And Then There Were Three

Something about a new family coming to be, always warms my heart.  My step son and his wife just welcomed into the world a beautiful...

Healthy...

BIG...

Baby Boy!

Carmine Robert ~ 9 lbs. 15 oz.'s ~ 22 1/2 inches

And Jack with his newest Nephew! ;)

Can life get any sweeter than this?

Tuna with Roasted Cipolline Onions

This is my most favorite recipe of all times!  I've always had the best of luck with recipes I've tried from Giada De Laurentiis and this is no exception!  This dish isn't looking pretty in my pictures but I assure you the flavor is incredible, restaurant worthy even!  And it could be prettier for the camera if I took the onions out of the oven earlier, therefor making the sauce thinner rather than a glaze as I prefer it.  Taste of course wins over pretty!

As usual I do make some changes, but mostly in amounts of ingredients that I use. I'll post the recipe as is and leave you my notes of what I change for myself.

Pre heat the oven to  450 degrees.  Gather your ingredients and then bring a pot of water to boil.  Add the onions, cook for 2 minutes then drain and cool.

Cut off the root end of the onion and peel.

Now to the onions in their baking dish add the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and mix together.

Roast on the lowest shelf of your oven until the onions are tender and golden, stirring occasionally, 45mins. to an hour. The longer you roast these, the thicker the glaze will be.  About 3o minutes before your onions will be done roasting,   mix the 1/3 cup oil, lemon juice, thyme, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in another  dish.

Place the tuna steaks in the marinade and turn to coat.  Let stand for 5 minutes on each side.

Sadly, I used up all of my fresh thyme over the holidays and had to use dried. This was not a good substitute, you really want fresh thyme for this dish.

Oil the rack and set the grill for medium-high heat. Grill the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium.

Spoon the onion mixture over the steaks and serve!

Ok so here are my changes.  First off and most important to note, I double the recipe for the balsamic reduction and only use an 8 oz. bag of these onions, which is perfect for the three of us and would actually make 2 adult and 2 children size servings using only 3 Tuna Steaks.  You may also substitute pearl onions or red onions, heck probably any onion!  As I said earlier, we love this reduction so we really pile it on!  This balsamic reduction with the onions would also be delicious served over other fish, or most any other Meat.  Be sure to stir the onions often, I do it about every 15 mins.   This will really let you get a feel for how thick the sauce is getting so you can remove them when it hits your desired consistency.

I'm sorry I didn't get better pictures of the finished product, but I promise you that if you try this dish you won't be disappointed.  You'll probably make adjustments as I have but won't be disappointed.  I call this company fare because it taste like something you would get at a fine dining establishment.  And even though it seems like it could be a bit pricey, it's way cheaper than ordering a pizza! With that in mind....here is the original recipe for you to tweek to your hearts content!

Recipe: Tuna with Roasted Cipolline Onions

Recipe adopted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 pounds cipolline onions
  2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  1 tablespoon plus 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
  3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
  6 (6-ounce) tuna steaks (about 1-inch thick)

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Drain and cool. Peel the onions and cut off the root ends.


2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.


3. Toss the onions, vinegar, 1 tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Roast in the oven until the onions are tender and golden, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour.


4. Meanwhile, whisk the 1/3 cup oil, lemon juice, thyme, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in another 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish. Place the tuna steaks in the marinade and turn to coat. Let stand for 5 minutes on each side.


5. Oil the grill rack and prepare the barbecue for medium-high heat. Grill the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium. Cut the steaks in half. Transfer the steaks to a platter. Spoon the onion mixture around and serve.

Quick Notes

Keep in mind, this doesn't make nearly enough sauce for 6 Tuna Steaks. It barely makes enough for 3, so adjust accordingly.

Microformatting by hRecipe.

How did you Celebrate?

I'm tired...Jack gets over stimulated or something when we have large gatherings and through out the night has something akin to night terrors, but not quite.  Lots of yelling in his sleep and sitting straight up in bed.   We finally just put him in bed with us around 4am.

The trash pick up folks decided today was not a holiday and made their rounds, much to the chagrin of the entire street!  Therefor our phone rang at 7:23 (am) with an all out alert "the trash man is here" from our neighbor.  So after getting to bed around 2am, I was up and dh was up.  Jack however just got up at 10:30. Nice right? *g*

Anyway, here was our day in images...not much narration required I think....and thanks to everyone that shared their delicious dishes, I wish I had gotten pictures of all the wonderful food, but alas I faltered in the picture taking department!

Debra's (my sister) famous BLT Dip....

Pina Colada's also Debra's...(she's the true entertaining guru amongst us)

Store bought shade...

Home grown  pyromaniacs...seriously...I'm not kidding! ;)

Enablers of home grown pyromaniacs....

Can you say long day? *g*

Lest we Forget...

Happy Independence Day!  As the mother of 4 sons, none of which have served in the military, this is always some what of an emotional day for me.  I'm not a political person, not because I don't have personal views but just because I have learned it creates too much negative emotion in my gut, so I'll leave the politics for another.

On this day though, my heart hurts for the Mothers, Fathers, Wives, families and close friends of soldiers that are serving, have served and those that have lost their lives defending our freedoms in this country. And let us not forget what it's all about, what it's always been about because I think as we often live our busy lives we do tend to forget what this country was founded on. What the men that signed that notorious piece of paper some  234 years ago personally went through and the sacrifices they made and the dangers they faced...just by signing their names.

The Declaration of Independence, signed this day in 1776





Have you ever read this Declaration?  I will admit to the fact that I have not read it in it's entirety, at least not as an adult. I'm pretty certain that I did read it while in elementary school.

My guest won't be arriving until around 2:00 pm today, yet I am all prepared and have the time on my hands to do just that.   So this Independence Day, I'm going to refresh my mind of the history of this day, what it means to me now and what I think it should mean to me.   I'm thinking now that perhaps, instead of having decorative flags hanging out back, I should have framed a copy of the Declaration of Independence.  Actually....I think I'll print out a copy now to have around today.  Maybe someone else would like to read it as well....Here are two links for anyone else that wants a 4th of July reading assignment! *g*  (the links...same words just different formats)

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence and I'll go ahead and throw in a link to the  U.S. Constitution , just because it's even more interesting!

Loaded Potato Salad

Are you having people over for the 4th of July or going to celebrate with friends and need to bring a dish?  Either way, this dish is a great addition to a bbq or picnic spread!

We are having friends and family over tomorrow. A LOT of friends and family!  We supply the meat and everyone brings their favorite dish.  Treeman tells me to lay off the cooking because of us supplying the main course, but you just know "that's" not happening!

So this potato salad is one of the dishes I'll be making.

You peel your potatoes...



then quarter them...



Place the potatoes in a large pan of salted water and boil over medium-low
heat until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, and place in the refrigerator to cool.

Be sure to check the potatoes for doneness as they are cooking.
I really don't like mine to be too done.



While the potatoes are cooling off gather your ingredient.
Pretty much, anything you would like to have on your baked potato,
you can throw into this salad so let your imagination run wild...:)

And if you haven't yet tried this Dukes Mayonnaise...OMG, you just have to!
I love this stuff and look for any excuse at all to use it in abundance! *g*

Though this recipe doesn't call for it, I like to add chives.
I seldom have any on hand fresh so I use the dehydrated ones from Sam's.

Mix the mayo and sour cream together



and then the remainder of the ingredients....



Then just fold it all into the potatoes and season to taste!
You can chill this and add it later to the potatoes, or add it now and chill the whole salad.

Garnish the top with additional bacon, onions and shredded cheddar cheese if desired.



And there you go!  Here's the recipe;

Recipe: Loaded Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 6 medium baking potatoes (about 2 pounds)


• 3/4 cup mayonnaise 3/4 cup sour cream


• 8 slices of crisply cooked and chopped bacon


• 1/2 cup chopped red onion


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper


• green onions with top, thinly sliced shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. Peel, rinse and quarter the potatoes.


2. Place the potatoes in a large pan of water and boil over medium-low heat until tender, about 12 minutes.


3. Drain the potatoes, and place in the refrigerator to cool.


4. Combine sour cream and mayonnaise in small bowl.


5. Chop bacon and red onion and add to mayonnaise mixture. Stir in salt and pepper, cover and refrigerate.


6. When ready to assemble, place in large bowl and fold in mayonnaise/sour cream mixture.


7. You may garnish the top with bacon, green onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

Variations

Chives whether dehydrated or fresh are a good addtion.

Microformatting by hRecipe.

[donotprint]I'm heading off to the kitchen to make the rest of my dishes for tomorrow.  One of my sons just stopped by (the one that has the culinary degree =:-O) And requested my home made boursin cheese, so I'll add that to the list.  Here is what's on the board for today....

• Salsa


• S'more Brownies (yes I'm making them again and will dye 100 deaths of joy eating them)


• Braunschweiger spread


• french onion dip


• Boursin Cheese

I'll post these recipes to share with you over the coming week.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend and keeping in mind what we are celebrating!

[/donotprint]