Engaging stories of love, joy, comfort and friendship with proven scrumptious, healthy recipes, we celebrate LOVE as the secret ingredient for wonderful food!

Best Gazpacho Recipe

August 19, 2014 by Mary 37 Comments

When I was young, I hated tomatoes. Can you believe it? How could anyone hate tomatoes? I don’t know, I’m guessing it was a whole texture issue. My mother used to grow them and I hated the smell of the plants too. Now, that smell just makes me swoon over the deliciousness that I know is coming from a plant like that. Loving tomatoes like I do now, you’d think I’d love gazpacho, BUT I can’t stand gazpacho that just tastes like you’re eating salsa. Like, excuse me but can I have chips instead of a spoon? That type of gazpacho can be so thick it can almost make you gag. Are you in agreement with me here? Now this is the best gazpacho recipe! It’s fast, easy and healthy to boot. Made with super sweet sunny gold tomatoes, it’s practically just pure pureed tomatoes, topped with some luscious avocado chunks and you have summer in a bowl!

Make this now while those sunny golds are flooding the farmers market stands and avocados are perfectly ripe and plentiful. This is super simple and so delicious. I hope you enjoy it just as much as we do. The basis of this recipe came from the August issue of Food and Wine magazine, but I have changed it up a bit – less water than they originally call for (who wants to dilute the sweetness of these tomatoes?) and more spice by including the seeds from the jalapeño. But a big thank you to Justin Chapple and Food and Wine for providing the inspiration and foundation of this wonderful summer starter dish!

GOLDEN GAZPACHO WITH AVOCADO – serves 4 – adapted from Justin Chapple and Food and Wine magazine

2 pounds yellow or orange cherry tomatoes
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 of a jalapeño, minced, with seeds
2 Tbs. water
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 avocado, diced

In a food processor, puree the tomatoes, crushed garlic and jalapeño with 2 Tbs. of water. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil until incorporated. Transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes. Ladle the gazpacho into bowls, top with diced avocado, and serve with LOVE. The gazpacho can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.

Winner of our Calphalon Skillet Giveaway!

August 16, 2014 by Mary 4 Comments

I’m so excited to tell you that the winner of our Calphalon Skillet Giveaway is Erin Friedman in sunny California!!! Your beautiful non-stick skillet is on its way to you right now and I know you’re just going to LOVE it. I love mine, and the fact that clean up is a breeze because it’s dishwasher safe is an added bonus! And the non- stick surface is so good, you can use way less oil or butter in cooking.

Here is Erin’s comment:

Our chickens are going all-out lately, so it’s (once again) Eggs for Dinner. I sauté mushrooms, onions, peppers and spinach in a little olive oil and butter until soft and wonderful. Crack a couple eggs on top and cover until the eggs are set. Easy and delicious. And cheap.

Doesn’t that sound delicious? We wish Erin lots of good use with this skillet. Make many happy meals in it and remember, to always cook with LOVE and your food will definitely taste better!

In all the comments, we had lots of great dishes mentioned that people love to cook in skillets. We numbered all of them and tossed them in a hat for a random drawing, and Erin was the lucky winner. Congratulations Erin and thank you all for entering and sharing your favorites!!!

We are at Crystal Lake, Vermont right now at my brother’s house enjoying a little R & R with great food, wine and company. Meet my waking companion today, Otis, a beautiful Bernese Mountain dog who is the sweetest thing! We walked/ran to Pageant Park and back, which is 2.4 miles up and down a mountain and at one point he decided he needed a rest and just stopped and laid down in the path. A dog after my own heart!

Stay tuned for the best gazpacho recipe coming up – a perfect way to use all the tomatoes coming in to the farmers market stands right now!

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint

August 13, 2014 by Mary 38 Comments

I adore this salad. Nothing starts a summer meal better than this Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint! It’s great to start a lunch or dinner. It’s surprising, refreshing and scrumptious! I love how the black olives tease you to look like seeds but of course, you use a seedless watermelon. The olives are a delicious burst of salty goodness in contrast to the sweet watermelon. I started making this JACQUES PÉPIN recipe (I LOVE his recipes) when it first came out in the June, 2007 issue of Food and Wine magazine. The original recipe says this is for 12 servings but it really worked for just 10 people in our house. It’s easy and relatively fast to make. In the original recipe, Jacques tells you to use a watermelon baller and then throw in the remaining scraps but I prefer my salad to look more uniform so I just cut it into nice chunks. No matter how you cut it, my recommendation is to make this salad now, while the watermelons are ripe, sweet and juicy. Enjoy!

And, don’t forget to comment on my Calphalon Skillet Giveaway post for your chance to win one. This giveaway will end tomorrow, Thursday, at noon. Good luck!!!

WATERMELON SALAD WITH FETA AND MINT – Adapted from JACQUES PÉPIN – serves 10 – 12

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp.Tabasco
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
One 8-lb. seedless watermelon, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (10 cups), chilled
1/2 lb. feta cheese, crumbled (2 cups)
1 1/4 cups pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 small sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves

In a large bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice, salt, Tabasco and pepper. Add the watermelon, feta, olives and onion and toss gently. Garnish with the mint and serve.

Calphalon Skillet Giveaway!

August 7, 2014 by Mary 36 Comments

Calphalon was the cookware I chose for my bridal registry — some 33 years ago!!! (yikes!) I still have and use every single pan I received as a gift – about eight different ones. So, when the Calphalon people asked me to review their new, non-stick, 13” deep skillet with a beautiful glass lid (I love glass lids – so you can see what the heck is going on in there – besides, they’re pretty), I said, “Sure!”. I also added in that I could do a Calphalon Skillet Giveaway so that one of you, lucky readers, would be able to share in my joy of cooking! A major selling point with this skillet is that it is dishwasher safe, something my husband loves, since that’s his job. That’s our agreement. I cook, he cleans. (Thank the good Lord!)

I wanted to put the skillet through its paces. First – basic – browning chicken skin. Last Friday night, I made this chicken breast recipe that Steve picked out from a food magazine. Of course I had to make it my own. I just can’t help myself. I know interior designers who have to rearrange hotel rooms or who just can’t help but to fluff and rearrange pillows. I am like that with recipes. This recipe didn’t call for any browning, but how can you not do that with chicken breasts that have skin on? Besides, I wanted to render that fat out and get some crispness going. You can see the beautiful job the skillet did in just 5 minutes. The recipe, eh – was just okay. It wasn’t worthy enough to share with you as it used too much butter and was too sweet from the maple syrup.

Next was making my garlic soft and golden to sauté with kale from my garden. It was beautiful and my kale with just garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper turned out amazingly delicious! This skillet is so non-stick that rather than using my customary 2 tablespoons of olive oil, I only used one!

Here, with the kale in it, you can see just how large the skillet is. This amount of kale fed five people and there’s ample room for more.

My final test was last night. I fried catfish (again – second time this summer!) with a simple breading of only Old Bay and flour, no egg or cornmeal this time. (I am on this Old Bay kick – it’s so good and makes it so easy to add a lot of flavor.) To me, frying is the ultimate test of a skillet.

The catfish turned out beautiful and delicious! It was crisp, nicely browned, with moist fish inside, and it took no time for the oil to heat up.

This skillet is great for everything so it will be great for fast, one-skillet meals with an easy clean-up to boot!

What is your favorite one-dish meal to cook in a skillet? Comment and answer below to be entered into a random drawing to win one of these beautiful, 13 inch, non-stick, dishwasher safe, Calphalon skillets! Good luck!!!

THE RULES
One entry per person, please.

Shout out your favorite one-skillet meal.

Winners will be announced next Thursday.

Calphalon will mail the skillet directly to you.

Giveaway sponsored by LOVE – the secret ingredient.

Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

August 2, 2014 by Mary 38 Comments

Salmon with mango tomato salsa served with parsley buttered boiled potatoes and roasted broccoli.

So I’ve been on this sweet and savory kick. (We loved the pork chops with grapes.) Just the other night I wanted a quick meal again. Quick, because I’m always starving when I get home from work at night and my husband says I get very mean when I’m hungry. (he’s right 🙁 ) I had a beautiful piece of salmon and a mango. I love these little yellow mangoes. Here’s one that’s really ripe but I wanted to show it to you because I think these are so much more flavorful than the large red and green ones. I put together this dish of roasted Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa in a jiffy, and it was so delicious, so fresh tasting and so very yummy!

I’ve done mango salsas before but never with tomato, but being on this sweet and savory bent gave me the go-ahead to do this. (Like I need permission for myself?) Mango, tomato, jalapeno, olive oil, lime and cilantro – a beautiful combination!

Then to quickly season and cook the salmon, I turned to Old Bay – for the first time on salmon and it was perfect! My husband is from Baltimore, the home of Old Bay. I always have some around, just in case we get the urge to steam hard-shelled crabs, a family favorite. But you know, I thought I should be using it more than once or twice a year and so here we are with this delicious salmon dish!

Here’s the recipe – light and bursting with freshness – perfect for a late evening summer meal. It was another “can you make this again?” request from my husband, and I wanted to share it with you. And please remember to make it with LOVE as it will always taste better!

SALMON WITH MANGO TOMATO SALSA – serves 2

1 14 oz. piece of center cut salmon fillet, washed and patted dried
1 rounded tsp. Dijon mustard
Sprinkling of Old Bay seasoning
1 tbs. olive oil

Salsa

1 small orange mango, peeled and diced into 1/4″ pieces
4 cherry tomatoes cut into 1/4” dice
1/2 of a jalepeno, minced with seeds
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tbs. olive oil
Fine sea salt
Pepper
2 tbs. chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Make the salsa: Toss together the mango, tomatoes and jalapeno. (omit the seeds if you’d like less heat) Drizzle on lime juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Fold in the cilantro to combine everything. Taste to correct seasoning, if necessary. Let flavors meld while you make the salmon.

For the salmon: Smear the top of the salmon fillet with the mustard and sprinkle on Old Bay. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick, ovenproof skillet over moderately high heat. Place the salmon in, seasoned side down for 3 minutes. Then carefully turn over and place the pan in the oven to roast for 7 – 10 minutes, depending on how well done you like your salmon and if the salmon is super cold or not. Transfer to a platter. Cut into 2 pieces and serve topped with the salsa. Enjoy!

Dijon Pork Chops with Herbs and Grapes

July 26, 2014 by Mary 62 Comments

“Can you do this again?” That’s what my husband said on finishing this dinner last Sunday night. So I quickly went to work to write all this down so I would remember how to make these Dijon Pork Chops with Herbs and Grapes again! I got this idea from a veal chop recipe I had made years ago. And once again, I get inspired by what’s in my refrigerator and what needs to be used up and how fast can I get something on the table – not really too exciting and all out of necessity. I was making our breakfast fruit salad that I usually make for the week, before making dinner on last Sunday night, and had too many grapes. We had just picked up these beautiful heritage breed pork chops from Second Chance Farm on our way home that night. They have wonderful beef, pork and chickens and sell at the Milan Farmers Market on Fridays, and had invited us to their farm to pick up some fresh chickens. Kim and Charlie are wonderful folks who run a very clean and neat farm in Milan, NY. It was so nice to see their whole operation. All of the animals are happy campers – their pigs love to be petted! Here’s what I did, which was simple, quick, delicious and a little different! This is a riff on the combo of savory and sweet – which I LOVE. I hope you will too!

DIJON PORK CHOPS WITH HERBS AND GRAPES – serves 2

1.5 tsp unsalted butter
1.5 tsp olive oil 1 medium onion, sliced 1/4” thick
2 heritage breed pork chops, 3/4” thick
Salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
3 tbs. chopped fresh herbs – oregano, rosemary and thyme
3/4 cup dry white wine, divided – I used Sauvignon Blanc
3/4 cup seedless red grapes

In a skillet, melt butter in olive oil on low heat. Add onions and cover to sweat and soften for about 20 minutes.

Wash and dry pork chops. Salt and pepper and smear one side with 1 tsp. Dijon mustard on each chop. Toss together the mixed herbs, take half of them and divide into two equal portions and sprinkle on each chop. Press them down into the mustard. Push onions to the side in the skillet, raise heat to medium high. Add the chops, mustard and herb side down. While they are browning, salt and pepper the top sides of the chops. Turn the chops after 3 minutes and pile the onions on top of the chops. Sprinkle remaining herbs overall. Saute 1 minute to brown the bottom of the chops. Add 1/2 of the wine and all of the grapes and cook for one more minute or so, until chops reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. (they will cook more while resting) Remove the chops to a platter. Leave the grapes in the skillet and add the rest of the wine and simmer rapidly for 1 -2 minutes, stirring constantly. When sauce has thickened a bit and reduced, and the grapes are softened, remove from heat and pour sauce and grapes over the chops. Make sure the chops have rested for a total time of 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Clean Lean and Sexy

July 18, 2014 by Mary 28 Comments

Clean Lean and Sexy – wouldn’t we all like to be that way? Well their coconut cashew bar and whole line of snack items is just that. This is the last item in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. Suzie Carpenter was a mom on a mission to help her daughter conquer all kinds of problems including a gluten, soy, corn and dairy intolerance. Plus, she was tired of reading ingredients on foods that you couldn’t pronounce nor know what they really are, so she created this line of all natural, healthy-for-you snack foods. This is an energy bar and it really does the trick as a quick pick me up with the power of coconut and cashews.

I made this delightful breakfast this morning with yogurt, fresh blueberries and honey, and I was raring to go all day long. A great, delicious morning starter, use good unflavored 2% or 0% Greek yogurt for optimum taste and health. (I like Fage) If you can, use a great farmer’s market honey, (Ethel’s in Milan, NY is the best!) and blueberries are at their height now, so enjoy this wonderful concoction. I also think this bar would be great broken up as a topping on Irish oatmeal as another breakfast. Eat it plain, eat it broken up as a topping – enjoy it any way you please – it’s good for you!

CLEAN LEAN AND SEXY BREAKFAST – serves 1

1 Clean Lean and Sexy Coconut Cashew bar, broken into pieces
1 cup 2% or 0% plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1 tbs. honey

Spoon the yogurt into a bowl, top with the coconut cashew bar bits and blueberries. Drizzle with honey and LOVE. Enjoy!!

Chef’s Planet Nonstick Toaster Ovenliner

July 16, 2014 by Mary 5 Comments

THIS is a really handy, dandy thing, this Chef’s Planet Nonstick Toaster Ovenliner, which was included in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. You know when your husband or kids just make total messes in your toaster oven? Or when you decide to get clever and not use your big oven because you don’t want to heat up the whole house in the summertime, and you roast a chicken or bake a blueberry or peach pie and you know the mess it’s going to make but you do it anyway?

Well Chef’s Planet is this nifty company and is here to save the day. Their whole mission in life, their entire reason for existence, is to make your life easier in the kitchen. We like them. We really like them!

Here’s my toaster oven tray from just toasting some bread.

And look at it now with my new ovenliner. And I can just take that baby out and wipe it clean (it’s nonstick, remember) or even throw it in the dishwasher, woo hoo!!! Thank you Chef’s Planet!

Visit their site and take a look at their other great products. They even make a full size ovenliner, which is next on my list. Be liberated and throw away that tinfoil I know you have down there now. The good folks at Chef’s Planet actually wanted to include a full oven-sized liner, but it wouldn’t fit in our box. 🙁 Maybe next year we’ll grow bigger boxes!

Bruce Cost Ginger Ale Spice Cake

July 14, 2014 by Mary 23 Comments

Bruce Cost Ginger Ale is, in one word, amazing! It is made with real fresh ginger and pure cane sugar, and this, my friends, is the complete real deal. As they say in their ads, you don’t have to imagine the ginger. Now as you know, real ginger is spicy wonderfulness – I LOVE it!!! But if you’re not familiar with the real thing, you might think this a bit strong. You can drink it straight and iced or mix a cocktail, as the brochure indicates, that we included in the MARY’s secret ingredients summer box. Or you can use one cup of it as an ingredient to make this Bruce Cost Ginger Ale Spice Cake recipe. Use the rest for your cocktail and you’ll really enjoy making this cake!

I made this for a big family Sunday night dinner that was so much fun. You know, the loud noisy wonderful family parties where everyone is talking at once? My oldest niece, Lisa, was in town from St. Louis visiting with her husband and two kids, as well as our oldest son with his girlfriend and his former roommate Bert, all joined us a couple of weeks ago when I made this cake. I also used my mother’s bundt pan (doesn’t everyone think of that scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding when they hear those words?), for the very first time! My mother passed away in 1995 and I’ve had it since 1998 and never used it until now. I could feel her. It was a nice connection to have while making this from scratch, super delicious cake for a Sunday family dinner party.

I served it with a dab of good vanilla ice cream and a fresh strawberry garnish. Two guests took some home and told me later they ate it all for breakfast! It was very, very good!!!

BRUCE COST GINGER ALE SPICE CAKE – serves 12

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 scant cup of white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1 cup Bruce Cost Ginger Ale
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbs. rum
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbs. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3 cups of all purpose flour
Sifted confectioner’s sugar for dusting on the top

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a (9×13 inch) pan or a (10 inch) tube or Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Blend in eggs, vanilla extract and rum. Add Bruce Cost Ginger Ale.

In another large bowl toss together the dry ingredients. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Spoon into prepared pan. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed (45 minutes for sheet pan and 55 – 60 minutes for the tube or Bundt pan).

Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Cool thoroughly on a rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with LOVE! Enjoy!

Jaxn’s Twice-Baked Potato Stix

July 11, 2014 by Mary 12 Comments

Jaxn’s Twice-Baked Potato Stix arrived on this planet due to a little boy in Jasper, Georgia, named Jaxn, who LOVED French fries and was getting just plain fat from eating them. So his mother came up with this delicious crunchy, twice-baked version. True love! Made with all natural ingredients, Jaxn’s Twice-Baked Potato Stix are gluten-free, delicious and the perfect salty crunch to go with a cocktail or cool summer drink. The Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper flavor was included in our MARY’s secret ingredients summer box

I prepared this appetizer to work with cocktails when our friends Margaret and Wayne came over for dinner on the 4^th of July. I speared small cherry tomatoes and mini mozzarella cheese balls on these little sticks and made this tasty snack even tastier! Both versions were super delicious, although I preferred the tomatoes.

The potato stix themselves cannot punch the hole in the cheese or tomatoes. Don’t try it – they will break. Take a pair of pointed ended scissors and keep them closed and punch a hole in the cheese balls and the cocktail tomatoes. Stick the potato stick inside and voila! You have a pretty, and tasty appetizer in no time flat!

Next time, I might drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top and throw on a few fresh basil leaves too, but it was raining really, really hard and I just couldn’t convince myself to go out in it to the garden to get some. Even if you have some leftover mini meatballs hanging about, they would be great stuck with a Jaxn’s stix! Go crazy and have fun!