Pesto Bruschetta Salmon

Who DOESN'T love pesto?  The basil, the olive oil, the garlic...omnomnom.  And Pesto goes so well on so many different things...like salmon!  I mixed diced tomato, onion, and oregano into my pesto to make a bruschetta style sauce with a big of crunch and extra kick to pair with the mild salmon flavors.  

The Meat

- 2-3 fillets of sock eye salmon

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2 yellow potatoes, sliced

- 1 cup green beans, tips trimmed

- 1 cup spinach, raw

- 1 cup water

- 1 tablespoon bacon grease

- salt, pepper to taste

The Sauce

 - 1 (packed) cup of basil

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- lemon juice to taste

- 1 small slicing tomato, diced

- 1/2 onion, diced

To prepare the veggies, I boiled them all together with the water and bacon grease, seasoning lightly.  I cooked everything on high heat in a medium sized pan for around 15-20 minutes until most of the water had boiled away and the potatoes were soft.  

I cooked the salmon fillets on high heat with my griddle pan, flipping every 4 minutes or so until the salmon was opaque and flaky, around 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your fillets.  I seasoned them lightly, and when time to serve smothered the fish with my sauce. 

In a blender or food processor, I blended together my basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese, pulsing and scraping down large chunks to make sure everything was smooth and consistent.  I tossed in the tomato and onion with a spoon.  

*If you don't want to go about the business of making you own pesto, I won't judge you if you buy pre-made pesto from the store.  

This meal is easy to make, slightly less easy to clean up (due to the blender), and all over delicious.

Garlic Jack Cheese, Pesto, and Bacon Steaks

Yay for steaks!  This meal is classic, and the loaded steaks make you want to lick the plate.

The Meat

- 3-4 petite sirloin steaks

- salt, pepper to taste

The Veggies

- 1 cup broccoli

- 2 yellow potatoes, cubed

- 1 white potato, cubed

- 6-8 cloves garlic, diced

- 1/2 onion, diced

- 2 tablespoons bacon grease

- basil, salt, pepper, oregano to taste

The Sauce

- Garlic Jack Cheese, crumbled

- 3 strips of bacon

 - 1 (packed) cup of basil

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- lemon juice to taste

To start I cubed my potatoes, diced the onion and garlic, and tossed all three together into a medium sized saute pan with the bacon grease.  I seasoned liberally and let them cook on high heat for around 10 minutes, stirring every minute or so.  

While the potatoes were frying, I made the bacon on my griddle pan and also pulsed together my pesto sauce.  To make the pesto sauce, I used my Cuisinart Blender and Food Processor.  I blended together my basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese, pulsing and scraping down large chunks to make sure everything was smooth and consistent.  I crumbled the bacon and let it cool a little before mixing it into the pesto sauce.  Last ingredient into the sauce was the crumbled Garlic Jack Cheese.  That cheese is so good, we've been eating a lot of it lately!

After the veggies cooked for 10 minutes, I added the broccoli and lowered the heat.  I let the veggies cook for another 8 minutes or so while I made the steaks.  

To prepare the steaks I used the same griddle pan I made my bacon on, and used the leftover grease to get some extra flavor into the meat.  I cooked my steaks on high heat for around 4 minutes per side, or until the centers were pink when I cut into the steaks.  

When everything was done cooking, I plated the meals, making sure to smother a lot of the sauce onto the steaks - you'll want to ensure you get sauce with each bite, because it is soooooo good.

Garlic, Parmesan, And Bacon Scramble

Breakfast is a meal of champions, and bacon is king.  Eating this bacon scramble ensures you to be KING OF THE CHAMPIONS.

The Meat

- 2 breakfast links

- 5 slices of bacon, divided

- 2 eggs, whipped with 1/4 cup milk

The Veggies

- 3-5 cloves of garlic, sliced

- 1/2 cup spinach, raw and chopped

- 1 green onion, diced
- 4 Padron peppers, diced

- parmesan cheese, dill, salt, pepper, marjoram to taste


Fry up the breakfast links on high heat, turning every 5 minutes.  Make sure they cook all the way through - I usually cut one open to make sure there isn't any pink left in the center.


When the links are halfway done, add the bacon.  The bacon will cook quicker than the links, and grease up your pan nicely to fry the garlic.  








Take the cooked, crispy bacon off the pan and toss on the sliced garlic.  While that is frying, crumble three slices of the bacon, and then whip your eggs, milk, raw spinach, peppers, green onion, and the crumbled bacon together in a bowl with a fork.  Get it nice and bubbly so your eggs are fluffy.  Pour the egg mixture over the fried garlic and season everything liberally.  After 3 minutes, flip your eggs and break it up into a scramble with your spatula.  Plate everything and cover the eggs with grated Parmesan cheese.  

Beef Patties with Garlic, Bacon, and Fresh Mozzarella

Another patty meal - these are my "easy" meals, where I use different kinds of stuffed ground meat to make a quick and cheap entree that still tastes awesome.  I asked my hubbie if he ever gets bored of eating ground meat and I got a pretty serious NO as a response.  Enjoy!

The Meat

- 1 pound ground beef

- 8 cloves garlic, sliced

- 2 mushrooms, sliced

- salt, pepper, dill, basil to taste

- 3 slices bacon

The Garnish

- green onion, sliced

- mozzarella cut into large chunks

The Veggies

- 1 zucchini, sliced

1 summer squash, sliced

- 2 turnips, sliced

- 2 cups spinach, raw

- 1 cup water, divided

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sliced garlic, mushrooms, and ground beef with the seasonings. Form the patties by picking up a fistful of the mixture and rolling it into a ball, then patting the ball flat on both sides.

In a large pan, bring the zucchini and turnips to a boil with the oil and 1/2 cup of water.  Season liberally and let cook for 15 minutes or until the turnips are soft.

Fry up 3 slices of bacon on high heat on a griddle pan.  Once cooked crispy, cut up the bacon and mix it with the zucchini and turnip mixture.  On the still greasy griddle pan, cook your patties, around 6 minutes a side - check with a knife to see how the centers of the patties look - you want them to still be a little pink in the middle so the meat is juicy and full of flavor, not dried out or burnt.

Wilt the spinach with the remaining half cup water.  Drain the spinach and toss it with the bacon, zucchini, and turnip mixture.  Layer the veggies on the plate, then the patties, and cover everything with green onion and mozzarella.  Yum-o.

My Hubbie's Birthday = Veal Piccata

Happy Birthday to my hubbie!  I wanted to make him his favorite, so I went all out and whipped up some veal piccata.  He loves capers and garlic so I loaded up the sauce with extra of both.  The mashed potatoes got whole milk to make them extra creamy, and the spinach was cooked in bacon.  I did my best to make his birthday extra special and full of goodies. :)

The Meat

- 1 1/2 pounds veal, thinly sliced

- 2 cups potato flour

- salt, pepper to taste

The Sauce

- 6 tablespoons of butter

- 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

- 1/2 cup pinot grigio wine

- 1/8 cup of capers

- 6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced

The Veggies

- 8-9 small potatoes

- 1/2 cup milk

- salt, pepper to taste

- 2 cups spinach, raw

- 4 slices of bacon, diced

- 1/4 onion, sliced

Okie dokie.  This took some prep but was a lot of fun to do.  Set up your "stations" so you can streamline your productivity, and make less of a mess! On a Pyrex cutting board, lay out yer meat fer beating.  On another Pyrex cutting board, sift the potato flour, salt, and pepper.  Peel and boil the potatoes for around 15-20 minutes.  While they are boiling away and getting ready for beautiful mashed potato-dom, beat the veal with a tenderizer and enjoy it!  Dredge the beaten meat in the potato flour and set them aside for cooking. 

In a large saucepan, sear each side of the slices of veal.  Remove them from heat, they will complete the cooking process in the piccata sauce you're about to make.  In the same pan, pour the wine, butter, and lemon juice together.  Bring everything to a simmer.  After you've brought it to a simmer, add the garlic and let it cook for 5 minutes before adding in the veal and the capers.  Lower your heat and let everything cook for another 15-20 minutes.

In a different large saucepan, cook the diced bacon and onion on high heat.  While that cooks, drain your potatoes and put them in a large mixing bowl with the milk, salt, and pepper.  Use your masher to create creamy delicious mashed potatoes.

Once the bacon is a little crispy and the onions are soft, lower your heat and add the raw spinach a little bit at a time, stirring constantly and adding more as the cooking spinach begins to wilt. When the spinach is ready, plate the mashed potatoes and spinach first, then smother the edges of their sections of the plates with the veal and sauce.  The potatoes especially taste good with the leftover sauce on top.  Generously pile capers and garlic on top of the veal, and serve to happy people.

Butterfish with Baked Crab

Another wowing meal to serve when friends come over!

The Meat

- 4 fillets butterfish

- salt, pepper to taste

- 1 tablespoon butter for frying

- 6 ounces of crab meat (although fresh is best!)

- 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt

- 8-10 pieces of Port Salut cheese

- 1 stalk celery, diced

- 1/2 a scallion, minced

- 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish

- salt, pepper, savory, marjoram, paprika to taste

The Veggies

- 3 sweet potatoes, chopped in large pieces

- 1 cup green beans, ends trimmed

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- salt, savory to taste

- 1 pound spinach

- 1/2 cup water

- 8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped

- 2 tablespoons butter

- lemon juice, salt, pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 380 degrees.

To begin this meal, peel the sweet potatoes and trim the green beans.  Place the veggies in a glass baking dish and sprinkle them with the salt and savory spice.  Brush everything with the olive oil and pour the water into the pan to keep the veggies from drying out.  Put the baking dish into the oven and let them cook for 40 minutes.

Next, make the crab melt.  Drain the crab and place it in a mixing bowl.  Add the diced celery, minced scallion, horseradish, and spices.  Mix in the Greek yogurt and toss in the Port Salut cheese.  Blend everything together with a fork and set aside - I warmed this in a pan until the cheese got all gooey and melted the whole mixture together into a delicious melt-style lump.

Warm the griddle pan and melt the tablespoon of butter for the butterfish.  Season both sides of your fish fillets and let them cook on medium heat, flipping every 2-3 minutes until the fish is white, opaque, and flaky.  

In another small pan, melt the rest of the butter and saute the chopped garlic, stirring occasionally, for around 5 minutes.  Set it aside to toss with the spinach - which you can put in a large pan with the water, lemon juice, pepper, and salt, and wilt on low heat.  When the spinach is wilted and dark green (don't let it go brown), drain it and toss it with the butter and garlic.  

While your spinach is wilting, you should use your fourth burner to heat up the crab mixture with some medium-low heat and turn it into a crab melt.  Use a spatula to flip the gooey awesomeness after 3-4 minutes, and after 8 minutes or so it should be ready to layer on top of the fish.  Plate everything and serve with some white wine!

Wahoo in Garlicky Lemon Butter

We hung out with some great friends and watched the Michigan game this afternoon at a nearby bar, but when it was all over my husband was HUNGRY and I needed to make him something fast.  Fish is always a good idea because it cooks so quickly.  I got this meal plated and served in around 35 minutes.  When I need to, I can turn on the steam, but the meal still tasted awesome!

The Meat

- 3 fillets of Wahoo fish

- bacon grease for the pan

- salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste

The Sauce

- 3 tablespoons butter

- 1/2 shallot, thinly sliced

- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin

- 3 teaspoons lemon juice

- dill, salt to taste

The Veggies

- 1/2 eggplant, sliced then cut into quarters

- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small pieces

- 2 small turnips, cut into small pieces

- dill, basil, seasoning salt to taste

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1/2 cup water

- 2 summer squashes, sliced

- 1 tomato, mostly crushed

- 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- 1/4 cup water

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Chop up the veggies into small pieces, so they'll cook faster.  Throw together the eggplant, sweet potato, and turnip and generously season it.  Pour in the water and brush the olive oil over the tops of the veggies.  Cook for 30 minutes.

Sautee up the squash with the tomato, oil, lemon, and water.  Season it and cover it with a lid.  Let it cook on medium high heat for 25-30 minutes. 

Melt the butter with the lemon, garlic, and shallot and let it cook on low heat, stirring every few minutes.

On a griddle pan, turn your heat to high and cook your seasoned wahoo fish.  Flip it every 3-4 minutes. It should be done after 10-12 minutes.  You want the fish to be opaque, white, and flaky.  

When all the components are ready, plate the veggies and toss the fish in the butter.  Put the softened garlic and shallots on top of the fish and feed your hungry selves.

Tomato Roasted Eggplant with Turkey Meatballs

Here is another fun meal to serve to friends!  The presentation is great and it tastes just as good as anything you can find over in North Beach.  The turkey meatballs taste so good, because they have bubbly hot Parmesan cheese rolled into their mixture.  Yummmm.

The Meat

- 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey meat

- Parmesan, salt, pepper, marjoram, basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder to taste

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1/3 heirloom tomato, mostly crushed

The Veggies

- 1 large eggplant, sliced

- 1 summer squash, sliced

 - 6-10 Padron peppers, stems and seeds removed

- 1 heirloom tomato + the leftover tomato from the meat, mostly crushed

- 1 heirloom tomato, sliced

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste

- 2 tablespoons of olive oil

- 2 cups spinach, wilted

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- salt to taste

Preheat your oven to 385 degrees. 

In a large baking dish, layer your eggplant, squash, and tomato, brushing each piece with the olive oil and then covering all of it evenly with the peppers, spices and crushed tomato.  Bake the veggies uncovered for 40 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, add the meat ingredients.  Take off your rings and get your hands in there.  Squish everything together until the spices and cheese look to be evenly mixed in with the ground meat.  Then go at it and roll some modest sized meatballs.  I ended up with around a dozen.  Bake them for 40 minutes on the rack above the eggplant and other veggies. They should be brown on the tops and the Parmesan should be hot and gooey when they are all done.

10 minutes before the baking dishes are set to finish, get a large saute pan and wilt the spinach over medium low heat.  Drain the spinach with a slotted spoon when moving it over to your serving dish.  When you pull the eggplant out of the oven, do the same, leaving the juices and crushed tomato mostly in the baking dish.

I served all of the food together on one huge serving platter. The baked eggplant and squash went on the bottom, then the spinach went on top of that, with extra Parmesan and some of the tomato sauce.  The meatballs were layered on the very top, with even more cheese and leftover tomato sauce.  Satisfying. 

Lomo De Cerdo Al Horno...with Roasted Salsa Sauce!

Our wonderful friend is in town and staying with us this week, so I made a few awesome meals to make her feel welcome and loved.  This meal is based off the Puerto Rican Pernil Al Horno, but I didn't have a bone-in pork shoulder to roast, nor did I have 6 hours plus a day in advance to prepare something that tasty.  I had a pork tenderloin and a whole lot of heirloom tomatoes, Padron peppers, and summer squashes from our weekend trip to the farm.  This worked out better than fine, the meal was fantastic and we all really enjoyed it.

The Meat

- 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin

- salt, pepper to taste

- A few slices of Port Salut semi soft cheese

- 2 green onions, diced

The Veggies

- 2 summer squashes, cut into large chunks

- 1 large zucchini squash, cut into large chunks

- 1 large sweet potato, cubed

- dill, salt, pepper to taste

- 1 tablespoon of olive oil

- 1/2 cup water

The Sauce

- 3 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into really large chunks

- 1 slicing tomato, cut into really large chunks

- 1/2 red onion, cut into pieces

- 10-12 Padron peppers, stems and seeds removed

- 1 jalapeno pepper, stems and seeds removed

- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

- chipotle habanero sauce to taste

- chili pepper flakes, chipotle pepper powder, black pepper, paprika, dill, cilantro, salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Using a strong blender or food processor, blend together the sauce ingredients until everything is mostly smooth with a few chunks of tomato still intact.  Play with the taste of the sauce - if you like it spicier, add more spice, or keep the jalapeno seeds in your mix.  If you want it milder, omit the jalapeno pepper, chipotle powder, chili flakes and chipotle habanero sauce.  

Salt and pepper your meat, put it in a deep enough baking dish to contain both the meat and your sauce, and slowly pour the spicy tomato mixture over the whole tenderloin.  Stick it in the oven and cook it for an hour to one hour and fifteen minutes.  Make sure the internal temperature is at 145 degrees to ensure your food is properly cooked through.

Put the large chunks of squash and cubed sweet potatoes in a glass baking dish and sprinkle with dill, salt and pepper.  Brush the olive oil on and pour the water into the bottom of the dish.  Cook for 35-45 minutes on the same rack as the pork. 

When the tenderloin is all done, the sauce should have thickened and darkened a bit.  Slice up the tenderloin and spoon the sauce back over the top of the meat.  Layer some of the delicious semi-soft cheese on top and let it melt for a few minutes before you serve it.  Sprinkle on the green onions and present your food!  I put some fresh green grapes and some full fat Greek yogurt on the table as garnish - the sweet grapes paired great with the smoky, spicy flavors, and the Greek yogurt soothed our slightly burning tongues from all the delicious spiciness.  You could also use sour cream if you wanted, it's all about your preferences and palates.