Braised Pork over Rice

Keeping in line with my cruddy week, I decided to start off the weekend right by making my most favorite meal in the entire world.  As in, if I was on my death bed, I would request someone make this for me.  Its seriously THAT good.  Warm, spicy, sweet - its everything good in one pan that you could ever want.  Husbands swoon and kids lick their chops when the sauce hits the pan and the aroma fills the house beckoning everyone to the table.  Its just majestic.  Say 'amen' now because you'll swear its heaven sent.  Heck, they might even serve this in heaven while playing "Kings and Queens" from 30 Seconds to Mars while we eat Hang It on the Wall cake for dessert.  Well, maybe that's just my version of the afterlife. There had better be prosecco in there somewhere too...that's another post entirely though.  HA!

Do yourself a favor if you make this.  Have everything chopped, diced and measured beforehand.  It moves fairly quickly and its just convenient to have everything prepared ahead of time.  Also, feel free to use whatever rice you like.  I've done brown rice, jasmine, white...just whatever you want.  For my laziness, boil in a bag is great.  Do NOT over stir the meat while frying. You want it to get a nice crispy coating to it. Frying in two batches helps avoid steaming the meat and making the coating gummy. Two batch frying allows it to crisp instead. Well worth the extra five minutes.

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Braised Pork over Rice

• 2 pounds Boneless Pork In 1 Inch, Bite Sized Cubes
• 1 Tablespoon Each Corn Starch And Flour, For Dredging
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• ⅔ cups Beef Broth
• ⅔ cups Soy Sauce
• 4 Tablespoons Cooking Sherry
• ¼ cups Finely Diced White Onion
• 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
• 2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 dash Fresh Ground Pepper, to taste
• 2 bags Boil In A Bag Rice, Prepared To Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Dredge meat in flour/cornstarch mix. Add half of meat to hot skillet and brown quickly. Remove and set aside. Brown remaining meat and set aside. Pour off excess oil from the pan.

In a small bowl, combine the stock, soy and sherry. Add onion, garlic, sugar, ginger, salt and pepper, stirring well to combine.  Add reserved meat back to the skillet with the sauce and simmer covered for 15 minutes or until meat is tender. Serve over rice.  Serves 6 amply well.

Cupcakey Cuteness

I hear on great authority that faeries love sparkley things and oddly, sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles, I'm told in fact.  And they adore cake.  But they love, love, love cake with sprinkles.  If you don't give them cake with sprinkles, they get naughty and do bad things to your garden...like blow all the petals off your flowers and dig up your seeds and plant them in your neighbors garden.  I hear rumors of them feeding your carrots to the rabbits at night when nobody is looking too.  So do yourself a favor, give them sprinkles...and cake.  And throw some glitter around your trees on a full moon to appease the wee buggers!

My week has been plain crap-o and I needed a bit of magic to pull myself out of this funk I've been in.   I sit staring at a batch of the cutest cupcakes around called "Fairy Cakes".  Originally I was told that this recipe was made to celebrate nature and all the magic that happens in it.  To appease the imps, faeries and other magically mischevious beings, these little cakes were left as offerings around trees and bushes and known hidey-holes.  I don't know how true that is, but I like to think there is a little magic still left in the world - would be sad and dull if there wasn't!  Maybe its just the kid in me, who knows?!  This recipe was given to me a few years ago by a member of a group I belonged to when we designed a cookbook to be printed and sold to help our leader off-set some expenses.  It was a great project where I got to completely edit, design, proof and the whole shebang.  It was a labor of love...since then I have made these cupcakes at least once a month, sometimes more!

These cupcakes aren't overly sweet, they're very mild actually and best yet...ONE bowl.  Love that.  And they always turn out dense and well, cakey.  lol  You can add a bit of coloring to them to match your sprinkles.  Pink is always adorable and at Easter time, I dye them in pastels.  These are just terrific little gems.  Make them mini-sized if you want - just as yummy!  I promise you, you will love these cute little vanilla treats.  They are one of my kids favorites.  Make some magic for your family!  Enjoy!

Fairy Cakes

 ½ c melted butter
7 tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
¾ c self rising flour
2 tsp vanilla, divided
3 tbsp milk
1 can of buttercream icing
sprinkles!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a 12 cup muffin pan with pretty paper cups.

Mix together butter and sugar till light. Add 1 tsp vanilla and mix in eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add flour and finish with the milk.  Make sure you scrape EVERY bit of this batter out. There is JUST enough for 12 cupcakes I promise.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown on top and spring back when you touch the top. Cool completely before frosting and decorating.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla to the buttercream icing and stir well to combine. This gives it a really nice homemade taste and not so much like the can.  (or you can make your own but that wasn't happening today.)  Add sprinkles and enjoy!

Coming next week:  mascarpone garlic cheese bread (your thighs will hate you), chocolate waffles with berry topping & a retro cafe favorite - chicken croquettes!  Yum!

Island Chicken Salad

It is *so* hot here in New York and I know its mega hot in the South, where my friend Siggy is "like a slug" in her house with the blinds shut to keep out the heat.  Bearing in mind that I'll be in the South myself here in under 3 weeks, I pulled out one of my daughter's favorite recipes to share.  Whenever we take it anywhere, its gone as soon as you set it down.  People always remember this because its so different that other chicken salads and always request it at family events.  Its cool and creamy with a sweet, crunchy bite to it.  And better still, no cooking!  (unless you WANTED to turn on your stove and cook your own chicken, but that defeats the no cooking thing!)  Simply chill.  It's perfect for light lunches, its good on crackers or toasted bagel halves.  Pair it with some fruit and cheese and its the greatest little snack!  I loved mine on these little mini, super soft Kaiser buns.

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Island Chicken Salad

10 ounces pre-cooked chicken chunks
8 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
8 ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp mayonnaise


Mix all ingredients together until well blended and chill for at least an hour.  Spread on your choice of breads.


Tip: If you don’t enjoy the tangy-ness (is that a word?) of cream cheese, decrease the cream cheese to 6 ounces and increase the mayonnaise to taste.  Its just as good!

Bob Marley and Cake For Breakfast...

This morning, I am haunted by Bob Marley's wisdom.  "The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you.  You just have to find the ones worth suffering for."  Thank you Bob.  Where were you years ago in my life to pass on that sage knowledge?  I would have just stayed home, had cake and went on with my merry life but no - I had to go and make a friend who would stomp on me instead.  Thanks Bob.  Having a particularly hard day already this morning and so what better to cheer me up than making a whopper chocolate cake at 3:30 am?  Perfectly normal given the circumstances I'm in.

I'm all about the Secret's philosophy of "what you send out, you receive".  Ever heard of that theory?  Law of Attraction?  So in light of my whole horrific ordeal last night, and this past week really, I think today is about sending out some good in hopes that maybe I can somehow turn this funk I'm in around.  I could use a moment of niceness to wash over me and renew my faith in mankind.  (and when I say 'man', I mean the one who stomped on me in particular)  What better than cake as a prayer to the Universe to send you something nice in return?  lol

My neighbors have just moved in and today I'm preparing them a home cooked meal.  I've seen too many pizza boxes going through that door this past week.  Tonight, I am making them a spicy, tangy brisket, glazed ginger carrots, a super cheesy potato casserole, yeast rolls and this cake I'm going to share with you all below.  I was going to make my friend Siggy's chocolate cake recipe but I had all this stuff in my pantry and the commissary isn't open at 3:30 am anyways.  :P

This cake is now infamous at my husband's work.  The Army lab team happily gobbled it up and I got swamped with requests on how to make it.  I always  remember it by heart from helping my mom make it so many times.  Come to find out, this is that same sour cream cake that's been floating around for years.  Anyways, in case you DON'T have the recipe, you do now.  It really is the most chocolatey, fudgey, moist even days later, need a gallon of milk with it cake you will ever get.  You can use icing if you dare but I'm afraid of the sugar buzz off that one - and it really doesn't need it.  A light dusting of powdered sugar is perfect!

Psst - see my antiquey Army Medical Corps platter?  Part of our new collection.  So cool and a steal!  Gotta love Etsy.

click to enlarge

Hang It On The Wall Cake

1 box of the most chocolatey, fudgey cake mix you can find
1 small box of the most chocolately, fudgey instant pudding mix you can find
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup of sour cream
6 ounces of dark chocolate chips (or semi-sweet if you prefer)
1 tbsp flour

Preheat your oven to 350. Spray your Bundt cake pan with cooking spray or grease/flour.  Set aside.

Mix all the ingredients (except the eggs, flour and chocolate chips) together till moistened.  Add eggs one at a time to the batter, ensuring they get mixed in well before adding the next.  Toss your chocolate chips in a bowl with the flour, coating them all.  Fish them out and fold by hand into the batter.  Pour into pans and cook for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into middle comes out clean.  (this may take a few minutes extra, just watch to avoid burning the top)

New, New, New!

I am so excited about my new look here.  Pretty cute I gotta say.  :P   Lots of new stuff coming up for you this week including a nice, cool Island Chicken Salad that is sure to delight you on these hot summer days!  Also, my Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole which I'm making for my new neighbors that just moved in.  (poor things - the movers still haven't brought their household goods to them after two weeks!)  Also, my mom's Hang It On The Wall cake, which is a sour cream chocolate cake.  It's weird...this has been in my family for a very long time but yet everyone has this recipe now in some version or another. 

Since our move to Georgia is coming up soon, I'm trying to use up all my frozen goodies so who knows what will be popping up on here in the next coming weeks.  See ya'll soon!

Transformation...Trials and Tribulations

Many of you know from my FB posts that we finally received our new orders to move and how hard I took that bit of news.  Its 5 days later and I still cannot wrap my head around the fact I have to move to Fort Benning, Georgia.  Originally they gave us less than a week to get there so Jon was in a flurry to go get his outprocessing done at epic speed.  Our original plan was movers/packers here next Thursday, us on the road Saturday morning and he would report in on August 2nd.  Thankfully, they extended this time to September 6th now.  Not that its any consolation since I don't WANT to go to Georgia but now I don't have to get there at lightning speed and I can do things my way a bit more.  I mean, I can't even pack for a weekend trip without it taking me two weeks of planning, post it notes and list making to make sure I don't forget everything I needed.  My OCD and anxiety ridden brain can only handle so much.  Being forced to do the seemingly impossible in under a week was really setting me off *BIG TIME*.  I cried for 3 days straight, used up a whole box of tissues and didn't sleep for over 48 hours.  Seriously hard to bear.

The other night, as I was up thanks to a brain that wouldn't shut off or shut up and kept talking to itself all night long, I got up and was watching television and I saw a (get ready to laugh) book called "Transformation".  It was a mini infomercial looking type thing and I was just engrossed like this was the greatest thing I had ever seen.  Totally captivated.  Anyways, in the course of the commercial it was talking about losing weight by healing the "whole self" - not just the body but the soul and mind as well.  How do you heal the whole by healing a part kinda thing.  I'm all about holistic healing.  I love herbal remedies and all that jazz so this really struck me.  And I'm also a big believer in the whole Laws of Attraction (the Secret) thing.  I really do believe what you put into it, is what you get out of it.  This whole theory was wrapped into this book.  So I ordered it and when it came this week, I fell right into reading it.  What a better time than when you're down and out to find inspiration in the weirdest of places.  Its an 18 week program to help you change the way you think, to break down hidden barriers and beliefs you have in place that prevent you from moving forward with ANY goal or ambition...granted its aimed toward weight loss in this aspect but the principles remain the same.  I sure hope it works.  I need a change.

I know you're probably all rolling your eyes..but this program is 18 weeks with online FREE support and has worksheets, videos, goals, forums, a great community...just everything you could want to start changing yourself and your life from the inside out.  That's a first for me.  Never found anything that change my mindset FIRST.  Its no good telling me to go exercise if I lack the motivation to do them.  If I wake up and find 450 reasons NOT to go to the gym, what good does it do me?  A book is just a book...that's why this is so much more.  I'm just amazed.  Transformation.com if you're curious.  

I have been dealing with so many things that I don't talk to anyone about because they are so intimately  personal and hard to describe that I have found myself withdrawn and distracted from well, just about everything for the past six months or more.  I have painted myself into my own corner and wonder how I"m going to get out of this spot.  In my own dread and self-doubt, I have allowed a person with the label of "friend" to walk all over me like a door mat with no regard to the pain I feeling over and over again.  With my cats, when they do something bad, we squirt them with a water bottle to correct their behavior and so they learn to stop doing the bad things.  Where is the water bottle for your friends?  This friend just has no idea how hurt I am.  You give and you give and you take and take so much and swallow so much pride and sacrifice your own happiness on the hopes of keeping this friendship.  That if you bite your tongue, this person will maybe somehow treat you better if you give them nothing to complain about or berate you over.  That if you don't "bother them", they will be better towards you.

I realized this week, when in the midst of ALL my anguish over this move and my panic mode was at its highest, when I turned to this person for support, I got nothing and was told to quit being my old "negative self".  And rather than telling this person I deserved better, that I needed them to be there for me like a real friend would (TY Siggy for all you have said and done this week to make me feel better btw), I swallowed my tongue and let my hurt and anger build up in me like a volcano about to burst.  Tonight, I had just come to the end of my rope with this person and I find myself at the pinnacle where I must make a choice.  I can either walk away from this person, who I do dearly care about and love tremendously, or I can walk away and say "I"m sorry, but until you treat me better, we can't talk anymore."  Its painful either way I go.  When I think about not having this person in my life, my heart beats a million miles an hour and my breath seizes up in my chest and I can hear my ears just a ringing....I don't want to do this but I feel I have to because I do deserve so much more than this.

You shouldn't HAVE to bite your tongue around a friend.  You should have that freedom to talk to the other person without restraint - to say the hard, difficult things without fear of losing that person in the long run.  You shouldn't be scared to ask a question or inquire why they are behaving a certain way for fear they will yell at you, insult you and berate you like you did something wrong by just asking a question or telling them about an observation.  You shouldn't be afraid to offer advice for fear of being yelled at that they "don't need another mother!".  Most of all, you shouldn't feel bad after every conversation.  To be told you're constantly and consistently wrong, makes you feel small and insignificant.  To have every effort you have made to be in their life, show them you care and want to help THEM (even after all the bad treatment) downgraded to accusations of snooping or interferring is so painful to bear I cannot fathom another fight for fear the last heartstring I have for this person will snap and I will have nothing left.  But I know I deserve more.  For all my kindnesses shown, the concerns, the advice, the caring, the love...for everything I've done and for every bad spot I've stood by them when most people would run in the opposite direction...I deserve more from this person.  I deserve better.  And its time I made my stand.

Fettuccine Alfredo w/ Grilled Chicken - the RIGHT way!

As I promised last week, here is my real deal alfredo!  Even though Paula Deen like to use so much better that it makes even me cringe, on any given day however, I am not afraid of using real butter in any dish I make.  I use it everywhere.  I even pull a Paula myself from time to time and make a peanut butter and butter sammie.  (don't knock it till you try it!)  I am baffled however, that when people go to make stuff like alfredo, they try to deviate from the classic formulation and mess it all up using cream cheese and half & half in an effort to "lighten" it.  Give it up people.  It's a fatty dish.  Use the butter and cream.  You cannot duplicate that rich, buttery flavor using cream cheese and coffee milk.  You just can't.  Embrace the fat people.  I've tried the lighter versions and they taste like watered down milk to me.  Its just disgusting.  I'll do the extra 10 minutes of Zumba, I don't care - just to enjoy a hearty satisfying meal.

If you've never made alfredo, it couldn't be easier.  3 whole ingredients.  Three.  Even a bonafide "I can't cook" bachelor could pull this one off and impress his lady with a home cooked dinner.  It's really, really mind boggling simple to do.  And nutmeg?  No, we don't do that here.  This isn't a cookie or pumpkin pie.  If you want to be all super authentic, by all means grate some nutmeg in there.  I, however, jazz mine up with some garlic and fresh cracked pepper.  Its by far the BEST alfredo I've had.  I make white pizzas with this sauce too.  Its fabulous.  I've drizzled it over panko crusted pork chops, I've poured it over broccoli, I've dipped multitudes of breadsticks in this.  You just can't go wrong with a good alfredo in your arsenal.

The key to this recipe is low and slow.  Keep your heat low, give it time to melt and incorporate together and thicken into a delicious rich sauce.  Do not boil this sauce ...low low low is key.  This really does come together in the amount of time it takes you to boil water and cook your noodles.  Its great for a night when you need a quick meal.  But enough of my babbling...get cooking!

Fettuccine Alfredo 

with Grilled Chicken

1 pint heavy cream
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic (optional)
Grilled chicken slices
Pasta (Your choice of shape, size)

*Note*  You don't HAVE to use grilled chicken.  You could anything you want.  Italian sausage is really good cooked and sliced too on here.  However, if you want to make the grilled chicken I did, I simply drizzle olive oil over some thin boneless, skinless chicken breasts and sprinkle on some garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Grill till brown on each side.  Let cool then slice.  Ta dah!

Start heating up your water and while that's coming to a rolling boil, in a large skillet, add the heavy cream and heat over medium low heat.  DO NOT BOIL THE CREAM...ever.  Add your butter and whisk occasionally till it's melted and incorporated.  Sprinkle in the grated cheese SLOWLY, stirring to combine before adding more.  If using garlic, add 1 tbsp now.  Crack some fresh black pepper in there.  Whisk until smooth and all the cheese has melted.  Let thicken over low heat, whisking frequently.

Makes 4 servings.

Btw...this does NOT reheat well at all in the microwave.  Or on the stovetop for that matter but hopefully you won't have any leftovers.  It's that good.  Truly.  Oh and my friend Siggy's breadsticks are the BOMB with this!  Try them too!

Cheddar Mac & Chicken - as requested & bonus!

I had to giggle while making this recipe today.  My friend Kristi is preggers and craving mac like crazy and I was snickering thinking about when I was pregnant with my kids how I craved Spaghettios like they were going out of style.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner...Chef Boyardee was my personal chef.  LOL  I was also fond of chilled  chocolate covered graham crackers by Keebler.  Those elves have it going on in that tree.  Sheer genius.  Its just so funny the things you crave.

This mac recipe..yeah, I crave it ALL the time.  It is a right tie for Alton Brown's Stovetop Macaroni (recipe at the end of this post! - YUM!) as far as which is my favorite.  Its a riff on one of Rachel Ray's recipes but hers, of course, had broccoli and green stuff I'd never touch with a 10 foot pole, let alone clog up my macaroni and cheese with.  This recipe is slightly spicy.  You could totally omit the cayenne, paprika and mustard if you don't want a kick of spice in there.  Those of you with picky kids might opt for that but my teenagers are all over this as is.  The great thing about this recipe is since it's a homemade sauce, you can add whatever cheese you want.  If your family is all about the mild cheddar, use it.  If you like it stronger, use sharp cheddar.  I use a blend of cheddar and monterey jack.  I just find the two together are perfect but its totally up to you.

The sauce?   No, it's not Velveeta.  Bleck.  That's just blasphemy.  And some of you may be moaning about making a roux for the sauce but its really, really simple.  And honestly...in the time it takes you to make a box version, you can have ALL this homemade taste in the same amount of time and no wacky preservatives either!  I love controlling what I eat.  I can't pronounce half of what's on the back of the blue box, can you?  I even use whole grain noodles and you can't tell the difference.  Its better for you, you're controlling the ingredients...and really, what kinda cheese is powdered?! 

Also, this recipe makes ALOT.  Like 6 *big* servings and b/c of the homemade cheese sauce, it doesn't reheat well in the microwave.  It kinda gets funky in the microwave so if you're going to reheat, do it slowly in a saucepan and if it looks dry, add a splash of milk and stir.  Hope ya'll enjoy!  I know I sure did making it for you!  (btw - bacon is FABULOUS sprinkled across the top of this before serving!  And you could totally top it with buttered breadcrumbs if you like that as well.  All up to you!)

Cheddar Mac & Chicken

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 pound uncooked chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces
salt/pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 pound of macaroni, choice of shape
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all purpose flour
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
3c whole milk
1c chicken stock
3c sharp Cheddar, shredded
1 tbsp Dijon mustard

Place a pot of water to boil for macaroni. Add salt before adding pasta.  Cook according to package directions.  While water is heating up...heat a skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil and chicken seasoned with salt and pepper. Saute a few minutes till chicken is browned lightly then add onion and cook another 5 minutes until onions are tender and chicken is cooked through.  Scoop out into a bowl and set aside.

Return the pan to medium heat. Add butter and melt, then add flour, cayenne and paprika. Whisk together and cook until the roux bubbles.  (it will be rust colored, don't panic!)   Cook one minute more. Whisk in milk and stock slowly and raise heat to bring sauce to a quick boil.  Once it boils, reduce heat to a simmer and allow to thicken, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.   Add cheese to the milk sauce SLOWLY, little bit at a time and whisk till the cheese has melted in and is smooth. Stir in mustard, if using then season with salt/pepper to taste.  Add chicken/onion mixture and pasta to the sauce, stirring well to coat.

BONUS RECIPE!  If you *do* like the box kind better but want to trying a  making a homemade mac for yourself, try Alton Brown's Stovetop Macaroni version.  I don't have a picture...but if you've seen Kraft Deluxe you've seen his. It is the mass yummy! Click the link  for his recipe.

Did *I* Just Make This?!

I love beef stroganoff.  The creamy sauce, the chunks of tender beef...and noodles.  Let us not forget the blessed buttered noodles.  It vexes me however that I am deathly (as in keel over dead in 5 minutes type of deathly) allergic to mushrooms and it seems that ALL delicious looking stroganoffs have mushrooms in one way, shape or form.  YUCK!  Death on a plate?  You eat it.  I'll go eat cake or something!  LOL  However, the other day strolling through Tasty Kitchen I found a recipe from calou84523 that just made me want to eat my monitor.  There before me was a gorgeous looking plate of beef tips with mushrooms & sherry over risotto.  It's like a glorified, beefed up version of stroganoff.  Beefed up?!  You get it!?!  Well I thought it was funny.

Lou's version had mushrooms and I lamented.  Lou's version had risotto which I'm just way too lazy to make b/c it's near 100 degrees outside and I cannot stand the thought of hovering over a simmering pot for an hour straight stirring molten lava risotto.  Lou's version had left over roast beef.  Is there such a thing?  Surely not in my house.  Roast beef, brisket, steaks....anything beef related is gobbled down like it came from the last cow on Earth.  No - this would not do.  But I wanted it.  So I adapted.  Below is my adaptation of Lou's recipe.  It was delicious, it was heavenly...it was buttery, melt in your mouth kinda good.  My first bite was unbelievable.  I thought to myself "I can't remember making anything more delicious." And I can't.  Its like something out of a bonafide restaurant.  I half expected a bill after dinner with a mint.  (mmm, mints.)

Find Lou's version above by click on his link.  Here is mine!

Beef Tips in Cream & Sherry Sauce

• 1 pound Beef Tenderloin Or Sirloin Tips    *see note below*
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ White Onion, thinly sliced
• 1/8 tsp dried thyme (or fresh, chopped thyme if you have)
• ½ cups cooking sherry
• 1 cup Beef Stock (or the leftover cooking broth from note below)
• 1-½ cup Heavy Cream
• 3 Tablespoon Corn Starch
• 3 Tablespoon Cold Water
• Coarse Kosher Or Sea Salt (to Taste)
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• Beef Flavoring Crystal (or the cubes, whichever you have)\

 *Note*  I cooked my beef tips in a crockpot overnight.  Threw them in with  32 ounces of beef stock, 1 bay leaf, a sprinkling of garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Left it on low overnight.  Ta-dah!  Pull out the beef, set aside to cool and reserve the cooking liquid.  You'll need some.  Once the meat is cooled, shred into big chunks with two forks.  Set aside. 

 Add butter to a frying pan set over medium heat.  Once better melts and starts getting foamy, add the sliced onion, sprinkling them with a tad bit of salt.  Sweat the onions out till they are just starting to get browned.  Add sherry and thyme, stirring well and scraping bottom of pan to get all the goodies off the bottom.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Add reserved beef broth and reduce the liquids down nearly half.  Takes about 6-7 minutes).  Pour in the cream and taste the sauce.  Add any flavorings you may need.  I used salt & pepper, then decided I wanted mine to be a bit more "beefy" so I added a few sprinkles of beef flavoring crystals.  Mix the cornstarch and the water to make a pasty slurry and add to the sauce, stirring continually until it thickens up.  (won't take long)  Add your chunked up beef and heat through.  Serve over noodles, risotto, potatoes, etc.

Makes 4 big portions.  Enjoy!

Too Hot to Cook! No Bake Time!

It has been a long time, right?!  Wow.  Didn't realize how long its been since I posted.  I have eaten, mind you.  Just didn't blog about it!  :P   Anywhooo, here in NY we've experienced a wicked week of heat.  So so hot the air conditioner doesn't even seem to be taking the edge off.  Add that to my horrible PMS and my craving for chocolate and it's just a killer combo.  I had asked my friend SiggySpice from Tasty Kitchen if she had a recipe for the most chocolatey-gooiest chocolate cake she'd ever seen.  She delighted me with a recipe I'm going to make once the heat backs off a bit but until then - what's a violent PMS'ing girl to do?  NO BAKES!

So I searched Tasty Kitchen and found this recipe from Karly Campbell.  No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars.  I'll let you wipe your chin off now.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.  Yeah.  They were the AWESOME.  I have a natural fondness for no bake chocolate cookies anyways.  My dad used to make them for us from his mom's recipe like every other week when we were kids.  Yeah, dad, not mom.  "Fryer of bologna sammies at 2 am and peanut butter bread slices with spaghetti Dad" made the best no bake cookies anywhere.  He even made the non-chocolate peanut butter butterscotch version and they were killer.  I remember sheets upon sheets of wax paper around the counters with blobs of oatmealy goodness on them.  LOL  Anyways, Karly's recipe took me *right* back to being next to dad helping him drop spoonfulls of molten oatmeal to cool.  These are so, so easy to make.  And the peanut butter chocolate center?  Don't get me started on that.  I could go on for hours!  Try them yourself on a hot day!

<--- Photo by Karly, taken from Tasty Kitchen.  Go check it!  Do eet! 




COMING SOON - my wicked easy, 3 item only alfredo recipe.  Tired of seeing all these "healthy" versions.  That's not original.  That's not how it's supposed to be.  Don't fear the butter!  Use it!