Food Friday #16

Sausage-Cheese Muffins

My daughter, Prissy, sent me this recipe and she says these muffins are absolutely delicious and so easy to make.  These would be perfect for Mother's Day or Father's Day!!  Plus this is a recipe from Southern Living...so you know you can't go wrong!!

Make these savory muffins for a flavorful addition to your breakfast or brunch standards. With only five ingredients, the hardest part is getting out of bed to enjoy them.

5.0 4

Edit ZIP/Favorite Stores

Find local grocery deals. Edit your ZIP code and select your favorite grocery stores to see what ingredients are on sale right now.INGREDIENTS:
1 (1-lb.) package hot ground pork sausage
1 tsp onion powder
3 cups all-purpose baking mix (like Bisquick)
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cheese soup or fiesta nacho cheese soup
3/4 cup buttermilk (water or milk will work too)

PREPARATION:
1. Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain and cool.
2. Combine sausage, baking mix, and shredded cheese in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.
3. Stir together soup and 3/4 cup buttermilk (or water); add to sausage mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling to top of cups.
4. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Food Friday-#12

Since it's National Soup Month, I'm going to share a French Onion Soup recipe today.  French Onion Soup is by far a favorite in our house and Prissy's house as well.  Prissy (nickname for my oldest daughter) made this recently and shared the recipe with me.  She said it was delicious!!! 


French Three Onion Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds yellow onions, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced, (about 6 cups sliced)
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced, (1 3/4 cups)
• 1 leek, white and light green part thinly sliced, washed well, and dark green top reserved
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 to 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 8 (1/4-inch thick) slices whole-wheat baguette (2 ounces), toasted
• 1/2 cup finely grated Gruyere (about 1 3/4 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Heat the butter and oil together in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, shallots and leek, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to combine and cover. Cook, without stirring until the onions are soft and beginning to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Uncover, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the onions are a rich brown color and well caramelized, about 25 to 30 minutes. (If the onions begin to stick to the bottom of the pan or burn add about a 1 tablespoon water at a time.) Meanwhile, tie the reserved leek top with the thyme and rosemary using a piece of kitchen twine.

3. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and cook, stirring, to cook out the raw flour taste, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the broth and 2 cups water, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan; add the herb bundle. Reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the Worcestershire and remove from the heat. Discard the herb bundle, stir in the sherry and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

4. Preheat the broiler. Divide the soup between 4 (16-ounce) oven proof bowls or ramekins and arrange them on a baking sheet. Top each bowl evenly with 2 baguette slices and top with the cheese. Put under the broiler until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with the chives and serve.

Miscellany Monday

• Harley Man and I went to the Shriner's Oyster Roast and Fish Fry in Salisbury last Friday!!! The menu includes a "high quality array of oysters, shrimp, flounder, clam chowder, oyster stew, French fries, hush puppies, slaw and a variety of beverages.  We had a great time with some of our Harley friends...man can some of them eat oysters!!!

• Prissy and I had some mother-daughter time Saturday.  We went to our favorite hairdresser, Jennifer, for trims and color updates!!!  While we were there, a wedding party converged on the salon and we were entertained by two lovely young ladies, ages 8 and 5, as they were glamed up for the special day!!

• KK had an early birthday celebration with her middle school friends on Sunday!  It was breezy and cold but that didn't stop them from having fun at the park.  Have you ever seen a M&M throwing contest??? lol!!

Happy 1st Anniversary!!!

Wow, it's hard to believe one year ago on this date my beautiful daughter, Prissy, married my wonderful son-in-law, Avett Man.  It was a gorgeous day, October 2nd, 2010 and the wedding was beautiful.  Both of them are huge NY Yankee fans...so they had a NY Yankee's wedding!!

In honor of their 1st Wedding Anniversary, here are some photos from the wedding.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY PRISSY AND AVETT MAN!  May you celebrate many more wonderful years together.
Love you both!!

 all photos by Michelle Robinson Photography

Delicious!!!!

Prissy, my oldest daughter, loves to cook and this past weekend she made Carnitas from a recipe she found on one of the blogs I recommended.  She says this recipe is delicious...so I wanted to share it with you today!!  Enjoy!!

Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)                                                     
recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated June 20081    

Ingredients:
4-pound boneless pork butt, cut into 2-inch chunks
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small onion, peeled and halved
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
juice of 1 lime
2 cups water
1 medium orange, halved and juice (seeds removed)

Preparation:
Heat oven to 300 degrees.

Add all the ingredients in a Dutch oven and heat the ingredients until they begin to simmer, stirring to combine the spices and meat. Cover the pot and place it in the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour, take a peek and give the pot a stir to turn the meat. Put the lid back on and let it continue to bake in the oven for another hour. A bit of patience is needed, but you'll definitely be rewarded!

After 2 hours of baking time, remove the pot from oven. Remove the bay leasves, onion and orange rinds from the pot and discard. Place the pork in a bowl and set aside. Place the pot on the stovetop and let the remaining liquid come to a boil. Let it boil until it thickens up and is reduced to about 1 cup.

Turn oven to broil and lower racks to near the bottom of the oven. In the bowl, pull each piece of pork in half using two forks. Pour the reduced liquid over the pork and add salt and pepper to taste. Place the coated pieces of pork on a wireor cooling rack set on a baking sheet. Broil the meat for 5 to 8 minutes on each side until well browned. You can pull the pork further if you want and then serve immediately in warm tortillas. Garnish with salsa, cheese, etc as you'd like.

To make ahead/freezer meal - Place all ingredients in a gallon sized freezer bag, seal and freeze. When ready to prepare, defrost and follow the directions as written above.

Prissy also made fresh Pico de Gallo to top off the Carnitas!!

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:                                                                                             

• 1 1/2 cups seeded, diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon diced jalapenos
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Juice of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

In a bowl combine all ingredients. Refrigerate.