Avocado and Black Bean Soft Tacos

When there's so many fresh fruits and vegetables coming out of the farmers' market and backyard gardens, it's not hard to come up with healthy quick recipes.  Half of the ingredients were sitting in my kitchen window screaming, "Eat me!"  I felt like Alice with a craving for Mexican food.

HERE'S ALL I DID

to make 2 soft tacos

• 2 white corn tortillas
• 1 small avocado
• 1 small ripe tomato
• 1 green onion
• 1 small jalapeno pepper
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/2 cup black beans, drained
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

Prep the vegetables first.

Remove the seed from the avocado, make long 1/4-inch slices, and scoop out flesh and set inside small bowl.  Roughly chop the tomato, green onion and jalapeno pepper; toss into bowl with avocado.  Add lime juice.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Gently toss them all together.  Set aside.

If you have one, heat a small cast iron skillet over medium high heat.  Drop both corn tortillas into the pan.  Allow them to heat through for 30-to 40-seconds, then flip with a spatula.  Heat for another 30- to 40seconds. You just need to crisp  up one side each of the tortillas.  Turn off heat and carefully remove from pan to plate.

Each tortilla should have a dry crisp side and a soft side.  With the soft side up, fill the tortillas with black beans and vegetable mixture.  Top with cilantro springs.  You're ready to eat.

Incredible Fresh Fig Bars

I don't have a photo of this INCREDIBLE FIG BAR recipe, yet.  You see, I didn't bake this recipe; my friend baked it and I ate it.  Mind you, it's one thing to eat fresh picked figs warm off the tree, which is my favorite way to eat them.  However, eating them as a cold dessert bar is slap my grandma for never making these for me- good!

At the time of this posting, figs have finished the first yield of the Texas summer in July.  Figs will put on again in September.  That's when I will have my chance to bake up a HUGE batch of fig bars for all my friends and family and to show off to you.  I can't wait.  Until then, I wanted you to be prepared to bake your own batch when you get your chance.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

fills a 13- by 9-inch pan

Filling

• 4 cups fresh figs, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons lemon peel, finely grated
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Crust

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 2 cup unbleached flour
• 3 cup quick-cooking or old fashion oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Heat Oven to 350ºF.

For Filling: Combine figs, water, honey, 1/4 teaspoon salt and lemon peel in saucepan and simmer 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until dark and thickened, stirring occasionally. Combine 2 tablespoons flour and water and stir into fig mixture. Cook 5 minutes longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and walnuts.

For Crust: Cream shortening with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Combine flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and oats and stir into creamed mixture. Divide mixture in half and place half into the bottom of a well-greased 9 x 13 inch pan.  Spread the fig filling evenly over bottom layer. Sprinkle remaining half of crust mixture on top and press with fork.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Cut into squares while still warm. Cool completely before removing from pan.

Spinach and Squash Recipe

This is one of those easy squash recipes that comes from adding a little of this and a little of that.  If it weren't for my love of bacon, I could easily be a vegetarian.  Piling my plate high with vegetables is my favorite meal any day or night.  And I could definitely eat this combination everyday for a week and not grow tired of eating it.  Actually, I did.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 spaghetti squash
• 1 head of garlic or 15 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, blanched, drained & chopped
• olive oil
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (GOOD Parmesan cheese)

Heat the oven to 400ºF.

Cut squashes in half, scoop out seeds with a melon baller (SAVE THE SEEDS) . Coat the cut side with olive oil and place cut side down on a cookie sheet coated with olive oil.  Under each squash, place 3 to 4 whole garlic cloves that have also been coated with olive oil.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until fork tender, but not so far as mushy.

Remove from oven and allow to cool just a few minutes.  The butternut squash skin will pull apart from the flesh with no problems.  For the spaghetti squash, use a fork to scrap perpendicular to the strands and they come out easily.  I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend transferring the strands to a strainer or sieve before plating.  The strands release water after being removed.

Chop the roasted garlic cloves and aside.

For the spinach, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Drop in washed spinach and blanch for 1 to 2 minutes, but no longer than that.  Transfer spinach to a colander set inside a bowl to drain.  When cool enough to handle, squeeze dry the spinach and roughly chop.  Set aside.

It's time to bring it together.  For each serving, toss together about a cup of chopped butternut squash, a cup of spaghetti squash, 1/3 cup chopped spinach.  Season with chopped roasted garlic, salt & pepper and top with shavings of Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Depending on the size of your squash, number of servings will vary.

LEFTOVERS
This really tastes good the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that.  Combine a serving in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for up to 2 minutes on high. It's makes a wonderful lunch with fresh baked bread.

Oven Roasted Hash Browns – Made Ahead

I love a good hearty breakfast recipe that sticks to my ribs.  Don't you?  Breakfast cereals, muffins and yogurt smoothies are fine, but some mornings I need a meal to get me through the busy day ahead.  Problem is, I don't want to take too long in the kitchen to make breakfast.  I want to make it and go!  To achieve a quick breakfast,  I have to plan the meal ahead of time.  Now already, I have the habit of keeping oven-fried bacon in the freezer.  And recently, I've started keeping oven-roasted hash browns in the freezer.  Divided into 4-serving portions in air-tight freezer bags, it's no problem to have hot hash browns with breakfast tacos or just on the side of a couple of scrambled eggs.

Why go through all the trouble of making frozen hash browns when I could just buy a frozen bag from the grocery store?  Because, I prefer to eat organically grown potatoes and potatoes raised by local farmers.  And the grocery store where I shop doesn't sell organic or locally raised hash browns.  So, I have to make my own.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 4 large potatoes
• bacon drippings, olive oil or cooking oil (whatever you prefer)
• salt & fresh pepper

Heat the oven to 425ºF.

Start by peeling and chopping the potatoes into 1-inch chunks.  Place the chunks onto a large cookie sheet, drizzle with bacon drippings, season with salt and pepper.  Bake for 20- to 25-minutes. Use a metal spatula to lift the hash browns off the cookie sheet.  Allow the hash browns to cool on the pan.  Make sure the hash browns are evenly layered on the cookie sheet and place in the freezer until frozen solid, 30-minutes or so.  Transfer frozen hash browns to an air-tight bag or container.  Keeps very well in the freezer for several months.

Come meal time, reheat hash browns in the oven at 350ºF for 7 to 10 minutes.  Or, reheat in the microwave until heat thoroughly.  Times vary depending on your microwave.

If you wish to eat them in breakfast burritos, then stir-fry them in a pan with a little bit of oil over medium heat, before adding beaten eggs.  Scramble together with your other favorite spices and salsa, fill a warm tortilla then, you are on your way!

It's always nice to have help in the kitchen.

Russian Style Cabbage Rolls Made The Fast Way

Trust me.  This easy to make cabbage dinner tastes a WHOLE lot better than I could make it look in this photo.  This wonderful-I ate 3 servings-cabbage recipe comes out of a brand new cookbook called Recipes from the Root Cellar by Andrea Chesman. The book is loaded with 270 fresh ways to enjoy Winter vegetables.  I'm totally diggin' it.

Never having made any form of cabbage rolls, I turned to two cooking friends for tips.  They told me stories of their mothers sitting around the table with other family members rolling and rolling away.   Neither one of them actually rolled their own cabbage rolls recipes.    My busy-mom friends took the fast and easy route, so I did too.  Instead of blanching the head of cabbage to soften the leaves for making rolls, I just sliced it up like I was making a chunky slaw and moved on.

I had to plan when I would cook the rice ahead of time, but the rest of the dish can be prepared in less than 15 minutes.  It takes 1-hour to bake it off.  If you have an oven that allows you to set a timer to stop cooking, use it.  Then, you can go off swimming with the kids or take a nap while the oven does all the work.  That's what I did.   I can't tell you just how nice it was to come in from being at the pool and smell dinner waiting for us in the stove.  I need more recipes like this one in my life.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 medium head green cabbage, roughly cut into 1/2-inch slices
• 1 pound lean grass-fed ground beef
• 1 cup cooked white or brown rice
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 garlic cloves, minced or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper

for the sauce

• 2 cups unseasoned tomato sauce or tomato puree
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup mild apple cider vinegar (artisanal cider vinegar is recommended)
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• salt & fresh ground pepper

HEAT the oven to 350ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, cooked rice, onion, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper.  Mix it up using your hands to get it thoroughly blended.  Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, onion, apple cider, brown sugar, and ginger.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add more cider vinegar as needed for a sweet-sour sauce (artisanal cider vinegar is less sharp-tasting than supermarket cider vinegar and works better in this sauce).

In a 9- by 13-inch baking dish, lay down a layer of half the cabbage.  Then, divide the meat mixture in half and lay down a layer of meat over the cabbage.  Again, use your hands; it's easier.  Pour half the tomato sauce all over the first layer.  Add another layer with the other half of the cabbage, again the meat.  Finish with pouring the remaining sauce all over the top.

Cover the casserole with foil, poke a few holes to allow steam to escape. BAKE 1-HOUR. Serve hot with mashed potatoes or warmed wheat rolls.

Cook's Notes: For the cider vinegar, I had Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar on hand and used it.

Russian style cabbage dinner before it goes in the oven.

Healthy Taco Pie Recipe

Taco pie recipes come in all shapes and flavors.  This one in particular was a big hit with my family and our neighbors.  Full of tasty ingredients already found in the refrigerator and pantry.  Common goodies brought together to make a very satisfying meal when your so hungry you hardly speak during dinner.  This recipe was inspired by a very handy cookbook, Make-Ahead Meals For Busy Moms by Jane Doiron.  (Great book full of family friendly meals.  Read my full book review I wrote a while back.)

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

serves 4 hungry adults and 3 growing kids

• 2 pounds extra lean ground beef
• 1 cup or 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
• 6 whole garlic cloves

• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can or 2 cups pinto beans, partially drained
• 1 cup fresh corn off the cob, or canned or frozen
• 1 (4-ounce) can mild green chilies
• salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Cornbread topping

You can either use two (6.5-ounce) ready mix packages of cornbread and follow the directions, or make it from scratch as I did.

• 1 1/2 cups fresh cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk

Condiments and toppings (optional)

• sour cream
• favorite salsa
• Tabasco sauce
• jalapenos

Over medium high heat in a large skillet, start by browning the beef with the onions, bell pepper and garlic until no pink remains in the color of the meat.

Stir in the chili powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder and cook for one minute.

Add in water, pinto bean with a little liquid, corn and green chilies.  Season with salt and fresh pepper to taste. Cook until heated through. Transfer meat and vegetables to a 13-inch by 9-inch casserole dish greased on its sides.

HEAT OVEN TO 400ºF.

In a medium bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients of the  cornbread topping.  Make a well and pour in all the wet ingredients.  Stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened.  Pour the cornbread batter over the middle of the meat filling in the dish and spread evenly.  The batter will spread to the edge of the dish during baking.  Trust me.

BAKE 20 to 30-minutes, depending on the heat of your oven.  Bake until cornbread is light golden on top and a fork inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Cook's Notes:  If you find the cornbread in this dinner to be a little dry, add your favorite salsa over the top and/or sour cream.  I purposely left out the 1/4 cup shortening called for in the original cornbread recipe.  I didn't miss it and it didn't hurt the cornbread.

Fried Rice with Pork

After studying through several fried rice recipes, I ended up taking a little bit from each one and creating my own with what I had on hand.  And the meal turned out to be a hit; my husband filled his bowl 3 times, my son had 2 bowls, I had 1 1/2 bowls.  Uh, no leftovers whatsoever.  Even after eating his fill, my husband asked if we could have THIS fried rice on a regular basis.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to make about 6 servings

Cook the rice, first

• 1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
• 2 cups hot water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add uncooked rice.  Toast rice in oil until lightly golden, careful not to burn it.  Stir in hot water, cover and REDUCE heat to Low.  Set the timer for 12 minutes and let rice simmer until all the water is absorbed.  Remove from heat.  Fluff rice, check for tenderness.  Keep covered until ready to use.

While the rice is cooking, prep the following ingredients.

• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 bunch broccoli crowns, cut into 1-inch bites
• 1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks or julienned
• 2 green onions, chopped

• 2 cups cooked ham steak, cut into bite size strips

Wet ingredients

• 2 eggs, beaten

Set aside in a bowl.

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• juice from 1/2 lemon

Mixed together and set aside in a bowl.  Taste to make sure there's a nice balance of soy sauce to lemon.  One should not overpower the other.

• neutral tasting oil for stir frying

Is everything cut up? Rice is tender?  Good, let's stir fry!

Heat a large skillet with 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat.  Add chopped yellow onion and minced garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until softened.

Add the broccoli and carrots, stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add cooked pork and stir fry until pork is heated through, another 2 minutes.

Push the mixture to the outer edge of the pan, making the center of the pan clear.  Add 1 tablespoon oil, allow to heat up a few seconds, then add beaten eggs.  Cook until scrambled into small lumps.

Add 3/4 of the cooked rice to the skillet, along with the chopped green onions.  Continue to stir and toss, to coat with oil and prevent from sticking.

Add the soy sauce-lemon mixture and mix well.  Continue to fry until rice is thoroughly heated.  Serve it up in individual bowls or one big family size bowl.  Garnish with extra chopped green onions.

How To Freeze Peaches and How To Peel Frozen Peaches

A city-dwelling locavore walks into a country store to buy fresh produce and starts eyeing a small box of peaches.  The wise farm matron behind the counter says to the city slicker, "I could make you a REAL good deal on some #2 peaches, half a bushel for $18.00."  The small box of peaches was going for $10/box and maybe had 10 to 12 peaches inside.

Well, thinking that was a GREAT DEAL, the city slicker asked the farmer, "What are #2 peaches?"

The farmer explained that those are peaches that are ripe and ready to put up, but too ripe to make it to the  grocery store shelf.  Or, the peach has a soft spot or brown spot and the grocery store won't take them.  They're all good to eat; washed and ready, perfect for freezing or baking, but can't go to the chain stores.

To which the eager city dweller replied, "I'll take a whole box!"

Then the wise woman surprised the locavore.  She said, "You know you can freeze those peaches WHOLE?"

"Really?"

"Oh yea, Honey, all you have to do is lay'em on a sheet pan and let'em get rock hard in the freezer.  Then you bag'em up and keep'em frozen 'til you're ready to use them.  Now to peel the skins off, all you have to do is run'em under cold water and the skin pulls right off the peach.  Don't let them thaw!  Work with them frozen; it's easier to peel and cut them up that way."

"Will do, ma'am.  Thank you!" said the city slicker.

______________________________________________________

So let me tell ya, a half bushel of peaches is A LOT, A LOT, A LOT of peaches.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  The box was very deceiving.  It didn't look that big, but the number of peaches it could hold was surprising.  I quickly ran out of sheet pans and had to rearrange my freezers' shelves to get the peaches all in the freezer just so.

What am going to do with all those peaches?  Well, I've been dreaming about that since the ride home from the farm.  I'll definitely make peach cobbler; it's our absolute favorite way to eat peaches.  I'll make peach bellini drinks, and smoothies for breakfast. And I'll have to try my hand at peach ice cream, most certainly.  But first, I couldn't wait to test out the farmer's technique of peeling frozen peaches.

I got out enough peaches to make a batch of peach breakfast smoothies.  Ran one peach at a time under cold water, broke the skin and it just came off.  EASIER THAN A BANDAID!  Whole sides of skin came off in one piece.  NO KNIFE NEEDED.  Well, except when I needed to cut them up into chunks.

If I hadn't been so fascinated with trying to take off the entire peel at once, I know the process of removing the skins would have been much faster.  Like a kid, I was having fun.  I went on to cut up the peaches into chunks and hit them with my handy dandy hand blender.

The results left me with a the smoothest frozen delight I didn't expect.  The consistency was that of sherbet and it was great eating it all natural.

When I made the breakfast smoothies, I used a 1 to 1 ratio of organic vanilla yogurt and frozen peach puree. Then, added enough milk to make the mix drinkable through a straw.  The kiddos slurped them up faster than it took to make them.

Have you ever heard of freezing peaches whole before now?

Chicken Chow Mein Made By A Kid

This recipe is TOTALLY EASY, TOTALLY SIMPLE and so GOOD, you'll eat two bowls of it.  I guarantee!

A few weeks back, I picked up two well written & illustrated cookbooks for my kiddos, so they could learn to cook on their own.  We agreed that for two nights out of the week they will prepare a dessert and a dinner, but not on the same nights.  They chose which day they wanted to make supper, then another to make dessert.  For the sake of my sanity, I asked them not choose the same days to do the opposite dish.  They're not ready to work without my supervision and I'm not patient enough to teach two kids, two different recipes at the same time.  My eye twitches just thinking about it.

Last night, Max cooked up Chicken Chow Mein and it was surprisingly delicious.  I had it again for lunch and it was even BETTER!  I told my husband not to skip his lunch or I would eat it for him.  He promptly took his share of the leftovers. This recipe is definitely one that will go into the monthly rotation of family favorites for us.  AND! I won't be the one who cooks it, YIPPEE!!

Now before I get started with the recipe, you need to know that my grocer didn't have authentic Asian egg noodles that are traditional in chow mein recipes, but they did have Thai Rice Noodles.  I've read other recipes that have substituted pasta noodles with egg noodles, but THAT IS NOT THE SAME.  Different ingredients, different texture, and I just won't do it.  I went with the Thai rice noodles and was completely happy.  Ok, let's cook!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 8 ounces of dried egg noodles or Thai rice noodles
• 1 teaspoon oil

Cook the noodles according to the directions on their package.  Drain and keep warm until ready to toss into stir-fry mix.

For the stir-fry

• 1 package (12 ounce) frozen stir-fry vegetables (broccoli, carrots, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts), slightly thawed
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into strips

• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• pinch of salt and pepper to taste

After you have all the vegetables chopped, the meat cut up into strips, and you've just dropped the noodles in the hot water.

Max dropping the rice noodles in the pot.

.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil and chicken.  Stir-fry it for a few minutes until golden, then move the chicken onto a plate.

Put the garlic, ginger, and thawed vegetables EXCEPT green onions, in the frying pan.  Stir-fry them for 4 to 5 minutes, turning them all the time.  Add the chicken, green onions, and drained noodles.  Mix everything together.

Blend the soy sauce and lemon juice together, then pour over chow mein mixture.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 2 more minutes to heat through.   Get out the chopsticks, it's DINNER TIME!!!

He was really jazzed about cooking dinner. He talked me through his steps like he was on TV.

TASTY EXTRAS

The original recipe says we can use steak or pork fillet instead of chicken.  And for a vegetarian chow mein, replace the meat with 2 zucchini and half a head of broccoli.  The frozen bag of vegetables I suggested really didn't have enough broccoli for our liking, so the extra half of head would make it even better next time.

Y'all let me know how this recipe works for your family.  HAVE FUN!

Finger Lickin’-Lip Smackin Hot Wings

All sorts of folks have been making hot wings for some time now and we all know there's nothing new under the sun.  However, not all hot wings recipes are created equally delicious.  Am I right?

A good hot wings recipe needs to start with tender, smoky wings that are juicy, not overcooked.  The heat of the sauce should have a kick right up front but mellows after the wings are gone.  And the creamy dipping sauce should be strong enough to stand up against the spicy wings, but not be so powerful that it stands separate from the other flavors.

I was inspired by a fellow food blogger, Donalyn of dlyn.com,  to make up a batch of hot wings.  I followed the idea of her hot wings recipe with what I had on hand, and her Creamy Feta Salad Dressing recipe, too.  WHAT A HIT! I tell you these wings and a pitcher of homemade Sangria is all you need to start a great night of grilling.

The recipe I'm sharing with you will satisfy four adults as an appetizer.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 20-25 chicken wings
• 1/3 cup neutral tasting oil (save your olive oil for another recipe)
• 5 large garlic cloves, finely minced (I love garlic.)
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 1 teaspoon New Mexico chili powder.

Coat the wings with these ingredients and allow to sit for 1 hour, or chill for as long as you need, or refrigerate overnight.

While the wings are marinating, prepare the spicy after grilling sauce.

After the wings are grilled sauce.

• 1/2 cup Cholula Hot Sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon New Mexico chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked hot paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• juice of 1/2 a lemon

Mix together in a microwaveable bowl, heat for up to 2 minutes, until the ingredients come together into a sauce.

That didn't take long, let's go ahead and mix up the Creamy Feta Dipping Sauce, too.

Creamy Feta Dipping Sauce

• 2 large garlic cloves
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Either in a food processor or with a wonderful hand blender, put all the ingredients together EXCEPT the feta.  Blend them until smooth.  Taste for salt (but remember Feta is salty) and pepper.  If you like a thinner dipping sauce, trying adding milk 1 tablespoon at a time, up to 3 tablespoons.  When you got that where you want it, process in the feta cheese with a few pulses.  Leave some the feta in small bits through out.  Cover and refrigerate until it's time to serve the wings.

NOW LET'S GRILL!

Using either charcoal or gas for your grilling, get the temperature up to 325º-350ºF.  Direct heat works well for the wings to give them semi-crispy skins.  The short grilling time will ensure juicy wings.  If you don't have a thermometer to measure your heat, do the hand count method.

Hold your hand at grilling height over the coals. Count the number of seconds you can hold you hand there before the heat forces you to move it.

• 2 seconds, hot coals: 400 - 450º F degrees
• 4 seconds, medium coals: 350 - 375º F degrees
• 5 seconds, low coals: 300 - 325º F degrees

Give the wings one more good toss around in their marinade for a good oily coating, before putting on the grill.  Grill for 5 minutes on each side, set a timer to make sure you don't overcook them.

Remove from heat, transfer to medium to large size bowl.

Pour on the spicy red sauce.

Grab some BIG napkins. Pour the Creamy Feta Dipping Sauce into individual bowls, so you can double dip, and y'all are ready to eat!

Duke Street Mushroom Pasta Sauce

Looking for a meaty pasta sauce without any meat?  Here it is!  Thick and exploding with rich flavors, this mushroom pasta sauce recipe is a keeper in my cookbook binder.

Let me tell you about how this sauce got it's name, first.

Mother's day I told my family that I didn't want to do anything.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nada.  I didn't even want to get out of my pajamas.  The weather was rainy with no chance of sun and the temperature was cool enough to drink hot tea under a blanket.  A perfect day to spend watching old English television dramas on Netflix.

Now, anyone that subscribes to Netflix already knows the joy of watching complete television seasons of old and new shows INSTANTLY.  Well, I had the BBC miniseries, The Duchess of Duke Street, all 15 episodes, waiting in my queue and I was determined to watch as many as I could stand.  I didn't know much about this series, aside from the description given.  But because I've never been disappointed by English dramas, I knew I had nothing to lose.

Well, the first three or four episodes tell of a young, determined woman that goes to work as a cook for a Lord.  She has to forget everything she knows about cooking so she can be properly trained by the proud and excellent French chef that runs the kitchen with the highest of standards.  ---  I told my husband over and over again, "I promise.  I had NO IDEA this was a foodie drama!"

After watching all the steamed flounder, roasted poultry, and pastries galore.  I couldn't take another slothful moment on the couch.  I HAD to get up and cook!  I wanted something rich, saucy and with ingredients that I love to eat.  After all, it was Mother's day, and damn it!  I wanted to eat stuff I love to eat without any regard for the picky eaters in my house.  Whoops, did I say that out loud? Oh well, it's out there now; can't take it back.

I went to work chopping, drizzling, stirring, chopping again, dashing, smigging, chopping up a little more, pureéing, to finally simmering, uncovered, on low heat for 45 minutes.  The outcome of my foodie desires was a thick, dark, rich garlicky mushroom sauce that heavily fell off the ladle onto a bed of fettuccine.  My, my was it thick and beautiful!  And the aroma was divine.  I KNOW it had something to do with the balsamic vinegar I poured in while the mushrooms were cooking with the onions and whole garlic cloves.

Would you be surprised if I told you that we ate our meal in front of my laptop watching more Duchess of Duke Street?  If it had not been for this show, this incredible sauce would not have been created.  My mouth waters now, just thinking back on it.  I'm so looking forward to the leftovers tonight.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1/4 cup good olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 12-15 whole garlic cloves
• 8 to 10 small, 2-inch Portabella mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 3/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 28-0unce cans San Marzano plum tomates, partly pureéd
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Prep all the vegetables.  Partly pureé the plum tomatoes, leaving a few tomato chunks here and there.  Set aside.

In a dutch oven over medium heat, cook the onions, whole garlic cloves, mushrooms, parsley, Italian seasoning and rubbed sage in olive oil until the onions are translucent but not browned.  If the mushrooms have absorbed the oil and the pot seems dry, drizzle in a little more oil.

Pour in the balsamic vinegar and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the initial vinegar aroma has subsided.  It should start to thicken.  Pour in the pureéd tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.  Stirring occasionally, uncovered, for 45 minutes.  Sauce will thicken more after it cools down.

I actually allowed the sauce to cool and just set in the pot for another hour, until we were ready to eat.  I think this made it even better.  I can't explain how, but it just turned darker and thicker as it cooled.  When the dinner hour was finally upon us, I warmed it up and served it over a bed of fettuccine, with garlic bread on the side, of course.  Heavenly days, what a meal it was!

Radish, Mango and Apple Salad

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

to serve 4 friends

• 10-15 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 celery sticks, think sliced
• 1 small ripe mango
• fresh dill sprigs, to garnish

for the dressing

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons creamed horseradish
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Prep the dressing first by blending the sour cream, horseradish and dill in a small bowl and season with a little salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Trim the radishes and slice them thinly.  Put in a bowl with the sliced apple and celery.

Halve the mango length-ways, cutting either side of the stone pit.  Make even, criss-cross cuts through the flesh of each side section and bend it back to separate the cubes.  Remove the cubes with a paring knife and add to the bowl.

Stir the dressing again, then pour it over the vegetables and fruit and stir gently so that all the ingredients are well coated without breaking up the mango.  Garnish with dill sprigs and serve.

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