Got Back on that Grill!

After the scary fire the other night, I have been a little hesitant to grill.  I definitely did the salmon in the oven because I was very scared that the teriyaki sauce would increase my chances of another fire.  But I had to look fear in the face and do my thing, and I'm glad I did!  Tonight's menu was Grilled Chicken Drummettes, Roasted Broccoli, Leftover Cauliflower "Potatoes" and a Summer Salad based on something called "Fire and Ice."

Of course the first thing to do is start to marinate the meat, so again, having this blog is helping me remember what I put into the marinade because I took a quick pic.  I used some light salad dressings, basil, garlic, red onion, and two different spice blends - one that was called "Citrus and Tangy" and one that was "Asian".  Also added in a touch of rice wine vinegar and some of my favorite Soy Vey teriyaki sauce.

From there, marinated the drummettes, making sure they were all coated for the best flavors.

I just love broccoli, but get bored with the usual steaming of it, so I googled a recipe and played around with it.  After chopping the broccoli into large florets, I put together a mixture of olive oil and garlic and tossed the broccoli in that.  I roasted it for 10 minutes at 400 - the recipe called for 20 minutes at 425, but that just seemed like overkill.  While it was cooking, I put together a mixture of lemon zest, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, basil, and the last bit of the herbed goat cheese I used for the figs Thursday night.  It also called for roasted pine nuts; I didn't have any so went to roast some sliced almonds but missed out on the timer so the nuts didn't make it!  Topped with bread crumbs and cooked it for the 10 minutes or so and final result on right.  Tasted great and I will keep on playing around with it.

Somehow no one in our family except for me likes tomatoes, so this one was just for me!  My next door neighbor had given me some delicious FRESH tomatoes - the kind you can just inhale the smell.  I chopped them into quarters, added in some cucumber pieces (peeled first) and the balsamic onions from the other night.  That's all this needed, along with 1/2 hour or so for the flavors to blend.  SUMMERY and FRESH!

Then it was time to grill.  I made sure the grill stayed on medium heat, and kept my eyes on it for signs of smoking.  These drummettes are small, so just 6 minutes per side cooked them perfectly with a bit of a crunch, but not a burn!

In an effort to cut back on carbs, we served up the cauliflower mashed "potatoes" again, topping with new chives, and here was our tasty dinner.  Quick and easy too!

Sunday Salmon...and a New Creation!

Have you ever had a recipe that you have wanted to try for SO LONG but you just never got to it?  Well, I finally tackled something in the vegetable arena and I have to say, it was DELISH.  Lemme just say, I LOVE me some carbs, mashed potatoes in particular, but I can do without all of the actual carbs.  So I kept reading about how to make cauliflower taste "like" mashed potatoes, but had my doubts.  Let's just say that I am now a believer and this will become a regular in my rotation of sides.

Veggies...I really do love them, but I'll be honest.  For the most part, I kinda cheat.  The Steamfresh microwave in the bag kinds are just so good - the closest you can come to fresh without being fresh and our faves have always been broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and corn.  By starting this blog, I think I've become a bit more self conscious about making real "homemade" food, so tonight, I decided to make the cauliflower "potatoes".  And my next challenge (as you read more) will be to make "real" veggies.

Looking at the big ol' head of cauliflower was a little overwhelming.  Confession time - I have never really made fresh cauliflower.  I've always wanted to, but the thought of cutting it all has always been a little daunting.  So I took it on tonight, chopping and trimming...from left picture to right picture:

From there, I gathered up the ingredients that the Food Network recipe included.  For the garlic (not shown here and I guess I forgot to take a picture of the roasted end result) I decided to try roasting it, basically just drizzling a bit of olive oil and cooking in a 375 oven for 10 minutes or so.  It gave it a "toasted" look and though I'm sure fresh garlic is always optimal, I still go for the jars of minced garlic until someone can convince me that fresh garlic is a million times superior. 

Anyways, I boiled the chopped cauliflower for 8 minutes or so, then drained it well, using paper towels to get rid of all moisture.  Next was putting it and all above ingredients (except for chives) into a food processor.   About 1 tbsp of cream cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 2 tbsp of butter and it called for 1/8 tsp straight chicken base - I had none so I just drizzled some chicken broth in there and crossed my fingers.  I also used my new secret ingredient - about 1 - 2 tbsp of Crema, used in last night's recipe.

Here is the finished result, topped with some chives.  Best part - you can go back for seconds without feeling guilty!

While I was doing the cauliflower "potatoes", I was also in the process of making the salmon.  This is a "tried and true" recipe that is a bit of a "cheat" but sometimes I have to ask, why re-create the wheel?  Typically, I would grill the salmon, but with the flaming scare on the grill the other night, I am still a little apprehensive about the grill, so I decided to bake it instead.

The exceptional ingredient - Soy Vey teriyaki sauce.  All I do is marinate the salmon in this delicious, delectable sauce full of flavors and it does everything I need for the salmon to take on an amazing taste.  Here are the before and after pictures.

Of course, we also needed a green veggie, but here is where I did "cheat".  I can't help but love the Steamfresh microwave in a bag vegetables.  So to get some greenery on the table, I nuked a pouch and added a touch of sea salt for a delicious side dish.

To round it off, I just cut a baguette into small circles and baked, and then each of us got a dish with olive oil to add either black pepper or seasoning into it for dipping.

So here is the overall dinner - Baked Salmon, Cauliflower Garlic Mashed "Potatoes", Green Beans, and Toasted Bread with Dipping Sauce.  Enjoy!

Mari

Epic Fail

So...I created a food blog so I could share recipes, tips and hopefully find other food blogs where I could do the same.  By putting myself out there, I'm making it seem like I actually know something about cooking, which for the most part, usually I do.  Tonight was an exception.

I'm really wierd about re-heating grilled chicken; for the most part, leftovers are a mainstay in our household, but I like to try to repurpose meats into other things.  So I'll start this out by what I did turn our leftover grilled chicken into - tomorrow's lunch a lightened version of chicken salad.  I started by cubing the grilled chicken in a large bowl.

Then I added in some chopped celery, onions, tomatoes, avocado and the little bit of mango I had left.  Oh - and I had a tiny bit of the mango goat cheese that I stuffed the figs with so added that in as well; what the hell, right?

Then comes my secret ingredient...to keep it lower in fat, I used dijonnaise instead of mayonnaise.  Gives it the creaminess it needs but with less calories.

Last ingredient - a sprinkling of slivered almonds...gives it that crunch and texture that makes it extra delish.

Final product; a tasty chicken salad that will be lunch tomorrow.

So...on to dinner.  I had purchased some "bone in" chicken breasts b/c sometimes I like the extra flavor that you get with those.  I did a rub with garlic, pepper, onion, bell peppers, celery and parsley; sounds delish so far, right?  Here is the "pre-grill" pic.  Enjoy it while it still looks good.

From there, I did what I always do.  I pre-heated the grill to a medium temperature and used my grilling cooking spray.  Then it was time to put the chicken on, aiming to cook it 6-8 minutes per side, probably more towards 8 b/c they were big.  At the 5 minute mark, I saw some smoke coming out of the grill, but didn't think much of it.  But when my timer went off, I grabbed the camera ready to flip them and take a pic, but in the cracks of the grill, I saw flames and basically went into panic mode.  Immediately I turned off the gas but still saw flames.  I started to have awful thoughts of the gas exploding and ruining our new deck (and me!!)  So I went inside and got a container of water which I proceeded to douse the grill with.  When I finally felt safe opening the grill, I took the chicken off and here is the sad picture that I am a bit embarrassed to post, but hey - things happen, right?

Let's just say that we made the most of it.  I continued to cook the chicken in the oven so that we would not be eating raw poultry, and when there was no pink, we basically trimmed off the burnt pieces and ate around it.   You know your husband loves you when they still enjoy a completely charred meal.  We paired it with the leftover quinoa, salad and grilled peaches and thankfully, the flavors were still tasty.

So I guess you are stuck with me - good times and bad - and always making the most of things.  Looking forward to tomorrow's lunch and until then...

Mari



Some More Old Pics While I Wait for Last Nights to Load

As I'm waiting on last night's pics, here are some older pictures I can get to...

A feast we prepared with friends at the lake.  Paul and Jay were the grillmeisters and we enjoyed shrimp, chicken, steak, burgers, watermelon and the most awesome tomato and cucumber salad that my friend Chris made.  YUM!

 

Grilled Chicken with Salad, Risotto and Black Beans

A pasta I made with grilled chicken, a light alfredo sauce and cherry tomatoes along with green beans

Gotta love an antipasto plate.  Olives, artichoke hearts, salami, mozzarella balls and roasted red peppers

Lastly, for those who may actually be reading this, here is me with my husband and daughter. 

Test Post for Pics

I think I finally figured out the Instant Uploader but the photos from last night are not available yet, so I'm going to use this as a test to see how the feature will work with some other food photos that I will be able to upload.

Cool - this one was from when we were at the beach.  I sauteed some grouper, served some leftover pasta and brown rice, along with a vegetable medley, some sauteed spinach and garlic bread.

Also from the beach, I sauteed some steaks (couldn't get the charcoal grill to heat properly) along with some mashed potatoes, parmesan zucchini, mushrooms and broccoli.

One of my favorite (and EASY) and beautiful appetizers - a baked brie served with white grapes.

Stone crab claws with a mustard sauce.  A lot of work to crack, but the meat in stone crab claws are just so sweet and delicious.

Shrimp three ways at the beach - boiled with Old Bay, seared and baked.  Served with brown rice, sauteed spinach and broccoli.

Okay - it's for sure - Instant Uploader is the most awesome thing EVER and will make this process SO much easier in the future as it will automatically upload all pictures I took, making them available.

This photo has nothing to do with food, but it makes me laugh whenever I see it.  I took this (unknowingly) at the beach - just love the little dog in the basket!

Alrighty...enough for now!

Mari

Dinner Pics from 7/26

The evening was AWESOME and I had so much fun putting together a creative and healthy meal.  Now it's time to play around with the blog and add some pictures. 

My favorite part of cooking is the prep work - chopping the veggies (though I HATE chopping onions so you will see a pre-packaged tub of chopped onions and celery), planning out times so that the food is all ready when my guests come and of course tasting along the way is a must :)

I started out my prep with marinating the chicken; I really wish I had written down everything I used.  I do know that I pureed some mango, added in a bit of olive oil, basil, garlic, chili sauce, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.  I don't *think* I used anything else, but can't guarantee it.  The taste of this marinade was light, with a tiny touch of heat from the chili sauce, but not enough to consider it spicy, more like tangy.

As the chicken was marinating, I did a lot of the prep work.  I went ahead and completed the tomatoes dish; slicing up fresh tomatoes, topping with a piece of mozzarella cheese and some chopped basil and drizzling with balsamic vinaigrette.  Those went into the fridge on the serving platter I would be using; one item completely accomplished.

Next, I prepped the other 2 appetizers, which both just needed 10 minutes or so in the oven.  I mixed some herbed goat cheese with pureed mangos and stuffed my figs.  I actually did a search to find out the best way to stuff a fig.  I tried both of the methods I found - one is making a slit and putting the stuffing in there.  The other is making more of an X and pulling the outsides apart and stuffing it.  I liked the presentation of the second one better.  All I did was stuff the figs with the mixture and put them on a plate in the fridge until time to cook.

For the mushrooms, I wanted something other than a cheese mixture since the other 2 appetizers had cheese.  I looked all over the internet, and finally found one that called for pesto, but I didn't have any on hand.  But I started thinking - what about hummus?  We always have a lot of hummus on hand, so I combined some original, some garlic flavored and some that was flavored with roasted red pepper.  I also stirred in chopped red and orange peppers and some basil.  I stuffed the mushrooms with that, then topped with a light sprinkle of breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

Next was making the salad, a light and fresh tasting mixture of greens, chopped mangos, chopped basil, crumbled feta cheese and cherry tomatoes.  Into the fridge it went in the bowl I would be using so it would keep cool.  My plan was to serve with an Asian Sesame Light dressing.  I also cut the peaches in half, and got my ingredients ready for the quinoa.  I sliced up the zucchini and topped with spray butter and parmesan cheese and had that ready to go.  At this point, it was just a "hurry up and wait" thing b/c the rest was the actual cooking.

With my friends coming over at 7, I started the actual cooking at 6:30.  At 6:15, I took the chicken out of the fridge and kept at room temperature for 1/2 hour, a tip I learned directly from Melissa D'Arabian in a live chat I was on the other day.  She actually answered my question about tips for grilling chicken and taught me about the room temp tip, and also to put thinner pieces towards the front of the grill as the back gets hotter.  Lastly, she advised to use a meat thermometer and take the chicken off at 5 degrees less than desired as it would cook those extra degrees while resting.

I started the quinoa at 6:30, figuring i could keep in the oven at 175.  What I love about quinoa is that it takes on whatever flavors you give it.   I started by sauteeing some chopped celery and onions in olive oil.  Once those were soft, I added in a cup and a half of chicken broth and brought that to a boil.  Then I added the quinoa and let it simmer for 12 minutes.  I also added in some chopped basil for flavor, along with some lemon zest.  I put it into the oven to warm, and 5 minutes before serving, I added in some raw red and orange pepper and some shoepeg corn as I wanted those to still be crunchy.

At 6:45, I fired up the grill and cooked the chicken and the peaches.  I have found that using a lower heat helps to keep the chicken more tender, and does not char the outside.  I used the top rack for the peaches and used some spray butter before grilling for flavor.  When finished, I knew I could just put them into the oven to warm.

I put the figs and mushrooms into the oven at this same time so that they would be ready, as well as the zucchini.  At 7 sharp, I was ready for company :)

I loved the flavor of the figs; a light drizzle of honey on the plate added a touch of sweetness to the savory taste of the goat cheese.  The mushrooms were everything I wanted them to be and then some.  The hummus is a perfect stuffing and I loved that the peppers stayed crunchy even after cooking.  There is NOTHING better than the taste of fresh tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and basil; so fresh and flavorful.

I was uber pleased that the chicken was cooked perfectly; tender and juicy and delicious!  The quinoa benefitted from the crunch of the veggies I added, and the mixture of ingredients in the salad was divine.  Parmesan zucchini was simple but delicious.

After dinner, I served up the grilled peaches that had been warming, putting each half on a piece of pound cake and used a dollop of whipped topping, as well as a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

I now have a new found respect for food bloggers.  It's hard to remember to take the pictures along the way, and I'm still learning the easiest way to upload.  I was FINALLY able to activate "instant upload" on my phone, so from now on, any photos I take will automatically be available for upload.  YAY - it took forever, but I'm so glad I figured it out :)

Mari

First Post!!!

So...I ran into a friend at the nail salon the other day who told me that she could never let her husband friend me on Facebook because I am always posting pictures of the meals I make and she does not love to cook.  Part of me felt kind of bad and part of me also thought - who really DOES care about what I make?  Once I even did a post something to the effect of gauging who enjoys my pics, and I did get some kind comments...but I decided that instead of posting the evening meals to my Facebook, I would create a blog instead.  It would be fun to make some "virtual" friends who also like to play around with food. 

I have a personal blog as well, but keep that one private because I am not one to air my stuff to the world.  As a matter of fact, when I first created it thinking I was only speaking to myself, I had 45 page views in about two hours.  And I was FREAKED OUT because I thought it was private.  In this one I can feel "free to be me!"  No worries about privacy settings and always open to feedback and comments.  If anyone will even care :)

Tonight will be a fun one!  I am having two of my best girlfriends over for dinner, and in my opinion, it is ALWAYS more fun to cook for others.  My husband is such a sport and enjoys what I make, but when you have company, it is fun to make things that are more exciting and unique.  He will be here to enjoy as well, and I will be missing my 15 year old daughter who is visiting her Granny B and her dad in Florida.

My appetizers tonight will be:  Roasted Figs Stuffed with Mango Goat Cheese; Mushrooms Stuffed with Hummus, Diced Peppers and Basil and Topped with Bread Crumbs and Parmesan Cheese as well as Sliced Tomatoes with Mozzarella and Basil.

Then I will be grilling some chicken in a mango marinade, making herbed quinoa, parmesan zucchini and a tasty salad.  Dessert will be grilled peaches on pound cake with whipped topping. 

Wish me luck as dinner is about an hour away so though most of it is prepped, I will start the real work now.  This will ALSO help me to make a habit of writing down ingredients in case anyone is interested in recipes.  Case in point - the mango marinade - I couldn't tell you what was in it even if you were hanging me by my toenails and threatening to kill me.  I found a recipe to follow and of course had to make it mine! 

So...as I plow through my prep stuff, I will take some pics and hopefully figure out how to upload them.  In the meantime, welcome to my kitchen and hope you enjoy!  Taking a deep breath and hitting the publish button :)

Mari