Quick Chicken and Rice dish

I made a version of what was called Buffalo Rice. It was supposed to be a quick meal based on Chicken Wings. I did not have blue cheese, so I used left over Fontina cheese.

1C rice
Salt
3T butter
2 uncooked boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 oz of blue cheese
2T hot sauce (I used one)
1 C chicken broth
Cook the rice. I soak mine for an hour or so and bring to a boil, cover and turn the heat to low for 10 minutes. I use Japanese rice called Rose’s. Melt the butter in a large skillet. I used garlic cheese butter from Wegman’s. Cut the chicken in ½ “cubes and cook in the butter and add the hot sauce. Add the chicken broth and rice and finally the cheese. I also added frozen peas and carrots. Jim thought this was very good. Again supposed to feed four, but Jim ate it all. Very easy and fast, just what I needed for a busy day.

Grilled yogurt chicken with cucumber salad

This was the frustrating day from hell. I have been dealing with HP for about 2 weeks now over my printer. Unfortunately as I like to do multiple tasks at the same time, I did not notice that the pop-up said set up not update and clicked on it. So this pop up keeps coming up and interfering with everything I do. So after weeks of working with the online help, I got very mad and called the corporate headquarters in CA. I asked if they had customer service. For me, I was very calm and collected as I went through multiple layers of people in the office. Finally I am connected to Katy who not only gives me a year of free online service but connects me to someone in Canada who speaks English and she proceeds to help. We spend 1 ½ hours on line and she seems to get the pop up turned off. Next day I turn on the computer and yes the pop up from hell is back. I decide that I will wait for Jim to have time to talk to them as I am on the verge of throwing the printer out the window. Today Katy calls and I tell her my thing and she says, why don’t you uninstall and reinstall, sounded good to me. Now mind you I have a perfectly working printer my only problem is a popup, a very persistent popup. Immediately following her call we had two realtors call wanting to show the house and Jim and I had errands to run. We did our thing and they did there’s. I came home got out the instructions and uninstalled my perfectly working printer. Next it is time to reinstall. I tried 4 times, nothing. So finally I call the year of free of help that HP has given me. I was on the phone for 2 ½ hours. When we finished everything seemed to be working perfectly. Needed to make dinner, as it was 6:00PM and I had not done a thing. Could not make what I was planning as we would have eaten at midnight. So I went to plan B which was to be tomorrow. So, I restart the computer to find out that my wireless has been disconnected, my AOL is down, and my accesses to icons on the face are gone, and the pop up is still there. It is now 9:30 PM and I have now repaired the damage that started with a call to HP help at 4:00 PM.


Luckily this dinner was fast and good. It is in the April Sunset Magazine. The chicken breasts were in the freezer, but my friend Jane taught me this fast thaw method that is much better than the microwave. I took out 3 breasts and sealed them in a plastic bag. I used the small side of the sink. Put them in the sink and fill with water. The water sucks the frozen out of the meat and it is all evenly thawed in minutes. So from here, follow the recipe. There are parts that I just ignored.
Serves 4, Time 30 minutes
4 boned, skinned chicken breast halves
1 ¼ C plain whole-mild yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
1¼ t ground cumin
1t fresh lemon juice
3/4t kosher salt
1/2t chili flakes
¼ t ground turmeric
1T vegetable oil
1 English cucumber, cut into ¼” dice
2T minced shallot
1/4C chopped fresh mint leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
My chicken breasts were frozen Purdue from Costco so the tender was already removed. They are thin so I did not need to pound to ¼” thick. I just needed to thaw them.
Mix the yogurt, cumin, lemon juice, salt, chili flakes and turmeric in a bowl.
Next as I am waiting for the chicken to thaw, I cut up the cucumber, mint, and shallot and mixed in a bowl. I added 1/2C of the yogurt mixture to the bowl and combined. The chicken was thawed and I added the remaining yogurt mixture to the bag and squished around to coat thoroughly to coat. They want you to marinate for 10 minutes. Jim heated the grille and cooked them for about 4 minutes. The meal was very good.
Jim served a 2005 Viansa Piccolo which is made with Sonoma Count Sangiovese grapes. It was excellent.

Smoochie Poochie Kisses and Turkey Meatloaf

Today I cooked for both my guys. Jim was going out and I was running low on WW flour and did not have the mint or parsley dried. So I asked Jim to pick some up for me. Three items only took 3 calls with a list and directions that all could be found in the same isle. The last call informed me that a small bottle of mint was $5.00 and he wanted to know whether to buy the store brand of parsley or the more expensive Mc Cormack brand. I said store brand was fine as it was being used in Max’s treats. “Where is the mint being used,”he asked? “In Max’s treats,” I answered. This answer was followed with a loud groan. Max really likes his Smoochie Poochie Kisses. This comes from The Good Treats Cookbook for Dogs, by Barbara Burg. This is my 16th cookbook dedicated to cooking for animals.

2C whole wheat flour
½C wheat germ
1/2 C water
1 egg beaten
¼C vegetable oil
1T minced mint, dried
1T minced parsley, dried
Combine all the dry ingredients and whisk together. Put the water, egg, and oil in a small bowl and whisk to beat the egg. Add them together and when combined put on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to ¼” think and cut with a small cutter. Re-roll and continue cutting until it is all used. I used a small bone shape. It says makes 60 treats, I got 80.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, turn off the oven and let biscuits harden and cool in the oven for 1 hour.

For dinner we had Meatloaf and artichokes.
I found really good smaller artichokes in the market. I steamed them in a pot and served with the delicious butter sauce that was left over from the lobster.
The meatloaf is from Martha’s Everyday Food show. It says serves 6, but we have very little left.
2T vegetable oil
½# cremini mushrooms sliced
Salt and pepper
2 small leeks, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced, washed and dried
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 C shredded fontina cheese, about 4 oz
1 slice day old bread, cubed
1 large egg
1T finely chopped fresh sage leaves (I used a third less dry)
1 ½ # ground Turkey
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet heat 1T oil and add the mushrooms. Cook until golden about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the remaining oil to the same skillet and add the leeks and garlic they said, until soft about 4 minutes, season with salt and pepper. I wish I had cooked them until golden like making French onion soup as I thought the onion taste was too prominent in the finished loaf. Add to the bowl with the mushrooms. Let cool and then add the fontina cheese, bread, egg, sage and turkey. Add ¾ t salt and ¼ t pepper and mix all together with your hands. For this part I use disposable latex gloves. Put parchment paper on a rimmed baking sheet and form a 10” loaf on the pan. I had some leftover small tomatoes and I cut them in slices and arranged them decoratively on top. It says to bake for 45 minutes. Mine took longer as I used an instant read thermometer and it had not reached 165. I baked 15 minutes longer to a temp of 160. I let it set for 10 minutes and it was 165 degrees.

The wine that Jim served definitely needed aerated. I did not like it until he performed this function. The wine was a 2007 Viansa Athena, a blend of Sonoma County Dolcetto grapes which originate in the Piedmont of Northern Italy. Very little is grown in CA. It makes a light red wine but this did benefit from using the Vinturi aerator.
For those of you who are interested, the carpet is still drying and I believe that my second application tomorrow will eliminate the wine stains. I am living proof that there is life after spilling red wine on light carpet.

Fish with Beets, Bacon and Balsamic and Meyer lemon Crepe Cake

If you never hear from me again on this blog, Jim has killed me. Tonight I came into my office with a glass of red wine, set it on my desk that was loaded with papers, and it did not stay upright. I will have to say that red wine is chilling on light grey carpet, but the abuse I suffered verbally tonight was totally uncalled for. I can’t begin to tell you how many spills I have cleaned up around the dining tables that have been left by the dinner Sommelier. But here is dinner tonight. Possibly it is the beets that caused the bad humor. I like beets, Jim could do without them.
Last night I did not blog about my strawberries as I did not make them until I had finished. I have these wonderful big strawberries. I warmed some chocolate chips in a little heavy cream and rolled the strawberries in them. They were ok; I probably should have added some vanilla.
Today was all Martha which means my back is in pain. I originally wanted to make her Shad Roe with Beet, Bacon and Balsamic. She aired this on her TV show on Monday and I was at the market on Wednesday. They said the shad season was over. I had already loaded my basket the other 10 ingredients Martha called for so I looked for something that had the same shape as this was a salad compose. I chose long thin pieces of cod. Serves 4

4 medium red beets
4 medium golden beets
1 fennel bulb, sliced
2 garlic cloves
1 apple, quartered
6 sprigs fresh thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
½ C plus 3 T EVOO
½ C AP flour
Salt and pepper
4 pieces of shad roe (I substituted the cod)
8 slices of thick-cut apple wood smoked bacon
3T butter
Salt
¼ C assorted coarsely chopped herbs, parsley, tarragon, chives
1 C Frisee
¼ C balsamic vinegar
Place the beets in different pots according to color. Make sure that after all is added that you have pots big enough to cover the contents by 4” of water. To each pot add ½ of the first 5 ingredients. The directions say to simmer for 35 minutes. Mine took about 55 minutes. Drain separately and disregard all but the beets. Peel and cut into quarters. Place in separate bowls and then mix in 2 T of EVOO, salt, and pepper in each bowl. Cool.
Next cook the bacon in a skillet. When finished set aside the bacon and retain only 3T bacon greases. Add 1 3T of EVOO and the same amount of butter to the skillet. Put the fish or shad into a container with ½ C AP flour and add salt and pepper. Add the fish to the skillet. Cook to 135 degrees. It does not take long.
In the meantime, rinse and chop the Frisee. Place on the plates. Add the quartered beets and the bacon. When the fish is done place on top and sprinkle with the EVOO/Balsamic mixture.
Jim hates beets but said he liked it. But that was before I spilled the wine.

We have not had the following yet, but I made it because I had left over lemon curd that I made from the angel food cake leftover egg yolks.

Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake
3/4C AP flour
1/2C sugar
¼ t salt
1 ¼ C milk
3 large eggs
1/2t vanilla extract
Mix the above ingredients and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Lightly coat a crepes pan with butter. Do not expect the first 3 to turn out. I have a very old French crepe pan. I also have a non-stick pan the same size. I still use the old French crepe pan. Keep adding butter to 6T as you make each crepe. Heat the pan, add the butter, and add about 2T of batter. Swirl to fill the bottom. Cook to brown the bottom and flip. Cook the other side and place on a plate. I put wax paper between each crepe. You need 15 total.

Meyer lemon mousse
Add IC of whipped heavy cream to lemon curd. For the lemon curd recipe go to http://wwwmarthastewart.com , if you did not make the one on my blog.
So next place a crepe on a plate, top with about ¼ C of the lemon/crème mixture. Keep doing this until you use all the crepes or the lemon/crème mixture up. Slice in wedges and I am serving with my strawberries.

Jim served a 2007 Viansa Estate Carneros Chardonnay, Cento per Cento. Of all the wines that Jim has shipped in from CA through wine Clubs, Viansa is my favorite. This one was wonderful.

Lobster Tail and Aspargus Tart

Max learned tonight that lobster is his favorite food. Jim was up in Valley Forge last night to attend a GE old-timers event. I went out to dinner with Elaine to the Chinese restaurant across from the gate. This AM he visited our old farmer’s market in Wayne, PA and said hello to our friends the Alderfer’s and had breakfast. When we lived in PA we went to the market every Saturday AM. Jim had breakfast and I shopped; stacking the bags at his feet while he ate. It was and, he says still is, a great place to buy fresh food. He brought some great looking bread home. On his way back he was stopping at Costco to buy gas and called to ask if we needed anything. I initially said no and then I thought, I’d like lobster tonight. I found a recipe for broiled lobster tail with buttery Pernod sauce. I accompanied this with a Martha Stewart recipe for Asparagus-Parmesan Tart. Jim served Champagne. Very elegant Saturday night.


The Lobster recipe came from Le Cordon Bleu, Complete Cook; Home Collection. The sauce was to die for and the directions for cooking the lobster tails were perfect. Yes, we gave Max a couple bites of lobster and that was a big mistake. Jim bought very large tails and so I gave him some of mine as I could not finish it. After the first bite, Max tried to climb into Jim’s lap to obtain more.

Tart
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
AP flour for dusting
1 egg, well beaten
10 medium asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed, shaved into thin strips using a vegetable peeler
2 t EVOO
Salt and pepper to taste
½ C finely grated Parmigianino-Reggiano cheese
bPreheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on a lightly floured work surface, just until the creases are smooth to a 10” sq. Lightly score a ½” border on all four sides. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Whisk 1 egg and brush the borders of the pastry. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Toss the shaved asparagus with the EVOO, salt, and pepper. When the pastry is baked, take a spatula and press down the center of the pastry. Arrange the asparagus and bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake 5 minutes more and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before cutting into 4 pieces. This was good and elegant looking with the lobster.

Next for the lobster, start with the sauce.
1 star anise
½C water
2T Pernod
¾ C unsalted butter, cubed
Place the anise and the water in a small pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and cook for about 10 minutes to reduce the water to 2T. Add the butter in small amounts whisking as you add to melt. Add ½ the Pernod. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the sauce over warm water. If kept on the stove it will separate. I put the sauce pan in a bowl of warm water and put it on a turned off burner. Remember the oven was on and later the broiler would be on. It kept perfectly. Right before serving, add the second T of Pernod.

For the lobster tails, bring a pot of water to a boil on the stove. Add the tails and boil for 2 minutes. Remove and drain. With the meat side down cut the shell but not all the way through the meat. Open and brush the meat with butter. Preheat the broiler on high. Place the tails meat side down and broil for 5 minutes. Turnover and broil for an additional 5 minutes. I had my oven rack on the second notch down from the broiler.

The lobster and sauce were fabulous. Jim said this is better than butter. I answered it is good, but it does contain a stick and ½ of butter.

We had a vintage 1992 Jacquart Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, Reims. It was cold, dry, crisp and perfect with the lobster.

Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens and Corn and Basil Muffins

Tonight we had soup and corn muffins. Both were very good. In fact they were so good that Jim who served himself 3 times after the first serving accused me of stuffing him. The soup came from a January Better Homes and Garden article.
Soup
2t canola oil
1small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
12C chicken broth, they say low-sodium, I used my homemade stock
16zo green lentils
1t dried basil
1t dried thyme
1t salt
6 oz kale leaves
3T fresh lemon juice, 1 lemon
1t finely grated lemon peel
After you have chopped the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, heat the oil in a 6 qt. pot. Add the vegetables and sauté for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Add all the stock, lentils, and herbs. Bring to a boil and add the kale. Turn to low and cook for 35 minutes. Add the lemon juice and serve. Top each serving with grated lemon peel.
This soup serves 8 with a meal to follow. Jim had 4 servings; I had 1, so we have a lot left. It was great soup. You could use vegetable stock and make it vegetarian. I don’t think the stock made a difference other than possibly the salt level as mine was homemade.

The corn muffins came from this past Wednesday’s Washington Post from a new cookbook called “Dishing up Maryland.”
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1 ¼ C flour
¾ C yellow cornmeal
2T sugar
3t baking powder
¾ t salt
1C low fat milk, I used non fat
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ C vegetable oil
1 C frozen corn kernels that have been defrosted
3T minced basil
I messed this recipe up so bad and it was still wonderful. First as the muffins were half done, I realized that I forgot the vegetable oil. Also I read the 3T as1T for the basil. I definitely have to make these again, but for all the mess-ups, they were very good, I can hardly wait to do it right. Nothing different than any other muffin, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the corn kernels to the dry ingredients. Mix the wet together and stir to combine. Spray the muffin tin with oil. Makes 12 muffins

Jim served what he calls the house wine. Gnarly Head, Old vine Zin.

Beef Satay Fried Rice

I felt sorry for Jim last night. The dinner had no meat, lots of veggies; and it was not real good. I had to get up early to go to the Dr., so I took the same cookbook with me to see what we had at home that I could make for dinner that he would like. I called from the Dr’s office and found out that we indeed had 1# of Buffalo steak in the freezer. I told Jim to take it out. I drove home and had to make Max’s food for the month. Jim decided as the cupboard was bare and we were busy the rest of the week, we had to grocery shop before dinner. So, he went off for a haircut and I started making dog food and the weekly list. Then we went to Wegman’s.
Tonight’s dinner was said to become a family favorite and I could certainly agree. I added snow peas to the recipe and Jim agreed with me that it would not have looked as good or tasted as good without them.
2t vegetable oil, divided
1# boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut in 1/2 “thick slices. I used buffalo steak
2 medium carrots peeled and julienned
1 medium red bell pepper thinly sliced
4 green onions with tops thinly sliced
½ # snow peas
½ t Thai red curry paste
6C cooked rice; I put 2 cups of Rose’s rice in a pan with 2C of water. I soaked it most of the day, then cooked as usual. Bring to a boil, cover and put on low for 10 minutes.  Don't know it it was 6C, but it was pleanty.
¾ peanut sauce
½ C dry roasted peanuts
1t salt
½ t ground black pepper
Add 1t of the oil to the wok and heat for about 3 minutes. I have a scanner that tells you when a pot reaches the correct temperature for what you want to do. The minutes stated were exactly the temperature on my stove for stir fry. Add the meat and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Remove the meat and add the remaining 1 t of oil. Stir fry all vegetables for about 4 minutes and add the rice. Mix for a couple of minutes and add the beef, peanut sauce, peanuts, salt and pepper. Cook a couple of minutes and serve immediately.

Says serves 6, we have one serving left. Jim really liked it. We had a Rasteau Cotes Du Rhone Villages with this meal that we bought at Wegman’s. Jim aerated it. It is a good one to buy and put down. I think it has a long life.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Brown Butter Sauce

Have you ever made gnocchi in 23 minutes? Well, it seemed to good to be true and it was. This was in the 29 minutes to dinner cookbook. The gnocchi at least was not tough. There was not enough sauce, so the spinach was tasteless. But here it is. It was very filling. It says serves 4. I can’t make anything that serves less than 4 as Jim would be starving.


For the gnocchi dough. This was easy Just combine all of the following in a bowl.
1t lemon zest
1 egg
½ t salt
½ C AP flour
2 oz parmesan cheese grated
Use a small ice cream scoop that is about 1T scoop about 28 level scoops on a lightly floured piece of parchment.

To Cook
Put 1T butter and 2T EVOO in a skillet. Heat over med high heat until the butter is melted and begins to brown. This is where I differed with the directions. I added about a third of the scoops at a time to the pan. Instead of turning with tongs, I found it easier to keep them moving around the pan with a spatula and when brown all over remove to a plate. I kept them warm in the warming drawer until done.

Sauce
Add 3 T of butter to the skillet and cook about 3-4 minutes until brown. In the mean time, chop 1 garlic clove and about 1T of parsley. When the butter is brown, take off the heat and add 1t of lemon juice, ½ t pepper flakes, the garlic, and parsley.

Put baby spinach on each plate, top with the gnocchi and poor on the sauce.

Jim served a Silvan Ridge Pinot Gris from Oregon. I have to say there is no short cut to good gnocchi, but I tried.

Turkey Burgers and Green Beans

Last night we went to a local restaurant that was giving 50% of the check to the Democratic Party as a fund raiser. Tonight I am back on track with cooking.


Turkey Burgers with wasabi mayo, 6 servings, Get Grilling Coookbook from Food Network
Sauce
4t water
4 t wasabi powder
½ C mayonnaise
Burgers
2 ¼ # ground turkey, 6 scallions white and green finely chopped
3T soy sauce
1 T Mirin
1 ½ T dark sesame oil
1t kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil
6 sesame seed hamburger buns
1 ½ Hass avocados, halved, pitted and thinly sliced
6 slices ripe tomatoes
1 ½ C alfalfa sprouts
1/3 C pickled ginger
Prepare the mayonnaise. Stir the water and wasabi powder and let rest for 5 minutes. Add the mayonnaise and whisk together.
Next mix the ground turkey with the next 5 ingredients. Preheat the grille to medium hot and grease the grille. Put the burgers on for 14 – 16 minutes. Toast the buns. Bring them in and top with the mayonnaise, avocado, tomato, pickled ginger, and alfalfa sprouts. These were good, but very filling.
I found some frozen French fries in the freezer while looking for the hazelnuts, so I fixed them on bake as I had not fixed lunch for Jim.
Green Beans with Hazelnuts
1T EVOO
1T butter
1# green beans trimmed
Salt and pepper
2T chopped hazelnuts, toasted
1 T fresh lemon juice
Heat the oil and butter together. Add the green beans, season with salt and pepper and cover for 5-8 minutes, tossing occasionally until the beans are crisp tender. Stir in the hazelnuts and lemon juice. Serve immediately.
We had a 2004 Zinfandel (Paso Robles) from Thacher Winery, Saratoga, CA. Excellent Zin with wonderful aromas and great flavor.

Cocktails

Last night we went to a Lion's Club fund raiser.  I've been exhausted since Friday and I fell asleep at the table.  I guess I was a real joy to be around.  So, since I did not cook, I am going to write about my brother-in-law's drink recipes.  Buy the way, the food was very good last night.  Jim can't make drinks, he can only pour wine or Scotch.  I told this to Vince before he arrived so I could get the bar stocked with what was needed.  He made VO Manhattans and Cosmos.  They were both very good. 
VO Manhattan
Seagrams VO Canadian Whiskey (3oz)
Sweet Vermouth (1oz)
Splash of Bitters
Marachino Cherries. 
He serves this drink on the rocks (Ice).

Cosmos
Vodka (2 parts)
Triple Sec (1 part)
Cranberry Juice (1 part)
Splash of lime juice with a garnish of lime slice
Shake the above in a bar shaker with ice and strain into a martini glass.  Garnish with a lime slice. 

Remember it is 5:00 somewhere.  Enjoy

Korean Short Ribs with Cucumber Kimchee

This recipe comes from the Food Network, Get Grilling book.


Ribs 4-6 people

6# beef short ribs, cut crosswise into twelve 2 ½” squares. Mine were approximately this size in the store

Remove any silver skin from the top of the meat. Butterfly the short ribs so they open like books with the meat about 1/3 to ½ inch think and still attached to the bone. Place the ribs in a glass baking dish and pour the Korean BBQ marinade over them. Turn to coat the ribs. Cover and refrigerate from 2 to 8 hours. Mine marinated for about 7 hours. The cookbook says over 8 they will become too salty.

Prepare the outdoor grill with high-heat fire. Remove the ribs from the marinade. Brush the grill grate lightly with oil. Place the ribs meaty side down and cook, turning as needed until well browned but still pink inside, 10 -12 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes. I cut this recipe in half. Jim definitely would have liked more ribs. They look meaty, but there is a lot of gristle.

Korean BBQ Marinade 1 1/2C

1 C Dark Japanese or Korean soy sauce (Sometimes labeled thick)
4 large cloves garlic peeled and chopped, 2T
2T finely grated peeled fresh ginger
4 scallions green and white, thinly sliced
2T dark sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Whisk all ingredients in a bowl.

Cucumber Kimchee

4 Kirby cucumbers
4 scallions
5 cloves garlic
3T grated peeled fresh ginger
3T sugar
1 ½ t kosher salt
1 ½ t crushed red pepper, ground

The book says the day before serving to make the Kimchee Cucumbers. I did not know a day ahead I was going to make this dinner. I started them early in the day and we ate late. As I did not like this dish, I do not believe overnight would have made a difference. Jim said this was no less weird than any other dish I have served him. The recipe also gives instructions for individually chopping all the ingredients that you stuff in the cucumber. I have a mini chopper. The picture in the book shows this stuffing very finely chopped. I put all ingredients in the chopper, except the cucumbers, and turned it on, scraping down the sides a couple of times. Halve the cucumbers. Set them upright on the cut end with the end of the cucumber upright. Slice from the end down the cucumber to about ½ inch from the cut end dividing the cucumber in quarters. Stuff the cucumber with the Kimchee mixture. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. It looks very pretty on the plate.

I also served Red Quinoa that I cooked according to the package directions. Basically boiled like rice. I added salt, pepper and orange olive oil to the mixture.  Jim served a western Australia Shiraz called Palandri.  The label is really great. 

Smoky and Spicy Baked Beans

Jim asked 3 times if I had really made these. He loved them. They were so easy and tasted like beans that take hours. I got this recipe from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade, Grilling 2. We had Nathan's hot dogs and salad with these beans. This was a school day.
Prep: 15 minutes
Grill: 30 minutes
Servings: 8
I was intrigued with this recipe as it uses Bush’s baked beans. I’ve never liked them. I liked what she did to them. You need a cast iron skillet.

1 slice bacon chopped
1 med. red onion diced
2- 28 oz. cans of Bush’s baked beans
1 12 oz can root beer
¼ C Worcestershire sauce
1/4C Ketchup
1/4C yellow mustard
3T molasses
3 T chili-garlic sauce (Chinese)
Warm the grill to medium heat. Set an 8” cast iron skillet on grill to preheat. Add bacon and cook long enough to render fat. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside. Cook onion in bacon grease until soft. Return bacon to skillet. Stir in baked beans and all remaining ingredients. Cover the grill and cook for about 30 minutes. Stir once or twice.

Jim served Terra Barossa from Australia. Way too good for hot dogs.

Wednesday Dinner, Sweet Chili-Mustard Chicken Salad with toasted Almonds

This recipe is from a book called Weber, Real Grilling. This meal was really good. I loved the dressing. We had our left over black bean soup with it. It didn’t taste as boring when it was not the center of attention.
Dressing:
¾ C pineapple juice
2T mild chili sauce
2T white wine vinegar
1T soy sauce
1T Dijon mustard
1t dark sesame oil
In a medium saucepan whisk together the first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer to reduce to ½ C. About 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, add the mustard and oil and allow cooling to room temperature.

Toast ½ cup of almonds. I do this by putting them in a small skillet and watching them very carefully. The recipe says 5 minutes. I do not know as I have learned not to take my eyes off the nuts while toasting on top of the stove.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Canola oil
½ t chopped fresh marjoram. (I used 1/3 less dry)
Kosher salt and pepper
4 C baby mixed greens
1 4” cucumber halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

If you believe that I really measured the cucumber, you don’t know me. I looked for a small one, but Max and I love cucumber. We shared as I chopped. Meanwhile I oiled the chicken breast halves and sprinkled with marjoram, salt and pepper. I sent them outside with Jim. He grilled over medium heat for about 8 minutes. When they came in we cut them into bite size pieces.

In a bowl, combine the greens, chicken, almonds and cucumber. Drizzle the dressing over top, toss and enjoy.  We really like this. I would definitely serve to company this summer.

Original Pizza again.

Well here I am writing the entire blog of the recipe again. I wrote it and put on copy and did not save and it went into never, never land. So here it goes again. Monday was a beautiful day and the forecast was beautiful. I needed nothing for Monday; remember the black bean soup? But I had a lot to do as we are selling the house, so I made the weekly meals: all from grilling cookbooks. Love to send Jim outside to cook in the summer. Woke up today to rain and 50 degrees: what to do? So I looked up a recipe to do today and took off for the market. When I got home, I was really tired and did not want to make that recipe. I wanted pizza. I searched the freezers and pantry and came up with my second original recipe. I had chicken breast; my first thought was CA Pizza Kitchen Barbeque Chicken. I read the recipe and realized why I had never bought the frozen version or ordered it in their restaurants. Here is my version. Jim loved it and so did I.
1 Boboli thin crust
Goat cheese, 4-5 oz.
2 strips of bacon, microwaved to almost done
Marinated mozzarella balls in oil and sun dried tomatoes
1 chicken breast sprinkled with Penzeys Barbeque of the Americas spice
Homemade pizza sauce (I took a pizza course with Taste of DC). The sauce recipe made tons, and I have frozen it in individual amounts for all my pizzas. When I run out I will blog it as it is very good.
4 oz. baby Bella mushrooms
First I spread the sauce on the crust. I topped it with the mushrooms. Next I microwaved the bacon and chopped. I spread it on the crust. I speed cooked the chicken breast. When it was done I shredded it and spread on the crust. I crushed and spread the goat cheese. Next I cut the mozzarella balls in half. I think there were 7 and spread them on the crust. I also spread the sun dried tomatoes that came with the mozzarella balls. With the peel, I deposited it on the oven rack and cooked for 10 minutes. When it came out I topped it with pepper and salt.
We enjoyed the pizza with our pizza wine, a Black Mountain Pinot Noir from Trader Joe’s.

Monday's boring soup. Very disappointing

Tonight I made Black Bean Soup from the NY Times Bread and Soup Cookbook, 1972. I added the date because my guess is that unless you had someone around you who was Latino in background, you’d never heard or eaten a black bean. I wanted to make a soup that used my ham bone from Easter and this did it, but it was boring. I have made black bean soup that took less time and was much more tasty.
2C black beans
8C cold water
3 medium-sized onions
3 stalks of celery
¼ C butter
2 bay leaves
2T parsley, chopped
1 ham bone
½ t salt
1/8 t ground black pepper
2/3 C dry sherry
Place the beans in a pot and cover with water and soak overnight. Drain the beans and return to the pot and simmer in 8 cups of water until soft. I started this process at 9:00 AM. Peel and chop the onions. Chop the celery and sauté them both in the butter until transparent. Add this to the soup with the bay leaves, parsley, ham bone, salt and pepper. I started this process at 2:30 PM. My beans were not quite soft so I set the timer for 4 hours instead of 3and cooked covered over medium heat. At the end, I removed the bone that was in many pieces and the 2 bay leaves. I used my immersion blender to blend until smooth. Then add the sherry. It said to warm again; mine was so hot, the little amount of sherry did not make a difference. We had some left over appetizers from all our entertaining and Jim cooked himself a sirloin burger.  Jim served a Old Vine Zin. 

Sunday dinner with friends

Sally and John came for dinner today. It was a beautiful day. We had appetizers and dinner on the deck. For appetizers we had marinated mozzarella balls, hummus with jalapeno and some more of my asparagus pesto. Sally loved the asparagus pesto. So I have served it 3 times and 3 times it has been the favorite. I guess this recipe is a winner. For the soup and main course I used the Eat Well Cookbook from Williams Sonoma again.
The soup is called Spring Vegetable Soup. I had to substitute pea shoots and the star shaped pasta. Serves 4

Star shaped pasta, ½ C (I used a round pasta I had purchased in Berkley, CA)
Large eggs, 2
Chicken broth, 4 cups
Carrots, ½ C diced
Pea shoots, 2C chopped, I used snow peas
Parmesan Cheese, ¼ C

Cook the pasta in water and drain. Add 1cup water to the 4 C of chicken broth. Bring to a boil and add the carrots. Cook at a simmer for 5 min. and add the peas, cook an additional 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and drizzle in beaten eggs, stirring the soup gently in one direction as you pour. Stir in pasta and cheese and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. This was OK. As usual I did not look at part of the recipe and they said if you could not get pea shouts, use spinach. I think real peas or the spinach would have been better.

Our main course was Pork medallions with Romesco Sauce. The Romesco sauce was great. You can also use it on pasta. I made this a little different than the recipe. I marinated the whole pork tenderloin and did not cut it in 1/2“ rounds to fry in a skillet. I had Jim cook the tenderloin on the grille.

Pork tenderloin, 1#
Salt
Crushed fennel seed, 1/2t
Ground cumin, ½ t
Sweet smoked paprika, 2 t
Toasted walnut pieces, ¼ C
Garlic, 1 clove
Roasted red bell peppers, 1 jar, 8 oz., drained
EVOO, 3 T (add 1 1/2T more if you are going to fry inside)
Red wine vinegar, 1T
Cayenne pepper, ¼ t

I mixed ½t salt, fennel seed, cumin and ½ t paprika in a plastic bag. After trimming the fat and the silvery membrane from the tenderloin, I added it to the bag to marinate in the dry rub. For the sauce put the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. I served this with very thin green beans that I added a little water and orange EVOO to a pan and microwaved. Jim cooked the tenderloins on the grille for about 15-20 minutes, 140F to 150F. This recipe said it served 4. I doubled the meat, but not the sauce. I have sauce left even though everyone had a generous portion of sauce; only a few scraps of meat left. We all liked this main course. Jim served a Burton, 2004 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with the meal. It was very good.

For dessert, I described yesterday making the cakes and lemon curd. Today I filled the depression in the cakes with lemon curd and put strawberries on top. The strawberries were excellent, but I probably should have crushed them more to make more of a sauce. Maybe Sally and John will look at the blog and give their comments.

We are having the toasted sesame salmon again as I have sauce leftover and I thought it would go well with the asparagus pesto that I used as an appetizer for our Easter dinner. Remember I told you that they said you could also serve it as a pasta sauce and that is what we are doing tonight. I am using whole wheat spaghetti. I had leftover peppers and I chopped them up to add color. Jim really liked the meal.


Tomorrow my friend Sally and her husband John are coming for dinner. Today I made the Strawberry shortcakes and lemon curd that I will use for the dessert. Once you make these shortcakes you will never again buy those spongy things in the grocery store that magically appear every strawberry season. You do need a special pan. It is called the Chicago Metallic 6 cup shortcake pan. Just go on line to www.chicagometallic.com. I bought mine ages ago and as I tell everyone, if you need a special pan to make something, call me first before buying one.

Strawberry Shortcake
¾ C sugars
1 ½ C all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 stick unsalted butter
2 eggs
½ t vanilla extract
2/3 C milk
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time along with the vanilla extract. Alternate the flour mixture and the milk until all is combined on low speed. If you do not use low speed, you will be wearing the flour. Turn it up and scrape the bowl and mix until all is smooth. Pour into the greased and floured molds. I use Bakers Joy. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Next I made the Lemon Curd. I used Alton Brown’s recipe. I had a lot of egg yolks left over from the Easter Angel Food Cake.
5 egg yolks
1C sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled
You need a saucepan and a metal bowl or double boiler. Heat about an inch of water to boiling in the pan, or whatever level will not touch the bottom of the bowl you are using. Whisk the yolks and the sugar in the bowl; add the zest of 4 lemons and juice of the lemons to 1/3C. My lemons only needed 2 ½ to come to a 1/3 C. Reduce the water to a low simmer and place the bowl on top. Keep whisking for approximately 8 minutes until the mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Quite frankly I did not test it with a spoon; you can see it getting thick. Next, a couple cubes at a time you whisk in the butter. After all is smooth, put in a container and place plastic wrap on the surface so it does not form a crust. It tasted much better than store bought lemon curd.

Tomorrow I will put the lemon curd in the top of the shortcake shell and top with strawberries that I have chopped with a little lemon juice and sugar. 

Sauteed Spinach with White Beans and Pine Nuts

Wednesday was a busy day. Vince and Tammy got up early and went to the Space Museum. When they got back, Vince and Jim played golf. Tammy and I had lunch at the club and then went to a store in our center that has bars that can be purchased for their basement area. That night we went to dinner at Clare’s at the Depot in Warrenton. Dinner was great.


Thursday was the White House tour. We had lunch at Central downtown and then came home. Tammy took Vince back to the store so he could look at all the bars. I knew I would be exhausted as I can’t remember the last time I was aware of 4:30 AM. Jim wanted to be at the head of the commute which is considered the worst in the nation. It only takes one incident to hold you up for hours. We had breakfast and hung out at the Marriot until it was time for our tour. On TV there, we learned that President Obama was in Prague but we still held out hope of seeing Bo.

Thursday night Jim wanted steak and wine. Everything else was to take a take a backseat. I purchased pate and cheese for our appetizers and Vince made drinks for everyone. I warned Vince that Jim can only pour wine or Scotch, so if he wanted a drink, tell me what ingredients to buy, but he had to make it. He made great Cosmos and VO Manhattans. Jim cooked the steaks on the grille and I made Sautéed Spinach with white beans and pine nuts from Fine Cooking April/May. It served 4 as a side dish, perfect as I did not have to cut anything in half.

2T EVOO
2T Pine Nuts
1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 15.5 can of cannellini beans
1# fresh spinach
¼ t Salt
½ C lightly packed fresh Basil thinly sliced
1T grated lemon zest
Black pepper

Heat a 12” skillet over medium heat. Add EVOO, pine nuts, and garlic stirring often until the nuts are golden and the garlic is fragrant, about a minute. Add the beans and stir another minute to heat through. Add the spinach and salt. Turn with tongs and cover until wilted about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the basil lemon zest and a few grinds of pepper. This was fast, easy and good. The recipe also says that you can serve two as a vegetarian meal topped with a poached or fried egg.

The wines were the center of the meal. Jim served Opus One, 1995 and Chateau Mouton Rothschild, 1998. I asked to have my second portion of the Mouton aerated. The Opus One was outstanding.

We had a chocolate tasting and port for dessert. I got up to see them off this morning for the long haul back to Northern IN. They took ham sandwiches and breakfast bars along for the trip.
We are having leftovers for dinner tonight.

Easter Dinner on Tuesday

We had our Easter Dinner on Tuesday. Jim’s brother and sister-in-law arrived mid afternoon. Here was the menu.
Spiced Pickled Shrimp
Asparagus Pesto
Baked Ham with Sticky Meyer lemon-Spiced Glaze

Spring Potato Toss

Lemony Frizze Salad

Lime Angel Food Cake with Lime Glaze and Pistachios

This menu was surprisingly easy to make. I started about 9:30 AM and took a break for my workout and was all done by our guests’ arrival. I started with the appetizers.

Spicy Pickled Shrimp came from Southern Living March issue. This recipe made me mad. The last line says, “Cover and chill 24 hours.” This is like one of those trick tests teachers used to do in school. So I am stating it first. Cover and chill stirring occasionally for 24 hours. The other idiot thing was “2# of unpeeled large raw shrimp.” First instruction, Peel shrimp and cook in boiling water for 3-5 min. Give me a break! I also changed a few things in the recipe and I will note this.

2# 26/30 count peeled cooked shrimp. Mine were frozen so I thawed them.
3 small white onions, thinly sliced
½ C EVOO
¼ C tarragon vinegar (I used champagne vinegar)
2T pickling spices
2t salt
1t sugar
1t Worcestershire sauce
½ t dry mustard
¼ t ground red pepper
¼ C fresh parsley (I used chervil)

I used a Tupperware bowl so I could just shake it now in them while it marinated in the refrigerator. Layer the shrimp and onions in the container. Whisk together all the remaining ingredients and poor over the shrimp and onions.
Mine probably only marinated about 7 hours as they hid the 24 hr. announcement at the end. But they were delicious. I served with cocktails, but they also said that you could serve on lettuce leaves as a first course.

Next on my list was the Asparagus Pesto. This was in the same issue of Southern Living. Basically you make pesto with basil asparagus instead of Basil.

1# fresh asparagus
½ C grated Parmesan cheese
½ C pine nuts
1/2C olive oil
1 garlic clove
1T lemon juice
3/4t salt

Snap off and discard though ends of asparagus. I cooked the asparagus in the microwave. While it was cooking, I put the remaining ingredients in the food processor. When the asparagus had cooled I added it and turned on the unit. Scrape the sides a couple of times to mix well and get it all combined.
I served this with red and yellow pepper slices and crostini. They mentioned that you can use any left over to toss with cooked pasta.

Before our guests arrived, I wanted to get dessert done. This came from April Bon Appetit. The cake is an Angel Food Cake. You could skip making the cake and just buy one or use a mix and add the lime peel if you feel more comfortable. I made the cake from scratch. You need an angel food cake pan with a removable bottom.

Cake

1C cake flour
1 ½ C superfine sugar, divided
¼ t salt
10 large egg whites, room temperature
2 t finely grated lime peel ( I used key limes)
1 t vanilla extract
1 t cream of tartar.

Lime syrup and Glaze
½ C sugars
4T fresh lime juice, divided (again I used fresh Key Limes)
1/2 C unsalted raw pistachios, about 2 oz. Finely chopped in processor (I got Jim to peel the nuts)
½ C powdered sugar

Position rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, ½ C superfine sugar and salt into a medium bowl. Martha taught me to just put the items in a bowl and use your Wisk.
Using an electric mixer beat egg whites, lime peel and vanilla on med speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and increase speed to high and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1 C of sugar a couple T at a time until you get stiff peaks.
Fold in the flour mixture gently about 1/3rd at a time. Transfer to the ungreased tube pan and smooth the top. Bake about 38 minutes until a tester comes out clean. My pan has feet so I just inverted it on the counter. If yours does not have feet, put the tube over the neck of a wine bottle.
After it is cool, cut around the sides and the tube to loosen. After you remove it loosen the bottom and place on a rack atop a rimmed baking sheet.
Next make the lime syrup. Combine sugar and 3T of lime juice in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Brush syrup all over top and sides of cake. Immediately press pistachios onto the top and sides of the cake.
Next make the Lime Glaze. Stir powdered sugar with 1T lime juice until smooth. I used a little more than 1 T to make it drizzly.
This cake was absolutely delicious. I was very pleased and would make it again.


Baked Ham with Sticky Meyer lemon-spiced Glaze

This was tricky as there were no Meyer lemons available. Meyer lemons are a graft between lemon and orange. I got this recipe from Sunset Magazine. If I was still in CA I could have picked Meyer Lemons off the tree in my backyard.

1cooked bone-in half ham from the shank or butt. ( I bought the smallest one I could find)
¾ C packed light brown sugar
Finely shredded zest and juice of 5 med Meyer lemons (I used one orange and 3 lemons)
1 ¼ t ground ginger

I made the glaze in the morning. In a bowl, whisk sugar, zest, juice and ginger until smooth.
When ready to cook the ham, heat the oven to 350 degrees. I scored the fat in a crosshatch pattern. Place in the pan fat side up and tent loosely with foil and bake for 1 ½ hours. Uncover and baste about every 10 minutes for another 30 minutes until the temperature in 140 degrees.
Let the ham rest for 5 minutes and continue to baste. Carve the ham and spoon more glaze on top. I don’t know if it is the Apple wood cooked ham I bought from Wegman’s or the glaze, but it was good.

Spring potato Toss couldn’t be easier. Buy small red potatoes, cook and quarter. Cook frozen sweet peas. Mix with a jar of purchased pesto. In Southern Living they crumbled bacon on top, but I did not like that idea as I was serving with ham.

The salad dressing was simply 2 parts EVOO to 1 part lemon juice with salt and pepper.

Jim served David Bruce Pinot Noir 1997 and Nuits Saint Georges 1996 Red Burgundy with the dinner.

Easter dinner was a success.

Cranberry Oat Cereal Bars

This is from Everyday Food.  Jim's brother and his wife were visiting and we were going to be touring the White House.  Jim wanted us up and out of the house by 5:30 AM.  I made these to take along, but forgot them.  Who can actually think at 5:30 AM?  These were quite good and Vince and Tammy had them the morning they visited the new Air and Space Museum and also took them for the drive home.

Nonstick cooking spray
4T butter
1 bag of marshmallows, 10 oz. 
1/2 t salt
6C toasted oat cereal.  I used Cherrios
1C dried cranberries

Spray a 10 X 15" rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.  Line with waxed paper, spray paper with cooking spray and set aside. 
In a saucepan melt the butter and add the marshmallows and salt.  Cook stirring until the marshmallows melt.  Only takes about 5 minutes.  Stir in the cereal and fruit. 
Immediately transfer to the prepared baking sheet and using a spatual coated with cooking spray press in quickly and firmly.  Cool for about an hour and cut into bars.  I then wrapped them individually in saran wrap.  These would be good for commuters to eat in the car on the way to work.  They do not crumble. 

Halibut and Salad

I have two recipes tonight. The first came from the lady behind the counter at Wegman’s. I was planning a salad for tonight, but felt we had to have fish as Jim’s brother and his wife are coming and they do not eat fish. Wegman’s had wonderful fresh caught Halibut . The fishmonger said she grilled it last night with lemon pepper and lemon juice. I have these Williams-Sonoma cedar grilling papers. So I sprinkled the halibut with the lemon pepper and some lemon juice. I had 2 slices of lemon that I placed on top of each piece. You soak the cedar papers for at least 10 minutes and it says to tie  them around the fish with a chive or scallion green. That does not work. Just soak some string and tie it with that. We cooked the Halibut on med/low for 14 minutes and it was wonderful.


The salad came from Everyday Food. I love Frisee. There is a famous French salad made with Frisee; Jim hates it; I love it. This is an easy variation; Jim liked it! I divided the recipe in half as it is for 4.

4 slices of thick cut bacon
1T dark brown sugar
Salt and pepper
1t grainy Dijon mustard
2 ¼ t red wine vinegar
2T EVOO
2 bunches of Frisee, 8 oz each, torn into bite size pieces.

There is no other place in this area that carries Frisee other than Wegman’s. Maybe that is why I shop there all the time. The recipe says to preheat the oven to 425 degrees to cook the bacon. Instead, I put the pieces of bacon on a microwave rack. Top the bacon with the brown sugar and pepper. I cooked it according to the microwave directions. If you are using the oven it says 10-15 minutes on a sheet lined with foil. When it is done, roughly chop.

In the salad bowl, put the mustard, vinegar, EVOO, salt to taste, and whisk to combine. Add the Frisee and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the chopped bacon and serve.

Jim really liked this meal. He again served a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, our favorite. Last week we bought some Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc; never buy that.

Easter Breakfast

Sunset Magazine has a section where you enter a recipe that is Fast (under 30 min). and fresh. If they print it you get $100. Natalie Ellingsen, of Carlsbad, CA sent in this one. It was really good. Serves 2.


2T EVOO
8 asparagus spears, ends trimmed
1fresh rosemary sprig about 3” long
2 slices crusty bread such as ciabatta, sliced 1” thick
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 large eggs
4 thin slices prosciutto
1/4t salt and pepper

Heat 1T EVOO in a frying pan over high heat. Add asparagus and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add remaining oil and the rosemary to the pan. Cook rosemary to infuse oild with the herb’s flavor, about 2 minutes.

Put bread slices in pan and toast in oil turning once. Sprinkle about 2T parmesan onto each piece of bread and cook until cheese starts to melt and bread starts to brown slightly. (Brown the first side pretty good before turning over. This helps the cheese to melt faster.)

Reduce the heat to medium and in the same pan gently fry eggs to your liking. Top each piece of bread with 2 prosciutto slices and half the asparagus. Set an egg on top of each and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

This was really delicious. 

Orange-Glazed Ribs

Tonight was our first ribs of the season. If you have been following my blog you know that when I get a new cookbook I make several recipes from it. So, I am still in 29 minutes to Dinner. These ribs were great. I don’t think I’ve ever made the same ribs twice, but these I could make again.


1 rack (2.5#) pork loin ribs
½ t salt
½ t cayenne pepper
¼ C water
1 pkg. Cole slaw mix
1 orange, zested
½ C honey
1/2C spicy brown mustard
3T cider vinegar
4 garlic cloves
¼ t salt
½ t cayenne pepper

Cut between the bones to separate all the ribs. Place in a microwaveable dish in one layer and season with salt and cayenne pepper. Add water, cover and microwave for 8 minutes. Turn the ribs and microware for 10 minutes.
Prepare the glaze by zesting the orange and whisking all the reaming ingredients together. Combine ½ C of the glaze with the Cole slaw and refrigerate. After the ribs finish cooking in the microwave, transfer to a bowl and coat with the remaining glaze and heat the grille. Grill for 2-3 minutes basting with the glaze in the bowl until grill marks appear.
I thought these ribs would be sweet, but they were hot, juicy and good. The coleslaw went very good with it. Jim served a Pinfolds Bin 28 Shiraz. We are having Easter breakfast so stay tuned.

Toasted Sesame Salmon and Green Rice

This recipe supposedly takes 21 minutes. It is again from the 29 minutes to Dinner cookbook.  I think they chose 29 minutes so Rachael Ray couldn't sue them.  The meals are easy and for the most part very flavorful.  I shortened it even more as I have toasted sesame seeds in a jar. You can find them in Asian markets.


4t sesame seeds
3T prepared teriyaki sauce
1 T tahini paste
1 t toasted sesame oil
1 garlic clove chopped
4 salmon fillets

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If you don’t have pre-toasted sesame seeds place raw ones in a sauté pan and cook, stirring often for a couple of minutes to toast. Be careful they burn fast. Combine the remaining ingredients except salmon and toasted seeds in a small bowl and combine well. I am not fond of tahini and it comes in large quantities. I just took raw sesame seeds and put them in a mini blender. It is the same as making peanut butter. It takes seconds to get 1 tablespoon.

Place the fillets on a baking sheet and brush with the glaze mixture. Sprinkle 1t of sesame seeds over each fillet. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

I served this with green onion rice. I placed one cup of raw rice in a pan with one cup of water ant ¼ cup of sliced green onions. I let the rice soak for 1 hour and then turned on to boil. When it comes to a boil, cover, turn heat to lowest setting and set timer for 10 minutes. This method makes perfect rice every time. I use Rose’s rice. It is available in most markets and Costco. It is Japanese rice.

Additionally I served a green salad. Jim brought up from his cellar my favorite Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc.

My trainer was here yesterday and I played golf for the first time this season.  Dinner was late so I crashed and didn't post till this am.  We are having our first grilled ribs of the season thonight.

Salsa and Chicken

Class day again and with my newly re-broken back I did not feel like making dinner. So who else would make it? The plan for tonight was Pineapple-glazed Chicken with Jalapeno Salsa. Ended up to be easy once I got into it. This is from March Bon Appetite. I changed it a little and it worked well with less mess and work for me. Serves 4 but I just used 3 chicken breasts; one for me and two for Jim. I served a salad with arugula, pumpkin seeds, pineapple, and Wegman’s yoghurt Caesar dressing with the chicken.


¼ C pineapple juice
2T brown sugar
1T mustard
¾ C 1/4” cubes fresh pineapple
3 T finely diced red bell pepper
3T chopped fresh cilantro (I used Italian parsley)
1 ½ T finely chopped red onion
1 1/2T canned sliced jalapeno chilies, drained coarsely chopped
4 boneless chicken breast halves

Here is where I differed with the recipe. I made the glaze first by combining the juice, sugar and mustard on the stove.

Next I made the Salsa which is all the remaining ingredients except the chicken. Then I sent Jim out to the grill with the chicken and glaze and he cooked it. This was a Devine dish. The recipe says the salsa works well with pork or fish. It is a delicious salsa. We had a new favorite wine with this dish that we have been buying at Wegman’s. It is called Gnarly Head Old Vine Zin. It is from Lodi, CA