FROM GARDEN to FREEZER

by Tina Griffith

The season for fruits and vegetables to go into jars, cans, or the freezer, is almost upon us. This is what I do with fresh carrots. The method is easy and the carrots are tasty! I'm sure you'll like them.

Tina’s Tasty Carrots

1 lb. carrots, scrapped and trimmed
2 gloves garlic, diced
8 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
2 – 3 tbsp. dried cilantro*

Cut carrots in half if long and wash them under cool water. Drop them into a pot of water, cover, and bring the pot to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, this is called parboiling. Works great with all root vegetables.

Warm garlic, butter, and cilantro in a frying pan on medium heat. *I use cilantro because my husband is from Costa Rica, but you can use Italian or regular parsley if that's better for you.

Add carrots. Allow them to simmer for a minute or two on each side, and then remove them to a cool dish. Be sure to scrape all the sauce over them.

After they are room temperature, I add them into medium-size freezer bags, making sure they lay flat. I also make sure to put two servings into each bag - one for my husband and one for me.

I want to stress the fact that the carrots need to lay flat when you put them into the freezer baggies. This helps them to get to the same temperature at the same time. Maybe it doesn't matter to everyone, but I have OCD and it's important for food safety.


The day you want to use the carrots, remove them from the plastic bag and place them into an ovenproof dish. Turn the oven on 350° F, and then prepare the rest of your meal. When dinner is ready to serve, so are your carrots.


Here's a peek at my latest romantic thriller. I hope you enjoy it!

On Hallow’s Eve, as the veil between the two worlds was thinning, the face of the full moon was lit up like a Christmas tree. The dead would soon come alive, the alive would dress up as the dead, and witchcraft had a way of piggybacking off other spells. This was the ideal night to be a witch, for the effectiveness of all incantations, divinations, and other avenues of magic, was perfect.

Jayla is a clever witch, who had been cursed in her teens by her friend, Ophelia. Since then, she has had to retrieve dark souls from shrewd men in order to survive. While she has taken hundreds of souls in her lifetime, this story is about her trying to take the one which belongs to Roger Casem – the man she accidentally fell in love with.

Could she kill him, as she had done with the others? If she wanted to continue living, she must. But today, when his eyes skimmed her body with unbelievable passion, she began to recognize her own needs. As she blushed and turned her face away from him, Jayla did the only thing she could.

AMAZON

Tina Griffith, who also wrote twenty-seven children's books as Tina Ruiz, was born in Germany, but her family moved to Canada when she was in grammar school.

After her husband of 25 years passed away, she wrote romance novels to keep the love inside her heart. Tina now has eleven romance novels on Amazon, and while all of them have undertones of a love story, they are different genres; murder, mystery, whimsical, witches, ghosts, suspense, adventure, and her sister's scary biography.

Tina has worked in television and radio as well as being a professional clown at the Children's Hospital. She lives in Calgary with her second husband who encourages her to write her passion be it high-quality children's books or intriguing romance.

Stay connected with Tina (Griffith) Ruiz on her Facebook group Tina Speaks Out.

Dinner the St. Patrick's Day Way

Presenting the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal most North Americans will enjoy with a cold Harp Lager, Guinness Stout, Killian's Irish Red Lager, or Smithwicks Ale. But here's a newsflash, Boyo, except for the beer you'll never find corned beef served anyway on the Old Sod. That's right. Our Irish brethren look at us in amazement, but that's never stopped us Yanks from creating traditions. So pour another wee dram and let's get cooking.

Corned Beef
Cabbage
Carrots
Potatoes
Bakery Rye Bread
Horseradish Sauce
Mustard
Irish Beer and plenty of it

Corned Beef

1 5lb. corned beef brisket*
2 med. onions, peeled and quartered
4 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3 bottles of beer
water to cover

Preheat oven to 300 F°.

Place beef in a Dutch oven. Add remaining ingredients, including spice packet that comes with the beef.

Bring to a boil on stovetop. Place in oven and roast for 3 hours or until meat is fork tender.

*Don't stint on the beef. It cooks down to approximately half. I learned this lesson the hard way.

Here's a tip from my butcher Raoul. Always buy corned beef flat cut. It has less fat than the point. Therefore you get more meat for your money.

Vegetables
6 med. red potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 carrots, scraped and cut into 2" pieces
1 celery stalk, cut into 2" pieces
1 med. green cabbage, cut into 8 wedges
1 cup corned beef cooking liquid
water

You can prep all the veggies and store in a large container covered by cold water until you're ready to cook them. Refrigerate so vegetables remain crisp.

Place veggies in a large pot. Stir in corned beef cooking liquid. Add water to cover vegetables by 2 inches. Cover pot. Set cooking temp at medium. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat so the pot doesn't cook over, but maintain a soft boil. Cook about 30 minutes or until veggies are fork tender.

Horseradish Sauce

1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. fresh chives, snipped short

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir well.

Transfer to a serving dish, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dea Ithe!

Sloane

It's Wednesday. So, What's Cooking?

Grilled Steaks, Baked Potatoes, and Glazed Carrots.

Our weather has gone nuts in the Midwest with scalding temperatures that has everyone listless. No one wants to heat up the house with cooking, so this month we have a menu geared for outdoor cooking. Hang onto it for those stormy fall and winter days because it also works great indoors.

Glazed Carrots
Baked Potatoes
Grilled Steaks
Dry Red Wine – Cabernet Sauvignon

Baked Potatoes
1 baking potato per person
1 bay leaf for each potato
olive oil
Kosher or rock salt
butter
sour Cream
chives

Outdoor Grill
Preheat on medium high. Prepare the potatoes in the same manner as above.

Lay potatoes on bottom grate. Every 15 minutes roll the potatoes to a new side to prevent burning. It will take about 45 minutes to cook through. Test by inserting a toothpick. If the potato is cooked enough the pick will slide in easily.

When done, set the potatoes on the upper rack until ready to serve.

Oven Method
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Wash the potatoes under cool running water. Dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub the skins with a small amount of olive oil. Slit across the top large enough and deep enough to fit in a bay leaf. Roll in the salt and wrap in aluminum foil.

Bake for about 45 minutes, depending on the size of the potato. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick. If the potato is cooked enough the pick will slide in easily.

When done, set the potatoes on a warm stove or inside a 200°F oven until ready to serve.

Serve with butter, sour cream, and chives.

Glazed Carrots
1lb. cello wrapped pre-cleaned carrots
1 stick butter
chicken stock canned or boxed
2 tbsp. sugar
freshly ground pepper
mint leaves if you like that flavor

In a Teflon type pan melt the butter and add the sugar. Add the carrots and enough chicken stock to come half way up the carrots. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Shake the pan periodically to move the carrots around. Cook uncovered until carrots are fork tender.

If the glaze hasn’t reduced enough, remove the carrots to a serving dish and drape with foil.

Bring the frying pan to a boil and cook until the glaze is reduced. Be careful here because the butter and sugar burn easily. If it does, it’s very bitter.

Add the glaze to the carrots. Grind pepper on top, then sprinkle with a few chopped mint leaves.

This dish freezes well for a future meal. If you freeze, do not add the mint leaves.

Grilled Steaks
1 steak of your choice per person
freshly ground black pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce

Heat your outdoor grill to medium. Sprinkle a few drops of Worcestershire sauce on each side of the steak and spread out with your fingers. Grind fresh pepper on one side. Grill for 3 minutes each side for rare, 4 for medium rare, 5 for well done. Turn only once.

Remove the steaks and tent with aluminum foil. Allow to sit on top of a warm stove for about five minutes. This will draw the juices back into the meat and will also cook the steak to perfection.

If you use the oven broiler, follow the same cooking times.

I'll be back Friday with a little more for aspiring authors. Until then...

Happy Eating!

Sloane Taylor

It's Wednesday. So What's Cooking?

Chicken Cutlets, Roasted Potatoes, and Candied Carrots.

A mouthwatering meal that's perfect for Sunday dinner any time of the year.

Chicken Cutlets
Roasted Potatoes with Thyme and Vinegar
Candied Orange Carrots
White Wine – Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio

Chicken Cutlets
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, if not using fresh, I prefer Perdue frozen breasts thawed.
5 slices bacon chopped
¼ cup flour
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tbsp. butter
1 cup chicken stock fresh or canned
4 garlic cloves crushed
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice or Minute Maid frozen lemon juice

In a medium sized skillet, fry bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon onto paper towels to drain. Spoon off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan.

Meanwhile, place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour, shake to remove excess. Add butter to the reserved fat in the pan and heat over high temperature, swirling to melt the butter.

When the foam subsides, reduce heat to med-high and cook chicken until browned on both sides, 4 – 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm in a 200° oven or tent with foil and leave on counter.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, rosemary, pepper flakes. Sauté about 45 seconds. Do not let the garlic brown. It will be bitter. Add broth and lemon juice, scrape up browned bits with a wooden spoon, and simmer until slightly thick, about 4 minutes.

Return chicken and bacon to pan and simmer, turning chicken once, until sauce is thick and glossy, 5 – 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning with black pepper.

Roasted Potatoes with Thyme and Vinegar
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. cider vinegar
3 tsp. Kosher salt
2 lbs. potatoes quartered, but not peeled
1 tsp. dried thyme or 6 sprigs fresh

Preheat oven to 425° degrees.

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, salt, thyme, and vinegar.

Place the potatoes in a large plastic bag. Pour the mixture over them and gently shake the bag to coat evenly.
Spread the potatoes in an even layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle any remaining mixture over them. Bake until potatoes are tender and slightly browned, about 50 minutes.

Candied Orange Carrots
½ lb. ready to eat carrots
Juice of one orange
1 pinch nutmeg
¼ cup maple syrup
4 tbsp. butter
fresh parsley chopped

Place all the ingredients together in a saucepan. Gently simmer, covered, until the carrots are bright orange and tender.

Garnish with the parsley and serve.

The leftovers from this meal make a perfect lunch and are easily reheated.

I'll be back Friday with more writing tips. Until then...

Happy Cooking!

Sloane Taylor