You could say that I go a little overboard sometimes when I cook. When asked to bring a certain food I have been known to bring more than was expected. Why would someone who cooks as much as I do act so insane? I need help. I know I do. But where do you go when you are an overachiever in the kitchen? While trying out this new recipe GI Joe said to me, “Just how many more times are you going to make those bars?” The truth is I was making them to take with me to the lake last month and wasn’t sure if they were good enough so I tried two recipes. Guess what they were both good so I took both with me.
Watermelon, Tomato, and Basil
Where have I been? For the last two weeks I have really been busy. I took a trip to south Georgia with a good friend of mine and I came back with three and a half bushels of peas. That was a job! Then I took a beach trip with my two younger sisters. We had a great time and I did not want to leave the sand, water, sun and the peace. It was so relaxing! Now with just two weeks left and I will be a working girl again. But I am not blogging about the end of the summer yet. I’ve got two weeks!!
I love summer for so many reasons. Free time, no stress, tomatoes, okra, blueberries, peas, basil, watermelon, squash and the list goes on. There’s nothing better on a hot summer day than a cold piece of sweet watermelon. As a child I spent many hours in the backyard eating watermelon with juice running down my chin and spitting black seeds as far as I could. Then running through the sprinkler to get off all the stickiness or squirting each other with the hose. What fun! But now I am all grown up. Really.
Filed under Appetizer
Crispy Skin Salmon with Fresh Orange Juice
I love this recipe! It is a super fast one from Cooking Light that I have run in the ground at my house because it take no time to pull together. Salmon is so versatile. Pair it with most any of your favorite side dishes. I like asparagus , broccoli or squash. Maybe even a combination of all three. For that matter I like it right out of the pan on top of a big salad that is both delicious and nutritious. You don’t need a lot of ingredients. Another reason to love it. Just pick up salmon, salt, pepper, orange juice and olive oil. The recipe calls for fresh orange juice, but Minute Maid out of the carton will work fine. So here’s what you do.
Cream Cheese Peach Cobbler
I am begging forgiveness before I post this pie recipe. It is so good that you are going to want to eat the whole thing. It is that good and I am not exaggerating. Well, maybe a little. You’ll love it. It will forever be your go to pie. And yes, there’s no crust to fool with. But wait, I love a flaky crust. So you’re asking yourself,” why does she love this pie?” There is something about the peaches, cream cheese, and cinnamon together that makes it melt in your mouth. Get this, it calls for canned peaches. That’s just wrong. It is too easy if you ask me. A big thanks to Anna for giving me this recipe a long time ago. Now it is your turn to make this scrumptious dessert and please don’t hate me for it!
Creole Shrimp Saute
I am really enjoying my summer. It started with a beautiful wedding in Louisville, Kentucky and last week a couple of days at the lake with my good friends. When I came home from the lake GI Joe said, ” Well what did ya’ll do?” And I said, “Talked and ate a lot of good food.” Men just don’t get it when women get together that we love to talk. My husband will get together with some of his buddies and when he comes home I will ask about one of their wives. And it is always the same. “We don’t talk about stuff like that!” They just don’t discuss personal or emotional things like women do. Why is that? Anyway I am loving my summer. Getting a little “me” time before I have to start giving a lot of it to my students again.
Truffle Brownies
My book club is having a three-day extravaganza at the lake. I’m excited to spend three days with some very good friends, great food, sitting by the lake. You get the idea relaxing by the water with people you love. What fun! Our book this month was one of my favorites Water for Elephants. Oh My Gosh! It was a fantastic read. At first I didn’t like it. Then after the first one hundred pages I could not put it down. I highly recommend it. I love the author’s style of writing which makes for an easy read. Anyway you will love this book!
There are nine of us going to the lake and we all have stuff to bring. I am responsible for cookies. I have made two that I am taking and will share one with you now. The other will come later. These are Truffle Brownies from Bon Appetit this month. They are absolutely fabulous is all I am going to allow myself to say. Easy! Ok, enough. You will love these. Trust me. Just one more thing the chocolate ganache is over the top!
Gotta run so here is the recipe. I followed it to a T. Enjoy because we sure have.
Happy Cooking,
The Teacher Cooks
Filed under Bar Cookies, Desserts
Southwest Spaghetti Pie
Usually on Thursday night I plan my menus for the week and then do my grocery shopping on Friday. I can spend hours pouring through my food magazines or my collection of cookbooks and really confuse myself with all the choices. Or I can just pull out my collections of menus planned from a year ago or two years ago to make it easier. Some of you are saying “What is she talking about?”. The best way to save money, time, and eat healthier is to take the time to plan your menus for the week. I have done this my entire life. I cannot just go to the store and start pulling things off the shelf and have dinner for a week. I challenge you to give this a try. You will be surprised at how much more organized your life will be. This way you are less likely to pick up fast food or pack up the family and go out for dinner.
Here is one of my favorite go to meals that is quick, good and for us has leftovers for the next day and then some to freeze. It is a new twist on an old favorite spaghetti. Just add a green salad and you have a perfect week night meal. Some steps can be done ahead saving you even more time when you are rushed to get dinner on the table. Peppers can be diced, cheese grated, or just go ahead and make the sauce.
So here you go a little spaghetti south of the border.
Filed under Main dish
Skirt Steak with Green Beans, Corn, and Pesto
There is nothing that I love better than a good steak. When I was perusing through my Gourmet Magazines last weekend I found this one that caught my eye. I was not only interested in trying it because reading the recipe made me drool, but it is a 10 minute main dish. Really? It is quick, but 10 minutes I don’t think so. The side dish also was different. Pesto sauce can add a good flavor and I was interested to see what it would do to two of my favorite vegetables corn and beans. The original recipe calls for haricots verts, but my CSA box provided me with just plain green beans which were larger than haricots verts.
Skirt steak is new to me. When shopping I had a good discussion with the butcher about how to cook it as well as cut it. Gourmet did not say to marinate it and when mentioning this to the butcher he raised his eyebrow and looked puzzled. He said, ” Mam, I really don’t think you should cook this without marinating.” I went with his advice. It was a very good idea. He suggested using salsa or an Italian dressing. I decided to use Cile’s Marinade that I use for flank steak. Skirt steak is similar to flank steak, but much thinner and longer. Marinades only penetrate about 1/4 inch or so of the meat making skirt steak perfect for the marinade. Cut the steak across the grain which will break up the connective tissue making it easier to chew. Cost wise it is about $2.50 a serving which is not too bad. Another good thing about this steak is that it can be prepared in a skillet.
Mandarin Orange Cake
I will be the first to tell you that cake made from scratch is the best, but there are times that using a cake mix is a good thing. This orange cake is perfect for the summer. It is cool, light, easy to make, beautiful to look at and very good! What more could you ask for? Make this and everyone will be asking for the recipe.
Delicious Brownies
I really don’t know why these are called brownies. They are more like blonde brownies than the normal chocolate brownies. And not even those for heaven sake. They are full of butterscotch and marshmallows. But you will never know the marshmallows are there. Enough about the name. I know you don’t really care about that. It is the taste that you care about and you are going to love this little bar cookie. It is just the perfect size to indulge in without feeling guilty unless you are like some I know and just keep indulging until half the pan is gone. They are easy to make. In fact they are too easy. Trying to use up the bag of marshmallows in my pantry I have made them 5 times. Yes that is correct 5 times. I love the recipe because you can whip them together in one pan in 10 minutes. Bake them for 20 minutes. Then comes the hard part. Cooling. You need a couple of hours for this. They are really soft when they come out of the oven. You could just eat them right out of the pan with a spoon but try to restrain yourself because they are more attractive cut into little bars.
Filed under Bar Cookies, chocolate chip, Cookies from scratch, Desserts
The Teacher Cooks 