Blog Archives

Zesty Citrus Sweet Potato Wedges

1

Sometimes an interesting or unusual side dish can turn an otherwise plain or ordinary meal into a memorable one and take it to another level. This happened recently when I was preparing dinner for a guest who was on a very limited diet. She had requested plain broiled fish with no sauce and steamed vegetables. Along with this we offered her our crispy roasted lime infused sweet potato wedges, that had been brushed with marmalade just before going into the oven. “My meal could not have been more satisfying,” she told someone. “What I asked for was cooked perfectly to my liking. But what made it so extraordinary was that special and surprising taste sensation of those zesty citrus sweet potato wedges.” These are also great with a beef or pork roast, ham or chicken.

Print Recipe
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Zesty Citrus Sweet Potato Wedges
SERVINGS
6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
30mins
PREP TIME
45mins
READY IN
1 hr15 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Wash potatoes leaving skins on and cut into wedges. Marinate in the juice from the lime and it’s zest.
  2. Toss in oil with onion salt and pepper to taste. Spread out on baking sheet.
  3. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes or until crispy and golden on outside and tender inside.

Phenomenal Savory Bread Pudding

Reply

Recently four of our young sisters were invited to a neighbor’s house in our community for a special dinner. The next day when I asked, “So how was the dinner?”
the response was, “Phenomenal!” That didn’t surprise me knowing that the menu had featured a choice tenderloin of beef, which they all liked and
we rarely have at the Convent. What did surprise and amuse me was that each of them individually wanted to tell me about one special dish
that had put the meal “over the top” and sent it “out of the park.”

This was a savory bread pudding that included leeks, fresh mushrooms, Gruyere cheese, pancetta, and sherry. Well then, why wouldn’t that
impress anyone as a phenomenal dish? And because our brave leeks are still holding their own out in the garden, why shouldn’t we give
it a try here at home?  Well, we did, and sure enough it scored a home run with the whole sisterhood. Why not try it yourself and see
what kind of a rating it gets at your house?

Print Recipe
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Phenomenal Savory Bread Pudding
SERVINGS
8-10people
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
people
COOK TIME
2hours
PREP TIME
READY IN
2.25hours

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat.
  4. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender.
  5. Stir in the mushrooms, sherry, 1 tablespoon onion salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.
  6. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere.
  7. Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid.
  8. Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Reply

Last week we started “putting the gardens to bed” for the season.
This end of an era always seems to creep up on us before I expect it
to.  For me it is always accompanied with a certain sadness.  No more
beautiful early morning sights of garden tubs overflowing with choice red
tomatoes, crisp green lettuce and chard, gorgeous shiny eggplants and
colorful summer squashes  ushering in the new day. What did arrive
this morning were some wonderful prizewinning heads of cabbage, a goodly
amount of green beans and plenty of assorted tomatoes.  So tonight we
will enjoy  a favorite old  world classic for our dinner:  Stuffed
cabbage rolls with fresh garden tomato sauce along with tender whole
green beans.

Print Recipe
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
SERVINGS
4-6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
1hour
PREP TIME
30mins
READY IN
1.5hours

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Cut up tomatoes and simmer with olive oil, onion salt, oregano and sugar until reduced to 1 cup or 8 ounces of sauce. Can be done while preparing cabbage.
  2. Leave cabbage whole, but cut around the stem, and parboil for 5 minutes; let steep for another 5 minutes. Remove cabbage from water and drain; separate cabbage leaves. Chop the small inside leaves and the core and use to line a Dutch oven.
  3. Combine all the stuffing ingredients and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place 1 tablespoon stuffing on each of the larger cabbage leaves, fold ends of leaves over the stuffing, and roll leaves.
  4. Arrange the stuffed cabbage leaves in rows in Dutch oven; sprinkle each layer with olive oil, tomato sauce, and crushed bay leaf. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper; add remaining tomato sauce, beef broth and enough water to cover. Place a plate on top of cabbage rolls, and simmer over low heat for 1 hour. Serve the cabbage rolls with the pot sauce pored over them.

Blackened Salmon

Reply

“Ooh”  I gasped under my breath as the waiter deftly lowered my plate, carefully centering it in front of me. Before I could gain my composure he had swept away with an enthusiastic injunction to me to “enjoy”.

I had been taken to lunch by a friend who was convinced that I would love the fabulous salmon salad this restaurant was known for. This was years ago just when blackened salmon was just becoming a new sensation. Although I’d heard of it, I’d never yet seen it, nor was I at all expecting  my salmon at this lunch to be blackened, but here it was before me…..and very black indeed..

Determined to make this a positive experience for the sake of my friend I bravely, though skeptically, took my first taste, and with that taste I became a fan. Now, years later I now have developed my own version, somewhat modified but very flavorful.  I highly recommend it to all salmon lovers, especially at this season of the year.

Print Recipe
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Blackened Salmon
SERVINGS
4people
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
people
COOK TIME
10minutes
PREP TIME
10 minutes
READY IN
20minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
  2. In a shallow bowl, combine the paprika, cayenne, thyme, teaspoon of the onion salt.
  3. In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt 2 ½ tablespoons of the butter. Add the lemon juice.
  4. Working with 1 salmon fillet at a time, dip the top and bottom halves first in the lemon butter, then in the spices.
  5. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the salmon until blackened to your liking about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the oven for 8 minutes.

 

 

Savory Dill Rolls

2

I never cease to be amazed at the number of Sisters who love to bake bread or want to learn how. It always results in a most satisfying experience for all, both those who make it and those who eat it. So we bake and serve a wide variety of breads for the convent and for our guests. But like every other category of foods, there are always some that have more appeal than others and become old standbys. This is the case with our SAVORY dill bread , which is a favorite all year round, but especially at this time of year when fresh dill is flourishing in our herb garden.

This is a flavorful soft textured dough that can be formed into loaves for slicing or various shaped rolls to accompany salads or dinners. Whatever shape they are baked into they are sure to please.

Print Recipe
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Savory Dill Rolls
SERVINGS
3dozen rolls
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
dozen rolls
COOK TIME
12-15 mins (for rolls)20-25 mins (for loaves)
PREP TIME
1 hr30 mins
READY IN
1 hr 45 mins2 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Dissolve yeast in warm water; add milk, sugar, onion, dill, salt, eggs, shortening or margarine, and 6 cups of flour. Mix well.
  3. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic.
  4. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (about 1 hour).
  5. Punch down and form into rolls or loaves. Place on a greased pan and let rise until doubled in bulk.
  6. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes for rolls or 20-25 minutes for loaves.

Summertime Spinach and Turkey Cutlet Salad

Reply

This salad is a lovely and light “one platter” meal for those hot summer days. The warmth of the cutlets over the chilled baby spinach, cooks the leaves slightly, allowing you to bite into a refreshing combination of textures — soft and crunchy. I first served this on a hot day in Italy, and was taken by not only the beauty of the fabulous colors on the platter, but also the lemony and nutty flavors of the greens. Arugula can be substituted for the spinach, which will give it a more “peppery” flavor. Accompanied by a freshly made basket of rolls, you now have an elegant lunch. Andiamo Mangiare!

Print Recipe
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Summertime Spinach and Turkey Cutlet Salad
SERVINGS
6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
20mins
PREP TIME
20mins
READY IN
1hr

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Make your coating for the cutlets according to instructions above
  2. Salad Dressing: Mix all ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
  3. Coating for Cutlets: Combine all of the above in a blender until fine crumbs are made – adjust seasonings to taste If cutlets are thick, pound with meat hammer until the cutlets are about ¼” thick. Put coating mixture in a small pan and coat both sides of the cutlets well with the crumbs.
  4. Coat the bottom of a cast iron or other heavy duty skillet with olive oil and 1 Tablespoon of butter (to prevent burning) and heat. Once sizzling, reduce the heat to medium, add the cutlets and brown on both sides. Tip: don’t turn the cutlets over until they are ready to “release” from the pan or else all the coating will come off the cutlet!
  5. Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables and fruit for the salad (slicing etc)
  6. Fill the bottom of your serving platter w/ the baby spinach and toss lightly with the dressing and then a sprinkling of onion salt and fresh parmesan cheese (or dress in a bowl and transfer to platter afterwards).
  7. Once the cutlets are cooked and while they are still warm, lay them over the bed of baby spinach, overlapping slightly to create some height in the center of your platter. Your baby spinach is going to cook slightly from the heat of the warm cutlets.
  8. Creatively, arrange your fruit and vegetables on top of the meat, and finish with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan cheese and red onion.
  9. Serve while the cutlets are still warm.