Category Archives: Fruit

Cheesy Cheese, Eggs, Fruit, Potato

Cooking Light’s Breakfast Tortilla

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Here in Austin the go-to for breakfast is typically the breakfast taco filled with eggs and cheese and then your choice of sausage/chorizo, bacon, potatoes, jalapenos and so on and so forth. Now in Miami, according to Cooking Light, this Breakfast Tortilla – an open-faced omelet with potatoes inside (instead of on the side) – is their go-to breakfast dish. After giving this a try for breakfast this morning I’m saying move over breakfast tacos! Kidding, kidding but seriously this was super easy to assemble and such a great alternative for breakfast than the usual eggs, bacon, toast…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The creamy Yukon gold potatoes with the delicious Manchego and spicy chives really made this dish sing. One switch up, I roasted the tomatoes in a little bit of olive oil instead of just serving them fresh. The nutrition analysis on this is none too shabby either, one wedge (from four servings) with two tablespoons of tomatoes is 190 calories, 10.7 grams of fat with 2.7 in saturated fat. What I also like about this dish is that I have enough for breakfast tomorrow which gives me a little more time in the morning…bonus!
Bacon is always awesome, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Pork-a-licious, Potato, Southern, Spicy

An Oldie But a Goodie

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I’ve mentioned a few times that out of all of the cooking magazine issues I keep, it is usually the holiday issues. Not only am I a 5-year old trapped in a 29-year old body when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, I love the food so much it is almost painful for me when the holidays are over. (You should see me when I have to take down my holiday decorations, there might be tears involved).
I was thumbing through my old Cooking Light 2007 and 2008 December issues last week and as if I was looking through an old photo album of loved ones, I kept sighing and pointing to certain recipes saying internally, “I remember the time I made that, how delicious and I need to retest and see if it is Cooking Inside the Lines worthy!” Now, you can imagine the grumblings that occurred internally too when I found three delicious looking recipes from the 2008 issue that I had not tried. Quel horreur!

I have to say I planned the timing out pretty well and everything came together very easily, even towards the end of cooking which can sometimes get pretty insane. The Pork Chops were pretty darn awesome. I really liked the Colonial Corn Pudding a lot. Instead of oyster crackers I used multi-grain saltine crackers and they tasted great in the dish. The baked potatoes were good but I think I used too much chipotle that overpowered the other flavors a bit.

Finally, the cobbler. I found some quince at Whole Foods Market the other day and because when cooked it can lend an apple flavor to dishes, I decided to use these instead. This was my first time working with quince and I have to say me likey. Quince is a tough little bugger so it’s best to poach or cook for long periods of time to bring the full flavors out and soften it up. I poached the cut-up quince for 45 minutes before placing in my cast-iron Dutch oven to finish the cobbler recipe. It was delicious! I loved this topping and the quince did take on an apple flavor but had a more firm texture than an apple would have.

I think this meal was a perfect comfort dinner for a rainy night here in Austin. Give them a try!
Chicken, Fruit, Lengthy recipe but worth all the whisking, sweat and tears

Dark Meatlove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dark Meat

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I’ll admit it. I have avoided dark meat. Like that pile of laundry you continue to walk by and starts to overflow out of the basket, you finally throw your hands in the air and say “OK, I’ll do it!” Magazines have been giving these cuts of meat a new life recently and well, if you think about it, it makes sense. Dark meat can require long-cooking times in the oven – perfect for fall – and are wallet friendly – perfect for the economy – so it’s a win/win folks. Plus, if you avoid the skin of dark meat you are actually consuming almost the same amount of calories and fat but could be getting more nutritional benefits, like zinc and iron, than their white meat counterparts. I’m serious! See here and here.

Now all of this is coming to you from a person who claimed to not like dark meat because I had heard the fat rumors and I don’t know, something about it just didn’t appeal to me. Well, it just goes to show that as usual, I was wrong lambs. I just made two dark meat dishes back-to-back for dinner this weekend and am currently swooning over the flavors. The Apple-Braised Turkey Thighs recipe from Everyday Food and Chicken Smothered in Gravy recipe from Food & Wine are two prime and lip-smacking examples of dark meat goodness.

Give these two a try, although if I had to choose just one give the turkey thighs a chance. Of course I would choose the one that doesn’t have a Web link.
Also, I just noticed that this is my 98th post, wow how time flies. I want to do something special for my 100th post. What should I do, what should I do?!
Everyday Food
Apple-Braised Turkey Thighs
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 MIN
Total time 2 1/2 HR
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 turkey thighs (about 2 pounds total)
coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
4 Cortland or Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
2 cups of apple cider
14.5 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season turkey on both sides with salt and pepper and add to pot, skin side down. Cook until skin is golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer turkey to a plate and add shallots to pot. Cook until shallots soften, about 5 minutes. Add apples and cook until slightly softened, about five minutes.

2. Return turkey, skin side up, to pot; add cider and broth. Bring to a boil, cover, then place pot in oven. Cook 1 1/2 hours. Uncover, cook 30 minutes more.
3. Remove pot from oven and transfer turkey to plate. Skim fat from cooking liquid and stir in vinegar. Slice meat off bones (discard bones) and server turkey with apples and pan sauce.
Fruit, Global Flavor, Salad

Grilled Shrimp Salad with Mango Dressing

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I’m on a blog posting and Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine kick today! I tried this Grilled Shrimp Salad with Mango Dressing for lunch and it was yummo (yeah I went there). The magazine features mangos in this month’s “Have Your Way With…” section with four delicious looking mango recipes. As I’ve mentioned here in my blog, I work in food public relations and have the pleasure of working with the National Mango Board, so seeing mangos in in the magazine was just too cool and I have to give them a try.
This recipe was really quick to assemble and perfect for a light lunch. I really liked the mango dressing mixed with the shallot as it had a great balance of flavors. One note on this recipe, I couldn’t find jicama so I put this over fresh spinach instead and it was delicious. I also really liked the fresh mint, cilantro and peanuts to give it a great crunch.
As the trend is going today, I couldn’t find the recipe online so here you go!

Every Day with Rachael Ray
Grilled Shrimp Salad with Mango Dressing
Serves 6
Prep 25 min
Cook 5 min

2 mangoes, 1 1/2 cut into matchsticks
1 shallot, peeled and quartered
Grated peel of 1 lime, plus 3 teaspoons lime juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled
1 1/2 pounds jicama, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves
1 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

1. Preheat a grill pan to medium-high. Using a blender, puree the 1/2 uncut mango, shallot, lime juice and 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Thread the shrimp onto skewers. Brush with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until opaque, about 5 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, toss the jicama, cilantro, mint, lime peel and mango matchsticks with the dressing. To serve, sprinkle with the peanuts and top with the shrimp skewers.
© 2008 National Mango Board. Photo used by permission of the National Mango Board. All rights reserved.
Dessert, Emily Favorite, Everything is better fried, Fruit

Doughnut Holes with Raspberry Jam

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I saw this recipe in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine and had been dying to make it, but could never seem to find the time. Finally, I did and thank goodness! 

I got all the way through step two and my stupid dough would not form at all, I was frustrated to say the least but nothing would stop me now. I got through step two again and voila! the dough formed and I let it rise for an hour.
They didn’t have raspberries at HEB so I decided strawberries would work just fine. I followed the steps for making the jam, quite simple if you ask me, and I had a perfect dipping jam for the holes which I still had to make.
When I was working with the dough, which was quite sticky, I thought “I’ve messed these up again!” but when I formed into balls and deep fried them they looked like doughnut holes but I couldn’t tell until we tried them…
THESE ROCKED! The sugar coating was fantastic and I loved smothering them in the strawberry jam. These are labor intensive but I definitely can see these being a unique party snack, a fun dessert after dinner or anytime you want to treat yourself.
Here is what the doughnut holes are supposed to look like (photo from Food & Wine), mine were a little more misshapen but who cares they were still amazing!
Emily Favorite, Fruit, Pork-a-licious, Quick and Delicious

Grilled Pork with Blackberry-Sage Sauce

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You know when you first take a bite of something and then you immediately slow down because it’s so good you want to savor every bite? Yeah, that was this dish in a nutshell. I ate this so slowly and was quite upset when the experience ended. Now that’s a great dish! I love me some pork tenderloin and the blackberry-sage sauce was the perfect complement to the juicy, succulent pork.

The sauce was pretty simple to make and I simply roasted the pork tenderloin in the oven until it registered 155 degrees and let it rest for ten minutes. I served with a side of sauteed garlic green beans. In my eyes this was a perfect Sunday dinner.
Beefy McBeefy, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Uncategorized

Grilled Steak with Tomatoes and Scallions and a Great Mango Salad

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So it was the last night of the Everyday Food “1 bag, 5 meals” idea featured in the June issue. Last up was the Grilled Steak with Tomatoes and Scallions. Due to my lack of access to a real grill, I grilled the steak on a grill pan and broiled the cherry tomatoes and scallions in the oven until charred. This was a simple and flavorful dish and I really loved the tomatoes and scallions on top of the juicy steak.

As some of you know, I work in food public relations and one of the unfortunate (ha!) aspects of my job is that my team and I have to test recipes to ensure the dish ideas we provide to consumers are delicious and easy to assemble. It’s a hard job but somebody’s gotta do it. Of course I love all the recipes we try but one that has stood out continuously over time is the Mango, Chicken and Avocado Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing from the National Mango Board.
Because a steak just wouldn’t be enough, I also decided to make this healthy and delicious salad sans chicken to round out my meal. I love this salad so much, since the first day we tested it until now it has been one of my favorites. It provides a perfect balance of sweetness in the mango and dressing, plus the creamy avocado and the crunch of pistachios…great flavor and texture balance.
Coming up next, has a burger I just tested from Bon Appetit already beaten my recent favorite from Food & Wine magazine? Stay tuned!
Emily Favorite, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

It’s SO Easy Being Green!

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I’ve been on a scallop kick lately and if these gentle magazines don’t stop coming up with delicious recipes for these tasty little suckers well then you are just going to have to get used to it!

This Grilled Scallops with Honeydew-Avocado Salsa from Food & Wine magazine is my favorite scallop dish I’ve tested so far. Not only is the ingredient list short and there are only two steps, but the flavors were out of this world. The salsa is fun twist on a traditional salsa verde with honeydew melon and fresh avocado, plus a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I did add a smidge of honey at the end and folded into the salsa just for good measure. Then you simply grill (or grill on a grill pan inside your house…sigh) the scallops and that’s it. This was on the table in no time and I LOVED it!

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Pizza, Quick and Delicious

Strawberry, Pistachio, and Goat Cheese Pizza

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Exquisite is a word I would use for this pizza dish from Cooking Light. The flavors melded so well and I would highly recommend using watercress if you can find it. I just found a gorgeous bunch of it at Whole Foods Market today and I guess you could substitute its kin arugula if you wanted.

I would never have thought to put these flavors together on a pizza but it turned out beautifully and was so delicious. I couldn’t find pistachios (go figure) at H-E-B or Central Market so I used cashews instead.
This would be great for a party or a simple and quick weeknight meal that is both an entree and dessert. Go make this right now!

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Seafood

Strawberry-Avocado Salsa

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So after a quick but intense trip to New York and a looooong drive to and from my hometown I was super beat last night but nothing, I repeat nothing, would stop me from making this.

I came across this Strawberry-Avocado Salsa in this month’s Cooking Light and literally squealed with glee and clapped my hands together. It just sounded so good! This salsa was super easy to make and everything melded so nicely with the creamy avocado, crisp red onion, spicy jalapeno and of course delicious and sweet strawberries. I served over a sauteed piece of halibut and dinner was done in 15 minutes. I wish I had made more so I could eat with tortilla chips but I have learned my lesson for next time. Make this immediately!