Top Ten Posts of 2020

 It's time for my year-end wrap-up featuring the 10 most popular posts of 2020. It's a tasty assortment I think, nicely varied, and it tells me a couple of things. First of all, that you really loved my Easy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream; that won by a landslide. Second, that despite my having relatively few of them, you really do enjoy my tablescapes. I promise to do better this year!

 Thanks to all of you who visit my blog, I really appreciate having you here. To see the blog post and recipe associated with each of these pictures (shown in descending order of popularity), click on the title below the photo and it will take you directly to the post.

 Happy viewing, and have a wonderful New Year! Here’s hoping, right?!

 Easy Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream

 

 Air Fryer Breaded Mushrooms

 

 Pony Pie

 

 Maraschino Cherry Chocolate Chip Shortbread

 

 Favazza’s Sicilian Chicken

 

 Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia

 

 Valerie Bertinelli’s Lemon Ice Box Cake

 

 Crack Chicken Noodle Soup

 

Ziti with Pistachio Cream Sauce

 

 “Hunting” for Dinner Tablescape

 

 Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

 

 Breakfast Charcuterie: Baked Eggs for One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast Charcuterie: Baked Eggs for One

This post contains affiliate links.

I’m sure that many of you are familiar with the popular charcuterie board. Essentially, it is a board full of attractively displayed and varied types of meats, cheeses, and condiments, along with cornichons, olives of all types, nuts, sometimes a bit of sweet, and flatbread or crackers. It is a fun way to relax with friends while enjoying cocktails, because it allows you to graze at your leisure.

Something new to social media is the breakfast charcuterie, similar to the above, but with items more suitable to the day’s first meal. Because we are all in self-isolation, I didn’t want to make (and had no need for) a large board, so I decided to make a breakfast charcuterie for one. It was so enjoyable to sit down with this beautiful meal. I’ll be giving you the recipe for the delicious cocktail in my next post (Yes, around here, cocktail hour is 24/7, give me trouble, and I’ll fight you.), but for now, I will share the recipe for the baked eggs.

This is a very versatile recipe. Mine was vegetarian, but feel free to add crumbled bacon, crumbled cooked sausage, or diced ham. I find it bakes up the best (and offers a serving significant enough to enjoy) in square ramekins like these.

Baked Eggs for One

2 large eggs
1 T. whole milk
1 T. grated Parmesan cheese
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1 scallion, chopped
1/3 c. chopped, fresh spinach
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a small baking dish with PAM; set aside. Whisk together eggs and milk until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed and golden.

Spicy Sweet Corn Omelet

Sometimes I don’t share things with you because they seem too mundane to even talk about, but this morning I made an omelet that was so tasty and delicious, I just had to share. I don’t know about you, but I am loving the fresh, sweet corn this year. As a consequence, as I believe I mentioned before, I have a lot of it! What I’ll do is cook it up in the microwave (a method that makes it stupidly easy to husk), allow the cobs to cool slightly, and then strip off the kernels and store them in a covered dish in the fridge. The cobs go into their own separate container in the freezer to be used later in chicken or vegetable stock.

This morning I was looking for something different for breakfast. I wanted eggs, an omelet to be specific, but I tend to be the type of person who adds something to it, and I wasn’t in the mood to chop up onions, mushrooms, parsley, or anything else that I might consider putting into one. So I looked in the fridge, spotted the corn, along with some pepper jack cheese that I had grated the day before. I know how well corn works in a quiche, from making the Spicy Fresh Corn Quiche (you can find that recipe here), so I figured why not? This was a delicious and filling omelet, with a hint of heat from the cheese, and a sweet crunch from the corn. If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy eggs in the morning, you might want to try this.

Spicy Sweet Corn Omelet
Serves 1

1 T. butter
2 large eggs
1 T. whole milk
¼ t. dried minced onion
1 T. grated Parmesan
Few sprinklings of Montreal Steak Seasoning (trust me, it is amazing in eggs)
1/4 - 1/3 c. fresh corn kernels
¼ c. grated pepper jack cheese, plus more for top
 
Heat butter in a 9-inch sauté pan over medium high heat until sizzling. Toss in corn kernels, sprinkling evenly around the pan, and allow to cook until they begin to sizzle. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, onion, Parmesan, and steak seasoning. When corn has started to sizzle, pour egg mixture evenly on top. As soon as it begins to set, sprinkle ¼ cup pepper jack cheese on top. Continue cooking as you would any kind of omelet, namely, drawing in the sides to allow the liquid to move from the center to the exterior and cook. Flip it over, allowing it to cook until eggs are set; turn it out onto a plate. Sprinkle with remaining pepper jack cheese, and a few dried parsley flakes for cuteness.

PRINT RECIPE

If you want an omelet that really takes things over the top, you may want to try this Lobster Omelet.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things
 Funtastic Friday
Best of the Weekend

Grace at Home

Friday at the Fire Station
Create, Bake, Grow and Gather

Pink Saturday
Snickerdoodle Create Bake & Create

This post contains affiliate links.

Filet Mignon with Portobello Mushroom Sauce

My passion for portobellos prevails, this time taking me in the direction of a taste-tempting mushroom sauce to top a fillet. This relatively easy, on the table in 45 minutes, company-worthy dish is certain to dazzle. Considering how impressive it is, you will not believe the ease. This is something I doubtless could consume once a week with no problem. If you often struggle to find recipes that make dinner for two, this one is perfect and mighty impressive. I just made one filet for myself, kept the sauce as is, and used it to top a baked potato for dinner the following day.

Filet Mignon with Portobello Mushroom Sauce

Adapted from epicurious.com

1 slice bacon
1 garlic clove, mashed to a paste
1-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 pound Melissa’s portobello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin

2 tablespoons cognac
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 filet Mignon, each about 1-inch thick

In a 9-inch sauté pan, cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp; drain on paper towels. Crumble and reserve. Wipe skillet clean.

In same skillet cook garlic in 1 tablespoon butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper to taste, and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until liquid from mushrooms starts to evaporate. Start in cognac and boil until nearly evaporated. Stir in water, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce, and boil until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in heavy cream; heat through. Transfer sauce to a small saucepan and stir in reserved bacon and parsley. Keep warm while you make the steaks.

Pat filets dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. In skillet, heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter over moderately high heat until foam begins to subside and sauté filets four minutes per side for medium rare meat (I did mine five minutes per side). Divide filets between two plates and top with sauce. Heaven!

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Coffee-Rubbed Filet Mignon is yet another delicious filet-based dinner for two.

This post contains affiliate links.

Filet Zanti

Do you remember those commercials from the Beef Council proclaiming "Beef. It's what's for dinner"? Those words have been going through my head all week.  So when it came time for dinner this evening, beef is exactly what I wanted!  Now, I don't know about you, but when I think beef, I think a thick, juicy steak, filet if possible.  So I pulled out one of my Special Requests cookbooks of recipes from area restaurants and decided on Filet Zanti from Zanti's Ristoranti.  Doesn't this look beautiful?  It was!  And do you know what else?  Making a meal this delicious is also easy.  Not only that, but this recipe serves one. So if you find yourself alone some evening, you can make this wonderful meal just for yourself.  It can easily be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.  Here's another tip, no need to fire up the grill, particularly if you're making just one.  I cooked mine in a pan on top of the stove and it turned out beautifully.  Here is the recipe straight from the book; my dinner plate is pictured below.  

Doesn't mine look as pretty as the picture?  What are you waiting for?  Dig in!

Happy Friday!

This post is linked to:
Foodie Friday
Foodie Friday @ Little Brick Ranch
Friday Favorites
Food on Friday
Fantabulous Friday
I'm Lovin' It Friday