Cheers: Cherry Limeade

Today, I'm introducing a new series for this blog and the CJ's-Kitchen YouTube channel I'm calling "Cheers".  Ever since I first signed up on Pinterest, I've had a "Cheers" board and it's filled with recipes and images of beverages so I thought it was about time I started sharing some of my personal favorite beverages with you!

Cherry Limeade is a recent addition to my list of refreshing summer favorites and I decided I wanted to make it myself, from scratch.  It has the lovely tartness you'd expect from a limeade with a nice hit of cherry sweetness to balance it all out.

I started by finding a recipe for a Cherry Simple Syrup, just to have a starting point for the measurements and tweaked it to my liking from there.  Next, I found a limeade recipe that sounded about right for my taste, reduced the recipe down to a single serving quantity and subbed in the Cherry Simple Syrup for regular Simple Syrup.  The full recipe would make enough for 4 servings.

To make the Cherry Simple Syrup you can use either fresh or frozen cherries.  The first batch I made was from fresh cherries, but they are now officially out of season, so when I made it today for the post, I used frozen.

Simply stir together some water, sugar and cherries over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves and it all comes to a boil.



Mash the cherries with a potato masher or ricer - just so they are broken up enough to release their lovely juices and flavor.



Let it boil for about a minute, then turn off the heat, let it cool and strain it into a jar or pitcher for easy pouring when you use it.

Then juice some limes - enough for 1/4 cup of lime juice.  I mixed my limeade in a single-serving quantity using a gravy shaker.  Just mix the lime juice, cherry simple syrup and some water together and shake it up.  Pour it over ice, garnish with a slice of lime and you're all set to kick back and relax with this lovely, refreshing drink.  Cheers!



Cherry Simple Syrup

1 Cup pitted cherries, fresh or frozen
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Cup water

Place cherries, sugar and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Mash cherries with a potato masher, just enough to break them up. Lower the heat to medium and continue to boil mixture for 1 minute.  Turn off heat and allow mixture to cool.  Strain mixture into a jar or pitcher.

Cherry Limeade
Full Recipe,  4 servings

1 Cup Lime Juice, fresh or bottled
1 1/2 C Cherry Simple Syrup
4 Cups Water

Single Serving Recipe

1/4 Cup lime juice
1/4 Cup, plus 2 TBLS Cherry Simple Syrup
1 Cup Water

Mix all ingredients together in a pitcher, glass or cocktail shaker.  Pour over ice.  Serve cold (with a lime slice garnish, if you like).

Ciao!

Quick Fix: Queso Fundido

I made this version of Queso Fundido on May 4.  Yep, I was a day early, I just couldn't seem to get my Cinco de Mayo on soon enough, so I made Tex Mex at home a couple nights in a row!

I posted pictures of the finished and garnished Queso Fundido online and received a couple of requests for a video, so here it is, request honored:

This version is a bit different than the one I posted years ago it's got a lot less ingredients and you can whip it up in a jiffy for unexpected company or a quick and easy appetizer after a long day.  The video shows a full batch, but you can easily reduce the amount of servings - just go ahead and cook up all of your Chorizo and onion, place only what you need in an oven safe dish or a small cast-iron skillet, top it with your choice of cheese and bake as directed.  You can store the extra chorizo in the fridge and make more another day or freeze it for use in casseroles, soups, etc.

Play with this recipe! If you'd like to add bell pepper or hot peppers, throw them in with the onions. You can squeeze some lime in before you add the cheese too - I really like to squeeze it on top right before I eat it.  Can't find Chorizo where you are, use your favorite Italian sausage or a spicy breakfast sausage.  Use your favorite cheeses - one that melts really well and one that is tangy or sharp is really nice.  If you like it creamier, add a little cream cheese too.  Have fun and until next time - Ciao!

Queso Fundido

16 oz Bulk Chorizo Sausage
1/2 Medium Onion, chopped
8 oz Queso Quesadilla
8 oz Pepper Jack
1 handful Fresh Cilantro, chopped
1 handful Ripe Olives, chopped (optional)
Sour Cream to taste (optional)
1 Lime, cut into wedges and served on the side (optional)









This Queso Fundido is a bit different than

Quick Fix: Spaghetti with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Today's recipe is not only a Quick Fix, it's also what I call a Friday Night Fix - and it's one of my favorite things to make when I find myself home alone on a Friday night when Steven's playing poker with the guys.  It's comforting, satisfying and super quick to make.  It's great hot or cold too so it's a multi-seasonal dish.  Grill the shrimp outdoors in the summer, if you like!  You can make this dish start to finish in just a little more time than it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta.

This is a very versatile recipe.  You can easily use more pasta and shrimp to prepare more servings and it would be a lovely addition for a small dinner party - reduce the portions and serve it as a first course to keep it simple and affordable.  Steven doesn't really care to eat shrimp, so if I make it when he's home, I simply put half of the pasta in a dish for him and top it with a bit more Extra Virgin Olive Oil, some fresh cracked pepper and some Parmesan cheese - delicious!

Spaghetti with Lemon Garlic Shrimp

serves 1-2

4 oz Spaghetti

8 oz EZ Peel Shrimp (I like a lot of shrimp)

1 Lemon

1 Clove Garlic

1 TBLS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Ciao!

Gaming Food: Sourdough Crust Pizza

There's no question, Pizza is the number one go to food of Gamers everywhere.  Whether it's Tabletop Role Playing Games, Video Games, Board Games or Poker, Pizza is King.  Not only is pizza convenient, and (assuming you live within the delivery area) quick - it's actually pretty economical - each player can chip in a few bucks and enjoy some hot slices packed with protein and carbs for a long night of gaming.

Sadly, one downfall of living in the toolies is No.Pizza.Delivery.  Admittedly, I've sufficiently spoiled my husband with homemade cooking to the point that he'd rather eat my cooking in most cases anyway, but there are times when it would just be so much easier to pick up the phone and order in. Gaming Night is definitely one of those times.

For the most recent Gaming Night with my group of gaming friends, we decided to set up a Make-Your-Own Pizza Bar with flatbread from this post (and video).  Then we had to reschedule our Game Night and Steven and I ate some pizzas with the flatbread and toppings.  The following week when we were once again scheduled to play, we decided to try again with the pizza bar, so I replenished some of the toppings, but forgot to pick up extra flatbread (Gaming is hungry play and you just never know how much each gamer will eat).  I didn't realize, until I'd already driven all the way home, that I had forgotten the extra flatbread so I decided to make some Sourdough Pizza Crust with a sourdough starter my sister gave me a few weeks earlier.

To make the crust, I started with my Mom's Pizza Dough from this Breakfast Pizza post and substituted 1/2 Cup of the Sourdough Starter for 1/2 Cup of the water in the recipe.  I measured out the starter into a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, then topped it off with the remaining water to total 1 1/4 cups of liquid.  I used cold water, so I wouldn't kill the starter and set it aside for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in the bowl of my mixer, I measured in 1 Cup of the flour and the salt.



Next, I added the 1/4 Cup of Olive Oil to the starter and water mixture and added it all to the flour and salt in the mixing bowl and turned the mixer on low and let it combine everything together and form a sponge.  I let it sit for about another 20 minutes, just to ensure that the yeast in the starter had a chance to activate.



Next, I added the final cup of flour and let the mixer finish combining everything until it came together in a beautiful, soft dough.  I lightly kneaded it and formed it into a ball...



...then sprayed the mixing bowl and top of the dough ball with a misting of Olive Oil, covered it tightly with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise - it was a cold day so I took advantage of the heat from our wood stove and it did an admirable job.



This was only the second time I'd made bread using my starter, but it seems to take a lot longer to rise - so be patient and be sure to allow plenty of time to let the dough do it's thing.  We were playing on Sunday this time (it was Memorial Day Weekend), so I made the dough Saturday morning and it had all afternoon to rise.  Once it had doubled in size, I divided it into 4 roughly equal dough balls, placed them in zip-close bags and put them in the fridge to hold until Game Night.

The next step was to make my favorite pizza sauce and pre-cook some sausage.  I much prefer grating cheese by hand for things like pizza, it just melts so much better, but when it comes to Game Night, minimal preparation is key for achieving maximum playing time so I purchased pre-shredded Mozzarella as well as pre-sliced salami and pepperoni.  But alas, the sourdough crust was not to be - for we ended up having more than enough flatbread for the whole group - which is just a well because taking time to roll out pizza dough when we finally took our dinner break around 8:00 pm was just not going to do....  So Memorial Day rolled around and guess who had Sourdough Pizza for dinner?  You guessed it, yours truly and hubby!  :)  Here's how it all goes together:

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board...



Top it with an even layer of sauce (Steven & I both prefer extra sauce, so ours are thick layers)...





Add salami and pepperoni...





...and any other flat toppings you prefer...





...top those with toppings such as sausage, olives, bell peppers and onions...



...finish them off with a nice layer of shredded Mozzarella cheese...



Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and starting to turn golden brown in spots.



Serve hot and enjoy!

Do you have a Game Night or other activity you enjoy with friends?  What are your favorite foods to eat when you get together?  I'd love to hear about them!

Until next time - Ciao!

Tips and Tricks: The Indian Grocer

This is my first post and video for my new series "Tips and Tricks".  Today's tip is to explore your local ethnic grocery stores.  Specifically, for this post, I'm going to talk about the Indian Grocer.

About 9 years ago, I was introduced to a local Indian Grocery Store.  I was lucky enough to have a friend along who knew what was what and who acted as our personal guide.  I have been buying some of my spices there ever since.

I mainly stop by the Indian Grocer for Whole Cumin Seeds.  I use cumin a lot and I have found that by purchasing it this way, I not only save money but also get a lot more bang for my buck!

Here's the video:

Do you shop at a local ethnic grocer?  What types of things do you buy there?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.  Also, please do let me know if you enjoy these types of posts and videos!

Ciao!

Casual Entertaining: Pulled Pork

Whether I'm gaming, crafting or just hanging out with friends and family, food is almost always included in the plans of the day.  I live out in the toolies, just close enough to civilization to be convenient and just far enough from civilization to be peaceful.  But this means guests are often on the road for an hour or more to get to my home for any kind of get together so a meal time is involved 99% of the time.

We're a pretty casual couple (big surprise being from Seattle, the casual capitol, right?) and we prefer meals to be casual as well.  We're big on having our guests make themselves at home and paper plates not an unusual occurrence - after all, who wants to worry about dishes when you can be visiting...or crafting... or gaming?  I ask you, who?!

Pulled Pork is an excellent recipe for casual entertaining.  I love foods that are versatile and Pulled Pork is definitely versatile.  You can pile it on a bun or roll with some BBQ sauce and some slaw for an excellent sandwich or use it as a topping for a baked potato.  (I like mine with pepper jack cheese, pulled pork, bbq sauce, bacon, scallions or chives and sour cream - YUM!)  It can be used as a topping for nachos or a filling for a quesadilla, wrap or burrito. See what I mean?  Versatile!

The best part about recipes like this one is you put a little effort into it at the beginning and then you can set it and forget it.

I used a pork shoulder for this, and started the night before - liberally applying a dry rub then wrapping it up tightly and placing it in the fridge until morning.  In the morning, I removed it from the fridge and let it sit on the counter about 30 minutes - all the major chefs will tell you this is an important step in cooking animal proteins, assuring the meat will retain moisture.  Preheat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat and sear the roast on all sides.



Once fully seared remove the roast to your crockpot or dutch oven and deglaze the pan.  Beer, apple cider, chicken stock and water will all work fine.  Just add 1/2 to 1 cup liquid and scrape all the lovely browned bits from the bottom of the pan and let it come to a boil.  Then turn off the heat and pour the liquid over the roast in your crockpot.  Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.  The roast should be fork tender and falling apart, if not, keep cooking it for another hour and check it again.

Remove it to a shallow bowl and allow it to cool a bit.  It's easiest to pull it apart with your hands, but if it's still too hot to handle you can use a couple of forks to do the job.

Quick Fix: Lemon-Pinoli Rice Pilaf

This Lemon-Pinoli (Pine Nut) Rice Pilaf is a great way to use up leftover rice.  It comes together super-quick and is really delicious.  The lemon gives the rice some brightness and makes it perfect for pairing with fish or chicken while the Pinoli, or Pine Nuts, add a nutty flavor and crunchy texture.  I threw in some parmesan cheese, which added another dimension of nutty flavor to the mix.  This dish will work with any rice you have on hand and you can add any fresh herbs you like to marry it to your main dish.

Here's the link to the video:

Here's the recipe:

2 TBLS pine nuts*, toasted

2 Cups cooked rice

1 TBLS extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 Cup parmesan cheese

1/4-1/2 tsp dill* (fresh would be really lovely, I used dried because that's what I had on hand)

salt to taste

Start by toasting the pine nuts over low heat in a skillet.  Remove the Pinoli from the pan and set them aside once they are toasted to a golden brown.

Increase heat to medium high and add olive oil - allow it all to heat up a bit.  Add rice, stirring in to break up any clumps.  Stir in dill, lemon juice and salt (to taste).  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Let it hang out for about 5 minutes, until heated through.  Turn off heat.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and pine nuts.  Stir to combine and serve hot.    

*Note: you can reserve a few pine nuts and some dill (if you are using fresh) if you like, to use as a garnish.

Recipe Review: Gyoza

In my continuing quest to learn to make Asian Food, Gyoza was recently elevated in priority as a dish I needed to learn.

I was spending the day with my sister before she went on her official Honeymoon and we went to the butcher shop she and my new brother-in-law shop at and I found ground pork in the freezer section in 1 lb packages.  I knew, just knew, this was the ground pork that has always evaded me when I attempted to make Asian food in the past... so I picked up 2 packages with the intent to make Gyoza or Spring Rolls (or maybe both) with it.  But Gyoza was definitely wining the top spot in my mind so....

I decided to search YouTube for a video on how to make Gyoza and I found This Channel, EmmyMadeInJapan.  There's something about Emmy that I just love.  I have watched so many of her videos and I am thoroughly entertained by them.  I love her willingness to try anything and I'm finding I especially enjoy learning about what people in other parts of the world snack on.  Check out her Channel, seriously.

So Emmy has a super easy and delicious recipe for Gyoza, which I took for a test run.  Boy oh boy, did everyone in my gaming group love, love, love these little gems!

Here's how they go together.

I started with shredding the cabbage - I used Napa - and finely chopping the green onions and placing them in a bowl...





...and adding the ground pork and seasonings...



...and mixing it well until it's thoroughly combined...



...then the fun part comes - filling the Won Ton Skins or Gyoza wrappers.  I could only find the square Won Ton wrappers at my local grocery store...



...so it took me a bit to get the hang of how to pleat them.  Here's my first attempts:



...make sure not to overfill your Gyoza.  They are much easier to seal if there isn't filling trying to squish out at the seams.  I used only about 1/2 tsp per wrapper.  Eventually they started to look a lot better...



I was able to use up all of the wrappers in the package - I think there were 24 of them - so I took Emmy's advice and froze what I didn't need for our lunch.  Here's what they looked like when they were done - I served them with Emmy's sauce, it was super delicious and so, so simple...



I didn't change a thing about this recipe and there is no reason to - I will absolutely be making these again (and again, and again - in fact I dream of a freezer full of these so I can have them any time I want to).  They were fabulous and not as time-consuming as I expected.  Thanks for a great recipe, Emmy!

Make Your Own Takeout: Pork Fried Rice

When it comes to food cravings I am generally pretty good at satisfying them right here at home.  Mostly we tend to crave Italian, Mexican and Pacific Northwest Seafood, but one cuisine that we generally go to a restaurant to curb our appetite for is Asian.  When I have lunch out on workdays, it's often Teriyaki or Pho and one of the few places my husband and I go for dinner is a local Chinese restaurant.  It's a totally Americanized Chinese menu - the type that was really popular back in the 70's, but we love it whether it's authentic or not (we honestly and perhaps sadly wouldn't know the difference) so I have made it my goal to master a few recipes myself and this Fried Rice recipe I found on Pinterest has been a great place to start.

Of course, this is me and I wouldn't be me if I didn't make at least an adjustment or two to our own liking, but I really haven't tweaked this recipe much at all.  I've really just swapped one ingredient for another, left out an ingredient (although I do intend to try it with it as well), and increased a couple others.

The key to good fried rice at home is to use rice that is a few days old and cold, right from the fridge. It will still taste delicious with freshly made rice, but the texture just won't match what your used to from your favorite restaurant or carry out place.

This recipe also happens to call for butter.  I've tried fried rice recipes before and this is the first I've come across with butter, but let me tell you, it works.  It's definitely the closest to our favorite restaurant's fried rice that I've made so far and it's definitely a recipe worth sharing.

This is also one time when I don't employ the chop and drop method of cooking.  I do chop up all the veggies and ingredients first because you'll be working pretty quickly.  So chop up your onion, carrots, garlic, scallion and Barbeque Pork and have them all set to go when you're ready.

For the carrots, I cut them in half, then half them again so they are 1/4 sticks...



Then chop them so I get small pieces like these:



If you have a wok, by all means use it, I used my non-stick skillet and it worked out just fine.  Preheat your pan over medium high heat and melt some of the butter until it's fully melted and bubbly...



Add your beaten eggs and scramble them until they are just done...



Remove them from the pan when they are cooked through and set them aside.  Do not overcook them, they will go back into the pan later and you don't want them to brown or dry out.



Melt some more butter in the pan, then throw in your carrots and onion, season with a bit of salt and pepper and stir-fry it for a bit - just until the onions and carrots become tender...





Add the last of your butter to the pan and stir it in until it's melted.  Now add your rice, scallions, pork and soy sauce...



Stir it in, breaking up any clumps of rice as you go with the back of a wooden spoon and let it cook for 2-3 more minutes.  Add the scrambled eggs and sesame oil - stir to combine...



At this point you can serve it or cover it and hold it warm in the oven at 225 degrees while you prepare more tasty Make Your Own Takeout dishes to accompany it.

Here's my modified version of the recipe:

Pork Fried Rice

4 TBLS unsalted butter, divided
3 eggs, beaten
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 small, sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb BBQ pork, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 scallions, thinly sliced
4 Cups cooked and chilled rice
4 TBLS Soy Sauce (I used low sodium)
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil

Preheat skillet or wok over medium high heat.  Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter until fully melted and bubbling.  Add egg and scramble until just cooked.  Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt 1 more tablespoon of the butter in the skillet until fully melted and bubbling.  Add onions, carrots and garlic.  Stir fry for 2-3 minutes just until onions become translucent and carrots start to become tender.

Add last 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet and stir in until melted.  Add rice, scallions and BBQ Pork to the skillet and stir in until well combined.  Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes.  Add soy sauce and eggs.  Stir to combine.  Add toasted sesame oil, stir to combine and remove from heat.

At this point you can serve it or cover it and hold it warm in a 225 oven while you make additional dishes to accompany your Pork Fried Rice.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Quick Fix: Salmon in Parchment

Welcome to Quick Fix, a series of posts and videos I'll be sharing for recipes that are quick and easy to make.  For this first installment, I'm sharing Salmon in Parchment.  This is not only a quick and easy way to bake salmon, but it's also very reliable and my favorite way to prepare fish indoors. The fish always comes out tender, flaky and full of flavor.

Here's the video so you can follow along if you like:

And here's the instructions.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For this recipe you'll need:
sheet pan
parchment
salmon filet (or any other fish)
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
dill
salt

Place a sheet of parchment on the sheet pan - making sure to tear off a big enough piece to enclose the salmon in.  Place salmon on parchment and season liberally with salt.  Slice lemon and place slices on top of salmon.  Sprinkle with dill and garlic.

Fold parchment around salmon, forming a pouch.  Bake 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.  It should easily flake away when checked with a fork.

I hope you'll tune in and try this method. I'd love to hear how you make it your own!

Dealing with Leftovers

We all have leftovers sometimes, but that doesn't mean they have to be boring.  In this first Dealing With Leftovers video episode, I'll show you how I turned restaurant leftovers into quick, portable and tasty breakfast burritos.

What are your tricks for dealing with leftovers?

If you like these types of videos and posts, please let me know in the comments. 

Until next time.  Ciao!

Recipe Review: Chinese BBQ Pork

Awhile back, I had a troop of Girl Scouts over and we cooked Chinese food together.  Their Girl Scout Leader happened to have a family recipe for Chinese BBQ Pork which she made a brought along for us to add to the Fried Rice we made and to enjoy on it's own as well.  This really inspired me to renew my efforts to learn to cook Chinese Cuisine and sent me on a search to find my own go-to recipe for Chinese BBQ Pork so I could have it any time I craved it.

I searched and Pinned a couple of recipes to return to later and this recipe from Wanderlust Kitchen is the one I finally decided to try this weekend.

It was super easy to make, tender, juicy and the sauce is exactly right.  I opted to make it without the red food coloring but I made absolutely ZERO changes to the recipe and there is nothing I would change now that I've tried it.

Here's how it goes together:

Starting the night before, I mixed all the ingredients for the marinade in a mason jar...



The pork tenderloin came out of the package in two pieces, I cut each piece in half, pricked them all over with a fork (if there was one think I could have done better, this would be it - next time I'll prick it a bit deeper to really get that distinctive crust on the outside) and placed them in a resealable plastic bag.  Then I  poured half of the marinade on top, sealed the bag and massaged the marinade into the pork (this is easier if you let the air out of the bag when you seal it up).  Place it in the fridge overnight (or at least 6 hours) to marinade.

Before I roasted it, I let it sit on the counter a bit to take the chill off so it would be guaranteed to be tender while I worked on making Gyoza and Asian Noodle Salad to go with it.



It was roasted in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes, until the internal temperature was 160 degrees.  It looked like this when it came out of the oven:





As per my usual MO, I let it rest several minutes before I sliced it up.



The marinade makes and excellent dipping sauce - I thought I'd have to thicken it up, but it was perfect just as is.  I loved this dish and my lunch guests (aka: Gaming Group) loved it and I will definitely be making this recipe again and again!