Fresh Food Friday {featured!}

I was lucky enough to have my recipe link featured today on her Fresh Food Friday post.  These things are so exciting for a new blogger like me!  Stop on by la bella vita today to link your latest recipe or gardening post and see what others have shared this week.

Thanks Roz!

Cookbook Chronicles :: Grill It Magazine :: Absolutely Perfect Steak by Fred Thompson

When I turned the page of Grill It! magazine published by Fine Cooking and read the words, Absolutely Perfect Steaks, I  was interested. We actually don't grill much steak at our house.  Probably because we find it dries out more than we'd like and we just haven't found the perfect recipe.  But Absolutely Perfect Steaks?  This I needed to see.  Only five ingredients? My interest grew.  Melted butter?  Now I was convinced we needed to try this recipe.  

INGREDIENTS

4 NY strip steaks

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup melted  unsalted butter

8 tsp. kosher salt

8 tsp. freshly cracked pepper

Besides being very easy preparation, this recipe provides such specific grilling instructions that I felt capable of grilling it myself - something I rarely do.  The one thing we did wrong was grill it to his total cooking recommendation of 12 minutes.  Our grill must have been a little too hot because we would have preferred more pink.  Ten minutes max next time!  

Two other recipes I have dog-eared and look forward to trying in this magazine are Grilled Chicken with Goat Cheese and Grilled Scallops with Remoulade Sauce.

If you're looking for an easy, delicious, buttery moist steak for Father's Day, check out the entire recipe for Absolutely Perfect Steaks here and get grilling!

Cookbook Chronicles is a new series I am starting at Bake Me Away.  My shelves are loaded with cookbooks and food magazines that I need to use and want to share the results with you here on a regular basis.  

Rhubarb Cake with Warm Butter Sauce

Having lived in four different states in the past fifteen years, I have found that many, many people have never heard of rhubarb, much less eaten it.  This has amazed me as just about everyone I knew as a child grew rhubarb in their own backyard.  Never mind that the wide dark leaves are toxic, the stalks are edible, sharp and tangy, and when cooked, soften like berries.  While technically a vegetable, rhubarb is used as a fruit in pies, bars, jams and cakes.

This recipe represents the essence of summer to me.  It brings back memories of 4th of July nights when we had guests and Mom always made this cake.  I must admit that without the sauce, the cake is just a cake, but when bathed in warm, glossy butter cream goodness, it becomes elevated to spectacular status.  (Hint, consider doubling the sauce!)

Rhubarb stalks, trimmed

Rhubarb, chopped

The cake batter is very thick

INGREDIENTS (for the cake)

1 egg

1 cup white sugar

1 cup regular sour cream

1/4 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

4 stalks rhubarb, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

PROCESS

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  In a large bowl, beat the egg.

3.  Add white sugar, sour cream and vanilla.  Whisk until smooth.

4.  Add flour, salt, and soda.  Stir until incorporated then STOP!  Do not over mix.

5.  Add rhubarb.  Again, stir until well coated but do not over mix batter.

6.  Pour into lightly greased 7x11 Pyrex cake pan.

7.  Sprinkle brown sugar over top.

8.  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

INGREDIENTS (for sauce)

1 cup white sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 scant Tbsp. white vinegar

PROCESS

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix sugar and flour.

2.  Add butter and cream.  Stir until melted and bubbling.

3.  Add vanilla and stir while bubbling.

4.  Remove from heat and add a bit less than one Tbsp. white vinegar. Stir.

5.  Serve warm over slightly cooled cake.

Please stop over at la bella vita to see more food and gardening posts.

Home Ec Sloppy Joes

Are you of the generation that had to take home economics classed in Junior High?  Well I am, and besides the nifty duffel bag we sewed and a recipe for Party Fluff (to be posted at a later date!), this sloppy joe recipe is all that has stayed with me from Home Ec.  


On one past episode of The Next Food Network Star, a contestant made sloppy joes and to her bad luck, Martha Stewart was guest judging.  After one look at the sloppy joe before her Martha commented under her breath, "I never eat food like this."  Harumph!  I immediately thought of this recipe, now a family summer-time favorite, and had to make it in defiance of Ms. Stewart's refined opinions. (She would absolutely freak if she saw it topped with a melty slice of Velveeta but that's just how we roll!)

If you're in the mood for a little old school comfort food, try this sweet and savory twist on a barbecue cheeseburger.  Don't forget the all-white-flour buns!  

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs. lean ground beef 

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/3 cup ketchup

1/2 c. water

1/2 lemon

1 Tbsp. vinegar

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

PROCESS

1.  In a large and deep saucepan, brown meat with onion, celery and a sprinkle of salt and pepper until browned.

2.  While meat is browning, stir together the ketchup, water, juice of half a lemon, vinegar, brown sugar and dry mustard.

3.  When meat is cooked, add sauce and stir until combined.

4.  Simmer on medium-low for about 30 minutes until the sauce thickens.

5.  Serve on buns with a slice of cheese if desired.

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Triple Berry Trifle

Recently I found myself in a berry-buying frenzy.  They were so delicious and fresh and summery I wound up coming home with more berries than I knew what to do with.  There was a tub of Cool Whip thawed in the fridge that I needed to use up and so this handy little dessert was born.  My son loved it so much he had some after dinner, before bed and again for breakfast the next day!

INGREDIENTS

1 loaf angel food cake, store bought or homemade

1 tub Cool Whip, thawed

1 cup blueberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/4 granulated sugar

PROCESS
Place rinsed and sliced berries in a bowl.  Cover with sugar, about 1/4 cup, and stir.  Set aside to become juicy.
Cube cake.  Stir cool whip to lighten.  Begin layering with cake, then berries and their juice, then a layer of Cool Whip.  Continue until ingredients are gone.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge overnight.
Serve with a fresh sprig of mint on top.

Italian Salsa {bruschetta}

At my house you may pronounce it brusketa or brusheta and I won't mind either way.  Hopefully you'll be too busy devouring this tasty treat to care about what it's called.

INGREDIENTS
2 medium ripe red tomatoes, seeded, cored and finely chopped
8 leaves fresh basil, minced
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. of your favorite balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
4 turns of the pepper grinder
good pinch kosher salt


1 bakery style baguette (can even be a day or two old)


PROCESS
Mix all ingredients except bread in a medium bowl and set aside while heating  the oven to 400 degrees.
Warm bread for 10 minutes,  
Remove and slice bread.
Top each slice with a heaping spoonful of the salsa and serve.

Go-to Guacamole

The summer of my sophomore year of college I worked as a traveling Bible Camp counselor in Southern California.  Our teams were based out of Manhattan Beach, CA where we stayed on the weekends.  Each week we lived in the church of a different city from Santa Barbara to San Diego and ran their vacation bible school program.  We were responsible for our own meals and this guacamole dip was a regular in our diet.  It is a basic recipe, creamy and a little spicy and chock full of tasty tomatoes and red onion.  Enjoy with chips or in everything from tacos to burgers.

INGREDIENTS
3 ripe avocados
1/2 large red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced 
1 tsp. diced fresh jalapeño (seeds removed)
1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped
juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
1/4 tsp. salt (plus more to taste) 


PROCESS

Peel and mash avocados well in a large bowl.
Add all the rest of the ingredients.  Add more salt to taste.
Serve immediately so it stays bright green.




Joining with Family Friendly Fridays at mommiecooks