Cranberry Orange Sauce

This is the one thing I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas that never changes. When I was little I used to think the only cranberry sauce was the freaky jello out of the can. I could never bring myself to try it. But I knew I loved cranberries and set out to find a great recipe. This is a tweaked version of a recipe from Rachel Ray:

Cranberry-Orange Sauce
Zest and juice of one orange
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
One 12oz bag of fresh cranberries

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat add 1/2 water, zest and juice of orange, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Add cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until cranberries have burst and the sauce has thickened slightly. Add more sugar at this point if it is still too tart.
If you have Grand Manier or any orange liqueur on hand, add it while the cranberries are simmering to give it a little kick.

Perfect Dinner

Here is the best dinner: Ribeye Steak, Green Beans and Ambers Corn:

Steak: Bring steak to room temp. rub with olive oil and rub:
Steak Rub
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 tablespoon granulated onion
4 teaspoons kosher (sea) salt
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated garlic
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon cumin ( I LOVE cumin so I use more)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Grill to your liking

Green Beans: French style green beans from the can warmed with butter, salt and pepper. Kids can't get enough

Amber's Corn:
2 cans corn
1 can creamed corn
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 teaspoon of sugar

Cut cream cheese into squares and mix all ingredience in oven safe bowl. Bake for 45 min on 350. Once cream cheese has melted, turn on broil until top is brown. I named it Amber's corn because Amber loves it. Name it after the child you have a hard time eating veggies and they will feel special enough to eat it.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

I realized I said I would post this and never did. This is by far my FAV salsa.

8 ripe plum tomatoes, stems removed
1 jalapeño chile pepper, stem and seeds removed
1/2 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup roughly chopped red onion
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Grill the tomatoes and jalapeno until blackened and blistered in spots, turning as needed. The tomatoes will take 4 to 6 minutes and the jalapeno will take 2 to 3 minutes. Put the tomatoes and jalapeno in a food processor along with the remaining sauce ingredients, including salt and pepper to taste, and process until smooth. Transfer the sauce to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly, 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I made this for a very large family dinner the other Sunday. I doubled it and made baked ziti with it.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:
1 chopped onion
5 cloves chopped garlic
2 teaspoons oil
2 (28 oz) cans peeled ground tomatoes in paste
1 (6oz) can Italian-style tomato paste
7 cups water
3 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon sugar (do not use if you are using a sweet red wine)
1/2 red wine (buy a large bottle and drink the rest while this is simmering)
1 pinch crushed red pepper

Saute the onions and garlic in the oil until soft. Combine everything else in the pot and simmer for 3 hours.

I like Italian sausage and put it in my sauce. But you can use any meat or no meat at all.

Also, watch the sweetness of the wine. When I made the sauce with the sugar and used Pinot Nior for the wine, I thought it was too sweet.

Nutmeg Whipped Cream and Apple Cider Syrup

Most of the people that ate the pumpkin pancakes used both. I just used the Nutmeg Whipped Cream, since I don't like syrup.

Apple Cider Syrup:
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 min or until slightly thickened. Let stand for 30 min before serving.

Nutmeg Whipped Cream:
1 cup Coolwhip
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg (I use more since I love nutmeg, keep adding to taste)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Pumpkin Pancakes

I made these for brunch when the family came over to carve pumpkins. Awesome! I will post the recipe for apple cider syrup and nutmeg whipped cream tomorrow.

Pumpkin Pancakes:
2 1/3 cups pancake mix
2 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup veggie oil

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Add wet to dry and cook. Put on cooling rack over a cookie sheet and place in oven set at 300 to keep warm.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

This one comes from one of my FAVORITE cookbooks: Webers Real Grilling. In the book it has you make this for grilled scallops, but I like it with chips on a salsa bar. I made this for Charlies Mexican themed retirement party. I will also get the fire roasted salsa up, it is my absolute favorite.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa:
1 yellow onion
8 tomatillos (found on the top shelf of the produce)
1 poblano (use poblano, I tried to sub another chile once when I couldn't find a poblano and it didn't have as much flavor)
¼ cup cilantro (I always put in more, I love cilantro)
1 garlic clove
½ teaspoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Grill the onion, tomatillos and poblano over high heat on the grill for 5 min or until charred. Once the poblano has cooled enough to handle, remove the skin, stem and seeds. Put in food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Add salt to taste.

Start-up

Ok, so many people have ask me for my recipes. Here they are. I will post new recipes as I have time.

I have three kids, all teenagers, that I cook for. I like easy, fast and cheap meals. With two of them in sports, weeknights are often rushed. I usually cook one main meal on Sunday and then prepping meals for the week, crock pot and casseroles are the easiest.

I also have many parties, so I will give app. recipes to.

Here is the first:
Pico de Gallo:
Tomatoes
Green Onions
Cilantro
Tomato sauce
El Pato (hot sauce, in a can, on the Mexican food isle)

I don't have measurements for all the ingredients. It depends if you like it hot or chunky. It is very easy and a quick snack. If you have tomatoes that are close to going, whip this up and it's gone. Also, add salt to taste.