Sautéed Asparagus

You really do not need to go to a lot of fuss to make better tasting veggies.

Take these bright green, crisp tender beautiful asparagus spears…

All it took was a quick trim, a bit of butter, my favorite steakhouse seasoning, and five to ten minutes, depending on how big your asparagus is (the air fried marinated lamb chops were also wicked tasty, but I will cover those next week), so, let us get started on our tasty veggies…

INGREDIENTS
•1 bunch asparagus
•3 tbsp unsalted butter
•1 tbsp steak seasoning

Note: this is my current fave steak house seasoning, but feel free to use your own.

Wash the asparagus and cut off the woody ends of each stalk. I usually take an inch or so in total.

Melt the butter in a large pan, add the asparagus and steak seasoning, tossing to coat each stalk well.

Sautée for five to ten minutes, again, depending on how thick your asparagus is. These stalks were pretty big, so mine took about the full ten minutes until they were that lovely bright green and nicely crisp tender. Serve immediately.

Oh! Mebbe with a drizzle of fresh lemon juice on top.

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Steakhouse Marinade – And a Nice Air Fried Chicken Salad

It all started with one of those steakhouse chopped salad kits.

I’ve made it my mission that we shall have more salads and, for just the two of us, a min course salad from a kit works a treat. I just add a bit of protein, in this case chicken tenders, toss out the kit’s salad dressing packet, I mean who needs their blue cheese dressing when I have my own?

For the chicken, I had come across a new marinade recipe that brought it all together.

INGREDIENTS
Marinade:
•1/4 cup lower sodium Tamari
•3 tbsp honey
•2 tbsp white vinegar
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tbsp steak seasoning
•3/4 cup veggie oil

Chicken:
•Chicken tenders
•Sliced peperoncini

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Whisk together the marinade ingredients (an immersion blender works a treat for this), then pour over the chicken pieces in a flat bottomed container with a locking lid.

Close the container, give it a toss to evenly coat the chicken, then stash in the fridge for a couple of hours, giving the container a bit of a toss when you think to.

When ready to cook, heat your air fryer to 400º and line the air fryer basket with parchment paper.

Note: I have had three different air fryers, and they all seem to have their own little quirks. My current one, which is my favorite, does need to be preheated, and just seems to work best at 400º. By all means, go by your own experience with your air fryer.

Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) and arrange on the parchment lined air fryer basket along with the sliced peperoncini.

Air fry for five minutes, then turn the chicken over and cook for another four minutes or so.

At this point, I added some leftover cubed French rolls and continued to cook for another minute or two to make croutons.

And so, a fine addition to a main course salad came together.

Serve with a steakhouse chopped salad kit and, my preference, your fave Blue Cheese Salad Dressing.

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Bread Pudding

Go figure!

I *might could’ve* over cooked a wee, tiny bit for a gathering, and found myself with some surprising leftovers, such as an entire loaf of Aunt Beezy’s Soda Bread with dried cherries – this time made with 1:1 gluten free flour, which, turns out, works a treat.

Aunt Beezy’s bread is a household favorite, but with just the two of us, there was no way I was gonna be able to use it up before it started to get moldy.

What to do?

Why, bread pudding, of course!

INGREDIENTS
•6 slices old bread, torn into small pieces
•2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
•1/2 cup raisins (optional)*
•2 cups milk
•3/4 cup white sugar
•4 large eggs, beaten
•1/2 tsp cinnamon
•1/2 tsp allspice
•1 tsp vanilla

*I already had dried cherries added to my soda bread, so I skipped the raisins.

Note: what kind of bread? It is up to you! I used my soda bread, but most any would work, though I would probably stick to milder or sweet styles, such as brioche.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Cut the bread into thick slices, and then cube those slices and scatter in the bottom of an eight inch square baking pan.

Pour the melted butter over the bread and (if using) sprinkle raisins over top.

Whisk the milk together with the sugar, eggs, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla in a  mixing bowl until well combined.

Pour evenly over the bread pieces in the baking pan, then, using a fork, lightly push down the bread pieces so that they are more or less submerged and soaking up the liquid.

Pop into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the pudding is golden brown and the top springs back when lightly touched.

Note: my bread pudding looked as though it needed a bit more baking time, so I left it in for another ten minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream. Butterscotch sauce optional, but totally lovely.

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The Return of Ranch Pickles

Yeh.

I know.

It is barely March, and the temperatures in our far northeastern Illinois town are acting like it is May.

Of course, we are gonna get hit with more snow and ice and what have you; but, just for today, I am gonna think about mebbe firing up the grill and enjoying the sunshine and balmy weather.

And ranch pickles are the perfect accompaniment; whether for brats, or in salads, or just on their own.

INGREDIENTS
•1 jar spicy sweet pickle chips*
•1 packet ranch dressing mix

*I use Famous Dave’s sliced pickles, but feel free to use your own fave, or even pickles spears. A dash of pickled jalapeños is also a nice addition.

Empty the ranch dressing packet into a quart canning jar, then add the juice from a large jar of pickles.

Cover the jar and shake to mix well before adding the pickles.

Note: of course, you can just add the ranch dressing mix directly to the pickle jar, then close that and shake to blend, but I think combining the brine and the mix before adding the pickles gives me a more nicely blended batch.

Cover and stash in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend.

I will admit, I did not fire up the grill after making this batch of pickles, but we did have some brats, fresh from the air fryer.

Add brats to a pot with beer to cover, some thickly sliced onion, and a nice pat of butter, then bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the brats are cooked.

Remove the brats and sliced onion from the pot and arrange in a single layer on a parchment lined air fryer tray.

Air fry the brats at 400º for 15 or 20 minutes, turning the brats over to crisp evenly after ten minutes.

Serve.

I made my ranch pickles into a relish with freshly chopped sweet onion and thought it practically perfect.

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Tamari Cream Cheese Dip and Spread

Recipes from the midpoint of the 20th century can be hit or miss. On one hand, you’ve got a spam and jello mold with green olives and sardines; on the other…

You’ve got a tasty little jewel like this.

Cream cheese, a dab o’ heavy cream, some lower sodium Tamari (my 21st century, gluten-free soy sauce alternative), and, well, it is me, so, a couple of additional seasonings and stuff to make it all a bit more interesting and flavorful.

INGREDIENTS
•8 oz cream cheese, softened
•2 tbsp heavy cream
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•2 tsp lower sodium Tamari
•1-1/2 tsp grated onion
•1 tsp lemon juice
•1/4 tsp ground ginger
•1/4 tsp dried Thai basil
•1 tbsp chopped parsley

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste

Note: Tamari is a gluten-free alternate for soy sauce. Feel free to use reduced sodium soy sauce in its place.

Blend the cream cheese, Sherry Peppers Sauce, and cream until smooth.

Mix in the Tamari, onion, lemon juice, Thai basil, and ginger until well blended.

Stash in a covered jar in the fridge for at least a couple of hours to allow the flavors to really blend well.

To serve, bring the dip to room temperature and transfer to a bowl. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley.

Note: this is a pretty darned nice dip with chips and all, but it also makes for a great spread on crackers; mebbe topped with a slice of pickled jalapeño.

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Cheeseburger Tot Casserole

I came across the original version for this recipe (from the nice folx at Southern Living) on line and thought that, with a few easy tweaks, it would be perfect for a Book Club lunch. I easily made it gluten-free by using 1:1 Gluten-Free flour (Tater Tots are naturally gluten-free); but…

I was a bit surprised at how bland the casserole was shaping up to be as I was making it, and so my recipe reflects my flavor enhancing additions, which were all very well received.

INGREDIENTS
•1 tbsp olive oil
•1-1/2 lb ground beef (I used meatloaf mix)
•1 cup chopped sweet onion
•1 tsp steak seasoning
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 tbsp tomato paste
•2 tbsp flour (gluten-free works a treat)
•1 cup chicken stock
•1 (10-oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
•1 tbsp spicy brown mustard
•2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
•1-1/2 tsp steak seasoning
•2 tsp black pepper
•1 tsp garlic powder
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce – or your fave hot sauce, to taste
•1 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/4 tsp red chile flakes
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce
•Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
•Tater tots
•Ranch dressing
Arby’s Sauce

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Heat your oven to 400º and apply cooking spray to a large baking pan, approximately 11×7 inches.

Add the oil to a large skillet over medium high heat, then add the meatloaf mix, onion, one tablespoon of Sherry Peppers Sauce, and one teaspoon of the steak seasoning.

Cook, breaking the meat up into small pieces, for ten minutes or so, until the meat is cooked through, the onion tender, and most pan liquids have been cooked off.

Stir in the tomato paste and flour and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute or so.

Stir in the stock and, still stirring constantly, cook for another five minutes or so, until the mixture has reduced and thickened.

Stir in the drained tomatoes and chiles, the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, seasonings, hot sauce, and additional tablespoon of Sherry Peppers Sauce.

Cook, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a simmer and thickens a bit.

Turn off the heat and stir in one cup of shredded Pepper Jack cheese until the cheese has melted.

Note: not a fan of Pepper Jack? use 1/2 cup each of shredded Jack and Cheddar cheese.

Transfer the meat and cheese mixture to your prepared baking dish, then top with a single layer of tots.

Bake, uncovered for 35 minutes, until the casserole is heated through and bubbly, and the tots are golden brown.

Remove from the oven and scatter another cup or so of shredded cheese evenly over the top of the casserole.

Return to the oven for another five minutes or so, until the cheese has nicely melted.

Remove from the oven and let rest for five minutes before serving.

I drizzled mine with ranch dressing and Arby’s Sauce before serving with a baby arugula and romaine salad with Hilltop Blue Cheese Dressing.

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