Bok Choy Salad

This recipe was shared with me in March 2015 by the folks who own Sower N Seed in Minocqua, WI. It is delicious. I love the crispy topping. I served this with thin pork chops that I cooked on the grill with a little BBQ sauce, yum!

Bok Choy Salad

1/2 cup butter, coconut oil or combo
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 pkg Ramen Noodles (don't use seasoning packet) (cook the Ramen Nooodles 1st. This may be obvious to everyone, but I had never prepared them before trying this recipe, silly girl.)
1/3 cup sesame seeds
2/3 cup sliced almonds

Saute together in fry pan til almonds and noodles are nicely brown.  This is the crispy topping

Chop 2 heads Bok Choy (I wasn't sure how much of the Bok Choy green part to use)
Thin slice 5 green onions (may substitute other onions - red are pretty)

Toss together for your greens base

3/4 cup olive oil (may use other salad oil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons to 1/2 cup sugar depending on how sweet you like it.  A reduced amount of maple syrup is good too or combo of sugar and stevia
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Whisk together for dressing
(Note: I only used a little of this to dress the greens.)

Best Bok Choy

Recipe courtesy Guy Fieri

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 1/2 cups green beans, ends trimmed, cut into 2 to 3-inch pieces
• 2 cups cremini mushrooms, wiped clean, halved and sliced
• 3 baby bok choy, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• Freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

In a wok or large saute pan, add the grapeseed oil and when almost smoking, add the onions and bell peppers. Saute, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the green beans and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes more.

Add the bok choy, garlic, soy sauce, and fish sauce and saute until 

Asparagus Salad with Sesame Seeds

This recipe comes from the "Old Rittenhouse Inn" 2009, pg. 50 I served this as part of a spring

brunch with Quiche Lorraine.  Delicious.

Salad -
1 pound Bibb lettuce, chilled
10 ounces cooked asparagus, cut into 1/1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced red radishes (I used a black radish)
1/2 cup minced red onion

Dressing -
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 T soy sauce
2 t. sugar
3 T olive oil
1 t. sesame seed oil
2 t. peeled & grated ginger root
1 T fresh herbs, choose what is fresh

Garnish -
3/4 cup sesame seeds

SALAD
Toss together all the ingredients and chill

DRESSING

1. Combine vinegar, broth, soy sauce, and sugar.
2. Add oils
3. Stir in ginger root
4. Pour dressing over salad and toss and garnish with sesame seeds.

Ginger Orange Tea

This recipe comes from "Moosewood Restaurant: Cooking for Health" @2009, pg 44.
I love making ginger tea in the morning before my 7:30 yoga class, especially in the winter. It warms me up. I am hoping Mike will give it a try.

Serves 2, Yields 2 cups, Time: 10 Minutes

 Claire gave me this cool container.
Keeps my tea warm.

Can be served hot or chilled.

1 rounded T. grated peeled ginger root (Note: I also add turmeric)
1 cup water
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 - 2 T honey

In a small sauce pan, bring the grated ginger and water almost to a boil, then cover and steep for 5 minutes. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the ginger tea, pressing the liquid out of the grated ginger with the back of a spoon.

Stir together the OJ, lemon juice, honey and ginger tea. Reheat for a hot beverage, or chill and add ice.

Brunch Menu

I served this for Jan and Maggie in March 2015. It would be great for a Mother's Day brunch as well.

Quiche Lorraine (from Gourmet by Ruth Reichel)
Asparagus Salad (from Old Rittenhouse Cookbook)
Fresh Fruit with Strawberry Vinaigrette (from Vegetarian International Cuisine)
Banana Bread
Ginger Tea (from Moosewood Cookbook)
Mimosa

Wisconsin Poppycock

Wisconsin Poppycock

This recipe is via Beth Kost.  It pairs beautifully with a buttery Chardonnay!!!

4 C popped kettle corn

2 C Corn Chex® cereal

2 C Rice Chex® cereal

1 C lightly salted peanuts

½ C butter, cut up

¾ C packed brown sugar

½ C light corn syrup

1. Heat oven to 250^o. Remove and discard any unpopped kernels from popcorn. In ungreased large roasting pan, mix popcorn, cereal, and nuts. Set aside.
2. In 1 ½ quart saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar and corn syrup to boiling over medium heat, stirring frequently. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.
3. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up.

Christmas Eve Tapas menu, 2014

Claire, Mike and I had so much fun celebrating Christmas with Jan and Mike Pitzo!

Some old favorites made it to the menu again:

• Hot Spiced Meatballs
• Blue Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Dates
• Shrimp-Cilantro Lime
• Veggies with herb dip

Some new winners:

• Crab Cakes via chef Patrick (Thanks Pat for sharing your recipe and coaching me from afar. I hope you are with us next Christmas.) served with corn relish.
• Fig Empanadas (Thanks Katie, for the recipe. Love, love love these)
• Caprese skewers
• Manchengo cheese slice topped with a doplup of Dianne's pepper jelly and an almond
• Jan's corn and bean relish served with chips

For dessert we had my mom's  Pecan Lazers with fresh raspberries.  Absolutely delicious with White Port from Prager.

We started the night with bubbles, of course.  Mike started with Miner Wild Yeast Chardonnay.  We also served Miner Grenache and Biale Black Chicken Zin. Yum.

Christmas Potpourri

1/2 cup dried apples slices cut into small pieces

1/2 cup whole cranberries

4 cinnamon sticks

1 whole nutmeg broken into smaller pieces

2 Tablespoons whole cloves

2 Tablespoons whole allspice

Allow the apples and cranberries to air dry for several days.

Mix all ingredients together. Place 1/2 cup mixture and 2 cups water in a small sauce pans. Place over low heat and simmer for several hours.  As more water as needed.

I allowed to simmer while Claire and I watched movies, sipped wine and knitted.   Ahhh the magic of Christams.