Candied Yams

So this recipe is for traditional candied yams. Some people baked their

yams. I boil mine. Yes, boil! This is an all stove top recipe.

Take 4-5 medium to large size yams

Peel the yams and cut them into, 1-inch pieces. Place a boiling pot of water on the stove and keep on high heat until the water come to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place the cut yams into the water. Turn the water to a medium heat and place a top over the pot and let the yams cook. It should take no longer than 30 minutes for the yams to get tender. You drain the water from the yams in the same pot they were boiled in. Add the following liberally.

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

2 tablespoon of nutmeg

2 tablespoon of allspice

1 tablespoon of ginger

3 tablespoons of cinnamon

1/2 cup of thinly sliced salted butter

Once all of the ingredients have been even spread across the cooked yams. Add the top back to the pot. Turn heat down to low and let the yams cook on low for ten minutes (or until the sugar and spices have melted) 

You can enjoy the yams as is or add marshmallows. If you decide to add marshmallows see below.

Once the yams have absorbed all of the spices, you can and your marshmallows and replace the top the pot until the marshmallows are completely melted). 

Either way you decide the yams, with or without marshmallows, Enjoy!

New England Clam Chowder

Ok, so I posted this on Instagram yesterday and have received many request for this recipe. It is a Friday favorite at restaurants, and a cold weather favorite. This recipe has many variation, however it is a very simple and quick meal.

3-4 large potatoes skinned and  cubed

1 cup of finely chopped celery

1 medium sized chopped onion

3 cans of (6.5 ounce) clams

1 quart of half and half or you can substitute the half and half for milk or whipping cream

3/4 cup of flour

3/4 stick of salted butter.

 

Step 1

Drain the clam juice into a small stock pot.

Add all of the finely chopped onions and celery.

Add the potatoes. Then proceed to add just enough chicken broth or stock to evenly cover the potatoes and vegetables.

 

Step 2

Cook the potatoes, onions and celery until the potatoes are soft.

In a separate stock pot add the butter, once it melts add the flour. Mix the flour with a whisk until the mixture is smooth, then add all of the half and half. Once the mixed is evenly mixed and smooth, add it to the potato, celery and onion combo. Let it cook on low for ten minutes, so it can thicken up. Continue to stir. Once it has thickened.

 

Step 3

Add 1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar to the soup as well as 

1 tablespoon of s sea salt

1 tablespoon of course black pepper. 

Add the 3 cans of clams to the soup and stir and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Do not add the calms too early, for if clams cook too long they will get tough and not be smooth.

 

 

I garnish the chowder with fresh coarse black pepper and serve.

Garlic and Parsely Lambchops

Clean the lamb chops and let them rest.

Mince 6 garlic cloves

 1/4 stalk of fresh parsley

Rub Olive oil on top and bottom of lamb chops

Evenly apply the parsley and minced garlic cloves to both sides.

Mix 1 teaspoon of course pepper and 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt together.

Rub on both sides of the lamb chops

Use a stove top grill with a medium high heat

Spray a light oil. I used coconut oil. this will prevent the chops from sticking during cooking

Cook until desired level of readiness occurs.

I cooked both sides for about 20 minutes total, constantly turning over every 5 minutes for a

medium well preparation.

Enjoy!

Italian Egg Muffins! Breakfast on the go!

I've seen this created a dozen times to include a variety of different breakfast meats, potatoes, etc. I am going to use Italian turkey sausage and hold off on the potatoes.

1.5 cups of fresh spinach

1/4 cup of whipping cream

8 eggs

1/2 white onion

1/2 bell pepper ( I used yellow and green)

1/2 cup of grated cheese

Season for your taste. I used 1.5 tablespoons of garlic salt

Keep in mind that the sausages are seasoned, so don't over season.

 Starting with the eggs (mix your eggs until yolks break), then add the in the remaining vegetables.

Grill the sausages until thoroughly cooked. Once they are cooked slice them and add them to the  mix.

 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

I used a large cupcake pan to cook this meal. I decided that I can have the cups contain two eggs a piece as opposed to one egg. Spray your cupcake pan with a light cooking spray. I used a coconut cooking spray. It is very light and has no after taste.  

 

I cook them in a preheated oven at 350 for 25 minutes. If you are using a traditional cupcake pan, decrease your time to 15-18 minutes. You can tell they are completely cooked once the top starts browning.

 

Remove them from the oven and enjoy!☺

The good thing about these muffins is they can be made to freeze if you aren't going to eat them all the same day.

Broiled Lobster Tails

Remove tails from package and rinse off

First you have to turn the lobsters upright and cut a straight line down the center of the top. This enables you to pull the two side apart and bring the meat to the top of the shell. Once the meat is pulled up, leave the end of the tail in the shell and rest the meat on the top of the shell. It should look like the above picture.

Mince 10 cloves of garlic and melt half stick of butter and mix together. Poor butter and garlic over tails.

You can add the seasoning to the top of the lobster, once you pour the butter and garlic mix. I used garlic salt and a mixed herb seasoning liberally onto the tails. Do not use anymore than one tablespoon of each seasoning for all of the tails. Seasoning has salt and lobster is a "sea" food. Place the tails in the oven on broiled for no more than 20 minutes. If your tails are large then you must increase your time. However do not overcook them, they will dry out.

 

Serve with melted butter and enjoy!

Pulled Pork Sandwhiches

First part of this process is to have a 4-5 pound pork roast. I used a pork butt roast

Cut up 1 small white onion

1/2 green bell pepper

3 cups of water

1 tablespoon of olive oil

I cooked this in a crock pot for six hours on high

Place the roast in the crock pot

Add the 3 cups of water, followed by the cut up vegetables

Add 1 tablespoon of oregano and 1 tablespoon of Lawry's seasoned pepper

Turn crock pot on high, let it cook for 6 hours. After the six hours turn the crock pot off and remove meat from the crock pot. Do not throw away the juices from the meat just yet.

Get a large size skillet, put the roast in the skillet with a small to medium fire. Shred the roast until it is very lose and easy to pull apart. You can do this with a traditional dinner fork for more control of the meat. Once the meat is shredded and it appears still moist, add Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. If you notice that your meat is a little dry (it should not be; however, add a little of the juice from the crock pot, no more than a couple of tablespoons. You do not want the meat to be slushy) add some  juice.

Once the BBQ sauce is added to the meat, mix the meat very well. It should not be runny, however it should be saucy.

I served mine on a pretzel roll with a cabbage slaw and BBQ baked deans. Enjoy!

Pan Sheared Tilapia

This recipe right here is simple, fast and healthy!

I took 8 tilapia fillets, rinsed them off and sat them to the side in a strainer.

I laid a long piece of wax paper on the counter, which created a place to season the fish

I sprinkled about 2 tablespoons of olive oil across the wax paper

I laid the fillets over the olive oil.

The cool thing about this recipe is that you can use any seasonings that you want.

The base of this recipe is minced garlic and olive oil.

Everything you use for this recipe, is used twice. Once on each side.

1 tablespoon of Pappy's garlic herb seasoning

1 tablespoon of Lawry's garlic roast seasoning

1 tablespoon of Tone's Rosemary garlic seasoning

1 tablespoon of Lawry's seasoned pepper

Use each of these ingredients one time on each side.

Prepare a skillet or stove top grill with a mid range heat of a medium fire

I add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to the skill/grill for a small coat. Remember not to use too much olive oil, because the fillets have been seasoned in olive oil already.

Place the fillets in the skillet/grill and cook on each side for no more than 5 minutes. Once you see the fish turning white you can flip the fillets.

Cut half of a fresh lemon and squeeze lemon juice while the fillets are cooking. If the fillets are not thoroughly cooked it is ok.

Place the fillets in a flat cooking dish.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the oven on 300 for no longer than ten minutes. You do not want to dry out the fish, just continue to finalize the cooking and keep it warm.

I served this with mashed potatoes, a garden salad and corn on the cob