Lemongrass and Curry Grilled Chicken

This one has made its way to my 'favorites' list.  It is sooo good and the potatoes are mouth-watering.

2 stalks lemongrass, stripped and cut into thin slices
1 bunch cilantro
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tb veggie oil

4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless (I used 8 thighs instead), washed and dried
1 lb new potatoes (I used Russian fingerlings)
3 stips bacon, cut into 1-inch squares
1 lime cut into slices
sweet paprika
olive oil
skewers (for grilling)

Lay the chicken in a 9x13 baking dish, making a single layer.

Combine the first batch of ingredients in a food processor to make a paste.  Add a little more oil if needed.  Spread this over the chicken, turning to coat both sides.  Allow to marinate, covered and refrigerated, for at least an hour.  Longer is better!

While the chicken is marinating, wash the potatoes but leave the skins on.  Put them in a large saucepan and cover with water; add in some salt.  Bring water to a boil and cook the potatoes until just tender when poked with a fork.  Drain.  Allow to cool somewhat.

Generously coat the bacon pieces on both sides with paprika.  When the potatoes have cooled, cut in half and then skewer one half potato, follow with a bacon slice, then the other half.  It makes a potato-bacon 'sandwich.'  I can fit 2-3 sandwiches per skewer.  Brush the skewers with olive oil; generously season with salt, pepper and more paprika.

When ready, take the chicken and potatoes to the grill and cook!  The chicken takes 4-5 minutes per side; the potatoes about the same.  When finished, squeeze the lime over the chicken and enjoy!

Strawberry-Basil Jam

Despite the clouds and rain, tomorrow marks the first day of summer.  To celebrate, I bought a flat of local, chemical-free strawberries to make jam.  I usually make enough freezer jam to last us all year and decided to add in something new this time.  In addition to making freezer jam, I made cooked jam and added some basil!  This recipe is taken from Good Housekeeping:

Ingredients:

3 qts (1/2 flat) strawberries; pick smaller, bright berries
1 1.75 oz package of pectin
1/2 tsp butter
1/4 C basil, finely chopped
7 C sugar

Place 1 cup berries in 8-qt heavy pot.  Crush with potato masher and continue to add berries, crushing until you have 5 even cups.  Add basil.  Stir in pectin and butter.  Heat on high, stirring constantly until mixture comes to full rolling boil.  Add sugar all at once.  Return to boil; boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and skim off foam.



Prep your canning jars (wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then keep lids under hot water until ready for use).  Ladle jam into half-pin jars, leaving 1/4 in room at top.  Wipe jar rims, add lids.  Process in boiling water canner for 5 minutes (start timing when water returns to boiling).  Remove jars; cool on wire racks for 1 day.

I don't have a canner, so I used my double-pot pasta cooker (has an insert that drains water).  I always use this for canning and it works great!  Looks like this --->


Enjoy!

Fun with White Wine

I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend this past weekend and wanted to provide something alcoholic for those of us not growing a little child.  What better summer-time drink with wine than Sangria!  I researched recipes for white sangria, took bits from here and there, and came up with this recipe:

Two bottles white wine (I used a table wine)
Four peaches
Three limes
Two lemons
Two oranges
1 C sliced strawberries
2 C sugar
1 C brandy
Club soda

Slice the citrus fruit into rounds and the peaches into chunky slices.  Add all the fruit, the sugar, the brandy and the wine into a large pitcher.  Mix and let sit for 24 hours.  Right before serving, mix in about 2-3 cups of club soda.

This was sooooo yummy!  I plan to make it again this weekend and will *try* to remember to get pictures.  It makes a beautiful drink!

Double-Chocolate Brownies

It was a beautiful weekend here and I spent most of it outdoors.  However, I woke up this morning to clouds and a nasty cold.  What better way to cheer up than baking brownies! (especially if it involves the help of little hands).  Taken from Martha Stewart April 2010.

1 stick unsalted butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 C sugar
3 eggs
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C + 2 Tb flour

Preheat oven to 350* and line 8x8 baking pan with parchment (I used foil).  Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and whisk in sugar, then eggs 1 at a time, then cocoa and salt.  Fold in flour until combined.

Pour batter into pan.  Bake until set (toothpick stuck in center comes out with moist crumbs), 35-40 min.  Let cool in pan 15 min.  Left brownies from pan (using parchment) and cool on wire rack completely.  Cut, serve, enjoy!

These ones are just underdone, making them sooo ooey gooey.  Yum!

From-scratch Veggie Lasagna

I'm leaving for Hawaii tomorrow to visit one of my sisters, so I made my husband a lasagna to prevent ordering pizza every night. :)  I had some ingredients on-hand and just threw them together:

Lasagna noodles
Basil, whole leaf
Parsley (I prefer flat-leaf Italian), chopped
Ricotta, 10 oz
Feta crumbled, as desired
Parmesean grated, as desired
Garlic, 2 cloves minced
Shallot, 1 finely chopped
Onion, chopped
Can diced tomatoes with juice
Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper

Cook lasagna noodles (I use organic, whole wheat and need 10) and drain.  Lay on wax paper to prevent them sticking together.

In the meantime, sautee together chopped onion/garlic/shallot in olive oil.  Once they are tender and translucent, transfer to a bowl.  Add a little more olive oil and cook the mushrooms.  When they've wilted, add the onion mixture back and mix in the parsley.  Add in tomatoes plus juice and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.

While tomato sauce is cooking, mix ricotta and feta with black pepper in a bowl.

Layer your lasagna: tomato sauce, cheese mixture, whole basil leaves, noodles.  Repeat and end with cheese mixture.  Top with grated parmesean.  Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes at 400*.  After 25 minutes remove foil and bake anther 25 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly.  Let cool and then enjoy!

Spring Flavors

I absolutely love spring and the beautiful colors and fresh produce that comes into season.  Right now I'm watching Ally playing outside in the sunshine, digging up my dirt and making small piles of it.  I had to get after her for picking the new leaves off a few plants, but I'm glad she loves playing outside so much ;)

As for cooking, tonight we're having a couple over for dinner that we haven't seen in a while.  I'm so excited!  They always make us laugh and they're bringing the dessert and the wine!  What better way to my heart?

For starters: prosciutto-wrapped melon with coarse sea salt.  Just chunk your melon (cantaloupe or similar) and wrap each piece in thin slices of prosciutto.  Top lightly with the salt.  If needed, use a toothpick to secure.  We're breaking our no-hormone/no-antibiotic/grass-fed/humanely-treated meat rule for this.  I love prosciutto (and bacon for that matter) too much.

For dinner:
Rockfish marinated in home-made vinaigrette (1/4c olive oil, 1/4 c lemon juice, 1/3 c fresh minced basil, 2 cloves minced garlic, lemon zest) and then broiled to perfection

Bright Roma tomatoes thinly sliced and marinated in the leftover vinaigrette and served chilled

Asparagus (which is in season right now) peeled into thin curly slices and tossed with light oil, lemon juice, salt/pepper. 

Sweet potatoes cubed (skins still on but scrubbed well) and tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary, then baked on a cookie sheet at 400* for about 40 minutes.  Make sure to toss occasionally.

Tortilla Espanola and Cheesecake

Last night I had a great friend over for dinner and made Tortilla Espanlo and *attempted* to make cheesecake.  I say attempted since the large quantity of ale I consumed aided in a few kitchen mishaps; one being I accidentally turned the oven off half-way through cooking the cheesecake.  I checked it three times before finally realizing why it was STILL liquidy in the center after having baked it for an hour and a half.  The other being that I didn't read the directions all the way through before starting the cheesecake.  If I had, I would have realized it needed to sit for 8 hours before finished!  Needless to say, I finally had a piece 10 minutes ago and it was delicious :)  My dear friend, on the other hand, had to settle for just dinner and wine.

Tortilla Espanola
1-1/2 pounds potatoes, quartered and then thinly sliced
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
1 bunch leafy greens such as Swiss chard, collards, kale, spinach, cut into strips (I used collards)
1Tb lemon juice
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 pound Havarti or other mild cheese, coarsely chopped

Black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Garlic
Red pepper flakes
Sea salt

Add olive oil to oven-proof pan and brown the potatoes on high heat.  Turn heat to medium and cook until softened.  Remove potatoes and add scallions to pan.  Sautee until soft, then add potatoes back.  Mix lightly and season with salt (I also added dill).  Pour the eggs, lightly beaten, over the veggies, top with cheese and put in the oven at 400* for 15 minutes.

While the tortilla is cooking, make the greens.  Add olive oil to large pan on high heat.  Add half the greens and cook until wilted, then add the other half and cook until bright green (about 3 minutes).  Add garlic, pepper, salt, and lemon juice.

By the time the greens are cooked through, the tortilla should be done.  Pull it out and let cool a few minutes.  Then flip it over onto a platter and eat!


For dessert I was craving cheesecake after reading the April/May issue of Fine Cooking. 

Ginger snaps
3 8-oz packages of cream cheese, room temp
1C ricotta cheese, room temp
Salt
Sugar
Vanilla
4 eggs, room temp
Butter

Crush the ginger snaps to make 2 cups of cookie crumbs, mix with 3Tb sugar, and then mix with 7Tb melted butter.  Press into a springform pan, up the edges too, and cook at 350* for 10 minutes.  Cool completely on wire rack.

In mixer, mix cream cheese, ricotta, 2Tb flour, and a pinch of salt on medium until light a fluffy.  Make sure there are no lumps.  Add 1 1/4 C sugar and beat till smooth.  Add 1Tb vanilla, blending for 30 seconds.  Then add eggs one at a time, mixing until just blended (don't over mix).

Pour into crust and cook at 300* for 1 hour.  Edges will be puffed and center will be moist.  Cool completely on rack, then cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hours).  Top with your favorite stuff and eat!

What's For Dinner? Winter Caprese Salad

I absolutely love Italian and Italian-inspired food.  However, it's a difficult time of year to find fresh, perfectly ripe ingredients to cook with.  So what do you make instead?  Winter Caprese Salad!  It's perfect for tomatoes that aren't at their peak not to mention caprese salads are on my top 5 list of favorite foods.

4 Vine-ripe tomatoes (or any kind you like)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Bufala mozzarella (or other variety)
Pesto

Slice tomatoes in half and toss with 1/2 cup olive oil and salt/pepper to taste.  Place cut-side down on a cookie sheet and bake at 200* for two hours or until soft.  I'm actually cooking at 250* to cut down on time because I'm already hungry.
Let the tomatoes cool, then serve one whole tomato with a slice of mozza drizzled with pesto.  Simple yet delicious.  Makes a great appetizer for company or dinner for yourself 'n' love.

'07 Desert Wind ruah to drink (opened last night - I can't believe it's still around!)

I am also baking up a multi-grain baguette.  You can make the pesto yourself, but Central Market (my fave grocery store) sells delicious pre-made pesto.  They also have a great selection of cheeses, including mozzarella, in the flat-rate salad bar.  Feta is only $9.99 a pound versus Athena's $18.99 a pound!

Hello and Welcome

Here you will find a friend in the same boat as you; loving my family and good home cookin', yet sometimes needing a gentle reminder of it. I've been known to post my menus on Facebook and have been continually asked to share recipes. That's where this blog comes in handy.

You will find my posts about What's For Dinner along with the recipe (I often find them on notakeout.com), along with my musings about Ally screaming "NO WAY!" in my face, Logan spitting up on my 4th shirt of the day, me trying to find where Ally hid my reading glasses, venturings to various exciting places like the grocery store (okay, sometimes we do travel), and various other tidbits. Oh. And of course wine. Lots of wine. How else would I know God loves me?

When life gives you lemons...pair them with a lovely piece of rockfish, parsely, olive oil, and garlic and a bottle of vino!