Mindylynns Kitchen

November 12, 2008

Zucchini

Filed under: Food,Vegetable — Mindy M. @ 9:00 pm

Growing up I was always a weird kid…I loved my veggies.  Then again maybe I wasn’t so weird.  My family is full of great cooks and I grew up eating veggies from grandma’s garden that were well cooked.  This simple way of cooking zucchini or really any squash is so simple that it’s often overlooked. 

Ingredients:
Zucchini sliced thinly
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a stainless steel pan over medium high heat.  Add zucchini, and flip when lightly browned.  Season with salt and peper and remove when the zuchini are a little firmer than al dente pasta. 

Italian Sausage & Roasted Garlic Sauce

Filed under: Entree,Food,Sauces — Mindy M. @ 8:44 pm

My mother’s family is primarily of Italian descent, and food was a big part of my childhood.  Grandpa ran a restraunt and everyone considered themselves a self employed food critic.  It’s no wonder that as an adult I equate love and caring with food.  Shortly after my husband and I set up our own household I contacted my mother for a family recipe for marinara or meat sauce.  Amazingly to me at the time, my mom told me that I already knew the recipe…add meat to a can of prego, toss some seasonings in, and simmer….WHAT!!!  I suppose that fits into my mom’s frame of mind; She loves Sandra Lee’s semi-hommade mind set.  Let me say my mom’s pasta sauce rocks,  She’s a great cook.  But, that being said, it’s not my favorite approach to cooking.  I think that most dishes can be simply prepared and cooked and deliver great results while still be created from scratch.  I also think that “recipes” should be easy to adapt to different ingredients, portions and servings.  Which usually means that the recipes I create are guidelines rather than hard and fast rules.  Remember in cooking you can usually do whatever you want…it’s in baking that you really need to follow the rules.  I suppose that’s why I LOVE cooking I can break all the rules I want.  I exasperated my mom growing up…she tried to tell me that there was only one way to do something.  She was wrong. 

Ingredients:
6 Italian sausages (removed from the casings)
1 large yellow onion halved and sliced
1/2 cup of red wine
1 package/can of STRAINED tomatoes
1 cup of roasted garlic puree
1/8 cup of parmasean cheese
1 TBSP balsalmic Vinegar
Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions:
In a stainless steel pot, brown and chop sausage, pieces should be small bite sizes.  When meat is browned add onions and cook until the onions are completely soft and carmalized. Deglaze the pan with wine and add tomatoes and garlic.  Simmer for atleast 30 minutes or as long as you want (longer is usually better with sauces and soups). 10 minutes before ready to serve add vinegar, cheese and season to taste with salt & pepper.  Serve over noodles tossed with olive oil.  Yummmy.

July 10, 2008

Boneless Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Apple crust

Filed under: Food,Lamb — Mindy M. @ 10:41 pm

I always hear people complaining about the “gamey” taste of lamb.  I think part of the problem is that commercial corn fed meat is extremely bland and flavorless.  So, when you taste meat that has any flavor it tastes off.   I hear the same complaints about grass fed meats.  I will admit that grass fed meats and lamb were an acquired taste…a quickly acquired taste, after a couple of dishes I was hooked.  This recipe plays with the gamey flavors of lamb and meld for a delicious dish. 

One boneless leg of lamb (I buy  mine at…costco)
1 1/2 cups of roasted garlic
1 individual portion (kiddie cup) of applesauce
1/3 cup of kosher salt
2 tsp. of apple cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together to form a paste and smear over lamb.  Place in rotisserie until cooked to your preference.  I use a meat thermometer. 

Avocado Dream Bagel

Filed under: Food,Snack — Mindy M. @ 10:23 pm

Sometimes the oddest combonations taste the best.  My friend started bringing me a variation of these at work…I soon became addicted.

1 plain bagel
1/2 small avocado, thinly sliced
Regular cream cheese
Lemon pepper

Top bagel with cream cheese, sprinkle lightly with lemon pepper and cover with avocado.  Sprinkle with additional lemon pepper to taste.  Enjoy…I do.
Tomatoes are also a nice addition to this snack.

July 7, 2008

Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

Filed under: Food,Vegetable — Mindy M. @ 2:51 pm

Preheat oven to 350°

Ingredients:
Asparagus
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese

Lightly coat asparagus with olive oil.  Season with salt & Pepper and lay out on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.  Generously Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.  Enjoy

Sun Dried Tomato Sauce

Filed under: Food,Sauces — Mindy M. @ 2:41 pm

Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Sun Dried Tomatoes (packed in oil)
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Parmasean Cheese
1/2 Tsp. of Salt

Puree ingredients together.

Parmesean Crusted Salmon

Filed under: Entree,Food,Seafood — Mindy M. @ 2:33 pm

I bought a beautiful piece of wild caught salmon at costco, but I hadn’t gone to the grocery store in awhile so I was short on things to cook it in/with.  I had guests over and needed something to go with ravioli with a red sauce.  I also had some asparagus that I needed to go with the meal.  I started thinking Italian food after opening my fridge I pulled out some of the only ingredients in the fridge, sun dried tomatoes and parmesean cheese.  The following is what I came up with…Quite delicious.

1-2 pounds of Wild Salmon (do not use farmed salmon…ever. please.)
Parmesean Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

Season the salmon with salt & pepper.  On one side press parmesean cheese into salmon covering one side.  Heat Oil in a frying pan until sizzling hot and place salmon cheese side down, flip when browned.  Cook until fish is cooked through and garnish with sun dried tomato sauce.

Sun dried tomato sauce

June 26, 2008

Super Easy Parfait

Filed under: Food — Mindy M. @ 11:46 am

Honey flavored greek yogurt
Honey
Crushed raw almonds
Blackberries
Balckberry wine

Soak blackberries in wine for atleaset an hour.  Layer yogurt, berries, almonds & honey in a decorative glass dish. Enjoy. 

Italian Stuffed Eye of Round

Filed under: Beef,Entree,Food — Tags: — Mindy M. @ 9:15 am

This was one of those recipes that evolved.  I bought a piece of meat on my way home from work, but I didn’t really have anything in my fridge to go with it. The meat lent itself really well to stuffing. I cut an “x” into the middle of the meat and filled it.

2 lbs of beef eye of round
1 cup of chevre
1/3 cup of sun dried tomatoes in oil coarsely chopped
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic vinegar

Slide a knife into the middle of the meat going all the way through, Turn the meat and repeat, creating an “x” in the middle. Mix Chevre with tomatoes and stuff in the meat. Season outside with salt & pepper. Place in a rotisserie or into an oven at 350°. After 10 minutes pour some balsamic vinegar over the top of meat. Repeat once more. Remove meat from oven when you have reached the level of doneness you prefer, test using a meat thermometer. Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Slice meat into 3/4 inch slices.
Medium rare- 130°-135°
Medium- 140°-145°
Medium Well-150°-155°

Beef Brisket with all the trimmings

Filed under: Food — Tags: — Mindy M. @ 1:30 am

I saw something on TV that sparked my creative streak. It turned out so well that my picky meat hating husband said it was “good”…high praise indeed. The best thing was the prep time was only 10 minutes and clean up was a breaze: a frying pan, cutting board, knife and the baking dish did double duty holding the left overs in the fridge.

This isn’t exactly a “recipe,” it’s more like suggested guidelines.  I cook for 2-3 people, so if you have a larger family please feel free to increase the portions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 1/2 pounds of beef brisket
1 medium yellow onion sliced
1 1/2 cups of whole baby carrots
8-10 small red potatoes cut in half
Salt
Pepper
Flour
4 tablespoons of olive oil
1 1/2 cups red wine
1 1/2 cups water

Unwrap meat and let sit out for 30 minutes (it’s better to sear room temp meat than cold meat) Season the meat with salt & peper.  Coat with flour.  Heat olive oil in a large skilliet.  When the oil is sizziling hot (just starting to smoke…it’s best not to use teflon which would be putting off dangerous fumes at this point). Shake excess flour off and put meat in oil.  Sear both sides and place in a baking dish with at least 4 inch sides and a lid (I use corning ware) while pan is still hot deglaze it with 1 1/2 cups of water (or broth if you’re feeling fancy) let it cook while you chop and place potatoes, carrots, and onion around meat.  Pour wine over meat and add enough of the pan gravy to bring liquid to be even with the top of the meat.  Cover and cook until meat is tender and sauce is thickened.  Enjoy…

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