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.

Cauliflower Potato Salad

We had a birthday barbecue to go to this weekend, and it was requested by the very lovely birthday girl that I make my Cauliflower Potato Salad and then post it on the blog, so she can steal the recipe ;)  

This served 8-10 people...so if you want to make it for yourself at home, you can halve the recipe (or make a lot and refrigerate it, because it's delicious and you'll happily eat it all week).  This potato salad goes great with all sorts of barbecue, as well as lunch meats or even by itself.

Cauliflower Potato Salad

- 1 head cauliflower, chopped

- 9 medium-large yellow potatoes, skinned and pierced with a fork

- 2 green onions, sliced

- 4-5 tablespoons hemp seed oil based mayonnaise

- 2-3 tablespoons stoneground whole grain mustard

- 3 teaspoons minced horseradish

- 2 teaspoons lemon juice

- 2-3 raw cloves of garlic, pressed (use this)

- salt, pepper, mustard seed, dill, paprika, basil, dried bay leaf to taste

- extra seasoning to sprinkle on top

In a large pot, boil the potatoes and cauliflower for around 25 minutes, until the potatoes break apart when poked with a fork.  Drain the water and put the hot potatoes and cauliflower into a large mixing bowl.  

With your potato masher, mash up both the cauliflower and potatoes for 45 seconds.  You should have a chunky mashed potato consistency with a few medium sized bites of potato in the mix.  Dollop the mayonnaise and mustard into the mixing bowl, then add the horseradish, raw garlic, and seasoning, and finally use a big spoon to fold all the ingredients together until the mustard and mayonnaise are evenly blended and you don't see globs of unmixed ingredients.  The potato salad should be a little creamy and a little chunky and have lots of kick to it, thanks to the raw garlic and horseradish floating around in there. 

Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.  To serve, sprinkle the sliced green onion and extra prepared seasoning on top of the potato salad to make it look all pretty and presentable.  Watch guests devour your potato salad and feel accomplished.  Enjoy the party/barbecue/lunch.

A Chipotle Themed Breakfast

Chipotle pepper is a smoky, wonderfully tasty way to spice up your breakfast!  Here I used chipotle powder in the hash browns and chipotle cheese on top of the eggs to incorporate the flavor into my dish.  It was a satisfying Saturday morning meal. 

The Meat

- 4 sliced bacon

- 4 breakfast links

- 4 eggs

The Veggies

- 2-3 yellow or purple potatoes

- 2 slices of red onion, diced

- 1 mushroom, diced

- salt, pepper, chipotle powder, dill to taste

The Garnish

- grated chipotle jack cheese

Fry up your bacon and links on your griddle pan on high heat, turning the meat every few minutes to reduce charring.  Chop up your potatoes into small, mini-bite size pieces and toss it with the seasoning and red onion.  Put the hash brown mixture onto the griddle pan with all that delicious bacon grease.  Fry up those potatoes for 4-6 minutes, turning them occasionally with a fork so they don't get black and charred. They will be a mixture of soft and crispy and taste great.

I made my eggs over easy and my husband's eggs over medium in the same griddle pan, with the same grease and leftover spices/bits of delicious food that was leftover.  Be careful not to break the yolks when you flip your eggs - test the edges of the eggs to make sure the egg is cooked through enough to withstand being flipped, and be delicate with them!  Put everything on your plate when it is all cooked, and sprinkle some grated chipotle jack cheese on top of your eggs. 

I loved this meal not only because it was great tasting, but it only took one pan to make.  Hooray, less cleanup!

Rejoice! Garlic Stuffed Veal Roast!

Hooooly stuffed veal, Batman.  This is a joy to eat.  The poached garlic wrapped inside the succulent veal is ahhhhmazing.  I paired the meat with roasted squash, carrots, and potatoes.  Go ahead and pour yourself some red wine and relax! It is the perfect way to celebrate the weekend.

The Meat

- 1 1/2 pounds veal roast

- 1 cup poached garlic

- 1 tablespoon pesto

- 1 heirloom tomato, chopped

- 1 tablespoon butter

- salt, pepper, basil, marjoram, onion powder to taste

The Veggies

- 2 large heirloom carrots

- 2-3 medium yellow potatoes

- 2 large zucchini squashes

- 1/2 cup water

- salt, pepper to taste

- 1 head (or more) of garlic, peeled

- 2 cups chicken stock

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Chop your veggies into large pieces and arrange them in a shallow glass cooking dish that can be put into your oven.  Season them and pour the water into the bottom of the dish.  Stick the veggies into the oven, uncovered, for around 35-40 minutes.

In a sauce pot, bring the chicken stock and garlic to a boil and poach the cloves for around 15 minutes.  Remove the garlic from the stock.  Cut a slit into the side of your veal roast and carefully open it up (like a giant pita pocket made of meat). With the back of a spoon, spread the pesto along the insides and then place the garlic inside.  Chop up the tomato and put it in a baking dish with the butter and some extra cloves of poached garlic.  Close up the veal roast and put it in your baking dish, on top of the tomatoes.  Season and when you are ready, up your oven's heat to 400.  Cook the veal roast for only around 10-15 minutes - it cooks quickly and you don't want it to dry out and get tough.  Check it until it is well cooked on the outside and pink in the middle - the veal will keep cooking after you remove it from heat and slice it.  

This meal didn't need anything else.  I put the veggies on the plate (you can toss some of the leftover garlicky chicken stock onto them if you'd like) and drizzled the pan drippings and baked tomatoes over the top of the roast.  It was amazing.

A Dinner Party Done Easy!

We had a friend for dinner tonight, so I made us something extra tasty!  This meal is not difficult to prepare and full of flavor.  It's really colorful, too, which is a fun and awesome way to bring a little extra excitement to your dinner.

The Meat

 - 1 1/2 pound flank steak

- 1/2 cup port wine

- 1 teaspoon butter, divided into dots

- salt, pepper, marjoram, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2 small red potatoes, peeled and cubed

- 2 small purple potatoes, peeled and cubed

- 1 small yellow potato, peeled and cubed

- 1 turnip, cubed

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 1/2 cup water

- salt, pepper, dill, chipotle pepper to taste

- 1 pound spinach

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

- 3 tablespoons butter

- salt, dill to taste

The Garnishes

- 3 slices bacon

- gorgonzola cheese

- 1 green onion, sliced

- 3 mushrooms, sliced

- 7-8 small cherry tomatoes, chopped

- 1/3 cup pecan pieces

Preheat your oven to 380 degrees.

Marinade your flank steak at least 1 hour before cooking.  Simply place the meat in a 2" baking dish and pour the port over the meat.  Spice and let it sit.  I love using port as a marinade because it makes the meat a little sweet without making the meat taste too much like it's been soaking in wine.   I used Prager port, which is not a very sweet port, but full of body and flavor. 

I chopped up my garlic and threw it into an aluminum foil cup I crafted.  I added the 3 tablespoons of butter and the salt and dill, crumpled it up into a very snazzy looking ball, and stuck it in the oven for around an hour.  I love making this infused garlic butter, and this is the third time this week we've had it.  It instantly makes all of my veggies taste SO much better, and is really easy to make.  Also, have I mentioned we are known garlic fiends?

I put my medley of potatoes and turnip into a baking dish with 1/2 a cup of water and the olive oil (I used Spanish olive oil this time, it tastes a little more olive-y than Italian extra virgin olive oil) and the spices.   I baked that uncovered, next to the garlic, for an hour.  

I sauteed up the spinach with the water and lemon juice on low heat for around 8 minutes, then drained it.  Later, when the garlic butter was finished, I tossed it in and made sure to toss it all well so the spinach was evenly coated with wonderful butter. 

With my oven doing its thing, I turned my attention to my garnishes.  I chopped all my ingredients and fried up the bacon.  After the bacon was done, I let it cool and crumbled it.  With the leftover bacon grease, I cooked up the mushrooms on medium heat for a few minutes and then added the tomatoes and pecans. 

I cooked the flank steak on the griddler, similar to last week's big hunk of meat.  This time my flank steak wasn't quite as thick, and only took around 10 minutes to cook until it was medium-done.  

When the steak was finished I sliced it, placed in on the serving tray, and smothered it to heck with my bacon-mushroom-tomato garnish.  I dotted gorgonzola on top and added the green onion.  I served up the spinach and potato/turnip medley in similar dishes and uncorked a bottle of cabernet sauvignon and BOOM.  Dinner party time!

This meal was delicious and everyone was excited to chow down!  I hope you enjoy making this meal for your friends and family - they will certainly love eating it!

Feeling Yellow-Orange?

Every now and then my husband asks for a meal that is all the same color.  He thinks it is great fun to challenge me to make a tasty meal while staying in a color group or two.  Tonight was one of those nights, and yellow-orange was the color.  Good thing I'd been to the Farmers' Market this weekend!


The Meat
- 2 fillets of sockeye salmon with the skin
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- salt/pepper/dill to taste
- 1 slice bacon, crisped and crumbled


The Veggies
- 1 cup yellow cauliflower, diced
- 2 yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 1/4 cup onion, sliced
- 2 yellow summer squash
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- dill, thyme, salt, pepper, paprika, cracked red pepper to taste


The Garnishes
- 4 slices of yellow heirloom tomato
- cracked pepper goat cheese


I threw the veggies in my 3" deep pan and let them cook away with the water, lemon, and spices, on medium high heat for around 20 minutes.  While they simmered I "dressed" my salmon with the lemon juice and spices and fried up the slice of bacon.  Then I grilled up the salmon on my awesome griddler with a little bit of bacon grease left over from making the slice of bacon on my nonstick griddle pan (different from the griddler).  Since the griddler cooks both sides simultaneously, it only took around 7 minutes to finish the fish.  You want to cook the salmon until it is flaky, but check it often to make sure you aren't overcooking it - dried out salmon is not appetizing.


When the veggies and salmon were cooked, I layered the vegetables on the bottom and put the salmon on top.  I sprinkled on the bacon, a few slices of big, juicy tomato, and some delicious goat cheese coated in cracked pepper.  Voila!