We recently bought a Margarita Machine. It's very impressive.
We drink Margaritas in Texas ! All of our favorite Tex - Mex restaurants serve them and there are many varieties. I happen to live near the Restaurant where the owner was the inventor of the commercial Frozen Margarita Machine. Their Margaritas are incredible.
We now have the opportunity to make great Frozen Margaritas at home.
The machine creates the shaved ice, drops it in the blender that has the ingredients for whatever type of Margarita you want. You determine the amount of drinks you want it to blend and then the blender automatically starts mixing the shaved ice and the ingredients until it creates the perfect frozen drink and then it automatically stops the process.
I have an original recipe for Sangria that can also be made into a frozen drink which we swirl into a frozen margarita.
If you've never been to Texas, maybe you should consider visiting us and tasting a Frozen Margarita.
There's a very traditional recipe for a basic frozen margarita.
This one was appealing to me because it doesn't have additional sugar or simple syrup and it incorporates Rum into the recipe along with Tequila.
This is one of my my favorites:
2 oz, Patron Silver Tequila
1 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz Lime Juice
1 oz. Orange Juice
1 oz. Rum
If you don't have a Margarita Machine, place the ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice.
Shake well and serve straight up in a Margarita Glass.
You can also mix the recipe with ice, in a blender.
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
Friday, June 21, 2013
Caramelized Onion Spread
I was talking to a friend of mine at work who told me about a French Onion Dip that she made from scratch.
When I got home I found this recipe from 2008 in my Best of the Best Recipes.
1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of vegetable oil
4 C sliced onion ( about 3 medium onions)
1 package ( 8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Cook onions slowly in the butter and oil, stirring often until caramelized ( 25 - 30 minutes) on low heat.
Remove and cool about 10 minutes
Place cheese , mayonnaise, sour cream, cayenne and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until smooth, 5 - 7 times.
Add in onions and pulse until combined using short pulses leaving small pieces of onion.
Taste for seasoning
Mixture can be refrigerated and brought back to room temperature before serving.
Serve with crackers, bagel chips, pita chips....... etc.
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
When I got home I found this recipe from 2008 in my Best of the Best Recipes.
1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of vegetable oil
4 C sliced onion ( about 3 medium onions)
1 package ( 8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Cook onions slowly in the butter and oil, stirring often until caramelized ( 25 - 30 minutes) on low heat.
Remove and cool about 10 minutes
Place cheese , mayonnaise, sour cream, cayenne and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until smooth, 5 - 7 times.
Add in onions and pulse until combined using short pulses leaving small pieces of onion.
Taste for seasoning
Mixture can be refrigerated and brought back to room temperature before serving.
Serve with crackers, bagel chips, pita chips....... etc.
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
Sauce au Poivre from Provence ! Black Pepper Sauce.
I just posted the recipe for Roquefort Cheese Sauce and then the next page in my Best of the Best Recipe book has this recipe.
It's also from our friend in Provence.
The directions are just as casual as the prior one.
Sauce au Poivre:
In a Saute Pan:
A bit of water, heat
Crush 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and add
Stir until incorporated in the water
Add some ground fresh pepper corns.
Add 1 shot glass of Cognac and flambé.
Keep a cover available if flame gets too big
Remove from heat and add 1 tsp of Butter & 1 C of Heavy Cream
Great on Chicken, Steak or Pasta
This is made to taste
No specific amounts of ingredients except Cognac
I love these recipes that Irene and Prisca share with me. We have enjoyed many, many years of traveling to their small village in the South of France.
We consider them to be family.
Two generations of our families have met. We look forward to the next generation getting to know each other.
And Marie Helene, if you're reading this, you are family too!
Bisous, Bisous!
It's also from our friend in Provence.
The directions are just as casual as the prior one.
Sauce au Poivre:
In a Saute Pan:
A bit of water, heat
Crush 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and add
Stir until incorporated in the water
Add some ground fresh pepper corns.
Add 1 shot glass of Cognac and flambé.
Keep a cover available if flame gets too big
Remove from heat and add 1 tsp of Butter & 1 C of Heavy Cream
Great on Chicken, Steak or Pasta
This is made to taste
No specific amounts of ingredients except Cognac
I love these recipes that Irene and Prisca share with me. We have enjoyed many, many years of traveling to their small village in the South of France.
We consider them to be family.
Two generations of our families have met. We look forward to the next generation getting to know each other.
And Marie Helene, if you're reading this, you are family too!
Bisous, Bisous!
Roquefort Cheese Sauce for Pasta
This is a recipe from our friend in Paris and her mother in law in Provence, France
It's in my book of Best of the Best Recipes.
You can tell that the directions are so typical of a cook that has made it for years and doesn't really have a recipe to follow. I love that about family recipes. My mother in law cooked in the same way. "A little bit of this and a little bit of that" In the end, it's incredible. I don't think my mother in law ever used a measuring cup! This recipe is written exactly as I was told. And served with Pasta, it's "incroyable".
In a Saute Pan:
Melt some Blue Cheese
Add some Heavy Cream
Adjust for flavor
Add Cream if too strong
Salt & Pepper to taste
Profiter de la Paix dans la Cuisine!
It's in my book of Best of the Best Recipes.
You can tell that the directions are so typical of a cook that has made it for years and doesn't really have a recipe to follow. I love that about family recipes. My mother in law cooked in the same way. "A little bit of this and a little bit of that" In the end, it's incredible. I don't think my mother in law ever used a measuring cup! This recipe is written exactly as I was told. And served with Pasta, it's "incroyable".
In a Saute Pan:
Melt some Blue Cheese
Add some Heavy Cream
Adjust for flavor
Add Cream if too strong
Salt & Pepper to taste
Profiter de la Paix dans la Cuisine!
Avocado / Pesto stuffed Sweet Peppers
These peppers are the small yellow, red and orange peppers. I buy them at Costco.
I have a great Sweet Pepper Soup recipe on the blog that I make with them.
I recently came across this appetizer recipe and it looks very appealing.
I use my own recipe for homemade Pesto, recipe to follow. You can buy a jar of Pesto if you don't want to make your own. I happen to grow Basil and have a field of it. I make fresh Pesto and freeze so I have it whenever I need it. I simply bring it back to room temperature and use it in any recipe calling for fresh Pesto.
This is a small recipe only using 10 of the peppers. The bag I buy has a lot. I simply adjust the recipe, double or triple for the amount of peppers needed.
10 small sweet peppers ( remove the stem and seeds) I have a jalapeno seed remover that I use. It's an amazing gadget ( maybe it's a "Texas Thing")
2 ripe Avocados
2 TBS of Pesto
Salt and Pepper to taste
Process the Avocados and Pesto in a food processor until creamy
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Place filling in a Zip Lock Freezer Bag ( they're sturdier than a regular zip lock bag)
Snip off one of the corners
Pip the filling into each pepper.
That's it!
Arrange the peppers on a colorful serving platter for a great appetizer.
Pesto:
2 C loosely packed Fresh Basil leaves
2 medium cloves of Garlic
1/2 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 C Pine Nuts
1/2 C Grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese ( hold back on the salt if using Romano)
In a Food Processor:
Add Basi leaves
Garlic
Puree until well incorporated
Add Cheese and Pine Nuts
Process to a thick paste
Gradually drizzle in Olive Oil until desired consistency
Season to taste with salt and pepper
I freeze it in mini muffin tins lined with a paper liner
After frozen, store in zip lock freezer bags until needed
Bring to room temperature for any recipe that requires Pesto
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
I have a great Sweet Pepper Soup recipe on the blog that I make with them.
I recently came across this appetizer recipe and it looks very appealing.
I use my own recipe for homemade Pesto, recipe to follow. You can buy a jar of Pesto if you don't want to make your own. I happen to grow Basil and have a field of it. I make fresh Pesto and freeze so I have it whenever I need it. I simply bring it back to room temperature and use it in any recipe calling for fresh Pesto.
This is a small recipe only using 10 of the peppers. The bag I buy has a lot. I simply adjust the recipe, double or triple for the amount of peppers needed.
10 small sweet peppers ( remove the stem and seeds) I have a jalapeno seed remover that I use. It's an amazing gadget ( maybe it's a "Texas Thing")
2 ripe Avocados
2 TBS of Pesto
Salt and Pepper to taste
Process the Avocados and Pesto in a food processor until creamy
Season to taste with salt and pepper
Place filling in a Zip Lock Freezer Bag ( they're sturdier than a regular zip lock bag)
Snip off one of the corners
Pip the filling into each pepper.
That's it!
Arrange the peppers on a colorful serving platter for a great appetizer.
Pesto:
2 C loosely packed Fresh Basil leaves
2 medium cloves of Garlic
1/2 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 C Pine Nuts
1/2 C Grated Romano or Parmesan Cheese ( hold back on the salt if using Romano)
In a Food Processor:
Add Basi leaves
Garlic
Puree until well incorporated
Add Cheese and Pine Nuts
Process to a thick paste
Gradually drizzle in Olive Oil until desired consistency
Season to taste with salt and pepper
I freeze it in mini muffin tins lined with a paper liner
After frozen, store in zip lock freezer bags until needed
Bring to room temperature for any recipe that requires Pesto
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
Copper Pennies
Rather than re- write the recipe, I'm just posting the vintage newspaper clipping.
This was a childhood favorite that my grandmother and mother made.
I hadn't thought about these carrots in years.
A fellow food blogger was asking us to post our favorite vintage recipes and I immediately thought of Copper Pennies.
Another odd, All American Recipe!
I may have to research the history.
As I began to do research on the history of this recipe, I discovered that it's also referred to as a salad.
I found this recipe in a Mennonite recipe book from my mother in law in Kansas. I'm going to continue to see if I can find the earliest version of the recipe.
This was a childhood favorite that my grandmother and mother made.
I hadn't thought about these carrots in years.
A fellow food blogger was asking us to post our favorite vintage recipes and I immediately thought of Copper Pennies.
Another odd, All American Recipe!
I may have to research the history.
 |
| This is a Double Recipe. I adapted it based on what I had. I didn't have a Bell Pepper but I added 2 small cans of Diced Green Chiles and a Medium Jar of Pimientos and quite a bit of chopped fresh Parsley. |
As I began to do research on the history of this recipe, I discovered that it's also referred to as a salad.
I found this recipe in a Mennonite recipe book from my mother in law in Kansas. I'm going to continue to see if I can find the earliest version of the recipe.
 |
| This is from my mother in law's Mennonite Recipe File |
 |
| This is my wife's handwritten recipe from the 70's |
 |
I just discovered this in my mother's recipe collection. |
Asparagus with an Herbed Marinade Dressing
This is a very simple, easy and very fresh way to serve asparagus.
We have friends in Provence, France and they serve fresh asparagus with hard boiled eggs and homemade Aioli. I've noted at the bottom of this recipe as an option , you can garnish the asparagus with 2 chopped hard boiled eggs.
1 pound of fresh asparagus, ends trimmed
1 small jar of pimentos
1/2 C vinegar
1/4 C olive oil
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS fresh chopped parsley
1 TBS fresh chopped rosemary
1 TBS fresh chopped dill
2 tsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Steam the asparagus in a small amount of water in a deep skillet just until bright green and still crisp, drain and place in a serving dish.
Refrigerate until the asparagus is cold
Place the remaining ingredients in a glass measuring cup and whisk well
Pour the dressing over the asparagus, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.
Serve cold.
Garnish option:
2 chopped hard boiled eggs sprinkled over the top of the asparagus
Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!
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