One of the things I like most about this time of year, is that tangerines are plentiful. I LOVE tangerines……especially the Satsuma, easy to peel, seedless ones. I am happy just sitting down peeling one after another….plopping those wonderful, juicy little segments into my mouth. But what I really love to do with them, is to juice them and make tangerinitinis. OHHHHH YESSSSSSS. It is my favorite martini. Maybe my favorite drink over all. It’s so delicious and refreshing. I recently discovered bottled, pure, fresh tangerine juice at my local market. It is really good and I would use it if I didn’t have fresh tangerines on hand. But please take the time to juice some fresh tangerines….you will love this drink. You may want  to try mixing the juice with champagne…..or try a tangerita (margarita). Cheers!!

Tangerinitini

3 parts tangerine juice (or more, or less)
1 part good vodka (or more, or less)
just a wee squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
sugar and tangerine zest mixed together (for the rim)

Rub a piece of tangerine all around the rim of a martini glass. Dip the rim into the sugar and zest mixture. Chill in freezer for a few minutes. Squeeze tangerines and pour juice into a shaker ( I just use a jar). Add some ice, your vodka and lemon juice. Shake, shake, shake. Pour liquid into the chilled martini glass. Sometimes I pour the ice in too, sometimes I don’t. That’s it….take a sip. First you get hit with that zesty sugar and then you get that cold liquid yumminess. AHHHHH. So good. So, so good. Enjoy. Put your feet up, relax. You’re going to be happy!!

Everyone has heard of a BLT….bacon, lettuce, tomato. Or, how about a BLTA….A, as in avocado. Well, how’s about a SBATS…..salmon, bacon, avocado, tomato, spinach. I mixed a wee bit of lemon juice in with my mayo. That gave it a nice little tang. It is one delicious sandwich…maybe even my favorite samich!! But it sure is messy. You can use turkey bacon if you want a healthier sandwich, but really?  I used an apple wood smoked bacon and that combination of smoky bacon with salmon….well, OMG. I was saying M-m-mmmm the whole time I was eating it. It would have been even better with a nice glass of Riesling or Pinot Grigio. But since it’s only Monday and it’s a work night, I refrained. Damn.

Well, go get yourself a nice piece of fresh salmon and get busy! Seriously…MAKE THIS! Yum-m-m-m-mmmm.  Oh! napkins….you’ll need em.

SBATS (Salmon, bacon, avocado, tomato, spinach) Sandwich

approx. 8 oz cooked fresh salmon (per sandwich)
sliced tomato
fresh spinach leaves
sliced avocado
crispy slices of bacon
mayo mixed with a squirt of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper
toasted bread (I recommend sourdough or something that will hold up to a lot of messiness)

Toast your bread, spread with lemon mayo. Start constructing your sandwich, starting with the spinach leaves. (this will prevent juices from going to the bottom and getting your bread all soggy and mushy) Take a big bite, say YUM (with a mouthful of food) and gobble it up. Have lots of napkins handy….or wear a bib. 🙂

I am not a custard kinda person. I don’t like Flan. But I LOVE crème brulee. I love to say it….CREME BRULEE. So fancy. Oh my, this is one decadent dessert. It’s rich, creamy, delicious….and then you have that crackly, sugar crunch on top. It’s so much fun to torch the sugar, watching it turn into a golden beautiful crackly crunch. It’s even more fun to give it a whack with your spoon. Then you take that first bite……..ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhh, my. You say MM-mmmmmm. You want to slowly savor each bite, but it’s so good, you just want to eat it all at once. It’s definitely not a healthy dessert….basically it is just heavy cream and egg yolks….YIKES, right?? I used Baileys Irish Cream, but you don’t have to add it. But I highly recommend it. Enjoy!!! I know you will.

Irish Cream Crème Brulee

2 cups of heavy cream
5 egg yolks (room temperature)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of Irish Cream (Baileys or Carolans)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 deg. Heat the heavy cream just till it starts to boil. Remove from heat. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is pale and creamy looking. Pour a small amount of the hot cream into the egg/sugar mixture. Start whisking and then slowly drizzle in the rest of the cream. Add the irish cream and vanilla. if any of your egg scrambled, you may want to strain your mixture. Then pour into ramekins. I used 3 ramekins. Place the ramekins onto a baking sheet or cake pan. Add hot water to the pan. (don’t splash into your ramekins). The hot water should reach almost half way up your ramekin. It’s best to pour the hot water into your pan after you’ve placed it in the oven. Bake for approx. 30 minutes. The mixture should jiggle a bit when you gently shake them at the end of the cooking time. Make sure they don’t get too brown. Remove from oven, being careful of the hot water in your pan. I usually place a dish towel into the water to absorb some of that hot water. BE CAREFUL. Allow to sit out for about half an hour. Then chill for an hour, remove from fridge and sprinkle tops with sugar. Torch to turn the sugar into a golden magic. Don’t try to do this in the broiler….invest in a kitchen torch…NOT ONE OF THOSE HUGE WELDERS TORCHES. 🙂 Chill again for as long as you can wait…another couple of hours is good. Then brace yourself…soooooooo good.

Looking for an idea for a special dinner? How about a Chateaubriand….otherwise known as a …beef tenderloin/filet mignon roast. It is delicious, tender….melt in your mouth. It’s basically cooked in a pool of butter. I mean, how could it not be good, right??It may sound pretty fancy, right? But it’s actually pretty simple and quick. Impress your guests with a wonderful dinner of this luscious beef, served with buttery mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. You will be so pleased!!

Beef Tenderloin
Serves 3

1   1/2  lb beef tenderloin roast
1  stick of butter, plus 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
1 clove fresh garlic (optional)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If your tenderloin roast is uneven in size ( thinner on one side), tuck smaller side under and tie together with string to form a uniform sized roast. (see pic above).
In a cast iron skillet, on medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Lightly brown the roast on all sides. Once it is seared, add 1 stick of butter and garlic clove (optional) to the skillet. Place the skillet in the preheated oven. Roast uncovered, for 10 minutes. Turn it over and cook for another 10 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 135 (medium rare). Remove from oven and skillet and allow to rest for approx. 5 minutes. You will not be disappointed….I’m tellin ya, you must try this.

Happy Holidays all. I went to visit my sister in Portland, Oregon last week. It was very holiday-ish with the cold weather, rain….beautiful. I had a wonderful time and visited a ton of shops and bakeries. Oh, to open a little bakery in Oregon….hmmmm. Anyway, as soon as I got home, I started on my cookie decorating. Baked and painted 13 dozen cookies. 2 dozen more to go….I need more time!!! I haven’t really even done my usual baking treats yet. My darling daughter has been waiting patiently (or not so patiently) for her favorite cookies that I only make at Christmas. I am so behind!! Anyway, just thought I would share some more pictures with you all. I will be back to posting recipes again tomorrow. I hope the pictures here will inspire you to bake up a batch of cookies and start painting…..Enjoy.