I go to Panera Bread every Wednesday to meet up with my knitting group, and if I eat dinner while there, I usually order the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad. It's been my favorite for a long time. Sure, I eat other things there, but keep going back to the salad.
Well. Imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago that the salad, a long-time menu item, has been discontinued! I ate my last Asian Sesame Chicken Salad and I didn't know it. The restaurant has switched over to "all-natural" ingredients in everything and apparently, there's something in the salad that doesn't make the cut. (My friend Rayna is bummed about no more pepperoncini in her Greek salad, apparently they didn't make the cut either.)
I'm bummed. I get the desire for natural ingredients but sheesh! Let people decide for themselves. Although, I guess they ARE letting people decide, in terms of deciding to eat at Panera or not. Since it's still a super-convenient place to hold knit night and was tough to find a new location in the first place, we'll be staying. And most nights, eating.
So to satisfy that craving, I vowed to make an Asian Sesame Chicken salad myself. Sauteed chicken breast, greens, cucumber, cilantro and toasted almonds, topped with a little homemade Carrot-Ginger dressing. (Recipe courtesy of America's Test Kitchen's "Light Cooking" cookbook.) It wasn't the same. However, it was still very good. All of those flavors worked well together and made for a filling, healthy lunch. And homemade dressing always beats the pants off of bottled store-bought, in terms of flavor, fat AND calories.
Hmmmm. Maybe if it had tortilla strips next time, it'll be a closer match. Probably not, but I'll keep trying.
Showing posts with label easy foods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easy foods. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Chicken Tortellini Soup
My first from-scratch soup made without a recipe! Ta-Da!
First, I boiled a whole chicken. Yep....just threw it in a pot with some onion, carrots and celery and filled it up past the chicken. Oh, and I added plenty of salt, a small handful. I'm usually guilty of not seasoning enough. I boiled that chicken for about 45 minutes, then took it out and carved it. And by carved, I mean pulled the meat off barbarically. :) I threw it back in the pot with some sauteed peppers and onions and cooked tortellini. Lastly, I tossed in fresh baby spinach leaves. Voila! Lunch, with a ton of leftovers. The only thing that I thought that it could use was some mushrooms.
Can't wait to make some homemade soup again. This weather certainly calls for it.
First, I boiled a whole chicken. Yep....just threw it in a pot with some onion, carrots and celery and filled it up past the chicken. Oh, and I added plenty of salt, a small handful. I'm usually guilty of not seasoning enough. I boiled that chicken for about 45 minutes, then took it out and carved it. And by carved, I mean pulled the meat off barbarically. :) I threw it back in the pot with some sauteed peppers and onions and cooked tortellini. Lastly, I tossed in fresh baby spinach leaves. Voila! Lunch, with a ton of leftovers. The only thing that I thought that it could use was some mushrooms.
Can't wait to make some homemade soup again. This weather certainly calls for it.
Monday, October 5, 2015
Weekend Warriors
What a weekend in our kitchen.
First, let's talk about this pizza for Saturday lunch. I had no idea that ricotta, arugula and caramelized onion would make such fantastic pizza toppings. Unfortunately, you can't reheat pizza with arugula on top, because it wilts. So we had to eat it all, tough break.
I made stuff for our freezer. Three freezer bags of ratatouille, and this time I salted the eggplant slices first a la Alton Brown. It definitely got some of the moisture out, making the finished product less "mushy." It'll go great with a starch and a little grated Parmesan later.
Then it was time for a magic trick....turning a $4.23 whole chicken into two meals and then boiling the carcass for chicken stock. (Thank you, rapidly approaching "sell-by" dates!) And honestly, it didn't take very long. I just sauteed some aromatics (in this case a whole sliced onion, a couple of carrots and some celery ribs) and added the carcass, covered with water and let it boil for an hour. I'll strain the fat off the top tonight and put it in the freezer for some delightful chicken soup at a later date.
Now, I've got some overripe bananas to turn into muffins, and yesterday we went apple picking. Thinking about what to make!
First, let's talk about this pizza for Saturday lunch. I had no idea that ricotta, arugula and caramelized onion would make such fantastic pizza toppings. Unfortunately, you can't reheat pizza with arugula on top, because it wilts. So we had to eat it all, tough break.
I made stuff for our freezer. Three freezer bags of ratatouille, and this time I salted the eggplant slices first a la Alton Brown. It definitely got some of the moisture out, making the finished product less "mushy." It'll go great with a starch and a little grated Parmesan later.
Then it was time for a magic trick....turning a $4.23 whole chicken into two meals and then boiling the carcass for chicken stock. (Thank you, rapidly approaching "sell-by" dates!) And honestly, it didn't take very long. I just sauteed some aromatics (in this case a whole sliced onion, a couple of carrots and some celery ribs) and added the carcass, covered with water and let it boil for an hour. I'll strain the fat off the top tonight and put it in the freezer for some delightful chicken soup at a later date.
Now, I've got some overripe bananas to turn into muffins, and yesterday we went apple picking. Thinking about what to make!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Either Way You're Only Getting Half a Pan
I learned a hard lesson......you don't leave cast iron items in the oven while baking.
For one thing, they make it so that the oven takes forever to heat up. I left a skillet and a grill pan on the bottom shelf when I was making banana "snack cake" and later on in the week I made magic bars for the karate picnic. Yes, I made this mistake twice.
The edges were the only cooked pieces on the banana cake, I was able to salvage this much and throw the rest away. The boys loved it, though. Will asked for a taste, and then took the piece from me with a big smile and a "Mine!" :) It's going to be the first recipe I write into The Notebook in a while.
The magic bars edges were destroyed. Not only because of the cast iron roommates hogging space in the oven, but because I thought that the first step of melting butter in the pan would be enough to grease it. Yeah.....not so much for the sides. This is how much I had to throw out, and I despise throwing out food.
So....lessons learned and shared from me, so you don't have to learn them for yourself.
For one thing, they make it so that the oven takes forever to heat up. I left a skillet and a grill pan on the bottom shelf when I was making banana "snack cake" and later on in the week I made magic bars for the karate picnic. Yes, I made this mistake twice.
The edges were the only cooked pieces on the banana cake, I was able to salvage this much and throw the rest away. The boys loved it, though. Will asked for a taste, and then took the piece from me with a big smile and a "Mine!" :) It's going to be the first recipe I write into The Notebook in a while.
Good Cake.
Bad Cake.
The magic bars edges were destroyed. Not only because of the cast iron roommates hogging space in the oven, but because I thought that the first step of melting butter in the pan would be enough to grease it. Yeah.....not so much for the sides. This is how much I had to throw out, and I despise throwing out food.
So....lessons learned and shared from me, so you don't have to learn them for yourself.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
From (My) Plant to (My) Table
Ta-Da! Pesto, made from MY home-grown basil!
It wasn't bad for my second try. I'll tell you....using a food processor makes all the difference. Anyone who tells you that you can make it in a blender is crazy. This is actually the first time I ever used the food processor myself. And man, did it show....I couldn't get it running and Brian had to show me that I had it assembled backwards!
This called for half a cup of pine nuts, three cups of packed basil, a couple cloves of garlic, half a cup of grated fresh parmesan cheese and half a cop of olive oil, along with salt and pepper to taste. Three cups of packed basil is a lot more than I thought, it wiped out more than half of my deck box:
The recipe also said "The more the merrier" when it came to garlic, so I used four cloves. Two of them were huge though, so I'd say that it was closer to six. So I'd politely disagree, that's a lot of garlic. Didn't stop us from eating it though, we're no strangers to garlic and love the taste. It's a good thing that we both had it, though. :) It might be different if you roasted the garlic the night before you assemble the pesto, but I'm not sure what that would do to the oil and other ingredient ratio or if it would work.
Now I'm off to find out if you can freeze pesto....because if you can I know what I'm putting in the freezer for this fall and winter.
It wasn't bad for my second try. I'll tell you....using a food processor makes all the difference. Anyone who tells you that you can make it in a blender is crazy. This is actually the first time I ever used the food processor myself. And man, did it show....I couldn't get it running and Brian had to show me that I had it assembled backwards!
This called for half a cup of pine nuts, three cups of packed basil, a couple cloves of garlic, half a cup of grated fresh parmesan cheese and half a cop of olive oil, along with salt and pepper to taste. Three cups of packed basil is a lot more than I thought, it wiped out more than half of my deck box:
The recipe also said "The more the merrier" when it came to garlic, so I used four cloves. Two of them were huge though, so I'd say that it was closer to six. So I'd politely disagree, that's a lot of garlic. Didn't stop us from eating it though, we're no strangers to garlic and love the taste. It's a good thing that we both had it, though. :) It might be different if you roasted the garlic the night before you assemble the pesto, but I'm not sure what that would do to the oil and other ingredient ratio or if it would work.
Now I'm off to find out if you can freeze pesto....because if you can I know what I'm putting in the freezer for this fall and winter.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
A Chicken in Every Pot
When I wrote the menu last week, I decided to give something a try...
I go home for lunch most days, it's a nifty benefit of living and working in the same town. So...why not put together a crockpot meal while I'm there? I chose something easy, Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki. This way, there wasn't chopping of a million ingredients or having to pre-cook anything. And hey, if it didn't come out well, there's always pizza. (my standard answer to bad dinners everywhere)
It came out better than well. It was great! Imagine coming home from work after picking up the kids at school/preschool, to the smell of dinner already cooking. All that was left to do was make rice, steam broccoli and thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch. (We were out so Brian used a tiny amount of flour while I was folding laundry.) Bang! Dinner on the table at 6pm, leaving time for Will and I to finish watching "Goonies."
Hmmm...."Crockpot Monday" may just become a thing!
I go home for lunch most days, it's a nifty benefit of living and working in the same town. So...why not put together a crockpot meal while I'm there? I chose something easy, Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki. This way, there wasn't chopping of a million ingredients or having to pre-cook anything. And hey, if it didn't come out well, there's always pizza. (my standard answer to bad dinners everywhere)
It came out better than well. It was great! Imagine coming home from work after picking up the kids at school/preschool, to the smell of dinner already cooking. All that was left to do was make rice, steam broccoli and thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch. (We were out so Brian used a tiny amount of flour while I was folding laundry.) Bang! Dinner on the table at 6pm, leaving time for Will and I to finish watching "Goonies."
Hmmm...."Crockpot Monday" may just become a thing!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Homemade Meatballs 'n Sauce
In an effort to be more health conscious, we've been eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water and reading labels at our house.
One of the biggest eye openers? How much sugar is in everything! Places you wouldn't expect it, either. Ketchup, salad dressing. And the biggest surprise: jarred spaghetti sauce!
So Brian decided to give making some a whirl. Not even from canned tomatoes, but fresh. I always thought that tomato sauce, though worth the effort, took a ridiculous amount of time. Not so.
We made it on a Thursday night, from "The Joy of Cooking." And it was wonderful! Served with homemade meatballs that had been in our freezer, and substituting a bit of the spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. The sauce was a bit thin, which is another big surprise. Why is jarred sauce so thick! The thinner sauce was much more flavorful, and savory over sweet. Delicious!
I'm not saying that we'll make homemade all the time. Because I know that with two working parents, some prepared foods are necessary at times. But this was well worth the effort, and the expense. So much in fact, that we're doing it again on Tuesday. :)
One of the biggest eye openers? How much sugar is in everything! Places you wouldn't expect it, either. Ketchup, salad dressing. And the biggest surprise: jarred spaghetti sauce!
So Brian decided to give making some a whirl. Not even from canned tomatoes, but fresh. I always thought that tomato sauce, though worth the effort, took a ridiculous amount of time. Not so.
We made it on a Thursday night, from "The Joy of Cooking." And it was wonderful! Served with homemade meatballs that had been in our freezer, and substituting a bit of the spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. The sauce was a bit thin, which is another big surprise. Why is jarred sauce so thick! The thinner sauce was much more flavorful, and savory over sweet. Delicious!
I'm not saying that we'll make homemade all the time. Because I know that with two working parents, some prepared foods are necessary at times. But this was well worth the effort, and the expense. So much in fact, that we're doing it again on Tuesday. :)
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Chowdah!
For my first shot at it, it came out pretty well. I did NOT want to shuck clams, so we got the frozen ones and drained the juice from 'em. The recipe came out of Cook's County Cookbook from America's Test Kitchen and I was very surprised with how quickly it comes together. I've always thought of making clam chowder as a day-long process, but am happily to report that I was wrong. And the simplicity of ingredients was nice too: bacon, onion, potatoes, clams, cream, salt, pepper and herbs. Done! I will admit that it was thinner than I thought it would be, but that's something that I can work on over time. It was delicious for lunch on a Sunday, and I'm thrilled that it all worked out.
Next thing on the DZ-List....fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls, next weekend!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
"Under the Dome"
No, I'm not talking about Stephen King's novel or the lame TV show "loosely based" on the book last summer. I'm talking about food in my kitchen.
For the last couple of weeks, we've been using a domed cake plate for goodies on the island. One Saturday, I noticed that we had some bananas approaching the mushy stage and whipped up chocolate banana muffins. They were a hit, especially as part of breakfast after Will's first sleepover. The next week, I had asked Brian to get Rice Krispies at the grocery store and they only had the industrial-size box. Rice Krispy treats, after cooling and getting cut into squares, went on the plate. And on Wednesday night, when I got home from knitting I was greeted by the smell of fresh blueberry muffins because Brian discovered that we had a plethora of blueberries in the fridge. You guessed it...under the dome!
Wonder what will put under the dome next....or will the streak end?
For the last couple of weeks, we've been using a domed cake plate for goodies on the island. One Saturday, I noticed that we had some bananas approaching the mushy stage and whipped up chocolate banana muffins. They were a hit, especially as part of breakfast after Will's first sleepover. The next week, I had asked Brian to get Rice Krispies at the grocery store and they only had the industrial-size box. Rice Krispy treats, after cooling and getting cut into squares, went on the plate. And on Wednesday night, when I got home from knitting I was greeted by the smell of fresh blueberry muffins because Brian discovered that we had a plethora of blueberries in the fridge. You guessed it...under the dome!
Wonder what will put under the dome next....or will the streak end?
Monday, February 24, 2014
Supper Bowls
Something in this month's Cooking Light caught my eye this month: brown rice bowls. Basically, a bowl of brown rice bowls with add-in ideas. The pork one sounded intriguing, with pork tenderloin, asparagus, dried cranberries, feta cheese, balsamic vinegar and toasted almonds. All flavors that Brian wasn't sure could go together, but as the flavor decider in this family, I said it was worth a try. Delicious! Almost, in fact, good enough to lick the bowl.
Looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Something Different
Three "Different" dinners had in this house in the past week. Because the "same old, same old" gets well....old!
Fried Chicken isn't new.....but this was a cornmeal fried chicken instead of breaded. Still was good, but I like breading better. The batter got Hubby thinking about corn dogs.
Flank steak with a chipotle aioli. Delicious! Flank steak is my new favorite cut of beef. On the side is saffron rice and peas.
Tonight: what I refer to as "Chinese Spaghetti." It's kind of like a pork lo mein, but unfortunately we put too much rice noodle in it. Still had great flavor though.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Holiday Baking, Day Two
The kids had early release from school on Tuesday due to the impending snowstorm. Snowstorms ALWAYS make me feel like baking! So there was homemade fudge, which I haven't made in a few years. Not sure why I stopped but I'm glad I made it this year. Also, there were snickerdoodles and coconut macaroons. I'm the snickerdoodle fan in the house, and Brian adores the macaroons. My parents are huge fans of coconut macaroons as well, so I got them done before they came over for my birthday on Thursday. I sent a half-dozen home as "medicine" with them, as my Dad has a bad back right now.
This year I'm going back on something that I've said before, and I've embraced box mix. I was searching for cream of tartar in the grocery store, when I passed the prepackaged bags of Betty Crocker snickerdoodle mix. It got me to thinking....the only thing that I use cream of tartar for is to make snickerdoodles, and though I love them, I really only make them at Christmas. So I brought home two of them and didn't look back. And today? A tube of ready-made gingerbread cookie dough came home with me from the grocery store. It doesn't make them any less homemade, and the snickerdoodles tasted good. Plus they took a lot less time. I'm happy about it, I wish I could've convinced my purist Cookie Self years ago that this is OK!
This year I'm going back on something that I've said before, and I've embraced box mix. I was searching for cream of tartar in the grocery store, when I passed the prepackaged bags of Betty Crocker snickerdoodle mix. It got me to thinking....the only thing that I use cream of tartar for is to make snickerdoodles, and though I love them, I really only make them at Christmas. So I brought home two of them and didn't look back. And today? A tube of ready-made gingerbread cookie dough came home with me from the grocery store. It doesn't make them any less homemade, and the snickerdoodles tasted good. Plus they took a lot less time. I'm happy about it, I wish I could've convinced my purist Cookie Self years ago that this is OK!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
A Woman of my Word
I said last week that we'd make meatballs, and I keep my word. Last night: meatballs. :) I originally wanted to make these on Sunday but we as a family (read: Crafty Mama) tend(s) to overcram Sundays. So last night after dinner, it was meatball city!
No recipes...just flying by the seat of our pants. A package of ground pork, a package of ground beef. And I got really daring and didn't measure ingredients. Sometimes it's best that way. Some bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, two eggs, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Brian rolled them and fried them in vegetable oil while I worked on feeding kids and doing dishes. (We make a good team that way.) He used his induction cooker to better control the temperature, which seems like it was a good idea. Next time Brian wants to make them like his mom made them growing up: added to sauce and simmering in a crockpot for several hours. I've had Mom G's meatballs, they are pretty good!
All in all, I'd say the process only took about an hour, give or take. I wish I had taken a photo of the meatball assembly line, but alas, I did not so you will have to imagine it. Now there are several bags of (hopefully) good-quality meatballs in my freezer, and one bag to go with cheese tortellini and leftover marinara tonight. Looking forward to it!
No recipes...just flying by the seat of our pants. A package of ground pork, a package of ground beef. And I got really daring and didn't measure ingredients. Sometimes it's best that way. Some bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, two eggs, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Brian rolled them and fried them in vegetable oil while I worked on feeding kids and doing dishes. (We make a good team that way.) He used his induction cooker to better control the temperature, which seems like it was a good idea. Next time Brian wants to make them like his mom made them growing up: added to sauce and simmering in a crockpot for several hours. I've had Mom G's meatballs, they are pretty good!
All in all, I'd say the process only took about an hour, give or take. I wish I had taken a photo of the meatball assembly line, but alas, I did not so you will have to imagine it. Now there are several bags of (hopefully) good-quality meatballs in my freezer, and one bag to go with cheese tortellini and leftover marinara tonight. Looking forward to it!
Pork n Pears
Another great recipe from America's Test Kitchen in their cookbook "Simply the Best." Yep....that's the spotlight cookbook this week. This is a great cookbook for weeknight cooking: nothing too complicated and not a ton of ingredients. This recipe features boneless chops, pears, balsamic, a little sugar, blue cheese crumbles, butter.....a delightful combination if you ask me.
I'm trying to get better at starting to cook when I get home from work, so we're not eating dinner at 8pm. :) Today I was successful, but man is it hard to follow directions and cook, as well as pour drinks for the kids and answer for the second time today why we're not going to "that frozen yogurt place that I really love.. (Because we went twice in a span of two days, kiddos. And although it's delicious, it gets expensive quickly and will feel less like a treat if we go every day!)
So only Brian and I partook in the pork chops and pears. And as great as they were, it was only until we were finished eating that I realized that the blue cheese was still in the fridge. Yep, the very same blue cheese that took me forever to find at the market the other day. Ah well, looks like blue cheese is on the menu somewhere next week. Great, because I love the stuff!
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Two Pastas
Last week, neither of us wanted to cook. But we've been eating out a lot lately and basically Brian forced himself to cook. Was I so glad....skillet lasagna is incredible! And it's one of those meals that gets better with the leftovers. So, so very good!
Later on, we had linguine with shrimp and scallops, with blistered grape tomatoes. Another fantastic pasta, featuring two of my favorite things!
This is probably the last post from the kitchen at this house, packing up has already commenced. And there's talk of stopping at BJ's today to get a huge bag of paper plates to cut down on how few dishes we need to do in the next couple of weeks. See you soon from our new kitchen!!
Later on, we had linguine with shrimp and scallops, with blistered grape tomatoes. Another fantastic pasta, featuring two of my favorite things!
This is probably the last post from the kitchen at this house, packing up has already commenced. And there's talk of stopping at BJ's today to get a huge bag of paper plates to cut down on how few dishes we need to do in the next couple of weeks. See you soon from our new kitchen!!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
He Likes It, He Really Likes It!
A few weeks ago, Will spent April Vacation at his afterschool place. They serve a hot lunch to the kids every day, but you can still bring lunch if you don't like what they're having.
Will is a picky eater. I'm sure that if you've read this blog, you are not surprised. Unless it's a dessert, it's difficult to get this kid to try new things. So whenever he's going to spend a full day at this place, we review the menu together and see if he's going to eat that day's entree or take a soy-nut butter and jelly sandwich. (Ewww...I know. But no peanut butter allowed. I got him to eat this simply by not telling him that it wasn't peanut butter. By the time he realized he had been eating it for almost a whole summer and just let it go)
One day's meal was American Chop Suey. He insisted on a sandwich, and the in-house lunch packer (aka Daddy) made his lunch. That night when he came home, he said "Mom, the lunch today was American Chop Suey. I tried some. And I liked it!" He then asked if we could have it for dinner some night. So we did, a week later....and he ate a whole plate!
Later on that same weekend, we were in Ikea, looking at furniture. On the way out, we stopped for a snack. I got a frozen yogurt cone. It was vanilla, which....eh. Now, Will usually despises ice cream because it's "too cold." He shocked me by asking if he could try my cone. And then proceeded to devour most of it!
I'm thrilled, because I love chop suey and that's one more thing we can cook that everyone will eat. That makes me the happiest of all. :)
Will is a picky eater. I'm sure that if you've read this blog, you are not surprised. Unless it's a dessert, it's difficult to get this kid to try new things. So whenever he's going to spend a full day at this place, we review the menu together and see if he's going to eat that day's entree or take a soy-nut butter and jelly sandwich. (Ewww...I know. But no peanut butter allowed. I got him to eat this simply by not telling him that it wasn't peanut butter. By the time he realized he had been eating it for almost a whole summer and just let it go)
One day's meal was American Chop Suey. He insisted on a sandwich, and the in-house lunch packer (aka Daddy) made his lunch. That night when he came home, he said "Mom, the lunch today was American Chop Suey. I tried some. And I liked it!" He then asked if we could have it for dinner some night. So we did, a week later....and he ate a whole plate!
Later on that same weekend, we were in Ikea, looking at furniture. On the way out, we stopped for a snack. I got a frozen yogurt cone. It was vanilla, which....eh. Now, Will usually despises ice cream because it's "too cold." He shocked me by asking if he could try my cone. And then proceeded to devour most of it!
I'm thrilled, because I love chop suey and that's one more thing we can cook that everyone will eat. That makes me the happiest of all. :)
Paprika Chicken
A Brian original: Paprika Chicken.
Simply chicken breasts with a variety of spices, including (of course) paprika. We're enjoying paprika lately....especially smoked paprika. The chicken was done in the oven using a cast iron skillet, and last minute he decided to put the almost-steamed brussels sprouts in there too. Delicious.
Simply chicken breasts with a variety of spices, including (of course) paprika. We're enjoying paprika lately....especially smoked paprika. The chicken was done in the oven using a cast iron skillet, and last minute he decided to put the almost-steamed brussels sprouts in there too. Delicious.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Brine Time
From the first time I saw Alton Brown's first Thanksgiving episode, Brian and I have wanted to brine something. Not a turkey first try out per se, but maybe a chicken?
Instead,Brian brined corn tonight. I didn't even know that one could brine vegetables. But do you know what? Brined corn is awesome. And if you grill it, it's even better. Char-grill marks on an ear of corn, and having that corn be super soft as you bite into it is incredible. We just had regular butter, salt and pepper on it but there's a flavor opportunity there somewhere. The brine liquid that Brian used was just four quarts of water, half a cup of kosher salt and a quarter cup of sugar. The ears of corn had to soak for at least half an hour, then drained and grilled. Perhaps next time (And there WILL be a next time!) we could add some cider vinegar to the liquid, or try a compound (read: flavored) butter. Some flavor ideas: barbecue and scallion, or perhaps chipotle and lime?
I'm getting hungry all over again just imagining the possibilities.
Instead,Brian brined corn tonight. I didn't even know that one could brine vegetables. But do you know what? Brined corn is awesome. And if you grill it, it's even better. Char-grill marks on an ear of corn, and having that corn be super soft as you bite into it is incredible. We just had regular butter, salt and pepper on it but there's a flavor opportunity there somewhere. The brine liquid that Brian used was just four quarts of water, half a cup of kosher salt and a quarter cup of sugar. The ears of corn had to soak for at least half an hour, then drained and grilled. Perhaps next time (And there WILL be a next time!) we could add some cider vinegar to the liquid, or try a compound (read: flavored) butter. Some flavor ideas: barbecue and scallion, or perhaps chipotle and lime?
I'm getting hungry all over again just imagining the possibilities.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Sunday Summer Supper
Three of my favorite summer foods on one plate: grilled sausage sandwich, corn on the cob and homemade potato salad. :) So, so, good.
I did top the sandwich with sauteed green pepper and onion. They're invisible here, and no, you can't have the recipe for invisible peppers n onions. :)
I did top the sandwich with sauteed green pepper and onion. They're invisible here, and no, you can't have the recipe for invisible peppers n onions. :)
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Day 21: Too Hot To Cook
New England is under a heatwave right now, so the idea of turning on the oven is just plain silly. I considered the leftover spaghetti for me and the kids (Hubby was late headed to school from work due to traffic so he unfortunately got McDonald's) but the I realized that there wouldn't be anything to eat at work today. Actually, I had brought the spaghetti to work today to eat at lunchtime. Unfortunately, I brought the spaghetti but no utensils. Eating spaghetti with your hands, especially at work, is not appetizing. So instead, I headed out for some lunch.
Kids and I had pancakes, bacon and strawberry-banana smoothies. And the kids insisted on helping cook...something that I usually encourage wholeheartedly but was difficult last night. I make the pancakes on an electric griddle and the bacon on a griddle on the stove, and these are on opposite ends of the kitchen. The boys wouldn't take no for an answer though, so Will broke up bananas for the smoothie. I turned my back on Will for a minute, to find Sean wiping down the counter of pancake batter. That was pretty cool! After swapping his Kleenex (clean) for some damp paper towels, I let him continue. No way am I discouraging the boys from cleaning ANYTHING! Will helped put away the baking powder and discovered half a bag of mini chocolate chips, so the last batch of pancakes had chocolate chips in them. Naturally, they were the best ones!
Kids and I had pancakes, bacon and strawberry-banana smoothies. And the kids insisted on helping cook...something that I usually encourage wholeheartedly but was difficult last night. I make the pancakes on an electric griddle and the bacon on a griddle on the stove, and these are on opposite ends of the kitchen. The boys wouldn't take no for an answer though, so Will broke up bananas for the smoothie. I turned my back on Will for a minute, to find Sean wiping down the counter of pancake batter. That was pretty cool! After swapping his Kleenex (clean) for some damp paper towels, I let him continue. No way am I discouraging the boys from cleaning ANYTHING! Will helped put away the baking powder and discovered half a bag of mini chocolate chips, so the last batch of pancakes had chocolate chips in them. Naturally, they were the best ones!
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