Holiday Traditions

When living at home - or maybe I should say, when living in Michigan and having holiday celebrations with my family, there were a few food traditions to look forward to every Christmas.

One tradition is my mom's "Michigan" salad made with dried cherries, mandarin oranges, romaine and a sweet/sour dressing.  Christmas Eve was always prime rib cooked to perfection and usually some sort of potato dish.  And, of course, the Christmas Lunch Chocolate Almond cake.

Now that I am here in Florida, with none of my family around, I keep some of the food traditions alive.  Prime rib for dinner and the salad.  I have also added a few of my own dishes.  Potatoes with a gorgonzola cheese sauce to name one.

What are some of the holiday dishes you look forward to every year?  What dishes have you carried away from your mother's table and now present on your own?

Merry Christmas everyone.

Autumn Meal

So last night it was Trick o Treat night.  In my neighborhood, we get less than 10 every year.  It rained much of the day and then the clouds cleared out and a cool, October breeze started to blow.  Perfect weather for some warm, healthy comfort food.

Wait a minute.  Healthy comfort food?  Comfort food is all about stick to your ribs, fill your belly and make you sleepy.

Not so.

The dish I made last night replaced potatoes with butternut squash, had chicken, tomato paste and onions.  Delicious.

Brown 1.5 pounds of chicken in a dutch oven.  Remove from pan.  Add chopped onion (1 whole onion), 4 cloves of sliced - not chopped or minced - garlic and then saute until onions are translucent.  Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and then 2 cups of chunked up butternut squash.  Stir to coat.  Add 1 cup of chicken broth, half cup of apple juice, salt, pepper, and 1 tsp of sage.  Let simmer 7 minutes.  Add the chicken back in and stir.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes or until the squash is tender.

The tomato paste adds a richness to this dish and the flavors blend so well together.  I serve if with a 5-grain baguette and store the leftovers for another cool day.

Enjoy.

Travel to India... without leaving your house

Intimidated by Indian cuisine?  Don't be.  Think all Indian curry is spicy hot?  Not always.  Think you can't cook with spices?  Yes, you can.

Last night I made a curry that was sweet, savory and delicious.  It was something I have always been interested in, yet too cautious to try.  Sure, I have tried to make those curries with the hot curry paste and once tasted, bowed to never make that recipe again.  The Moughlai chicken has become a recipe that I will use over and over again.

I recommend looking for Cardamom pods in an Indian grocer (if you have one) or trying Whole Foods.  I have found that Whole Foods carries many unusual spices and other items that are not available at the local grocer.  If you have a good food processor - which I do - you can use slivered almonds in place of the ground almonds.  I used slivered, added to the food processor along with the other ingredients called for and had the same result if I had used ground almonds.

All other ingredients were kept the same.  If you keep the spices lined up and ready to use, you will not have a problem getting them all in the pan when called for.

Definitely try this recipe.  It will change your mind about Indian cooking and cuisine.

Bring on the veggies

If you are like me and have trouble finding a way to add more vegetables to your day, I found a solution that has been working well for me and my family.

Meatless Mondays.

That's right. Every Monday, I serve only vegetarian meals. At first I thought there was no way I could manage an entire day with nothing but veggies, but believe me, it's not that hard.

For the past 2 months, we have been meatless on Monday.

My menu for this past Monday included vegetable calzones for lunch and a butternut squash risotto. Yum

For the calzones, I suggest purchasing pre-made pizza dough. I use the 5-grain pizza dough already prepared in the Publiz deli. Here are the other ingredient

1 zucchini sliced thin

5 mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Tbsp of Mrs. Dash table blend spice mixture

2 tbsp onion chopped

any other veggies you may like - chopped

mozarella cheese

jarred pizza sauce

Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the veggies. Near the end, add the table blend spice.

Half the dough and roll out each half. To one side, add enough mixture to cover end to end. Drizzle a little pizza sauce and add cheese. Fold other end over and pinch the edges together.

350 degree over for about 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, beat an egg and brush over the calzone and bake another 5 minutes until golden. Enjoy.

I also use the above for pizzas; except I do not saute the veggies first.

Once a week I will add additional veggie recipes for those that are struggling with ideas.

What is the benefit? Maybe none at all. But it does show me that I do not have to have meat to enjoy a meal.

Making it German night in October

Like German food? Don't know what German food is? Don't think you can make it? Oh yes you can.

The other night, I made a delicious meal of Pork Schnitzel, braised cabbage and German potato salad. All of these menu recipes can be found at Publix Apron's in their recipe box. Now I admit, I did not follow the recipe for the braised cabbage. Something about jarred red cabbage did not sit well with me. But I will tell you how you can make your own and it is delicious.

For the pork schnitzel, I pretty much followed the recipe to the T. Well. Almost. Instead of flour, I used cornstarch. The secret here is to NOT overcook this. Just a few minutes on each side until the sides are golden brown. It was tender and tasty. Over cooked would have meant tough and tasteless. Who wants that? Certainly not me.

For the German potato salad, I followed their recipe.

Braised cabbage. Chop head a head of red cabbage and place in a stock pot. Add half a sliced sweet onion - I used a Patagonia onion. Rough chop a sweet apple. I used a gala apple. Add all ingredients to the pot. Add half a cup of apple cider vinegar and a quarter cup of sugar and a quarter cup of chicken stock. Simmer away for over an hour until the cabbage is tender.

This is a great meal for those cool October nights.

Been a While

Yah. Life. What can I say?

Cooking for one

One thing I miss from my single years is just cooking for myself. A chicken breast, salad and maybe some veggies. If I only wanted the chicken, no problem. And I never had to share. No one to stand in the kitchen and ask if he can have some, too. AND, when I buy he "special" food, it's there when I want it. Not gone because the hubby managed to find it first.

Macaroni and cheese. Chicken fingers. Spare ribs. Vegetable soup. And no sides if I don't want. No one to constantly ask what are we having for dinner that evening - or even lunch for that matter. No set hour for the evening meal either. I can eat when I want, as much as I want and what I want.

it's pure heaven.

But, alas, after a week, I am ready to have the husband back and start making the meals again.

My favorite kitchen appliance... right now anyhow.

I had admired the Cuisinart Food Processor for a long time. The $200+ price tag kept me from ever thinking I could have one. Until the day I went on Amazon.com. To my complete surprise it was $149.00 for the 9 cup, 2 blade, 2 slicer disc set.

Wait. $149.00? Certainly there were parts missing. I looked closer.

Nope. Everything was right there. It was MINE!!

4 days later my stainless steel 9 cup Cuisinart food processor arrived.

No more hand grating cheese. No more skinned knuckles. No more uneven slices of tomato or cucumber. Salsa can now be made easily. Herbs incorporated in to sauces. Hummus.

Total bliss.

Hunks of cheese shredded perfectly in about 4 seconds. Effortless. I am in total love with this machine.

Check the Amazon website if you are looking for a deal. If you don't see one today. you might tomorrow. Keep checking until you find the right deal.

You won't be sorry

22 Pine Street

Ever wonder what mango chutney and teriyaki glaze taste like on a 100% Angus beef burger? Or perhaps a fried egg with bacon over beef? Now you don't have to wonder any longer. 22 Pine - located at, where else, 22 pine Street in downtown Orlando - truly serves it your way.

My advice would be to visit the website first. Look at the choices and go in with a plan.

http://pine22.com/

They even allow you to pick the bread you want your burger on. It can be a little disorganized at the front - people milling about looking at the menu, the registers right there. But you do get to pay first, get your drink and then take your number and find a table.

For lunch, the 5 oz burger is the best option. Do you really want to go back to the office and fight the food coma for the rest of the day? When we went, we also ordered the 50/50 split of pine fries and beer battered onion rings which 2 people can share. Unless you are eating with my husband.

The onion rings were delicious. Crispy and you could definitely taste the beer in the batter. Pass up the ketchup. They are served with a garlic aioli that is outta this world. Pine fries are okay - if you like the small, skinny fries. I am not a fan; however, these were crispy and had great flavor, especially when covered with the garlic aioli.

The atmosphere is open, but when the real crowds arrive, the noise level is just below that of a 747 flying low overhead. We saw our server one time - when he brought out the burgers and fries. Other than that, they are pretty much non-existent here. Not bad since it allows for a leisurely, leave when you want kind of lunch. Drink refills can be had at the cash register up front.

Definitely give this place a try or 2. You'll want to go back just to try your next combination.

By the way. I got the burger with green chiles, tomato, charred onion and sour cream. Delish.

Braised Chicken with mushrooms

Not a fan of the chicken things? Neither am I. However, I have found a recipe that may have changed my mind... just a little bit.

You will need chicken thighs. I recommend using skin on, bone in. I have tried skinless/boneless and it just is not the same. if you can get boneless skin on, use that.

A mushroom mix - about a pound. Six slices of bacon. An onion and 2 cloves of garlic, diced. white wine, chicken broth, bay leaves and thyme.

Brown the thighs on both sides and remove. Remove excess oil and then add bacon you have sliced into pieces. Once the bacon has started to crisp, add the onions, season with salt, and sweat the onions. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Once the mushrooms have started to render their liquid, add the garlic and saute a moment. Add about a cup of the white wine and reduce by half.

Add the chicken back to the pan and then add chicken broth til it almost covers the chicken. Add 3 bay leaves and a thyme bundle and simmer for 30 minutes.

I serve mine over couscous. Delicious

Junior Colombian Burger

Simply put, the best burger in town.

Burger, lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion, ketchup, potatoe chips, garlic sauce, pink sauce (say what?), pineapple sauce (say what again) all on a delightfully soft bun. You have to get it with everything in it no matter how bizarre the ingredient list is.

Your first bite and it's all over. Addiction complete. You will find your self inventing reasons to make the trip to Kirkman Road to get another... and another.

The burger comes in 3 sizes - single, double and triple. If you are seriously hungry, get the triple. You do not need anything else. The empanadas are delicious, but save them for another time when you don't want a burger. Hmm. Something tells me that day will never come.

Junior Colombian Burger is located on Kirkman Road north of Vineland on the east side of the street next to Dominoes Pizza.

They even have a food truck which is located on Vineland Road just east of Kirkman. The restaurant opens at 11:00 am until 4:00 am. The trailer opens at night and stays open until 4:00 a.m as well. One more thing. Bring cash. Junior only deals with cash!

Find Junior Colombian Burger on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001512122379

Orlando Food Truck Pod

So we ventured to Firestone Live last night to check out Food Truck Pod and arrived shortly after 6 pm.

What an incredible mix of people already there. Young, old, business people, non-business people, hip, square and everything in between. I could have people watched all night long!

The lines for the trucks had already started to form, the longest being for Big Wheel Truck. That would not last since long lines formed at almost every truck there. We decided to check out every menu before making a decision. The Crooked Spoon and Tree House Truck kept it simple by offering a limited menu - pretty smart if you ask me. The other trucks - Red Eye BBQ, Big Wheel Truck and Korean BBQ Taco Box offered more choices, which may or may not have been too smart since their lines seemed to be the longest and the slowest... Yum Yum Truck made its appearance at 7 pm when the first round of eaters had finished and were ready for dessert. That may have played to their advantage since the line immediately extended well past 75 people. They were quick and efficient and the line moved.

We ate at Red Eye BBQ and got a Chimoo from Tree House Truck. Our friends sampled from the Korean BBQTaco Box. And of course, we all had Yum Yum cupcakes.

The Chimoo is a sandwich that has skirt steak, chicken, sweet potato fries and slaw all on a hoagie roll. All made fresh right off the grill. Delicious.

At Red Eye we enjoyed the Loaded Fries and the Tommy Burger. Loaded fries with cheese, pulled pork, and BBQ sauce. What's not to love? The Tommy Burger was a b

ig burger topped with brisket and sauce. Again, how can you deny that taste sensation?

We also sampled the pulled pork taco, from Korean BBQ Taco Bo

x as well and their version of pulled pork. Both were tasty and fulfilling.

Food truck craze is sweeping the nation. These trucks offer delicious, gourmet food items at a fraction of the cost of a sit down restaurant in an atmosphere that is 10x more fun! If you are thinking of attending the Food Pod on Wednesday nights, bring a blanket to sit on when you eat - or plan to stand and eat. There are no tables offered and no ledges on which to balance your container of food. My only regret was being too full to sample from ALL of the trucks. Don't worry, I fully intend to.

Orlando Food Pod TONIGHT

6 Food Trucks.

One location

Firestone Live parking lot located at 578 N. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL

Join me for the sensation that is sweeping thru the country. Food truck cuisine!

Here is all the information you will need

Food pod Wednesdays 6 pm until-? at Firestone Live http://twitter.com/#!/Redeyebbq Red Eye BBQ http://twitter.com/#!/yumyumtruck_fl Yum Yum Cupcake Truck fl http://twitter.com/#!/TheCrookedSpn The Crooked Spoon http://twitter.com/#!/TREEHOUSETRUCK Treehouse Truck http://twitter.com/#!/BigWheelTruck Big Wheel Provisions Truck http://twitter.com/#!/koreanbbq_2011 Korean BBQ Taco Box

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog. I felt that I needed to keep the food from the dogs so I started this new blog.

I am hoping to explore the latest trends, especially here in Orlando, as well as putting up a few recipes and cooking experiences and experiments I have along the way.

I hope that you will enjoy this new adventure with me.