Greek steak pita sandwiches

These are a fantastic summer sandwich! It packs great protein and a cool crunch of cucumber with the sweetness of good ole summer tomatoes!

1 lb of flank steak

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cucumber

1 tomato

3 T of red wine vinegar

3 T of  of chopped oregano (I used fresh but dried would work too)

1 T salt

1 T of fresh ground pepper

4 T olive oil

1 package fresh pita bread

Fresh spinach leaves

Kalamata olives and feta cheese (optional)

Dressing:

5 T plain Greek yogurt 

1 T red wine 

Salt and pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp course ground mustard

3 T olive oil

First we need to make a marinade for the meat. Mix your olive oil and red wine vinegar with oregano and garlic. And salt and pepper and mix marinade well. I like to put mine in a zip lock bag and put the meat in and coat it real well. Let it marinade for an hour or two.

Heat up your grill and grill your meat till the doneness you like it. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

While meat rests, cut tomato and cucumber really thin. Also mix up your dressing by throwing all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisking to bring it together. I sprinkled a little feta in mine just because I love some feta!

Now slice your meat into really thin strips and cut your pita in halves. Make a layer of cucumber then tomato then spinach then add your meat slices in. Throw in some kalamata olives and feta cheese and drizzle in a big spoonful of dressing.

Now take a big bite and enjoy!

Chocolate chip brioche pretzel

A little salty and a perfectly sweet little pretzel bun! Ate the last one with a cup of coffee this morning! They sure didn't last long at all!

2 1/4 C. Flour

2T honey (if no honey then just double the sugar)

2 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp instant yeast

1/3 C whole milk warmed to 120 degrees F

2 eggs at room temp

1/2 cup unsalted stick butter at room temp.

1 C mini chocolate chips

1 square bakers semisweet baking chocolate square chopped

For the glaze:

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp salt

1T water

Coarse sugar to sprinkle

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix your flour, sugar, honey,salt, yeast. At low speed add Milk and eggs and then work up to a medium speed and let it go for about 10 minutes. Begin to add butter by tablespoon at the end of 10 minutes. You may need to swap to a dough hook here....I did. Keep added butter till all gone and incorporated. Then let dough hook work its magic on low for about 5 minutes.

Place dough in a lightly olive oiled bowl and set in a warm place for 2 hours.

Heat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly punch down dough and add chocolate chips and chopped chocolate. Gently fold into dough with hands and begin to pinch about 8 pieces. Roll each of your pieces out into nice long ropes and then twist and fold into pretzelish shapes. Place on parchment paper.

Whisk egg,salt, and water in a small bowl and brush onto each pretzel and then let rest for 15- 20 minutes. Brush pretzels once more and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake 12-15 minutes just till they begin to brown. Let cool just a few minutes then eat while warm! Eat them all while they are nice and fresh and warm. You'll regret it later but gosh they really are that good! 😀

Poppa's Peach Cobbler

I am sharing this with you as we'll as preserving for myself the method in which I made the best peach cobbler known to mankind!

I made this for my daddy for Father's Day and it knocked his socks off!

1 quart and 1 pint of canned peaches drained with 1 cup of juice reserved

3 c flour

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 1/2 c white sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c milk

1 egg

Few pinches of salt

3 T cornstarch

2 T oil

1/2 tsp baking soda

In a large bowl place 2 C flour, 2 cups brown sugar,a pinch of salt, and two sticks of butter. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter in till it gets crumbly. Sprinkle 1/3 of this mixture in bottom of a 9x13 pan. Don't press it down or anything.

Now to your juice add 1/2 c white sugar and your corn starch and stir.

Arrange peaches over the first layer and pour your juice/cornstarch over the top

In a small bowl mix your milk, oil, egg, 1 cup of flour, and baking soda and a pinch of salt and cinnamon. Whisk well and pour this over cobbler.

Sprinkle the rest of your crumble mixture from the beginning over the top and do not press down. Throw a few pinches of cinnamon over the top and bake at 325 for 35 miniatures then raise temp to 350 for about 15 more minutes.  Remove from over when golden brown and top and serve warm with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Shrimp and Grits

On our last night at the beach house this year I decided to do something I had never tried before. And boy am I so glad that I did!

1 C yellow corn grits( why yellow corn grits and where do I buy these? Well to answer why, I believe that these just make such a better tasting bowl of grits and to find them well I hope your as lucky as me and in our small town there's a local grocery by the name of Super Sav that regularly carries them)

1 1/2 stick butter

3/4 C milk

1 C water

1 C half and half

1/4 c. Sour cream

Salt and pepper

2 lbs peeled Shrimp (marinated in 2 T tobasco sauce and 3 T of buttermilk overnight and some salt and pepper)

5 or 6 green onions chopped

8 cremini mushrooms sliced

3/4 C chicken broth

1/2 lemon juiced

1 small clove garlic minced

1 C of Italian blended cheese

1/2 C Parmesan cheese

Now most southern ladies know how to put on a pot of grits. But in case you haven't had the pleasure of this experience then it's as easy as putting your water, 1/2 stick of butter, 1 T salt in a pot and bringing it to a boil. Add your grits and whisk. Add your milk and stir in a little half and half at a time till you get the consistency you like. Some like them thick and some like them really soupy. I'm in between and like mine to coat them spoon like a thick soup. When you get the consistency you like stir in the sour cream and cheeses and set aside.

Place 1/2 stick butter in frying pan and melt. Dump shrimp into pan with marinade and all. Cook till pink and pour in a  bowl to keep warm.

 Now throw your onion, garlic, and mushrooms into the same pan with 2 tbs of butter and cook down till soft. Add your chicken broth and scrape up your browned bits on the bottom. Reduce your liquid by half and squeeze in your lemon juice. Stir and add the rest of your butter and then your shrimp back into the pan. Off the heat but let set for a few minutes.

To serve: ladle hot grits into a bowl and place shrimp on top. Drizzle with some of the sauce /gravy in the pan.

Garish: sprinkle with a little leftover Parmesan and green onions! 

Enjoy!

BLT plus avacodo pasta salad

This a BLT taken to a whole new level of awesomeness! Give it a try and see if I am kidding!

3 avacodo diced

1/2 cup light mayo

1/2 cup light sour cream

1 12oz package of bacon fried, drained and broken into pieces

2 Roma tomatoes diced

1 cup of spinach leaves torn
3 oz crumbled feta cheese

3/4 box of spiral pasta cooked and drained

1 Lemon's juice

Salt 

Pepper

Boil pasta and drain and let cool a bit. Place pasta in a large bowl and start adding the rest of your ingredients into the bowl. Stir softly just till all is mixed well and let set in fridge for a few hours for all the flavors to blend. (I let mine rest about 3 hours)

Enjoy!

Peaches and cream French toast casserole

1 quart of Georgia peaches

1 loaf of French bread

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cup whole milk

12 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

2 T sugar

3T maple syrup

1/4 c heavy cream

Now I made this with fresh peaches that I had canned straight from Georgia (by one of my dearest friends) but you could easily do it with fresh peaches or a large can of peaches! If you doing fresh I would say you needed about 6 or 7.

The night before you need to take

1 loaf of French bread dried out in a warm oven. Then in a large bowl crack 12 eggs and add a cup and a half of whole milk. Stir in one tsp of vanilla 1/4 tsp of salt and 1 cup of brown sugar then whisk. 

Crumble bread into chunks in a buttered 9x13 pan and pour egg mixture over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and press gently till egg mixture is soaked into bread. Refrigerate over night.

The next morning:

Uncover and arrange peaches in rows across the top. Sprinkle with about 2 TBS white sugar. Then drizzle the rows with about 3 TBS of maple syrup and then drizzle 1/4C of heavy cream on top. 

Place in oven while oven is cool and set oven for 375 and bake for 45 minutes. The edges start to brown and casserole has become puffy.

Enjoy!!

Grilled cilantro lime sweet potatoes

4 clean sweet potatoes 

1 T cilantro

1 lime juiced

3 T olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

Clean sweet potatoes and poke holes in then with a fork. Place in microwave for 3 to 4 minutes depending on size.

Slice potatoes into 4 pieces each and place in a large zip lock. Pour in rest of your ingredients and  and gently roll bag between fingers till they are coated in seasonings.

Have grill ready to go and grill on low heat for 4-5 minutes on each side till good grill marks form and they are soft.

(Now if you really want to lime them up sprinkle a little lime juice on them!)

Remove from heat and enjoy! We love ours with a little ketchup at our house!!