Good At the Last Minute

Truly enjoyed my 4^th of July and I hope everyone else did as well.  Thanks to us having more healthy appetite-having children present than usual, my family found us running a little low of food toward the end of bbq.  Well, my aunt pulls out a pork roast and challenges me to “chef it up” (seriously, those were her exact words, lol).  Here’s what I came up last minute.  Unfortunately, enjoying too much of the festivities to remember to take a picture, but I guarantee that the recipe went over swimmingly (I’ve always wanted to use that word).   I did get a nice cut for myself that still looks pretty darn good. :D

GM

Cashmere’s Last Minute Pork Roast

(1) 2 ½ to 3 pound pork bottom roast

1 tablespoon black pepper

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoning salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Marinade

9 oz or half a bottle of your favorite Honey bbq sauce

1 cup of beer (whatever you’re drinking at your bbq, lol)

½ cup of balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon black pepper

3 tablespoons garlic

1 tablespoon rosemary

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon crushed basil

2 tablespoons sugar

Prep Pork

Rub all the seasonings in one the meaty side of the roast.  (the other side will be fatty, DO NOT TRIM).  Place the roast on the grill, fatty side down.

Marinade

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and stir well.  Use a brush to baste the marinade on the roast.

Turn the roast every 10-15 minutes spreading the marinade over both side of the roast generously.  Grill for 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes.

Cheffin' It Up - Cashmere's Chicken Marsala

This was a real off the head recipe for me.  I wanted to use some items I had around the house as well as try my hand at making a sauce from scratch.  Well it worked out wonderfully.  The only difference with what I did and this recipe is that I used a penne pasta because I didn't have angel hair or thin (and I was too lazy at the time to go get some, lol).  However, the taste was superb and the look was still relatively nice.  Not nice enough for me to take a pic of, but when you try the recipe you'll see what I'm talking about.  And the leftovers are even better.  Enjoy folks. 

Oh, and you'll notice the one missing ingredient.  NO SALT!!!  Still taste great!!!

GM

Cashmere’s Chicken Marsala

4 large chicken breast filets

1 cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms (about 6-7)

1 cup sliced mushrooms (regular sized about 6-7)

1 coarsely chopped medium onion

3 tablespoons sherry cooking wine

1/2 cup Sun-Dried Tomato Vinegrette Salad Dressing

3 tablespoons butter

1 ½ cups skim milk

1 tablespoon black pepper

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup shredded or grated parmesan cheese

1 lb of angel hair or thin spaghetti

4 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparation

Slice chicken breast in half horizontally for thinner cuts of meat.  Add 1 ½ tbsp of olive oil to frying pan on high heat and cook sear chicken on each side for about 3-4 mins.  Set aside.

 Heat 2 ½ tbsp of olive oil in large skillet.  Add mushrooms, portabellas, and onion and sauté for about 5 mins in medium heat.  Add sherry and black pepper and cook for another  5 mins.  Add chicken and reduce heat to low for about 10 mins.

In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, and vinegrette in medium heat until butter melts.  Add in flour and stir until sauce thickens and consistency is smooth (add more flour if necessary).  Simmer on low heat for about 10 mins.

Prepare pasta according to package instructions and set aside.

Remove chicken from skillet.  Empty contents of saucepan into the skillet and mix contents well.  Then add chicken and let simmer for 5-10 mins.

Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

FEELING A LITTLE SALTY

Diets are everywhere.  Atkins, South Beach, HCG...too many too count.  And if you're concerned with losing weight I'm sure that any of these are a probably a good choice.  There's not just diets, but diet plans and companies like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are banking millions by capitalizing on people's obsession with their weight.  I guess if you're eating and losing weight it can be considered "healthy" eating.

But for those of us with high-blood pressure how good are these diets and diet companies?  Truth is, not very.  Well at least not the diet companies food.

Problem is that alot of pre-packaged and prepared foods are high in sodium. 

"Oh, they said that the link between salt and hypertension is a myth." 

Well is it?  Well, then why do doctors keep recommending that people with hypertension LOWER their sodium intake?  I'm pretty sure Mrs. Dash doesn't have them on the payroll, so let's assume there really is something to this. 

Not gonna lie, I understand how hard this is for people, especially busy people.  The bulk of the sodium that we get is in fast-food, which a value meal contains almost 2-3 days supply of the recommended sodium intake!!!! 

Well, what I've had to do is start cooking alot for myself.  Advanced meal prep.  Usually, I devote my sundays to preparing my week's worth of lunch (the hardest meal to account for) and watch the salt I put into my food.  In fact, most times, I rarely season with it.  Unfortunately, nutritionist recommend 2,300 mg of salt.  This is equivalent to ony 1 TEASPOON!!!  However, my suggestion is, USE THE OTHER SEASONINGS!!!  Garlic, sage, oregano, basil and even salt-substitutes are great in place of salt and give your food more flavor than you probably imagined.  Don't be afraid of them.  Also, try these suggestions to and remember this while you CHEF IT UP!!!

• Read nutrition labels on foods you purchase to see how much sodium they contain.
• Ask for salt-free or low-salt preparation at restaurants.
• Eat more fresh, unprocessed foods, like fruits and vegetables, which are naturally low in sodium.
• Reduce the amount of sodium in canned foods by thoroughly draining and rinsing them.
• Go easy on high-sodium condiments like soy sauce, mustard, and ketchup.
• Use herbs, citrus, and salt-free spices to season recipes.
• Learn the lingo: Sodium-free or salt-free = less than 5mg/serving

GM

WHERE THE HEART IS....

So as some people may know (or will now) I have high blood pressure.  No need to go into the stats on how this affects black people because the reality is HPB is a problem for many people. What’s crazy is how much I never realized how serious this disease is.  Maybe I should’ve paid attention when I spent some time temping in an emergency room and noticed how every individual who came into the hospital who had a heart attack or stroke under 40, DIED!  Recently, I have maintained a blood pressure of 145-160 over 85-100.  Yeah, I know, HORRIBLE.  I could feel the effects by waking up with headaches, my heart racing and a general fatigue. 

Now I realize that I’m getting older, but I am by no means old.  So I had to do start doing something.  Well, I’ve read all the documentation my doctor told me and started going to the gym regularly.  Hit the doc’s again, no change in the blood pressure.  He made me realize that the biggest part of blood pressure is diet.  Uggghhhh!!!  I knew that would be the hardest part for me, but I had to buckle down.  So, I tried Atkins.  Works like a charm.  Blood pressure dropped 12 points across the board.  Problem tho….ATKINS IS DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO FOLLOW IF YOU LIKE ENJOYING GOOD FOOD!!!  Sorry Atkins fans.  I can admit that it’s an effective diet, but its just not reasonable for people that enjoy pasta, rice and potatoes (which makes up damn near EVERYBODY!)  While cooking at home and preparing my meals ahead of time might help, I just don’t have the time….who does.  So I looked up those healthy eating sections in the supermarket.  What I noticed is that while many of these dishes are low-calorie and low-fat, they are not necessarily HEART HEALTHY.  Why?  Because they are ridiculously HIGH in sodium which is a major contributor to high blood pressure.  Well, I guess I need to go back to preparing my own food then.  I think that’s the way to go.  Next time, I’ll hit yall off with a dinner recipe or two.  And oh yeah, check out this video on ways to lower your blood pressure.  You’d be surprised how many different factors can improve your heart health outside of just losing weight.

GM

HOOK IT UP....FOR BREAKFAST

So, to expand the repertoire, I decided to try a breakfast item.  I love corned beef hash.  However, the canned version is pretty lame.  So I wanted to jazz up my corned beef.  Below is my own special recipe for corned beef hash. I didn’t include a pic because, to be honest, it doesn’t look very gourmet, but IT IS OFF THE HOOK!!!  Probably one of the best tasting items I’ve had, in a restaurant or what someone has cooked.   I think what makes it special to me is the andouille sausage and the Cajun seasoning.  It picks it up a notch and gives it a bigger flavor that immediately hits you from the first bite to the last.  Please give it a try and I’d love your feedback on it.

GM

Cashmere's Corned Beef Hash

1 cup pepper medley
1/2 medium onion (roughly 1/2 cup)
1 andouille sausage (roughly 1 cup)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
4 cups shredded hash brown potatoes
1 12 oz can corn beef
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp oregano

Chop peppers and onions coarsely
Chop sausage into cubes
Heat butter over medium heat until melted
saute peppers and onions for 2-3 mins
add sausage and cook for 2-3 mins stirring occassionally
Add potatoes and seasonings and mix well
Let cook for 3 mins and then mix again
Let cook for 5 mins and add corned beef
Mix corn beef in well and stir occassionally making sure the meat cooks completely usually about 10 minutes.
Turn heat to medium-high and let cook on one side for 3-5 minutes. 
Serve with spatula and flip so that the crisp bottom is showing.

Money Where My Mouth Is.... Part 2

So after 1 hour of preparation it's finally done!!!!  Gotta say that I will enjoy playing around with this recipe to get more of the taste directly from the pork chop and not as much the sauce, but still the SAUCE IS AMAZING.  The sweetness of the mango and pineapple has a nice smoothness in it because of the butter and adds just the right tang to the meat.

I will say the biggest surprise is the roasted potatoes.  THEY ARE DELICIOUS!!!  Anytime that I've baked sweet potatoes, well, actually, I've never baked sweet potatoes.  I've always boiled them for a sweet potatoe pie or souffle.  Well this was a fantastic side.  Sage is a very savory spice, very similar to oregano, but fills your mouth with a little more with flavor.  I think that was the touch that made this such a great recipe.

And not to be forgotten was the asparagus, which outside of me adding a little too much black pepper, they came out great.  Crispy and tender at the same time. 

All and all, I will say that my journey into creating fine cuisine is starting out pretty good.  If you'd like the recipe, just comment and I'd be more than happy to give it to you.

GM

Money Where My Mouth Is....Part 1

So as I get more and more excited about pursuing my passion and expanding my culinary skills, I figure I’d take y’all on the trial and error journey that I’m about to take.  So for all 6 of y’all :D I’d like to announce my next meal, Pork Chops with Mango Pineapple Sauce (doesn’t that just sound good).  I’m figuring that should be an undertaking alone as I’m going to have to use a sieve and as of writing this blog I have no idea what it is.  :D

With that as my entrée I have to have the accompaniment be an equally delicious sounding side.  So to go someplace I’ve never gone before I’m doing a Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Sage with my girlfriends Roasted Asparagus recipe.  To be honest, I’m only doing the potatoes because its going to give me an opportunity to use my newest 8” knife (yeah, I’m getting chef specific on yo’ azz, lol) because I have to cut them into ¾” squares.  Tomorrow, don’t be surprised if they’re 5/8” or something like that. 

Its really amazing how excited I get over the opportunity to make something different, but hey, I believe that enjoying great, not just good, food is something that can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of bank account size.  Pursue your passion.

GM