German Style Salisbury Steak

German Style Salisbury Steak
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Mmmm good! This was last night's dinner. Michael came into the kitchen and saw ground turkey patties going into the pan and asked if we were having burgers. I said no, it's salisbury steak without the beef. He just shrugged his shoulders and said if you say so. This recipe came from Weeknight Menus by Cuisine at Home. The recipe calls for beef chuck, but I decided to use ground turkey. The gravy calls for a dark beer or beef broth and thankfully I had a dark beer on hand in the fridge. I also used chicken broth in the gravy too. The mashed potatoes were instant also. I had some frozen spinach, so it became my other side item. The gravy was so rich tasting and I believe the dark beer had something to do with that, so glad I didn't have beef broth. I am telling you the ground turkey worked wonderful in this dish. I may try it with beef one day, but somehow I doubt it. I like my beef in the form of a juicy porterhouse or ribeye. As always, if you want the recipe I am willing to share.

I will be making Shepherd's pie for the first time in my life this weekend and I will make my own mashed potatoes for that recipe.

Garlic Lime Chicken

Garlic Lime Chicken
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Garlic lime chicken, mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus was Wednesday nights dinner. I found the recipe in a book called Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. It was fairly simple to do and not to costly to prepare. I wasn't so sure if I would like lime juice on my chicken, but the combination of all the spices together actually worked well. I made instant mashed potatoes as opposed to doing it myself. I do have a 5lb bag of russett potatoes sitting in my kitchen that are waiting for me. I love fresh asparagus (can't stand the canned variety). I cooked the asparagus in a little chicken broth, butter and adobo seasing, just enough to keep some of the crunch.

The chicken recipe has been added to my recipe database, because I will make this again. If you want to the recipe let me know and I will share it with you.

Homemade Biscuits

Homemade Biscuits
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I realized that I have yet to post anything about breakfast items, so when I made biscuits this morning I knew I had post something. I have been making biscuits for years and sometimes they didn't turn out as good as I wanted them to. In watching FoodNetwork I learned that I was perhaps overworking my dough sometimes. So I now I don't knead the dough, but more folding it over itself a few times to make the biscuits flakier. This turned out to be a great technique, because my biscuits rise higher than ever and taste wonderful. This morning we had biscuits, hickory smoked turkey, eggs and hashbrowns. Hmmm it was so good.

Entertaining

I love the thought of hosting a really nice dinner party, but for now it is a thought. I did put together a smallish gathering with a few appetizers this past Saturday evening. I made a trip to the new ABC store for some libations. The new store is the largest ABC store I have yet to visit and it is nicely laid out. And I found a couple of beverages that had rebate forms, yep....rebates for liquor. I bought some pre-mixed blue melon margarita and a bottle of kamakaze shots. I made Hawaiin meatballs, BBQ chicken wraps and a spinach salad. The meatballs were made with ground turkey, plain bread crumbs, and Hawaiin sauce, then baked in the oven and once they were done I put them in a crockpot with Hawaiin sauce and pineapple chunks. I bought a whole garlic chicken from the deli department and pulled the meat off the bone. I mixed meat with Sweet Baby Rays Raspberry Chipotle BBQ sauce and the spooned the mixture into the crescent roll dough, wrapped them and baked them. My guests loved everything and it wasn't too much work for me the host. We had a great night of snacking, drinking and great conversation.

Calzone night

Calzone
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Friday night I made calzones, two huge one. I filled them with mushrooms, thinly sliced onion, fresh basil, turkey pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and little parmesan cheese. I used my pizza dough recipe once again, but this time I added a bit a garlic to the dough. These things were so huge, we could only eat half it for dinner. The flavor that basil gave to mushrooms was so good. The other half was still good when warmed in the oven the next day for lunch.

Dinner

Yesterday I cooked, but didn't take any pics. I cooked shrimp, bell pepper, onion and mash potatoes. Weird, right? I marinated 1 pound of shrimp in 1/2 cup of asian garlic chili sauce with the juice of one lime and 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar. I have this cast iron griddle that has a grill side to it, so I figured it would work great on bell pepper and onions. I didn't want to light up the grill outdoors, so this grill pan was the next best thing. I chopped one bell pepper into about 8-9 pieces and 1/2 of a large onion in nice size chunks and put them on the well oiled hot grill. I sprinkled some adobo seasoning on them for taste. While they were cooking away I added the shrimp to the grill and let them cook on both sides until they were done (don't over cook). The mash red potatoes were a last minute thought, since I didn't want rice. All in all it was a very tasty dish.

Tonight I decided to make burritos like Moe's and Salsa Fresh (and places like them). I used ground turkey, instead of beef, and Zataran's Yellow Rice instead of white rice. I seasoned the ground turkey with chili powder, cumin, coriander, and chipotle pepper. Once the meat was done I added approximately 1/2 cup of Salsa (I used Sam's Choice White Corn & Black Bean Salsa) and one can of black beans, season to taste. The rice should be cooked per package instructions and add 3 dashes of cayenne pepper.  I added fresh cilantro to the jar of Salsa, since I could not taste any in it. Now that everything is done, it is time to build your burritos!! Use the big flour tortillas, warm them up to soften them. Load it up with the meat mixture, rice, cheese, salsa and sour cream. Wrap it carefully and enjoy. Be sure to have a fork on hand. Guacamole and lettuce are also great add ons, but I didn't have them on hand. And I didn't take any pictures, because I have not yet mastered burrito wrapping.....one of these days I will.

Homemade Chicken Enchiladas

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Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Today I made chicken enchiladas from scratch. Normally I use the sauce from cans and the season package, but I found this great recipe on CookIllustrated.com. It is easy to make the second time around and it is well worth the effort to make it this way. It even tastes better than the frozen selections out there. I could make my own tortillas, but I am not a glutton for punishment, so I use flour tortillas from the grocery store. I had some cherry tomatoes from my deck garden on hand, so I chopped some cilantro and diced the cherry tomatoes for a quick side salsa. The salsa was a great addition to the enchiladas.

If you want to try this dish let me know and I will send the recipe to you.

Blackened Chicken with Cajun Alfredo Sauce

Blackened Chicken with Cajun Alfredo Sauce
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I haven't been feeling 100% since I got back from my school reunion, so I haven't cooked very much. My sisters rented an RV for school reunion, so I was able to grill personal sized pizza's at the picnic. They were very good and I must try it at home soon. I had a great time seeing old classmates.

Last night I made a pizza with turkey pepperoni and onions. Normally I don't let the dough rest before I put it in the pan, but this time I let it rest for about 15 minutes and it was a much softer crust.

Tonight I made Blackened Chicken with Cajun Alfredo Sauce. I found the recipe while cruising other blogs about cooking. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I used chicken breasts with skin and bones. My sauce turned out darker than the pictures from the pics on the site with the recipe. I attribute the darker sauce to the bits left in the bottom of my skillet, but I actually liked that the sauce was darker. The chicken was tender and the sauce was flavorful. This is definitely a keeper for my recipe archives.

Jamaican Beef Patties

Jamaican Beef Patties
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I made these last Thursday before I went to my highschool reunion. I was trying to be the good wife by leaving my husband with a variety of food to eat over the weekend. I even made a pot of spaghetti sauce and some Oatmeal cookies. I wanted to make two kinds of cookies, but I figured that I would be getting in over my head that night if I made two kinds of cookies.

Not long ago I purchase a plastic dough press set and I needed to give it a try. I had a taste for Jamaican Beef Patties, but I am not sure of where to buy them here in Raleigh, NC. Besides I wanted to see if I could make them.

Black Beans and Shrimp

Black Beans and Shrimp
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I had to find something to do with the ingredients I had on hand for dinner tonight. I knew I had shrimp, black beans, brown rice, half of a green pepper and some onions. So I googled shrimp and black beans to see what I could find. I found two recipes that had some hope, but as I read each recipe I noted that I was missing some ingredients. What do to do? Improvise! One recipe was Cuban Black Beans and Rice and the other was Shrimp in Black-bean sauce, so I took some ideas from both recipes and hoped they worked well together.

1lb shrimp, shelled and deviened
1 lime
2 TBSP brown sugar
3 TBSP Soy sauce
3 tsp cilantro
1/2 green bell pepper ( or more to suit your taste)
1/2 yellow onion minced fine
1 TBSP minced garlic
red pepper flakes
oil
1-2 cans of black beans
1 bag of boil in bag brown rice

Squeeze lime juice into a bowl. Add brown sugar, soy sauce, cilantro and shrimp. Combine and let sit in fridge for at least 15 min, Season with a little sea salt when time to cook.

Cook brown rice per instructions, but add some lime juice and coriander seed to the water.

Cook black beans and season lightly with your favorite seasoning. I used Goya Adobo with pepper.

Saute garlic, bell pepper, onion in a bit of oil, until they have softened. Add shrimp and marinade. Cook shrimp until done and then remove from pan. Allow marinade and veggies to cook until sauce reduces and thickens.

I put the sauce on the shrimp and a little over the brown rice. There was a bit of spicy sweet flavor to the dish, but it was very good. I think the sauce on the brown rice made it taste better. But then again I have to get use to eating brown rice.

Grillin' Time

Grillin' Time
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I can't believe that I haven't grilled anything this whole summer. I couldn't let this whole season go by without throwing something on the grill. I marinated three chicken breast in vinegar and seasoning for a couple of hours. Anyone who loves grilled veggies knows there is nothing better than grilled onions (purple is my fav to grill), mushrooms and zucchini. Well, as you can imagine it was so very delicious. The chicken was juicy and flavorful! The grilled veggies were just divine!

Potato Pizza

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Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Yes, I have been on a pizza kick. Not long ago I saw a potato pizza on Food Network, I think it was the show where the chefs talked about their fav pizzas. I was amazed, because I had never heard of this combo on a pizza. I bought a bag of Yukon Gold potatoes, because they were used on the pizza I saw. I used approximately 4 small to medium sized potatoes thinly slice (use a food processor or mandolin). Cook the potatoes in the microwave or in water until they are just tender (don't over cook) and drain away any liquid. Of course I used the dough recipe I have come to love, but this time I had some garlic to the dough...ummm maybe a 1 1/2 tsp of minced garlic and baked it for 5 minutes or so. I slathered some olive oil on the crust, then a layer of cheddar cheese, potatoes, thinly sliced yellow onion, sprinkle 2 tsp of freshly chopped rosemary and approx 10 basil leaves and the last layer of mozzarella cheese. Now I always have to add more, so I added some cooked shrimp and shook some red pepper flakes on the pizza before adding the mozzarella cheese. I baked the pizza at 350 until the crust was browned to my liking.

Who knew that potatoes on a pizza would be so good. We thought it reminded us of scalloped potatoes a bit. I will have to try this again, maybe I will use a mix of potatoes next time.

Cheeseburger Pizza

Cheeseburger Pizza
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Yesterday I wanted a cheeseburger and a pizza, but I could not choose which one I wanted the most. A thought clicked and I thought I would try my hand at a Cheeseburger Pizza. I used the same dough recipe that I used on my margherita pizza, except I didn't add herbs to the dough. I baked the crust for about 5-8 minutes, then I spread some BBQ sauce (I used Bone Suckin' BBQ sauce) on the crust, next a layer of chedder cheese, a layer of crumbled cooked ground beef (I seasoned it while it cooked with Montreal Steak seasoning), 3 sliced roma tomatoes, thinly sliced red onions, green onions, spinach (my version of lettuce on a cheeseburger) and finally a layer of mozzarella cheese. I baked at 350 until the crust started to brown. This was a wonderful explosion of taste in my mouth. I wasn't sure how it turn out, but I shouldn't have doubted myself.

Beef Smoked Sausage w/Peppers & Onions

Beef Smoked Sausage w/Peppers & Onions
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Sometimes I just want something simple for dinner. I love sausage and peppers on a bun like you get at the fair, but the fair is not in town. What's a girl to do, but get in the kitchen and make her own. Thinly slice a small bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper lenghtwise and a small red onion and saute for a few minutes, then add your sausage. You can add some seasoning if you wish, but I think this will be just fine without. Now you are ready to dress it up how you like it. I added some mustard from Bone Sucking BBQ to my sausage bun (mmm good). I served red beans and rice as a side dish.

Recipe organizer

Today I was on the hunt for a program to help organize my recipe collection on my computer. I wanted to make it easier for me to create a shopping list for all the ingredients needed for my weekly menu. Doing it by hand is cumberson and for some reason I seemed to always leave something out. Oh, did I say I was looking for a free program. Well, since money is tight, I needed a free program. I started googling chef software, but came up with games and a few links to some sites that had nothing to offer. I tried all the variations free recipe program, free cooking program, etc. I found quite a few out there ranging in prices as high as $299 and as low as $9.95, but still nothing free. So I started clicking on the suggested links at the bottom of the search pages and finally I found a link that looked promising. I was probably asking for a lot, a free recipe program that I can enter recipes into and then create a shopping list of ingredients, but it was what I wanted and needed. The Recipe Center is a free program and it seems to have all the functions I wanted. It already has recipes loaded and it is fairly easy to type in additional recipes. There are other features like the shopping list that I have yet to try, but I think that for what I wanted to pay (zero) this is a wonderful find.

Shrimp Margherita Pizza

Shrimp Margherita Pizza
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I was in the mood for pizza today, so I found a great recipe for pizza crust and a margherita pizza recipe to use as a guide. The crust was a bit like flat bread, not too thick and not too thin. I added dried basil and oregano to the pizza dough and baked it for about 7 minutes prior to adding the toppings.

I used shrimp on my pizza, just because I wanted too. I cooked them in a little olive oil and garlic for a little bit and drained on a paper towel. I followed the margherita pizza recipe as far as tossing my tomatoes in olive oil and garlic. I only had mozzarella cheese and I added thinly sliced red onion to the pizza. I have to say it again, I love having my own fresh tomatoes and basil to use in my recipes.

I will be making this pizza again!!

Seafood and spinach soup

Seafood and spinach soup
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Since I have been battling both nasal and chest congestion the past few days I decided that soup was needed, but I didn't have chicken soup in my cabinet (nor did I want any boring chicken soup). I had seen a soup recipe with spinach the last time I was in the book store, but I didn't have it in my vast recipe inventory. So I did what I usually do when I can't find a recipe, surf the web. I found lots of recipes, but most of them were tomato based and I didn't want that. I came across a link for spinach and seafood soup for diabetics, so I decided to use it as a guide since I didn't have everything it called for and I didn't want pasta in my soup. My soup contained chicken broth, water, celery, green onion, asparagus (fresh not canned), soy sauce, mushrooms, shrimp, calamari, fresh baby spinach and fresh basil which was added just before serving. I didn't follow the recipe measurements, because I only wanted to make enough for two. The soup was a deliciously light healthy dinner.

Shrimp with white wine tomato sauce

Shrimp with white wine tomato sauce
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

My deck garden had produced quite a few ripened tomatoes this week, so I had to do something with them. I had some decent sized shrimp in the freezer and a bottle of white wine. I diced three 3 roma and 8 cherry tomatoes and a small purple onion to saute in a little olive oil. Once they have soften a little I added some fresh thyme, oregano, minced garlic and some kosher salt. Then I added approximately 1/2 cup of white wine and brought the mixture to a simmer, then I added the shrimp. I taste the sauce and seasoned as needed. Once done I served it over a bed of brown rice. Dinner was great!

This was my Thursday night dinner, I fried chicken and made mash potatoes on Friday.

Asian Ragu with rice-stick noodles

Asian Ragu
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

A few weeks ago I bought Weeknight Menus by Cuisine at Home, because it had some really great recipes in it. I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try. There are 99 recipes in this book and I will try all of them eventually, but I will have to find substitute meat for the pork recipes. I found a recipe called Asian Ragu, which is a Thai take on Spaghetti and Meatsauce. I have a fondness for Italian and all things in Asian cuisine, so this was a must cook for me. It was truly an easy dish to make. Fresh ginger, garlic, shallots, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce or fish sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and ground sirloin (I used ground round) made a tasty variation on the italian dish so many people love. Lucky for me I have a basil and mint plant growing on my deck. The dish was a little spicy, but I like spicy. The fresh basil and mint added to the plate made the dish complete, I didn't add the peanuts as the recipe suggested.  If you want to try this recipe contact me and I will share it with you.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip
Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

I am attempting to create my own take on Oatmeal cookies. I found a contest that I want to enter, but I have to have my own recipe. Do you know how hard that is to do? Well, I think I have hit upon a winner. I am not going to share my recipe just yet as it still needs some tweaking. The taste of the cookie is good, but I am not so sure about the texture. I got great reviews from the kids across the street, even the oldest liked them and she doesn't like a lot of sweets. I was so glad she like them, because I am trying to make them as healthy as possible. I have a few more people to test this batch on and then I am off to tweak the recipe again.

Chicken Tikka Masala

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Originally uploaded by Ajidivine

Today I tried my hand at an Indian dish called Chicken Tikka Masala. There are several versions of the recipe online, but Cooks Illustrated online has been my source for recipes for the past week. There is even an article where they are fighting over the origins of the dish. Ahhh you gotta love foodies. I have had Indian food before and have tried to duplicate a dish or two without much success. I love that the dish can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days, so the leftovers don't go to waste. I must say that I did a great job on this dish.

Braised Beef Brisket, Oaxacan Style

This is a plate of braised beef brisket (Oxaxacan style) with a side of rice with some of the sauce and lima beans. I found this recipe on Cook's Illustrated website, they have a 14 day free trial period. I have had beef brisket before, but not braised let alone with this type of seasoning. I am a fan of all types of mexican seasonings and cooking, so this will be a keeper for me. Beef brisket is a bit expensive and I rarely find it on sale, so it will be a while before I try this again. I did find another site with more Oxaxacan recipes for me to try out.

In preparing this dish I did find that I need to invest in a few new items for my kitchen. I never really knew how important it was to have a meat thermometer or a thermometer to make sure my oven was at the right temperature. I do have a food processor, but I need a smaller one for small jobs. Funny how when you start to do something new you find out that you need new stuff too. I will try to do what I can with what I have for now.

Shrimp quesadillas

This is a picture of the shrimp quesadillas that I made today. I found the recipe for Shrimp Quesadilla and knew I had to try it out. The recipe only makes one serving, so I had to triple it to make it for more than one person. The guacamole was fairly simple to make - 2 ripe avocados, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, green onion, and sour cream if you want to make it creamier (salt to season if needed). Everything turned out perfectly.

My Deck Garden

Last summer we tried our hand at growing a few plants on our deck, since we live in a townhouse. The tomato plants never took off, but I did get one bell pepper and a few cayene peppers. This spring we started planting seeds inside under a flourescent light and bought a few plants from a garden center. The harvest has been a lot better this year. So far I have picked at least 12 roma tomatoes, lots of cherry tomatoes and 2 yummy peppers. I have 2 green bell peppers growing right now and the tomatoes are still growing. I also have several herb plants growing and doing quite well (rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme, marjoram, garlic chives and orange mint). I am also trying to grow cilantro in the basement. It has been so wonderful to grab fresh herbs to put into my dishes. Fresh basil can make canned tomatoes taste so much like fresh tomatoes. Yesterday I made Shrimp and Chicken Jambalaya using my tomatoes, thyme, and yummy peppers. Yumm!!