Roasted Rosemary Cashews

My neighbor introduced me to this recipe. It is from Ina Garten.  I did not roast the nuts long enough so make sure you leave them in the oven until they are a nice golden brown.  The taste is a tiny bit spicy but also a little sweet. The rosemary adds a really nice flavor to the sweet and spicy. 

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

1 1/4 pounds of of whole cashew nuts

2 Tbsp of coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1/2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp dark brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.   Place nuts on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes until they are golden brown. Meanwhile, combine the rosemary, pepper, sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary, cayenne, brown sugar, salt and butter in large bowl.  Toss the warm nuts with the rosemary mixture until the nuts are completely coated. Mix it well to ensure all nuts are coated evenly.  Serve warm.  These are still good at room temperature so they can be mixed prior to a party and put into dishes.  Garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs and use a small spoon for serving. 

Wrapped Pickles

I grew up with this pickles at picnics, reunions, or any misc get together. My family has always made them with Buddig Beef, but I have seen them made with hard salami or ham lunch meat.  I prefer the Buddig Beef.  Made sure you don't skimp on the cream cheese. The trick is to use the soft cream cheese in a tub.  It is so much easier to spread than the brick. Sometimes I even double wrap the pickle so there are two layers of meat and cream cheese.  Yum!

Pickle Wraps

Dill pickles

Soft tub cream cheese

Buddig Beef  (one pkg will wrap 6-10 pickles depending on pickle size)

Set out cream cheese for at least 10 mins to help make the spreading easier.  Lay out beef slices on wax paper. Spread a layer of cream cheese on each beef slice, ensuring you spread it out to the edges. Lay pickle on beef slice and roll.  If you have large pickles you may need two beef slices to cover entire pickle. Once pickles are wrapped, place in refrigerator for about 10- 15 minutes before slicing ( I did not do this due to time restraints so you can see in my picture where the cream cheese was soft and did not make perfect slices).  Each pickle will make 3-5 slices depending on size of pickles.  These are addicting so make extra!!

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy

I actually made this some time ago. This is much richer than a tomato pasta sauce and it is delicious.  It made a ton but it freezes well so you can enjoy it several times without all of the prep work!  I sliced the meat so it was more chunky but you can shred the meat if you like to swirl your spaghetti!

Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy
Deep South Dish Spaghetti Daube in Creole Gravy
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3 to 5 pound beef chuck or rump roast
2-3 tablespoons of canola oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 (28 ounce) cans of whole tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup of beef broth (or red wine)
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of salt
8 turns of the pepper grinder
1/2 teaspoon of Slap Ya Mama, or your
   favorite Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1/2 tablespoon of dried parsley
1 large bay leaf
Grated nutmeg
Cooked spaghetti noodles
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Set roast aside to come to room temperature.

Pour enough canola oil into the bottom of a heavy, stainless stockpot and heat to medium high. Add onion, celery and bell pepper and cook until softened, but not brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Using a pair of kitchen shears, coarsely cut up both cans of the whole tomatoes right in the can; add to pot. Add the tomato sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, parsley, and bay leaf. Pass a whole nutmeg over a microplane 3 or 4 times and stir in the beef broth and Worcestershire; bring up to a boil. Cut the roast in half, add it to the pot, cover, reduce heat to a low simmer, and cook for 2 to 3 hours or until beef is tender. Don't allow the meat to boil! Keep it at a very low simmer.

Remove the beef from the pot, slice into 1/2 inch slices (if you are making Daube Glace, reserve some of these whole slices) and then shred pieces with a fork, add the shredded beef back to the tomato gravy. Let it continue to low simmer, covered, another 15 minutes, or just hold the pot on very low until you are ready to serve. You can also leave it as whole slices if you prefer, returning the slices to the gravy to simmer a bit, and then serving the slices on top of the spaghetti noodles, with a bit of sauce spooned over the top.

Boil the spaghetti noodles according to package directions; drain well. Return noodles to pot and add a couple of scoops of the tomato gravy, stirring to coat all of the noodles. Turn the noodles out onto a large platter and pour sauce over the top, or plate noodles individually and add a couple of hearty scoops of the meat and sauce.


Enjoy!

Chicken Chili

I love the fall season. It is not freezing outside yet and the colors are absolutely beautiful! This is also a good time for soups, stews and chili! This recipe is quite good. I am not sure where I got it from. I had never tried Chicken Chili and I would see it occasionally in a blog or on a cooking show so when I was flipping through my recipe binder (years of collecting), I came across this recipe. It was fate so I made it.  This was very comforting and slightly addictive. I liked that it was creamy with a little kick of spice.



Chicken Chili
Serves 6-8

2 pounds diced chicken, about 3 cups (white or dark, cooked or not, whatever you have)
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder - not garlic salt)
2 (two) 15.5 ounce cans Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (or any light colored bean - great northern, pinto, black eyed peas)
4 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (more if you like it hot)
8 ounces sour cream
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 (one) 4 ounce can green chilies (optional)

Garnish:
sour cream
shredded cheese (pepper jack, cheddar, etc)
chopped scallions
chopped cilantro

Heat a heavy-bottomed soup pot over med-hi heat. If using leftover chicken, skip this first step. If using uncooked chicken, lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper; saute in a little oil until browned (no need to cook completely at this stage). Remove chicken; reserve. In the same pan, saute onions until slightly browned; add salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne, oregano, and cumin. Continue to cook for a few minutes to "bloom" the flavor of the herbs. Add chicken stock, chicken, beans, and optional green chilies to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream, heavy cream, and parsley. Garnish and serve.

Ducks helping to wash car

My husband was washing the car this morning and he was surprised by six ducks playing in the water that was pooling at the end of the driveway.

Here they are hanging out as the car is washed.

You could tell they were very comfortable being around people. 

We could get really close and they did not run away.

 They would even come closer if you encouraged them.

They got a treat for helping to wash the car. 

They were fun to watch.  We think they wandered over to our yard from the condo complex behind our house that has ponds. My husband said they are fun until they start messing on the driveway. Haha!!