Blog
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German Hot Potato Salad
My mother-in-law’s favorite “Company’s coming dinner” was German Hot Potato Salad and Roast Beef served with a green side salad. Jacque loved bacon probably since it was rationed or hard to come by during World War II. When she died at age 83, she had about 20 pounds of bacon in her freezer. She never wanted to run out! This is her recipe, and as simple as it is, it is always delicious. Chunk potatoes, bacon bits, scallions. Perfect combination.Â
6 Cups boiled potatoes, then either dice or slice potatoes (about 6 medium potatoes)
2 T chopped chives or parsley
2 T finely chopped scallions
4 slices of bacon, fried crispy and crumbled
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup french salad dressing (Kraft is the type she used)
1/4 cup cider or wine vinegar or white balsalmic vinegar
Mix potatoes, chives, scallions, and bacon. Combine mayonnaise, dressing and vinegar: blend. Pour over potato mixture. Reheat in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 225 degree oven.
Serve hot or chilled, although my preference is straight from the oven. Makes 8 servings.
Bacon lovers – Another great dish! -
Roast Beef – Beef Tenderloin, Sirloin, Ribeye, or New York Strip
I love prime rib, but you can easily use sirloin. I remember reading in one of my cookbooks, if you want to cook better, start out by buying better quality food.  That holds true for a wonderful roast. So, if you want to splurg, go with Beef Tenderloin. Meat should be out of the refrigerator for 1 hour so it can be at room temperature before roasting. Rinse it and trim as necessary. Pat it dry with paper towels.Â
Trim of all fat and silverskin.
Heat your oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.Â
Season the Prime Rib Roast with your favorite salt and pepper and garlic rub. I use a little olive oil and rub it on the meat, then use pat on your rub of salt pepper and garlic or use the mustard rub that follows.Â
LOW HEAT METHOD: Sear the meat on the stovetop prior to roasting in the oven. Smear mustard rub over the meat and place on rack of roasting pan. Reduce the heat in oven to 225 degrees. Bake until temperature probe reads 135 degrees. Turn down your oven to it’s lowest setting 140-200 degrees and keep warm until ready to serve.
Slice into 1/4 inch slices or serve from the buffet line.
Ribeye Roast HIGH HEAT METHOD: Place the beef on rack of roasting pan in a 450 degree oven for 5 minutes per pound at high heat. For instance, after preheating your oven, a 3 pound roast should be at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Then, shut the oven off. DON’T OPEN THE DOOR. Let the oven slowly cool down for the next 90 minutes. You meat should turn out medium rare in the middle and perfect to eat
Mustard Rub:
1/4 cup whole-grain mustard
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. dried savory, finely crumbled
1 Tbs. dried thyme, finely crumbled
1 whole filet of beef (7 to 8 lb. untrimmed or 5 to 6 lb. trimmed)
Vegetable oil for sautéing
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, olive oil, savory, and thyme.Â
Cut the filet in half to make two equal pieces about 7 inches long. You’ll have one piece with the broad double-pieced butt portion and a thinner piece that tapers to a small tip. Tuck the tapered tip under and tie with twine to fashion two equally thick roasts. Tie each roast at 2-inch intervals.Heat the oven to 450°F. Heat a heavy-duty roasting pan or large Dutch oven or skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in enough vegetable oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Pat the filets dry, salt them generously, and lay them in the pan; cook without disturbing them until the bottoms are a rich brown. Turn the beef and sear the other sides. It will take about 4 min. per side (there are three or four sides per roast) to get a good sear.
When the filets are seared, transfer them to a cutting board, brush them with the mustard and herb mix, and then generously grind fresh pepper over them. Put a rack in the roasting pan, lay the meat on the rack, and roast until the internal temperature reaches 120°F for medium rare, about 20 min. (Check after 15 min.; roasting time will vary depending on searing time.) Remove the filets from the oven and let them rest in a warm spot for at least 15 min. before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Grandma Jacque’s Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
My children always remembered Jacque Nickerson, Grandma and differentiated her from everyone else in their lives because of these cookies. These cookies have immortalized Jacque. They are flat, crispy and nutty. Perfect flavor and wonderful with a cup of coffee or tea.As Jacque needed a bit of help as she aged, she would still bake cookies and hide them in ziplock bags in her closet so the help would not touch them, they were for her grandchildren. Â
1 Cup Shortening
1 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 egg
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of quick rolled oats
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
Cream together shortening and sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Sift together all dry ingredients. Add to dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Add oats and nuts. Chill 1 hour. Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Flatten with glass dipped in sugar. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
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Creamed Corn with Lime
Wow, this is good. This is Tom Keller’s recipe for Creamed Corn from his Ad Hoc Cookbook. The base taste is lime chiffon with sweet corn. This is a keeper recipe. 
Fresh corn on the cob or quick frozen corn.Â
1/2 Cup Sweet or sour Cream Cream (I happen to only have sour cream so I used it)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Cups of Corn either fresh cut from the cob or frozen or canned
1 large lime or 4 key limes
3 T butter
3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 1/2 T chopped chives
Grate the zest of the lime with a microplaner and set aside. Cut the lime in half. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the corn and 1 T of lime juice. Season with salt if needed. Reduce to medium low and cook sauce until all liquid has evaporated and corn is sizzling about 5-15 minutes depending upon whether you are using fresh corn.Â
Stir in 3/4 cup cream, cayenne, and lime zest continue cooking until cream has been absorbed by the corn.
Add up to 1/4 cup more cream if a more creamy sauce is desired. Add salt to taste and chopped chives.Â
Serve.
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Breakfast Hash and Eggs
Sweet Potato, Russet Potato, Sweet Onion and Roast Pork As I wake up and everyone in the house is starting to stir and the chorus of “I’m hungry”, I take a gander in my refrigerator and see we have eggs and a bit of leftover meat and decide, let’s make some hash. I have a knack for using leftovers from my refrigerator and bring it together for something good to eat. Hash is great for a crowd.
Breakfast Hash
2 Russet Potatoes diced
1 Sweet Potatoe diced
1 Sweet Onion diced
Leftover pork shoulder roast, or ham, or roast beef or chorizo
Salt and Pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for fryingIf you can dice all the ingredients so they are about the same size, the hash will look good and cook evenly.
Brown the diced potatoes and set aside.
Sweat the diced onions and set aside.
Warm the meat, then add back in the potatoes and onions.
Salt and pepper to taste.Once the potatoes are browned, crack an egg for each person on top, bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes until the whites are set. Yell out, come and get it!
If you want scrambled eggs, get ’em done and serve on the side. Breakfast is ready!
Sunnyside Eggs and Pulled Pork Hash -
Tamale Bites! Feel the love.
Abby was up at 2:00 am this morning making the chile colorado that would become magnificent tamales. She was at my house at 4:00 and she was ready to show me how to make tamales. (Her beautiful Chili Colorado was made with three different chili – another cooking adventure for another day.)
I had my filling ideas, I had asked Abby to help me make some tamales, and specifically sweet tamales, I was craving them when I was having my detoxgreen smoothie. She said she would come to my house early. She ordered me to “Get corn husks and have them soaking in water overnight, and also be ready with fillings you want to try.” She would bring everything else. Abby purchased 15 pounds of premade masa. She said it was not complete – we would need to “play with it”.
And play with it we did. She melted 1 pound of lard and kneaded it into the masa, added about 3 Tablespoons of Baking Powder. She also revealed her secret incredient in making the masa lighter – she added rice she had steamed, about 3 cups. By the way, she measures nothing, it is all about this much, about that much. The masa was right when it resembled the feel of mashed potatoes. “Are you feeling the love?”
For sweet or dessert tamales, we added brown sugar, to about 5 pounds of the masa.
In another 5 pound batch, we added chopped spinach and about 1 Tablespoon of salt.
In another 5 pound batch, we just added salt.
The masas were ready!
My fillings were ready. I wanted to try.
Onion marmalade with pulled pork (Both recipes are on this site.)
Apricot Jam with Pepper Jack Cheese
1/2 cup Chardonnay, Diced apples (2), currants (1 cup), brown sugar (1/4 cup) cooked on the stovetop until the apples are fork tender. Then when cool, add 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. (This is my take on mincemeat.)
Chocolate chips with Pecans
Chocolate chips with Chipolte Adobe Sauce
Sort thru the corn husks and the real thick one, are great to use as the stings to tie.
The largest are great for standard meat tamales. The small and lighter weight husks are perfect for dessert tamales. The lighter thinner husks allow you to shape the tamale easier – better for beginners.
We spread a big spoonful of masa on the corn husk and then added the filling to the center, and then rolled the tamale.
The top half, the small end, should not have masa, and is used to fold and close the tamale.
For the small dessert tamales we used ties made from the ugly husks, and tied them together like candy kisses, or you can also tie them on both ends, a bit of work if you ask me, so they look like a candy. I do like quick and easy.
This is pulled pork and onion marmalade on spinach masa. Abby’s hands were moving so fast, I had to have her slow down so I could take a quick snap shot.
For Abby this is an endeavor of love. Kneading the masa, she kept saying, “Do you feel the love?” Of course I feel the love. I get it. This is what women have been giving to their families for years. This is their labor of love.
Once we had the tamales packaged up, we ensured the tamales were tilted and standing tops up and loaded them into a steamer for about 45 minutes. You can take a few out and let them cool to check for doneness. You will see that the masa has the perfect texture, and will pull away from the husk.
What’s for dinner? You guessed it. Lots of love. Try your favorite combinations of ingredients!
I haven’t been able to try all the flavors, and already, I do know the diced apple mincemeat may be my favorite.
Can’t wait to try the Chocolate Chipolte.
Go ahead, feel the love, play with your food!
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Southern Style Lemon Meringue Pie – My Dad’s favorite!
Depending upon how tart you like your lemon pie to be, choose the appropriate lemons. Meyers Lemons are sweeter as they are hybrid lemon mixed with a mandarine orange. Whereas the standard lemon is much tarter – which I like! I love the contrast between the sweet creamy meringue and that slight pucker in the lemon curd. Oh, I get tingly just thinking about it.3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zestPlus make pie crust. I used a Crisco recipe that includes egg and vinegar. Tastes like shortbread.
Meringue – Double this if you want a big cloud!
Beat 4 egg whites, add 1/4 c white sugar, and 1/8 tsp cream of tarter.
Spinkle with lemon zest for that old fashioned look.
Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes until brown.
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Chocolate Pecan Pie
Well, we are planning for Christmas Eve dinner and this pie is on the menu. If you don’t have something chocolately, most will feel something is missing. So, this is going to be our Chocolate fix. So exciting!Â
Chocolate Pecan Pie 4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T butter
2 Ounces unsweetened Chocolate cut into pieces
1 T Bourbon
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup chopped Pecans
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 9-inch unbaked pastry shell
Honey-Pecan Topping
1. Prepare your pie crust.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl combine eggs, granulated and brown sugars, corn syrup, bourbon, vanilla and salt. Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate pieces in microwave for 15 seconds or until melted (just barely – do not over do it.). Mix well, stir in semi-sweet chocolate pieces and chopped pecans.
3. Carefully pour the pie filling into the pie shell. Bake for 25 minutes. Use foil to cover pie edges to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.
4. Make the Honey Pecan topping: In a small saucepan combine 2/3 cup brown sugar,  6 T of butter, 6 T of honey. Bring to a boil stirring constantly; reduce heat. Simmer 2 minutes uncovered stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 cups Pecan halves.
5. Carefully spoon the Honey Pecan topping onto the pie.  Continue to bake for 10 minutes more or until the topping is bubbly. Cool completely.
This is a beautiful pie. Can be made 24 hours in advance.
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Chicken Parmigiano
“I feel like Italian food tonight.” This is one of those quick dinners you can make in 30 minutes. If you are going to serve with pasta or rice, get those started, then move on to pounding your chicken breasts. Turn the oven on to preheat at 350.Â
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs beaten
Panko Bread Crumbs
Season with ground rosemary, salt, pepper
1 1/2 cups Tomato Sauce or marinara sauce.
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella or pepper jack
16 teaspoons grated Parmesan.
Pound your skinless chicken breasts into filets. Use a mallet and a ziplock bag to minimize the mess. Pounding the chicken breast, you are trying to get a uniform thickness of about 3/8’s of an inch so the chicken cooks evenly.
Dip the chicken in beaten egg, and then the seasoned panko breadcrumbs.
Brown the chicken filets in olive oil, about 3 minutes per side.
Place on a baking sheet, and spoon over the top a couple of tablespoons of marinara sauce. Top with your cheeses and then bake the browned filets for about 10 minutes in the oven until they reach 160 degrees on your instant read thermometer. 
