Julie’s Lunchbox Take Out
Julie’s Lunchbox Take Out My theory is to always take food with you. You never know what you may encounter, and you shouldn’t be at the mercy of having to settle for something you don’t want, or need to eat, just because …
Julie’s Lunchbox Take Out My theory is to always take food with you. You never know what you may encounter, and you shouldn’t be at the mercy of having to settle for something you don’t want, or need to eat, just because …
Welcome to the Enchanted World of our Backyard Fairies Legend has it that a Fairy (Faerie) is a Mythical Being with Magical Powers. They appear in Human Form, and can have a penchant for mischief, and trickery. The Fairy is …
“Izzy, Breakfast!
Izzy, Snack!
Izzy, Juice!
Izzy, Lunch!”
Tutu
Sometimes breakfast is as quick as fresh Blueberries, String Cheese, Banana Muffin, Celery with Peanut Butter, and Crinkle Cut Carrots
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When Isabelle was born and I started becoming her main caregiver when she was 3 months old, feeding time was easy, BOTTLES of Formula, and then Bottles of Milk. Then, as she got older it was Baby Food. It was fun buying Baby Food at the grocery stores. Jars of Sweet Potatoes, Peas and Corn, Prunes, Yogurts, Green Beans, Turkey, Chicken…. even some exotic Japanese Baby Foods of Salmon, feeding times were easy.
Sitting her in her high chair while wearing a bib, as I spooned food into her mouth. She seemed to like everything.
Isabelle and Her Rice Cereal
It wasn’t until she got a bit older and didn’t need the Baby Foods anymore that it suddenly because a challenge to me when it came to feeding her.
I honestly didn’t know what to do? My mind went blank. I even asked my husband Gordon things like, “What did we used to feed our children? Did we feed them? I’m pretty sure we did. I just can’t remember what we used to feed them? What do I do?
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Isabelle, Sitting In Her Bluey Desk Eating Breakfast
(Naan Bites with Plain Hummus and Mozzarella, Toasted)
I get up very early in the morning to be ready for Isabelle. If our daughter Veronica is dropping off Isabelle, then I am up at 4:00 a.m. to be ready for baby drop off. If our son-in-law Brian is dropping her off, I have to get up at 4:20 a.m. in order to be ready. Showered, dressed, dogs and house ready to receive her.
The morning still starts with an old fashioned bottle of milk, followed by a nap. BOTH OF US! After all, our much needed sleep has been interrupted. That morning nap for me will determine whether or not I am a happily engaged Tutu, or a Grandmother that is dragging herself around barely functioning that day. Some days I keep Isabelle are long, other days are short. It depends on Veronica and Brian’s schedules.
When both Isabelle and myself wake up from our nice morning naps she is usually very hungry.
So are the dogs! That is another story though.
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BLUEY Cereal and Kiwi-Strawberry Juice
I immediately fix her some juice that I dilute with water. I avoid anything Apple as any Apple foods or juice tend to contain lots of arsenic. Unless they were organically grown. I buy organic brands of juices for Isabelle. Usually a Peach, or Kiwi, or Strawberry, or Berry Lemonade.
She also likes the Indian River brands of Orange and Grapefruit juices.
I also give her a small little saucer of some Breakfast Cereal for her to snack on while I make her something a bit more substantial to eat.
It is in that area that I want to impress upon you some nice fun foods to enjoy. Some I will create myself, and other’s I will rely upon from great sources like the Disney Princess Cookbook.
I find that as I get a bit older I need to reeducate myself on just how to feed my granddaughter so that she will grow up to be a healthy little human. Foods that used to be safe to eat when I was raising my children, some of them aren’t now. Educating ourselves on good nutrition is important when it comes to feeding our little ones. That is the challenge that I face now as her main care giver. I want my little Peanuku to grow up to be as safe and as healthy as possible. That is where I want to pass on to you just what I am now learning.
I just think we need to share with each other, everything! I hope you think so too!
Happy to have you here!
Tutu (Julie)
P.S. I will be adding more content as feeding times go by. 🙂
If you are thinking that some of these recipes are too simple, I agree to disagree. My website is viral worldwide and I hope to attract people from around the world where these ideas are not so common. Also, as Isabelle grows so will her tastes and I will expand on them as best I can.
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Isabelle, Talking to her Tutu Papa on the old fashioned phone, who is Working Overseas
It is important to maintain those connections so that she knows her Grandfather loves her and cares about her, even though he isn’t here right now.
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Bluey Pancake
Isabelle Loves BLUEY
Waiting for Tutu Papa to cook her Bluey Pancake
(Recipe Down Below)
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Chinese 5 Spice Toast
This was something that I, Tutu, thought of one day.
I had eaten quite a bit of Chinese 5 Spice over the holidays and it dawned on me how good it would taste on buttered and sugared toasts.
(Recipe Down Below)
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Disney Princess Cookbook
Mulan’s Smiling Breakfast Bowl
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Mulan is one of our favorite family movies.
Mulan is a Chinese legend that has inspired many generations. We also love the Asian cultures and foods and include them in our lives. We also have many Asian website pages throughout our website. Therefore, it made perfect sense that the first entry of something delicious was to be from the movie Mulan.
Our Asian Bowls and Spoons
Cookbook Ingredients:
1 Cup Prepared Hot Cereal (such as Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat)
Half a Peach, canned or fresh peeled
3 T. Plain or Greek Yogurt
1 Slice Cooked Bacon
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I did things a bit differently, I will explain below:
I used Steel Cut Oats and made them according to the package instructions.
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I also fried up a few Eggs, and some Bacon.
Instead of using Greek Yogurt and Peaches for the Eyes, I used some of my Fried Eggs and Bacon.
In Isabelle’s bowl I used some Strawberry’s and Blueberry’s. It was delicious!
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Bluey Pancake
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Isabelle is Getting Hungry!
The Bluey Pancake 🙂
(Perhaps a little brown but still delicious!)
I found online a Bluey Cast Iron Skillet with a Pancake Mix included.
I knew it would be fun to make, and I knew that this would help endear Isabelle to her Tutu Papa that was home for a little while from working abroad.
Gordon simply followed the package instructions.
We did need to add some Blue Food Coloring to the mix. Luckily, we had some.
Isabelle Enjoyed it!
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Chinese 5 Spice Toast
If you have ever made Cinnamon Toast then you know exactly how to make this.
Same concept, just replace the Cinnamon with Chinese 5 Spice.
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You will need some sort of sliced bread.
I prefer a thick sliced bread as it holds up nicely once toasted.
Butter, Sugar, Chinese 5 Spice
Place the Slices of Bread down onto a Parchment Lined Baking Sheet
Butter each slice, then sprinkle some Sugar and Chinese 5 Spice over top.
Turn the Oven on to Broil and place in the Oven Keeping Watch the Entire Time.
You Just Want The Bread To Brown a Bit.
If you like you can dip in to some Syrup, and Enjoy!
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Fruity Naan Pizzas
Veronica always sends over sliced Strawberry’s and Blueberry’s most every time I keep Isabelle.
Sometimes I try to think of other ways to feed them to her.
Here is one of those ways.
Although a bit hard to see, I have the small little plain Naan’s, some plain Hummus, and some Mozzarella Cheese, shredded.
Turn the Oven on 300F and spread some Hummus onto the plain Naan’s, topped with the Mozzarella Cheese. Bake for about 8 minutes. When done remove from the oven and place some of the fruit into the Naan.
Simple little morning breakfast. 🙂
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Manapua…
or by another name, Siopao!
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We raised our children in Hawaii. A food item that they both loved was Manapua. Manapua has many names.
Manapua is the Hawaiian name for this excellent food item.
It is a steamed bun filled with a sweet pork center. Eating this food gave our children independence. They would grab one from the freezer, and then throw it into the microwave for exactly one minute to heat up, and they could have their afternoon snack or even lunch, or dinner.
Microwaving is All it Takes
Here Isabelle is being introduced to Manapua.
The food that her mother and her uncle Brodie loved and ate most daily when we were living in Hawaii.
Mahalo for Being Here,
Julie (Tutu)
Don’t Forget the Mickey and Minnie Mouse Waffles 🙂
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Veronica’s Breakfast Quesadilla
Welcome to Strawberry’s and All Things PINK! Dried Hibiscus Flowers ———————————————————————————– Pink Fudge with Dried Hibiscus Flowers The Hibiscus Flowers are Sweet and Tangy, Almost like Gummy’s ———————————————————————————————— I have been eating lots of Strawberry’s this year, and loving all …
Hello Happy Barefoot Spring, and Summer in my Backyard And Fall and Winter, but not so much. 🙂 Our Backyard Peach Tree We spend a lot of time outside in our backyard. Gardening, Landscaping, Grilling, Picnicing, Playing…. The Dogs love …
“I don’t promise to forget the mystery, but I know I’ll have a marvelous time“
Nancy Drew
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CURRENTLY ON A STAKE OUT, CHECK BACK LATER
Dear Dairy… Olive Films (I just liked the logo.) Today I rearranged the cans in the pantry and dusted them off while wearing my new full skirt I sewed last week for the church picnic, and the pearls that my husband …
My, my…
Peanut Butter Pie
I’m originally from North Georgia, Rome to be exact. Peanut Butter is probably my most favorite food in the world. I eat more Peanut Butter than I do anything else. I knew I would be making a Peanut Butter Pie someday for the website, I just didn’t know how I would be doing it? Meaning, what I would put in it? Other than Peanut Butter? It then dawned on me to put everything I love to eat with Peanut Butter, in it. So, I did!
I also had in mind to try and make it in the form of a Pretzel Jello Salad. That is an old recipe that we also have here on our website. It’s usually made around Christmas and taken to Church Suppers and Holiday Events.
So, with that in mind I came up with this. I hope you like it. I did! I gave the second one to Veronica and Brian. They loved it too! (And trust me, they tell me when they don’t like things that I make. Usually, if something I make for them is “too spicy” then they let me know.) 🙂
When I think of Peanut Butter, I always think of Georgia and how the state is the largest producer of Peanut Butter in America. Alabama is second. However, the largest consumption of Peanut Butter in the world is China. Who knew?
My, my, Peanut Butter Pie is an homage to my youth. That little girl that put peanut butter on everything, Graham Crackers, Vanilla Wafers, Saltine Crackers, Animal Crackers, Potato Chips, Pretzels, Bananas, Chocolate, Chocolate Cookies, Rice Crackers, Popcorn Cakes, Rice Cakes, Bread, Bagels, etc.
I was never a Peanut Butter and Jelly kind of person. I have always been a Peanut Butter person. Jelly was never important to me.
I’m hoping that you see my creation as a guide to inspire you to create something special for yourself.
My, My, Southern Pie!
Julie
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My Two Pies
I Topped My Pie With Pretzel Balls, and Veronica and Brian’s Pie With Valdosta (Georgia) Glazed Pecans
(The candle I bought online and placed it on top of Veronica and Brian’s pie. I know how much she loves candles so I passed that on to her.)
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Yummy, Yummy, Deliciousness!
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I wanted these shots taken outside as something of an homage to those great picnics I attended when I was a child, and growing up. Cakes and Pies were staples at Outdoor Picnics.
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Yellow
Luckily for us in the South, Summer Weather lasts a long time. 🙂
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Recipe Starts Here
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My, My, Peanut Butter Pie
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Initially, I was going to make a Pretzel Pie Crust, but changed my mind and decided on a Graham Cracker Pie Crust. It was easier, as it was already made, and it reminds me of all the times I would eat Peanut Butter on Graham Crackers.
But first, I decided that I wanted to make some Vanilla Pudding to place on top of the Graham Cracker Pie Crust. The Vanilla Pudding reminding me of the Vanilla Wafers I would also eat Peanut Butter on.
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Making Vanilla Pudding
I made it the day before I assembled the pie.
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Assembling The Ingredients
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Most Of These Ingredients I Used, Some I Did Not
Ingredients: For Making One Pie
1, Graham Cracker Pie Crust
Vanilla Pudding Mix
1/2-1 Cup Peanut Butter Of Your Choice
1, 1/2, 8 oz. Cool Whips, Thawed
2, 8 oz. Cream Cheeses, Softened
Dry Roasted Peanuts as Desired
1 Cup Florida Crystals Turbinado Sugar
Rice Crackers w/ Chocolate
BelVita Cookies (Chocolate and Peanut Butter)
Snyder’s Pretzel Rounds
Valdosta Glazed Pecans
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You Will Need A Blender For This
Add the softened Cream Cheese, Peanut Butter, and Turbinado Sugar.
(I was so happy that I used the Turbinado Sugar in place of regular Granulated Sugar. When you bite into the pie, you taste that great brown sugar crystal and it is excellent! So much more satisfying that the Granulated Sugar.)
Just Mix Together Until Blended
Next, Add as Many Peanuts as You Like!
Stir Together, Do NOT Blend!
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Now It’s Time To Add The Thawed Cool Whip
(I used 1 1/2 per pie.)
Mixture Left, Vanilla Pudding Right
The First Thing I Did Was To Spread Some Vanilla Pudding Onto the Bottom Of the Graham Cracker Pie Crust
(I do wish that I had made 2 Vanilla Puddings instead of just one. That way I could have spread more on the bottom of each pie crust.)
I Next Started Layering With the Chocolate Covered Rice Cakes and the Cookies.
Kinda Looks Like Mickey Mouse, Doesn’t It?
You Just Want To Spread The Mixture Onto The Pie Crusts
I Did Hold Back With Veronica and Brian’s Pie and Dolloped The Mixture Twice. I Created Layers of the Cookies. So That it Had Two Layers Inside the Pie. In Mine, I Only Had the One Layer Onto of the Vanilla Pudding and Cookies.
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Before I Decorated Them, I Added a Glazed Pecan to the Top of My Pie
Pretzel Balls on Mine, Glazed Pecans on Veronica and Brian’s
The Candle Was Just an Added Touch I Liked
It Kind of Reminded me of Gordon, who Loves a Pecan Pie as a “Birthday Cake” and not a Usual Cake
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Flowers Are Beautiful, Even Just The Petals
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I actually couldn’t help myself. It is a flared dress, ya know.
Twirling kinda comes with the territory. It’s not like I had a choice.
Hey, at least I put it down here. 🙂
Have a Happy Slappy Day!
Julie
P.S. Keep Twirling!
Ciao e Benvenuto (Starting this in 2024) Although Gordon and I have many Italian website pages full of recipes and ideas, I wanted to start this page just for me. With Gordon working overseas, he is not here to co-contribute along beside me, …
(For Peanuku) 🙂 Our Cookie Ice Cream ————————————————————————————- Australian Cartoon, Bluey This show is Brilliant! I wish the Heeler’s had been my parents. 🙂 The parents, Bandit and Chili, are Blue and Red Heeler dogs. Their children are Bluey and Bingo, Bluey being …
Let’s Flamingle!
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Busy Standing on one leg…. Currently
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Ambrosia, Pink Grapefruit Sake, and Toasted Coconut 🙂
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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
(A Rough Draft)
Our Pink Backyard Bromeliad in Bloom
I got the idea that I wanted to make something very Florida, and very Palm Beach. A light lunch kind of thing. Flamingos kept popping into my head. But, not just the Flamingos themselves, but what kinds of foods that Flamingos eat. I knew they ate Shrimp, that is what keeps them nice and PINK. I wanted to know what else they ate so I did my research online and I’ve added some of those Flamingo tasty treats to my Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad.
I hope you will enjoy it, along with some other nice Florida Flamingo Summer Foods as I hope to update this as time goes by.
Barbie Isn’t The Only Thing That’s PINK!
Julie Barefoot
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Our Herb Garden Flamingo
Backyard PINK!
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My Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
(Recipe Down Below)
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Ready for Delivery to my Loved Ones
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Waving My Magic Whisk 🙂
These Are The Best Crackers From The Asian Supermarket
I Like To Eat Some Sort Of Cracker With a Pasta Salad
It Tastes Better on a Flamingo Plate 🙂 (With Grapes)
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The Flamingo Photo’s I Took at Busch Gardens
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I’ve Always Been One To Stand On One Leg Myself,
Guess I’m Part Flamingo.
Flamingo Habitat at Busch Gardens, Florida
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PINK Hot Chili Pasta
Something HOT For The Florida HEAT
You Can Also Rearrange It Into A Nice Pasta Sandwich
(Recipe Down Below)
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Recipes Start Here
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Julie’s Pink Flamingo Pasta Salad
As with any kind of Pasta Salad, or Salad in general, you can always add as much or as little as you like. It’s all up to personal tastes. You can also omit ingredients that you don’t like, or want in your salads. What I am giving you is a guide in creating something nice for yourself and your family, or any nice Summer Gathering you may host, or be invited to.
I based this on my love of Flamingos and their diet. They eat Shrimp, Seeded Grass, Algae, Fly Larvae, Tiny Briny Crustaceans, and other Plants and Animals that live in shallow waters.
I didn’t add all of the Flamingo diet to my salad, obviously, but I did base it on the foods they do eat.
I Hope That You Will Be Inspired!
Gathering All of My Ingredients
I Did Double My Recipe To Give To Family
Ingredients:
Flamingo Pasta (Kind of a must.)
Red Onion, Chopped
Yellow Chives, Chopped
Flowering Chives, as Garnish
Celery, Chopped
Radishes, Sliced
Daikon Radish, Sliced
Fresh, or Frozen Peas, (Thawed, if frozen.)
Mayonnaise, To Taste
Hot Sauce, To Taste
Wasabi, To Taste
Cocktail Onions
Aji-Miren, To Taste
Shrimp, Already Cooked
Arugula
Pumpkin Seeds
Pink Pickled Ginger
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The Shrimp you see above right, I bought already cooked and ready to eat from the grocery store. It came frozen.
I just needed to thaw them out for my Salad.
The Enoki Mushrooms I didn’t use in this salad.
I did place some around my luncheon bowl to eat with my Pasta Salad though.
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Flowering Chives, Yellow Chives, Daikon Radish, and Radishes
As with any Salad you do need to clean the ingredients. In the photo top left, I have my Flowering Chives and Yellow Chives I purchased from The Asian Supermarket. They have some of the most exotic ingredients you will ever find. The green chives has a flower at the end, I’ll show you how I use those when I put the Salad together. The Yellow Chives add a nice pale color with a slight oniony taste to the Salad.
Vegetables Drying
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With my Vegetables drying, it’s time to boil my Pasta.
Just follow whatever the package directions say on your Pasta you will be using.
When done, drain into a Colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool the Pasta down.
Place the Pasta into a large Mixing Bowl.
Now we start to add the ingredients to the Pasta.
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Eyeball and Taste
(This is what we do from now on.)
I purchased already chopped Red Onion from the grocery store to save a little time.
I’m adding as much as I like, no measurements.
Chopping Celery
Pasta, Red Onion, and Celery
Slicing the Radishes
They add a pepper taste and I love the texture and the pretty pink rings.
A Daikon Radish is ugly on the outside and beautiful on the inside.
Just use a Potato Peeler to remove the outside.
You can see the pretty flower when sliced. I’m saving these to be used as more of a Garnish.
The Peas were already washed and ready so I just added as many as I wanted.
Mixing Together To Judge the Ratios
At some point I also added the Yellow Chives by simply snipping them with a pair of scissors.
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Now Comes The Wet Stuff
I just want to use the Mayonnaise to combine the Salad.
I really don’t like that much as it is usually very rich.
It’s Coming Together Nicely
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This is something of an experiment in deciding which one I liked better.
I did add a few dashes of both.
The Cocktail Onions are to add that Briny Bite that I wanted.
The Wasabi Paste is also to Add Some great HEAT!
Add a Tablespoon or Two of Miren. It adds a Wonderful Sweetness.
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Thawing The Shrimp
This was another shortcut that I took in making this Salad. I bought the Shrimp already prepared, and frozen to be eaten as a Shrimp Cocktail. All I had to do was to thaw them out and drain any excess water. I did have to pat them dry as they were a bit wet from the thawing, and I didn’t want any extra water in my Salad. I did remove their Tails.
Adding The Shrimp
(Be sure to place into the refrigerator to chill before serving, at least a few hours.)
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Ready to Plate My Pasta Salad
A Bed of Arugula
Chilled Overnight
The Pumpkin Seeds are to be Scattered About,
and a Dollop of the Pink Pickled Ginger on Top
I do admit that my Pasta Salad presentation is a bit ‘over the top.’ In my defense, I was feeling very creative and having lots of fun. I guess I’d rather have it be that way, than have it be more presentable to a sophisticated crowd. 🙂
You Can See The Flowering Chives in my Bowl Above,
Kind of Looks Like a Plant
I Hope You Have As Much Fun As I Did!
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PINK Hot Chili Pasta
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It was when I was shopping for my Flamingo Pasta that I came across this online.
Tagliatelle Peperoncino.
It is some Pasta with some HEAT! And I love it!
Also, that little jar of Spicy Chili Onion Crisp is wonderful drizzled on top!
I do admit that I kind of threw this together using what I already had in the Pantry, and the Refrigerator.
I combined the sauces that you see above. I used about a jar, and a half a jar of the other.
I place the sauces into a pot on the stove top and put it on a medium-heat.
That black blob on my sauce is Freshly Ground Black Pepper, I also snipped some Yellow Chives into the sauce as well.
I had some Roasted Garlic in the fridge as well and smooshed about 6 -8 Cloves into my sauce. I want it to simmer away for awhile, until it thickens up. When it starts to boil then I turn the heat down a notch or two. When that setting starts to boil, then I turn it down another notch or two, until finally it is all nice and thick on a low setting. Sometimes this can take up to an hour or longer. Be sure to keep an eye on it, stirring periodically so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.
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Boiling My Pasta
Just Cook According to Package Directions
Then Drain Pasta into a Colander
Eat Immediately!
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The Tagliatelle is Perfect with the Sauce and….
a Drizzle or Two of the Hot Chili Onion Crisp.
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I also wanted to use the leftovers to make a Pasta Sandwich the next day.
I also had some leftover Bread for this.
I simply sliced it in half and placed it on a baking sheet in the oven to broil until a nice brown….
Like So…
I Heated Up Some of the Pasta in the Sauce until Warm
I Then Started to Assemble My Sandwich
Layering Bread, Arugula, Pasta, Yellow Chives, Green Chives, Basil, and some Leftover Sauce from the Remaining Jar.
It’s O.K. if Some Spills Out! Yum!!!
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Be A Flamingo In A Flock of Pigeon’s 🙂
Have a PINK Day!
Julie Barefoot
(Because Nothing Rhymes With Oranges) 🙂 Orange is the New Muffin ——————————————————————————- (I added a few Banana Chips as an accent, above.) I Have Discovered Indian River Citrus, and There is NO Going Back! My Florida Orange Muffins w/ Lemon Citrus Glaze (Recipe …
Our Crab Key, Jamaica
In honor of Crab Key, Jamaica, we knew we had to do something with crabs.
After all, near the end of the movie, Dr. No’s henchmen tied up Honey Ryder so that she would be eaten by crabs.
Therefore, we knew we had to incorporate crabs into our food.
Gordon Bought Us 3 Dungeness Crabs
These Things Are HUGE!
In Addition to our Crabs, we also have some Jamaican Coco Bread, Mango’s, Bananas,
and a Papaya, along with a few Coconuts
I do have to say that it made me sad to see these beautiful creatures, ALIVE, and knowing that Gordon would be killing them soon.
I did have thoughts of grabbing them and driving to the ocean to turn them loose, but I also knew that Gordon had just spent around $100.00 for all of these crabs and that my idea would not be appreciated.
It’s one thing to buy a crab cake at a restaurant and eat it. You don’t really think about where it comes from? But, it’s another thing to buy it alive, and then kill it to cook it and eat it.
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Stay Back! I Have a Bucket!
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The Dungeness Crabs Were Very Docile
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Steamin’ LIVE Crabs!
These are Blue Claw Crabs as you can see their beautiful blue claws. Give all your crabs a good rinse in fresh water to remove any mud or other ‘not so desirable’ particulates on the crabs before steaming them.
These particular ones are female (Sooks) as you can see the broad triangular section on their underbelly. If they were male (Jimmy), the triangular piece would be much thinner in width.
(I Julie, would like to add that I always admired Gordon’s family when it came to crabbing. They would always throw back the females. They would recognize the importance of having them continue to live and thrive to bring about new crabs in the future.)
We also cooked these Dungeness Crabs. They usually come with rubber bands on their claws as they can do a lot of damage if they grab you. The rubber bands also keep the crabs from hurting each other.
I am using a steamer pot to cook them in.
Simply add about a quart of water to the pot and heat the water to a boil.
Add your crabs when the water is a temperature to kill them quickly.
I add a good amount of Old Bay Season to each crab as shown.
I steamed the Dungeness Crabs by themselves and not with the Blue Claw’s so they would cook at the same time.
Steam these crabs for about 10-12 min. or until bright pink as shown. They will continue to cook as you bring them out of the steam.
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I used the side burner of my grill to cook the crabs.
Here you can see the Blue Claws are much smaller than the Dungeness Crabs.
Beautiful Blue Claw Sooks
Here you can see I am using long tongs to handle the crabs as they don’t have rubber bands on their claws. Be sure to have your water at a boil before steaming the crabs. Give each crab a good dose of Old Bay Seasoning as you fill the pot.
Steam these crabs for about 7 minutes, or until they reach that nice pink color. Again, they will remain very hot for some time after removed from the steamer. This residual heat will continue to cook the crabs.
What a nice feast!
This takes me back to my childhood.
They look and smell great!
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Here we have prepared a great meal…
Herbed Roasted Red Potatoes and Radish’s, Coconut Lemon Lime Corn on the Cob, Green Beans and Coco Bread
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The Crabs We Ate
Here is a great picture of the side dishes we prepared.
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If You Would Like To See Our Other Recipes That Went With This Meal:
Click Here For: I’ve Got A Licence To Grill
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Pickin’ Crabs
Picking crabs is something I have done for many years. In my pre-teens, I was picking crabs with my family most every summer. For many summers my parents rented a beach house off the Chesapeake Bay where we used our own Crab Trap to catch our own crabs. We spent many nights picking and eating crabs. Most of the crabs meat we froze and months later, my Mom would then make the best crab cakes in the world. All of our family would sit around the table, talking about our day at the beach just picking crabs into the late night. At the time, my little fingers could easily get into the small sections of the crab.
Here you can see I have a large bowl for the shells.
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How To ‘Step By Step’ Pick Crabs
What you will need…
a knife, mallet, and cutting board, a bowl for the picked crab meat, and bowl for the shells/waste.
For the Blue Claws, start by removing the legs. You may pull them off and bring some meat with them. Save the claws as the rest of the legs aren’t worth the effort. With the Dungeness Crabs, all the legs are saved as they have a good amount of meat in them.
Now, pull back on the underbelly shell and remove it. This will provide an opening to place your thumbs into and pry the top shell away from the main shell as shown.
Here is a good picture of the top shell.
The main shell has what is call Mustard – a tart substance in the main cavity of the crab. This is edible but is more of an acquired taste. You can usually remove it without much trouble. Then remove what are the lungs of the crab.
They are on both sides of the main body of the crab and NOT edible.
Now, break the crab’s body in half, then using your knife, slice through the body as shown.
Doing this will make it easier to get at the meat within the crab’s small cavities.
Here you can see the large lump crab meat which I removed from the back fin section of the crab.
Use your fingers or the tip of the knife to remove the meat from the small cavities.
This is where little fingers worked well.
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You do the exact same procedure with the Dungeness Crabs as they are just larger.
Remember to save all the crab’s leg as they have a good amount of meat inside them.
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Break the legs apart at the joints as shown.
Use your knife and a mallet to crack the legs apart.
Remove the meat being sure to search for small parts of shell.
Here you can see my bowl of crab meat is getting pretty full.
I usually save the legs until the end and pick them all at once.
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Stay Salty
The Waste
All The Crab Meat
(We froze all of this Crab Meat.)
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Crab Wine, and Crab Chips
This was a wine that Gordon bought in Ocean City, Maryland.
Also, the Crab wine glass.
Crab Cakes w/ Red Pepper Sauce
(We used one of Gordon’s Mother’s crab recipes. She has several crab cake recipes.
We also used her Red Pepper Sauce recipe.)
I made this tray back in 2001, and I gave it to my Mother-In-Law for Christmas.
I simply painted a wooden tray the color I wanted. Then decoupaged a paper with the photo of a crab and one of her recipes.
I decoupaged quite a few trays for people back in the day.
To: Sarajane
From: Julie
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Sarajane Whann’s Crab Cakes and Red Pepper Sauce Reicpe’s
These are two of my Mom’s classic recipes, which we have loved eating for many years.
We hope you will like them as much as we have.
Julie found the recipe shoved into my mom’s Herb Notebook.
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Sarajane Whann’s Red Pepper Sauce Recipe
Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients:
1 Large Jar Roasted Red Bell Peppers
4 Cloves Roasted Garlic
3 Raw Garlic Cloves
4 Anchovies
1/4 Cup White Wine Vinegar
The Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Heaping Tbsp. Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste – being wary that you have salty Anchovies
3 Sweet Peppers – de-seeded and chopped
1/2 – 3/4 Cups Olive Oil – or as much is needed
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You can place the ingredients into the blender in any order you want.
Don’t be afraid to try Anchovies.
They do give the sauce a nice well rounded flavor.
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Here I started with the Roasted Red Bell Peppers, being sure to drain them well.
I also added the raw Garlic Cloves.
Now, add the Roasted Garlic not found on my Mom’s original recipe.
Then add your Anchovies.
Now, add your White Wine Vinegar to the blender.
Add your fresh Lemon Juice to the blender then I added the Dijon Mustard.
Add your Ground Pepper and pinch of Hawaiian Sea Salt or other salt you may have on hand.
Here are some Sweet Peppers from our garden also not in my Mom’s original recipe.
Just remove the stem and seeds and give them a light chop.
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Add about 1/4 Cup of Olive Oil to the blender to get the ingredients moving and pulse for a few times.
Now, add more Olive Oil until you get the consistency you desire. We like this sauce very smooth. Give it a taste and add any of the ingredients to your liking. Set aside in the refrigerator for later use. This will last at least a week, if not longer in the refrigerator as the acid from the vinegar will keep it from spoiling.
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Sarajane Whann’s Crab Cake Recipe
Crab Cakes
I can’t tell you how amazing these are… you will just have to make them for yourself.
Makes 12 AMAZING Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
2 – 1 LB. cans of Lump Crab Meat – Check for shells
1/2 Orange Bell Pepper – cut into a small dice
1/2 Cup Sweet Onions – chopped into a small dice
4 Garlic Cloves – chopped thinly
1/2 Cup Parsley – chopped thinly
1 Tbsp. Dried Thyme
1 Tbsp. Garlic and Herb Bread Crumbs
5 Shakes Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce – to taste
1 Tbsp. Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
2 Cups Peanut Oil
Dredge for the Crab Cakes
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 Cup Flour
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I am so ready to make the amazing Crab Cakes.
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I started by cutting the Bell Pepper in half then I removed the seeds.
Slice the pepper into long stripes then into a small dice as shown.
I cut the entire pepper, but only used half.
Open the cans of Crab and drain if needed.
Empty the crab into a large bowl.
I like the lump backfin as I like to see the chunks of crab meat.
Gently sift through the crab meat looking for shells.
Now I added the Bell Peppers and Sweet Onions to the Crab Meat.
Slice your Garlic thinly then into small pieces.
Add your Garlic to the bowl.
Remove the large stems of your Parsley, then chop it finely.
Add your Parsley, Dried Thyme, and Bread Crumbs to the bowl.
Now add your Worcestershire Sauce, Hot Sauce, and Dijon Mustard to the bowl.
Lastly, add your Mayonnaise and Black Pepper to the bowl.
In a smaller bowl, add your dredge mix of Corn Meal and Flour.
Give it a quick mix with your hand.
Here you can see all the ingredients for the Crab Cakes in the bowl.
Gently fold the ingredients, so as not to break up the lumps of Crab Meat.
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Form the Crab Cakes into a patty that is about 1 inch thick. Be sure to press it firmly together as there is not much to bind the ingredients together. Now, gently place the Crab Cake into the dredge and cover it on both sides. Meanwhile, add about 2 Cups of Peanut Oil to a large skillet and heat to Medium High Heat. We like using a cast iron skillet as it keeps the temperature and fries evenly.
Place your pressed and dredged Crab Cake onto a plate and make at least three more.
When your oil is at temperature, gently add your Crab Cake to the skillet. It should sizzle in the oil.
Add your other three Crab Cakes and place a splatter screen over them just it case the oil splatters violently. Let these Crab Cakes sit in the oil for at least five min. or until golden brown. Meanwhile make at least four more crab cakes. Turn the Crab Cakes over when done and fry for another five min. or so until again golden brown. They should look as mine do in the last picture.
Place the fried Crab Cakes onto a plate lined with paper towels to catch any excess oil.
Continue to fry the rest of the crab cakes.
ENJOY!
Gordon and Julie
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Also Check Out:
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AND,
A Proper English Breakfast For 00Whann From (Your) Valentine
AND,
AND,
Let Me Make You A Sandwich (Bond Style)
AND,
AND,
AND,
AND,
Steamin” and Pickin’ Crab, w/ Recipes
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I Heart Jezebel (Sauce) —————————————————— Julie’s Southern Jeze-Bells Pizza Made With My: Julie’s Georgia Peach Jeze-Bells Sauce Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce I have 4 Jezebel’s on the webpage link above. We also have many recipes that you can …
I Love Simple Flowers, Nothing Stunningly Beautiful, Just Very Pretty and Charming, With Personality Welcome Summer, Come On In! I’ve Missed You, Just Try Not To Be So HOT This Year 🙂 But, If You Do Insist Upon It…. I Have …
Quickie Italian Sometimes, All You Need is a Ready Made Tomato Focaccia, and some Wine I Call It Herb Bread 🙂 When I think of cooking Italian food, I imagine a long list of ingredients, carving out a significant portion of …
You only live twice:
Once when you are born,
and once when you look death in the face.
After Basho
Japanese Poet
1643-94
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More Recipes Will Be Added In The Future,
Julie and Gordon
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00Whann’s Asian Balls
(You Only Live Twice)
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Asian Meatballs w/ Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
These are Delicious!
(Recipe Down Below)
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Gordon’s Honey Chili Ryder Wings
(Dr. No)
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‘What’s your name?’
‘Bond. James Bond. What’s yours?’
She reflected. ‘Rider.’
‘What Rider?’
‘Honeychili.’
Bond smiled.
‘What’s so funny about it?’
‘Nothing. Honeychile Rider. It’s a pretty name.’
She unbent. ‘People call me “Honey”.’
‘We’ll, I’m glad to meet you.’
(It was my idea, Julie’s, to create a chicken wing with both Honey and Chili, hence the name of our wings.)
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They are Sweet and Hot!
Grillin’ The Asparagus
He’s Got a Licence To Grill
Our Honeychili Rider Wings
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Our Coconut Rice with Crab Cakes
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Old Bay Cheddar Biscuits
(Recipes Down Below)
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Asian Meatballs w/ Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
These are Delicious!
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The Ingredients:
2 Lbs Ground Turkey
2 Eggs
1 Cup Panko Japanese Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs
1 Thumb of Freshly Grated Ginger
3 Cloves of Garlic – Chopped
1/4 Cup Parsley – Chopped
5 Green Onions – Chopped
4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Sesame Seed Oil
1 Tbsp Wasabi Sauce
1 Tbsp Black Sesame Seeds
1 Tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Sweet Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper to Taste
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In a large bowl, place all your above ingredients…
Mixing Together the Ground Turkey and the Eggs
Panko
Adding the Panko
Gordon Grating the Ginger with a Spoon
Chopping the Garlic and Adding the Ingredients
Place All Ingredients Into A Large Mixing Bowl
Chopping the Parsley
Next Comes Chopping the Green Onions
Green Onions Ready to add to Mixture
Below I am grating the ginger, fresh is so much better than dry.
I like this Philippine brand of Soy Sauce.
Datu Puti
Adding the Datu Puti
And the Sesame Oil
Wasabi Sauce
I LOVE this Green Color!
You can find roasted sesame seeds, but if not you can roast them gently in a pan until lightly brown.
Adding the Sesame Seeds
Honey and Sweet Soy Sauce
Adding the Honey and Sweet Soy
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Spray your a sheet pan with non-stick spray.
Mix the entire mixture until just combined.
Take just over a Tbsp size ball and place it on the sheet pan about 1 inch apart.
Bake in a 400’F oven for about 15 -20 min.
Ensure the internal temperature of the meat balls are 165’F.
Serve with a sweet dipping sauce and Enjoy!
They were delicious Gordon!
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Gordon’s Honey Chili Ryder Wings
(Dr. No)
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Our Honeychili Rider Wings
I copied and posted this from our:
It’s the same recipe by us, we just remade it for our kids.
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Ingredients for the Wing Marinade:
2 Red Chili Peppers – de-seeded, sliced and chopped
1 Family pkg. of Wings
2 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
2 Tbsp Chili Powder – Badia Brand
2 Tbsp. Chili Powder – Spice Hunter Brand
2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
3 Tbsp. Onion Powder
3 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika
2 Tbsp. Ground Chipotle
2 Tbsp. Jerk Seasoning
3/4 Cup Olive Oil
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Here I have sliced the Red Chili Peppers in half and removed the seeds.
Now, slice the peppers lengthwise thinly.
Then slice them into a small dice as shown.
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Here is the family package of wings we used.
Be sure to rinse them off in a colander to remove any excess blood or cuttings.
Let them drain well.
Now, using a sharp knife, cut between the wing and the drumettes. You should be able to see the area between the two bones. If you are off a little that is fine.
You will get better at finding that area with your knife as you cut more, and more of them.
Your knife should easily go through the small space between the bones.
Discard the wing tip.
Place the wings and drumettes into a large zip lock bag. Wash your hands well….Then begin to add your seasonings. I like using two different types of Chili Powders as I feel they are all different because they use different Chili’s.
Here I am adding more of the seasonings… I don’t measure as I go by more of the look of the wings. Add more or less of the ingredients as you like. I enjoy all of these seasonings so how can I really go wrong?
The Chipotle gives the wings a nice peppery taste while the Jerk seasoning provides that great Island flavor.
You may have noticed that I did not add any salt.
When I tasted the Jerk seasoning, I found it had plenty of salt in it, so be sure to taste all of your mixed seasonings.
The olive oil help to convey the seasonings throughout all the chicken. Pour in a little at a time. Don’t add too much as you don’t want to waste it and you need just enough to coat the wings.
Close the bag tightly leaving a little bit of air so that you can easily roll the wings in the herbs and oil.
When mixed well, remove the air in the bag by folding the bag over on itself then zip the bag closed. Place the bag of marinated wings in the refrigerator near the bottom just in case the bag leaks. You can also place the bag in a large bowl. Let the wings marinate for 24-48 hours.
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TIME TO GRILL!
When you are ready to grill them, heat your grill for 5 min. on high to help remove any old food and to heat up the grates to give the chicken those great grill marks. When done, turn your grill to medium high and place the wings and drumettes evenly over your grill grates and close the lid. I used some long tongs to place the wings on the grates.
Turn the wings as needed being sure to check for hot spots on your grill which are areas that cook the wings faster than other areas. The wings in these spots will be done quicker than the rest. You will also have cool spots on your grill which are areas that don’t get a lot of heat. These wings I move to the hot spots so that all the wings cook evenly.
When the wings are mostly cooked, which takes about 7 min. per side, I place the wings on the upper section of my grill where they are away from the flames and tend to bake. Close the lid and let them bake for another 5 min. Doing this will ensure the wings are fully cooked, but still remain juicy and tender. An overcooked wing is a horrible thing. I also look at the wings to ensure the meat is firm and the skin is brown.
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Meanwhile….
make your wing sauce before, or as the wings are cooking.
Ingredients for the Wing Sauce
3/4 Cup Honey
8 good shakes of Chipotle Pepper Tabasco Sauce
1 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Spice Hunter Chili Powder
2 Tbsp. Jerk Seasoning
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Add your Honey and Tabasco to a large bowl as shown.
Then add your other seasonings …
and whisk them all together until well combined.
When your wings are done, add them to the bowl and toss them well.
I can tell you these wings are great even without the Honey Chili Sauce… but it does make them so much better.
Here is a great shot of the wings in the sauce.
Turn them in the sauce as needed.
These wings are now our most favorite that we have ever made. This is a bold statement as we have made many different types. They even beat out my cherished Teriyaki wings, which I have made for years. We are sure you will enjoy them as much as we did.
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They are Sweet and Hot!
Grillin’ The Asparagus
He’s Got a Licence To Grill
Our Honeychili Rider Wings
———————————————————————–
Our Coconut Rice with Crab Cakes
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Old Bay Cheddar Biscuits
(Delicious! Just Follow Package Instructions.)
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Coconut Rice
Ingredients:
~ 2 Cups Rice – Rinsed until white water is practically gone
1 Can Coconut Milk
2-3 Tbsp. Coconut Cream – Cream of Coconut (Crema De Coco)
Chicken Broth – as much as needed to have liquid 1 inch above the rice
~3/4 Cup Red Onion – diced
1 tsp. Sea Salt
Jalapeno, Banana, and Red Peppers from our garden – to taste
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The Banana Pepper (Yellow and Orange) and the UFO looking Pepper are from our garden! The UFO looking Pepper is our Mad Hatter Pepper.
Here I am washing the rice. This is done to remove the rice & #39;s natural starch. To wash the rice, add water
and mix the rice around in it. Then pour off the milky water and repeat about four times or until the
water in the rice runs clear.
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Here I have rinsed my rice and it is ready to accept the flavors.
First add your Coconut Milk to your rice cooker bowl.
Then add some of your Coconut Cream.
Now add enough Chicken Broth to have the liquid be about 1 inch above the rice.
This is when you add your diced Red Onion,
followed by a touch of Sea Salt.
Slice your peppers to the same dice size of your Red Onions.
Here is the diced Banana Pepper… taste them to see how much heat they have. Then add as much or as
little as you like.
For the hotter peppers, you may want to use gloves to prevent the hot juices from getting under your
fingernails causing you some pain. Add as much or as little as you like!
Do the same with the last pepper. I like the various colors the vegetables bring to the dish.
Give everything a good mix.
Rice is Ready for the Rice Cooker
Then let your rice cooker do its thing! This is how it looks when done.
Beautiful When Done 🙂
Added Crab Cakes
(We didn’t make these ourselves. We bought the Crab Cakes ready made.)
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Gordon Preparing the Asparagus for the Grill
Here I have my tongs ready to move things to the grill.
Not shown, I rinsed the Asparagus then cut off the woody end near the root. Most of the time
you can cut all of them at once as they are all from the same planting area. Place them on a
cookie sheet and give them a good dose of Olive Oil… just enough to coat all the Asparagus.
Lemon Pepper is a favorite seasoning of ours for Asparagus.
I added about 1 Tbsp. or so then mix all the ingredients together as shown.
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At this time, I am letting my wings get their final bake using the upper part of my grill. I then
have a baking/ cooling rack down on the grill to prevent the Asparagus from falling into the grill.
Grill the Asparagus turning occasionally until they are slightly charred as shown. Turn them
using your tongs.
I then placed them back on the cookie sheet and turned them into the Olive Oil and Lemon
Pepper seasoning to add some extra flavor to the Asparagus. When done, plate and serve!
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Also Check Out:
A Happy Christmas CLUEDO For 007
The Bond/Whann Franchise Continues….
AND,
A Proper English Breakfast For 00Whann From (Your) Valentine
AND,
AND,
Let Me Make You A Sandwich (Bond Style)
AND,
AND,
AND,
AND,
Steamin” and Pickin’ Crab, w/ Recipes
————————————————————————–
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How To Create An Outdoor Movie Theater In Your Own Backyard Area DOCTOR NO Released in 1962 Dr. No is the first movie to be released in the James Bond Franchise, written by Ian Fleming. Dr. No was …
Ciao and Buongiorno!
Welcome to Grillin’ Italian
We love to grill, we love Italian, therefore it makes sense that we would create a page dedicated to Grillin’ Italian.
Italian food showcases a lot of food that we love.
For example, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, olive oil, cheese, artichoke, eggplant, herbs, etc.
So, here we bring to you some of our favorite recipes that are Italian inspired for the grill.
We hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do.
Arrivederci!
Gordon and Julie
(Be sure to check back periodically to see what new we have grilled.)
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Grilled Colorful Bell Peppers with Mozzarella, Pesto, and a Basil Leaf
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Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches w/ the Works!
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Grillin’ All The Peppers and Portobello Stuffed Mushrooms
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A Lovely Appetizer
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with Feta and Spicy Pepperoncini Oil
(Baked in the Oven)
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Fresh Peppers
Sourdough Bread
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Our Sandwich Spread Ingredients
(For our Portobello Stuffed Mushroom Sandwiches)
This was a delicious sandwich spread and very easy to make.
My suggestion is to just eyeball the ingredients to your liking.
Of course you will need a Mayonnaise and a Mustard.
(I, Julie, used Dukes Mayonnaise and a Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard.)
I chopped some leftover Marinated Artichoke Hearts that we had in the refrigerator into small pieces.
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Just place the Artichoke into a bowl.
add some Mayonnaise and Mustard to your tastes.
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Grate in some Parmesan Cheese…
Stir Together
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Leftover Quinoa
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Beautiful Colorful Sweet Peppers
This was actually an afterthought.
We had some leftover Quinoa and these beautiful Sweet Peppers.
I, Julie, thought it would be great to stuff them with the Quinoa and bake them with some Cheese.
Here Gordon is slicing them down the middle and removing the seeds.
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Stuffing the Peppers w/ Quinoa
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The jar you see in the photo top left, is a favorite food of mine.
Cheese stuffed Peperoncini.
The oil has some heat and I love it! I will sometimes cut up other cheeses such as Manchego to marinate in that delicious oil. We don’t tend to throw it out. We use it whenever we can in our cooking and eating. Here I wanted it drizzled over the Quinoa and Feta Stuffed Peppers to be baked. Simply place them into a 350F oven for about 15 minutes or so until they are done to your likeness.
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Gordon Creating the Colorful Bell Pepper, Mozzarella and Pesto Appetizers
(This write up by Gordon)
Here, I am cutting our Bell Peppers into wedges using the natural curves of the pepper to hold the ingredients.
Now, lay the cut sections on a baking tray.
I like using the Fresh Mozzarella as it melts easily and tastes great.
Being pre-sliced is another good option.
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Use your knife to slice the Mozzarella sections to fit into the peppers.
Fill the pepper sections with the cheese as seen above.
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Jarred Pesto
Use about a tsp. of some nice Pesto to accent the Mozzarella as it needs some additional flavor.
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Here I scraped out the black gills of the mushroom with a spoon, as they don’t taste good when they are this big. I left the stem of the mushroom in, but it can also be removed and chopped up and mixed with the stuffing.
The Stuffing Ingredients for the Portobello Mushrooms
To make the stuffing we used Cream Cheese, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, Pecorino Romano Cheese. Fresh Garlic, Roasted Garlic, and Bacon. How can this combination of ingredients not taste delicious on anything?
To start, grate your cheeses into a large bowl
Sharp Cheddar
Now, add your Cream Cheese…
Then slice your Garlic thinly using as many, or as little as you like.
Once sliced, continue to chop them into a small mince.
Add the minced Garlic to the cheese mixture.
Chop the Roasted Garlic as well.
I like using the varied flavors of Garlic which make the stuffing mixture more flavorful in my opinion.
Add the Roasted Garlic to the bowl.
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BACON
Into The Microwave
We like to cook our bacon using this cup like device which keeps the cooked bacon away from the grease.
Using the microwave to do this is another plus!
Here are the results.
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We recently used most of the Grilled Artichoke Hearts which are in a nice seasoned oil. I thought it would be good to use this olive oil on the mushrooms to keep them from sticking and add some great flavor.
Use a brush to coat the olive oil onto the mushroom caps as shown above.
Here I am breaking up the bacon to place into the stuffing mixture. Be sure to taste the bacon to ensure it’s good!… Yeah right! Add some freshly cracked pepper then mix the bacon into the cheese mixture until well combined, then taste the mixture. You shouldn’t need any salt as the Parmesan Cheese and Bacon should have enough salt in them. Either way, add more ingredients as needed to suit your taste.
Use your best tool to load up the mushroom caps. Stuff them staying just below the stem as if stuffed too full, the cheese will run out creating a big mess.
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Here you can see all the items I am about to grill for this great meal.
I usually preheat the grill on high for about 5 min. then scrape off any excess items using a grill brush. Then I turn the heat down to medium and spray the grill grates with a high heat oil. Pam makes a brand especially for the Grill. Now, place your stuffed mushrooms on the main part of the grill.
I placed the stuff Bell Peppers on the top rack to bake.
When the mushrooms become pliable, remove them and place them back onto your baking sheet.
I then grilled the long sweet peppers for a few minutes on each side until they were soft and slightly charred on each side. When the cheese melts and the peppers are slightly softened, you can remove them and place them on a baking sheet. You may have to remove some liquid around the cheese during the cooking process or as least before you place them on the tray.
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Take the baking sheet and place the stuffed mushrooms under the broiler until browned as shown above. It will take a few minutes to broil them to this color.
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Here you can see the melted Mozzarella Cheese inside the pepper sections.
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The Sourdough Bread
Slice your bread loaf into sections about 3/4 of an inch thick as shown.
Use your broiler to toast the slices as shown on both sides.
To make this great sandwich, spread the Mayonnaise mixture on one side of the bread
Add some lettuce leaves, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Romaine… etc then top with a stuffed mushroom cap.
Add a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar and top with another slice of bread!
Here we basically did the same thing, but this time added some of the Grilled Sweet Peppers that were skinned and de-seeded!
Another great way to eat these great ingredients between two slices of bread!
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Here we garnished the Bell Peppers with some Basil Leaves.
You could also add a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar to them.
What an excellent grilled Italian dinner!
CIAO!
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If you would like to view our other Italian food posts…….
Julie’s Italian Appetizers and Edible Gifts
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Gordon and Julie Italian Seconda Parte 2
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La Sciatta Giulia Anna’s (Italian Sloppy Julie Ann’s)
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Edible Gifts: Italian, Greek, and Irish
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Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween
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Even More Italian (Just For You)
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Tavolino Da Caffe Italiana (Coffee Table Italian)
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Grazie,
Gordon and Julie
Beaches Closed Due to Shark Sightings! HERE FOR SHARK WEEK!!! SHARKS!!!! ———————————————————————– Me, In Our Happily Cluttered Nautical Den (I’m holding a glass Japanese fishing boat float that we found floating amongst some sharp coral in Hawaii.) —————————————————————————– The Cocktail… Our Sharkarita’s …
Pizza: Latin for “to pound, or stamp.”
The Lombardic word bizzo, or pizzo, meaning mouthful. Was brought to Italy by the Lombards in the middle of the 6th. century A.D.
A Pizza consists of a base of dough with a selection of ingredients that vary from taste to taste but mostly include tomatoes, cheese, and meat.
Who doesn’t love pizza?
(Homemade Tomato Sauce, Italian Cheeses, Pepperoni, Artichoke, Mushrooms…)
Actually, I have to admit that the first pizza I ever ate was at the age of 6. I was with my mother and some other people at a restaurant in Rome, Georgia. I didn’t want it. My mother made me eat it. I then went home and threw it up because it made me sick. So, pizza and I hardly have a’ Love at First Bite’ relationship. However, that changed as I grew up and my tastes changed. Now we love each other dearly and will always be a part of each other’s lives.
Pizza is my love story, 🙂
Julie
Sometimes the best dinners are Pizza and a Salad
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Here are just a few of our favorite Pizza’s and how we make them. We eat these flatbread pizza’s so often that to me it’s not really cooking. It’s more of a creation born out of tasteful cravings that we have every now and then.
Mini Pizza Bites?
Perhaps.
They are grilled Bell Peppers with Mozzarella Cheese, Pesto, and Basil.
Delicious bite sized goodness. 🙂
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To me, Pizza’s are a lot like fingerprints.
They are all the same, yet each one is different.
The above flatbread Naan has Hummus, Mozzarella Cheese, Green Gouda Pesto Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Grape Tomatoes.
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If you would like to check out our more traditional pizza recipes then click right here:
Grab the napkins and dig in!
We will be adding to this page over time.
Julie and Gordon
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My high school homage to my favorite then pizza, Stouffer’s French Bread Pepperoni Pizza.
Actually, still a favorite. And yes, I do eat it with a fork.
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Julie’s Easy Pizza Salad
This was something very easy and delicious that I threw together one night for dinner.
I started out with a frozen pizza and topped it with some Sundried Tomatoes marinated in olive oil, some cheeses that I had in the refrigerator such as Manchego, and a Red Pepper stuffed with Cream Cheese marinated in olive oil. I also put a few spoonfuls of Pesto over the pizza, and as always, a good sprinkling of Garlic Salt.
I then baked it according to the package instructions.
While the pizza was baking I placed some of my artisan lettuce all around a large plate.
When the pizza was done I placed it on top of the circle of lettuce, then strewed it with some Onions and Fresh Basil. Then a drizzle of salad dressing all around. I think this was either a French or Catalina Dressing.
It was DELICIOUS!!!
One of the best things I’ve ever eaten!
Just Another Version
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One of my favorite store bought pizza’s is from Sprout’s.
This Italian sausage can hit the spot when necessary. 🙂
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Never Underestimate Fresh Herbs Ability to Enhance a Pizza
Even on Those Store Bought
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You Can Always Try A Fried Egg On A Pizza
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It is Rare When the Photo of the Pizza on the box…
..Actually Matches the Pizza!
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Recipes Start Right Here
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I don’t know that this is as much of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich as it is a Pizza.
Either way, it is a grouping of various cheeses inserted between two Naan’s and baked in the oven, melting the cheese’s.
It Was Delicious, None The Less 🙂
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English Muffin Pizzas
Easy: English Muffins, Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Turkey Pepperoni
Bake in a 350F Oven for about 15 minutes.
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OUR PIZZA SANDWICHES
Everything You Want On Top of a Pizza, Except in a Sandwich
(Recipe Down Below)
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Naan and Flatbread
Ideas and Suggestions
To me, Julie, there really aren’t recipes associated with pizzas anymore.
They are more suggestions and ideas.
At this writing in 2022, I am 61 years old and I grew up eating frozen pizzas from the grocery stores that just weren’t that good when I was growing up. It never really occurred to us to add a multitude of toppings or sauces, or even cheeses. I pretty much just added a bit of Garlic Powder to my frozen Cheese Pizza. Sometimes I would add some mushrooms in water from a jar.
The only good pizzas when I was growing up were purchased at a Pizza Hut and then a bit later on, at Dominoes Pizza.
But now things are different. You can buy a delicious frozen pizza at the grocery store and add your own updated toppings to suit your tastes. Or, you can buy some flatbreads or Naan and create your very own unique pizzas for lunch or dinner.
The pizza’s that you see here are mine and Gordon’s.
We used Naan (Bread), Hummus, Various Cheeses, Sundried Tomatoes in Olive Oil, Pesto, and my favorite Pepperoncini stuffed with Cream Cheese in a Spicy Hot Olive Oil.
These are a Favorite of Mine Whether on Pizzas or anywhere!
Our Naan’s! Gordon’s to the left, mine to the right.
Don’t just limit yourselves to Mozzarella. I used a Red Wine Cheddar on mine that I adore! That and some Pesto, and those great stuffed Pepperoncini.
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More of those Excellent Cream Cheese Stuffed Pepperoncini’s Topping my Pizza
I simply took a frozen pizza and added some of my Manchego Cheese, some Pesto, some Cream Cheese Pepperoncini, and then baked it in the oven following the package instructions.
You can see all the lovely olive oil on top of the pizza.
That is wonderful flavor!
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More Naan’s
The secret to making the Naan nice and crusty is to first turn the oven on 400F and when it comes to temperature, place the bottom side up in the oven. Cook for 5 minutes. Then remove from the oven and flip it to the top side and start loading up your toppings.
Before, After
Once you have loaded all of your toppings on to the top, place into the oven for 8 minutes to cook.
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Salad/Herb Pizzas
I love these because they are crunchy, and I love crunchy!
Once cooked, I place my lettuce/herbs on top of my pizzas.
They are just as crunchy the next day for lunch. I don’t even have to heat them up.
I can just eat them right out of the refrigerator.
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Shredded Green Gouda Pesto Cheese
I find that my most favorite of all pizza’s seems to be GREEN!
Green Pesto Gouda Cheese, Green Pesto, and Green Lettuce
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Flatbread Artichoke Pizza
These pizzas we made by using the elongated Flatbreads, Hummus, Cheeses, Marinated Artichokes, Sundried Tomatoes, etc. They were delicious! A sprinkling of Garlic Salt to top it off!
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Our Naan Pesto Pizza’s
I adore a Green Gouda Cheese and Mushroom Pizza with Pesto.
Don’t limit yourself to Mozzarella.
There are so many cheeses that you can use to suit your tastes.
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Also, Toppings are Endless Suggestions!
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NAAN
I told Gordon that I wanted the larger Naan and the medium sized Naan so that we can make pizza’s with them. The larger Naan is great for dinner, but the medium sized Naan is great for lunch.
I wanted to use up the cheeses that we already had, along with some pesto.
The first thing that Gordon did was to turn the oven on 400F and place the Naan in the oven to cook for 5 minutes on the bottom side of the Naan. Now, it is ready for the toppings.
I told Gordon that I wanted a thin layer of my Red Pepper Hummus on the Naan. I then wanted some mozzarella and some grated Pesto Gouda on top.
Followed by a few blobs of Pesto.
Next, some sliced Mushrooms with a drizzle of the Olive Oil from the marinated Sundried Tomatoes.
As well as a few Sundried Tomatoes on my pizza.
Now, it’s time for a sprinkling of Garlic Salt and then placed into the oven for about 8 minutes until done.
Perfection at it’s best!
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Making Naan With Leftovers
Here We Topped the Naan with some Stuffed Peppers and Stuffed Mushrooms.
Always start with the Naan having been baked in a 400F oven for 5 minutes, and then place the Hummus on the top portion of the Naan. This is a Red Pepper Hummus.
Now some Cheeses and Colorful Bell Peppers are Topped, Along with a Cheesy Stuffed Mushroom.
Now Baked. Always use your refrigerator as an inspiration.
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A Cornmeal Pizza
We used two Corn Meal Pizza Crusts here.
They were ready made.
We then added some Pizza Sauce, some Artichoke Piccata Sauce, some Mozzarella Slices…
The Artichoke Piccata Sauce
Getting Ready for the Oven
A 400F Oven to Melt and Cheeses
Some Turkey Pepperoni and Some of our Garden Basil
Perfect! Enjoy!
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Italian Basil Left, Thai Basil Right
And Lots of Pesto!
More Beautiful and Delicious Pizzas
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Italian Grilled Squash Alfredo Sauce Artisan Pizza
Makes 2 Artisan Pizzas
Ingredients:
2 Zucchini – sliced into triangular wedges
2 Yellow Squash – sliced into triangular wedges
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Artisan Flatbread – (Stonefire brand)
1 Cup Creamy Basil Alfredo sauce – (Bertolli brand)
1/2 Cup Red Pepper sauce plus 4 Tbsp. to top the pizza – recipe is found below
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
18 Fresh Mozzarella Balls – (Bel Gioioso brand)
10 Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in half
1/4 Cup Sweet Onion – half circle slices
Garlic Salt to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fresh Herbs to Garnish
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Slice your Zucchini into 2 inch rounds, then slice those on a bias as shown to make triangles. Do the same with the Yellow Squash.
Julie wanted the pizza to look 3-D. 🙂
Pictured are the Artisan Naan, Heirloom tomatoes, and Mozzarella Cheese we used for this recipe.
In a mixing bowl toss the cut squash with salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Grill the Zucchini and Yellow Squash on your grill. Here I used a wire rack used to cool bread and cookies, so the squash wouldn’t fall through the grill grates. Grill them for about 8 min. on each side over medium high heat.
Place your Naan into a 400’F oven bubble side (Top) down for 5 min.
When done, place them top side up on a baking sheet.
Place some foil under the Naan slices as shown.
Using a large spoon, spread the Creamy Basil Alfredo in a thin layer over both Naan up to the edges.
With another spoon, spread the Red Pepper sauce in a zig-zag pattern.
(This Roasted Red Pepper Sauce recipe is listed below this one.)
Top the Alfredo Sauce and Red Pepper Dip with a thin layer of shredded Mozzarella.
Now, evenly disperse your Zucchini and Yellow Squash over the Naan, about 8 slices per Naan.
Now, evenly distribute the heirloom tomatoes and Mozzarella balls.
Place some of your onion slices evenly over the toppings then top with some more of the Red Pepper sauce.
Lastly, top with a sprinkling of garlic salt. Bake in a 400’F oven for 8 min. or more you melt the cheese. If you like, you could broil the Naan pizza after it has baked to get a little char on the onions.
DELIZIOSA!
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Sausage, the Afterthought
I knew we forgot a main ingredient when we were making the pizzas from above, and here it is….
….better late than never. It made it to the leftovers.
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Roasted Red Pepper Spread/Dip/Sauce
This is an excellent dip for pita chips, or a spread for crackers, or as a dipping sauce for shrimp. Also great eaten with our fresh veggie bar.
This recipe makes a little over 2 cups.
Ingredients:
15 oz. jar of Roasted Red Bell Peppers, drained
¾ Tbsp Cumin
½ Tbsp Turmeric (To help fight off Cancer)
½ Tbsp Smoked or Regular Paprika
½ Med. Onion chopped, (Red Onion would also add to the color)
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
3 to 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Plain Greek Yogurt
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 packages 8 oz. light or reg. Cream Cheese (softened)
In a blender first mix all the ingredients except the cream cheese until just combined. Then add the cream cheese and blend until smooth.
When done top with a sprinkling of paprika or chopped scallions!
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Getting out all of my ingredients and allowing my Cream Cheese to come to room temperature.
Placing My Ingredients Into a Blender
Onion, and Lemon
Everything Into the Blender, Now Puree Until Smooth
Place Into Dipping Containers and Refrigerate
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OUR PIZZA SANDWICHES
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I, Julie, am the one that came up with this idea. I just wanted a pizza in the form of a sandwich so we set about creating these. They are delicious! Especially with the cheesy crusty bread and our fresh herbs from our garden. In doing the write-up both Gordon and myself are wanting this again very soon.
Hope you enjoy!
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Write up by Gordon:
Ingredients:
1 Loaf English Muffin Bread – Garlic Bread is also a good choice, Sliced
12 Slices Capicola Ham
12 Slices Pepperoni
1 Jar (Classico) Pizza Sauce
1 1/2 Cups Grated Mozzarella Cheese
Butter as needed
1 Lb. Pre-sliced Mozzarella Cheese Log
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
4 Basil Leaves – 2 per sandwich
Garlic Salt to taste
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Slice your bread to ~3/4 inch thickness using a bread knife.
Using a large pan, cook your Capicola Ham slices over medium heat. No oil is necessary to cook them.
When browned on one side, flip and cook until browned on the other side. Place them on a paper towel when done to absorb any excess fat.
Do the same with the Pepperoni slices as shown.
Place them on a paper towel when done. Here you can see all the fat the paper towels absorb.
Pour your Pizza Sauce into a small pot…
and turn to medium heat.
Using a clean large pan that has been heated to medium heat, place 1 Tbsp. of butter and 1/4 Cup grated Mozzarella Cheese into the pan, then place a slice of bread on top of the cheese
Cook the cheese for a minute or so until the cheese browns as shown. When done add some more butter to the pan and turn the bread over and brown the other side for about 3 minutes.
For the middle section of bread of the sandwich, simply add some butter and cook on both sides until browned.
For the bottom section of the sandwich, add more butter to the pan, then add your grated Mozzarella Cheese as before.
Then top with a slice of bread and cook until browned as shown.
Place your bread slices on a sheet pan lined with non-stick foil, with first slice having the cheese side down.
To assemble the sandwiches, place a dollop of Pizza Sauce on the non-cheese side of the top piece of bread, then top some sauce on the middle slice. Spread the Pizza Sauce evenly over the bread as shown.
Add a few slices of the Mozzarella over the first slice of bread.
Then add 4 slices of your Pepperoni on top of the sliced Mozzarella.
Now place your middle slice of bread on top of the Pepperoni, then add some more sliced Mozzarella and 4 slices of Capicola Ham as shown.
Add more sauce to the top of the Capicola slices then add some dried Oregano to taste. Now add your fresh Basil leaves to the Pizza Sauce.
Place the top slice of bread with the melted Mozzarella Cheese on top of sandwich. Add some Garlic Salt to taste, to the top of the sandwich.
Bake the sandwiches at 350’F for about 10 minutes or until the sliced Mozzarella inside the sandwich melts.
We hope you enjoy these Pizza inspired sandwiches as much as we did!
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Next Day Leftovers….
…With Some Potato Sticks
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The Leftovers Pizza Naan
We Created This Simply By Using Up Our Leftovers
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Ingredients We Used:
Naan
Leftover Shrimp
Roasted Garlic
Goat Cheese
Purple Moon Cheese (A Favorite!)
Pesto
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Some of This was Take-Out
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Gordon Toasting the Naan
This is a step that we do that most people don’t. We will toast our Naan on both sides for just a few minutes in a 350F oven.
It will just crisp it up a bit before you place your toppings.
Now that the Naan is nice and warm, Gordon is grating our Purple Moon Cheese on top.
In the back above, Gordon has smooshed some of the Roasted Garlic and is spreading it on the Naan.
He is now placing Goat Cheese on the Naan in the back, top.
Naan in the front have dollops of Pesto.
Place the Naan back into the oven with the Shrimp Toppings, just to warm them through and melt the Cheeses.
I Always Top Mine With Some Sort of Lettuce
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An Easy Tandoori Flatbread Pizza
My Very Simple Ingredients:
Tandoori Flatbread
Jarred Pizza Sauce
Marinated Pearl Mozzarella Balls
Red Grape Tomatoes
Garlic Salt
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Tandoori also makes an excellent Pizza. We do like to toast our bread before we add the toppings.
Just a few minutes on each side in a 350F oven.
Slicing My Tomatoes in Half
I LOVE these Marinated Mozzarella Balls!
They are marinated in Olive Oil with some lovely Herbs and Spices, adding more flavor to your Pizza.
With My Tandoori Ready….
I’ve Added Them to a Foil Lined Baking Sheet
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We love this Garlic Salt and add it to many of our Pizza creations.
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With My Pizza Sauce, Marinated Mozzarella Balls, Grape Tomatoes and Garlic Salt…
I Baked it in the 350F oven for about 10 minutes. But, it is up to you to decide how well done you prefer yours.
Don’t forget the Lettuce!
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We hope that you enjoy some of our Pizza recipes and ideas. Some of them are very easy and simple. But, it may not be something that you had thought of previously, that perhaps just might make you think of creating something similar that you hadn’t considered before.
Pizza, Pizza,
Julie and Gordon
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If you would like to view our other Italian food posts…….
Julie’s Italian Appetizers and Edible Gifts
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Gordon and Julie Italian Seconda Parte 2
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La Sciatta Giulia Anna’s (Italian Sloppy Julie Ann’s)
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Edible Gifts: Italian, Greek, and Irish
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Modern Day Mona (Lisa) Halloween
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Even More Italian (Just For You)
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Tavolino Da Caffe Italiana (Coffee Table Italian)
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Grazie,
Gordon and Julie
Our Home Grown Bananas Whether you grow them yourself or buy them…. When I think of Bananas I always think of Babies, Toddlers, Banana Pudding, Nilla Waffers, Banana Bread, and my Grandmother Aycock’s Banana Sandwiches that she would make for me …
Blackened Grouper Cheek Po’ Boys
These are actually based on our love of Grouper Cheeks.
The Slaw above is actually an excellent one we did for St. Patrick’s Day and we used the leftovers here.
See that recipe below:
Adding Some Grilled Lemon Juice
So Very Delicious!
An Excellent Sandwich for any Everyday Seafood
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We Also Have:
Spanish Sofrito Tilapia with Sofrito Rice
This photo was when we originally made this dish.
The photos below are when we recreated it using only 3 fillets and leftovers.
I will give you both versions of this recipe down below.
This Recipe is a Keeper!
AND,
Lobster, Shrimp, and Sides
(Recipe at Bottom)
AND,
Cedar Plank Salmon in Classic Jezebel Sauce, Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus…
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Arabic Rice, Zucchini and Squash Fries
This Arabic Rice is Delicious!
The Salmon Steaks with my Jule’s Classic Jezebel Sauce with Dill
Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Pepper and Olive Oil
Excellent Everyday Seafood Dinner
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Click Here For: Julie’s Jezebel Sauce
An Excellent Glaze for Seafood and a Dipping Sauce
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Chick Pea Pasta with New Zealand Mussels, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Green Sauce
(Recipes Down Below)
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But First:
Blackened Grouper Cheek Po’Boys
The Ingredients:
1 Bag of Frozen Grouper Cheeks
4 Sub Rolls – Toasted
2 Lemons
4 oz. Kerry Gold Butter – melted
Blackened Seasoning Mix Ingredients:
1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
1 tsp. Sweet Paprika
1 tsp, Thyme
1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tbsp. Himalayan Salt – fine ground
1 tsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp. Ground Mustard
1/4 tsp. Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
Pictured are all the ingredients.
Slice your Sub Rolls like a hot dog bun.
Thaw your grouper cheeks in running water in a colander.
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Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
1/2 tsp Wasabi
1 Tbsp. Ketchup
3 Tbsp. Tartar Sauce
1 tsp. Lemon Juice
In a small bowl add your Wasabi…
Ketchup, Tartar Sauce, then Lemon Juice.
Mix all the ingredients well and set aside in the refrigerator.
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Here are the spices I used to make my own Blackened Seasoning. I am using the 1/4 Cup to measure out the spices so I don’t get much more than that of all the Paprika’s I will be using.
Now the Smoked Paprika…
and lastly the Sweet Paprika. Place them all into a large measuring cup.
Now add your Thyme…
Onion Powder…
Finely ground Himalayan Salt…
Roasted Garlic Powder…
Ground Black Pepper…
Ground Mustard…
and lastly some Ground Cayenne Red Pepper… to taste.
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Mix the ingredients well and place them into a used spice jar that has a sprinkle top. Using this makes it easier to distribute the seasoning on the cheeks. This is what we did.
Slice your two lemons in half and set on a tray to later grill.
Here is the type of butter I used.
Slice off just more than half of the butter…
place it into a bowl and microwave it until melted.
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Place the grouper cheeks onto a large plate as shown.
Now add the melted butter and place all onto a large tray with the blackened seasoning.
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Get your cast iron skillet as hot as you can using your grill.
Using your tongs, dip a grouper cheek into the melted butter coating it well.
Set the buttered cheek onto the plate and sprinkle your blackened seasoning all over the one side.
Place the seasoned grouper cheek side down onto the skillet. Then season the other side of the cheek as shown.
After about 1 min. turn the cheeks and cook for another min. Meanwhile, grill the cut lemons as shown.
If needed, you can put a touch of peanut oil into the pan to help stop the cheeks from sticking.
Repeat these steps with the other grouper cheeks.
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Here I am grilling more cheeks as they cook fast as long as your pan is super heated.
I am also grilling the sub rolls.
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Here are all the grilled grouper cheeks and lemons.
We made a slaw earlier to be placed onto the rolls.
add the spicy sauce we made earlier then add your blackened cheeks. You can also add some of the blackened seasoning as well.
Add some of the lemon juice and get ready to eat!
I really liked the sauce so I add some more to the fish.
Enjoy!
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Our Grilled Cabbage Slaw
An Excellent Edible Gift
With a Lovely Dressing…
Tossed and Ready to Eat
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Ingredients:
1 pkg. Pecanwood Thick Cut Bacon
3 Cabbage
3 Yellow Onions
1/2 Cup Bacon Fat
1 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp. Whole Grain Mustard
1 Tbsp. Delicatessen Mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste
~3 Tbsp. Parsley – thinly chopped
2 Cups Whole Pecan Halves
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Pecanwood Thick Cut Bacon
Here we are placing our bacon on our pottery specially made for this task.
Place a sheet of paper towel on top to prevent spattering.
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Cook the bacon in the microwave for about 10 min. or until crispy.
Carefully remove the bacon and place on a paper towel keeping the bacon fat for later uses. Continue this process until all the bacon is cooked. We clean the pottery cooker between each cook.
Slice the cabbage into ~1 inch thick slices.
Like so….
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Peel and slice your onions into quarters.
Heat your grill to medium high heat …
and place the cabbage evenly over the entire grilling surface as shown.
I then placed the quartered onions on the upper grilling surface to start their cooking.
Keep aware of your grill’s hot spots and turn and move the cabbage as it cooks.
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Here you can see the nice grill marks and a little char on the cabbage.
As the cabbage finishes cooking, place it on a platter as shown.
When there is room on the grill, bring down the onions and grill them the same as the cabbage.
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For the dressing, use a cast iron skillet as I find it retains its heat and cooks evenly.
Our Dressing Ingredients
Heat your skillet to medium heat and add a good amount of your bacon fat to the pan. Now add most of your lemon juice to the pan.
Now your grainy mustard…
Then your delicatessen mustard, and honey.
Now add your salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Whisk all this ingredients together.
Cook the dressing on the grill, or you can use your side burner if you have one.
As the dressing cooks, the mixture will begin to reduce and slightly thicken.
Taste your dressing and add ingredients as needed.
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Slice your parsley…
then chop your grilled cabbage into bite size pieces.
Here, I wanted a little more bacon flavor so I added the rest of the bacon fat.
Place the chopped cabbage into a large mixing bowl then add the parsley.
Slice your onions lengthwise …
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and place them in the mixing bowl with the other ingredients.
Now, add your dressing to the bowl and mix all the ingredients well.
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Add your pecans to the bowl…
then add your bacon breaking it apart into bite sized pieces.
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Mix all the ingredients well.
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Place the cabbage mixture into jars which can last for a week or more in the refrigerator as the acid in the lemon juice will keep it from spoiling.
They also make excellent edible gifts.
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We Actually made This While on Vacation
Our Spanish Sofrito/Salsa Verde Tilapia and Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice
My Salsa Verde and Sofrito
The recipes are below this one.
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Our Spanish Sofrito/Salsa Verde Tilapia and Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice
Ingredients:
7 Tilapia fillets – Thawed if previously frozen
3-4 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
~ 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Sauce Ingredients:
1 Cup Dry White Wine (your favorite Chardonnay)
2 Cups Salsa Verde (Julie’s Homemade)
1 Cup Sofrito (Julie’s Homemade)
~10 Large Pepper Stuffed Olives – sliced in half
1/2 Cup Old Florida Chunky Salsa
1 Tbsp. Smoked Paprika
1/2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro – Chopped
2 Tbsp. Fresh Parsley – Chopped
2 Tbsp. Fresh Basil – Chopped
(The herbs we brought from home.)
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Ready to Get Started in our Vacation Rental Kitchen
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Place the thawed fillets on a sheet pan and liberally coat with the sweet paprika.
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Turn the fillets over and coat the other side as shown.
Now add your salt and pepper to taste.
Spanish Olives
Slice your pepper stuffed olives in half.
Place the sliced olives in a bowl for later use.
These black olives are for the Sofrito Rice recipe.
Slice them also in half as shown.
Place the black olives in a bowl for later use.
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We Brought our Rice, and Rice Cooker With Us on Vacation
For your Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice recipe, add about 2 cups of rice to your rice maker’s pot. Rinse the rice about 3 times or until the water is clear. This is done by placing a few cups of water into your rice bowl and using your hand to stir the rice for about 45 seconds. You will begin to see the milky white starch to come off the rice. Pour the water out of the bowl and fill the bowl back again with a few cups of water and repeat the previous steps until the water is clear. Remove the remaining water from the rice.
Add the vegetable broth until it is about one inch above the rice.
One inch is about one knuckle above the rice.
You can place your finger inside to make that determination.
Close the lid and turn the rice maker on as shown.
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Meanwhile….
Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice Ingredients:
2 Cups Rice
~ 2 Cups Vegetable Broth – or until the broth is one inch above the rice.
1 Small bag of Frozen Peas and Carrots
~ 30 Pitted Black Olives – sliced in half
1 Cup Sofrito (Julie’s Homemade)
1/2 Cup Salsa Verde (Julie’s Homemade)
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Back to the Tilapia
Add your olive oil to a large cast iron skillet and turn on to medium high heat.
Oyster Bay New Zealand Pinot Gris
Here is the wine I will use to de-glaze the pan after the tilapia is cooked. Also pictured are the fresh herbs from our garden we will use for the tilapia.
Letting the pan get hot on the Stove Top
(We did bring this from home.)
Adding some of the Tilapia fillets to the pan. Just sear the fillets for about 2 min. on each side as they will continue to cook while in the sauce.
Pictured are the olives and both of Julie’s homemade Sofrito and Salsa Verde… which were both so good!
Once the fillets are cooked, place them back onto the sheet pan which I used to hold the fillets for seasoning.
Here are the last of the fillets.
See all those bits in the pan? They are pure flavor!
Liberally add your white wine to the pan or about 1 Cup of wine.
Adding the wine to the pan will de-glaze the pan or lift up any pieces of fish that were stuck to the pan or what is called fond. Using your spatula, move the wine around the pan scraping up the fond.
Let the wine cook for about 2 minutes and continue to stir the mixture.
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For the Sofrito Rice recipe, I cooked the frozen peas and carrots in a sauce pan with a little bit of boiling water and when done, I drained off the water.
Now, add the cooked peas and carrots to a larger pot as shown above.
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Back to the Tilapia, add your sliced green olives to the wine and fond.
Saute the olives in the wine.
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For the Sofrito Rice, add about 1 Cup of Sofrito to the peas and carrots.
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Now add your sliced black olives to the pot.
Here you see the olives cooking in the wine and I am stirring the Sofrito Rice ingredients.
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Once the olives have cooked for a few minutes in the wine, add a cup of Sofrito to the pan.
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Now, add 2 Cups of your Salsa Verde to the pan.
Turn the heat down to medium and let the Tilapia sauce simmer and reduce.
NOTE: It was at this point that we decided to add some Salsa Verde to our Peas and Carrots. Photo not shown.
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Add your Cayenne to the Tilapia pan sauce.
Now add your Smoked Paprika and stir all the ingredients together well.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed.
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We had these green beans as a nice side dish to our meal. These taste a lot like Julie’s Grandmothers. Not everything needs to be homemade from scratch. Bring along some cans to add to your homemade vacation meals.
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Here on the left is the rice mixture and on the right is the Tilapia Sauce.
Here I added about 1/2 Cup of this Old Florida Chunky Salsa to the Tilapia Sauce.
As the Tilapia Sauce reduces, I will chop the fresh herbs.
Be sure to stir the sauce occasionally so it won’t burn.
Here on the right the Tilapia Sauce has reduced to my liking, so turn off the heat.
I then added the cooked Tilapia fillets to the sauce and then will continue to cook over the hot sauce. You can nestle the thicker fillets in the sauce. I also poured the left over juices from the fillets into the skillet.
Add your cooked rice to the peas, carrots, and other ingredients and fold together.
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Beautiful, Rustic, and Delicious
Add your freshly chopped herbs to the rice.
Both of these recipes were really good and will be a staple to our family favorites.
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Cilantro Galore and Spring Onions Going in These Next Two Recipes
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Julie’s Salsa Verde
(Gordon wanted to drink this, he thought it was that good.) 🙂
Ingredients:
1 28 Ounce Can of Whole Tomatillos (Costena Brand)
1-2 Jalapeno Peppers, Deseeded
3 Spring Onions
1 Bunch of Cilantro
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1 t. Garlic Salt
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This was so easy and fast. I was thrilled to find this can of whole Tomatillos. I was dreading having to use fresh ones. They are just so sticky and you have to remove that husk from them which sometimes takes a bit of work.
You just throw everything in the blender and zap it until it’s ready.
Couldn’t be simpler! Just place into jars and keep refrigerated.
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Julie’s Sofrito
(Sofrito is Puerto Rican)
Ingredients:
4 Cubanelle Peppers, Deseeded
2 Medium Sized Spanish Onions
(I have 3 pictured because one looked a little bad. I probably used about 2 1/2 Onions though.)
4 Plum Tomatoes (I used Roma, they are similar.)
1 Large Red Bell Pepper
2-3 Spring Onions
12 Large Garlic Cloves, or 18 Regular Ones
1 Bunch Cilantro
4-6 Culantro Leaves
Hawaiian Sea Salt, or any you so desire.
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Yet another very easy recipe.
If you cannot find Culantro in your usual super markets then you can at the local Asian and Spanish grocery stores.
My Culantro Herb Plant
Just Chop Everything and Place into Your Blender
You of course want to deseed your peppers and remove the stems.
Blending the Onions and Peppers
Deseeding the Red Bell Pepper and Chopping it and the Tomatoes
In Go the Tomatoes and Red Bell Pepper
Next, Add the Green Stuff
Garlic Cloves and Hawaiian Sea Salt
Then Add The Culantro
Place into jars and keep refrigerated.
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Spanish Sofrito Tilapia with Sofrito Rice
This is the same recipe from above except that we substituted some of the ingredients with what we had in our house once we got home from our vacation.
This was so good when we originally made it that when we got home and saw our leftover ingredients we wanted to remake it so as not to let anything go to waste.
We had some leftover Tilapia, Salsa Verde, Sofrito, Florida Salsa, Olives….
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We Fried the Tilapia Same as Recipe Above
Instead of a Chardonnay Above we used a Key Lime Wine
This was to deglaze the pan from the fried Tilapia.
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We didn’t have any of our Spanish Olives leftover from the recipe above so we opened a jar of Garlic Stuffed Olives, which was perfect. Here Gordon is slicing them in half. I also love the presentation of the large olives sliced in half and not chopped up into diced size pieces.
We also didn’t have any frozen peas and carrots for the rice that we make above so we opened up this can and added it to our Sofrito/Salsa Verde Rice. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Gordon Cooking our Sofrito/Salsa Verde Sauce
(Isn’t it beautiful?)
Cooking the Sauce Same as Above
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Bringing to a Boil
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Gordon Slicing Black Olives for the Rice
Gordon decided to cook the black olives and the colorful carrots in the rice cooker to save time.
You simply make rice according to the rice maker instructions and then add the colorful carrots and olives. That way everything cooks together at once. When the rice is done, the veggies are done.
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The Pan Left is for Rice, The Pan Right is for Tilapia
Gordon wanted to add more ingredients to the rice so when the rice cooker with the vegetables was finished, he dumped everything into the wok that already had some olive oil in it. He put it on a medium heat. He then added the drained can of peas and onions and some leftover Florida Salsa.
Place the Tilapia back into the sauce just to warm…
then happily heap onto a plate and enjoy!
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Lobster, Shrimp and Sides
Here I found some nice lobster at our Military Commissary (Grocery Store) which were pre-cooked. This can be a problem if you don’t reheat them properly. Luckily, they didn’t cook them to death in the first place.
It Doesn’t Get Any Easier Than This
I simply put the lobster on a sheet pan in a 350’F oven for about 10 min.
When done, the lobster will come out warm and nice and should be eaten right away. In a small saute pan melt some butter with some minced garlic. Break open the lobster tail and claws and dip them in the garlic butter. Don’t forget the legs as they have some meat in them as well.
Here is a great vegetable side dish. In our lower oven we roasted some Zucchini and Yellow Squash cut into strips at 375″F for about 25 min. which were coated with an egg wash (two eggs beaten together with a little water) then coated with some bread crumbs, grated Parmesan Cheese and salt and pepper to taste.
Roast the fries until browned as shown.
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Cedar Plank Salmon in Classic Jezebel Sauce, Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus…
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Arabic Rice, Zucchini and Squash Fries
This Arabic Rice is Delicious!
The Salmon Steaks with my Jule’s Classic Jezebel Sauce with Dill
Grilled Lemons, Grilled Asparagus with Lemon Pepper and Olive Oil
Excellent Everyday Seafood Dinner
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Here I am soaking the cedar wood plank in water using a cast iron lid to keep it down.
In Order To Make……..
Jezebel Cedar Plank Salmon Steaks
WITH…..
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Arabic Rice, Grilled Asparagus and Squash, and Zucchini Fries
(We’ve got 3 recipes in the making here.)
Ingredients for the Arabic Rice:
1 1/2 Cups Brown Basmati Rice
3/4 Large Red Onion – diced
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil – I used one from the country of Jordan
1 Tbsp. Ground Cardamom – or more to taste
1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin – or more to taste
1 Tbsp. Ground Coriander – or more to taste
5 Cardamom Pods – seeds removed
~1/2 Cup Dried Cherries
~1/2 Cup Pitted Dried Apricots
~1/2 Cup Chopped Dates
~1/2 Cup Mixed Jumbo Raisins
1/2 tsp. Himalayen Salt
1 tsp. Dried Valencia Orange Peel
2 Whole Cinnamon Sticks
2 Bay Leaves
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste
Garnish with chopped chives
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Add your rice to your rice cooker’s bowl and wash with fresh water a couple of times until the water runs clear. This removes the coating. Use your fingers to mix the rice with the fresh water and pour out the milky water and any non-rice pieces. Then add one inch of water above the rice. Use your index finger and your first knuckle to measure this 1 inch measurement. Cook the rice in your cooker until done.
Slice your Red Onion in half then dice it as shown.
Here I placed them in a bowl for later use.
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Grilled Asparagus Ingredients:
~30 Asparagus
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. Lemon Pepper
Wash your Asparagus then slice off the woody ends as shown. Usually about 1 inch of the end depending on the freshness of the Asparagus.
Place the Asparagus into a large baggie and add your olive oil.
Add your lemon pepper and close the bag letting it sit overnight or at least for a few hours.
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Yellow Squash and Zucchini Fries:
Ingredients:
3 Yellow Squash – sliced
3 Zucchini Squash – sliced
2 Eggs – beaten
2 Tbsp. Water
2 Cups Wheat Panko Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Grated Asiago Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
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Slice all the squash into thin French fry wedges as shown.
Crack your eggs into a large bowl…
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then add your water to the bowl and whisk until combined.
Pour your Panko Bread Crumbs into another bowl …
then add your shredded Asiago Cheese and mix all the ingredients well.
Add your pepper and salt to taste and mix well again.
Dip your squash wedge into the egg mixture to thoroughly coat.
Then dip it into the Panko and cheese mixture,
and set it on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil as shown.
Slice the ends off of your Zucchini squash and cut them into wedges as before and place them into the egg, then Panko mixtures.
Here you can see I have the bowls and tray all in a row to simplify the process.
Line the squash fries in rows on the tray as shown.
Sprinkle a little more Asiago cheese on the squash if wanted.
Bake the fries in a 400’F oven for about 25 min. or until browned.
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Here you can see the rice is perfectly cooked and ready for the Arabic Rice recipe.
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Thaw and rinse clean your salmon fillets.
Using a pair of food pliers, remove the bones as shown. You could also remove the backbone if you desired. They are also easily removed after the Salmon is cooked.
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I like to use a Wok for rice dishes as they remind me a making Asian foods and the ease of moving the ingredients around which the Wok provides.
Heat the Wok to medium high heat and add your oil.
When the oil comes to temperature, add your Red Onions and saute them for a few minutes.
Now add your Cardamom…
Cumin…
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and Coriander to the Red Onions and mix well.
Here I am also using the Whole Cardamom Seeds which I am removing from their Pod.
Mix the Red Onion and seasonings well adding more oil if needed.
Add your Dried Cherries to the Wok…
Then your Apricots…
Chopped Dates…
and Raisins to the Wok and continue to mix well.
Now add your Cinnamon Sticks and Bay Leaves to the mixture…
then your Salt…
and Dried Orange Peel, and again mix all the ingredients well.
The aroma of this is amazing!
Now remove some of your rice from the bowl and add it to the other ingredients in the Wok.
Begin to break up the rice with your wooden spatula while mixing all the ingredients together. Add as much rice as you like until the consistency looks good to you. Use any leftover rice for other meals.
Here is the finished dish which was garnished with some chopped chives.
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Here I have removed the Squash Fries from the oven as they have browned to my liking.
Set them aside to be eaten later.
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Slice some lemons in half to be grilled along with your Salmon.
Here are the four Salmon Fillet Steaks and a brush for the Jezebel sauce.
Turn on your grill to high and heat for about 8 min. When at temperature, reduce the heat to medium and place your cedar planks on the grates. TIP: Buy an entire board of cedar wood at your local home improvement store and have them cut the wood into manageable planks. This is much cheaper than buying the already cut wood planks. Just make sure that the wood is untreated.
Place some oil on the plank and brush it evenly over the wood’s surface.
Now place your Salmon on the plank, placing one inside the other as shown.
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Add about 1/2 cup of your Jezebel sauce to a small bowl and …
use your brush to evenly coat the fish with your sauce/glaze.
Add your Asparagus to the grill as shown, over medium heat.
Close the grill for about 8 min. then turn the Asparagus using your tongs.
Add your lemons to the grill and cook them until they have grill marks on the cut side. Grill the fish until firm and you see the white fat coming out of the fish which should take about 15 min. total time depending on the thickness of your fish and the amount of times you open your grill to tend to other items.
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Here you can see the nicely grilled Salmon Steaks which we garnished with some fresh Dill Sprigs.
Pictured above are the grilled lemon and Asparagus.
Here is the plated meal… this was really good and the Jezebel sauce was a huge hit.
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What an Excellent Dinner!
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Chick Pea Pasta with New Zealand Mussels, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Green Sauce
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Ingredients:
1 Large Onion – diced
4 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Garlic infused Olive Oil
~9 Garlic Cloves – sliced thinly
1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
~13 Cherry Tomatoes – sliced in half
24 oz. New Zealand Mussels – frozen
1 package Chick Pea Pasta – reserving 1/2 Cup of the water to create the sauce for the dish
~1 Cup Green/Herb Sauce (This Green/Herb Sauce recipe can be viewed here): Simply Easter
1 Small Bunch of Parsley – Chopped finely
Salt and Pepper to taste
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Kerrygold butter is an Irish butter, which is very good and worth the extra cost.
Here is the Pasta, Garlic, and Cherry Tomatoes we used in this recipe.
Above are the New Zealand mussels we used. There are a few different brands to buy here in the U.S. that I have seen. I believe some of the best mussels in the world come from New Zealand. Other amazing mussels come from the U.S. waters around the state of Washington.
To start, place a few Tbsp. of Olive Oil into a large saute pan and turn the heat to medium high. I used Garlic infused Olive Oil to add the extra Garlic flavor, but most any good Olive Oil will due.
Now add your butter.
Now is a good time to slice your Onions and Garlic.
When the butter has melted, add your sliced Onions to the pan.
Add your Red Pepper flakes to the pan.
Stir and saute the Onions and Pepper flakes for about 2 min.
Now add your mussels to the pan. Stir the ingredients and cover the pan with a lid.
Turn the heat down to medium heat and let the ingredients cook for about 8-10 min. stirring occasionally.
Pictured are the Mussels in the Onions.
In a large pot, add water and bring it to a boil. When boiling, add your pasta.
Here I am again stirring the Mussels and other ingredients.
Now that your Mussels have cooked, add your Garlic and Cherry Tomatoes.
The juices from the sliced tomatoes will add to the sauce when done.
After about 8 min. or as prescribed on the the noodles box, test that your noodles are cooked by eating one. If it is still very firm then they likely need to cook another min. or two. When the noodles have just a little bite to them they are cooked properly and called al dente or “to the tooth” in Italian. While cooking with the other ingredients, the noodles will absorb some of the sauce and fully cook.
Here you see the juices of the Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, and Mussels in the pan.
Add your al dente cooked noodles to the pan.
Add some of the pasta water to the pan as well to create a sauce.
Mix all the ingredients together as shown.
Add your Green Sauce and stir together with the other ingredients.
Add your chopped Parsley to the pan and mix well.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
Clam Clams (As I like to call them.) (Ensure all your clams are still alive. If a clam’s shell isn’t closed, tap the shell to see if it closes. If the shells don’t close, the clam is likely dead and not …
Amity Island Welcomes You
We are Gordon and Julie
1975
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Enjoying my Shark Tea and a good book.
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Salt Water Taffy
I have had a love affair with Salt Water Taffy at the shore my entire life. It’s tradition. No matter which shore I may be on, I always buy Salt Water Taffy.
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Gummy Sharks fighting to get out of the bowl. 🙂
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The Brody Beach House
Sheriff Brody responding to a call of a missing swimmer.
The Swimmer’s Personal Items
It was a Shark Attack!
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THE BEACHES ARE CLOSED!
BY THE ORDER OF THE AMITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
The Amity Gazette
Stay Tuned for Further Developments
It looks like there have been some shark attacks lately.
Looks like Sheriff Brody is on it.
Amity Police
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Happy 4th. of July
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The Brody’s at Home in Amity
(Gordon and I love their house and could very easily see ourselves living there and enjoying that island life.)
Michael, who is turning 12 gets a sailboat.
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Ellen and her husband, Martin Brody
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1975
Directed by: Stephen Spielberg
(He was only 26 when he directed this movie.)
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Veronica and Brian, JAWS Ride, Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Veronica and her friend Sarah, with JAWS, 2009
They Caught A Shark, just not THE Shark
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Sadly, Gordon and I didn’t get to Universal Studios until after they retired the JAWS Ride. WE would have loved to have ridden it though.
Here it is if you would like to take a ride right now.
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Quint’s Boat, The ORCA
FYI: The most famous line in JAWS when Martin Brody says,”Your gonna need a bigger boat” was ad-libbed on the set.
Some of our Nautical Things.
I told Gordon that I think we need lots of fish nets and HOOKS!
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Looks like you have a shark problem on your hands.
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Our Cute Little Land Shark Problem
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Spooky and Sparky Dressed in their Shark Costumes
Getting Ready for Shark Week
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JAWS Dinner Recreation
(We believe this dinner to be some sort of fried fish, clams, and green beans. Recreating this dinner was fun.)
Gordon and I love recreating scenes from our favorite movies, especially where food is concerned.
We wanted to recreate this meal as this dinner scene takes the time to describe the situation that Sheriff Brody is helpless to stop this Great White Shark from terrorizing the island residents of Amity. He then turns to Richard Dryfuss’s character Hooper to come to the island and help stop this predator. Hooper then shows up at the Brody home unexpectedly with two bottles of wine. Red, and White. He also proceeds to eat the food off Martin Brody’s plate.
At first we thought they were eating a fried chicken breast because that is what it looked like. But, when you look at other photos of this meal the “chicken” looks flat on top. That is when I told Gordon that I bet it’s fried fish. We don’t know what kind of fish but we decided to use Cod here. Along with the Green Beans and Clams we cooked for this meal.
Martin and Ellen Brody with their youngest son, Sean.
The casting of Roy Scheider and Lorraine Gary in the role as the married couple Martin and Ellen Brody, was excellent. They are very believable as a married couple. Interestingly enough, the first actor cast for this movie was Lorraine Gary because she was married to Universal head, Sid Sheinberg. Charlton Heston wanted to play the part of Martin Brody but 26 year old Stephen Spielberg said No.
In some photos the fish looks as if it is sitting in a pool of a red sauce. There are a few recipes from the 70’s where fish was cooked and served in a red sauce. So, we decided to go with that regardless.
Served with Red and White
Our Fried Fish, Green Beans, and Clams
Where our CLAMS were concerned we did them our way.
When it came to the Green Beans we did do them our way as well.
With lots of Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, and Clam Juice.
Ellen, Martin and Hooper discussing the shark.
I did my best with what I have here at home to recreate that table scene from above.
Our Fried Cod in Red Sauce
The Shark Plot Thickens
(Recipes for this dinner recreation are listen down below in this post.)
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Our Menu for Our 4th. of July
I, Julie, have the worst handwriting. Sorry.
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Onion Dip with Chips
Deviled Eggs and Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Campari Tomatoes
Crock Pot Boston Beans
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Navy/Northern Beans
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Scalloped Potatoes and Carrots Casserole
Pork Shoulder Picnic Roast with roasted RED Grape Tomatoes
Delicious BBQ Sandwich with Pickle Condiments
Watermelon with Berries
(Recipes All Down Below.)
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First Let’s Start With…..
Onion Dip with Chives and Chips
Taking it back to the 70’s when Onion Dip and Chips were all the rage!
This is very easy. Just add sour cream to a packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix. Top with some fresh chives and dip with Ruffles Potato Chips.
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Retro JAWS
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Captain Quint’s
Gordon’s Father’s Day gift from me, a metal Shark.
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Spooky and Sparky
What’s this? It smells delicious.
Into The Mouth of JAWS they go!
The Temptation of a good Dog Biscuit
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Nautical Refreshments on ICE
Beer, Wine Cooler’s, Wine
(Note the YELLOW barrel.)
Cool and Refreshing
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Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider, and Richard Dreyfuss
The ORCA, JAWS, And, The Yellow Barrel
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Our Meat on the Hook
Amity Island Grocery Holiday Roast $1.79 a pound.
Come and Get it!
(If you are a JAWS fan then you will understand Gordon’s t-shirt above.)
I suppose that I, Julie, should explain the Hook.
This was my idea to cook some large piece of meat on a hook and then use a knife to slice off chunks of it, as needed, by our various guests. However, with the pandemic there were no guests. Just Gordon and Myself. We did make lots of food to share with our kids and their partners. They just got their food the following day.
My original idea was to place a large hook through the meat and have Gordon to grill it on the grill. Then when ready to string it up for us to admire and of course, EAT!
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Ringing
THE Dinner Bell
Pork Shoulder Picnic Roast with Delicious Bark
…..and Roasted Grape Tomatoes.
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Our Plate, Cutlery, and Condiment Table
Paper Plates, Cutlery, Napkins, our Homemade Almost Yellow Mustard, and Pickles and Peppers
My new favorite, cheese stuffed Pepperoncini.
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The Day After
Our Delicious Leftover Dinner
I told Gordon that I didn’t want our usual shredded BBQ 4th. of July sandwich.
I wanted large chunks of meat in our sandwiches.
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A Leftover 4th. Lunch of Boston Beans and Northern Beans
And,
Watermelon with Berries
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My JAWS Cookbook Inspiration
When I was planning our JAWS 4th. of July for the past 2 years, I also have in mind other projects to go with this one. Actually, I haven’t been planning this for the past 2 years. I have been wanting to do it for the past 2 years and we finally got around to Phase 1 of the project. I wanted to focus on foods from the 70’s to mid 80’s here so I consulted some of my old cookbooks. I also purchased The Melting Pot cookbook as a reference of New York summer foods that may have been served at the time JAWS was filmed in 1975.
My Statue of Liberty souvenir bank that I bought at Ellis Island when I was about 19 years old in New York City. I bought it the day Ronald Regan was shot because when we got off the ferry we were told that Regan had just been shot.
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I actually have 4 Phases planned to go along with this post. We just need to implement them as time goes by in this pandemic of Coronavirus.
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My Homage to the Artist
Although I am not a jeans person. I love her jeans!
The easel, the painting, the chair, the bag, on the beach.
Our Mary Botto Painting
1913-2002
(We bought this painting from a thrift store for $25.00.) 🙂
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I love that artist on the beach and if you’ll notice she is the only one that spots the shark in the water headed into the pond. Why? Probably because she is an artist. Artists notice things that other’s don’t. So, while everyone else is splashing around having fun in the moment, she is just more observant. I like her because my daughter is also an artist. I also grew up taking art classes, and she just resembles all the older girls that I knew and admired when I was in Junior High School in Roanoke, Virginia when I first saw JAWS in 1975. Her fashion, her hair, and her bandana. Everything that I remember.
My Homage, and My New Camera
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This guy photographing the shark has my camera!
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Ellen Brody and Sheriff Brody on the beach in Amity with other bathers.
The Artist Pointing The Way
Sean Brody Playing on the Beach with JAWS Swimming By
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Gordon Demonstrating his Nautical Knot Skills
(of which he has plenty.)
OUR HOOK
(For placing our holiday roast on which we will catch JAWS with.)
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This scene was my inspiration for our July 4th. Picnic Shoulder Pork Roast Dinner.
The Chain, The Hook…..
I believe this is Mr. Denherder’s wife’s holiday roast that he took out of her freezer to take to a dock to try and catch JAWS.
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Gordon Roasting OUR Pork Picnic Shoulder on the Grill
A Beautiful Looking Roast
The grill was sitting at a stable 275-300’F for about eight hours.
This is where the temperature of the Pork Picnic Shoulder is at an internal temperature of 135’F You can wrap it in foil now or let it continue to grill like this producing that great bark seen below. I cooked the pork until it reached an internal temperature of 190’F.
Roasting Grape Tomatoes on the Grill
Look at That BARK!
Making a sandwich with pickles and condiments.
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Watermelon With Berries
I, Julie, had the idea that I wanted Watermelon on the 4th., of course, but I wanted something that had the red and blue colors. I also thought that just carving holes in the watermelon and placing berries inside would be a nice touch.
In the south we grew up eating a big watermelon for dinner outside on a picnic table. That was all we needed! Of course, I do remember having to get up throughout the night many times to urinate. But, I guess it’s a southern thing.
Just grab a spoon, or fork, and eat up!
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Crock Pot Boston Beans
Boston Beans
Ingredients:
1 Bag Red Beans
1 Bag Black Beans
5 Cups Water – for soaking
1 Cup Hot/Boiling Water for cooking
1 1/2 Onion – Chopped
1/2 Package Salt Pork ~ 1/2 Lb. – Chopped into Chunks
2/3 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Molasses
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1/4 tsp. Ground Cloves
(With the CEO of Goya supporting Trump we will no longer be buying their products.)
In large Tupperware bowl add your red and black beans.
Mix the red and black beans together. Place the Navy (white) Beans in a separate container as well.
Add your water to the beans as seen in the pictures above.
Let the beans soak for at least 48 hours. You may want to let them soak even longer to lesson the cooking time. We noticed the red and black beans took longer to cook and never really became soft after all this soaking. More about this will be talked about further down in this write up.
After 24 hours, I felt the beans were still a little hard and needed more soaking time.
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Here you can see the red and black beans get a little frothy over time. That is normal.
After about 48 hours…
Pour the beans in a colander…
and rinse them well.
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Here we are heating up our hot water for the cooking of the beans.
Slice your onion in half, then slice the onion in small chunks as shown above. I chopped up both onions for both pots of beans. The Boston Beans and the Navy/Northern Beans.
This is the brand of Salt Pork we used which came pre-sliced like bacon.
I sliced it all into chunks. I also used this pork in the other bean recipe as well. Just saving time by cooking this all together.
Here I am cooking the salt pork in a large saute pan on medium high heat, rendering out the fat and getting it slightly brown. You may need a mesh to stop the hot grease from splattering all over.
(I, Julie, just wanted to add that it was Gordon’s idea to fry up the pork and the onions before adding them to the crock pot for cooking. He wanted to add a different taste to this recipe.)
Cook the salt pork until it becomes the consistency you like. Just remember that this pork will also be cooking in the crock pot.
To begin the cooking process, add 1 Cup of boiling water to your crock pot.
Then add your brown sugar to the crock pot.
Before adding the molasses, spray your measuring cup with a light oil to prevent the molasses from sticking to it.
Add your molasses to the crock pot.
After about 5 minutes of cooking the pork I added the onion to the pan.
Add your Dijon mustard to the crock pot.
Cook the onion with the salt pork until it becomes tender.
Add your ground cloves to the crock pot mixture.
Mix all the crock pot ingredients together using a whisk.
Now, add your mixed soaked and rinsed beans to the crock pot.
Turn on your crock pot for high heat.
Here is a great picture of the sauteed onions and salt pork. Remember, I cooked all the onions and pork together to be divided up between two bean recipes.
Add half of your sauteed onions and salt pork to the crock pot. Save the other half for your Navy/Northern Beans.
Stir all the ingredients together.
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Cooking the beans for almost 10 hours still didn’t make them as tender as we would have liked. I believe what happened was the molasses, though, is that it significantly slows down the rate at which beans soften during the cooking process and we should have cooked the beans for even longer. The slightly acidic pH of molasses, according to Harold McGee a food scientist, makes the pectins and hemicellulose in the beans’ cell walls more stable and less prone to dissolving. Sugar in the molasses strengthens the beans’ cell walls and slows down the rate at which their starch absorbs water. Finally, he says the calcium within the molasses further strengthens the beans’ cell walls.
These sweet and pork flavored Boston beans were absolutely delicious, but just not as tender as we would have liked. To correct this in the future, I will let the beans soak even longer. I could also bring them to a boil in water then cover them until the water is cool again. Then add them to the crock pot with the other ingredients.
This is definitely a recipe that we will be making again in the future.
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Navy Beans/Northern Beans
Ingredients:
1 Bag Navy Beans
5 Cups Water – for soaking
1 Cup Hot/Boiling Water – for cooking
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1 Onion – Chopped
1/2 Package Salt Pork ~1/2 Lb. – Chopped
(The onion and the salt pork were sauteed above when we did the Boston Beans.)
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1/2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp. White Pepper
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Here I have a large pot on the stove and I am measuring out my boiling water to place in it. I then have the sauteed onion and salt pork mixture next to it.
Now it’s time to unveil the beans from soaking.
Here these Navy/Northern Beans soaked for 48 hours.
Pour them into a colander and rinse them with fresh running water.
Add the rinsed Navy beans into the pot and then add the sauteed onions and salt pork.
Stir all the ingredients together and turn the pot onto medium heat.
Cover the pot with a lid.
After cooking for a while, stir the ingredients so they don’t stick and burn.
Add your garlic powder and white pepper to the mixture, and taste the beans after an hour or more. This is good for testing the tenderness and flavor of your bean. Add more seasoning if needed to obtain the flavor you like. You will note I didn’t add any salt as the salt pork provided it.
Continue to cook and stir the beans until they are at your desired tenderness… likely about 2 1/2 hours of total cooking time.
These beans become tender and cook much faster than the Boston baked beans as they don’t have the sugar and molasses in them. As I mentioned before, those sweeteners strengthen the beans’ cell walls. These beans were very flavorful from the onions, spices, and salt pork.
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Julie’s Deviled Eggs, and Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Campari Tomatoes
Great Make ahead Food!
I did both of these the day before the 4th.
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Stuffing Tomatoes
I, Julie, love Pimiento Cheese and I am always trying to find, or come up with new ways of eating it.
I decided that I wanted something else to sit with my Deviled Eggs in their plate, that I seem to prepare for most every occasion. I am not going to give my Deviled Egg recipe as I have it written on so many blog posts and pages as it is. But, I will happily give you my Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Campari Tomatoes.
I chose the Campari Tomatoes because they are about the same size as an egg, and I knew they would hold up well to the carving out of them that I would need to do before I stuffed them. They are a very nice sturdy little tomato.
Making them were simple really. I just cut the top off of each of these little tomatoes, and then with this mini whisk I was able to remove the insides of each tomato and place all that into a bowl.
I also had a few little knives handy just in case the little whisk wasn’t enough.
As you can see they are all carved out. I saved an old egg carton to use to set them in so that they wouldn’t fall over.
The tomato innards that I have here in this bowl would be nice added to a soup or a sauce.
That way they won’t go to waste.
This is an excellent brand of Pimiento Cheese. One is a Palmetto Cheese that I love. Before I stuffed the tomatoes I did try and remove as much moisture as possible from them by using paper towels. I didn’t want to spoon pimiento cheese into a wet tomato.
I did save some of their tops to place on top of them.
Kind of like a hat.
Because we do live in the age of Covid 19 I did wash this egg carton thoroughly before I placed any tomatoes inside of it.
You can see how pretty my tomatoes look alongside my Deviled Eggs.
Each one topped with a Basil Leaf. And I have Chives on my Deviled Eggs.
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We made this the day before.
Which helped tremendously as all we had to do was to cook it for our July 4th. dinner.
Retro Scalloped Potatoes (and Carrots)
We had to try out the new toy that Brodie gave Gordon for Father’s Day!
Just in case you don’t know what it is, it is a Mandolin. (A vegetable slicer.) Makes things much quicker than having to slice everything yourself by hand.
Ingredients:
12 Russet Potatoes – sliced 1/4 inch thick
8 Carrots – peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch thick rounds, we used multi colored carrots
6 Tbsp. Butter
6 Tbsp. Flour
2 1/2 Cups Milk
3 Cups Sharp and Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese – grated
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. White Pepper
Cooking Spray for the baking dishes
1 Cup Yellow Cheddar Cheese – grated for topping
Here are the cheeses and butter we used.
Wash and peel your carrots.
Then peel your potatoes.
The Mandolin Brodie bought me, so this was a great time to use it to slice the potatoes.
Place the sliced potatoes in a large pot of water so they will release some of their starch and not turn brown.
I can slice pretty fast with my Chef Knife, but using the Mandolin was much faster and more accurate.
It didn’t work though in slicing the carrots, so I had to do them by hand.
Place your butter into a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
Let it melt down all the way.
Then add your equal amount of flour…
so that you get a wet sand consistency when mixed together.
Cook the flour and butter mixture or rue for about three minutes to rid it of the four taste. Then add about 1 cup of milk to the rue and lower the temperature of the mixture to low.
Stir the milk into the rue and cook until thick… this is now called a Bechamel sauce or white gravy!
Add more milk if the sauce becomes too thick.
Use a whisk to help get out any lumps.
Grate your cheese into the sauce.
When you add cheese to a Bechamel sauce you now have made a Mornay sauce. Add more milk if needed to loosen the sauce.
Here once a good portion of the cheese melts into the sauce, I will add more cheese and stir it in to obtain a creamy consistency.
Make sure your temperature is on low, so you don’t burn the sauce.
Add more sharp cheddar cheese…
and then some salt and white pepper. I used white pepper in this so you wouldn’t see the little black flecks.
Taste the sauce and add more seasoning if needed.
Pour your sliced potatoes into a colander and drain them well.
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Spray your baking dishes with cooking spray.
Spread your sliced potatoes out on paper towels to soak up more water.
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Ladle out a cup or so of your Mornay sauce into the baking dish. We are using two baking dishes as we are taking one over to our daughter and son-in-law. (They get the small green one.) 🙂
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Now, layer your sliced potatoes and carrots evenly into the baking dish then top with more sauce.
Continue to add more potatoes, carrots, and sauce into the pan ending with a thin layer of sauce covering the potatoes and carrots.
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I , Julie, placed some pretty carrots along the sides of the glass dish for a pretty presentation.
Here is the last layer of potatoes and carrots with a thin amount of Mornay sauce over top.
Grate your Yellow Sharp Cheddar Cheese…
(This step is optional. I, Julie, do not recommend that you do this because the Cheddar Cheeses are very oily and it left an oily residue on top. We had to use a few paper towels to remove it. It was delicious! But it wasn’t needed.)
….and top the mixture with tablespoons of this Cheese in a decorative pattern.
Here, we are covering the Scalloped Potatoes and Carrots to place into the refrigerator to cook tomorrow. You can see the different colored carrots on the side of the dish and how pretty they look.
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Next Day…..
When you are ready to cook your scalloped potatoes and carrots, place them in a 400’F oven covered with aluminum foil (not shown) and bake for 90 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 20-25 minutes until nicely brown and bubbling.
Here is our version of Scalloped Potatoes and Carrots!
Delicious!
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Pork Picnic Shoulder on the Grill
Ingredients:
~9 Lb. Smoked Pork Picnic Shoulder
3/4 Cup Turbinado Sugar
3/4 Cup Splenda Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. Bad Byron’s Butt Rub BBQ Seasoning
2 Tbsp. Grill Mates Sweet & Smoky Rub
1 Ciderboys Pineapple Hula
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Remove the pork from the wrapper and rinse well with water.
On one side of the shoulder, remove the skin as shown revealing the thin layer of fat.
Leave the skin on the other side of the meat to protect it from the heat of the grill
Using a sharp knife score the shoulder fat.
That is make horizontal and vertical cuts into the fat about 1/8 inch deep.
Pour your Turbinado sugar into a medium sized bowl.
Then add your Splenda brown sugar.
Now, add your Butt Rub to the bowl…
(Who doesn’t love a good Butt Rub?)
…then your Sweet & Smoky rub to the bowl and mix all the ingredients well. Taste the mixture to see if it is the flavor you desire. If not, add more of the ingredients you feel it needs.
Place your pork shoulder into a large bowl and pat the rub seasonings into the fat side of the meat.
Turn the meat over and continue to push the seasonings all over the meat until well coated.
Here you can see the meat is well coated with the seasonings.
Pour your Pineapple Cider into an 8 x 8 inch pan which is then placed below your grill grates. This will serve two purposes, it will steam releasing moisture and flavor in the meat as well as catch any drippings.
I have four burners on my grill. I turned on the left two burners and kept the others off.
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Place the pork shoulder on the right side of the grill and turn the grill on for a constant temperature of 275-300’F
Here you can see the pan under the pork. Cook the pork for about 8 hours or until you reach an internal temperature of 190’F. When the pork reaches 135’F you may want to cover your pork with foil if it is getting too brown. When the pork reaches 190’F, remove it from the grill and let it rest. The internal temperature will rise as the super heated pork juices retreat back into the center of the meat, where it will continue to cook the shoulder to around 195-197’F.
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I set my digital thermometer into the grill opening where it is testing the internal air temperature. For at least 6 hours there is really no need to have your thermometer in the meat.
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When ready, slice as is……
Or, place on a hook and have your guests cut slices off it.
Or, place onto a nice board or platter and carve.
Pork Shoulder Picnic Roast with Delicious Bark
One of the best we have ever eaten.
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Our JAWS Recreation Dinner
Fried Cod in Red Sauce, Green Beans, and Clams
Red, or White?
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Steamed Clams in Butter, Garlic, and Herbs
Our clams came in small mesh bags which were placed on ice and I then placed more ice over them.
Ingredients:
~ 8 Lbs. of live clams
4 Tbsp. Butter
~ 1 Cup Garlic – nearly minced
1/2 Tbsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
8 oz. Clam Juice
2 Tbsp. Chives – sliced
1/2 Cup Green Onions – sliced
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
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Here are the clams on ice.
We buy our garlic at times all ready peeled, so I placed them in a colander and rinsed them off.
I placed ~4 Tbsp. of good Irish Butter in a saute pan and heated it to medium.
Here you see the green onions, chives, and garlic ready to be sliced on our large cutting board.
As the butter is melting I sliced ~ 1 Cup of garlic cloves to almost a mince.
Place the sliced garlic into the melted butter and saute the garlic until tender… about 10 min.
Rinse your clams well to clean off the sand and other debris.
In your steamer, place about 1 inch of water into the pot. Place your pot on the stove and heat the water to a boil.
As the garlic is cooking, I added the roasted garlic to up the garlic flavor.
Slice your chives… and yes, these are from our garden!
Line up the green onions in a row and slice off the root ends evenly. Then slice the rest of the onion finely saving the root ends.
TIP: Take those root ends and plant them leaving about 1/2 inch of the white section above the ground and water them in. In just a few days, you will see them start to grow again. After about a month, they will grow enough to harvest… then just plant the root ends again!
When the garlic is tender, add your clam juice to the pan and stir all the ingredients together well. Cook the mixture for another 5 min. and then set the pan aside.
Here I am slicing the green onions as I talked about above.
Rinse your clams well in the ice water.
Once clean, I placed the clams into a bowl. Now, check the clams to ensure they are still alive. This is done by seeing if their shells are closed. If they are closed the clam is alive. If they are not, slightly squeezing their shells together and if they then close on their own, they are still alive. If they don’t close, don’t throw them away just yet!
Place the live clams into your steamer when your water has begun to boil.
Place the lid on your pot and steam the clams for about 5 min.
Remove the lid and using long tongs, remove the clams that have fully opened.
When they are fully opened, they are properly cooked and need to be immediately removed from the pot, so they don’t over cook and become chewy.
When you have a chance, look at the clams that didn’t close again. When Julie did, she found many of the clams had closed on their own and were still alive, much to my surprise. I thought most of our total purchase were dead and wasn’t too happy with our grocery store. I believe this happened because they were too cold from being in the ice. Of the 7 dozen clams, we had about 10 that were actually dead.
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Place the cooked clams into a large bowl. You can use the clam juice left over in the pot in your sauteed garlic, but I find it to be watered down. Be sure not to pour all of that juice into your clams as there will be a great deal of sand at the bottom of the pot.
Here is a great picture from Julie showing the fully opened clams.
Now, sprinkle your lemon juice over the clams.
Then, spoon your sauteed garlic butter and clam juice over your clams.
Then add your chives and green onions to the clams.
Mix all the ingredients well.
Using your tongs, remove the clams from the bowl and place them into the bowl you want to serve them in. Lastly, pour the leftover butter, garlic and other ingredients from the bowl over the clams.
Enjoy!
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Fried Cod in Red Sauce
Ingredients:
4 Lbs. Cod Fish Fillets – we received two fillets of equal size
1/2 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Corn Starch
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
2 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Water
1 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs
1 tsp. Roasted Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
This fish was uneven in thickness, so slicing the fillet into sections of the same thickness makes for even cooking. Now, slice your Cod fillets into even portion sizes if needed.
Here, I laid out the matching fish fillets sections. I will fry each cod portion of equal size together as they will both be done at the same time.
Here is my set up for the three dip process… flour and cornstarch, eggs and water, bread crumbs and seasoning!
I used a plate to hold the flour and cornstarch. In culinary school, I learned you can use corn starch on its own to give fried items an nice crispy crust. Many Asian restaurants fry their meats in only cornstarch, then toss the fried meats in sauce.
Add your pepper and salt to the flour and cornstarch.
Using your fingers, mix all the ingredients together.
Crack both your eggs into a large bowl …
then add the water and whisk together well.
Lastly, use a large bowl to place in your bread crumbs…
roasted garlic powder, and seasoned salt and mix all the ingredients well.
Here you can see the three step process… flour and cornstarch, eggs and water, bread crumbs and seasoning!
Place a fillet section first into your flour and cornstarch turning to coat it evenly, then shake off any excess.
Now, coat the fillet with your egg mixture coating it evenly, shaking off any excess.
Lastly, dip the fillet into your breadcrumb and seasoning, coating the fillet evenly, then shake off any excess. Place the breaded fillet on a plate and continue the same process with all the other fillets.
Here, I and coating the other fillets in the three mixtures.
The Fish are Ready to Fry and,
Time to Clean up the Area.
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Now, Lets Get the Green Beans Going
Ingredients:
2 Packages of Fresh Green Beans – ~ 4 Cups
3 Cups Water
8 oz. Clam Juice
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
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Here you can see all the ingredients and the pot I used.
Add your water to a large pot. Rinse off your green beans in a colander then place them into the pot.
Now, add your clam juice to the pot.
Then add your onion powder and salt…
and your ground pepper and olive oil to the pot.
Turn your pot onto high and cover with a lid. Cook the green bean for about 20 min. or until tender.
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Time To Fry The Fish
Green Beans are Cooking
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Heating up this Barilla Tomato Basil Red Sauce
This is a picture of our oil heating with a splatter screen over our cast iron skillet.
The Vegetable Oil Heating Up
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Heat the oil to medium high heat. When the temperature is reached, gently place two fillets into the oil. Fry the fish until well browned about 2 min. then turn over and fry the other side.
Here you can see I am frying the same sized pieces together as they will be done at the same time.
When done place onto paper towels to absorb the oil and lightly salt the fillets.
The Cod is Ready to Plate
We just placed some of the red sauce onto our serving plate, and then placed the fried cod on top of it.
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The Green Beans are Ready
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This dinner was delicious.
It was also very nice to revisit our 1975 past.
I was 14 at the time while Gordon was a mere boy of 10. 🙂
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Behind the scenes tip from Julie:
How To Adjust a Large T-Shirt To Your Body
The T-Shirt I am wearing is just too large for me, so in order to make it fit better I used one of my hair barrettes to pull both straps together in the back and it fits me better in the front. Just a tip!
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Happy Nostalgic 4th. of July to ALL,
Gordon, Julie, Spooky and Sparky
P.S. STAY OUT OF THE WATER!!!
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Also Take a Look at our Other JAWS Themed Posts:
Our July 4th. Tribute to the Movie JAWS (1975)
AND,
Check Out Our: Summer Seafood, Sides, and Salads
And,
AND,
Stay Out Of The Water! JAWS Week
How to Make a Beachy Cheese Cake
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You can also view our Sh..sh..sh..sh..SHARK!!! Week here……..
————————————————————————————–
AND,
Click Here For: Our Southern Shark Week Table
Just a few great recipes that you can make for Shark Week as well.
Also Check Out:
AND,
JAWS
Good Morning!
Welcome to our JAWS Shark Week Dessert post:
Microwave Note:
Make Dish that looks like the Beach
I’ve had that note on the microwave for the past 2 years.
Then I finally created a dish that looks like the beach.
The Beach from the first JAWS Movie
The Lagoon from JAWS
I based my “Beach” dessert on this beach, and lagoon from the original movie, JAWS.
I believe this would make a great dessert for a child’s birthday or pool party, beach get together, etc. I just recommend eating it outside as all the “sand” gets everywhere! 🙂
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Julie’s Beach House
Click Here For: Julie’s Beach House
Gordon and I made this beach house for me, that I absolutely love!
I have since added some real sand underneath my beach house. Instead of getting sand off our beach, I just bought a bag of it from the pet store. It’s cleaner that way. I just wanted it to look a bit more authentic.
If you would like to know how we built this beach house then just click on the link above. This beach house does play a role in my Beach Dessert below.
Does this not look like a beach house where the “people” walk down the steps to the “beach” to enjoy their vacation?
I think it does. 🙂
I did add a few extras to Julie’s Beach House.
The nice lifeguard station with some tourist beach chairs, beach ball, and a cooler.
LOOK OUT! That first step is a doozy!
The Beach, and the Lagoon
I LOVE how this turned out. It really does look like the beach. You have the “wet” sand, which is darker than dry sand. I used graham cracker crumbs underneath the “water.” You see how the waves come in and flow leaving some beach areas exposed and other’s underwater? You can also see the “dry” sand as well, those are ground up cookie crumbs. The dry sand is always lighter in color than the wet sand.
All the little beach chairs, float ring, beach buckets, cooler, beach ball….. is all dollhouse furniture.
SHARK!!!!!!!
(You know there had to be a shark in there somewhere.) 🙂
The Beach on a Plate
This is a cheesecake dessert with a graham cracker crumb crust, topped with sandy cookie crumbs, and chocolate sea shells. Served with cookie crumb rimmed glasses of pink juice.
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I made this cheesecake for Brodie and Mackenzie.
The Shark Bite!
I made this from all the leftovers.
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Oh, NO!!! A shark is eating Spooky!!
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Blue and Pink
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Here you can see how the beach dessert looks when you cut into it..
Delicious!
I would like to state that the color of sand on my beach is the same color of sand in Hawaii. Oh, they do have the black sandy beaches, but the sand on most of them are a very coarse, tannish, brown color. However, our Florida beaches are a bright white with sand that resembles powder.
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How To Make a Tasty Beach
Oddly enough when I first got the idea to make an edible beach I knew that I wanted it to be a no-bake cheesecake instead of something like a giant cookie, etc.
I remembered back to this very easy, and tasty cheesecake that I made years ago. Could I have made one from scratch? Yeah, sure, but I didn’t want to. Making this brand is fast, easy, and delicious. I like cutting corners every now and then.
I bought about 5 or 6 boxes of this cheesecake but only 4 are shown in the photo above.
I bought about 3 Classic, and 3 Cherry Cheesecakes.
Just follow the package directions. It’s nothing more than crumbled graham cracker crumbs, melted butter/margarine, and sugar. It does call for making the crusty bottom first. I even bought some extra Graham Crackers because I knew I would need to stretch the “sandy bottom” much further than a pie plate.
The Melted Butter/Margarine, Graham Cracker Crumbs, and Sugar
When you mix it all together it looks like sand. 🙂
This is a no-bake sandy bottom cheesecake.
I gathered up a large baking sheet, and I purchased 2 smaller baking sheets that are recyclable.
You just want to spread the sandy beach around the baking sheets, pressing with a spoon, or your hands, to get the “sand” flat. You don’t need an oily spray before you apply the “sand” because the butter in the “sand” keeps it from sticking.
I did anticipate that I would need more “sand” so I bought a box of Graham Crackers. I ended up using that entire box in making my beach. I would like to state that each box of cheesecake does come with a packet of graham cracker crumbs, but it was not enough to make my beach, which is why I bought extra.
Once you have finished with the “sandy beach,” set it aside and work on the cheesecake filling itself.
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Just follow the package directions except I do add one thing not included in this kit. BLUE food coloring! Which blue food coloring you use is up to you. But I just keep adding it until I get the color that I want while I mix the cheesecake filling in my mixer.
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My BLUE Ocean Cheesecake
I do recommend using a cake frosting knife on this. It will make it easier to spread. You just want to cover the graham cracker crumbs with the “ocean” all the way up to the top of the baking sheet.
I did 3 baking sheets. Now it’s time to place them in the refrigerator overnight. We have an extra fridge outside in our garage so that is where I placed them.
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How To Make The Dry Sand
3 Boxes of Nilla Wafers (reduced fat) Why not?
(Cheaper version of Vanilla Wafers)
I used the dangerous Ninja food processor for this.
Those blades do scare me!
I did grind into a light sand all the cookies and placed them in baggies.
These are an Iced Almonette Cookie that I ground to a fine powder. But what is so different about these cookies as opposed to the Nilla Wafers is that these cookies were iced. That made them a moist sand, which I liked.
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Making the Beach
What is so great about making this “beach” is that everything can be made the day before so that all you have to worry about is assembling your beach on the day of.
Here is our beach, and lagoon.
Something to consider when creating a beach is that the water/waves that come into the shore should show more “sand.” Whereas the water deeper out should show more “ocean.”
I first set my “beach, and ocean” on the table to see how I wanted it to look. I wanted to place it on our wooden table as it does kind of resemble a beachy drift wood.
My dry sand cookie crumbs, dollhouse beach furniture, and candy coated sea shells.
(I did have some gummy sharks for this project but Mackenzie and I ate all of them.) 🙂
I placed the table underneath my beach dollhouse that I have on this cabinet. I also placed the steps that I had made for my beach house above to look as if they were steps leading down from the beach house to the beach. I also placed a lifeguard station along the “beach” as well.
Spread some of the cookie crumbs around the outside of the table, like so in the photo above.
You then place your beach and ocean/lagoon where you want them and then cover with the cookie crumbs. Add some beach furniture, candy sea shells, and then you are all set!
Oh, yeah, and just because it’s for Shark Week………
SHARK!!!! GET OUT OF THE WATER!!!!!
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JAWS CHEESECAKE
SHARK BITES!
PINK/RED
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I had one box of cheesecake leftover from my beachy project so I decided to make it and give it to Brodie and Mackenzie. It was a cherry cheesecake. I also had some extra packets of cherry glaze that I wanted to use up.
So, I made everything according to package directions.
The Crusty Bottom
Seeing as how I had 3 cherry glaze packets leftover from all those previous boxes from above, I tried to use them all up here.
First, by placing on top of the crust.
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Adding PINK food coloring to the cheesecake filling.
I then just globbed it on top of the cherry filling…….
And added the remaining 2 packets of glaze to the top of the cheesecake…….
And NOW we have a SHARK BITE!!!
See you at the Beach!
Julie
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Also Check Out:
Our July 4th. Tribute to the Movie JAWS
And,
Stay Out Of The Water! JAWS Week
How to Make a Beachy Cheese Cake
AND,
Check Out Our: Summer Seafood, Sides, and Salads
And,
—————————————————————————
You can also view our Sh..sh..sh..sh..SHARK!!! Week here……..
—————————————————
AND,
Click Here For: Our Southern Shark Week Table
Just a few great recipes that you can make for Shark Week as well.
Also Check Out:
AND,
STAY OUT OF THE WATER!!!!
Gordon and Julie
We Love Shark Week! I couldn’t think of a better start to Shark Week than this! Shark’s Enjoying their Feeding Frenzy (Carved wood sharks that Gordon purchased in the Philippines during his Navy career.) Various Sushi’s with Ginger and …
CURRENTLY AT THE BEACH
Why Don’t You Join Us?
Digging my Sandy Toes deep into the Sand
The best exfoliation you can have is to walk barefoot on the beach.
Dig your feet into that thick sand and with each step your feet become smoother, and smoother.
This is one reason why I love Florida so very much!
Nature, the beaches, the sand, the sun….
See you at the beach!
Julie
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Our Imitation Crab Pasta Salad
(Recipe Down Below)
We took this delicious Pasta Crab Salad with us as our Picnic Food to the Beach.
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Apollo Beach, Florida
Apollo Beach is something of a ‘not too populated’ beach.
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Gordon Setting Up Our Umbrella
Just Trying to Keep Cool!
It did feel so good to dig my toes back into the sand.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of our many Florida beaches.
Apollo Beach is now more of a Nature Preserve
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Ready For Lunch
Our Pasta Imitation Crab Salad Lunch w/ Crackers, and our Veggie Balls
As hot as it has been, we didn’t want anything heavy.
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Solitaire, Anyone?
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DR. NO
I got the swimsuit for Gordon as a gift. 🙂
Could that be Dr. No’s Nuclear Powerplant Reactor?
(Actually, it is where the Manatee’s go in the winter months when the water is cold.)
Apollo Beach is a beautiful area to just enjoy nature.
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Our Pasta Imitation Crab Salad
Gathering Our Ingredients
Ingredients:
14 oz.Crab Shaped Pasta – (Pastabilities – Let’s go Crabin’ Pasta)
1 Tbsp. Sea Salt
2 Quarts Water
3-4 Celery Stalks – Chopped to a small dice
2 Pkgs. Imitation Flake Crab Meat – (Crab Classics Brand)
1/2 Cup Sweet Yellow Pepper – diced
1/4 Cup Red Onion – diced
6 Water Chestnuts – chopped
~1 Cup Miracle Whip
1/4 Cup Aji Mirin – Sweet Cooking Rice Seasoning
1 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
Garnish with Flat Leaf Parsley
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Add enough water to a large pot to cover the pasta.
Then add your sea salt to the water to help flavor the pasta.
Turn the heat to high, to boil the water.
Meanwhile, wash and slice your Celery first in long lengths…
Here, my water is boiling so I am adding the pasta, and boiling it as directed by the package instructions for 6 min.
Stir the pasta while it boils and turn the temperature down slightly.
Now slice the Celery into a small dice.
Pictured is the imitation Crab Meat I used.
I like this brand and flake type the best.
Break the flaked meat into smaller chunks as shown and place it into a medium sized bowl.
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Your pasta should be ready by now, so drain it into a colander and rinse it well with cold water to stop the cooking process.
Now, add your chopped Celery to the bowl.
Here I sliced and removed the seeds then chopped the Sweet Yellow Pepper into a dice.
Add the Pepper to the bowl.
I then chopped a Red Onion into a small dice and added about 1/4 of it to the bowl.
Here you can see the nice array of colors in this salad.
I used Water Chestnuts to provide more crunch to the salad.
Chop the Water Chestnuts as shown and add them to the bowl.
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Here I am adding Miracle Whip to the salad.
I like using this more than Mayonnaise as it provides a subtle sweetness to the salad.
Mix the ingredients by using a folding action… this is done by placing your spoon into the center of the ingredients, then pulling the ingredients up and over the center and repeat this action.
Now add your Aji Mirin and Old Bay Seasoning.
The Aji Mirin is a ‘go to’ item for me in most all of my pasta salads as it too gives a subtle sweetness to the salad.
Of course, Old Bay Seasoning is a must in most anything having to do with Crabs.
Fold all the ingredients together and taste the salad.
Adjust the ingredients as needed, such as you may need a touch more Miracle Whip or Old Bay Seasoning.
Taste the salad again and adjust as needed.
When done, add the salad to a large serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Here we garnished the salad with some Flat Leaf Parsley.
Enjoy!