oil

Devil’s Food Cake Mix Brownies

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Uplifting Aromas: Devil’s Food Cake Mix Brownies! Most of us began a love affair with chocolate long before we were ever old enough to date. First there was the anticipation of climbing onto the kitchen counter to grab the coveted candy bar in a chubby little fist, out of sight from mother’s watchful eye. Then came the rich aroma of seduction as it was being unwrapped layer by layer. The lure of delicious expectation became a natural mood enhancer, which required quick-thinking. Never mind that baby sister was starting to fuss and attract attention, wanting her fair share. Long before she began a full-blown wail of rebellion, the entire chocolate bar was stuffed in brother’s mouth, chewed up like a dog treat, and swallowed with greedy satisfaction. Until…….. mother leapt into the room as graceful as a gazelle and gasped! She quickly deducted from the melted goo around his mouth that he had just consumed her entire supply of chocolate-flavored laxative guaranteed to work effectively on a constipated child. What can I say? My brother ate the whole thing and I never did get a single bite. Thankfully so, Chocolate is still my friend today. 

DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE MIX BROWNIES 

Ingredients:

15-ounce box Devil’s Food Cake Mix

1/2 cup olive oil

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

2 teaspoons espresso powder

1 cup semi-sweet miniature chocolate chips, divided

Vanilla Ice Cream, for serving

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray an 8”x8” baking pan with nonstick oil. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, olive oil, lightly beaten eggs, vanilla extract, and espresso powder. Stir until smooth. Fold in 3/4 cup of miniature chocolate chips. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips on top. Bake 25 minutes, or until  a cake tester comes out clean. Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Another Egg Salad Recipe

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Uplifting Aromas: Another Egg Salad Recipe! Just what you need…….another way to make egg salad at home. What’s the mystery, you ask, rolling your eyes and shaking your head from side to side. Well sometimes those extra calories in mayonnaise can blow up a diet, if you know what I mean. Besides, I’m a huge fan of olive oil and fresh basil to make a dish flavorful. Sweet vidalia onions are a nice compromise to its distant cousin, the purplish-red onions, so you choose which way to go. Fair warning, though, this scaled down version of egg salad won’t stick together like glue. You’re better off eating it with a fork, spooning it onto a bed of baby spinach leaves, or scooping it off the plate onto a multigrain cracker. 

ANOTHER EGG SALAD RECIPE

Ingredients:

4 hard boiled eggs, cooked and chopped

1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

2 stems fresh basil leaves, snipped

Instructions:

In a serving bowl, combine chopped hard boiled eggs and sweet onion pieces. Drizzle olive oil over all. Sprinkle Himalayan sea salt to taste. Add fresh basil snips. Gently toss and serve.

Radish Dinner Salad

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Fabulous Fixings: Radish Dinner Salad! Baby lettuces and greens not only add color to a dinner salad, they also add crunchiness, vitamins, and variety. That’s one of the reasons I like radishes, too. I bet you thought it was the spicy, peppery taste of this root vegetable, didn’t you? Well, you’re half right. I find radishes refreshing and I’m not going to stop eating them anytime soon. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find me standing barefoot in my kitchen nibbling on sliced radishes sprinkled with sea salt. I hear the French actually slather radishes with sea salt butter for a truly gourmet experience. Now that’s an idea worth exploring, especially since I buy my butter from France. 

RADISH DINNER SALAD

Ingredients:

1 Roma tomato, chopped

1 cup organic mixed greens

3 large radishes, sliced 

1/4 cup herbed feta cheese, crumbled

4-ounce sirloin steak; cooked, warm, and sliced thin

Oil & Vinegar, to taste

Instructions:

Using a salad plate, arrange food vertically when placing. Begin with chopped tomatoes followed by the organic mixed greens, sliced radishes, crumbled feta cheese, and sirloin steak. Serve with oil and vinegar dressing on the side. 

Original Spinach Salad

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Fabulous Fixings: Original Spinach Salad! Presenting a superfood that practically gives you super powers. Remember the comic book character, Popeye the Sailor Man? (Okay, I’m dating myself.) Flashback: Popeye would eat spinach through his pipe to tackle insurmountable situations.  It seems parents everywhere took advantage of this children’s cartoon character to encourage kids to “eat your spinach”. Did it work, you wonder? Not even close. Spinach is one of those veggies I didn’t learn to like until I became an adult. Go figure. 

ORIGINAL SPINACH SALAD

Ingredients:

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2” pieces

12 ounces baby spinach leaves

2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1 large tomato, chopped

5 tablespoons bacon fat

1/2 cup olive oil

5 tablespoons garlic wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons raw honey

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Instructions:

Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large nonstick pan. Remove bacon to drain on paper towels. Reserve the bacon fat portion for the dressing. Place the baby spinach, chopped eggs, chopped tomatoes, and half the bacon into a large salad bowl. Gently toss; set aside. For the dressing, use the same pan. Warm the reserve bacon fat and olive oil. Add the garlic wine vinegar, raw honey, and Dijon mustard. Whisk together. Warm through. Dress the salad with the bacon dressing. Gently toss. Sprinkle remaining bacon bits on top. Serve immediately. 

Jalapeño Honey Hummus

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Fabulous Fixings: Jalapeño Honey Hummus! I like hummus. You like hummus. We all like hummus….don’t we, generally speaking? Some say it can be a little bland; others say bone dry. I say add smooth creamy natural honey for a hot kick and spicy finish that will make it unforgettable. Before you know it, you’ll be scooping that silky texture onto all kinds of foods. Hmmm….(thinking out loud)…better make more. 

JALAPEÑO HONEY HUMMUS 

Ingredients:

2 jalapeño peppers, roasted and seeds removed 

15.5 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons raw honey

1/3 cup olive oil 

Sea salt and pepper, to taste

3 tablespoons water, for consistency 

Herbs de Province, for garnish

Instructions:

Broil jalapeños until blackened and blistered on the outside, approximately 6-7 minutes. Seal the jalapeños in a plastic bag until room temperature; remove skin. In a food processor, combine jalapeños, chickpeas, and honey until puréed. Scrape down sides, as needed. As the processor is running, slowly pour in olive oil. Continue to blend until hummus is smooth. Season with sea salt and pepper using water to thin until hummus is desired consistency. Garnish with a pinch of Herbs de Provence. Serve with bbq pork, radish slices, celery spears, and pita bread.

Three Bean Pasta Salad

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Graze or Gobble: Three Bean Pasta Salad! Yippee for meal prep. This tasty salad is one you can make ahead on the weekend for a delicious lunch at work. The dressing gives it gourmet flavor similar to the corner café, without the cost of an Uber. Add a few gluten-free pretzels or pita crackers to satisfy that munchtime craving. The slightly sharp buttery flavor of provolone cheese works well with the pasta. I know what you’re thinking…..would a bottle of wine be appropriate? Probably. Just not at work. 

THREE BEAN PASTA SALAD

Ingredients: 

4 ounces uncooked shell pasta

15-ounce three bean salad, drained and chilled

1 tablespoon pimento, chopped

4 ounces provolone cheese, cubed

2 scallions, white part only, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons garlic wine vinegar 

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon natural honey

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

1/4 cup olive oil 

Instructions:

Cook shell pasta according to package directions. Rinse in cool water; drain well. Combine shell pasta, three bean mixture, chopped pimento, and provolone cheese cubes. Gently toss. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine scallions and garlic wine vinegar. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Add Dijon mustard, natural honey, and cayenne pepper. Mix well. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until well combined. Pour dressing over pasta salad and serve slightly chilled. 

Jugo Baby Potatoes

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Graze or Gobble: Jugo Baby Potatoes! The first time I encountered this amazing condiment was in a roadside Mexican restaurant. I saw regular customers splash a little on a sizzling plate of fajitas and thought to myself….sure, why not? The dark salty droplets seemed to complement the smoky charred vegetables as well as the tenderized chunks of meat. It wasn’t soy and it wasn’t balsamic or Worcestershire. Interesting. Let me tell you, once I finished my meal, I headed to the nearest Mexican market and bought myself a bottle to use in my own kitchen. 

JUGO BABY POTATOES 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds baby potatoes, halved, boiled, and drained

3 tablespoons olive oil 

1 medium onion, chopped 

2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced

4 teaspoons Jugo* seasoning sauce

Red pepper flakes, for garnish

Instructions:

Warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onions and sliced jalapeños. Cook until tender. Add boiled potatoes and Jugo seasoning sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until potatoes are caramelized. Garnish with red pepper flakes before serving. 

*I receive no recompense for mentioning Jugo seasoning sauce. 

Tripletail Fish Fillet

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Food With Soul: Tripletail Fish Fillet! No, this fish species does not actually have three tails, like its name implies. It does, however, have three rounded fins on the back end of its body that make it appear that way. Pretty cool, huh? It tends to swim in tropical waters, or float on top of the water giving it an appearance of a dry leaf drifting along on a wave. Perhaps the tripletail’s ancestors were the original hippies of the sea, back in the day. You know, hanging out with aquatic mermaids and other interesting water nymphs. But I digress. If you’re wondering how tripletail taste, it’s kinda like grouper or snapper: naturally firm, flaky, and sweet. You should try it.

TRIPLETAIL FISH FILLET

Ingredients:

12-ounce triple tail fish fillet

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Green Onions, chopped

Instructions:

Wash the fish fillet; pat dry. Place in a shallow dish. In a separate bowl, combine rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ground ginger, garlic powder, and chopped green onion. Mix well. Pour the marinade over the fish; cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Preheat the gas grill to 400°. Transfer triple tail fish directly to the grill grates. Close lid and cook for 4 minutes. Discard marinade. Turn fish and cook 4 minutes longer, with lid closed. Serve over a bed of Chinese fried rice.

Mildly Sweet Red Grouper

What’s Cooking in Gail’s Kitchen? Food With Soul: Mildly Sweet Red Grouper! Trust your local source for fresh fish. I do. Since the fishermen often eat what they catch, it’s natural to ask them questions about the type of fish they sell. Oftentimes it seems to be different from what is common in the supermarkets. Does that make sense? I can relate to species that “taste like” sea bass, halibut, mahi mahi, swordfish, ahi, or tilapia. Beyond that, I really need some guidance for porgy, grouper, snapper, and hogfish. I tend to lean more toward mildly flavored and subtly sweet flavors. That way I can always default to melted butter and lemon. As they say, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”

MILDLY SWEET RED GROUPER

Ingredients:

4 red grouper fish fillets

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Instructions:

In a shallow dish, arrange red grouper in a single layer. Whisk together orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, ground ginger, and brown sugar. Pour marinade over red grouper fillets. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Preheat the grill to 400°. Remove fish from marinade and place directly on the grill grates. Close lid and cook for 4 minutes until sides are slightly opaque. Discard marinade. Flip the fish and cook 4 minutes longer. Fish will appear charred with grill marks and flake easily. Transfer to a platter. Squeeze fresh lime juice over top. Serve immediately.