One of the snacks we need to eat regularly is turkey jerky…but, have you seen the price of it in the stores??    The only kind we can find at our local supermarket comes in a tiny 3 oz. bag and costs $6.   Unbelievable!!

Faced with that cost shocker, I knew I had to make my own.   Here is the recipe I’ve used – hope you enjoy it!

Turkey Jerky

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless skinless turkey breast

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

3 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon chile-garlic paste (we use sriracha – the kind with the rooster on the label)

2 teaspoons dried chile flakes

Instructions:

Cover turkey breasts with plastic wrap and freeze for two hours (this makes cutting much easier).  When turkey is ready, place on a cutting board, trim any visible membranes and slice into long slices about 1/4 inch thick.   Try to make the strips as uniform as possible to ensure even drying.

ready to dehydrate

Place all marinade ingredients in a resealable plastic bag and add turkey strips.  Toss thoroughly to coat and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove turkey from the refrigerator, place in a colander to drain off excess marinade and let come to room temperature for 30 minutes.  I drain over a large bowl and freeze the extra marinade to use as a starter for the next batch.

Remove the racks from the oven, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Heat the oven to 170 degrees.  Blot any excess marinade from the turkey strips with paper towels and arrange across the oven racks.  I use a vegetable steamer basket for any strips that are too small for the oven racks.

Place the racks back in the oven and dehydrate jerky until dry – about 2 hours.  for chewier jerky, dry an additional 1/2 hour.

ready to package!

Cool completely and store in plastic bags in the refrigerator.  For longer storage, you can use a vacuum sealer if you have one.   I weigh the jerky on my kitchen scale and package in one ounce portions.

PS – if you have a dehydrator, just use the same ingredients and follow the directions that came with your unit for making jerky.

One of the evening meals on our 90 day plan calls for artichokes as a side dish.  They don’t give you a recipe so I took the liberty to make grilled artichokes – which is our favorite way to eat them.  (well there’s a Paula Deen artichoke dip that’s awesome, but healthy it’s not.  So let’s not torture ourselves by talking about that right now).

Okay, back to the grilled artichokes:  this could not be any easier.

Trim 2 artichokes (go here for a video about that) and cover with cold water and two quartered lemons in a large stockpot.   Bring water to a boil and simmer for about 30 mins.   Carefully remove the artichokes, let them cool for a while and cut in half.

While the artichokes are simmering, make a basting sauce:
4 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp minced fresh thyme

1/2 lemon, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pre-heat grill to medium high heat.

Brush both sides of cut artichokes with the basting sauce.

Place on grill with cut side down….grill for about 5 minutes (keep an eye on them so they don’t start to burn!).  Turn and grill cut side up for another 5 minutes or so.

Serve on a platter drizzled with the remaining basting sauce.

Enjoy….if you try it, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!

Artichoke

Well, my dearest hubby (bless his heart!) has started a 90 day program to get himself even more fit and fabulous than he already is.   And I have committed myself to helping him with the nutrition part of the program. So while he is doing serious cardio and strength training in the early morning hours, I’m in the kitchen fixing his breakfast and lunch for the day.   Oh the things we do for love… 

Repeat after me: "I can do this"

As a household we are not breakfast eaters AT ALL during the workweek so this is already a big change. But my challenge is that the food part of the program is VERY specific about ingredients and amounts. Am I up to it?? So far, so good….although the flurry of activity this morning left my kitchen a total wreck!

So, I pulled out my kitchen scales and measuring cups and made a mushroom omelette and cottage cheese with blackberries for his breakfast. And a chef’s salad, all chopped and stored in little containers, for his lunch.  I’m NEVER hungry at 7 am, so even though it was yummy and healthy, none of this even looked good to me! (I had yogurt and granola at about 9:30…my normal breakfast time).

Yes, all the recipes are totally do-able. Yes, they are totally healthy. Yes, we will all benefit from the family dinners. Yes, I will miss cooking with butter and cream and cheese and having bread and making up recipes based on what’s on sale and what is seasonal and great. But I will do this for my sweetie and after the 90 days is up I’m sure we will all have learned something we can take with us going forward.  (and if I drop a pound or two…well, that would be a great bonus!)

So, here’s to good health and wish me luck with my part of the Challenge!   And if any of the recipes are share-worthy, I’ll post them here!

Yes, I love making delicious roasted chicken from scratch, and there’s nothing better than using the rotisserie on the grill but last weekend was just one of those times I needed something fast, cheap, and yummy to feed the family. Busy with yard work, we took a late afternoon trip to our local Sam’s Club and came home with what we call chicken for the pickin’ to have for dinner. (that phrase was coined by my daughter a long time ago).

Then a couple days later, here’s what we came up with for a new Chicken Salad (note: there are only three of us so the leftover chicken made just enough for one dinner. If you have more in your family, you may need to buy two rotisserie chickens, or eat less!)

Tex-Mex Chicken Salad
Makes about 2 cups
Serve with tortilla triangles or chips

Dressing:
3 Tbsp Sour Cream
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
mix together in a small bowl and set aside

Salad:
1 1/2 cups (approx) chopped or shredded rotisserie chicken meat
3/4 cup frozen corn, thawed – broiled until browned
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup diced avocado
2 Tbsp thinly sliced green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno

Spread corn in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper and broil for a few minutes until it is browned.
Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients in a bowl. Add dressing and browned corn. Toss together and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving.

We made tortilla triangles to serve with the salad. Cut your favorite flour tortillas into wedges (we used the whole wheat kind). Lay on a baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. sprinkle with salt and broil for just a couple minutes. Keep an eye on them!! I confess I burned the first batch so hubby took over and cooked the rest of them Hey, it happens!!

Today I’m making chicken broth with what was left of the chicken and a few veggies from the fridge…..it smells wonderful and I’ll have several cups of broth to keep in the freezer for using in soups, or whatever, in the future.

Have any great chicken salad recipes you want to share? Leave a comment!
Bye for now….

Best guacamole ever!

Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:
2 Avocados (soft-to-the-touch ripe, of course)
3 tomatoes (I used two small packages of cherry tomatoes because they were buy one, get one free)
Peppers (I used one red, one yellow, and one anaheim – use jalapeno if you want more heat)
1/2 orange
1 lime
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt

Directions:
Prepare the tomatoes: halve or quarter the tomatoes and get out as much juice and seeds as you can. Use your own favorite method…I just take my thumb and smoosh all the liquid and seeds out. This is important because you don’t want a soggy guacamole! Place tomatoes on baking sheet, sprinkle with kosher salt and broil for approx five minutes. Turn them over and go about another 5 mins under the broiler. Keep an eye on them…they should be brown but not burned. When they are done, you can take the skins off if you want.

Prepare the peppers: (you can put them on the same baking sheet as the tomatoes). Cut peppers in half or quarters and scrape out insides. Broil with the tomatoes. It’s okay if the skins have blackened spots.

Once these are done, chop tomatoes and peppers and place in a bowl together. Set aside
Chop the onion and place in a bowl. Set aside
Chop the cilantro and place in a bowl. Set aside
Halve the lime and the orange. Set aside
Halve and seed the avocados. Set aside

Avocado

Okay, now you have all your ingredients ready…here comes the fun part!

In a large bowl (I’m going to ask Santa for one of those cool guacamole bowls!), squeeze the 1/2 orange (pick out any seeds).
Then squeeze in the lime.
Then put all the avocados in and cube them up into nice chunks with a knife and fork.
Then add the tomato/pepper mixture
Then add the chopped onion
Then add the cilantro
Add kosher salt to taste

Toss it all together and grab your friends and a bag of tortilla chips. It will go really fast so I suggest you double or triple this recipe if you have more than 4 people. We ate it all in one sitting – it probably won’t save very well so plan to eat it all right away.

Muy Delicioso….Try it and let me know what you think. Did you change anything?

According to my research (thank you Trip Advisor Forums!!), Boudro’s was a favorite for many people.   It did not disappoint!     We were able to get a table outside right away and could not wait to try their famous Prickly Pear Cactus Margaritas and their made-at-your-tableside guacamole with chips.

mmmmmm, this was one delicioso margarita!

Our friendly server Samantha was an expert at putting together the guacamole.  Of course I could have eaten the whole thing myself but I decided it would be much nicer of me if I shared with my dear hubby.

What a great day for an outdoor lunch!

Here are some more pictures of Samantha’s handiwork….we are going to try and recreate this at home soon – If it turns out good, I’ll post a recipe for you!

The secret ingredient? 1/4 of an orange!

next step....avocado

Mix it all up with the tomatoes, peppers and such....

Sorry, gotta go !

By the way, remember my New Year’s Resolution to have one small dinner party a month?   I’m counting our Superbowl Party with friends and wings and gumbo and black and gold cupcakes for February as a small (and extremely LOUD!) dinner party.

YUMMY, CRISPY CHICKEN WINGS

Ingredients

20-25 pieces of chicken wings and drummettes (approx 5 lbs)

4 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

2 tablespoons Asian hot chili sauce (Sriracha) – you can use more but add it a little at a time until it’s hot enough for your taste

4 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

4 cups canola oil

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Place thawed chicken pieces on a couple of large baking sheets in a single layer.   Sprinkle with kosher salt, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, remove from refrigerator and pat completely dry with paper towels, removing most of the salt.   Let the chicken set at room temperature for 15-30 mins.

Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.  Add the chili sauce, honey, soy sauce and cilantro.  Taste to check the heat level and adjust by adding more chili sauce or, if the sauce is too hot, add more honey.   Set sauce aside.

Place the cooking oil in a large dutch oven fitted with a thermometer or in a fry daddy type of cooker.  Heat oil to 275 degrees.   Divide the chicken into 4 batches.   Fry one batch at a time for 10 minutes then transfer to a clean plate or baking sheet when done.  Once all the chicken is done, increase the heat to 375 degrees.

Again, working in four batches, fry the chicken for 10 more minutes.   Transfer to a paper towel lined clean baking sheet.  The skin should be brown and crunchy using this double-fry method.   Sprinkle with salt and pepper and transfer the chicken to a large bowl.   Pour the chili sauce mixture over it and toss to thoroughly coat.   Transfer to a serving platter and dig in!!!

Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!   I promise to actually take pictures next time I make them (which will be soon!!)

don't you just hate spam??

Thank goodness I have the option to approve (or not!) comments before they show up on my posts. If these ridiculous spammers would use their time for good instead of evil, the world would surely be a better place……

take care all…..more real posts and recipes are coming soon!

Black and Gold Superbowl!!!

Let the good times roll!

So, let’s talk about Gumbo. If you go to Louisiana and ask 10 people how to make Gumbo you’ll get at least 10 different recipes…..seriously. Every person and every family has their own favorite way to make it. But they all have one thing in common – roux. You have to start with a good, dark roux and only then can you go your own way. Making a roux used to scare the daylights out of me! But just stay with it and follow these steps and you’ll be just fine.

Here’s my gumbo recipe (YES, we will be having this on Superbowl Sunday!).   This recipe makes enough for about 6 people – feel free to make more…..it freezes well and makes awesome lunches.

Ingredients

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup flour

2/3 cup chopped yellow onions

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup chopped green pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced

8 cups chicken broth or water

2 bay leaves

1 can lump crabmeat, drained

3 lbs. peeled shrimp

1 1/2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced into half moons

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a heavy dutch oven, heat oil until hot.  Add flour and mix together with the flat side of a wooden spoon until mixed.  Over medium heat, move oil and flour mixture in the pan back and forth with the spoon until browned the color of milk chocolate.    Don’t stop stirring to answer the phone, feed the kids, chop the vegetables, pour a glass of wine, or converse with your friends.   Seriously, this is the only way to make the roux – otherwise you will burn it and have to start over.   So keep moving it around – this can take 20 minutes so hang in there.

Keep it moving - this roux has a long way to go!

You’ll see it starting to bubble and the color will slowly change.     Sorry I didn’t get a picture of the color…I was too busy stirring at that point!

Once the color is just right, chere’, you add the trinity (onions, green pepper and celery).   Add the garlic, too.    Keep stirring it until the veggies are coated with the roux and the onion is just wilted.  Add the broth or water slowly, keep stirring to make it all nice and smooth.    Now you can relax and let this simmer while you start on your seafood and meats.

I like to saute’ my sausage before adding it to the gumbo so in a large pan, saute’ the sausage in a little canola oil over medium high heat until brown around the edges.   Add this to the gumbo and then pour a little broth in the pan to scrape up all the yummy goodness and add this also.

About 15 minutes before you are ready to eat, add the crab meat and the shrimp.   Cook it all together and serve over cooked white rice.   Sprinkle with file’ powder if you can find it where you live (optional).

Ready to take to the table

Enjoy with a piece of crusty bread so you don’t miss any of the delicious flavors before you!  It’s so good it will make you want to kiss your sistah!

happy cooking (and eating!)