Author: Ang Anderson

Sizzle

Posted on by Ang Anderson

Have you ever been sitting at a mexican restaurant, deep in conversation, when your ears are met with a sudden burst of SIZZLE?  It is a loud, beckoning sizzle.  A sizzle the size of Texas.  A sizzle that makes you wish that you would not have ordered the standard (and very quiet) enchilada…

Enter:  The Fajita

That lovely meat, onion and peppers base can (and should) be personalized with your favorites.  Guacamole, rice, black beans, cheese, sour cream.  My husband loves these and they actually work very well as left overs. 

What is not to love about the flavor blessed and SIZZLING fajita? 

I use this Fajita Marinade (not limited to Fajitas) from my Betty Crocker Cookbook, which I also found on-line.

Here are some guidelines (also out of my BC book) to follow:

12 flour tortillas  (wrap in aluminum foil and let warm in 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes)

2 Large Onions

2 Green or Red Bell Peppers (I like to use one of each)

Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack Cheese

Picante sauce, Sour Cream and/or Guacamole (I like to use all three)

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil.  Heat in oven about 15 minutes or until warm.  Remove tortillas from oven; keep wrapped.

Set oven to broil.

Remove beef from marinade; reserve marinade.  Place beef in rack in broiler pan.  (For easy cleanup, line broiler pan with aluminum foil before placing beef on rack.)  Broil beef with toop about 3 inches from heat about 8 minutes or until brown.  Turn; brush beef with marinade.  Broil 7 to 8 minutes longer for medium-rare to medium.  Discard any remaining marinade.

While beef is broiling; heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook onions and bell peppers in 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 6 to 8 minutes; stirring frequently, until crisp-tender.

Cut beef across grain into very thin slices.  For each fajita, place a few slices of beef, peppers and onion mixture, cheese, picante, guacamole, sour cream on center of tortilla.  Wrap and enjoy!

Byron Bay, New South Wales

Posted on by Ang Anderson

Journal entry from March 7th, 1997

“We left Sydney (for the third time) and headed north up the east coast to Byron Bay.  Truly the most beautiful scenery we had experienced on the rail thus far. Arrived in Byron Bay at 7:30 pm.  Mitch, from Cape Byron Resort was waiting for weary travellers at the train station and we agreed to go with him in the van for £10 a night.  Fairly nice place with pool and large game room.  Free pancakes for breakfast.  Sangria night – all you can drink for  £5.  (Unfortunately, we were knackered and settled for turning in early.”

Journal entry from March 8th, 1997

“Woke at nine to enjoy a delicious pancake breakfast.  Mitch offered to bring us to the lighthouse and we took him up on it.  Stunning views!!  Back in the 1800’s, there was no way for the lighthouse attendant to get food so they raised goats on the side of the cliff (and the goats are still there today!)  The view is absolutely spectacular, with water everywhere and beautiful beaches on all sides.  Cape Byron, where the lighthouse is located, is also Australia’s eastern most mainland point.  We caught sight of dolphins swimming and people hang gliding.  Lovely day!!!  Mo and I walked from the hostel to Tallows Beach to watch the sunset.  It was a bit of an adventure on the way back.  (Our over-dramatization led us to nickname it Jurassic Park.)  The path to and from the hostel to the beach was through some vegetation and we had this wooden boardwalk to follow. It was dark and we kept hearing things in the bush which gave us a fright.  We made it back to the hostel a bit shook up and very relieved to be safe from harm.  In the evening, we went out with a bunch of people from the hostel.  First, to the Rails and then to the Northern.  They didn’t have Strongbow White so I settled for a schooner of VB, which tasted wonderful (since I haven’t had a beer in over a month!)  We hung out with a bunch of people from the hostel and had a really good time.”

Here are some pics from that gorgeous day.  (You may notice that the date on my camera was for March 7th, which it was back home with the 17 hour time difference. I guess I should have changed that once we arrived in Oz!!)

Cape Byron Lighthouse
Tallows Beach
North view from Cape Byron
East view from Cape Byron
Main Beach, Byron Bay
Main Beach

Slice of Friday

Posted on by Ang Anderson

ahhh…Friday.  One of the best days of the week.  End of the work week.  Beacon of the weekend.

I also love Friday for a food reason. Friday night was always pizza night in our house growing up.  It was a family tradition that we loved. We lived in town and were lucky enough to have Domino’s deliver (I still have the phone number memorized!) or sometimes my dad would pick it up from a local take and bake joint. Now that I have my own family, my mind tends to go to pizza for our Friday night dinner too. Unfortunately, we live out in the boonies and are not able to phone in an order for delivery. (Oh, the horror!)

On second thought, maybe it is fortunate…

In my kitchen growth, I have transitioned from using pre-made Boboli crusts to making my own pizza dough. This is a long way from the girl who used to eat cold cereal for dinner in her single days!  Mind you, it’s not difficult.  Plus, my trusty Kitchen-Aid stand mixer does all the work!

Some of our favorite pizza combinations:

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with barbecue sauce as the sauce, shredded or diced chicken, tomato, purple onion and cheese.

Chicken Bacon Ranch with ranch dressing as the sauce, shredded or diced chicken, bacon, tomato, onion and cheese.

Hamburger Pizza with ketchup as the sauce, drizzling of yellow mustard, ground beef, onion, cheese and burger chip pickles.

Since discovering the Pioneer Woman website, I have also discovered this little gem:

Caramelized Onion & Prosciutto Pizza

If you’d like to give it a go, I have been using this Pizza dough recipe, also from Pioneer Woman.  Keep in mind the crust is best if you give it a day or two.  And if you have the luxury of ordering delivery, I’m both jealous and thrilled for you!

Happy Friday and three cheers for pizza!