Deconstructed Guacamole Salad

I watch Top Chef a lot.  And I PONTIFICATE about Top Chef a lot.  Every 3 or 4 minutes during the show I yell, "Pause It!" so I can give my opinion.  As to why a contestant's dish is going to be a winner or a loser.  Or what I would do with those ingredients instead.  Like I would take that ostrich egg and serve Tom and Padma a giant deviled egg.  PONTIFICATE is a big word.  So is DECONSTRUCTED.  Makes me sound fancy!  Almost like I'm Top Chef material.  Which I'm not, but it's free to dream. The chefs on Top Chef are always "deconstructing" their dishes.  Taking something kind of straightforward and taking it apart.  Ummmm I can do that.  Only not in a 30 minute time limit inside a Prius, using only a waffle iron and a turkey baster, and not when my ingredients are limited to eel farts and bubble gum.  So you'll probably never see Tom and Padma judging my food, but I don't mind if ya'll do.  Feel free to PONTIFICATE and DECONSTRUCT all you want.  Definitely DECONSTRUCT this Deconstructed Guacamole Salad!  It's a winner, Top Chef or not!

Slow Cooker Kielbasa

A while back I made this dish for Mr. Devilish.  We both love any kind of sausage and I thought this would be yummy served with grilled cabbage.  Seemed like the perfect combination to me!  He loved it.  He said, "You're so gourmet.  You're like Top Chef.  It's like a de-constructed hot dog."  If he only knew how simple this was to make.  I served it as a main course with grilled cabbage, but you could definitely use this as a great party appetizer.  Simply set some frilly toothpicks out beside your crockpot and you're all set!

So simple and yummy!

The Line Up
Can't get much easier than four ingredients!

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

If you're one of those people that thinks you don't like blue cheese dressing, I might be able to change your mind.  The reason may be that you've never had a good quality, homemade blue cheese dressing.  To me, there is nothing better than a great steakhouse dinner that begins with a salad topped with a good blue cheese dressing.  Not only is this wonderful as a salad dressing, it is perfect with Buffalo Wings, and a great veggie dip too!

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing...Yum!

Combine mayonnaise and milk...

Add sour cream.

Season with garlic salt.

Add blue cheese.  Combine in food processor
OR simply mix together in a bowl
for a chunkier dressing.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Sausage & Red Wine Casserole

If you search sausage and red wine casserole on Google, you get lots of interesting combinations.  Most of the recipes appear to be British in origin.  And then some recipes use Italian sausage.  And then my recipe uses Polish sausage.  So apparently my dish is suffering from heritage confusion.  All I know is it came about while I was researching ideas for a couple of packages of Polish sausage.  It seems for some reason I always over buy them and they are lost forever in the depths of my deep freeze. Most of the variations of casseroles using sausage called for French-style green beans or mushrooms.  You know all of the things I did not have in my refrigerator the day I was determined to use the Polish sausage.  So...Here's what I came up with.  My husband loved it.  He said it was the best preparation I had ever made using Polish sausage.  I served it over mashed potatoes.  I think maybe he was drunk on mashed potatoes.  But come to think of it, it was pretty darned good.

Sausage & Red Wine Casserole,
unusual but delish!

The ingredients...
Only 5?  Can't beat that.

Saute sausage in oil.

Add green onions and cook until
sausages are lightly browned.

Add red wine.
Cover and simmer 1 hour.

Remove from heat.
Stir in chopped fresh parsley
and serve.

Rosemary Smashed Potatoes

I live in a never ending baked potato rut.  They're just so easy and unless someone wants to peel and make me wonderful hand-cut french fries on a regular basis, then I would have to say baked potatoes are my favorite starchy side dish.  Mr. DD would argue in favor of mashed potatoes, but I don't want to peel them.  And they seem so rich and heavy sometimes.  I found a great solution to the potato dilemma.  Rosemary "Smashed" Potatoes.  Not mashed, SMASHED.  The best part?  Just a few ingredients.  Oh yeah, and a great use for the tons of fresh Rosemary growing on my patio.

Just a few simple ingredients for an elegant side dish!

Thyme Rubbed Roast Beef

One of my favorite memories from my childhood was visiting my Granddaddy Guy and Grandmother Mary's house on Sunday.  Even after I was well into high school, I still chose to sit at the "kid's table."  Where we dined on pizza, moon pies, popsicles, candy bars, ten thousand flavors of cola, boston baked bean candy, and all the giant gumballs we could chew.  Which to a kid is the ultimate Sunday dinner.  In hindsight, I should have been in the dining room with the grown ups.  Sitting on Grandmother Mary's dining chairs with the blue velvet seats.  They were dining on things like pot roast or chicken and dumplings.  But regardless of what we were having, the family was gathered together on Sunday evening for dinner.  This thyme-rubbed roast is the ideal main course for a Sunday dinner.  Served with your favorite potato and vegetable, your family will want to gather around the table.  I love that idea, and I want more than anything to bring that tradition back with my own family. It may take awhile, my nephew is in South Texas and Little Devil is away at college.  But someday, hopefully they'll live close enough to gather around my table every Sunday for dinner.  Incidentally, I have my Grandmother Mary's dining table and chairs.  I recovered the seats, but every time we sit in them I think about the fabulous meals and love that were served  at that table.  I only hope to serve more of the same to my family.

A perfect Sunday meal dish...

Just a few simple ingredients

If you haven't tried a "probe-style" thermometer, I love mine.
The probe is inserted into the meat before cooking,
and remains in the roast during the cooking process.
(A long wire comes out the oven door, attached to the
thermometer where you can monitor the cooking temps.)
This is the easiest way I have found to get meat
to come out at our desired doneness.

Serve with your favorite potato dish
for a delightful Sunday dinner.

Champagne Cupcakes~Happy New Year!!!

Nothing says, "Happy New Year" like champagne.  Well at our house we say, "Merry New Year" but that's because we are movie nerds and consider Trading Places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd our quintessential holiday movie.  It's not my favorite beverage really.  I'd rather make a toast with a Diet Coke in a champagne flute.  Little Devil usually drinks sparkling cider in a "fancy glass."  We keep a bottle or two on hand for Mimosas, but not so much for celebrating the new year.  It's been years since I've been out on the town on New Year's Eve.  I hate the crowds, the traffic, the cold weather.  The phobia of crazy, drunk people.  Since we had Little Devil, we've pretty much stayed home and had our annual "New Year's Rockin' Eve Crab Boil."  It's festive, the food is awesome, and the best part is we get to party in our pajamas!  Since the crab boil menu varies, my New Year's Eve cooking fun is resigned to dessert.  I saw a recipe for Sparkling Champagne Cupcakes on Pinterest, and I was sold.  A soft, moist champagne-flavored cake, filled with a creamy champagne pastry cream, topped with a champagne buttercream frosting.  Guaranteed you can't go wrong with this cupcake for any special occasion. 



Champagne Cupcakes
Merry New Year!
This recipe can be found at SPRINKLE BAKES blog here:
SPARKLING CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES FROM SPRINKLE BAKES

This is not my original recipe. Full Credit for this recipe
goes to Heather at SPRINKLE BAKES. 
*NOTE the only change I made is I made 6 JUMBO cupcakes
instead of regular-sized. 

I hope you thoroughly enjoy the cupcakes and have had a blessed 2012.  Please be safe tonight and here's to a fabulous 2013 full of more cooking fun.  (I'm toasting you with a Champagne Cupcake!)