Carmelized Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

This is all the rage in 2014. For those of us who like Brussels Sprouts anyway it's heaven to make this version that CARMELIZES them. Wolfgang Puck puts a little brown sugar in the sauté pan to help caramelize the sprouts without burning them. I prefer them without sugar. And I actually LIKE them a bit burned. But then...I am a little weird...

Ingredients:

4 lbs. Brussels sprouts--washed and trimmed and sliced in half
4 slices uncured Bacon--diced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 t sea salt (or any salt is fine)
1/4 t black pepper
3 T olive oil
Optional: 2 T Palm sugar or brown sugar

Directions:

Fry bacon in a large (12") sauté pan or a 4 qt. soup pot until almost crisp. Meanwhile toss Brussels sprouts in a large bowl with lemon salt pepper and oil.  After it's done--set bacon aside on a paper towel to drain. Wipe out pan or pot with a paper towel to remove any small bacon pieces that will burn.  Then dump the lemon and oil covered sprouts into the pan and saute until browned on at least one side. You will most likely have to do this in two batches unless your pans are VERY large.  Try to have only one layer of sprouts on the bottom of the pan instead of stacking them on top of each other. Optional: throw in Palm sugar at this point if you want them a little sweet. After browning (they should be al dente--still a bit crunchy) --return all sprouts to the same pan. Chop bacon and toss it on top. Serve warm!

Pepper Steak with Port Mushroom Sauce

This is what you make when you can find some really great mushrooms at your local market. Pepper steak has been around forever. I first had it when I was dating in the 1400's. I was dating Christopher Columbus and he made it for me before he got married. It's so easy to make it's ridiculous. So is this wonderful wine mushroom sauce that goes with it. Serve with Mashed Cauliflower and a green salad. Virtually fat-free this is only 241 calories per steak. From "The Best of Cooking Light" cookbook. Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 4-oz beef tenderloin steaks
1 T black peppercorns (crushed)
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 sliced Shitake (or any other variety) mushroom caps
1 T flour or GF blended flour (like Pamela's)
1/3 C port or other sweet red wine
1/4 C minced shallots (use onion in a pinch)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 C beef broth
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t tomato paste
1/8 t dried rosemary
1/2 t Dijon mustard

Prepare the Port Mushroom Sauce: Combine mushroom and flour in a bowl--toss. Combine wine shallots and vinegar in a medium skillet. Bring to a boil cook until thick (about 3 minutes). Reduce heat to medium. Add broth, Worcestershire sauce,

 tomato paste and rosemary...cool 1 minute. Add mushroom mixture and cook 3 min. --stirring constantly. Stir in mustard and set aside while you prepare the steaks.

Sprinkle steaks with peppercorns and salt. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks...cook for 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Serve each steak with rt 1/4 C Port Mushroom Sauce.

Pamela's Gluten-Free Pie Crust

I am putting a few exceptional GF recipes in my blog because my son-in-law is allergic to gluten. He also really loves good food, so it's got to be absolutely delicious.
This tastes like real piecrust because there is real shortening in it. I wouldn't do any substitutions if I were you...

Ingredients:

8 T shortening--well chilled
8 T unsalted butter--well chilled
1/3 C iced water
2 1/2 C Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend
1 t salt
1 t sugar (optional--can use Palm sugar)
Directions:

If you plan on a pre-baked pie shell--preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut cold butter and shortening into 1/2 cubes. In separate bowl combine flour sugar and salt. Using a stand mixer with paddle or a pastry blender or fingers cut into fine crumbs. If you have a food processor--process ingredients with blade until fine crumbs form. Add ice water and mix until dough forms a ball. Use up to 1 T additional water if needed. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment or plastic wrap and fix in greased pie pan. For pre-baked shell: bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees then turn down oven to 375 degrees and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes until brown. If filling...bake according to individual recipe.

Chicken Sausage Skillet with Apples and Cranberries

This is a fantastic recipe I found online in the Paleo recipe section. I did alter it by using chicken sausages that have a little sugar in them. However, if you are entertaining a Paleo diet person, simply find a chicken sausage without sugar. Paleo diet people eat nothing that is refined or that has sugar in it. Or most dairy products. Or most grains. Or potatoes. You would think life lived this way would be really BLAH--but this recipe is good evidence that it can be very tasty indeed! Common Sense Tip: Don't have apple cider vinegar? Rice wine vinegar will do. Yield: 4 servings (at least 2 sausages each)

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
8 fully cooked apple-chicken sausages 
1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
2 medium red or partially red apples (peeled, quartered and sliced)
4 C shredded cabbage

3/4 C dried cranberries
1 1/2 T apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 T honey plus 1/2 t more if it isn't sweet enough for you
1 t minced fresh thyme (I used dried)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 T chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Instructions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned on at least 2 sides. Transfer sausages to a plate and set aside. Wipe out skillet with paper towel to collect all burned particles. Stir in rest of the ingredients except parsley. Cover the skillet and cook until the vegetables are tender (but not mushy) and the liquid is evaporated...about 8-10 minutes. Taste and add additional honey or salt and pepper as needed. Serve with sausage and parsley on top of warm vegies.

Lemon-Garlic Sauteed Greens

This is so good and so easy and so healthy you will make it at least once a week! Common Sense Tip: Keep a small chunk of real Parmesan cheese on hand at all times. You will use it! If it starts getting old, you can always grate it and put it in your freezer for times of desperation! Lemons are also good to have on hand. If they start getting old--juice them and freeze the juice in ice trays. The original recipe is from "Cooking Light: Super-Fast Sides and Salads"--but I changed it from Swiss chard to kale. Spinach works too.  If takes a lot of greens to feed a family of 4-6, but it's just Common Sense to halve this recipe if there are 2-3 of you.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 T smashed and minced garlic
12 C chopped kale (or Swiss chard or spinach)
2 T water
1 1/2 t fresh lemon juice
1/8 ground pepper
4 t shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan, swirl to coat. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes or until garlic just begins to brown. Add greens and 2 T water to pan; cook 3 minutes or until greens go limp. Stir in lemon juice and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese and serve warm!

Rainy Day Pot Roast with Marinara

This is a recipe my mom made that you could make with or without a slow cooker. It is a very comforting meal. Perfect for those long winter days when you come in from the cold all red-cheeked and exhausted! And so easy.

Ingredients:

1 3-lb. loin beef pot roast (don't get a fatty one!)
2 T olive oil
1 16 oz. bottle good marinara sauce (homemade or whatever brand is your favorite--but thicker is better)
1 medium-sized onion--sliced
2/3 C red wine (Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Burgundy...or Chianti?)
1/2 C water (only if you don't use a slow cooker)
1 C carrots (sliced into 1" thick slices) or a bag of peeled "baby" carrots
6 or 7 small boiling potatoes (russets?) well-scrubbed or larger potatoes (peeled and quartered)

Note: If you use a sugar-free spaghetti sauce you may want to add 2 T coconut palm sugar to it to cut the acidity a bit. 

Directions for the Oven:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Sear both sides of beef loin with olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.  Place beef in a large, greased baking dish (9X13 is fine). Slice onion over it, throw in carrots and pour spaghetti sauce overall. Splash on wine and 1/2 C water over the top. Bake uncovered for an hour and a half, or until beef shreds easily when poked with a fork. Serve in bowls or ramekins with crusty bread and a salad on the side. Mmmmmm....

Directions for the Slow Cooker:

Sear both sides of beef loin in a skillet with olive oil on medium heat. Sautee sliced onion in same skillet until limp.  Place beef and onions in slow cooker. Throw in sliced carrots and patooties. Pour spaghetti sauce and wine (with NO water) overall. Cook in slow cooker all day or as many hours as you can on HIGH heat until beefs shreds easily when poked with a fork.

Orange You Glad We Have Yams?

"Knock-Knock!" "Who's there?" "Orange" "Orange who?" "Orange you glad we have yams for dinner?"  Sorry folks, for being so corny, but I just couldn't resist. It's Autumn and we are rapidly closing in on Thanksgiving. The sun is golden on the russet and green leaves flickering on trees outside of my house. Acorns from the Oaks pelt the ground all hours of the day and into the night. In fact, I keep getting up to answer the door--but it's just an acorn knocking! I am making plans for a bunch of new recipes--but we always have two or three dishes every year. This is one of them. I have altered the original recipe to use Palm Sugar instead of regular sugars to lower the glycemic level. But regular brown sugar is wonderful! Serves 8

Ingredients:

6 med. sweet potatoes or yams, or 3 huge ones (I like the red kind best)
1 C orange juice (fresh-sqoozed is best)
grated rind of one orange
1 T cornstarch or arrowroot
3 T butter
2/3 C brown sugar or Palm sugar 
pinch of salt

Cook potatoes or yams in jackets until half-done--about 15 minutes. Remove and let cool. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan and cook, stirring, until thickened. Skin potatoes and slice in half-inch wide pieces crosswise of lengthwise--depending on the potato's size. Lay slices in a 2 qt. baking dish that has been buttered. Pour sauce overall, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees 45 to 60 minutes. These can sit in the oven to keep warm or be refrigerated after cooling to heat up the next day.