On Hiatus

Hey all, just a quick update to let you know cooking blog is on hiatus until at least mid-December. I'm in 2 master's classes this semester that are heavier than usual on the amount of reading, so creative cooking is not my forte right now.

I'd like to assure everyone that we're still eating, though it's really just a bunch of repeats from earlier blogs at this point. :)

See you at the end of the semester!

Grilled Beer Chicken with Potato Slabs

Beer in your chicken? Yeah, I was sure to get Craig's attention with this one. Found the recipe on rachaelraymag.com, apparently it was in the June/July '08 issue and I missed it!

INGREDIENTS:

-One 12 oz can or bottle beer, at room temp

-1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

-2 cloves garlic, smashed

-1 tbsp chili powder

-1 tbsp brown sugar

-2 tsp salt, plus more for sprinkling

-6 chicken drumsticks

-2 baking potatoes

-olive oil (for drizzling)

-lime wedges (for serving)

DIRECTIONS:

-In a resealable plastic bag, combine the beer, butter, garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, and salt. Add the drumsticks, seal the bag and let marinate while you proceed.

-Preheat a grill or grill pan to high. Microwave the potatoes on high until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Slice the potatoes lengthwise about 1/4 inch thick. Drizzle both sides generously with olive oil.

-Transfer the chicken and potatoes to the grill. Grill the drumsticks, brushing with the beer marinade and turning occasionally, until the skin is golden and crisp and the juices run clear, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the potatoes until grill marks appear, about 3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt. Serve the chicken and potatoes with the lime wedges.

COMMENTS:

-Okay, we made a few modifications here. First, we used chicken breasts instead of drumsticks. Also, we don't have a grill, so we put the potatoes in the oven and cooked the chicken on the stove. And the potatoes were the small red kind, not bigger baking potatoes...so we used more than 2.

-With the potatoes, we wanted to add a little more seasoning, so we sprinkled them with rosemary while baking, and put some parmesan cheese on at the end. (This is a hybrid of some potatoes we made out of my Carmella Soprano cookbook a ways back.)

-Overall, very tasty! The marinade keeps the chicken really juicy. No, it doesn't reek of beer, but the beer does give it some good flavor. (We used a golden ale that Craig brewed at home.) We served with a side salad. Yummm.

Jalapeno-Mango Shrimp

So I'm flipping through my latest issue of Rachael Ray Everyday, and I see this cool summer shrimp meal. Sounds tasty! Must try.

Unfortunately, I have to say this is the first and only time Rachael has failed me. We were not fans of this one. But here's the recipe and I have some comments at the end!

INGREDIENTS:

-1 jalapeno chile, finely seeded and chopped

-2 tablespoons EVOO

-2 teaspoons ground cumin

-Salt

-1 1/2 lbs extra large shrimp, shelled and deveined

-2 tbsp brown sugar

-Juice of 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)

-2 mangoes, cut into cubes

-1 1/2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

-6 radishes, halved and thinly sliced

-2 scallions, sliced

-1/4 cup chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat an outdoor grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. In a large bowl, whisk together the jalapeno, olive oil, cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt. Add the shrimp and turn to coat.

Grill the shrimp until just cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side; let cool. Halve the shrimp lengthwise.

In a large bowl, dissolve the brown sugar in the lime juice. Add the mangoes, cucumbers, radishes, scallions, and cilantro; toss and season with salt. Add the shrimp and toss.

COMMENTS:

Okay, the big mistake in this meal is the CUMIN. There is nothing light and summery about it. It was way too powerful and gave everything else a yucky flavor. The mango and cucumber were quite yummy though and might be good with different seasoning. Craig was not a fan of the radishes though...I thought they were "eh".

Also, I will say I attempted this meal at a rather unfortunate time, as jalapenos and cilantro are being investigated for salmonella contamination. I ended up using a poblano pepper instead of jalapeno (Bill told me later this may not have been a great substitution), and I said "what the hey" with the cilantro and used it anyway. (The FDA cleared it later anyway...not that risky right?) We did throw the cilantro in with the shrimp for a minute though, because I felt safer with it semi-cooked. And we're all still standing...

So the moral here is...Rachael had a good concept, but it just didn't come together correctly. Not our top choice.

Grilled Pizza with Hot Sausage, Grilled Peppers and Onions and Oregano Ricotta

I wanted to use up some of the ricotta from my last dish, and I needed some ideas. Thankfully the ladies on the CT Tribe message board helped me out! This was recommended to me by Jess, via the Food Network.

I do have to say, this is a dish originally done by Bobby Flay. And I hate Bobby Flay. I mean I really hate Bobby Flay. If there was a chef I would not want to be like, it would be Bobby Flay.

But this is good anyway, so let's forget it was made by him, 'kay?

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound Italian hot sausage

1 large red onion, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

2 large yellow pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

2 large red pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 recipe favorite pizza dough, rolled into 4 (6-inch) rounds

1/2 pound grated fontina cheese

1 cup sheep's milk ricotta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Basil Vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat a grill.

Grill the sausage on both sides until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes per side. Brush onions and peppers with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the onions and peppers until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove the sausage from the grill and slice into 1/4-inch thick slices. Remove the onions, separate into rings, and roughly chop. Remove the peppers and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices.

Heat grill to high. Brush dough with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and grill for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn over and grill for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the grill and place on a flat surface.

Divide the fontina cheese among the 4 pizza rounds. Divide the sausage, onions and peppers over the cheese. Place the pizza on the grill, close the cover and grill until the cheese has melted, about 3 to 4 minutes. To finish in the oven, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the pizza on sheet pans and bake until the cheese has melted, about 5 to 10 minutes.

Mix together the ricotta, extra-virgin olive oil, and oregano in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the pizzas from the oven and drizzle with Basil Vinaigrette. Top with dollops of the ricotta cheese mixture and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

COMMENTS:

We made a lot of edits to this one. First, as you all know, we do not have a grill. So we had to do everything with the stove/oven, but that really didn't take that much variation.

Secondly, we didn't do the 4 individual pizzas--we just did one big one. We found out early on that we could have done with way fewer red/yellow peppers as a result (as you can probably tell by the picture...). But we loaded 'em on anyway.

As usual, we skipped the onions. And I have no idea what fontina cheese is, so I bought Price Chopper Pizza Blend shredded cheese. Easy enough! And tasty. I also used a Boboli instead of making my own pizza dough.

Bobby Blah has his own recipe for basil vinagrette that he used...me, I bought the "Basil Vinagrette" salad dressing pack, mixed with oil and vinegar...beautiful and easy.

All in all, this was really good. Craig was skeptical at first because there was no pizza sauce on his pizza. But the sausage plus all the cheeses makes a really good mix, and the vinagrette isn't overpowering at all. YUM!

Fettucine Tomato Rustica

I wanted to try a little variaton on our usual pasta dish, so I got some ideas on allrecipes, bought some fun new ingredients, and got to work!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 (16 ounce) package dry fettuccini noodles
1 cup olive oil, divided
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons basil pesto
1 teaspoon dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

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.

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink, and juices run clear. Set aside to cool, then slice into bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, combine remaining olive oil, pesto, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, feta and ricotta. Mix until smooth.

In the large skillet, toss fettuccini with sauce and chicken. Cook on low heat 5 minutes, or until heated through.

COMMENTS:

For once, I did everything the directions suggested. :) While this was a quick and tasty dish, Craig and I agreed it wasn't everything the recipe made it out to be. It sounds very fancy-schmancy with all the cheeses and tomatoes and such, but it really just tastes like a basic thick, creamy fettucine dish.

Still a good one to try, and the sun dried tomatoes give good flavor--but maybe not worth all the money you'll drop on ricotta and feta!

Tomato Basil Chicken

I had some chicken. I had some fresh basil (thank you to the parentals for that). I needed to use them. Allrecipes.com to the rescue!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups olive oil for frying
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat 2 cups olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the eggs and bread crumbs in 2 separate bowls. Dip chicken in the eggs then in the bread crumbs to coat. Place chicken in the skillet, and fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Spoon over the fried chicken to serve.

COMMENTS:

To save time, we ignored the breading option, and just grilled our chicken on the stove. Personally I think this sounds better than doing the tomato mix on breaded chicken, and it did taste really good.

Also, we used roma tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, which worked fine. I like them because they're a little easier to dice up.

I highly recommend the fresh basil! The stuff we used was right out of my parent's garden and it tasted soooo good. Enjoy!

Balsamic Tortellini

Back when we first started living together (and I couldn't cook AT ALL yet), one of our favorite easy dinner staples was tortellini with marinara sauce. We had a craving for the tortellini, but I found this recipe online to change up the flavor a bit. Courtesy of allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 slices pancetta bacon, raw

1 (9 oz.) package cheese-filled tortellini

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bacon until onion is translucent and bacon is brown; remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

-Return onion/bacon mixture to skillet and add cooked tortellini. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and heat through. Place in serving dish or bowl, sprinkle with vinegar and cheese, and serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-Not being onion fans, we skipped the onion and put in some garlic instead. We also used regular bacon instead of pancetta.

-I'll say up front, this was not my favorite. I think maybe I used a little too much balsamic vinegar? I found the taste of the vinegar to be very strong and I didn't get to enjoy the pasta/bacon at all. I think it might be a good idea to use a little less of the vinegar than the recipe called for. Tweak and tell me what works!