A week ago today, my 7th Blogiversary contest winner, Nancy Bull, came over and we cooked her favorite recipe together.

I asked Nancy to send me the recipe ahead of time so that I could purchase the ingredients and get set up for our time together. Since this is an overnight recipe, I made one the day before and popped it in the oven when Nancy arrived.  She brought a casserole dish with her, I pulled another one from my cupboard and we each made a pan of Nancy’s Chili Rellenos.

Since Nancy was my guest blogger, I asked her to write up a little something about the dish:

“We’ve been making this dish for probably 25 years or more.  My mom found the recipe in a church cookbook and thought it would be a great breakfast casserole for Christmas morning.  Every Christmas Eve, after cleaning up from dinner, all the Bull girls gather in the kitchen to make the casserole(s) for the next morning.  Thank goodness it’s so easy because by the time we get to this, there have been festive beverages consumed!  We pop it in the fridge for the night and bake it while we open presents on Christmas morning.  The family has grown over the years so now we make 2….leftovers are never a problem!

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we have over the years!  Cheers!

Nancy”

This recipe could not be easier. In fact, Nancy was a little embarrassed about this at first, be I assured her that people, my followers included, LOVE easy-breezy recipes. And you can rest assured – this one is a winner! I know, because the two of us enjoyed it for dinner that night and I had some for breakfast the next morning. Just as good the next day!

A few notes: Nancy’s recipe called for a 4-ounce can of diced green chiles. I only had 7-ounce cans. Nancy said that we should use the 7-ounce cans – the more the better. Good idea! The recipe called for garlic powder, but I didn’t have any, so I used a mini-chop and ground-up dried minced garlic to make my own powder.

Since I actually made two pans, the one Nancy and I enjoyed and the one I made with her, I asked her if the cooked dish could be frozen. She said they never have had any leftovers, so she didn’t know. I was leaving town the next day, so I baked my second pan, let it cool, then refrigerated it. Next, I removed it from the pan, then I double wrapped it in plastic, then wrapped that in heavy foil, and froze it. I pulled it out six days later, transferred it back into the baking dish, let it defrost in the refrigerator, and then reheated it in the oven.

The verdict: It does not freeze well. It was soggy and not even close to as delicious as it was when it was freshly baked.

Lastly, when the casserole comes out of the oven, it is puffy as all get out.

In the five minutes that it rests before cutting, it deflates. That’s natural and what is supposed to happen, so don’t fret.

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I cooked up ten different recipes for the Friday the 13th Dinner Party and this appetizer was the clear favorite. At least half of the guests asked if it was on the blog. I assured them it would be posted this week, so we might as well start off the week(s) worth of recipes with it.

I had hoped to serve 13 items, but I could only get to 12 before I ran out of time and energy to pull off the last one. In addition to the ten, I actually made, I also served grapes, 12 per person for luck, and put out purchased fortune cookies on the dessert table.

The base for this salsa recipe is black-eyed peas. For many southerners, consuming this inexpensive legume on the first day of the new year is believed to bring wealth.

According to Wikipedia: “Two popular explanations for the South’s association with the peas and good luck date back to the Civil War. The first is associated with Gen. William T. Sherman’s Union Army’s March to the Sea, during which they pillaged the food supplies of the Confederates. Stories say peas and salted pork were said to be left untouched because of the belief that they were animal food and not fit for human consumption. Southerners considered themselves lucky to be left with some supplies to help them survive the winter, and black-eyed peas evolved into a representation of good luck. In other traditions, it was a symbol of emancipation for African-Americans who had previously been enslaved before the civil war who became free officially on New Year’s Day.”

Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 cups cooked black-eyed peas (see note)
• 3 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 2 ripe but still firm avocados, diced
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• Tortilla chips, for serving

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, lemon zest, juice, honey, garlic, and oregano. Whisk in the olive oil, taste, and season with salt and pepper.

Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl, except the avocado and cilantro, and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. Thirty minutes before you’re ready to serve, add the avocado and cilantro and then bring back to room temperature for 30 minutes and toss just before serving.

Serve with tortilla chips.

12 servings

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Before I post the final recipe from our Spring Reunion Dinner, I want to acknowledge that today would have been my mom’s 81st birthday. She passed away this past August after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. I wasn’t posting at the time, taking a break while preparing for Marissa’s wedding, but I remember her today. Happy Birthday, Mom. xoxo

Along with the Fresh Fruit – Smoked Salmon Spread, I served this “super hummus” as an appetizer to go with Lori and Jonathan’s super cocktails.

You can use store-bought hummus or any hummus recipe you like and then “pump it up” with these toppings.  I’m linking you with what I made, which is my favorite hummus recipe, it begins with dried chickpeas.

We enjoyed the appetizers and cocktails on the front porch. I’ll share more about the “Spring Shutter” sign later in the week. Photo credit goes to Lori Vento for the two photos above.

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I brought these pretty and tasty little morsels to a family Christmas party on Saturday night. I made a double batch so that I’d have them in my freezer for the rest of the holiday season, ready to pull out on a moments notice.

They were made of necessity, not only the need to bring something to a party but also the urgency to use over 2 pounds of fresh spinach that I reluctantly had in my refrigerator.

Later in the week, I’ll share a Salmon and Spinach recipe that called for 2 pounds of fresh spinach. The recipe was from my day at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland and I was sharing it with the students in my cooking class at Les Gourmettes Cooking School here in Phoenix.

Anyhow, I was doubling the Salmon recipe to feed sixteen – so according to the recipe, I’d need 4 pounds of spinach. That’s A LOT of spinach. While shopping for the class at Costco, I realized that would have been 4 boxes of Costco baby spinach. I had not realized that each box was 1 pound until I looked, so I cut back and only bought 3 boxes. Well, I didn’t cut back enough! In the end, I did not even use 1 full box of spinach (1 pound) to make the double recipe for the cooking class.

That’s way too much leftover spinach, so this recipe was born out of the wish to not waste food.  If you would rather substitute frozen chopped spinach for the recipe, rest assured, that is perfectly fine. A 10-oz package of frozen spinach is almost the same as 1 pound of fresh spinach, once the spinach is cooked.

If you want to be extra smart, like me, make a double batch and freeze it for your later entertaining needs.

To Freeze: Place the unbaked filled muffin tins in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Once frozen solid, use the tip of a paring knife to pop each mini tart out and place it in a freezer quality zip-lock bag. Write on the bag, not only what they are, but also the date and baking directions (Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.)

I did a test to see if it was best to bake the frozen tarts in or out of the muffin tins. The good news – is you may bake them on a baking sheet, no need to dig out the muffin tins again. In the photo above – the top two were baked on a sheet pan and the bottom two were placed back in the mini muffin tin and baked. Fantastic, they hold their shape!

One more thing…

Did you know that Trader Joe’s carries puff pastry during the holiday season? Yes, they do and it’s better than the Pepperidge Farm brand that you buy at the grocery store.

It actually has real butter in it… unlike that other brand (which is still pretty good stuff) that uses only shortening. Additionally, the TJ’s puff pastry sheets are rolled, whereas the PF sheets are folded in thirds. The rolled sheets are MUCH easier to work with.

I buy not only what I’ll use in December and January but at least another 8 packages to have for the rest of the year. Super Smart!

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Roasted vegetables are one of the most versatile foodstuffs to have on hand.

Case in point – I roasted up a bunch of vegetables last week for a meeting I had here at the house.

I used a few cups of the finished product for mini-pita sandwiches, which were devoured between the meeting attendees and my guys, after the meeting.

A couple of nights later I used them to make enchiladas for dinner.

And all week long, I added them to scrambled eggs for breakfast.

No need for the sandwich or egg recipes; just stuff mini-pita halves and warm in a skillet before stirring in a couple of beaten eggs. The enchilada recipe is below.

The link for how to roast the veggies has three more recipes using roasted vegetables. The only difference in how I roasted them this time, was instead of using olive oil, I sprayed the foil-lined pans with Pam, placed the vegetables on the foil, and then sprayed the vegetables again with Pam before seasoning with salt and pepper and place in the oven.

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What does this plate say to you?

To me – it screams SUMMER! All those bright and colorful veggies, grilled to perfection!

You can use your outdoor grill or a grill pan to make it. I chose the grill pan … for obvious reasons.

After looking over the post, you almost don’t need a recipe. I took so many photos of each step – so as long as you know that you need enough olive oil, salt, and pepper to coat everything, you might want to skip the reading and just use this as pictorial instructions. Enjoy.

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For the 4th of July Potluck BBQ-Pool Party, I asked guests to bring a salad, a side, or a dessert. George, who works with Dave, said he’d bring a side. When he told his wife, Julie, it turns out there was some discussion about what constitutes a side dish. Julie wanted to bring a pasta salad, or maybe a grilled vegetable salad or some other sort of dish with the word “salad” in it. All of which George put the kibosh on because they were “salads” and he signed up for a “side.”

Of course, anything they brought would have been just fine and greatly appreciated. They agreed this chilled green bean side dish would qualify as a side and all was right with the world.

Indeed it was, and it was delicious! Julie found the recipe on Rachael Ray’s website.

Here Dave is giving George a little grieve about giving Julie grieve about what is a salad and what is a side!

This is, Coney, he is the resident lifeguard at our pool. He may not have eyes to watch over swimmers, but his buff body keeps people in line!

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This light summer salad is so delicious and refreshing. An added bonus – no cooking or heating up the kitchen is involved!

One more thing … it’s pretty as a picture.

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After visiting The Simple Farm last week, I was inspired to make a meatless meal.

This meal is “Connor Approved!”

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I found the inspiration for the final recipe of “Connor Week” on one of my favorite cooking blogs, White On Rice Couple.

Connor requested Roasted Cheesy Cauliflower which I also happily made. I figured, if one head of cauliflower is good, then two must be better!

The major change I made from the original White On Rice Couple recipe was to simmer and soften the cauliflower before roasting.

The Result?
Delish!

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