Honest Ade Pomegranate Blue Tea - Product Review

Did you know today is Honesty Day?  I didn't know there was such a thing, but okay.

I was asked to do a product review on Honest Ade Pomegranate Blue Tea.  Honest Ade products are all natural and organic.  My daughter, Kaitlin was kind enough to help out with the taste testing since she's a huge fan of anything Pomegranate.

Kaitlin flat out didn't like the tea.  She didn't spit it across the room, she did take two sips and said, "Mom, I don't like it."  I asked her why and what about it didn't she like.  Kaitlin shrugged her shoulders and said she just didn't like it and finished texting her friend.

My findings...the beverage had a Pomegranate flavor, not like Pomegranate juice, but like something "flavored" with Pomegranate.  There was no "tea" taste to be found.

The Honest Ade doesn't taste bad, it just taste like flavored water. 

That's my honest opinion....have a great Honesty Day!

Four Cheese Fatty Mac-N-Cheese!

Cheesy, warm goodness and all is right with the world.  No matter how old the kid in me becomes, I light up at the thought, sight, smell, and taste of this, the ultimate comfort food.

You can play around with the cheeses pick four you like, four you're in the mood for that particular day and enjoy!

1 stick of butter 
1 shallot,  minced
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups half-n-half
1 tablespoon Cajun Seasoning - (recommended: Zatarains or Emeril's Essence)
Dash of Hot Sauce - (recommended Louisiana Hot Sauce or Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 cup grated Cheddar
4 ounces Gruyere cheese
4 ounces Asiago cheese
1 (16-ounce) box elbow macaroni
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an oven-safe casserole dish.

Cook macaroni in salted water according to package directions or until just al dente.

While macaroni is cooking, melt 4 tablespoons of  butter in a 1 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add minced shallots and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the flour to make a roux. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour. Slowly, whisk in the half-n-half. When half-n-half incorporated into the roux, bring up to a low bubble and simmer for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.  You're making a bechemel sauce. Remove saucepan from heat, stir in hot sauce and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.  Stir until cheese is completely melted and set aside.

Once macaroni is cooked, drain and return macaroni to the pot.  Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the crushed garlic to the macaroni.  Toss the macaroni in the pot until the butter is completely melted.

Combine the remaing cheeses - all but 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, in a bowl.  In another bowl, combine the bread crumbs and the Cajun seasoning.  Set both bowls aside.

Stir cheese mixture into cooked macaroni and thoroughly combined.  Place half of the macaroni in the casserole dish and top with half of the cheese mixture. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and cheese mixture.
Sprinkle bread crumb and Cajun seasoning mixture over the top of the macaroni, then sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the bread crumb mixture.  Optional, you can place small pats of butter over the top of the Parmesan cheese.
Place in preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

5 minutes seems like a life time, sigh!

Smoked Cornish Hens with Citrus Glaze

Remember way back when...you remember when we learned how to use the smoker?  Well, I still like to smoke...pork, chicken and beef.  Although pork is my all time favorite for grilling, barbecuing and smoking, I decided to stray off the beaten ham or pork path for Easter and smoke Cornish hens.  Once I saw this on Down Home with the Neely's, I just knew I had to give this a try.

http://www.skinnyscoop.com/

Cornish hens are cute, and when roasted or smoked, just right so juicy and amazing.  One of the caveats here, is they can be fully cooked in approximately 1-1/2 hours.  That's right boys and girls, you can rip the juveniles away from the chocolate and sugar and get some good smoked protein in them in a snap!

Here's what you need:

1 tablespoon of your favorite grilling dry rub.  Mine is :

             1/2 cups brown sugar
             2 tablespoons
             1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
             1 teaspoon smoked paprika
             1 teaspoon garlic powder
             1 teasspoon onion powder
             1 teaspoon salt
             1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
4 (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) Cornish game hens, washed and dried well
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 teaspoon crush red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon (depending on your taste)

Whisk together the dry rub, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Season the washed and dried game hens with the rub and arrange on a platter or sheet tray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Get your smoker and coals ready.  You want to keep the heat at a constant 275 degrees.  Our Easter was fairly windy and I may have over compensated a bit.  (NOTE: I placed my oven thermometer on the grill to get an accurate reading of the cooking temperature.  It was pretty steady at 275 F, but I did manage to get it to 300 F.  The brief increase in temperature didn't seem to affect the cooking time, flavor or outcome of the hens.)

Place hens on the grill and cover. If you've soaked your hickory chips in water for about an hour like I did, throw a generous handful on top of the coals.  Smoke the hens for about 40 minutes.

While the hens are smoking, make the glaze.  In a small saucepan over medium heat, add butter to melt, add the shallots and saute for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the chicken broth and orange juice. Bring to a simmer and let reduce down to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon and be slightly syrupy. Once reduced,  add the apple cider vinegar and hot sauce. Taste for seasoning.

Remove the cover and brush the hens with the glaze, making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies. Cover the grill and smoke for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the hens from the grill, to a serving platter and let rest, covered with foil for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with some potato salad, Macaroni with FOUR Cheeses (later this week), baked beans, sour dough French Bread (next week) and Coconut Cream Cake (soon), no one will even remember the Easter Bunny!

Creole Dijon Mustard Pork Tenderloin

Once you start thinking about preparing a dish flavored with mustard and the bold taste it brings; you realize mustard fills that void for that savory flavor you are craving.  There are so many varieties of mustards to suit a wide array of palates, you can't go wrong.  

Pork tenderloin lends itself to so many types of sauces and flavors.  It's economical, lean, juicy, tender, easy and quick to prepare.

Always trim the "silver skin" from the pork tenderloin prior to cooking or your tenderloin will be one tough piece of meat.

1 (2 to 3 lb.) boneless pork tenderloin

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons Creole mustard or brown grain deli mustard

2 tablespoons Green label Lea & Perrins

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped scallions

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable or Canola oil

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

This is my favorite mustard of all time.  It makes great sauces and salad dressings!  If you can't find this in your area, a brown grain deli mustard will work just fine. 

Make this a pantry staple.  It's usually right next to the regular Lea & Perrins.  It's an amazing basting sauce for chicken and pork.  It brings big taste!

 

In a small bowl, mix the mustards, Lea & Perrins, lemon juice, and scallions together.  Add in the fennel seeds.

Add in the ground cinnamon.  Set the sauce aside.  Season the pork loin with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the oil in a large oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat.  Sear the pork loin on all sides, approximately 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Brush the mustard sauce on the tenderloin.  Be generous, this is big flavor baby!! 

Roast the tenderloin in the pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  Ok, I went over just a bit, my bad.

Remove from the oven, tent with foil and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.

Low fat, big flavor, not a heavy meal; perfect for Spring.

I wish all of you a joyous and happy Easter!  I will do my best to get around commenting and appreciate all of your visits and comments.

 

Minestrone di Cipolline (Country Onion Soup)

Sometimes Spring likes to tease us.  We think, "Yay, warm weather; no more bulky coats!".  Then a cold front blows through behind a terrible storm and it's cold, gray and windy outside.

The upside, yes, there is an upside; is you get to make and eat some delicious soup!

I found this amazing soup recipe in Ciao Tuscany by Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola, the owner and head chef, respectively of Carrabba's Restuarant.


This was a very simple soup to prepare and I loved the Italian version of an onion soup (and pasta) and its  departure from a typical minestrone.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomator puree'
6 cups beef broth (vegetable broth can be substituted)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
8 ounces spaghetti, vermicelli or angel hair pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute the onions over medium-high heat in the olive oil until they start to carmelize, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook one more minute.  Stir in the tomato puree' and cook for about 5 minutes.  Slowly add in the broth, stirring to thoroughly blend.  Bring soup up to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering,  break the pasta in half and reserve.  Once the soup has simmered for 30 minutes, uncover and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the sugar 1 teaspoon at time and taste.  The sugar will neutralize the acid taste of the tomato puree'.  It's important to taste in between so you don't change to flavor of the soup.

Bring soup back up to a boil and stir in the pasta. Cook until al dente.  Add more broth if necessary to achieve desired consistancy.

Serve with some crusty bread and have plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano to pass around.

Grilled Artichoke Salad with Ricotta and Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette

Did you think I would actually show up here on a Monday and not have something out of this world crazy good and a little more health conscious?  Since the weather is warming up and we're getting outside again and getting ourselves bikini ready, I thought I throw this salad out there to see what you think.

Artichokes say spring to me.  Usually I'm stuffing them, but today I'm grilling them and man oh man, you HAVE to try this.

Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons Pepper Jelly
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the Pepper Jelly in a microwave safe container.  Place in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen the jelly.  Whisk in apple cider vinegar.  Whisking continuously, slowly and evenly stream in olive oil (you want the emulsify the olive oil with the vinegar and jelly).  Season to taste with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Drain one can of quartered artichoke hearts, toss them in 1/2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, juice from 1/2 lemon, salt and pepper to taste.You just want to coat the artichoke hearts and not have them swimming in liquid.

Not a pretty picture, but then who says only pretty is good?  Place a grill pan with holes on your grill and cook the artichoke hearts over moderate heat.  Leave the lid open, but this won't take long.

Flip the artichoke hearts every couple of minutes and once they are nicely browned, remove and set aside.

To assemble the salad, use whatever greens you like; I added chopped cucumber, celery and red onion to mine.  Add a few dollips of low-fat ricotta cheese and then place the hot artichoke hearts on top to melt the ricotta a little bit.  Drizzle with Pepper Jelly Vinaigrette and you have a meal that will make you feel so satisfied.

 

Boston Cream Pie

You came here because you and I are so health conscious and we're all watching our calories and cholesterol...yeah, right. 

Boston Cream Pie is one of those decadent, guilty pleasures.  You either enjoy it at a restaurant or when you pick one up in the freezer section or bakery counter at your grocery store.  How many times have you thought about going into the kitchen and whipping up this beast?

Thanks to Bobby Flay's Throwdown, I have done it exactly once, so far...

One thing I learned while watching my husband and children devour this crazy looking cake, it's all about the cream and the chocolate.  The cake, well the cake is just a vessel. 
After deciding to attempt to make this dessert, knowing the cake part wasn't what it was all about, I opted for the convenience of a yellow cake mix waiting in the pantry. 

Watching the assembly portion of the cake really got my attention.  The actual baking, pastry cream and ganache methods, I put together from various recipes I have used in the past.  Give this a try sometime, just be careful, it's addictive.

Boston Cream Pie:


For the cake:

Prepare your favorite white or yellow cake per package or recipe directions in two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.  Allow cake to cool, remove from pans, place on cake rounds or plates.

While the cake is baking, prepare the pastry cream.

Pastry cream:

2 1/4 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter

In a saucepan, whisk 2 cups of the milk and sugar together. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the liquid up to a simmer, in a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Temper the hot milk into the egg yolks about two tablespoons at a time. Whisk the egg mixture into the hot milk mixture. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining milk, making a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the hot milk mixture. Bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the filling is thick, about 4 to 6 minutes. Fold in the vanilla, and butter. Mix well.

Ganache

1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces semisweet chocolate

Place the ingredients into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Whisk until melted and smooth.

Assembly

Place the cooled cakes on top of each other (bottoms - flat sides together) and place on a cake round. Using a serrated knife, hollow out the middle of the cake about 1 to 1-1/2 inch deep leaving about a 3/4 inch border around the edge of the cake.  Place the cut out on a plate and cut into big chunks and set aside.  Fill the cavity with the pastry cream and create a small mound in the middle. Pile the cake pieces on top of the pastry cream. Pour warm ganache over the entire surface until covered. Let the cake rest for 2 to 3 hours before serving.

Monday we will eat lighter!