The gray steak that I returned to Winn Dixie.

You never want to see gray on your steak, and that’s exactly what I saw on all the undersides of the boneless eye round steak I bought from Winn Dixie yesterday.

I was pretty unhappy, as I had prepped all the vegetables for the Swiss Steak crockpot recipe when I discovered the steak was gray on the bottom. Zipping out to return the meat was not on my original agenda for the day, that’s for sure!

Keith, a manager of the Winn Dixie store off Atlantic Blvd. and Girvin Rd. in Jacksonville, Fla. was very apologetic about the meat, and offered me a fresh new package of steak free of charge (in addition to reimbursing me for the grayish steak). I thanked him but declined. I was mainly upset that my dinner plans of Swiss Steak were ruined. It takes 6-8 hours to cook in the crockpot, and starting it at 1:30 p.m. is a definite no no for those who like to eat dinner at 6 p.m.!

I ended up making chicken pot pie for dinner. I took out some diced organic roast chicken from my freezer, defrosted it, and added it to a mixture of sauteed onions, Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom, sliced carrots, zucchini and frozen peas.

I added a topping of Pillsbury pie crust and baked it for about 19 minutes. What a delicious dinner! There was silence at the table while it was being scarfed down.

Delicious Chicken Pot Pie on the Quick Side

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced roast chicken
• 1 can Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom
• 1/2 can 2% milk *
• 1/4 can Reduced Fat Chicken Broth *
• 1 cup diced sweet onion
• 1 zucchini, sliced thinly and halved
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
• small pinch Herbes de Provence
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a pot, preheat on low and saute onions, carrots and zucchini. Season with a pinch of salt, poultry seasoning, and Herbes de Provence. Stir. After onions are translucent, pour in Cream of Mushroom, milk, and chicken broth. Stir and let heat about 5 minutes. Add in frozen peas and diced cooked chicken. Stir. Meanwhile, spray an 8×8″ Pyrex pan with non-stick spray. Pour in chicken mixture and top with pie crust, pinching the sides closed. Cut the dough away from the handles. Make a design, such as a star or heart, in the middle of the pie crust to allow bubbles room to escape while the pot pie is baking. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, til the pie crust is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!

Keith, the Winn Dixie manager, also gave me a $10 Winn Dixie gift card. I will be doing a giveaway in the very near future for my readers and that will be one of the things included.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of great food and happy times to treasure!

Photos by Kelly Estes

Pot roast so tender it can be eaten only with a fork is an achievement.

No Stringy Meat

Growing up, one of my friends hated the times he had pot roast, as it was cooked in a rather short time frame, using an electric skillet with a lid that didn’t do a good job of keeping steam and moisture from escaping. To add to the disaster, the carrots and potatoes were added the last 30 minutes, and didn’t have time to soften. The result….exceedingly tough and stringy pot roast, with al dente potatoes and carrots….made marginally better with brown gravy.

Add Red Wine

There’s no need for tough pot roast. When the 7-bone chuck roast went on a sale a couple weeks ago at Publix, I scored a 3.5 pound roast, and asked my husband to pick up a bottle of red wine for me. Carrots, onions, celery and potatoes are so delicious with a tender roast, and including them in the crockpot is another way of keeping the roast tender, especially on top.

Newer crockpots running hotter

One thing I’ve noticed about crockpot recipes is I’ve been able to cut off an hour of cooking time for most recipes, because the newer crockpots run hotter, even on the low setting, than the older crockpots do. Other cooks have noticed this same thing, and most find it annoying. Some even question the need for the ‘hot’ setting on the newer crockpots. That said, it was nice to have the roast ready in about seven hours using my year-old Rival crockpot, as opposed to 8-10 hours. And the spices made it amazing.

Spice it Yourself

Using a handful of spices instead of Lipton dried soup, adding more carrots, and a little red wine, I was amazed at how much earthier, more delicious, and less salty the pot roast tasted. The small amount of red wine jazzed up the pot roast. The bone had completely separated from the roast–evidence that the meat was very, very tender.

This is comfort food at it’s best. And I think it’s the best darn pot roast I’ve made so far. I’d love to hear how it turns out for you.

Crock it Pot Roast

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds chuck roast (I used 7-bone chuck roast)
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (to be sprinkled on roast)
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/4 cup red wine (if you use table wine, you can enjoy the rest with dinner)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
• 4 small to medium carrots, chopped into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 Idaho or Russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

Directions

Preheat large skillet to medium high heat. Meanwhile, put flour on a plate. Sprinkle the roast with kosher salt on both sides with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Dip the roast into the flour, making sure to coat all sides. Place roast in hot pan to sear all sides, about 30 seconds each side. Place roast in crockpot.

Mix spices, onion powder through ground pepper in small bowl. Sprinkle on top and beside roast.

Put diced onion and celery around roast. Top with chopped carrots and quartered potatoes. Pour red wine and water into crockpot, put lid on it and cook the roast on low setting for 7-8 hours in crockpot. Remove and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Garnish with a little chopped parsley. Wonderful with baked sweet potatoes.

Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and flavored to the nines, these fish cakes are a delight to eat.

Thankfully, the fish cakes appeal to both kids and adults. Have you had fish cakes before? If not, you’re in for a treat when you make this fish entree!

A few weeks ago, I picked up two 12 ounce bags of frozen cod at the local grocery store. Lucky for me, the special was buy one get one free on the bags of frozen fish. I also wanted to make a horseradish dip to go with the fish cakes, so I procured items for the dip as well.

The only drawback to the Joy of Cooking recipe I tweaked and used for the fish cakes is it can seem to take forever to make them if you don’t broil the fish ahead of time. In order to avoid that feeling, I broiled the cod in the morning, and after it cooled a little, refrigerated the cooked fish in the refrigerator until closer to dinnertime.

Also, I prepared the horseradish sauce in the morning, and lightened it using a combination of fat free and reduced fat sour cream. I also omitted the hot red pepper sauce, as the result would’ve been too spicy for our family. And, I knew from past experience that the horseradish cream recipe can easily be halved (it makes quite a lot).

In doing some of the cooking ahead of time, the prepping for the fish cakes seems much easier. I love it when making an involved entree seems simple!

If you like it spicy, add 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper to the breading mixture. If not, do what I did. I omitted the ground red pepper from the fish mixture, and reduced the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon. I also used Progresso plain bread crumbs, not homemade bread crumbs. I found that in using prepared bread crumbs I only needed 1 cup instead of the 2 cups called for in the original recipe. I also used light mayonnaise instead of regular. In all, this is a great Joy of Cooking recipe, and one that lends itself well to lightening and reducing sodium if needed.

Because the fish cakes you form contain the cooked fish, they saute very fast. Amazingly, you only need to cook them two minutes each side.

Broiling the fish

Preheat to broil

Place cod fillets on a broiler pan (about 1 1/2 pounds fresh or defrosted cod for 4 servings). Lightly season with a small pinch of kosher salt. Place a pat of butter on top of each fillet. Broil for 7 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before putting in a container and refrigerating the cod for later.

Horseradish Cream

• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
• 1 tablespoon drained horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh dill
• small pinch of salt, to taste

Mix above ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate the sauce until needed.

Fish Cakes

serves 4 (2 fish cakes per person)

Combine thoroughly in a large bowl:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cooked and flaked fish (an oily fish makes the cake more moist; salmon, snapper, halibut and cod are recommended)
• 5 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 2 celery stalks, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

On a big plate spread out

• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs

Once the mixture is well combined, form 8 fish cakes. Be sure to firmly press together the fish cakes so they do not fall apart. Place each fish patty into the breadcrumbs so that all sides are coated with breadcrumbs.

Over medium heat, in a cast iron pan or other large skillet, put:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (add more if need be)

Put fish cakes into the hot skillet. You’ll probably end up doing two batches like me (4 fish cakes each batch). Cook fish patties ’til browned on both sides, about 2 minutes each side. Serve with the delicious horseradish cream sauce. I like to serve brown rice, black beans, and a fresh green salad with this dish. Enjoy!

Photo by Kelly Estes

A couple of my good friends are part Italian, and while I don’t have that heritage, I think I kicked it up a notch with this Chicken Cacciatore recipe I found while surfing the web last week. One thing that’s appealing about this recipe is that it uses skinless chicken thighs. I know–all you people (including me) who try to be ‘good’ and eat lower in fat meats, your ears are perking up now!

You can either buy skinless chicken thighs, or take the skin off them yourself. Personally, I don’t mind taking the skin off the chicken thighs myself. Doing so saved me about $6.50 and only cost me 5 minutes (I think it was about $1.39 for regular chicken thighs, and $3.49 for skinless chicken thighs).

I added pitted Kalamata olives, a little beef broth to the red wine, and seasoned and seared my chicken thighs before placing them in the crockpot. I know, it’s an extra step, but I feel weird about placing raw chicken thighs in my crockpot. Maybe it’s because I still recall my home economics teacher harping on safe food practices! That, and I think the chicken tastes better in the end if you season and sear it before putting it in the crockpot.

I served the Chicken Cacciatore with No Yolk Extra Broad Egg Noodles and steamed zucchini. It was a huge hit at our dinner table. If you try this recipe, please let me know how your family likes it.

Chicken Cacciatore

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 7-8 hours
Total time: 8 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 to 3.25 pounds skinless bone-in chicken thighs
• 14 oz. can diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1 cup lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup lower-sodium beef broth (or chicken broth)
• 1 large onion, sliced and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced and chopped
• 8 pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 7 oz. mushrooms (I used canned, drain them before putting in crockpot)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Season chicken thighs lightly with kosher salt and pepper. Over medium heat, sear chicken thighs about 30-45 seconds each side, or until the chicken is white on the outside instead of raw. This step is to sear only, not to cook. Place seared chicken thighs into crockpot. Put rest of ingredients on top. Stir a little to combine; chicken should remain on bottom of pot. Cook for 7-8 hours on low in your crockpot, until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

This dish is wonderful served with pasta. The chicken should be so tender it will literally fall off the bone. Enjoy!

Photo by Kelly Estes

A recipe for Baked Ziti Casserole I discovered on Cooks.com inspired me to put my own twist on it to suit dietary needs. Since everyone loved it (including the sometimes picky 3-year-old), I declare this ziti a winner.

Another thing I loved about the Baked Ziti Casserole is that it takes a little less than half an hour to prepare, and then it’s baking away for 20-25 minutes. If you use that baking time wisely, all your prep dishes and pans will be clean by the time your Baked Ziti is done.

Baked Ziti Casserole

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20-25 minutes
Total time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 ounces ziti pasta
• 1 pound ground chicken (not ground chicken breast; too dry for this dish)
• 2 Tablespoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 carrots, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2″ slices
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
• 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
• 16 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese (use 1/2 at a time)
• 8 ounces part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/3 cup fresh parmesan (to top)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. Prepare al dente ziti. Drain pasta water. Return pasta to pot (leave pot off the burner for now).
2. In the meantime, cook ground chicken. Season with cumin and salt. Drain fat. Put cooked chicken in bowl.
3. Saute carrots, celery and onion in skillet over medium heat for 5-7 minutes (or until veggies are nearly tender) with either chicken fat drippings or 1 T. vegetable oil. Once veggies are tender, toss in minced garlic and saute for 30 seconds along with vegetables.
4. Whisk milk and flour together until completely combined. Pour into vegetable mixture in pan; stir. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, Herbes de Provence and pepper. Bring to a boil for about a minute (mixture will show thickness at boiling). Turn heat off the pan.
5. Pour vegetable mixture, cooked ground chicken, and 8 ounces mozzarella into pot with pasta. Stir.
6. In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese with Italian seasoning.
7. Spoon 1/2 of the pasta mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Top with spoonfuls of ricotta cheese mixture. Put remaining pasta mixture on top of ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with remaining 8 ounces of mozzarella, and the fresh parmesan.
8. Cover baking dish with foil. Bake (covered) for 20-25 minutes until it is hot and bubbly, with melted cheese adorning it.

Photos by Kelly Estes

Baked salmon is one of my favorite dinners to serve when we have an extra mouth or two to feed. Why? Because it’s so easy, that’s why! The rub I use can be changed to suit your taste. I like to serve the BBQ salmon with steamed asparagus and brown rice.

My father-in-law stopped by for dinner Friday, and I was so glad that I had the salmon cooking in the oven when he arrived. It’s easier to chat in the kitchen when you’re not having to worry about something burning on the stovetop!

The portabella mushrooms had just finished up when company arrived. After sauteeing them for 20 minutes, I put them in an oven safe bowl, put foil on top, and kept them on our ‘stay warm’ burner on the stovetop. The sauteed mushrooms were delicious. I love their meaty flavor!

The only menu item that didn’t turn out well was the brown rice, which I microwaved using Mahatma’s directions. Let’s just say there was still water sitting on the bottom of the rice when the microwave beeped. Even after letting the rice sit for 5 minutes, as recommended, it was too wet at the bottom for my taste. Earth to Mahatma — your directions for microwaving brown rice need to be revised!

I also served sauteed shrimp (1/3 of a pound). No leftovers!

The asparagus I microwaved at the last minute, just before calling everyone to the table. I put about 1/4 cup of water at the bottom of the platter, with asparagus on top (of course) and wax paper covering it, before microwaving the dish for 3-4 minutes. Time needed depends on amount of asparagus you’re cooking.

The asparagus was delicious! My 3-year-old son requested seconds on the asparagus. LOL.

The main entree was gobbled up. My kids love this BBQ salmon because the rub I put on it is sweet and just a little spicy. If you want it spicier, just amp up the ground chili powder amount.

BBQ Salmon

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Serves 4-5

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces pineapple juice
• 1.5 pounds salmon fillets
• 1 teaspoon ground chili powder
• 1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Put salmon fillets in a gallon size ziploc bag. Add the pineapple juice to the bag and seal it. Place the bagged fillets in the fridge and let marinate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix up the chili powder, brown sugar and salt. Put parchment paper on a jellyroll pan. When fillets have finished marinating, place the salmon fillets on the pan. (Dispose of the pineapple juice and bag). Rub the top of the fillets with the slightly spicy mixture. Bake in 400F degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove salmon to platter. Serve and enjoy!

Photos by Kelly Estes

Do you love shrimp? Everyone in our family does, and with the great deals on shrimp going on at the grocery store, I declared Friday’s dinner to be sauteed shrimp.

For those of you who take delight in shelling and deveining shrimp, my hat is off to you. I must admit I bought already shelled and deveined shrimp at my local grocery store. It made my life much easier when preparing dinner!

A tip of the hat to Cooks.com for inspiring me to saute shrimp with their easy recipe. I left off the chopped fresh parsley, not because I didn’t have any, but because it was something I didn’t have time to do. Also, I skipped grating the Parmesan cheese, because my grater recently bit the dust (it did last 10 years, so it served its time, poor thing). I used my vegetable peeler to peel about 8 bits of Parmesan, and tore those pieces into smaller bits to add to the sauteed shrimp at the end.

Before I sauteed the shrimp, I started broiling scallops. The scallops took about 7 minutes to cook.

Quick, easy, and delicious. What more can you ask when you need to whip up a meat free dinner during Lent?

I served the sauteed shrimp over multigrain angel hair pasta drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and a light sprinkle of salt. Sauteed mushrooms and a side of peas completed the dinner.

Sauteed Shrimp Parmesan

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 4 minutes
Total time: about 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. fresh shrimp
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Shell and devein shrimp. Over medium heat, melt butter in skillet. Add shrimp. After 3 minutes, add garlic, and stir to make sure garlic cooks but does not burn or brown. When shrimp turns pink, they are done. Remove shrimp to serving bowl, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve over angel hair pasta drizzled with a little EVOO, and a side of sauteed mushrooms (if you like them). Unbelievably delicious.

Photo by Kelly Estes

What is it about Asian food that compels you to keep eating? I suspect it has a lot to do with the saltiness and the sweetness that is in most Asian dishes.

Recently I made Orange and Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs for the first time, and they turned out perfectly. I love it when that happens! Sometimes I try a new recipe and it doesn’t work out (that’s always a bummer).

So, if you have a hankering for P.F. Chang’s this weekend, but can’t indulge for one reason or another, try making the Orange and Soy Glazed Chicken Thighs. They were so good that my kids didn’t complain about the shiitake mushrooms or scallions which were part of the dish. In fact, there was no complaining. There was only silence, murmurs of “delicious,” “awesome,” and “wow.”

Just thinking about the taste of that dish makes me want to try a twist on it this weekend. I’ll post about the results next week. What are some of your favorite, lip-smacking dishes that you’ve had in a restaurant, and would like to replicate at home? Your answers are ideas for me to rustle up recipe solutions in the kitchen.

So, think about it. What dishes would you like to be able to cook up with ease in your kitchen?

Here’s a photo of my favorite comfort food, served just this past weekend to my happy family. What is your favorite?

Can’t forget the mashed potatoes….

OK, I’m all ears, waiting to hear you tell me about your favorite comfort food!

Photos by Kelly Estes

Before you furrow your brow too much, let me explain. I call this the Orange Zest Baked Tilapia.

The idea came from delish.com’s recent magazine issue. I liked the Greek-Style Tilapia recipe, but some of the ingredients didn’t resonate with me. As Emeril used to say (and probably still does), I kicked it up a notch. If you try it in your house (perhaps on a Friday during Lent) let me know how it goes!

Orange Zest Baked Tilapia

Prep Time: 12-15 minutes
Cook Time: 16-18 minutes
Total Time: 30-33 minutes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:

• 2 oranges
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 1/3 – 1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets
• 3/4 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 pint organic grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
• 2 cups dry Orzo Pasta (I like having enough cooked orzo for leftovers)
• Aluminum foil, to cover the pan of fish in the oven
• 2 teaspoons EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) for cooked orzo
• 1/2 cup Reduced fat Feta cheese (for cooked orzo)

Zest the 2 oranges; you should have about 2 teaspoons fresh orange zest. Set aside. Cut the oranges in half and juice them. You’ll need 1/4 cup fresh orange juice.

Wash and then cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. Rinse fresh dill; chop up.

Place the tilapia fillets in the Pyrex 13″x9″ pan. Pour the fresh orange juice over the fillets. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the fish. Follow with the orange zest, dividing it among the fillets as best you can. Then sprinkle the chopped dill over top. Lastly, add the sliced tomatoes to the dish, and cover with aluminum foil.

Bake the tilapia dish in the oven for 16-18 minutes, or ’til fillets are opaque even at the thickest part.

While the fish is baking, boil water for the orzo in a 4-quart pot. Once the water is boiling, add the orzo and follow the pasta directions on the container. My orzo was done in 10 minutes. Drain well.

Put the cooked orzo in a serving bowl and add 2 teaspoons of EVOO. Stir. Add a smidge of kosher salt and then the feta cheese. Stir and serve the orzo with the orange zest baked tilapia and roasted tomatoes. For those who like a little sauce, the juice on the bottom of the baking dish is excellent over the tilapia and orzo.

Photos by Kelly Estes