Ropa Vieja is one of my favorite items on a local Mexican restaurant menu. I almost always have it in a salad in a tortilla bowl. So of course I had to figure out how to replicate it at home.
I have tortilla bowl molds and make them for lunch salads all the time. Although you don’t need them, use this method here.
Now to up my game with some tasty ropa vieja. Continue reading
It’s been unseasonably warm here after our early snow in September, so grilling is on the menu.
On the board:
Spicy Lime Cilantro Chicken:
Place ingredients in a zip-lock bag and marinate 1 hour or overnight. Broil or grill for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until breasts are cooked to 165 degrees. Continue reading
JeffreyW makes mouths water with this photo of his Beef and Barley Soup (with bonus Foccacia recipe here)
For the stovetop version, click here.
It has been unseasonably warm here, but I still wanted soup. Checked the freezer and I had a cross-rib roast, that would do since there was not a secret stash of chuck roast tucked away. All the other ingredients were handy, so Beef and Barley soup was it.
I added a potato, diced small, just because.
Beef & Barley Vegetable Soup
large saucepan
Heat oil in the instant pot on the sauté setting. Sauté onions for 1 minute, add beef and brown on all sides, add garlic and sauté for 1 minute making sure not to burn the garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Set the pot to Soup/Stew setting and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until barley is tender. Use natural release method.
Serve with biscuits or cornbread.
**For vegetable broth, I blend the tomatoes, and an additional 6 oz of carrots, 6 oz of green beans, 2 stalks of the celery, 1 cup water into a smooth puree, to make a hearty base for the soup. I like the hearty stock.
Yum.
It’s soup season, so here are a few more: Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese, Chicken Tortilla Soup, and Minestrone with Tiny Meatballs
I had a request for this recipe that I found in a magazine.
Here’s is the PDF, which is easier to print out.
Photo from JeffreyW
I’ve been watching a home show about buying and selling big mansions in New Orleans. I’m enjoying touring these big old mansions. Since I was in a Louisiana mood, time for one of my favorite dinners.
On the board tonight:
Washday Beans & Rice
2-quart saucepan and skillet Continue reading
Photo Credit: Food Network/Michael Symon
Chef Michael Symon* has a new show on Food Network called Symon’s Dinners Cooking Out. It’s a fun half-hour with Symon grilling all his recipes with the help of his wife.
I wanted to share this recipe as soon as I saw the episode. Such a perfectly simple way to prepare eggplant and fresh tomatoes. As we wind up garden season, this is a perfect late summer grilling recipe.
Check out all the recipes from the show, most are simple and unique takes on popular favorites.
Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
Level: Easy
Total: 30 min
Active: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
I get gifts! One I got this year was a box of assorted large bottles of spice mixes. I’ve enjoyed each unique blend, especially the Peruvian one, since it’s been a while since we have been able to frequent our favorite Peruvian restaurant here.
Tonight’s menu features the Cantanzaro spice mix. Cantanzaro is a city in Italy. So there are a lot of herbs this Italian girl recognizes: marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano. And garlic, lots of garlic. But the kicker is the lemon and lemon peel.
It’s all very fresh for summer and great for grilling.
On the board tonight:
Somehow, I made an extremely spicy Green Chile. The peppers were marked as hot, so I should have suspected because normally they just assume you know green chiles are on the hot side. These were on the super-hot side.
Someone sent me this recipe when I was asking for recommendations. It’s simple and turned out great. The only substitution I made was beef for pork. I’m not a big pork fan. Bacon, sausage and pepperoni are about it.
I used a boneless blade steak, which worked perfectly. I kinda wished I would have popped it on the grill when I roasted the chiles.
