In The Sisters’ Kitchen By now you know that we love fresh food and we love to cook. We just can’t help ourselves and are always on the look out for exciting new products, cooking techniques or tricks to make our tasks a little easier.
We hope these ideas will help make your cooking go more smoothly and keep you exploring new flavors in the wonderful world of food. If you have a tip or recipe that you'd love to share please let us know. Email us at
with your ideas.
Leftovers should be stored as soon as possible in the refrigerator or freezer. Prepared foods left at room temperature for 2 hours or longer are not safe to eat and should be discarded.
Turkey, ham and beef leftovers may be refrigerated 3 to 4 days or frozen up to 4-6 months. Side dishes should be eaten within 2 days, or frozen up to 2-3 months. Be sure to re-heat all of your left overs to 165F before eating.
McGinnis Sisters Aged American Angus Whole Beef Tenderloin - The prized center section of the whole, trimmed tenderloin with the sirloin and tip ends removed. This center-cut section is of a single cut of beef that is perfect when you use Bonnie's No Fail recipe! Plan on about 1/2 lbs per guest.
Not sure how long to cook those pork chops or how to grill that New York Strip to medium? Use our easy temperature guide to ensure your food is cooked safely.
First, make sure you have an instant read thermometer on hand. Many are even pre-programmed with the temperatures for each type of protein.
For Beef:
Rare 120 to 125°F. Center is bright red, pinkish toward the exterior portion
Medium Rare 130 to 135°F. Center is very pink, slightly brown toward the exterior portion
Medium 140 to 145°F. Center is light pink, outer portion is brown
Medium Well 150 to 155°F. Very little pink if any.
Well Done 160°F. Uniformly brown throughout.
Ground Beef should always reach 165°F.
Fish - 145 °F
Pork - 160 °F
Chicken Breasts - 165 °F
Whole Poultry - 165 °F
Egg Dishes - 160 °F
According to the Harvard School of Public Heath there is evidence that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
The higher the average daily intake of fruits and vegetables, the lower the chances of developing cardiovascular disease. Compared with those in the lowest category of fruit and vegetable intake (less than 1.5 servings a day), those who averaged 8 or more servings a day were 30% less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke.
Good choices are green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, and mustard greens. Try cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale. Citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit also make important contributions to your health.
Try to eat more fruits and vegetables. Aim for at least 5 -9 servings (4½ cups) a day. Choose a variety of different fruits and vegetables. It's easy to get into a rut when it comes to the food you eat. Break out and try a wider variety - include dark-green, leafy vegetables; yellow, orange, and red fruits and vegetables; cooked tomatoes; and citrus fruits.
Butternut squash is in season right now and make a great addition to lunch and dinner. Look for a squash that has no cracks or soft spots and is heavy for its size. Butternut squash will keep for months in a cool, dry place, so pick out ones you like and store until ready to use.
If making a recipe that calls for mashed squash, the easiest way to prepare it is to cut the squash in half vertically, and remove the seeds and fibers with a spoon. Place the halves, cut sides down, in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Add water to a depth of 1 inch, and bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until tender-when you can pierce the squash easily with a small knife. Let the squash cool, then scoop the pulp out with a spoon, and mash the pulp with a potato masher.
Other Tips and Tricks: One pound uncooked butternut squash will yield about 1 cup mashed. When the recipe calls for chopped, peeled squash (uncooked) Cut the squash in half and remove its seeds and fibers with a spoon.Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, cut it in cubes, and proceed with your recipe.
Root vegetable are often over looked but they taste great and are good for you! Parsnips might look like a creamed colored carrot but starchy parsnips can easy stand in for potatoes.
Look for small to medium-sized parsnips with beige skin. You'll find them year-round, but peak season is from fall to spring. Like other root vegetables, parsnips store well. Wrap unwashed parsnips in a paper towel, place in a plastic zip-top bag, and store in the vegetable crisper drawer of the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
To Use: Wash the exterior, and peel. Cut off the top and bottom, and slice or julienne, depending on the recipe's directions. Then steam, roast, or sauté for a hearty side dish. Add parsnips during the last 30 minutes of cooking when preparing stews and soups to keep them appealingly tasty. Search our Recipes section for more great ways to use parsnips.
Foley' Fresh Unsoaked Sea Scallops are a year round staple at McGinnis Sisters. Our sea scallops are from the Georges Bank off of the coast of Nova Scotia and have never been soaked in a brine or solution. Our Foley scallops are sugar sweet, naturally, with a firm texture unlike processed scallops which tend to be jelly-like and have a chemical aftertaste.
Many customers ask us the difference between our scallops and others they have seen marked as dry. Unfortunately “dry” scallops are soaked up to 8% of their body weight in brine or other solution. McGinnis Sisters sea scallops have never been soaked in brine or treated with chemicals. This natural treatment allows our scallops to maintain their sweet ocean taste. Our Foley scallops will caramelize perfectly for a stunning plate presentation.
Many people assume that all farm raised Atlantic salmon are the same quality and flavor. Foley's has "gone to school" on Atlantic salmon to provide the very highest quality, firmest textured, freshest and most flavorful Atlantic salmon produced anywhere.
Several major factors differentiate one farmed raised Atlantic salmon from another including gene pool, farming practices, harvest and travel time. Attention to detail at each step along the way, from the hatchery to the final shipping determines the overall quality and flavor of the salmon that we offer our customers.
In addition, Foley salmon farms test their salmon regularly at the parts per trillion levels for PCB's which is significantly higher than current government standards. Foley stands behind the healthfulness and quality of each fish.
Foley Fish also partners with farms who raise their fish with good husbandry. For example, all of our Foley Farmed Salmon is fed an all natural feed. Further, they cover their pens with polar twine tops to prevent fish escape. They feature underwater cameras to monitor feed and stop adding feed once the fish stop eating. They also allow pens to lay fallow and rotate pens as a farmer would his fields.
McGinnis Sisters is the exclusive provider of Foley Fish in Pittsburgh. Foley Fish buyers source their groundfish, like Captain’s Cod, from boats fishing on Georges Bank. The fishermen from this area describe the benefits of the Georges Bank as a habitat where the fish eat healthy and live clean.
The Georges Bank runs from the Northern tip of Cape Cod to the southern tip of Nova Scotia. The distance from shore make the waters of the Georges Bake exceptionally clean. Fish thrive in this pollutant free environment. Cod also thrives because the Georges Banks are very rich in nutrients. Two ocean currents converge at the banks providing Georges Bank fish with a superior diet. The relatively shallow water of this are allows the fish to better see and capture its foods. The end result is fish that are meaty and delicious to eat.
Unlike other companies who merely join associations, Foley Fish actively participates in fishery management with a representative on both the National Marine Fisheries Northeast Groundfish Advisory Panel and the Highly Migratory Species Panel. Foley's direct involvement in fishery management allows us to steer our customers to well managed, sustainable species. McGinnis Sisters is the exclusive retail provider of Foley Fish in Pittsburgh.
Everyone loves shrimp at holiday and tailgate parties! McGinnis Sisters makes it easy with our shrimp trays. We offer both Jumbo and Extra Large size shrimp and shrimp trays that serve 10-15 guests or 20-25 guests. Complete with lemons and our own cocktail sauce, McGinnis Sisters shrimp trays are great tasting and easy. Your guests will surely be impressed!
- Jumbo Size Shrimp, Serves 10-15 - $49.95
- Jumbo Size Shrimp, Serves 20-25 - $69.95
- Extra Large Size Shrimp, Serves 10-15 - $44.95
- Extra Large Size Shrimp, Serves 20-25 - $59.95
Need more or less shrimp for your party or meeting. No problem we can custom make a shrimp tray to meet your needs.
Pre-order at any location:
Adams Twp/Cranberry Area - 724-779-1212
Brentwood/South Hills Area - 412-882-6400
Monroeville/East Area - 412-858-7000
Do you need a little help selecting the right seafood for your family? Foley Fish has published the New England Sustainable Seafood Guide to showcase the health of the New England fishing stocks, the management measures in place to protect these stocks and the current growth of the biomass of stocks in New England waters.
This guide is by no means a comprehensive look at the oceans of the world but rather a snapshot of what is going on in New England where we source the majority of our seafood. Foley is helping to illuminate the good news about New England fisheries. Foley used the National Marine Fisheries Service for their information and vetted the guide with two leading fishery management scientists.
We encourage you to print the guide and share it with your friends. The guide is designed to be folded into a wallet sized pocket guide so you can bring it to the store on your next shopping trip. Foley Fish New England Sustainable Seafood Guide
With so many sizes and options choosing a fresh mozzarella can be confusing. To keep it simple we like to use the ovaliene and bocconcini sizes in our dishes. Bocconcini means "mouthful" in Italian. These bite-sized morsels of fresh mozzarella are perfect for appetizers and salads. Our sister Bonnie likes to make a salad with bocconcini mozzarella, prosciutto, fresh figs and a drizzle of olive oil. Just tear the prosciutto and toss with the mozzarella and sliced figs. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of the salad and serve.
Larger ovalene size mozzarella balls are perfect for a Caprese salad. To enjoy this restaurant favorite at home just slices a ball of mozzarella and layer it with freshly sliced tomato and fresh basil leaves. Drizzle the salads with a little extra virgin olive oil and good balsamic vinegar. Fresh mozzarella is best served at room temperature so that you can enjoy the full flavor of this delicious cheese.
Cheese is an investment in good taste and proper storage helps preserve the purity of its flavor. Plastic wrap, foil and other non porous materials suffocate and kill cheese, altering its flavor and accelerating spoilage.
Formaticum's two-ply Cheese Paper simulates the cave envireonment where cheese is traditionally aged. It allows the cheese to breathe while maintaining optimal humidity. Formaticum Cheese Paper is a small investment to keep your cheese fresher longer.
Here's how: Remove store wrap and put cheese in Formaticum Paper, placing the wrapped cheese in high humidity bin or a sealed container in your fridge. Use the enclosed adhesive labels to identify your cheese and ensure a proper wrap. Package contains 15 sheets of 11-14 cheese paper, enough to wrap 30 medium pieces of cheese for only $6.99. Now you can feel secure about your cheese investment and keep it optimally fresh so that each bite tastes as great as the day it was cut.
Use our fool proof method and think of your cheese plate as a clock.
Place the mildest cheese in the Noon position. Try Brie, Havarti, or Erin Gold. Next at Three o'clock stir things up a bit with Parrano or Champagne Cheddar. At Six o'clock start rockin' the platter with a two year old Black Diamond or Tillamook Cheddar, Manchego or Fontiago. Nine o'clock bring your platter full circle with Beemster Classic, award winning Sartori Gold or invite Old Brugge and see what happens.
Now the fun begins, fill in the gaps with honeyed nuts, fresh dates, dried fruit and fresh from the oven breads. Plan to purchase about 2oz of cheese per person.
Brie cheese is a wonderful soft-ripened cow's milk cheese that is off-white or light grey in color. This creamy cheese is covered by a semi-soft white edible rind.
Fresh Brie should have a slightly acidic odor and a buttery, salty flavor. Double and triple cream Brie's are the most popular amount the imported Fresh Brie cheeses. In order for a cheese to be called triple cream the butterfat content must be at least 75%. Double cream cheese only needs to have a butterfat content of 60%. In general triple cream cheeses are going to be smoother, richer, and more complex with a texture closer to butter (which is 100% butterfat) than a double cream cheese. It is almost always worth the splurge for a triple cream Brie but when hosting a party, a double cream Brie will help your dollars stretch without sacrificing flavor.
Store Brie cheese in the refrigerator in the vegetable or high humidity drawer. When selecting Brie, always check the expiration date on the package to ensure the product won’t spoil within a few days. When you get home re-wrap your Brie tightly in wax paper and then in foil. We also suggest using the cheese papers sold in our cheese dept as they are created specifically to increase the life of your cheese. The cheese papers simulate a cheese cave right in your own refrigerator.
Brie is excellent served on its own with a variety of nuts, fresh and dried fruits, preserves, chutneys, crackers and breads. The rind of the cheese, although slightly bitter, is also edible. Brie can also be wrapped in puff pastry and baked for Brie en croute. Brie is also great in fondue, sauces, paté, on baked potatoes and in soups and sandwiches.
Bob’s Red Mill offers a wide variety of whole grain products including whole grain flower, hot cereal and baking mixes to make incorporating whole grains into your diet easier. Bob’s Red Mill is the nation’s leader in stone milling and offers the widest diversity of whole grains found anywhere.
For those suffering from Celiac disease Bob’s Red Mill has become a leader in producing high quality Gluten Free products. McGinnis Sisters is a leader among those offering Gluten Free products. In 2001 we started carrying Gluten Free essential and hosting classes and informational sessions. Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods creates several of our favorite Gluten Free products including brownie and bread mixes.
Be sure to check for the Gluten Free symbol on all certified gluten free products. This symbol informs those following a gluten free diet that the product is produced in a dedicated facility free from wheat and other gluten-containing grains or derivatives.
The Stonewall Kitchen dream began 21 years ago with a few jams displayed on a three foot card table at a farmers market in Maine. Since then this dynamic company has been driven by a passion for food and a knack for creativity.
In 2004 we visited Jonathan King and James Scoot in Maine for a full tour of the Stonewall Kitchen facilities. We were among the lucky few who have ever gotten a rare behind the scenes look into their word of jellies, jams, sauces and mixes. We spent time in the company stores, the factory, and the test kitchen to get an up-close look at this award winning line. After dinner at their home we could not agree more that life with Stonewall Kitchen is always delicious.
Ina Garten has been one of our Food Network favorites since 2002 when she started her own show Barefoot Contessa. The show was named after her East Hamptons store of the same name.
McGinnis Sisters was the first store in Pittsburgh to sell Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Pantry line of products. These delicious products allow you to make Ina’s classic recipes in no time at all. What could be better than creating that East Hampton feeling right at home?
The flu season is fast approaching so be sure your family is prepared and takes steps to stay healthy!
Stay informed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a comprehensive Web site for higher education institutions, including fraternities and sororities, and preparing for the flu. Visit the site at
www.flu.gov for more information.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.o Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcoholbased hands cleaners are also effective.Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
Try to get plenty of rest (7 hours sleep recommended). Eat regularly and don’t skip meals. Choose variety, including fruits and vegetables, and proteins, low fat milk and milk products, healthy grains, plenty of water daily.Staying hydrated is very important. Stay active. The balance between rest and activity is a critical one for all of use in building and maintaining a healthy body and immune system, which we depend on when the body is stressed with illness.
Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
Better Batter Gluten Free Flour is the brainchild of Naomi Poe, and quite literally an answer to prayer. In 2003, after a year and a half of unsuccessful therapies for developmental and speech delays commonly associated with autism, Naomi asked her doctor, in desperation, if there was something she was missing. Naomi’s doctor suggested that perhaps gluten was behind her oldest son’s autistic symptoms. Testing revealed that he was suffering from gluten enteropathy. Six weeks on the diet were enough to cause an 180 degree improvement in her son, so much so that he was taken off of the ’spectrum’ for autistic behavior.
Feeding her family of four on a Glueten Free diet, Naomi began to look for better tasting and easy to use Gluten Free mixes. Finally, Naomi came up with a formula for a Gluten Free Flour that could be used in traditional recipes and Better Batter was born! Find great tasting recipes at
www.betterbatter.org