Scalloped Oysters

Scalloped Oysters... is this a Southern thing? This recipe was submitted by Debbie Thomas on Allrecipes. I thought of something somenoe said to me back when I revived the blog and my first post was Oyster Stew. She said that she read it and it reminded her of a typical dish her family had at Thanksgiving.

I have heard of Oyster Stuffing so I am wondering if this is sort of what it is? Can anyone out there elaborate? I'd really love to know.

My version of this dish turned out creamy and buttery... very very good! I did use two cans of oysters and not the fresh ones... mainly because of convenience and expense.

The flavor was... well... full of oysters, which I love!

Here is my version:

Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

I was looking for a chicken and dumplings recipe that sort of matched what Nancy made while I was there and I found this one submitted to Allrecipes by Karena. I need to be clear on my recollection of chicken and dumplings. Dumplings to me are NOT noodles. They're airy balls of yummy deliciousness cooked on top of the broth! There. I said it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I made a few changes to the recipe. First, I didn't have celery so I used celery flakes. I also added some garlic. I skipped the "gravy" part and added a can of cream of celery while I had the chicken out of the pot cooling on the bone.

After reading the dumpling part of the recipe I decided to use a different recipe for those. This Herbed Dumplings recipe submitted  by Ronna is the one I used. I omitted the herbs listed and used parsley, garlic powder, and chives in mine.

While I definitely didn't get the same flavor as Nancy had in hers, these two recipes, as she would put it, were... the BOMB!

Try them for yourself! You won't be disappointed! Also... LET ME KNOW in the comments below!!

Greek-Style Lemon Roasted Potatoes

I have been asked numerous times to try this recipe for Greek-Style Lemon Roasted Potatoes submitted by koko to Allrecipes by my friend Rich.

NUMEROUS times!

I finally made them and they definitely didn't disappoint! (Perhaps he'll stop nagging me about it now? HA!). I wouldn't have it any other way!

When I first read it, I thought that the amount of stock was outrageous... way too much. However, it dissipates and infuses the potatoes with such an intense flavor, that it will knock your socks off!

The spices, oil, and juice, I didn't measure, as I rarely do when I'm cooking - only with baking does that really matter. So the olive oil, lemon juice, and oregano, I sprinkled on until it looked like enough. When you have been cooking for as long as I have, you tend to know what spice levels you like and what will taste pretty good.

These roasted to perfection and I'm glad Rich kept asking me if I made them yet...

GOLD STAR!!

Sunday Morning Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes

Lemon poppy seed pancakes?

Ok... I'll bite.

I found this recipe on Allrecipes submitted by TTV78. I wanted something different for breakfast, it's not like I eat breakfast that much to begin with but I wanted something other than bacon and eggs. This little gem caught my eye. I guess I got the inspiration for pancakes when I was out East. Yeah - we went to Ihop one morning.

First of all, I need to say... I suck at making pancakes from scratch. They never seemed to poof up like they would if I were using a pancake mix. Perhaps it was always because of my using older baking powder and baking soda? Who knows. All I know is that these particular pancakes did poof a bit and were quite tasty!

For those of you who don't like lemon in or on anything except fish - you know who you are.
There is such a faint lemon flavor in these, you can barely taste it; which to me is absolutely perfect. I think the lemon gave a pop to the pancakes without being an overwhelming flavor.

The poppy seeds? Well, I'm not sure if I could taste those or not. What exactly is a poppy seed supposed to taste like? Is there a flavor? Or is it just something that gets stuck in your teeth?

But at any rate, here is my version of this pancake recipe and I hope all of my readers (ok, the two of you) will try this and let me know in the comments section what YOU thought of them!

Let's start a conversation!

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce for Gyros

Pretty close!!

This recipe for cucumber yogurt sauce I found on Genius Kitchen by Shaye... OMG! YUMMY!

It tastes like what's on the gyros when you buy them from a food vendor... or the frozen isle at the grocery store. Absolutely delicious!!

Two things I did different with this... and yes I realize I just said that it was an exact replica. It was until I made an herb adjustment. I didn't realize the cucumbers had to be pulverized in the food processor so I only chopped them fine. I think by pulverizing the cucumber, the flavor of it would be much more intense. Lesson for next time. I also added some chopped chive just to kick it up a tiny notch.

All in all though, I have more Greek yogurt in the fridge so you can bet I'll be using this on everything and making more within the next week!

I thank Nance for sending me down this Greek path! :)

Traditional Gyro Meat

Can you fall in love with food?

That is a question I ponder from time to time. I remember reading in one of my earliest posts on here that I should have went into culinary instead of journalism. Looking back on those days, however, I definitely made the right choice not only because of what I learned academically but because of the incredible group of people I was surrounded with. But remembering that old blog post, I said that I would combine my love of food with my love of writing with this blog... I think so far, that's been my take-away of it. I hope that anyone else reading it will sense that passion and excitement I bring in my musings.

This recipe, though...this Traditional Gyro Meat recipe submitted to Allrecipes by The Dread Pirate Paramour (interesting name, I might say. Catchy!), is as Nance says - the BOMB! I don't think I can get any clearer about this.

I realize, though, that the recipe is not so traditional in my case. I used only beef and no lamb. Lamb is a huge luxury and considering I cut the recipe in half just to try it out, I wasn't going to dish out the extra cash for the lamb. Perhaps in another time and life... I will do just that... but for now... this is where I'm at.

I will say, however, that this meat mixture did come pretty close to the taste of the gyros you can get in the freezer section of the local supermarket and even the gyros you can buy at fairs and from street vendors. It's probably the same thing either way.

I think it's the spices used that gives it such a unique flavor... probably the rosemary. I can tell you that if you put in on homemade pita bread and top it with a homemade cucumber sauce, you won't go wrong!

Make it and see for yourself!

It's worth it!

Easy Pita Bread

Yes, I know... my photo of the Easy Pita Bread doesn't look appetizing... but I can tell you, the flavor was spot on!

The main thing working against me while making these pitas was that I used a toaster oven. That meant only baking one at a time. The other thing was trying to get them into the toaster oven without burning my hands... hey! you try handling a soft disk of dough and see how easy it is!

It's a magical adventure!

I will say, though, that this pita recipe submitted by Bitsie on the Genius Kitchen is a definite "try and try again" recipe because the flavor and texture were absolutely wonderful. Light and chewy - as a pita should be. Perhaps I will make them a little smaller next time and try to figure a way of getting them into the toaster oven without disfiguring them.

Besides... you can top these things with ANYTHING! Want a gyro? Poof - DONE! Want a pizza? Poof - DONE! Want a taco? Poof - well, you get the picture! I was going to use tomatoes, onion, black olives, the gyro meat that I made, and feta cheese but it was simply too late in the evening to want to mess with any of that. Instead, I only topped the one ( half of one, really) I tried with the meat, black olives, and the cucumber sauce I made to go with them.

Check it out and let me know!

Greek Tilapia Filet

To go along with the Simple Greek Home Fries I blogged about the other day, I used the same flavorings for a tilapia filet.

This is so easy it isn't even funny. Coat your tilapia filet with garlic powder, oregano, ground pepper, basil, and a touch of salt.

Saute the filet in a combination of lemon juice, olive oil and butter and there you have it - Greek-inspired tilapia.

The flavor pops with the hint of lemon juice and everything melded together.

Simple. Easy. Delicious!

And there you have it, folks!

Looks good, doesn't it?!

Cheesy Potato Corn Soup

If you might remember from a previous post, I was recently out near Philly visiting my friend Nance. What I didn't say in that post was that my friends Rich and Tim also joined us for a few days. We spent some time in a few thrift stores and these little clay soup bowls were spotted. I didn't pick them up because they were what I call a "want" and not a "need" and I certainly didn't need them. However, on my way to the train station, Nance surprised me with this thoughtful and beautiful gift and told me that the three of them conspired against me... thus - the soup bowls are mine. :)

I know people usually make French Onion Soup in these things but since I already made that a month or so ago, I settled for this Cheesy Potato Corn Soup submitted by Meghan on GeniusKitchen. It made a nice amount of soup that I'll be eating for a few days. I'm not sure about freezing since it's a "cream"-based soup (even though it's actually milk).

I really like it. I think the cheese really made the soup shine. The next time I make it, I think I will add more corn and maybe some bacon - just to add variance to the dish. Serve it with a nice, crusty bread and you have a hit!

Simple Greek Home Fries

I recently spent five days with one of my favorite people, Nance, at her place out near Philly. She kind of got me on a Greek kick after one night making homemade Greek meatballs and cucumber sauce.

The meatballs Nancy made were, using her words - "the bomb!" and I tend to agree with her. They were absolutely delicious! She has inspired me to make some Greek food and I take no shame in doing so. Greek food is awesome!

So on that note and the first submission of my Greek-inspired kitchen musings, I found these Simple Greek Home Fries on GeniusKitchen submitted by Connie. There was an intense yet balanced flavor of oregano and basil in these home fries and I am sure going to make them again. They were quick and easy!

Try it!

Ugandan Curried Potatoes

I thought with the Crock-Pot Curried Chicken, I would make this Ugandan Curried Potatoes provided by Um Safia on GeniusKitchen.

I doubt this one, I will make again. I found the flavor of them a little off-putting and not like a curry. I should have used the hot curry powder I used for the chicken. Maybe I should have let them brown into a "home fry" consistency because they seemed to lack something. Perhaps a crust would work?

They LOOK really good...

Crock-Pot Chicken Curry

Looking for a slow-cooker recipe, I found this Crock-Pot Chicken Curry recipe from PrairieHarpy by way of the GeniusKitchen site. I have a couple different types of curry powder in the pantry: hot and regular. I used the hot because I wanted a little extra kick.

While it was in the Crock-Pot, I could really smell the curry, however, there is only a nice, subtle flavor of it while eating it. After finishing eating, there was a lingering heat from the powder which was a pleasant, little kick. Not a lot but enough to let me know it was there. Quite delicious.

The chicken itself - fell off the bone. I didn't even need a knife to cut it. It was tender and juicy; everything one would want chicken out of the Crock to be. I think next time I make this, I will take the skin off first to allow the simple flavor of this dish to permeate the meat.

 This was a simple, easy recipe that I will add to my collection and recommend that people try.

Bacon Balls in Broth

Yes... that is exactly what it says - and I thought the same thing!! I would think a better name for them would be 'dumplings' but hey, I didn't name them!  This is how I used up the last bit of homemade Italian bread I made, the leftover beef broth, and the three-quarter can of carrots I had in the fridge. Good thinking, huh?! HAT TRICK!!

I admit, I have never had much luck with any type of dumpling, least of all a dumpling made with breadcrumbs. They always turned out gritty. Perhaps this is because I always used the breadcrumbs in the containers. This time however... I succeeded in making light, fluffy dumplings and the flavor in these was superb! They had just the right combination of bacon, onion and chive flavor and nothing overpowered the other; not to mention the carrots in the boiling broth added another layer of yummy flavor. It seems this would be a good, hearty dish to make when you are sick.

I suggest trying these Bacon Balls in Broth
ey are definitely worth it!