An Inspired Kitchen

Caramelized Onion and Bacon Jam

I love this caramelized onion and bacon jam on hamburgers, roast beef or grilled cheese panini sandwiches, or folded into cream cheese and sour cream for a great dip.   What’s not to love about the combo of caramelized onions and bacon!  You start by sautéeing bacon and adding sliced onions, coffee (kind of strange but it works!), cider vinegar, thyme, maple syrup and a pinch of nutmeg.  Cook it over low heat for an hour, and it becomes thick and jammy with wonderful concentrated flavors.  You can keep it in the refrigerator for a week (if it lasts that long!).  Click here for the recipe….

Mango Rum Mojito

This is my favorite summer drink and it is the house drink at all of our parties.  I found a great cheat for the drink.  Instead of juicing hundreds of fresh limes (ok I exaggerate – but it’s a lot!), I use frozen limeade concentrate.  That way I can always have it on hand if someone drops by and I can make as large or small a batch as I need.  For 10 drinks I take a pitcher and thaw 2 cans of limeade and pour it into the pitcher.  Then add the juice of 2 limes, and two thinly sliced limes.  If you want, you can add any kind of berry and blueberries are really good in it.  I have a large mint plant growing outside and I take several large stems and remove the leaves, rip them up and add them to the juice.  Take a wooden spoon and muddle it all together and store in the refrigerator until you need it.  To make a drink, add ice to a tall glass, a splash of mango rum, some lime mix, and top it off with some sparkling water.  Give it a stir and serve.  You can garnish with fresh mint and a slice of lime.  There are so many rums on the market now like citrus, spiced, coconut, raspberry ~ it goes on and on and it’s fun to experiment with the different rums.  This drink is also a good non-alcoholic drink and kids love it.  It’s so refreshing and the lime cuts the sweetness which is delicious.  Click here for the recipe….

Blueberry Pie

Several years ago, I finally found the perfect blueberry pie recipe that works and has a great technique that stops the filling from running all over the plate when you serve it.  You start by cooking half of the blueberries with sugar and thickening it with a cornstarch slurry, and then folding in fresh berries which makes it a great pie that holds it shape and has a wonderful fresh berry taste.  It’s the perfect blueberry pie and I don’t have to continue searching for a great blueberry pie recipe.  I found it!  Click here for the recipe….

Baked Beans

Baked beans are a summer barbeque must have.  I had these beans at a party and they were the best I had ever tasted.  Susan was kind enough to share the recipe.  The baked beans are made even  better with the addition of bacon and sautéed ground beef.  What isn’t! They are sweet and tangy with a little hit of barbeque sauce and ketchup.  The recipe is easily doubled to serve over 24 people and can be made several days ahead.  Click here for the recipe….

Grilled Shrimp with Asian Pesto

You know how they say never test a new recipe on guests?  Well, I tested this on guests and luckily they loved it!  I was inspired by Ming Tsai’s recipe and the wonderful Thai ingredients like roasted peanuts, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice, cilantro, Thai basil, and mint that I put in a food processor and drizzled oil to make pesto.  I tossed shrimp with some olive oil and garlic and quickly grilled them in the grill basket on the barbeque.  I drizzled some of the pesto over the shrimp and used the remaining pesto as a dipping sauce.  This would also be great tossed as a salad with red pepper, and red onion.  You could buy already cooked shrimp and save that step if you want but I suggest buying it in the freezer section.  Unless you live in a place where shrimp is being caught live and is a big industry, it is usually flash frozen because it is so perishable.  I always buy mine frozen either in the shell or shelled and deveined because you know it is fresher and hasn’t been sitting on top of ice for days.  The grocery stores just thaw the shrimp and put it in their case and the consumer has no idea how many days it has been sitting there.  To guarantee freshness which is so important with seafood, buy it frozen and dethaw in the refrigerator overnight.  Click here for the recipe….

Bumbleberry-Cherry Muffins

These muffins are nice and moist because there is non-fat yogurt in the batter.  I used half a package of frozen Trader Joe’s berry mix that has raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries in it.  I cut the cherries in half because they were quite large. Before I put them in the batter, I tossed them with a little bit of flour so they wouldn’t sink to the bottom, and used a cookie scoop to scoop the batter into the paper liners.  I sprinkled large white sugar sprinkles on the top before I baked them for a nice crunchy top.   There is a little fresh orange zest in the batter and some vanilla to round the flavors out.  You can use any kind of fresh or frozen berry, fruit, raisins, dried fruit and nuts you like for this muffin.  Click here for the recipe….

4th of July Cupcakes

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  We had a great potluck party and the weather was perfect for sitting outside and watching the fireworks over the lake.  We had good old fashioned hamburgers, baked beans, corn on the cob and potato salad.   Simplicity is often best and it’s great to have friends who are fabulous cooks and bring wonderful food to the party!  I made vanilla cupcakes for dessert and found some free printable cupcake wrappers and picks to embellish the cupcakes.  Click here for the free printables…. Click here for the recipe….

Moroccan Salad with Pomegranates, Oranges, Dates, Almonds and a Pomegranate Balsamic Vinaigrette

This salad is light and refreshing with oranges, pomegranate seeds, thinly sliced red onion, chopped dates and toasted almonds.  I made a vinaigrette and added a pinch of cardamom and used pomegranate balsamic vinegar, but you could also use balsamic or sherry vinegar.  Trader Joe’s carries fresh pomegranate seeds when they are in season which make them very easy to add to a salad or sauce.  Trader Joe’s also has toasted almonds so you save the step of toasting them.  It would make a great summer salad with some grilled chicken or salmon.  I should be a paid marketer for Trader Joe’s for all the publicity I give them!  I do love their great quality products.  Click here for the recipe….

Roasted Green Chile and Goat Cheese Dip

This dip is a nice twist with the roasted green chile and not too spicy although you can add cayenne to make it as spicy as you like.  Soften some cream cheese and goat cheese and mix them together with a little sour cream and add a can of roasted green chilies, thyme, a touch of lime juice and cayenne.  I served it with blue corn tortilla chips.  The dip would also make a great enchilada filling.  Click here for the recipe….