Tasty Thursday - Perfect Holiday Weekend Dessert!

We love cooking on our backyard grill, but sometimes desserts get boring! Sopapillas are a classic dessert found at most Mexican restaurants that I‘ve been making for years, but one night I made ours even better with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

If your grill has a stove burner on the side, you can make them right there where your family and friends can watch, but an electric skillet works well, too. You could even do a 'sopapilla bar' with a line of toppings so that everyone could add their own favorite goodies.

Red White and Blue Sizzling Strawberry Sopapillas

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and rinsed
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
few drops vanilla extract (optional)
3-4 tablespoons margarine
6 fajita size flour tortillas
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Honey
Ground cinnamon
Whipped cream topping

A few hours before serving time, cut strawberries into bite sized slices and place in a bowl with the sugars and vanilla extract. Mix well and place in refrigerator until right before serving.

Preparation:

Preheat a griddle or large frying pan over medium-high heat, then melt ½ tablespoon of margarine.

Place a flour tortilla in the butter, and cook until golden on one side, and then flip over. Once both sides are golden and puffy, place on a plate and drizzle with approximately 1 ½ teaspoons honey and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Place about 1/3 to ½ cup of the strawberries with a little of the 'syrup' onto the center of the tortilla, sprinkle on a few blueberries, and top with whipped cream. Repeat for remaining tortillas. This serves six, but you can make as many or as few as you like - something that is really great just for the two of us!

NOTE: I actually pulled this recipe out of my recipe document file because I didn't have anything planned, and I was at the hospital all day yesterday. We ended up taking my dad to the ER yesterday, and they found he is very anemic and they kept him overnight to give him a unit of blood under very closely monitored conditions. They have to give it to him very slowly in order to not cause other, bigger problems due to the condition of his heart. We will go up there soon and hopefully he will come home this afternoon, feeling better with the new blood in his system. I hope to have something for Floral Friday, even if it is a bit late in the day tomorrow.

For those of you in the USA, have an incredible Independence Day Weekend!!!

Another Easy-Peasy Recipe . . .

For Memorial Day or any day! Not only are grilled veggies delicious, but they are really good for you, so how can you go wrong!

I started these a bit early in the day for two reasons. One, I wanted to blanch the asparagus so it wouldn't take so long to cook on the grill, and two, because I wanted to marinate the veggies for a while.

So, I started with a big pot of boiling salted water threw in the asparagus spears for about a half a minute, then took them out of the boiling water and put them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. While the asparagus was cooling, I washed and sliced a small zucchini - yellow squash works well here, too. You can slice it any way you like, but for this batch I cut the squash in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 3-4 slices.

When the asparagus is cold and the squash is sliced, put it all into a zippered bag and add about 1/3 cup of your marinade, press out as much air as you can, seal it and put it in the fridge until you are ready to put it on the grill.

My marinade of choice these days is this one >>>


I just LOVE Ken's Steak House salad dressings, and this very good dressing also makes an excellent marinade for veggies and meats. In fact, I basted the boneless pork loin chops with this as I grilled them, and they were very, very good. I have tried their ranch, bleu cheese, country french with vermont honey (yum!) and this vinaigrette, and they are all very good.


I put the zucchini on when the chops were about 1/2 done because, being raw, they needed more time to cook. Then when the chops were done, I added the asparagus spears t the grill. All you really have to do is heat them up.


I also had oven roasted potato wedges, and a bit of butter with freshly roasted garlic for the pork. It was a delicious meal, and incredibly easy to prepare!

Many other veggies do well on the grill, including onions, peppers, eggplant - basically anything that is large enough they won't fall through the grates!

I have all my meals planned for this weekend and all of next week, and almost every meal is going to be cooked and/or eaten on the deck (weather permitting) and I look forward to having some nice relaxing evenings. So, what are YOUR plans for this holiday weekend???

Blessings, Becky

Tasty Thursday - A New Twist on an Old Favorite!

This time of year, probably seventy five percent of the meals I cook are at least partly cooked outside on the grill, and probably ninety percent of our meals are eaten out on the deck. By that time of day the sun has lowered behind the trees and isn't too hot, and we are shaded fairly well.

Last night we had burgers, baked beans and chips. Not a very exciting meal, until we got to the dessert. Now, we don't have dessert every night, or even every week, but I wanted to do something different last night, and am I ever so glad I did!!!

I did my grocery shopping yesterday and they had fresh strawberries for $1.65 per pound box. I brought home two boxes. They also had cool whip on sale for $1 per 8 ounce carton. I came home with 4 cartons - 3 for the freezer, one for the here and now! I also had a $1.00 off coupon, so I got one, basically, for free!

When I got home I sliced the strawberries into a bowl with a little sugar, then I pulled out a box of Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Fudge cake mix, and mixed it up according to package directions - almost! The only changes were:

1. I added about a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Vanilla doesn't make chocolate taste more vanilla, it makes it taste more chocolate! Or, it brings out the flavor that is already there.


2. The box called for 3/4 cup of water, and I used 1/2 cup of water and 1/4 cup of Kahlua. Kahlua is a coffee flavored liqueur, and it makes chocolate more chocolaty, and somehow adds moisture, but don't ask me how!

I baked 1/2 in a 9 inch round pan, the other half in muffin tins. I'll freeze the cupcakes for later use, but the one in the 9 inch pan will be eaten - quickly!

So, here's what you do to finish this wonderful treat:

Take a slice of the wonderful chocolate fudge cake, and put it on a pretty plate. In this case, my blue toile everyday dishes.




Place some of the strawberries on top and around the cake.




Drizzle a little bit of the juice from the strawberries all around, just for good measure.



Top the cake and strawberries with a generous,


and I mean GENEROUS! dollop of Cool Whip or your whipped topping of choice.



And then dig in! Enjoy every morsel because, I promise you, it is delicious to the very . . .



. . . last . . .

. . . bite!!!

Oh, and on the menu for dinner tonight . . .

Grilled Boneless Pork Loin Chops

Oven Roast Parmesan Potatoes

Grilled Fresh Asparagus and Zucchini

A Tall Glass of Sweet Iced Tea,

and you guessed it, more of this delicious, chocolaty twist on an old favorite

Strawberry Shortcake!

Blessings friends! Becky

For Memorial Day - Baby Back Ribs Camellia Cottage Style

For those of us who live in the United States, next Monday is a special day - Memorial Day. That's a day that means a lot of things to a lot of people. Most of the schools in our area are out for the summer, so it's really the start of the summer season. But that's not what it really means. What it really means is this . . .

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

Memorial day is a day which we set aside each year to remember, and to honor, those men and women who have given their lives to protect and defend our freedom. It's a very, very special day.

And of course everyone has their favorite way of celebrating. Here at Camellia Cottage we usually spend a bit of time working in the yard, and a lot of time just relaxing, and plenty of time eating good things - most of them cooked out on the grill. One thing that I do love doing is driving up through Dahlonega, Georgia where they line the streets with white crosses, each bearing the name of a fallen soldier and a small waving flag. Very thought provoking, to say the least.

One of our favorite summertime meals is baby back ribs. I've tried lots of ways of making ribs, and none have compared with this recipe, and it is one of my own creation.

A few years ago we had a couple of neighbors families over for cookout and I made these ribs. Brent said, "Becky, these ribs are the best I've ever eaten - even better than mine!" And later his wife, Crystal, pulled me aside and said that was quite an honor as he fancied himself quite a rib connoisseur. He even wanted my recipe, and I kindly obliged!

So here goes, my recipe for . . . . .

Baby Back Ribs Camellia Cottage Style

For this recipe you need one slab of baby back ribs. You can multiply this recipe up for however many slabs you need to prepare. This is one rack cut into half. When I got the 'freezer special' from a local butcher a while back, they asked if I minded if they cut them in half because it was easier to wrap them. Didn't bother me a bit as I usually cut them in half anyway.


To start, wash the ribs with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. On the underside of the ribs there is a papery tissue that holds them together. You want to take a paper towel and pull that tissue off of the ribs. I have to admit, I never could find a place to pull that tissue off of these ribs, and I wondered if maybe the butcher did that for me!


Now you are ready to mix up all the good stuff, but before you do, pull out two pieces of heavy duty aluminum foil the size you'll need to wrap the ribs in when they are slathered with the rub. You'll be glad you did this ahead of time - trust me!


These are the tools you'll need - a 1/2 cup measuring cup, a bowl, spoon, and set of measuring spoons.


You will also need all of this . . . . .


The full recipe will follow at the end for easier copying, but this is all the stuff that, once mixed together and slathered on some ribs, becomes heaven!!!

Measure all the ingredients except the ribs into a bowl. I just love stainless steel bowls for mixing!


When you have mixed it all together, it should look something like this. It should be grainy and moist, but not enough to dissolve the sugar. If you think it's too dry, add a few drops more of Worcestershire sauce.


Place each piece of ribs onto the heavy duty aluminum foil and spread, no - massage, each piece with the grainy rub. The juices in the ribs will make the rub soften as you go.


When you have that done, roll up the foil TIGHTLY around the ribs, pulling each end up above the ribs and rolling down. Then rolling each end UP to keep any juices from oozing out the ends. Believe me, you want ALL those juices staying in that pouch!


Then place the pouches on a baking sheet, and place into your oven, preheated to 350 degrees.



Here comes the fun part. I have no idea 'how long' to leave those ribs in the oven, but trust me, you will know! When the smell becomes so wonderful you can't stand it another minute, that's when you take them out! And once they have cooled a bit, this is how they look . . . . .


Now you have to make a decision. Do you want to eat these today, tomorrow, or in a few days??? Because once these pouches have cooled, you can put them into plastic bags and keep them in the refrigerator for several days, and the longer they stay in the fridge, the better they taste. I've made these ahead for camping trips, or I've made them on Wednesday for a Saturday cookout. It's all up to you! These, however are for tonight, so I'm going to put them on the grill.

Now, I'm only used to a gas grill, so if you use charcoal, you are on your own! But for gas, you want to heat it up and get it really hot, then before you put on the ribs, reduce the heat to about medium or lower. Then put the ribs on, meaty side down.


Cook them for just 2 - 3 minutes, then turn them over and put on your favorite BBQ sauce. Use what you like! For these ribs I used Kraft Original with a little extra brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce to thin it a bit.


So you baste on that sauce and get a nice coating on the top. Then turn them back over onto the meaty side and cook for another 2-3 minutes. You'll want to baste that bony side on bottom with sauce, too.


I do this two or three times, cooking on each side about 2 to 3 minutes. Remember, the ribs are already cooked, so you only want to get that sauce kind of caramelized.

mmm

Okay, let's eat! Barbecued ribs, Parmesan roasted potatoes, fresh corn on the cob. What a way to end the weekend!!!

Here's the recipe . . . . ..

Baby Back Ribs - Camellia Cottage Style

Use Baby Back Pork Ribs - This recipe is for one (1) rack of ribs.

Remove skin (papery) from bony underside of ribs. Using a paper towel helps to grip the skin to pull it off.

Per rack of ribs, mix together:

• ½ cup brown sugar (light or dark)


• 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper


• ¼ teaspoon ground dry mustard


• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin


• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano


• ¼ teaspoon dried Italian herbs


• 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke


• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce


• ½ +/- teaspoon garlic powder


• ¼ +/- chili powder


• A few drops of hot sauce (optional)

Mix well, it will be a thick, grainy paste. Rub into raw ribs, covering all sides. Wrap ribs tightly in heavy duty aluminum foil and bake @ 350 degrees until they start to smell ‘done’ - you’ll know!
Take out of the oven and let sit to cool, then store in refrigerator for up to 2-4 days - they just get better!

Unwrap from foil, heat on grill until warm through, basting with your favorite BBQ sauce.

Enjoy!!!

Tasty Thursday - A 'Go-To' Meal!

Welcome to Tasty Thursday!

As I've shared with you before, I like to keep my freezers stocked with basics that we like to eat. One of those basics is boneless pork loin chops. When Kroger has their boneless pork loins on sale, I'll buy several, have the butcher slice them to order, then head for home. Once there I'll divide the chops into meal-sized portions and seal them with my Food Saver vacuum sealer. When I want pork loin for dinner, I take a pack of the freezer and within a couple of hours on the counter, they are ready to cook.

This meal is one of my 'go-to' meals. By that I mean it's something I can cook in a minimal amount of time, with not too much effort, but yet have a delicious meal for dinner. Here's the menu:

• Grilled Boneless Pork Loin Chops with Spicy Mustard Glaze
• Roasted Potato Wedges
• Sauteed Asparagus, Carrots and Onions

Let's start with marinating the pork!

I just LOVE Ken's Steak House salad dressings! My favorites are the Buttermilk Ranch, Country French with Vermont Honey, and the Balsamic and Basil Vinaigrette. The Balsamic and Basil is great as a light vinaigrette, but it's also incredible as a marinade. So an hour or two (or more) before I want to cook the pork, I put the pork into a zipper bag, and pour in about 1/4 cup of the dressing. Put it in the fridge and forget about it until about 10 minutes before you want to put it on the grill.

Next up, if you want things to cook quickly, it's a good idea if you prep and pre-cook the carrots a bit.



For just the two of us, I use two large carrots, peeled, halved and sliced into 1/4 inch slices.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, then pop in the sliced carrots for just a couple of minutes, until they are just beginning to be tender.


While they are cooking, grab a big bowl and fill it with ice water. As soon as the carrots begin to feel tender, drain them and throw them into the bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.


When they are totally cooled, drain them and set them aside, or even put them in the fridge. If you are doing this meal for guests, this part can even be done a couple of days in advance, and the carrots stored in the fridge until you are ready to finish cooking them.

With the carrots out of the way, I quickly make the glaze.

This is sooooooo good, and very easy to make! (Note, my husband isn't a big fan of mustard, but he loves this glaze!) Start with 2 to 3 tablespoons of mustard. You can use any kind you want - regular yellow (what I used), brown, grainy, Dijon, just whatever floats your boat! And add a tablespoon or two of honey.

Mix these together a little bit, then add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar, and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, depending on your taste buds ability to handle the heat!

Stir all the ingredients together and sit aside until you are ready to baste the chops with it.

Oh, and now's a good time to start the grill! I use a gas grill, but an electric (Geo. Foreman, etc.) would work fine! Either way, you want it to be hot when you put those chops on to cook.

Now let's start on the potatoes. This is the easiest potato recipe you can imagine, and they are SO good! Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, then line a baking dish with aluminum foil. Now, if you don't mind washing dishes you can bypass this step, but I just love being able to roll up the foil and have a clean pan underneath! Next, scrub a few baking potatoes under running water. Try to get them all about the same size so they will cook evenly.

Slice the potatoes into wedges. I usually cut them into halves, then each half into three wedges, as you can see here.

And since I hate washing dishes, I take a plastic bag (the 'Food and Bread Storage Bags' are very inexpensive if you use the store brand) and dump the potato wedges inside. Pour in a couple Tablespoons of oil, either olive oil or canola oil is what I usually use. Also season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, Italian herbs, or whatever flavors you prefer. Toss these well in the bag to coat with the oil and seasonings.

Dump the potatoes into the pan and arrange them - skin side down - in a single layer. Then you just toss that oily bag into the garbage!

Place them in the pre-heated oven, and let them bake about 1/2 hour, or until fork tender and kind of fluffy.

My grill is hot, so I take the pork loin, glaze, tongs and my trusted timer outside to the deck Set the timer for three (3) minutes, place the pork on the grill, and set the timer. Now you can start getting the table ready to serve. Tonight we are eating al fresco, or outside on the deck.

When the timer beeps, go turn the chops, baste the top side, set the timer again for 3 minutes, and continue preparing for the rest of the meal.


I guess we should start the veggies now! In a saute pan or skillet, heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil on medium high heat. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of diced onion, and a teaspoon or so of minced garlic - and yes, I use the kind in a jar! Years ago when I attended demos at a local Kroger Cooking School, the chefs always used that, so if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me! Saute these together until the onions are tender.


Wash fresh asparagus and break into 2 to 3 inch long pieces. Add these to the skillet.

Season to taste with salt, pepper and any other seasonings you like. This time I used a pinch of red pepper flakes and some dried tarragon.

When the asparagus is beginning to get tender, add about 1/4 cup of white wine (or water, or broth), cover and allow to steam for just a couple of minutes.


Now would be a good time to go check that pork loin again! Turn the pork every 3 minutes as the timer beeps, and brushing with the glaze each time.

And back to the veggies!

Add the pre-cooked carrots into the pan, and continue cooking until the asparagus and carrots are jut done - do not overcook!

Turn off the heat, and add a tablespoon or two of butter or margarine to the pan, and allow it to melt in and around the veggies. YUM!!!

Now everything should be done. This meal took me less than an hour to prepare and cook, and that is pretty good considering it was all from scratch, using no mixes or frozen entrees or such. Doesn't our patio table look nice!

And doesn't dinner look scrumptious???

I hope you have enjoyed visiting today. Please let me know if you try any of these dishes - I'd love to hear how you liked everything! Have a great day, Becky