I don’t want to say goodbye to summer just yet.  I love the season of grilling, fresh veggies, sweet and juicy fruits, and trying new combinations.  Here’s my latest concoction  – Hawaiian Rib eye Salad.  The steak can be grilled outside or inside on a griddle.  Bacon and fresh pineapple add a wonderful twist.  And the salad can be served in a pineapple half for a festive occasion. 

• 1 pound of rib eye steaks (2-3 steaks typically make a pound)
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 6-8 pieces cooked, crumbled bacon (save drippings)
• 1 cup fresh cut up pineapple (Cut whole pineapple into halves and hull out the pineapple flesh.  Save pineapple hulls for serving)
• Fresh salad greens
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1 Tablespoon toasted coconut
• Vinegrette Dressing or Kraft Asian Sesame Dressing

Mix together the ginger, garlic salt, and pepper.   Rub ribeyes with seasonings.  Preheat an  iron griddle over medium high heat.  Add 1-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil to the griddle, then add steaks.  Cook steaks 2-3 mintues on each side, or until desired doneness is acheived.  Remove meat from griddle and cut steak into 1″ pieces.  Return steak to hot griddle along with the crumbled bacon and pineapple.  Drizzle a Tablespoon of bacon drippings over meat and pineapple.  Stir fry mixture for 1-2 minutes.  Remove mixture from griddle. 

Add lettuce or spinach greens to hulled pinapple halves.  Spoon steak, bacon, and pineapple onto lettuce bed.  Add bell pepper peices.  Garnish with toasted coconut and slivered almonds.  Serve with any vinegrette dressing or Kraft Asian Sesame dressing.

Thanks De for this fantastic recipe.  These Garlic Cheddar Biscuits taste a lot like the ones Reb Lobster serves in their bread basket.  Good thing my oven is on the blink, else I’d be baking more of these.  And they would head straight for my hips!

• 2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 3/4 cup cold whole milk or half-n-half
• 4 Tablespoons cold butter (1/2 stick)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 heaping cup grated cheddar cheese ( I used sharp)
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted ( for basting tops of biscuits after baking)
• 1/4 dried parsley flakes (for basting tops of biscuits after baking)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder ( for mixing with basting butter for tops of biscuits)
•  Pinch of salt

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine flour with cold butter in medium bowl using pastry cutter or a large fork. Don’t mix to throughly.  There should be small chunks of butter about the size of peas remaining.  Add cheddar cheese, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic.  Mix by hand until combined, but don’t over mix.  Drop approximately 1/4 cup portions of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet using ice     cream scoop.   Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.   While biscuits are baking, melt 2 tablespoons butter in the    microwave.  Stir in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and the dried parsley flakes.  Use a brush to baste biscuits as soon as they are removed from oven. Serve while HOT!

Makes one dozen biscuits.  

Left over biscuits can be wrapped in wet paper towel and microwaved for 30 seconds.  They soften up nicely.

I admit I was a bit skeptical about cooking fish on a plank of cedar wood.  But I bought a couple of cedar planks and some salmon and gave it a try, just for my Taracooks readers.  This salmon was the most savory salmon I’ve ever tasted!  And it passed the family test too.  Although fresh salmon would probably turn out even better, I bought some wild caught Alaskan frozen salmon at Kroger when it was on sale BOGOF!

• 1-cedar plank
• 4 salmon fillets (approximately 6 oz each)
• 2-3 Tablespoons melted butter
• 2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons Ancho chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Soak cedar plank(s) in water for 1 hour prior to cooking salmon. 

If using frozen filets, thaw salmon according to package directions.  Preheat grill to 350 degrees.  Combine brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl.  Melt butter and brush onto fillets.  Rub fillets with dry rub mix.

When salmon has been prepared with butter and rub, place EMPTY, wet plank in grill and close lid.  Let plank heat for 3 minutes.  Using long tongs, turn plank over, then place rubbed salmon filets onto plank.  Close grill and cook for 12-15 minutes or until salmon is fully cooked.  Remove planked salmon from grill and serve immediately.  Serve with drizzled honey if desired.

My man took care of the grilling and he smelled so yummy – cedar and charcoal and fish!

Printable Recipe

Cedar Planked Smoked Salmon

Here’s a quick recipe that is a family favorite here at home.  To avoid MSG, I used mostly organic ingredients, and olive for sautéing. Chicken Lettuce Wraps end up being healthier choice than Chinese takeout.

• 1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• ½ teaspoon Ground Red Pepper
• ¼ teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (divided)
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts – diced
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup chopped cashews (optional)
• ½ cup chopped water chestnuts (optional)
• 8-10 leaves of Romaine or Greenleaf lettuce, washed and dried

Combine rice vinegar, brown sugar, ground red pepper, ginger, sesame oil, and 2 Tablespoons of the soy sauce in a small bowl.  Whisk to mix and dissolve the brown sugar.   Set aside.

In a wok or large skillet, add 2-3 Tablespoons of Olive Oil or Coconut Oil.  Turn heat to medium high and add diced chicken.  Cook chicken 4-5 minutes until chicken is slightly brown.  Remove chicken from skillet or wok.  Add 1 Tablespoon oil to skillet, and then add diced onion, garlic, and remaining soy sauce.  Sautee onions, garlic with soy sauce for one minute.  Add browned chicken, liquid mixture, cashews, and water chestnuts.  Sautee all ingredients for another minute.

Serve over lettuce leaves alongside some home fried rice.

Printable Recipe

Chicken-Lettuce-Wraps

Saturday mornings are special to our family.  We get to sleep late and eat a lazy breakfast on the back porch during the summer. Breakfast often consists of home made buttermilk pancakes. With Tennessee peaches ripe for harvest, why not whip up some fresh cream, slice some fresh peaches, make a batch of your favorite pancakes, and create some MAPLE PEACH SYRUP!?! You gotta try this for breakfast or brunch real soon, while the peaches are ripe and sweet.

To make Maple Peach Syrup puree in blender or Magic Bullet:

• 2 cups fresh or frozen peaches sliced and diced
• 2 cups real Maple Syrup

Puree peaches and syrup until mixture is smooth. Pour mixture into a medium skillet or sauce pan. Heat mixture over medium-medium high heat.  Let mixture boil slightly for 2-3 minutes stirring frequently.  Remove Maple Peach Syrup from heat and serve over warm pancakes. Top pancakes with fresh peaches and real whipping cream, and more Maple Peach Syrup!  Have a PEACHY day!

Every southern gal needs a tasty BBQ sauce recipe and I created this one last weekend upon the request of a friend. (Hi Brenda!) Why buy the mass produced, store bought sauce loaded with chemicals, when you can toss a few spices and other ingredients together in a sauce pan, heat the ingredients a couple of minutes, and have some of the sweetest, sassiest, most tongue tantalizing  BBQ sauce ever?  It’s that easy!

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoons Onion Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika
• 1 teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder
• ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• ½ teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 teaspoon Celery Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/3 cup Vinegar
• ½ cup Ketchup
• 1 cup Frank’s Chili Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Crystals
• 1 can Tomato Puree

In saucepan stir together the sugar and all the dry ingredients.  In a bowl combine  all the liquid ingredients.  Whisk to blend the liquid ingredients, then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Cook over low heat until brown sugar dissolves.  Makes about 3 cups.  Store covered in refrigerator.  Use on poultry, pork, or even beef.

Peach Lemonade is a refreshing way to beat this Tennessee heat.  The peaches are ready to harvest around here.  Saturday I whipped up some peach lemonade,with fresh peaches and real lemons, and it was all gone by nightfall.  It was a hit here at home!

• 2 cups peach puree (from fresh or frozen peaches)
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice  (about 12 lemons)
• 2 cups sugar
• cold water

Puree fresh or frozen peaches in a Magic Bullet or a blender.  Pour peach puree into a gallon pitcher, add lemon juice, sugar, and stir until sugar is dissolved.  Then fill pitcher with cold water and ice.  Find a happy place to sit a spell, prop up your feet, relax and sip peachy lemonade.

This recipe can easily be halved to make 1/2 gallon.

I just love new kitchen gadgets that are worth the space they take up in my cabinets.  I recently bought some FIRE WIRE skewers with my birthday money.  I first saw them at Williams-Sonoma, but they ran out before the 4th of July.
So I found them at Kroger on summer clearance recently for $6.99.

I LOVE them for several reasons.  First the meat and veggies were so much easier to skewer than the traditional bamboo ones. Also, I did not puncture a single finger with these wire ones.  I always do that with the wooden ones.  These flexible skewers are also convenient to use.

I was able to put the loaded skewers into gallon size Zip-Lock bags, add the marinade, and place in a cooler for our camping trip.

For these K-Bobs, I used Kraft Asian Sesame dressing to marinade all the skewers.  I marinaded them overnight, but a few hours would work well too.  Then the skewers went onto the charcoal grill for about 30 minutes, until the chicken was well done.  WOW they were yummy and so easy to make!  So what is on your next back yard cookout menu??

Asian Sesame Kabobs

Nothing says SUMMERTIME better than home made ice cream right? I have happy, but hot summertime memories from my childhood. We didn’t have A/C until I was 7 years old. We lived in the country near my grandmother. She didn’t have A/C either. But I remember cookouts, and watermelon, cold Double Cola in a glass bottle, and home made ice cream Grandmother would serve to cool us down. Then the family would play croquet until the fire flies appeared and the sun went down. Not only was Grandmother the master cook, but also a wicked croquet player. I don’t recall her ever losing a game of croquet.

In honor of all that Grandmother means to me, I give you Key Lime Pie Ice Cream.

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ¼ cups key lime juice
• 1 Tablespoon key lime zest
• 1 quart half and half

Beat cream until thickened; gradually add sugar beating until soft peaks form.  Add condensed milk and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in lime juice, zest, and half and half. Pour mixture into freezer container of a 1 gallon electric ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

While ice cream is freezing – mix together in medium bowl:

• 1/3 box Honey Graham Crackers – crushed in blender or by hand
• 1 stick melted butter

In my opinion, the graham cracker mixture makes this ice cream extra special.  I have added the graham cracker/butter mixture to the ice cream freezer during the last 5-10 minutes of the freezing process.  Sometimes I have forgotten to add the graham crackers until after the ice cream was completely frozen – so I sprinkled some mix on top. But the BEST way to serve Key Lime Pie ice cream is to have the crackers both IN the ice cream AND ON TOP. Yum!  (If a firmer texture is desired, transfer ice cream to an air tight container and freeze for 2 hours or until firm).

Printable Recipe

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Download Adobe Reader

A few weeks ago, I posted my great grandmother’s recipe for shortcake.  My mom would make shortcake and serve it one of two ways – either smothered with hot fudge sauce or topped with sweetened strawberries and cream.  The shortcake was such a hit here with our kids, I’ve created a lemon shortcake and served it with fresh blackberries.  You will have to try all the varieties and tell me which way is your favorite!

Lemon Shortcake:

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 stick real butter – softened
• 2 whole eggs slightly beaten
• 1 cup buttermilk
• zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 2 lemons

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, soda, and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Add butter, eggs, and buttermilk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Mix by hand or with a mixer on low speed until blended. Do not overbeat.  Pour into a greased/floured 9×13 pan. Bake at 300 degrees 25-30 minutes or until shortcake is golden brown. 

Blackberry topping:

• 1 quart fresh blackberries
• 1 cup sugar
• juice of one lemon

Partially crush or puree fresh berries, leaving a few whole berries for garnish.  Add sugar and lemon juice.  Mix well and refrigerate 1-2 hours.  Serve berries over warm shortcake with ice cream.  Garnish with whole berries.