It's Not A Mojito....It's Not A Margrita...What Is It?

It's no secret that I love mojitos and margaritas but what do you do if you are missing ingredients?
I have found more times then not that missing ingredients for a recipe, has forced me to come up with new recipes and some are so good you just have to spread the word. Of course there are also those times when you must get in your car and go to the store too. I think once upon a time I really did want to be a bartender but now I'd rater be a foodie who sometimes comes up with new drinks. I love that major food stores are carrying these baby grapes because the only other place I ever got to pick them up at was my friend Barbra's backyard. Again Thank you Costco and Trader Joes.

Champagne Grape Fizz
"Come up with a better name and I will give you the credit"

1/4 Cup of Champagne Grapes**
1/2 juice of one Lime
3/4 Tbsp of Blue Agave Nectar
2 oz of Gold Tequila
Fizzy water or club soda (plain or lime)
Ice chips, crushed or cubed

Serves 1

Get a pint glass rinse grapes and slide your fingers down the grapevine over the glass.
Pour in agave, lime juice and muddle aka smash with a wooden spoon or pestle. Throw in some ice, pour tequila over that, muddle a little bit more and top off with soda water. It does look odd but taste great and refreshing.

**now found in Costco and Trader Joes


It reminds me of Asian "Bubble Tea"

Tips:
If you like straws you need the really big one like from bubble tea or "Jack in the Box"

Salmon Cakes Lastnight...Tonight Seafood Enchiladas

I love enchiladas because they are so versatile, beef, pork, seafood and vegetarian. That is one thing I believe I do well, being versatile in my cooking. I believe that is why I love cooking foods I can change 100 ways. Who knew that my new creation of salmon cakes would morph into salmon enchiladas. I have never used fish in my enchiladas other then shellfish but these were so easy and yummy, I wanted to share them with you. You are using the Salmon Cake mix leftovers before you cooked it because if you cooked the cakes I'm sure there were no leftovers :)

Salmon Enchiladas
2 Cups of Salmon mix**
3/4 Cup of Sour Cream or Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1 Cup of grated Mozzarella
1/2 Cup of Chili Verde Sauce**
2 Flour Tortillas

Preheat Oven 400

In a bowl mix together salmon mix and sour cream.
Lightly oil the bottom of a baking dish and lay down one flour tortilla add your salmon mixture, top with cheese, roll and make sure seam side is down. Repeat 1-3 times :)
Now spoon on your Verde sauce, top with more cheese and bake for 20 minutes.



Topping:
I like to mix Chili Verde sauce with plain regular yogurt

**Salmon Cakes recipe
**For this recipe I use Chili Vere in a can
makes:
4 little enchiladas or 2 big "burrito" enchiladas (my favorite)

In The Mood For Grilled Salmon?

I was in the mood for salmon fresh off the BBQ until I grilled it....Matt and I threw on some eggplant steaks, T-Bone steaks and I really wanted to grill that salmon for lunch or dinner the next day. Well the next came and I was so out of the mood for salmon, I did not know what to do. My mother-in-law had told me about this warm potato salad with salmon but I did not feel like that either. What else? I was on the phone with my mother-in-law and I asked if she had any quick clever ideas, yes she did! Salmon Croquettes aka salmon patties, somewhere in that moment I came up with crab cakes made out of salmon....Now that could be good! I said "love ya Deb but I gotta go cook now" and off I went. I love when I have an idea and I can just run with it, I had left over brown rice, fresh picked dill, walla walla onions from Sherries garden and panko (Japanese break crumbs).

Salmon Cakes

2 Lbs of Grilled Salmon (I had grilled it with a few fresh basil leaves and sea salt)**

1 Egg

2 Walla Walla Onions chopped fine (any sweet onion)**

1/2 Cup of cooked brown rice**

1/2 Cup of Panko

2 tsp of black pepper

1 Tbsp of fresh dill

1 Tbsp of EVOO

In a bowl with a fork flake your salmon, add your chopped onion, dill and egg, mix well. Then add your brown rice, next add your panko and black pepper. Drizzle some evoo in a pan, make patties with your hand and lightly brown on each side. They might fall apart a little but make sure you press them together well before cooking. I make a long football shape and eat it on a toasted croissant with tarter sauce(see below) fresh tomato and shredded lettuce or hearts of romaine. This will make over 8 large patties or 10-12 smaller patties, I made 6 patties and saved the rest for tomorrow night.

Tarter Sauce

2 Tbsp of Best Foods (Hellmanns)

1 Tbsp of finely diced dill pickle

mix in a bowl and it will keep in fridge for about 1 week

**I like to grill my skinless salmon in aluminum foil so I don't loose it through the grills and it stays really moist but I leave the foil open so it has the BBQ smoky taste. I also love cooking salmon on cedar planks.
**a little smaller then a tennis ball but larger then a golf ball
**if you have a Trader Joes (www.traderjoes.com) buy their stir fried brown rice with shitaki mushrooms in a clear plastic bag, it comes cooked and is wonderful to use in recipes like this. It is so good I love to eat that with a big salad sometimes for lunch.

A Great Breakfast Can Be Faster Then You Think

I never have been the kind of girl that liked to eat in my car, on the go or worse have a shake for lunch??! Yuk! I'm sorry that just sounds wrong.
I understand that many people need to get up, eat and go. I also understand the importance of a good breakfast. I will show you how to make a egg sandwich that is faster then a take out line and better for the pocket book. Either on a croissant, english muffin or sourdough toast. I love mine on croissant and if you do use a english muffin only use one egg and one sausage.

Fast Breakfast Sandwich

1 Croissant cut lengthwise like a sandwich**
2 eggs
2 breakfast sausage (or one depending on if you like patty's)
2 tsp of evoo

Cut your croissant in half, pop in the toaster.
Drizzle your oil in a large fry pan
drop your sausage in a hot pan, cook for 1-2 mins
Crack your eggs in the same pan or pour in if you like them completely scrambled. (I like to crack mine in a pan, break the yolks and flip a few times.) Your sausages should be cooked fully by the time your eggs are done. Cut in half lengthwise to finish them faster if not or to cover your whole sandwich. Your toaster has been keeping your bread warm for you to fill it up and go! You can also cut up in little slices and mix with the egg. No matter how you do it, it will take you less then 10 minutes. Skip the cheese with the croissant you will not miss it I promise!
Know what you are feeding your family in the morning.

Thank you for reading,
Ms. Foodie

Pizza On A Flour Tortilla

I feel like I'm having pizza week, long days and pay check to pay check makes for clever ideas. I had a friend who used to make me "Mexican Pizza's" and I loved them. So one day I was thinking taco bell used to make some kind of pizza between two flour tortillas, that reminded me of my friends pizza. I decided to take that a step further and just make any kind of pizza on a flour tortilla.

Mushroom Feta Pizza With Garlic Oil
2 Flour Tortillas
3 Tbsp of EVOO
3 Cloves of Fresh Garlic (minced)
1 Cup of Medley Mushrooms (shitaki, cremini, oyster)**
2 Handfuls of Baby Heirloom Tomato's (yellow and orange grape tomatoes)
3/4 Cup of Kale**
1/2 Cup of Feta
1/3 Cup of Fresh Mozzarella


Set your oven to 550 with pizza stone in the oven, if you don't have a pizza stone make one (see my other homemade pizza to learn more).

You can do these on foil...but pizza stones really are worth their weight in gold especially if you pay under $5 :)


Lightly drizzle evoo (extra virgin olive oil) on the backs of tortillas, lay them down on foil and drizzle about 1 Tbsp of evoo on tortilla, sprinkle garlic, mushrooms, cheeses, tomato halved & kale. (this is half of the toppings)

Repeat....with the other half of toppings :)

Takes 10 min to crisp so watch it close.

** I really love my dried mushrooms I get from Costco for $16 they do last me a few months and I always use them but fresh would also be good.

I will share many more pizzas so watch for them...
Ms. Foodie

Margarita's With A Twist

Who doesn't love a margarita on a summer's night? I have a friend Sherri who told me about this fun recipe and it really is good. I admit I had my doubt because I thought about the beer I love to drink, heffs, porter, stout eewww but cheap tasteless beer or even light tasting beer like Corona now that could be good.

This will make 4 Margaritas

Lime Margarita
1 Frozen can of limeade
4 Limes
8 oz of Tequila
1 Can of cheap beer (Hamms or Natural Ice)
Ice to fill glasses

You can blend this in a blender but I'm the on the rocks kinda gal...

Cut limes in half, wipe juice around rim and dip in salt if you wish, kosher salt is pretty or sea salt. Then fill each glass with 1/4 of frozen limeade, squeeze the juice of one lime, add 2 oz of tequila over ice, mix well, then top with more ice ad fill to the top with beer, mix a little and party on!
I have tried other beers but the 2 I listed are the best and I love Cosco's German Lager, it ads a new dimension of flavor and a pretty orange hue like a Cadillac Margarita.

Cooking With Passion...May Cause You To Loose Your Mind

I really do love cooking and most of the time I cook with my sense of smell, taste, mood and Passssion! Often I will start with an idea of what sounds good and mix it with what do I have in the fridge. I've tried really hard these past few years of not cooking the same old thing unless it was such a smash that I could not bare to never eat it again. Taking pizza for an example, tonight I wanted pizza with my zucchini I picked from the garden. So the only thing I knew I had was fresh mozzarella, basil, garlic and whole canned tomatoes. Sounds pretty good right? So I open the fridge and see my little sweet onions, I forgot I had just picked up baby heirloom tomatoes in different colors...yummy. In the back I see a few leftover marinated artichokes I've wanted to use up, now this looks like another wonderful veggie pizza. Of course one of my staples in the kitchen "dried gourmet mushrooms." break a few of those up add some hot water, make a quick sauce and start dicing! How I made my sauce:

Quick Tomato Sauce
For Pizza and Pasta

3 whole tomatoes with some juice from a can
5 Basil leaves torn
1/2 head of roasted garlic**

Take a little sauce pan and dump in the tomatoes with juice, tear basil leaves and bring to a boil.
When it starts to bubble, stir so it does not scorch.
Squeeze your head of garlic until you pull out 4-6 roasted cloves drop them in when the tomato sauce starts to look thicker.
Cook down until all the runny liquid is evaporated and you have a sauce that holds it's form on a spoon.
Let the sauce rest and cool down a little bit while you get your ingredients finished.


Now I start chopping my onion, fish out the artichokes, save the marinade for tomorrows salad. Chop the artichokes, squeeze the water out of the mushrooms, save and freeze that juice for another sauce. Slice in half about 6 yellow grape heirlooms and cut up a few of the bigger tomatoes. Get the mozzarella, squeeze out the extra water/whey and run the knife through it so I have different sizes. The oven beep's at 550 so I grab the olive oil, drizzle really fast on my pizza stone apx size of my piece of lavash. Oil running off a hot pizza stone dripping in your oven is not only messy but a smoky, hard to breath environment I do not recommend!

Lavash is down, sauce is spread with the speed of light, sprinkle onions, scatter artichokes, throw mushrooms all around and toss on mozzarella. Shut the oven door and in apx 10 min the pizza will be crisp and perfectly melted...ready to devour. I usually do this with my guy so that you can shut the oven door faster, we alternate who does what, it's crazy and fun.

It is not even 10 min yet but the pizza looks yummy and smells amazing! We pull it fast with a metal spatula from the pizza stone onto a cutting board, slice it up, go sit down with little pizza plates and ice cold champagne, just like that. I take a huge bite and savor that moment, take a sip of champagne and oooppps I FORGOT THE ZUCCHINI!!!!! We both started laughing because the zucchini was the whole reason I started cooking this pizza in the first place.

I realize I get sidetracked but even more so I realize that when I'm in my zone, doing what I love and passion takes over.....I'm out of my mind, I'm out of my head, I'm in the food zone and I LOVE IT!

Hope you enjoyed,
Ms. Foodie

Sinfully Delicious....PB & Chocolate Sandwich...Oh My

Take me back to the days of PB & J and I say.....Whatever. Melt chocolate all over my sandwich and I say "Now Your Talking!" This is a sin and one of my most favorite fill me up heart and soul sandwiches. I can't think of a better way to finish a whole glass of ice cold milk then this.

I got this idea when I was starting to get sick of grilled cheese sandwiches, of course I had been eating them almost non stop for about 3 months. One day I was in the mood for peanut butter and chocolate which I love to eat off a big table spoon with cold milk. I had moved into a house I was rehabbing and I only had a gas stove top. So that was how I was making toast hahaha (no fat there). When I want to scoop out a dollop of Nutella it was hard because it was cold, you can't microwave the jar so I thought I would warm it on bread. I had this wonderful 9 grain bread, I put a little pad of butter down, threw on a slice of bread and scrapped out a chunk of Nutella. Of course at this point I want to add peanut butter, it was so melty I wanted to cover that with bread too...Hey a toasted PB and Chocolate sandwich.
That was how my delicious sin was born.

Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich

2 tsp of Butter
2 Slices of 9 Grain Bread
1 Tbsp of Nutella
1 Tbsp of Peanut Butter
1 Ice Cold Glass of Milk

Assemble in hot frying pan....yummmmy!

Another BBQ Meal ... For The Summer...You Won't Miss The Meat!

I do love salad all year round but when summer hits and veggies are in their prime, I go crazy!

I found this new show I love called BBQ University and Steven made these beautiful portabellas with a chimichurri sauce on them. I do love to BBQ portabellas because they really do take on more of a meaty flavor. I wanted to pair this with some garlic mashed potatoes and a honey lime jicama salad. Steven had his with pico del gallo and I missed his chimichurri recipe, I could not find it but I have my own. I love meat and potatoes so of course mashed potatoes were my perfect answer to this delish dish!

Chimichurri Sauce
1 Bunch of Cilantro
1/2 bunch of Parsley (curled or flat leaf)
3/4 Cup of EVOO
Juice of one and half Limes
2 Garlic cloves
6 Basil Leaves
1 Serrano Pepper (I use half the seeds)
1 tsp of sea salt

Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
next you will need:

6 Large Portabella Mushrooms
Wipe off and rinse the button part if you need to, pull out the stems.

Take some chimichurri sauce and make 6 little spots (size of a silver dollar) on a baking sheet.
Place bellas down stem side up (aka gill side), spoon one Tablespoon of chimi sauce for each mushroom and keep the rest for when you grill. Let rest for 1-2 hours in the fridge or 30 min covered at room temp. (while you are waiting make your salad) After your coals are grey and hot, place your portabellas GILL SIDE DOWN. Cook covered only 3-4 min and flip, once you have turned them over spoon on rest of your chimichurri sauce and drizzle with just a little olive oil to keep them moist. Cook covered again for less then 4-5 min (make sure not to burn them).
Because this is not meat you can transfer cooked bellas to the original baking sheet and plate up, it's time to eat!


Jicama Salad
1/2 Jicama
1/2 Green Pepper
1 Cucumber seeded
1/4 Cup of Cilantro
1/8 Cup of Onion (white or yellow)
4 Roma Tomatoes
Juice of 1/2 Lime
1 Tbsp of Honey


First place Honey and Lime juice in a bowl and mix, then...
Chop and dice, mix in the bowl to coat with juice and honey.


I peel my potatoes and boil salted water before I light the coals.

Orange Mashed Garlic Potatoes
8 Russets peeled
1 Sweet Potato peeled
6 Roasted Cloves of Garlic**
1/2 Cup of Heavy Cream
Milk if you need more liquid when whipping

Drop potatoes in boiling salted water, wait till you can poke with fork easily. Drain and put over hot pot to make sure all the water is out.
If you have a ricer then run potatoes through that if not pre-mash them in pot and then whip them with mixer, add cream and garlic, whip some more.
You will not need butter but I love a little fresh ground pepper.


**My "roasted garlic" is in this blog.



This is my whole meal, the picture looks a bit off because you can not see the gorgeous orange hue my perfectly mashed potatoes really looked and the sauce looks like it's sitting rather rather then bathing my just right grill portabellas. I would love a food photographer to come click some pix for me :)

These Sliders Will Score A Home Run

I will admit I'm not a huge sports fan but I do love sports food sometimes and it was at a sports bar where I first discovered sliders. I thought it was a cute idea but I also thought there beef was on the dry side. I have learned there are those who like to add only to the bun and there are those who add mostly to the meat. I love adding things to my meat and bun to give a balance without eating the same ol hamburger over and over again. Not to long ago I was watching Rachel Ray cook off with Bobby Flay in a show down of who made the best burger. Rachel always calls herself the burger queen and although I'm great at burgers I would not call myself the queen in that category.
Bobby said that Rachel was making meatloaf not hamburger and that struck me funny because in a way he was right. So I tried Bobby's way of salt and pepper the beef and add crazy things to my bun, I found the beef to be dry. For me I am siding with Rachel on the burger thing, flavor the meat before you cook it! I call these sliders my St. Paddy's because they look so green when you first flip them it's almost scary.
I love these the best made with ground turkey rather then beef but make both and judge for yourself.

St. Paddy's Turkey Sliders

1 Package of Ground Turkey 1 Cup of Spinach Puree** 1 Small Onion (chopped) any color 4 Fresh Basil leaves (chopped) 1 tsp of Montreal Steak Seasoning (Mc Cormicks) 1/4 Cup of Dried Mushrooms (Porcini, Brazilian and Ivory Portabella)** 15-16 slider buns** Shredded Colby Jack Cheese or slices

Mix your meat, onion, spinach, seasoning, dash of salt and reconstituted mushrooms in a bowl. Heat your fry pan with a little olive oil, make patty's that fit in the palm of your hand, lay them down with nothing in the middle and do not touch until you see the sides turn tan-ish. After 2 minutes flip, yes they will look a little green, place cheese on top and add 1/8 cup of water in the middle of pan, cover even if it is with foil, turn off the heat after 1 min and let rest for 3-5. I dress these baby's with fresh tomato, baby dills, frenchy mustard and top off with a little bestfoods mayo (hellmanns) on the tomato side. Bestfoods and tomatoes together LOVE IT!
**I like to take my fresh spinach and put a little water in a blender to puree it for recipes like this or sauces, that way I never let spinach go bad in the fridge either,
**I buy this mix at Costco it has 6 different mushrooms in the jar, pricey upfront but will save you a lot in the long run.
**I love the dinner rolls by Orowheat

This will make 15-16 nice size sliders, the picture looks big but it was a small plate.

Enjoy,
Ms. Foodie

Tired Of Ranch Dressing Dipping Sauce?

Don't get me wrong there are foods out there I could not live without my Hidden Valley Ranch package mix. I will admit however I get tired of seeing the same old veggie dips and some are way to salty for my liking. My girlfriend Tracie (co creator of The Brie Cheese Cake) showed me her Ricotta veggie dip and of course I added to that :) I love ricotta but sometimes it is a little to grainy for me almost like hummus. So this is what I came up with, I simply call it:

Ricotta Veggie Dip

1/2 Jar of Piquillo Peppers**
15 oz of Ricotta
1/2 Cup of Cottage Cheese
1/2 Serrano (seeds and vain removed)


Pour in a bowl and arrange those veggies.......leave out the Serrano if you have little ones who can't take the heat. When I don't have any chili's in my home I use House of Tsang "Mongolian Fire Oil" I love this oil on hummus with chopped sweet red pepper too!

** you can freeze the unused part of your piquillo peppers

To Hot For Soup?

I love soup, it is quick and easy, it can take a few or many ingredients, you can always improve it, you can make it low fat or over the top high fat, you can have it hot or even cold!

I have made so many soups through out my life and I have not written down even half of them. There are some soups I make low fat and I love them but there was one soup I made that did not turn out so perfect to me and with a few additions.....of fat of course! I think I perfected it :)

Mushroom Bliss

5 Cups of different mushrooms I used the dried medley (keep the soaking water for the soup)
Shitake, cremini, portobella and if you can add button mushrooms if you want to save on cost.
1 Box of chicken or veggie stock
1 yellow onion (course chop)
1 large zucchini (course chop)
1 cup of chopped spinach
1 Cup of heavy cream
3-4 Tbsp of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 whole roasted head of garlic**
2 tsp of lemon thyme or regular thyme


Pour about 2 Tbsp of EVOO in a deep saucepan, toss in onion and sweat it out, throw in thyme, add rough chopped mushrooms (after you have squeezed the water out), you are lightly cooking the outside of mushrooms and now add zucchini. After everything starts to look soft (apx 5-6 min) add your stock in a box and your mushroom water making sure you leave the gritty part behind. Next add your roasted cloves of garlic from one whole head, bring to a boil and cover on simmer for 20 minutes. After the soup has cooled down a bit blend it in a blender or with a hand blender; you can either add spinach now for a low fat mushroom soup or you can add cream, bring to a boil then add spiach for a rich yummy soup. Add a dash of pepper I find if I use chicken broth I need no added salt.

You can skip the cream and add a dolop of light sour cream or my favoite non fat greek yoguart.


** Make the roasted head of garlic ahead of time, it will cook perfect in less then 40 min in a toaster oven on 400. Cook 2 or 3 and use on toasted bread or pile it up on cooked brie cheese or toss them in a salad with kalamata olives.

How to roast garlic:
cut about 1/4 of the top off place in foil and drizzle with EVOO cover with foil and bake for apx 40 min in oven till it just starts to turn brown, wait to cool down before you squish out of the garlic head. You can make these next to my sweet tomatoes at the same time.

Save The Summer With Blueberry Ice Cream

So I loved Nan's Ice Cream so much I tried it with blueberry's instead. Can you say yummy? Pair it up with some lemon pound cake...oh my. I also found these blueberry muffins with strudel and lemon icing on them. Thanks Costco how did you know I wanted something to go with my ice cream!

Homemade Blueberry Ice Cream

2 Cups of frozen blueberry's (you could also use fresh)
4 Eggs
2 Cups of sugar
1/3 Cup of Corn Syrup
3 Cups of milk (I used 2%)
3 cups of Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla
1/2 Tsp of Salt

Make sure you freeze your ice cream cylinder over night

In a large bowl, beat eggs, gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy and light in color. I whipped mine with an electric mixer until it looked like soft meringue
Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour into cylinder and chill for about an hour or so, pull out and turn on machine
Pour into gallon freezer containers and enjoy!!

I love this base for ice cream it freezes well and taste amazing, with ingredients you can pronounce.

Playing With Won Ton Wrappers

I love Chinese but I would not say I'm a great cook when it comes to Chinese cooking.

So one thing I found I love doing is playing with other peoples dough! I've already shared that I am not a great pastry chef, so this is even more reasons to play with many kinds of ready to go dough. This recipe has nothing to do with Chinese cuisine either.

Feta Triangles With Piquillo Sauce
1 Package of won ton wrappers
1/3 Cup cottage cheese
1/4 Cup feta cheese
1/4 Cup cream cheese
6 Basil leaves chopped
Top:
1/3 Cup of Parmesan
Dipping sauce:
1/2 Jar of Piquillo peppers (little beak)**
1/2 Fresh or roasted red pepper
1 small tomato
S-n-P

In a small bowl mash together feta, cream cheese, cottage cheese and basil.
You can mix together the won ton stuffing the night or even hours before, giving time to marry the flavors and keep in the fridge.
After you have chilled the cheese mixture let it rest outside your fridge for about 15-30 min so it is easy to scoop.

To make dipping sauce:
In a blender drop the peppers with out the packed water but you need not rinse them.
1/2 red pepper, 1 small tomato and puree. Before you use the sauce I think it taste better when it has been heated in the microwave for about 1 1/2 min. You can eat it right out of the blender too.

Put it all together:
Take a won ton wrapper and place a little dollop (apx 1/2 tsp) in the middle, wet your finger with water and wipe around 2 of the corner sides, fold from one corner to the next making a triangle, press to seal. Place on a oiled cookie sheet, spray with oil (pam is ok) sprinkle with parm and bake at 400 for 12-15 min.

**you can freeze the unused part of your piquillo peppers

Figs and Brie

I have this neighbor who has a fig tree and he came over one day to let me know my little dog Daisy Mae was eating the figs from the bottom of his tree, and was this OK with me. I laughed and said "yes, she too is a foodie and loves her fresh fruit & veggies." He asked if I wanted some figs for myself and I told him the only figs I had ever eaten were "fig newtons;" now he was laughing and said, "you've really got to try the real thing!" So I walked back to his house, he picked one for me and from then on, I was hooked!!! I had no idea that you ate the whole fig including the skin and although that little crunchy seedy middle was familiar the fig was new flavors to my palette, I really wanted to see what else I could do.

Last week I shared my "Brie Cheese Cake" with you, now I'd love to share another great brie dish that I have been making for years it is simply called:

Figs and Brie With Hazelnuts

1 Chunk of brie (cut in half)
3 Tbsp of fig preserve
1/2 Cup of chopped hazelnuts
4 Whole fresh figs



You can use a 1/4, 1/3 or 1/2 of brie with this recipe.

Take your brie and cut it across the middle (like a cake)
spread on your fig jam and cover with chopped hazelnuts, toast the leftovers for the plating.
Bake on 350 until your brie bubbles and starts to melt (15-20 min)

Slice your figs in 1/4 and serve with toasted hazelnuts on a plate with your favorite cracker.
I love "Ak-Mak".........sesame


The sweetness of this dish is sure to please the sugar craving.

Stuffed Eggplant With Grape Tomatoes

I love vegetables that can be stuffed so to continue on my thoughts from yesterday I wanted to talk about eggplant. I did not eat much eggplant growing up but as a grown up I eat a lot of eggplant! I like eggplant parmigiana, lasagna, Thai, Chinese and the many other ways to cook eggplant. Here is just one of my variations of:

Stuffed Eggplant

1 Large Eggplant
1 Pint of multi colored grape tomatoes halved (cherry work too)
1 Med yellow onion (chopped small)
1 clove of garlic (mashed)
1/2 Cup of Mozzarella (shredded or cubed)
1/4 Cup of Parmesan (shredded or grated)
1 Tbsp of Basil (fresh) chiffonade
1 tsp of Oregano
1 tsp lemon thyme (regular works too)
1/2 Tbsp of EVOO
Salt to sweat eggplant


Cut your eggplant in half lengthwise, scrape seeds and some out with a spoon to make a bowl.
Lightly salt the eggplants and put the scooped part in a colander also lightly salting to sweat out any bitterness. Let stand for 20-30 min and parboil your eggplant halves for 6 minutes, rinse scraped part with cold water, pat dry and chop the pieces into bite size pieces.
Oil a pan and add onions, sweat out then add garlic, tomatoes, eggplant pieces, oregano, thyme cook until it is mixed at starting to brown. Toss in basil and mozzarella, now fill each eggplant half
with mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan. Place on a oiled cookie sheet with your left over evoo.
Bake at 375 until cheese looks brown and melted apx 25-35 min.

This is great as a side dish or a meal for two served with a simple micro greens salad w/balsamic reduction dressing**.

** Dressing:
1/4 Cup of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp of raw sugar

cook down (medium heat) till it is 1/2 the liquid and is very thick

Now mix with a little evoo

will store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks

Sausage Pizza Bites?...............No Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms

I made these one day on a whim and I could believe how they reminded me of sausage pizza bites.
I love olives and mushrooms, so I had some Greek olive tapenade in my fridge and huge white mushrooms, put them together add a little Gouda and voila'


So you don't want to cook but you want a hot healthy snack.......this is better then those frozen pizza bites! Will take you 5 min to whip together and 15 min to cook.

Stuffed Mushrooms

8-12 Giant White Mushrooms
8-12 tsp of Olive Tapenade**
1/2 Cup of Gouda
1 Tbsp of EVOO

Most giant mushrooms are pretty clean already but if you picked them out of a bulk bin you will want to wash them. Pull out the stems from the mushrooms, place on a shallow pan or cookie sheet that you have oiled. Fill each mushroom with a tsp of tapenade and cover with cheese (you can either shred or slice the cheese). Bake at 325 for about 10 min then add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan and cook till the mushroom is soft. These will keep and can be microwaved, of course they are best right out of the oven.

I promise,

Ms. Foodie

Flank Steak BBQ Dinner With Spanish Chopped Salad

It is so funny that the person who turned me onto flank steak was my mother in law (the vegetarian) I love to tease her about that but there was a time where she used to eat meat. Matt tells me it was one of his childhood favorites, so of course I want to make my guy his favorite meal. I also wanted to please my mother in law who could easily make this into a vegetarian meal and this is what I came up with.

Mixed Grain Rice
I have this mixed in a jar so I just pour it out by what I need. Every grain is equal except,
I double the basmati and use half the Black rice.

Brown Rice
Red Rice
Black Rice
Basmati
Barley
Millet

Cook in a rice cooker with a Tbsp of evoo and lime juice.
When finished serve hot with BBQ veggies on top.


BBQ Veggies

8 Campari Tomatoes (small or pint of cherry)
1 Red Sweet Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
2 Tbsp of EVOO
1 Sprig of Fresh rosemary minced or 2 tsp dried
Sea salt to sprinkle lightly across all veggies


Take some foil and make a tray with a lip around it or use a grill pan, slice tomatoes length wise and cut peppers in 4-5 strips. Place in pan cut side up, sprinkle with a little kosher or sea salt and rosemary, then drizzle with evoo. As soon as coals are gray (unless you have a gas BBQ) put tomatoes and peppers on for about 10 min. BEFORE you put the steak on, then pull them off the fire when you can see the backs of the peppers start to blacken. Your steak will be done close to the same time. While you are waiting for the veggies to cook, now is a great time to start your chopped salad.

BBQ Flank Steak

A Flank Steak
1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
S-n-P

Resting Marinade

2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp of Fresh Graded Ginger

Super easy, take your steak cover with plastic wrap on a cutting board and smack it hard with something flat (I use a thick heavy duty short drinking glass). Flip it over and do the other side, you are wanting to make your whole steak about the same width so stay more in the middle then the edges. Next sprinkle with salt and pepper, both sides (go easy on the salt). Throw it on the grill about 5 min on one side, after you have flipped the steak drizzle with evoo and cook 3 on the other side. Place foil on your plate that your cooked steak will transfer too and make sure you have enough to wrap steak completely. After you pull the steak off the grill have your resting marinade ready, put your steak on the foil, add marinade and cover the steak completely, let it sit in a warm place for about 10 min. You can finish your chopped salad at this time.


Spanish Chopped Salad

4 small to medium tomatoes (chopped)
1/2 English Cucumber (chopped really small)**
1 Green Pepper**
1/2 Can of Black Olives (chopped/minced)
1/2 Bunch of Cilantro (chopped)
1/4 Jalapeno (minced)
1/2 Lime Juiced
1 Tbsp EVOO

You will need a super sharp knife for this salad.
The key to this salad is everything needs to be chopped so small it's almost minced.
After chopping everything, toss the lime juice and evoo in and mix well.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes to marry the flavors and You are done.

Topping for Salad:

1 Avocado (chopped )
1 Tbsp of Lime Juice over Avocado so it stays green


If you didn't notice this was one of my twist on my Israeli Salad I wanted to share with you. I love these salads because they have amazing flavor without a bunch of dressing. It's quick and easy to make, it does not cost a lot of money, it's nice to your waist and you usually have these ingredients. Most kids will eat it if you call it confetti and don't give any details.

I hope you and your family love eating this and I hope you love making it as much as me.

Ms. Foodie

Update For Eggs-n-Potato Chips

The other day I spotted Kettle Chips salt -n- pepper but did not realize they were CRINKLE cuts.

Wow.... was this a bad idea! For one they don't cook the same way and actually had sharp edges and two they were a little mushy in other parts yuk! I also tried more Jalapeno, not a good idea either, way to hot and it killed the other flavor's. One thing I did do to cool them down was add fresh cut tomatoes now that was a good idea and washed these baby's down with a cold Hefeweizen Beer of course it was also 1pm brunch. If you have have any new twist please post for all foodies to read, Thank you

Ms. Foodie

Cool Down With Wayne's Necterine Ice Cream

My girlfriend Nan gave me her beloved Ice Cream to share with the world! She told me that she used to make this for her Darling Wayne on every 4th of July but Wayne passed away a few years back.
So I was honored when Miss Nan said not only could I have a copy but I could share it.

To Wayne's memory living on....

Wayne's Homemade Nectarine Ice Cream

3 Cups of pitted, sliced, unpeeled nectarines
4 Eggs
2-3 Cups of sugar (depending on the sweetness of the fruit or if your using frozen)
1/3 Cup of Corn Syrup
3 Cups of Half & Half
3 cups of Heavy Cream
1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla
1 Whole Vanilla Bean Scraped
1/2 Tsp of Salt

Make sure you freeze your ice cream cylinder over night

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs, gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy and light in color.
Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Pour into cylinder and chill for about an hour or so, pull out and turn on machine
Pour into gallon freezer containers and enjoy!!

Nan

Did You Say...Brie Cheese Cake?

Yes, yes I did!
My girlfriend Tracie came over one day and wanted to make me melted brie with dried fruit and jam. I was so turned off by that because I had always eaten savory brie's or brie on it's own but I will admit I don't love fruit and cheese together. For some crazy reason it sits with me like fruit cake or cottage cheese and fruit cocktail. Tracie was so excited about this brie dish, I just couldn't say no, so here we are in the store and the one thing we both agreed on was the apricot preserves. We found some different dried fruits with blueberry's, cranberry's etc...it still had raisin's but these were at least golden. We spotted these candied hibiscus flowers that sounded really good, how fun and pretty would that be. We went home to make our creation, Tracie actually put it together, it was beautiful but again way to much fruit for me and the jam was everywhere. I will admit it was the hit of our shin dig, I know many people do love fruit and cheese and that I'm just the odd duck out. However I have always loved to play with my food and I have a very hard time sticking to a recipe, just ask Matt. So I have since changed it around a few times and so far fig jam and walnuts are one of my new favorites but the winner........takes the cake hahaha and that is why I have called it:

Brie Cheese Cake

1 Round of brie cheese (you could use 1/4 or 1/2)
1 Cup of pecans whole and chopped
1/3 of a jar of jam
8 Candied hibiscus flowers**

Preheat oven to 400**
Take Brie round and slice it in half like a piece of bread (2 thin rounds)
pop one of the brie halves on a heat safe plate cut side up, if you do not have a heat safe plate use foil on a cookie sheet upside down.
Spread 2/3 of your jam on the cut side sitting on the plate
Sprinkle chopped pecans over that, then chop up 4 of you flowers and spread on top of nuts
take your other 1/2 of brie and place cut side down on top of your brie like a cake you just frosted
Spread rest of your perserves (thinner then the middle) and make a ring around the outside with pecans or just place them how you think they will be pretty
Cut your last 4 flowers in half and add to your brie when it's half way done baking (10 min)

Bake for about 25 min depending on hot hot your oven gets

Serves 4-8 people

**Candied Hibiscus Flowers used to be found at Trader Joes, they have discontinued and I have not been able to find them anywhere else yet. I have used in place sour cherries and dried cranberry's not as pretty but similar to taste.
** Toaster ovens get really hot and burn the fruit on top so if you are going to use foil the top of your brie and turn down temp to 300 for 15 min.


If you ever find Candied Hibiscus from Thailand please e-mail me because I miss them so.

Thank you,
Ms. Foodie

Homemade Pizza That's Faster Then Take Out!

Sometimes when you're to tired to cook but you have some great leftovers, Homemade Pizza might be your answer. I have created many favorite recipes in a very short time of home pizza making. I have also made my own dough and to me it tasted a little to bread doughy rather then pizza doughy. I have bought "Trader Joes" homemade pizza dough for $1.30, I would not call it my favorite pizza dough, sometimes it is just very convenient and to good of a deal to pass up. I will say that "Trader Joes" herb pizza dough is my favorite of the three as long as long as you roll it paper thin and put it on a screaming hot pizza stone, one of the tricks that make a big difference if your using a yeast type of dough. It amazes me how long it took me to get my very own pizza stone, I gave many for gifts, Pizza is one of my most favorite foods and who wants to plunk down $20-$30 for great pizza every time the craving hits....Not me.
So I was wondering, why are pizza stones $25 to $50 to me that was crazy, for a slab of smooth cement? So I went to one of my favorite stores, that is not a food store "Home Depot" and I walked down the tile isle to look at the big 18" floor tiles without coating on them. I could care less how pretty it looked because after a few pizza's your stone looks like a burnt mess anyhow. Sure enough for less then $3.00 I own my first pizza stone. If you do this you better make sure what kind of stone you're buying because I'm sure the coated ones are not good for you, then again the plastic we drink our $1.50 water from is also not good for us. So I took my new stone home, washed it in hot soapy water then put it in a cold oven and heated the oven to about 350 for one hour, I would not say smell was good. Then I let the stone cool over night and I turned the oven on again to 450 and cooked it for another hour, with nothing on it still. The next day I cooked it at 550 the highest my oven will go and cooked it for another hour. After it started to cool I rubbed olive oil with a paper towel all over it then wiped it off with a new paper towel and then baked some chocolate chips cookies on it for my first test run. My cookies were perfect and they cooked fast, I wiped the stone and was ready to make a pizza. My first pizza was America's favorite, pepperoni but my next pizza was so loaded that the center was mush, which I then had to finish cooking it in a frying pan by the slice. So like anything, with practice I honed my pizza skills and I would love to share some of my pizza ideas that I have made up, recreated and perfected. If you have a pizza that you really love to make and eat, please post it so that we can all share the love of pizza together. Thank you for cooking, Ms Foodie

The Quicky 3 Veg Pizza w/Tapenad Sauce

1 zucchini sliced thin
4 small tomatoes sliced medium (1/4 inch)
1 Handful of dehydrated sliced mushroom medley**
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 clove of garlic paste or minced
1 cup of Gouda cheese (not smoked)
1/4 Parm/Reggiono cheese
3 Tbsp Black olive tapenad
1 whole sheet of Lavash bread (middle eastern flat bread)

Preheat Oven to 550
Do not oil the pizza stone

Place down your lavash
Mix olive tapanade with 1Tbsp of EVOO and garlic
Spread thin across the lavash
Spread around the slices of zucchini
Drizzle a little EVOO over the zucchini's
Spread the Gouda all over
Toss the mushrooms across
Place fresh tomato's all around
Sprinkle Parm/Reggiono on top
Bake for 7-10 min. the edges will look med/dark crispy brown
Cut into 4 squares and eat hot
Mangia'

Serves 2

** reconstitude in warm/hot water, ring out the extra water after 10 min. You can save the water for a risoto, sauce or soup but if it will be more then 3 days freeze it.
The mushroom medley I like is Shiitake, oyster and porcini

Tips:
If you do not have a pizza peel then you can either make it right on the stone which is screaming hot and hard on the back also you better have everything ready to go and work super fast or get a piece of thin plywood put aluminum over it at use corn meal to roll the pizza off, as long as your pizza is not bigger then the piece of plywood (watch out for splinters).

If your pizza dough does not slide around when you first place it down, DO NOT build your pizza because the toppings only make it heavier and it really won't slide.

The oven must be preheated to your highest setting in order to crisp the whole underneath of your pizza and cook the toppings.

Sweet Tomato's

I call tomato's my veggie fruits because tomato's are actually fruits and not vegetables. It is odd to think you would put fruit all over your pasta but we do. Talk about coming a long way, did you know about 100 years ago tomatoes once were thought to be poisonous? Of course someone had to test that and soon after that it became nothing but a myth. Today tomato's are everywhere sauces, salads, omelets, condiments like ketchup and BBQ sauce and some people even eat them green.

It is no secret that tomatoes are right up there with strawberry's for me but thank goodness I can get tomatoes all year round. Here are some of my tricks to savor the flavor all year round.

Sweet Tomato's

5 tomato's
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 Tbsp of sea or kosher salt**

Preheat oven 350
(I love my toaster oven for this)
place on a cookie sheet or foil

Cut tomato's across, so that the stem part is on one half only
it will almost look like a flower on the inside.
set them on cookie sheet cut side up
Drizzle EVOO across the tops without drowning tomato
Now sprinkle salt on tomatoes, not too much but just enough to bring out the juice and flavor.
bake until tomatoes are half the size, it could take about an hour if you are using beefsteaks.

**You can use Balsamic vinegar instead of salt

The thing about this recipe is that it goes with so many things, right out of the oven on crusty french bread (place tomato upside down so the bread soaks the juice), on top of omelets, on top of rice, in veggie sandwiches (hot or cold) in spaghetti for added texture and flavor, on top of a cream sauce with prawns, use as a soup topping with Parmesan, or just by itself.
As time goes on I will add some of my other recipes that I use my "sweet tomato's" with.

I love using flavored salts such as:
White truffle salt
Salt infused with Rosemary and Lavender
Smoky salt, add either a few drops of liquid smoke or smoked paperika
Pizza season with salt
Crushed red pepper with salt

Of course the original is still one of my most favorite!!

Macadamia Coconut ~ Creme Brulee French Toast

For The Month Of ~ August ~

I have decided to start sharing my recipes of the month. I find some dishes such a pancakes, waffles, Eggs Benedict, omelets & french toast are requested a lot in my house...even by me. I never want anyone to get tired of the same old recipe, so I always kick it up another notch or turn it around.
This is my recipe for "Creme Brulee French Toast" during the month of August I call it:

Macadamia Coconut Brulee French Toast


1 Stick of unsalted butter
1 Cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup
6-8 slices of hala bread (Jewish Bread)
6 eggs
1 can of coconut milk (any kind but if you want a strong coconut taste use the full fat one)
1 cup milk (any kind, this is where you could go fat free of course your still going to have to run 20 miles to burn these calories)
1/2 scraped real Vanilla bean (place scraped bean in sugar and use as vanilla sugar)
1 cup of chopped Macadamia nuts (save 1/3 for topping)

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix in brown sugar and syrup, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Arrange in the baking dish in a single layer. I like the crust because it gets chewy as long as it is covered in egg mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk & milk.
Then add Vanilla bean seeds & Macadamia Pour over the bread.
Cover, and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Bake uncovered 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until puffed and lightly browned.

*Please Remember* Before cooking:
• Remove the dish from the refrigerator, and bring to room temperature.

I like to make a topping for this recipe:
Chopped macadamia nuts & shredded coconut;
toast it in a pan, both of these have so much natural oil you Do Not need to add any more.
Serve and Sprinkle on top.

That my friends is my recipe for August, yes I do have one for every month and some extras.

Keep reading and thank you for your support,

Ms. Foodie

I Love Eggs for Breakfast ~ Lunch ~ Dinner ~ Yum

Sometimes I just feel like eating Breakfast for dinner and I have a new recipe that will make your egg loven' kids think there mom is way cool.

My mother in law was over this past week and do we love to cook! Brainstorming with her is fun because she is vegetarian, working on gluten free and I am beef, butter and bread all the way. I do love to cook and eat vegetarian, in fact that is some of my most favorite pizza's but today I'd love to share a few egg recipes we have either found or made up.

I love these eggs!!!!!!! My mother in law made these for Matt & Me, of course I have switched things around a bit and put in some extras but have left the balance of everything else alone.
I'm sure your family will go wild for these egg dishes for breakfast, lunch & dinner too!

Eggs -N- Potato Chips


1 med onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves finally chopped
2 tsp of ginger finally chopped
1 whole Jalapeno seeded and minced**
1/2 C of Cilantro**
1/2 of Fresh Spinach chiffonade (cut into small ribbons)
1/4 flat leaf parsley
4-5 oz of Fresh Kettle potato chips** (Lays salt and pepper)
4 Eggs
1/2 Tbsp of EVOO**
1/2 Butter (unsalted)
1 Tbsp water

Melt butter in frying pan, add onions, stir a few times till they are starting to brown
add next 3 ingredients garlic, ginger, Jalapeno let it release oils and soften 1-2 min
add Spinach, wilt down then add Parsley and Cilantro.
Now comes the fun part, take your chips and crush them in your hand toss all ingredient's to coat chips
Spread evenly in pan and make 4 little holes or nest
Crack 1 egg in each hole
add your Tbsp of water down the side of pan and cove quickly to steam eggs about 3 min
If you are wanting hard boil eggs go longer but no more then 6-8 or it will burn.



** Notes
If your family likes heat use a hotter pepper or keep in the seeds
Cilantro AKA coriander leaves
I love the Lays Kettle chips because they have very little burnt chips in the bag but I also like Tim's Jalapeno or Sweet Maui Onion, Lays BBQ, Lays kettle salt and vinegar & Lays Plain Kettle chips, stale chips will not taste as good
EVOO is extra virgin olive oil and if you want to cut out the butter you can, I just love the taste of my onions in butter.
This is a great recipe for a cast iron skillet

Serves 2-4 depending on if it's a meal or side dish


I learned this from an English friend Sara she called it:

Chicks In A Basket

2 eggs
2 slices of bread
2 tsp of butter or EVOO
S-n-P

take a slice of bread, I love honey WW
cut or tear a hole in the middle of your bread, large enough to fit 1 egg.
get pan hot, melt butter or pour oil drop down bread
crack 1 egg in each hole, sprinkle with s-n-p
cook about 1 min. flip to other side with spatula
cook 1-3 min. depending on how you like your yolks.
serves 1


Matt and I went to a B-n-B with my father and step mom (another great cook) and the innkeeper served us a Blueberry coffee cake and a simple mushroom omelet. The twist was they were chewy shitaki's which I have been a fan for many years in Asian cuisine. I did not ask for her omelet recipe but I did get the coffee cake recipe and ended up making my own version of her Simple, flavorful omelet.


Shitaki Omelet

6 eggs
2 Tbsp 1/2 & 1/2
6-8 Shitaki's depending on size
1 Tbsp of EVOO
2 cloves of Garlic grated
1/4 Cup Gryer cheese
1 Tbsp of Parmigiano Reggiano

Beat the eggs with a whisk to fluff and add air
and 1/2 & 1/2 beat some more, add parm-reggi and beat some more
now in a omelet pan ( small fry pan) add a drizzle of EVOO
heat the shitaki till they are hot, take out 1/2 and place on cutting board.
add garlic, mix around and spread mixture in pan, pour 1/2 the egg mixture
cook for about 2 min. and flip like a pancake, add 1/2 the Gryer on 1/2 fold other half over and serve (keep warm in oven)
Repeat. serves 2

Summer Recipes From Other Great Foodies

I love that other people have the same idea with pork as I do, Hugh used Nectarines as his different twist. Here are two recipes that I have tried by Hugh Gorman, I'm sure you will love these as much as I did.

Ginger Peach Martinis

4 oz of vodka
1 oz of peach nectar
1 oz ginger syrup**
peach slices to use as a floating garnish
and super fine sugar for the rim


Take sugar and make a circle, I like to use tea cup plates
Then wet the rims of 2 martini glasses, with a wedge of lemon, lime, peach, nectar or even water
Then mix in a shaker Vodka, Nectar, Syrup & pour over ice....shake till chilled & pour
Float your peach & serve (2)

** How to make ginger syrup, it's just like making infused simple syrup
I'm not into super sweet drinks but I do like them sweet. Simple syrup is 50/50
water, sugar & stir till the sugars gone, that's it. How I make my simple syrups is 2/3 cup sugar and 1 cup water
it is still a lot of sugar but there is a difference. I also like to use raw sugar in place of white. How you infuse it, add ginger slices, simmer in a pot for 20 min.
Strain and always keep it in your fridge for up to 4 days.




Grilled Pork Chops
with Nectarine Avocado Salsa

1 med avocado, diced
1 nectarine, diced
1/4 purple onion
1/3 bunch of cilantro leaves**
1/2 Jalapeno, chopped super fine
juice 1-2 limes and mix all ingredients together

Take some thick cut pork chops, I like these without the bone
season with S-n-P and a drizzle of EVOO. Grill to your taste, I love my pork with just the slightest color of pink to it, as long as my juice is mostly clear but I would not grill it more then 4 min. on each side because you'll have dry chops.

Plate up and top with salsa yummmmy!

** Cilantro Leaves are also known as Coriander Leaves