I know, your first thought is, “What the What?!?!?!

How can two such different dishes go on the same plate together?  Well, it’s a bit of a stretch, but not all that much.  Here’s how this twosome became a yummy pair.

I soooooooooooooo love being in the Secret Recipe Club.  It gives me an opportunity to really explore other blogs, recipes and take a moment to get to know the blogger.  And it forces me out of my coma and into the real world.  Well, at least the real cyber world.

This month my SRC assignment was The Pajama Chef Sarah.  She and her husband, Ben, are always whipping up something fabulous in the kitchen.  Newly weds of two years they have already reached a few compromises in their lives together.  Ben loves to lift weights and so he forces convinces her that lifting weights is something she should be doing, too.  Sarah loves to run and has forced convinced him to run with her.  I think they have got this marriage thing all figured out!

The other thing I love is finding out how someone decided to name their blog.  Well, among her loves in life which include her husband and peanut butter, she also loves lounging in her pajamas.  In fact, Sarah says, “If it was socially acceptable, I would wear pajamas 24/7!” I feel the same way about my sweats, although in the Texas heat, 24/7 would only be practical about 3 days out of the year.

While browsing through this blog, I had lots and lots of choices.  I decided on the Lime-Soy Chicken because, well, it was just what my taste buds were looking for.  Lime-Soy Chicken was a recipe of which Ben created and blogged and one that I couldn’t resist.  Another recipe that caught my eye was Aunt Charlotte’s Tex-Mex Corn.  Most of you know about my love for all things with Hatch Green Chile, so once again, I couldn’t resist.

I was thrilled with the results!  Maybe not the two dishes that YOU would have paired, but for me they both really hit my spot.

“Spot” is very important, don’t you think?

Oh, and a personal note to Sarah:  Don’t sweat coordinating side dishes to be ready at the same time as the main dish.  Just keep cooking and working through it and before you know it you will amaze yourself!  With a microwave or a “warm” setting on your oven, no one will ever know the difference.  Ask me how I know.  ;)

Citrus Asian Chicken

Serves 4

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Marinade:

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup fresh-squeezed Orange Juice

1/4 cup fresh-squeezed Lime Juice

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Light Brown Sugar

1 clove Garlic, minced

1 tsp grated fresh Ginger

1 tsp Sesame Oil

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1/8 tsp Cumin

1/8 tsp fresh-cracked Black Pepper

Two thinly sliced green onions

Directions:

Combine all ingredients of the marinade in a large bowl and add chicken breast, turning in the marinade until well coated.  Let sit about 10 minutes, turning a couple more times while marinating.  Don’t marinate very long because the acid (citrus, soy sauce) will “cook” the chicken and it will not only cook more quickly but also may turn out dry.  Just sayin’.

Heat 2 Tbsp of EV Olive Oil in a large skillet.

Remove chicken breasts from marinade.  Reserve all of the marinade and set aside.

Place each breast into skillet to sear until nice and brown.  Turn and sear the other side, making sure not to let the marinade burn.  It can do this quickly because of the sugar content of the marinade.

Reduce heat under skillet to medium and add the remainder of the marinade and continue to cook until chicken is just done.  Turn the chicken breast a couple of times while cooking.  This should take about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts.

Serve each breast, sprinkling the green onions over the top and the spooning some of the marinade over the top of the chicken.  And, you know, a little peanut butter in this sauce might be just awesome.  Oh, Sarah . . . . . . . I must try it with PB next time!  And there WILL be a next time.

Mai’s Southwestern Creamed Corn

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Butter

1/2 medium Sweet Onion, diced

1 clove Garlic, minced

3 skinned and de-seeded Roasted Hatch Green Chiles (or one small can of green chile)

1/4 cup Chicken Stock

1/4 cup Heavy Cream

1 16oz package frozen Sweet Corn

2 oz. Cream Cheese

1/8 tsp Cumin

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in medium sauce pan.  Add onion and saute until translucent.  Add garlic and green chile. Stir for another minute.  Add cream and stir until cream is just hot, then add cream cheese and stir until smooth.

Add corn and stir.  Cover with a lid and let cook until corn is hot, stirring occasionally.  This dish can also be put in a casserole pan, sprinkled with bread crumbs, maybe even a little cheddar cheese and baked in the oven for 20 minutes or so at about 375F.  YUM!  And, by the way, I LOVED my meal.  Again, East Meets West.  You see, I’ve enjoyed the two together before.

I know.

I’m weird.

NOT a big revelation.

Weird IS the new norm.

Signed,

Suzi Norm

(just don’t call me “average”)

Check out the other Secret Recipe Club Recipes from this month here!

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

The whole family is coming over for a little Fall Fun tonight.  We weren’t able to get together over Halloween weekend because we had a couple of sick little bunnies.  And of course, we wanted everyone to be well and join in the fun with everyone else.

The menu includes Grilled Elk Burgers with Cheddar Cheese and Roasted Hatch Green Chile, Sweet Potato Chips and Jeni’s Special Cupcakes for dessert.

I had originally thought about Sweet Potato Wedges, but when I received Lindsay’s blog, The Lean Green Bean for my Secret Recipe Club assignment, I knew her Oh So Sweet Potato Chips were the way to go.  MM and I go to a Mexican food restaurant occasionally and my favorite thing there are the sweet potato chips.  Now I’m going to learn how to make them by baking them at home!

I have a mandoline slicer that has been screaming for a job and this is the perfect opportunity to give it a work out.  I found that 1) you need to keep an eye on the chips to make sure the sugar content of the potatoes doesn’t burn and 2) the oven temp needed to be a little higher and 3) an extended cooking time led to a crispier chip.  If you have leftovers, just reheat in the oven to re-crisp the chips.

Sweet Potato Chips

Ingredients:

3 large Sweet Potatoes, scrubbed, skin on, sliced 1/8″ thick

Olive Oil

Seasoning for chips

1 Tbsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Cumin

1/4 tsp Chimayo Red Chile Powder (or a chile powder that has nothing but chile powder in it)

Method:

Coat sliced sweet potatoes lightly with olive oil.  Lay chips on baking sheet without overlapping too much.

Mix seasonings together then sprinkle over chips.

Bake at 400F degrees for 15 minutes.  Removed from oven and turn chips over.  Place back in oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve with  or without salsa.

These are delicious and make a great change of pace from regular chips.  Besides, I got to use my mandoline.

Slicin’ and Dicin’!

Suz

Check out the other Secret Recipe Club Recipes for this month now!  Right here!

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

I just LOVE this time of year.  Fall is my very favorite!

Dove

I want to rake leaves then jump into the pile with childish abandon.

[slideshow]

I want to walk miles and miles and look at the beautiful colors, wearing my warm jacket and mittens.

I want to cuddle up with a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace.

I want to bake cookies until the whole house smells like vanilla and chocolate and “home”.

I want . . .

Wait, if I did all of this I would MELT!  It would have to be 20F degrees, not 72F degrees with a 40% chance of rain for me to enjoy any of this.  Geez, just thinking about it I had to turn on the fan.  Whew!

The one thing I CAN do, however, is make some cookies and that is exactly the plan.

For this month’s SRC assignment I was given the blog, Bizzy Bakes.  And boy, does she ever!  Lots of wonderful recipes on her site and well worth a trip over to check it out!  However, being that I had cookies on my mind, these Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Cookies really flipped my switch.Everything about them says “holiday” and “YUM” to me.

Cranberry White Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 whole large Eggs
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 cup dried Cranberries
1 cup White Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped Pecans

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Beat butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Then add vanilla and mix.

Add dry ingredients until just blended.

Add cranberries, chocolate and almonds and incorporate into dough.

Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for about 12 minutes.

Word of warning, these ARE addictive!  I know your family will love them as much as ours did.

Loving the Fall and everything about it!

Suz

Check out the other Secret Recipe Club Recipes for this month now!  Right here!

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

Yep, that’s right, I said, “spiked”.

Sweet Pea from the blog Newlyweds has this great Pumpkin Spiced Latte recipe.  She is my Secret Recipe Club assignment for this month.  She’s also a Texas gal, and you know we are all neighbors here in the Lone Star State even if we have never met in person before.  So a big shout out to Sweet Pea from Vivisue (that’s me)!  Nothin’ like some good ‘ol southern hospitality.

Sweet Pea has a LOT of wonderful recipes on her blog.  However, it was real easy to pick one because as soon as I saw it my taste buds said, “Well hello darlin’!” (There’s a song in there somewhere.)

I was ready to get to know this recipe better.

I know y’all are just as excited as all git out to get a looksee at the recipe.  And you will be even more excited to get a taste of this truly warm, cozy, and delicious concoction.  Thanks for the recipe, Sweet Pea.  It will definitely be one of my favorite holiday, cold night, snowy day comforts.  Oh, and did I mention that I have NEVER had a latte.  Nope, never.  Until now.  This is a great “first”!

Pumpkin Spiked Latte

Makes about 4 cups or 2 big mug fulls

Ingredients:

2 cups Milk

3 Tbsp canned Pumpkin

2 Tbsp Sugar

1 Tbsp Bailey’s Irish Cream (optional)

1 tsp Vanilla (2 tsp if you do not use the Bailey’s)

1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 cup strong brewed strong Coffee

Directions:

In a saucepan stir together milk, pumpkin and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until steaming.   Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, and just whip the mixture really well with a wire whisk, till frothy.

Pour into large mugs. Add the coffee on top.

Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice.

This stuff is so good it makes you wanna slap your husband . . .

(in a fun way, of course)

No longer a Latte Virgin,

Suz

To see the rest of the Secret Recipe Club’s recipes, check it out here!

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

[slideshow]

Pumpkin Whoopee Pies

adapted from sarahlipoff.com

Makes about 20 pies

Ingredients for the cookie part:

1 1/2 c Pumpkin Pie Filling or Puree

2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp ground Ginger

1 whole egg

1/2 cup Grapeseed Oil

1 cup packed Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 cups all-purpose flour

Ingredients for the filling:

8 oz Mascarpone Cheese

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

Mix the pumpkin, syrup, vanilla, ginger, egg, oil, and brown sugar in a big bow and whisk until everything is smooth and incorporated.

Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour and mix together.

Heat oven to 350F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease the pans lightly).  Spoon on batter in 2″ rounds.

Place in the oven and bake for about 14 minutes.  When they turn a bit brown and crack a little, they’re done!

Let them cool completely before filling!!!

Using a knife or pastry bag and swirl on some filling.  Top with another cookie. If the filling seems a little gooey, place pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to stiffen the filling.

Eat and Enjoy – the pictures are worth 1,000 words.

Love these little punkins,

Suz

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

I love it when it’s time for another Secret Recipe Club assignment!  Getting to know other food bloggers and browsing their mouth-watering recipes is really good for my creative side, not necessarily my back side, but they are all fabulous and worthy of blue ribbons.  It’s the “deciding” part that really gets tough.

This month my blog assignment was The Novice Housewife.  Shumaila was assigned my blog a couple of months back and made my Coconut Bread with Coconut Lime Sauce.  So now I get to return the favor AND the kudos.

Browsing her site is an amazing journey and one that is definitely worth the trip.  As I browsed through Shumaila’s recipes, the Naan Pizza grabbed my attention.  Quick, easy, simple and something that a lot of us look for when coming home from a long day at work or a quick weekend meal when everyone is starving and wants something to eat PDQ!

I happen to have some naan bread just screaming for me to make a pizza so I decided to quiet the beast.

The great thing about this idea was that I could grab whatever I had on hand to make the pizza.  I always have leftovers of some variety, as I’m sure you do, too.  Heck, I’ve even made beef stew from leftover meatloaf.  So there!  Besides, October is National Pizza Month and I feel the need to celebrate!

There is one HUGE requirement of making this recipe.

DO NOT make this any harder than it needs to be.  Use Mai’s Spaghetti Sauce or even an Alfredo Sauce, depending on the type of pizza you want to make.  I choose the BBQ Chicken because of a great memory from Psycho Suzi’s in Minneapolis.  Best BBQ Chicken pizza I had ever tasted.  I wanted to see if I could re-create that – or even BEST that.

PDQ Pizza to the rescue!

PDQ Pizza

Serves 2 or 4, depending on how hungry you are.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of Naan Bread

1/2 cup of Famous Dave’s Devil’s Spit BBQ Sauce – or whatever is your favorite

3 medium thinly sliced Portabello Mushrooms

4 Thin Slices of Sweet Onion

1/4 thin sliced Red Bell Pepper

2 medium Grilled Chicken Breast sliced thinly

1/8 tsp Garlic Salt

1 cup grated Gouda or Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Method:

Lay out your naan bread on a pizza stone or cookie sheet and spread BBQ sauce over bread, leaving off any ingredients from the edge. Add the ingredients to the sauce and top with cheese.

Bake in a 400F degree oven for about 20 minutes.  Serve with your favorite salad!  Not only was this every bit as good as Psycho Suzi’s, but I think it just may have been even better!  Thanks so much, Shamaila, for the inspiration!

Now, just how fast was that?

Pretty Damn Quick!

(heehee . . . I love it when I can legitimately say a cuss word.)

Takin’ it easy and makin’ it easy.
Suz

If you want to check out all the other fabulous recipes included in this Secret Recipe Club group here’s the secret link to see them all.

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Megan from Megan’s Cookin’ out in Redding California posted on Facebook that she had purchased some jam from the Freakin’ Flamingo.  Well, THAT was enough to get my attention right there.  Jam AND a Freakin’ Flamingo.  So I had to go check it out.

What I found was absolutely delightful!  What a treasure of jams Renee’ has created.  She makes lots of wonderful, unique jams in “mico-batches” and sells them on her website.

“Micro-Batch Jams, Marmalades & More with a South Florida Twist”

The “twist” being ingredients that I would never have thought about in a million years.  But, they soooooo work!

Names like ” Anne Bonny’s Pirate’s Reserve Caribbean Cranberry” that has a touch of lime and rum.  Now I know I have your attention!

I got in touch with Megan and told her how I, too, had purchased some of the jams – a sampler with Blueberry Mojito, Blueberry Marmalade, Pina Colada Jam, Strawberry Daquiri Jam, and a pint of Blueberry Mojito Jam.  All are simply out of this world!  And no, no one paid me to say that.  It’s just a fact.  Oh, and many of the blueberries in the latter are whole!

So Megan and I decided to post a couple of different recipes using our flavorful and unique jams.  The results exceeded all of our expectations.  Check out what Megan came up with on her blog!

I made some Blueberry Mojito Thumbprint Cookies, which I have to say are the best tasting, best textured thumbprints I’ve ever made. Good thing I have more cookie dough and jam!  There are several variations you can use, so I will try and list all that I know.  I’m sure you will come up with more of your own.  This dough turns out light and airy, but also has a wonderful “crunch” to it as you bite into each cookie.  Total YUM!

Blueberry Mojito Thumbprint Cookies

Makes 6-7 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks softened unsalted Butter

1 1/4 cups Sugar

1 large Egg Yolk

1 tsp Vanilla

2 1/2 cups all purpose Flour

3/4 cup shredded Coconut

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Himalayan or Sea Salt

Finely chopped Pecans or Walnuts, extra shredded Coconut, Lime Zest to be used for rolling cookie dough balls in before baking (optional)

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – about 3-4 minutes.  Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Mix flour, coconut, soda and salt together in a medium bowl then, with mixer on, add slowly to the creamed butter mixture until well incorporated.  Removed the dough from the mixer and shape into a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes.  This dough can be refrigerated longer, but you’ll need to let it sit out for a while to soften just enough to form into balls.

Form dough into about 1″ balls.  Optionally, you may roll in chopped nuts, additional coconut or lime zest at this point.

Place dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet and put into a 350 degree oven for 13-14 minutes.  Remove from oven and press your “thumbprint” into the middle of each ball.  Spoon jam into the thumbprint.  Place back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.  Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.

These cookies disappeared as fast as I could make them.  Good think this dough makes about 6-7 dozen cookies!

You have also GOT to check out Megan’s recipe using a treat from the Freakin’ Flamingo!  And these “little cuties” of Megan’s, Chocolate Dipped Clementines with Sea Salt.  I made these a little earlier and they are amazingly delicious!

As Renee’ at Freakin’ Flamingo says these will “Tickle Your Tastebuds Pink!”

Color me pink.

Suz

You can purchase high-resolution photos of pictures from this blog and other images here. They make great kitchen decor and gifts. Also, the notecards are great for sharing recipes! More added every week.

Thru The Bugs On My Windshield by V. Suzanne Collier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.txcolliers.smugmug.com/Lifes-Highway.

I love Winnie over at Healthy Green Kitchen.  She was one of the first bloggers to comment on my blog after I started in this biz.  She creates lots of fabulous dishes that really make my mouth water.  Her food always looks fabulous, credit to her great photography skills, and tastes as good as it looks.  I know because I’ve also made her Tomato Ginger Jam and her award winning Smoky Minestrone with Tortellini (more than once I’ve made this).  And it’s all very healthy because Winnie is a naturopathic doctor as well as a recipe developer, food writer and photographer.  She has recently taken on the title of Bee Keeper, too.  And has her own chickens with fresh eggs.  A lady with enumerable talents!

In fact, I love her so much that I have her autograph in a cookbook in which she was published.

I could go on and on about this sweet and wonderful lady.  But I know you are salivating already.

I was assigned Winnie’s blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club.  Choosing was the difficult part.  The nice thing is that all of Winnie’s recipes are simple and delicious.  So when I saw her Roasted Beet Salad with Greens and Candied Pecans I knew it was going to be great and get me in and out of the kitchen without a lot of fuss and muss.

This is a perfect weeknight salad (as long as you have already roasted your beets and make up some extra candied walnuts).  And the flavor is tangy, sweet and plays as many notes in your mouth as a Rachmaninov concerto.

Roasted Beet Salad with Candied Walnuts

adapted from Healthy Green Kitchen

ingredients:

The winner of the Woolie giveaway from FluffaBebe is comment #25… Melissa Tullock-Joers you are the winner! (Please note, I skipped a non-qualifying comment and a duplicated comment in my count). Melissa, email me at fluffabebe@gmail.com within 24 hours.