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Hibiscus Tea

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It’s Summertime in St Louis and it’s HOT! Nothing is better on a hot day than a tall glass of Hibiscus Tea.

I use an orange when I make mine, the citrus blends perfectly with the floral notes of the hibiscus and I add just a touch of sugar to round out any bitterness from the rind for a perfect summer drink.

Not only is Hibiscus Tea a great summer refresher it’s also good for you. Here are some of the health benefits of Hibiscus Tea:

It can help you manage your Blood Pressure.
A study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology suggests that hibiscus has antihypertensive and cardioprotective properties, which can be beneficial for people suffering from hypertension and those at high risks of cardiovascular diseases.
It can help with Weight Loss.
Studies have suggested that hibiscus extract lowers the absorption of starch and glucose the two dietary components that can lead to weight gain and may help aid in weight loss.
It helps lower your Cholesterol.
It helps to lower the levels of (bad) LDL cholesterol from the body, thereby helping to protect against heart diseases and protecting blood vessels from damage
It protects your Liver.
It helps to lower the levels of (bad) LDL cholesterol from the body, thereby helping to protect against heart diseases and protecting blood vessels from damage
It has Anti-inflammatory & Antibacterial Agents.
It’s rich in ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C. It is an essential nutrient required by your body to boost and stimulate the activity of the immune system. Hibiscus tea is also known for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Therefore, it can help protect you from catching a cold and flu.
It Improves Digestion.
Many people drink hibiscus tea to improve digestion as it regularizes both urination and bowel movements. Since it has diuretic properties, it is also used to treat constipation, improve the health of your gastrointestinal system, and reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
It Satiates Thirst
It’s also used as a sports drink in order to satiate thirst. For this purpose, hibiscus tea is typically consumed cold, as an iced tea. Many people include it in their diet since this variety of tea has the ability to cool down the body very fast.

So, the next time you’re looking for a refreshing summer drink brew up some Hibiscus Tea, tastes great and it’s good for you too.

Hibiscus Tea

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Bags Green Tea
  • 1 Orange
  • 2 tbsp Sugar
  • 1 tbsp Dried Hibiscus Petals

Instructions
 

  • Put 2 quarts of water in a pan or tea kettle with 2 bags of Green Tea, heat to a rolling boil. Pour into a 2 quart pitcher add the Hibiscus petals in a difusier along with an orange cut into 8 wedges and and the sugar. Let stand 20 minutes then place in the fridge to cool. Serve over ice.

Kentucky Hot Brown

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This one is an “Oldie but Goodie” I remember being a young girl and going to the Tea Room at Heer’s Department store in Springfield. It was always a special treat. Located on the 4th floor next to the lingerie department this was the place that Ladies went to “Lunch”. It had beautiful dark wood paneling and the tables were adorned table clothes, cloth napkins and a spray of fresh flowers. Trust me it was quite the swanky place. On their menu was my all time favorite the Kentucky Hot Brown.

If you’ve never had Kentucky Hot Brown it’s basically an open faced sandwich smothered in a cheese sauce and topped with a couple of crispy slices of bacon. Placed it under the broiler for a few minutes and you get an ooey gooey slice of heaven. The tomatoes cut the richness of the cheese sauce and the bacon is the perfect salty accent.

To do this right you have to buy the right ingredients. If you skimp you’ll be sorry. So, buy some really good hearty French or Italian bread, get thick slices of ham and turkey (about 1/4 “) and shredded Swiss cheese. My grocery store sells thick sliced fried turkey and ham and it works perfectly. If this is not the case where you are go to the deli counter and have them slice it special for you.

You can do this in individual casserole dishes if you have them, and it works really well for individual servings. But I don’t have any so I used my 6 X 9″ casserole layered the ingredients and then scooped out the individual servings. If your feeding a crowd you can double this recipe up, put it in a big casserole dish and serve it this way. I was surprised how well it worked.

So the next time you’re looking for something different for dinner try the Kentucky Hot Brown, it is absolutely wonderful.

Kentucky Hot Brown

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 4 1/2" thick Slices of good French or Italian Bread
  • 2 1/4" thick Slices of good quality Ham
  • 2 1/4" thick Slices of good quality Turkey
  • 4 1/4" Slices of Tomato
  • 4 Slices Bacon

For the Cheese Sauce

  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 7 oz Shredded Swiss Cheese
  • pinch Nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 cups Milk

Instructions
 

  • Cook your bacon, either fry it up or bake it in the oven until it's "Chewy" don't get it too crispy because it will crisp up more when you put it under the broiler. Then start your cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan, add the flour and let it cook for a minute or two to get out the raw taste, then add your milk, nutmeg, salt and cheese. Whisk together and stir occasionally as it thickens up. Give your bread slices a quick toast under the broiler, if you don't it will get soggy when you put this all together. Lay the bread slices in the bottom of a 9 X 6 casserole dish and top with the slices of turkey, ham, and tomatoes. Your ham and turkey slices should cover two pieces of bread. Pour the cheese sauce over the top and sprinkle with about an ounce of the shredded Swiss cheese. I by an 8 oz package of cheese and use about 7 oz in the sauce and the rest of it tops off the dish. Place the bacon slices on top of the cheese sauce and put it under the broiler about 6" from the heat source and broil until the cheese has started to turn golden brown and everything is bubbling. About 10 minutes.

Pork Tenderloin Crostini with Apricot Horseradish Chutney

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For the annual Mothers Day Cookout I was slated to bring an appetizer and I wanted to do something different. I was tired of all my usual offerings and wanted something bit fancier than bean dip. So I started thinking………….

My brothers standard appetizer is a crostini with a slice of flank steak, some horseradish cream and arugula, and it’s wonderful. Every time he brings it to a gathering it’s gobbled up in minutes. So simple yet so good.

Then when we were at the Circus in March Scott & Shalene brought smoked pork tenderloin with Apricot Horseradish sauce. It was amazing. The sweetness of the Apricot Jam is countered by the heat of the Horseradish for a tangy, spicy, sweetness that is just perfect with pork. I was even thinking of using this on pulled pork sandwiches or a piece of grilled chicken.

Never one to let a good idea go by the wayside, much less two, I decided to mash these two together, and that’s how I came up with Pork Tenderloin Crostini with Apricot Horseradish Chutney.

This is a really simple show stopper if your looking for a great appetizer. All you have to do is grill or roast a pork tenderloin, mix up the Apricot Horseradish Chutney, toast some bread and assemble. The recipe for the Chutney make 3 cups which is a lot because a little bit of this goes a long way. So, if you are making a small batch of this you might want to cut back on the amount of chutney you make. The ratio is 2-1, 2 parts Apricot Jam to 1 part Horseradish.

I talked to Shalene about changing this up when she sent me the recipe, she said they had tried it with Orange Marmalade and some other jams but nothing was as good as the Apricot, so I think I’ll stick with this one as it is written. Unusual for me I know, but every once in a while I find something that is perfect as it is and this is one of them.

Pork Tenderloin Crostini with Apricot Horseradish Chutney

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
25 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Servings 24 Servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1lb Pork Tenderloin
  • 2 tsp Pappy's Choice Seasoning Or any rib rub you have that you like
  • 2 cups Apricot Jam
  • 1 cup Horseradish
  • 2 tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 small Baguette
  • 2 cups Baby Arugula

Instructions
 

  • Season your tenderloin with Pappy's or any Rib Rub that you like and roast at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. You can grill if you choose to. Take it out of the oven and put it into the fridge to cool. You want to wait until it has cooled to slice it, it works much better this way. Combine the Apricot Jam, Horseradish and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until somewhat smooth. Slice your Baguette and brush with a bit of olive oil and bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees to make your Crostini's. When the crostini's come out of the oven you're ready to assemble. Slice the cooled tenderloin into 1/8" slices. Put a good schmear of the chutney on each crostini and top with a slice of the tenderloin, add another dollop of the chutney on top (this helps hold the arugula in place) and top with a couple of pieces of baby arugula.

Chili Rubbed Flank Steak with Chimichurri

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Well, Sunday was Cinco De Mayo and along with the rest of the US we CELEBRATE! This year I decided to mix it up a bit and go a little bit Tex-Mex and a little bit Argentinian with a Chili Rubbed Flank Steak with Chimichurri. Pair that with some Black Beans and Confetti Corn and you have a great South of the Border treat.

I found this recipe for Chili Rubbed Steak twenty five years or so ago in some magazine or another and I’ve made it off and on over the years. It’s really simple; so simple I never bothered to write it down, I just remember it and gives the steak a wonderful smokey, garlicky flavor. You can use this marinade on any cut of steak and it would even be good on pork or chicken.

Then comes the Chimichurri. It originates from Argentina where meat lovers really know how to prepare and eat meat. If you’ve never had Chimichurri before you’re in for a treat. It’s the perfect compliment to the Chili Rub. The Parsley, Cilantro, and Garlic brighten up the rich flavors of the meat for an explosion of flavor. It is strong however, so a little drizzle is all you need.

Chimichurri is typically made with just Parsley but I add Cilantro to mine to give a bit more of a Southwest flair. If you find you are among the Cilantro haters of this world just leave it out and use only Parsley, either way it’s a great way to finish off a piece of meat. It can be kept in the fridge for a week and what you don’t use for your steak makes a great dressing for a salad.

So, the next time you decide to go South of the Border, try Chili Rubbed Flank Steak with Chimichurri.

Chili Rubbed Flank Steak

Marie Cook
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Southwest
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Cloves Garlic
  • 2 tbsp Williams Chili Seasoning
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1.25 lb Flank Steak

Instructions
 

  • Grate your garlic into a fine paste, I use my Micro-plane, but if you don’t have one, run the garlic along the tines of a fork so that it becomes finely grated. In a small bowl mix the garlic with the Williams Chili Seasoning, salt and Worcestershire Sauce until it become a paste. Spread the paste all over the meat on both sides, cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or over night.
    Get your grill smokin’ hot and grill for 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Slice thinly against the grain and serve.

Chimichurri

Marie Cook
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Cuisine Southwest
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Parsley Loosely Packed
  • 2 cups Cilantro Loosely Packed
  • 2 Cloves Garlic
  • 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 cup Olive Oil
  • 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper

Instructions
 

  • Lightly chop your garlic and add it to a food processor or blender with the Parsley, Cilantro, Vinegar, Salt, Oil and Red Pepper, Blend until smooth. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

You can make this ahead and store it in the fridge for up to a week. Take it out and let it come to room temperature before serving.

Shrimp & Rice

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What do you do when you love Shrimp & Grits but your husband hates Grits. You make Shrimp & Rice instead. After all the best part of Shrimp & Grits is all the good stuff you put on top of the Grits.

We were off for another road trip last month, this time we traveled through the Southeastern US. We left St Louis and headed out for Chattanooga followed by Savannah, Charleston, Asheville and finally Lexington before heading back home. I got to cross several things off my bucket list and as usual we had some really great food. Boy, those Southerners sure do know how to cook don’t they?

On our first night out we stayed at a lovely B&B in Chattanooga overlooking the river and the restaurant across the street (The Back Inn) had the most wonderful Shrimp & Grits. I ordered them the first night and much to my surprise when we went back the next night my husband ordered it. I had given him a taste of mine the night before and it was so good he decided he just had to have it. I promised him that when we got home I would recreate it but use rice instead.

This is a quick and easy dinner that is perfect for a weeknight but also suitable for company. The sausage and shrimp are cooked up in a cream sauce with with onion, peppers, garlic and sweet corn. The corn is what really makes this dish stand out. Its sweetness counteracts the spice from the sausage perfectly, then comes the flavorful cream sauce that just pushes it right over the top.

I used Aidells Cajun Andouille Smoked Sausage for this dish. Don’t skimp on the sausage use the good stuff. You can find this in most grocery stores and it is just wonderful.

So, the next time your in the mood for some Shrimp & Grits, try Shrimp & Rice instead. The grit haters will love you for it.

Shrimp & Rice

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main Course
Servings 2 People

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz Cajun Style Andouille Sausage 3 links
  • 1/2 lb Raw Shrimp 16-20 count
  • 1/2 Onion Chopped
  • 1/2 Red Bell Pepper Chopped
  • 2 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1/2 Cup Frozen Corn
  • 1 tsp Paul Prudhomme Seafood Magic
  • 1 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1 pinch Crushed Red Pepper Optional
  • 1 small package Yellow Rice Mix

Instructions
 

  • Follow the package instructions and get the rice on the stove. While it’s cooking brown the sausage in a bit of oil, let it get a nice crust. This is going to help flavor your sauce so give it a few minutes. When the sausage is brown add the peppers and onion and saute until they start to get soft, about 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and let it cook for a minute or two. Add the shrimp and season with the Seafood Magic, cook until just cooked through, you don’t want to over cook them. They only take about 6-8 minutes. When the shrimp is starting to get pink add the corn and cream and heat through. By now the rice is done. Serve over the rice in a shallow bowl.

It’s all about the Dip

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It was my turn to host Bunco again last week and I decided that this time around I would make a bunch of different dips. It seems that these ladies don’t really eat food at Bunco but they do love to snack and what’s a better snack than Chips & Dip? Nothing that I can think of. So for this months Bunco night “It’s all about the Dip.”

I wanted to make this a bit of a retro theme, so I dug through Mom’s recipe box and found her old recipe for Clam Dip. I don’t know where this recipe came from, it’s simply scribbled on an index card in her recipe box, and at this point I have no idea where she got it. But I do remember her making this as a kid back in the sixty’s and I loved it. Serve it with Ritz crackers or Ruffles potato chips with ridges, take a bite and step back in time. I don’t know why no one seems to make this anymore. It’s an oldie, but it’s a goodie.

Clam Dip

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 7 oz can Minced Clams
  • 1 tsp Finely Minced Onion
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 6 oz Cream Cheese

Instructions
 

  • Drain the clams reserving the broth in the can. In a small bowl combine 2 tbsp of the clam broth with the clams, onion, salt and cream cheese. Mix well and refrigerate for several hours before serving so that the flavors blend well.
    Serve with Ritz Crackers or Ruffles Potato Chips.

Notes

Whipped cream cheese is the best thing to come along since sliced bread. So much easier than waiting for the cream cheese to warm up enough to be able to blend it. I highly recommend that you try it for this recipe instead of regular cream cheese.

Next I wanted to try my hand at French Onion Dip. We’ve all had the one that you make with Knorr French Onion Soup Mix and Sour Cream, but I wanted something a bit more special than that. So I looked at several different recipes, took note of the ingredients and added a few of my own because I wanted a richer almost meaty flavor to mine and this is what I came up with. Pretty good even if I do say so myself.

French Onion Dip

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Medium Onion chopped about 1 cup
  • 2 Cloves Garlic Minced
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/2 cup Cream Cheese softened
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire Suace
  • 1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet or Maggi Seasoning
  • 1 tsp Beef Soup Base
  • 1 tsp Salt

Instructions
 

  • Chop your onion in a fine dice, about 1/4″ pieces. In a small pan melt the butter on medium low heat and saute the onion until tender and caramelized. You want it to be brown around the edges but not burned. This will take about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. A couple of minutes before you take the onions off the heat add the garlic and let it sweat for a minute or two. Remove the onion and garlic to a small bowl and let it cool.
    In the mean time, in another small bowl mix together the Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, Worcestershire Sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, Soup Base and Salt. When the onions have cooled down mix them in with the sour cream mixture and refrigerate for several hours before serving to let the flavors blend.
    Serve with Ritz Crackers and/or chips.

Next up is my favorite Guacamole. I swear I could eat this by the pound if my waist line would let me. I simply LOVE Avocados. As it just so happened they had avocados on sale at the store for $1, can you believe my luck, so I grabbed 3 of them on my way out. As it turns out I was not so lucky, every single one of them was black when I cut into it. Don’t you just hate it when that happens. Here I had my heart set on Guacamole and not a single avocado was fit to eat. So, I did the only thing I could , grabbed my keys and back to the store I went. This time I walked past the ones on sale and splurged on the bigger ones. Not the great big ones with the smooth skin but the in-between ones. For the amount I was going to make two this size should be plenty.

Guacamole

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Mexican

Ingredients
  

  • 2 medium Avocados
  • 2 Green Onions
  • 1/2 Jalapeno Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions
 

  • Peel and mash the avocados. Mince the green onion. Remove the seeds and mince the jalapeno pepper and add to the avocado with the onion, salt and lemon juice. Mix well and refrigerate for several hours before serving.

Notes

Depending on your taste and the heat of the pepper you have you may want to use a whole Jalapeno Pepper.
When storing in the fridge, place the plastic wrap right down on top of the guacamole, sealing it off from any air that might be in the dish. This will keep it from browning until you are ready to serve. Lemon juice helps, but this works best.

You know, the best part of all of these recipes is that you can make them ahead, pop them in the fridge and pull them out right before your guests arrive. So next time you have a group to entertain remember….”It’s all about the dip.”

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

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It’s circus week at our house. My husband is a Shriner and every year the biggest fund raiser they have for the hospitals is the Circus. It costs $28,260 per minute to fund the children’s hospitals in the Shriner’s Network. That comes out to almost a Billion Dollars a year, so as you can see this is a big deal for us. However, being a Shriner means that along with the work comes a good amount of fun. Over the next 3 nights there will be Pot Luck Suppers, Barbecue, Wine Tastings and all kinds of fun with the gang in between working the circus.

My husband came home last week and told me that he had signed me up to bring Pasta Salad for the Pot Luck Supper on Thursday. Now I have never been a big fan of Pasta Salad. I don’t know, it just seems to be carb heavy and kind of tasteless, if you know what I mean and I certainly didn’t want that. So what was I going to do? I looked at recipes and didn’t really find anything that sounded good and finally decided that I would go with a Mediterranean theme and just wing it. I decided that once again instead of making a dressing I would use what I had in the pantry. I mean really, why reinvent the wheel when you have the perfect thing in the cabinet. If you can’t find Vivienne’s dressing in your location any good Italian dressing will work.

I set off to “The Hill” for provisions. This is the Italian area of St Louis where they have all these great Mom & Pop shops mixed in amongst a plethora of fabulous Italian restaurants. These little stores have some of the best deals in town on everything Italian. Olives, Artichoke Hearts, Sun Dried Tomatoes, you name they have it and at about half the price you would pay for it in the grocery store. I make a “Hill Run” about once a month to pick up my staples. I was looking for some kind of interesting pasta when I came upon a bag of Zoo Animal Pasta and thought, Well, isn’t that’s just the ticket. Animal shaped pasta for the circus, Perfect!

Time to get cooking………

Mediterranean Pasta Salad is light and tasty with loads of good stuff in it. For the perfect summer supper add some chicken and you have a complete dinner in a bowl.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine Italian
Servings 14 People

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Medium Red Onion
  • 1 7oz Jar Sliced Kalamata Olives
  • 1 16 oz Jar Roasted Red Peppers
  • 2 14 oz cans Quartered Artichoke Hearts Not marinated
  • 1 1/2 cups Julienned Sun Dried Tomatoes In a pouch not packed in oil
  • 2 6 oz packages Tomato & Basil Feta Cheese Crumbles
  • 1 bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
  • 2 14 oz packages Pasta
  • 1 12 oz bottle Vivienne Romano Cheese Salad Dressing

Instructions
 

  • Chop the red onion into fairly large pieces, about 1/2″ X 1/2″ place in a small bowl and cover with any kind of inexpensive vinegar (White or Cider) and 1 tbsp salt. Let this sit for about 30 minutes while you prepare everything else. This will take the sharpness out of the onion.
    Get the water heating up on the stove with 3 Tbsp salt. When it comes to a boil add your pasta and cook for 10 minutes.
    In the mean time drain the olives and add to a large bowl. Drain and slice the red peppers into 1/2″ pieces. Drain the Artichokes and 1/4 the 1/4’s. Drain and rinse the onions to remove any excess vinegar. Chop the parsley and add to the bowl with the onion, red peppers, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, and feta cheese. Once the pasta is drained and cooled add to the bowl with the Vivien Salad Dressing and toss to combine.
    Cover and refrigerate for several hours to let the flavors blend.

Tomates Farcies

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“Stuffed Tomatoes”

The forecast called for snow, again. I don’t know if this is really the worst winter we have had in a long while or if it’s just that the older I get the more I hate winter so it just seems to drag on and on. But, another forecast for snow was not what I wanted to hear Saturday morning.

Then my phone dings with a message from Tony Tomato, would I like some of his beautiful yellow tomatoes to play with over the weekend? Heck Yes; you don’t have to ask me twice, bring ’em on!

Just look at those beauties, and they taste just as good as they look. You simply can’t buy tomatoes like this in the store. I immediately cut one up, sprinkled on a bit of salt and dug in. OMG, you can actually taste the sunshine. To have tomatoes that actually have flavor in the middle of winter is such a treat.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard my husband ask a server, “Are the tomatoes any good?” when thinking about ordering a caprese salad in a restaurant. Because, you know sometimes they are, but more often than not, they aren’t. If you live in the St Louis area follow this link to Tony’s website and visit some of the local restaurants that he sells to and you will never have to wonder again. https://tonysfamilyfarms.com/whats-cooking/ His tomatoes are amazing.

I found this recipe about 6 months ago and thought it looked just wonderful, so I saved it just waiting for the perfect chance to use it. David Boulud’s Tomates Farcies or “Stuffed Tomatoes”, is a recipe based on a favorite of his mothers from Lyon, France. Of course I changed things around a bit, I can’t simply follow a recipe I have to improvise or it’s no fun. The original recipe calls for fresh parsley, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. Considering that any herbs I still had in my garden are now covered in a couple inches of snow I had to change the recipe up and substitute dry. I also added some shredded Swiss cheese because I had it and thought why not, cheese makes everything better. However, other than these few changes I pretty much followed the recipe and it turned out just wonderful.

The ground pork is lighter than ground beef and really lets the spices and the tomatoes shine with out being over powering. Serve with a crisp salad or hearty green vegetable and you have the perfect dinner for a snow day.

Tomates Farcies (Stuffed Tomatoes)

David Boulud customized by Marie Cook
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine French
Servings 4 Tomatoes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 Tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1/4 cup Cremini Mushrooms Chopped
  • 1/2 Medium Onion Finely diced
  • 1/2 Medium Shallot Finely Diced
  • 2 tbsp Panko Bread Crumbs
  • 1/4 cup Heavy Cream
  • 1 lb Ground Pork
  • 1 tsp Parsley Dry
  • 1 tsp Basil Dry
  • 1 tsp Rosemary Dry
  • 1 tsp Thyme Dry
  • 1 small clove Garlic Minced
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

Instructions
 

  • Cut the tops off the tomatoes leaving about a 2″ cap. With a small spoon scoop out and discard the seeds and pulp. Place upside down on a paper towel lined baking sheet and put them in the fridge to drain and cool. This is an important step, you want the tomatoes to be good and cold when you stuff them. If they are room temperature when you stuff them they will be over cooked before the filling is cooked through. 
    Heat up olive oil and saute the onion, shallot and mushrooms until they are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic at then end and saute for a minute  or so to combine the flavors before you take it off the heat. Transfer to a plate and let them cool.
    In a medium bowl combine the bread crumbs and cream and let them sit for a few minutes so the bread crumbs absorb the cream. To this add the ground pork, onion mushroom mixture, spices, egg and cheese and mix well.
    Stuff the tomatoes with the pork mixture filling to about 1/2 inch above the top of the tomato. Place the stuffed tomatoes in a 9 X 9 baking dish and nestle the tops in among them.
    Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

Glazed Carrots

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Here’s a fast and easy side dish for most any night of the week; Glazed Carrots. They cook up in about 15 minutes and only have 3 ingredients. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Glazed Carrots are a stand by in our house. For one my husband loves carrots and second these cook up fast and go with just about anything. I was never a big fan of cooked carrots. When I was growing up we only had them in pot roast and they were over cooked, mushy and the flavor was almost non existent. These are sweet, tangy, peppery and crunchy. The perfect compliment to a roast, chop or piece of chicken.

There are a couple of secrets to getting them just right. First; I use my old time favorite Hendrickson’s Sweet Vinegar and Olive Oil dressing.

As I have said before this stuff is amazing. It’s sweet and a little bit spicy and peppery. When it cooks down the liquid evaporates and you’re left with a sweet sticky glaze that gently coats the carrots with just the right amount of spice. Flavorful but not over powering.

The second trick is to cook them fast. I don’t usually recommend a hard fast boil but in this case it works perfect. The idea is to get the dressing to evaporate but not over cook the carrots. You want them to be warm and tender but still have a bit of bite to them. There is nothing worse than a mushy carrot. So I start out on high heat and get them boiling, cover them for 3-5 minutes, then take the cover off, turn the heat down to medium and let the dressing finish cooking off. By then they are just about perfect.

So pop that roast or chicken breast in the oven, cut up some carrots and get ready for a great dinner.

Glazed Carrots

Marie Cook
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Side Dish
Servings 4 People

Ingredients
  

  • 8 Med Carrots Chopped About 4 cups
  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 6 tbsp Hendrickson’s Sweet Vinegar & Olive Oil Dressing

Instructions
 

  • Clean and cut your carrots into 1 1/2″ pieces, or as close to that as you can get them. They won’t all be exactly the same. Melt the butter in an 8″ skillet and add the carrots and Hendrickson’s dressing, turn heat up to med high and get the dressing boiling, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes. Uncover and turn the heat down to med and continue to simmer until the dressing has evaporated and is syrupy and sticky. Stir to coat the carrots well and serve.

Mexican Red Pork Chili

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Is there anything better than a big bowl of chili on a cold snowy day? I don’t think so, and Mexican Red Pork Chili is just the ticket.

My husband is world famous for his chili and as many times as I have watched/helped him make it I still can’t quite get it right. I stopped trying years ago. The only problem is that his chili takes literally all day to make and makes enough to feed an army so it’s something that only comes around about once a year. I was craving chili but knew I would have to come up with something completely different or risk comparison. That’s how I came up with Mexican Red Pork Chili.

I was at the store and they had pork cutlets on sale and I thought, why not pork would be good in chili. So I bought a couple of packages. Then as I was roaming the isles I saw hominy and thought, that’s just what this needs, that and some black beans and some corn. Oh yea, this is gonna be good. I picked up some sour cream and cilantro and headed home to start cooking.

Hominy is not something I use very often. I really only have one recipe that calls for it, but it has an interesting texture and flavor unlike anything else. It’s basically corn that has been soaked in a lime solution to loosen the tough outer layer and what you get is a puffy, chewy kernel that tastes more like corn meal then fresh corn. It’s hearty and just perfect for this recipe.

I used what I call a pork cutlet for this recipe, because it’s not a chop and it’s not a steak, but sliced up pork butt and it’s cheap. You can use almost any cut of pork you want for this and a small piece of pork butt would work perfectly as well as a pork loin if that is all you can find. A tenderloin is too delicate for this recipe, so I would save that cut for another use.

This is one that you can dump in the crock pot before you leave for work and just let it stew all day long, then when you get home add the hominy, beans and corn and bring it back up to temperature before serving. Add some corn bread or tortilla chips and your all set. So, how’s that for an easy weeknight meal on a cold day?

Mexican Red Pork Chili

Marie Cook
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4 Servings

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lbs Pork cut into 1″ cubes Pork butt or pork loin works best
  • 1/2 Large Yellow onion chopped about 1 cup
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced about 1 1/2 tbsp
  • 1 Pablano pepper seeded and diced
  • 1 Jalapeno pepper seeded and diced
  • 1 14.5 oz can Diced tomatoes
  • 1 14.5 oz can Chicken Broth
  • 3 tbsp Williams Chili Seasoning
  • 1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes Optional
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 1 14.5 oz can Hominy
  • 1 14.5 oz can Black Beans
  • 1 cup Frozen Corn

Instructions
 

  • Cut your pork into 1″ cubes and season with 1 1/2 tbsp Williams Chili Seasoning. Brown seasoned pork in about 3 tsp olive oil. You may have to do this in batches. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add chopped onion, pablano and Jalapeno to the pan and saute until onion starts to get tender, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook another minute or so. Add the meat back to the pan with any juices along with the tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano and the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp Williams Chili Seasoning. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for at least 2 hours until the pork is fork tender.
    Drain the beans and hominy and add them to the pan with the frozen corn and bring up to serving temperature.
    Garnish with chopped cilantro, sour cream, avocado and/or Queso.

Crock Pot Method

  • Follow instructions above, set crock pot on Med High and let it go for 6-8 hours instead of simmering on the stove. Then add the final ingredients and bring back to serving temperature.