Tropical Sorbet

My husband and I watched an episode of "Good Eats" last night and Alton Brown was talking about the different ways that you could use melons and one way was in a sorbet. And this automatically made me want a sorbet or sherbet or really anything in that area of food!!! So today I used some frozen  tropical mixed fruits to make some sorbet. This fruit mix had pineapples, peaches, strawberries an mangoes. You could use a blender for this or for a smoother consistency your ice cream maker. So ill give you two separate directions for blender and ice cream maker. ENJOY....and Eat on!!

Ingredients 

4 cups mixture of fruits, frozen if using blender and fresh if using ice cream mixture

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt 

Directions

If using blender, blend the first two cups of frozen fruit and then add next two cups. Add water, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Blend until smooth consistency. Place into a container and cover with plastic wrap, making sure it's completely covered and no air can enter. Then cover with lid and freeze for 2 hours.

If using ice cream maker: peel your fruits and place all ingredients into blender and liquefy. Place liquid in a container and chill for 2-3 hours. One chilled follow your ice cream manufacture directions for sorbet. Place in container and cover with plastic wrap like above, cover with lid and freeze. 

Jerk Chicken

Ingredients

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp dark rum or rum extract

2 scotch bonnet peppers (or habaneros, or anchos, or jalapeños), with seeds, chopped1 onion, chopped 

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

4 teaspoons ground allspice

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons ground nutmeg

4 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons molasses1 roasting chicken, cut in half, lengthwise OR 3-4lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4cup  lime juice

1/4cup lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Put vinegar, rum, hot peppers, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and molasses into a blender. Pulse until mostly smooth. Place chicken in a large freezer bag. Pour lime and lemon juice over the chicken and coat well. Add the jerk paste to the chicken pieces and coat well. Seal the bag. Refrigerate overnight. Preheat grill to medium high. Place chicken halves, skin side down on the grill if using a whole chicken. Cover and grill. Turn the chickens occasionally and baste with marinade. The chicken is done when the juices run clear. Loosely cover with foil to keep warm and let stand 10 minutes to bring juices back into chicken. 

We serve this with fresh mangoes and rice. 

Dulce de Leche and banana "egg rolls"

There are really no words about this dessert besides......WHY NOT?!?! I mean lets wrap something sweet into egg roll wrappers, fry, add powder sugar and top it with chocolate.....who wouldn't LOVE THAT!!! ENJOY......and Eat on!!! 

Ingredients:

Egg roll wrappers

5-6 bananas

Dulce de Leche 

Powdered sugar

Chocolate sauce

Veg. Oil 

Heat oil in a frying pan. Cut the banana in half, and then slice each half in half down the middle. Place about 1 1/2 tsp of the dulce de leche on the wrapper top with banana and fold wrapper. Lightly wet the edges of the wrapper so it sticks together and holds in place. Fry the spring rolls in the oil until golden and crispy. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and drizzle with chocolate sauce. 

Chicken "Shawarma"

In the city that my parents live in here is a Greek restaurant that I'm in LOVE with but my parents live 4.5 hours away....wah wahhhh....so you can I shine I'm getting to eat there often. BUT I did work there during m Senior year in high school and I remember the process!!! So I decided to see if I could remember the recipe after 11 years....and it was fantastic!!!!! Now technically it's not a Shawarma because I'm not layering chicken and grilling on a vertical spit but HEY who cares as long as it tastes DELICIOUS!!!!!! ENJOY.....and Eat on!!!!

EASY GREEK VINAIGRETTE: 

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Clove Garlic, pressed

1 teaspoon  Dried Oregano Leaves

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt 

4-5 turns of Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Measure out all ingredients and add to a salad dressing container or jar. Shake. Store salad dressing in the fridge. Always shake before serving!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp allspice
• 3/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of cayenne
• Salt and black pepper
• 4-5 metal skewers

Slice the chicken breasts into 3-4 pieces each. Place them in a marinating dish or large ziplock. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup olive oil, the spices, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.  Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces. Stir with a spoon till all the chicken pieces are evenly coated in the marinade. Cover the marinating dish with foil if using a bowl. Place chicken in the refrigerator and let it marinate at least 1-2 hours, OR even better overnight if possible. Preheat to grill to medium heat. Fold pieces of marinated chicken pieces in half a place on skewers. Cook the chicken for about 20 minutes, giving a quarter turn every 5 minutes, until cooked through. Once done remove from grill and cover with foil and let it rest!!! Serve with hummus, pita and a simple Greek salad!!! 

Classic Hummus

We love Greek......saw garbanzo beans in the store and thought hmmmm HUMMUS!!!! So here you go!!!! ENJOY.......and Eat on!!!

• INGREDIENTS:
• 
  
• 2 cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans (15 oz. each), drained into a bowl and set aside 
• 1/3 cup tahini paste
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 3/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Paprika and fresh minced parsley for garnish 

Place all ingredients except paprika and parsley in a processor or blender and mix until creamy and smooth. Use the reserved bean juice to make more to your desired texture. Once blended put into a shallow bowl, create a well in center and pour a little EVOO in center. Sprinkle paprika and parsley around for garnish.

Excuse the picture......my kids got to it before I could take it!!!!! 

Cherry Crumble

EASY EASY......fresh and delicious!!!! Cherries were in season and we had some left in the fridge that I don't want to go to waste sooooo I decided to use them to make this ROCKIN' dessert!!!! If you don't have fresh cherries don't worry use the canned pie filling!!!! Chill!!! ENJOY.....and Eat on!!! 

Cherry filling:

5 cups of fresh pitted cherries

1/2 cup water

2 tblsp fresh lemon juice

2/3 cups sugar

4 tblsp cornstarch

In a large pot combine cherries, water, lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to low and cook. Stirring frequently, cook for about 10 minutes. Let this cool before using. 

Cherry Crumble:

6 tblsp butter, unsealed

1 1/8 cups all-purpose 

1/2 cup oatmeal(not instant)

6 tblsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 can of cherry pie filling, if not making homemade. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a pan. Remove from hear and stir in; oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt until a sort of "dough" forms. Press about 2/3 into a 9" round pie pan. Spread cherry filling next. And take rest of crumble and sprinkle on top. Bake for 45 mins or until golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream!!!!

Sweet and Spicy Thai Noodles

No story behind this......besides that I CAN'T eat anymore chicken breast salad!!!!! So we had rice noodles in the pantry and I thought that I should go Asian again!!!! This time to Thai we go. Enjoy.....and Eat on!!

Ingredients

8oz Rice Noodles

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tblsp fish sauce

1 1/2 tblsp garlic chili pepper sauce

2 tblsp lime juice

3 garlic cloves, minced 

2 eggs, beaten

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into strips

Soak rice noodles in VERY HOT tap water in a bowl for about 20-30 minutes. Mix brown sugar, fish sauce, chili pepper sauce, and lime juice in a bowl, then set aside. Place a large skillet on high heat and add oil, garlic, and chicken pieces stir fry until chicken cooked. Stirring frequently so you don't burn garlic. Once cooked push to side and scramble the eggs in the same pan. Then mix together. Drain noodles and add them to the pan along with the garlic chili pepper sauce mix. Stir fry for a couple of moments so that the noodles are al dente. Serve warm!! 

Greek stuffed Skirt steak

As you know if you know US, Ben is counting macros and I just got back serious with losing weight......if you didn't now you do. LOL!!! Well it gets extremely boring eating chicken breast all the time so I needed steak tonight but I just didn't want it on the grill I needed flavor, I needed depth but most importantly I needed something different besides the same thing!!! So I decided that I should stuff the steak and that's what I did!!! So I stuffed it with some of our favorite ingredients. We love Greek food!!! So here it is!!! Enjoy......and Eat On!!!

Ingredients:

Skirt steak, trimmed

1 package of frozen spinach, thawed

4 tblsp pesto plus extra for outside(homemade or bought) 

1 cup fat free feta cheese(or nonfat free) 

4 metal skewers 

DIRECTIONS

Wring out in a towel the thawed spinach to get the water out. Try to get as much of that water out. 

Now I cut our skirt steak in half because it was huge but if you don't have a big piece feel free to keep whole. Smear pesto on inside of steak. Place feta next and then finally the spinach. Roll then skewer. Smear outside with more pesto. Place on grill and grill for about 10-13 minutes. A little longer if you want completely well done throughout the steak but we cooked ours for 10-13 minutes, outside was well and center was medium.  I served ours with a simple Greek vinaigrette salad.

 

  

 

Chocolate chip bread pudding

I always pass by the clearance grocery area in Walmart to see what i can scoop up for cheap. And today when I went shopping I passed by and saw a mound literally of French bread that was no longer fresh. And any true southerner sees day old French bread and automatically thinks of bread pudding....what you don't, well I should restate that the fat southern girl inside of me screamed "I need bread pudding" so I had to feed her. So here's a southern staple done with a chocolates twist!!!! Enjoy.....and Eat on!!! 

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar

1 tblsp allspice

1 tblsp nutmeg

1 tblsp cinnamon

2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

5 large eggs, beaten

1/2 stick butter

1 cup of chopped pecans

1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips

4 cups old French bread(not moldy...lol) 

Rum sauce 

1 tblsp butter

2 tsp cornstarch

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 tblsp rum extract(you could substitute real rum if you wanted but since we don't drink extract will do) 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Cube or tear your bread and set aside. Combine sugar, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon into a separate bowl. In another bowl combine milk, vanilla eggs and butter. Add this mixture to dry mix. Whisk until smooth. Add bread into the bowl and toss to make sure all bread pieces are covered. Next add pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into a buttered 9"x13" pan. Top with extra pecans and chocolate chips. Bake for 50-60 mins or until golden brown.

RUM SAUCE DIRECTIONS

Combine cornstarch and brown sugar in a bowl. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted add cornstarch brown sugar mix. Add milk and stir until thick. Keep stirring. If you are adding rum extract add now. If you're using alcohol REMOVE FROM HEAT before adding rum. 

Serve warm on top of bread pudding!!! Enjoy!!!

Beef and broccoli

My husband is trying to stay within his macros but he gets real tired of eating just grilled meats and a vegetable or other things comparable to that......so I suggested how about beef and broccoli...which by the way looks like you did a lot of work and really it's super easy!!! And feel free to substitute pork or chicken. Get ready to impress your friends and family with this great Asian dish!! Enjoy.....and Eat on!!! 

Ingredients:

3 tblsp cornstarch, divided

1/2 cup water 

2 tblsp water, divided

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

2 minced garlic cloves

1lb thin sirloin steaks, cut into thin strips

2 tblsp canola oil, divided

4 cups broccoli 

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tblsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp fresh minced ginger

1 tsp sesame oil

Rice

Slice meat and put it into a ziplock bag.  Mix in a bowl 2 tblsp of cornstarch, 2 tblsp of water, garlic powder, and minced garlic. Add this mixture to your meat and marinate for 30 mins in fridge. In a wok or skillet over medium high heat, stir fry beef in a tblsp of oil until beef reaches desired doneness, remove and put into a bowl. Stir fry broccoli for about 4-5 minutes. Put beef back into pan. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ground ginger, minced ginger, sesame oil and remainder of cornstarch and water until smooth.  Add this to pan and stir for about a minute. Serve over rice or just eat plain like we did!!