Breakfast Muffins

I have brunch on the brain! Chock-a-block with nutrients, these easy muffins are a great way to start the New Year!

Breakfast Muffins:

1-1/2 c. (375 mL) fresh or frozen mixed vegetables

2 tbsp. (30 mL) water, for steaming

6 large eggs

2 tbsp. (30 mL) whole milk

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

1/4 tsp. (1.25 mL) dry mustard powder

1/2 c. (125 mL) grated cheddar cheese

2 tbsp. (30 mL) grated Parmesan cheese

Hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Spray-grease 6 muffin papers for standard-sized muffin pan. Set aside.

Add vegetables to medium skillet over medium heat. Cover and steam 2-to-3 min., or until vegetables are tender-crisp. Drain excess liquid. Cool vegetables in small bowl over ice cubes.

Whisk eggs, milk, seasonings, and mustard powder in medium mixing bowl. Stir in vegetables and cheeses. Pour egg mixture evenly into each muffin cup, allowing about 1/2 c. per muffin well. 

Bake 23-to-24 min., or util set. Let muffin pan stand 2-to-3 min. on wire rack to cool slightly. Remove paper cups from pan. Serve warm, with hot sauce on the side if desired. Serves 6.

Note: I used two types of mixed, frozen veggies in this dish - what I call the “standard” variety, and what I call the “deluxe” variety. The standard frozen mixed veggies offer the usual peas, corn, cubed carrots, and a few beans. The deluxe type offer those plus cauliflower and broccoli. Don’t waste your money, honey. 

By the time you’ve chopped the frozen, deluxe veggies into the size suitable to fit a muffin cup, everything looks the same. Stick with the standard stuff and you’ll be very happy with the result.

Saucy Appetizer Meatballs

It’s almost New Year’s Eve and you’re wondering what to serve as a quick and easy appetizer. This is perfect! It’s also addictive.

Saucy Appetizer Meatballs:

To Prepare the Meatballs:

Fuggedaboudit! Costco and Walmart sell perfectly good frozen meatballs at bargain prices. I’ve stopped making them from scratch. As you prepare the sauce below, bake still-frozen meatballs in preheated oven at 375 deg. F. for 14-to-16 min. Drain fat on paper toweling. 

To Prepare the Sauce:  

1/2 c. (125 mL) ketchup

1/2 c. (125 mL) packed dark brown sugar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) water

1-1/2 tbsp. (30 mL) cider vinegar

2 tsp. (10 mL) Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. (1.25 mL) garlic powder

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In small-to-medium pot, blend ketchup, sugar, water, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Simmer 10 min., stirring frequently until sauce thickens slightly. Add meatballs. Simmer the sauce for about ten minutes, until slightly thickened. Roll baked  meatballs in sauce until well glazed. Serve immediately with cocktail  toothpicks or forks. 

Note: This amount of sauce is sufficient to glaze 18 meatballs. Allow three meatballs per person. 

How Much and How Many? How many appetizers should you typically serve per-person? If you’re having an early meal, expect guests to eat four or five. If the meal’s going to be late, count on six or seven. If you’re not serving a meal, your guests will consume eight or nine appys, on average. 

Scrambled Eggs with Soft Goat Cheese

Who needs a recipe to make scrambled eggs? I did, as I watched daughter Erin prepare this delicious brunch yesterday  

These rich and creamy eggs are delicious!

morning. This dish is a great way to bid goodbye to 2018 and say hello to 2019!

Scrambled Eggs with 
Soft Goat Cheese:

8 large eggs

1/3 c. (80 mL) whole milk (see Note)

Dash fine sea salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tbsp. (15 mL) butter

3 c. (700 mL) baby spinach, packed and roughly chopped

1 c. (250 mL) soft goat cheese (chèvre), crumbled 

1/2 c. (125 mL) chopped green onions

Parsley, as garnish (optional)

This recipe moves fast! Read it over carefully before starting and have ingredients and skillet (Make it two skillets! I like bacon!) prepped and ready to go. 

To medium bowl, add eggs, milk, and seasonings, to taste. Whisk until well combined. Set aside. In medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add spinach, stirring until wilted, 1-to-2 min. Pour eggs into skillet, reducing heat to medium-low. Using broad silicone spatula,  gently stir and lift eggs until cooked soft but not firm, about 5 min.

Remove skillet from heat. Add goat cheese and green onions, stirring gently to combine. Transfer to serving platter or bowl. Serve with toast and bacon and don’t dilly-dally! This dish doesn’t keep. Serves 4.

Note: I normally use skim milk in my kitchen. Because this recipe needs the richness of whole milk, I combined a little skim milk with light cream to offer the same effect. 

Add butter to pan; melt.

Use eight large eggs.

Whisk together eggs, milk, and seasonings.

Add baby spinach to skillet.

(Remember the bacon!)

Wilt spinach in skillet over medium heat. 

Pour eggs over spinach. Adjust heat
to medium-low.

Drain fat from bacon. Pat dry
with paper towel.

Toast!  Must ... have ... toast!

Stir gently with silicone spatula, cooking
over medium-low heat 3-to-5 min.

Happy Holidays, 2018

Happy Holidays 

From Our House to Yours!

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

I recently found myself with extra ham on my hands - a good thing, because we were about to have a dinner guest who couldn’t eat spicy food. This very easy recipe is ideal for holiday leftovers. I served it with the ultra-easy Cranberry-Orange Tea Bread.

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham:

3 lb. (1.36 kg) potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4 in. (0.6 cm) widths

2 c. (500 mL) sharp shredded cheddar cheese

1 c. (250 mL) chopped onion

3 c. (875 mL) chopped cooked ham

Two 10-oz. (284 mL each) condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 c. (250 mL) water

1 tsp. (5 mL) garlic powder

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) freshly ground black pepper 

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Spray-grease 9 x11 in. (23 cm x 28 cm) casserole dish. Add sliced potatoes. In medium bowl, mix together cheese, onion, and ham. Stir into potatoes. In same bowl, combine soup, water, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour evenly over potato mixture. Cover, cooking 1 hr. Remove cover, baking an addition 45-60 min., until potato slices are soft and casserole is browned on top and soup mixture bubbles. Serves 4-to-6.

Mint Sauce for Lamb

Fact #1: I don’t care for commercially made Mint Sauce. Now you know. Fact #2: We have an abundance of fresh mint in our summer garden. Now you know that, too.

My experience with Mint Sauce has been limited to the neon-green jellied kind and - in my rational moments - to the more acceptable (but expensive) bottled, liquid kind. That was before we discovered this online recipe, which has been in Ruth Bogdanski’s family for the past 80 years. Ruth hails from Grants Pass, Oregon, from where she reports: “Our gang won’t eat lamb without this Mint Sauce.” Nor will mine. 

It’s almost winter in the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where I Live, so our mint is presently sleeping, but assuming you plant some mint when summer arrives, you and I will be ready to enjoy this marvellous sauce. The recipe contains no commercial preservatives, so use or discard what’s left within a couple of weeks. 

Mint Sauce for Lamb:

1/4 c. (60 mL) loosely packed mint leaves, finely chopped
1/4 c. (60 mL) boiling water
2 tbsp. (30 mL) cider vinegar
2 tbsp. (30 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. (1.25 mL) salt
1/8 tsp. (0.6 mL) freshly ground pepper

Place mint in small bowl, stirring in remaining ingredients until sugar is fully dissolved. Cover and let steep 20 min. Serve immediately. Yields 4-to-6 servings.

- Gracious thanks to TasteofHome.com

Prize-Winning Barbecued Salmon

I’m so happy to present you with this excellent recipe! I’d misfiled it years ago and - thinking it was gone forever - went into a bit of a slump about it. To my amazement, I’ve just found it misfiled under “Cakes” or some other wacky place, but there you go! And here it is! 

There’s a history to this recipe, which in its original form was the long-ago creation of Vancouver, Canada, firefighter and barbecue competitor David Veljacic. The late Veljacic named his creation “The Only.” As sometimes happens with recipes, it wasn’t - because Veljacic and other cooks tinkered with it over the years, coming out with modified versions. 

Veljacic’s original recipe is still online, but I’m a fan of this version - as you will be. Fish recipes are often interchangeable with other species of seafood. While I haven’t tried the recipe with anything but coho and sockeye salmon, I suspect the ingredients and method would work well with halibut or any other thick, firm, whole fillets. 

David Veljacic’s Prize-Winning Barbecued Salmon:

This recipe requires extra time 

for marination

5 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
3 tbsp. (45 mL) finely chopped fresh parsley
3 sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), chopped fine
1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) salt
1/4 c. (60 mL) olive oil
2-to-3 lb. (1-to-1.5 kg) salmon fillet

In jar, combine garlic, parsley, tomatoes, salt, and olive oil. Shake we;; and let stand overnight in refrigerator.

Place salmon, skin-side down, on large piece of greased foil; place over low heat of gas barbecue. Close barbecue lid and grill 10 min. With very sharp knife, cut two lengthwise slits in fillet, dividing surface of fish into thirds. Cut into fish skin, but not through it. Spread garlic mixture over fillet and into slits. 

Close barbecue lid, raising temperature to medium. Cook an additional 15 min. or until done - but not dry. You’ll want the oils from your fish to appear slightly “milky.” Serves 6-to-9. 

Korean Short Ribs

And now for something … completely different! What if … you aren’t having a crowd for Thanksgiving dinner? What if … you just want to spoil yourself, and maybe one or two guests? What if … you’d like something gourmet, but easy? What if … you’d like something fancy, rather than “just ribs”? 

Have I got a big deal for you!

I made these Korean Short Ribs a few days ago. They were outstanding. But you can already see that. Not only were they lip-smacking good, but they were the best ribs I’ve ever tasted.

Sit down. This isn’t a bargain meal. In the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where I Live, the short ribs for five servings cost just over $26. These aren’t the usual chunky, jolly beef short ribs that require long, slow cooking. Korean Short Ribs are cut lengthwise. Go figure. 

The meat is thinly cut along the bone, into widths of roughly 1/2 in. (1 cm). They need to be butcher-cut in what’s called “flanken-style.” If your butcher says “Du-u-h …?” see a smarter butcher. 

The trick to tenderizing these ribs is their all-day (or overnight) marination - during which time you don’t need to do a thing except relax, go for a walk, paint the living room, or call your friend Hildegarde, who never stops talking. 

BING! Ready to cook! Good news! After all that marination, these ribs cook fast - scant minutes, not hours. They’re succulent and tasty. Bad news? If you live in the snow belt, wear your mukluks, because these ribs are best barbecued. 

Very, very, very important: Read the recipe’s ingredient listing  carefully. I had all the ingredients on hand. If you don’t, dash out to buy them - don’t substitute. This recipe has two parts: The marinade in which the meat sits all day, and the Asian-style barbecue sauce that leaves the meat gloriously shiny and tasty. 

I wouldn’t change a thing with this recipe. It’s as good as cooking can get - referring to it as “perfection” isn’t an exaggeration. 

I strongly recommend that if you’re searching for an alternative to turkey for yourself or you and a couple of guests, run - don’t walk - to your closest supermarket to buy everything you need for this amazing recipe. 

I found this great recipe in hellomagazine.ca. Unfortunately, that’s all I know - no date, no writer’s name, no online identification. I’ve slightly modified the it’s preparation method.

Korean Short Ribs:

This recipe requires extra time 

for marination

To Prepare the Marinade:

1/2 c. (125 mL) dark soy sauce

1/4 c. (60 mL) firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) rice vinegar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) Asian sesame oil

2 tbsp. (30 mL) minced fresh garlic

1 tbsp. (15 mL) peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger

1 tbsp. (15 mL) ketchup

1 tsp. (5 mL) red pepper flakes (“chili flakes”)

5 lb. (2.3 kg) flanken-cut beef short ribs, prepared by your butcher

In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except ribs, whisking to dissolve sugar. Pour over ribs in a large resealable plastic bag, turning several times during the day (See Marination Note). Marinate meat 8-to-10 hr. Discard marinade, patting meat dry with paper towels.

Marination Note: Tupperware sells a superb marination tub with a secure snap-top lid.

Next ...

To Prepare the Asian-Style Barbecue Sauce:

1/4 c. (60 mL) hoisin sauce

1/4 c. (60 mL) Thai chili sauce or sweet hot pepper sauce

2 tbsp. (30 mL) mirin

1 tbsp. (15 mL) Asian sesame oil

1/4 c. (60 mL) water

Oil gas or charcoal barbecue grate. Preheat barbecue to high setting. Do not brush ribs with sauce yet. Place ribs over hottest part of flame, grilling 4-to-6 min. Turn once, grilling an additional 2 min. Brush ribs with some of the barbecue sauce on each side.  

Remove to serving platter. Let rest 5-to-10 min. Serve at table with additional barbecue sauce. Serves 6.

Short ribs sliced lengthwise along
the bone rather than crosswise.

Marinate all day (or overnight).

Finished ribs ... YUM!

 Note: If for some crazy reason his recipe doesn’t appeal to you, try this blog’s ultra-fancy Mini Beef Wellingtons!

Holiday Cranberry Martini

I’d like to pretend I can handle this martini, but honestly Dollinks, it’s so delicious and packs such a wallop that I was wobbly after starting my second. So that’s the bad news. Or the good news, depending on your perspective.

Hi! I’m Nicole Parton, and you haven’t seen much of me for quite awhile (over the past couple of years, actually) because I’ve been closeted away writing a novel, but (run-on sentence to follow) I hope you will when I’m rich and famous and on tour in the hamlet where you live! 

There’s nothing like a little over-confidence to make a woman delusional, but I’ve written 10 non-fiction books and this foray into fiction has been exciting and fulfilling! 

So here’s a recipe for the best Holiday Cranberry Martini I’ve ever encountered - EV-AH! - with a very Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Holiday Cranberry Martini:

1-1/2 oz. (42 g) vodka
1/2 oz. (14 g) Triple Sec
1/2 oz. (14 g) dry vermouth
3 oz. (84 g) cranberry cocktail (see Note)
Fresh or frozen cranberries, as garnish 

Place all ingredients except cranberries into chilled martini shaker with ice cubes. Shake-shake-shake like a professional bartender and pour into martini glass. Toss in three fresh cranberries and you’ll be away to the races!

Note: Be sure to use the watered-down and sweetened cranberry cocktail. Cranberry juice is far too tart.

- With gracious thanks to my pals Bob and Sandy Trafananko

Caramel Frosting

This is an outstanding frosting: A favorite over my many, many favorites. I’ve been making it since I was 12: I can never get enough of it. If you love caramel, and butterscotch, give it a whirl. The only frosting that even comes close is Easy Penuche Frosting, which I also love. Try both! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Caramel Frosting:

½ c. (125 mL) butter or margarine

1 c. (250 mL) golden brown sugar, firmly packed

½ c. (125 mL) whole milk or light cream

2-¼ c. (560 mL) sifted icing sugar (“confectioners” sugar or “powdered” sugar; add more as needed)

Melt butter over low heat in medium saucepan. Add brown sugar, stirring constantly, about 2 min. Add milk, continuing to stir until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, about 30 min. With electric mixer at high speed, add sifted icing sugar gradually, until frosting reaches desired spreading consistency. 

When frosting’s cool - but not too cool - go to it! 

Melt butter over low heat.

Stir in brown sugar until mixture
reaches rolling boil.

Ready to frost that cake ...? Oh, my! 

This frosting holds its swishes and swirls ... Work fast! 

Barbecued Zucchini Squash

With squash in season (as it is here, in the Northern hemisphere), this is definitely one of my favorite recipes!

Barbecued Zucchini Squash:

Squash is not just what your footballer son does when he playfully sits on your lap. Think zucchini squash … Think spaghetti squash … Think YUM!

Ron barbecues zucchini squash in a little olive oil, seasoning salt, and a whisper of chili oil. Halving the zucchini lengthwise, Ron cuts it into 3-in. sections, barbecuing it in its skin on a medium-high flame (he barbecues mushrooms and sliced, seeded, sweet peppers the same way). He does this just until it’s crispy, but not overdone. 

Spaghetti squash? If you haven’t already tried it, see Ron’s amazing Spaghetti Squash recipe!

Note: For more zucchini recipes, see One Click: Zucchini.

Make-Ahead Chickpea Salad

Vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters all love this tasty, colorful dish. 

Make-Ahead Chickpea Salad:

1/4 c. (60 mL) olive oil

3 tbsp. (45 mL) cumin seeds (or 1-1/2 tsp. (7 L) dried, ground cumin)

1/2 tsp. (2 mL) dried chili pepper flakes

4 garlic cloves, crushed
8 oz. (225 g) mixed sprouts

Two 19-oz. (540 mL) cans chick peas (garbanzo beans), rinsed, drained

1/2 cup (125 mL) sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained, slivered, blotted dry

1/4 c. (60 mL) fresh parsley, stemmed, packed, finely minced

2 tbsp. (30 mL) fresh mint leaves, stemmed, packed, finely minced

1 lemon, zested and juiced

3/4 lb. (0.34 kg) English cucumber, unpeeled, in 1/2-in. (12.7 mm) dice. 

Salt, to taste

In heavy skillet over medium setting, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add cumin seeds (or powder) and chili pepper flakes. Cook 1 min., stirring constantly, until the seeds are golden brown. Add mixture of sprouts, lentils, peas, or whatever you find interesting. I buy mine in a small box in the produce department. 

Whatever the brand, mixed bean sprouts add “crunch”!

Adjust heat to medium low. Add garlic, stirringly frequently, cooking 3 min. or until the garlic is soft. Remove from heat. Add chick peas and sun-dried tomatoes, mixing well. 

Stir into seasonings and chickpeas until heated through.

 

In small bowl, combine minced parsley and mint. Add to chickpeas, mixing well. Add juice and zest to chick peas, also mixing well. Add cucumber, also mixing well. Add salt, to taste.

Chill several hours, allowing flavors to blend. Serves 8 as a main course and 12 as a side salad.

With the addition of well-drained sun-dried tomatoes,
you’ll be on your way to a refreshing warm-weather salad!