Ambrosia Salad

While it looks kind of scruffy, it tastes, like out of this world good. 

Growing up my mother made this ambrosia salad a lot.  I loved it.  I could not get enough of it.  It's versatile, easy and delicious.

I have to tell you that I am totally and utterly addicted to my sewing machine these days.  I still like to create in the kitchen but there is something about creating something with my hands and being able to enjoy it for a while.  I have been making quilts, purses, crafts, whatever.  Some nights I could care less what we are having for dinner as long as I can get it made in 30 minutes or less.  Yup, me.  This salad is one of those whip ups at the last minute.  Or you can go a bit more fancy and do some more with it.

Here's what I did and the usual way to do it is in parentheses


Ambrosia Salad

1 pint of my canned maraschino cherries (store bought maraschinos will work wonderfully as well)
2 cans of mandarin oranges, drained
2 cans fruit cocktail, drained
1 banana, sliced
1 bag of mini marshmallows
1 cup heavy cream, whipped (6- 8 ounces sour cream)

Mix it all together and let it sit or be like me and eat it right away.

What a difference a pan makes

I just had to share with you.  I made the Texas sheet cake again.  Yeah, I know I already posted the recipe but I just had to tell you what a difference the pan makes.  Do not use a shallow 9 x 13 to make this cake like I did the first time.  It will be a little bit too dense.  I used my deep 9 x 13 and wow!  It made a huge difference.  First of all it was lighter- obviously.  But when I poured the hot frosting on the hot cake it didn't go over the sides like it did before.  Oh no, it bubbled and raged and made its way down around the cake forming a wonderful cookie crust-ish thing on the bottom.  I have to tell you this is the BEST cake EVER!  You Texan's rock!

Pork and Hominy Stew

I have posted Posole before but this way to do it, caught my attention.  The recipe is from Cooking Light so if you are counting calories this baby clocks in at 300 for a 1 1/3 cups- not too shabby.  It's real BIG on flavor.  Add some fresh vegetables and wow it cranks it up even more.  For some reason the cabbage, lime juice and radishes really make the dish!

I did not have pork tenderloin thawed out.  I had some ground pork which I think worked really well.  However it was probably a bit more calories.

PORK AND HOMINY STEW
Adapted from this recipe at Cooking Light.

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1 (28-ounce) can hominy, drained
1- 16 ounce jar of my fire roasted salsa (what? you dont have it, okay substitute your favorite salsa here)

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; set 1 1/2 teaspoons spice mixture aside. Add pork to remaining spice mixture in bowl, tossing well to coat.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork mixture to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  Add reserved 1 1/2 teaspoons spice mixture, broth, hominy, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes.

Serve with some or all of the following accompaniments:  cilantro, avocado, cabbage, radishes and lime juice.
Hmmmmm.

Beef and Broccoli and a Winner

*Oh, guys I am sorry I am a day late in announcing the winner.  Heather. It's you.  You won the Red Pack gift set!  Send me an email and I will let you know the details of how to get your free gift pack.  Congratulations!

My good friend that I grew up with use to order this all the time when we went to the Chinese restaurant.  I was never interested.  Now, I have to say it is one of my favorites.  I love the sauce as you can tell.  I made extra as I love rice with this sauce on it.  Hmmm, so good.   My kids of course didn't eat it.  Ugh!  But I did reserve some of the sirloin before finishing the dish. They ate the sirloin, no problem. It was brown on the outside and tender on the inside.  That is the magic of coating your meat with cornstarch before frying.

Beef and Broccoli
Largely adapted from this recipe at Simply Recipes.

16 ounces of sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain
2 cups broccoli florets
2 tablespoons peanut oil

marinade:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
2 cloves garlic, very finely minced

Marinate the beef: Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10 minutes or so.  Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a sauce pan cook the broccoli until crisp tender. Drain and set aside with lid off to prevent more cooking.

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef in a single layer over the surface of the wok or pan (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink, Pour in the sauce, add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil.If you like your sauce thicker, add in a teaspoon of corn starch dissolved in a teaspoon of water.

Manhattan Style Clam Chowder

It's still soup weather around here.  Bitter cold, damp, snow, sleet and blowing cold winds.  Fun!  Actually I am one of the few people around that actually enjoys winter.  I like the cuddle up thing.  I like the soup thing.  I like snuggling under blankets.  So I am totally okay with the cold until about mid to late March, then I have had enough.  Ready for warmer weather and of course the farmers market.  Fresh fruit and vegetables.  It's all about the food you know. 

I used my Red Pack crushed tomatoes for this recipe.  It was delicious.  And as always soup is even better the second day.

*A reminder that the giveaway is open until noon Saturday, Eastern time for US residents only.

 
Manhattan Style Clam Chowder
1 cup corn, chopped
1 1/2 cups potatoes, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 onion (about a cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1- 32 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1- 64 ounce can clam juice with clams
2 cups water or broth
2 cans of clams
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon thyme
a couple shakes of Tabasco sauce
3 tablespoons butter

In a  soup pot saute onions, celery, red pepper and carrots in butter until onions become translucent.  Add garlic, thyme and bay leaf cook one minute more.  Open all the cans and strain the clams from the broth.  Place clams in bowl and reserve in the refrigerator.  Add clam broth to soup along with two cups of water.  Bring to a boil.  Add potatoes, Tabasco and salt and pepper and green beans.  Cover and cook until potatoes are just tender.  Add in tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Add in all the reserved clams.  Heat just until the clams are warmed.

Waffle Iron Gets A New Life

I am not a big fan of Rachel Ray.  She is okay.  I will watch her show on occassion.  And once in a while I will find some really useful information.  Such was the case the other day.  She told her audience that she had been playing with her waffle iron trying to come up with some useful ways to use it besides just waffles.  Wouldn't that be awesome for your waffle iron to have a dual purpose?  She got me to stay tuned. 

So what did she do?  She put pizza dough in the waffle iron.  Genius, I must say.  It just so happened I had some little balls of naan dough in the fridge.  I oiled them with olive oil and then sprinkled some of my Tuscan seasoning mix and a little salt on them .  I popped them in the waffle maker and voila, some seriously good flat bread.  Four minutes was all it took.  These are what I call dangerously delicious.

Try it, You will like it!

I have made naan before but wanted to try this recipe.  I have to say I find this one to be superior to the other one.  Not that the other one is bad but I find this one to be more tender.

NAAN

1 package dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast (I buy mine in bulk)
1 cup warm water (you can stick your finger in for 15 seconds and not feel like it is burning)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup melted butter

Proof your yeast by disolving the yeast in warm water.  Let stand ten minutes until frothy.  ( I read one time that with modern yeast this is pretty unnecessary,  I have to say its been over two years since I have proofed my yeast.)  Stir in sugar, milk, salt, egg and the flour.  Knead for six to eight minutes.  Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for about an hour.

Make small dough balls, place on tray, cover and let rise again for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough and either place on a buttered, hot griddle or use the method above, the waffle iron.  If using the griddle.  Turn after the first side becomes browned.  Heat on other side until lightly browned.  The second side will be much faster than the first. Place in a paper bag, folding the top of the bag down, until you have grilled all of them. Placing them in the paper bag helps to keep them warm and tender.

If you use the waffle iron.  Roll out the naan and lightly oil the surface.  Sprinkle seasoning on them if you like. Place in waffle iron for about four minutes.  I like mine a little more tender so I did about 3 minutes.  You will have to play with the time for your griddle and how you like your naan.

Dal and a GIVEAWAY!

The good people at Red Pack contacted me and asked if I would like to do a giveaway and a review.  Now, if you follow my blog, you know that I can my own tomatoes.  That is not to say that I have never had the occassion to buy my tomatoes.  Matter of fact I have bought jarred sauce too.  Shocking I know but hey I like a quick meal once in a while too.   Quite honestly I have bought Red Pack before and have previously been very happy with the product, affordable and good tasting.  I was quite pleased to do a review and of course happy to pass the good fortune on to you. 

I tasted the tomatoes before dumping them into the pot.  They had a tomato-ey taste.  They were far better than "fresh" supermarket tomatoes that you get in the produce section in the winter.  I received a can of whole tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.  The whole tomatoes were much firmer than my canned tomatoes.  You could actually chop them up and make some salsa.  I think Red Pack has a very fine product.  Certainly it is something I have purchased before and will continue to purchase.

Dal

Adapted from this recipe at Food Network

1/4 cup ghee or clarified butter
1 1/2 cups diced onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 jalapeno peppers, cored, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
2 cups orange lentils
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
2 tablespoons Garam Masala
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
8 cups water

In a large pot, heat the ghee and stir-fry the onions just until transluscent. Add the garlic, jalapeno, cumin, lentils, ginger, curry powder, salt, pepper, sugar and bay leaf. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until the herbs and spices become very aromatic. Add the tomatoes and vinegar. Add the water, bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasoning with cumin, salt, pepper and sugar.

Rules for Giveaway:

1. You can only enter once.
2.  You can enter twice if you blog about my giveaway on your blog or if you mention the giveaway on Facebook or Twitter.
3.  Giveaway drawing will take place on Saturday 2/26/11 after 12 in the afternoon.  My daughters will draw the name.  The winner will be announced Saturday evening.

Full Disclosure:  Red Pack provided me with a tomato kit for review and will provide one of my readers with a kit as well.  I have paid nothing for these products.