Glazed Carrots

How was everyone's Memorial Day weekend?

We ended up having a pretty decent cookout - the forecast called for rain, but it stayed away and we enjoyed sunshine and great grilled food!  It was a nice way to kick off our grilling season.

I hardly ever put up any side dishes here on the blog so I thought I'd throw an easy one out there.  I know a lot of you may be growing carrots in your gardens this year, so this is a great side to use those babies up!

Ingredients:

1 bunch of carrots, sliced on the bias (about 2 cups)
1 cup veal or chicken stock
1-2 tablespoons sugar or honey
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste
1-2 tablespoons chopped chives

In a medium saute pan, melt the butter under medium high heat.  Add the carrots, stock (I used veal because we were serving these carrots with some grilled steak), and sugar/honey. 

Cook under medium heat until the stock is reduced and syrupy, stirring occasionally.  You basically just want a "glaze" of stock to be left.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with chopped chives or other fresh herbs.

And voila, a side dish that takes longer to prep than cook! 

What's your favorite way to prepare carrots?
 
Hope you guys have a great rest of the week!

Derby Pie Fudge

Okay, I'm a couple weeks late with this, but seriously - is there really not a good time for fudge?  Don't lie.  I know you guys like some chocolate.

Now, I don't know if Kern's Derby Pie is available to people outside of Kentucky, but I know that it's available year-round to us, and we are quite fortunate.  Because really, this is the quintessential pie to have during the horse-racing season!  Now, if you don't have this readily available to you, don't fret.  A quick Google search produces tons of Derby pie recipes that you could use.

But if you Google search "Derby Pie Fudge", on the other hand - you're pickin's are slim!  Google has never heard of such a thing.  I told a co-worker this, and she immediately told me I needed to patent this.  Hehe, good idea, but really, I totally want to share this amazing goodness with all of you!  Trust me. The guests at the Derby party we brought this to were overjoyed with happiness once they saw this.  It wasn't like they were saying "hey, that fudge stuff is good"... they were saying things like "Oh my God, I don't even like fudge and I love this!"  No joke.

Oh, and don't forget to vote in this week's poll.  I'm feeling like something sweet once again...





So what are you waiting for?  Make this fudge pronto! (And if you're in the Louisville area on June 25th, I'll be selling this at a Great American Bake Sale site!  - I'll get you the info if you want it!).


Ingredients:


2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups marshmallows
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 Derby Pie (I had to save a slice to eat, of course - but you could always use the whole pie), chopped

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and slowly add sugar.  Stir in evaporated milk and salt until sugar is dissolved.

Bring mixture to a boil and stir constantly for about 5 minutes, until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and add marshmallows, milk chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Stir until chocolate and marshmallows are melted.

Stir in vanilla and chopped Derby Pie pieces.

Line a 1-inch tall pan (8x8) with parchment paper.  Pour in chocolate mixture and chill in the fridge until set, about 30 minutes.

Cut fudge into squares and try to stop yourself from eating the whole pan.  It's going to be really hard!

Cast Iron Cornbread

Although Andy got to "break-in" our new Cast Iron Skillet, I knew I had to use it soon after.  I don't know what it is, but when we get new things for our kitchen or home, I just have that itch to use them immediately!  I've held out since Christmas, so I mean, I've waited long enough.

Cornbread is one of those things that goes great with comforting meals.  In our case, we had some black eyed pea "stew".  But you know, most people have cornbread with chili and things like that.  Me... I like to eat it by itself.  What more do you want?  It's sweet, yellow, crumbly cornbread.  With a nice pat of butter.  Simple heaven, I tell you.

Ingredients:

1 cup white cornmeal (you can use yellow too, but this is what I had on hand)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sugar

Grease a 10-12 inch round cast iron skillet and place in oven.  Preheat oven to 400 F.

Combine cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. 

In a separate medium bowl, combine milk, egg, olive oil, and honey. 

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix well.

Carefully remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and pour in batter.  Return skillet to oven and bake for about 15 minutes, or until cornbread is golden brown.

Cool slightly and slice into wedges.  Top with butter and enjoy sweet cornbread bliss!

I don't like an overly sweet cornbread, and I also don't like an overly dry and plain cornbread.  This was pretty close to perfect!  If you like it on the sweeter side, feel free to adjust the honey and sugar accordingly.  Like I said, this pairs perfectly with some beans or chili, but is just as great on it's own with some butter or extra honey! 

Hope you all enjoy your weekend... I'm off to make that pear-caramel ice cream and do a few other errands... Monday will be here before you know it, but I'm going to enjoy this 3 day weekend as much as possible!  Enjoy your weekend guys!

Wasabi & Mustard Mahi Mahi

The weekend was pretty uneventful. It was damn near dreary, really. It rained like it had never rained before, well, this season anyway. And it's supposed to keep raining on and off until Wednesday. One really good thing about the weekend though, it managed to stop raining long enough for me to go on 2 runs. Yeah. TWO RUNS! Friday I did about 3.8 miles, and Saturday I did a little over 4. I'd say that's pretty good if you ask me... especially considering a couple weeks ago, I went for my first run of the season, and wanted to just pass out in every lawn I came across. Yeah, funny how out of shape we can get when taking the winter off.


Ingredients:

1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 mahi mahi filets
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons sake
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons wasabi paste
2 tablespoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon olive oil

Place panko in a shallow dish. Place eggs in a separate shallow dish. Dip the mahi mahi filets in the eggs, then dredge in panko. Set aside.

Whisk the mustard powder, red pepper flakes, and 5 tablespoons water in a small bowl until mustard is dissolved.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil under medium high heat. Add fish and cook until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Combine the mustard mixture with 1/4 cup soy sauce.

In same skillet used for fish, add the powdered ginger and stir for about 30 seconds. (If no or little oil remains in the pain, add about 1 teaspoon or so) Then add chicken broth, sake, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, sugar, and wasabi paste. Stir until wasabi and sugar is completely dissolved.

Arrange fish on top of steamed brown rice and drizzle with wasabi/ginger sauce. Serve with the mustard/soy sauce on the side.

This meal was pretty okay for me. If I did it again, I probably wouldn't use Mahi Mahi. I mean, don't get me wrong, Mahi Mahi is a good fish, but I think it was "meatier" than needed for this dish. The sauce was delicate and needed a delicate fish to pair with (maybe halibut or even tilapia). Enjoy!

Btw! For those that gave me feedback on Food Science Friday, THANK YOU! I hope to keep doing it and will be glad to have you all learn with me!