Chicken Wing Taste Test

When Pam recently posted the recipe for Lemon Garlic Chicken Wings on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog I knew I wanted to give it a try to use the wings we had in the freezer.  The recipe calls for baking them and I debated whether to do that or deep fry them then it dawned on me that this was a taste test opportunity so I decided to cook some both ways.  I followed Pam’s recipe except I had 3½ pounds of wings so I doubled everything to get the recipe below then baked some and deep-fried some before saucing them.  Click on the link to go to her site for the recipe and wings that look better than mine.

Bangers & Mash And Fried Cabbage With Bacon For St. Paddy’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day fell on Friday this year and for our regular card group I decided against our normal corned beef and opted to go with bangers and mash.  I didn’t have any Irish sausage but decided the TPO (tomato, peppers, onions) from the Wurst Kitchen.

Chicken in White Wine Sauce ala Lea Ann

When Chef Lea Ann posted the recipe for Chicken in White Wine Sauce on her “Cooking On The Ranch” blog, she mentioned that it would be refreshing on a hot summer night.  I commented that I probably wouldn’t wait until summer to try it but it was a mid-60’s spring day (highs in mid-40’s came back two days later) when I did.  I followed the ingredients list but changed the instructions just a little but you can see the original recipe and pics at Lea Ann’s site by clicking on the above link.

Outstanding Beer Battered Grouper

I’m still freezer diving and this time I came up with a package of Caribbean Grouper that we had purchased from Joe Patti’s during our last visit to Pensacola, FL.  It just so happened that I had a recipe for Fish And Chips that came from The Red Door in Seattle, WA via Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives that I wanted to try.  Battered and deep-fried fish is a favorite of all of us, especially Pat who usually orders it at Florida seafood places.

A Couple of Breakfast Trials

I discovered some spinach artichoke dip in the fridge and it tasted pretty good, for store bought, so I decided to try it with some eggs.

Stripetti Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca Sided With Delicious Baked Salmon

Cindy and I are still making meals for two, she wanted to cook, and I recalled a piece of Norwegian Salmon in the freezer.  Then she remembered the squash we’ve had all winter and decided we should eat it with the fish.  We discussed several options for topping the squash and I decided to make up a puttanesca sauce for mine using the recipe below, which is a scaled down version of two sauces that we’ve made in the past. 

Greek Night For Cindy And Me Plus A Crappie Repeat

Bev and Pat (SIL) have gone off to Charleston, SC to visit with the Walker grandchildren as they all attend the College Of Charleston and it’s their spring break.  So Cindy and I are holding down the fort and minding the dogs and we’re cooking meals for two.  We both like Greek flavors so for this meal I made a very simple chicken and salad using some Greek spices that Bev had bought at a FM for the chicken and my homemade creamy feta dressing on the salad.

Hungarian Goulash

We are big fans of beef stew especially when it’s a winter weather so when I saw Chef Dennis’ recipe for Hungarian Goulash , which I had never made, I considered it a must try.  As long as you like beef stew and paprika, it seemed like a can’t miss.  The recipe for Hungarian Goulash comes from his “Ask Chef Dennis” blog and I made it per his recipe.

Kathy’s Birthday – Chicken Fried Steak

As you know we have a Friday card day and I usually cook a meal and often try out new recipes on the group.  But this week we changed it up a little by moving it to Thursday, which was Kathy’s birthday, and making her requested chicken fried steak for the meal.

Roasted Beef Bone Broth

Because we boil chicken breasts and thighs for the pups, we always have an ample supply of chicken broth but we have been out of beef broth for quite a while.  So when our neighbors took the beef cattle they had sold to the processor, I told them I’d like some oxtails to stew and some bones for broth.  We she came she only had one package of cow tails but enough bones to cover the bottom of two 11”x19” pans.

A Corned Beef Day - Hash & A New Reuben Making Process

While at the Food City deli counter this week, I opted to buy some thick sliced corned beef to make into hash for breakfast but when I got home, I recalled a part loaf of marbled rye bread in the freezer.  So rather than make all of the meat into hash, I decided to have hash and eggs for breakfast and Reuben sandwiches for supper.

The hash was a simple mixture of diced onions, parboiled cubed potatoes, and diced corned beef. 

Best Potato Soup Ala Chef Dennis & Eggs In Purgatory

Sandwiched between a Thursday of 72F and a predicted Saturday of sunny and mid-50’s was a Friday of rain and 42F which seemed perfect for a fire and soup.  Plus, Bev and Pat would be coming home at an unknown time from a few days in Gatlinburg making eat-anytime-soup the ideal meal.

Easy and Delicious Baked Salmon with Parmesan Herb Crust

I’ve been freezer diving lately and recently found some 2020 catfish that looked pretty bad so it went to the pets but I also found a nice one pound Norwegian salmon filet that I wanted to try using the recipe for Baked Salmon with Parmesan Herb Crust recently posted by Trish on her  “Mom On Timeout” blog.  I reduced everything to one-third of the original to match my salmon size and I used dried herbs.  The original recipe with some good pics can be found by clicking on the above link.

Spaghetti For A Cold Super Bowl Sunday & Delicious Breakfast

We hadn’t hosted a super bowl party in many years and decided we should not let this one go by, so we invited a few friends over (our normal Friday group) but for a variety of reasons, almost no one could attend so we cancelled the party. 

So, since we hadn’t seen Eliza in a while, we invited her family to come down for the afternoon and a supper of Sausage Bean Chowder, which we hadn’t made in quite some time.  But, on Friday, Wende called to advise that they all had Covid (except Eliza) so they also would not be coming over. 

Pork Chop And Hashbrown Casserole & Spring Has Sprung Here

 

When I saw this recipe for Pork Chop And Hash Brown Casserole containing two of my favorite things (pork and potatoes), I thought it would work well for our Friday card night.  The recipe comes from “The Country Cook” blog and I followed it except I used six chops and made a slight change to the cooking directions.  The original recipe along with lots of pics can be found by clicking on the above link.

Chicken Parm Ala Karen

We love chicken parm so when Karen recently posted the recipe for Crispy Chicken Parmesan on her “Back Road Journal” blog, it moved to the top of the “try soon” list.  I pretty well followed her ingredients list but made a minor revision to the cooking method.  For the original recipe and great pics, please click on the link above.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

We love chicken pot pie and we love soup so when Pam posted the recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Soup on her “For The Love Of Cooking” blog, I knew we had to make it.  We opted to make it on a cold Friday for our card day.  My only changes were using corn starch in place of flour to make it gluten free,  less butter to saute the veggies, and I cooked some of it the day before.  Click on the above link for Pam's original recipe and pics.

Crappie with Shrimp in a Lemon Scampi Sauce

Happy Groundhog Day - Our Son's Birthday

We really like scampi sauce, I was ready for some fish, and we had plenty of frozen crappie, so the recipe for Black Sea Bass with Shrimpin a Lemon Scampi Sauce from Chef Dennis on his “Ask Chef Dennis” blog seemed to be a perfect fit.  Since Bev is not a fan of baked fish, I gave ours a quick pan fry and kept it warm in the toaster oven while I made the sauce.  Other than that, I doubled the recipe to get the one below.  You can click on the above link for the original recipe and some pics of the Chef’s dish.

American Goulash & Toe Update

American Goulash, not to be confused with dishes with a similar name from Europe as the latter is usually a meaty stew whereas the American version is basically macaroni in a tomato meat sauce.  I don’t recall ever making the American version but it has been on my radar for a pretty long time.

Mexican Casserole with Ground Beef and Corn Tortillas

For out Friday card night, I like to make meals that are quickly cooked or can cook while we play and this one was the latter.  It also met three other criteria – gluten free, Mexican that we all like, and from one of my favorite meal sources.  The recipe for Mexican Casserole with GroundBeef and Corn Tortillas came from Chef Lea Ann on her “Cooking On The Ranch” blog.  I made it per the recipe except as shown in ( ).

Balsamic Steak Bites and Pasta Skillet Dinner

When I saw the photos and recipe for Balsamic Steak Bitesand Gnocchi Skillet Dinner on Debbie’s “A Feast For The Eyes” blog, I knew it had to be tried soon.  I followed the recipe with two changes – I used pasta as Bev doesn’t like gnocchi and I used the 1¼ pounds of beef tenderloin trimmings we had in the freezer.  Click on the link above for Debbie’s original recipe and some great finished and how-to pics.  I just took a few because hers look much better.

Once-In-A-Lifetime, Delicious Vegetable Beef Soup & Pups Ancestry

Be sure to read the verdict below.

Bev loves to have vegetable soup when it’s cold so with temps in the low 40's, it was on the menu for our Friday get together.  When she went to the store, I asked Bev to get a four-pound chuck roast but somehow she ended up with a 1½ lb. London broil (we’re old you know).  Since that was not enough meat for our soup recipe, she went freezer diving and came up with a 2¼ lb. chuck roast that we had marinated some time ago and the only beef broth she found was a quart of 2012 brisket broth.  I did a taste test and it was still fine.  I used the go-to soup recipe that I had developed recently but adjusted for what we had.

Mediterranean Broccoli & Cheese Omelet

We had a good-sized container of steamed broccoli left over from another meal and rather than just reheat it to eat, I went in search of a recipe to use it for breakfast.  I found several omelets and frittatas and since I’m a fan of all things Mediterranean, I settled on the recipe for Mediterranean Broccoli & Cheese Omelet  from “Taste of Home” magazine.  I added some onion, chicken, and cheddar cheese to get the recipe below.

Chinese Meal Ala Ashley, Charcuterie Board, Spam Hash, Our RV

Bev wanted to make pasta with Ashley, one of our surprise Christmas day guests, and Ashley wanted to incorporate it into a Chinese dish to cook for us.  She roasted some of the pasta and boiled some then served the combo under a delicious stir fry of chicken, beef, broccoli, and typical items for these dishes.

I’d shown Kathy’s charcuterie board previously but for New Year’s Eve, Wende had to use the counter top for hers.

We had some cooked potatoes left from two previous meals and a can of Spam that had been sitting in the pantry for a while so we decided to turn them into hash for breakfast.  I just diced everything, medium, and fried in oil to crisp up, then plated and topped with a couple of sunny side-up eggs for a delicious breakfast.

I would normally have added some peppers and onions to the hash but I wanted to judge the taste with just potatoes and meat.  This was my first ever spam hash but I will make it again.  I had originally bought the Spam (Hormel) to recapture some of my childhood where canned meat sandwiches were often on the lunch menu, except Mom always bought Treet (Armor) which I assume was cheaper. Now, I have Spam on the grocery list to use with our next batch of homemade bread for a fried Spam, cheese, and mayo sandwich, circa 1950’s.

Finally, when our motorhome stranded us along the roadside back in October, Bev said she would not give it another change to strand us and wanted to sell it.  After engine repairs and a full chassis servicing, it has been sitting peacefully in the driveway awaiting it’s fate. 

With the time to begin making reservations at hand, a decision was required and Bev has agreed to give the ole girl one more change since we spent so much on her, so I’ll soon have some trips to report on and hopefully with good outcomes.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

12/27/22 – 01/06/23 meal dates

Happy New Year

Bev and I hope that you have a wonderful 2023 and I’m looking forward to a surgery free year.

My right foot (from toe surgery) is now in a cast until Jan 25 when I will switch to a boot.  I wanted a blue and gold cast but they don’t do bi-color so I settled for WVU’s (my alma mater) dark blue vs UT’s orange last time.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry