Black~Eyed Pea Salad

I wanted to post the recipe for my Black-Eyed Pea Salad that I made while at the beach for our intimate poolside party for 60.

But . . . In all the excitement (and perhaps the influence of bushwackers), I didn't take a single photo of the peas. Or the salad. Or the 60+ people enjoying the salad.
In 2012 I did take pictures of red onions . . .

Black-Eyed Pea Salad
5 cans black-eyed peas
1 red onion
2 tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 bunch cilantro
1 small can diced jalapenos
1 bottle italian dressing
Rinse the canned peas until they are clear of that thick sauce. Dice onion and tomato. Chop cilantro. Combine in a large bowl with jalapenos and italian dressing. Allow to sit overnight or several hours.
This makes a huge bowl.

With a view like this . . . is it any wonder I forgot to take pictures of the peas?
Y'all enjoy,
Sandi

The GooDness of Granola

I love a really good granola . . . and now that I am Gluten Free, Really Good Granola is not easy to find. So, I searched the internet for grain free granola.
You know what the secret is?

NuTs!

Lots of nuts.

I use a mix of Almonds, Pecans, Pumpkin seeds, and Sunflower seeds. If you are using roasted or salted nuts, you might want to cut out the salt in the recipe

NuTty Granola
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup dried cranberries
5 cups assorted nuts
2 egg whites
2 Tbs water
3 Tbs coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
Chop the nuts. They need to be a mix of choppedness. I did some in the processor, and some with my big knife. Combine the nuts with the coconut and about half the cranberries. ( I like my cranberries to be more fresh and moist, so had the other half later)

In a separate bowl, mix the oil, honey and spices. Whisk in the egg white. Add all of this to the nutty mess.

When it is well combined. . . spoon onto a baking sheet.

Bake at 300 for 30 minutes. Take out after 20 minutes, stir and add the remaining cranberries.
When it is looking browned, remove from the oven.

Important . . . Allow to SIT till it is cooled.
This is when it forms those nutty clumpy clusters

I love it on yogurt, but it would also be great on oatmeal or just by the nutty handfuls.

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

For the Holledayz

This is a special recipe for Holledayz.

It is simple, gluten free, and just in time for Memorial Day.
It is the perfect summer time treat.

A dessert that is straight from The Amalfi Coast (and pinterest)

Lemon Squares
1 cup gluten free flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup butter ~ at room temperature
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1 Tbs Lemon zest (or more)
3 Tbs Lemon juice
Pre-heat oven to 350
Blend dry ingredients, Lightly cream in Butter. This should be easy if the butter is room temperature. In another bowl, combine lemon juice and eggs. Add slowly to dry ingredients, without over blending. Pour into a greased 8x8 pan
Bake for 25 minutes.
Icing
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1Tbs lemon juice (or Limoncello)
Whisk together a small amount of lemon juice with powdered sugar to make a thick icing. Drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.

DeLicIoUS!
It makes a thin 'brownie' type lemon bar that is so moist and lemony.

You will be able to smell the lemon groves and hear Italian church bells.

Well . . . Sort of.
that might have been the extra limoncello)

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Lovely Lemons of Amalfi

It is time for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club. . . I might be in Italy, but I haven't missed a Virtual Supper Club in 6 years. And I am certainly not going to miss this one.

This is our final Supper club meeting. As with most of the blogging world, things have changed. We are all busy, and it becomes a struggle to post on a regular basis (can I get an Amen!) We have all agreed that this would be our final supper club meeting. I am sad to see it go, because I have formed friendships with these other cooks.
We decided for this menu we would celebrate the lovely lemons of Amalfi. . . I went to the cooking light pages and found this recipe for Sole with Lemon Caper Sauce

Lemon Sole with a Lemon Caper Sauce
1 Tbs olive oil
1 sole fillets
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp butter
1 garlic clove minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tbs capers
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Place fish in pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove fish from pan.
Melt butter in pan. Add garlic; cook 1 minute or until lightly browned. Add broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 6 minutes). Stir in minced capers and juice; cook 3 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Remove from heat; stir in parsley. Serve immediately.

This makes for a dish that is so light and fresh, you would think you were at the villa in Positano.

(well Almost)

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our final Virtual Supper Club.
Jerry has make a Lemon Martini
Val is making Pasta with Creamy Lemon Sauce
Sara is making Asparagus with a Garlic Lemon Sauce
Shelby is bringing a Lemon Swirl Cheesecake

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

PhotoHunt ~ Ball

The PhotoHunt for today is 'Ball'

With my lack of time for blogging, I thought I would include a photohunt and a recipe. Because that is how the ball bounces these days.

This idea came from Chef Rob, because they have been doing pickled mustard seeds at Fisher's. This recipe is from BonAppetit magazine . . . it isn't exactly the same, but you get the idea.

Marinated Mustard Seed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup dry mustard seeds
1 sliced onion (a purple onion would be better)
Heat the vinegar and sugar until bubbling. Pour over the mustard seeds and sliced onion. Allow to sit.

The longer you let the seeds sit, the more the soak up the pickling solution. The bigger those little BALLS become.
That's it!
You can use them on salads or BBQ . . .

I served mine with a mess of greens and pork chops

Check for all the other Ball Photos on The Saturday PhotoHunt

Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ April Fool's Day

This month for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club we are playing a little Aprils Fools with our menu. I am in charge of the appetizers, but I plan to bring an egg souffle.
I found  THIS Recipe in the volumes on the Cooking Light My Recipe search.

Creamy Baked Eggs with Asparagus
Butter for ramekins
6 thin asparagus spears, ends trimmed
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup lightly packed shredded pecorino
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

 Preheat oven to 275°. Lightly butter two 4-oz. (1/2-cup) ramekins or ovenproof bowls and set in a baking pan just big enough to hold ramekins.
Slice asparagus thinly on the diagonal. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add asparagus; cook until just tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes, and scoop out into a colander. Keep water boiling, covered. (I skipped this step . . . I sauted my asparagus in olive oil with a little salt and pepper.)
In a bowl, beat eggs with milk until smooth. Stir in cheese and salt. Divide mixture between prepared ramekins. (I made three) Top each with half the asparagus and sprinkle with pepper.
Set ramekins in baking pan and put in oven. With oven door open, carefully pour hot water into baking pan up to the level of the eggs in ramekins. Bake until eggs are set in centers (touch to test), about 45 minutes. To remove ramekins, carefully pull oven rack out partway; lift ramekins from pan with tongs and set aside. Push rack with pan back into the oven to cool. Serve eggs immediately

I thought they were just the right little appetizer . . . but also worked for breakfast the next day.


 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our April Fool's Supper.
Jerry has made Shrimp and Grits . . . April Fools. Where is he going to find real grits?
Val is making a Chicken BLT salad.
Susan is going to surprise us with her dish.
Sara is sailing in with Zucchini Boats and Ricotta Basil Mousse
Shelby is bringing a Rhubarb Trifle
Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Luck 'O the Irish

For our Virtual Supper Club this month we are celebrating the 'Luck 'O the Irish' with an Irish inspired meal.With the weather we have been having . . . I new I was searching for soup. I went to the Cooking Light pages and found THIS Recipe for Potato Soup

Potato Kale Soup with Gruyre Cheese
2 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cups chicken broth
4 cups coarsely chopped potatoes
1/4 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
6 cups chopped fresh kale
Gruyre cheese, shredded

Melt butter in a large saucepan, saute onion for 8 minutes until tender and garlic for a few seconds. Stir in broth potatoes, bay leaf  and salt. Simmer until potatoes are tender.
(I don't know if you have one of these secret jars of bacon grease . . . but I do. Just for this kind of recipe. I used a scoop of it instead of butter ~ just for the yum)

Dice the Kale and add to the cooked potatoes. Cook for another 5-10 minutes until the kale is tender. Roughly smash the potatoes until the soup is the consistency you like.

Top with a healthy handful of shredded Gruyere.
My Camera decided to focus on the plate and not on the soup in every.single. picture I took.
Grrrr~
So you have a lovely photo of a plate of yummy fuzzy soup.

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our  Supper celebrating the Luck 'O the Irish.
Jerry has made an Irish Cheddar Bacon Dip
Val is making a Green Onion Champ
Susan is bringing Shamrock Meringue Cups
Sara is making a Wild Mushroom and Lentil Cottage Pie

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

A Cali~Cauli Cookoff ?

This past week I was lucky enough to join my traveling friends in Los Alamos for a SlowBowl. These are long time friends from around the country, who love to travel.
And Love to Eat.
One of the dishes we had was the cauliflower gratin from Full of Life Pizza . . . we all agree'd it was To.Die.For  and left us wanting more.

The search was on ~ my friend Barb found a couple of similar recipes. I tweeked it a bit and came up with my own gluten free version.

Anything that starts with Butter and ends with heavy Cream, has this southern girl's heart.

Cauliflower & Fennel Gratin
1/4 cup butter
1 head cauliflower
1 large fennel
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tbs gluten free flour blend
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp fennel pollen (if you can find it)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Havarti cheese
3 Tbs shredded Parmigiano
preheat oven to 450

Break the cauliflower into pieces. Dice the fennel into chunks. Saute both in 1/4 cup butter, add minced garlic.  Cook until the fennel and the cauliflower is softened and browned.

Shred cheese. Toss with gluten free flour blend (I used King Arthur), salt, and freshly grated nutmeg. Mince some of the fennel fronds. Toss with the browned cauliflower.

Spoon into a baking dish. Top with parmigiano, cover with cream.
Bake @450 for 20 minutes. Until it is thick and creamy and melty with cheese.
To.Die.For

This is actually better than the original (if I may say so myself)
There is talk of a Cali- Cauli Cookoff . . . I've got it won.

Winner-Winner Chicken Dinner.

Bring on the Cali-Cauli Cookoff.

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ Warm up to Winter

The virtual supper club menu for the month of December is 'Warm Up to Winter'. I will say that as far as the weather goes, we have been Very lucky in Alabama. . . So Far So Good. Thanksgiving at the beach found tempatures in the 70's.
Oh well, turn up the A/C and celebrate Winter  . . .  I found This Recipe on Cooking Light for a red wine marinated stew.
It looked like just the thing for a cold winter' eve.

Red Wine Marinated Beef Stew
5 parsley sprigs
5 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 cups dry red wine
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot 2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
Cooking spray
1 pound cremini mushrooms, halved
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 cups less-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Place first 3 ingredients on a double layer of cheesecloth. Gather edges of cheesecloth together; tie securely. Combine cheesecloth bag, wine, and the next 4 ingredients (through beef) in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. ( I cheated here and Tied the herbs into a little bunch . . . a few thyme leaves never bothered me anyway )

Marinate in refrigerator 4 hours or up to 24 hours. Strain beef mixture through a colander over a bowl, reserving marinade; drain well. Set cheesecloth bag aside. 
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef mixture to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove beef mixture from pan. Add mushrooms to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Return beef mixture to pan. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add reserved marinade, cheesecloth bag, and broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Discard cheesecloth bag.

Those are the instructions according to Cooking Light... I Simply added the herb boquet to the pot and cooked it down.

I served it over a bed of Polenta . . .
I think even Marcella Hazan would have approved.

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Winter Supper.
Jerry has made Warm Gingerbread with a Lemon Glaze
Val is making an English Cottage Pie
Susan is bringing Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip
Sara is Roasting Garlic and making a Shallot Potato Soup with Cheesy Croutons
Shelby is bringing Sauteeed Haricort Verts with Bacon and Buttered Breadcrumbs.

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

Cooking Light ~ It's Thyme for Turkey

This month for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, we have decided that it is 'Thyme for Turkey'. The holidays are quickly approaching and we are looking for ready to celebrate Turkey and Thyme.
I searched through the Cooking Light treasure trove and found  This  Recipe for a Salt and Pepper Roasted Turkey with Thyme.
Perfect.

It is a super simple way to prepare a turkey. The bird could even be rubbed down with Salt and Pepper the night before and kept in the fridge unitl ready to roast.

Salt & Pepper Roasted Turkey
One Turkey (14 to 23 lb.)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
5 or 6 thyme sprigs (about 5 in.)
5 or 6 marjoram sprigs (about 6 in.)

Preparation

1. Remove and discard leg truss from turkey. Pull off and discard any lumps of fat. Remove giblets and neck; save for Rich Poultry Broth. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry and rub all over with about 1/4 cup olive oil. Mix 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon pepper; rub evenly over skin and inside the bird. If desired, wrap airtight and chill 12 to 24 hours.
2. Place turkey, breast up, on a V-shaped rack in a 12-by 17-inch roasting pan; tuck thyme and marjoram sprigs inside body cavity.

3. Roast turkey in a 325º oven until thermometer inserted through thickest part of breast to the bone registers 160º, 2 to 3 hours.
4. Transfer turkey to a platter. Let stand in a warm place and rest at least 30 minutes, then carve.

 
Now . . . let's see what everyone else has brought for our Thyme for Turkey Supper.

Jerry has Pear Chutney Bruschetta with Blue Cheese
Val is making Crisp Flatbread with Honey, Thyme and Sea Salt
Susan is bringing a Golden Winter Soup
Sara is Roasting Chanterlle Mushrooms with Thyme
Shelby is bringing a Texas Sheetcake Cupcake

Y'all enjoy ~
Sandi

PhotoHunt ~SpOts

The PhotoHunt for today is SpOts . . .
I remembered this quick little recipe.

It calls for little round 'spots' of flavor.

Place a couple of pecan halves, a piece of caramel that has been flattened with the bottom of a glass, and a round piece of chocolate on a non-stick cookie sheet.

Bakeat 350 until the chocolate is slightly melted (watch it so that the chocolate doesn't run)

Sprinkle with Sea Salt.
It is that simple and you will have a spot of flavor.

Now, check for all the other Spotted Photos on The Saturday PhotoHunt
Happy Hunting y'all~
Sandi