Basil-Garlic Grilled Pork Chops and Eggplant Patties

I saw this recipe in a Midwest Living Mag and then went looking for it online just recently. I thought it sounded really good. Maybe that has to do with my recent colonoscopy and thinking that all food sounds good at this point: I did think that the marinate/rub seemed like I would like it to do a bit more time than the 30 minutes called for so I over-nighted it.

Basil-Garlic Grilled Pork Chops

4     3/4 inch thick bone in Iowa Chops, well trimmed

Rub or in my case marinate:

In the blender blend until smooth:
2 tsp. minced Garlic
1 C. Fresh Basil
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. EVOO
1 tsp. Kosher Salt

Rub on the chops and marinate for 30 minutes per the recipe on line but in my case I am trying as an over night marinate.
Med-Hot Grill over direct heat:
5-6 minutes per side to an internal temp of 145F
Remove from the grill and allow to stand covered for 3 minutes before serving.

Then Den and I are doing a weekend trip to Manitawoc, WI to see his brother and take in the Kohler Art Fair in Sheboygan. In route we take in the capital in Madison, a truly lovely capital building by the way. Love the stone work. We had to hit the Penzey's Spices store there. I can tell you that I left a bit of coin there for sure. I love walking into one of their stores, the fragrance that greets you when you open the door is amazing. If you like to cook, it really get's your juices going, for sure. The latest mag. from them as a recipe that I had to try called


Sandy's Eggplant Patties

1 Med eggplant (about 1.5#), ends removed, peeled and cubed
Cover with water and boil for about 5 minutes or until tender. Drain and pour into a bowl. Mash until smooth.
Add:
1 C. Bread or cracker crumbs
1 1/4 C. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T. fresh parsley chopped (or 2 tsp. of Penzey's parsley flakes)
2 T. sliced green onion (I just used one and included some of the green as well)
1 garlic clove (or 1/4 tsp. of Penzey's minced garlic)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Mix this all up.
In a shallow rimmed plate or pie pan
1/4 C bread or cracker crumbs

Make you patties and coat them on both sided with the bread crumbs.

In a large non-stick skillet heat 1/2 C. or Canola or EVOO. The patties should sizzle when you put them in. Carefully turn each patties after 2-3 minutes. You will have to work in batches. Yields 8-12 patties.

I am thinking that this will go well with my pork chops for lunch and maybe another veggie, it is summer and there are lots of fresh veggies out there.

Lemon Garlic Roasted Chicken by the Barefoot Contessa

Lemon Roasted Chicken      (The Barefoot Contessa)

5-6 pound chicken (straight from the market, unwrap and salt and pepper it, rewrap and put in the frig over night)

Into the cavity:

1 large bulb of garlic cut in half, don’t remove the skin, just whack it in half

1 lemon, quartered

Tie the legs and tuck the wing.

Season with salt and pepper

In the bottom of a prepared roasting pan (spray it with PAM) put:

1 large onion sliced

4 large carrots, pared and chunked

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and quartered (skin left on)

Place the chicken on top of the veggies. Pat the breast skin dry with a paper towel.

Melt a stick of butter and brush over the chicken breast , legs and thighs. Drizzle the rest of the melted butter over the veggies.

425F oven for 1 ¼ hours or until the juices run clear when the joint is poked at the leg and thigh.

Remove the chicken  to a cutting board and cover with foil. Return the veggies to the oven for 15 min. more

Carve by removing the leg/thigh sections completely and then cut the joint to separate the two. The breast should be removed as 2 halves and sliced across the grain into 4 pieces. Remove the wings and spread the veggies around the platter.

You can make the gravy.

To the roaster add:

1 C. white wine

½ C. Chicken Stock

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced by half.

Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day

OK, Update On A New "Try This"


"Artisan Bread In % Minutes A Day"  book by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois (Amazon for about $17.00)

The basic bread is as follows and keeps in the fridg for up to 2 weeks and you make small loves up to 4 one pound loves from this much

3 C. Warm water

1.5 TBSP yeast

1.5 TBSP kosher salt or course salt of some kind. (Table salt is too fine and you will need to reduce the amount if you use table salt)

6.5 C. all purpose flour

Mix it all up in a 6 cup lidded container. If you are using a Rubbermaid thing, you have to remember not to seal it. Let this raise on the counter at room temp for about 4 hours or as long as over night. It will raise and then kind of flatten off. This is when you put it in the fridg. This is a wet dough and you don't kneed it at all. you can mix it with a spoon right in the container.

This is what I tried today. The authors told me that I could make this on the grill in an enameled cast iron 2 quart Dutch oven if I did it right. I asked it I could use a crockery Dutch oven, sure. So, from Wal_Mart I picked up a 2.5 quart oval lidded casserole or Dutch oven. The box said that it was oven proof to 500F. It was like $25.00. I figured that if this works then maybe I would consider going the cost of the enameled cast iron thing. If you go this route straight away remember that the knob on the lid has to be something over safe to the high heat of 450F.

I fired the gas Weber to 450F for 20 minutes with the following in place.

* Try to do this on INDIRECT HEAT. I found to get that hot, I had to leave the two outside burners on high as they would go and the center on as low as it will go until it achieves temp

* While the grill is heating remember that the rest of this has got to be in there heating as well.

1 Large steel pizza pan, I covered mine with foil

2 11 or 12 inch baking stone

3 My pot with the cover on it (empty) for the heat up

The dough rests for 40 minutes before baking. Instead of resting my dough on the peel on corn meal, I rested it for the last 20 minutes on parchment paper folded to act as a bed for the loaf. I kind of made mine wide enough to cover the pot side to side in the oval pot.

When the 40 minute rest is up:

* Open the grill

* Remove the cover on the pot

* Pick up the rested dough on it parchment paper sling and place it in the pot with the paper ends hanging over.

* Place the pot lid back on the pot making it as tight as you can

Bake it like this at 450F (I had to turn that center burner off entirely) for 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the stack and set aside removing the lid. Your bread should be crusty and tend but not as crusty as it would have been had you done it per directions in the oven. The parchment paper will be really toasted on the part that isn't inside the pot and will crumble when you touch it. I used my grill tongs to get a hold of the part that was still sold and lifted one end up and slid my silicon hot pad under it. Careful that pot is really hot. I set it on the cutting board on the table. and used the grill flipper to remove it from the parchment paper.

Next I want to try it in the camp Dutch oven.

Those that have the book, when you do this in the oven you have a pan with a cup of water in it that provide moisture when it bakes. Doing it this way, the dough provides the moisture itself in the enclosed pot.

Paula Deene pot from Wal-Mart $25.00

Weber Genesis 3 burner grill $700.00

Steel pizza pan from Wal-Mart (($5.00)(Heat shield) and a 12" Pampered Chef baking stone.

I had made a pot of Crystal Lite Peach Mango Green Tea and decided to see what a frozen margarita would be like using it. NOT BAD.

Chicken Oscar

Several years ago while living in Chandler Arizona I became friends with a someone who to this day is so very dear to me even though she has sadly passed way. Shirley was wonderful and we had great time together. One May it was her birthday and I wanted to do something special for her. This was the main dish that I prepared and it is was a hit with her and my husband, who were who I was feeding that evening.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves beaten to 1/4" think

1/2 C. flour

Salt and pepper to taste

4 Tbsp. butter

1 C. crab meat

12 asparagus spears, steamed to tender crisp

1 package of Knorr's Hollandaise sauce mix prepared

Season the flour with the salt and pepper to taste and dredge the chicken breast portions.

In a heavy skillet, heat the butter to melting. Shaking of the excess flour mixture place the chicken portions in the bubbly butter. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden. Remove to a serving platter. If you are cooking the chicken in batches keep the cooked portions warm while you cook of the last or the portions.

When all are cooked place 1/4 C of crab meat on the top of each portion of chicken. Add 3 spears of asparagus to each and drizzle well with the Hollandaise and serve.

It looks elegant and is really quite easy to prepare. You can used crab meat from the freezer section, cleaned and shelled crab legs or well drained canned lump crab.

I know that I made mashed potatoes using goat cheese and placed in pepper shells (I can't remember the kind, but they look like bell pepper but not as many lobes. The peppers were cut in half and clean of seeds and veins and grilled to soften. Fill each one with a serving of the potatoes. These were sprinkled with a bit more goat cheese and placed under the broiler to brown.

Coquilles St. Jacques

Having spent a week in Charleston, SC this month has left me with a taste for thing seafood. I think that we had something seafood everyday for lunch while we were there and then on a couple of evening indulged in peel and eat shrimp. I just love Charleston from it's flowers, to his history to it's food. I have been there 4 times and will gladly go back again and again.

With that in mind, when we arrived back at home base here I remembered a recipe that I used to enjoy making for us using scallops. It come from a cookbook that I have had for over 30 years, The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. Can't remember where it came from but it has given me more than one inspriration. This one is one that Den loves:

Coquilles (Scallops) St. Jaques

In a 10 inch skillet over high heat bring to a boil:

1 pound fresh or thawed frozen bay scallops (I have never tried this with the large sea scallops but, I assume, it would work) I purchased mine at the local Fareway in 4 oz. packages

3/4 C. water

2 Tbsp. dry white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc)

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (Den has digestive issues so I used 1/2 tsp. Old Bay and a 1/2 tsp. Garni Bouque (Penzey's Spices, since the old bay has salt in it, don't add any salt)

Reduce the heat once it is boiling to medium and simmer for 2 minutes or until the scallops are tender.

Drain the scallops, reserving the liquid.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400F and grease 8 ramekins.

In the same skillet over medium heat combine the following:

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 pound fresh clean mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion diced

1/2 garlic clove, minced (I used the minced garlic from the jar about, 1 tsp)

Cook until the mushroom release their juices and the onions are clear.

Gradually stir in:

1 Tbsp. chopped parsley (optional)

1/4 C. flour

Gradually add the reserved scallop liquid, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened.

Add the cooked scallops to the skillet and stir into the hot mixture.

Carefully spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared ramekins and distribute the Buttered Bread Crumbs (recipe below).

Place the ramekins on a jellyroll pan and bake for about 10 minutes (the bread crumbs will get golden)

If you have them they make ceramic scallop shells that can be used in place of the ramekins or even real scallops shells if properly cleaned.

Buttered Bread Crumbs:

In a large skillet combine:

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1/2 C. bread crumbs

1/8 tsp. thyme or basil (I like basil, myself)

1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Move this mixture around the pan to brown slightly.

I served this with steamed asparagus and long grain rice. I should tell you that I only used 4 ramekins and that is two large a portion unless that is all you are going to eat is the scallops. If the scallops are good this will not be a fishy tasting dish at all. Just delish!!!!!!

If you haven't done Charleston, try to keep it in the cooler months as the humidity can be a killer in the summer.

God bless and Keep Us All,

Linda

Breakfast Cups

My sister-in-law, Gwen gave me this recipe and I would give credit beyond Gwen if I knew more. She make this recipe for her daughter's family and for my mother to freeze and have as they want then. Thought that you might like to give it a try as well. You can use any type of sausage that your taste buds prefer as well as what ever type of cheese you like. She tells me the the shredded hash-browns work the best for this as the potato pieces aren't so large. Also, she used Canola oil where it calls out for butter so have a good time with it.

Preheat oven to 375F

In a skillet cook until soft:

2 C. freezer hash-browns

1 tbsp butter

Remove to a bowl and keep warm.

In a bowl beat together

2 eggs

¼ C. milk (whole, 2%, skim, doesn’t matter)

Pour in to the same skillet and cook to soft set.

Remove to a bowl to keep warm.

Muffin tin, sprayed with non-stick.

1 tin of refrigerator biscuits, separated and flattened. Each of these is fitted in the sides and bottom of a muffin tin cup.

In the same skillet crumble and cook just until no longer pink ½ pound of sausage of choice.

Create gravy by adding 1/3 C. flour and enough milk to make a thick gravy.

Assembly:

Alternate layers of potatoes, egg, and cheese of choice into the lined muffin cups topping each cup with an equal portion of the gravy.

Bake for 20 minutes

These are freezable for later use.

Beef Tenderloin

I surely hope that all of you have had a great, great Christmas. 2011 was kind of a toughy in spots and I am praying that 2012 is a bit easier on all of us.

We spend a few days in the Chicago area the first part of the week just before Christmas. Our friends there were wonderful hosts and Dan and Den got the rest of the modifications done to Dan's whole house, natural gas 12KW generator to keep it air intake and exhaust out of the Midwest snows which we haven't gotten much of thus far. While we were out and about, we stopped at Costco and picked up a few things. One of those things I want to tell you about. We had missed that sale in our Fareway for beef tenderloin and the one at the Jewel near Cindy's house was needing quite a bit of trimming and a few bucks more a pound than the sale that we missed out on before we left Manchester. However, Costco was offering a good sized roast, well trimmed and yes we were going to pay Chicago prices and union pricing for it but I purchased one at just over 4.5 pounds. This is one of the most tender pieces of beef that I have ever in my live eaten so here we go.

Before leaving for Barrington, Ill. I happened to catch a show on Food network called Pioneer Woman. This lady and her family were having a family gathering and she was fixing the eats. You can catch most of the recipes on food network.com/pioneerwoman. She get a bit spicy for me but I think that I could find ways around the hot, hot jalapeño peppers with maybe some sweet banana peppers. Anyway, when it got to meat dish she called in her husband.

They live on a ranch so they have one of those charcoal grill thinks that would hold about 40 pounds of charcoal and sport a rack for spit roasting (no cover on this one). They had trimmed 4 beef tenderloins of silver flesh, fat and connective tissue. Tied the slender tail under so it didn't over cook while the rest of it cooked.

In large foil pans she placed 2 beef tenderloins. The meat was seasoned well with seasoning salt (Lowery's or McCormick's or the like), lemon pepper and ground pepper. Over the meat she pour melted butter. She had melted 1.5 pounds of butter and split it between the two pans. Then on to the grill. Half way through the turned the meat over and it was browned on the bottom. What they didn't tell you were things like how long for how well done and how hot the coals were.

Well, as I told you I purchased a beef tenderloin. I cut it in half as it was going to be just the Denman and I for our Christmas doings. Den wanted me to fix it in the house so I fired the oven to 400F figuring, hot coals....... right. I foil lined my 12" cast iron skillet and put the piece of meat that I hadn't put in the freezer in it. I melted 3 sticks of good quality butter (I did put in a bit of Penzey's Mural of Flavor while it melted, smells great already). I season the roast librally with Lowery's and a good coating of Mural of Flavor and pour the melted butter over it all. In to the oven for 20 minutes. Pull it out and turn the meat. Back in for another 20. Pull the foil up over it to rest while you fix the potatoes and asparagras and Béarnaise sauce. OK ready to go. Cut the meat about 3/4-1 in thick and serve it up. WOW! This great, wonderful, the best Den has ever eaten and so on. I will tell you that the meat at the point that you take it from the oven is about medium rare, the resting take is to about medium. If I weren't looking out for Denny, I would have done it for 10 minutes on a side and called it good.

It isn't greasy even with the butter but just has a wonder flavor and so very tender that a steak knife is way over kill.

The other things that she served was a fresh corn casserole that is like what I call crock pot corn but she used whipping cream where I use cream cheese and she added red bell pepper and jalopania where I would have stopped a bell pepper or changed the hot one for a sweet banana pepper.

She had a marinated tomato salad, twice baked potatoes and for dessert she had brownie sundae's.

Admittedly this is not a roast that you would fix on a regular basis as it usually runs between $11.00-$20.00 per pound but for a very special occasion, it is really pretty special.

God Bless and my best wishes for the new year!!!!!!

Linda