Whiskey & Apple BBQ Sauce

I love cooking with seasonal foods (I'm sure I have said this a million times) but Fall foods are my favorite to cook with.  Apples are so versatile and tasty, while I love apples I don't usually like that sweet savory flavor but this recipe (adapted from Wholesome Ireland )has given me hope for the sweet savory world.  While the origins of BBQ sauce are unclear lets just say that this is a good old American sauce. I made this during a recent weekend and my boyfriend and I took a lovely Fall walk while we waited for the apples to reduce into the sauce.  We used this sauce on super yummy pork ribs, pork and apple goes so well together.  I am so glad that it is Friday this week has been very long and I haven't gotten much sleep.  Plan for the weekend: go bowling, make a time capsule, cook, and relax. Happy Friday!

The Ingredients

3 medium yellow onions

3 medium Fuji or Gala Apples
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1/2 shots whiskey (I used old crow)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/8 cup Worchestire sauce
1/8 cup tomato paste
a little ketchup (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

The Process

1)  Peel and chop the onions finely.


2)  Put the saucepan on the hob and heat to a medium heat with the sunflower oil inside.

3)  Fry the onions gently until they are soft. This does take a while but you’re better taking your time here. It normally takes me about 10 minutes until they are soft.

4)  Peel and core the apples then chop into chunks. You don’t need to chop them finely as they break down easier than the onions. Add apples to the saucepan and stir well for another 5 minutes.

5)  Pour in the whiskey and brown sugar.  Stir well until you get a dark brown sticky sauce.

 6)  Finally add the cider vinegar, water, tomato paste, Worchestire sauce, garlic, ketchup, and salt and pepper.

7)  Put the lid on the saucepan, bring the sauce to a slow simmer and leave simmering for 1 hour.

8)  After 1 hour it is ready to use immediately.

If you want to keep it for another day pour into a sterilise jar and seal once cool then refrigerate.

Bacon and Fried Tomatillo Pimento Grilled Cheese

One recent lovely Fall evening I went to hangout with my good friend Rebecca (here is her amazing cooking blog) and we decided to make Bacon and Fried Tomatillo Pimento Grilled Cheese.  We both love pimento cheese spread so so so much!  We actually made the Pimento Cheese Spread that is posted on my blog and fried our tomatillos just like my Fried Green Tomatoes recipe.  But first we cooked the bacon and kept the extra grease in the pan to then fry our tomatillos and then to grill our sandwiches.  We assembled the sandwiches with a layer of pimento cheese spread, bacon, fried tomatillos, more pimento cheese spread and then the top slice of the bread.  We then grilled these massive sandwiches in the cast iron pan.  We used thick and sturdy rye bread which combined very well with the other ingredients.  I would definitely suggest making these glutinous amazing sandwiches!  Today I am writing this post in honor of Rebecca because at 1:33am she gave birth to a baby boy!!!  Congrats to the three of them, and surely her son will one day have to have one of these wonderous sandwiches!

Mushroom and Fennel Pie

I love cooking with fennel it adds a whole new dimension of flavor to whatever dish it is in, and I have a ton of it in the garden right now. Speaking of Fall vegetables here is an awesome link to Bon Appetit's page "cooking with Fall vegetables." I adapted this recipe from ezrapoundcake blog. I made this recipe after going on a wonderful Fall evening hike with my mother so I was ready for a hardy dish such as this.

Serves 5

The Ingredients

1 pound of russet potatoes, peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons milk (fat free)

1 tablespoon butter

1 large fennel bulb, roughly cut

1 large carrot, sliced

2 yellow onions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon parsley
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
4 oz feta
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, granulated
1 crown broccoli, chopped
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil


The Process
1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.) Cook potatoes in salted boiling water for 15 minutes, until tender. Then drain and mash. While potatoes are still hot mix in the milk and butter.

3.) Cook fennel and carrot in salted boiling water for 7 minutes, drain and set aside.

4.) Heat some olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat, when hot add onions and cook for 10 minutes or until they start to brown.

5.) Then add garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, parsley, and season with salt and pepper.

6.) In a greased casserole baking dish sprinkle half of the bread crumbs in the bottom. Add half of the mushroom and onion mixture (spread each layer evenly). Next layer half of the carrot and fennel mixture. Next layer add half of each of the cheeses and then layer half of the potatoes. Repeat one more time and sprinkle the top layer of potatoes with Parmesan cheese.

7.) Bake for 25 minutes and then broil for about 5 minutes to brown the top.

Sweet & Spicy Roasted Yams

I love cooking in the Fall because of all the amazing veggies, winter squashes and potatoes. Recently my boyfriend and I made an amazing dinner with two of our very good friends who are about to move far far away. Jim brought over a very tasty Italian style Kobe beef brisket, so I decided to make kale and roasted yams to accompany it. I make roasted yams often and I make them a different way almost every time, but this time I decided I need to stick with the recipe I created because of how delicious they turned out. This recipe is healthy and easy to make.

Serves 5

The Ingredients
3 large yams, peeled and cut into bit size chunks
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/8 cup brown sugar
2-3 tablespoons olive oil (add more if needed to fully coat yam chunks)
Salt and pepper to taste


The Process
1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a large sheet pan (cookie sheet).

2.) In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients until yams chunks are thoroughly coated.

3.) Spread yams out in a single layer on the sheet pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until yams are brown and almost burnt (roasted).

Steak Au Poivre

It has been an exciting week for me here in Portland!  I got a wonderful new job, I am the new librarian for the Oregon Department of Forestry and I saw some family friends whom I haven't seen in probably 10 years.  Last night we had a big family event down at the sailing club that my parents belong to and we ate lots of good food, played catch up with our family friends who were in town, and of course went sailing.  Although it was a great week I am still happy that it is Friday, here is to a sunny and relaxing weekend at the beach.  As for this recipe it is almost the exact same sauce that I made for the Pork Au Poivre and it was a great sauce poured over the mashed potatoes I paired with the dish.  It is a nice low fat sauce too that adds lots of yummy flavor.

Serves 3

The Ingredients
3 petit sir loin steaks
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup red wine (dry)
1 teaspoon Dijon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon tomato paste
Salt and Pepper
Cooking Spray

The Process
1.  Turn grill onto hot and let heat up.  In the mean time heat a medium skillet up over medium-high heat.  Salt and pepper the steaks.

2.  Add cooking spray to pan when hot and sear steaks for 1 minute each side and transfer to the grill and grill for about 3 minutes each side for medium rare.

3.  Take the same skillet and add beef broth, red wine, 1/4 teaspoon salt, Dijon, and tomato paste.  Whisk continually while you bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute and then reduce the heat to medium heat and keep whisking for 4 minutes until sauce starts to thicken.  The sauce reduces to about a half a cup.  Serve sauce over steak and enjoy.

Parsnip Garlic Mashed Potatoes

The second wedding I am in this summer is approaching quickly and this upcoming weekend I am headed out with a bunch of my girls for the bride's first bachelorette party.  We are headed to Rockaway Beach and have fun adventures planned along the way.  I love Oregon because of the fact that one weekend I can be at the coast in an hour and a half and the next weekend I can be up on the mountain in the same amount of time, I definitely love living in state with diverse climates.  On a different note I recently tried a new machine at the gym, it is a machine that simulates rowing and holy crap my back is so sore but I still would recommend it.  This is a recipe I created recently and they might be the best mashed potatoes I have had in a long time.  Enjoy.

Serves 3

The Ingredients
2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 tablespoons green onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped in half
1/2 cup sour cream (fat-free)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons butter (salted)
1/2 cup beef broth
Salt and Pepper

The Process
1.  In a large pot bring water to a boil and add parsnips, garlic, and potatoes to the pot.  Boiling for about 15 minutes or until the parsnips and potatoes are soft enough to mash.

2.  In the meantime chop up green onions and parsley and set aside.

3.  When potatoes, garlic, and parsnips are ready drain them and put into a medium glass bowl and mash them with a potato masher.  Then add butter, sour cream, beef broth, Parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Right before serving add the green onions and parsley to the mash and mix well and serve.

This is a semi-healthy recipe minus the butter and Parmesan cheese which you could easily leave out and the mash would still taste amazing.  I also served this with Steak Au Poivre the recipe will follow this one.

Chicken and Chickpea Salad

I feel like I have been pretty lucky lately with how many adventures I've been going on this Summer.  I just got back from the wonderful Timothy Lake family camping trip and now this weekend my boyfriend and I are headed down to Eugene, Oregon for my boyfriend's sister's engagement party.  I love Eugene because I always become nostalgic due to my college days at University of Oregon, go Ducks!  In another light I'm onto the "being creative in the kitchen" again due to my lack of fresh groceries, although the garden does supply me with some fresh veggies such as the swiss chard I used in this recipe.  I created this recipe from all the odds and ends in my refrigerator and I was going for healthy, protein packed, and a little bit spicy.  Enjoy!

Serves 2

The Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, cut into 1-in. cubes
1 15oz can chickpeas, drained
2 cups swiss chard, chopped
3/4 cup yellow onion, minced
1 small Serrano pepper, minced 
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 cup fat free feta cheese
Black pepper

The Process
1.  Spray a skillet with cooking spray and warm up over medium heat.  When hot add chicken, 1/4 cup yellow onion, garlic salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and some black pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until chicken chunks are cooked through.  Once these are done put in freezer for 10 minutes to cool off.

2.  At the same time steam swiss chard for 45 seconds and then put into freezer for 10 minutes to cool off.

3.  In the mean time in a medium bowl add chickpeas, 1/2 cup yellow onion, and Serrano pepper and set aside.

4.  In a small bowl mix together salt, olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, Dijon mustard, rice vinegar, garlic, and pepper to taste. 

5.  When chicken and swiss chard have cooled add then to the chickpea mixture.  Also add the Dijon/lemon dressing.  And then add feta cheese, mix well and then put in refrigerator for 25 minutes to cool.