August 2018

A new twist on an old favorite!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 lb. ground sirloin (90% lean)

1 – 15 oz. can Ro-tel tomatoes with green chilis

3/4 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup pimento-stuffed olives

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Hot sauce to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot.  Reduce heat to low.  Add onions and cook 5 minutes or until softened.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Turn up the meat to medium high.  Add ground sirloin and cook, breaking up the lumps for about 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

Add tomatoes, chili sauce, water, olives, raisins and salt and pepper.

Simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Stir in lemon juice and hot sauce.  Adjust salt and pepper.

Divide among brioche buns and serve hot with plenty of napkins.

ENJOY!

Cut beets into wedges or slices.

To make the marinade:

In a small saucepan, combine onions, vinegar, sugar, salt and 2/3 cup water and bring to a boil; simmer 5 minutes.  

Pour hot marinade over beets and cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

A new twist on an old favorite!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. chopped garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 lb. ground sirloin (90% lean)

1 – 15 oz. can Ro-tel tomatoes with green chilis

3/4 cup chili sauce

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup pimento-stuffed olives

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Hot sauce to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot.  Reduce heat to low.  Add onions and cook 5 minutes or until softened.  Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Turn up the meat to medium high.  Add ground sirloin and cook, breaking up the lumps for about 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

Add tomatoes, chili sauce, water, olives, raisins and salt and pepper.

Simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Stir in lemon juice and hot sauce.  Adjust salt and pepper.

Divide among brioche buns and serve hot with plenty of napkins.

ENJOY!

The original New Orleans Muffaletta is made with their signature olive salad and bread made especially for this unique sandwich.  The bread in this recipe comes from “Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy”.  The bread is baked in a wood oven that is hard to replicate in the home kitchen.  Baking the breads in a cast-iron skillet gives nice results.  What I would give for a wood burning oven!!!

 If you don’t want to make the focaccia, get some fresh, crispy rolls and warm them in the oven.

For the Focaccia:

1 package active dry yeast

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl and let sit for several minutes, until it starts to bubble.  Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine.  Combine the dissolved yeast with 1 cup of warm water and add to the flour along with the olive oil.  You can make this in the food processor, but I did it by hand and it came together very easily.  Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute into a smooth round.  Put it in a large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about an hour.  

Put rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat it to 450 degrees F.  Deflate the risen dough and cut it in half.  Flatten each piece into a round about 9 inches in diameter and lay in a cast-iron skillet.  (If you only have one skillet, put one piece of dough back in the oiled bowl, covered while you bake the first piece.

Bake about 20 minutes until light brown on top.  Turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Olive Salad

1-1/2 cups pimento-stuffed olives, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives (optional)

1 cup giardiniera (Italian pickled salad)

2 pepperoncinis, chopped

1 Tbsp. capers chopped

1 large celery stalk, finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. oregano

1 Tbsp. fresh italian parsley chopped

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

Freshly ground pepper to taste.

The Muffaletta olive salad is the most important ingredient in this delicious sandwich.  It’s a vinegar and garlic lover’s dream (that’s me).  You can add or omit whatever you like in this salad, just be sure to include the olives.  I had a few pickled banana peppers and some roasted red peppers in the fridge and added them as well.  Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight, if possible.

Split focaccia in half and add a generous layer of olive salad.

Top with your favorite deli meats (have them sliced super thin.

I did provolone, genoa salami, ham and mortadella.

Top with the remainder of the olive salad including any juice left.

This sandwich is better when it sits for a while for the bread to absorb all those delicious juices from the olive salad.

~Adapted fro Lidia cooks from the heart of Italy

   and The Traditional New Orleans Muffaletta

This salad is packed with protein and fiber.  Makes a filling lunch or a light dinner.
Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can beans, chickpeas (garbanzo), black-eyed peas or kidney beans, rinsed
• 2 5-ounce cans water-packed chunk light tuna, drained and flaked
• 1 large red pepper roasted, finely diced
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 4 tsp. capers, rinsed
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, divided
• 4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 8 cups mixed salad greens

Preparation: Combine beans, tuna, bell pepper, onion, parsley, capers oregano, 1/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons oil in a medium bowl.  Season with pepper.  Combine the remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 tablespoons oil and salt in a large bowl.  Add salad greens; toss to coat.  Divide greens among plates and top each with tuna salad. (I added 1/4 cup red wine vinegar to the tuna mixture and a little extra oil – to suit your taste). ~Eating Well for your Health  Summer Salads!
Gooseberry Patch – Recipe Round Up – Too Hot to Cook! 

1 lb. fresh broccoli florets

1 can Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 large egg, beaten

1/2 cup Olive Oil Mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. minced onion

1 cup sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

1 cup Annie’s Cheddar Squares, crushed

Place broccoli in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup water.  Cover with plastic wrap and cook 4 minutes in your microwave until broccoli is tender-crisp.

Combine soup, egg, mayonnaise, onion and cheese.  Mix until well combined.  Add to broccoli and stir until evenly mixed.  Top with crushed Cheddar Squares.  Bake at 400 degrees F. for 20 to 22 minutes until bubbly and crumbs are light golden brown.

Annie’s Homegrown Cheddar Squares have no artificial flavors or synthetic preservatives.  Delicious baked snack crackers with 6g of Whole Grains per serving!  So they are great for snacking and add crunch and flavor to any recipe!

Enter to try Annie’s Homegrown!

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Visit Annies.com to learn about their products, their commitment to a healthier planet, and to get a free “Be Green” sticker!

Blood red and looking like a badly shaped tennis ball with a tail, beets are not high on the favorite food list.  Beets contain phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, fiber, Vitamins A and C, niacin, and biotin and folic acid.  All those nutrients packed into an ugly looking ball with a tail.  I guess you really can’t tell a book by it’s cover! I happen to love beets.  I grew up on them.  Polish and Slovak cuisine include many beet dishes (borscht – beet soup, pickled beets and Red Beets with Horseradish Relish )

Use every bit of the beet – the leafy tops are very mild, and if you didn’t tell anyone, they would think they are eating spinach.

6 medium beets with greens attached 2 large oranges 1 small sweet onion, sliced into thin wedges 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 tsp. grated orange peel Feta or goat cheese and walnuts for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim greens from beets.

Cut off and discard stems.

Coarsely chop leaves and reserve. Wrap each beet in foil.  Place beet packets directly on oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.  Cool and peel beets (I suggest you use gloves or paper towel to do this, beet juice stains everything. Cut beets into wedges and place in a medium bowl. Cook beet greens in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 2 minutes.  Drain and cool.  Squeeze greens to remove excess moisture.  Add greens to bowl with beets.  Cut and peel skin and pith from oranges.  Working over a bowl, cut between membranes to release segments.  Add orange segments and any juice that has collected along with onion to beet mixture.  Whisk vinegar, olive oil, garlic and orange peel in small bowl to blend;  add to beet mixture and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Let stand at room temperature 1 hour.  Garnish with feta or goat cheese and walnuts.

~Adapted from:  All Natural Health – Epicurious

What rhymes with orange?

Not one word.

How many orange recipes can you make?

Our amazing #SundaySupper group has come up with 60!!!!

Our host this week is Pam @The Meltaways.

The days may be getting shorter, the nights a little cooler, but Autumn brings brilliant colors, warm spices, the magical time for little Trick or Treaters and wonderful comforting foods.

Orange marmalade is one of my favorite things to have for breakfast on buttered toast, or even at night with saltine crackers and a nice, hot cup of tea.  It makes a great Hostess gift for the holidays!

You are in for a real treat if you get the batch that has the lemon in it!

5 to 6 medium seedless oranges

1 lemon

8 cups sugar

Wash the oranges and lemon thoroughly.  Cut the oranges and lemon into 1/8-inch slices using a mandoline, removing the seeds as you go.  Stack the orange slices and cut them into quarters.

Put the oranges and lemon in an 8-quart stainless steel pot.  Add 8 cups water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often.

Lower the heat to simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes, or until the oranges are very soft.

Put a small plate in the freezer (for testing)

Increase the heat under the orange mixture to return to a full boil.  Add the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 220 to 223 degrees F and darkens slightly in color.

Dont panic is you don’t have a candy thermometer!!

You really don’t need it if you test the readiness of the marmalade on the chilled plate.

You can see this is still a little runny.

I boiled this mixture for about 25-20 minutes and it read 225 degrees F. on the candy thermometer.

The tricky part is testing it on the plate every few minutes during the end of the cooking time.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot mason jars; wipe the rims thoroughly with a clean damp paper towel and seal with the lids.

Store in the pantry for up to a year.*

The #SundaySupper family is using the spirit of the season to inspire you and will be sharing some fabulous dishes at the #SundaySupper table this week, and we do hope that you’ll join us!

Just look at all of the fabulous dishes being offered up this week:

 Sunrise  (Breakfast and Brunch)

~Adapted from Ina Garten and Good Eats *There were two different preserving methods for the marmalade.  One was to use the water bath method and it would last for six months.  The other was to just seal the jars and it would last up to one year.  I cannot guarantee any of these! Labels from Artwork by Amy Moss