Grilled Chicken and Vegetables

Took a whole chicken and marinated it in Italian dressing.  Then put the chicken on top of a beer can that we filled with Weeping Radish Weizen Beer.  Then grilled it to perfection.

We made salads with lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and some blue cheese chunks.  We also sliced one of the tomatoes and layered it with fresh mozzarella and added a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

I steamed some purple wax beans which turn green when cooked.  I also took some sweet potatoes and cut lengthwise drizzled with olive oil and cooked on the grill.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Tonight's Dinner is all grilled out.  Pork tenderloin,  grilled eggplant with a garlic rosemary olive oil, grilled peaches, warmed garlic naan bread with butter and dirty martini's.

The rub recipe came from the Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook.

Garlic Rosemary Rub
2 tablespoons dried rosemary
1-1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Mix together and rub on pork tenderloin.


The eggplant was cut into quarters.  I drizzled a rosemary garlic olive oil.

Eggplant ready for the grill

Grilled Eggplant

If you have never had a grilled peach before I highly recommend it.  It is a easy and great thing to do with fresh peaches.  To get the peaches ready for the grill, cut the peaches in half remove pit, dip the cut half into melted butter, and then dip it into sugar.  Add the peaches cut side down to the grill.  The grill needs to be warm enough but not too hot, you don't want to burn the sugar only caramelize it.

Peaches ready for the grill

Grilled peaches

While we were waiting for the grill to warm up we decided to make some cocktails.  Our cocktail of choice are Grey Goose Dirty Martini's.  We add blue cheese stuffed olives that we get from Leonard Mountain.  They are the best blue cheese stuffed olives that we have ever tried.  Another great thing about this company is that it is employed mostly by women who were unable to drive into a big city to work so the company was started in a rural setting.  

Garlic Naan Bread

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Corn Off the Cob

A year or so ago we read in Mother Earth News this really great tip for keeping corn.  All you have to do is cut the corn from the cob and freeze it.  You don't have to blanch it just cut and freeze.  We got some corn from a local supplier (we had some the other night and it was delicious) so we thought we would go back and get some more to freeze and have over the winter.

We use a seal a meal type system to freeze the corn.  We added about 2 cups per bag and ended up with 6 bags of corn for the freezer.  When you are ready to use just thaw it out a little dump it into a pan and cook just like you normally would for frozen corn.  Trust me when I say that this will be the best frozen corn you will ever eat in your life.  It tastes just like you were eating corn on the cob.

Put a cookie sheet down with a cutting board on top to cut the corn.

The corn ready for the freezer

I had to show these 2 ears of corn.  Corn is normally tapered to one end.  These get fatter on the end.  The bottom of the corn is on the right side and what would be the tapered end on the left.  I will call this alien corn.

Flat Iron Steak Part 2

We are trying to find ways to beat the heat and really have not felt like cooking much less eating.  So tonight we used the left over flat iron steak we had from Monday night.  I reheated it in the oven wrapped in foil with a pan of water.  The water helps so that the meat won't dry out and keeps things moist without over cooking the meat.  We like out meat cooked to medium rare.

We cooked some farm fresh corn on the cob.  We also sliced up a tomato to go along with everything.

Hopefully the heat will subside some and I will be inspired once more to cook up something amazing.  

Flat Iron Steak Salad

So I know I haven't posted in a while and I apologize.  The last thing I actually cooked in the kitchen was burgers and pasta salad.   It really wasn't that exciting so I decided not to post it.

Tonight however, we made a big salad.

On the steak I used a rub that came out of the Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook.

Cumin Cinnamon Rub

1-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1-1/2 tablespoons ground cumin (I grind my own cumin, I think it has a much stronger taste that way)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1-1/2 tablespoons course salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

We then grilled the steak to a medium rare temperature.

The salad consisted of green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, green pepper, tomato (that a friend gave us out of his garden - they are wonderful), some blueberries, a couple of strawberries, some fresh mozzarella cheese and the steak was sliced and put on top of the salad.

Peppermint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream

I decided to make homemade ice cream today.  It is summer after all!!

I have a Warning Ice Cream maker but any kind will do, even one of those ice cream balls that you roll around will work.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups heavy cream (I use the cream that is on top of the raw milk we get from the farm)
2 cups half and half
1 tablespoon peppermint extract
3/4 sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
About 3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used an organic quality dark chocolate bar and just cut it into small pieces).

Just mix in the container that you would make your ice cream in.

The cream mixing in the ice cream maker

The finished product

Grilled Salmon Dinner

Tonight we kept it on the light side.  We had grilled salmon, grilled yellow squash and a salad.

The salad is spinach, green leaf lettuce, carrots, cucumber, blueberries, and tomatoes.  Topped off with a homemade blue cheese dressing.

The squash we cut lengthwise and sprinkled with a lemon pepper oil and then grilled.

The salmon was cooked on the grill. A friend of mine had a Pampered Chef party and I received a free bottle of a Spicy Pineapple Rum Sauce.  Which I thought would go great on the salmon.  I applied a little to the salmon before it hit the grill and then added a little more as it was cooking.  The sauce is a little spicy but was really nice on the salmon.

Simple

Sausage, penne pasta (with a little butter), roasted bell peppers, tomatoes and shaved parmesan cheese put all together.

The sausage comes from Niman Ranch.  It is a Chipotle Cheddar uncured sausage.  The sausage was cooked on the grill and then cut and added to the cooked pasta.

The bell peppers, I cut in quarters and and roasted them on the grill.  Cut them up and added to the pasta.

A tomato was cut into wedges and seeded.  It was diced and added to the pasta.

Add a few shaves of parmesan cheese for the top.

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs (added a little sour cream - makes them super creamy), fresh made potato hash browns (cut up red new potatoes, boiled them for just a little to cook them and then added them to a hot skillet with butter), bacon, and toast with butter.

Grilled Tuna

Tonight we had tuna that we bought yesterday from our local fish market.  It is sushi grade tuna which is great because we like our tuna cooked rare.

I put a Thai sweet red pepper sauce on the tuna before grilling and then brushed it on while it was cooking.

I made a corn relish (or whatever you might like to call it).  It consisted of fresh corn cut off the cob, onion, tomato, cilantro, salt, pepper, and a little white wine vinegar.  This was put on the top of the tuna when it was finished.

I sliced some carrots that I steamed, after they were steamed I added a little butter and a little honey.  The honey adds a nice little sweetness.

I also took red potatoes, sliced them and put them in a foil pouch with butter which was cooked on the grill.  It was a hot day and the more stuff we could cook outside on the grill the cooler the house would remain.

Wacky Cake (Chocolate Cake)

Do you ever just crave chocolate cake????

Here is a quick and easy recipe for you.   Everything is mixed in the pan that you are baking in, so it is quick and easy clean up.   This is a cake that I have made for years as well as my mom and grandmother.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch salt
12 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 cups cold water
confectioners sugar

Put the first 5 ingredients into 9x13 inch pan.  Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients and pour the following into these holes: oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  Then pour the water over top.  Stir in pan with a fork until mixed and bake in the same pan in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).  Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

Grilled Escolar, Green Beans, Corn on the Cob

We first experienced Escolar fish at our local fish market and restaurant.  It is a mild white fish that almost has a texture of a pork chop.  The fish is a very oily fish.

I took the fish, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and drizzled it with a little olive oil.  The fish was grilled at a high temperature for about 4 minutes per side.  I made a butter with a seafood seasoning that I picked up from the Blue Crab Bay Co. (which contains lemon peel, garlic, parsley, white pepper, chives, basil, cayenne).  I then topped the fish with this butter.

The green beans I steamed and then sauteed them with chopped walnuts, butter and a little oil.

The corn I just cooked in water and then served with butter.

Asparagus and Bacon Quiche

I decided to make a quiche for lunch today.  I went into the refrigerator to see what I had available, found asparagus.  I knew that I had a whole wheat organic pre-made crust in the freezer so I dug that out and thawed it out.

The crust I baked at 400 degrees for 5 minutes covered and then removed foil and baked (after pricking with a fork) for another 5 minutes.  Removed from oven and let cool.

To the quiche I added 1-1/2 cups fresh raw milk cream, salt (dash), pepper (dash), 3 eggs, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 6 slices cooked bacon (crumbled), and one bunch asparagus (cut up and cooked slightly).  I also added extra Parmesan cheese to the top (about 1/2 cup).   I added the cut up asparagus and the bacon to the crust and then added the cream mixture followed by the extra cheese.  I baked it at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then reduced the heat to 375 and baked for another 25 minutes (you want to make sure that a knife put into the center comes out clean).

Sourdough Bran Muffins

I had to refresh the sourdough so I decided to make Bran Muffins.  I keep experimenting with the recipe to see what I can add to them.

This time I added cinnamon, bananas, walnuts and did a streusel topping (brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon).  I think I got a little carried away with the amount of topping I used on each one, as they baked it formed a crispy sugar crust.

Currently they are cooling off so hopefully they will taste good, if not, I won't make them this way again.

 

Happy Independence Day!!

We were forced inside tonight due to a thunderstorm and rain.  It put a little damper on our dinner but we made do.  

Tonight we fixed:

Mountain Run Farm grassfed beef hot dogs with homemade sauerkraut and all the fixings, baked beans and macaroni and cheese.

A friend of mine shared a recipe that she had gotten our of a magazine and was remarking on how easy it was.  So I took what she told me and made it my own.

14oz of cooked macaroni

1 -1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

Mix together the cheddar cheese, sour cream and mustard. Add cheese mixture to the cooked macaroni.  Place in baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  After 20 minutes give it a stir.  Place back in oven and bake another 20 minutes give it a stir.  What you are trying to do is get all those wonderful crispy pieces of cheese mixed into the entire dish.  Keep doing this until you have it the way you want.  You can also add a little extra cheese to the top when complete.

Poached Eggs and Toast

I wanted some protein for breakfast this morning but didn't want just scrambled egg so I decided to do poached eggs and toast.

 The eggs in the pan cooking

 The eggs on the toast

Perfectly cooked

Cheese, Crackers and Wine

After a wonderful day we decided to pull some cheeses from our refrigerator and make dinner easy tonight.  We have a Blue Cheese, Dutch Parrano Cheese, Spanish Manchego Cheese, Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar, and Foothills Hoop Cheese.  Almonds, fig and olive crackers, strawberry jam, and fig jam.

B.L.T.

Tonight we went simple with B.L.T.  Bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado.  


I was curious about the history of the B.L.T. so I looked it up.  Here is what I found.


The BLT evolved from the tea sandwiches served before 1900 at a similar time to the club sandwich, although it is unclear when the name BLT became the norm. It is currently one of the most popular sandwiches both in the United States and the United Kingdom, enjoyed by all social classes. The sandwich's popularity has led to a number of oversized reproductions (the current record for the "world's largest BLT" is over 209 ft/64 m) and a pop art sculpture by Claes Oldenburg.  

Although the ingredients of the BLT have existed for many years, there is little evidence of BLT sandwich recipes prior to 1900. In the 1903 Good Housekeeping Everyday Cook Book, a recipe for a club sandwich included bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and a slice of turkey sandwiched between two slices of bread. Whilst the 1929 book Seven Hundred Sandwiches does include a section on bacon sandwiches, the recipes often include pickles and none contain tomato.

The BLT became popular after World War II because of the rapid expansion of supermarkets, which allowed ingredients to be available year-round. The initials, representing "bacon, lettuce, tomato", likely began in the American restaurant industry as shorthand for the sandwich, but it is unclear when this transferred to the public consciousness.