Its not dinner till the alarm goes off....

Well, my fire alarms work in the new house lol. Found out by accident. They are really sensitive too cuz there was no smoke in the house. I was baking a few strips of bacon for tonights side dish and the alarms went off. I was shocked but put the fan on over the stove. Within a min. or two it shut off. It was a night of buzzers and alarms tho and I was doing many things at once. I had the washer and the dryer going, doing my wash and I was microwaving the potatoes for tonites dinner too. So when the alarm went off I wasnt sure what it was. Plus I have only been here two wks and didnt even know if they worked yet. I really have to not multi task so much lol.

Anyway tonites dinner was a marinated london broil that I often use on steaks. Its on a previous blog http://mermaidstreasures.blogspot.com/search/label/marinades and I made some cole slaw and a Loaded Baked Potato Casserole that I make now and then. I saw it long ago and thought it was a great idea.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

This makes as much or as little as you want. Heres the amts. I used tonite. But honestly you can just wing it.

5 sm. potatoes, microwaved till tender, about 8 min. total but test them halfway thru
4 green onions chopped, white and some of the green
4 slices of thick bacon, cooked then crumbled
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream

Scrub the potatoes, then microwave. I usually do about 5min. then turn them over for another 3min. Then I test to see if they are tender. First I make a layer of half of the potatoes, then top them with half the bacon, onion, S & P, cheddar and then drop small dollops of sour cream on top. Then repeat with remaining ingredients. I used a ceramic casserole that has a glass lid.

You want to cover it so it doesnt brown alot on top and cooks quicker. You dont need to cook it long, just until the cheese melts and is heated thru. At about 400 degrees for 15-20 min.

If you want to get creative you could try a mixture of cheeses or add some green chilies too. This amt. tonight serves about 4. Because theres only two of us here, Ive saved the rest in a smaller casserole to heat up another nite. I love that I just scrub the potatoes and when they are cooked, just cut them into chunks and use. The skins are good for you.

My Belated Mothers Day Dinner

I had a nice Mothers Day this weekend. I postponed it till bfs surgery was over since things were getting pretty hairy around here. I'm glad I did. My daughter would have had to run between two houses that day anyway to see her MIL. This way I did it on Saturday so nobody had to leave early to get home for work the next day and we could have a leisurely day. But I wore myself out cooking and cleaning. This house has been a terrible mess and this week was so darn hot, I just did nothing. So Saturday I had no choice but to cook and clean as much as I could get done.

I had a 4 rib prime rib I thawed overnight for our dinner. I bought a whole one at Christmas time and had them cut it in half. I froze half then,,,,cuz the price was just incredible. So we had prime rib, my tomato, zucchini gratin and sour cream mashed potatoes. My daughter bought a great chocolate mousse cake that was very light.


Seas Prime Rib

1 prime rib with bone, any size, mine was a 4 bone roast
lots of garlic, for this one I used about 6lg. cloves
S & Freshly ground P
Dried thyme, I used about a tsp for this

Preheat over to 500 degrees.

Make a paste of everything but the roast. I do this by hand by chopping the garlic fine and then adding the salt and smashing it together over and over with a knife. I do this when I make salad dressing too. Its a chefs trick. But if you don't have that you can use a sm. food processor. After the garlic is in paste form I add the Pepper and thyme and touch of Olive oil to ease spreading it all over the roast with my fingers.

Put roast in pan and put in preheated oven for 1hr. Then lower heat to 350 degrees and roast for another hr. From this point on test with an instant read thermometer. You want it to be about 130 degrees for medium. If you have a smaller roast test earlier.

Once it has reached the correct temperature take it out of the oven and just let it rest for 15 min. so all the juices distribute properly. It will continue to cook while this is sitting. I make a bit of au jus by adding some beef broth (not consommé, too salty) to the drippings and stirring up all the brown bits till bubbly. Then I strain it. If there is too much fat in the pan , remove it or the au jus will be a greasy mess. This will serve 6-8.




I have posted this recipe on my pesto blogs before but I thought Id post it here again for those that missed it. I have made this and changed it a bit. The original called for 2c. bread crumbs which for this amt. is just too much. I also doubled the mozzarella cheese cuz we love it. I substituted marinated artichoke hearts in a jar for the fresh and we just loved this. Its almost like a vegetable lasagna but no pasta.

Pesto Zucchini Tomato Gratin

For the topping::

1 cups Bread Crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
dried Italian Herbs or basil/oregano/marjoram, to taste

For the veggies::

3 medium zucchini, sliced in long pieces, 1/4 inch thick
5 cloves garlic, chopped
A handful of halved artichoke hearts or a small jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed of most of the marinade
4 tablespoons prepared basil pesto
2-3 vine ripe tomatoes, sliced thick
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 pinch salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced - you can use garlic and herb marinated mozzarella also

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a gratin dish or large pie plate.Place the crumbs in a bowl and using a fork, toss with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to coat; season with Italian Seasoning or dried basil/oregano/marjoram.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the zucchini, garlic and artichokes, and sauté briskly just until the zucchini is a bit golden and still tender-crisp. Remove from heat and pour the veggies into a bowl to cool slightly. When cooled, gently toss the zucchini mixture with the prepared basil pesto, to coat. Layer the pesto veggies in the gratin dish/pie plate.

Spread half of the crumbs on the squash mixture. Layer with slices of mozzarella. Top with sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle the tomatoes lightly with balsamic vinegar. Season with sea salt and pepper. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs over the tomatoes.Bake the gratin until it is bubbly and hot, about 20-25 minutes. Serves 4.

Heck, Id just serve this as a side dish or even just a vegetarian type meal with some nice crusty bread!


I make alot of these because my son just adores mashers.

Sour cream Mashed Potatoes

5lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into sm. chunks
1 stick of butter
1/2 c. sour cream
cream, half and half or milk
1 bunch of chives or green onions, chopped fine
S & P

Put potatoes in lg. pot and cover with water and about a tb. salt. Cook till tender, then drain. Put back in pot and throw in butter. For me when I'm busy I do it to this point and let the butter melt while I do other things. Once melted, mash potatoes. Add sour cream and mash again. If very thick add a bit of cream or milk to get the right consistency. You don't want them runny. Taste and adjust S & P. Then stir in chives or green onions.

FRITELLE DI CORLEONE

We used to make these as a side dish for something in the restaurant years ago. I wandered over to the line and tasted them and omg! I HAD TO have the recipe. These can be served as a dessert but we added some fresh rosemary and bacon to it, to serve as a savory. So here it is....

FRITELLE DI CORLEONE 6 SERVINGS (fritters)

1/4C. golden raisins

1/2c. marsala or sweet sherry ( must have this!)

1c. all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2 egg yolks

1/2c. milk

1 tsp. finely chopped rosemary

1/4lb. bacon, fried and crumbled

Vegetable oil for frying

Powdered sugar

Soak raisins in Marsala. Fry bacon till crisp, drain and cool, crumble. Chop rosemary, fine. Drain raisins, reserving wine. Put flour and salt in mixing bowl. Add rosemary and bacon and stir to coat. Blend in wine, milk and egg yolks till smooth and thick and creamy. In a lg. skillet, heat 1in. of oil to 375degrees. Using about 3tb. of batter for each fritter, spoon batter into oil, do not crowd. Fry till golden, turning once, 4-5 min. Drain on paper towels: repeat with rest of batter . Dust with powdered sugar and serve hot.