Friday Fish Day!  Fish Friday!  Fish Fry Friday! I don’t know if it’s all the Fs or if fish on Friday is a religious hold over, but fish on Fridays always sounds good to me.  Of course fish on any day sounds good to me.  Fresh fish in Montana is especially good, since it is such a treat.  So here I was, cruising the grocery store and what to my wandering eyes should appear?  Fresh catfish, no really….not previously frozen.  It was farm raised and not wild, but it was catfish and I love me some catfish. 

When McGyver and I lived near the (M-i-crooked lettered-crooked letter-i-crooked letter-crooked letter-i-hump back-hump back-i) Mississippi (sorry I always have to do that to make sure I spell it right) River, we used to ride our Harley’s down the River Road.  The Great River Road was developed in 1938 by the 10 governor’s of the states that bordered the Mississippi.  We would drive through Alton, IL (yes, Alton Brown did one of his Feasting on Asphalt trips through there, and pointed out that they are spelled the same but pronounced differently…consider me schooled), Grafton and then stop in Hardin.  There was this little mom and pop restaurant right along the river that served the best catfish ever!  Obviously they had excellent access. 

The owner would go around with a platter of whatever food he was interested in sharing (pulled pork, pie, pork chops, etc.) and let everyone sample a bite.  He knew his food was good and we’d come back for more.  We always said to ourselves next time we are getting the whatever, but we always ended up getting the catfish and sweet potato chips with the maple butter.  Guess since we only visited a few times a year, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to get anything else.

Seeing that little package of catfish just brought back all the great memories.  To top that off, I’ve had some bizarre craving for remoulade.  Certainly remoulade is no stranger to catfish, it was a match meant to be.

Personally I like my catfish fried in cornmeal.  I think it’s the way it should be.  Maybe it’s because the first time I ever had it, the catfish had this wonderful crunchy cornmeal crust.  Or maybe I’m just an old dog and I don’t want to learn a new trick. 

I mixed up my cornmeal with some spice after soaking the catfish in buttermilk.  Fried it up nice and crispy.  As you can see in the photo, my oil was just a wee bit hot when I put that first side down and it got a little dark.  Still yummy though.

 Before I made the catfish I prepared my remoulade so it would have a little time to sit and let all the flavors blend.

Coarsely chop up some onion, green onion, garlic, celery and parsley.  Put it all into a food processor or blender. 

Add to the blender, salt, pepper, cayenne, ketchup, prepared horseradish, yellow and Dijon mustard. Also add but not pictured, lemon juice and vegetable oil.

Blend it up.  Put it in a container and chill for 15 minutes or more.

Once that catfish is nice and crispy and golden (not black, or dark golden or dark brown), serve it with the best remoulade sauce you’ve ever had.

Memories and food, they always seem to go hand in hand with me.

Recipes

Remoulade 

Ingredients

1/4 c coarsly chopped onion

1/4 c green onion, chopped

1/8 c chopped celery

2 T lemon juice

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 tbs chopped garlic

1 tbs prepared horseradish

2 tbs dijon mustard

2 tbs ketchup

1 tbs chopped parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne

fresh ground pepper

Directions

Put all ingredients into a blender or food processor.  Mix until completed blended.  Wait at least 15 minutes before serving.

Fried Catfish

Ingredients

  1 lb catfish fillets

1 c buttermilk

1 c cornmeal

1 1/2 tbs Johnny’s seasoning salt

1/2 tsp cayenne

Vegetable oil for frying.

Directions

In a medium bowl, soak catfish fillets in buttermilk for 15 minutes.  Heat enough vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet to go up 1/4″ of the fillet.  The oil should get to about 350°, trust me, you’ll want to check or else.  Inn another dish, mix the cornmeal, seasoning salt and cayenne.  Remove the catfish from the buttermilk, one fillet out of time and coat with the cornmeal mixture.  Fry the fillet for about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fillet.

Note:  If you have a very thick fillet you may want to turn the oil down and cook for longer or finish it in the oven.

Italian beef.  It’s not beef from Italy.  It’s not even a recipe from Italy.  It’s not some American/Italian Nana’s secret family recipe.  The only thing that makes this beef Italian is the Italian dressing mix and peperoncinis (actually I was just reviewing my post and noticed that the peperoncinis are imported from Greece).   I also don’t think the Italian dressing mix is really Italian either, but I could be wrong.  I had my first exposure to Italian Beef at a work potluck about 7 years ago.  My friend AnaBanana brought it.  I loved it! Many good food discoveries come from a potluck (at least I think so).  I begged her for the recipe, she grudgingly shared it with.  Actually she was more than willing to share, evidently it was no secret, there in the Midwest.  Only people like me who aren’t from the Midwest don’t know how to make it. 

It is a great dish for a potluck, it is also a great dish for one very busy foodblogger who has 12 to 14 hour plus days planned all week.  I hate it when I’m so busy that my boys don’t get a decent meal.  They can cook, they both cook well, but given a choice they’d rather forage from the refrigerator or nuke something from the freezer.  Then I feel guilty, bad Mom, bad wife…..  It’s time like these that I turn to my crockpot, count on it to do my cooking and make sure there are leftovers.

I made a couple of modifications from the original recipe from AnaBanana. I added some beef broth to give the dipping juice better flavor and cut down on some of the acidity of the juice.  I like to top mine with some provolone cheese and run it under the broiler for a hot minute to make the cheese super melty.  Mmmmmm melty.

You won’t need much to get it started.  A chuck roast or any other kind, some beef broth, a jar of perponcinis and a packet of Italian salad dressing mix (you could substitute any Italian herb mix of your own).

Put it all in the crockpot and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.  You don’t even have to brown the meat!

When you come home you will feast your eyes on this!

Use two forks to shred the meat.  Shred it right in the pot, it’s easy, less clean up too.

Before serving…it’s a good idea to remove the stems from the peperoncini.  Unless you like to chew on stems, maybe you need more fiber?  Or not.

Butter and broil some hoagie buns or french rolls.  Load one half with Italian beef, cover with cheese and return to the broiler.  Broil until the cheese is nice and melty. Mmmmmmm melty.  Top with a couple of peperoncinis and serve with the juice.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 beef roast (any kind) up to 4 lbs

1 c. beef broth

1 package Italian Salad Dressing mix

1 jar peperoncinis

Sandwich rolls

Sliced cheese

Directions

Put the roast, broth, dressing mix and peperoncinis into a crockpot.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Shred the meat.  Butter and broil the sandwich rolls.  Top one half with the beef, cover with cheese and place back under the broiler until the cheese melts.  Top with some pepeoncinis and the other half of the roll.  Serve some of the liquid on the side for dipping.

This weekend McGyver is off hunting which means that the Baby boy and I get to have some quality time together.  For me, that means I get to cook and have my sous chef handy and for the Baby boy, that means that he gets to eat…his choice.  Friday after work, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up just a couple of things; on impulse I picked up a bag of ditalini.  I had a sudden impulse to have macaroni salad.  It happens that way sometimes.  I really wanted some but just didn’t have the energy by Friday night to make it. 

Truthfully, I was just in a mood.  Moody, moody, moody.  I was irritable and very emotional.  I was barely getting through the day when McGyver called and said “Hey, I’m getting off work early to go hunting, but I’d like to take you out to lunch first if you’d like”.  When couples work at different places and on different shifts, even though they are only two miles away from each other, they just don’t get to have lunch together.  Abso-F-ing-lutely, did I want to go to lunch with my hubby.  My day just suddenly got better.  See, that’s the thing when you are moody, it doesn’t take much to make your mood swing the other way. 

Only I ended up in meetings that lasted till 1:20 pm and we were supposed to have lunch at 12:00 pm.  So I ended up with a rain check, a telephone kiss good-bye and a promise that I’d see him in 4 days or so.  I cried.  Twice in our married lives we’ve been separated for a year (with a few conjugal visits of course), so 4 days is nothing.  But I was moody and it just didn’t sit well with me.  Instead of making macaroni salad, the Baby boy and I had leftover London broil turned into steak salad and ate it in front of the TV.  We watched a movie and than started watching the mini-series Shogun.  I hadn’t seen it since 1980 and he’s never seen it, course that was 14 years before he was born so whywould he have seen it?

Do you remember when they had mini series on TV?  Everyone would rearrange their lives so they wouldn’t miss one episode for like 6 to 8 weeks?  Who knew how long it would be before it came out on VHS?  Most people didn’t even own VHS or Beta Max then, you thought you might never get the chance to see it again!  Now I have it on DVD, and it’s paused while the Baby boy is at Scouts…it’s a different time.

But I digress.  Now that I have rambled on, and on, let’s get back to the Macaroni Salad.  The Baby boy went grocery shopping with me (which cost me an extra $100…), as we were in the store he says “I would love to have some macaroni salad”.  Deja Vu!  That cinched it, macaroni salad for dinner tonight!  There was just one caveat, it had to be Straight-Up Macaroni Salad.  In other words, mom, don’t get fancy.  It’s hard sometimes to rein that creative bone in, but it’s also nice to just stick to the basics.

I also got something new, yes I did.  For those of you who don’t live in the Northern areas of the world, you may not realize this; by winter it is dark by 4:30 pm.  No kidding.  Living in Montana is like living in Alaska except we don’t have polar bears and we get daylight for about 6 hours a day during the winter.  Big deal?  So it’s winter and it gets dark, it’s the natural order.  Only it doesn’t really work out for food photography.  But why TKW?  It turns out that the lights (usually tungsten) in the house give a yellow cast to food, even if you adjusted your white balance, very unappetizing.  So use flash, you say.  No, no, no, generally speaking, flash is too harsh for food, it makes it look so unnatural.  There are some flashes out there (read expensive) that can fool you, but nothing is as good as natural light. 

So what if you live in a tenee tiny little house, that is lined with giant trees that provide tons of shade and your house is dark by 4:30 pm because you live in the northern godforsaken dark winter region?  You grasp at straws, search the Internet and see what you can come up with.

The Baby boy loves to shop at a site called ThinkGeek.   Yes, the Baby boy is a geek, kind of nerdy but in a sweet way.  He bought be a teapot from there and I got a catalogue with it.  That’s where I spotted this:

Source

Uh huh, it’s a mini photo studio.  Don’t pay attention to the Star Trek Enterpise model featured in the photo….remember this is geared towards geeks.  It was only $49.95 for the 16×16 pop up white cube, two lights and a tripod that doesn’t really work with my camera.   But I ordered it anyways, I told you I was grasping at straws.  I got it this week and decided to give it a trail run.  The baby boy, put his camera on the included tri-pod and I decided to snap some pictures.  I thought I’d get this nice obscure white back ground, instead all the wrinkles and seams just popped out at me.  However, I did notice that the lighting was great!  Even with my dining room lights on, I was able to take a photo without a flash and get a nice natural color.

 I really didn’t like the wrinkles or seams.  So I tried it with a plate and an onion at different distances to see if I would be happier.

Better, but no.

Much better…I need to work on light placement…see the shadow.

The closer I got, the better it was.  I suppose if I had photo shop or something, I could make it look even better.  But I don’t have  it…I do have a birthday coming up though…no hint intended…..

I’ve read before (although I can’t remember where), that a lot of food photographers use scrapbook paper as back ground.  It’s cheap and you can have quite a variety.  My little photo studio came with some clips that Velcro to the pop up box.  I went to Michael’s and bought scrap-booking paper (in pads that were 40% off…went a little over board still), I experimented.  The paper was wrinkle free (so far), so it may work?

 The first paper I used was too bright and cast weird reflections and my lights needed to be moved around.

I decided to try something more subtle.  Actually, this is paper that wasn’t in a book, I just loved it so I bought a couple of single sheets.  The bottom is the same paper only reversed.

The results.  What do you think?

Showing the bottom paper.

I am already discovering that having two pieces of paper creates a distinctive line, so it’ll have to be one or the other.

Now that it is dark so early I’ve decided to cut down on my photos of prep work, so you’ll be seeing less photos but I promise that you will be seeing great recipes still.

Once again, I’ve rambled on….

While I was making the macaroni salad, I was also setting up the “photo studio”.

I didn’t stir my pasta.

I went to drain my pasta and it was suctioned onto the bottom of the pan.

I thought it made a nice pattern.

I took a picture.

It reminded me of those plastic art beads that you put together in a pattern and than iron them so they make a colorful shape.

I have more than one Christmas ornament made out of them, the plastic ones, not the pasta.

I only have pasta necklaces that I keep.

Per the Baby boys request:

Straight-Up Macaroni Salad

Ingredients

2 c. cooked small macaroni (I.e. ditalini, shells, elbow)

1/2 c mayonnaise

1 tbs yellow mustard

1/4 c. chopped celery

splash of white vinegar

pinch of sugar

salt and peper to taste

Directions

Boil pasta according to package directions.  Drain and rinse, let cool.  In a medium bowl mix pasta, mayonnaise, mustard, celery, vinegar and sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

That’s it, Straight-Up Macaroni salad, nothing fancy, just good!

When I made this it made me think of my daughter.   If you’ve ever visited Leah’s blog (which is sporting a cool new logo!) you would know that she luva, luva risotto, adores lemon and goes gaga for asparagus.  Let’s not forget about the wine, she loves that too.  I have to say that the apple does not fall far from the tree! 

Every now and then my grocery store gets *gasp* Meyer Lemons.  The last time I scored some I made lemon curd.  That conquered, I wanted to do something else.  A little rooting around and I came across this recipe, as mentioned before, it had all the buzz ingredients for me (and Leah). 

Ingredients

2 cups asparagus, washed, tough ends removed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
Zest of one Meyer lemon (or one regular lemon)
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 T. Meyer lemon juice (or regular lemon juice)
1 T. flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded or grated
2 T. mascarpone cheese (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

 Let’s tackle the asparagus.  To prep the asparagus start off by gently breaking the end of one piece of asparagus.  Use that piece as a guide and cut the rest of the bunch in approximately the same place.

Cut the asparagus into pieces.  At this point you could boil the asparagus but I like these nifty steam bags.  Follow the instructions on the bag for cooking times.

When the asparagus is done through some ice in the bag and add cold water to stop the cooking the process.

Know what I just did? 

1. Saved water by not boiling the asparagus.

2. Didn’t dirty a pan to cook it in.

3. Saved water by not having to wash the pan.

4. Didn’t dirty a bowl to stop the cooking process.

5.  Saved water by not having to wash the bowl.

Now that I did my part to save the world let’s heat up the stock in a medium sauce pan.  Do not boil but keep in warm.  This is very important boys and girls.

A little prep work to make things go smoothly later.

Zest you lemon, dice the shallots.

Heat up a dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pan.  Over medium heat add the oil and butter.

Once the butter is melted add the shallots and cook for 1 minute.  Then add the rice.

And the lemon zest.

Add the wine, good thing it only takes a cup…leaves plenty for me!  Cook stirring frequently, until the wine is absorb.  About 3 minutes should do it.

Then in slow increments start adding the warm stock one cup at a time.  Make sure you stir the rice after adding each cup and ensure that all the liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup.

You’ll be hanging out at the stove for 20 – 25 minutes.  Don’t worry there is plenty of wine left to drink.

Once all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente.  Juice the lemon and add it to the rice.

Chop some parsley and add.

Now for the super duper creamy part.  Add the mascarpone cheese.  Stir until it is well blended.

Add some salt and pepper, however much suits you.  Then add the Parmesan.  I went a bit lazy and bought some of this stuff.

Lastly, add the asparagus.  Gently mix and serve it up.

Now tell me that doesn’t look good! 

I wish you could taste how creamy and delightful the risotto is.  It has creamy rice, crisp asparagus, tangy lemon and did I mention it was creamy and delicious?

Risotto takes a little work but it is oh so worth it.

The original recipe came from here.

Ingredients:
2 cups asparagus, washed, tough ends removed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
Zest of one meyer lemon (or one regular lemon)
1/2 cup dry white wine
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 T. meyer lemon juice (or regular lemon juice)
1 T. flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded or grated
2 T. mascarpone cheese (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Optional garnish: thin strips of lemon zest and/or extra Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Fill a large skillet or a small saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus pieces and cook for 2 minutes. While the asparagus cooks, prepare an ice bath (a large bowl of cold water and ice.) Remove the cooked asparagus to the ice bath to quickly stop the cooking. Set aside.

In a medium pot, bring the chicken or vegetable stock to a simmer. Keep hot, but do not allow it to boil.  In a large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add the shallots. Cook for 1 minute. Add the rice and lemon zest. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes.  Add the wine and stir until absorbed.

Begin adding the hot stock in small increments, waiting for each addition of stock to be almost completely absorbed before adding more. (Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to stir risotto constantly. You just need to stir it after each addition of stock and then occasionally between additions. Don’t go too far away, but don’t be afraid to leave the stove. Last night I unloaded the dishwasher while making my risotto, staying close enough to stir the risotto every couple of minutes.) This process should take about 20 to 25 minutes. The risotto is ready when all of the broth has been absorbed and the rice is tender but still has a small bite to it.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, parsley, and mascarpone cheese (if using).  Drain the asparagus and stir it into the risotto.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately, garnished with lemon zest or extra cheese, if desired.

Serves 3 to 4 as an entrée, 6 to 8 as a side dish.

If you ask me what my favorite cookie is, I’d have an easy answer.  No not anything chocolate, not any of the classics like chocolate chip, peanut butter, ginger snaps, nope not even an oatmeal raisin cookie.  Not exactly an oatmeal raisin but close.  I was stationed at McChord AFB in Washington State when craisins hit the market in 1993.  I was a huge fan of cranberry juice I also detested raisins but I loved oatmeal raisin cookies.  I used to pick out the raisins and just eat the oatmeal cookie part.  Then along came these shriveled up and sweetened cranberries.  I tried, I liked!

On the back of the craisin package was a recipe for oatmeal craisin white chocolate chunk cookies.  My love of oatmeal cookies and my growing love for craisins had me falling for this recipe hook, line and sinker.   After a few years of making this recipe verbatim I decided one day to add some chopped macadamia nuts.  My favorite cookie was born!

Start off by creaming the butter and brown sugar.

Add the eggs and mix well.

In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients.             

Add them to the creamed mixer and mix until blended.  The dough will be quite thick.

Add those lovely little wrinkly sweet bits  (could be describing myself except for the little part). 

I added white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts.

Back in the 90′s I actually had to chop my own nuts, now I can buy them that way, can we say spoiled!

I like to use a scooper to measure out my dough.

Have I ever told you that parchment paper is the best invention ever, at least when I’m baking cookies…. 

Because the cookie dough is so thick I press my dough down, otherwise the cookies look more like meatballs….

Bake and eat warm.

 Here’s the original recipe from Ocean Spray with a few addition/deletions from me.

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened [please, please, please don't use margarine]
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-ounce package Ocean Spray® Craisins® Original Dried Cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

[1/2 c chopped macadamia nuts]

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and [chopped macadamia nuts].

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls or using a measured scooper place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received coupons for free Fresh Express salad.  I was so excited to get free salad, a side benefit of being a food blogger.  I wasn’t excited just because the salad was free, it’s also my favorite brand (shameless plug), seriously, it is.  Getting certain fresh greens in Montana is not usually possible, especially things like baby romaine and tango.  My life would be a boring mix or romaine, iceberg and leaf lettuce.

I really enjoy salad with fruit in it, but I don’t like my salad to be cloyingly sweet.  Although my favorite dressings are usually creamy (read Blue Cheese, creamy Caesar, etc) they are too heavy for fruit.  Typically most salads with fruit have dressings that are too sweet or to vinegary.  I’m so picky, I know.  Actually I’m not, but I do know what I like and don’t like.  If you can’t get what you like, than make it yourself.  I surfed the net and cookbooks and didn’t come up with anything that seemed to be what I was looking for.  A little experimenting and I finally came up with a slightly sweet and somewhat creamy dressing.  Using all fruit seedless preserves and balancing it with vinegars, Cabernet wine and mustard gave me exactly what I was looking for.  I actually think that this is the best dressing I have ever made.  Best non-white and creamy dressing, to be exact!

It was so simple to make.  All the dressing ingredients went into my mini processor, a quick whiz and it was ready.  I opened a bag of Fresh Express Spring Mix salad, sprinkled it with fresh raspberries and blackberries.  Thinly sliced a shallot, crumbled some feta and a drizzle of the Raspberry Cabernet dressing, fresh ground pepper and heaven.  Seriously, heaven!

It’s a perfect starter.  I served it with some prosecco with a blackberry and a raspberry dropped in the glass.

It was only me, myself and I.  And it was only 1:00 pm but it was a Sunday, so it’s okay.

It is okay isn’t it?

It was so wonderful.  Did you know that prosecco isn’t good left over?  It’s a well known fact.  I may or may not have had it all before the end of the night….

Wouldn’t want to be wasteful.

The Recipe

• 1/3 c seedless raspberry preserves
• ¼ c canola oil
• 4 tsp champagne vinegar
• 4 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbs Cabernet wine
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• ½ tsp oregano
• 1 5oz Fresh Express Spring Mix salad
• 1 Shallot, sliced
• 6 oz raspberries
• 6 oz blackberries
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• Fresh ground black pepper

In a med bowl, blender or processor add the preserves, oil, vinegars, wine, mustard and oregano. Whisk or blend until all the ingredients are combined and the dressing is emulsified.

Plate your greens, top with raspberries, blackberries, sliced shallot and crumbled feta cheese.  Add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Fajita Marinade.  Is the a fajita about the marinade?  I’ve had just plain grilled meat, seasoned meat, marinated meat, stove top fried, broiled and grilled meat.  It seems to me that a fajita is more about serving some meat in a tortilla with some cooked veg and lots of condiments.  Which is one reason why I don’t ever order them when I go out for Mexican food.  The second reason I never order these babies is because they are soooo easy to make, I just can’t seem to bring myself to spend the money at a restaurant that will only produce some sizzling meat and veg with a bunch of condiments. 

For me a good fajita is all about a good marinade.  It’s what breaks or breaks a good fajita.  My marinade is particularly good for pork, chicken and shrimp and not just for fajitas.  I especially love this marinade because it has a nice fresh flavor.  Add the meat to a truck load of grilled veg and I’m heaven…skip the sour cream, forget the guacamole, I want mine straight up meat and grilled veg swaddled in a nice warm tortilla.  Of course you are welcome to pile on whatever blows your skirt up.  Before the snow comes, make yourself some fajitas and enjoy the last bit nice grilling weather we have.

 Ingredients

•  1/2 c olive oil
• 1/3 c white wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
• 2 tbs steak seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning)
• 1 lime, juice and zest
• 1/4 c cilantro, chopped
• 2 1/2 to 3 lbs pork, chicken, or shrimp

Directions

Measure your EVOO in a 2 cup measuring cup.

 Add the white wine vinegar.

 Then comes the steak seasoning.

 Zest your lime and add to the measuring cup.

 Juice the lime and add to the measuring cup.

 Chop the cilantro, throw that into your measuring cup also.

 Press the garlic.  Right into the measuring cup if you like.

 Mix it up.  Right in that measuring cup.  I’m all about minimal dirty dishes!

 In a large ziploc bag add the meat.

 Then pour the marinade over it and squish it around so it coats all the meat.  

 Squeeze the air out.  Marinade for 30 minutes at room tempurature if you are in a hurry (if you are marinating shrimp, keep it refrigerated) or up to 6 hours in the refrigerator.

 I prefer to grill mine.  You certainly can cook in a cast iron pan.  I used a pork scallopini cut so I could grill quickly.

 I like to cut up my peppers and onions and cook them in a cast iron skillet on the grill.  This allows me to stay at the grill and watch my meat.  Sometimes a grill the veggies by halving them and coating them with a little olive oil, then slicing them up just before serving.  But I have found that they cool too quickly and I like mine piping hot.   I get them started while the meat is marinating.

 Once cooked,  slice into strips. 

Go on, you know you want some! 

Pssst, I have a secret, if you leave all the condiments off of them, they are actually healthy!

Life is an amazing thing.  So many things happen in life time, some good, some not so good.  And sometimes the unexpected happens, sometimes it’s good, and sometimes not so good.  Last weekend my boss found out that her husband of 32 years had cancer, his only symptoms were recent migraines.  By Tuesday night he was gone.  Times like this can’t help but make you reflect of the fragility of life, how sweet it is to be alive and how lucky you are not to have to suffer something so unexpectedly bad.

In difficult times, friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and sometimes people you don’t even know that well, rally together to support the ones hurting.  Food and flowers are the iconic show of support and sorrow.  For cooks, we jump in with both feet and get to immediate work.  We know the ones hurting don’t feel like doing anything, it’s all they can do to just cope.  For me, I couldn’t make just another casserole or crock pot meal.  I knew it had to comfort food, if nothing else but to help a small part of the soul be soothed.  Maybe just for a moment, the soul could be lost in the bliss of enjoying food, lost in the kind of comfort that only certain foods can bring.

I planned homemade macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, garlic rosemary roasted chicken, dinner rolls and a garden salad, plus some kind of dessert.  With my lofty menu, I needed a dessert that required no cooking.  Like holidays, when you prepare a big feast for a crowd, stove top and oven become prime property.  I wandered the grocery store looking for inspiration.  I found it in the frozen section, as in, buy a frozen dessert and call it good.  But I just couldn’t do it.  I’m not a dessert/baker person but I knew there wasn’t a lot of comfort in Mrs. Smiths.

Across from the frozen pies, was the ice cream.  That’s when it came to me.  Ice Cream Pie.  Bette is a choco-holic, no brainer here, let’s go with chocolate.  When I think of yummy chocolate favorites, Turtles, come to mind.  Something about chocolate, nuts and caramel that just seem to work!  Speaking of work, I really needed my pie to have minimal work with maximum comfort impact.  Amazingly enough, just a walk down a couple isles and I was able to assemble an awesome pie that required almost no work.

Ingredients

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust, I used the deep dish version.
• 1/4 c caramel sauce, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 quart Chocolate Almond Fudge ice cream (or another of your choice)
• 1 120z container, non-dairy whipped topping
• 1/4 c glazed walnut or pecan pieces, chopped
• 1/4 c mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings

Directions

Pour 1/4 cup caramel sauce over the bottom of a graham cracker crust.  Gentle spread it to cover the bottom of the crust.  Warning, the bottom of the crust sticks to the caramel sauce so it’s very easy to disturb the crust….hence the carefully placed spoon for the photo!

While, you run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off preparing multiple dishes, your ice cream should be softened.  I think mine set out about an hour.  Spread the ice cream over the top of the caramel sauce, filling the pie crust 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up.

Place it in the freezer and leave it for about in hour.  This will give you more time to frantically work on other dishes.

Once it is nice and firm, spread the non-dairy whipped cream over the top.  I didn’t bother making the topping smooth, I wanted it have a homey feel to it.  Plus have you ever tried to make this stuff smooth, I don’t have the patience for it anyways.

I popped it back in the freezer so it wouldn’t lose it’s fluffiness once I put the caramel sauce on.

When I took it out of the freezer, I realized the top was too firm for my nuts and chocolate chips.  They would just roll off.  In retrospect I would have added my nuts and chocolate chips and then refroze.  Instead, a few minutes out in my hot kitchen and I felt like I could add some toppings.

A healthy sprinkling of glazed nuts and super adorable chocolate chips and this pie was almost ready.

Next I drizzed the top with caramel sauce in a lattice fashion.  I discovered I’m not a good drizzler….drooler yes, drizzler, no.

The pie is a stunner, if I do say so myself (even with my uneven drizzling).  I’ve got it on good authority that the pie taste wonderful too.

Dedicated to Gale Miller and the Sweet Life here on Earth and the Sweet Life afterwards.