Fall Fun Fantastic Foods!

Looking out my front door window I can see the sun is casting a golden glow on my oak tree.  The tinted window give the illusion of a cool and brisk day ahead.  My cup of chai tea helps the fall season to settle in my mind. Clear, cool, and calm is how fall has come in.

Here in Texas fall is a welcome season after the brutal summer we had with temps well over 100 and little or no rain.  Let's not forget those pesky mosquitoes that made the summer even more frustrating.  But this awwww moment is what I have been waiting on.  It the time when the smell of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, apples, oranges, and  home baked cookies that fill the air that says, "fall foods are here."

I know most of us worry about eating these heavy foods, but let's see how we can make some lighter versions that offer an even more enjoyable fall fest. 

Check out the videos for the light versions for pumpkin bread and chicken pot pie two favorite fall dishes. 

Pumpkin Bread:
http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/recipe-makeovers/recipe-makeover-pumpkin-bread-00400000056188/

Chicken Pot Pie:
http://www.cookinglight.com/eating-smart/recipe-makeovers/healthy-chicken-potpie-recipes-00412000067896/


This past summer, I tried my hands at homemade pizza with the encouragement of my friend The Sage Book Whisper.  And now I much prefer homemade over commeical because I can make it more tasty and healthy for them.  My speciality is Grill Chicken Greek Pizza - no measuremenst here just eye balling everything. 

1 can Pillsbury Artisan Pizza Crust
10-12 chicken tenders
Olive Oil
Fresh Spinach
Bell Peppers (your choice of red, yellow, or orange)
Onions
Pizza Cheese (already bagged)
Black Olives
Artichokes
Greek Salad Dressing
Oregano
Salt/Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Crush Red Peppers

1. Season chicken tenders with garlic and onion powder, black pepper, salt (or salt substitute).  Heat medium pan and add enough of olive oil to get the entire bottom pan covered.  Do not fill the pan with oil.  Cook until done for 4-5 minutes.  Remove from pan and cut up into bite size pieces. *Set the pan to the side for use again.

2. In a large pizza pan, lightly spray pan and spread out the pizza dough in the greased pan with your hands.

3. Shake up a bottle of your favorite Greek dressing and pour in a prep bowl.  Take a food brush and brush the pizza dough with the dressing making sure the dough is completely covered and not soggy.

4. *If you want your veggies a little soft, just saute them in the pan you cooked the tenders for flavor  for 3-4 minutes and add them to the pizza dough. (bell peppers, spinach, onions)

5.  Add the chicken tenders, olives, and artichokes.

6. Sprinkle some oregano, garlic, onion, black pepper, salt over the veggies and chicken.

7. Add cheese over the veggies, artichokes, and chicken to seal them.

Shove it in the oven at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes or until crust is brown.  Cut and enjoy!


Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Onions

 http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pork-chops-roasted-apples-50400000122914/

 

 

Been Gone Too Long

Hello to my followers:

Well its been weeks since I provided some new blog insight from the Blue Rose Cook!  Please excuse me from not bring you the cooking tips and ideas you look forward to getting.

I am in the process of revamping my schedule so that I can stay connected to you.  With that being said, I will be doing monthly blog news rather than twice weekly.  Not only will this work with my schedule, but an opportunity to bring some new and more exciting tips for your use.

So stay tune, the Blue Rose Cook will be coming back at ya!

Thanks for your following.

The Blue Rose Cook

Cooking Salmon

One of my favorite seafood's to prepare is salmon. There are so many ways to fix a great salmon dinner. In most of my blogs, I talk about grilling a lot because I like my indoor grill as my choice of cooking.  I love using salmon for fish tacos.  I cook it on top of the stove in lots of onions, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, salsa, and my favorite seasonings.   I was preparing dinner one day when a friend came over and I invited her to stay and eat with us. Not knowing what I was cooking, she was glad she stop by because she loves salmon. When I had finished cooking and we sat down to eat, the first thing she said to me was, "wow, your salmon dosen't taste fishy. What did you do?" I told her I removed the skin from the fish. Sure this skin helps keep the fish moist when you cook it because salmon can be very dry if you don't keep it moist. I just don't like the that taste from the skin so I prefer to take it off and rub in some EVOO all over it and season it up real good and let it sit for 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator before it hits the grill. 

There several varities of salmon to select from and they vary in price.  The most common salmon is pink salmon which can cost $6.99 a pound to the more expensive wild salmon and sockeye salmon at a price of $10.99 a pound.  The difference is the taste and the price.  So whatever your preference, you won't be dissappointed. 

Another way to cook salmon is using cedar planks when you are grilling.  These planks provide lots of moisture to your meats when cooking on the grill.  Be sure to follow the instructions when using planks.  They really do make a difference and add flavors to your cooking and can be found in most major grocery stores.  

We can get a lot of valuable nutrients from our food sources as we can in our supplemental vitamins and fish is a good source of your daily vitamin needs.  But that's another topic for another blog!   Check out some of the websites for nutritional information about the health benefits from eating salmon. 

http://www.ehow.com/about_5509018_benefits-salmon-oil-vitamins.html

http://www.livestrong.com/article/30253-vitamins-salmon/

http://www.goldseal.ca/health/nutrient_fsalmon.asp

http://www.ehow.com/info_7847849_nutritional-fresh-salmon-frozen-salmon.html

Grill Salmon Recipes

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/bbq--grilling/seafood/salmon/

http://www.great-salmon-recipes.com/GrillingSalmon.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipe-collections/grilled-salmon/index.html

Removing the thick skin from salmon.  There is a little trick to do that I learned several years ago.  It works very well the more you do it.

• Lay the salmon on a flat surface using parchment paper or foil  or you can lay it in your kitchen sink.

• Get a knife with rigged edges.  Start at either edge of the fish and hold the edge with one hand and the rigged knife in the other.
• Put the knife between the thick skin and the flesh part of the fish and do a press scraping on the flesh part and lift the thick skin at the same time.

• Keep the knife moving in a press scraping motion and you should start to see the thick skin separating from the flesh.  You will have to adjust your hand that is holding the thick skin as more of it is separated from the flesh.
• If some of the flesh is torn and is still on the thick skin, just scrape it with the knife; it will come off.
• Once all the thick skin has been lifted, rise the fish and pat dry with a paper towel.  Its ready for some oil and seasoning.