Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

I can’t make enough of this simple yet wonderful and amazing dessert.  Don’t let the ingredients scare you….the combination of sweet, tart, and spicy all together wakes up your taste buds and makes you want more!  It is the perfect summer dessert and one of the most delicious desserts you’ll make all year.  You want a high quality rich and flavorful Balsamic Vinegar to drizzle over your berries. I use Star Balsamic Vinegar of Modena- Gold Edition.  Serve with Ice cream or whipped cream or save some calories and eat it like it is.  You can thank me later!

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

8 cups fresh ripe strawberries, sliced 

5 tablespoons Star Balsamic Vinegar of Modena- Gold Edition
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated lemon zest, for serving (optional)

Fresh mint leaves for garnish

About an hour prior to serving, rinse and slice your strawberries and pat dry and plate on paper towel lined plate or bowl. 

Next, combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and pepper in a bowl.  Toss well and set aside at room temperature.

Sprinkle mint leaves on top and drizzle with more balsamic if desired.  Let the mixture rest for 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature.

For an added treat, place a serving of the strawberries in a bowl with a scoop of ice cream on top and dust lightly with lemon zest.

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

You can get Star Balsamic Vinegar of Modena- Gold Edition in select Walmart stores and online at:


http://shop.starfinefoods.com/STAR-Balsamic-Vinegar-of-Modena--Gold-Edition/p/STAR-00216&c=Star@Vinegars.

Star Fine Foods now has a promo code for all Welcome Home fans that will give you a 10% discount on anything you order online. Just enter WELCOMEHOME10 at checkout! 

Disclaimer: I have an ongoing relationship with STAR Fine Foods for my recipes and photography using their wonderful products. This post is sponsored by STAR. I am compensated for my time and work and I am sent products as I request them. However, all opinions of the product stated in this post are 100% my own. I truly love their products!

Chicken Ravioli in Mushroom Marsala Cream

I love to experiment in the kitchen. Sometimes I imagine a dish and the way I would like it to taste and then set out to make it. My Mom always said the best cooks are fearless in the kitchen. I made this for dinner tonight and it turned out... just the way I imagined. So elegant and yet so easy to make. Especially when you start off with a good quality frozen Ravioli. 

Chicken Ravioli in Mushroom Marsala Cream 

1 bag or box of frozen chicken ravioli ( I use Buitoni)
1 lb. baby bella mushrooms
1 1/3 cups Marsala wine
1 small onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups sliced Portabella mushrooms
salt and pepper

Fill a large pot with about 4 quarts of water. Set the burner to high. When water begins boiling, add the frozen ravioli to and boil for 6-8 minutes. The ravioli are done when they float to the top of the water. 

While cooking your pasta, make your sauce. In a large skillet, over medium heat, saute onion, garlic and mushroom in olive oil until tender, about 3 minutes. Next, add the Marsala wine and bring to a full boil for about 2-4 minutes. Slowly stir in heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes until heated. If sauce is thicker than you'd like, add a little milk until you thin it out the way you want it. 

Drain ravioli very carefully with a slotted spoon onto plate or bowl. Spoon mushroom Marsala sauce over ravioli and serve. Enjoy! 

NOTE: I used Buitoni frozen Chicken Marsala Ravioli for this recipe. You could also try Buitoni Cheese Ravioli or their Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, which would be just perfect fro this dish. If you're feeling real ambitious and have the time, make your own ravioli from scratch! 

Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.

Heading Home

Due to a personal family matter, I'll be taking a little break from the blog to travel back home. I'll post an update as soon as I can. Thank you.

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The New May Issue is Here!

It's here! The new May issue of the Welcome Home online blog magazine was released early this morning and is now ready for your viewing pleasure! I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I did making all these recipes and sharing them with you. May is the month for delicious recipes for Mother's Day and sharing my Mother's recipes with you is my favorite thing to do!  I know you'll love this issue!

Wait! What's that? You're not a subscriber to the magazine yet?
Oh you have no idea what you're missing. Click on the link below to join the hundreds of other fans that love getting exclusive recipes not published anywhere else!

Subscribe today to the Welcome Home Online Blog Magazine to get over 500 of my private, all exclusive, mouthwatering recipes that are not published anywhere else. Each month you will have private access to my brand new recipes at a members only website that only subscribers can access. All for only $2 a month!

Click here to read more about subscribing to the magazine:

http://www.welcome-home-blog.net/p/my-store.html

Pecan Pancakes

I love the Pecan Pancakes at Crackle Barrel. I love that fluffy texture with those crispy edges and that wonderful flavor of toasted pecans. I used to crave these things a lot until I decided to try and make them myself. After doing a few practice runs, one day I got it right and I can now announce that this my friends is right on the mark for the identical recipe for Cracker Barrel Pecan Pancakes. Now when I crave them, I just go to the kitchen and whip up a batch!  You'll love them!

Pecan Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg

1 cup chopped pecans

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, Add in the buttermilk and combine, Add in the egg and mix until just combined. 

Pour baking mix onto a hot griddle, add chopped pecans to the batter prior to flipping the pancakes. Flip the pancakes when the bottoms are golden brown. Enjoy with warm syrup.

Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.

Easy One-Bowl, One-Step Hollandaise - A Miracle of Modern Science

I'm not sure what specifically that would be, but I assume there’s some kind of science behind this amazing, and possibly modern method I happened to stumble upon. I once saw a chef make hollandaise buy adding chucks of cold butter instead of whisking in hot melted butter, and it intrigued me.

Not enough to actually try it, but enough to make me wonder what would happen if we dumped everything in the bowl at once, and just cooked it all together. No one was more shocked than I was when it worked. And worked beautifully. By the way, I’m guessing I’m not the only person to have thought of this, but until I see proof, I will claim to be it’s inventor.

The only way this doesn’t work is if your heat is too high. I don’t have to tell you what will happen if it is. However, over a low flame (or double-boiler if you’re scared) this will come together very gradually, right before your eyes, and you’ll be able to stop anytime you see fit.  

Eggs are cheap, so give it a try, and see what happens. Being able to just dump everything into the bowl, and make hollandaise in one step is well worth the investment, especially with Mother’s Day coming up. Hint, hint. I really do hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions (this can be scaled-up to how ever much you need):

1 large egg yolk

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

2 tablespoons cold water

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (you can always add more to taste)

salt and cayenne or hot sauce to taste
NOTE: If sauce gets too thick, just thin with a little hot water.

Homemade Cannoli's

Calling all Cannoli lovers out there! I don't profess to be a great Italian cook but I sure can make these disappear when I put them out for friends and family. You can't save these. You can't store them or freeze them. You have to eat these right away. Any objections?

Homemade Cannoli's

Shells

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup white wine
Oil or shortening, for frying

To make shells, mix flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter.
Add egg yolks; stir with a fork. Stir in wine, 1 tablespoon at a time, with a fork until dough clings together. Form a ball with the dough and let stand for 30 minutes. Roll dough almost paper thin, on a well-floured surface.

Using the rim of a wide glass such as a margarita glass (about 3-4 inches across), make circle imprints into rolled dough. Using a paring knife, make sure circles are cut all the way through. Roll each circle of dough around a metal cannoli tube, overlapping the ends and press to seal, flaring out the edges slightly.

Fry one or two at a time in hot melted shortening for about one minute, turning to brown all sides. Remove from hot grease and drain on paper towels, seam side down. 

Let cool a minute or two before trying to remove metal tube. To remove the tube hold cannoli shell down on the paper towel and carefully slide the tube out one end. Leave cannoil shells on paper towel, seam side down to cool completely.

Filling

3/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (excess liquid drained or squeeze dry with cheese cloth)
3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use (at least a couple of hours). When ready to serve, use a Ziploc bag with the bottom corner snipped off or a pastry bag and pipe filling into one end of a shell to the center, then into other end. Repeat with remaining shells and filling. Serve immediately.

You can dip these in whatever topping you like. I sometimes dip them in mini chocolate chips and dust with confectioners' sugar.

I use the Norpro 3660 Stainless Steel Cannoli Forms, Set of 4
to make my shells.  Only $5.65 on Amazon.  Click on the link below to buy yours.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LBU1VQ/ref=as_li_ss_sm_fb_us_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=213733&creative=399837&creativeASIN=B000LBU1VQ&linkCode=shr&tag=welchome08-20&linkId=OFBKEHSFDTSVJFFM&refRID=1RK4RKGBFKF22G55DN99

Photograph is copyrighted and the property of ©Welcome Home.