Caramel With A Kick

Hopped up ice cream.  Oh yeah.  We celebrated Mother's Day with my family for brunch and Scott's mom for supper.  For supper we made a chicken on our rotisserie.  I seasoned it up and slid some lemon slices under the skin.  I didn't think it would do much, but it was worth a try.  Really good.  The lemon flavor really came through.  Each slice of chicken had a little bit of the lemon with the peel, cooked soft and it melted in your mouth.  Served with baby potatoes that I picked up at Trader Joes.  When I say baby, I mean more like preemie.  These potatoes were no bigger than a quarter in size.  I roasted and seasoned them with kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, butter and fresh chives.  Made a nice garden salad with homemade dressing, made of sunflower oil, pear infused vinegar, fresh cracked pepper, fig preserves and whole grain mustard.  Really yummy.  I wanted to make a special dessert to go with this special meal, but I didn't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen.  After all, I am a mother too.  I decided to make a really special topping for really boring vanilla ice cream.  The kind of topping that makes you want to suck it up with a straw and forget the ice cream all together.  (I know it's crossed your mind too).  So there you have it.  Vanilla Ice Cream with Espresso-Caramel Sauce.  Take 1/2 cup water and add it to a saucepan.  Add 1 cup of sugar to the water and swirl.  Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute.  Increase the heat to high and cook covered until the mixture turns light brown, about 3-7 minutes.  Remove the lid and continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture turns a dark amber color, about 2-4 minutes.  Immediately remove the pan from the heat and slowly and carefully stir in 3/4 cup heavy cream, it will bubble up.  Stir until the sauce is smooth.  Pour the caramel into a small, heatproof bowl and add 3 tablespoons espresso and 1 tablespoon Kahlua-the Kahlua is optional.  Drizzle over vanilla ice cream and you've got yourself a pretty great dessert.  I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.  This dessert screams, "THANKS MOM FOR ALL YOU DO".  Happy Mother's Day.

Feelin' Blue

Oh my.  Have you ever had Blue Marlin?  The first time we had it, was at Chili's in Hawaii.  On the menu there, they call it Kajiki.  Unbelievable.  It is our favorite fish.  We have had it a few times, since Hawaii.  It is exceptional.  A real meaty, steaky texture.  Firm, white fish.  We spent the day today in Maple Grove celebrating our anniversary.  Sixteen years to the man of my dreams.  He really is the best, and he is taken.  I have always said, if something happens to Scott, I'm going to be alone, cause it takes a special man to put up with me.  Those of you that know me well, know what I'm talking about.  We had lunch in Maple Grove and shopped a bit and we were suppose to have dinner there too, but we were still too full from lunch, so we drove home and stopped in St. Joe at Coborns for some fresh fish.  They had fresh, wild catch, Blue Marlin.  It's not cheap.  Thirteen something a pound.  It is really scrumptious though and I would have definitely spent more than $23, if we would have ate out.  We kosher salted, fresh cracked peppered and seasoned with a Caribbean seasoning, drizzled with olive oil and cooked over a wood fire.  Really, really good.  It was late, so I made a simple rice medley from Trader Joe's and frozen peas.  Anytime you are looking for a "pick me up" or just a great meal, try Blue Marlin.  You will love it. It's not that easy to find, but Coborns has it right now, so scoop it up.  You won't be sorry.

Holy Guacamole

Oh yeah.  Guacamole.  Love that stuff.  It's so good and so good for you.  Avocados are super food.  High in fat, but the good kinda fat.  Feed them to your babies for their first food.  Their brains grow super big.  I'm telling you, it's true.  Super smart avocado babies.  Tonight I made guacamole.  Four avocados, 1/4 Vidalia onion, three cloves chopped fresh garlic, four golf ball sized chopped tomatoes, the juice of a lime or two to taste, Kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and some Tabasco sauce.  Chop everything fine and mash it up and you've got a batch of yummy.  You will wish you made more.  Great with chips, but great as a topping for a southwestern chicken salad.  That's what we had tonight.  Fresh chopped romaine lettuce, homemade corn and black bean salsa, grilled chicken breast with a southwestern seasoning, fresh guacamole, sour cream and a few chips on the side.  A balanced meal never tasted so good.  You can do this, I know you can.  Your family will rave about it.  You'll be the talk of the town.  Bring a little of South to the North and start something BIG.  A BIG batch of flavor, that will leave the family saying "holy guacamole, that was good"!

Loaded

Oh yummy.  Scott smoked ribs yesterday.  And you've heard about his ribs.  WOW.  That's all I can say.  So the rest was up to me.  It's kinda hard to 'one up' Scotties ribs.  But, I mighta done it.  I knew it had to be in the potato part of the meal or the dessert.  So I did both.  I was thinking about loaded baked potatoes, so I decided to try something new.  Loaded MASHED potatoes.  Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.  I boiled up some red potatoes in heavily salted water and only peeled about half the skins off (I don't like overly "skinny" potatoes.)  Mashed them up with whole milk, one finely sliced green onion, about a 1/2 cup finely sliced fresh chives and some sour cream.  I crispy fried up a 1/2 pound of bacon and stirred that in the mix.  Unbelievable.  All the flavors melted together and the salty occasional crunch of the bacon really added a special touch.  I wanted to add some shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but I didn't have any-but I bet that would be good too.  It would be great with just the chives and green onion, for another twist.  This is one of those sides that can go many different ways and is sure to please each time.  A steakhouse kinda side.  Seriously, you would be hard pressed to find better.  If you don't believe me, just ask me.  For dessert, strawberry, rhubarb with a touch of raspberry pie.  I was short on filling, so I dumped in some frozen raspberries and it too, turned out magical.  Magically delicious.  With homemade pie crust and fresh whipped cream.  The pie crust alone, is blog worthy.  Scott's grandma's recipe.  Paper thin and crispy.  I took me years to figure it out.  For the first 10 years of our marriage, Scott was the official pie maker in our house.  He called his grandma, got the recipe and started making pies.  Good pie crust takes a little patience, something I am lacking and Scott has lots of.  For those of you that know us, and you don't have to know us well, know this to be true.  It drove me crazy that I could not make a good pie.  I would get so frustrated trying to roll that crust.  Forget it, scoop the whole works in the trash and eat the filling raw.  Slowly, but surely, after watching my Scottie, I picked up a few tricks and a little patience.  Come to think of it, I did come to know the Lord somewhere in there, that mighta helped too-couldn't have hurt.  Low and behold, I became the pie maker in the house.  Scottie rarely makes pies anymore, because I like to do it now.  I think he just likes to sit across the island and watch his protege do her thing, and smile.

Always Accessorize

Wow.  That's all.  I don't know what to tell you about first.  The salad or the chicken.  First I should explain my absence.  I haven't blogged for a few days, but that's ok, right?  I know it's not.  I thought maybe I should save my posts for the really great moments in the kitchen.  We have had a few nights (in a row) of "regular meals", good, but not GREAT.  Not always blog worthy.  One night was leftovers, one night was Pep's pork sausage and homemade mac-n-cheese, another night was grilled pork chops.  All good meals, for sure-but not superiffic.  Tonight was another story.  I went to St. Cloud for the day with Chloe and Sophia.  I was suppose to pick up a whole chicken at St. Joe Meat Market, because they have nice Amish free-range chickens there.  Well, I got caught up in things and got to the Meat Market at 5:12, and of course they close at 5:00.  Home I go, empty handed.  Scott and I ran down to the local grocery store and picked up some chicken leg quarters.  Yes, they were not hormone free, nor were they range, but better than chicken nuggets, in a pinch.  I seasoned them up with some Kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and some Tuscan seasoning we purchased at TJ Maxx (love that store) a few weeks back.  Maybe it was the seasoning, maybe it was the superb grilling on my Scotties part, or maybe it was simply a Saturday night family meal, but whatever it was, it was GREAT.  Charcoal grilled to perfection, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside.  Yummy.  Now, for the next part.  I made a nice salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, red pepper, an apple, strawberries and Vidalia onions.  I made a dressing to go with it.  Oh yeah, baby.  Dressing.  I scored a sweet jar of black raspberry preserves at TJ Maxx (love that store), while shopping today.  These preserves came in a French canning jar, I'm not sure if I bought it for the preserves or the jar-it's a toss up.  Most people get a nice belt or a new purse, not me.  I accessorize in the kitchen.  Nothing looks better on a pretty salad than a delicious dressing made from black raspberry preserves.  Now that's accessorizing.  Red wine vinegar, black raspberry preserves, a few turns of fresh cracked pepper and olive oil.  Whisk until it thickens up, and you've got yourself some magic.  I knew it would be tasty, I knew the kids would love it, I just didn't know how much.  The preserves are a burgundy/black color and it stained the onions and apples beautifully.  The whole salad had a rich, lovely color that made you want to lap it up.  Actually, all it took was one taste.  Wow, really good.  So three cheers for TJ Maxx, for supplying the accessories that made the meal, and by the way-did I mention, I love that store.