The Perfect Wedge Salad

We've all had those yummy wedge-style salads that are so popular at steakhouses. Mike and I have some very special guests coming to dinner in a couple of weeks and a wedge salad is on the menu. So we wanted to perfect our recipe before we serve this to our guests.

Here's what we came up with:

Homemade Bleu Cheese Dressing (four to six salads)

1 cup of good mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup of half and half

1 Tbsp of citrus champagne vinegar

1/2 to 3/4 cup (depending on preference) of your favorite bleu cheese, crumbled 

Season generously with salt and fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients and let rest in fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

For the salads we used one head of iceberg lettuce and cut it into four wedges, these made huge salads and we could have easily made 6 salads... but in true steakhouse style, go big or go home.

Make sure your lettuce is fresh, chilled, and very crisp.  

Arrange wedges on plates.

Spoon dressing generously over wedges.

Garnish with more bleu chees crumbles, crumbled bacon, sliced baby heirloom/grape/cherry tomatoes, and finish with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Notes: If you want a lower fat option use reduced fat mayo and fat free half and half. Don't use reduced fat sour cream as the flavor is simply not there.  Use top quality bleu cheese, we used Maytag.

Potato and Kielbasa Chowder

A nice recipe for a chilly stay at home night.

Ingredients for a winter's night.

Stick of butter.

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

3 large carrots.

5 stalks celery.

1 white onion.

3 cloves of garlic.

5 large russet potatoes.

1 box chicken stock.

Fresh thyme.

3 tbsp flower.

1/2 box Velveeta.

2 cups milk.

2 cups water.

2 packages of Kielbasa.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Potato and Kielbasa Chowder

Chop carrots, celery, and onion and saute in butter and olive oil over med-hi heat until soft (10 mins.)

Add minced garlic cloves and leaves from three or four sprigs of thyme.  Saute an additional two mins.

Add flour, stir forming a rue. cook until flower is toasted, stirring constantly as to not stick to bottom of pan.

Add chicken stock, water, and potatoes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins, stirring every so often.

Add milk, velveeta, and sliced kielbasa.

Stir to combine ingredients and melt cheese.

Simmer and additional 15 minutes and serve.

Garnish with hot sauce, thyme, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

I shaped the hot sauce garnish into a crab :) makes no sense but that's just the way it turned out.

Notes; I wanted to make a healthier alternative so I used turkey kielbasa, skim milk, and 2% velveeta.  For a richer chowder use whole milk, regular kielbasa, regular velveeta and substitute the 2 cups of water for additional chicken stock. Also make sure you are seasoning with plenty of salt of pepper as you go.

Squash, pear, and onion au gratin.

Mike found this recipe in the Better Homes and Garden cookbook.  I love that cook book!! You'll find a ton of classic and traditional recipes. Reminds me of my grandma's cooking.

Click on the link here to find it.

My notes;

the recipe calls for one medium pear, I would get two.  I would get whatever looks firm and ripe and smells like a fresh pear.  We used bosc. I would also sprinkle or grate a hint of  fresh nutmeg over the squash and pear layers.

We also modified the topping with a little extra parmesan cheese, a little extra butter, and all we had were Italian seasoned bread crumbs.  I liked the extra kick these provided.

Finally, I would cut back from one whole onion to half an onion.  The onion over powered everything else.  Get a white onion or the mildest you can find.

Practicing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been a challenge for my mom. Her game plan includes cooking a turkey for 17 hours, stuffing so dry you literally can't put enough gravy on it (or chug enough chardonnay,) and speaking of gravy... she takes the drippings from the bird, dumps in a box of cornstarch and then tries to hand whisk the lumps into oblivion. (sorry mom!) 

When she insists on hosting this food lovers holiday I insist on bringing the turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, gravy, mashed potato's, and dessert. She can make everything else!

I love love love stuffing and can't believe I only eat it twice a year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm on a quest to create the perfect sausage stuffing.  Usually when I'm trying to create a masterpiece I look at five or six recipes online, take what I like, and then dig into my own culinary repertoire.

Here's what I came up with;

1 medium white onion

6 celery stalks

1 stick of butter

1 package of fresh poultry herbs

1 package of good sage sausage

1 box of chicken broth (turkey if you can find it)

1 bag of bread cubes (the kind that in every grocery store right now, specifically for stuffing)

Dump bread cubes into large mixing bowl.

Saute diced onion and celery in butter until soft (five to seven mins.)

Add sausage to saute and cook throughout.

Add minced herbs. (I minced all the sage, half the leaves of a rosemary stalk, and the leaves of four thyme sprigs.)

Mix thoroughly then pour mixture over bread cubes.

Pour in stock and mix until well incorporated.

Distribute entire mixture evenly in casserole baking dish.

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes until top of stuffing is brown and toasty.

Mike and I thought the stuffing was delicious but here's how I'm going to improve on this recipe for Thanksgiving.

The Ultimate Sausage Stuffing;

First I'm going to cook off one pound of bacon until crisp. I'll remove the bacon from the saute pan and saute the veggies in the butter and bacon drippings.  I'll also add a diced carrot or two to the saute mixture and a clove of garlic (everything benefits from a little garlic.)  After I add the entire mixture to the bread cubes I'll also crumble the crispy bacon into the mixture.

If you're looking for the "WHOA! What is that?" effect, you could also add a stalk or two of diced fennel to the veggie mixture, or possibly a leaf or two of tarragon.  This will give an ever so slight flavor of anise. Sure to be a show stopper at your Thanksgiving table!

We also made a butternut squash, pear, and onion au gratin. We'll post that recipe in the next day or two.... and since we were making comfort food we also made chicken friend chicken with a rich cream gravy.  

What a delicious meal!

King Crab Ravioli

Sometimes you just feel like something that is easy and delicious! I do quite a bit of shopping at Sam's Club and every once in awhile find a treasure.

I came across King Crab Ravioli the other day and just couldn't pass it up.

I wanted to make a simple sauce that would enhance the flavor of the ravioli's and not overpower the flavor of the crab. I made a simple garlic butter chardonnay sauce to coat the finished ravioli. (Recipe follows.)

Mike and I were lucky enough to have his mom join us for dinner the night we made these.  All three of us agreed the ravioli were delectable!

Garlic Butter Chardonnay Sauce;

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tbsp salted butter

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 cup good chardonnay

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in medium high skillet.

Add garlic and saute until lightly golden.

Add chardonnay and reduce until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Cook ravioli to package directions, drain and add to saute pan.

Lightly toss and serve immediately.

Blue-rugula Burgers

This is a recipe Mike found from Rachael Ray.  Honestly one of the best hamburgers, or should I say steakburgers I have ever had.

I don't think I've ever had a 100% ground sirloin burger before, and now I'm not sure I want regular hamburger again! Such a unique and wonderful flavor!

We also found bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers at the store.  Delicious and so much easier than making from scratch! 

Quick tip; stick the blue in the freezer for a couple minutes before slicing. 

I've never had Cambazola blue cheese before. I would say it is like a blue brie, very soft and very blue. We were a little worried the blue might be to strong, but the flavor paired wonderfully with the sirloin burger. Don't be afraid to heap the cheese on top of the burger!

This burger was absolutely amazing!  The burger itself has garlic and Worcestershire in it and because it was ground sirloin and not ground chuck (ground steak vs. ground hamburger) it was so meaty and very high quality.  We found wonderful fresh-baked buns at the bakery in King Soopers and once they were toasted they were perfect to hold up this flavorful burger.  The onions on top were so much more than just onions.  Caramelized for 20 minutes,  a dash of brown sugar and then spicy mustard... I felt like they could have been a meal in themselves!  Top that with the spicy Arugula and the melted Cambazola and you have a flavor explosion in your mouth!  We were a little worried about too much of any one thing (Cambazola, Arugula, or Onions) but words can't describe how much flavor this burger has so don't worry - it would be almost impossible to overdue any one ingredient. 

Seriously - make this burger, whether it's date night, family dinner, anything, you could do all the prep work before and it really wasn't hard to make - at all!  I found it on an episode of Rachel Ray's 30 minute meals and it didn't take us longer either.  Super easy, and we both agreed, one of, if not THE best burger we've ever had!  Enjoy!

Joes Enchiladas with Adobo Sour Cream

Went to a VP Debate watch party last night and here's what I made, Joe's Enchilada's.  If you're a Republican you can call them Paul's Enchilada's but they won't be as good ;)

Ingredients;

4.75 #'s of hamburger

2 #'s of Mexican style shredded cheese, divided

1 large white onion

3 jalapenos

5 cloves of garlic

4 cans of your favorite red enchilada sauce (28 oz)

1 can of chipotles in adobo sauce (7 oz)

flour tortillas

1 tub of sour cream

chili oil for sauteing

Yields 28 enchilada's

(this is a huge recipe designed for a large gathering. I would cut it in half if making for a family)

Filling;

Chop onion, jalapenos, and garlic into small pieces.

Saute in chili oil until soft. (about 5 minutes)

stir in ground beef and 4 chipotle peppers. (minced)

cook mixture until burger is cooked throughout.

dump mixture into large mixing bowl and let cool.

stir in 1# of the mexican style cheese and 1 can of the enchilada sauce

stir until well combined.

Start filling your tortillas with the mixture. I filled two very large casserole dishes with the enchiladas.

Pour remaining 3 can's of enchilada sauce evenly over enchilada's (I used a pastry brush to ensure even coating)

Sprinkle remaining cheese evenly over entire casserole.

Cover with foil and bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 mins.

Remove foil and cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until cheese is golden and gooey.

Chipotle sour cream is very simple,

Mix tub of sour cream with the adobo sauce found in the can of chipotle peppers.

Mix as little or as much as you'd like depending on your heat tolerance.

*for a milder enchilada remove seeds and ribs from jalapenos. 

Canadian Thanksgiving

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving, which means yesterday was a day filled with family, food, and great times.  The holidays can be a tough time to make the stars align with everyone's schedule, so what better way to get the clan together than with half the family's Canadian heritage.  It was a wonderful and super delicious day!

Many of the things we have are the same as what everyone's enjoys: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and stuffing.  One note I want to say about stuffing that seems to be coming up more often: in the bird or not?  Shouldn't even be a question in my book - IN THE BIRD!  These days everyone is worried about samonilla, raw cookie dough, and stuffing in the bird.  I have to say I grew up eating stuffing in the bird (and the occasional raw cookie dough!) and I'm still here!  Just tastes so much better with all that extra flavor the turkey brings.

Our ham was a Sam's Club special and absolutely delicious. Christina made her secret recipe, Corn Cornbread Casserole (pictured on right).  Corn, cornbread and creamed corn combined together ... How could that be a bad thing?

The Assembly Line:



Last, but definitely not least, Jeran and I had to put our mark on the dinner with our signature dishes: Aunt Mary's Green Bean Casserole (GBC, on left) and Grandmomma's Sweet Potato Casserole (SPC, on right).  This much goodness should be illegal!  Recipe's to follow, but a couple secrets right away!  For GBC you should never use milk!  Don't follow the recipe on the can (even though you should use Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup) and jazz it up to make it your own.  Water chesnuts are a secret of mine to give it a little extra crunch and french style green beans are required.  Don't forget to add the Worchester into the mix as well as crumbled bacon and parmesean cheese on top - WOW!  When it comes to Jeran's SPC, it almost felt like it should have been part of the dessert round!  We used white sweet potatoes which were a unique touch and the blend of white sugar (in the body) and brown sugar in the topping was out of this world.  The pecans, blended with butter, brown sugar and vanilla made the crust topping the perfect top to a wonderful casserole!

Here are our recipes;  from Mikes family collection,

Green Bean Casserole Aunt Mary

1 package French style frozen green beans (cook 5 mins. only)

1 tin water chestnuts – cut them up a bit and don’t use all the tin)

1 tin Campbell’s Cream of mushroom soup

1 tin French Fried onion rings (Durkee brand)

Grease casserole dish; mix all above in casserole dish. Bake at 300 degrees for ½ hour. Optional Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Also put 3 slices of crisp bacon that you crumble on top.

Optional: Worchester sauce or soy sauce.

I want to thank my friend Josh for the sweet potato casserole recipe. I was at a Halloween party at their home a couple years back and when I tasted this I knew it would become a holiday staple in my kitchen.

This is what Josh emailed me when I asked for the recipe;

I wanted to pass along my Grandmomma's Sweet Potato Casserole.

4 Cups of Mashed Sweet Potatoes (gotta' cook the fresh ones - please don't used canned - Grandmomma wouldn't have it).

1 Cup of Sugar

2 Teaspoons of Vanilla

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Melted Butter

- Mix until smooth and put in the bottom of your casserole dish

Topping -

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/3 Cup Flour

1/3 Cup Melted Butter

1 Cup of Chopped Pecans

(I also mixed a few shakes of cinnamon and nutmeg into the crumble topping)

Mix the topping ingredients and 'crumble' over your potatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (or until the topping is browned).