Black Beans and Yellow Rice

The Cuban influence is everywhere in South Florida.  If you're lucky enough to get over to Miami and can go to Calle Ocho in Little Havana, or up to Ybor City in Tampa to the original Columbia Restaurant, you're in for a real treat--authentic Cuban food rich in tradition and flavor.  If you can't get to these places though, no worries...I gotcha covered.

Black beans and rice is one of my favorite dishes.  Sometimes white rice, sometimes yellow rice, topped with sour cream and salsa or shredded cheese and green onions...it's comforting, delicious, low in fat, and full of protein.

I like to serve this with a cold, effervescent beer like Modelo Especial or Pacifico, and lots of fresh limes.

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

serves 4 - 6

1  16-ounce bag yellow rice (I like Vigo or Mahatma)
3  15-ounce cans black beans (I use Bush's)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
red pepper flakes
splash dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, chopped
hot sauce (I use Crystal)
red wine vinegar
1 or 2 limes
salt/pepper
garlic powder
onion salt
seasoned salt (I use Lawry's)
garnishes:  green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, salsa
optional:  garlic bread

Note:  your rice may call for either butter or olive oil in the cooking directions


Add some red pepper flakes to the water and cook rice according to package directions.  Approx 5 minutes before it's done, pour a splash of white wine into the rice and quickly mix it in.  Recover and let rice finish cooking.  When done, sprinkle with seasoned salt and cracked pepper,  Keep covered.

While the rice is cooking, make the beans:

Drain 2 of the 3 cans of beans and place all in large pot.  Turn heat to medium and add garlic, juice of half a lime, and chopped onion.  Next add a few shakes of:   red wine vinegar, hot sauce, garlic powder, and onion salt.  Stir and season with salt and pepper as necessary.  Cover and turn heat to low, simmering until all the flavors come together and the beans are soft and hot.  It will be ready about the same time as the rice.

Chop green onions on the bias for garnish. 

When done, let beans and rice sit for a few minutes.  Squeeze juice of the other 1/2 lime in beans and stir. Stir and fluff rice.

Place rice in bowl, top with beans and garnishes (green onions, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa).  Cut remaining lime into wedges and serve alongside beans.  Serve with garlic bread, if desired.

Cool, No-Cook Summertime Dinner: heirloom tomato salad with feta and fresh herbs, sliced avocados, and chilled cocktail shrimp

We’re having a heat wave down here in Naples—it’s been in the 90’s all week! 

When it gets like this, I like to make a cool, no-cook dinner that requires little effort:  an heirloom tomato salad with crumbled feta and herbs; avocados; chilled cocktail shrimp; and a crusty baguette with herb butter.

I find Amy Winehouse on Pandora, pour a glass of chilled Rose’, and get to it.  With little effort, I’m sitting out by the pool, watching the sunset, and relaxing with my little feast.  Just practicing for summer, my friends…it’s right around the corner :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

serves 2

Heirloom tomatoes, rinsed
Feta cheese, crumbled
2 Haas avocados
2 lemons
Extra Virgin olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
fresh herbs:  I used chives and dill
1 stick unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
kosher salt/cracked pepper
1 crusty french baguette
1 chilled bottle of your favorite wine (I like rose' at this time of year)
1 pound colossal cocktail shrimp (kept in refrigerator until ready to use)
cocktail sauce
optional:  prepared horseradish, if you like your cocktail sauce extra spicy


If you're going to make herb butter for your bread, do it first and let it sit while you prepare everything else:  
Mix butter in bowl with 2 tsp fresh chopped dill, 1 tsp. fresh chopped chives, 1 pinch salt, the juice of 1/2 lemon.  

Now, prepare your salad:

Slice tomatoes and place on platter.  Crumble some feta cheese over the top.  Chop some of the dill and chives and sprinkle over the top.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and add salt and cracked pepper to taste.  If you want...and I do...you can break off additional chunks of the feta and eat them alongside your salad.  So good!

Take shrimp out of refrigerator and place on platter with cocktail sauce.  If you like your sauce extra spicy, mix 1/2 teaspoon of prepared horseradish into it

Peel and slice avocados.  Place on plate and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top (from the remaining 1 & 1/2 lemons). This will prevent them them from becoming too discolored so work quickly.  Drizzle with olive oil, and  sprinkle with salt and cracked pepper.

Slice or tear baguette and serve with herb butter.

Chicken Paprikash

It was THE DISH:  the one my grandmother made for company, for my mother’s birthday, and to send to someone’s house when there was a death.  Only she called it “chicken in red sauce”…so that’s how it’s been labeled in my recipe box all my life.

Then one day I made it for someone and she said “I love Chicken Paprikash.”  I said good, but tonight we’re having chicken in red sauce.  She said “no Christine, this IS Chicken Paprikash.”  Whaaaaaaaat?? Who knew??

She’s right…it is.  A Hungarian dish rich with sour cream, tomato sauce, and wine usually served over egg noodles or with mashed potatoes to catch all the goodness.  Or, you know, you can just eat the sauce with a spoon right from the pot when no one’s looking.  Don’t judge…  😊

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

Serves 4

1 fryer chicken, cut in 8 pieces

2  15-ounce cans tomato sauce

1  16-ounce container sour cream

1 tomato can full of dry white wine

1 large white or Spanish onion, cut in rings

¾ cup dry red wine for deglazing the pan

Chicken broth

3 tablespoons butter

Olive oil

Salt/ fresh ground pepper/garlic powder

Hungarian paprika

A large pot or dutch oven that can go from stove top, to oven, to table

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Make sauce and set aside:

In bowl, mix both cans tomato sauce and sour cream.  Fill one of the tomato sauce cans almost full with white wine and add to tomato mixture.  Mix all.  Set aside.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Drizzle olive oil in large pot over med high heat and brown chicken on both sides in batches of 4, remove to plate.

browned, but not cooked through

Melt butter in pan and sauté onion until just brown (do not caramelize), this should take just a few minutes. Remove from pan and place on top of chicken on platter.

Pour ¾ cup red wine and ¾ cup chicken broth in the pan to deglaze, scraping up brown bits.  Add chicken and onions back to pan with juices on plate, and pour tomato sauce over the top.  Sprinkle pepper and paprika over the top. The sauce will be pink:

ready for the oven

Bake chicken uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover for 45 minutes.  Uncover for the last 10 minutes.  65 minutes of cooking total

When you take it out, it will be bubbling and bright orange,and should be falling off the bone 

I serve mine with mashed potatoes and peas...see? Mmmmmmm...

Shrimp Scampi

Shhhhhhh…no one will know how eaaaaaasy  this was to make.  After months of braises and stews and meals in the crockpot, this is the very essence of Springtime itself.  Bright and citrusy and fresh.

And with a bottle of crisp white wine, some crusty bread, and the balmy spring weather, you’re looking like a rock star to your friends right about now.  So put away the corduroy and say hello to Lilly and Vera…Spring is here!! :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

serves 3

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

3-4 minced garlic cloves

1 lemon, halved

Dry white wine

1 pound (16-20 count) cleaned, peeled, deveined shrimp (uncooked)

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 handful fresh Italian Parsley, washed

1 pound linguini

Kosher salt/ground pepper/garlic powder

Crusty bread

Begin boiling water and cooking pasta according to package directions.  While pasta is cooking:

In large skillet with deep sides,  melt butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and red pepper flakes (I say a pinch but sometimes I use as much as half a teaspoon!), saute briefly.  Add approximately 1/2 cup wine to the pan and squeeze juice of half the lemon.  Simmer lightly for a few minutes.  This is your sauce.

Sprinkle shrimp with salt, pepper, and garlic powder,  and add to pan.  Saute until they have turned a bright pink, between 3-5 minutes.  They should be firm, but not rubbery.  Add some of the pasta cooking liquid if you need more sauce (and maybe some more wine...)  While this is happening:

Drain pasta and pour into pan with shrimp.  Toss with 1 large handful parsley and the other half of the lemon juice.  Add more salt and pepper to taste, if needed.  

Serve in large pasta bowls with crusty bread.

Give Her the Perfect Day: scrambled eggs with chives, grilled ham, & fresh fruit

She said “I need a hug.”   He said “come over” and hung up the phone.

When she got there, there was a bottle of prosecco chilling on the counter, and 2 more in the refrigerator, next to a fresh bowl of fruit.

“How on earth are you not taken?” she asked him.  He winked at her and said “I am”.   So taken.

Then she sat at the counter and drank her chilled and bubbly prosecco and ate her cold fruit while she watched him and his muscles and his crazy blue eyes make her brunch, and realized she too was taken.  So taken.  

They ate outside on the patio by the pool, listening to Pandora’s Sunday Funday Brunch on the Sonos, while the warm tradewinds from the Gulf blew through the palm trees and her hair, and he said the pool was heated did she wanna swim.  “I didn’t bring my bathing suit” she said, sadly.    Two sips of prosecco and 3 smiles later he said “I won’t look.”

Perfect meal, perfect music, perfect company, perfect weather, perfect day.   And even if it wasn’t, it seemed like it.   Make the day special for someone you love...she’ll thank you in the most wonderful of ways :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

eggs, milk, butter, chives,  your favorite fresh fruit, ham steaks, prosecco

There is no recipe really: 

First, pour her a glass of prosecco and make her comfortable so you can get to work.
Just cut up your fruit into chunks and keep it cool in the refrigerator.  I used strawberries, canteloupe, and honeydew melon.  This, of course, can be done earlier to save time.

Grill your ham and let it rest, while you make your favorite scrambled eggs:  whisk eggs with a splash of milk, salt, and pepper; melt butter in pan; cook eggs over medium heat.  When they are almost done add chopped fresh chives on top.

That's it.  Fifteen minutes of work for the perfect day.  Not bad...

Thai-inspired Tacos

If you’ve got people coming over for the Super Bowl, these Thai-inspired tacos are perfect for a crowd. 

The brisket is the hard part:  it only takes 5 minutes to assemble but you have to cook it low and slow for almost 4 hours.  Once it’s done though, you shred it in a big pan, put out your condiments, and let your guests go to work making their own.  Simple.  And you serve it in the pan you made it in.  Even easier.

The fresh jalapenos and the Thai chili sauce give these some heat so be sure to have lots of chilled beverages on hand…like an icy cold Bud Light or three...  :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

For the brisket:
1  4 or 5 pound fresh beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat
2 onions, sliced
1 bottle beer (not dark)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 cup beef broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
salt/black pepper
13x9x2 aluminum disposable baking pan
aluminum foil

small flour tortillas
Thai chili sauce (I use Tabasco brand, it's really good!)
fresh jalapeno peppers, chopped in wheels (you can remove seeds and membrane to lessen the heat.  I don't because I think I'm such an animal and I always regret it)
1 bag coleslaw mix (ideally:  shredded cabbage, carrots, and radishes)
sugar
apple cider vinegar
fresh limes, cut in wedges
fresh cilantro


To make the brisket:
Preheat oven to 320 degrees
Season brisket with salt and pepper.  Place in pan and cover with onion slices.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Combine beer and next 5 ingredients, pour over meat.  Cover tightly with foil.  Bake for approx 3 1/2 - 4 hours until tender.  

While meat is cooking, mix 3 teaspoons sugar into 1 cup of apple cider vinegar.  Taste.  It should be sweet and sour.  Make it as sweet and sour as you want, this is the dressing for your coleslaw.  And make as much as you want, it's up to you.
Place coleslaw in bowl and pour dressing  over.  Season to taste with salt/pepper and mix.
Chop the rest of your ingredients.

spiiiicyyyyy...

When meat is done, uncover.  Drain some liquid but keep most because you don't want your meat to be dry. I also keep some of the onions.  It should shred easily with 2 forks.  Mix shredded meat with some of the onions and the juice.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Heat tortillas in microwave for 1 minute between 2 paper towels.  Bring all to table and serve.  Make sure to have the Thai chili sauce for dipping.

Italian Sausage Sandwiches with Sauteed Onions and Peppers

The name says it all:  Italian sausage sandwiches with sauteed peppers and onions.  I  start purring like a kitten just thinking about it...

First I sauté the peppers and onions with some garlic and tomatoes.  While that’s bubbling nicely, I grill the hot Italian sausages.  Then I put it all together on some toasted rolls, melt some cheese on top, and you know what you end up with?? Sandwich heaven.

There’s some Bowl Games coming up in a few weeks, my friends.  Fire up the Weber and get cookin’ :)

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

(serves 4)

4 hot Italian sausages

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 small can diced tomatoes, drained

1 large onion, peeled and sliced in rings

3 bell peppers (I used red, yellow, and green), cleaned and sliced into strips

mozzarella cheese, grated

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

splash of white wine

salt/pepper/garlic powder

Italian sub rolls or 2 loaves Italian bread, split open

Melt butter and olive oil in deep frying pan.  Add onions, peppers, and garlic and saute until crisp tender and they have a little color.  Add tomatoes, sprinkle all with salt/pepper/garlic powder, add a splash of white wine, stir to get the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and let simmer (low) covered, until all the flavors come together and the onions/peppers have softened enough to place on the sandwich.

In the meantime, grill sausages.

When sausages come off the grill, grill rolls.  It's nice to get them a little crispy so the tomatoes don't make them soggy.  When I made this, I used a loaf of Italian bread that my neighbor Tony made and gave to me that night--it had benne seeds and a golden egg wash on top, so good!

Assemble sandwiches:

Slice sausage in half lengthwise and place on roll, add peppers and onions mixture, and grated mozzarella on top.  If you need to, place sandwich under broiler (or in microwave for 10 seconds) and melt the cheese fully.  

Close roll and eat! 

ps:  these are so good with an ice cold Bud Light...or 3...lol