Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette

I was searching the internet for a balsamic vinaigrette and I came across this one here http://therecipesociety.blogspot.com/2009/09/creamy-balsamic-vinaigrette.html and thought it sounded good. It was very good but I ended up adding about a tablespoon and a half of honey to make it a little sweeter. I will definitely keep this one on hand but I am still in search of a balsamic vinaigrette that they serve here in Korea. The one here is sweet, garlicky, and salty. I will keep searching and reviewing them here.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp basic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1 1/2 Tbs. honey (I added this)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. It if is too thick you can a add a few tsps of water until is is the desired consistency.
Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Enjoy!

Jello Pumpkin Spice Pudding Pie

I was grocery store yesterday and they have all of their Thanksgiving foods out. This and Christmas are my favorite times of the year to go grocery shopping. I love all of the different and seasonal foods. There was a set up of Jello puddings with a recipe for Pumpkin Spice Pudding Pie which uses their seasonal Pumpkin Spice Pudding. I had to try it and I am so glad I did. My husband and I enjoyed this and even using the fat free milk and cool whip it was a great dessert! I would be a great alternative for Pumpkin Pie on Thanksgiving if you are watching your calories.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cold milk (I used skim milk)
  
• 2 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Pumpkin Spice Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (8 ounce) tub COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed (I used fat free Cool Whip)
  
• 1 (6 ounce) HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust
• 1/2 cup PLANTERS Pecan Halves
• 1 tablespoon honey

Directions

1. Beat milk, dry pudding mixes and cinnamon with wire whisk until well blended. Spread 1-1/2 cups onto bottom of crust.
2. Add 1-1/2 cups of the whipped topping to remaining pudding mixture; stir gently. Spoon over layer in crust; top with remaining whipped topping.
3. Refrigerate 1 hour. Meanwhile, cook pecans and honey in skillet on medium-low heat 2 to 4 min. or until pecans are caramelized, stirring frequently. Spread onto sheet of waxed paper, separating larger clusters. Cool. Sprinkle over pie just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Filet Mignon with Mushroom-Wine Sauce Served with Twice Baked Potatoes

Filet Mignon with Mushroom-Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

	1/2 lb Button mushrooms
	Vegetable cooking spray
	Cracked pepper
	1 1/2 c Dry red wine, divided
	2 ts Cornstarch
	Fresh thyme sprigs
	1 ts Dried thyme
	4 4-ozfilet Mignon steaks; about 1 inch thick
	1/3 c shallot; Finely chopped
	1 tb Margarine; divided
	1 tb Low-sodium soy sauce
	1 10.5-oz can beef consomme; undiluted and divided

Directions:

Melt 1-1/2 t margarine in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add shallot and mushrooms; saute 4 minutes. Add 1 c wine and 3/4 c consomme; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove mushrooms, and place in a bowl. Increase heat to high; cook wine mixture 5 minutes or until reduced to 1/2 c. Add to mushrooms in bowl; set aside. Wipe skillet with a paper towel.

Sprinkle pepper over steaks. Melt remaining margarine in skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 1-1/2 minutes on each side or until done. Place on a platter; keep warm.

Combine soy sauce and cornstarch; stir well. Add remaining wine and consomme to skillet; scrape skillet with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute. Add mushroom mixture, cornstarch mixture, and dried thyme; bring to a boil, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve with steaks. Garnish with fresh thyme.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 large baking potatoes
• 2 slices bacon
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  
• 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
  
• 2 green onions, sliced, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Clean potatoes and pat dry.
3. Lightly coat the potatoes with olive oil and kosher salt
   
4. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. (I used Turkey Bacon and cooked it in the microwave).
   
6. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon. (I used light sour cream, skim milk, and fat free cheese. I recommend using low fat cheese because the fat free is very hard to melt as you can see in the picture. I also didn't have green onion on hand but it is delicious in the recipe!)
   
7. Bake for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Adapted from:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Ultimate-Twice-Baked-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

Bistec De Palomilla

Being from South Florida, I miss Cuban food very much! Since there is no Cuban food in South Korea, I have to make my own. I made my favorite, Bistec de Palomilla and served it with Cuban style white rice and Cuban style black beans. You can find my recipe for black beans here on my blog. The recipe for the rice and steak are below. I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and I did!

Bistec de Palomilla

Ingredients:

6-8 oz boneless steaks (top round) 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup Naranja Agria or (substitute 2 parts lemon juice to 1 part orange juice)
2 tablespoons garlic minced
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
1-cup parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
Olive oil

Directions:

• In a mixing bowl combine the naranja agria, garlic, salt and pepper to make the marinade. Place the steaks in a deep baking dish in a single layer and sprinkle them with salt on both sides. Pour the marinade over the steaks, cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-hour.

• Option 1 for the onions, if you like raw onion: Prepare the garnish in a medium bowl. Combine the parsley, chopped onion, lime juice and drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the mixture. Do not add to much olive oil or the topping will be too soggy. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside
• Option 2 for the onions, which is what I did: Slice the onion and when you are done cooking the steaks, cook the onions with the leftover marinade. Cook until golden brown or your desired tenderness. I like mine cooked enough to take the bitterness out of the onion but still a bit crispy.
• To cook the meat on a grill: Heat grill to high heat. Remove the steaks from marinade and grill for 1 to 2 minutes per side. Because the steaks are so thin, they will cook very quickly.
• To cook the meat on the stove top: Heat skillet in between medium high and high heat, cook steaks about 2-3 minutes on each side.

Cuban Style White Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup extra long grain white rice, if you can find Goya brand that is great, I used Canilla which is a Goya product
2 cups water
1/2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

While stirring, bring to a boil. Then reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer until water is absorbed. Normally 20-25 minutes.

Bring
Enjoy!

Bonless Porkchops with Homemade BBQ Sauce & Quinoa Fried Rice

I have been wanting to try Quinoa for the longest time. The last time I was at the grocery store I just bit the bullet and bought some, not knowing how to cook it! I came home and searched the internet for a recipe and found one that I thought would be great. The original recipe was for Chicken Quinoa Fried Rice but I omitted the chicken and just made Quinoa Fried Rice. The recipe is here:
http://www.noshtopia.com/2008/06/recipe-quinoa-c.html

I also had some pork chops so I made a batch of our favorite homemade BBQ sauce. I made Emeril's Baby Back Ribs once and loved the BBQ sauce so much that it is our go to BBQ sauce! It's easy to make so I make a batch and save it in a container to use for other recipes. I decided to try the boneless pork chops in the slow cooker. I trimmed the fat off the pork chops and put come BBQ sauce and cooked it for about 6-7 hours on low and then while I was cooking the Quinoa I turned it to high to thicken the sauce. If the sauce doesn't thicken up you, can put it on the stove in a saucepan and turn it to high heat while constantly stirring until it thickens. The BBQ Sauce Recipe is here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/oven-barbecued-baby-back-ribs-recipe/index.html

Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Chicken Bites

If you remember back in May I made Korean Fried Chicken that had a delicious Korean sauce. The link to that is here:

http://onesweethobby.blogspot.com/2011/05/korean-fried-chicken-with-chicken-fried.html
I cooked the chicken the same way but changed the sauce. Here is what I did for the sauce: I used Sweet Thai Sauce and Hot Sauce (my favorite is actually Texas Pete and my husband's is Tabasco) but I used Louisiana Hot Sauce for this recipe.

• In a wok or large saute pan add about 1/2 cup or more depending on how much sauce you want on the chicken.
  
• Add as much of your favorite hot sauce to the your desired level of spicy.
• Stir them together while heating the sauce until it starts to bubble.
• Let it bubble for a couple minutes, turning down the heat if it starts to burn.
• When the sauce is thick, add the chicken and mix until the chicken is well coated.

Enjoy.

We enjoy this chicken with some cold potato salad!

Taco Rice

One of my favorite dishes while living in Okinawa was Taco Rice. It is a very popular dish there and you can find it all over the island. If you like tacos and you like rice you definitely need to try this dish! It is very quick and easy.

Ingredients:

Steamed white rice
1 pound ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning (I use Taco Bell)
1/2 cup warm water
Shredded cheese
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomatoes (I omitted because I don't like tomatoes)
Taco sauce

Directions:

• In a rice cooker or on the stove make steamed rice
• Brown the ground beef and drain
• Mix taco seasoning with 1/2 cup of warm water, do not follow the packet instructions
• Cook the beef until the taco seasoning is well absorbed
  
• Now you are ready to start layering: steamed rice, taco meat, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and finally taco sauce.

* For the sauce:
In Okinawa they have a specific sauce they sell for Taco Rice (which I miss terribly). You can also use taco sauce or spicy ketchup if they have that where you live. Here in Korea they have Ketchup with Tabasco sauce in it. I personally prefer the taco rice sauce or spicy ketchup.

Enjoy!