Frog Tales

It never fails that mixed breeds and hybrid recipes are always the best.  Tonight we made Philly Cheese Steak Egg Rolls and they were incredible!  A big thanks to our guests from Holland and Berlin, Germany for being guinea pigs for another new recipe ... Pawel and Kathy were even recruited to help assemble some wontons. Philly Cheese Steak Egg Rolls Ingredients 1 pound beef, thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves minced 1 tbs Montreal Steak Spice Canola oil, for frying 2 eggs 1 tbs water 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 2 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced 16 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded 10 egg roll skins Directions Thinly slice steak and marinate in a plastic ziptop bag with garlic and steak spice for 3 to 4 hours. In medium saute pan over medium heat add olive oil, onion, and peppers. Sweat vegetables until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add beef and saute until onions are translucent and steak is cooked, about 10 minutes more. Rem...

What to do with 6 slightly overripe bananas left behind by a guest ... well, make banana bread I guess. Banana Bread Ingredients 2 cup granulated sugar 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 4 large eggs 6 ripe bananas 2 tablespoon milk 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup chocolate chips Directions Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Made this one last night for our guests from the UK ... it was a hit! Pebre marinade for chicken Pebre is a fresh-tasting Chilean herbal hot sauce. Heat it up with more chilies, if desired.  Servings: 1 cup Prep Time: 10 minutes Ready In: 12 minutes Ingredients ¼ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon chopped garlic 1 cup chopped green onions 1 cup loosely packed cilantro 1 cup loosely packed Italian parsley leaves 2 tablespoons seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper Salt to taste Method Place all ingredients in a food processor or mini chop and process until combined but still has a bit of texture. Season with salt to taste.  Add to chicken breasts and marinate for 4 hours. Roast chicken breasts over cornbread and chorizo This dish has a Spanish flavour, so use smoked chorizo sausage. Servings: 4 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes Ready In: 50 minutes Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 cup onions, chopped 1 clove garlic, m...

I love this slow cooker recipe, as it can be used as a foundation for so many different mexican meals. Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts 1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice 2 tablespoons canola oil 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons ancho chili powder 2 tablespoons cumin 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons chipotle in adobo sauce, pureed 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper Directions: Place all ingredients in the slow cooker and simmer on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.  Once cooked, shred the chicken and mix back into the simmer sauce. Enchiladas - these are made "Mondo" by the inclusion of beans, rice and corn. 2 cups salsa 10 Tortillas shells 1 cup refried beans slow cooker mexican chicken 2 cups cooked spanish rice 1 cup cooked mexican corn (I use canned fiesta corn) 2 cups shredded tex-mex cheese 1/3 cup simmer sauce Prehea...

FROG MEATLOAF In a truly inspired moment, an idea came to me ... take our Frog Burger recipe and converting it to a bacon wrapped meatloaf! Can you feel your arteries clogging yet? Ingredients 1 lb ground pork (or turkey or beef) 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs 1 red onion 2 cloves garlic Rosemary - leaves of 3 stems Thyme - leaves of 4 stems Sage - leaves of 2 stems Cider Vinegar - 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp BBQ Sauce 1 lb bacon Directions Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a food processor combine sage, thyme and remaining rosemary, garlic, 1/2 onion, 1 tbsp cider vinegar and 1 tbsp olive oil.  Puree and add to ground pork and panko.  Mix gently.  Form into a loaf in a baking pan and top with bbq sauce.  Lay the bacon strips over the meatloaf, slightly overlapping the strips until the meatloaf is covered.  Tuck the ends of the bacon under the meatloaf so that it doesn’t curl during cooking.  Bake for 1 hour, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Watching the food network and we just saw "Bacon wrapped meatloaf" served with mashed potatoes ... in other words, heart attack on a plate, especially with my cheese topped mashed potatoes!!!  Can't wait to try it.

While drinking our morning coffee in bed, we watched a fantastic episode entitled "Diet Buster" and there was a recipe for pasta carbonara.  I modified it slightly, one because I like rotini (and so does the Pod man) and two because I felt it needed some cream. We made this and served it with homemade focaccia bread, caesar salad and of course red wine. Pasta Carbonara Ingredients Salt 1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch chunks 1 pound dried rotini  1 whole large egg, plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature 1 cup grated Parmigiano, plus more for garnish 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper 1/2 cup cream or half & half Directions Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat and salt generously. Put the bacon in a large high-sided skillet and cook over medium-high heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve bacon in the pan. When the bacon is about halfway cooked, drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook about ...