Stop Holiday Food Waste With These Recipe Remixes

Stop Holiday Food Waste With These Recipe Remixes

by | Nov 29, 2022 | Breakfast, Casserole, Dinner, Holiday, Recipes, Remix, Sandwiches, Seasonal, Side Dish, Thanksgiving

Stop Food Waste Leftover Remix

Throw out your Thanksgiving leftovers? Think again! You may have a few dishes that you can breathe new life into before it’s time to toss. Take a look and see how you can reduce holiday food waste!

I try to reduce food waste with my lovingly prepared holiday meals where possible, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it feels good to create new dishes instead of throwing out leftovers!

Freezing leftover turkey and sides will extend the life of the leftovers and create new foundations for future dishes.

November 29th is observed as “Throw Out Your Leftovers Day” and I say repurpose what you can safely and deliciously!

As a reminder, always follow the latest USDA guidelines on safe leftover consumption and when in doubt, toss it out!

Turkey Ravioli With Homemade Ricotta

Making ravioli is easier than you think when you pick up wonton wrappers in advance of this recipe remix. This recipe works whether you have leftover chicken OR leftover turkey…It’s PERFECT!

And if you need a homemade ricotta recipe, I have that, too.

Recipe Remix: Turkey Ravioli
Yum! Monte Cristo Sandwiches after Thanksgiving!

Jorj’s Monte Cristo

The Monte Cristo sandwich is a sweet-meets-savory classic that’s so yummy, it’s been on Disneyland’s Blue Bayou and Tahitian Terrace menus since 1966!

My recipe calls for turkey and ham – or just one of the two – generous amounts of sweet cranberry sauce, and slices of Muenster cheese – made in a cast iron skillet.

Recipe Remix: Monte Cristo

Leftover Turkey Shepard’s Pie

Who says you can’t transform those last scraps of turkey into a HEAVENLY Shepard’s Pie? When you follow my instructions and pipe the sweet potato onto the top of the casserole dish in artful little dollops, compliments will follow! Substitute the lamb for your turkey and you’ll be set.

Recipe Remix: Turkey Shepard's Pie

Leftover Potatoes, So Many Ways!

Don’t settle for potatoes one way when you can make potatoes into several delightful dishes, like leftover Mashed Potato Croquettes or a hearty Breakfast Skillet with Glazed Eggs!

It’s not hard to find an excuse to eat more pototoes…but if you need ideas to jazz up your leftover potatoes, you have come to the right place!

Recipe Remix: Mashed Potato Croquettes + More

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Guacamole Day, Everyday! Avocado Recipes

Guacamole Day, Everyday! Avocado Recipes

by | Sep 16, 2022 | Appetizer, Breakfast, Canvas & Cuisine, Fruit, Recipes, Sandwiches

Want to learn how to make the best guacamole ever?

September 16 is National Guacamole Day, and what better way to celebrate than by making some delicious avocado dishes? I will show you how to grill avocados and perfect your guacamole for avocado toast, as well as other tasty avocado recipes!

How To Grill Avocado

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Salsa

Avocado Toasts with Roasted Tomato Mayo and Manchego Cheese

Ultimate Nachos

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The Art of The Fresh Market

Grab the book that contains my favorite travel adventures, with inspired original artwork by artist Susan Fazio.

Canvas & Cuisine

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New Year, Old Friends and the Birth of This Book

Plan a Mother’s Day Brunch Fiesta

Plan a Mother’s Day Brunch Fiesta

by | Apr 29, 2022 | Breakfast, Mexican, Mother's Day, Parties, Party, Recipes, Scrumptious Possibilities

Make Mother’s Day weekend a fiesta in your kitchen with this fun (AND EASY) brunch recipe! Bonus: You may already have all of the ingredients you need already!

Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) and Mother’s Day (May 8th) come callin’ pretty darn soon and pretty close together.

Let’s don our sombrero’s, tune up the guitars and add some spice to our Sunday Brunch dish to treat Mom and friends and neighbors alike.

Huevos rancheros is a traditional mid-morning dish served on rural Mexican farms featuring tortillas topped with black beans with cheese, spicy red sauce and topped with a fried egg.

Workers gather together to share the meal, taking a much needed break from farm chores.

I am inspired by this communal meal and opted to create my own version of this dish with a strong Southern flare.

Why the heck not….Right?

And here you have it:

Baked beans spiced with onions and peppers, topped with hand grated cheddar cheese, sautéed ham in mustard-maple butter, fried eggs and garnished of diced avocado and (farm fresh again) chopped tomatoes.

This is a great dish to share with friends, especially when most (if not all) of the ingredients are probably sitting in your pantry and fridge.

It’s also a great brunch dish to serve Mom on Mother’s Day. 

You can serve one large portion and pass around forks, or you can use smaller tortillas and let everyone choose their toppings.

Either way this is an eggcellent way to combine two FUN holidays!

Here’s my dish for a mixed up Huevos Rancheros that puts a whole bunch of South in your mouth!

Southern Style Huevos Rancheros

Serves:

2 Large Plates -or- 4 Small Plates

Ready In:

30 minutes ’til you’re ready to eat

Ingredients

For baked beans:
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 slices bacon, diced
1 bunch green onions, tough tops removed, cut into thin slices, about 1 cup
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and finely diced
1 (16-ounce) can baked beans, drained
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper

For the tortilla:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 (10-inch) spinach tortillas
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
8 slices deli ham
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, about 1 cup
4 large eggs
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
1 small tomato, diced

Directions

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and onions and cook until the bacon begins to crisp, and the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Drain as much liquid as you can from the baked beans and pour them into the skillet. Season with some of the salt and pepper, stir and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the beans while you cook the ham.

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, carefully lay one tortilla into the oil. Cook for a few seconds. Use tongs to turn the tortilla to the other side. Cook for a couple of seconds more and transfer to a large platter. Repeat with the second tortilla and transfer to a second platter. Add the butter, mustard, and maple syrup to the same skillet. Stir together to melt the butter. Add the ham slices to the pan. Cook until the ham begins to brown and crisp on the edges, turning several times, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Spoon half of the beans onto one tortilla. Top the beans with half of the shredded cheese. Arrange four slices of ham on top of the cheese and beans. Repeat with the second tortilla. Crack the eggs into the same skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the whites of the eggs are set, and the yolks are still runny (about 3 to 4 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. Transfer two eggs onto each tortilla. Top with diced tomatoes and avocados.

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Go Nana Bananas!

Go Nana Bananas!

by | Apr 20, 2022 | Baking, Breakfast, Canvas & Cuisine, Dessert, Provisions, Recipes, Scrumptious Possibilities, Snack, Sunday Best Dishes

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread and Glazed Banana Donuts

Banana Pudding Ice Cream

Chocolate Banana Donut / Strawberries with Banana Pudding Ice Cream


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Watch Nana GO BANANAS!

When you want something homemade to gather grandkids around the kitchen…

Join me in the kitchen for more memories and recipes with our featured ingredient: BANANAS! 

I will show you how to whip bananas into delicious homemade delights, from breakfast (or anytime!) bread to donuts and finally my one-of-a-kind Banana Pudding Ice Cream!

Join Jorj In The Kitchen!

The Art of The Fresh Market

Grab the book that contains my favorite travel adventures, with inspired original artwork by artist Susan Fazio.

Canvas & Cuisine

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New Year, Old Friends and the Birth of This Book

Reading Is Funny: Apple, Squash, Sausage, and the Blarney Castle

Reading Is Funny: Apple, Squash, Sausage, and the Blarney Castle

by | Apr 1, 2022 | Breakfast, Canvas & Cuisine, Fall, Pork, Recipes, Side Dish, Thanksgiving

My stuffed squash comes with quite the story, as so many of my recipes do! The flavors for this dish are sweet, tart, rich, and perfect to prepare for a brunch gathering with your best group of storytellers.

The story behind this recipe is a long one, but considering I survived, I am compelled to tell it!

On a trip that started in Russia, continued through Denmark, and ended in the UK, Sue and I found ourselves on a day trip to visit the city of Cork in Ireland.

The main attraction in Cork is the Blarney Stone, which we set of to see amid a swarm of fellow tourists. We arrived at the Blarney Castle, which is a tower that some describe as majestic or looming, depending on your mood. After traveling up the very narrow (I mean EXTREMELY narrow), four-story, windowless, and very claustrophobic staircase, Sue coaxed me through my one and only panic attack. I hadn’t even known I was claustrophobic until I met Blarney Castle.

When we finally burst out of the tower and onto the top of the castle, we found ourselves still in the queue to finally kiss the stone. Tradition has it that in order to receive the gift of eloquence, one has to bend over backwards to kiss the stone.

This means lowering your head (backwards!) from the parapet walk over an opening in the tower that leads all the way down to the ground below. There were two very, very young and scrawny teens that were on either side of the hole in the floor – to make sure you don’t fall through, but they were not enough to persuade me.

Needless to say, after narrowly escaping death in the tower (a bit of an exaggeration), I sprinted past Sue and that stone, down the castle’s back stairs, and found my way to the closest pub. I took refuge in a pint and comfort in a dish called Cheshire Pie, which combines chunky pork and sautéed apples in a flaky crust.

My recipe for stuffed acorn squash is a twist on that pie (minus the flaky crust). The flavors are sweet, tart, and rich. It’s super for a mid-week meal and awesome for a brunch gathering.

Actually, it’s a pretty perfect dish if you are just in need of a bit of calm after the storm!!

Apple, Sausage and Cheddar Stuffed Acorn Squash

Ready In:

30 – 40 minutes

Ingredients

For Squash:
2 medium acorn squashes, halved and seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon apple pie spice

For Stuffing:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1 small poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1 pound mild Italian sausage
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated, about 1 cup
Sour cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°. Drizzle the cut side of the squash with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with apple pie spice. Place the squash, cut-side-down into a baking pan. Bake until the squash is fork tender, about 20 minutes. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the onion and pepper and cook until the veggies are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook until brown and crumbly, about 5 minutes more.

Add the apples to the pan. Season with 1 more teaspoon apple pie spice and some of the salt and pepper. Stir in the cheese. Pull the baking dish from the oven. Turn the squash so they are cut side up. Stuff the squash with the apple-sausage filling.

Place the dish back into the oven and cook until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes more. Garnish the stuffed squash with a dollop of sour cream.

Welcoming October with Stuffed Squash!

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Mardis Gras King Cake Donuts for Fat Tuesday

Mardis Gras King Cake Donuts for Fat Tuesday

by | Mar 1, 2022 | Baking, Breakfast, Holiday, Recipes

mardi gras king cake donuts

Need a Mardi Gras party food idea? Make Fat Tuesday delicious with this twist on traditional King Cake, from Jorj’s kitchen to yours!

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Twelve short days after Christmas is Three Kings Day (also known as the Epiphany).

This date marks the official beginning of Mardi Gras which last until the first day of Lent. Most of us don’t celebrate the entire season, after all, there are other holidays in-between!

So many Mardi Gras celebrations are left for the two weeks before Ash Wednesday.

My Mardi Gras memories settle themselves in my Grammy’s kitchen on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, known as Fat Tuesday.

My sweet, itty bitty Polish grandmother would create the most delicious pillowy donuts that day. Hot from the frying oil they were doused in powdered sugar and lasted just moments before we popped them into our mouth.

Traditional Polish donuts known as packzki are rich and filled with cream or fruit. My Gram filled hers with grape jelly. But she saved the unfilled donuts for us to gobble up. 😋 

I’ve made jelly-filled donuts before.

I’ve even made pumpkin spice donuts with maple glaze.

This year, I’ve decided to make King Cake donuts to celebrate the season.

These are big, fluffy, light-as-air donuts doused in a sugar glaze and sprinkled with traditional colors of the season, purple, yellow, green, and gold sprinkles.

Want some?

Tried it? Tag it!

I would love to see what you did with this recipe.  Share your creation by tagging #inthekitchenwithjorj and with Scrumptious Possibilities With Jorj, my free private home cooking group.

Jorj’s Mardis Gras King Cake Donuts

Servings

Makes about 9 large donuts plus holes

Ready In:

15 minutes for dough
15 minutes to cut out
2 hours to rise

Good For:

Dessert
Parties
Breakfast

Ingredients

For Donuts

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (you can substitute with instant)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup milk, room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Vegetable oil for frying

For Glaze:
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons half and half or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles (green, yellow purple and gold!)

Jorj’s Mardi Gras King Cake Donuts

Place the flour, granulated sugar, yeast, salt, and nutmeg into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Whisk the milk, butter, egg, and vanilla together in a bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the dough just comes together. Stop the mixer, cover the bowl with a clean towel, and rest for 5 minutes. Change the paddle attachment to a dough hook and beat until the dough begins to pull away from the bowl, about 6 to 8 minutes.

Dump the dough into a bowl sprayed with vegetable oil spray. Turn the dough to coat on all sides. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 1 ½ hours. The dough is doubled in size when you stick your finger into the dough and the indentation stays.

Roll out the dough and use a donut cutter (or round biscuit cutters) to cut out the doughnuts and holes. Place these onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place into the warm place and let rise until doubled in size again, about another 30 minutes.
Heat oil to 350° in a deep pot or Dutch oven. Only let the oil fill the pot one third up the sides so that when it bubbles up it won’t overflow.

Fry the donuts in batches. Don’t overcrowd the oil. We want them to swim in the oil… not drown! Fry until they are golden on one side and then carefully flip so that they are golden on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the donuts to a rack set over paper toweling to drain.

Whisk together the sifted confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and cream. Dip one side of the donuts into the glaze. Return to the rack and douse with sprinkles.