Tasty Tuesday–Roast Potatoes
This is a super easy recipe, and not too hard to figure out, but just in case you were wondering how to make some awesome roast potatoes…
- Small red potatoes (or a mix of small potatoes–a variety of colors makes for a pretty side dish!)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Preheat oven to 375. Cut up potatoes (I usually quarter them, unless they’re unusually big or small), and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle generously with olive oil and salt well. Sprinkle with pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn potatoes, and add more olive oil, salt, and pepper as needed (you don’t want them to be dry!). Roast for another 20 minutes, or until browned and crispy on the outside. You can also add other seasonings like garlic or rosemary with the salt and pepper to change the flavor up a bit!
Tasty Tuesday–Bacon-Mushroom Risotto
I wanted to make risotto this weekend, so I took a few recipes, plus a few of my own ideas, and came up with this concoction. It’s a lot of work to stir something for this long, and your arm may fall off before you’re done, but it’s well worth it! Be warned: I used red wine (Shiraz), instead of the traditional white, because I thought the bacon could use the spicy undertones. I’m sure that white wine would work, too, but I’m just a red wine kind of girl!
- 8 Tbsp. butter, divided
- 1/4 lb. baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and diced
- 3/4 lb. thick-cut bacon, diced
- 3 shallots, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 5-6 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- sea salt
- pepper
Sauté mushrooms in large skillet in 2 Tbsp. butter for about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms and liquid from pan; set aside.
Sauté bacon in same pan for about 10 minutes, or until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels, removing grease, and set aside.
Melt 2 Tbsp. in same pan, and sauté shallots and garlic for about two minutes. Add rice and toast, stirring, for 2-3 minutes more.
Once the rice is golden and toasted, pour in the wine and stir until completely absorbed. Add chicken stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is al dente, about 20-30 minutes.
Remove from heat, and add remaining 4 Tbsp. butter, cheese, reserved bacon and mushrooms. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Tasty Tuesday–Holiday Feasts
Here’s a wrap-up of the special meals we’ve enjoyed this holiday season, beginning with Thanksgiving, and going through the end of Christmas (Epiphany)!
Thanksgiving:
The Christmas Tea (our one luncheon feast):
Christmas Eve (appetizers, dips, and desserts):
The English Christmas Feast:
New Year’s Day:
Epiphany (aka Ryan’s birthday)–a mini-Thanksgiving, with birthday cake for dessert:
The time of feasting is over, for a while at least. I am working on a plan for a Valentine’s Day tea, though!
The Ryan’s Birthday/Epiphany Feast
Also known as Thanksgiving-lite. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, green beans amandine, and cranberries, with birthday cake for dessert. No mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, or five pies, but still very similar to our Thanksgiving feast. It’s a nice way to bookend the holiday season!
A Feast to Celebrate the New Year
For some reason, our tradition is having a pork roast on New Year’s Day. I’m not sure how it started, but it stuck. This year, I made our favorite pork roast, along with roast carrots and potatoes. For dessert, we had an amazing Christmas trifle, which included layers of homemade white chocolate-peppermint mousse, extra-fudgy homemade brownies, and homemade chocolate pudding, all sprinkled with a little bit of crushed peppermint candies (whipped cream optional). It was a nice way to start off the New Year!
Before & After
The standing rib roast before the oven:
And about two-and-a-half hours later:
Tasty Tuesday–Lemon Rosemary Salmon
I love this recipe, not just because it’s delicious, but because it makes the whole house smell like Christmas when it’s baking!
2-3 lemons, thinly sliced
6-8 sprigs fresh rosemary
1-2 lbs. salmon fillets
coarse salt to taste
olive oil, or as needed
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Arrange half the lemon slices in a single layer in a baking dish. Layer with 2 sprigs rosemary, and top with salmon fillets. Sprinkle salmon with salt, layer with remaining rosemary sprigs, and top with remaining lemon slices. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until fish is easily flaked with a fork.
Tasty Tuesday–Turkey Primavera
OK, in all honesty, when I made this last weekend, it was actually Chicken Primavera. I was “test driving” the recipe before turkey leftovers season is upon us. At any rate, it was great with the chicken, and I think it will be even better with the turkey!
- 1 bunch fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup Julienne carrots
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 chopped yellow summer squash
- 1 small chopped zucchini
- 1-1/2 cups shredded cooked turkey (or chicken)
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
In a large skillet, saute asparagus and carrot in butter for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, yellow squash and zucchini; saute until crisp-tender.
Stir in the turkey, tomato, dressing mix and cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Toss with parmesan cheese before serving.
Tasty Tuesday–Apple Butter Pork Chops
This is a great meal for Fall! In the future, I would probably double the amount of sage in the recipe, because I really love the flavor, but it was still good with the amount given.
- 6 Boneless Pork Chops (I used sirloin chops)
- 1 Cup Apple Butter
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Sage
- 2 Teaspoons Cornstarch
- 2 Large, Tart Apples, Peeled, Cored, and Quartered
Place pork chops in bottom of slow cooker. Combine apple butter, sage, and cornstarch, and pour over pork chops. Place apple quarters on top. Cover and cook on low heat 7 to 7 1/2 hours, or until pork is tender (I turned the chops once after five hours, to make sure both sides were well coated).
Tasty Tuesday–Avocado Salad
This is my new favorite summer side dish.It pairs best with a nice (spicy!) Mexican meal, but I’ve served alongside other dishes, as well. You can substitute two papayas for two of the avocados, which is both delicious and beautiful, not to mention healthy, (and unexpected!), and I’m guessing mangoes or guavas may work, as well. You could also serve it over your favorite salad greens, and call it lunch!
- 4-6 avocados, peeled, halved, and pitted
- 1 lime, zested and juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Slice the avocados lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick slices.
In a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Spoon the dressing over the avocado. Serve immediately.
