Grilling Spice Rub

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BBQ, beef, dinner, entree, fish, food, food prep, foodie, grill, grilling, lunch, porkchops, poultry, recipe, ribs, side dishes, spice, spice rub, steak, vegetables

Autumn has been in full swing and winter is just around the corner. Although my crockpot season has started our temps have been gorgeous so our grilling season hasn’t quite ended yet. Before I relent and stash the grill for the winter, I wanted to grill dinner one more time…

Whether using this on beef, poultry of vegetables, this grilling rub is fantastic all year-long.

Young Wifey’s Grilling Rub

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. smoked paprika, 2 Tbsp. dried parsley, 1 Tbsp. dried oregano, 4 tsp. hot chili powder, 2 tsp. ground coriander, 1 tsp. cumin, 2 tsp. fresh ground pink Himalayan salt, 1 tsp. fresh cracked tricolor black pepper, 1/2 tsp. ground mustard

Directions: Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight jar.

To Use:  Rub onto meat or vegetables with a small amount of olive oil. Allow meat to come to room temperature before grilling.

Usually our grill makes a reappearance in late February when I want to chase away the winter…

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Cheddar Ale Eggs

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ale, breakfast, brunch, cheddar, eggs, entree, food, foodie, recipe, sauce

Our family’s version of Welsh Rarebit is one of our favorite breakfast dishes. Hubster and Pumpkin enjoy theirs with fried eggs, but I prefer mine with ale poached eggs.

Cheddar Ale Sauce
Ingredients: 1 c. of ale, 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese, 1 Tbsp. prepared brown mustard, 1 tsp. garlic powder, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Add ale to small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add remaining ingredients. Whisk together until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.

Cheddar Ale Eggs:
Ingredients: ale poached eggs or fried eggs, English muffins, cheddar ale sauce, turkey ham, smoked paprika

Directions:
Slice turkey ham and pan fry until warm. Prepare eggs to your preference. Toast English muffins. Layer the ingredients and top with the warm cheddar ale sauce. Garnish with smoked paprika.

*Serve with ale breakfast potatoes.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Summer Blue Crab Salad

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crab, entree, food, foodie, recipe, salad, sandwich

My parents were visiting us for the holiday weekend. Yesterday, my mom and I made a tasty crab salad for lunch. It was the perfect light and refreshing crab salad for a Sunday summer lunch!

First, I want to emphasize that in no way should imitation crab meat be use. It wouldn’t REALLY be crab salad! Second, In the photos you may notice that I used 1 whole red pepper. The next time I make this crab salad, I will definitely use 1/2 red bell pepper and 1/2 yellow bell pepper (which I already noted in the ingredient list).

Summer Blue Crab Salad ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

Ingredients: 
16 oz. can of blue crab claw meat, 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 yellow bell pepper, 5 stalks of celery, handful of fresh cilantro, 3 Tbsp. mayo

Directions:
Dice the celery and peppers. Chop the cilantro. Mix together cilantro, peppers, celery, and mayo. Lightly toss in the crab meat. Serve chilled.

*If you wish, serve on a bed of mixed greens or on a toasted and buttered bun.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne with Red Cat Cream Sauce

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bell peppers, comfort food, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, orange bell peppers, orange peppers, pasta, penne, pepper, postaday2011, recipe, sausage, turkey sausage

I made a similar sausage penne dish a few months ago. This time I wanted to make it a cream sauce to go with it. And Red Cat… okay, so I was drinking some Red Cat and impulsively poured some in the pan, but I love cooking with Red Cat. I also wanted to use red bell peppers, but the orange bell pepper were on sale, and looked much more fresh. I took the picture with really harsh lighting late last night, so my photo isn’t the best.

Baked Sausage & Pepper Penne

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey sausage, 1 lb. penne, 1 shallot (minced), 2 diced yellow bell peppers, 1 c. Red Cat wine,  1 pint heavy cream, 1/3 c. flour, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook penne according to package. Drop sausage by the spoonful into pan of shallow water and simmer until meat is done (water should be gone, if not drain water). Remove sausage from pan then add wine and deglaze pan.  Toss in shallots, salt and Red Cat and simmer. Add heavy cream and flour and whisk together. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Toss together sausage, penne and pepper and pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Top penne with cream sauce and bake for about 25 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread and fresh grated pecorino romano.

This is a great meal to make ahead and freeze, simply defrost and bake.

What’s for dinner tonight?

Colorful Caprese

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appetizer, basil, BBQ, bocconcini, ciliegine, cold food, dinner, entree, food, foodie, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, grape tomatoes, light fare, light lunch, lighter fare, lunch, mozzarella, mozzarella balls, picnic, postaday2011, pot luck, raw foods, recipe, salad, side dishes, tomatoes, vegetable, yellow tomatoes

Caprese is a summer classic, that’s why it’s my go to recipe. It’s always requested, but never the same. You can serve it sliced and stacked, as a kabob or cut and mixed as salad. At the beginning of the year, I served yellow tomato caprese for the teachers’ back-to-school. It seemed only fitting to use yellow tomatoes in my caprese for the end-of-the-year party today! So since I never serve anything exactly the same way twice, I’ll share my current variation. I halved golden grape tomatoes (first time I’ve found these at the store!!!), red grape tomatoes and the mozzarella balls (ciliegine). Then, I tossed them together with extra virgin olive oil, fresh chopped sweet basil, fresh ground sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Just before serving I will drizzle with some balsamic vinegar.

Colorful Caprese

The hardest part is making sure the caprese is not devoured before leaving the house… with this dish, it’s not just Hubster, it’s also me!

Which summer dish do you prepare multiple variations?

Baked Tortellini

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baked pasta, dinner, entree, food, foodie, lunch, mozzarella, parmesan, pasta, postaday2011, recipe, side dishes, spinach, tomatoes, tortellini, vegetarian

I love tortellini, I love them in pasta salad, soup and even baked. I prefer them filled with cheese or spinach or both. Hubster prefers meat in his tortellini.
This time I made it my way…  (I needed to… in order to get through the last week of school).

Baked Tortellini

Ingredients: 
1 batch of homemade tortellini (or one package), 1 package spinach, 1 small shallot (diced), 2 Tbsp. butter, 1/2 pint heavy cream, 2 large tomatoes, 2 1/2 c. of grated parmesan cheese, 2 c. shredded mozzarella

Directions:
Preheat oven 350°F. Cook tortellini according to package directions. Chop tomatoes and set aside. Chop spinach and wilt. Mix spinach and tomatoes in with tortellini and 1 c. parmesan. Spread evenly into casserole dish. Brown shallot in butter. Add heavy cream and 1 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, stir until thickened. Pour cream sauce over pasta and sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread or garlic knots.

Do you have a favorite tortellini recipe?

Apple Smoked Turkey Tenderloin

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apple, dinner, entree, food, foodie, grill, grilling, lunch, main dish, marinade, meat, postaday2011, recipe, supper, tenderloin, turkey, turkey tenderloin

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe, so let me share last night’s dinner. I had planned to serve a few slices of these turkey tenderloins over a bed of sautéed spinach, lightly drizzled with a glaze and a side of tarragon pear rice. Unfortunately the fresh spinach at the supermarket didn’t look so… fresh, and my turkey tenderloins were ready to be cooked. So today I skipped the spinach and the glaze… Hopefully next time, the spinach will look better and it’ll have a nice picture to update this post.

Apple Smoked Turkey Tenderloin

Ingredients:
2 turkey tenderloins, 4 c. sparkling apple cider, 1/3 c. honey, 1/8 c. smoke flavoring, 1 Tbsp. chopped sage, 1 small shallot minced, 1 tsp. powdered garlic, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper

Directions:
Put tenderloins in zipper bag and set aside. Mix together remaining ingredients. Pour marinade in zipper bag over turkey tenderloins, cover and refrigerate overnight. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place tenderloins and marinade in casserole dish. Insert meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat. Place in oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 165°F. Cover and let rest before serving.

*This is also fantastic grilled.

What is for dinner at your place tonight?