Zucchini Bread

*sigh* The smell of fresh baked zucchini bread is floating through my house and with it brings back memories from my childhood. Zucchini bread was a summer staple in my our house growing up. Dad always planted zucchini in the garden so we had more than we knew what to do with. Mom would make zucchini bread for everyone we knewa nd there was atleast a loaf or two in the house for us.

My recipe for zucchini bread is atleast 3 generations old....and probably even older....handed down from my Dad's side of the family. And although I don't grow my own zucchini, the bread tastes just as good (and is a tad nostalgic).

Zucchini Bread:

3 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini
2 cups flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Beat 3 eggs until thick and frothy, gradually add 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup vegetable oil & vanilla and beat well. Stir in 2 cups of zucchini, loosely packed. Add 2 cups of flour, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 2 tsp of baking soda, 1 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of baking powder. Stir until well combined. Add 1 cup of nuts (if using).

Divide batter evenly into two loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour.

Braised Beef Short Ribs

For Christmas, one of my friends gave me a cast iron dutch oven (Thanks, Cammy!). I had never had one and wanted one for a while. I cannot say enough how much I love it and love cooking with it. I've done everything from fried chicken to an amazing apple crisp to soups and stews, etc. I've always wanted to do braised short ribs and with the weather being kinda rainy here today...it seemed like a good idea.

I used my favorite red wine: San Sebastian Vintner's Red. It is a local FL wine made from Muscadine Grapes (the only grapes native to FL). We mulled this wine around the holidays and served it warm and it is fantastic. Their Vintner's White is just as good! If you ever get to St. Augustine, I recommend a stop at their winery. You can also check out their sister winery Lakeridge Winery , which is located in Clermont, FL.

So this was my first try at making short ribs. We both really liked this recipe (and my hubby is PICKY)! I'll definitely make it again (probably once in the fall as it felt more like a cool weather dish). The sauce is a little greasy, so if you want to serve it on the table use a gravy separator to remove the grease.


Braised Beef Short Ribs

A few tablespoons of olive oil
4 pounds beef short ribs (approx 6 ribs to serve 2-4 people)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 & 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 - 2 & 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
Zest of 1 orange
Salt & Pepper
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat about 2-tablespoons of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Season the short ribs well with salt and pepper. Over medium heat, brown ribs for 5-6 minutes on each side. You will need to do this in batches. Remove the browned short ribs to a plate and repeat with remaining ribs. I was able to do 2 per batch.

Once ribs are done, add onion, carrots, garlic, celery, and salt and pepper to the Dutch oven and saute until softened, about 5 minutes. (As a side note...I removed a little of the oil/fat in the pan and let it cool slightly as to not burn the veggies...the oil was really hot). Add the tomato paste and wine to the vegetables and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, stock, thyme, and bay leaf. Return the browned short ribs and any juices that have accumulated back into the Dutch oven. Add orange zest. Cover with a heavy lid and place in the oven and braise for 3 hours or until the meat is very tender.

Once the ribs are tender, remove the ribs to a platter. Taste for seasoning. Remove bay leaf & thyme. Add salt and pepper, to taste. I made a cheesy garlic polenta and served the ribs over the polenta, garnishing with the parsley.

My dutch oven is 5qts and although it's large enough to make meals for the two of us, if you wanted to make a larger version of this you could easily do in a larger pot.

Also - I wanted to thicken the sauce a bit, so I made a slurry with corn starch and water and added it to the sauce before serving. Just put it on a warm burner and let it thicken a bit while you make your sides.

Garlic & Brown Sugar Chicken

Wow! I was a big skeptical about this recipe (made it for the first time tonight). I was worried it might be too sweet or just not "go"....but Wow! It made a GREAT sauce for the chicken....the perfect mix of sweet and savory. The garlic is cooked slowly so it becomes soft and buttery. My hubby practically licked the plate. And the best part - it's easy! All of these items are staples in my house so I could make it at any time!

Garlic & Brown Sugar Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 cloves of garlic...roughly chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1 pound boneless/skinless chicken (breasts, tenders or even thighs will work)
4-5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
Salt & Pepper to season chicken
Chicken Grill Seasoning

Season both sides of chicken with salt & pepper and grill seasoning. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and allow to slowly cook (approx 4-5mins) and then add chicken to garlic and butter. Cook thoroughly on each side (depends on size and cut of chicken). When chicken is fully cooked, top each piece with a sprinkle of brown sugar and allow it to melt into the chicken (about 5 minutes). This will make a fantastic pan sauce as it mixes with the butter & garlic. For the last few minutes I continually tossed the sauce over the chicken as it was cooking.

The grill seasoning was not in the original recipe.....I added it because I thought it sounded good and I really liked the way it came out so I would do that again. A little goes along way so you just need a few pinches. I also added more garlic than the original recipe called for because we love garlic.

Serve with your favorite veggies (I bet the sauce would be excellent over cooked carrots).

Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joes

Bryan and I absolutely LOVE buffalo chicken wings. This gives you all the ingredients and flavors of wings, without the fatty fried wings. Serve with a salad or home made coleslaw.

Buffalo Chicken Sloppy Joe's

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb ground chicken or turkey breast
1 small carrot, peeled and chopped or grated
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup hot sauce (I like Frank's Red Hot)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
4 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted
blue cheese crumbles


Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in carrots, celery, onions and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook approx 5 minutes until softened. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more as sauce reduces & thickens. Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese.

Approx 4 services. Recipe can easily be doubled to serve 8.

Pineapple & Cheddar Stuffed Cheeseburgers

I first stumbled across this recipe a few years ago and my first thought was "Well that's interesting...." But we were amazed when I made it that we liked it so much. I have since made some minor tweaks to it and it has become one of our favorite burgers! It makes some HUGE burgers...but they are oh so good!

Pineapple & Cheddar Stuffed Cheeseburgers

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 small onion, chopped (or half of a medium onion)
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1 can of crushed pineapple
shredded cheddar cheese
grill seasoning
salt & pepper
cheddar slices (optional)

In a large bowl combine ground beef, chopped onion, ketchup, bbq sauce, grill seasoning and salt & pepper. Form six patties...as large as possible without being too thin.

Drain crushed pineapple and mix with shredded cheddar. Take one of the burger patties, top it with the pineapple & cheese mixture and top it with another patty. Press ends of the patties together to form one larger burger.

Grill until desired doneness...topping with additional slice of cheese if necessary & serve on a bun with traditional burger toppings.

You can also use blue cheese for this instead of cheddar.

Chicken Panini's with Shaved Apples & a Balsamic Reduction

This was a great quick dinner tonight! Love the cheese and the apple with the balsamic sauce!

Chicken Panini's with Shaved Apples & Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients:
4 chicken cutlets
Brie (or cheese of your choice)
1 Granny Smith Apple
Balsamic Reduction (recipe to follow)
French Bread (or similar)

Season chicken cutlets and saute in a large pan over medium high heat until cooked. Cut bread in 4 sections and slice each section. Spread balsamic reduction over the sliced french bread. Top with cheese and then chicken. Using a vegetable peeler, shave apple into thin slices and spread over chicken. Top with other half of bread and grill on a panini press.

If you don't have a panini press, you can toast bread before assembling sandwich.

Balsamic Reduction:
1/3 Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tsp Honey

Mix together ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium high heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer until the liquid reduces to approx 1/4 (about 3-5 minutes).

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Thank you to my friend Brandy....this is mostly her recipe with some minor tweaks. They came out great! You could also use hoisin sauce instead of the peanut butter & brown sugar for a slightly different taste.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1 lb ground chicken
2 cloves of garlic - chopped
½ onion – chopped
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 small can of bean sprouts
1 small can of sliced water chestnuts
¼ cup sesame oil, plus two tbsp for sautéing chicken
½ cup Soy sauce
2 tbsp Asian chili sauce
¼ cup Rice-wine vinegar
3 tbsp Peanut butter
3 tbsp of brown sugar
1 head of bibb/butter or iceberg lettuce


Separate lettuce leaves…rinse and pat dry.

Heat 2 tbsp of sesame oil in large skillet. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened. Add Chicken and let cook for a few minutes. Add carrots and cook down a few more minutes. Add remaining sesame oil, soy sauce, chili sauce & rice wine vinegar and brown sugar. Continue to cook down. Add cabbage, bean sprouts and water chestnuts and cook for a few more minutes. Add peanut butter & lime juice and toss until peanut butter is melted and incorporated.

Use lettuce leaves like a taco shell….fill with chicken mixed, fold and enjoy!

Summer Party Beverages - Bonus!

I should have posted these a week ago. We spent 4th of July on the beach with some friends (and my sis who was visiting from NJ) and had a great time! As you can imagine, FL in July is HOT....so besides staying in the water as much as possible, one wants to keep themselves refreshed. I made these two tasty tropical beverages to do so. I had to alter the measurements as I made a gallon of each and since I didn't write down what I did....I will just give you the individual drink recipe:

Fuzzy Buccaneer:

Ingredients:
Ice
1 1/2 oz Peach schnapps
3 oz Orange juice
1 1/2 oz Rum
Mixing instructions:
Mix 1 part rum, 1 part peach schnapps, and 2 parts O. J. and shake. Pour over crushed ice. Also makes a great frozen drink when blended like a frozen daiquiri

Absolute Heaven:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Absolut Mandrin
Fill Pineapple juice
1 splash Cranberry juice
Ice
Mixing instructions:
Add ingredients and shake over ice.

Lemon Pasta

Getting back to the grind after being on vacation for nearly 10 days is tough. Today was my first day back at work, so dinner tonight will be easy (and a favorite in my house).

Lemon Pasta:

1-2 shallots – chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic – chopped
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 Lemons, juiced.
½ - ¾ cup of white wine
Sprinkle of flour (less than a tablespoon)
2 tablespoons of butter
Olive oil (EVOO)
Parsley
Salt & pepper to taste
Angle hair pasta (approx half a box) cooked al dente

Heat large pan over medium heat. Coat bottom of the pan with olive oil and melt butter. Sauté shallots and garlic in the butter/EVOO. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Continuing sautéing until soften. Sprinkle flour over and let it cook for 2-3 minutes, continually stirring. Once flour mix turns a light honey color, add whisk in white wine and then add lemon juice. Let come to a simmer. Added chopped fresh parsley (or dried) and salt & pepper to taste. Add pasta and toss to coat. (Makes 2-4 servings)

You can also saute some shrimp with this (which I think I am going to do tonight). Very quick...easy....yummy!