A lot of repeats...

For those who are interested, and maybe just for my own sense of accomplishment, I am still cooking and eating at home. We've done really well with this the last couple of weeks. I haven't blogged about it because a lot of items are repeats:

• BLT's with fancy bread and cheese and avocado spread. Avocado is a must! Mash it up and add a little garlic salt and lime/lemon juice to taste. It brings out the best in the green power.
• Cordon Bleu's from the freezer section. This is my secret to successful cooking at home. If nothing else is going to work or I want to "relax" or prepare other meals for the upcoming days while something easy is cooking I pull a couple of these from the freezer and work away for 30 minutes while they bake. They're tasty and already portioned and when paired with some green veggies (like local green beans) and milk, a healthy meal.
• Enchiladas Verdes were calling my name. I made these again and discovered some valuable notes. Heat your tortillas on the stove and not in the microwave, the flavor is much more rich and real. If you have "extra" sauce, pour it all on the enchiladas, the sauce really makes the meal. And don't forget to salt the chicken water, it needs the flavor. (Also, grocery stores don't always carry bone-in chicken. It's a special request. Beware.)
• Quesadillas. Why? Because we had extra chicken and cheese and tortillas from the enchiladas. Add a little cheddar cheese and serve with sour cream and the green power of avocado/guac and whamo a delicious and quick finger food feast.

Not a repeat: Lasagna. It's a favorite blend of all that is good - home canned tomatoes, noodles, and cheese. It makes the house smell delicious and fills me with warmth. I'll post the recipe a little later. No promises on photos.

Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Tomatoes grow in abundance.

This year I tried something new with mine.

Slow-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients

• Cherry Tomatoes - If you follow the link, and then follow her link, you'll find that it originally started with Romas, but I had cherry and 4 hours of roasting was long enough for me to tend to them. Artist's "borrow" ideas from others. Some people call it inspiration.
• Olive Oil
  
• Coarse Salt
• Ground Pepper
• Herbs - if desired

Directions

1. Cut tomatoes in half and place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil for easy clean up.
2. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and any herbs.
3. Place in a 225 degree oven and roast for 4 hours, turning every 30 minutes or so.

I took one evening and let them roast from 6 - 10 pm. They filled the house with a heavenly aroma and even though I did not use any herbs, they exploded with slow-roasted flavor. I've been snacking on them since but would be great in soup, with pasta, on a salad, in a wrap, on a pizza, etc. etc. etc.

Weekday Meat and Potatoes

I often make the excuse, "...but I don't have time to make a good meal." Some days it's true. Some days it's all I can do to get off of work at 5, walk to the car, drive to a local eatery, order and eat $1.50 tacos (good tacos but store-bought all the same), and get home to leave again because we are asked to be elsewhere by 6:30. I'm sure many of you understand.

The described scenario works on Tuesday night because tacos are cheap. Wednesday night, I don't have that luxury, and I will often think I don't have time to cook something really good. Maybe I don't, but WE do.

I love to cook with my hubby. I love spending time together in the kitchen talking about anything under the sun. I love feeling like we are both experiencing something new. I love knowing that we are accomplishing something together. I love that he keeps me calm when I want to cry because something isn't according to plan, he calls it "Hama Pizazz". Another thing I love is that when we work together we can create an entire delicious meal and not just a really good main dish and a side that looks like an afterthought.

Last night my hubby manned the grill and created a masterpiece of a pork tenderloin. Other than his innate talent, the secret is: get a quality piece of meat and let it's natural flavor come through. Ingredients: pork tenderloin, coarse salt, freshly ground pepper. That's it.

While he was tending to the manly meat duties I was in the kitchen prepping the farmer's market finds of new potatoes and fresh green beans. I did look to some tried and tested recipes to help me along the way. I will share these with you.

Garlic Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds red new potatoes, scrubbed well and quartered
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup milk - it calls for whole but I just used 1% because that's what I have on hand
  

Directions:

1. Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, 12 to 14 minutes.
   

2. Remove steamer basket and set potatoes aside; discard water from pot. In same pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium. Add garlic; cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add potatoes; mash coarsely. Cook, stirring, 1 minute (a film of starch will form on bottom of pot). Stir in milk and remaining tablespoon butter; heat until warmed through, about 1 minute more. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Emeril's Green Bean Salad
Ingredients:

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 pounds thin green beans, trimmed
• 2 small red onions, quartered through root end (leaving root end attached) - I skipped the onions this time because I didn't want to bother but they are a tasty addition

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and prepare a large bowl of ice water. In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice; set aside. For onions: Heat grill to medium-low.

2. Cook green beans in boiling water until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer immediately to ice-water bath. Drain beans well, pat dry, and place in bowl. Drizzle with dressing. If not using onions, season with salt and pepper.
   

3. For onions: Toss onion wedges with remaining tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill until lightly charred, 4 to 6 minutes per side. When cool, trim root end off, and thinly slice onions; add to bowl with green beans, and toss to combine.

I apologize for not having pictures to entice your tastebuds but honestly my photography needs some work and photos wouldn't have done it justice, not to mention I was short on time and my mouth was watering.

My hubby and I put this together in about 30 minutes. He's the meat: dark and muscles. I'm the potatoes: starchy white and better with milk. :)

Turkey Bacon vs. Bacon Bacon

I may have already mentioned that turkey bacon is only acceptable in some facets of life. Breakfast is not one of those. I feel that if you are going to the trouble of making breakfast that includes bacon, it should be the real deal. If you want healthy - broil it and have the grease drip into a foil lined pan instead of frying it.

Real bacon needs to be used for the Coronado and Bacon Pea Pasta but turkey bacon is suitable for part of your meatballs or even BLTs. Our garden has provided an abundance of tomatoes this year and combined with a local baker's wheat bread, and local farmer's lettuce BLTs are a must in our home. This weekend we went a little further and purchased some heirloom tomatoes at our local farmers market for the BLT feast and it was a rich, authentic flavor with varied color. It's such a simple meal but so rewarding.

Cooking Strike Ends with Cornbread

As you may or may not have noticed I have been on a cooking hiatus. It wasn't necessarily intentional but I lost my fire for a minute, or more honestly a few weeks. I'll blame the summer heat. But with the delicious Fall harvest that couldn't last long.

So to warm the creative fire we grilled some Turkey Cheddar Brawts - delicious and healthier by a long shot. Because I don't call dawgs "cooking" I tried cooking cornbread on the grill. Did it work? Yes. Would I call it a success? No. I was terribly disappointed in the end result. Mind you I tried the recipe on two separate occasions to give it a fair chance. The first attempt had mixed reviews and it may be liked by some. I, however, felt it was dry and simply not sweet enough. If you'd like to try the original recipe follow the link above.

I will include my FAVORITE cornbread recipe from a kind neighborhood mother. She passed the recipe to me and mine just before our wedding and it has always been a hit!

Ingredients for an 8x8 pan or 10 inch cast-iron skillet:

• 7/8 C Flour - I used to guess about the 1/8 cup increments but have since purchased measuring cups that included an 1/8 cupper
• 3/8 C Cornmeal
• 3/4 tea Salt
• 1 tea Baking Powder
• 3/8 C Sugar
• 3/4 C Evaporated Milk
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 C Oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees or heat skillet on grill at low temp for 10 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl beat together the evaporated milk, eggs, and oil.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir only enough to combine.
5. For oven: Pour mixture into greased pan and bake 25 minutes or For Grill: Place a tablespoon of butter on your warm cast-iron pan and move it around the pan, then pour in your mixture and cook covered 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

*You can make a 9 x 13 inch pan in the oven by doubling all the ingredients and cooking for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

It was really nice to cook the bread on the grill. It kept the kitchen cool and it was fun to try something new. I did like that the original recipe made honey butter to melt on top of the bread.

Honey Butter: Combine 2 tablespoons of butter with 1/8 C + 1 tablespoon of honey. For more, simply double or triple the amounts.

En Espanol, Por Favor

My favorite everything companion just turned 30. It was a good reason for him to ask me to make a special birthday dinner. He requested enchiladas verdes and refried beans. If I'm going to make that I might as well try my hand at some rice as well. So yesterday afternoon I headed to the kitchen to get started. I cooked from 3 until 6pm. That's a long time for me to be in the kitchen, in the summer, without air conditioning BUT it was worth it to make something scrumptious for my love. Next time, I'll make the beans ahead of time. They were the most demanding in combination with the other two dishes.

Enchiladas Verdes or Green Enchiladas Absolutely Fantastic Flavor and a Definite Keeper!
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed
  
• 1/2 medium white onion, halved crosswise
• 1 whole garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 1 jalapeno chile
• 1 poblano chile
• 8 -10 six-inch corn tortillas
• 10 ounces queso fresco - this was found in the dairy section of my local grocer, not with the other cheeses and lunch meats. I think this is must! It's above and beyond yummy and offers a more authentic taste.

Directions

1. Place chicken, 1/2 of the onion, the garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, 18 to 22 minutes. Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid; set aside.
2. Let chicken cool on a plate. When cool enough to handle, shred (discard bones). Coarsely chop 1/2 cup cilantro, and toss with chicken.
3. Preheat broiler, with the rack about 6 inches from heat source. Broil tomatillos and chiles on a rimmed baking sheet, rotating them as they blacken, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool. Remove the blackened skins, stems, ribs, and seeds (optional, all the heat is in the seeds) from chiles. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. (If you don't like so much heat, you may want to remove the seeds before blackening.)
4. Coarsely puree tomatillos and chile flesh in a blender with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1 1/2 cups cilantro, and reserved 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Transfer salsa to a large bowl.
5. Using tongs, toast tortillas over an open flame of a gas stove, 5 to 10 seconds per side. At least warm them up so they become more flexible and won't crack once you stuff and roll your enchiladas.
6. Dip 1 tortilla into salsa to coat lightly. Place 1/3 cup chicken on half of tortilla. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons cheese on top, and roll up. Place it seam side down in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Repeat to make more enchiladas, lining them up snugly in dish. Spoon remaining salsa on top, and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.

This is where I have to profess my love for bone-in chicken breasts. The flavor is intensified and I feel the meat cooks to be more tender and juicy. I enjoyed the fragrance of the meat cooking with the onion in the water because it reminded me of my mom cooking chicken breasts with veggies in the water. mmm....

Be mindful that if you want more enchiladas, cook more chicken and/or stuff the tortillas with less. I made 8 chicken and 2 cheese enchiladas, had plenty of sauce, and had leftover chicken for salads or quesadillas tonight.

Basic Mexican Rice - Easy and tasty, a good compliment.
Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1/2 whole Large Onion, Chopped
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cups Long Grain Rice
• 1 can Rotel (10 Ounce)
• 1 can Whole Tomatoes (14.5 Ounce)
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth (more If Needed)
• 1 teaspoon Cumin (more To Taste)
• 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• Fresh Cilantro, Chopped

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onions, then cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
   
2. Reduce heat to low and add rice and garlic. Stir constantly, making sure the rice doesn’t burn. Cook over low heat for 3 minutes.
   
3. Add Ro-tel and tomatoes. Stir to combine and let cook for 2 minutes.
   
4. Finally, add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 additional minutes or until rice is done. Add more liquid as needed; rice shouldn’t be sticky.
5. Just before serving, sprinkle lots of freshly chopped cilantro over the top. Serve immediately. (I did not serve this with cilantro. Probably because my brain was short-circuiting by the time I served dinner.)
   

And finally the Refried Beans - Delicious but prep ahead.
Ingredients

• 2 cups dried pinto beans, soaked overnight in a large bowl with water to cover by 2-inches, and drained
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 cup bacon drippings or lard
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions - I forgot about these and it still turned out ok
  
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon chopped oregano
• 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
  

Directions

1. Rinse then soak your dry beans overnight or for 6-8 hours. Drain.
2. In a large, heavy pot, combine the beans, bay leaf, and enough water to cover by 1 to 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are very tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, adding more water as necessary to keep covered.
   
3. When the beans are soft, mash in the pot with a potato masher or the back of heavy wooden spoon. Remove from the heat. You do not drain.
4. In a large, heavy skillet, heat the bacon fat over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, 4 to 6 minutes.
   
5. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 45 seconds to 1 minute. Add the beans and any cooking liquid from the pot, and the oregano, and stir to combine.
   
6. Cook, stirring with a heavy wooden spoon, until the mixture forms a thick paste, 15 to 20 minutes, adding water a bit at a time to keep the beans from drying out too much.
7. Remove from the heat, sprinkle with the cheese and serve.

I didn't have bacon drippings on hand, so I cooked about a half a pound of bacon while the beans were simmering for their 2 hours. I set the bacon aside and we'll most likely top a salad or have some Bacon Pea Pasta, using wheat pasta.

Love to mi vida!

Sop It Up. It's that good.

When Drew and I were in San Diego for our honeymoon we happened to eat lunch at the Naked Cafe at Solana Beach. I was really into a salad they offered and when the waitress asked me what kind of dressing I habitually answered, "Ranch." Obviously I was in the wrong place for ranch dressing, they are all about whole foods and treating your body to a higher level of delicious.

She rambled off a few of their dressing options and I chose the one with Balsamic and Rosemary. Ever since our first date I have been in love with 3 things: Drew, the rosemary and balsamic combo, and sopping up every last bit of delicious. The dressing was phenomenal and I couldn't get enough. When we ventured back to San Diego in 2008 I was sure to go to the Naked Cafe for the dressing alone. We ended up going for breakfast and that was little bits of heaven but no salad.

One of my souvenirs from the trip, however, was a bottle of their salad dressing. Too bad it didn't last long at home and thus began my quest for a homemade recipe. Like manna from heaven my magazine arrived in the mail and there was a section dedicated to balsamic vinegar and what did they have?! It's serendipity really, a recipe for balsamic-rosemary vinaigrette dressing.

I made it again the other evening. Let's just say the blender was clean before it hit the sink because I used a piece of bread or more and sopped up every last bit left on the glass...and the blades...and...the lid...don't judge me ok. Try the dressing and you'll be doing the same.

Balsamic-Rosemary Vinaigrette
Ingredients

• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small garlic clove (I put this through the press before adding because I have an older blender)
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a blender, combine vinegar, mustard, garlic, rosemary, water, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth. With machine running, add oil in a thin stream; blend until creamy.

You can put this is a clean jam jar or a dressing jar if you have one. The recipe states that it is good in the fridge for 2 weeks but that is if it lasts that long. When we have this on hand it's common for us to make BIG salads for dinner and add some grilled chicken and crumbled feta. And of course when the salad is gone, and traces of the dressing remain, I have to sop it up. It's that good.