My name sake Lisa Marie Presley passed away suddenly at the age of 54 on January 12, 2023. I have followed her through the years and felt connected to her in so many ways. My heart and prayers go out to her family- especially her children. I am dedicating this Blog post to Lisa, featuring all 3 of her favourite cuisines she recently mentioned in an article they were: Japanese (Sushi), Mexican, and Italian. Lisa also spoke in many different articles how she tried to eat healthy so I will be making all three of her favourite cuisines with a healthy twist.
Lisa Marie’s 1st favorite cuisine: Japanese
First up we start with a Sushi appi:
– full disclosure – sushi is not in my cooking wheel house ha-ha. So we ordered from our favorite sushi place – we chose Salmon Nigiri, Volcano rolls and California rolls with soy sauce and extra wasabi – Mama loves the heat! Delish! (This is on my bucket list to learn to cook different Asian cuisines- stay tuned folks!)
Lisa Marie’s 2nd favorite cuisine: Mexican
For Lisa lunch I am serving a healthy Chicken Taco
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
½ cup boiling water
1 McCormick Chicken bouillon cube
1 Tbs EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 Tbs Cajan or Tex Mex seasoning
S n P (Salt and Peppa) to taste
1 Tbs Veggie oil
1 Sweet Red Pepper julienned
1 Sweet Orange Pepper julienned
1 Sweet Yellow Pepper julienned
1 Green Pepper julienned
1 Red jalapeno (Anaheim pepper) julienned
1 Large onion sliced
1 Tbs Hoisin Sauce
1 grated/minced garlic clove
Kim chi cabbage
1 Green Apple julienned
Fresh Cilantro
Mayo
Sriracha
Salsa
Guacamole (I usually dice up an avocado, add hot pepper, onion, green pepper, celery, Cilantro, EVOO, S n P, Lemon or Lime Juice).
Mexican shredded cheese in the bag to taste
Multigrain tortilla wraps
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 225f
Put Chicken breasts in a baking dish
put bouillon cube in small bowl with boiling water and dissolve pour over chicken
brush or coat chicken breasts with EVOO and then season with S n P and Cajan Seasoning. Bake low and slow for 3-4 hours and then after cooled set aside while you prepare other taco components.
Heat veggie oil in a wok or deep-frying pan and add your onion and peppers, S n P and sauté for a few minutes until desired tenderness add in your hoisin sauce and sauté 1 more minute- I like a little char on mine. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat up a cast griddle over high heat – brush Chicken with oil and grill on all sides turning to get char grill marks then set aside and after cooled thinly slice or dice.
I heat up my multigrain tortillas in the oven to make them hot and a little crunchy.
I start to assemble the taco by drizzling mayo and sriracha on the tortilla, I then put in my chicken and pepper/ onion mixture and top with guacamole, Mexican cheese, salsa, and garnish with a little Kim chi cabbage and green apple and cilantro. YUM YUM!!
I serve this with a healthy triple bean salad and coleslaw. Delish! Enjoy Y’all!!!
Lisa Marie’s third favorite cuisine: Italian –
I have prepared an Italian Beef Veggie Pasta dish.
Ingredients:
1 Tbs EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 Tsp of Margarine
1 lb. of extra lean ground beef (have a local butcher where we get our meat and I have to say I will never buy ground beef from the store again- such a difference).
2 Tbs of liquid beef gravy browner
1 Tbs of Worcestershire sauce (can’t say it I admit it- you know what I’m sayin!”
1 Tbs ground Cumin
1 lb. of fresh mushrooms diced
I large yellow onion diced
¼ cub of Dry Sherry ( don’t buy this at the grocery store folks- only cook with wine you love and would drink- don’t cheap out on this part- go to the liquor store and buy some good Sherry- it does make a difference!)
1 Tbs of Margarine
S n P to taste (don’t add too much salt – you get a lot from the bouillon and broth – you can always add more but you can’t take away!)
3 Organic Carrots finely diced
3 Celery Ribs finely diced
6 asparagus spears finely diced
1 red jalapeno (Anaheim pepper) finely diced
1 green pepper finely diced
3 grated/minced garlic cloves
1 McCormick chicken bouillon cube
1 Tbs of Adobe Seasoning
1 Tbs of Italian seasoning
1 can Campbells beef broth
1 cup of milk (might need to add a little more depending on consistency)
½ cup of heavy whipping cream
½ cup finely grated parmigiana cheese (I use the one in the container I have to admit)
Fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
Fresh Sprig of Thyme
Recipe:
I will put down a piece of tin foil on my counter and spread out my ground beef and coat with the Worcestershire, parsley and S n P.
Heat 1 tsp of Margarine in a deep-frying pan and when smokin' hot, add your beef and scramble fry until brown, add your gravy browner (let it go before scrambling- I like it to get a little char). Set meat aside.
In same pot reheat with EVOO and margarine and add your mushrooms and onion cooking over medium high heat – you want to hear it sizzle. Sauté until mushrooms get brown and onion caramelize a little- about 10 minutes. Add your Sherry and sauté for few more minutes until reduced to consistency you prefer. (You can light the Sherry on fire with a lighter if you want to be like the rock star chef you are- I get scared as I singed off my eyebrows once so I just let the alcohol cook off naturally ha-ha!). Set this mixture aside.
In same pot heat up EVOO and Margarine and add in your carrots, celery, asparagus, peppers, S n P, and sauté until translucent about 5-7 minutes. Add in your garlic, McCormick bouillon cube, Adobe and Italian seasoning- cook for 5 more minutes to wake the spices up. Add in your milk, beef broth and bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer, add in your whipping cream, parm cheese, parsley and thyme. Add back in your meat mixture and mushroom mixture, simmer for 30-60 minutes or until all veggies are cooked through. (If sauce is too thin you can put a 1-2 Tbs of flour equal parts butter or Margarine in a small bowl and add in 2 Tbs of the hot broth and mix together until paste is formed – this cooks out the flour taste- then you can add into your pot and this will make it get thicker).
Boil water in a large tall pot and cook your egg noodles only till al-dente – they get soggy fast don’t overcook these! Drain and toss with butter so noodles don’t stick.
When you are ready to serve add the egg noodles into the pot and it should be thick consistency. Serve in a big white pasta bowl and garnish with a dollop of sour cream or crème fraiche and sprinkle with fresh parsley. (My husband puts parm cheese on all my Italian dishes you can but I do not prefer it on this dish). And my mama always said especially with Italian dishes they get even after the spices get to know each other so this is great sometimes even better the next day or the next!
Yummy Yummy – Good comfort eats in our tummy!! Enjoy!
I finish off with my last little recipe in honour of Lisa’s Dad- the King- I have made my take on his favourite sandwich- Elvis PBBB Crostini. My Husband absolutely loved this! Bacon makes everything better! This is the treat my peeps no healthy twist on this one ha-ha! Eat at your own risk!
Ingredients:
1 baguette cut into diagonal slices
EVOO drizzle
Bacon slices
Banana large diagonal slices
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Peanut butter to taste
Roasted salted chopped peanuts to taste
Cilantro for garnish
Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400f
Brush bread slices with EVOO and put on baking sheet and put peanuts on same tray and set aside
Cook bacon in frying pan I try to cook it in the shape with folds add pinch of cayenne – cook until crispy- set aside.
In same pan sauté banana slices in bacon grease over medium high heat about 1 minute per side and set aside.
Cook bread and peanuts until bread golden brown about 5 minutes take out and when cool enough to handle, spread peanut butter to taste on the crostini then top with banana slices and spicy bacon slice. Garnish with roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro. Enjoy! Thankyou, thankyou very much.
I hope you all enjoyed my full menu in honor of my name sake Lisa Marie Presley. This is a reminder for all of us to live every day to the fullest – give the ones you love a hug and a kiss and tell them you love them every day. And lets be mindful of what foods we are putting in our body and try to make healthy choices when we can and the not so healthy choices in moderation.
Stay safe and God Bless you!
Mama Lisa Marie xoxoxox