Eat This: Easy Peasy Fajitas

Everyone in Texas has their own recipe for fajitas.  Well, almost everyone.  Mine is pretty simple.  I think many fajitas I've had over the years are unnecessarily complicated flavor-wise. Try these and I promise you will make your own take on them as well.  I am afraid the only process photos I have are cooking photos.  I had a lot going on today and the prep isn't necessarily photo worthy anyway!  Try this.

Savor The Summer: Garlic Ginger Pepper Jam

I love the taste of Summer from the fresh corn to the nice fiery hot Jalapenos I grow in the back yard.  I also like grilled meats and think that once in awhile you might like to have something sweet and hot on a freshly grilled chop.  Enter this jam.

Eat This: Fish Friday - Maple Mustard Salmon

Stone Ground Mustard and Maple Glazed Salmon

I love salmon. When the wild caught, Copper River Salmon is available, I am always a step away from a feast.  Tonight, I made something a little different; Mustard-Maple Glazed Roasted Salmon.  It was DELICIOUS and so easy. 

Sadly, I was very lazy and only have the final product photographed, but I'll walk you through the process.

Eating This: Fresh from Southern California

Riverside Farmer's Market

I have been on a bit of a mini-vacation in Southern Calirofnia, hosted by friends in Riverside at their home.  The setting is idyllic, really beautiful and I know why they love being here so much.  Food is important here:  Fresh food. Local food. Delicious food.  Our dinners have been really extraordinary.  Here are some photos of the fresh products from their garden and the local Farmer's Market and the resulting meal!

Eat This: Fresh Blueberry Jam

Hello.  My name is Marc and I am a canning and preserving addict.  

I admit it.  Don't want to change it. Enjoy doing it and sharing with friends and neighbors.  Today I made fresh blueberry jam.  The blueberries came from a local farm here in North Texas and bought at the local Farmer's Market.  I water processed the results and it turned out great!  Next time I think I will do some spicy version, maybe a Jalapeño or other pepper infused variety.

Fresh Saturday: Purple Hull Peas For The Freezer

I love peas. Almost any kind.  When I was at the Denton Farmer's Market a couple of weeks back, one of the vendors I buy from was taking orders for Purple Hull Peas.  He has a family farm and grows a pretty large variety of things.  I ordered a half bushel of peas and they came in on the 4th!  It was amazing that farmers were in the market on the Fouth of July, but hey, that's their bread and butter and they were mobbed.  I also bought Blueberries which you will see in a subsequent post.

Eat Here: Coco Pazzo Cafe, Chicago

From the website - Try sitting outside and enjoy the neighborhood ambiance.

Last week I was in Chicago attending the American Library Association's "Annual Conference".  26,000 librarians, vendors and others converged on Chicago.  No surprise, a lot of Tweets, FaceBook and blog posts revolved around food.  Chicago has a long tradition of foods from everywhere you can imagine.

The Modigliani inspired murals high above head are just a small part of the ambiance.

Grow: Herbs and More

Lemon Thyme, German Thyme and Lavender

Living in North Texas we get some pretty extreme weather.  From ice and snow in the Winter to triple digit temps in the Summer.  So I do what any right minded person would do: I do container gardening on the patio.  Easy. Cheap. Manageable. So much less maintenance, and, when the weather gets dicey?  I move them under cover with no trouble.

Sweet Basil

I bought one basil plant at the Home Depot for $3 and we have been eating off this monster all season.  From caprese salads, to sandwiches and salads, it is a Summer staple we love each year.

Southern Style: Sweet & Savory Tomato Jam

FROM THIS ....

TO THIS ...

When sweet meets savory, delicious explosions happen. It's nature. Go with it.  I love Summer; tomatoes, sweet and delicious.  I want to save it for myself and to share with everyone I know.  I found a tomato jam recipe, but it didn't really fit the flavor profile I was looking for. So I did what anyone would do: I made up my own.  This is the result.  Try it.  The only thing it costs you is an afternoon.

Eat This: Peach Apricot Ginger Jam

Peach Apricot Ginger Jam

I love the fresh fruit taste of the Spring.  I went to the Farmer's Market and brought back some beautiful peaches, grown here in the DFW area. I knew I wanted something special, so I am paring them with dried Turkish apricots and ginger. Sweet and spicy with the ginger.  It's delicious.  This is a lower sugar recipe as well. The original called for 7 cups of sugar. I used 2 1/2.  The use of Low-No Sugar Pectin has changed the way preserving works!  Try this.

Eat This: Rosemary Oregano Parmesan Focaccia

Impossible not to cut a piece to taste.

I love focaccia.  I bought a loaf last week from a local grocery. It was delicious, creamy with Parmesan.  I wanted to try that myself and this was the result.  I added herbs fresh from my backyard, rosemary and oregano along with shaved parmesan.  Oh yeah. Delicious.  Just try to make at least two loaves because one?  Like eating one potato chip. Not happening.

Eat This Now: Strawberry Lemon Ginger Jam

I love strawberries.  Sweet. Tart. Pretty. Red.  Come on, everyone likes strawberries, right?  I've been on a jelly/canning/preserving kick over the past year and I thought, what could I do with strawberries?  These Texas grown berries are delicious. They're pretty BIG too.  I took a basic recipe from Susan Can Cook and modified it a bit.  It came out really nicely.  Delicious and tastes like "Summer".  Try this. It's easy and delicious.

Let's Eat Cake: Lemon Pound Cake

I love lemon anything. Cake. Cookies. Whatever.  I found a recipe and modified it and this was the outcome.  I gave our neighbors half of the cake, so I wouldn't eat it all, and they proclaimed it the best lemon cake they'd ever had.  You be the judge. It really WAS pretty awesome.  It is a basic cake that you can add any kind of extract and make it your own.  Enjoy.

Eat This: Crabcakes

I grew up on the North coast of Florida.  We had such wonderful, fresh and seemingly unlimited seafood to eat.  I reminisced with my mom recently that I thought we were poor because we consumed so much seafood!  I mean, it came from the end of the street, right out of the Intracoastal Waterway or a block up the street to the Atlantic Ocean.  You can still, in our old neighborhood in North Beach, St. Augustine, wade out in the water with a screwdriver, break off a fresh oyster and eat that bad boy right where it came from. That fresh.

I know better now. I know we were blessed.  We particularly loved blue crab.  Usually just boiled and picked, and now, in all their glory, crabcakes.  This is a new recipe I put together as I am limiting my carb intake so this really cuts it to the bone.  Enjoy! 

Neutral Friday: New Rooms From Restration Hardware

The cocktail table and sofa are awesome.

Ok. Yeah, I know.  You get the catalogs too.  I love Restoration Hardware's room vignettes.  This time I highlighted the "small spaces".  I feel like I could just move right in.  These are from the latest catalog set - you  remember, that 12# package in the mailbox?  Happy Friday.

Eat Smarter: Low Carb Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanuts, peanut butter... whatever.  I am avoiding wheat at the moment and my craving for  cookie is hard to work out.  I found this recipe and it came out pretty good!  Not like a "regular" flour based peanut butter cookie, but pretty good as a substitute.

I didn't take photos of the mixing and measuring process but... well, it's pretty simple.  One caveat: I got mine from the grocery in the "grind it yourself aisle".  You don't want to use regular peanut butter because it has so much added stuff already, sugar, etc in it. 

SMOKIN!: Slow Smoked Baby Back Ribs

Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs

I am crazy about BBQ. Crazy.  A couple of years ago, I got all worked up over smoked foods and it has become a hobby.  

Yesterday I was at Sprouts Market and they had some beautiful baby back ribs on sale - minimally processed - no additives - no hormones.  Naked pork.  I got 4, count em, 4 slabs.  They are great to smoke and freeze in individual freezer bags for a quick meal later on. Check this out - rub recipe after the jump too!

Eat This: Easy Tempura

Shrimp, broccoli and green bean tempura

I love tempura.  Hot. Crisp. Light.  I also hate cleaning up after making it, but sometimes the sacrifice is worth the trouble.  Tonight I made shrimp, broccoli and green bean tempura with a VERY simple tempura batter.  You should try this some time. It's delicious.  I'm also including a uber easy knockoff on the Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang sauce, which I love along side the shrimp.  Ponzu right out of the bottle is awesome on the veggies.

Photography: Point And Shoot Friday

Special Effects!

I continue to enjoy getting to know my Nikon D5100 DSLR.  There are so many settings and features that are built in it takes a quick reference guide just to get to them all!  I took these within about 15 minutes - fast, point and shoot.  Enjoy photography?  Let me know what sites you use as I am trying to improve my own repertoire.

Furniture Obsession: Chests

This could be my favorite.

I am crazy about some furniture.  I have recently been obsessing over what many call "bachelor chests"; small, usually three or four drawer chests that go beside a bed, or under a window, or stand all on their own.  Check these out. 

Try looking at my Pinterest board - Furniture: Chests (there is a link on the right side at the top of DUBD.).

Saturday Eats: Fresh Rolled Biscuits

Fresh Rolled Biscuits with Clementine-Habanero-Ginger Marmalade

These are wonderful biscuits that I adapted from Joy of Cooking.   It is a very simple basic recipe that only has 5 ingredients. 

I like a more “layered” biscuit so I actually turn them out onto a floured surface (my kitchen island has a SileStone top which is great for baking) and knead them turning 5 or 6 times only.  Don’t overwork them or they get tough and won’t rise as nicely.  This basic recipe can also be used as the top for pot pies and is REALLY delicious if you add a ½ cup of finely grated Parmesan for that purpose. Enjoy!

Super Simple: Strawberry Cobbler

I love cobbler. Pure and simple. Love it. It is super simple and awesome. It's pretty hard to screw up too. This is the simplest version yet. Incredibly moist, sweet and delicious. Not for the faint of heart carb-wise, but once in awhile you just have to have what you have to have!

Cheeburger: Home Made Hamburger Buns

I love fresh bread.  I also like a good burger.  When I wanted burgers today I realized I had no buns. Bummer.  But wait!  How about a quick and easy homemade hamburger bun in less than an hour?  I know, you think I am off my meds, but I am not.  This recipe was adapted from this one at Taste Of Home.

Sunday Supper: Shrimp & Green Grits

OK. It sounds a little out of the ordinary, but these creamy, buttery, cheesy grits are delicious on their own loaded with butter, cream, spinach, chives and basil.  Not for the faint of heart, or calorie counters, but once in awhile this is a delicious indulgence.  When topped with succulent shrimp, it's awesome.
Here's how we do it after the jump.

Savory Sunday: Parmesan-Cracked Black Pepper Shortbread Crackers

I have been making shortbread cookies for some time now.  Barely sweet, buttery, nutty with pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts.  I love the texture and the "not too sweet" nature of them.  I also love a nice cracker.  A little wine, a good cracker and some goat cheese?  What's better?

I use the food processor to make the shortbread cookies so I thought, why not go for a savory cracker?  See how I did it after the jump: