Tag: free recipe

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Citrus-Marinated Roast Pork

During my recent visit to the wonderful blog of my friend and fellow author Kelly Moran, I was asked about my signature dish for Christmas. Now in my house, Christmas Eve is a mix of Italian, Cuban and American foods, but the signature dish has to be the Cuban-style citrus-marinated roast pork.

We, because it is a family affair to cook this dish, start preparing it the night before after a trip to Union City, New Jersey to pick up some Cuban staples and the pork leg.

I’m normally feeding anywhere from 15 to 25 people on Christmas Eve, so I need a really really big pork leg (pork shoulder/picnic ham/pernil). I normally get a piece of pork that weighs around 25 pounds, but you can buy a much smaller piece and adjust the cooking times (more on that later).

Ingredients:

    10-15 navel oranges
    10 lemons
    10 limes
    6-8 Seville (aka Sour) Oranges
    6 pink grapefruit
    10-20 gloves of finely chopped garlic
    Ground cumin
    bay leaves
    Pork leg/shoulder/picnic ham

Directions:

Juice all the above citrus into a large pot. We use one of those large buckets in which your grocery store deli get its potato salad, etc. Drop by and ask them for one! Ours is only used for the Christmas Eve pork.

The citrus mix should be sour, but with a strong hit of sweet (the navel oranges and grapefruit really help with that). You should have enough citrus juice to fully cover your piece of pork. Once you’ve tasted the sweet/sour mix, then add 3 to 4 bay leaves, about a half cup of garlic (less for a smaller piece of pork) and about 1/4 cup of cumin. Mix this all up.

Take your piece of pork and make multiple slits in it so that the marinade can penetrate into the meat. Place the pork leg in the citrus juice, cover and refrigerate. You’re probably wondering how I keep that big a bucket cold? Put the bucket in one of those big party tubs, place it in your garage (which should be slightly colder anyway) and fill the tub with ice. It should be icy cold in the morning unless you are in a really hot environment in which case you will need to keep on adding ice to keep the meat cold.

In the morning (around 6 a.m. or so) pre-heat the oven to 425. Remove the pork from the citrus and place it in a large roasting dish. Keep some of the citrus juice, bay leaves and garlic for use as a marinade. Discard the rest. Ladle about 1 to 2 cups over the pork and then stick the pork into the oven for one hour at 425. For a small piece of pork, cut down this initial high temp roast accordingly. For ten pounds make it around 30 minutes, anything smaller than that no more than about 15 minutes.

Do not baste the pork during this high heat roast.

When the high heat roast time is up, baste the pork and lower the oven temp to 325. Then cook until the meat pulls away from the bone in the leg and is starting to fall off. Marinate every half an hour during the cooking process. For a 25 pound pork leg, I will cook it for about 8 to 9 hours. The pork will turn this beautiful mahogany brown and just melt in your mouth.

For smaller pieces of pork, adjust the cooking times. A 10 pound picnic ham may take only about 4 or so hours. The key is to keep on basting and cooking at a low temp to keep the meat juicy.

If the pork begins to brown too much, just cover with aluminum and keep on cooking until the meat is fork tender.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Tuesday Tip. Here’s a shot of family and friends sitting around the Christmas Eve table, waiting to start the big meal!

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Fun Friday – Halloween Treats

Halloween is around the corner, so it’s time to start decorating and think of some neat treats to celebrate a paranormal writer’s favorite time of year (besides Christmas!)

Here are some interesting recipes to try this Halloween!

Courtesy of Pillsbury:

Thanks to Dangerous Reader Mimmi for sharing these treats with me and the other Dangerous Women.

Also check out these other fun treats from Kraft:

    Under-a-Spell Red Devil Cake
    Hot Spiced Witches’ Brew
    Spaghetti and Oozing Eyeballs

Hope these help you get into the Halloween spirit! Have a great weekend!

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Kabobs the easy way!

I love the taste of kabobs whether they have lamb, beef, chicken or shellfish. But the last thing I want to do at night after a long day at work is to come home and have to worry about skewering everything. Of course, I could do it the night before, but again, it’s too much effort on a weeknight.

So what can you do if you love that melding of veggies, but don’t want all the work of kabobbing them?

You can make your kabobs in the skillet sans skewering!

Ingredients

  • Protein of your choice (or no protein for that matter)
  • One Red Pepper
  • One Onion
  • One small zucchini aka green squash
  • One small yellow squash
  • 8 or so small to medium mushrooms
  • One large tomato
  • 1/8 cup sherry/balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup tomato sauce/juice/ketchup

Directions

Place a little olive oil in your skillet, preferably a large cast iron one. It’ll hold the heat better and will also give you some dietary iron for your system.

Put the skillet on high heat and get it nice and warm. While you are doing that, wash and slice the mushrooms. Place them in the skillet to cook first on high heat. Mushrooms have a lot of water and you want to evaporate all that water and get the mushrooms starting to brown before you add any other veggies, otherwise you will just be steaming them and not pan broiling them.

Next, cut the red pepper into inch cubes. Add to mushrooms once all the water is gone. Set the heat to medium-high.

Cut the onions into one inch cubes. Once the red peppers are starting to sweat a little, add the onions. Give everything a good stir every now and then.

Prep a second pan with a little oil for your protein or if you have a grill handy, get that warming up.

On a different cutting board, slice your beef/lamb/pork/chicken into thin slices for faster cooking. If you’re using shrimp or scallops there is no need to do anything with them other than cook them.

Chop the yellow and green squash in half and then slice into uniform slices. About 1/4 inch thick since we want it to cook fairly fast. Once the onions are starting to look translucent, toss in the squash.

In the second pan, place your slices of meat or shellfish. Leave them on one side until they are starting to brown and then turn. Keep an eye on the veggies and give them a stir or two.

While the meat/fish is cooking, slice the tomato into eighths and then cut those eighths in half. You want to toss the tomato in at that very last minute. You can also substitute grape or cherry tomatoes, but not very big ones.

Once all the meat is cooked, place it on a plate and let it rest for a second. You are going to slice it into strips and then mix it in with the veggies. Once it is all mixed, add the sherry/balsamic vinegar (not apple vinegar as it is too strong) to the veggie/meat mix and stir. Then add the tomato sauce/juice/ketchup. Not too much. Give it a stir and cook for just a few minutes.

That’s it. Skillet kabobs! Serve them over rice, couscous or rice pilaf.

Hope you enjoyed this Tuesday’s Tip!

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Ripe Plantains and Behind the Scenes of SINS OF THE FLESH

Mexican Food RecipeWhen I was researching SINS OF THE FLESH, I wanted to make sure that I gave readers a taste of the characters in a variety of ways, including in the foods that they would eat. Since my research revealed a large Mexican population down the shore as well as in towns like Freehold, it seemed that my mercenary and ex-Army Ranger hero, Mick Carrera, would be Mexican.

And since I love books with foods/chefs (THE PERFECT MIX, SEX AND THE SOUTH BEACH CHICAS and MORE THAN A MISSION), it only seemed right that after Mick’s family had legally immigrated to the United States, they would succeed in their American Dream by opening a Mexican restaurant in one of the shore towns.

But Mexican food is more than tacos and burritos or the Tex-Mex dip recipe I gave you so long ago. I’ve been lucky to visit Mexico City, Tequila and Guadalajara on various occasions and sample the amazing dishes available in those cities (as well as the margaritas!).

But today’s Tuesday Tip comes courtesy of a visit that my daughter paid to a local Mexican restaurant in Philadelphia. She made the dish for us and it was delicious. Plus, it’s simple and incredibly tasty. What could be better? So here is today’s Tuesday Tip Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • ripe plantains (2) or 2 packages of Goya Frozen Ripe Plantains
  • sour cream
  • queso fresco
  • chopped chives

Directions:

  • 1. Most stores carry plantains, but they must be ripe for this recipe. That means they should have a deep yellow/spotted black outer skin so they will be sweet. Getting them perfectly ripe can be hard, which is why I cheat and rely on the Goya Frozen Ripe Plantains. Always ripe, no peeling and lots of sweet.
  • 2. If you’re using fresh plantains, peel them. Cut diagonally into ovalish slices. Alternative – open the Goya box.
  • 3. Fry up the plantains, either in vegetable oil or butter. This is one time not to use virgin olive oil because it will overpower the sweetness factor. Cook until golden and caramelized.
  • 4. Place the fried plantains on a slightly greased serving dish (They are so sugary, they will stick!).
  • 5. Garnish with sour cream, some crumbled queso fresco (available in the dairy section) and the chopped chives.
  • 6. Serve. This recipe will comfortably provide a side dish or appetizer for 4 to 5 people.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Behind the Scenes look and Tuesday Tip recipe!

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Cannellini & Pasta

pastaSunday was one of those lazy days and neither hubby nor I wanted to cook. Plus, I had done some food shopping and there were some things we had to use so they would stay fresh. Hubby recalled a recipe he had seen on TV and did a little improvisation. You can as well and end up with a healthy, hearty and economical meal!

So today’s Tuesday tip is a recipe for Cannellini & Pasta! Now the fun thing about this is that if you some protein in the meal, you can use either ham, chicken, sausage or even shrimp.

  • Bob’s Cannellini & Pasta:

    • Ingredients:
    2 cloves Garlic
    1 tsp red pepper flakes
    1/4 cup Olive Oil
    28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
    1 16 oz can cannellini beans
    2 handfuls fresh spinach (baby if possible, if not, please chop)
    1/2 pound pasta (preferably a rigatoni, penne, etc. This is for 2 people. Make it a pound for more than 2 people)
    Optional: 1/2 pound protein (ham, chicken, sausage, shrimp)

    Directions:
    Saute garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until garlic is soft.
    Add canellini beans and also, the liquid from the can. Saute for a few minutes and then add crushed tomatoes. Reduce sauce until it begins to thicken. Add chopped spinach. Allow spinach to wilt. Spinach has a lot of natural water, so you will need to reduce the sauce a little more.

    If you are going to add the ham, chicken or sausage, cook this first with the garlic and red pepper flakes. If you’re using shrimp, you don’t want to overcook them and should add them with the spinach.

    Hope you enjoyed this Tuesday’s Tip. Also, don’t forget about the Brenda Novak auction and some fun news for you – we’re having a guest blogger tomorrow – Kathye Quick. Kathye is a dear friend and the author of several books. Tomorrow she’ll be blogging about her latest CYNTHIA AND CONSTANTINE. Here’s a little blurb about it! Also, if you drop by and leave a comment, you will be eligible to win a CALLING T-shirt!

    Lady Cynthia of Abertaine is trapped. Not only has her fiancé. Sir William Leyborne, not been back to the castle for over ten years, but she’s also not a titled Lady. Lord Simon of Cowell, a renegade warlord aligned with Mordred against Arthur and his Knights, has declared himself sovereign over Leyborne Castle and everything that once belonged to Sir William – including Cynthia. Sir Constantine, Knight of the Round Table, has come to the shire to give Cynthia the news that her fiancé has fallen in battle. With him is William’s oral will giving all he owns to Cynthia as though they had been wed. But when he finds Cynthia and discovers that the shire under the control of an evil warlord, he knows he cannot leave without first driving Simon and his soldiers from the land. Drawn together by an attraction older than time, Cynthia and Constantine soon discover that though a vow made by a knight’s honor has brought them together, it may just also cost them their lives.

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