5 Ingredient Potato Salad

Shopping List:
Potatoes 3 1/2 lbs.
Mayonnaise to taste
Eggs 12/1 doz.
Pickle Relish 1 cup
Capers 1/4 cup
Directions:
Rinse potatoes and cut into quarters for quick cooking. Be sure to add a pinch of salt to water. Cook until tender. Skin may be removed after cooking while still warm.
Place 12 eggs in a pot that will hold them and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil without a top. When the eggs come to a boil, cover and remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes. After time has elased, drain and rinse with cold water and peel. Chop potatoes and eggs and place in a bowl; add pickle relish, capers, mayo and mix. Now enjoy!

Red Snapper

Red Snapper? It was my focus...I got side-tracked. I ended up at an Island Bar-B-Q (buffet style).

I don't normally do buffets...not there is anything wrong with them...its just that there is too much opportunity for me, but I made an exception.
The set-up consisted of three eight foot tables broken down into a cold station which had salads, a hot station which had meats and lastly, a sweet station which had desserts.

The cold station had salad stables like romaine lettuce and everything imaginable to go on top of it, cole slaw, potato salad and pasta salad. Big bowls of peel and eat shrimp was on the table also. Mango Chicken, Baked Grouper, Beef Ribs, Fried Chicken, green beans and scallop potatoes covered the hot table. The dessert table had cheesecakes, chocolate cake and cookies.
Hot coffee and hot teas were included on the dessert table.
The food was O.K., the entertainment was better. The Marriott gets ***
out of *****.

Why, you say? In a nut shell, I don't like over cooked potatoes in my potato salad, over cooked chicken (the mango and the fried), over cooked ribs, seasonless food and most of all, I simply cannot take desserts out of a box. That's why.

Catch of the Day, Snapper

Talk about cheap, snapper is the catch of the day as fishermen are constantly pulling it in from the waters off the south-western coast. Needless to say, the texture of this sweet and moist reef fish holds up to a variety of cooking methods. Don't even bother removing the skin.

David Morales author of Succulent Snapper says, "on the island of Aruba there are at least a handful of restaurants that will prepare your fresh catch for you." Snapper is usually served with a local creole sauce and polenta or a delicious corn bread, which sounds like a Southern twist to me.

Mr. Morales has helped me to decide what I'm having for dinner this evening. The Bistro Taste of Belgium has Red Snapper Fillets ribbed with garlic, salted and peppered with a bit of lemon juice, then fried in butter on both sides. The fillets are served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes with a side of fresh salad. I'm going to check it out and I will get back to you.

Aruba's Grilling Traditions

Aruba's proximity to South America definitely influences the island's grilling traditions. There are several international grill emporiums and steakhouses on the island to choose from that make their own dipping sauces and marinades to enhance the grilling process.

According to Susan Campbell, author of , "The Thrill of the Grill," what really separates grilling around the world is the choice of marinades, oils, rubs, sauces and spice blends. Campbell notes that even the type of wood used to fuel a fire can create a distinctive flavor and favorite meats can simply depend upon what's economical, popular and easily obtainable.

On the island of Aruba, that would be seafood and when grilled, it benefits from locally produced hot sauces that one can purchase or magically create.

Magically create a rub or spice blend that's unique to a place you have visited or want to visit and please share it.

Caribbean Fish Tacos

Fish tacos are really easy to make and can be enjoyed anywhere in the world. At the Pavilion Grill Restaurant in Aruba they simply make a cilantro-lime ranch style sauce to apply to the taco. The sauce is pretty good, but not great. The grouper is fresh and has been fried. Crisp cabbage and pico de gallo really brighten up the dish.

If your avoiding fried foods, I suggest grilling the grouper, cod or whatever fish you want to use after it has been marinated in an oil infused cilantro, lime zest and lime juice mixture. The fish would be more flavorful and you would achieve some flavor on the fish verses relying on a sauce to bring in all of the flavor.

When marinating fish, keep the process at thirty minutes or less or the flesh will get mushy. If food doesn't have flavor, what's the point!

Food and Atmosphere at Majid's

 The food at Majid's is Mediterranean, Iranian and even American. Its fairly easy to say whether food is good or bad and even if it was prepared properly at a particular restaurant; what can be interesting to gauge is whether the food's taste, color and texture are heightened when the staff are on their game. Atmosphere goes beyond candles and lighting, color on the wall, art, dishes, table clothes, flatware and floor design. Since people are art in and of themselves; they create atmosphere through their  personalities, stories and attitudes especially when your in a pricey, but affordable restaurant. I said all of that to say, Majid's atmosphere is sharp, colorful, genuine and worth the price. The restaurant is fortunate to have very good food and very good atmosphere and these two components will make patrons want to return over and over again. 

The seafood stew stands alone, but take your time eating it so you can enjoy all of its deliciousness; of course you will need a piece of bread to go with it.

  

The herb roasted duck is the best I've tasted in this town. You can tell its been roasted nice and slow because of the flavor content; the flavors have been layered appropriately.
The duck is served with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus and red pepper.




Last but not least, dessert...skip it. Not a fan of pretty, but not tasty. Go after some quality desserts that make your patrons think of only you when they have a sweet tooth. The dessert experience should be as memorable as the main course. It is after all, part of the sale. Chef Donna Rating ****

One Pot Meal or Casserole Notion

Turkey, Potato and Kale Meal

One pot meals are all the rave because of the simplicity and convenience of making them. When I was growing up, these one pot meals were called casseroles and they went into the oven versus being cooked on top of the stove. I guess it's called updating a process. Today, I have a wonderful recipe for dinner that you can call a one pot meal since it is prepared on top of the stove or you could put it in the oven.

Grocery List

Turkey sausage (1 package), potatoes (use any type you like, I used small red potatoes), kale greens (one bunch), onions (1 medium to large) and red pepper flakes.

Instructions

Start your pot off with 1 cup of water, package of Turkey sausage (cut up in portions) and potatoes cut into quarters on medium heat. Once it comes to a boil (8-10 minutes) add onions and kale greens, a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and cook an additional 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are done to your likeness. Now you have a one pot meal ready in about 30 minutes that you are sure to love.

* green beans can be substituted for kale greens.

Brunch at Rivue

Rivue on the 25th floor of the Galt House in downtown Louisville has a wonderful Sunday brunch that begins at 10:00 A. M. Two of my favorite items on the menu was the three cheese quiche which was so light and fluffy and the bar-b-Q brisket. O. K., there was a third item that I loved and it was the mini waffles. When asked, "how many would you like?", I naturally said, one but I should have said three because they were so tiny and I didn't realize it until I was walking away. These three items alone are worth checking out Rivue.



My Plate!



In addition to the items I enjoyed, you will find Chef Henry preparing omelets to your specifications, a fresh fruit station, a cold salad station and of course, a dessert station. If I could get my hands on any of the stations and redo them it would be the dessert station which needed some tweaking. Keep in mind that there is always a reason why something is in the corner. What you will not find is a pastry/bread area (which I greatly appreciated and the dessert station kinda covered that) and drinks are requested through your maitred'. John was our Maitred' on  Sunday morning and he took excellent care of us and our friends who were in town visiting from Maryland. Thank you John, you made our day!





The Easter Celebration Menu

Many of you have been waiting to see what I have planned for the Easter Celebration Menu, so I will get right to it.  I have put a lot of thought into the dinner selections in an effort to first, maintain simplicity and second, meet the needs of many. Notice that I said many, not all, although all is the real goal. I believe I have achieved meeting the needs of all, with out going overboard and keeping some flavor.
 

The Easter dinner celebration menu will consists of a whole smoked turkey, crispy fried salmon steaks with a balsamic sauce and very thinly sliced rosemary ham. No, I didn't forget that we have some people coming to dinner that don't want to see any pork, so I will hide the ham from them in the kitchen in one of the ovens that has cooled down. If you want ham, you know where it is. Once I decide on meat selections, then I began building the remainder of the meal. In this case, I choose staples that family members love and items kids would eat just in case they decide to skip the meat. Macaroni and cheese and a onion and herb roasted fingerling potato will support the meat family. Now, the vegetables are very important also, I look to compliment the meat and starches and also satisfy taste buds.  In my family, I cannot seem to get away from preparing greens of some sort, so, we will have kale greens, broccoli and green beans. Yes, smoked turkey will be used to season the kale greens and green beans as it provides great flavor. Let me say it here, and forever more, if you don't have any flavor, what's the point in eating!

Dinner rolls and deviled eggs will round out the Easter dinner celebration menu. But wait, what about dessert? I thought you would never ask...here again simplicity and keeping it light is the key. I want something very specific for the kids for dessert and something to center the dessert table, so we will have a Bunny Cake (white Cake) decorated with icing, white chocolate shavings and jelly beans. The kids will love it! The adults will chose between the Pineapple Upside Down Cake and a Lemon Cheesecake with Lemon Curd unless they decide to be a kid on Sunday and have the Bunny Cake.

There you have it, the Easter Day Celebration Menu!  It's been made simple, yet yummy for flavor, Happy Easter everyone!

Easter is Coming!

My, how time flies, Easter is just around the corner. Easter is a religious holiday celebrated by many, so it posses some challenges when you think about the time spent in the kitchen preparing for the holiday feast.

I will admit that I have not finished menu planning for the big day. What's the hold up? In years past, I did not have to be concerned with avoiding certain meat selections, but I do this year. We have some new members that have been added to the family and they don't eat pork, so no Honey Baked Ham this year. There also appears to be some preference for seafood and avoidance of eggs. Can you imagine, no eggs for Easter! So, I have been wondering exactly what to do to mix things up and stay in keeping with the spirit of the day.

I know one thing for sure, there will be dessert! Stay tune to see what's on Chef Donna's menu for Easter dinner.

What are you and your family doing for Easter and what's on the menu? Will you be dining in or dining out?

Mitchell's Fish Market Twin Lobster Tails or Sea Bass Shanghai Style

Mitchell's Fish Market specializes in seafood and prepares all 80 of their seafood dishes very well. Two dishes I want to recommend (because I have enjoyed both in the last couple of weeks) are the Twin Lobster Tails and the Sea Bass Shanghai Style.They both leave you wanting more. These dishes are prepared so well that you want to continue to revisit the flavors, texture and deliciousness of them over and over in your mind.

The sea bass is tender and flaky as it sits atop a bed of rice that is covered with a delicious fresh ginger sauce. Fresh spinach surrounds the sea bass and rice which is topped off with sesame seeds. The lobster tail will simply melt in your mouth as it is seasoned perfectly. A sea salt baked potato and asparagus accompany it. The lobster tail and the sea bass dishes have been cut in half to accommodate two people.

If you cannot eat in, call and order from the retail menu and prepare your own seafood dinner; I'm sure you will enjoy the fresh seafood from Mitchell's Fish Market.

Devil Eggs Weight Watchers Style

Devil eggs, Weight Watchers style, have a unique taste with unique ingredients. They are not your mama's devil eggs. Mama's devil eggs are smooth, creamy and flavorful. Let's face it, mama's devil eggs are down right fating with the addition of Mayo or Miracle Whip and in some recipes, both. Weight Watcher's devil eggs have eliminated the fat while incorporating texture and flavor from fresh veggies, which may take some getting use to.The addition of the veggies does add an interesting texture not of the norm and one could grow to love over time.

Since eliminating salt is a priority, the next time I prepare the recipe, I plan to finely chop three or four olives to add and eliminate the  one forth teaspoon of salt. Using a food processor to chop the veggies made the veggies finer and less chewy.If you are going to add veggies to your devil eggs, you might as well add veggies that you love, so feel free to change it up, but keep them finely chopped.

There are a few devil egg recipes on the weight watchers's site but only one will read with fat-free sour cream, deli style mustard and veggies (chopped celery, sliced carrots and thinly sliced scallions).

The recipe that follows is curdosty of  weightwatchers.com.

Ingridients:

8 large eggs

1/4 c celery, finely chopped

1/4 c carrots, shredded

2 Tbsp scallions, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp fat-free sour cream

1 Tbsp light mayonnaise (Best Foods)

2 tsp mustard, deli-style

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper, ground

Place the eggs in a saucepan large enough to hold them in a single layer; add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce the heat and cook at a bare simmer, 12 minutes. Rinse under cold water and, when cool enough to handle, remove the shells.

Halve the eggs lengthwise. Place 4 whole yolks in a medium bowl and discard the remaining yolks. Chop 4 of the egg white halves and add to the bowl; mash well with a fork. Add the celery, carrot, scallion, sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper; blend with a fork.

Spoon the filling into the hollows of the remaining 12 halves of whites, mounding to fill. Place on a platter, cover with plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Serve cold. Yields 2 stuffed egg halves per serving. Enjoy!

Lunchtime at The Cafe



Eating lunch at The Cafe located at 712 Brent Street, in downtown Louisville, was a real treat and the menu choices are endless. After ho-humming around, I finally decided to have The Victorian which is the tangy pimento cheese served on walnut wheat toast. My soup of choice was the tomato dill which was silky fabuloussss! My lunch date enjoyed the spinach-mushroom soup and The Mission, which is the all white albacore tuna served in a large pita.



Tangy Pimento Cheese



The Cafe serves soup, salads, specialty and classic sandwiches, desserts and other homemade baked goods. Since they open at 7:00 A.M. and have an array of breakfast specialties,  I'll have to go back soon.