Mosaic Monday: Strawberries

Strawberries. I have one little pot of them and they have come back every year for the past four or five years. There is nothing like just grabbing a berry, still warm from the sun and popping it in your mouth. Not bad with fresh whipped cream or just a little sprinkle of brown sugar. Simple is really good! For dessert this afternoon we had store bought Strawberries with Mint Whipped Cream. Delicious. But nothing beats a juicy, fresh berry that you grew yourself.

Joining Mary from The Little Red House for another Mosaic Monday!  Stop by the Little Red House to see lots of fantastic Mosaics every week!

Strawberries with Mint Whipped Cream

Source: Martha Stewart, Everyday Food - May 2007
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup sugar
1 packed cup fresh mint leaves and stems, coarsely chopped (recipe called for 2 cups, but we found it fine with one)
1 cup heavy cream
1 quart strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced

mint sprigs for garnish

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar, mint, and 2 tablespoons of water to a boil. Remove from heat; steep for 15 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a cup, pressing to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. Let cool (makes about cup).

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in one cup syrup (store any remaining syrup, really good in lemonade!) You can re-whip the cream to stiffen, if necessary.

Starting with strawberries, spoon alternating layers of strawberries and mint cream into four serving glasses. Garnish with a mint sprig.

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Another Smoky, Sweet-Hot Sauce!

This recipe for pork chops came to my inbox the other day from the Seattle Times Food and Wine newsletter and when it said it can be ready in about a half an hour, it definitely peaked my interest. Not to mention the maple syrup and the chipotle's! There's that sweet-hot again! First time for us having a pork chop, just one of those things, never had one, never ordered one out, we just always just passed them by, but not any more. we really enjoyed them. Sauce was great, it would also be really good on wings, pork tenderloin, salmon, the possibilities are endless. Doesn't get any easier and it packs a lot of flavor. Of course Miss Picky opted out. She had a burger. A very thin, very flat burger. You've heard of quarter-pounders? Well this must have been a quarter-ouncer! No kidding. My new trick, I used a rolling pin to get it pretty flat. I told you, Miss Picky is very, very Miss Picky!

Grilled Maple-Chipotle Pork Chops
Source: Seattle Times Living, from a recipe in the cookbook "The Big Book of BBQ" by Southern Living
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced, plus one teaspoon adobo sauce
6 (1 1/4-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
Salt and pepper

Whiz the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor. Or chop the chipotles and then whisk everything together.

Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper.

Grill, covered, about 20 minutes depending, or until thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 155°F, turning once. Baste with half the barbecue sauce mixture during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Serve with remaining sauce drizzled on top.

Joining  Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter

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Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad

The recipe said salad, but we had it hot for dinner, and added vegetables so it ended up being the entire meal. I loved this one, and it was really good cold then next day. That's when it became Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad. When we had it for dinner it was just Sesame Pasta Chicken! I bet it would be good with tuna or salmon, too!

I added some sauteed vegetables, sugar snap peas and a little wilted baby spinach, but I think broccoli and carrots would be good, too, next time! There will be a next time. We liked this one.

Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad
Source: Allrecipes, posted by ohines
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 (16 ounce) package bow tie pasta
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons white sugar (I used less)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped green onion

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds, and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper. Shake well.

Pour sesame dressing over pasta, and toss to coat evenly. Gently mix in chicken, cilantro, and green onions.

My notes: I added sauteed sugar snap peas and when it was done, I put in a package of baby spinach and heated it until it was just beginning to wilt.I did not rinse the pasta in water, just drained. Mixed the vegetables in the bowl with the chicken and pasta, then mixed in the dressing. I served it hot but it was also good cold, next day!

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Brisket

Made brisket this weekend, ha, bet you all thought it was chicken again! Brisket is our other go to dish and I usually make Kay Hartman's Aunt Irene's brisket from an old show, Calling All Cooks, on the Food Network. but this time I made Grandma Selma's brisket from Food and Wine Online. Who are these people? They are definitely not my relatives, I have no clue, but we love their briskets! I adapt most brisket recipes to braising at 300 degrees F for about 4 hours, it's the only way I manage to get a tender brisket, a hotter oven and I end up with a really tough piece of meat. Go with whatever works for you, for some reason, I don't do well with long, involved recipes!

I may have put a little too much cinnamon in, maybe cocoa, it definitely tasted really good, the cayenne gave it a really good kick, but the smell of the cinnamon with the brisket kind of threw me off a little. At least the other day while it was cooking. Brisket always taste better the second day, so we waited for tonight to have it. Would definitely, most definitely make this recipe again, we really liked it. It was a thick, deep, rich sauce, the meat came out really tender with a lot of great flavor but it wouldn't replace Aunt Irene's brisket. That one is tops! If you want my honest opinion. Selma's comes in a very close second! you know, a brisket recipe brings up almost as many opinions and recipes as chicken soup and matzoh balls!

Grandma Selma's Brisket
Source: original recipe from Food and Wine, recipe by Russ Pillar

I adapted the braising part to fit my lazy style of cooking!
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup light brown sugar (I used a little less!)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
One 5-pound beef brisket, trimmed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 large onions, sliced 1/2 inch thick
2 pounds carrots, cut diagonally 1/8 inch thick
2 cups Coca-Cola
One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup ketchup

Preheat the oven to 300°.

Put the brisket, fat side down, in a large, heavy baking casserole. Add the onions and carrots.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients. Then pour the sauce over the vegetables and brisket, cover tightly with foil and braise for about 3 hours.

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, slice the meat across the grain 1/4 inch thick, return to the casserole and spoon the sauce over the meat and cook uncovered for 1 hour, or until the meat is fork-tender. Transfer the meat to a platter, spoon the onions, carrots and sauce over and serve.

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Mosaic Monday: Grilling Fish

It still surprises me that I was able to get three out of four at the dinner table to try fish. Let alone enjoy it! It's actually become a weekly thing now. The big kid even asks for it. Miss Picky, well, still picky, she gets a substitute of whatever can be thrown on the grill. It could take years for Miss Picky to come over to the fish side. Maybe never. Not even a fish stick. Not even a goldfish cheese cracker. I have a better chance with the crackers.

So far these are our top four fish dishes, mostly because I could only fit four in the mosaic! But keep reading, there will definitely be more fish recipes in our future. For sure. And when in doubt, with no time and no recipe, a little swish of teriyaki marinade on a hunk of fish and the grill, makes an easy, fast dinner.

Grilled Fish Taco's with Lime and Jalapeno Cole Slaw

Grilled Salmon with Garlic and Lime Butter

Cilantro-Chipotle Tilapia

Grilled Tuna with Wasabi Mayo

Joining Mary from The Little Red House for another Mosaic Monday! Stop by the Little Red House to see lots of fantastic Mosaics every week!

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Flashback Friday: Quiche

My favorite quiche, Broccoli, Mushroom and Cheddar!

I love quiche, and it's a nice change of pace for dinner sometimes. And very easy to put together! Use whatever you have in the frig. but my favorite combination is broccoli, mushrooms and cheddar, although anything goes! We had it with a big salad! Romaine, arugula, baby spinach, yellow peppers, carrots, baby plum tomatoes and beets with a classic vinaigrette!

It's definitely a repeat since I've posted the recipes before, but it's so good, I'll post it again for Flashback Friday and join Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet for another visit to a really great recipe! Check out Suzy's Flashback Friday for more "new visits to old favorites!"

Basic Vinaigrette
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 -5 tablespoons or more, good vinegar -- wine, sherry, rice, balsamic, fruit, etc.
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped

Put all ingredients in a glass jar with a lid. Tighten lid and shake until combined and emulsified!

Broccoli, Mushroom and Cheddar Quiche

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

NOTE - I've used 1% milk, with no cream, and it comes out just as good with a lot less fat!

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (I use deep dish)

Custard Filling:

3 eggs

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups broccoli, florets, chopped small

1-1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

8 ounces mushrooms, white button, sliced

1 shallot, chopped fine

olive oil and a little butter

Preheat oven to 375°. Line pie shell with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill it with uncooked beans, rice, aluminum or ceramic pie weights. Bake until golden brown and dry. Carefully remove foil and weights. Transfer to a wire rack to cool while making filling.

 

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add shallots, and cook, stirring, until translucent but not brown, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, and season with salt and pepper. Add broccoli and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms first release their liquid and then liquid evaporates and mushrooms are dark golden brown and the broccoli is tender.

 

Transfer quiche pan to a baking sheet. Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, cream, eggs. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix in the mushrooms, shallots, broccoli and remaining cheese. Pour into the pie shell. Transfer to oven, and bake until just set in the center, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before slicing.

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Lunch

We're officially addicted to panini's. Here's one we had for lunch the other day! Roast beef and smoked turkey with pepper jack cheese, fried onions and chipotle mayonnaise!  If you give the sandwich a half turn in the middle of grilling, after about 2-3 minutes, you get a cool grill pattern on the bread!  Still haven't figured out how to keep the cheese from oozing out but we're enjoying the experimenting! Served with potato chips and pickles. My mother always served us sandwiches with chips and pickles.

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Oranges!

Oranges say SUNSHINE to me, and we had a nice somewhat sunny weekend, so what better to go with a grilled dinner than a nice sunny salad? Had to make some substitutions so the Griller didn't have to run out to the store for me at the last minute! Used romaine and baby spinach, instead of mixed greens and endive. Sort of my own mix of greens! I used fennel, it was mentioned in a review! and threw in some walnuts for good measure!

Mixed Greens, Oranges, and Endive with Orange Vinaigrette
Source: Bon Appétit, August 2003
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons orange juice (I used the fresh juice from the leftover orange that was sectioned for the salad, just squeeze it!)
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large navel oranges
8 cups mixed greens (I used romaine and baby arugula)
1 medium head of Belgian endive, halved lengthwise, cut lengthwise into thin strips (I used fennel because I didn't have the endive on hand)
Walnuts (optional) toasted or not

Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Whisk in olive oil; and some freshly ground pepper.

Using a small knife, cut off  the peel and the white pith from oranges. Working over a large bowl, cut between the membranes to release the orange segments into bowl. Add the greens and endive (or fennel or both, if you like) to the bowl with the oranges. Drizzle dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Check seasoning. Mix in some walnuts!

Joining Mary from The Little Red House for another Mosaic Monday! Stop by the Little Red House to see lots of fantastic Mosaics every week!

 Minneola Orange

Easy to peel, easy to eat

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Dinner...

Well, you guessed it...

more chicken!

Bobby Flay's Chipotle-Honey-Glazed Chicken Wings, although I made them with drumsticks instead. and I took the skin off. They were baked in the oven with just the rub before we grilled them with the glaze and they came out fantastic! Sticky, sweet, hot and spicy! So many flavors! This is a great recipe! We loved it. Cold leftovers tomorrow will be just as good, I'm sure! Standing in front of the frig, nibbling. I can just picture it now!

but I also made a really delicious salad that I found on Angie's Recipe's. Hers looked so good and I had this bag of red lentils just waiting, in the pantry, for years and years. Not really years and years, year is more like it. It's one of those things, I must have seen a recipe, bought the lentils, can't find recipe, the lentils just sat there. But then I saw Angie's Red Lentil Salad and I know, even Miss Picky would eat this! and she did! and she loved it!

I've never cooked lentils before and they lost their pretty color at first, and they got kind of stuck together, maybe the pot was too small, but then after cooking them for about 8 or 9 minutes, I drained them in a strainer and gave them a rinse in cold water and they looked ok. Not mushy like I first thought. Not mushy at all. I guess 8 minutes of cooking is a perfect time, I didn't get distracted and they came out perfect. and they looked nice, too! Didn't have zucchini, but hey, I cooked it right, I can't be responsible for everything! So i just left it out! I thought I had raspberry vinegar. I just might but I couldn't find it, among the other 800 vinegars I just had to have! My pantry is a bit frightening. It's packed. You can't move things or else you can't fit them back! So I used Pomegranate Vinegar instead. Great sub, it was good. and I love Walnut Oil, this recipe is keeper! I'll be buying more Red Lentils! Thanks, Angie, we loved this recipe!

Mine came out looking not so pretty, but it sure did taste good! 

 

Red Lentil Salad
Source: Angie's Recipes
Printable Recipe

200 g red lentils (I used 2 cups)
4 cups water
1/3 red bell pepper, diced
3 cherry tomatoes, diced (I used more, quartered!)
1 small chunk zucchini, finely diced

3 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and remove any debris. Place lentils and water in a medium pot. Bring it to a boil and cook the lentils until soft but firm, about 8 minutes.

Whisk together the walnut oil and raspberry vinegar in a small bowl, add in the garlic, salt, and pepper. Dice the red pepper, zucchini and cherry tomatoes.

Once the lentils are done, drain and rinse with cold running water. Place them in a large bowl and toss together with the red pepper, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and dressing, mix in the dried parsley.

and those little pickles on the plate? Wickles Pickles. If you ever see a jar of them, buy them, buy two! They are amazing! Wickedly amazing! My newest addiction! Thank you to my four funny  friends for turning me on to them!

Chipotle-Honey-Glazed Chicken Wings (or Legs!)
Source: Adapted from Grill It! by Bobby Flay
Printable Recipe

1 cup honey
2 to 3 tablespoons pureed canned chipotle chiles in adobo
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons ancho chile powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons oil
2 -3 teaspoons ground coriander
2 -3 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Spanish paprika
3 pounds chicken wings (I used drumsticks and took the skin off)

Heat grill to medium-high.

Whisk together the honey, chipotle puree, the mustard, 1 tablespoon of the ancho powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a small bowl. Divide the glaze evenly between 2 bowls, one small, the other large.

Stir together the remaining 3 tablespoons of ancho powder with the coriander, cumin, and paprika in a small bowl.

Rinse the chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. If you are using wings, then cut the tips off the wings and discard (or freeze and use for making chicken stock). Cut each wing into 2 pieces through the joint. If using drumsticks, remove the skin if you like, easier to do by holding the bottom of the leg with a paper towel and taking another paper towel and pulling the skin down and then off.

Place the chicken in a large bowl, add the spice rub and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper and place the wings on the grill in an even layer. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the heat of the grill to medium, turn the chicken over, and close the lid of the grill. Continue grilling until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes longer, brushing with the small bowl of glaze every few minutes and turning once during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Transfer the chicken to the large bowl, brush with the reserved glaze, and toss to coat.

My Notes: I roasted the drumsticks in a 350 degree oven until they were mostly done, then finished on a gas grill!

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Flashback Friday: Pound Cake

It's time for another flashback! Joining Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet for another visit to a really great recipe! Check out Suzy's Flashback Friday for more "new visits to old favorites!"

My friend Lisa and I don't always agree on everything, but I do have to agree that her pound cake recipe makes a really great pound cake! It's got a nice crunchy crust, although that could be my fault, the buzzer does seem to go off a little before I can get to take it out!  and the recipe says 40 minutes but not in my oven, more like 50 or 60 minutes. Good thing the recipe makes two because I usually manage to take out the "test" cake too early! I know the parts I jabbed the cake tester in were fine, but there was that undercooked middle section! and five cups of flour? My arm was aching just folding it in! But we love this cake. Even better a la mode!

Miss Picky tasted it and said it was good. The over-baked crust tasted like a sugar cookie and the inside was dense and delicious!

Friday is Teacher Appreciation Day at the High School. I do appreciate the teachers. A lot. I was one of those students where the Principal had an ongoing relationship with my mother because I was a talker, very sociable during class, not to mention a wiseass! Harmless, but a total distraction! So I can appreciate what these people go through on a daily basis! But of course not from my kid, she's an angel :)

Anyway, I was asked to bake something for them. Obviously they never got the memo that I am not a good baker. I would have appreciated them much, much more if I could have just gone to the bakery and placed an order. So instead I am baking. Lisa's Pound Cake. It's so good. Even better toasted with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. and even better when Lisa bakes it. So I did bake. It makes two loaves. and one of those two loaves had better be edible! One was underdone and had to go back in. The other looks good but I burnt the top a teeny bit! So do I send in underdone or overdone? The kid has another two years, if they ignore me next year, I'll know the cake stunk.

But we like it! Especially with a side of sorbet!

Pound Cake
Source: Lisa F
Printable Recipe

1 cup butter or margarine (softened)
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon Amaretto (or vanilla or almond extract)

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

Cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy. It's very important to beat until the sugar is no longer grainy.

Beat in eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour and the amaretto. Spoon into the two prepared loaf pans. Set in a COLD oven and then turn oven on to temperature of 350 degrees F. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Click HERE for original post!

There is one very special teacher that I really do appreciate, my friend, Kathleen, over at Cuisine Kathleen! Would have been fun to be a parent in her class! Just don't tell her I said something nice about her. She could fall over or something.

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The "to try" list...

I like trying new recipes out on my unsuspecting family. In my recipe folder on my computer are tons of recipes I would like to try, and tons more bookmarked for online. And every once in a while I hit it right, actually more than once in a while, since I know what NOT to make for them. But I do like to widen their horizons and mine! Still working on blue cheese, but I am completely positive that it will never happen. Not ever. I love it, always have since I was a kid even, but two out of three tried and intensely disliked. The picky one just plain refused. But they do try for the most part and indulge me in my "to try" list for the most part.

So I know they eat wild rice, black beans and corn. All mixed up together in a salad and cold, not so sure. Throw in some roasted poblano peppers, and they did try the Wild Rice Salad from Martha Stewart's Living. and they loved it. I didn't serve it cold, we ran late and it never did have time to get cold. This was a great dish!

Beets and tomatoes, they eat both of those. This was a very good salad! and Grandma was very happy because there was not one hot pepper, not one smidgen of cayenne, jalapeno or anything else to curl her toes in any of the recipes! She got a little nervous when I mentioned poblano pepper, but it's such a nice mild pepper, and so good roasted, she was fine with it. Have to give her credit, she can be adventurous when it comes to food once in a while. She at least tries. Hear that Miss Picky? Ok, but grandma is pretty vocal when she doesn't like it. Grandma and Picky are pretty similar, sometimes!

Roasted Poblano Pepper

Wild Rice Salad
Source: Martha Stewart Living, July 2008
Printable Recipe

3 cups water
1 cup wild rice
Coarse salt
2 fresh poblano peppers
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used 2 cloves)
1 1/2 cups corn kernels (from about 3 ears) (I used frozen kernels!)
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
Freshly ground pepper
2 scallions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup) (I forgot to add these and it was fine!)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (I used 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 limes)

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add rice and 2 teaspoons salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until rice is al dente and some grains have split, 45 to 50 minutes. Drain.

Roast poblanos directly over a gas-stove burner or under a broiler, turning often with tongs, until charred on all sides. Place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand for 15 minutes. Rub poblanos with a paper towel to remove skins. Cut a slit down the side of each poblano, and remove seeds. Cut into 1/2-inch dice. *MY NOTE - I use a paper bag and fold it closed. and after about ten or fifteen minutes, I rinsed the pepper under cool running water, while rubbing the skin off to get all those black skin bits and seeds off! Saw that on TV once. It worked and it's one less bowl to wash!

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add poblanos, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in corn, and cook for 3 minutes. Add wild rice and black beans, stirring to coat, and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Let cool slightly, then transfer to a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. Stir in scallions, cilantro, and lime juice. *I garnished with some avocado slices. 

Beet and Tomato Salad
adapted a bit, I added red onions, sliced very thin and a little lemon zest! I was running out of time, so I cheated and used precooked beets from Trader Joe's, They weren't canned! But roasting is really easy and tastes so good!
Source: Martha Stewart Living, September 2007
Printable Recipe

6 red beets, trimmed, halved lengthwise
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4 to 6 ripe tomatoes (about 2 pounds), preferably heirloom, cut into wedges
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup small mint leaves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place beets, cut sides up, on parchment-lined foil on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with oil, and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Fold foil over beets to enclose, and crimp edges to seal. Bake until tender, about 35 minutes. Let cool. Peel, and cut into wedges. (Beets can be refrigerated in an airtight container overnight.)

Arrange beets and tomatoes on a serving platter. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice, and season with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Scatter mint over top, and serve.

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Guess what? More chicken...

As part of my 1001 ways to do chicken, or so it seems, here is maybe my 785th way!
GRILLED WINGS! Sweet-hot wings. Very hot, kind of sweet, very sticky, and very, very good!

We love wings. Probably more than we like cutlets. Miss Picky likes them, too, so I get to play around with recipes, knowing she'll at least join in on dinner! There's always a grilled hot dog for just in case though! Found two really great sounding recipes. Both easy enough. and they have that Sweet-hot flavor that we love.

Found a couple of great looking recipes when I was googling for recipes, and then decided to make it easier to search with pictures, went to Photograzing, typed "chicken wings" in the search box, and it gave me plenty to choose from. The first one I found comes from the blog, The Duo Dishes. Exactly what I was looking for, Sweet Chili Chicken Wings! Sweet and hot, our favorite combination!

and then I kept looking, just to be sure!  and I couldn't resist this one, from the blog, What We're Eating! So we're having two kinds of wings today! Both were fantastic, glad I didn't have to choose! The only changes I made to both recipes were to start them in the oven and finish them on the grill. The Griller has less of a chance of charring beyond recognition that way! and I added a little more Sriracha sauce to the recipe, we love that stuff! forgot to add the five spice and the paprika, not to mention the scallions and it was still a great recipe! Grandma is getting used to the heat now, she enjoyed it, too!

Sweet Chili Chicken Wings
Source: The Duo Dishes
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili oil
2 teaspoons sriracha
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Kosher salt
Paprika
Five spice powder
Scallions

Season the chicken liberally with five spice powder, paprika and salt. Spread on a flat layer on a baking sheet and slide into a preheated oven at 375 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

While chicken bakes, mix the remaining ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Once it begins to bubble, reduce to a simmer and cook until it begins to thicken.

Remove chicken from the oven and drop the pieces into the sauce. Coat in the sauce, cover and simmer another 5-10 minutes until sauce gets thick and dark and coats the chicken.  Remove from the sauce pan and sprinkle with scallions.

My note: My only changes were to add more Sriracha, the stuff is addicting! and I started the wings in the oven and finished on the grill!

Sriracha-Peach Chicken Wings
Source: What We're Eating
Printable Recipe


1 (15oz) can peach halves in heavy syrup
1 tablespoon sriracha, plus more if desired
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra
1 1/2 lb chicken wings or drumettes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Strain the heavy syrup from the peaches into a small sauce pan. Place the syrup over medium to medium-high heat and reduce in half.

Place three peach halves into a blender or food processor with the reduced syrup, sriracha, vinegar and dark soy sauce. Puree until smooth and transfer to a bowl.

Finely dice the remaining peach halves. Add the diced peaches, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to the bowl with the peach puree. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Taste the sauce. Adjust the seasonings as desired with more kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper and sriracha as necessary.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Season the chicken wings lightly with kosher salt, toss to coat. Place the wings into the lined sheet pan. Evenly pour the sauce over the wings, toss to coat with sauce, and place into the preheated 400 degree oven. Bake at 400 for 50 minutes, flipping the wings and basting with sauce in the pan after 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Using tongs, carefully transfer wings to a serving dish then spoon remaining sauce from the pan over the wings.

My note: I started the wings in the oven in a disposable foil pan, but finished them on the grill!

French Potato Salad
Source: Martha Stewart, Everyday Food - July/August 2009 
Printable Recipe

2 1/2 pounds fingerling or small new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 small shallot, minced (2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 small red onion, sliced

Place potatoes in a large pot; cover with cold water by 1 inch and season generously with salt. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Run under cold water to cool slightly, then drain.

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, mustard, vinegar, shallot, parsley, and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Add potatoes and onion and toss to combine. Serve at room temperature.

To make ahead, you can refrigerate and store overnight.

Creamy Cole Slaw
Source: Martha Stewart Living, June 2004
Printable Recipe

This is a really creamy kind of slaw! I left out the onion, but next time will add a little bit! and it makes a lot! Serves from 6-8 but I think it will serve more than that!

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 small green cabbage, (about 1 3/4 pounds), shredded
2 medium carrots, cut into 1/8-inch-thick matchsticks or coarsely grated or shredded
1 small onion, coarsely grated (optional)

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, mayonnaise, and sour cream in a small bowl. Refrigerate dressing, covered, until ready to use, or up to 2 days.

Put cabbage, carrots, and onion (if desired) in a large bowl. Pour in dressing, and toss thoroughly. Refrigerate, covered, until slaw begins to soften, 1 to 2 hours. If not using immediately, refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days. Just before serving, toss coleslaw again.

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Mosaic Monday: What a melon...

I got my first watermelon of the season the other day. Couldn't resist with weather in the 80's! and it was surprisingly sweet and very juicy! I have no watermelon recipes, I like mine as is! but you can always spike it with the beverage of your choice, which is nice for barbecues and block parties!

Or you can check out the watermelon website for tips and recipes, if you are a watermelon lover! Watermelon is just so perfect with wings, burgers and dogs! It's what my mom requested for her day today, so that's what we're having! All I have left to do is find fresh corn on the cob! It may be too early.

I cut into the melon and couldn't resist that first bite...

Spiked Watermelon! Haven't done this yet because I usually go for Sangria, but it's on my "to do" list, looks great for block parties and BBQ's!

How to spike a watermelon...
Take a whole watermelon and cut a circle on top, make the hole deep enough for you to push the end of the vodka bottle through and then poke a skewer or a knife and jab a little bit at the inside of the watermelon. Pour vodka or your beverage of choice in the hole and let the vodka soak in, it may take a while. You can also make another hole or two on top to saturate it pretty good. Put it in the refrigerator to get cold. You could probably inject it, too with one of those meat marinade injector's! It's impressive, but if you want that same taste with less work, just cut the watermelon and drizzle it with whatever you like, let it sit for a bit in the frig until ready to serve!

Joining Mary from The Little Red House for another Mosaic Monday! Stop by the Little Red House to see lots of fantastic Mosaics every week!

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Happy Mother's Day! 

My mother loves geraniums, but all I can give her at this point is a lot of my thyme :) 

Hope you all enjoy the day!

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Chicken for dinner. What else?

Should have called my blog, 1001 ways to make chicken cutlets! Found another great way! Good thing we really like chicken. This one is from epicurious, called Chicken Louisa.

The recipe called for Roma tomatoes and I found some baby Roma's at the grocery store!  Come summer, hopefully I'll have my own homegrown baby Roma's, but if you find these, try them, they're very good. Very sweet and they're also excellent roasted.

Chicken Louisa, served with brown rice and baby bok choy, sauteed with shallots and garlic! and not one bit of a screw up with this one. Finally. No smoke alarm, no deleted pictures, it all went perfectly smooth! Another keeper!

Chicken Louisa
adapted
Source: Gourmet - June 2000, recipe by Peter Micheli
Printable Recipe

4 chicken cutlets, pounded thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium shallot, sliced thin
1/2 cup dry vermouth (or use dry white wine)
3/4 cup heavy cream
4 or 5 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 extra-large chicken-bouillon cube, crumbled

Garnish: chopped fresh chives

Season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and butter in a large heavy skillet over moderately high heat until the foam subsides. Brown chicken on both sides in 2 batches, about 3 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate and keep warm.

Add shallot to skillet and saute, stirring, until tender, about a minute. Add the vermouth and boil over high heat, scraping up brown bits, until reduced by half. Stir in cream, tomatoes, tarragon, and bouillon cube, then simmer, stirring, until tomatoes are softened and sauce begins to thicken, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Return chicken, with any juices accumulated on plate, to skillet and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Serve immediately.

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Flashback Friday: More Panini and another screw up!

I was joining Suzy from Kitchen Bouquet for another Flashback Friday, where you get to rerun your favorites from the past! Only I had a small glitch. Still flashing back, but I lost my pictures.

Flashing back to last week when we got a new panini maker! We've been making all different kinds of sandwiches and today we found a multi-grain bread that seemed perfect for panini's!  Flatout Artisan Foldit's Flatbread! We got the 5 grain flax bread. It made an excellent panini! Roast beef, with cheddar, fried onions and Tabasco chipotle sauce. I had some good pictures but got a little pre-occupied and hit delete because I thought I had already saved it to the computer. I was wrong. Lost them all. Too bad, you'd have wanted one if you had seen it :) Hopefully I'll get my act together, it's been a long week on this blog!

Check out more flashbacks over at Kitchen Bouquet! On Fridays Suzy digs into her photo archives to blog about something from the past. Maybe you have some oldies but goodies you want to share too. Grab the logo and link back to Suzy when you have time to do a Flashback Friday post.

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Where there's smoke, there's dinner...

It's going to be a very hot, humid summer if the the first few days of May are any indication! We had a passing thunderstorm, and it passed through pretty quickly, good thing, I had flank steaks marinating for the grill. Not for the grill pan, which causes so much smoke, that the smoke alarms upstairs start to go off as well! Haven't had to call the Fire Dept for excessive smoke yet, but we did call once years ago for the carbon monoxide alarm going off. Who knew lb meant low battery? I do now. Battery? The thing plugged into the wall. Electrical, I never gave battery backup a second thought. I couldn't find the manual in the ensuing panic. The firemen got a good laugh at that one! I swear it looked like a one and a six. I was prepared when the next one went off. I had saved the manual. The little chirps and the code meant the unit was older than seven years and needed replacing! That's my public service message for today, get a carbon monoxide alarm, use it, and save the manual in a place you'll remember!

The thunderstorm passed, so the Griller was able to grill! I love less work for me! The cabbage salad is tweaked a bit to try and copy one I regularly get at the Chinese restaurant we go to sometimes. Theirs has a red chile sauce on top and will clear your sinus passages for quite a while. This one from epicurious comes close, without the red chile sauce. So I added more than a few drops of Sriracha sauce to mine. and some Hot Chili Oil. I didn't remember a big ginger flavor so I reduced that a little. and added some sweet red peppers and a few slices of fresh jalapeno. Ah, this will definitely clear the sinuses. Serve with a box of tissues on the side! Very crunchy and refreshing! Grandma is already on her second box of tissues! No sinus issues for her tonight!

The flank steak is great, really flavorful, next time I won't be lazy and I'll grind the coriander! This one is a keeper! Had a little trouble with the Soba Noodle dish. It's delicious and not a difficult recipe when you pay attention. That's the tricky part for me :) This time I was concentrating so much on not overcooking the Soba, three minutes is perfect, not the six minutes it says on the package. But reducing the soy sauce suffered a bit...

Boy, does that smoke when you're beyond reducing it, way past a solid, sticky glob, it turned to ash! Talk about no visibility! Smokey! Had to start that again, and that's when I realized...

Those noodles? They'll never cook if you don't turn the stove on! Took me about ten minutes to figure that the water for the noodles weren't boiling!

Finally got myself in sync and in the end, when the smoke cleared, dinner was really very good! The new flank steak marinade was excellent! The cabbage salad was sweet-hot super good and the soba noodles were delicious! Much, much better than take-out!

Coriander Teriyaki Flank Steak
adapted
Source: Gourmet, December 2001
Printable Recipe

1 teaspoon coriander seeds, coarsely ground in an electric coffee/spice grinder (I used ground because I was lazy!)
1 lb flank steak
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
2 - 3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves (optional, to garnish)

Rub coriander onto both sides of steak and put the steak on a large plate, or place the steak in a large Ziploc freezer bag to marinate. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and oil and pour over steak, turning steak to coat. Marinate, turning occasionally, 10 minutes or more. I marinated it for about two hours! and grilled to medium. You can also broil or use a grill pan.

Hot-and-Sour Cabbage Salad
Source: Gourmet, December 2001
Printable Recipe

1 pound Napa cabbage (about 1/2 head), chopped in small pieces, but not too small
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes (to taste) - I used hot chili oil, very little, a few drops!
some thin slices of sweet red bell pepper
some thin slices of fresh jalapeno
Sriracha sauce (to taste!)

Put cabbage, peppers and scallion in a large bowl.

Bring vinegar, ginger, sugar, and red pepper flakes (or chili oil) to a boil in a small saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let dressing cool, and then pour dressing over cabbage, tossing to combine.
 

Spicy Cold Soba Noodles
for the recipe click here!

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Mosaic Monday: Not always pretty...

It was our anniversary this past weekend, and the Griller got me something he knew I wanted. Not pretty. Not romantic, but exactly what I wanted! Of course he knew I wanted it, nothing is a secret here any more, he got tired of the returns when he surprised me! Still remembers that one wool sweater from 20 years ago. You don't love the sweater I got you? Too itchy, I love it, honey, but we have to return it! So ever since then he gets a "wish list" and we're all happy! This time I went along for the ride, might as well see what else is on sale and there is a never ending supply of those Bed, Bath and Beyond Coupons! Expired or not. Love that place!

So now the possibilities are endless.  The Griddler from Cuisinart!  and we had a test run when we got home. Even using lite whole wheat bread, low fat American and a few slices of tomato, we have a winner! One little thing, when I got distracted slicing some fruit while it cooked, the cheese oozed out, all out. but that burnt cheese was the best part!

 GRILLED CHEESE PANINI WITH TOMATO

 AN OOZY GOOEY CHEESY PANINI. PERFECTION!

so it aint pretty, but it sure did taste really good!

Here's the pretty...

TULIPS! I love tulips!

Joining Mary from The Little Red House for another Mosaic Monday! Stop by the Little Red House to see lots of fantastic Mosaics every week!

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