Summer Corn Salad

When we visited the fabulous Julia and David, we were treated to many gourmet meals! The best part is that they took place right there at her dining room table. Julia is a wonderful cook who carefully uses fresh produce and herbs right from her garden! One day at lunch, Julia prepared a delicious corn salad with fresh corn. I did not write down her recipe, so today I created my own summer corn salad. I think you can adjust it as needed and use fresh ingredients that you have on hand to make it even better!

First of all, you need some sweet summer corn. Shuck it and brush it to get rid of the corn silk. Then, carefully cut the corn off of the cob. I did not cook our corn, but those who prefer a hot salad could grill it or saute' the corn in olive oil. I thought the summer sweetness was just perfect without cooking it. I put the corn in a large mixing bowl and added a little olive oil, Maldon sea salt, and fresh pepper. Next, I used ingredients we have in our kitchen including a great tomato, red onion, and fresh basil. Avocado is great too, but ours was not yet ripe. You can use cilantro instead of basil if you want it to taste differently. Chop the ingredients you want to add to the corn and then add them to the large bowl. Taste it to see if you need more salt and pepper. Put it in your refrigerator so that the flavors mix. YUM! You have a healthy and easy side dish! Happy Summer, y'all! Thank you, Julia, for the inspiration!

YUMMY to your TUMMY

I just love summer recipes that are light and refreshing, don't you?! This past Sunday my sweet friend made these fabulous wraps for our church potluck. Let's just say that I wish I had taken two. They were THAT good. You can substitute a store-bought recipe as needed.

Asian Chicken Salad Wraps
Ingredients
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
6 (4 oz.) skinless, boned chicken breast halves (or you can use roasted chicken)
1 cup cucumber, chopped, seeded and peeled... I don't worry about the seeds
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon minced, peeled fresh ginger- if your store does not offer fresh ginger, then try 1 1/2 tsp. dried ginger
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce- low sodium is better for you
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
8 (8 inch) fat-free flour tortillas
4 cups chopped romaine lettuce

Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; cool. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Otherwise, pull and shred roasted chicken. Place chicken, cucumber and bell pepper in a large bowl.
Process sugar, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, salt, red pepper and garlic in a blender until smooth. Add peanut butter and water; blend. Combine peanut butter and chicken mixtures; stir. Add cilantro; toss.
Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon 1/2 cup chicken mixture and 1/2 cup lettuce onto each tortilla; roll up. Serve and enjoy!

You can also make a similar dressing and pour it over Japanese soba noodles and add fresh red pepper and cucumbers. I think it would also be good with peanuts or cashews in the recipe! Are you hungry now?

This recipe was altered but is similar to a recipe by ALL YOU magazine!

New Favorite in the Kitchen

I love to cook. There are certainly days and even seasons where I do less of it, but on a good week we eat all of our meals at home. Hospitality is a gift DH and I share. We love to have others to our home, and try to do so as often as possible. Some of our favorite evenings are spent at home with a good meal and a game or deck of cards to entertain everyone following the meal. Great memories are often forged around the dinner table!

One of my new favorite ingredients is PANCETTA. Pancetta is an Italian bacon that has been cured with salt and pepper. It is much saltier than bacon. It is delicious! You buy pancetta in the deli section at the grocery store. Ask for a size 2 slice. At Thanksgiving, my dear friend, Rachel, who is an incredible cook, made the best appetizer! It was pancetta with arugula, goat cheese, and figs. I believe the recipe below is similar:

Pancetta Crisps with Goat Cheese and Figs
Makes 12

12 thin Pancetta slices

12 Arugula leaves

12 tsp. soft, fresh Goat Cheese

Fig jam or preserves

6 fresh Figs (You can substitute 6 plump dried Mission figs or 12 small fresh persimmon wedges)

You can add chopped thyme on top if you so desire

Fresh ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place pancetta in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool 15 minutes and transfer to platter. I have also cooked pancetta in the pan like you cook bacon and that also works well. I love the little rounds it makes!

2. Top each slice with 1 arugula leaf, 1 teaspoon of goat cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of jam.

3. Depending on the size of your figs, top with 1/2 a fig. (The figs I purchased were large, so I used 1/6 of a fig per appetizer). Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper. You may want to add the thyme as well.

Bon appetit!

Thursday Treat! Go FIGure!

Leave it to my sister-in-laws to FIG-ure it out! One sassy sis-by-love shared a delicious and EASY hors d'oeuvre that is PERFECT for right now during FIG season! You simply need to buy phyllo cups in your grocery freezer, brie cheese with the rind removed, and fig preserves. Put a small chunk of brie in the phyllo cup and then place a dollop of fig preserves on top. Cook in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes at 350*F. It would be pretty served on a platter with some fresh figs! Go FIGure!

Elegant Beef Tenderloin

If you want to make your Manic Monday Marvelous, try this recipe!!! It is fantastic. It is delicious served with rice casserole, creamy cheese grits, or mashed potatoes. The leftovers are perfect on a salad or on a Sister Schubert roll as a sandwich! Bon Appetit!

Elegant Beef Tenderloin
1 5 lb. beef tenderloin, trimmed
1 1/4 tsp garlic salt
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup butter
1tsp lemon butter seasoning

Preheat oven to 425*F. Place meat in a highly greased shallow roasting pan & sprinkle w/ garlic salt. Bake for 10 mins. At the same time, combine wine, soy sauce, butter, & lemon pepper seasoning in a sm. saucepan. Cook until mixture is thoroughly heated. Pour over tenderloin. Bake an additional 30-40 minutes or until a thermometer registers 140*F (rare), basting occasionally w/ pan drippings. (Bake until thermometer reaches 150* for medium rare or 160F for medium). I bake it until 140*F as it continues to cook a little once it is out of the oven. If desired, garnish with grapes, celery leaves, and lemon zest. Enjoy!

Asparagus, please!

It's difficult to come up with an interesting menu for your family night after night. While it is fun to try new dishes, it can be a big job to cook all of the meals for your family! Publix has asparagus on sale this week. It is delicious! For a quick way to add some green to your meal, all you need is fresh asparagus and Makoto ginger dressing. You can find the dressing in the refrigerated section of dressings near Marie's salad dressing. You will love it! I first had this dish at a baby shower for my friend, V. My friend, R, who is also V's sister, made the most delicious asparagus. When she shared the 'recipe', I couldn't believe how easy it was!

Steam your asparagus until it is crisp tender. I have a calphalon steamer. I fill the bottom with water & bring it to a boil. Then, I put the fresh asparagus in the steamer pot on top (it has holes in the bottom). Put on your lid and let it steam until the asparagus is cooked, but not too tender. You may have to turn the heat down so that the water does not boil over. Don't forget to use your vent fan! Drain & cool the asparagus. You can put it in ice cold water or just run cold water over it in the sink. Let it drain. R served her asparagus cold on a platter with the dressing as an optional side. She had it in a beautiful glass bowl. It looked like a homemade sauce. For dinner tonight, I put the dressing on the asparagus and refrigerated the dish while I made our stir fry. Enjoy! I made an Asian dinner tonight, but you could also use this dish with chicken salad for a ladies' luncheon. It is quite versatile, delicious, and healthy!

Sugared Pecans

Tis the Season! It's always nice to have something delicious for friends and family to enjoy during visits or just before dinner. I believe these pecans are a wonderful treat!!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. pecans
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsps. vanilla extract

Bake pecans on cookie sheet at 350*F for 15 minutes. While pecans are in the oven, mix sugar, water, cinnamon, and salt. Cook to soft ball stage (about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Add vanilla. Mix. Add pecans and stir until all pecans are coated with mixture. Pour onto waxed paper (or buttered foil) to cool. Separate pecans. Store in tightly closed container. ENJOY!

Pimiento Cheese

I LOVE pimiento cheese!!! You can eat it on crackers, on top of a hamburger like they do at Add Drug in Athens, Georgia, on celery, or on a sandwich.  This is the time of year when it is best served on a grilled or toasted sandwich! YUM!

My recipe is very simple... you determine the amounts of each ingredient based on taste.

-shredded sharp cheddar cheese

-mayonnaise (Dukes is my favorite)

-jar or 2 of diced pimientos

-red cayenne pepper

-garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together & enjoy!!!

Hot Ham and Cheese Delights

This is a great recipe and you can even prepare them ahead of time & freeze them!  I keep them in my freezer for those times when you just don't know what to eat for lunch or dinner.  Add a salad or some soup, and you have a meal!!  My friend, J, gave this recipe to me. It is from his wonderful Mama!!

Ingredients:

Hamburger buns with poppyseeds

thinly sliced ham (North Carolinians & Virginians like country ham)

sliced longhorn or swiss cheese

Dressing:

Vary the amount depending on the number of sandwiches you are making!

2 tbs. margarine or butter

1 Tbs. mustard

1 Tbs. poppyseeds

1 chopped onion

Combine above ingredients, and spread on each side of the hamburger bun.  Place ham and cheese & put the top on your sandwich!  Wrap individually in aluminum foil and heat at 300*F.  Cook for about 5-10 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted. YUM!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie

9 inch deep pie shell, unbaked

Cream Cheese layer

1 pkg cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 lg. egg

Pumpkin Layer

1 can pumpkin puree (16 oz)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. salt

2 lg. eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup evaporated milk

Preheat the oven to 350*F.  For the cream cheese layer, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla and then blend in the egg.  Spread cream cheese mixture over unbaked pie shell.  For the pumpkin layer, combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.  Blend in beaten eggs and evaporated milk and pour over cream cheese layer.  Bake until firm, 60 minutes or longer. Enjoy!

Other Uses for Waffle Iron!

Kappa Prep talked about wanting a waffle maker from Williams-Sonoma, which prompted me to write this post!! I have an inexpensive waffle iron from Target, and it works well!

My friend, EM, who lives in Wisconsin, is a fabulous cook. She makes wonderful waffles for her 4 boys & serves them with maple smoked bacon.  Mmmm.... She is the reason I own a waffle iron!

I have 2 ideas for your waffle iron which will allow you to use it at lunch or dinner!  Make a ham sandwich with cheese & put it in your waffle iron.  It makes a ham & cheese waffle, and your children will likely have no idea what is in it!  You could do the same with turkey or sliced chicken breast or roast beef & swiss... you get the idea!

I have also taken brownie mix & poured it in the waffle iron. It makes delicious dessert waffles, and they are best served with ice cream & chocolate syrup!  Something about their unique shape makes them better than your typical brownie!!!

Enjoy & Happy Cooking!