Marie's Bacon and Tomato Pasta Salad

I love this blog.  It's where I go when I need new ideas. It's where I go when I want some delicious.  My friend Marie over at the English Kitchen has the best recipes on the Internet!  Go take a peak and let her know Welcome Home sent you!

Marie's Bacon and Tomato Pasta Salad

All the flavors of my favorite tomato bite appetizers in a pasta salad.  Scrummy yummy!  

1/2 pound of fussilli pasta (8 ounces)

4 to 5 spring onions, washed, trimmed and chopped

2 cups of cherry tomatoes, washed and halved 

2 stalks celery, trimmed and diced

1 pound of  bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled

1 cup good quality mayonnaise 

1/4 cup blue cheese dressing 

2  tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and black pepper to taste

chopped parsley to garnish  

Cook your pasta according to the package directions.  Drain well.  Rinse in cold water and drain again.  Set aside.

Whisk the mayonnaise, blue cheese dressing, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together in a serving bowl.   Stir in the spring onions.   Add the cooked pasta and cherry tomatoes.  Toss to coat well.   

Cover and chill for at least an hour.   Remove and stir in 3/4 of the bacon.  Sprinkle the remainder on top along with some chopped fresh parsley.   Serve.  

For more wonderful recipes from Marie, go to her blog at The English Kitchen!

http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/bacon-and-tomato-pasta-salad-and.html

Waldorf Salad

Tender chunks of chicken with granny smith apples, grapes, celery and walnuts to give it the perfect crunch.  Served on crisp buttery club crackers. So good this way but I made enough for later this week to serve on a nice soft buttery croissant or Kaiser roll. I love this salad and it's so easy to make.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken breast, cubed

1 cup seedless red grapes, halved

1/2 Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Lightly toss chicken with grape halves, apple, celery and walnuts in a salad bowl. Whisk mayonnaise, vanilla yogurt, and lemon juice in a separate bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss again to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.

Soft Hard Boiled Eggs – Cooking with Steam

As vaguely promised in the grilled shrimp Louie video, here is my foolproof method for doing hard-boiled eggs, when we want softer, creamier yolks. This style works very nicely for salads, and above and beyond the texture, we get pure egg flavor, without the sulfuric bitterness that over-boiled eggs suffer from.

Of course, there are variables. Large egg sizes can vary, as does the temperature of refrigerators, so your time to hard boiled egg nirvana may vary. For me, 6 to 7 minutes gives me a perfect runny yolk; 9 to 10 minutes gives me what you see in the video, or a “soft hard boiled egg,” if you prefer; and 11-12 gets you closer to the fully-cooked, classic yolk.

My suggestion is to get a dozen eggs, and do some tests. This steaming method is very precise, and repeatable, once you lock it in. By the way, there doesn’t seem to be a big difference whether you cook one egg or six, but I’ve never actually tried this with a whole dozen, so if you do, let me know the results. I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 quart saucepan with lid

1 1/4 cup water

6 large eggs, straight from the refrigerator

Apple Turnovers

 My Mom didn't call them Apple Turnovers. She didn't call them fruit pies or apple pockets. She called them hand pies it's the first dessert I can remember her teaching me how to make. She used to fill them with any fruit she found at the local produce stand...peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and blueberries. So good and so easy to make now that we can buy puffed pastry already made and ready to use.

Apple Turnovers (Apple Hand Pies)

1 package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
2 medium Fuji or Gala apples – peeled and diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
course sugar for topping (optional)

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet and add diced apples. Cook for about 3 minutes. Next add brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cornstarch, and nutmeg. Continue cooking until apples are tender and sauce has begun to thicken. Stir apples occasionally while cooking. Remove apple mixture from heat and add the vanilla. Set aside to cool.

Unfold pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Smooth or roll out seems to make sure they do not separate. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut each sheet into four squares.

Mix the egg white and water together to make an egg wash. Brush egg wash all along the edges of the pastry squares. Next spoon about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the mixture into the center of the 1 pastry square leave about an inch on all sides. Fold pastry in half diagonally and pinch the edges with a fork to seal. Prick with fork for steam vents. Sprinkle a little course sugar on top if desired. Repeat with remaining squares.

Transfer to an baking sheet. Leave at least an inch between pies. Bake at 400 degrees for 14-16 minutes until the top is puffed and nicely browned. Remove turnovers from pan to a wire rack and cool 10 minutes.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla

Combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Mix to a smooth, thick consistency. Add more milk to thin, if necessary. Drizzle glaze over warm turnovers and serve.

 Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.

Glazed Almond Bundt Cake

I love bundt cakes.  I think the world needs more bundt cakes! I am one

of those people that never gave up on them long after bundt pans seemed

to disappear in the stores.  As a matter of fact, I'm still using the same 

bundt pan I used in the 70's!  Another thing I love is almonds...so this

happens to be one of my favorite cakes to bake.  So moist and delicious.

And wait 'til you smell the aroma coming from your oven!  OH MY!

Glazed Almond Bundt Cake ​​

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

1 and ½ teaspoons almond extract

1 and 2/3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½teaspoon salt

½cup ground almonds

1 cup milk ​

Glaze
​

1/4 cup milk (more or less as needed)

¾cup powdered or confectioners sugar

½teaspoon almond extract

½cup sliced almonds, toasted ​

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Set aside. ​In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with 1 cup milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan. ​ Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and invert on a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes longer.

Glaze:

Place rack on waxed paper. ​ Combine 1/4 cup milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and toasted sliced almonds; pour over warm cake. For a thicker glaze use more sugar. For a thinner glaze use more milk. Sprinkle with more almonds as desired.

Photography is the property of and copyrighted to ©Welcome Home.

Grilled Shrimp Louie – Dressing Up a Classic

I don’t do a lot of salad dressing videos, since it’s pretty much just adding things to a bowl, but when that dressing is going on a grilled shrimp Louie, I’ll make an exception. By the way, this is usually done with crab, but I think the smoky, grilled shrimp are a great summertime twist.

This is my take on a classic Louie dressing, and as with all such recipes, you’ll need to taste and adjust for acid, salt, and heat. Just be sure to wait until the dressing is nice and cold before tasting. You’ll get a more accurate reading, since that’s the temperature we’re going to be serving at.

If you do grill the shrimp, don’t toss it with the oil and lemon until right before you grill. This isn’t a marinade, and we don’t want the shrimp to start “cooking” in the acid. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 1 3/4 cups:

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup crème fraiche

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 packed teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons minced green onion

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

For the grilled shrimp:

2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp

1 tablespoon olive oil

juice from 1/2 lemon

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Next Up: Something with Grilled Shrimp

Just a little heads-up that Friday's post will be up a little later in the day than usual, due to a sudden and unusual problem with my camera. My Canon T3i just started giving me "Movie recording has been stopped automatically" error messages after a few seconds of filming, and I wasn't able to finish the video. Apparently, I need a faster card, which is weird since this one has been working for months. I know shockingly little about cameras, so if you have any additional info, or advice, please share. Thank you, and stay tuned!

Kothal Guti Pitika ( Mashed Jack Fruit seed)

কঁঠাল গুটি পিটিকা 

Ingredients:

• 10-15 Jack Fruit Seeds
• 1 small sized onion- chopped
• Chilly - as per your taste
• Few drops of Mustard oil
• 1/2 Tsp of chopped ginger
• Salt as per taste
• Chopped coriander leaves

Method:

• Remove the outer white skin of sun-dried Kothal guti ( jackfruit seed)
• If you want you can peel out the red skin of the seeds 
• Now boil the seeds in a pressure cooker adding a little bit of salt in water ( Taste will be better if you boil the seeds along with lentils - it's an optional method)
• Drain out the water once the seeds boiled and become soft
• Now mash the seeds with all ingredients
• Serve your Pitika with steamed rice

Bhedailota aru Narasinghor joolot dia Bhokua Maas....( Catla Fish in a gravy of Skunk Vine and curry leaves)

ভেদাইলতা-নরসিংহৰ জোল মাসর লগত 

Ingredients:

• Bhokua Maas (Catla Fish -250 gm (you can use other river fish also..)
• Narasingha paat ( Curry leaves) 2 cups
• Bhedailota paat (Skunk Vine) 2 cups
• Ginger garlic paste -1 tsp
• Potato (boiled and mashed) - 1
• Onion chopped- 1 small
• Cumin powder- 1 tsp
• Green chilly - 1-2
• Mustard oil -3 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Method :

• Fry the fish(smeared in turmeric and salt). Keep aside. 
• Grind curry leaves and Bhedailata (Skunk Vine) with a little bit of water in a mixture and strained.
• Heat oil in a pan. Fry the marinated fish in low flame. Keep the fry fish sideways. 
• In remaining oil add onion, chilly and garlic paste and fry for a minute
• Now add the mashed potato and bhedailata - narasingha extract..mix it well
• Add salt, turmeric and cumin powder and cook for another 5 minutes
• Now add water as required and let it boil. 
• In the boiling curry add the fish pieces and and cook for 10 minutes covering the pan.
• Garnish with coriander leaves (optional)
• The curry is ready to serve.

Grilled Mojo Beef – Rhymes with “Everybody Say Ho!”

I got a request for a Cuban-style mojo marinade recently, which sounded like something I’d enjoy making, but to be honest I wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I knew I was probably pronouncing it wrong, but other than that, I couldn’t remember having it anywhere.

I’d seen “mojo” sauces before, but they were at Spanish restaurants, and seemed to be chili-based; so I did a little of research, and of course, every single recipe I looked at was different. They all had garlic, citrus, and olive oil, but after that, the spices and seasonings varied greatly. So, this is basically a composite of what I saw, and it really came out well.

I think this would work great as an all-purpose marinade for just about any thing destined for the grill, but as I mentioned in the video, skirt steak would be my top choice.  Unless horribly overcooked, it always comes out juicy, and tender, as long as you slice it across the grain.  It also tends to really soak in the flavors of the marinade quite well, which I believe is due to it being such a well-marbled cut.

Once again, please excuse my makeshift brick grill, but I’m happy to report there’s help on the way.  So stay tuned for me to show that off soon, but in the meantime I really hope you get this delicious Cuban inspired mojo marinade a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 portions:
2 pounds beef skirt steak, cut into smaller pieces

1 large navel orange, juiced

3 limes, juiced

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling

6-8 cloves garlic, finely crushed

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon Kosher salt, plus more to taste

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro

extra lime wedges

How to Make Sushi Rice That Even Works for Sushi

I don’t make sushi at home very often, or ever, since we’re surrounded by top-notch sushi chefs here in San Francisco, but that doesn’t mean I don’t make sushi rice. I think sushi rice makes a perfect side dish for just about any grilled meat, and since it’s perfectly fine at room temperature, it’s great for picnics.

You can even turn it into some quick tortilla-less tacos using nori seaweed wraps, as seen in the video. They make for such a unique summer meal – the perfect delivery system for any and all leftovers. I even seen it rolled into balls, and tossed in toasted sesame seeds, or seaweed, and served like truffles.

What I’m trying to say is, you can do a lot with this stuff. Including sushi. There are thousands of videos on YouTube showing how to make literally every type of sushi in existence, so check those out if you’re so inclined. Maybe one of these days I’ll even give it a go, if only for the “constructive criticism.”  I really hope you give this sushi rice technique a try soon.  Enjoy!

2 cups sushi rice, rinsed well, and left to dry for one hour

2 1/4 cups water

1/4 to 1/3 cup seasoned *rice vinegar, or to taste

* I buy mine already seasoned, but to make your own seasoned rice vinegar; combine:

1 cup rice vinegar, or cider vinegar

1/2 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons kosher salt

Next Up: Something with Sushi Rice

This Tuna Poke is No Joke

There are many of foods I’ll stand in line for, and/or pay too much for, but Hawaiian-style tuna poke isn’t one of them. I can’t make a world-class croissant at home. I can make a decent one, but not a perfect one, so I’ll happily queue up at a boulangerie that does.

However, when it comes to poke, the technique is so basic that even the most inexperienced cooks can get something pretty much identical to what they’d get out. There’s one catch though. You have to use only the freshest possible tuna, even if that means it’s frozen.

Hopefully you’ll be able to get a hold of some fresh, sushi-grade tuna, but if you can’t, frozen will work. What many people don’t realize, is that most of the fish they enjoy at their favorite sushi restaurants has actually been frozen beforehand anyway. Google it, it’s true.

So, as long as the tuna is Grade A, or sushi grade, the frozen variety will work. Above and beyond that, all the other ingredients, except for the soy sauce, are optional. So, please use this video as merely a guide to the technique, understanding that this will work with so many different ingredients. I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 4 portions Tuna Poke:

1 pound sushi-grade ahi tuna (aka yellowfin), cut into about 3/4-inch cubes

1/4 cup high-quality soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions

2 tablespoons roasted macadamia nuts, crushed

1 tablespoon finely crumbled dried seaweed

1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Other delicious additions include (add to finished poke, not the marinade, otherwise you may lose that gorgeous appearance):

- seasoned rice vinegar

- lemon or lime juice

* Toss tuna with marinade, and chill for 2 hours in the fridge before serving.

Next Up: Something with Ahi

Nashville Hot Chicken – Yes Cayenne

It’s not often I reduce the amount of cayenne in a recipe, but that’s the case with this striking, and intensely spiced Nashville hot chicken. If you’ve never had it, we’re talking about an ultra-crispy fried chicken, doused with a cayenne-infused glaze, and by “glaze” I mean melted butter and lard.

It sounds crazy, but it's basically like being able to put lots of hot sauce on fried chicken, without it getting soggy. For the record, I’ve never been to Nashville, so I can’t tell you how authentic this is, but it works for me, and is fairly easy to pull off. 

By the way, do yourself a favor, and toss the chicken with a tablespoon of kosher salt the night before you fry, and you’ll get a nicely seasoned, moister bird.

You can cut up a whole chicken, or just buy a package of leg sections, which work great in this recipe. If you want to see how to cut up a chicken, check out this old buttermilk fried chicken video. I cut the breasts in half in that one, but the technique is the same. I really hope you give this amazing fried chicken recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Nashville Hot Chicken:

1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, tossed with 1 tablespoon kosher salt, and refrigerated overnight.

For the marinade:

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup pickle brine

2 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

1 large egg

For the flour:

2 cups AP flour

2 teaspoons fine table salt or 4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the sauce:

1/4 cup lard

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- Heat oil to 350 F. and maintain temp of 325 F. during frying. Cook to at least 160 internal temp.

Just Corn Soup – Finally, Less is More!

This is one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy fresh, summer corn, and a great lesson in just how little help these sweet ears need. If you’re using perfect, peak season ears, a little butter, salt and pepper is really all you need. And no, water never counts.

In case you’re wondering why we blended half the corn at the beginning, even though we were going to blend it at the end anyway, I have a great reason for that. The first time I made this soup, it came out so perfectly delicious that I’m now afraid to change the steps.

I blended the corn, and started cooking; not knowing it would look so terrible and broken. It tasted amazing, but looked like a horrible mistake, so I ended up giving it a little blitz with the stick blender. That did the trick, and I had something that looked as gorgeous as it tasted.

Would it taste the same if you simmered the corn in the water, and then blended it all at the end? I’m not sure, but my instincts say no. By the way, if you don’t have a stick blender, you’ll have to carefully puree about half the soup in a blender (in batches if necessary), and then add it back in. I really hope you give this amazing corn soup a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 4 small portions:

3 cups packed fresh sweet white corn kernels (about 3-4 ears)

3 cups cold water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

generously season with salt

cayenne to taste