Great Cook Books I Cook (and live) by

  • Big Orange Book by Rachael Ray
  • Giada at Home
  • Jamie at Home
  • Look and Cook by Rachael Ray

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Spiced up Mayo!

Today, let's talk mayo! I love mayo, but, plain old mayo is just plain old mayo! I like spicing up mayo and taking it from bland to yum!!! So, here are a few ideas on spicing up mayo and making it the star of the recipe instead of the lame old condiment!

These are all mixed in your food processor - use the small bowl if you have one. Place all the ingredients in the bowl, and "whir" it up!

Basil mayo - (my personal fave!)
 - 2 cups mayo
 - one handful of fresh basil
 - juice of half a lemon
 - salt and pepper



This mayo is great on a chicken burger, or on a grilled chicken breast. Also, great on fish.

Jalapeno chili mayo
 - 2 cups mayo
 - 2 tsp chili spice
 - 1/2 fresh jalapeno (or more if you like it really spicy)
 - juice of half a lime
 - salt

This mayo is great on a chicken burger, grilled chicken, fish, shrimp, and makes a great dipping sauce for red pepper strips!

Lemon mayo
- 2 cups mayo
- grated peel from one whole lemon
- juice of a lemon
- salt

This mayo is fantastic of grilled white fish, and a turkey sandwich! Add dill to this one and it makes a great topping for Salmon!

Spicy mayo
 - 2 Cups mayo
 - 1/8 cup of sriracha
 - juice of half a lemon

This mayo is bold and can stand up to beef, or pork, or even a salami sandwich.

These are just my faves, but experiment, and please share!!!!!


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Fresh corn salad

This salad is great as a refreshing summer side, or even on its own as a light lunch! Add rice to it for a hearty easy week night meal!

Ingredients:

corn - 2-3 cobs, grilled and taken off the husk (you may use frozen corn, steamed and cooled down as well)
1/4 red onion, finely minced
1 small jalapeno pepper, finely minced
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
1 bunch fresh cilantro, finely minced
juice of two limes (fresh is best!)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small can black beans
salt and pepper

Make the vinaigrette by mixing the red onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil in a bowl. Add the corn, and the black beans, then add salt and pepper to taste!

all done! So refreshing, and easy! This salad is great to make or bring for a bar be cue, and it hold up for a fairly long time out of the fridge.




Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Strawberry Muffins (with a little blueberry too!)

Hello everyone! I am reviving my blog as of today! I have missed you all, and hope that you will follow me still, even after such a long absence! Today I thought since we are approaching the summer and all that is fresh fruit, I would feature a recipe with strawberries!
I saw a large container of strawberries at the grocery store and decided I HAD to have some, so, I bought them, got them home and realized rather quickly that the container was way too large for us to eat before the strawberries began to die! \i needed to make something with them that was quick, easy and loved by my whole family so that I would not have to throw them out! Aha!muffins, I thought! so, I took my basic muffin recipe, tweaked it a little, added strawberries, and some blueberries too, and voila! These muffins are moist, and taste like summer! Even my son, who does not love muffins is eating them! This recipe is a winner!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh

cinnamon topping

3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line your 12 large muffin cups with liners, or spray with non stick spray (or both)

Stir topping ingredients into a small bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and mix well.

Place flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl and mix just to combine. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to the butter mixture. Stir until just combined. Add in the fruit, being careful not to mash them up. Stir until just combined.

Spoon into prepped muffin cups and sprinkle with the topping mixture.

Bake for 20-25 mins

Enjoy with butter, or strawberry jam - can't ever have enough strawberries, can we?