Joey’s Corn and Zucchini Skillet Sauté

 I recently hosted a dinner for some of my DEAREST friends in the whole wide world, and decided to do a classic summer menu. We had oven barbecued chicken and ribs, we had baked beans and potato salad, we had a fabulous chilled gazpacho, and of course a big pitcher of home made sweet tea. 

 When I was planning the menu, I knew I wanted to do something with fresh corn. (You really can't beat Jersey corn!) Then I saw a version of this recipe online and I thought, Oh! Perfect! Of course, I changed a few things here and there, because I can never leave well enough alone, and I had to make it my own. I was thrilled with how it turned out, and it was a BIG hit at dinner. I thought, well, this one is staying in the rotation! I think its beauty is in its simplicity. Just a bunch of summer veggies sautéed with a little bacon. How can you go wrong? Plus now you have a new something to do with all that zucchini from your garden. Win/Win! Give it a try!

5 strips bacon, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

4 cups fresh or frozen corn

4 cups zucchini, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

a drizzle of heavy cream

 

 

Add your chopped bacon to a cold pan. Turn on the heat to medium, not too hot. You want to gradually render the bacon fat. Give it a stir every so often until it's slightly crisp but not brittle. Add your chopped onions, bell pepper, and corn. Stir and sauté until the vegetables begin to soften. Do be afraid to let them get a little color as you go. Now add your diced zucchini. Give everything a good stir. When the zucchini begins to cook down, add your salt, pepper, and a drizzle of heavy cream. You don't want it to be swimming in cream, you just want to add a little richness. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. 

 

 

Tips:

When you're chopping your veggies, you want everything to be about the same size. I found it VERY helpful to use one of those handy dandy choppers that you see floating around the interwebs. You know, the kind where you put a half of an onion down and then slam it closed, pushing the onion through. HIGHLY recommend!

Use any color bell peppers you like. I used red because I liked the pop of color. Yellow or orange would look pretty too. And if you'd like to add a little zing, add some minced jalapeño or serrano peppers. 

Don't have a red onion? Use whatever you have!

To make this vegetarian, just omit the bacon, and use butter or oil in place of the bacon fat.  

 

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

 

 

  

 

One of my favorite things about summer is that I get to enjoy all of my favorite Jersey produce. I swear I go to the produce market at least once a week and buy TONS of fruits and veggies for canning and roasting and making jams, you name it. 
 So, recently, I had a bunch of bell peppers and figured I’d do something with them, but what? I thought, well, pepper steak is the obvious choice, right Then I realized…wait.. after all these years, do I not have a go-to pepper steak recipe??? What is going on??? Clearly I needed to remedy this!
 I was originally thinking of using my wok, but then I figured it would be a lot easier to just throw it into the slow cooker and let it cook all afternoon. Perfect! This is a  version of a recipe from All Recipes and it’s absolutely delicious. If you’re a fan of pepper steak, then this one is for you! Also, if you still don’t have a slow cooker, what are you waiting for? No time like the present!




2 lbs beef sirloin, London broil top round, or flank steak, cut into 2 inch strips
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 onion, sliced 
2 large green bell peppers, sliced
2 large red bell peppers, sliced
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp white or brown sugar
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
2 cups beef stock, divided
2 tbs corn starch

 

 

 

In a large skillet, over medium heat, sear the beef strips in oil until brown on both sides. Do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan. While the beef is searing, place all other ingredients in a slow cooker, except the beef stock and corn starch. After removing the last of the beef from the skillet, pour 1 cup of stock into the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits. Add that liquid to the slow cooker. Cover. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3 1/2 - 4 hours. After the cooking is done, make a slurry with the corn starch and remaining cup of beef stock. Add to slow cooker. Let it continue to cook and thicken. Serve over rice, riced cauliflower, or mashed potatoes. 



Tips:
This makes a very saucy pepper steak. If you’d prefer less sauce, just cut the stock down to 1 cup total.
If you’ve never tried riced cauliflower, you should! It’s as easy as buying any other frozen vegetable, and it absolutely works instead of rice, especially for those of us who happen to be counting carbs. Just sauté in a skillet with a little butter. Delish!

Hot Dog Relish

 

 When I decided to do a recipe for Hamburger Relish, I figured it's only fair to make a hot dog relish as well, dontcha think?? So here it is! This is basically a version of a recipe I found on a website called Our Country Life. Yes, it's the perfect condiment for grilled hot dogs, but it's great for other things too! Serve on grilled hamburgers, sausages, or anywhere you’d like a sweet tangy hit of mustard. It's also really great added to deviled eggs or potato salad. I also like it served with a thick juicy ham steak. SO good! 

 So if you're a mustard person, you need to add this to your pantry! Yum!

 

 

 

3 lbs cucumbers
1 lb onions
1 cup bell peppers, green and red

2 tbs mustard powder
1/2 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 tbs ginger powder
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp celery seed
1 cup sugar
1 cup water 
2 cups white vinegar

2 tbs Clear Jel or regular corn starch, optional




Finely chop all veggies. Add to a large pot with all remaining ingredients.
Bring it up to heat, reduce to a simmer. 
Let it simmer for at least 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies cook down a bit. 
Be sure to stir from the bottom to make sure it doesn’t burn. 
If it gets too thick, just add some water until you reach your desired consistency. 

Store in the fridge or freeze in ziploc bags. 

For canning:
For 1/2 pint or pint jars, leave 1/2 inch head space, process in a water bath for 10 minutes. 

Reminder.. when canning, you must use clear gel instead of regular corn starch, if using.


Tips:
Before storing or canning, be sure to taste it and make adjustments. Would you like it to be sweeter? Add more sugar. Would you like to it be more tangy? Add more vinegar. Would you like a stronger mustard hit? Add more yellow mustard. You could also add other kinds of prepared mustard.. ground, Dijon, spicy brown, it all works!  Would you like some heat? Add some minced jalapeños or other hot peppers.
One other thing…
Many pickling recipes say to salt your vegetables for several hours and then rinse them before pickling. This is mainly to extract some of the moisture and preserve a crunchy texture for your pickles or vegetables. I don’t like a crunchy relish, so I just threw everything into a pot and let it cook. Any moisture that the salt would have extracted will evaporate during the cooking time anyway, so I just skip the salty step. But if you do a lot of pickling and you’d prefer to salt everything, who am I to stop you???!! :)

Hamburger Relish

 

 How do you like your burger? Just cheese? No cheese? Lots of fixins? Or just plain?

When you think of it, there's literally no limit to the way you could fix a burger, but for some reason, we always go back to our tried and true favorites. For me, I'm a fan of lots of cheese, ketchup, and some sweet pickle relish. Occasionally, I'll add a slice of tomato and some lettuce, but that's about it.  

 So when I saw this recipe for hamburger relish, I was all over it. I make TONS of different relishes, so this one needed to be included on my wall 'o jars. It's my version of a recipe I found on a website called Shifting Roots, and it's exactly what you want in a hamburger relish. It's kind of like adding ketchup to regular pickle relish, but it's SO much more. It's light and fresh and definitely worth the effort. Perfect for burgers ! (It's great on hot dogs too!) Especially if you like ketchup and relish. 

 Are you a burger person? if so, you need to make this! So good! 

 

4 cups finely chopped cucumbers (unpeeled)

2 cups finely chopped bell peppers (red, yellow, orange, and/or green)

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes

2 cups sugar 

3 cups white vinegar

1 tbs yellow mustard seeds

1 tbs turmeric

1 tbs cinnamon

1 tbs allspice

1 tbs ground cloves

 

 Add all ingredients to a large pot over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.  Let it continue to simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally. Be sure to stir from the bottom to make sure it doesn't burn. Let it cook down until you reach your desired consistency. Serve on burgers, hot dogs, or meatloaf.

 

For canning:

Always remember- hot jars, hot filling, hot water.

Fill your jars, leave a half inch head space, wipe rims, place your two piece lids, then process in a water bath for 15 minutes. 

 

Tips:

Most pickle and relish recipes start by salting your chopped vegetables and letting them sit for 8 hours or overnight. Then you rinse and drain them and continue with your recipe. This extracts a lot of excess water from the veggies making them more crisp, which is definitely what you want in a dill or sweet pickle. I decided to skip that entire step. Call me a rebel, but I just didn't see the point of it, since I would be cooking it down anyway. 

This makes a big batch, which is great for canning, but go ahead and cut this recipe in half if you don't need to as much.  

Strawberry Cobbler

 

 

 Here’s an easy PERFECT dessert for your 4th of July BBQ.  It's SO easy, you don't even need a mixer. 
I was looking for easy strawberry desserts, and I found this one from Preppy Kitchen. 
It's super easy (even for the novice baker) and it's so delicious, your guests will be fighting over the last bite. And it's an absolute MUST that you serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Pretty sure it's a law. Top it with a few fresh blueberries and it screams 4th of July! That's just all there is to it.
Boom. 


2 pounds fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
9 tbs unsalted butter 
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 cup milk 
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt



Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, stir together the strawberries and 1/3 cup of the sugar. Set aside to macerate. Add the butter to a 13x9-inch baking dish and place in the preheated oven until the butter is melted, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 2/3 cup of sugar. Add the milk and vanilla extract, and stir just until combined. Carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and pour the batter over the melted butter. Spoon the strawberries over the batter, leaving any extra liquid in the bottom of the bowl. 

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the batter is golden brown and the strawberry juices are bubbling. Let cool for 15 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Tips:
When you macerate the strawberries, they'll give off lots of juice, which will make the cobbler too wet if you just dump the whole bowl in. The original recipe said to discard that liquid. Don't you dare!! Thats liquid deliciousness!! Use it as a fabulous syrup to pour over your finished cobbler, vanilla ice cream, waffles, or pancakes. 
Don't like strawberries? Use any other berries or stone fruit. Raspberries? Blackberries? Peaches? How 'bout a combination of fruits? Want to add some cinnamon? Go for it.  It will all work. 
I used salted butter because it's what I had on hand. That little bit of extra salt was actually my favorite thing. Use what you have! 
If your fruit is not as sweet as you'd like, just add more sugar. Frankly, I didn't even measure 1/3 cup. I just poured it over the berries and gave them a toss. Yum.

Southern Grape Salad

                            

 

 

 This is another easy throw together dessert that is perfect for your next summer event. There are actually many versions of it across the interwebs, but this one from Southern Living seemed to hit all the right notes, so I gave it a try. Omg it's so good!! Who knew?? It was cool, and refreshing, just like a fruit salad should be, but this one was also sweet and creamy, which just ticks all the right boxes. It sort of has an Ambrosia kind of vibe, but thankfully without the marshmallows. (No thank you very much!) Full disclosure, I halved the recipe because I didn't need such a big batch, but you make it to suit your needs. Keep it in the fridge until you're ready to serve, and I promise it'll beat the hottest summer day! 

8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 lbs red seedless grapes
2 lbs green seedless grapes
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups toasted chopped pecans

In a large bowl, beat together, cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and salt until smooth. Stir in vanilla then fold in grapes. Transfer to a serving dish. 
In a medium bowl, stir together, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over grape salad in serving dish. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator until ready to serve. 


Tips:
I must say my favorite part of this dish is the brown sugar and pecan topping. You think it's gonna be too sweet, but it's not, and the crunch is everything!
If you have more of the cream cheese mixture than you need, use it as a fruit pie topping or for topping for any other fresh fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, or peaches would be fabulous, just sayin'!

Southern Cheese Slaw

 Have you ever heard of cheese slaw? It's basically like a cousin to Pimento Cheese, and it's the perfect appetizer for your next get together. Is it cole slaw? Nope! It's just a shredded cheese dip that looks like cole slaw, hence the name. This recipe is from Southern Living, it's great on any kind of cracker, but it's also FABULOUS as a sandwich spread. Try it on its own as the filling for a grilled cheese or you could even top a big juicy grilled burger with it. YUM. If you're looking for something different, give this one a try. 

SO good!

 

1 lb Swiss cheese, shredded
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely minced
3/4 cup banana peppers, finely mined
2 medium scallions, finely minced

Simply stir all together. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve. 
Serve on crackers, bagel chips, sandwiches or crudité.

 

 

Tips:

Ok, here's the most important tip... are you ready? SHRED THE CHEESE YOURSELF. Seriously, do not purchase the bag of shredded cheese because it just doesn't work. That cheese has a coating on it so it won't clump, and that's not what we want here. Just take 2 minutes and shred it yourself with a box grater, or food processor, or one of those trendy handy dandy rotary graters. It's definitely worth the extra effort!