Testing Testing...... need a New Salad Recipe

I found two new salad recipes and decided to test them out on my family. The first one I tried was a BLT Salad which tastes just like the sandwich but in salad form. The only problem is this salad needs to be eaten the first day or save croutons for the next day. We used all the croutons and they were soggy the next day. You need the crunch in the salad!

BLT Salad

Prep Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 20 mins
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients
3/4 cup mayonnaise
4 slices Italian bread
12 slices bacon
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large head romaine lettuce
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Spread 1/4 cup mayonnaise over both sides of bread slices and transfer to baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, turning halfway through baking. Let cool five minutes, then cut into 1-inch croutons.
2. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until very crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. When cool, crumble into small pieces.
3. Whisk together remaining 1/2 cup mayonnaise and vinegar in small bowl. Tear or chop lettuce into small pieces. Place crumbled bacon, tomatoes, lettuce and croutons in large bowl. Add dressing and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.


I was tired of the same old potatoe salad and did not want to use eggs so I searched for a new recipe. I found an interesting Savory Potatoe salad and decided to try it. I does have you marinate the potatoes in red wine vinegar and I knew that my mom would really like this.

Savory Potatoe Salad

Ingredients
3 pounds red potatoes or yukon gold, scrubbed
1 1-oz. packet vegetable soup mix
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Pepper
2 stalks celery, minced
2 tablespoons minced red onion
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup mayonnaise
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup packed arugula leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup packed parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation
Cover potatoes with 1 inch of cold water in a large pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Cook until potatoes are tender and a knife inserted in center of a potato meets no resistance, 25 to 30 minutes.
Drain and let cool slightly. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, chop into 1-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. Toss potatoes with soup mix, vinegar and pepper to taste. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool, 20 to 25 minutes.
Toss potatoes with celery, onion, mustard, mayonnaise and lemon zest. Fold in arugula and parsley. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately, or chill, covered, until ready to use.

Spice Up Your Nuts

My good friend Linda had me over for a wonderful lunch & conversation.  She had a bowl of spiced sugared pecans on the table for after lunch and I could not leave them alone.  I love pecans so I decided to try my hand at a new recipe.  Here goes..........

Spiced Pecans

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon water
• 5 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, with an electric hand-held mixer on high speed, beat egg white and water until foamy. Stir pecans into egg white mixture until well coated. Combine sugar, cinnamon, and salt; sprinkle over pecans, stirring once again to coat thoroughly.

Spread pecans in single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 225° for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Leave on baking sheet until completely cooled. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 5 cups.

The nuts turned out delicious!  They have a nice hint of spice with the hotness at the end of the bite.  Leon says we should add more cayenne pepper.  I will let you be the judge 

It is Sunday Night Dinner at the Gentrup's.  My parents live in town so Leon and I enjoy having them over for dinner on Sunday Nights to try out new & old recipes.  Tonight is Italian Night with Italian Meatballs, two sauces of Marinaria and Beer Cheese, a large romaine lettuce salad with homemade croutons, garlic bread and a nice James Arthur "Angel Share" Wine.

Italian is probably our favorite family meal and my family will tell you when we go out to eat I usally vote for Italian.  My favorite resturant is 

If you are ever in Omaha try this wonderful family owned resturant out.  You will not be disappointed!  They have roasted garlic for your bread and of course dipping sauce.  I digress so I had better get back to my meal.  I found a new recipe for Italian Meatballs.

Italian Meat Balls

Ingredients:1 pound each of lean beef and pork
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 large slightly beaten egg
½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons of minced garlic
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
½ cup of milk
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons of dried parsley

Put your meatballs on a cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Another cooking method is to simmer the meatballs in pasta sauce for about 40 minutes. This will give them great flavor and texture.  You can bake the meatballs and freeze to use later.

I have never cooked my meatballs in the sauce but am trying it this time in the suace. It worked out wonderful!   The meatballs had a nice texture, had absorbed some of the sauce in the flavor and they were fully cooked.  The marinara sauce was just doctored up Hunt's spaghetti sauce with a jar of Leon's canned stewed tomatoes and marinara seasoning.  The beer cheese sauce is Leon's recipe from his stint working at Valentinos in the kitchen.
Hope the recipe is not a secret because here it is...........


Beer Cheese Sauce
1 cup of shredded onion ( 1 medium)
1 cup of shredded celery
1 cup of shredded carrots
18 oz beer ( your choice)
3 cups of milk
1/2 Tablespoon of chicken bouillon crystals
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tablespoon of salt
2 lbs of Velvetta ( 1/2 the large package)
Cook the veggies until the onions are transluent.  Add the bouillon and beer.  In a seperate saucepan make a roux of butter and flour. Cook over medium heat for 1 - 2 minutes.  Melt the cheese in the microwave, add to vegetables with milk & salt.  Whisk in roux.  We kept it warm in a crockpot for latter.

We had leftover beer cheese sauce and it made a great vegetable primavera later in the week.

We had garlic bread and my new go to bread from HyVee.  It is a Sicilian Baked and it looks kinda of like an oversize bear claw.  When heated it has a great crust and soft bread inside.  We never get to cutting it because as soon as it come out of the oven we are tearing chunks of it off to eat.