Crisp and delicious salad made using fresh shrimp. beautiful ingredients, hard boiled farm eggs, garlic bread and homemade dressing.
Shrimp Loui Salad
Cooking for Four
32 Cooked Shrimp, I use 8 for each person
4 Cups Green ice berg lettuce
2 Cups Arugula lettuce
4 slices of American Cheese Sliced thin
2 Avocados Sliced thin
2 Green Onions Sliced thin
4 Hard Boiled Eggs Smashed or cut in 4ths what ever you prefer
One Can of Asparagus
One Tomato Cut in Small Wedges
3 Slices of Boiled Ham Sliced thin
DRESSING...I let each person put on their own
2 Cups of Mayonaise
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1/4 Cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar
1 Cup Ketchup
2 Cups of MayonaiseOne Cup of Ketchup1/4 Cup Seasoned Rice VinegarOne Tablespoon White Sugar
I like to make the dressing ahead of time in a canning jar and refrigerate until I put the salad together.
Cook the shrimp in dill weed, salt, pepper, two shakes of any hot sauce, and bay leaves. Bring a half of a large pot of water to a boil add shrimp and cook for two minutes. Drain and cool.Arugula LettuceIceberg Lettuce Sliced American Cheese. Tomatoes, Sliced Ham and Avocados
Canned Asparagus on top, as much as you like
Sweet shrimp makes this the perfect dinner.Shrimp Louies were what we chose for our first dinner on the terrace
I made another salad tonight and took pictures of each step.
iceberg lettuceArugula LettuceQuartered tomatoes with salt and pepperAsparagus and American cheese slicedSlices of hamHard boiled eggsShrimp that was boiled and green onionsTopped with fresh basil and dressing
Thick and creamy! Wonderful served in a bread bowl topped with cheese and green onions.
Ingredients:
Chicken stock, 1 box (16.9 ounces)
Potatoes, 5 large peeled and cubed
Onion, 1 diced
Celery, 3 stalks, diced
Carrots, 3 diced
Parsley dried, 1/2 Cup
Butter, 1/2 cube
Heavy Cream, one quart
Milk Whole, 1 Cup
Sour Cream, 3 Tablespoons
Cream Cheese 6 ounce
Tabasco, 3 shakes
Salt, 1 Tablespoon
Pepper, freshly ground, 1 teaspoon
Directions:
In a large pot add the chicken stalk. To that add the cubed potatoes, salt and pepper, butter, celery, onions and carrots. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and let simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. There is no need to drain any liquid because most of it will have been absorbed into the potatoes. When it has cooked, use the back of the spoon to smash part of the potatoes so the soup becomes creamy. Then add the cream, sour cream, milk and tabasco and check to see if any additional salt and pepper are needed.
Potato soup, my ultimate comfort food. Vegetables cooked down until they become the most wonderful blend of creamy flavors. I would serve this for company in a small hollowed out loaf of bread, as a first course for dinner, or sitting on the couch when I’m not feeling good, eating it out of a coffee mug. It’s also the perfect meal to take to someone’s home…because really who does not like potato soup? It is incredibly good served cold, which they call Vichyssoise, especially on the hot summer days we have here in Georgia. Every single time I make this, I have to smile and think of our sweet friend/adopted family member, Renita. I gave her this recipe many times in the past by saying, it’s nothing more than potatoes, carrots, onions and celery thrown together…but that didn’t exactly tell her how to make it for herself. This is exactly why I started this blog. Now finally, I am able to share the exact measurements of the dish I am cooking, which is really, really helpful when someone wants to make it themselves.
(Enjoy Renita!)
Peel five potatoes, these were quite large.
Slice the potatoes.
Then cut into cube pieces.
In a large pot add the chicken stock.
On top of the stock add the cubed potatoes.
Salt and fresh ground pepper. (The parsley is coming in just a moment)
The cubed potatoes, salt and freshly ground pepper. (There is sooo much more flavor when you grind your pepper)
Three carrots, again these were really huge.
Slice the carrots.
Then dice and add to the pot.
Add the parsley.
At this point I have to be totally honest and admit that I didn’t have any celery to use in the soup, and I didn’t have time to go to the store. In my opinion potato soup must have celery in order to taste perfect…so the next day I bought some, chopped three stalks, nuked them in the microwave for 2 minutes and added them in the soup.
One yellow onion…again this was a very large one.
Chop the onion and add to the pot.
Add 1/2 stick of butter to the mixture.
Bring to a boil then cover and continue to cook on medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes until everything is fork tender.
The potatoes are fork tender now and I am smashing part of them against the side of the pot to make the soup creamy and thick.
Some of the potatoes are left in small cubes while the rest are smashed and soft.
One Quart Heavy Cream
Add the cream and one cup milk to the soup.
Add the two heaping Tablespoons of sour cream.
Stir everything together and the soup is done, it smells wonderful and I can’t wait to taste it.
I know it will taste even better tomorrow, after the flavors have had a chance to set all night long together in the fridge…but there is no way I’m waiting that long to eat it…this is my little bowl of wonderfulness just for me.
This is also great cooked in a crock pot. Put it on in the morning and when you return home in the evening…dinner is ready. Often I will make it on the stove and then transfer into a crock pot where it can set on low for hours.
Top with grated cheese, or chives, or bacon bits…or all of the above. It really is the best!
Unexpectedly great cheese rolls, because of the ingredients, but as they blend together they really taste so incredibly wonderful together. This is another recipe from my mother and is one of my favorites. The first time I watched her make it I thought how horrible it looked, but I was wrong…it is one fabulous recipe!
INGREDIENTS:
Cook until bubbly hot, about 20 minutes.
Hard boiled eggs, 4
Cheddar Cheese, 1 pound grated
Chopped Green Chiles, 1 small can 4 ounces
Chopped black olives, 1 small can
Green Onions, 6 chopped
Garlic Clove, 2 minced
Tomato Sauce, 1 small can 8 ounces
Oil, 1/3 cup (Olive or any liquid oil)
Basil fresh 6 leaves, dried 1 teaspoon
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper 1/2 teaspoon
Dinner Rolls 6, hollowed out
DIRECTIONS:
Take some of the bread crumbs out of the rolls so there is more room for the mixture and place them on a baking sheet. (The inside of the bread makes great bread crumbs when put inside the blender for other recipes)
In a medium size bowl combine all the ingredients together and spoon into the bread.
Bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes until the bread is crispy and the inside is hot and bubbly.
These stuffed rolls are soooo good as a main dish, perfect for lunch or dinner or cut in small pieces and served as an appetizer. I served these with a green salad for lunch and until people found out there was egg inside absolutely loved them. (From now on I’m not telling anyone)
Just made these again today and added garlic minced out of a jar because I was too lazy to grate the garlic myself and added fresh basil because I love it on pizza, and this reminds me of that.
I will never be able to make these without thinking of my mother. She always made the greatest food! They are amazingly wonderful. Kind of like a pizza…you can have great things with them, but you don’t really need to…because they are great and stand alone perfectly. Each bubbling hot cheesy bite is sooooo good.
The very first time that I watched my mother make this was in 1970, one year after I got married at the young age of 17. (We’re going on 52 years now!). At the time we lived in Southern California in Arcadia. Mom and Dad bought a home from a man and woman named Julie and Mitt Fields. They ended up becoming very close friends for years and years. Julie was extremely loving, Italian, giving and such an amazing cook. I wish I would have had the insight to spend time with her in her kitchen learning from all of her wisdom. Thankfully momma learned some great recipes from her and I am so happy to be able to pass them along now on my blog.
This is Julie…sweet, sweet, sweet lady which unfortunately I will not see again this side of heaven…but I will definitely see her again…and I sooooo hope she will be cooking! Going only by the way the ingredients looked when momma made it, I really didn’t even want to try that first bite.
My head said that there is no way these ingredients could taste good together…but my mother said…my friend Julie is the best cook ever and she said…”it may look ugly…but it tastes divine”. She was right! I hope you won’t be like me and judge this before you taste it, because after you make it once, you will love it and want to make it again.
For those who have been following me for some time, you know that I usually always make double. So that’s why you may see more than the recipe calls for.
I put 9 fresh eggs in a pot, covered it with water and let it come to a full boil….don’t forget to salt the water. When the water is at a full boil, remove the pot from the heat, cover it and let it set for 10 minutes. Peal the eggs under running water and set aside. I used to smash the eggs by hand…that is until I bought a blender…now in minutes they are done perfectly.
Eggs go in the blender and hit pulse for three times and they are done.
Place the chopped hard boiled eggs into a large bowl.
One small can of green chilies. Chopped are definitely easier, but I only had whole on hand.
Remove the whole chilies from the can and chop.
Dice fine – or save time and buy chopped.
Add to the bowl with the eggs.
Large pitted olives, one can. Either chop yourself or buy them chopped.
Add the chopped olives to the bowl.
I have used pre grated cheese in a bag many times when I’m rushed, but I have to admit that I really don’t think the flavor comes near to the quality when you grate it yourself.
So for this cheesy dish, I grated the sharp cheddar myself.
Grated cheese into the bowl.
Olive oil, 1 Cup
Tomato Sauce, 1 can
Tomato sauce into the bowl
Green Onion Chopped
Add the onions to the bowl with the crushed garlic and mix thoroughly…add salt and pepper if needed. When this is done and comes out of the oven with cheese bubbling hot…it is a beautiful thing.
The rolls have been scooped out and are on a baking sheet lined with foil.
Use a large spoon to fill each one with the mixture.
Cook the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
They are cheesy, bubbling hot bites of wonderfulness that you can serve as the main dish alone, or cut in smaller sizes and serve as an appetizer. I filled two large baking sheets and cooked all of the rolls.
Sent a bunch home with the kids, kept out enough to have for dinner and froze quite a few to have at a later date.I like using the smaller rolls better than the larger ones, but that is just my personal preference. The crunchy bread goes perfectly with the creamy cheese mixture.
The smaller rolls seem to get a bit more crunchy and I like that. That is exactly what I did…because I had both on hand, so that’s what I used. This was a huge hit when I had 12 women over from Bible Study…I love serving things that are a little bit different…especially when everyone loves them.
The best Tuna fish sandwiches! I was in the kitchen making up some tuna fish for sandwiches, and my daughter Dana said, “mom you should really put this on your blog”…and to that I replied that everyone knows how to make tuna fish. Dana said, “no they don’t, not like yours.” So here is […]
Cut the Mahi Mahi and the Lobster into small pieces and place into a glass dish. Sprinkle it with the salt, black pepper and juice from 2 limes and 6 lemons. The fish should be completely covered with the juice. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator for four hours.
Our son Brent came down to visit us from Atlanta for the weekend, and brought everything to make Ceviche.
No cooking…just chopping…but when these flavors come together…you will find that it is like an explosion of incredible flavors in your mouth. How can something so taste so spectacular?
Chop the red onions, Roma tomatoes and cilantro and place in a bowl with the juice of 6 lemons and mix with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and salt and pepper to taste.
Take the fish from the refrigerator and rinse with water, then combine the fish with the tomatoes, cilantro and salt.
Fresh Mahi Mahi or any favorite fish you like
Slice
And then dice into bite size pieces.
Leave the lobster raw, clip the sides with scissors
Then pull the meat right out of the shell
Slice the lobster tail
Then cut the lobster into bite size pieces
Cut the lemons in half
Place the fish in a plastic or glass bowl and cover with the lemon and lime juice
Add salt and pepper
Now start squeezing all the citrus juice
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for four hours.
While the fish is resting in the refrigerator, dice your onions, tomato and cilantro
I had these beautiful heirloom tomatoes that I found at the farmers market, so of course we wanted to use them.
Slice and then dice
Chop the red onion very fine and add in a bowl with the tomatoes.
Chop the cilantro and add to the bowl
Add three Serrano, or Jalapeño peppers diced fine
Now take the fish out of the fridge, pour off the lemon juice and add to the onions, cilantro, tomatoes and peppers.
Mix together and add the juice of 8 lemons and two limes.
This little device is really cool for doing large quantities of lemons and limes.
And that is all there is to making this wonderful dish!
Add additional salt and freshly ground pepper to taste…which actually means…taste it. Then see how much more seasoning it needs.
It is soooo delicious! How would I serve it? Well…for me…in a bowl with a spoon, thank you very much…I am one happy girl.
Fantastic eaten with a spoon or served on a warm fried tortilla with sliced avocado.
In a Martini glass with chips as an appetizer
But my favorite is right out of a bowl with a spoon.
Wash the vegetables, then cut into small bite size pieces. Cut the mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together in a large bowl, drizzle with dressing and then fill into Mason Jars.
Keep in the fridge and enjoy as a salad or snack on all day long, or eat as a salad for lunch.
I like to add 1/2 ripe avocado to each jar right before I eat it. Don’t want is getting brown and ugly.
One head of cauliflower cut in small bite size pieces
Broccoli, cut into small bite size pieces
Bell Pepper, I like to use different colors just because they are so pretty.
Cut into bite size pieces
Low fat mozzarella cheese sticks
Tomatoes cut into bite size pieces
Add it all into a bowl, cover with dressing and fill the mason mars.
Girard’s is my favorite bottled dressing. This one is Greek Feta and is sooooo good drizzled over the vegetables.
If I’m going to have it as a lunch, I will add a little lettuce and some avocado…it is a great refreshing, good for you salad that I absolutely love.
Depending on how many peppers you have and how big they are will determine the amount of cheese you will use. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl except for the cheese and peppers. The peppers, hollow out for stuffing. After they are filled with cheese and raw meat mixture, wrap with bacon and cook on the grill or in the oven for 45 minutes at 450 degrees.
Our son drove down from Atlanta to stay with us for a few days, and whenever he comes, we always make great food together. He had just made this at his place, and it turned out so good he wanted to show us how to make it.
Jalapeños, stuffed with cheese and wrapped in lean ground chuck, then with bacon. Cooked on the grill and basted with BBQ sauce. What a surprise to cut into the meatball and find a tender pepper, oozing with warm cheese. This one is a winner.
Jalapeños are funny…even straight from my garden, one can be really hot, and the other one picked off the same plant, can be just as mild as a bell pepper, with no heat at all.
To be on the safe side…warn your guests that they may be lucky and get one that packs a real big punch!
So here we go…wash the pepper then cut off the stems and with a small knife take out the seeds.
Usually jalapenos are not that hot, but if you have sensitive hands, wear gloves while you do this.
Years ago when we were visiting my husbands Italian aunt who lived in Los Angeles, she had some peppers out back that she wanted me to pick. I have always loved food hot, so ignored her advice, when she told me to wear gloves. On the drive home, both my hands felt like had I placed them in a roaring fire…for two days! Lesson learned…listen to people when they give you words of warning.
Removing the seeds with a small paring knife.
All the peppers are ready to be stuffed with the cheeses.
This meat is from our local market, Publix. If you have one in your area you are very lucky. They grind their own meat from left over steak and really good cuts of beef and is far superior to any ground meat I have ever had anywhere else. It’s called Market Meat and we used almost 4 pounds.
Two eggs
You don’t need to beat them first before adding to the meat.
Getting all the mise en place ready to add to the meat.
(Mise en place is a French phrase which means “set in place” or getting all your ingredients ready. Pronounced me-zahn-plahs)
One Onion chopped fine.
1/2 Cup
I like to use Panko, because of the course texture, but any bread crumbs will do.
1/8 Cup Honey (we are fortunate enough to buy ours locally right up the road)
Some of the spices used for the meat, but you can tweak these flavors any way you want, or just use your favorite meatball recipe.
Everybody in the pool then mix it all together with your hands, to combine all the flavors.
We happened to have these amazing BBQ sauces on hand, but use your favorite brand to brush over the meat once they are on the grill or in the oven.
One package of bacon was all that was needed for all the meatballs…one half slice for each meatball.
The blend of cheeses totally depends on what kind you prefer. We wanted a blend of different tastes, so we chose extra sharp cheddar because of the sharp bite.
Gruyere also has a strong bite and is firm, so it holds up nicely when cooked. (you have notice, I’m sure, we’re kind of partial to the Publix brand)
Gouda is mild and creamy cheese, with a nutty taste.
Pepper Jack, just because I had some on hand, and I love it.
String cheese. Not much flavor, but it holds up well when cooked and won’t melt fast…besides the fact that the little kids like to sneak into the kitchen and grab some.
Cut up the cheese in small enough pieces to stuff down into each pepper.
Using random pieces of cheese, place into the hollowed out jalapeno.
I wasn’t actually sure how much cheese we would need to fill the peppers, so we just cut it all up, because I knew it would keep well to use later.
Stuffing the peppers, using a slice of each cheese and pushing it down into the pepper.
Using random pieces
On the back of the cutting board are smaller serrano peppers, which I actually prefer. They are a bit hotter, but have much more flavor. We couldn’t stuff them because they were to small, so slit them lengthwise and put the cheese on top.
Almost done…
All the peppers are stuffed with the cheese, now to wrap them in the meat mixture.
Now for the meatball. Make a small patty on your palm.
Place the pepper inside, and fold the meat around it.
I guess it really isn’t a meatball because it isn’t round…but what it is…is good!
We were also making dinner for kids and two lightweights, who do not like anything hot at all.
So we took the different cheeses and placed them inside of the meat without using a pepper.
These actually turned out to be round.
Making the non-pepper patty’s flat made it easy to distinguish the hot from mild.
Wrapping each one with bacon…
Also wrapping the non-pepper ones with bacon.
Without peppers…
And with peppers.
You can see that there is one lonely pepper on the top of the heap…we ran out of meat, so we just wrapped it with bacon and put it on the grill.
Since I couldn’t really tell you how much cheese to use, I took a picture of how much was left over after we were finished making the meatballs.
Back in a baggie it goes to use later in something else.
Using the hot BBQ sauce for the meatballs with the peppers, and the mild one for those without, to brush over the meat after we put it on the grill.
The grill temperature was at 375-400 with cooking time approximately 20 min, turning 4 times.
If you are cooking them in the oven the temp should be at 400-425 for 45 minutes.
Baste them as soon as they are on the grill and each time you turn them while they are cooking.
What you will end up with is a sweet, spicy hot, juicy, cheesy wonderful meatball.
Served with a green salad, mashed potatoes and peas.
Yes we are crazy and like to mix our peas into the mashed potatoes…just a weird childhood thing that has carried on through being an adult, and all my kids and their kids, do the same thing.
Grilled stuffed meatballs.
This really turned out good. The different flavors of cheese blend together for an amazing taste in your mouth, and the spice of the pepper is perfect.
Like with everything else we cook, next time I may try some different things. Like…roasting the peppers first, after I take the seeds out and before they are stuffed with cheese. I think it may taste better if the pepper were a bit softer…I’m not sure, but will let you know.
Maybe I’ll try using a habanero pepper because I like things really hot. Or, instead of using the pepper whole, cutting in in half so the meatball can be a smaller size.
And maybe basting it with a roasted bell pepper sauce, or sweet and sour, along with or instead of the BBQ. Not really sure…but whatever I do, I will post how it turns out.
It’s the next day, and since these were so tasty last night, we decided to heat them up in a skillet, with a little olive oil and have them for lunch.
I put some pepper jelly in a small dish, and it was excellent with them.
The meatball cut in half, with the pepper jelly on top.
