Marinated Turkey…Gobble Gobble

I found this recipe in one of my many cookbooks and made this a while back.  I love this recipe and so did the family.  I will be making it next week for us to nibble on while I am working a meeting.  It is easy, and it is one of those you just let it cook and “do it’s stuff”.  And, boy, does it.  Cook, shred, drizzle reserved marinade back over and serve either “as is” or on some rolls for a sandwich – doesn’t get much better than that!  Give it a try and you just might put it in to your rotation of favorites!  Don’t let the amount of pepper and salt scare you – it doesn’t taste overly salty and peppery – it just tastes plain good.

Marinated Turkey

Marinade:

1 cup apple cider vinegar

¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/8 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/8 cup freshly ground black pepper

1/8 cup kosher salt

 

1 (5-6 pound) turkey breast, thawed

 

1 turkey-roasting oven bag

 

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Combine vinegar, parsley, oil, pepper, and salt in a small bowl.  Place turkey in oven bag and set in a shallow roasting pan.  Pour marinade over turkey in bag, seal, and bake 4 hours for a 5-pound breast or 5 hours for a 6 pound breast.  It should be “fall off the bone” done.
2. Remove pan from the oven and let turkey cool in the bag for a short while.  Remove turkey, pour juices into a large measuring cup and refrigerate.  Using hands, shred turkey meat and discard bones. 
3. Once reserved marinade has cooled, skim fat from top, drizzle over turkey, and serve.

 

The marinade has a tangy, vinegar-based barbecue sauce flavor, and makes the meat so tender and flavorful. See you in July for “Christmas in July” give-a-ways and some good recipes!  Thanks for reading!

Lemon Monkey Bread Deconstructed

Get to your grocery store as fast as you can and get some Rhodes Dinner rolls and make this recipe!  I had found this recipe and wanted to try these so, as the first Saturday in a while and for a while that I have had at home in the morning time, I decided this was the day.  And am I glad it was because these are unreal.  I won’t tell you how many I ate.  I will tell you that once you get started on these, it is very, very hard to stop. Trust me on this.  I won’t kid you on this.  And they are easy.  I won’t kid you on this, either.  Make them, and eat 2 or 3, or more if you just have to.

Oh, I call it deconstructed because it is not baked in a traditional bundt like most monkey breads are and boy, am I glad.  When you try these, you will be glad, too.

Lemon Monkey Bread

 

12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed but still cold

Zest of 1 lemon

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

 

Glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

 

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut rolls in half and place in a greased 9×13 inch pan.
3. Drizzle the rolls with 3 tbsp. of melted butter.
4. Mix lemon zest and ½ cup sugar together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle half of the lemon sugar mixture over the rolls.  Cover and place in warm spot (I usually put pan on back of stove top while stove is heating up.) and let rise until doubled in size.
5. Sprinkle remaining lemon sugar mixture on top. (See the picture above?  They have risen and the remaining sugar has been sprinkled on top and ready for baking)  Bake at 350 degrees for about 22-25 minutes.  Remove from pan. 
6. Combine glaze ingredients.  Drizzle over rolls while still warm. (I actually drizzled while still in pan and let sit for a few minutes and then removed from pan-either  way it works – just be sure to put glaze on while still warm and let rolls soak up that luscious glaze!

 Here they are all done…..

Any vegetarians in your family?

While hubby was scanning recipes (yes, he likes to help me along by finding new dishes for me to try) he came across one he thought he and I both would like.  While it is a Sloppy Joe spicy dish with no meat, it sounds delicious.  And for those of you who just have to have some meat for your dinner, let me recommend that you just brown some up and add to it as it is a very versatile recipe that you can make your own by changing up or adding to the recipe.  We will be trying it.   not only does it sound delicious, it has a certain heat level I love, and it uses Texas Pete hot sauce, two varieties in fact, of which my husband loves.  So we both should like this one.  And if you are cutting carbs by not eating breads, eat a Sloppy Joe lettuce wrap – it works just about any way you want it to.  We plan on trying it this weekend, along with some grilling out.  

And as a side note, we made the “Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken” and it is so good – i believe I will be making it again!  that chipotle salsa is so good….but it does have some heat to it so just keep that in mind if you make it….recipe posted in “chicken” section.  Give it a try, also!

Have a great weekend!  

Vegetarian Sloppy Joe with Black Beans
and Texas Pete Chipotle Cream:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 celery, chopped
• 1 jalapeño, diced (with or without seeds, depending on how much heat you want)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. black beans, soaked overnight & cooked (or canned black beans, drained and rinsed)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 4 tsp. Texas Pete^® Chipotle Hot Sauce
• 1 tsp. Texas Pete^® Hotter Hot Sauce
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ cup heavy cream

 

• PREPARATION:
• Heat extra virgin olive oil in sauge pan until simmering, then  saute onions, celery, peppers, & garlic – 6-8 minutes. Add beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, Texas Pete Chipotle Hot Sauce,

1 teaspoon of Texas Pete Hotter Hot Sauce, heavy cream and Worcestershire. Simmer 18-20 minutes. Serve over sandwich roll of your choice.

Chocolate Chip Bars

My copy of this recipe is so old and so used it is “fraying at the edges” to the point that I need to make some copies or laminate this one!  I have made this for the girls ever since hubby and I have been married, and I make it in a round pizza pan, decorate it with frosting (homemade, of course) and slice it in pizza slices to look like it came from the “Great American Cookie Company.”  And it is so good, and soft and chewy, you just might think it did.  The recipe says to bake it in a 13x9x2 inch pan so use whichever you want.  Just make it!  And if you want, throw in some M&M’s for good measure. 

I actually made these for hubby for Father’s Day and used Splenda Sugar, and Splenda Brown Sugar and they still turned out good. 

 

Chocolate Chip Bars

½ cup granulated sugar

1/3  cup packed brown sugar

½ cup margarine or butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cup chopped nuts

1 (6-oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

 

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour baking pan, 13x9x2 inches.  Mix sugars, margarine and vanilla.  Beat in egg.  Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix in nuts and chocolate chips.  Spread dough in pan.  Bake until light brown, 12 to 14 minutes.  Cool; cut into bars, about 2 x 1 ½ inches.

 

To make peanut butter-chocolate chip bars, decrease margarine to ¼ cup and mix in 1/3 cup peanut butter.  Beat in 2 tablespoons water with the egg.  Use ½ cup chopped peanuts for the chopped nuts.  Bake for 22-25 minutes.

Fresh Vegetables for Lunch

Father’s Day was great! Relaxing, a weekend spent with my honey, doing just what he wanted, and cooking just what he wanted.  Which meant a wonderful meal of fresh vegetables.  We had, fresh peas with snaps, and slices onions to go with them (he ate the onions, but I still gave him a kiss anyway!)  fresh squash, cooked two ways, the regular way with the onions cooked in them and then his request of fried squash, fresh sliced tomatoes, baby new potatoes with a butter and parsley served over them (I grew the parsley) and of course, cornbread.  A meal fit for a king!  My favorite was the fried squash!  I don’t fry often and these were great.  They were crunchy, and had so much flavor.  I recommend them if you like squash and want a different way than the standard which is good, or the squash casserole which is also good.  These just kicked them up a notch.  Three notches, in my book!  I also didn’t have buttermilk so I made my own.  All you have to do is take milk (any kind whether it is whole, 2% or skim which is what i had) and add lemon juice or regular vinegar, let it sit for 5-10 minutes on the counter and whala! there it is….buttermilk…to cook with…..I also didn’t have white vinegar nor lemon juice ….I think I need to add these to the grocery list….. so I used lime juice and it worked great!   you put 1 Tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice in your one cup measuring cup, and then add the milk until it reached one cup and let it sit. That’s all there is to it. And it worked great. 

 

Fried Squash

2-4 Fresh Squash, washed and ends cut off

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

2-3 Tbsp creole seasoning

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you want a little more heat)

 

1.  Wash squash, slice off ends (I also slice off the long shorter end) and slice into ¼ inch slices. Beat egg, and add buttermilk.  Stir to mix well.  Place sliced squash into a bowl with buttermilk/egg mixture and let sit in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. When ready to fry, mix flour, cornmeal, creole seasoning, (can use other seasoning if you prefer), salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper (can use more or less for your heat level) and mix well.
3. Heat oil in skillet.  Take squash slices from liquid, and dredge in dry mix.  Fry in batches until golden and crispy.  Serve hot and enjoy! 

Bring on more Mexican!

What is it lately about all this Mexican I have been making?   It must be the stress and the migraines.  Anytime I have a migraine I want something hot and spicy.   I must have a lot of stress right now! HA! that’s an understatement….from January-July it’s meeting time and boy am I busy so it’s prime time for a migraine to creep in. So disclaimers to any and all of these Mexican spiced dishes!  But they are so good, and if they are easy, they need to be shared.

I’m trying this recipe I found floating around on the net this weekend or the first of next week.  It sounds so good, and with the extra sauce it creates we can use it to dip chips, serve over some Mexican rice, and it looks so easy.  I don’t know how hubby will fare with the cilantro as he is not a huge fan but I love cilantro.  If you are not a fan, I recommend using a mix of cilantro and parsley to tone down the flavor of the cilantro.  This way you get a hint of the flavor that cilantro gives to the Mexican dish and still get the consistency with the mix of the two to the recipe.

Give it a try and let me know how you liked it.

Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken

1 15-ounce can fire-roasted tomatoes (can use canned whole or crushed tomatoes if you can’t find the others but try – the fire-roasted have a wonderful flavor!)

¼ cup chopped red onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ cup, packed, chopped fresh cilantro (or mix half and half with parsley)

2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce, plus 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce (less or more to taste) (these can be found in the Mexican food aisle)

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp kosher salt

1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs), trimmed of excess fat, cut into 3-inch wide pieces

4 ounces grated or sliced Monterey jack cheese

1.  Place tomatoes, onion, garlic, cilantro, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce, lime juice and salt in a blender or food processor.  Pulse a few times so there are no more large chunks of anything, but not so much that the salsa is completely smooth.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the chicken in a casserole dish in a single layer.  Spread the salsa over the chicken pieces, turning the chicken to coat all over with the salsa.
3. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25-30 minutes until done.  Remove the foil, and sprinkle (or lay if using slices) the cheese over the chicken.  Bake uncovered for 10 minutes more.

 

Serve with : sliced jalapeno peppers, chopped avocados, more chopped cilantro, sour cream, Mexican rice, slice chicken and serve with corn or flour tortillas, can serve over rice or pasta.  The possibilities are endless…use your own imagination and transform this dish into your own!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

We had this for supper last night….

It was so good!  My pepper was red – hubby’s was yellow and I liked these better than stuffing the green ones – these were sweeter and more flavorful to me.  The following recipe comes with a disclaimer…….these were “thrown together” ingredients that came out delicious.   Mine (ground turkey) had taco seasoning mix…homemade, of course, (will post the recipe later this weekend)  in my meat.  Hubby seasoned his (ground beef of course) with salt, pepper, and sauteed onions in his concoction.  We both loved it and threw in some cooked rice along with some medium heat enchilada sauce… and there you have it!  Here’s the handy dandy somewhat of a thrown together recipe for one or two – if you need to make more for a family, just don’t save the rest of the meat  for salads like we did.

Stuffed Bell Pepper

 (increase if you are making more)

1 Bell Pepper, color of your choice

Ground Turkey (or beef) , browned and seasoned with homemade Taco Seasoning Mix (add onions if you want)  or seasoned with just salt and pepper and onions like hubby

2-4 Tbsps Medium heat (or mild if you prefer) Enchilada Sauce

Cooked Rice

Salt, pepper to taste

 

After browning 1 lb ground turkey seasoned with taco seasoning mix and adding 2 Tbsp medium heat (or mild if you prefer) Enchilada Sauce, take out about 1/3 cup (save the rest for a taco salad the next night) and add about the same amount of cooked rice to the mix.   Stuff the bell pepper (we used a red and a yellow instead of the green ones – I liked these better – they are sweeter- we did the same with ground beef as hubby likes beef and I like ground turkey-he added onions to his)

Place stuffed bell peppers (you can certainly make more than 2 by using more meat and more rice if you want leftovers for the next day for lunch or supper) in a small pan lined with foil and drizzle more enchilada sauce over the tops of the peppers.   Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees (or until the peppers are soft).  Enjoy!

BBQ Fun Winner

Someone will have some fun cooking on their grill….. Or someone will have fun giving these to someone special….. and that someone is……

#9…..Hope G!      

Congratulations Hope!   I will get these to you later this week!  (I haven’t gotten them in just yet but should by middle of week….I will call you when they get here!  But I assure you I have been assured that they will be here in plenty of time for Father’s Day!  Congrats and enjoy!   And yes, the #12 on the random.org is correct….while there were 13 comments shown, one posted two comments ……. you only got one chance on this particular one!  I’ll have to come up with a give-a-way where you can get more than one entry…..maybe during “Christmas in July????”  

Father’s Day is coming…….

And you know what that means…….we need to give something away that is appropriate for fathers, sons, brothers, anyone of the male species who likes to cook on the grill.  And I don’t know about you, but my man is the griller at our house (although I do a lot of the seasoning of the grilling meats/vegetables).  

Someone will win both of these for their favorite somebody and comes from my favorite store, Sur La Table:

First this great Kabob Griller (or whatever you would like to name yours)

We like to make kabobs at our house, so much so that when we all get together we have to join forces, or shall I say our skewers, and start skewing!  What I like about this particular set of skewers, is that it is a great set-up for a family, or just two.  You can load all of them with your favorite meats, they are up off the grill and won’t get “stuck” as they sometimes do, even when you pre-oil the grates prior to grilling depending on the seasoning on the meat, and the cuts of meat (Conecuh sausage never gets stuck, though) but will still have that “outdoors grilled” flavor.  And it looks easy to turn the skewers.  

Second I am throwing in this veggie grilling basket (also great for cooking shrimp on the grill)

And while your kabobs are grilling, slice up some veggies, you know, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, whatever combination your imagination can conjure up, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, chop up some fresh rosemary and throw that in, and put in this pan, and grill away!  Nothing gets lost through the grates and it tastes fantastic!  Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to cook with.  It is in my herb garden.  I walk out and pick it all the time.  

Want to be included in the drawing?   Leave me a comment below and tell me what your plans are this weekend.  Are you staying in and resting?  Do you have a big weekend planned?  Are you cooking a huge fiesta for the family?  You have until Monday, June 10th to reply.  Winner will be announced Monday, June 10th.  Good Luck and have a wonderful weekend!

It’s alright to be little bitty……..biscuit, that is

Remember that country song?  My grandson loved to go around and sign that!  Fond memories.  This biscuit, this little itty bitty biscuit, is a fond memory that I have not made in a while and have a craving for, so I thought I would post the recipe.  With just three ingredients, you can’t go wrong. But watch out, you will find yourself popping one after another in your mouth – they are delectible, they are buttery, they are just plain good!

Tiny Cream Cheese Biscuits

 

1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup self-rising flour

 

1.  Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed of an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy.  Gradually add flour, beating at low speed just until blended.  
2. Spoon dough into un-greased miniature muffin pans, filling full.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden.  Serve hot.  Makes about 1 ½ dozen.