Cherry Oatmeal Parfait with Whiskey Cream

3/4 cup Sugar

12 oz. Black Cherries, pitted

1 oz. Orange Juice

1 cup Whipping Cream

1/4 cup Whiskey

15 Oatmeal Cookies

Toasted Almonds for garnish

Chill 5 wine glasses or martini glasses.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar, cherries and orange juice in a blender until smooth.

Pour cherry mixture through a sieve, and reserve the liquid. Dispose of the cherry skins.

Use a hand mixer to whip the heavy cream. Fold 1/2 cup sugar into cream.

When the whipped cream forms soft peaks, whip the whiskey into the cream and set aside.

Pour a small amount of the cherry liquid into the bottom of the glasses.

Crumble 3 cookies into each glass.

Pour about 1/4 cup of the cherries over the cookies.

Scoop about 2 tbsp. of the whiskey cream onto the cherries.

Chill the parfaits in the fridge for about an hour.

Right before serving, sprinkle toasted almonds over each parfait.

This recipe came up as a quick way to use some oatmeal cookies we had around the house. This is a really good recipe to use with stale cookies.

Filet with Whiskey Vinaigrette and Sauteed Parmesan Potatoes

2 8 oz. Beef Filets

Salt and Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste

3/4 cup Whiskey

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

5 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

3 medium potatoes, skinned

3 scallions, diced

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Season filets with salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides.

Put 2 tbsp. butter into a medium-high heat pan.

Add the filets, and brown on all sides.

Pour 1/2 cup whiskey and 1/2 cup vinegar into pan with filets.

Cover pan and simmer for about 15-20 minutes depending on how you like your steak.

Dice the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.

Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.

Saute the potatoes in 3 tbsp. butter, until golden brown, about 1o-15 minutes.

Remove steaks from pan and let rest for about 3-5 minutes.

Add scallions and cheese to the potatoes and fold together, being careful not to mash the potatoes.

Deglaze pan with 1/4 cup whiskey, 1/8 cup vinegar and 1 tbsp. olive oil.

Pour vinaigrette through a sieve and reserve liquid.

Slice filets and plate each one over the potatoes. Serve the vinaigrette over the filets.

Simmering filet is a great way to cook it. It makes the filets really tender. We were able to eat the steaks with butter knifes, and that's not an exageration.

Various Sorbets

An easy one to start with.

2 cups strawberries, hulled or Mangoes or Cherries or Kiwis

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp. lime juice

1. Dissolve sugar in water, until clear.

2. Add fruit, lime juice and half of the sugar water in a blender and mix until smooth. Add more sugar water to taste.

3. Put the mixture in a metal bowl and freeze for 30 minutes.

4. Eat.

This one was fun and easy. All you need is a blender. I subsituted different fruits each time (Mangos, Kiwis, Black Cherries, so far), and the recipe barely changes.

First Post

Currently I post my foodie pictures on Facebook. But, lately I've been thinking about posting the recipes that I use. So, I created this blog. I only submit personal recipes for things I make from scratch (or mostly from scratch), although I may post recipes I like from other sources. I've never been a big blogger, so we'll see how this goes. Stay tuned...