The Best Mother's Day Gift

Make this Mother's Day one that she will remember by preparing her a flavorful dinner. In this post I have included a main course and two sides. These are of my favorite recipes!

As a mother, I believe the greatest Mother's Day gift is spending time with my family, relaxing and enjoying a delicious meal that I did not have to plan, purchase the ingredients, prepare and most importantly clean up. Make sure you clean up your mess and do the dishes. An additional bonus would be waking up to a clean house and bathed children. 

Steak De Burgo Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

2 or 4 Ribeye Steaks (Check out Triple T's Mother's Day Special and download the coupon by visiting our Special Offers tab on our website)

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 ounce sherry/red cooking wine

8 ounces heavy cream

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

Directions:

Sautee butter and garlic. Add parley, oregano and basil. Cook for a few minutes, add sherry, cook for a few more minutes, add heavy cream and parmesan. Reduce heat until sauce is creamy. Keep on low heat until steaks are ready, stirring occasionally. 

Sides:

Green Onion and Parmesan Orzo

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups of chicken broth (have extra on hand in case it gets too thick and need to add more later)

1 pound orzo 

3 green onions

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (freshly grated is best, but can substituted with pre-shredded bag of parmesan)

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Pour the 3 1/4 cups of chicken broth into a large sauce pan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add orozo, only cook slightly so pasta is still firm. Remove from heat. Thinly slice green onion and add to pasta along with the parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. This mixture gets thick quickly, you may need to rewarm and add chicken broth just before serving. It is best to serve hot. 

*Note: I usually grill the green onions with the steak to add more grill flavor to this dish

Tomato Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients:

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4" thick slices

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4" thick slices

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin slices or torn into little pieces

Directions:

Arrange the tomato slices and mozzarella slices overlapping and alternating around a platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle the oil over each slice and then place basil on top. 

Leftovers That Keep On Giving

Ok, so you've had ham sandwiches, the ham fettucini dish from the last post and you still have ham leftovers, what next? Try this ham recipe.

Ham and Brie Pastry Pockets

Ingredients:

1 cup of cooked asparagus, cut into 1/2" pieces
4 ounces of brie cheese, cut into 1/2" x 2" slices
8 ounces of ham, sliced thick
1 tube of 8 large crescent rolls

Directions:

Boil water to cook asparagus until tender.

Preheat oven as directed on package of crescent rolls.
Separate two crescent rolls from the others.
Place on baking sheet and mush together with fingers, eliminating the seam. 

Place half of ham, asparagus and brie onto the pastry. 

Separate two more rolls, again mushing together to eliminate the seam.
Then place on top of the brie. Pinch sides, creating a pocket.
Repeat above steps for the second pocket, using all eight rolls. 

Bake according to package on crescent rolls, or until golden brown.

Cut in half to make 4 servings.
Pairs great with green leaf salad and your choice of dressing. 

ENJOY!!!

Quick & Easy Easter Ham Leftovers

Whew... Easter entertaining is over for this year and the only evidence is a large Tupperware container full of Eater Ham leftovers. Ham sandwiches are good once, maybe twice, so what now? Try this quick and easy ham leftover dish.

Ham & Broccoli Fettucini Alfredo

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of ham, cubed
8 ounces fettucini noodles
2 cups frozen cut broccoli
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
10 ounces alfredo sauce (You may use a store purchased jar or homemade. Homemade sauce ingredients and instructions are below.)
Parmesan grated cheese

Directions:

Cook pasta and broccoli at same time according to pasta package instructions. Drain and set to the side.

In sauce pan, combine the ham, alfredo sauce and crushed red pepper and heat until warm, then add pasta and broccoli until all is warm. Dish out and sprinkle with desired amount of Parmesan cheese.

Easy Alfredo Sauce: 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
8 ounce package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
6 ounces Parmesan grated cheese
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions: 

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder. Once cheese has melted to a creamy texture, slowly add in the milk and continue to stir. Then add the parmesan, basil and black pepper. Heat until parmesan is melted and the mixture is smooth. If the mixture is thicker than desired, thin by adding more milk.

ENJOY!!!

Easter Ham Fruit Relish Recipe

If you are hosting dinner this Easter and want to prepare a memorable dinner to your guests, start off by baking an award-winnig ham from Triple T Specialty Meats and topping it with this sweet spice fruit relish. This relish is also great for pork roast or pork chops.


Apple Cranberry Walnut Relish

Ingredients:

6 ounces 100% Apple Juice
2/3 cup Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg, ground
2 Apples, chopped (During mid-summer season, substitute with Pomegranate seeds for an even sweeter taste)
1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped
3 cups Fresh or Frozen Cranberries

Directions:

In large saucepan combine the apple juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir while cooking over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cranberries and bring to boil, then reduce heat and stir for 4 minutes or until the cranberries' skin splits open (as shown below).

Remove from heat. Stir in the apples and walnuts. Cover and chill for 2 hours prior to serving.

Note: Make the relish ahead of time to save on time and stress. Relish keeps for two days in the refrigerator.

Egg-citing Easter Entertaining

If children are attending your Easter, do yourself a favor and have plenty of activities ready to keep them busy. Children who are bored tend to get rambunctious, so avoid that with some of these egg-citing activities.

Egg Race

Make an obstacle course out of your backyard, using things that you have...chairs, boxes, tables, etc. Have a stopwatch. Give each kid a spoon and an egg (boiled or plastic). Have each kid go through the obstacle course as fast as possible, jumping over boxes and crawling under tables (wrap bandanas around their knees to keep from getting grass stains), whoever has the fastest time without dropping their egg wins. You can even make it difficult by blindfolding them and pairing them up with a parter who will be their eyes giving them guidance throughout the course.

Egg Rolling

Make three circle bullseye, inside circle with a 15, middle circle with a 10, outside circle with a 5, using sidewalk chalk. Give each kid three eggs to roll down the sidewalk, trying to land on the inside circle for, the child with the most points wins.

Egg Toss

Pair each kid up with a partner, giving each pair an egg (note: this game works better using a hard boiled egg rather than a plastic egg). Starting off 12 inches from each other toss the egg back and forth, after each successful toss and catch move another 12 inches apart. If an egg drops, that pair is out. The last pair standing wins.

Egg Decorating

Dazzle the eggs up by using scrap fabric strips, artificial flowers and plastic jewels. Make animals by using scrap felt pieces for ears and feet. Use markers to make the faces. Remind them that the eggs spoil, so they can't keep them forever. I learned that the hard and very smelly way as a kid.

Ginger Chicken Recipe

Ginger Chicken Hindquarters with Brown Rice

I love marinating meat overnight, it makes the next day's dinner so simple. This marinade was very easy to whip up and delicious on the baked chicken hindquarters. I think when the weather gets nice it will be even better on the grill, can't wait!

The marinade and cooked off chicken juice combination was so good that I couldn't let the leftover sauce go to waste, so I poured it over my brown rice....INCREDIBLE!

Ingredients:

1 Cup Honey
3/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Minced Garlic
1/4 Cup Ground Ginger
4 Chicken Hindquarters

Directions:

Place chicken hindquarters skin down in a baking dish. Cook honey, soy sauce, garlic and ginger in a sauce pan over low heat until the honey is melted and pour over the chicken.

Cover with foil and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes (with foil on). After 30 minutes, uncover, flip chicken over to the skin side up and spoon sauce over the top. Raise the temperature of the over to 375 degrees F and bake for 30 more minutes. Serve with brown rice.

ENJOY!!!

Applesauce Brownie Recipe

Grandma Heikens' Applesauce Brownie Recipe

Brownie Ingredients:

1 1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Butter (or Margarine)
2 Tablespoon Cocoa
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
2 Cup Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
2 Cup Applesauce

Topping Ingredients: 

2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:

Combine sugar, eggs, butter, cocoa and salt, beat throughly. Sift (see below) baking soda, flour and cinnamon. Add flour mixture alternately with applesauce to the cocoa mixture. Spread on jellyroll pan (see below). Sprinkle topping mixture over and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Sifting, is it necessary? No, it is not. If you do not own a sifter, no worries you can still make the above recipe by stirring the flour mixture thoroughly. However, many baked recipes call for a sifter so if you are planning to bake often you may want to purchase one. They are fairly inexpensive and range from $6 to $30. Sifting helps to break up the clumps that often form over time, especially if you live in a region that has humid weather (that's us Iowa). Breaking up the clumps helps to evenly mix together the ingredients, increasing the flavor and holding the shape after it has been baked.

Jellyroll pan, if you are unsure what that is, it looks like a flat cookie sheet but with sides approximately an inch tall. You can also pour the brownie mixture into standard cupcake pans to create individual round brownies as shown in the above picture. I filled two standard cupcake pans, making two dozen individual brownies. Make sure to grease the pans.

I also skipped the walnuts, as I am not a big walnut fan and used mini chocolate chips.

Thank you Grandma Heikens for sharing this recipe! You can find Grandma Heikens in the Ackley catering kitchen, whipping up lots of delicious taste of home recipes and ready to take your catering orders. You can call her Grandma Heikens, but she also goes by the name Norma. 

Try It Before You Make It: Featured Recipe

Who Needs A Bun Series: Cheesy Bratwurst Soup

Ingredients:
3 Large Potatoes, cubed
2 Cup of Frozen Green Beans, cooked and drained (Can substitute with 15oz can of green beans, drained)
1 Small Onion, chopped
1 Cup Cheddar and American Cheese Mix (Kraft has this cheese mix, but you can just use one of the cheeses)
1 Cup Water
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Package of Fresh Mushroom, Wild Rice & Swiss Bratwursts, cut into half inch slices (From Triple T Specialty Meats, 401 Sherman Avenue, Ackley Iowa or visit www.tripletmeats.com)

Directions:
Combine bratwursts, potatoes, green beans, onion, cheese, water and mushroom soup into a large pot. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for approximately 60 minutes or until bratwursts and potatoes are cooked through.

ENJOY!!!

If you live in the Ackley area you can try this recipe before you make it by ordering our Wednesday lunch special. Stop in or place you order by phone at 641-847-0031.                                                                        
If you don't live in the Ackley area, but want to make it at home, give it a whirl! It is best with Triple T's Mushroom, Wild Rice & Swiss Bratwursts, but you can substitute it with another cheese bratwurst. Or we can ship our bratwursts directly to your door. Call 1866-TTT-MEAT (888-6326) for more information.