Tropical Eggnog

This recipe may be of Puerto Rican origins, but then again, it may not...all I know is that is pretty tasty and I've never had anything quite like it.

Blend in a 2 quart pitcher or a 2 litter bottle:
1 [14oz] can coconut milk
1 [14oz?] can of coconut cream or creme of coconut
1 [14oz] can of sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs

Add first three ingredients and shake well. Add three whole eggs [can be beaten first].
Shake well and refrigerate immediately.

To Spike or Not to Spike...
What a silly question.
The question is WHAT to add to your nog.
Now what you spike your eggnog with seems to be a personal/regional choice.
Some prefer rum. Some bourbon. And some brandy.
I saw a great recipe in the paper the other day for "Eggnog Spike" where you mix 2 cups bourbon, 1 cup rum, and one cup brandy. Add one nutmeg that you smack into 4-5 pieces with a frying pan/hammer, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 7 cloves. The recipe said to cork it up tightly and sit on it for a week...well, we don't have that much time left before the big day so I recommend mixing a batch up tonight and just see how the flavor improves, assuming you don't drink it all in the first sitting. Next year, you can make it up to 3 months in advance...so mark your calendar for October.
Perhaps a double-batch may be in order.
I don't suggest using top of the line liquor for this recipe but I wouldn't use the cheapest stuff either.
I know nothing about brandy, so if anyone can suggest a medium priced brandy with a good flavor, please leave it in comments.
For the rum, I would suggest Cruzan Dark.
For the bourbon, try Old Forrester.

Another tip:
If you don't care about other people drinking your eggnog and their alcohol preferences, go ahead and mix the booze right in and then you can place the concoction in the FREEZER.
This may take a little trial and error to get it just right, but...who cares?
Serve in frosty shot glasses, sprinkle the top with nutmeg, and ho, ho ,ho.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Brixx Pizza

I like pizza. I don't love pizza.
After a slice or 2 I get tired of the same flavor and want something different, but alas, my entire pizza is the same now-monotonous flavor.
So Friday night when my Mother mentioned getting pizza at Brixx's right around the corner from her house I was hesitant, but it was close, I was hungry, and it was getting late.
I thought we'd have to agree on the pizza toppings and I was prepared to acquiesce to more veggies and less meat than I would care for. Imagine my delight when I discovered that the wood fired pizzas at Brixx were 10 inches and made for personal comsumption!
I ordered this one:

Prosciutto
prosciutto and pancetta with whole milk mozzarella cheese topped with fresh arugula and white truffle oil [on a traditional crust lightly brushed with olive oil]

Topped with some freshly grated parmesan, talk about crispy, chewy, fresh, light, salty, peppery perfection!
I ate the whole thing.
After finding a buy-one-get-one-free coupon, Sarah [my Mother] asked me if I wanted to go back a mere five days later. I said sure. I ordered the same pizza. This time it was even better as it came mounded with the spicy arugula dressed with the rich earthy truffle oil to the point I had to fold my slices to keep the cool, crisp goodness on the pizza.
I ate the whole thing, again.

This one might be worth trying to copy at home.

What My Mother Made For Lunch

This is what my Mother made for lunch today and it was yummy. We accompanied it with a nice Candoni Prosecco and used fresh peaches from the farmer's market. Dee-lish!

Thai & Nectarine Salad

Time start to finish: 40 minutes
Recipe makes 4 servings.

1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
3 tbls. reduced sodium soy sauce
2 tbls. hoisin
1 tbl. olive oil
2 tsps. sesame oil
3 cloves garlic...minced
1 & 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
4 oz. angel hair...cooked & drained
2 cups sliced, cooked chicken
3 medium nectarines or peeled peaches...pitted and sliced
2 cups baby greens
2 green onions...finely sliced

The dressing: In a screw-top bottle combine broth, soy, hoisin, oils [2], garlic, ginger, red pepper, and blk. pepper. Cover. Shake well and set aside.

In a large bowl toss pasta with 3 tbls. of dressing. Divide pasta among 4 dinner plates. Top with mixed greens then chicken, fruit, and green onions. Drizzle with remaining dressing.

My take:
Don't even think of measuring out that 1/2 tsp of ginger. Jeese.

I think a little more sesame oil would have been good, so proportion out your 2 oils according to taste.

My Mother used Louisiana Hot Sauce instead of the crushed red pepper. I say use both.

I think this dish would be great for a Girl's Night or a picnic layered in individual containers [clear pint/quart take-outs or glass jars] and served with chop sticks.

I also think a more substantial/authentic noodle would be better. My Mother just used thin spaghetti which was good, but maybe a rice noodle or lo mien would be nice.

Cheese Torte

Katherine Doll’s Cheese Torte

Serves 8 to 10

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¼ cup minced baby spinach

1 ½ t. chutney (I use Major Grey’s)

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

2/3 c. mayonnaise

½ cup pecan pieces

¼ cup finely chopped white onion

Dash of Tabasco sauce

Combine 4 ounces of cream cheese with the minced spinach in a bowl and mix well. Stir the chutney into the remaining cream cheese in a separate bowl. Combine the Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, pecans, onion and Tabasco sauce in a third bowl and mix well.

Layer half of the Cheddar cheese mixture, the spinach mixture, the chutney mixture and the remaining Cheddar cheese mixture in the order listed in a 2 cup mold or container. Chill, covered for 8-10 hours.

Invert the mold onto a platter lined with additional baby spinach. Garnish with grapes and strawberries. Serve with assorted party crackers.

Skirt Steak ala Alton Brown

Skirt Steak

The following recipe is for marinated flank steak...I don't cook it the way it's called for - on open coals blown off with a hairdryer. Just a few minutes on each side on a hot grill is sufficient. Tent the meat afterward and let it rest a good 15 minutes or so before cutting. Thin slices on a diagonal would be the preferred method. Another thing I do differently is I marinate the meat for much longer than the recipe calls. Overnight. The meat was tender and flavorful, yet not over-marinated.

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Prep Time:

10 min

Inactive Prep Time:

1 hr 15 min

Cook Time:

2 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

8 servings as fajita meat or 4 as main course

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 4 scallions, washed and cut in 1/2 [I just used onion, finely minced]
  
• 2 large cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup lime juice [key lime juice]
  
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar or Mexican brown sugar
• 2 pounds inside skirt steak, cut into 3 equal pieces
• Special equipment: blow dryer

[I added a bit of cilantro as well.]

Directions

Heat charcoal, preferably natural chunk, until grey ash appears. In a blender, put in oil, soy sauce, scallions, garlic, lime juice, red pepper, cumin, and sugar and puree. In a large heavy duty, zip top bag, put pieces of skirt steak and pour in marinade. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Allow steak to marinate for 1 hour in refrigerator.

Remove steak from bag and pat dry with paper towels. Using a blow dryer, blow charcoal clean of ash. Once clean of ash lay steaks directly onto hot coals for 1 minute per side. When finished cooking, place meat in double thickness of aluminum foil, wrap, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Remove meat from foil, reserving foil and juices. Slice thinly across the grain of the meat. Return to foil pouch and toss with juice. Serve with grilled peppers and onions, if desired.

"Adult" Jello

Alright...maybe you shouldn't eat jello for dinner but....
....maybe you should?!

These were very tasty jello shots indeed.

1 - 3 oz. pkg. Tropical Fusion Jello
1 - 3 oz. pkg. Lemon Jello
2 - 3 oz. pkg. Pineapple Jello

Dump all jello into large [64oz-ish] container with lid.
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add to jello. Stir.
Now for the good stuff. Stir in:
1 cup 99 Bananas Liqueur
1 cup vodka
1 cup rum [preferably Cruzan...as if there were any other kind!?]
1 cup coconut rum

Stir, stir, stir...especially along the bottom or else you'll get a chewy film on the bottom.
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Now gather a few good friends and be prepared to do some serious giggling.
Serve in small paper cups or straight off a spoon.
Enjoy.

Kendra's Key Lime Pie

So...my friend, Kendra, thinks that I think she can't cook so she made us a key lime pie to prove a point. Whether Kendra can cook or not is not up for debate, but she sure can make one mean pie.
Here's a quick, easy recipe developed by Kendra if you'd like to try it for yourself.

1 - 9" graham cracker pie crust [shortbread might be good, too.]
1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
4 - egg yolks
4 oz. [1/2 cup] Key Lime juice

Combine ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
Let stand 10 minutes before refrigerating.
When thoroughly chilled, serve topped with whipped cream & perhaps garnish with a slice of lime.

Yummy, tart, and refreshing. Thanks, Kendra!

Black Beans & Sweet Potatoes

This dish made it's first appearance when we had a fish fry on our friend Colin's boat. A plate of it was taken to Captain Jack, our 88 year old harbor neighbor. He liked it so much he requested the recipe and has since passed it around. Since February 3rd was Jack's birthday, I made up a batch, took him a big bowl of them, and served the rest with our fresh catch and basmati rice to rave reviews from all parties.

I don't like sweet potatoes but this dish is pretty tasty.

2 cans black beans

1 can sweet potatoes [I used a can the same size as the beans...if you like sweet potatoes you could use the larger size can.]

1 can crushed pineapple [once again, I used the same size can as the beans...aprx.]

1 chopped onion

1-2 tsp. cumin

2-3 cloves of garlic

salt & pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in just a bit of butter. Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Simmer on low until hot all the way through.

Note: I had celery, so I sautéed some of that with the onion & garlic. Carrots would probably be good added as well.

Mexican Chicken

This preparation came about when I decided to buy the family pack of chicken breast and have Jeff & I eat it all week long.

The first night, I just sprinkled 3 breasts with seasoning and popped them under the broiler for 20-25 minutes. Let rest and then thin slice. I served it with buttered bowtie noodles and steamed broccoli topped with cheese sauce [2% velveeta & skim milk].

The leftover slices of meat provided Jeff with chicken sandwiches for lunch.

The next night, I pulled out a casserole dish, cubed a breast and 1/2, chopped some broccoli, tossed it with a dollop of sour cream, a dollop of mayo, and a good squirt of honey mustard. I then stirred in some shredded cheddar cheese and the topped the concoction with a cup and 1/2 of [prepared as directed...I have a canister and just made 3 servings.] stove top stuffing. Popped it in the oven [375 degrees] for 30-40 minutes and out came a yummy, one dish, no mess dinner.

The third night of our all-chicken all-the-time experiment I had 2 & 1/2 breasts left. I threw them in the pressure cooker with a can of petite diced tomatoes with green chilies, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 an onion [diced], and the seasoning mix out of an Old El Paso enchilada kit. Seal the cooker, bring to pressure, and chica [verb; pronounced chee-kah - the process of cooking with the pressure cooker while it makes the "chica, chica" sound. Can also be used as a noun referring to the piece of equipment that makes the "chica, chica".] for 4 minutes. Let pressure drop on it own accord. I did this part early enough in the day that I could just let the pot sit and cool for maybe an hour while I did other things.

Now that everything is cool, remove bits of chicken and shred them with a fork. Put back into liquid & gently simmer for 15-20 minutes. The shredded chicken was super tender and soaked up the flavor of the tomatoes and seasonings. Now, it was time to break out a casserole dish and spoon a generous amount of chicken into an enchilada shell. Repeat. Cover with enclosed sauce and shredded cheese and bake as instructed. I served this dish with rice and refried beans...all topped with a bit of sour cream, shredded cheese, and slices of black olives.

There was plenty of meat left-over for another dinner and just last night, Jeff and I had chicken tacos [the kits were buy one get one free]...which ended up being more like chicken taco salads...with baby greens, tomato, avocado, shredded cheese, and just a touch of thousand island dressing.

The chicken recipe is definitely a keeper and super easy. The rest was just an exercise in how many dinners [and lunches] I could make using the same basic ingredients and simple things I had on hand with each meal being unique and different.

Jeff's Mom's Mom's Dressing

Passed down and delicious.

Best if made up the day before and if you designate a man to break the bread into crumbs.

Thank you for the recipe, Denise!

Note - I mixed one can cream of mushroom with one can cream of celery and I add a little milk [enough to get the residual soup out of the can] as part of the liquid. The only other thing I do differently is cook it a wee bit longer. We like the top to be golden and crusty and that seems to take some more time.

MOTHER’S DRESSING

Assemble all ingredients and mix in order listed.

1 Box Sweet Miracle Maize Corn Bread Mix

Mix for a pan of corn break – adding 1 tsp. Sugar – and bake according to package directions. Let cool and crumble.

1 Loaf White Bread (day old, store bread – it doesn’t matter)

Pinch in small pieces. Mix with corn bread crumbles.

1-1/2 Tsp. Sage

2-1/2 Tsp. Poultry Seasoning

½ Tsp. Black Pepper

½ Tsp. Salt

Add above dry ingredients and toss with bread mixture.

½ Med. Onion, Diced

1 Tsp. Celery Seed

1 Stick Margarine

Cook onion and celery seed in melted margarine (in misrowave for 2 – 3 minutes, medium power). Add to mixture.

2 Cans Cream of Mushroom Soup (Campbell’s Fat Free works fine)

2 Eggs, lightly beaten with fork

Add to mixture.

4 Soup Cans of Hot Water OR Substitute 1 Can of Chicken Broth with 3 Cans Water

Add to mixture, working in with hands as you add liquid. Mixture will be very liquid. This is why it ends up moist.

Place 2 Tbl. Oil in a long pan (approx. 8” x 11” x 2”) to prevent sticking. Add mixture. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes; uncover and bake 30 additional minutes.