Before we get to today’s post….  I need to make an announcement relating to the blog in general.  It seems like we are having host issues and virus issues when using Internet Explorer to view the blog, at least on some versions of IE.  I am presently working on that and hopefully we should be up and running on a new host in a couple of days.  Also with a new and improved design.

For this week leading up to Super Bowl in Dallas, I wanted to share a few fun recipes for you and your friends to try for the BIG GAME.  They will not be over the top cool, but I think they will give you a different outlook on how BIG game football food can taste.  Go big or stay home!

So a few weeks back I was watching the food network … of course right… and took note of a fun grilled shrimp recipe with a hint of lime and red pepper flakes in the base of the marinade and then you skewer it with rosemary leaves.  I thought to myself… genius!  With that said, I thought I would give it a try.

There is not much too the marinade but the choice ingredients make for a very succulent shrimp.

Ingredients

• 16-20 Jumbo Shrimp ( Tails removed and deveined  )
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• Juice of 1 Lime
• 1/2 Tsp. Red pepper flakes
• Fresh rosemary
• Chives
• Salt
• Pepper

Method

1. Preheat your grill to high ( 400 Degrees)
2. Prepare your marinade by adding the oil, lime juice, red pepper flakes in a bowl
3. Take the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and toss them in the marinade for a few  minutes while the grill is heating up.
4. With the rosemary leaves, remove some of the sprigs off to create a place for the shrimp, then gently slide the shrimp onto the branch.  repeat the process until complete.
5. Once the grill is ready to go, pop them on the grill and watch them closely.  These guys will cook quickly so give them a turn after about 1 minute.  They will turn pink once they are complete but you DO NOT want them over cooked.
6. Sprinkle with a hint of chives.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking shrimp over high heat, they tend to curl up which is normal.  To keep them from creating too much of a coil, place the rosemary skewer almost lengthwise to keep them on the straight and narrow.

So there you have appetizer one of SUPER BOWL week.  I will be back on Wednesday for some more ideas on how you can have your own tailgate party at your house.  Talk soon and meanwhile I will continue working on the upgrade of zesty to make it better for you.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Friday!  I hope you are having a great day and in the mood for a quick pork dish. You can whip these rosemary mustard pork chops when you are in rush or if you’re really unsure about what to make for dinner.

For this dish I decided to use a simple sauce to enhance the pork flavor.  From there, the pork chops will sit on a large dollop of mashed sweet potatoes.  Can you really beat that?

I started off with a simple sear of the pork chops with a little oil and salt and pepper.  From there I de-glazed the pan with the base of the sauce and then continued to add flavor.  To finish, I jazzed up some sweet potatoes with nutmeg, milk, butter and a dash of brown sugar.  Oh dear  – I love sweet potatoes!!

Ingredients

• 4 Pork chops
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. French’s mustard
• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1/4 Cup chicken stock
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tsp. paprika
• 1 Tbsp. rosemary (dried)
• 1 Tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tsp. salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Preheat saute pan/frying pan to medium high heat and dry the pork chops with a paper towel.
3. Combine  soy sauce, mustard, paprika, brown sugar and rosemary in a bowl; mix together.
4. Season pork with salt and pepper.
5. Add pork to pan and begin to sear on one side, about 3-4 minutes.  Once complete on one side, flip and do the same on other side.
6. Remove pork chops and place on plate.
7. De-glaze the pan by adding the chicken stock and scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan.
8. Add the sauce mixture from step 3 and let thicken for 2 minutes.
9. Add pork back on the pan and place into the oven to finish the cooking process; about 12 minutes.
10. Remove from oven, baste with sauce.



11. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When trying to caramelize meat and/or fish, it is essential that you pat it dry (with a paper towel) to remove any excess moisture on top of the meat.  This will eliminate the steaming process and let the meat/fish sear and caramelize more effectively.

I thought I would be somewhat balanced and add some green frozen peas to the plating dish along with a huge serving of garlic mashed sweet potatoes.  I hope you enjoy the day and I will see you all Monday.

Question of the day:  What are your Christmas cooking traditions?

Take care

zesty

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Hello Zesty Cook readers! My name is Kate and I blog at Cooking During Stolen Moments. Huge thanks to Cory for letting me guest post here today.

My husband and I make every effort to avoid having picky eaters in our family. With 5 kids, this isn’t always an easy task. But one of the things we’ve found most helpful is to serve them a variety of foods from a young age. We make sure we don’t decide for them whether or not they’ll like a food. As a result, we have kids that love lentils, salmon, brie, and lots of other foods you won’t find on any children’s menu!

These Apricot & Rosemary Baked Brie Bites have a decidedly grown-up flavor, but they get gobbled up by everyone in our family. They are perfect for entertaining, especially during Christmastime.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cup flour
• 1 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 4 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4Cup cold water
• 1 round brie, rind trimmed if desired
• 1/2 Cup apricot preserves
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish, if desired

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until crumbly. Slow pour in the water, adding just as much as is needed for the dough to come together.
2. Roll out the pie crust dough and cut into circles with a 2 inch cookie cutter or glass. Press into mini muffin tins.
3. Cut brie into small cubes and place a cube in each mini muffin tin.



4. Finely dice the fresh rosemary.



5. Stir the rosemary into the apricot preserves.



6. Spoon some of the apricot and rosemary mixture on top of each brie cube.



7. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until cheese is fully melted and pie crust is lightly golden brown. Garnish with additional sprigs of rosemary, if desired.

Kate Miller, a mom of 5, blogs at Cooking During Stolen Moments where she is having an affair with her kitchen. Kate uses stolen moments throughout the day to serve up scratch-made food to her family without experiencing any of those dinner hour crazies. Kate specializes in recipes that can be enjoyed by the average family who desires to eliminate stress in their kitchens and processed items from their pantries.

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I am still in a conference… last day!!  I wanted to re share one of my favorite pork chop recipes I have ever created.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  ENJOY!

Yesterday was the first time I was unsure about what to post on zesty for todays recipe.  I always have a few options saved from both the weekend and earlier in the week.  However, this time, I wasn’t sure what to do to continue the trend of unique dishes.  That is, the sauteed spinach from Monday, the slow cooked beef on Tuesday and yesterdays little sweet treat in the caramel drizzle ice cream tart.  So with that being said, I thought I would tell you about a pork chop I made.

This really is just a plain old pork chop but the flavor was incredible.  I have not had a pork chop in a long time especially with the bone in but when I saw these little morsels of goodness on sale at the supermarket – I knew they were coming home with zesty.

Pork chops have to be one of the fastest meals to prepare and lately I am all about speed and flavor.  This meal was ready in about 35 minutes.  Have a look and tell me what you think?

Ingredients

• 4 Pork Chops
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 Tsp. Rosemary (Dried)
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard (Or Prepared Mustard)
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Apple Juice
• 3 Dashes of Hot Sauce
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees.



2. Warm saute pan to medium high heat.
3. Add olive oil.
4. Season pork chops with salt and pepper.



5. Add them to pan and cook on one side until they begin to brown and caramelize, then flip.



6. Cooking on the other side the same as step 5, once complete about 5 minutes remove from the pan and set on a plate.
7. De glaze the pan with the apple juice while still on high heat.



8. Combine all the remaining ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.
9. Once the apple juice comes to a boil, add remaining ingredients.
10. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add the pork chops back in the pan.



11. Place pan in the oven for 15 minutes.  The sauce will reduce and thicken with both texture and flavor.
12. Remove from oven and let stand 5 minutes.



13. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The key to big flavor with meat is to let it brown/sear well.  Do not move it in the pan and do not turn it multiple times.  Let the meat caramelize and brown on its own, you will know when to flip the meat.  Use your sense of smell, it will never let you down.

For this dish I prepared some sweet potato fries as a side dish and cooked them off at the same time the pork was in.

I just started them a little earlier in the process.  Sweet potato fries were a great addition to the pork.

Take care

zesty

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The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the water is as blue as blue can be.  Oh What a place!  Regis and Kelly are here and they have been since Saturday doing this week of shows from beautiful Prince Edward Island and they have been raving about it.  Really you cannot disagree.

Last night at the camp site I made a delicious appetizer that was a HUGE hit.  I saw it a couple of weeks ago on the food network.  It was on the show “Best things I ever ate” and it was Giada’s favorite snack.  Basically it is roasted nuts tossed with brown sugar, butter and fresh rosemary.

Simply put….. DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

• Variety of Nuts
• Butter
• Brown sugar
• Rosemary

Method

1. Roast nuts in oven or on BBQ until golden brown and warmed all the way through
2. In a large bowl, add some butter, brown sugar and fresh rosemary.
3. Once the nuts are complete, remove from the heat and add to the bowl.  The hot nuts will melt the butter and brown sugar.
4. Mix to coat evenly
5. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Use a nice mixture of nuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, peanuts etc for that extra flavor and texture.  These even got a taste from the trailer next door.  I heard rumblings of a great party treat.

Alright I am back to the campground and ready for another fun filled day.  Last night’s dinner was pretty tasty and I will be featuring it likely on Friday.  Not sure what to cook tonight – but that is all I can think about.  I love to EAT!  Have an awesome Wednesday and check out Regis and Kelly if you have time.

Take care

zesty

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Now I know that is a long title and a lot of description into this pork roast… but really – you cannot just say that this is any old pork roast.  Now as you know from the past I tend to be a meatatarian at times and today may be no exception.  When it comes to meat – I adore pork!!  One of my fav ways to cook pork with the bone-in is a method I like to call HIGH-LO.

It is a method where I crank the heat up in the oven as high as it goes and sear the outside of the meat to lock in the flavors and then I cover the meat and lower it to about 200 degrees and let it break down and become super tender.  This is the method I chose with this piece of meat and I can’t really stress enough… it was delicious.  I cooked this as part of my rockin’ Sunday cook off and used it in stir fry’s, sandwiches and salads throughout the week – dishes in which you will get to see in the future.

Ingredients

• 1 Pork Roast ( about 3-5 lbs)
• 1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp.  Rosemary
• 1 Tbsp. Chili Paste
• 1 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• Squirt of mustard
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 500 Degrees ( Do note if you want to Pan sear it in a pan before roasting that is perfectly fine )



2. Prep roast by patting it dry and seasoning with salt, pepper and rosemary.



3. Roast on high heat for 15 minutes and remove from heat



4. In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix together



5. Pour over top of roast and cover with foil



6. Turn oven down to 200 degrees and roast for another 90 minutes… depending on the size of your roast and the way you like your meat cooked.  I usually like to check to see if the meat is pulling away from the bone.  With this method there should be no worry of you drying the meat out or it being tough.





7. Remove from heat, cover with tin foil and let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.  This will allow the juices to go back through the meat instead of coming out of the meat if you slice it right away.



8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Be sure to cover it after you lock in the juices.  This will ensure the meat stays protected and keeps all the flavor and pushes it inside the meat and help keep it moist.

I hope you have an amazing Friday.  I found this week flew by like a race car in the Daytona 500.  Life is busy so time flies.  Wish me luck for my meeting at lunch which could lead to zesty approaching a new medium.  Have a fantastic weekend and make sure to eat lots and have fun.

Take care

zesty

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This past weekend was a special weekend as we attended a 65th birthday for my aunt. There was a lot of food preparation of course as the party was for about 50 people. I was asked to bring a pork roast, which in my mind I was more than happy to do that.

The weather is cooling down here so I decided to go with the oven method for this roast. When cooking large pieces of meat I usually always opt for the low and slow method. I added a dry rub the and let it sit for about 20 hours prior to roasting. This allows the rub to penetrate the meat and add even more flavor.

The recipe for the rub is:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons mustard powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 3/4 teaspoon ground savory
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt to taste

So as for the cooking technique…. it doesn’t get much simplier.  I add the meat to a roasting pan and preheat the oven to 250 degrees.  I like to let the meat rest for a few minutes on the counter and it does not tense up coming directly form the fridge and then into the oven.  I cover it and let it roast for about 20 mins per pound ( depending on the size of your cut)  I also like to remove the cover 3/4 through the cooking time to allow the rub to form a crust.  When cooking for a crowd or anyone for that matter I like to check the internal tempreature of the meat using a meat thermometer just to be safe.  As you all know, pork can be cooked with a hint of pink and also remember, the meat will continue cooking once you take it from the oven.  Once you do remove the meat from the oven, be sure you cover the pork with tin foil to allow the juices to stay inside.

Once covered for 15-20 minutes you are ready to slice and enjoy.

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