Kitchen Wrangler | Melissa Guerra | Rebooting Your Kitchen, One Meal At A Time!

Chocolate Bread

June 12, 2019 By Melissa Guerra Leave a Comment

This recipe for Chocolate Bread is from a book that Doris gave me. Doris was my first boss, and she hired me to be the greeter at her restaurant on South Padre Island back in the summer of 1983. She was kind, generous, and always had a sparkle in her eye. Trying to impress her, I greeted everyone with efficient gusto as they walked through the door. "Hello! Welcome! How many in your party?" I chirped to the bearded man that silently pushed through the restaurant. "Uh, I work here." he responded ...

Catalina Dressing for Summer Salads

June 2, 2019 By Melissa Guerra 1 Comment

Super delicious on a steak and egg sandwich A summer of salad doesn’t necessarily mean a big bowl of green leaves and starving to death ten minutes after a meal. Hot weather foods can be cool, crisp and keep you satisfied when you are rolling in the waves at the beach or hopping on a plane after lunch to visit relatives. Hearty doesn’t have to mean weighty. Catalina Dressing is an Oldie but Goody I whipped up an old-fashioned batch of Catalina Dressing after sampling a few dishes at the ...

Classic Texas Pinto Beans

May 24, 2019 By Melissa Guerra 2 Comments

There is no way to know how many pots of pinto beans I have boiled over the years. Well, let me think. If I multiply once a week for 30 years, that would be well over 1,500 pots. I can’t even imagine how many individual pinto beans that is. As infinite as the stars in the sky... Occasionally people will ask me how I make pinto beans, which I would compare to asking me advice on how to walk. I forgot when I learned, and the process is so automatic now that I simply perform the routine out of ...

hands sprinkle cheese on Creamy Poblano Pasta with Garlic Shrimp

Creamy Pasta Poblano with Garlic Shrimp

May 16, 2019 By Melissa Guerra Leave a Comment

Substitute to make this your dish Cooking tip: Just because a recipe uses conventional ingredients doesn't mean you are obligated to use them. Granted, substituting ingredients when baking a cake or bread doesn't work out that well. There is some science-y stuff that happens with the leaveners like yeast and baking soda that can fail when you substitute. But making a down-to-earth pasta dish is a kinder, gentler experience. You can substitute to your heart's content in this recipe for Creamy ...

Hot Apple Rosemary Muffins with Honey Butter

May 10, 2019 By Melissa Guerra 1 Comment

May is such a lovely month. School graduations are happening soon, and the young people are getting restless. Slow down kids, adulting can wait. You will be doing mature stuff for the rest of your life. Focus on doing as little as possible, and that's about the right speed for May. Just enjoy the ride. If you are wondering what I will be doing this summer, it will be be loads of writing. I might travel, but only so I can write in a different location. I am starting to see the world through ...

Chicken Noodle Salad with Sesame Citrus Habanero Dressing

May 4, 2019 By Melissa Guerra 2 Comments

Chicken and noodles go together like peas and carrots, gin and tonic, cheese and crackers. But warm weather is coming up and this is no time to be making a kettle of soup. Its salad time folks, so I started dreaming of a chicken and noodle salad. Chicken and Noodles are a Classic Combination Speaking of charming classic couples, me and the hubs are going on thirty years of marriage this June. I do more cooking; he does more washing. Neither of us does ironing. We have our routines, ...

Wholewheat Sourdough Pancakes with Blueberries

April 25, 2019 By Melissa Guerra 4 Comments

Fluffy and buttery... We have pancakes most every weekend when the kids are around. In fact, it's my kids who are the experts in whipping up stacks of pancakes. They usually get the process underway before I'm awake. This is a good thing, because you never know if the coffee will wake me up enough to cook. They have an electric griddle they won at church bingo about 10 years ago, and it's their "go to" kitchen tool for making pancakes. By making their own Sunday breakfast, its a guaranteed ...

Classic Argentinian Beef Empanadas

April 17, 2019 By Melissa Guerra Leave a Comment

Beef Empanadas are classic fare in Argentina, and are becoming more popular in the United States. But the question on everyone's mind is: How do you make the crust? Usually, I recommend that people buy empanada crust (this is a link to my favorite brand) at the grocery store, as occasionally they are available in the frozen Latin American foods section. Unfortunately, empanada crusts are not reliably available. Sometimes you can find them, and sometimes you can't. (I think people stock up, so ...

The Kitchen Wrangler Video Podcast!

The New Video Podcast! Well, here it is – my introductory video podcast! I still have a lot to learn about producing videos, but I don’t think it is a bad start. Let’s consider for a moment my first efforts at still photography (I pasted in some of my first food pics below. I think…

Classic Texas Pinto Beans

Creamy Pasta Poblano with Garlic Shrimp

Cooking tip: Just because a recipe uses conventional ingredients doesn’t mean you are obligated to use them. Granted, substituting ingredients when baking a cake or bread doesn’t work out that well. There is some science-y stuff that happens with the leaveners like yeast and baking soda that can fail when you substitute. But making a…