Test Kitchen

Tonight I did a little experimenting with a recipe. I had a yellow zucchini and some petit Yukon gold potatoes that I needed to use up.  In the past I have made a Potato Pancake recipe that has always turned out quite well, so this was my inspiration for the dish.  When I was trying to figure out what exactly I was going to make I knew I wanted to incorporate both the zucchini and the potato and wanted the dish to be on a smaller scale.  As a result I ended up making mini potato-zucchini pancakes.  The taste was definitely good but I think I will continue to do some work on how to cook them so that they stay together better.

Menu
Mini Potato-Zucchini Pancakes
Roasted Carrots
Mickleberry Ham

Mini Potato-Zucchini Pancakes
I grated 1 yellow zucchini and 4 petit Yukon gold potatoes. This resulted in about 2 cups of zucchini and 1 1/4 cups of potato.  I squeezed the grated zucchini and potato to get some of the water out.  Then mixed them together and seasoned them with salt and about 1 tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning. I also added about 1 tablespoon of shredded and then chopped garlic scape.  I covered my cookie sheet with a silicon baking mat and then I stuffed a round cookie cutter with a handful of the zucchini/potato mixture. I flattened it pretty well.  I repeated this until I had 6 pancakes.  I drizzled the top of each pancake with a little olive oil and then cooked them on 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. I then put them under the broiler for a minute or two to try and get a bit of a crust on the top.   Unfortunately when plating them I had to pretty much re-create the shape as they were not crisp enough to stay together.  They may not have been too pretty but they had a really good taste.

In addition to my experiment I made the Barefoot Contessa Roasted Carrots recipe for the first time. They were quite good. I opted for the minced dill rather than the parsley, I would highly recommend it.

As far as the ham goes you really can’t get any easier of a meal. I heated it on 325 degrees for about 25 minutes. Just enough to get it heated through since it’s already cooked.

Freezing Herbs

I have always wondered if you can extend the life of fresh herbs by freezing them but never took the time to research how to do it.  Lucky for me, the Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables addresses the freezing process and how to use herbs that were frozen in a recipe that calls for fresh or dried herbs.

The process is simple. Wash the herbs under cool water. Chop the leaves fairly coarsely (Do not freeze stems, flowers or delicate herbs like cilantro or basil). Place 1 tablespoon of chopped herb into a compartment of an ice cube tray. Cover with about an inch of water. Freeze.  Once frozen remove the cubes and store in a freezer bag for up to one year.

For greater detail you can see the page of the cookbook that discusses herbs by clicking on Herb Recipes.

Omelet Cups

This evening I thought I would make a quick batch of omelet cups so that I have something to bring to work for breakfast and S could try something new.  I’ve made these in the past and they are super easy and quite tasty. Basically you can take any meat, veggies and/or cheese that you would normally put into an omelet and instead you cook them in a muffin tin.  They give you a perfect small serving of an omelet that can be easily re-heated.  I typically store them in twos, so that I can just grab a package and re-heat them in the microwave at the office.

Tonight I used the following chopped vegetables: onion, green pepper, cremini mushroom, tomato and chives.  I also added a small amount of white cheddar cheese.  The one thing I failed to do before starting this whole process was to check how many eggs we had.  I quickly found out that we only had 2 left, as a result I now have an overabundance of chopped vegetables.  I guess I will have to pick up a dozen eggs tomorrow and make another batch later in the week.  In the meantime, this recipe is on a smaller scale than normal since it’s based on two eggs only.

In a bowl combine, 2 eggs whisked with a splash of milk, salt and pepper.  Add 1 tablespoon of each of the following chopped onion, green pepper, cremini mushrooms, tomatoes and chives.  Mix well.  Add ½ slice of white cheddar cheese cut into small pieces.   Lightly apply cooking spray to the muffin tin.  Add ¼ cup of egg mixture to each of the muffin sections, I was able to get four omelet cups with this batch.  Bake on 325 degrees for approximately 15 minutes. 

Here are a few suggestions of omelet cup combinations:
Diced Ham, Cheddar Cheese, Mushroom, Green Pepper and Onion
Spinach, Tomato and Feta Cheese
Turkey Breakfast Sausage, Cheddar Cheese, Mushroom and Onion

Cucumber Dill Sauce

We still have quite a few vegetables that need to be used from our bushel delivery.  Last night I was trying to think of a dish featuring cucumbers, but wanted to steer clear of making a salad. The next thing that came to mind was tzatziki sauce and gyros.  In an effort to keep the meal a little more on lighter side, we went with chicken breasts served on pita bread and incorporated a cucumber dill sauce.

Cucumber Dill Sauce

1 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cucumber, seeded and peeled, chopped in thin small pieces
3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 minced garlic clove
the juice of a half of lemon
salt and pepper
mix all ingredients well and chill

Chicken Breasts
Marinade boneless, skinless chicken breast in Strompolos' Lemonaki Mint Dressing and Marinade for about 2 hours.  Grill chicken on indirect heat for about 12 minutes on either side. Then finish off the chicken on direct heat for a couple minutes to brown up the outside. The temperature should be approximately 425 degrees.



Place pita bread on grill for a minute or so to just soften up the bread.

Toppings: I garnished our gyros with feta cheese, sliced sweet onion, heirloom tomato slices and of course the cucumber dill sauce.

I baked Alexia Sweet Potato Fries as a side item.  We've had them a number of times and have enjoyed them every time. Stella is also a pretty big fan of them.

This meal was rate 3 asparagus spears

Good Food, Great Friends...

Last night one of my best friends from college visited us with her family; I haven’t seen them since February 2010 so it was great to catch up.  They live in Texas now so we don’t get to see each other too frequently but it’s always great when we do get together.  Her daughters are older than S, 4 years and 20 months; it was fun to watch them play with her.  S was very interested in what they were doing; she spent most of the evening crawling around trying to keep up with them.

Menu

Appetizers

Brie, Fig Preserves, La Quercia Prosciutto, Dried Cranberries and Crackers

Main Course

Beef Tenderloin Sandwiches with a Dijon Horseradish Sauce and Caramelized Onions

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Grilled Asparagus

Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes

Fruit Salad

Beef Tenderloin Marinade

The marinade recipe is one that my mom received from a friend of hers when they lived up in Wisconsin.

Combine the following ingredients into a large zip lock bag:

¾ cup soy sauce

½ cup sugar

½ cup toasted sesame oil

¼ cup flour

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ teaspoon pepper

Add trimmed tenderloin to the marinade for 15-20 minutes. Be sure to move the bag around to make sure the marinade covers the entire tenderloin.  (I actually ended up leaving the meat in the marinade for about an hour)

Grill on indirect heat at about 425 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until the desired temperature on the meat is achieved.

We actually cooked the meat the night before and just threw it back on the grill for 5-7 minutes at about 400 degrees just before we were ready to eat.  On Tuesday, when we took the meat off the grill we let it rest on a plate and covered in it aluminum foil and let it cool down before putting it in the refrigerator.   I took the meat out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before we put it back on the grill to bring it down to room temperature before we put it on the grill.

For the rolls, I just picked up a package of the Parker House Rolls from Trader Joe’s.

Caramelized Onions

Slice 2 medium to large Spanish onions

In a Dutch oven add 1-2 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Add the sliced onions, cook until the onions start to caramelize, stirring frequently.

I would say the total cook time was between 30-40 minutes

Salt and Pepper the onions and add a few pinches of thyme

Dijon Horseradish Sauce

I intended on following a recipe that I found on Epicurious for a Mustard Horseradish Sauce. When I started making this I just started adding things and tweaked it a bit.

2/3 cup of sour cream

¼ cup of Dijon Mustard

3 very full tablespoons on prepared horseradish

Fresh ground pepper, approximately 2 turns of the pepper mill

Thyme, approximately ½ tablespoon (I used dry because it was all I had but fresh would work too)

Mix the above ingredients together well and chill until ready to serve

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Remove the stem from cleaned cremini mushrooms. I bought an 8oz container of lump crab meat and followed the recipe for crab cakes off the back of it to use as the crab stuffing.  In a small bowl mix together,  ½ of a beaten egg, 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise, ½ tablespoon prepared mustard,  ½ teaspoon of dry mustard, ½ teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon of Old Bay Seasoning, ¼ teaspoon of lemon juice. Add the crab to the mixture and then fold in 3/8 cup of bread crumbs, I used panko crumbs.  This makes more stuffing then you need for 8 mushrooms unless you have really large mushrooms.  I think next time I would add some additional old bay seasoning and maybe a small amount of chopped scallion or chives.

We grilled these in a cast iron pan for about 15 minutes.  I normally would have just placed this in the oven to cook them through and then put them under the broiler for a few seconds to get a little bit of crust to the top of them.  With it being near 100 degrees in the shade last night there was no way I was turning on the oven, so to the grill they went. 

Grilled Asparagus

Cut the tips off the bottom of the asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil, the juice of a half of lemon and kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Grill for about 15 minutes on indirect heat and then finish them up for a minute or two on direct heat.

Garlic and Rosemary Potatoes

I used a mixture of petite Yukon gold and red potatoes.  In total I probably used slightly under 1 lb.  I just wash the potatoes well and leave the skin on.  Cut them in halves or quarters depending on the size of the potato, so that all the potatoes are generally a similar size.  In a large zip lock bag, add the potatoes, 2 (maybe slightly more) tablespoons of good olive oil, 3 large cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary chopped, 1 tablespoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning, 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley chopped, a couple dashes of dried thyme (fresh is better but I didn’t have any on hand). Shake all of the ingredients in the bag to coat the potatoes as evenly as possible.  Add a dash of salt and fresh ground pepper.

You can let the potatoes sit in the bag until you are ready to grill. To cook, remove the potatoes from the bag and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Be sure you have them wrapped well so that you don’t lose any while you are turning them on the grill.  The aluminum foil bags work great for this too.  Place on direct heat for about 45 minutes. Turn them every once in a while so that they cook evenly.

Fruit Salad

I put watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, strawberries and Kiwi in the fruit salad.  All fruit that Stella absolutely loves, which is good since I made a huge bowl of it.

Unfortunately we never made it to dessert. I had picked up Chocolate Lava Cakes and some Vanilla Ice Cream from Trader Joe’s for the adults. For the kiddies, I got Trader Joe’s mini ice cream cones.  By the time we finished dinner we were all stuffed and it was quickly approaching all of the kid’s bed times.  Lisa and Larry, next time you are in town I owe you dessert! 

This meal was rated 4.5 asparagus spears



Gilbert's Ouisconsin Sausage

We were a bit short on time last night for cooking, partially due to the fact that we had no power for 5 hours yesterday.  We are really unlucky when it comes to power these days. That was the third time in a month we have been without power due to weather related issues.  Thankfully the outage was short this time, because the temperature was quickly rising in our house with it being so hot outside.  As a result of the time crunch we completely forgot to “foodograph” our meal, sorry folks.

Menu

Gilbert's Ouisconsin - Beef Smoked Sausage with Bleu Cheese

Macaroni Salad with a Twist

My husband has been talking about this sausage from Costco that he heard about called Gilbert’s Sausages.  I made the trek over to Costco last Saturday; surprisingly it wasn’t as big of a zoo as it normally is on the weekend.  Chris was quite excited when I informed him they had the sausage in stock; however our Costco only had the Ouisconsin.  There are three other kinds available: The Shebeegan - Beer Bratwurst, The Froman - Uncured Beef Franks and The Catalana –Smoked Sausage made with Pork, Mozzarella Cheese, Chipotle Peppers and Lime.  I wish they sold a variety pack, hopefully on the next trip they will have the Catalana.

I think it’s absolutely hysterical that they named their hot dog, “the Froman” and have a crown on the packaging.  I can only assume they are referencing Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago, from the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day off.

 I did find out that you can order the sausage on-line and there are other stores outside of Costco that carry their product.  You can locate a store near you on their website, http://gilbertssausages.com/buy/storefinder.  Not only was the sausage delicious, I enjoy the fact that each sausage comes individually wrapped so you don’t have to worry about opening an entire package and having to freeze what you don’t use.

We garnished our Ouisconsin with grilled onions and Dijon mustard.

As far as the macaroni salad goes, it’s another quick and easy side dish.  I remember growing up, on hot days like yesterday my mom would always make dishes that were light or something that didn’t require an oven.  The hot weather reminded me of the macaroni salad she would often make with one of these meals.  I had some orzo pasta made from the other night so I decided to use up those noodles which was my “twist.”  Normally I would make this salad with macaroni noodles, but really you could use any pasta noodle.  The ingredients are very simple:

Cooked pasta noodles, drained and cooled

Mayonnaise

Chopped Celery

Chopped white onion

Grated Carrot

Salt and Pepper

I added another twist, a couple dashes of Old Bay Seasoning

Mix all ingredients above in a bowl and serve cold.

This meal was rated 4 asparagus spears

Let's go straight to dessert!

I certainly will not win any awards for healthy eating based on last night’s meal, if you can even call it that.  Nor will I get any points for eating a meal with any nutritional value; unless of course you can pull a morsel of nutrition out of a maraschino cherry.  Chris and I had Oberweis Hot Fudge Sundaes for dinner last night.  That’s right we skipped dinner and went straight to dessert.  Hopefully the fact that I went to the gym prior to eating this fine meal offset some of the calories I consumed in a mere five minutes.

At least one person in our house ate something nutritious last night, S had turkey, cantaloupe and a ton of blueberries i.e. her new obsession.   I should seriously look into getting a share of a blueberry farm. I have never seen anyone, let alone an infant, house so many blueberries in a sitting.  Is it possible she may turn blue?  The other fruit that she can’t get enough of is Kiwi.  When she sees you slicing it, she claps and screams with excitement. It’s really quite cute!

The good news to omitting dinner all together, we were able to get our new desk into the office and set up.  Tonight’s task is hanging a shelf and pictures.  The new desk chair, reading chair and ottoman are scheduled to be delivered on Saturday.  I will be so relieved once it’s all set up because I was starting to feel like a hoarder with everything out of place.

It looks like tonight I will be cooking something quick and easy and hopefully on the grill. I can't imagine having the oven on with the current temperatures in Chicago.  The hi today is 97 degrees with a real feel temperature of 111 degrees. I am so thankful for air conditioning.

Delicious Summer Pasta Salad

Last night I made a fantastic recipe that I found on Epicurious, Orzo with Grilled Shrimp, Summer Vegetables and Pesto Vinaigrette. The best part about it was I had everything on hand except for the heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, which made for a short shopping list.

I didn't use near the amount of vinaigrette that the recipe makes; my recommendation would be to add just a little at a time until you are satisfied with the taste.  This recipe is a perfect meal for a hot summer evening when you are looking for something light to eat.  It's also kid-friendly, my daughter loved the pasta.

Ingredients
8 ounces orzo (about 1 1/3 cups)
6 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
2 medium zucchini or summer squash (about 9 ounces total), cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 red or yellow bell pepper, quartered
3 tablespoons purchased pesto
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 heirloom tomatoes (8 to 10 ounces total), cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves plus sprigs for garnish
1 8-ounce ball fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Cooking Instructions
Cook orzo in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well. Transfer to large bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon oil.
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).

Whisk 2 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons vinegar in small bowl. Brush zucchini and bell pepper with oil mixture, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Whisk pesto, lime juice, remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons oil, and remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar in small bowl for pesto vinaigrette. Place shrimp in medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons pesto vinaigrette; toss to coat.

Grill zucchini and bell pepper until crisptender, about 3 minutes per side for zucchini and 4 minutes per side for bell pepper. Transfer to work surface. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper; grill until charred and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

Place shrimp in bowl with orzo. Chop zucchini and bell pepper; add to bowl with orzo. Add remaining vinaigrette, tomatoes, sliced basil, and mozzarella; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover; chill.
Garnish with basil sprigs and serve cold or at room temperature. 
(Bon Appétit, June 2008, by Sara Foster)

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Zero effort

Tonight's meal was not even worthy of foodographing since it required little to no effort.  When our power went out earlier this week my pasta sauce from the freezer defrosted. Therefore, tonight's menu needed to include pasta.  While shopping at Target today I picked up some Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli and a loaf of New French Bakery Take & Bake Ciabatta.

I heated up some of my pasta sauce; see my Cheese Manicotti post from June for the recipe. Boiled some water to cook the ravioli and baked the bread for 12 minutes.  I served the sliced hot bread with some prosciutto and topped the ravioli with some chopped fresh basil.

For a no effort meal, it actually wasn't half bad.

Mushrooms again!

Chris walked into the kitchen, saw me slicing vegetables and immediately started giving me grief about cooking with mushrooms again. What can I say; I needed to use them before they went bad.

Menu
Center Cut Pork Chops in a White Wine and Mushroom Sauce served over egg noodles
Sauteed Zucchini

In a pan (I used Le Creuset French Oven) heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, add 3 large chopped garlic cloves and roughly 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion. Sauté  for approximately 1-2 minutes. Add center cut pork chops that have been seasoned with salt, fresh ground pepper and Olde Thompson Steak & Burger seasoning. (Any steak seasoning would work, Montreal Steak Seasoning is another great option.) Brown the chops on both sides. Add approximately 1/4 cup of dry white wine, I used Chardonnay.  Be careful not to let the wine drip over the side of the pan like I did;  it causes a large flame. Let the alcohol burn off and stir the brown bits off then bottom of the pan. Add 10 oz of sliced Cremini mushrooms, 3 chopped scallions (use green and white parts), 4 sage leaves chopped. Season mushrooms with a little fresh cracked pepper and a couple pinches of White Truffle Salt. Lower the temperature, place the lid on French oven and cook for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Right before you are ready to serve remove the chops from pan and add 1 teaspoon of sour cream to the mushroom mixture. Make sure to stir well so that the sour cream is incorporated into the sauce.  Add approximately 1 tablespoon of chopped curly leaf parsley and  let cook for a few more minutes.  

Cook about 4.5 handfuls of egg noodles per instructions on the package. Drain noodles.  Add cooked egg noodles to mushroom mixture which should be on low heat, continue to stir to coat noodles. Once the noodles have been combined with the mushrooms you are ready to plate up the meal.

In a separate pan heat a little olive oil and add sliced zucchini, season with salt and pepper, sauté for approximately 10 minutes.

Note: I used pork chops that were bone-in, next time around I think I would use boneless chops.

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Bushel Number 3 has landed!



We picked up our third bushel last night. Everything looks wonderful and fresh.  I am really excited that we are going to be home this next week so I can do lots of cooking.

The box contained:

1 head of cauliflower

2 Zucchini

1 Summer Squash

2 Cucumbers

2 heads of lettuce

Basil

Kale

Beets with greens

Celery

Anise Hyssop

Sage

I forgot to share that last week we received our Farmer John's Cookbook, The Real Dirt of Vegetables.  I can't wait to make some of the recipes.



38 hours and counting... no power!

Yesterday's storm knocked out our power again; it has now been 38 hours since it went out.  Thank goodness we have family in the area to stay with.  While I was transferring food to my mom's house the pickling juice from my pickled radishes leaked all over the inside of my car...so that is going to smell awesome! At any rate, I don't foresee much cooking happening this week.  Let's hope Com Ed is wrong about their current ETA to restore our power of July 14th at 6:15 a.m.

On a happy note, we do get a new bushel of veggies being delivered on Thursday.

Chicken Fajitas

Yesterday we had a nice afternoon at the zoo with S. This was her first time actually being awake for a zoo visit. She seemed to really enjoy the animals especially at the children’s zoo; she thought the sheep were a hoot. This may have had something to do with me reciting Sandra Boynton’s “Moo, Baa, La La La!” as we were walking pass all of the animals. On our way home we decided it would be a nice night for grilling and mojitos; so we stopped at the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for fajitas and that is when our pleasant day turned somewhat chaotic.  Once we were home I unpacked the groceries, started to prepare our dinner and put S in the high chair to feed her.  Because I was trying to do too many things at once, I accidentally dropped a baby food jar on the granite counter top which caused the jar to break into 9 million little shards of glass. It was EVERYWHERE!  Thankfully, none of the glass got on the baby.  I ended up with cuts all over my hand and with glass in my foot.  While Chris vacuumed and washed the floor in the kitchen and hallway repeatedly, I brought S upstairs for a bath.  Needless to say the clean-up process royally screwed up the timing for dinner, now the food was going to be ready right as Stella needed to be put down for bed.  It also occurred to me that the new desk we attempted to put together on Friday night, which we later realized was damaged, needed to be carried downstairs, packed up and put in the garage so UPS could pick it up this morning.  As a result of all the commotion I didn’t have very high hopes for dinner last night; however I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out.

Preparing the Chicken

In a zip lock bag add the following:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup (measured prior to chopping) of cilantro leaves, rough chop
• the juice of 3 limes
• freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
• 1 ½ tablespoon of Fiery Fajita Seasoning (I purchased this at Target; I believe it’s the Archer Farms brand.  You could use any fajita seasoning you have. I had intended on creating my own seasoning but due to the time crunch I used the already mixed seasoning.)
• a pinch of adobo chile powder  (I do think that the chicken could have used a little kick at the end so you may want to add a bit more if you like a little heat)
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Vegetables

• Red, Orange, Yellow Bell Peppers (1 small/medium of each)
• Red Onion (1 medium)
• Poblano Pepper (1 Large)

Slice the peppers and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and a dash of the Fajita Seasoning.

I wrapped the veggies in aluminum foil and cooked them on the grill along with the chicken.

The vegetables and chicken both cooked for approximately 20 minutes at 375 degrees on a charcoal grill.

Garnish Suggestions

Sour cream, shredded lettuce, Chihuahua cheese, guacamole, fresh salsa

Sadly, we never made the mojitos so we will have to partake in those later in the week.  I even picked up some Guava nectar to try a Guava Mojito recipe I found. The mojitos may have to be on tonight’s menu especially if our power doesn’t come back on before I get home from work.

This recipe was rated 4 asparagus spears

Friday Night BBQ

Tonight's menu was certainly not fancy. We wanted to grill something and use up some of our fresh veggies so this was the best I could do.

Menu

Cheeseburger with Grilled Mushrooms
Coleslaw

Coleslaw

Slice very thinly one small head of green cabbage
Slice very thinly 3/4 of a green bell pepper
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup of grated carrot
Hendrickson's Original Sweet Vinegar & Olive Oil Dressing

I realized after I made my coleslaw that there was actually a recipe on the dressing bottle for coleslaw that was very similar to what I made.  You can find the Hendrickson's Coleslaw Recipe on their website.

Cheeseburger

Add 3 tablespoons of diced red onion and approximately one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce to 1.5 pounds of ground chuck.  Generously season the meat with a steak/burger seasoning. Tonight I used Olde Thompson Steak & Burger Seasoning.

We also grilled some sliced cremini mushrooms for a garnish.  I sliced 5 mushrooms, drizzled them with olive oil and seasoned them with the Olde Thompson Steak & Burger Seasoning.  To cook them I wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them on the grill while the burgers were cooking. The cheese we used was a 6 year aged cheddar.

I also garnished my burger with ketchup, spicy brown mustard, sliced red onion, tomato and red leaf lettuce.  Normally we would use Labriola Pretzel buns but the grocery store was sold out so we ended up with Z Best Hamburger buns.

Greek Chicken and Grilled Vegetables

The inspiration for last night’s meal was a Greek salad; however I knew my husband would want something more substantial for dinner, so the end result was the following menu.

Greek Chicken
Grilled Summer Vegetables
Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous
Red Leaf Lettuce with a Red Wine Vinaigrette, Feta, Sliced Cucumbers and Kalamata Olives

Greek Chicken

In a shallow baking dish, salt and pepper two boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Drizzle the chicken with Grapeseed oil and the juice of one lemon. Season with ½ tablespoon of chopped fresh Greek oregano leaves and ¼ tablespoon fresh summer savory leaves. Top with slices of lemon.  Bake on 350 degrees. 

Grilled Vegetables

You can really use any vegetables you have on hand. I used 2 mini red, yellow and orange bell peppers, 2 baby eggplants, 1 zucchini, 1 summer squash, a couple of scallions, and several cherry tomatoes.  To prepare the vegetables:

·         Halve and seed the peppers

·         Cut the tops off the eggplant, zucchini and squash and then slice lengthwise

·         Keep scallions and tomatoes whole

·         Drizzle all of the vegetables lightly with olive oil. Salt and pepper.

I cooked my vegetables using a grill pan on the top of the stove.   It’s important to have the stove at a pretty high heat so that you can get the grill marks. Last night I decided to chop the vegetables into cubes however you can also nicely display the vegetables on a platter in the larger pieces that you grilled.

As far as the couscous goes I used the Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous that cooks in 5 minutes. It’s quick and easy!

The salad is where I fit in the remaining ingredients from Greek Salad that I enjoy so much, Feta Cheese and Kalamata olives.  I made the vinaigrette by mixing 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard with 1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.  As I was whisking together the vinegar and mustard, I added Grapeseed oil until I had the consistency I was looking for.  I seasoned it with a dash of salt, fresh cracked pepper and some thyme.  I don’t like an over abundance of dressing on my salad, unfortunately last night I added too much since I was in a hurry. If time would have allowed I would have preferred to grill the vegetables and the chicken on the charcoal grill to get the additional flavor.

This meal was rated 3 asparagus spears

Bushel Number 2

We received our second bushel of veggies last Thursday as we were leaving for vacation. The contents included garlic scapes, scallions, 2 heads of lettuce, 2 heads of cabbage, beets, baby kale, Swiss chard, basil, summer savory, curly parsley, zucchini, summer squash.

I was actually quite sad to part ways with it, as I wasn't sure it would all last until we returned.   As a result, I shared the lettuce and some of the herbs with my mom.  I brought the Swiss chard and baby kale with me so I could make dinner at my brother’s one night. We kept our fingers crossed on the rest hoping it would make it until we got back; I am happy to report that it did. 

In addition to cooking with our new veggies, I am also very excited about the cured meats we have to enjoy.  I mentioned in "My Faves" section the Gilt Taste website, if you haven't checked it out already you should because it's wonderful! I placed my order last Monday afternoon and received it on Wednesday.  I'm not sure if I am more excited about the Prosciutto or the Pork Belly.  Clearly, I am not going to win any sort of healthy eating contest with our recent order but who doesn't love some cured meats, fine cheeses and vino!  If you have any pork belly recipe recommendations please send them my way.  

1621.8 miles later....we are home!

We just returned last night from our road trip to DC. We had a great time but I almost feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.  One thing that was confirmed on this trip, it's impossible to plan anything when there is an infant involved. We never ended up stopping at any of the restaurants from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; the timing just never worked out.

Here is a quick timeline of our trip:

Day 1 - Drove 6 hours to Cleveland and spent the night. We managed just one stop in Sturgis, MI along the way.

Day 2 - Drove from Cleveland to DC which is about another 6 hours. We only stopped once, even though we took the "scenic route" since an exit was missed. We probably added an additional hour to the trip as a result. However we did see some cute, small towns in PA along the way.  Once we got settled in DC, we had a nice dinner outside with my brother and his fiancée.

Day 3 - Went to the National Zoo and had dinner at Josh & Sarah's. S went on her first Subway ride. She is quite the little traveler these days. The poor little peanut ended up with a fever (due to teething) so she became a bit cranky as the day progressed.

Day 4 - Went to Annapolis. It ended up being a very short trip due to S not feeling well. At least we enjoyed some crab cakes and made it to Chick & Ruth's Delly for a milkshake.

Day 5 - We went the Independence Day parade, walked around the National Mall and watched the Fireworks. We had a great view of the fireworks from our hotel room.

 

Day 6 – We planned on being on the road by 1pm but instead we checked out of our hotel at 1pm. We went to Arlington National Cemetery and we were on the road by 4pm. We didn’t roll in to Cleveland until 11:30 pm due to 4 stops along the way.

Day 7 – We made it back home from Cleveland in 6 hours with 3 pit stops along the way.

While we had a great time on our trip, it is nice to be home and get back into our regular routine.  We did get the delivery of our second bushel right before we left. I am looking forward to doing some cooking this week and over the weekend.