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Saturday, February 24, 2007

Greek Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon white sugar
3 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup sliced red bell peppers
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
4 ounces black olives
12 ounces sliced pepperoni sausage, each slice cut in half
2 1/2 cups cooked macaroni

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic powder, basil, oregano, black pepper, and sugar.
2. Add cooked pasta, vegetables, cheese, olives, and pepperoni.
3. Toss until all ingredients are well coated.
4. Cover, and chill 2 hours or overnight.

Yield: 4 Servings
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Here's a delicious GREEK PASTA SALAD that's easy to throw together for any last-minute picnic or party but it's so good you'll probably want to at least double it if not for a small group. No picnic is complete without some watermelon so i will give some tips on picking the best later on.

Enjoy!

posted by Aunt Julia @ 4:32 PM 0 comments

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Grilled Oysters With Mango Pico de Gallo and Red Chile HorseRadish

Ingredients:

Mango pico de gallo
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and finely diced
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño chile, finely diced
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Red chile horseradish
1/4 cup prepared horseradish, drained
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder

Grilled oysters
32 oysters, such as Blue Point or Malpeque, scrubbed

Directions:

Because the oysters cook for only a few minutes, you've got to have the garnishes ready before you put the shells on the grill.

For mango pico de gallo: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

For red chile horseradish: Stir together the ingredients in a small bowl.

For grilled oysters:
1. Heat your grill to high.
2. Place the oysters directly on the grates of the grill, close the cover, and cook until all of the oysters have opened, 4 to 5 minutes (discarding any that are not).
3. Top each oyster with 1 teaspoon pico de gallo and 1/4 teaspoon red chile horseradish. Serve hot.

Yield: Makes 4 servings.
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If there is one type of cooking I'm just in love with it's grilling. It could be because I love the outdoors. But even timeless favorites like burgers, steaks, ribs and kabobs can eventually get boring, so I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting recipes to test out on the grill.

I stumbled upon this recipe from master griller Bobby Flay and it sounds so simple but so fun that I just had to share it.

Oysters are not the first thing I think of when considering grilling, but I guarantee your mouth will be watering after you finish reading the recipe.

posted by Aunt Julia @ 5:00 PM 0 comments

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Valentine's Special: Raspberry Pie

Ingredients:

1/2 package refrigerated pie crusts (1 crust)
1 cup boiling water
1 3-ounce package raspberry gelatin
1/3 cup raspberry jam (seedless)
2 squares semi-sweet bakers chocolate
1 8-ounce container sour cream
1 8-punce container frozen whipped topping, thawed,
1/2 pint fresh raspberries (about 1 cup)
Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Let pie crust stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.
3. Gently unfold onto lightly loured surface and roll to an 11 1/2-inch circle.
4. Place crust in a deep dish pie plate, pressing dough into bottom and up sides.
5. Prick bottom and sides using a fork.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.
7. Stir boiling water into gelatin in Small Batter Bowl
8. Stir at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Add jam; stir until smooth.
9. Cool until gelatin begins to thicken.
10. Place chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, uncovered and microwave on high1- 1 1/2 minutes, stirring after each 20-second interval or until chocolate is melted and smooth.
11. Pour chocolate into small resealable plastic food storage bag; twist top of bag and secure.
12. Cut a small tip off corner of bag to allow chocolate to flow through.
13. Pipe chocolate around top edge of pie crust. Using remaining chocolate, pipe eight heart-shaped decorations onto waxed paper;
14. Refrigerate 15 minutes or until set.
15. Combine sour cream and 2 cups of the whipped topping in a large bowl.
16. Add gelatin mixture; whisk until smooth.
17. Reserve 1/3 cup raspberries; set aside. Sprinkle remaining raspberries evenly over bottom of pie crust.
18. Pour filling over berries. Chill at least 3 hours or until set.
19. Fill a pastry bad or decorator tool with remaining whipped topping and pipe eight rosettes evenly around edge of pie.
20. Arrange chilled chocolate heart decorations between rosettes.
21. Place reserved berries in center and lightly sprinkle pie with powdered sugar.

Yield: 8 servings
Category: Desserts
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Make this pie for your sweetheart next week and i am sure he will fall in love with this treat.

Decorated with chocolate and whipped cream it makes the perfect eye-catching dessert. It may appear tedious with lots of steps involved but that is probably because of the piping and chocolate garnish, else it really isn't that difficult.

You can also easily make decorative chocolate curls by using a vegetable peeler and peeling a strip of chocolate off a chocolate block...when done slowly it comes off in nice curls.

This pie will also be a good dessert for other special occasions beside Valentine's Day.

posted by Aunt Julia @ 5:53 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Chipotle Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chipotle or other thick salsa
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
6 potatoes, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
2 cups frozen corn kernels, or canned
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced
1 can nacho cheese soup
1/4 cup chipotle or other thick salsa

Directions:

Combine first nine ingredients and form meatballs 1- to 1 1/2-inch in diameter. Melt margarine in a large non-stick skillet; brown meatballs on all sides. Place sliced potatoes in crockpot. Add corn and sliced peppers.

Top with the meatballs. Combine soup and remaining salsa in a small bowl; pour over crockpot ingredients. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

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This is a wonderful dish. I added diced Chipotles to the meatballs and used Mexican Velvetta cheese along with the cheese soup. I also left out the corn, potatoes and red/green peppers. Serve with tortilla chips. Yummy.

posted by Aunt Julia @ 5:33 AM 0 comments