Top Ten Posts of 2019

It's time for my year-end wrap-up featuring the 10 most popular posts of 2019. It's a tasty assortment I think, nicely varied, and it tells me a couple of things. First of all, that you loved my Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese (me too!). That won by a landslide. For the second time, no tablescapes made it into the top ten spot, but, yet again, you enjoyed seeing my hutch.

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!

Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese

Easy Frito Pie Casserole

Garlic Bread Dip

Missouri Pot Roast

Peeling Small Onions

Homemade Vegetable Stock

Black & White & Red-Eye Chili

 Cornbread Biscotti

Overnight Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Come See the Hutch!

Shrimp Boil Foil Packs

Ever since making my first foil pack meal (that I told you about last week, when I used spinach and scallops), I've been keen to learn more. While perusing recipes on the Internet, I came across one for a Shrimp Boil Foil Pack that sounded heavenly! I happened to have all of the components on hand, so was eager to try it. I cut the recipe way down, just making two, so that I could enjoy them two nights in a row, and posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook. Almost instantly I started getting requests for the recipe. I found this one on Le Crème de la Crumb blog, but made quite a few changes of my own.

This dish is both delicious and easy.  I didn't bother to boil the corn, but instead microwaved it in the husk, wrapped in a damp paper towel, for three minutes. Upon completion, I cut off the stem end, and then squeezed the top, allowing the entire cob to slide out cleanly with nary a silk attached. I let it cool, and then cut it up as directed. If you don't know about this easy method of microwaving corn, you need to give it a try. It is life-altering! I got my dad started on this a year or so ago, and now he's eating corn like crazy. Nothing could be easier.

The recipe below is adapted from the above-mentioned blog. I added onion because I liked the additional flavor, I also drizzled beer over the tops of everything before drizzling with butter and grilling. It made one heck of a delicious sauce, and had me wishing for some crusty bread to soak up the goodness.

Shrimp Boil Foil Packs

Adapted from Le Crème de la Crumb

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined

2 ears of corn on the cob, husked

½ lb., sliced

1 pound Melissa's baby red potatoes

2 medium onions, quartered

3 T. Old Bay Seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

3 t. minced garlic

Juice of ½ lemon, plus lemon wedges for serving

3 T. butter, melted

1/2 c. lager beer

Wrap each ear of corn in a damp paper towel. Microwave 2-3 minutes per cob. Remove from microwave using a potholder. Place cobs on cutting board and chop off the stem end of each about an inch from the end. Pick up the silk end and squeeze. The corn will slide right out free of silks. Cut each cob into thirds, and chop each third in half lengthwise.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil for ten minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine shrimp, sausage, corn, potatoes, and onion. Stir together melted butter, Old Bay, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, and pour over shrimp, sausage, and veggies. Stir to coat.

Divide between four 12x12 inch sheets of aluminum foil. Drizzle each foil pack with two tablespoons of beer.  Fold edges of foil up around the food to create a closed packet.

Cook on preheated grill over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes on one side, then flip and cook another 5-6 minutes on the second side. Alternately, you can bake the packets at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until corn is tender and shrimp are pink and fully cooked.

While packets are cooking, melt remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once melted, continue to stir gently for 3-4 minutes longer until color changes from pale yellow to a golden amber (but be careful not to burn it).

 Serve shrimp boil packs topped with chopped parsley, lemon wedges for squeezing, and browned butter for drizzling over the top or dipping.

PRINT RECIPE

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Italian Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches

The Italian Sausage and Pepper sandwich is something with which I was completely unfamiliar until I married my New Jersey-born husband, who says that they are pretty much everywhere along the northeastern seaboard. Here in the Mississippi Valley they are far less common. The northeastern variety, I'm told, consists of a grilled sausage topped with peppers and onions; I kick up my own version by simmering them in a spicy marinara sauce, and using a combination of yellow and sweet onions, as well as using both red and poblano peppers to give it more taste. You can sprinkle them with a little Parmesan cheese if you like, or not. They are delicious either way.

Italian Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼” slices

1 poblano pepper, cut into ¼” rings

1 yellow onion, halved and cut into ¼” strips

1 Vidalia onion, halved and cut into ¼” strips

1 clove finely minced garlic

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 grilled Italian hot or sweet sausages

1 jar your favorite marinara sauce (or homemade, of course!)

4 hot dog rolls

Prick the sausage all over with the tines of a pickle fork. Place in a saute pan with about 1/4” of water in the bottom, cover, and simmer over low heat for an hour, turning at about 30 minutes, until the water has evaporated and the sausages are tender and evenly, but lightly, browned.

Transfer sausages to a medium-large pot, cover with the marinara sauce and bring to a simmer. Cover pot and allow sausages to simmer in the sauce for 45-60 minutes.

At this point you can serve the sausages on top of your favorite cooked pasta, or use them for sandwiches. I tend to make a double batch of these to use for both purposes.

While sausages are cooking, prepare peppers and onions. Place olive oil, pepper strips, and onion into a large skillet, and turn on the heat to high. Once the peppers and onions begin to sizzle, reduce the heat to medium/low and saute for 20-25 minutes, or until the peppers and onions become soft, but not mushy. Stir in the garlic, and cook for 1-2 more minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Add the salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Place sausage into bun, drizzle marinara sauce on top, and smother with peppers and onions.

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tweak it Tuesday

Zucchini and Rosemary Vichyssoise

My perpetual inability to grow zucchini grieves me.  Sure, I plant it, I plant LOTS of it.  And I get plants, BIG plants, some of them the size of a small Buick, but zucchini?  No.  Thank goodness it’s prolific elsewhere and always available, because I have a three-ring binder full of recipes for its use.  One of my favorite ways to use it is in soup.

A vichyssoise consists of four elements: onions/leeks, potatoes, cream, chicken stock.  That’s it.  Put that together in any reasonable combination and you have vichyssoise.  It can be served hot, cold, or room temperature.  I love it not only for its comfortingly smooth texture and light taste, but also for its ability to be turned into a wide range of flavored soups.

Vegetarians can substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock; vegans can do the same and completely eliminate the cream.  Almost any herb can be added to alter the flavor, and a wide variety of vegetables can be added as well.  I have made varieties of vichyssoise containing carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower (surprisingly rich and amazing with the addition of nutmeg), and zucchini.  The zucchini variety has graced many a St. Patrick’s Day table because of the beautiful green hue.  I’ve also found that it is a universal favorite, even the vegetable haters love this.  I serve mine with a slice of zucchini bread.  There is something about the slightly sweet and lightly savory that make this a fabulous combination.

Zucchini and Rosemary Vichyssoise

Adapted from Bon Appetit

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
4 cups chicken stock (homemade preferred)

1 large russet potato, peeled, diced

4 medium Melissa's organic zucchini, thinly sliced

¼ cup whole milk or cream

1 zucchini cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Croutons
Chopped green onions

Melt butter with oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and rosemary. Add stock and potato; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add sliced zucchini; simmer until tender about 15 minutes. Working in batches, puree in blender. Season with salt and pepper; stir in milk or cream.

Cook cubed zucchini in saucepan of boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain. Rewarm soup over medium heat. Ladle into bowls. Top with zucchini and croutons. Sprinkle with green onions.


For more great zucchini recipes, I recommend this book:

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

It's Chili Night!

Yesterday I told you about the sectional tray that my husband bought and how it inspired a number of us in different ways.  We used it for the first time during a Mizzou basketball game where I served chili, salad, crusty rolls, and used this tray for toppings.  Everyone loved it.  The choices were vast, giving many of the diners pause.  It also yielded some wildly colorful and creative renditions of chili.  The combinations are endless, and you can be as colorful as you like.  Had I the room I'd have included chopped red peppers, black olives, and jalapenos.

Come back tomorrow for the recipe that I used to make a delicious Crockpot chili.  I’ll bet this recipe contains one step that you’ve never tried before.

This post is linked to:

Mosaic Monday
Metamorphosis Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

What's Cooking Wednesday

Foodie Friday

Sunday's Best Party

Cast Party Wednesday

Show Me What Ya Got

INVOLTINI DI PETTI DE POLLO (Chicken Spiedini from Roberto's Trattoria)

I prepared a romantic dinner for two tonight as it was to be a relaxing evening with no baseball since the Cardinals had a day off after yesterday's Opening Day debacle game against the Padres (and I don't quite get why the day off so soon, but am thankful nonetheless after the performance by closer Ryan Franklin who, I might add, makes less of a closer than Kyra Sedgwick, but I digress). 


When spring hits our eating habits change abruptly.  We are avid baseball fans, so we spend more time watching the games than we do in the kitchen.  As a consequence we do a lot of grilling, make a variety of cold plate suppers (e.g. cold soups, chicken, shrimp or crab salad, cheese and fruit plates, etc.) and have lots of green salads ranging from a simple Caesar to a more complex grilled steak salad, or spicy, meat-filled taco salad. I welcome the change of seasons and this altered way of cooking.  


It's more relaxed and carefree and many things can be prepared early in the day, to be pulled out when it's time for dinner and enjoyed with a glass of chilled wine (or if the game's going badly, a shot of whiskey) with our feet up.  So tonight's dinner is one that will say farewell to winter.  We are looking forward to the lighter fare of spring. This absolutely heavenly dish is from a cookbook I mention a lot called Special Requests.  It is from a local restaurant and while it took a bit of time, it was certainly well worth it.  Treat yourself, and then take the summer off!

This post is linked to:

Sour Cream Onion Bread

I just finished reading How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal and I really enjoyed it.  Told from three different points of view (and generations), it is a wonderful story of life, love, hardship, discovery, and baking bread.  Interspersed throughout the story are tips on bread baking (including how to make your own sourdough starter), history, trivia, and recipes. I was so inspired by both book and recipes that yesterday I baked, for the first time ever, a French baguette!  It was less than what I'd hoped, but then again, I've decided to try again (and again) until I learn how to make one as perfectly as those I find at the local Boulanger.


This morning I decided to take the easy route and go with a tried and true recipe where the bread machine did most of the work, so I made a loaf of Sour Cream Onion Bread, a finely textured, soft crust bread with lots of flavor.  With the bread machine doing the hard part in making the dough, the rest was easy. I simply shaped it, let it rise, baked it in the oven, brushed the top with butter, let it cool and then sliced and sampled. Yum!

Delicious warm from the oven, and also makes an excellent toast.  This bread is perfect for sandwiches.

Sour Cream Onion Bread 
3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

Place flour, sugar, salt, yeast, dried soup, sour cream, and water in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select the dough cycle, and press start. Shape dough, and place in a greased loaf pan. Place in a warm spot, and allow to rise until doubled in size. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degree C) 

oven for 30 minutes. Cool.

This is linked to: