Ok, the secret’s out now so enjoy! It’s a little tricky to share this one because it truly is a “Secret” when you never measure ingredients! But I think this should be close enough: • 1 Large Can crushed Tomatoes • 1 Large Can chopped crushed Tomatoes (with tomato chunks) • 1 small can tomato paste • oregano (use fresh if you have it, if not dried will do) • basil (use fresh if you have it, if not dried will do) • bay leaf • ¼ cup red wine • 3 cloves of Fresh Garlic-chopped fine (use garlic zoom [...]
First Published in the King Arthur Flour’s Catalogue in 1993 see original below with photo of Sally and her daughter Jenna Crust 1 Cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour ¼ tsp. salt ½ cup solid vegetable shortening 1 – 3 TBS. ice water (depending on how much you need to get it to stick together) Preheat oven to 350º F Put the flour and salt in a bowl big enough to work in half the shortening with your pastry blender. Put the remaining shortening in and blend ‘til it looks mixed, but lumpy. It’s OK to handle and mix at [...]
The combination of cold weather setting in and the last of the fresh corn on the cob inspired me to make some corn chowder. Even I was pleasantly surprised at how great this turned out! This would also be a great basic soup to add oysters to or chicken or clams. Ingredients: • 1 ½ TBS. of butter • 2 strips of bacon (replace with ½ TBS additional butter for vegetarian option) • 1 small onion diced • 2 carrots sliced • 2 celery stalks chopped • 4 or 5 ears of fresh corn on the cob, cut from cobs [...]
This is such an easy and fast dish to make but it will definitely impress your friends when you whip this one up! Ingredients: Fresh ground black pepper (I always buy the disposable grinders because they grind nice and course. Now they even have three settings on them so you can grind them finer if you like, too.) 1 cup Marsala wine (Many people don’t realize you can actually get this in grocery stores in states where they are not allowed to carry any alcohol. You’ll find it near the vinegar section.) 4 chicken cutlets sliced in half lengthwise then [...]
If you have known me for any length of time you know that I am very much into FRESH and NATURAL ingredients! This is why I love Chobani Greek Yogurt. It is made with the best ingredients with no artificial
additives or preservatives. It also contains twice the protein of other yogurts with 5 live & active cultures, including 3 probiotics!
I know, I know, it’s not Thanksgiving or Christmas or even New Year’s Day so why in the world would I be making a Turkey dinner?
Because I just had a hankering for one! I only had a little bit of turkey back at Thanksgiving and didn’t get my annual dose I guess.
Preparing the turkey is easy. I like mine stuffed! So, I chop some onion and some celery and saute them in some melted butter. In this case I use a stick and a half (oh my!)
I know, it’s a lot of butter but come on, you only do this once a year right?
When the onion and celery have been sauteed for a few minutes they will turn translucent, then I added 2 bags of seasoned
dried bread crumb stuffing.
Stir that around for a couple of minutes coating with the butter mixture. I crack fresh black pepper into it
I like a lot of black pepper but you can season to taste. I then add 1 can of cream corn (I know that sounds strange but it really makes it tasty) and some chicken stock (I like stock better than broth in most cases
as it has more body and flavor IMHO (in my humble opinion).
I also season with some ground sage, crushed rosemary and crushed thyme. (again, this is to taste. Some like these seasonings and some don’t. Just don’t go too heavy on them as a little goes a long way)
As far as how much stock to add, you will have to decide because some like dryer stuffing and others like it moist. I tend to like it more moist so I added enough to make the bread crumbs sort of melt together.
Now it’s time to stuff the bird. If it was frozen you will need to have taken it from the freezer and left it in the frig for several days. It really takes a long time to thaw out. I prefer to use fresh turkey if possible.
I had a little stuffing leftover so I put in a baking dish.
When I am prepping food earlier in the day for this dinner I usually peel the potatoes and put them in a pot of cold water so they are ready to go when the turkey gets closer to being done.
I don’t like to leave too many tasks for the last minute because I’ll be making the gravy and mashing the potatoes at the same time.
I like all the food to land on the table hot!
Let’s talk about gravy:
There are two ways that I make gravy. Remember that chicken stock I showed you earlier? Well, if I want to stretch the gravy a little further I will use some chicken stock. In this case I had some nice pan drippings to start with. I poured them into
one of these gravy fat separators like this:
Here’s a cool one you can get at Amazon:
This is a gravy rooster! I love it! Keeps the gravy piping hot
for the whole meal!
Gravy Roosters are a rare breed as I have only seen 2 in all my days
but they are worth hunting down. LOL
Once I strained the gravy to get most of the fat out of it there wasn’t that much left of the drippings
so I put them into a frying pan and then I added a bunch of the chicken stock to it. I peppered it
This is when you can add some salt to if you like. You put it over a fairly high heat until it just starts to bubble. I take a glass measuring cup and put about a cup of water in it and whisk in
enough flour to thicken it enough to make a runny paste. Now this is also according to taste.
For thicker gravy make the paste thicker, for thinner gravy make it thinner.
You can also flavor your gravies with something you can get at the store called “Gravy Master”
but I usually don’t use that. It gives it a rich dark color and more flavor if you find your gravy needs a boost.
Now right before I made the gravy I made sure the potatoes were cooked. I had turned on the flame under the pot and heated it to boiling. Then turned it down a little until they were fork tender.
I then melted 1 stick of butter in
a glass measuring cup (I know, more butter, but remember it’s once a year!) I add some milk (how much milk will depend
on how thick or thin you like your potatoes) to the butter and I heat that up too.
(Remember I want everything to land on that table hot, this is why I heat them. Otherwise they tend
to cool the potatoes off before you can get them on the table). Once the potatoes are done I drain the water off and add my butter and milk mixture then take a hand beater and beat the heck out of them.
I use a hand mixer like this one and I really like it because the parts get stored with it and it eliminates that messy drawer thing and losing them.
This time I decided to roast some veggies to go with dinner. I cut some brussels srpouts in half and put them in a pan along with some fresh asparagus. I drizzled olive oil over the top of them and cracked some black pepper
and then added some fresh chopped garlic. My only mistake was starting them at the same time as
the asparagus roasted a lot faster so I would recommend giving the brussels about 15 mins. head start.
I popped these babies in right about the time we took the turkey out to rest.
By the way, you can’t always believe those poppers. This one lied! It popped
after only 2 hours in the oven and this turkey weighed over 13 pounds!
I left it in for another 2 hours and it was perfect! I did turn the heat down
a bit for the last hour.
Hint: if you like your outside skin dark and crispy like we do, don’t cover the bird
If you like it less dark and crispy you can cover it for the last hour and it won’t brown as much.
So here it is: Turkey dinner all on the table piping hot and boy was it delicious!
Oh, and don’t forget some great wine! This wine was a gift at Christmas and boy was it tasty!
1/3 Cup grated dark chocolate (optional, but who doesn’t love chocolate?)
Whip: Egg whites until they form stiff peaks.
Mix: together the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, beating until they are creamy. Add the vanilla extract and fold in the mascarpone. The mixture should be thick and creamy.
Gently Fold: the egg whites into the mascarpone mixture by hand with a rubber spatula until evenly folded. (do not over mix)
Make: the strong black coffee in a jug or cafetiere, then mix with the Marsala and brandy in a bowl. Quickly dip the lady fingers in the coffee mixture. They should absorb just enough liquid to flavor them without falling apart.
Arrange: some of the soaked lady fingers in the base of a large attractive glass serving bowl (I love the presentation in the Trifle Dish) or individual serving dishes. Cover with a layer of the mascarpone mixture.
Continue: layering alternate layers of lady fingers and mascarpone, finishing with a top layer of mascarpone. Sift the cocoa powder over the top, then chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or until set. The flavor improves if the coffee dessert is left overnight.
This served 11 with a little leftover.
Absolutely to die for!!!
Prep. time: 20 minutes, plus 3-4 hours chilling (better if left overnight).
Note: This is my version of this dessert. One thing that made it great was making sure the lady fingers were very moist when soaking them in all that booze! Just be careful while dipping them if using the soft lady fingers. They soak up the liquid
I found this recipe in the November 2012 issue of the “Coastal Living” magazine.
Ok, so when I posted it on Facebook via Instagram I caught some serious backlash because it is not a “healthy” dish! My recommendations are 2 fold: 1) Don’t make it every day 2) Don’t eat the whole thing all at once!
2 TBS. butter (first bad ingredient)
2 leeks, sliced (and soaked in a bowl of cold water to remove all the grit)
3 garlic cloves (kind of counteracts some of the “bad for you” ingredients, just a little )
1 TBS. chopped fresh Rosemary
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cracked pepper
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, very thinly sliced (another not so great for you ingredient, but there are worse…stick around)
2 cups heavy cream (holy moly! Yup, this one is probably the worst in the bunch)
1 cup whole milk (bad ingredient again, only not as bad as the last one)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyere Cheese (I don’t know, is aged hard cheese really that bad for you? I think even lactose intolerant folks can eat it if it’s aged long enough so it can’t be all bad, right?)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated parmesan cheese (Not too terrible for you)
Ok, this was really yummy!
First let me mention again that I almost NEVER make a new recipe I find exactly the way it is written and if I do, I NEVER measure. Cooking is very forgiving and allows you to improvise, experiment,
and substitute without worry of ruining things. Baking is a science and must be precise or cakes don’t turn out, etc.
So get creative and have fun!
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in a large, deep skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leeks and garlic; saute 5 to 7 mins. or until tender. Stir in rosemary, sea salt, and pepper.
2. Add potatoes, cream, and milk to leek mixture in pan, stirring gently to combine. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are barely tender.
(Do not overcook. Potatoes will be pliable, but not fully cooked)
3. Spoon half of the potato mixture into a lightly greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cut Gruyere cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Top with remaining potato mixture; sprinkle with
remaining cheeses. (May be covered and refrigerated overnight. Let come to room temp. before baking)
4. Bake 20 to 30 mins. or until potatoes are tender and top is golden brown. Garnish with rosemary if desired.
Start with the freshest, plumpest oysters you can find.
Then lightly and gently coat them with corn flour.
Be sure not to squeeze them too tight. Then heat some canola oil in a large skillet. Make sure the oil is pretty hot (you can test it by putting just one in first to make sure it sizzles)
Fry until a golden brown and turn. Then once they are browned on both sides you can scoop them out onto a paper towel to drain.
Serve with a spicy cocktail sauce and/or a good tarter sauce.
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April 25th, 2013 
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