Watermelon, Tomato, and Feta Salad

This is a great Spring and Summer salad.  The crunch from the watermelon and the tartness from the tomatoes all get mellowed out by the Feta cheese.  Pretty as a picture!  Oh, here's the picture.

Ingredients:

• 6 C. watermelon, cut into bite size cubes
• 2 pts. Sunburst tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 T. sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1 small red onion, quartered and sliced thin
• ½ t. black pepper, fresh cracked
• ¼ C. red wine or apple cider vinegar
• ½ C. olive oil
• ¼ lb. (4 oz.) feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Combine the watermelon and tomatoes in a large bowl; sprinkle with sugar and salt and toss.  Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Drain the excess juice; add the onions, pepper, vinegar and oil and toss.
3. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours; sprinkle the feta into the bowl before serving.

Tips and Tricks:

• If you can’t get the Sunburst tomatoes, you can use Roma tomatoes cut into cubes.  The yellow tomatoes give the salad a great color contrast, but it is not necessary.
• The seeds in a Roma tomato are sometimes bitter; I usually squeeze the tomato and remove the seeds, before cutting them for this salad.

Mini Roast Beef Sandwiches

These are great as an appetizer or even as a weeknight dinner.  I had these at a brunch and I knew I had to make them myself. 

Ingredients:

• 12 King’s Hawaiian Rolls
• 12 slices of Roast Beef (about ½ lb.)
• 6 slices of Swiss cheese, sliced thick (about ¼ lb.)
• Horseradish Cream Sauce (recipe follows this one)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to broil.
2. Cut the Swiss cheese into ¼’s, cut the slices of Roast Beef into ½’s, and cut the rolls in half.
3. Add a ½ slice of Roast Beef and a ¼ slice of Swiss cheese to each of the 24 pieces of rolls.
4. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet.
5. Toast the sandwiches for about 3 - 4 minutes or until lightly browned.
6. Place a top and a bottom together and press down on each sandwich.
7. Open the top of each sandwich and place a dollop of the Horseradish Cream Sauce on each.
8. Serve warm.

Tips and Tricks:

• Make the Horseradish Cream Sauce the day before you want to make the sandwiches. 

Horseradish Cream Sauce

This sauce is what makes the Mini Roast Beef Sandwiches extraordinary.  The sauce needs some time to develop, so make it the day before you wish to serve it.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. sour cream
• ¼ C. horseradish, fresh grated
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 1 t. vinegar
• 1 T. Dijon mustard
• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for several hours before serving or overnight.

Tips and Tricks:

• This is great to make when you making Roast Beef Sandwiches or when you are serving a Beef Tenderloin. 
• I use the fresh prepared horseradish from the refrigerated section at the grocery.
• I use red wine or apple cider vinegar.
• This can be kept refrigerated for about two weeks.

Momofuku Bo Ssam

This is a wonderful Korean dish.  I was introduced to it by our friend, Gerald.  He made it for a Saints party and I devoured it.  I couldn’t wait to try making it myself.  It not hard to make, the most difficult part is to find the ingredients for the sauce at the Asian market.

Ingredients:

Pork Butt:

• 8 lb. bone-in Boston Butt Roast
• 1 C. sugar
• ½ C. kosher salt, plus 1 T.
• ½ C. brown sugar

Ginger-Scallion Sauce:

• 2 C. green onions, thinly sliced (green and white parts)
• ½ C. fresh ginger, minced
• ¼ C. grapeseed oil
• ½ T. soy sauce
• 1 t. rice vinegar

Ssam Sauce:

• 2 T. ssamjang (fermented bean and chili paste)
• 1 T. kochujang (chili paste)
• ½ C. rice vinegar
• ½ C. grapeseed oil

Accompaniments:

• 4 C. white rice, cooked
• 2 heads bibb lettuce, washed, drained, and leaves seperated
• Kimchi (not necessary)

Directions:

1. Rinse the Boston butt in cold water and dry with paper towels.
2. Place the pork in a large, shallow bowl and then combine the sugar and salt in another bowl. Rub the mixture all over the meat and then cover with plastic wrap.
3. Place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
4. When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 300 degrees, remove the pork from the refrigerator and discard the juices.
5. Place the Boston Butt in a roasting pan, fat side up and bake for 6 hours, basting with the pan juices each hour. After 6 hours the roast should begin to collapse easily to the tines of a fork.  (the bone should become visible when this happens)
6. Remove the roast from the oven and allow to rest for up to one hour. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
7. While the roast is resting, make the Ginger-Scallion Sauce by mixing all of the ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Place a spoon in the bowl for serving.
8. Next, make the Ssam Sauce in a medium bowl and whisk together using an immersion blender.
9. Finally, mix the 1 T. of kosher salt with the brown sugar and rub this mixture all over the cooked pork.  Place in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes or until a dark caramel crust has developed on the meat. 
10. Remove the roast from the oven and shred the meat.
11. Serve with the accompaniments.

Tips and Tricks:

• Momofuku Bo Ssam is best when served as a lettuce wrap.  Take a leaf of lettuce and place some rice in the leaf, cover the rice with some pork, spoon some Ginger-Scallion Sauce over the pork, and finally pour some Ssam Sauce over that. Wrap it up and dig in.
• The ingredients for the sauces can be purchased at an Asian market.  I used Sambal Oelik ground chili paste and Wang brand ssamjang sauce.

Dill Pickle Dip

This is a quick fix dip for game watching or card playing.  It's tart and goes well the pretzel rods.  It's not bad with the Fritos, either.

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 ½ C. dill pickles, finely chopped
• ½ C. sweet onion, finely chopped
• 2 T. butter
• ¼ C. dill pickle juice
• 1 t. dill weed
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
  
  

Directions:

1. Sauté the onions in the butter over medium-low heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together.
3. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
4. Serve with pretzel rods, pretzel crisps, or Fritos Scoops.

Tips and Tricks:

• I use the food processor to chop the pickles and the onions.
• I use Hamburger Dills for this recipe.
• I serve this dip with pretzel rods and Fritos Scoops.

Country Gravy and Biscuits Casserole

Country gravy isn’t big on our list of thing for breakfast here in New Orleans, but when we visit our daughter in Monroe, it is on most breakfast menus.  I found this recipe on Pinterest from a blog called “Miss Information”.  Now I’m ready with a great casserole for breakfast the next time the kids come to visit.

Ingredients:

• 1 can of biscuits
• 1 lb. of breakfast sausage
• 6 eggs
• ½ C. milk
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning
• 2 C. Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 envelope of Peppered Country Gravy Mix
• 2 C. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the breakfast sausage for 10 minutes or until fully cooked and crumbled.
3. Remove from the skillet and allow draining on paper towels.
4. Spray a 13” x 9” baking pan with cooking spray.
5. Cut the biscuits into fourths and drop into the bottom of the pan.
6. Sprinkle the breakfast sausage on top.
7. In a bowl, scramble the eggs, milk, and Creole seasoning together.
8. Pour the eggs in and cover with the cheese.
9. In a small sauce pan, make the Country Gravy by combining the packet and the water and whisking over a medium heat for about 2 minutes or until thickened.
10. Pour the gravy over the casserole.
11. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes, or until browned and eggs are set.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to set for 5 minutes.
13. Cut into pieces and serve.

Tips and Tricks:

• I use an immersion blender to scramble the eggs with the milk.  They are light and fluffy this way.
• I use Jimmy Dean’s Hot pork sausage, Grands Jr. Flaky Layers Honey Butter biscuits, and Pioneer Country Gravy packet for this recipe.
• I cut this casserole into 16 pieces.

Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls

We go to St. Patrick’s Day parades on the Saturday and Sunday before St Patrick’s Day each year.  Last year, I made Cabbage Rolls (Lots of Work) with some of the cabbages we caught.  This year I wanted to make something less labor intensive and here it is.  I spent about 40 minutes prepping and then it bakes in the oven for 1 hour.  It is delicious!  Good enough for a dinner party with friends or family.

 Ingredients:

• 1 ½ heads of cabbage
• 1 lb. ground meat
• 1 ½ C. cooked rice
• ¼ C. olive oil
• 1 onion, medium, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ t. thyme
• 1 (15 oz.) can of tomato sauce
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes with green chilis
• ½ T. Worcestershire sauce
• ½ T. sugar
• 1 t. kosher salt
• ½ t. black pepper
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 2 C. Cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Remove the core of the cabbage and cut into bite size pieces.   Rinse under cold water and strain.
3. In a Dutch oven, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat and add the cabbage, stir well to cover the leaves with the oil and allow to cook for 15 minutes or until the leaves are wilted.
4. In a skillet, brown the ground meat until brown and then drain.  Reserve.
5. In the same skillet, sauté the onions with half of the olive oil over medium heat until soft.  Add the garlic and thyme for 1 minute.
6. Add the tomato sauce, Rotel, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, Creole Seasoning and the ground meat and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the rice to mixture and stir until incorporated well.
7. Spray a 13’ x 9’ baking dish with cooking spray.
8. Place half of the cabbage in the baking dish cover with half of the meat/rice mixture, and then the other half of the cabbage and then the other half of the meat/rice mixture.
9. Seal the baking dish with foil.
10. Bake for 45 minutes and then remove the foil and cover with the cheese.
11. Bake for 15 minutes uncovered.
12. Allow to set for 10 minutes and then cut into squares to serve.

Tips and Tricks:

• This is great recipe for those St. Patrick’s Day cabbages.
• This tastes great the next day, but it does NOT freeze well, so eat up.

Green Goddess Dip

This is an easy to make dip and it is SO flavorful.  Nice ripe avocados are a MUST so it does take some planning.  I had some ripe avocados and I didn't have the ingredients to make a guacamole, so I whipped this up and I was pleased with it.  

Ingredients:

• 2 Hass avocados
• 1 envelope of Ranch Dip Mix
• 1 (16 oz.) sour cream
• 1 t. Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1. Cut the avocados and mash with a fork in a bowl.
2. Combine the sour cream with the Ranch Mix, then the Creole Seasoning in another bowl.
3. Fold the avocados in last.
4. Refrigerate for 2 hours and then serve with tortilla chips or veggies.

Tips and Tricks:

• Be sure to buy your avocados a few days before you want to make this dip.  You want the avocados to be VERY ripe and creamy.
• I use light sour cream.
• I serve this dip with cucumbers, French green beans or asparagus and bite size tortilla chips.

Cashew Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas

This is my attempt to make Oriental food at home.  I really liked the flavor of this dish and it was 6 generous servings.  I didn’t add salt or MSG (I think the soy sauce made it salty enough).  I got this recipe from Kevin at “Closet Cooking”.

 Ingredients:

• 8 chicken tenders or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 T. peanut butter
• ¼ C. soy sauce
• 1 lime, juiced and zest
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 T. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. chili sauce
• 2 t. sesame oil
• ¼ C. cilantro, chopped
• ½ C. cashews
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 lb. Sugar Snap Peas

Directions:

1. Cut all fat, skin, or tendons from the chicken and cut into 1 inch cubes.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the chicken and sauté until cooked through about 5 – 6 minutes.
4. Mix the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, lime zest, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, chili sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl.
5. Pour the mixture over the chicken and toss to coat. 
6. Add the cilantro, cashews, green onions and Sugar Snap Peas and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Serve over rice.

Tips and Tricks:

• I used Sambal chili sauce but you can use Chili Garlic Sauce as well.
• The Sugar Snap Peas and cilantro are not necessary ingredients, but they both give the dish a great flavor.

Crawfish Boil

This is my Dad’s recipe.  He liked the combination of the citrus and the liquid and powdered crab boil.  We like it, too!  

Ingredients:

• 5 onions, cut in half
• 5 lemons, cut in half
• 5 oranges, cut in half
• 5 heads of garlic, top cut off
• 1 C. Zatarain's liquid crab boil, concentrated
• 1 sack size container (4.5 lbs.) Zatarain's powdered crab boil
• 2 C. salt
• 3 lbs. new potatoes
• 30 - 40 lbs. crawfish
• 1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into bite size pieces
• 12 mini ears of corn, frozen
• 1 lb. of Crimini or button mushrooms
• 10 lbs. ice
• Cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

1. Place the crawfish in a cooler and fill with fresh water, allow the crawfish to sit in the water for a few minutes while you prepare the boiling pot.
2. Fill the boiling pot with water, half-full.  Allow the water to come to a full boil while you squeeze the lemons and oranges into the water.
3. Drop the onions, garlic, liquid crab boil, powdered crab boil, salt, and potatoes into the pot.
4. Drain the water from the cooler, if it is murky; rinse the crawfish again with fresh water.  If the water is clear, the crawfish are ready for the pot.
5. Once the water comes to a boil, allow the potatoes to boil for 15 minutes, and then add the crawfish and the sausage.
6. Allow the water to come back to a boil and then cut the heat.
7. Add the frozen corn, mushrooms and the ice.  Put the cover on the pot and allow the crawfish to sit for at least 25 minutes, and then fish a few out of the pot to test their texture and spicy level.
8. If they are difficult to peel, they may need a little more time, if they aren’t spicy enough, you can add some cayenne pepper to the water at this time, maybe ½ C.
9. Drain the ingredients and serve hot!

Tips and Tricks:

• We use 4 boiling bags: one for the veggies and citrus, one for the potatoes, and one for the sausage, and one for the corn and mushrooms.  It makes it easy to pull the bags out of the pot and makes it easy to keep things separated.
• You will need about 4 lbs. of crawfish per person.
• If you are boiling more than 30 – 40 lbs. of crawfish, you can use the same water for the second boil.  We use the same recipe, but keep in mind the crawfish are usually salter and spicier on round two.