Tuesday, May 5, 2009
wine recommendation
While at Larco's in Troy we enjoyed a Sonoma-Cuter wine,Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay. Mmmm. It was quite good. If you are looking for a nice white wine, this would be it :)
Monday, May 4, 2009
more grilling
Is this amazing 10 clove garlic marinade. It's great to marinate steaks at least 24hrs in this amazing stuff. Yum. That's what's for dinner tonight ;)
Here's some of my other favorites:
- Bowler Beef
- McCormick Grill Mates Montreal steak marinade (I recommend the zesty option). I love those grill mates products in general. The Hamburger one is good on burgers (duh) with a little Worcestershire sauce, I like the chicken rub, the spicy Montreal steak, the garlic & herb seasoning... mmm.
- tried/true chicken marinade is just some wishbone Italian dressing and boneless/skinless chicken breasts. Leave them in there overnight and you've got yourself a good chicken sandwich :)
Here's some of my other favorites:
- Bowler Beef
- McCormick Grill Mates Montreal steak marinade (I recommend the zesty option). I love those grill mates products in general. The Hamburger one is good on burgers (duh) with a little Worcestershire sauce, I like the chicken rub, the spicy Montreal steak, the garlic & herb seasoning... mmm.
- tried/true chicken marinade is just some wishbone Italian dressing and boneless/skinless chicken breasts. Leave them in there overnight and you've got yourself a good chicken sandwich :)
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
awesome baby back ribs
Those of you friends with me elsewhere online know of our grill saga, that our last one died a rusty death. Our new grill has a little smoker box in it, where you can put soaked woodchips in and smoke while you grill. (I think you can buy one for any grill but its attached! so neat!). Anyways, we had to find something to smoke in the new grill, it was a requirement by my husband.
So we bought some hickory wood chips at Lowes when we bought the grill, so I had them taunting me from the kitchen counter until I found something. Then I found it on allrecipes.com, an easy baby back rib recipe. We'd never mastered ribs on the grill, so I always have to slice them apart beforehand and do them in the oven. Giant PITA. This recipe is great, just remove the membrane from the back, lightly dust and rub in the rub and then throw on the grill for an hour on a preheated grill. Prize Winning Baby Back Ribs.
My changes:
- Soak hickory woodchips in water for time recommended on package (think it was 30 min).
- Put in little woodchip holder in grill, let them heat up while preheating grill
- Add garlic pepper and kosher salt (sub for reg salt/pepper) to the rub, use rub sparingly, I think I still had at least 1/2 left from one slab. Want it to enhance the smoky and bbq flavors not overpower :)
- I used sweet baby ray's bbq sauce, but may try my old favorite recipe of bourbon whiskey BBQ sauce (using Gentleman Jack).
I have another slab in the fridge for this week :) may be dinner tuesday if the wind dies down. I could see us doing a couple slabs for a party sometime too. Chris ate about half the slab himself last time I made them ;)
So we bought some hickory wood chips at Lowes when we bought the grill, so I had them taunting me from the kitchen counter until I found something. Then I found it on allrecipes.com, an easy baby back rib recipe. We'd never mastered ribs on the grill, so I always have to slice them apart beforehand and do them in the oven. Giant PITA. This recipe is great, just remove the membrane from the back, lightly dust and rub in the rub and then throw on the grill for an hour on a preheated grill. Prize Winning Baby Back Ribs.
My changes:
- Soak hickory woodchips in water for time recommended on package (think it was 30 min).
- Put in little woodchip holder in grill, let them heat up while preheating grill
- Add garlic pepper and kosher salt (sub for reg salt/pepper) to the rub, use rub sparingly, I think I still had at least 1/2 left from one slab. Want it to enhance the smoky and bbq flavors not overpower :)
- I used sweet baby ray's bbq sauce, but may try my old favorite recipe of bourbon whiskey BBQ sauce (using Gentleman Jack).
I have another slab in the fridge for this week :) may be dinner tuesday if the wind dies down. I could see us doing a couple slabs for a party sometime too. Chris ate about half the slab himself last time I made them ;)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
ham sauce
This was my great grandmother's family's ham sauce recipe. It says great grandma Britton but I think her maiden name was dutch... it's my Dad's Dad's Mom's family recipe ;) with Easter coming up I figured some of you may be having ham.
GREAT GRANDMOTHER BRITTON’S HAM SAUCE
1/2 cup tomato soup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup vinegar (apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup butter
3 egg yolks, beaten
In a medium-small saucepan over medium heat mix all ingredients except egg yolks. Whisk until butter melts and sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to simmer and incorporate egg yolks until sauce thickens, being careful not to scramble the eggs in the sauce. Remove from heat and let cool prior to refrigerating.
It's usually best if you let the eggs get to room temp so you have less of a chance of scrambling them when you add them to the sauce. It is good with ham or on sandwiches the day after with leftover ham or turkey. It's a mustard sauce with a kick from the vinegar.
GREAT GRANDMOTHER BRITTON’S HAM SAUCE
1/2 cup tomato soup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup vinegar (apple cider vinegar)
1/2 cup butter
3 egg yolks, beaten
In a medium-small saucepan over medium heat mix all ingredients except egg yolks. Whisk until butter melts and sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to simmer and incorporate egg yolks until sauce thickens, being careful not to scramble the eggs in the sauce. Remove from heat and let cool prior to refrigerating.
It's usually best if you let the eggs get to room temp so you have less of a chance of scrambling them when you add them to the sauce. It is good with ham or on sandwiches the day after with leftover ham or turkey. It's a mustard sauce with a kick from the vinegar.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Another St. Pat's recipe, Guinness beef stew
Found this on the livejournal community what a crock. I am having Chris pick up some Guinness tonight for the corned beef, will have to try this one in a few weeks to use up some more Guinness (if he doesn't drink it all).
This beef stew is supposed to be close to one from Dublin at the Guinness brewery, St James Gate.
Stew:
2 pounds bottom round chuck, cut into bite-size chunks
2 medium Russet potatoes
2 carrots
Half of a large sweet onion
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Flour to coat beef
Salt & pepper to taste
1 bottle of Guinness Extra Stout
Dumplings:
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Coat beef chunks in flour and place in a large crock pot.
2. Chop vegetables into smaller chunks and add to crock.
3. Combine Guinness and brown sugar, then pour over beef and vegetables.
4. Cook on Low for about 6 hours.
5. Towards the end of cooking time, combine dumpling ingredients to form a soft (not sticky) dough. May need to adjust milk and/or flour amounts.
6. Form dough into small (approx 1 oz) balls and add to stew.
7. Cook on High for 30 minutes.
This beef stew is supposed to be close to one from Dublin at the Guinness brewery, St James Gate.
Stew:
2 pounds bottom round chuck, cut into bite-size chunks
2 medium Russet potatoes
2 carrots
Half of a large sweet onion
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Flour to coat beef
Salt & pepper to taste
1 bottle of Guinness Extra Stout
Dumplings:
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup milk
Salt & pepper to taste
1. Coat beef chunks in flour and place in a large crock pot.
2. Chop vegetables into smaller chunks and add to crock.
3. Combine Guinness and brown sugar, then pour over beef and vegetables.
4. Cook on Low for about 6 hours.
5. Towards the end of cooking time, combine dumpling ingredients to form a soft (not sticky) dough. May need to adjust milk and/or flour amounts.
6. Form dough into small (approx 1 oz) balls and add to stew.
7. Cook on High for 30 minutes.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
time for an experiment... or 3
I have some strawberries headed south, so I think I'm going to make little coffee cake muffins using this recipe as a base. Mmm cream cheese involved? :) I will dice the strawberries and add right to the batter rather than use jam.
post baking notes: The strawberries in the batter made it a big too moist, I over filled my jumbo cups (made 6, should've at least made 8), I subbed sour cream for yogurt (its what I had), and I added 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the batter. Great flavor though :) May try just a few slices of strawberry or Jam under the cream cheese layer next time.
My Mom hated corned beef and cabbage but would make it for my Grandpa when he was alive because he was pretty much 100% Irish and loved it. So, since she hated it and I also think it reminded her of Grandpa, she never made it. Ever. So I was walking thru Meijer today with Chris and he talked me into agreeing to make corned beef this year. I said sure but no cabbage because he won't eat that ;) So I am going to make this one (and do the recommendation of adding the seasoning packet with the brown sugar) and this soda bread. Will probably do the corned beef in the crock with 1 can Guinness and 1 can's worth of water, since I'm not a HUGE Guinness fan. Also will throw potatoes and carrots in with it towards the end. Was going to make beef stew for St. Pat's but NO ;) I don't recall even really eating corned beef except as lunch meat. Dad has a meat slicer so we can slice the leftovers and they can enjoy it again ;)
Will let you know how my experiments turn out. *evil laughter*
edited to add: I wasn't a fan of the corned beef, but I am not a huge fan of Guinness so that could be why ;) my husband liked it. I put carrots, potatoes, and onion diced up on the bottom, then the corned beef with brown sugar and the seasoning packed sprinkled on it, then 2 bottles of Guinness in my crock and let it cook about 9 hours. The Soda bread turned out pretty good, even with a cup of wheat flour in it since I ran out of AP flour. ;)
post baking notes: The strawberries in the batter made it a big too moist, I over filled my jumbo cups (made 6, should've at least made 8), I subbed sour cream for yogurt (its what I had), and I added 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the batter. Great flavor though :) May try just a few slices of strawberry or Jam under the cream cheese layer next time.
My Mom hated corned beef and cabbage but would make it for my Grandpa when he was alive because he was pretty much 100% Irish and loved it. So, since she hated it and I also think it reminded her of Grandpa, she never made it. Ever. So I was walking thru Meijer today with Chris and he talked me into agreeing to make corned beef this year. I said sure but no cabbage because he won't eat that ;) So I am going to make this one (and do the recommendation of adding the seasoning packet with the brown sugar) and this soda bread. Will probably do the corned beef in the crock with 1 can Guinness and 1 can's worth of water, since I'm not a HUGE Guinness fan. Also will throw potatoes and carrots in with it towards the end. Was going to make beef stew for St. Pat's but NO ;) I don't recall even really eating corned beef except as lunch meat. Dad has a meat slicer so we can slice the leftovers and they can enjoy it again ;)
Will let you know how my experiments turn out. *evil laughter*
edited to add: I wasn't a fan of the corned beef, but I am not a huge fan of Guinness so that could be why ;) my husband liked it. I put carrots, potatoes, and onion diced up on the bottom, then the corned beef with brown sugar and the seasoning packed sprinkled on it, then 2 bottles of Guinness in my crock and let it cook about 9 hours. The Soda bread turned out pretty good, even with a cup of wheat flour in it since I ran out of AP flour. ;)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
honey wheat crescents
Making these tonight, the rolls I often made at Mom's required dry milk which I don't have on hand, and my daughter is in no mood to run to the store today. Hopefully they turn out good! I plan to use my upright mixer with dough hook rather than my Cuisinart... easier to clean!
Honey Wheat Crescent Rolls
from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
1 cup warm (105-115 F) water
2 tablespoons honey
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the water and honey; sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
In a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt. With the machine running, pour the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until smooth.
Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and put the dough in the bowl. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Punch down the dough. Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface; cut in half. Roll each half into a 10-inch circle. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Roll each wedge, from the wide side, and form into a crescent. Place, pointed-end down, on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, arranging the rolls 1 inch apart. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until they double in size, about 35 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake the rolls until they are golden brown and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 15 minutes. Remove the rolls from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.
Makes 12 rolls.
***after dinner edit: These were pretty good, not over-done with wheat (not in your face wheat). One word of warning is they don't brown as much as white rolls do so the bottoms were nice and brown and the tops not as brown in comparison.
Honey Wheat Crescent Rolls
from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
1 cup warm (105-115 F) water
2 tablespoons honey
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the water and honey; sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
In a food processor, combine the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt. With the machine running, pour the yeast mixture through the feed tube; pulse until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until smooth.
Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and put the dough in the bowl. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes.
Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. Punch down the dough. Sprinkle a work surface lightly with flour. Turn the dough onto the surface; cut in half. Roll each half into a 10-inch circle. Cut each circle into 6 wedges. Roll each wedge, from the wide side, and form into a crescent. Place, pointed-end down, on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, arranging the rolls 1 inch apart. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until they double in size, about 35 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake the rolls until they are golden brown and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 15 minutes. Remove the rolls from the baking sheet and cool on a rack.
Makes 12 rolls.
***after dinner edit: These were pretty good, not over-done with wheat (not in your face wheat). One word of warning is they don't brown as much as white rolls do so the bottoms were nice and brown and the tops not as brown in comparison.
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