Splash Cafe, Pismo Beach, CA

While visiting family on California's central coast, we ate at the award winning Splash Cafe. Famous for it's Clam Chowder and bread bowls, they also serve fish n' chips, burgers, seafood salads, chili, fish tacos, and much more. We had the chowder in a bread bowl and fish n chips. There is nothing like it.
(I do however really like the fish n' chips at Pismo Beach Fish & Chips, also in Pismo Beach. Just down the street.)

You can find them @ http://www.splashcafe.com. They can also be found on Facebook, Splash Cafe, Pismo Beach, CA.

Here's what it usually looks like, just to get a cup of chowder, I'm telling you it's THAT good!!

Old Fashion Cupcakes

Something sweet in loving memory of my great grandmother, Cora Fay Dunkin.

Old Fashion Cupcakes 

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2   sticks unsalted butter, cut into cubes
4   large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Old Fashioned Frosting, recipe follows

Old-Fashioned Frosting:
2 sticks butter, room temperature
8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or other flavoring

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. 

Combine in a bowl both flours, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Mix on low speed until combined for about 3 minutes. Add in cubed butter, mixing until just coated with flour. 

Add eggs 1 at a time until combined. Slowly add milk and vanilla to batter until completely mixed scraping down the bowl as you mix. 

Scoop batter into baking cups filling about 2/3 full. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes. 

Cool and decorate with Old Fashioned Frosting. 

Old-Fashioned Frosting:

Cream softened butter and add 4 cups sugar, milk and vanilla. Beat with paddle attachment until smooth gradually add the rest of sugar to reach frosting consistency.

Show: Paula's Best Dishes



Valentine's Cupcakes



This recipe was sooo yummy. The cupcakes turned out a little firmer than regular boxed cupcakes. The flavor was really good, very sweet and vanilla-y. The recipe was so easy. I love making my cupcakes from scratch. They just taste so much better. Give it a try, it's really not hard.

The frosting, oh my, I couldn't stop eating it out of the bowl.

I topped them with some store bought Valentine's sprinkles. We are going to be giving most of them away as V-day gifts.

Table For Two Cookbooks

http://tablefortwocookbooks.blogspot.com/

Table For Two Cookbooks.

Alright friends, and followers: check out my fellow blogger Warren Caterson and his awesome blog.

His writing is so great and always puts a smile on my face. Thanks Warren and keep up making the world smile.

Peanut Butter - Streusel Muffins

Peanut Butter- Streusel Muffins



Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt





Prep:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with baking cups; set aside.

For streusel topping: in a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the flour, and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 1 tablespoon of the butter until crumbly. Stir in peanuts and 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine remaining 2 tablespoons butter & the 1/4 cup of peanut butter; beat with an electric mixer until combined, about 30 seconds. Add about 1/2 cup of the remaining flour, the remianing brown sugar, 1/4 cup of milk, the egg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add the remaining flour and milk. Beat on low again until combined. Stir in remaining chocolate chips.

 Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each one 2/3 full. Sprinkle streusel topping on top.



before baking

Bake for 22 to 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool in baking cups on wire rack for 5 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12 muffins. Enjoy.



finished and cooling


Peanut Butter Muffins

Strawberry & Cream Cheese French Toast

I've posted this recipe in the past. Its so often requested from my family that I figured that it couldn't hurt to post it again.

French toast: using sliced white bread, I dipped them in whisked up eggs (both sides), then I melted some butter in a griddle over medium heat and cooked those bad boys until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

So the cooking part was done and I began to assemble. I took a piece of french toast, spread a thin layer of cream cheese, then topped that with some fresh whipped cream and a few sliced strawberries. I made one more layer and sprinkled a little bit of powdered sugar on top and some syrup.

Whipped Cream: Take make my cream, I used heavy whipping cream and several pinches of sugar. I whipped it until fluffy and wah-la!

Spaghetti with Stuffed Meatballs

I was looking through my freezer and pantry to see what I had to work with. I found some Ground Chicken that seemed like a nice change of pace.
Hmm...chicken burgers, no buns. No time to make any either. Ummm..chicken sausage, no. Hmmm... meatballs?? Sounds good.


I had no recipes in my arsenal. So, I went through a ton of online recipes and decided on this one. It calls for ground beef, pork, and veal; however, I am made it using only ground chicken.


Also since the Williams-Sonoma recipe calls for 3 lbs of meat and I only used 1 lb., I had to cut down on the rest of the ingredients as well. In other words, I made this recipe my own. Thanks Williams-Sonoma for the great idea!!


Half way through cooking my kids thought it'd be great to start crying and fighting. It was awesome...not really. So I brought out the old bartender in me and made myself a cocktail. A Cosmo, using Stoli Vodka and an 100% juice blend of Blueberry & Pomegranate. I call it the Antioxidant Angel. ;-) It really was a gift from above.

I found this recipe on Williams-Sonoma's website: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/spaghetti-with-stuffed-meatballs.html

Ingredients:

1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground veal
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more
for garnish
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/3 lb. mozzarella or provolone cheese, cut into
1/2-inch cubes
Olive oil for frying
About 6 cups tomato sauce (see related recipe
at left)
2 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the milk and bread crumbs. Add the ground pork, veal, beef, the 1/3 cup parsley, the eggs, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix briefly with your hands. Form the mixture into 2-inch balls. Press a mozzarella cheese cube into the center of each ball, sealing it inside.

In a large electric skillet set on medium-high heat, heat 1/2 inch of oil until almost smoking. Add the meatballs and cook until browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined tray.

Discard the oil in the pan. Pour the tomato sauce into the pan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until cooked through, about 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more.

Put the pasta in a warmed large, shallow bowl. Top with the sauce and meatballs and garnish with parsley. Serve immediately and pass the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese at the table. Serves 10 to 12.
Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Pork Chops in a Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, with Caramelized Shallots

Ingredients:

          

4  pork chops

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large shallot, chopped in quarters

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Pat pork dry and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium high heat until hot.  

Then cook pork, you might have to cook them in to batches, along with shallots, turning pork over once and stirring shallots occasionally. Do this until pork is browned and shallots are golden brown and tender, about 5 minutes total.

Take pork out and put on a plate. Add vinegar, sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to shallots in skillet.

Cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved and liquid is thickened slightly. This will take approx. 1 minute 

Turn heat down to medium, then return pork to skillet and turn a few times to coat with sauce.

Cook, turning over once, until pork is just cooked through, about 3 minutes total.

Pour the rest of the sauce over your chops. Enjoy :o)

My pork chops, all done. I put them in this pan and kept them in the oven, on 200 degrees, until my sides were done. Just to keep them warm.



served over white basmati rice



Dinner was awesome!!! I had never had pork chops this way. I highly recommend them. Happy Eating.

Pork Chop

Ribs, Creamy Potato Salad, and Cloverleaf Rolls

I'm not cooking anything today, I'm giving my attention to a sick puppy. I'm making formula and bottle feeding him. He's alive!! This morning, it didn't look so good. Thank you internet for helping me save this little runt. :-) Give you an update in the morning. It's looking good though.

Here's last night's dinner.

Dinner was delicious last night. My mountain man loves ribs and I had some so...umm ribs it was. He had been working all day out in the cold so I knew he'd be stoked to see them when he got home.

BEEF RIBS:

The ribs were the easy part. I used 8 beef ribs, cut into individuals ribs.


ribs boiling, potatoes cooking




Using two different pots, I boiled the ribs for 3 1/2 hours. Let me tell you, there is something to be said for a long boil on ribs. My, my. So tender and good. they fell right off the bone.

After boiling them for that amount of time, I put them in a broiler safe pan and slathered them in KC Masterpiece Original BBQ Sauce. Yeah I could have made my own. I should have but, this is our favorite store bought sauce.

Then I put them in the boiler, on high, for approx. 5 minutes on each side. Just enough it melt the BBQ sauce all over em'. ;-)

Creamy Potato Salad:

7 cups cubed red potatoes                                                                 

3 hard boiled egg, chopped

3/4 cup chopped red onion

palmful of thinly sliced green onion

1/2 cup chopped garlic dill pickle

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup pickle juice (secret ingredient, ssshhh)

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dill weed

Place potatoes and onion in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender.
Put potatoes in a large bowl. Add chopped egg, pickles, and green onion. In a separate small bowl, mix sour cream, mayonnaise, pickle juice, salt, pepper, and dill. Pour over potato mixture and toss gently to coat. Then, I refrigerated until ready to serve. I garnished with paprika and dill.


Cloverleaf Rolls
recipe from: "Cloverleaf Rolls", Mom's Best Meals by tasteofhome by Reader's Digest., 2005. Reiman Media Group, Inc.



cloverleaf rolls



1 package active dry yeast                                                                  

3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp salt
4 to 4 1/2 all purpose flour
additional melted butter

In a mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and milk; beat until smooth. Add butter, egg and salt, mix well. Add 3 cups of flour; beat until  smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and divide in half. Divide each half into 36 pieces and shape into balls.

Place 3 balls each into greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubles, about 30 minutes.

Brush with  butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks.

Serve warm. YIELD: 2 dozen






 

Buttercream Fingerling Potatoes w/ Shallots, Garlic, and Thyme

I went grocery shopping and tried to buy more "gourmet" ingredients. In my quest for different foods, I found some awesome potatoes, Buttercream Fingerling's. They were small with yellow-tan skin and yellow flesh and a little bit sweet. So, I decided to use them for some delicious breakfast potatoes.

I chopped my potatoes into quarters. Then I cut up 1/2 of a large shallot into thin slices and 3-4 cloves of garlic, also into thin slices.

close up

I put all these things together into a large saute pan, along with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, on medium-high heat.


 Next, I seasoned my my potatoes with thyme and pepper and let them cook until tender. Tossing and stirring occasionally.

                                                                  

They were delicious!! The sweetness of the buttercreams countered the onion/garlic combination so well, and the thyme made it look beautiful as well. Enjoy!!

Here's a trick to perfect bacon, everytime. Cook it in the oven!! Most packages have oven instructions on the back but...I did mine at 400 degrees for 14 minutes. I like my bacon crispy!! They look and taste great, plus if you put them on a rack in a baking pan, the grease will drip off for healthier bacon!!

Potato

Pork Roast fajitas

I had a pork roast that needed to be cooked and I didn't want to cook it my same ol' way so..... I browsed the web for a little while trying to get some ideas. I found Pork Roast Mexican style. I read the recipe, it sounded good but I did my own thing with it.

Ingredients: I'm not so good at measuring when I wing it so I'll try and approx. it for you.

2 cups water
1 whole yellow onion, chopped,
1 cup, whole baby carrots
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 tablespoon pepper
2 tablespoons coriander
3-4 tablespoons ground cumin


I added all of these ingredients into my crock pot on High with my Pork Sirloin Roast for 4-5 hours.

Occasionally I would open the lid and ladle some juice over the exposed part of the roast.




all my ingredients added, and ready to start cooking

 

really good locally made, Rita's brand Humboldt Salsa
http://www.ritascafe.com/

  For the fajitas part, I sauteed up some yellow and red bell pepper and some red onion. When the pork was done I added it to my veggies.


Meat is done, and added in with my peppers/onion



( I used about 1/4 cup of sliced onion, and 1 whole red bell pepper, and 1/2 a yellow bell pepper total.)

I served it with Whole Wheat Tortillas, Monterrey Jack Cheese, Rita's Humboldt Salsa, and some black beans. 

Yuuuummm, looks good right?? you better say Yes ;-)


The pork was a great change up to chicken or beef and the slow cooker just does pork soooo right. Not only is it all super easy, since the crock pot does all, well most, of the work. The combination of cumin and coriander for cooking Mexican food is perfect.

I love my crock pot.

I love pork too.

Give it a try and Enjoy!!
Thanks for stopping by and have a good Friday!!

Rachael Ray People's Choice for best chef??

Wait wait wait a stinkin' second..... Rachael Ray won People's Choice Award for Best Chef?? Ok now mass public, she is really not that wonderful. Do you watch her show?? It's horrible, and she only cooks for like 15 minutes of it and the rest she barely knows what to talk to her guests about. Me no likely.  I have used her recipes in the past, I will say. But she is definitely not my favorite. Paula Deen, The Neeleys (by the way I just love how she always says to him "oh yeah Daddy" lol), Bobby Flay, umm anyone else on Cooking Channel or Food Network?!?!?!?!?

I'm blown away, damn near speechless. So here's my theory on why she won.

Number One she is a child of Oprah. I mean she did get her own she because of Ms. O.
Number Two she is on network TV, either middle of the day, or afternoon when most housewives are watching the tube. She's on a non-cable channel so a lot people are exposed to her.
Three, she's kinda the "mass media chef". She's in all kinds of commercials, has her own magazine(again, a Harpo product), cookware on QVC, and unlike many of my favorites she's a household name now. Oh the tragedy.

Oh well, we can't win em all Paula. But remember I love you.
So theres my rant on that. :-)

Sign up and follow my blog. It's easy, click the follow button on the right side of the page, down by the other followers, set up an account/ login and you are good to go! Thanks and happy eating!!!!

I'm Peking... Chicken

Yeah yeah yeah, we've had this before. It's just so darn good! I use the same recipe every time but I've also changed what type of meat I use. My husband found this recipe on Food & Wine's website http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/peking-duck-stir-fry by chef Ken Hom.

First it was duck, YUM, then steak and now chicken breast. The flavors are so good in this dish that it doesn't seem to matter what type of meat you use. Best part is that my kids liked it too. I did omit the chili and jalapeno peppers though.

Peking Duck Stir-Fry by Ken Hom

• TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN
• SERVINGS: 4
  

• FAST
• HEALTHY

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2. 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry
3. 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
4. 1 tablespoon cornstarch
5. Salt
6. Four skinless, boneless Pekin duck breasts (6 ounces each), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
7. 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
8. 4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
9. 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
10. 1 jalapeño, seeded and thinly sliced
11. 1 red chile, seeded and thinly sliced
12. 2 teaspoons sugar
13. 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
14. 1/4 cup salted, roasted peanuts
15. 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce with the wine, sesame oil, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Add the duck and turn to coat. Let the duck marinate for 10 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or a wok, heat the oil. Add the duck; reserve any excess marinade. Cook over high heat until medium-rare, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.



Step 1 in the directions. Letting the chicken marinate.





last step, adding it all together


 

3. Add the garlic, shallot, jalapeño and chile to the skillet and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, the reserved marinade, the sugar and the stock and stir-fry, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Return the duck to the skillet and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts. Transfer to plates, sprinkle with the cilantro and serve.



cilantro, shallots, and garlic





a couple of my products




plated and ready to eat



A new year, new eggs, and a bad hangover

Wow, Happy New Year everyone!! Hope it was a fun one. We had a full day of recovery yesterday. We had a pretty awesome new year's eve.

First and foremost, thank you to my wonderful friend/ babysitter for the night for keeping my kiddos. :-) Love you.

We started out by going to The Pearl Lounge,http://www.pearlloungeeureka.com/ in Eureka, CA, for pre-dinner drinks. One drink and a nice pricey tequila shot down we decided that was enough and headed over to The Carter House Inn, their restaurant, Restaurant 301, for dinner. http://www.carterhouse.com/. There we dinned on Crab Cocktail, Duck con Fete, an intermezzo of Mango Sorbet, and Prime Rib. I think there was dessert but we were so tipsy, I mean full, we didn't have it.
Oh and some more tequila and a couple bottles of Chardonnay. Note: This tequila/wine combination is not recommended and will Never happened for us again. Dinner was amazing and we walked back into Old Town to dance our asses off at The Pearl.

We had a great time. Ran into some old friends, drank champagne, and danced. Yes, my honey danced with me all night.  It was so much fun.

Yesterday was a full day of laying on the couch and starting to feel human again.

Ok ok now for the food. We started the day off with omelets.

I made my omelet using 3 eggs. I scrambled up the eggs in a small bowl and added a little salt and pepper to them. Once whipped up nice and fluffy, I added them to my skillet. The skillet was on medium heat and already nice and hot when I put the eggs in. Once the bottom of the eggs were looking cooked I added, to one side of the omelet, some diced up tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, chopped cilantro, and a dash of garlic salt. I then carefully folded my eggs in half and let it brown a little on each side. Lastly, I topped it with some feta cheese.

I have to admit it took me a long time to cook an omelet well. In the words of my old dance teacher, Practice makes permanent.  And in this case my eggs perfect. :-)



omelets using, tomatoes, yellow bell pepper, cilantro, and of course eggs




Mina wanted fried eggs instead, no prob.



finished omelet, topped with some feta cheese