I'd like to thank Bob for bringing this recipe to my attention. I like to use my large cast iron skillet and "one pot" meals are awesome so this was right up my alley. It's also very easy once you get the vegetables chopped. I used a red bell instead of green. I also poached some boneless skinless chicken breast but you could also buy a rotisserie chicken and shred it to save some time. I think other vegetables like corn and zucchini would work in this dish.

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light HERE

Blueberries are in season and they're on sale so I've been buying a lot of them. I usually freeze them for smoothies but also love them in savory dishes.

This was really scrumptious and a recipe I'll be making again for as long as the berries last. I think this dressing would also work with grilled chicken.

Spinach Salad with Steak & Blueberries
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sp...rry_salad.html

From EatingWell: July/August 2010

Combine steak, walnuts, blueberries and feta cheese in this simple salad and you have yourself a healthy and satisfying supper. Serve with grilled baguette and a glass of rosé.

Makes 4 servings, about 2 cups each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3 tablespoons fruity vinegar, such as raspberry vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 tablespoons walnut oil or canola oil
1 pound sirloin steak or strip steak (1-1 1/4 inches thick), trimmed
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 cups baby spinach
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation
Preheat grill to medium.
Pulse 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup walnuts, vinegar, shallot, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor to form a chunky paste. With the motor running, add oil until incorporated. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl.
Sprinkle steak with pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Oil the grill rack. Grill the steak about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6 minutes per side for medium. Let rest on a clean cutting board for 5 minutes.
Add spinach to the bowl with the dressing; toss to coat. Divide the spinach among 4 plates. Thinly slice the steak crosswise. Top the spinach with the steak, feta and the remaining blueberries and walnuts.

Nutrition
Per serving : 392 Calories; 26 g Fat; 5 g Sat; 7 g Mono; 50 mg Cholesterol; 11 g Carbohydrates; 29 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 494 mg Sodium; 748 mg Potassium

My first experience with Piri-Piri was THIS recipe from Marcus Samuelsson's The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa. Back then I said I wanted to make this a lot. And then I didn't... So when I saw Steve Raichlen's recipe for Piri-Piri Chicken in the July 2010 issue of Bon Appetit I got all excited!. His recipe calls for bottled Piri-Piri but it's so easy to make yourself I recommend doing exactly that. Samuelsson's recipe makes a cup which is more than you'll need so you can make the shrimp later in the week. 

The chicken was more tangy than spicy which surprised me considering the marinade had eight red bird chiles. It was very good and we will definitely make it again.

The slaw is dead easy. I thought it would be cool after the chicken but that one tiny pepper gave it some kick. I used a bagged slaw instead of shredding cabbage because I'm lazy like that. 

Piri-Piri Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 1 pound), trimmed of fat
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 large shallots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup chopped chives, (about 1 bunch)

Preparation

1. Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an even thickness, about 1/2 inch. Season both sides of the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow glass baking dish and dredge the chicken in it. Discard the excess flour.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover and keep warm.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits, until golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour; stir to coat. Add wine, broth and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil, stirring often.
4. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook until heated through and no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes. Stir in sour cream and mustard until smooth; turn the chicken to coat with the sauce. Stir in chives and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 8 cups bite-size cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk (see Tip)
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Snipped fresh chives for garnish

Preparation

1. Place cauliflower florets and garlic in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and steam until very tender, 12 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, place florets and garlic in a microwave-safe bowl with 1/4 cup water, cover and microwave on High for 3 to 5 minutes.)
2. Place the cooked cauliflower and garlic in a food processor. Add buttermilk, 2 teaspoons oil, butter, salt and pepper; pulse several times, then process until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and garnish with chives, if desired. Serve hot.

Nutrition

I first made this recipe after it won the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1998. It was one of my regular dinners for a long time, then it disappeared off my radar as recipes tend to do.

Last week I was reminded in an email that the dish has a cult following on Chow.com for good reason. It's easy and delicious. Even though it has salsa the flavors are more Moroccan than Mexican. And did I mention it's delicious?

I served it with long grain rice instead of couscous and my salsa was not Old El Paso but other than that I followed the recipe to the letter.

Salsa Couscous Chicken recipe HERE.

One problem with writing a food blog is you don't always get around to repeating recipes. But that's what I've been doing lately-going through my greatest hits and seeing if they're still great.

One good thing about writing a food blog is it motivates me to try new things. Case in point-this duck!

I've never made a duck and I've only had duck a few times at restaurants. Alton's Good Eats episode plus constantly hearing duck fat is "liquid gold" prompted me to try a duck at home.

If you want to see the episode it is available on You Tube. Part One is HERE and part two is HERE.

Finding duck was a bit tricky. Fry's/Kroeger carries them but apparently they don't carry many because almost every time I went they were sold out. I did finally manage to find one from Maple Leaf Farms, which is a pekin duck.

I made the recipe exactly as Alton did. I think mine looks weird because my cast iron skillet is actually a grill pan. Maybe a flat surface would have been better.

This was very good but instead of making this again I'm motivated to try more duck recipes. And I'm looking forward to roasting potatoes in my new supply of "liquid gold".

The chard was just ok. I won't make that again as a side.

Recipe is HERE.

While I was packing up to move I found an old cookbook. Betty Crockers Best Recipes of the Year 1989. I remember cooking from it quite a bit when I bought it (for $2.00 at TJ Maxx according to the price tag). I think the only other cookbooks I had at the time were the Better Homes and Gardens red plaid book and some of those magazine type cookbooks you find at the supermarket checkout. Nothing exotic believe me. I remember being attracted to this book because it offered some ethnic recipes.

I flipped through the book and decided to revisit a popular recipe that I remember
making for friends. The page is a bit splattered so I must have made it a lot.

I was a bit worried that it would be too sweet as the canned plums I bought were in syrup and the grocery store didn't carry lemonade that didn't have HFCS. But it was perfectly tangy and delicious.

You can also do these on the grill.

Roasted Cornish Game Hens with Plum Barbecue Sauce
Serves 6

3 Rock Cornish Game Hens, split

Make Plum Barbecue Sauce and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350. Place hen halves in shallow roasting pan bone side down.
Roast uncovered for 30 minutes.
Brush with barbecue sauce and roast an additional 45 minutes brushing with sauce 2 times more.

Plum Barbecue Sauce

1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbs canola oil
1.4 cup chile sauce (I used Mae Ploy Sweet Chile Sauce from the Asian grocery store. It added a bit of bite)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 can (15.5 oz) plums drained, pitted and chopped
1 6oz can frozen lemonade concentrate

Sautee onion in canola oil until translucent. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.

I went to see Julie and Julia yesterday and LOVED it! Meryl Streep's Julia Child was unbelievably believable. It really did make want to get her book and try some of those recipes. I won't be boiling calves feet for aspic (blechh) but I would like to try the beef bourguignon once the weather cools.

Some say the Julie character is too whiny, and I see their point, but in her defense she did have a sucky job. And yes blogging is narcissistic but not nearly as much as Facebook and Twitter. Then again those two sites weren't around in 2002.


I cooked some dried cannellini beans today for salads after coming across THIS recipe on the 101 Cookbooks blog.

I'm not a huge carrot fan. I'll eat them in dishes but rarely all by themselves. These carrots were so good! I was worried the dish would be too sweet and I did not add all the honey the recipe called for. It was perfect and something I'll definitely make again.

We just got back from an Alaskan cruise (Holland America Line) and had a fantastic time. Even if you think you are not a "cruise person" I encourage you to try it. You will not be disappointed.

There was plenty of halibut and salmon on the ship but my boyfriend ate no halibut and had salmon only once. So I decided since it's in season I'd do halibut since he missed out.

I've had chimichurri on steak many times but never on fish. Yum! It's a great compliment. I need to buy more halibut too as it's so good on the grill!

I highly recommend the chimichurri recipe I blogged about HERE.

Like everyone who saw the movie Ratatouille I immediately wanted to make the showcase dish.

It took me a couple of years to finally get around to it but here it is. I have made ratatouille before but it was more of a stew-y side dish. Not half as pretty as this dish which is actually a confit byaldi developed by chef Thomas Keller for the movie. The dish is actually a play on the Turkish Imam Byaldi which I have made many times and is featured on this blog.

You can find Keller's recipe HERE but when I was searching I came across Smitten Kitchen's Version which is the one I actually made.

I served it as a main course with some crusty bread. We were't very hungry so this really hit the spot. It is delicious and a definite repeater. Easy too when you have a mandoline although my mandoline wanted to shred my eggplant for some reason so I had to slice that by hand.

Next time "I will try Keller's version.

I wish my picture was a pretty as the one on Gourmet magazine. But it was very tasty!

This is actually a big salad. And by my calculations a pretty healthy one too! Lots of veggies and grain. You will need a knife and fork to eat it.

I plan on making this again soon. Like this week!

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine June 2009 HERE

This was delicious!!!! Instead of cooking the trout in pans we cooked them outside on the grill. The rosemary really flavored the trout well and was perfect with the tomatoes. I served it over THIS tabbouleh recipe from my blog. In reviewing that recipe I realize I forgot the mint. Ooops. It was still very good and I would probably leave it out again since the rosemary in the fish recipe is pretty strong.

I chose the recipe because it's so easy-about 5 minutes of chopping the sauce, 20 minutes to prep the grill and about 3 minutes to prep the fish. Cook time was about 8 minutes total. And even though it's not listed as one of their healthy choices I still think it's a good choice. I love that the magazine tags the recipes except I keep reading "HF" as "High Fat" instead of "High Fiber".

The recipe for Rosemary Trout with Cherry-Tomato Sauce, courtesy of Bon Appetit June 2009 can be found at Epicurious HERE.

I've made this several times and everyone has loved it.

It's especially fun to see people who aren't accustomed to eating whole fish take in the presentation. People also seem to think you went to a lot of trouble when this is the easiest recipe evah!

Sorry about the blurry picture but I was at my bf's house and it looked fine on my little monitor.

Anyway the recipe is from Fish & Shellfish Grilled and Smoked by Karen Adler and Judith M. Fertig. It's an excellent book and I haven't had a failure yet. We had this with grilled asparagus and Italian bread.

Now the original instructions say to grill 8-10 minutes each side but I have never grilled them that long. I did 5 minutes on one side and 2 on the other. I think it all depends on how hot your fire is and I've developed a "fish-stinct" to where I can tell it's done. Keep testing.

Recipe

4 12 to 16 oz dressed rainbow trout (I always get bone in)
2 lemons, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
Fresh Italian parsley
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Zesty Lemon Baste (recipe below)

Prepare med/hot fire

Place 2 onion slices, 2-3 lemon slices and a sprig of parsley in the cavity of each fish. Season with salt and pepper. (I put a dollop of the lemon baste in the fish too).

Grill until meat is opaque and just beginning to flake with a fork, turning once and brushing frequently with the lemon baste.

Serve garnished with lemon slices and parsley.

Zesty Lemon Baste
(You can also use lime orange or grapefruit juice)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp cayenne pepper
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
4 minced garlic cloves.

Combine all the ingredients and blend (I used my hand mixer)
Will keep well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

A later note- I realize I blogged this twice! Eesh I really need to chack myself.

This is on the cover of the current issue of Bon Appetit. It looked so good I had to try it.

It was so easy and very "fresh" tasting. I loved the pesto and want to try it on cold pasta.

My changes: I roasted a chicken over the weekend and used some shredded breast instead of grilling chicken, I used regular cuke instead of Japanese and I used less oil in the dressing.

Recipe HERE

Once a week or so I roast a chicken and strip the meat for soups and salads. My normal method was to truss and roast using THOMAS KELLER'S PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN RECIPE. Sometimes I'll season it with different herbs or a sprinkling of Penzey's Mural of flavor. I occasionally make a PSYCHO CHICKEN.

But now I am a convert to spatchcocked chicken. And I like the word, "spatchcocked". It cooks faster and turns out incredibly tender and juicy. I think once the weather gets too hot to roast this will be a great way to grill a chicken.

I can't really describe the technique except to say it's deceptively easy. I just watched THIS VIDEO a couple of times. I didn't trim the fat-instead I cut slits and tucked the legs in. I roasted at 400 degrees until the thigh temperature reached 170 and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. I do need a bigger roasting pan as mine isn't big enough for the flattened chicken. The foil lined baking sheet worked fine though.

If you're looking for a great New Years Resolution dish this is a great place to start. Lean protein, leafy greens, tomatoes and whole grains are all things we should be eating more of.

I used Trader Joe's Chicken Sausage with Chipotle which gave the dish quite the kick. I'd like to try it again with basil pesto for a milder dish.

Sausage with Bulgur and kale
Weight Watchers Magazine - Jan/Feb 2009

1 (12 oz.) package fully cooked poultry sausage with roasted pepper and corn, cut up
8 cups fresh kale, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/2) can lo-sodium chicken broth
1 cup bulgur
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

2. Add the kale and garlic to the skillet; reduce the heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the kale is wilted, about 1 minute. Stir in the broth, bulgur, salt, pepper, and sausage. Cover and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes.

3 Remove the skillet from the heat. let the mixture stand, covered, until the liquid is absorbed and the bulgur is tender, about 5 minutes. Fluff the mixture with a fork; stir in the tomatoes and cheese.

4 Servings (about 1 1/2 cups): 316 calories 6 WW Points

It's been cold and rainy here and I've been thinking chili would hit the spot. Chili is another food I used to hate as a kid. What was I thinking? It's hearty, filling and there are so many variatons.

People are fanatical about their recipes with secret ingredients and other tricks. I just found this recipe in Cooking Light back in 2003 and quit looking. I just wish I had the forsight to cook up some of my dried Rancho Gordo beans in place of the canned beans. Next time. A big glob of Daisy sour cream and some shredded cheddar and the bowl is finished.

This recipe makes a LOT of chili but the good news is it freezes very well.

Enjoy.

Recipe HERE

My apologies for my long absence. I've been revisting my favorite recipes on this blog to see if they're still as good. Yep they are! Eventually I'll have them all on a "greatest hits" tag.

And I'm going to start that tag with this recipe from the November 2008 issue of Gourmet. This only takes about 30 minutes and the payoff is huge!! Although it is easy to burn yourself so watch out. I got some hot balsamic splatter on my face when the sauce went "pop". And remember your potholders!! They weren't kidding when they said the chicken would be moist. I'm not a big fan of chicken breasts because they're often dry.

I served it with a crash hot potato and roasted brussels sprouts. I did drizzle the sauce on the sprouts as well as the chicken. And no I did not eat that monster by myself. Once the picture was done I cut it in half.

The recipe for the chicken is HERE and the much adored crash hot potatoes recipe is HERE.

That's one question I set out to answer. As a kid the answer would have been a firm NO WAY! But I hated brussels sprouts too and have since decided I quite like them drizzled in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and roasted.

So I researched beets and how to prepare them. I decided my first beet experience should be simple and in the form of roasted golden beets. A quick search in Epicurious turned up this recipe for Beet Salad which was originally published in Self magazine.

Roasting beets does smell good and I was thinking I was really going to like them. Before assembling the salad I bit into a wedge of unadulterated beet. Not bad. But not great. I didn't hate it. So I proceeded to assemble the salad (subbing olive oil for sesame oil)and dug in. Turns out beets are great when tossed with balsamic vinegar and topped with goat cheese and walnuts.

I'd definitely make this again and make it pretty for company like the Self picture.

So while I don't love beets I'm no longer opposed to them.

Tomorrow dinner is coming from an unexpected country. I can't wait!

Recipe Here

My sad photo here