Blog Archives
Grilled Chicken and Papaya
I’m thinking I’ll focus on grilling recipes this week. Start with something a bit different with some exotic flavors. Serve over rice or couscous and add some grilled vegetables for a quick and easy dinner.
Grilled Chicken & Papaya
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 8 button mushrooms, washed
- 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges
- 1 green pepper, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 papaya, peeled, seeded & cut into 8 chunks
- 4 large metal skewers (if you use wooden, remember to soak them first)
skillet
Heat oil in skillet, add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds, remove from heat & add lemon juice, water, salt & pepper. Cut each breast into 4 to 6 cubes. Thread on skewers: (suggested) mushroom, chicken, onion, pepper, chicken, papaya, chicken, pepper, onion, chicken, papaya, mushroom. Brush curry mixture on all sides of the kabobs. Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning frequently and basting with curry mixture.
Side Dishes: Antipasto Salad
This is great with Chicken Tortellini Soup or Linguine with Peppers
Antipasto Salad
- 4 oz can sliced black olives
- 2 oz jar sliced green olives
- 4 fresh mushrooms, washed & sliced
- 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 8 oz green beans, cooked & cooled
- 1 green pepper, seeded & sliced
- 1 banana pepper, seeded & sliced
- 4 green onions, sliced
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp basil, crushed
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 oz grated parmesan or Asiago cheese
serving bowl
Mix vegetables together in serving bowl. Blend vinegar, oil, basil & garlic then pour over vegetables and toss. Salt & pepper to taste. Garnish with cheese.
Pizza Pr0n!
Lots of love out there for thin crust pizza but we really like these cheese crust pies with plenty of toppings. This one has sausage, prosciutto, onions, mushrooms, and pepper rings. We use the snack type string cheese to roll in the edges, it comes in various flavors and types but get the good stuff to be sure it melts nicely.
I like to brush garlic infused olive oil on the crust edge and then give it a generous sprinkle of kosher salt.
Sammich Pr0n – Mushroom Swiss Burger
The fast food chain that has these on their menu never adds enough of those yummy mushrooms. Yeah, I’m looking at you, Hardee’s.
Friday Recipe Exchange: Bring on the Veggies
I thought as the farm stand season winds down it would be fun to focus on recipes that take advantage of super fresh produce before it all disappears.
I was going to make an Eggplant Parmesan for the featured recipe but never got around to it, so I went with the Chili Rellenos Casserole instead.
To get started, a fresh and tangy Asian Pear and Grape Cabbage Salad, recipe here.
These Marinated Mushrooms (recipe here) sounded good and could be used as an appetizer or sliced into a salad.
Pizza is great way to get have a fun and flavorful vegetarian dinner. JeffreyW always does pizzas right and his Margherita Pizza (picture above) is no exception. Click here for his recipe and lots of photos.
This week’s dinner menu sticks with the veggie theme: Pasta with Marinated Vegetables and Bruschetta. Menu, recipes and shopping list are here.
And finally, for the pet lovers, Bixby checked in this week, spoiler alert there was a bath and a stuffed monkey.
What’s cooking in your kitchen this weekend? Have any cool weather recipes to share?
Tonight’s featured recipe, quick, easy and oh, so good:
Chili Rellenos Casserole
- 2-7 oz cans whole green chilies
- ½ onion, diced
- 16 oz shredded 4-blend Mexican cheese
- 4 to 6 corn tortillas, torn into wide strips
- 4 eggs
- 4 oz salsa
- ¼ cup milk
- salt & pepper
- ½ tsp crushed garlic
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup snipped fresh cilantro ( Italian parsley or fresh basil if you hate cilantro)
bowl, 8×8 glass baking dish, greased
Drain and seed peppers. Layer 1/3 of the peppers in the bottom of baking dish, top with 1/3 onions, 1/3 of the cheese and 1/3 tortilla strips. Repeat to make three layers. Beat together eggs, salsa, milk, spices and cilantro. Pour evenly over casserole. Bake uncovered at 350° for 35-40 minutes until fluffy and center is set.
That’s it for this week. Have a fun and safe weekend. – TaMara
Dinner Menu: Pasta with Marinated Vegetables and Bruschetta
Photo courtesy FoodNetwork
Just finished giving the Beast a bath. He hasn’t been in the tub all summer because he loves sprinklers, his pool and my neighbor hosing him down. The first thing I noticed: he’s grown. I’ll post pictures later.
Keeping in the vegetarian theme, here is this week’s dinner menu.
On the board:
- Pasta w/ Marinated Vegetables
- Tomato & Olive Oil Bruschetta
- Grapes
Pasta w/Marinated Vegetables
- 10 oz Rotini pasta
- 1 tray ice cubes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small eggplant, peeled & chopped
- 4 mushrooms, sliced
- 2 zucchini, sliced
- 10 to 12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
- 1 red onion, sliced in rings
- 2 oz black olives
- 2 oz grated parmesan
Dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 oz fresh basil, minced
- 1 tsp minced oregano leaves
- 1 to 2 tsp crushed garlic
- Salt & pepper to taste
Saucepan, skillet, bowl, serving bowl
Mix together dressing and refrigerate. In saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse in cold water and toss with ice cubes. Set aside and let cubes melt. While pasta is cooking, in skillet, heat oil and sauté eggplant, mushrooms and zucchini until tender. Remove and cool in refrigerator while preparing remaining vegetables. In bowl, toss all vegetables with dressing. Remove any un-melted ice cubes from pasta, and toss with vegetables, refrigerate 10 minutes. Add cheese.
Tomato & Olive Oil Bruschetta
- 1 loaf Italian bread, sliced in half lengthwise
- 2 tbsp olive oil (more if needed)
- 2 tsp crushed garlic
- 4 basil leaves, chopped
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 3 green onions, chopped
baking sheet and bowl
Gently toss 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp crushed garlic, basil, tomatoes and green onions and set aside. Mix togethere 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp garlic. Spread on sliced sides of bread. Broil bread until golden brown on top (watch carefully). Layer tomato mixture on each half of the bread and then slice each half into quarters or eighths.
Shopping List:
- 10 oz Rotini pasta
- 1 small eggplant
- 4 mushrooms
- 2 zucchini
- 10 to 12 cherry or grape tomatoes
- 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
- 1 red onion
- 1 loaf Italian bread
- Large bunch of basil
- Small bunch oregano
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 3 green onions
- Grapes or any in season fruit
Also: crushed garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar
Fried Mushrooms
I bought a box of mushrooms the other day and they’ve been sitting on the counter since. Thought I’d better do something with them. I had a vague notion of “mushroom chicken something something” but decided to slice them into manageable sized pieces for breading and frying. They were those bigger white button mushrooms, golf ball sized plus, or as the weatherman might say: “The size of golf ball sized hail.” I’ll stop. Anyway, the batter was 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup corn starch. 3/4 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, and 1 cup of water. I whisked that in a bowl and dumped in the mushrooms and stirred them about to coat them, then took four or five at a time and tossed them in panko bread crumbs. Fry in hot oil and roll them once to brown evenly. I started when the oil reached 350 and tried to keep it there as best I could.
Mashed Potato Pr0n – Chicken Marsala
I usually make a batch of wild rice mix from a box but was persuaded to make mashed potatoes for this dish after seeing it done that way over at r/tonightsdinner. These potatoes have a lot of sour cream and a couple garlic cloves and are pretty good all by themselves but the Marsala gravy is really killer on them.
Tyler Florence has a recipe that calls for prosciutto so I gave it a shot. It’s good but I’m not seeing much benefit from it being in there. I may have not done it right. Anyway, if you don’t have it you can leave it out and you will still have a very good result.
Pizza Pr0n – Many Meats
I started the dough for this yesterday, 2 cups of bread flour, one cup water, 1/4t tsp yeast, a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt. It was pretty well inflated by noon, I dumped it into a pizza pan and massaged it into shape while the oven preheated to 425-ish. It par-baked for eight minutes and then I pulled it to furnish with toppings. I had some leftover roasted plum tomatoes that went on first in lieu of a sauce, sprinkled on shredded mozzarella, sparingly, and then piled on the meats. Italian sausage, already browned and drained, crispy bacon pieces, fried ham, and prosciutto that was tossed in the bacon grease to brown a bit.
Mrs J’s side got pickled onion pepper rings, I added mushrooms and chopped ripe olives. I gave it another sprinkle of mozz and slid it back into the oven, it needed another ten minutes or so. It must have been better than usual because Mrs J went on and on about how good it was. I thought it one of my better efforts – she wasn’t just blowing smoke.
Chicken Marsala
This is a family favorite. We went with Tyler Florence’s recipe for tonight’s dish, the prosciutto was an interesting touch. I almost went with baked potato for the side because I wanted something a little different than the wild rice mix that’s my goto for this before remembering the couscous I had ordered from Amazon.
