4-Ingredient Spinach and White Bean Soup and Eggnog Taste Test

Bev had saved this recipe for 4-Ingredient Spinach and White Bean Soup from “Simply Recipes” and we decided to give it a try one day when we wanted a quick meal.  I wasn’t optimistic that it would be blog worthy so I took no pics of it - this one is from their site and ours looked just like it.  I followed the ingredients list but changed the instructions so as not to have to scoop out half the soup.

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.

Christmas Dinner With Our Friends – Appetizers And Drinks

My previous post covered the salad and the lasagna main course for our Christmas meal and today I’ll show our appetizers.

I'll begin with two kinds of hummas using a recipe from Gimme Some Oven for the first one. You can visit Ali’s site by clicking on the link for the original recipe, a how to video, and more shots like this one.

Wine Club Soup Bar

It was our turn to host our wine group and since it was the last day of October (Halloween), we opted for a very fallish menu and made up a soup bar.  We asked others to bring the appetizer, salad, and dessert along with their bottle of wine so we ended up with this menu:

Red Assaritas as an aperitif

Appetizers

Salad with wine of choice

Soups with wine of choice

Homemade Limoncello as after dinner drink (digestif)

Dessert 

We served four very different soups from our serving area - the triple slow cooker comes in very handy.

Western RV Trip Day 16-17 – Bike rides, Hill City, Hot Springs

During these two days the bike riders rode the final two 20+ mile legs of the Mickelson Trail and here are a couple of trail shots.

Limoncello Follow-Up

Back in May, I posted about our first batch of limoncello and commented that the next batch would be made with Everclear but I ended up using 100 proof vodka instead and I made a larger batch using 2.5 liters of the liquor and scaled the other ingredients to get this.

25 lemons
2.5 liters of 100 proof vodka
6 2/3 cup sugar
8 1/3 cups water

I added everything to a gallon jar and let it macerate for 3 weeks then added the sugar water (it took two containers) and let it set another month before bottling (it was delicious).

For our third batch, I used 1.75 liters of vodka and 750ml of Everclear and I look forward to seeing if there are any differences (in about six weeks).  If mine looks like it has less lemon peel than others, that's because it contains all of the liquor. 

Thanks Velva for getting me started with making this.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

Larry

5/12/17 Finished Date

Homemade Limoncello Two Ways

For a few years I’ve read about some of you making limoncello but had never drank it so your posts provided little motivation.  Then we went to a meeting of our wine group and a bottle was brought out to sample and Bev and I both loved it.  Then we went to Napierville and sampled some supposed high-end  stuff and decided we had to buy the $72 bottle and it was great.

I then began remembering the previous blog posts and decided we would give it a try to make our own using two different recipes for comparison.  The first was from Velva at Tomatoes On The Vine who actually harvested the Meyer Lemons from her own tree.  I won’t recopy Velva’s recipe since I made it as she did but halved it.  Check her site for the details and many shots.

Cocktails for Blogger Party # 4

For our luau blogger party, my cooking was all done when the guests arrived so I served as bartender and had a pre-made assortment of island drinks.  After a little research, I decided on four for our luau – Blue Hawaiians, Mai Tai’s, Pina Colada’s, and Margaritas (from the Mexican side on the islands).  This guy is pretty serious about his work.

I used my normal recipe for margaritas and pina coladas.

Margarita

8 oz tequila

4 oz triple sec

18 oz mix (Mayson's Margarita Mix, water, Sprite)

Dash powdered egg white (for froth and smoothness)

Lime wedge squeezed into drink (after rubbing rim)

Add all ingredients to a blender and spin for a few seconds to combine and froth the egg white.  Pour into a margarita glass full of ice with or without a salted rim.  To salt the rim, rub with a lime wedge and dip in kosher salt.

Pina Colada

2 oz pineapple juice

1 - 1½ oz cream of coconut (depends upon rum being used and level of sweetness desired)

1 oz light rum

1 oz coconut rum

Pineapple wedge & maraschino cherry for garnish

Mix well and stir again before each pour as the ingredients separate.

Can use all of one type rum depending upon taste and can be served on the rocks or frozen.

This not the classic Mai Tai recipe, but it utilized the liquor I had on hand.

Mai Tai - Allrecipes

1 (1.5 fluid ounce) jigger spiced rum

1/2 (1.5 fluid ounce) jigger coconut-flavored rum

1 teaspoon grenadine syrup

3 fluid ounces pineapple juice

2 fluid ounces orange juice

Orange and pineapple for garnish

Stir ingredients and pour over ice or shake with a cup of ice and strain into glass of fresh ice.

The Blue Hawaiians were provided by guests Joel and Holly using a recipe from Drinks Mixer.  Photo lifted from Penny's blog (Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen).

Blue Hawaiian 

1 oz light rum

2 oz pineapple juice

1 oz Blue Curacao liqueur

1 oz cream of coconut

1 cherry

1 slice pineapple

Blend rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice, and cream of coconut with one cup ice in an electric blender at high speed. Pour contents into a highball glass. Decorate with the slice of pineapple and a cherry.

The drinks were a big hit and many who had brought their own wine soon switched, perhaps because the bartender was friendly with his customers - I forgot to set out a tip jar.

We had a gallon each of Pina Colada's and Margarita's (plus I made a second half gallon of margs), two quarts of Mai Tai's, and the container of Blue Hawaiian's and there was very little left over.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

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

Larry

5/26/2013 event date

The Definitive Word On Tequila For Margaritas - Blogger Party

Last Reminder - We need a May 5 RSVP for the Blogger Party.


Last June I posted about making my margaritas and I thought I’d done one about tequila but couldn’t find it, so here are a few basics.  I see the world as having three categories of tequila:

1. Made from 100% agave and cooked the old fashioned way in brick ovens to soften prior to juice extraction – adds a little roasted flavor.

2. Made from 100% agave and cooked in a stainless autoclave to soften.

3. Made from a mixture for agave and grain liquors.

Surprisingly, many of the more famous and less expensive tequilas are in category 3 such as regular Jose Cuervo - they won't say "100% Agave" on the label.

Most brands have tequilas of three main types due to age:

• Blanco – clear and un-aged, sometimes called Plata (Silver)
• Reposado – light brown and aged 2-12 months
• Anejo – darker brown and aged 1-3 years

Myth – tequila has a worm in the bottle, but it’s actually Mezcal that does.

In general, margaritas are made from blanco as the superior and subtle flavors of the aged varieties get lost in the other ingredients.  The high end Anejo’s are preferred for drinking straight as like most liquors they are smoother.

My basic margaritas (the ones Joe and I consume) are made with Sauza Hornitos (100% Agave) tequila, Montezuma Triple Sec, and my mix.  However, a friend recently gifted me a bottle of Avion Silver Tequila which she says is the best and Avion's site says it’s due to the special Blue Weber Agave used to make it – don’t know if it’s a category 1 or 2, but suspect 2.

My go to premium tequila has been Herradura (category 1) for a long time so when Joe came over, a taste test was in order, at least for the first margarita – I can’t afford to drink these full time.  The test had six difference versions using the same ingredient amounts in each. 

• Avion, Triple Sec, mix
• Hera Dura, Triple Sec, mix
• Hornitos, Triple Sec, mix
• Avion, Grand Mariner, mix
• Herradura, Grand Mariner, mix
• Hornitos, Grand Mariner, mix

I was pretty sure 4 & 5 would be preferred but wanted to see if the tequila rating was the same in both.

And for the results – drum roll please.

Bev – Avion with Triple Sec - more tart than the Grand Mariner which she thought it was too sweet.

Joe – Avion with Grand mariner – for the first one and Herra Dura with Triple Sec after.

Larry - Herradura with Grand Mariner for the first one and with Triple Sec after that.        

As can be seen, the premium tequilas came out on top, as expected, and I was a little surprised that we all thought those with Grand Mariner were a little too sweet for more than just one drink.  Maybe I just need to use a little less of it than triple sec.  I’d planned, but we forgot, to taste them straight before the Avion was gone.

.

From my perspective, the good tequila flavor was more obvious with the Avion and Herradura over the Hornitos.  While the Avion is a very good tequila, I still prefer the Herradura as it has a unique smoky flavor that I think comes from cooking in the brick oven.

So now you know what to do from here:

• If you like sweeter, use Grand Mariner
• Sample the two different flavored premiums and pick the taste you prefer
• Make your first margarita from the above
• Make the next ten from Hornitos and triple sec - especially the 10th one.

Okay, so maybe this wasn’t THE definitive word on tequila , but it was some words and a fun little event for Bev, Joe, and I J

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

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

Larry

4/19/13 event date

Redeye – Beer Turned Into Health Food

Most people know that cooked tomatoes are a great source of many good things for your body, such as lycopene.  And many people probably think of beer as a non-health food, even though it’s made from grain, flowers, and water.

So it stands to reason that one way to turn beer into an excellent health food is mix it with tomato juice – one can justify just about anything (watch our politicians for further examples).  I used 6oz. of our homemade juice with 12oz. of the beer I found in the fridge (use your favorite) and served in a frosted fishbowl.

I got hooked on this concoction while in college when my fraternity brothers had me order my first red eye at a Morgantown, WV hangout (name long forgotten) after our weekly chapter meeting – we needed something after dealing with all those weighty issues.

 

Some call it red beer and some call it tomato beer while others add hot sauce, worcestershire, etc. to make it bloddy mary like. While I don’t drink it often I still enjoy the occasional redeye or two, especially while watching a WVU football game – I’ve needed it to deaden the pain of their play lately.  Nothing like going from being ranked no. 5 and having the leading contender for the Heismen Trophy to becoming the joke of the Big 12 Conference - the head coach is obviously doing a great job.

TO THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED AND THOSE WHO NOW DO, THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING MY FREEDOM AND WAY OF LIFE.

I'm now responding to your comments and hoping you will stop back by - photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

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

Larry

11/10/12 event date

St. Patrick’s Day At Almost Heaven South

While I’d always thought Doolittle was an English name, the Family Crest the kids gave me several years ago and some follow-up research says it has an Irish origin, so I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – an excuse for a party.  Last year’s meal was your basic corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots all cooked together in the crockpot.

This year, we decided to try some things from my very favorite recipe book - your blogs.  Please check the respective blogs for the recipes and more pictures.  Our menu was:

2 corned beef brisket flats (Grobbel's) – to ensure leftovers.

A double batch of Bird Flanagan Irish Potato Pancakes from Susan at Savoring Time In The Kitchen. 

Fried cabbage from Mary at Deep South Dish. 

Shamrock shaped rolls inspired by Mary at One Perfect Bite.

Bev’s plan was to make rolls and a loaf of bread, but on TV that morning a local restaurant chef made pepperoni roll pinwheels.  Since pepperoni rolls were invented by Country Club Bakery in my hometown of Fairmont, WV and I grew up on them and then turned Bev onto them, she decided these were a must for this meal. 

We hadn’t planned on a salad or appetizer, but she decided it would be a better use of the dough than just a loaf of bread.  The traditional pepperoni rolls had 3-4 sticks of meat baked inside the roll, but the pinwheel maker used slices and after making some that way, Bev decided a brief spin in the food processor would be even better.  She pressed her dough into a rectangle, spread on the chopped pepperoni, rolled up, and sliced – similar to a sweet roll only much smaller.

After raising, she baked them until lightly browned and served them hot with jarred marinara, grated parmesan, and Irish wine – 2 drops of food coloring in a bottle of white wine.

The corned beef was covered with water and cooked several hours in a roasting pan on the stove top.  We like it pretty tender, so I cooked until my thermometer probe went in easily - same as for smoked brisket.

For the potato pancake, I used a 1 lb. 14 oz. bag of frozen hash browns and doubled the other ingredients – I let the potatoes thaw on paper towels and come to room temperature - also used my homemade Canadian bacon.  I cooked the pancake in a 12” non-stick skillet on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes with the lid on then without the lid until browned. I slid it out onto a plate, inverted the skillet over it and flipped to cook the other side until browned.

I fried the cabbage in a 12” cast iron skillet per Mary’s recipe, including the Slap Ya Mama Irish Cajun Seasoning.

Bev used Mary’s post as a guide for the rolls but used her regular sourdough bread to make them.  We discussed and calculated a while then she used three ½ oz balls for each roll in 3” wide muffin wells and they were a little too small, ¾ oz would have been just right.

Let's eat.  I'd already had a bite of potato when Bev reminded me to take a photo.

I washed mine down with Guinness Draught – sipped a little while cooking as well.  This was the first time I’d had cooked cabbage in a long time and perhaps my first ever fried cabbage – I really liked it.  I love potato everything and thought the single potato cake was very good and an excellent way to feed a crowd - the only issue was doubling the potato recipe made it harder to handle and maybe a little dryer. 

Bev decided to again make the chocolate lava cakes as they are easy and delicious - I was too full to eat any.  We rounded out the Irish meal with some Bailey's Irish Creme before and during dessert - I guess I just had my dessert in liquid form - that stuff sure goes down easy.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

One year ago:  Our St. Patrick’s Day Meal

Two years ago: Not Quite Bangers And Mash

Larry

3/17/2012  meal date

Cajun Bloody Mary Ala Marguerite

I’m a big Bloody Mary fan, but alas, a lazy one, so I usually start with Mrs. T’s Spicy Mix and doctor it to suit me.  This day however, I was waiting to go outside to bury a 30’ long piece of tubing for relocation of our propane tank and I decided a good Bloody Mary would be a nice bolster.

I knew I had no mix but was sure I’d saved a recipe from a blogger buddy and sure enough I had one for Cajun Bloody Mary’s from Marguerite, over at Cajun Delights.  You can check her site for the recipe.  I didn’t have the exact ingredients but close enough, except I couldn’t find any horseradish, and made it as follows for half of her recipe:

Cajun Bloody Mary - Adapted from Marguerite

8 oz Smirnoff vodka

32 oz. tomato juice – our homemade

1/2 tbs. Emeril’s Essence – homemade version – all I had on hand

1/2 tsp. steak sauce – we never use steak sauce but Bev had bought some Island Steak Sauce while in St Maarten and it tasted close enough.

1 Tbs. Tabasco worcestershire sauce – Just happened to have this and subbed for the regular worsey and Tabasco sauces

Juice of 1/2 lemon – I kept the full recipe amt. as I like mine lemony

1 tsp. green olive juice – I like this in mine and added a few olives to my glass as well

After tasting I thought it was good as is, but after having my first ever Bloody Mary with horseradish in a bar at Grand Targhee Ski Resort in Wyoming many years ago, I consider it a must ingredient.  I re-searched the kitchen fridge as well as the BBQ one in the garage and the one downstairs behind the bar, to no avail.  I thought there could only be one possible place – the dock fridge so off I went and there it was – yes we keep the appliance makers in business.  So I added

2 tsps. Horseradish

and now it was just right. 

Thanks Marguerite for a great recipe and it will be used again.  Now after two of them it’s off to bury the pipe.  Bev’s over at Ft. Bragg for a couple of weeks to look after the grands while Rhett trains and this is one of the jobs she left me.  As for the rest of the Bloody Mary's - I needed another bolster the next morning, but I can't remember why :-).

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

One year ago: Pit Beef Sandwich

Two years ago: Faux Jerky And Mustard At Last

Larry

A Visit With An Old Friend(s)

I’ve commented in the past about how easily I let go of relationships and I’m actually realizing I don’t like that about myself, so when I ran across an old friend, Jeni, from work on Facebook, I invited her down for a catch-up get together.  She advised she’d like to bring her significant other and we were so pleased when he turned out to be someone else we’d had worked with and was also a friend and Bev’s old boss, Ken.  It was such a pleasant surprise to get a two-for-one visit with old friends.

It was a gorgeous fall day so we decided to have it at the dock and I’d advised Jeni we’d provide a lite lunch – well you know how that goes.  Our original plan was for only Avocado and Shrimp Salad With Mango Dressing using the recipe from Lea Ann at Mangoes, Chili, and Z, which we’d had twice before.  Then Bev suggested we serve the salmon cakes we had in the freezer as an appetizer.  This was followed a day or two later with a desire to make a corn chowder recipe she’d seen in the paper.  And finally she advised we’d have to have some type of dessert, so a full blown lunch was at hand with:

Course 1 – Salmon cakes served on a bed of cheesy spinach with remoulade sauce

Course 2 – Corn chowder (I can’t believe she didn’t think of cornbread – I kept quiet)

Course 3 - Shrimp salad with Naan bread Ala Lea Ann

Course 4 – Ice cream topped with hot chocolate, whipped cream, and a cherry

For the salad, we followed LA’s recipe including the shrimp pot ingredients.  For large shrimp that I consider perfectly cooked, I bring the water to a boil, add the shrimp, top with a lid, turn off the heat, and set a timer.  After 7 minutes they go into an ice bath to stop the cooking.  The time can be varied a little for shrimp size.

Bev made the corn chowder starting with a recipe out of USA Weekend, from Pam Anderson of Three Many Cooks and adjusted it to suit her.  It was designed to be made without a dairy product but Bev decided it needed some.

Grilled Corn Chowder With Peppers And Cilantro

Adapted from Pam Anderson 

8 ears husked corn - 4 ears left whole and kernels cut from remaining ears and the cobs scraped to release juice

1 large onion - peeled and sliced ½” thick

½ red bell pepper - stemmed and seeded

½ green bell pepper - stemmed and seeded

1½ pounds potatoes - ½” slices

1½ Tbs - olive oil

To taste - salt and ground black pepper

8 slices bacon - chopped

1 tsp - dried thyme leaves

1 quart - chicken broth

2 Tbs - chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

1½ “ - Velveeta cheese, from regular size block

To taste - roasted garlic hot sauce

To taste - garlic powder

Brush the 4 ears of corn, onion, bell pepper and potatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Purée cut and scraped corn in a blender (you should have about 2 cups).

Heat gas grill, igniting all burners on high for at least 10 minutes, or build a hot charcoal fire.  Clean grate with a wire brush and lubricate with an oil-soaked rag.  Place vegetables on hot grate and cook until just tender about 10 minutes.  Cook corn until browned on all four sides.

Remove vegetables from grill; set aside until cool enough to handle.  Chop potatoes, peppers, and onions, and remove corn from cobs

Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large soup kettle over medium-high heat until crisp.  Add thyme and then corn purée; cook until it begins to bubble.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil; add vegetables, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until flavors blend, about 5 minutes.  Then add the cheese and when melted, taste and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and hot sauce.  Stir in cilantro, ladle into bowls, and garnish with cilantro leaves.  This is it in the pot.

We thought the soup was delicious and so did our guests – we ate nearly all of it.  One change Bev said she'd make is to omit the hot sauce and add a roasted jalapeno or two with the other veggies.

The shrimp salad was once again delicious and the heated chocolate topping on the ice cream was left from the Kaluha cake she made a while back – it was delicious this way.

We washed it down with a variety of liquids, including a few sips of Cherry Moonshine brought by Ken - it was pretty tasty.

We had a wonderful visit and promised to work harder to get together more often.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

One year ago: New Orleans – Day Six, French Market

Two years ago:  Black And Blue Salad

Larry

Peach Sangria Ala Beverly

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a shot of the Peach Sangria that Bev had made for a dinner party and a few folks asked for the recipe.  It took a while to get something resembling a recipe out of her as she had basically used two different recipes as a guide (but could only find one of them) then adjusted to her taste.  Sorry it took so long to get this up but this is as close as she could get.  Since it’s very much taste oriented, use this as a guide then doctor to suit you – for example this is half the syrup she used in her first batch and we liked the second one much better.

2 bottles white wine (she uses one sparkling and one regular)

Simple syrup (1/2 cup ea water and sugar)

1/2 cup vodka

1/4 peach brandy

3 Peaches

1 Apple – Granny Smith

½ Lemon –sliced - squeeze the juice in from the other half

½ Lime – sliced - squeeze the juice in from the other half

Hand full of blueberries

Mint leaf for garnish and flavor

Note - If you have peach vodka use it for the vodka and brandy.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

One year ago:  Berry Smoothie

Larry

New England Day 4 – No Big Plans

We talked about several options such as a drive around the area North of here, driving up Mt. Washington, going back to North Conway, etc. So we had a little breakfast, which was for me a couple of fried eggs atop some leftover fried potatoes we’d brought from WV.  We also decided a Bloody Mary would be good and while I usually put horseradish, celery salt, lemon, and olives in mine, we went with what we had – they were still right good.

So about 2:30pm, I woke Bev up from her nap, we got out of our bathrobes and walked the trail from the resort through the woods to the Saco River. After going hard for 6 days, an easy day hit the spot and got us ready for the final two days here and the long two day drive back to Almost Heaven South.

The trail, which turned out to be over a mile, wound around thru a beautiful wooded area and along the river – it’s a cross country ski trail in winter and can be even longer than we went. It’s a nice trail with many features such as a fishing pond and bear description.

It’s also a fitness trail with workout stations along the way.

It had a nice area for a picnic and swimming,

So long as you didn’t stray out too far as the water out around the gravel bar was really moving.  Here are a few shots of the river including a dad and kids rock hunting on the gravel bar.

We are in Birch woodlands as shown by this pretty clump – we’ve seen some places that are all Birch – like the western Aspens.

And for those who complain about those ugly cell towers, there is always this option - turn it into a tree.

After the walk, we got cleaned up and went to dinner at the nearby Red Parka Pub, where we shared a bowl of good clam chowder and I had baked haddock, which was also good, and Bev had stuffed shrimp which were just okay.

Then we went up in the mountains at dusk on a moose hunt but came back empty handed – fortunately we saw one on our way in the first night.

Finally, it was back to the resort and off to the hot tub – Bev’s a fan but it was way too hot for me so I drank wine while she boiled herself - I could have cooked a lobster in there.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

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

One year ago:  Using Up The Scallops

Larry