I had no choice but to go to my garden and harvest the annual herbs before the early first frost. (Seriously, this year we moved from summer to winter and barely had fall.) OK, since I have an abundance of herbs, as I always do, process some of them with beef broth and freeze in cubes. Furthermore, I tried to come up with some sort of herbs combination to make a fresh sauce to use with my seafood or poultry dishes. End result, I came up with a tasty sauce that can be used to marinade any protein and also, can be used as a side sauce. Winning!
 
Category:  Meat/Seafood Marinade or Side sauce
Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Approximate Cost: $4.50 or $1.13 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free, Vegetarian 
Servings: 4 individual servings or 2 to season meats and seafood
 
Ingredients
½ c. parsley (chop a bit) (.50)
½ c. cilantro, (chop a bit) (.50)
1 small Rosemary spring (only use the needles) (.15)
3 sage leaves (.10)
¼ tsp. Italian oregano (.15)
1 garlic clove (.05)
¼ tsp. curry powder (.15)
1 tsp. smoked paprika (.15)
½ tsp. Roasted Garlic and Herbs Seasoning (.15)
1 ½ tsp. balsamic vinegar (.15)
1 tbsp. Soy sauce (.15)
½ c. of Angie’s basting oil ($1.80)
¼ tsp. brown sugar (.05)
 
Directions
Rinse, pat dry and prep all the herbs.
Add all the aforementioned ingredients to a food processor or blender.
Process/pulse until the sauce looks smooth and runny, just like a chimichurri sauce consistency would look like.
Pour it into a glass jar or any Mason Jar with lid and refrigerate until use. It’s good for about one to two weeks. 
 
Note: This combination of spices and herbs worked very well together and although it is not chimichurri sauce, it can be used instead of it and as marinade over raw proteins.
The best news is that I used all the herbs harvested and nothing was wasted.
 
NEXT WEEK: MY CILANTRO-PARSLEY SAUCE WITH PAN SEARED TILAPIA, OVEN ROASTED CARROTS, RIPE PLANTAINS AND AVOCADO.
​
My Link:
Angie’s Basting Oil:  www.angieslifehacks.com/cuisine/the-flavor-series-recipe-2-angies-basting-olive-oil
 

All I need to do is to purchase a large bag of pre-washed Brussels Sprouts at Costco, Sam’s or the such.

• Get my food processors out of hibernation.
• Process the veggie, place in air tight container(s).
• Finally, use them as needed in salads, slaw's, stir fry, etc. It can’t be easier than that.

 
Now, I’ll give you a recipe tomorrow, to use some of this marvelous veggie.

I hard boil 6 eggs for the week. When they are cold I place them in an air tight container with a paper towel inside to absorb any moisture, then I refrigerate them. That gives me the advantage to have cooked eggs during the week to use in salads, or breakfast without having to cook them at the time I need them. And trust them, they stay fresh for that length of time.
 
Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 7 MINUTES
Approximate Cost: .96 CENTS
Difficulty Level:     X    Easy ____ Intermediate ____ Advanced
Servings: 6
 
Ingredients
6 eggs (@ .16 cents each =) (.96)
Tap water to cover the eggs (.0)
 
Directions
Fill the saucepan with fresh, not hot water.
Add the eggs and bring to a boil.
Time to cook is 7 minutes.
Turn off the stove and leave the eggs in the pan until the water is warm.
Remove most of the water and start bouncing the eggs in the saucepan until the shells crack completely.
To peel the eggs, submerge in warm water and the eggshell should come off easily in few pieces, as you can see in my photos.
 
Now, go to your kitchen, boil some eggs and use them in any recipe you wish.

In case that you got carried away with turkey, turkey tacos, turkey soup and sandwiches and your sweetie don’t want to see “gobble-gobble” for a while, then, there’s no better excuse than to surprise him/her by making my version of surf and turf.
 
Category:  Entrée  
Approx. Prep and Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $27.24 or $13.62 per serving
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free    
Servings: 2
 
Ingredients
2 Filet mignon steaks ($14.16)
6 Scallops ($9.00)
2 Sweet potatoes Oven roasted, about 40 minutes) ($1.98)
¼ c. Angie’s basting oil ($1.80)
1 ½ tbsp. Roasted garlic and herbs (.30)
 
Directions
Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees.
Rinse, pat dry the sweet potatoes and wrap in foil paper.
Season the scallops and filet with my basting oil and roasted garlic and herbs.
10 minutes before the sweet potatoes are done, get a skillet over med-high and sea the scallops until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
In the same skillet, sauté the filet until golden brown outside and med-well inside. Remove and allow to rest.
Ready to plate your meal. Enjoy!

There is a time when you want to indulge, however, don’t want to overdo it. There’s also a time when you want to entertain few friends and want to make a simple dessert that doesn’t need to be sliced. That’s when my BABY OREO CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESECAKES come handy. They are prepared and cooked in few minutes, and they are easy to serve. Oh, did I mention that they taste amazing? Smile.
 
Category:  Dessert
Approx. Prep and Cook Time:  35 Minutes
Approximate Cost:    $6.38 or .64 cents per Baby Cheesecake with ice cream
Difficulty Level:  Easy
Allergens, Other:  Gluten Free  
Servings: 10 small servings
 
Ingredients
1 8oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese ($1.99)
¼ c. white sugar (.20)
½ c. melted dark chocolate chips (.63)
1 egg (.16)
¼ c. sour cream (.20)
1 tbsp. cocoa powder (.20)
10 Oreo cookies ($1.00)
10 + scoops of ice cream ($2.00)
 
Directions
Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Prep. Your cupcake wrappers & drop 1 Oreo in the bottom.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (30 seconds at-a-time)
In a med size bowl, mix the cream cheese and sugar until well blended.
Add the sour cream and cocoa powder and mix until blend. DO NOT OVER MIX.
Use an ice cream scoop to drop I full scoop over the Oreo cookies.
Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes (as always depending on your oven), until they rise and crack in the middle. Remove from oven when done and allow to cool.
To serve, remove the wrappers, place in a nice plate, add a scoop of chocolate ice cream and enjoy!
 
Note: Traditionally, you bake cheesecakes in Bain-Marie (or Baño de Maria) which is nothing else than to place your cheesecake mold inside a larger mold fill half way with water. Just like you would do to bake a Flan. No Bain-Marie with my recipe. It’s ok to crack, since these babies will have ice cream on top, smile.

​LET THE HOLIDAY SEASON BEGIN! Early this year and also, at the beginning of the fall season, I made and posted the regular version of coconut Tembleque. Tembleque is a traditional Puerto Rican dessert. Although it is made all-year-long, the hot demand is during the Christmas holidays. This time I added other ingredients and served it differently in Margarita glasses. They looked nice and taste delicious. Hey, it’s the holidays. Smile.
 
I’ll explain again for those not familiar with this dessert. Tembleque, is a coconut dessert like pudding (not a cream but not pudding either) that when becomes firm it wiggles a lot when you handle it.
 
Approximate Prep and Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Approximate Cost: $6.09 or $1.52
Difficulty Level:    X     Easy ____ Intermediate ____ Advanced
Allergens: Gluten Free
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
1 13oz. can of Goya coconut milk ($1.99)
2 tbsp. CocoRibe Liqueur ($1.50)
½ cup evaporated milk (.50)
2/3 c. sugar (.45)
¼ tsp. freshly grounded Nutmeg (.30)
¼ tsp. dry ginger (.15)
¼ tsp. salt (.0)
½ c. cornstarch (.35)
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon (.15)
1 cinnamon sticks (.10)
Whip Cream topping before serving. (.60)
Chocolate Pirouline wafers to garnish ($1.00)

Directions
Combine the coconut milk, salt, cinnamon stick and sugar in a saucepan, stir until all ingredients are combined.
 
Meantime, in a separate bowl mix the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of evaporated milk until creamy, add the ginger, ground cinnamon and the nutmeg, whisk well to blend.
Add to the liquid ingredients and cook in medium for about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring to bring it to a boil, then add the CocoRibe. Continue whisking until the mixture becomes thicker, in just few more minutes. Remove from the heat. Let it cool for about 10 minutes on your counter top.

When it’s warm (not hot) pour the Tembleque into Margarita glasses and let it cool in the counter top. (You don’t need to have the glasses wet before pouring the Tembleque, since they will be eaten individually.) Once cool enough, refrigerate until is time to serve.


Before serving, let them rest on the counter top for about 10 minutes to ensure they are wobbly at serving and not super solid. Then drop a dollop of whipped cream on top and stab it with a chocolate Pirouline wafer. 

Perhaps one important factor to deliver delicious foods is to have the right equipment. It doesn’t matter the brand as long as you feel comfortable with the quality, effectiveness and speed that your range or your refrigerator performs.

Here is a list of what we should have in a typical kitchen that is considered small, medium and large kitchen “appliances”:

Small Appliances:
Toasters, food processors, wine bottle openers, knife sharpener, blenders, coffee makers, rice cookers, slow cookers, instant pots and the such. (Other appliances were listed under my post “Baking Essentials”.
 
Medium Appliances:
MICROWAVE OVENS: Multifunctional that comes with microwave and convection; Lighting Fast to cook or reheat foods eight times faster; and finally, the drawer microwave, easy to pull out just like a drawer.

Large Appliances:
REFRIGERATORS: Side-by-Side, Top Freezer, Bottom Freezer, French Door, and multiple units with few drawers at the bottom. Also a wine refrigerator

RANGES:
Gas or electric range, comes in all colors and you can select the number of ovens, one or two, or the number of burners; 2, 4 or 6, or the type of heat of your choice such as electric or gas (I prefer gas) and also, you can pick a warming drawer if you do. (I have a warming shelve and almost never use it.) Finally, you can pick a nice and effective range hood. Also, not an appliance but quite important to have is an amazing set of pots and pans, preferably all stainless steel. They last a lifetime, smile.

DISHWASHERS
You don’t need one, your new dishwasher is your husband, wife or significant other; smile. I am just kidding! The dishwasher is your life saver. After the meal is cooked and eaten, someone must do the dishes, (and it ain’t gona be me) and who better than your free hard worker at home, your dish washer specialist.