Christmas came early at the Davis house this year. 🎁We got the BEST package in the mail last week. A box of TUNA! 🐟 No joke. The biggest, thickest tuna steak that I've ever seen in my life! This particular tuna was caught, cut, packaged and shipped to us by my favorite brother. 🎣
Seriously, coolest gift ever. From the moment that I found out that a tuna steak was headed to my address, potential recipes started swirling around my brain. I wanted to make the most of this cherished gift and I definitely didn't want to ruin it by cooking it wrong. 😬 Ahh... the pressure. After MUCH deliberation, I decided to marinate my tuna steak and then grill it. Easy enough, right? I got my tuna steak marinating by 9:00 AM and then I patiently waited for dinner time to cook it. Even though I intended to grill my marinated tuna steak on my Big Green Egg, my plans were derailed by the weather. Who would have guessed that we would be under a tornado warning at precisely the time that I wanted to cook? Cooking my tuna indoors seemed like a much safer option so I heated the biggest skillet that I had in the kitchen and hoped for the best. The tuna steak came out so tender and delicious that I'm not even upset that I couldn't use the grill. I don't know if grilling it could have made it any better because this tuna was pretty near perfect. Marinated Tuna Steaks 1/4 cup orange juice 1/4 cup soy sauce 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 Tablespoon lemon juice 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped 2 Tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon black pepper tuna steak This is what our tuna steak looked like when it arrived at our front door.
Heat olive oil in skillet to smoking. Add tuna steak and cook until browned on bottom. Flip carefully and cook to desired doneness. A huge thank you to my favorite brother for sharing his tuna with us. It was even more delicious than I imagined would to be. I may never be able to buy tuna from the grocery store again. 😅
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Our family's been make an annual pilgrimage to the apple orchards in the North Georgia mountains every Fall for 14 years. 😳 We're loyal to the BJ Reese Orchard which was the first orchard that we stumbled upon back in 2006. We've been going for so long now that it just doesn't feel like Fall until we spend a Saturday in the middle of the apple orchard. 🍎🍏 The very first time that we picked apples, Ben hoisted Courtney up on his shoulders so that she could reach the very best apples at the top of the tree. That tradition has continued every year. How many more years do you think he'll be able to lift her up on his shoulders? 😬😳 The BJ Reese apple orchard today hardly looks anything like it did 14 years ago. We've watched them add apple cannons, petting farms, exotic animals, zip lines, wagon rides, pig races, corn mazes, cow milking and acres and acres of more apple trees. 🌳 It's amazing to see how much this orchard has grown and expanded. Our annual apple orchard visit is one of my favorite days of the year and a close second is the apple pie baking day that follows. Every year, even though I try and hold back, we end up picking far more apples and filling our car with more bags of apples than we could possibly eat. Our over-picking may be the result of getting caught up in all the excitement of being at the orchard but rest assured, that precious fruit doesn't go to waste. I've become the master of assembling apple pies and storing them in my freezer for Thanksgiving and Christmas. 🥧 These mini apple raspberry pies are a great little addition to my annual freezer pie collection. Mini Apple Raspberry Pies 1 recipe pie dough 1 1/2 lb. (about 3 medium) Honeycrisp apples, peeled and sliced 1 c. fresh raspberries 1/2 c. granulated sugar 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 3/4 tsp. apple pie spice Pinch kosher salt 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 1 large egg 1 tbsp. water 1 tbsp. turbinado sugar
Bake 30-35 minutes at 425 or until golden brown. I'm pretty sure that I'll be adding fresh raspberries to my apple pies from now on. I LOVED these little treats.
Ciao! What did you have for lunch today? Want to know what I had?
This cooking class was like none other that we have taken. When we first arrived at Girasoles, Chef sat down with us and told us his very interesting story. It was clear from the moment that we met him that he has a passion for food and cooking - and it was infectious. If you're lacking inspiration in the kitchen - 5 minutes with Chef Jose is exactly what you need. After a 10 minute conversation with Chef Jose, he asked us what we wanted to learn to cook. (Ummm... is too much to ask him to teach us everything he knows about cooking in 2 hours? 😅) Lucky for us, he's generous and forthcoming with the tips and tricks that he uses to create his amazing culinary creations. We may have chosen the menu but he taught us techniques and skills to create our favorite foods. We made lots of vegetables and fish, at my request of course, but Chef also honored Ben's love of meat and potatoes. Now we feel equipped and empowered to prepare these dishes at home. Not even a chance that we're going to be able to make all of that in under 2 hours though. 😅 A cooking class at Girasoles is a GREAT way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning. I highly recommend it if you live in the Watkinsville, GA area. Chef Jose is a master at his craft and his love for food and cooking shows in every dish that he creates. If you don't have time for a class - stop by for dinner. You won't regret it.
Ciao! Last month we had to say goodbye to our beloved Weimeriner. 😢 She was spunky and mischievous but she sure left a void in our house. It's amazing how quiet it is without the unnerving clamor of slamming bathroom cabinets while she repeatedly tried to sneak into the trash. 🙃 Since we've decided to remain pet-less for the foreseeable future, we've "adopted" the neighborhood donkey. This Jerusalem donkey's name is Hector and I've never met a donkey quite so friendly. He loves visitors and the feeling is mutual. We love watching him run to the fence to greet us when we walk down to visit him. This donkey loves his snacks. (And we love to bring him special treats.) Corn cobs, apples, watermelon and bananas are his favorites. He's also made it abundantly clear that zucchini, cucumbers and squash are not his favorite treats. Hector and I have a lot in common. 😅#fruitsaremyfavorite 🍎🍌🍉 This donkey is quite skilled at eating his snacks too. We've watched him peel and eat a banana with his teeth. We've also seen him walk away from an unpeeled orange until I removed the peel for him. This donkey knows what he likes. 🍊 Much like Hector, when it comes to food, I know exactly what I like too. Specifically pizza. I'm a self-proclaimed pizza snob. 🍕 I want a delicious crispy, crust topped with fresh herbs and vegetables and the very best cheese on the planet. I really like to make homemade pizza because - well, pizza snob. 💁🏻♀️ I have a lot of great pizza recipes but when I ran across this Pan Pizza recipe - I couldn't help but be intrigued. The recipe much more closely resembled a loaded focaccia than a traditional pizza with sauce and mozzarella but I needed to give it a try. Pan Pizza 2 3/4 cup bread flour 2 teaspoons sugar 4 1/2 teaspoons yeast 1 1/2 cups warm water 4 teaspoons salt 3 Tablespoons olive oil 1 pound cherry tomatoes 3 cups while milk mozzarella cheese 1 teaspoon oregano
Sprinkle cheese over pizza. Sprinkle with oregano, pepper and salt. Bake 18-20 minutes at 500. Slice and serve. This pizza was sooooooo good. (High praise, coming from a true pizza snob.) I still think it's more of a focaccia bread than a true pan pizza but I don't want to get into the semantics. Choose the toppings that you love and create your own unique pizza creation. Enjoy!!
Ciao! Have you taken the Chick Fil A versus Popeyes Chicken Sandwich challenge? Yea, I know - I'm super late to the game but ... better late than never. And, because I'm not one to pass up a good old fashioned chicken sandwich debate - I decided to test these two delicious sandwiches for myself. Last week I bought one Chicken Fil A original chicken sandwich and one Popeyes original chicken sandwich. I brought them both home and shared them with my taste tester. (After 27 years of marriage, he's gotten really accustomed to being a guinea pig for my food experiments.) 😅 He never complains and he has less than discriminating tastes BUT - he's got a lot more experience in the fried chicken sandwich world than I do. 🍗 You can't live in Georgia without being exposed to a Chicken Fil A chicken sandwich at some point so this was not the first time I've tasted a sandwich from Chick Fil A. This was, however the very first time that I'd ever purchased or tasted a Popeye's Chicken sandwich. The Popeyes chicken sandwich is pictured on the left and it's clear that this was the larger sandwich in every way. If you look closely at the picture of the sandwiches cut in half, you might notice that the chicken in the Popeye's chicken sandwich is less compressed than the Chicken Fil A chicken breast. I could actually see the juices in the Popeye's chicken. 👀 More importantly - Which sandwich tasted better? That's a loaded question. I preferred the flavor of the Chicken Fil A chicken sandwich but the texture of the Popeye's sandwich. The Popeye's chicken not only looked, but also tasted less processed and slightly less salty than it's counterpart. I felt like there was way too much mayonnaise on the Popeye's sandwich though and if I ordered another, I would order it without any mayonnaise at all. As for my taste tester - he liked both sandwiches. There were no complaints about either one. (And not even a crumb left on his plate.) I accept full responsibility for that. He's learned that it's usually in the best interest of our marriage to keep his opinions about his dinner to himself. 🤣When I pressured him to choose one, he hesitantly admitted that he preferred the Popeye's chicken sandwich slightly more - mostly because it was bigger. 😅 The most ironic part of this whole experiment is that unless it's for "research purposes", I probably won't order or eat another fried chicken sandwich for a really long time. 😬 I'm more of a grilled, baked, poached and broiled chicken sandwich kind of girl. So why didn't I pick the two most popular grilled chicken sandwiches to taste and compare?🤷🏻♀️ The reality is that the chicken salad world is much more in my comfort zone than a fried chicken sandwich. Even though I don't blog it very often, I make a lot of chicken salad. I start with my basic recipe and then I throw in whatever ingredients I have on hand to create unique chicken salad creations. Today, I decided to recreate a delicious chicken salad that I had at our local chicken salad chain restaurant. Hope you enjoy. Fruity Chicken Salad 1/2 rotisserie chicken, shredded 1/4 cup light mayonnaise 2 teaspoons dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix 2 Tablespoons chopped pecans handful of red grapes, halved 1/2 fuji apple, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped salt and pepper, to taste
There's nothing specific about this recipe. A handful of this and a pinch of that. That's the way that chicken salad is. A little of this and a little of that. I'd love to hear about your favorite chicken salad creations. Send me your recipes.
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