Recipe

Recipe: Easy Tamale Pie

August 6, 2012 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

I’ve come to the realization that so many of my recipes are not very “chefy” despite calling myself a Barenaked Chef. But when you have 2 children and a busy day, it’s hard to pass off foie gras as a dinner choice. So, I offer you, yet again, a comfort food recipe. Not fancy, but yummers.

Easy Tamale Pie

4-6 Servings

ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
11 ounces Mexican-style corn, drained
8 ounces tomato sauce
4 ounces chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6 ounces mexican style cornbread mix

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. In large skillet, brown ground beef, onion and garlic over medium high heat until meat is brown and onion is tender; drain. Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in corn, tomato sauce, green chilies, chile powder and salt. Remove from heat.
2 In small bowl beat sour cream and egg until well blended. Stir in 1 cup cheese. Combine sour cream mixture with ground beef mixture. Spoon into lightly greased 9×13 pan.
3 In medium bowl, prepare corn bread mix according to package directions. spread corn bread batter ovedr casserole. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, 30 minutes or until heated through and corn bread topping is golden brown. serve warm.

Recipe

Recipe: The Lady and Sons’ Chicken Fingers

August 1, 2012August 1, 2012 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

Let me tell you something: These chicken fingers are the best I’ve ever made. Ever. I will admit to not making them often, but I know a good chicken finger when I bite into it, and this one fits the bill. Yes, it’s Paula’s recipe. No, it isn’t diet food. Hush and eat a salad tomorrow.

ingredients

16 chicken tenders or 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 4 equal strips
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups buttermilk
3 cups self-rising flour
peanut oil or lard 3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice or 1 tablespoon juice form 1/2 a lemon
horseradish, to taste

directions

1. Sprinkle flour with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Dredge chicken in flour, dip into buttermilk and back into flour.

2. Preheat oil to 350 degrees. Fry fingers in deep hot oil 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with honey mustard for dipping.

3. Honey mustard dressing:

Combine all remaining ingredients together except the lemon juice and stir well. Thin to pouring with lemon juice. Store in refrigerator.

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Recipe

Recipe: Yummy Fruit Pizza

July 27, 2012 Suzanne Strength2 Comments

Summer is here and all of those beautiful fresh fruits are just beckoning us to make something yummy! This little recipe is simple as can be and my little chef had the best time assembling and then decorating it. I love recipes that are kid friendly!

Yummy Fruit Pizza

ingredients

1 (16 1/2 ounce) package Pillsbury sugar cookie dough
1 (8 ounce) package Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons milk
2 kiwi fruits
1 banana
5 strawberries (any other fruits you would like to add also)

directions

Roll out cookie dough flat onto a prepared greased cookie sheet. Bake by instructions. Mix with a mixer cream cheese, powdered sugar, and milk. Spread this on top of cooled cookie. Slice all fruits as thick as you like. Drop randomly, or you can decorate with your toppings. Chill or serve immediately.

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Recipe

Recipe: Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

July 23, 2012 Suzanne Strength1 Comment

I’ve been seeing these little gems floating around Pinterest for a while now and I finally got around to trying them. I didn’t expect much, I’m not much of a muffin person, but these were so incredible. They were very moist, and packed with huge flavors! I wish I’d doubled the recipe. I saved what few we didn’t gobble in the fridge and warmed them in the microwave the next morning and they were still wonderful.

ingredients

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup pepperoni
1/2 cup pizza sauce (to serve with Pizza Puffs)

directions

Preheat the oven to 375.
Grease 24-cup mini-muffin pan.In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning, and salt.
Whisk in the milk and egg. Stack slices of pepperoni and cut into small pieces.
Stir in mozzarella, Parmesan, and pepperoni. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups.
Bake until puffy and golden, about 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the pizza sauce until warmed through. Serve the sauce with the Pizza Puffs for dipping.

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*Adapted from Plain Chicken

Recipe

Recipe: Mop and Marinade Sauce

July 14, 2012 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

Summertime means Grilling Time! With this recent heat wave we’ve experienced (112 says my car!) I can’t see turning on the oven for anything. It just heats up the entire house and my air conditioner runs non-stop as it is. Time to fire up the grill! This marinade is sweet and tangy and is perfect with pork. It can also be used for beef and even chicken. Even more important: I have each of these ingredients in my pantry on any given day. Try it tonight if you are stumped on what to do with that bare pack of meat. Original recipe from Boomette

Mop and Marinade Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon ground rosemary

Directions

Mix all ingredients and pour over meat as marinade, or use as a mopping sauce on ribs or pork tenderloin, basting fresquently on the grill.

Print this recipe here: Mop and Marinade Sauce

Gastonia · Places

Places: Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens

June 27, 2012December 13, 2012 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

Most of the fun places I get to go are as a result of some class trip. This one made me sad that I didn’t get to walk it before the wreck. I can’t tell you how truly beautiful this place was, and most of it I had to experience through these pictures, but that’s better than not experiencing it at all, huh? We went in spring, so the flowers were blooming beautifully:

Here are some pictures from the grounds. It was really a beautiful and peaceful place.

Recipe

Mama Iuliucci’s Famous Meat-A-Balls

June 5, 2012 Suzanne Strength1 Comment

Mama Iuliucci’s Famous Meat-A-Balls

Sometimes you want a recipe that you just look in the pantry to make. Late nights when you don’t want to deal with fancy ingredients, short weeks when you are trying to stretch your budget, or…tonight? I had all of these ingredients in the fridge or pantry. Plus, these little guys are delicious. I made a ton and froze about 3/4 of them and they were still delicious after having been in my freezer. You can’t ask for more than that from your meatball, folks.

ingredients

2 lbs lean ground beef
8 -10 slices white bread, broken into small 1/2 inch pieces (or you can use rolls or any stale bread you have and want to use up)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (or to taste)
2 teaspoons parsley flakes (or to taste)
1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or Locatelli)
1 -2 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
olive oil (for frying) or vegetable oil (for frying)

directions

Mix all ingredients gently in a large bowl until well combined.
Roll meatballs 1 1/2- 1 3/4″ in diameter.
Heat about 1/4″ of oil over medium heat in a large frying pan.
Fry meatballs in oil, rolling frequently, until evenly browned and juices run clear.
Drop meatballs in your favorite sauce and let simmer for awhile to flavor sauce or just serve with your favorite pasta and sauce.

notes

You can also bake or broil these if the frying part is too much of a hassle– I use my broiler pan if I bake them, so the fat drips down and away from the meatballs.

New York City · Restaurants

Baked by Melissa in NYC

June 1, 2012 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

So I mentioned yesterday that the hubs went to NYC and brought us back 2 boxes of cupcakes. This be the second box. And the best box. Sorry, Magnolia Bakery.

Here’s the difference, the cupcakes Baked by Melissa are tiny little morsels, about the circumference of a quarter. But they pack a ton of flavor into that bite. The box we got was a nice mixture of differing flavors, and each of us had our favorites.

The flavors we were brought were (left to right, top to bottom):

Cookies and Cream & Mint Chocolate Chip

Cookie Dough & Cinnamon

S’mores & Chocolate Chip Pancake

I cannot believe he didn’t bring us 5 boxes. They were so amazing, so moist and such flavor packed in those tiny bites. I might fly up to New York myself to get them soon.

New York City · Restaurants

Magnolia Bakery in NYC

May 29, 2012 Suzanne Strength3 Comments

Hubby had to go to Jersey for business a month ago and wandered into NYC for the night. God love him, he didn’t bring us home Hard Rock Cafe Tshirts, nor mini figurines of the Statue of Libery…he brought us cupcakes. From two famous eateries in New York City that I’ve only dreamed of visiting. This one I’m reviewing is Magnolia Bakery. Now that is a good man.

This store that had its humble beginnings as an old-fashioned coffee and bake shop in Greenwich Village has now expanded its number to eight.

My hubs brought back vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream. They were about $3 each, a steal. This cake was moist yet dense and had just the right hint of vanilla bean. The buttercream was purely sinful, made with real butter and just enough cocoa to make it chocolatey but not too much so. I gave the vanilla on vanilla to my mom and sister and they declared it delectable as well. Next time we visit NYC, I’m going to go out on a limb with some of their Specialty flavors!

Gastonia · Restaurants

Thai House in Gastonia, NC

May 25, 2012March 2, 2015 Suzanne StrengthLeave a comment

Thai food is considered exotic…by me. It’s not that I don’t want to venture out of my culinary comfort zone, it’s that in my little burg there aren’t that many opportunities to do so. When I go to Thai House, the names of the dishes are in Thai (exotic!) but each is explained in perfect English.

We start our meal off with a delicious Thai concoction known as Thai Tea. It should be dessert, it is so decadent and sweet, but they bring it straight away to your table. It’s a strong black Thai tea mixed with a sweetened condensed milk, steeped with spices like anise and ginger. Incredible!

Tom Yum soup is an old standby. This one is similar to others I’ve eaten, the broth sour and spicy. This one was a little bit watery and not as great as the one I’ve had at Eez Fusion. This one was full of shrimp, chunks of mushrooms, tomatoes, lemon grass and flavored with lime juice. It was topped with chopped chives and cilantro leaves.

The Spring Rolls are magnificent here. They are chock full of chicken, cabbage, carrots, clear noodles then encased in a wonton wrapper and fried to perfection. They serve it with a sweet Thai dipping sauce and on the table is a tray full of chilies to add at your discretion for heat. We needed none.

I’m not sure how “Thai” this sushi is, but I do cheater sushi on a good day. That means I really only eat sushi with cooked fish inside. These rolls are crunchy shrimp and spicy crab. Or maybe it is the other way around. Either way, not a lot of funny business happening in these rolls. I adore that bit of crunchy in there and the dipping sauce it comes with (that’s the two-toned dip) is spicy and sweet at the same time. Magic! Of course, I still do the redneck sushi trick of mixing my wasabi into my soy sauce.

If you are looking for delicious Thai food, give the Thai House in Gastonia a try soon. We love it!