Category: MISC

Veggie Tales by Kris!

Well hello there! My name is Kris, you may know me from Behold the Metatron, Where to Vegan?, AND/OR The Motivation Station. If you don’t, get to know me! I’m just a click away! ;o)

I am a vegetarian flirting with the Vegan lifestyle ever so slightly. But I’m not going to dive deep into a 100% Vegan dish with you lot just yet. For my first post, I’d like to share a sweet and savory salad with you that is absolutely perfect for summer. Enjoy it with a delicious sparkling rose like this one on a steamy Friday afternoon, and you’re starting off the weekend just right!

Asparagus, Grapefruit and Arugula Summer Salad
(serves 2 as a main dish, or 4 as a starter- I could eat the whole thing though! haha)

What you’ll need:
5 cups fresh baby arugula (Organic please)
1 bunch asparagus (each stalk halved lengthwise)
Cooking Spray
1 grapefruit (just the wedges, peeled with no pith)
1/2- 3/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (remember to slice an extra piece for yourself while you slave over this! hehe)
1 lemon, halved (you’ll use each half’s juice separately)
1/4 cup your favorite Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing (I like Newman’s Lite)
salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do:
Prep you grapefruit by peeling the skin and pith, and cut into wedges. Prepare your arugula by placing it on a lovely platter or bowl. Heat a skillet on medium with a little cooking spray. Add in the halved asparagus and sautee for about 2 minutes. Add some salt and pepper and the juice of 1/2 the lemon. Let cook until tender, yet crispy for no more than 5 minutes. When the asparagus is done, remove from heat and place it atop the bed of arugula. Top the salad with the other lemon half, the dressing, the grapefuit wedges, and the cheese. Add a little more salt and pepper. Toss right before serving.

et voilà!

Fire Day Friday: Meatloaf On The Grill ? ! ? !

If I recommended cooking a meatloaf on a grill, you might ask me to “let you sleep on it” or you might run away like a “bat out of hell”, right?

I thought it sounded weird too when I first heard of doing it that way, but I tried it two years ago and it is my favorite way to prepare meatloaf now. You just prepare your favorite meatloaf recipe and instead of cooking it in your oven, turn your grill into a fire roasted oven by cooking with indirect heat (fire or burner on one side, food on other side, lid closed).


“I Would Do Anything For Loaf” Meatloaf recipe
adapted from Underground Deli’s Meatloaf Sandwich

Ingredients
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons Dry mustard
1 teaspoon Black pepper
1 teaspoons Garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
2 tablespoon basil, fresh chopped
1 tablespoon Dried oregano
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons Horseradish
1 cup Onion; chopped
2 1/2 pounds Ground beef; 80/20 mix

Instructions
In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, mustard, black pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano. In a large bowl, combine eggs, ketchup, hot pepper sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and horseradish. Mix in the onion and ground beef, then add the bread crumb mixture.

TIP: One reason people don’t like meat loaf is because they’ve been served one that is greasy because it cooks in it’s own grease in the loaf pan. Only use the loaf pan for a mold to shape the loaf and let it chill for an hour in the fridge.

Then when ready to cook, invert the loaf pan onto a raised drip pan set up like this and all the grease will drip away from the loaf while cooking in the oven or the grill.

Cook the loaf at 350f.

After 45 minutes, brush with a glaze of your choice.
–Typical meatloaf glaze: 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 oz apple cider vinegar
–Sweet glaze: commercial BBQ sauce like Blues Hog.
–Spicy glaze: 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup Chok On Dis Blaze n’ Glaze, 1/4 cup brown sugar

Cook until the loaf hits an internal temp of 160f. This should be a total cooking time of 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Try that inverted meatloaf technique the next time and I think you’ll like your standard meatloaf a little bit better. The final product is just moist enough but not greasy at all. PERFECT for meatloaf sandwiches, my favorite.

And consider cooking it on the grill too. Since I started cooking it on the grill, anytime I think about cooking one in the oven, I think, “I would do anything for loaf, but I won’t do that!”

(All apologies to Michael Lee Aday)

Spanish Rice… And a Call to Stewardship (or cheapness)

I know a lot of you are diligent about menu planning.  And that is a very good thing to do.  It saves money, it saves LOTS of time.  For a very long time, I thought it just meant a long shopping list.  Figure what you were going to cook, and make sure that you have the ingredients on hand.  But there is one more aspect to menu planning that I am finally learning… Waste not, want not, be a steward of the earth, PLAN how to use everything you buy.  Buy fresh, eat healthier, but PLAN how to use everything you buy before it goes bad.

Oh yeah, and be cheap, save money.  Honest, my main concern is saving the planet, has nothing to do with me being cheap, nothing… honest (have you ever been lied to by a man, of course not).  This post is all about being a good steward, eating healthy fresh and planning to not waste.

From bread that you let get moldy because you don’t make a single serve bread pudding, to bananas because you don’t mix a killer Funky Monkey frozen chocolate rum drink (or banana bread if you must, but the funky monkey is a better use for soft bananas… but I digress), to that Pineapple you buy for a garnish for your wife’s Painkiller rum drink recipe… If you buy it, plan how to use it all.  If I clean out my refrigerator and I have to throw away a single produce item, I have failed to be a good steward of the Earth (and I wasted money… one of those two things REALLY bothers me).

Are you paying attention, last week I posted a ROTISSERIE CHICKEN STOCK recipe.  I will use that recipe to clean out my produce drawer once a week… Carrots, celery, onions, fresh herbs, almost anything can be tossed in the pot to help flavor the stock.  A great way to “use up” what would have been thrown away.  I do make that stock once a week.  It does freeze, but I like to keep a bag of it in the fridge for use during the week.  I always end up using the entire bag.  It can be used in so many things.  Think about all the things you cook with water and consider substituting the chicken stock if you were to have some handy.

Like RICE!

And let me interrupt this rice post with scenes from coming attractions… See all the things in the photo above… there is a sea food enchilada made with blackened tilapia, and some fresh made Caribbean Salsa… Come back in the next couple of weeks to see those recipes.  But, since I am being a good steward of the Earth (cheap), using everything I can, I need to show some things that I will explain better next week…

Like this…

I made my rice in the same pan that I made my blackened tilapia, that I used to make my seafood enchiladas.  All that butter and spices that I blacken the fish with worked GREAT to season the rice.  Waste not, want not, eat better, make better tasting food… What a concept.

So, just imagine you have a pan of flotsam from cooking the fish.

Add 1/2 cup of diced onion to the flotsam, and 1/2 cup of diced red bell pepper.  Heat the mixture till you can see the onions start to become clear.  Add some fresh herbs of choice… Cilantro, Herbs de Provance, dill, chives, whatever you have on hand…

Add 2 cups of chicken broth to the pan and get the liquid boiling… Add 1 cup of rice and cook til the liquid is absorbed…

And there you go… Better tasting food, less (no) waste, save money…

And come back next week for an amazing Caribbean Salsa Recipe!

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. It really is just this easy!  


 … I CAN COOK THAT! 


And so can you!

Hidden Secrets of a Muffin

Every muffin tells a story.  Of course, usually, their lives are not long so their stories are limited.  This muffin tells a story of sweetness and love with some bumps along the way.  To find this love, you have to eat one of these muffins.
 Ingredients:

 
2/3 cup of baking cocoa
2 large eggs
2 cups of flour
1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 1/3 cups of milk
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
12 half teaspoons of peanut butter
Method:
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Coat muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray or use liners.
In a large bowl, combine the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and vanilla.
Stir in half a cup of chocolate chips.
In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, oil and milk.
Add the egg/milk/oil mixture to the other ingredients until moistened.
I used a regular ice cream scoop to fill each muffin tin one half way up. I used about 2/3 of batter.
Place about three mini marshmallows on each muffin (batter).
Place peanut butter, attempting to cover marshmallows.
Using remaining batter, cover peanut butter and marshmallow so you now have chocolate icing.
Sprinkle with the remaining chocolate chips.  I did not do this.  It is rich enough for me without frosting or additional chocolate.  Yummy good.
Bake for about twenty minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack before removing from the pan
Enjoy

BE BACK SOON!

Popping in to let everyone know I’m still alive and will be back in the swing of things soon. This cross country move has had its ups and downs! I’ll have DSL and be up and running next Tuesday or so!
aprons 3

BE BACK SOON

Popping in to let everyone know I’m still alive and will be back in the swing of things soon. This cross country move is having its ups and downs! I’ll have DSL and be up and running next weekend!
aprons 3

Strawberry Shortcake – Save Room for Dessert

Hello and happy Monday, dessert friends! Have you managed to recover from last week’s overindulgence? 🙂
Well I have another one for you.  It may not be chocolate, but it’s a classic.  And it’s a classic for a reason.
Strawberry shortcake is really very easy!
I just love watching cakes bake.  I mean, it’s not like I sit there and stare…but it’s still interesting.
Anyway, I made a french vanilla cake from a mix.  Nothing special!
My lovely sister thinly sliced 3/4 lb of strawberries, while I whipped the cream.
1 quart heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
As easy as that! I whipped the cream until it was stiff, then layered: Bottom layer of cake, thin layer of whipped cream, layer of strawberries, more whipped cream, MORE strawberries, and the second cake layer.
Then I laughed at the amount of space between layers.  I “spackled” over the strawberries, as my husband describes it, and it actually covered everything nicely.  Finally I decorated with halved strawberries.
Here’s a look inside.  It was pretty messy, to put it mildly.  But it was sooooo good, too!
Super easy and super yummy – plus there’s fruit in it, so that makes it totally healthy.  Right?
Right??

NOODLE PUDDING aka KUGEL

NOODLE PUDDING

2 cups dry wide egg noodles

2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup sugar
8 ounce crushed pineapple, drained well
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup golden rum
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup milk
1 GALA apple, peeled, cored and grated

  • Cook and drain the noodles
  • Combine all other ingredients together
  • Fold into warm noodles
  • Generously spray an 8×8 baking dish with PURE
  • Gently spread entire mixture into dish evenly
  • Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes
I remember the first time I had this – my little Jewish neighbor brought it over as a welcome to the neighborhood back in 1986. She called it noodle pudding. It was so delicious. I wanted to ask her for the recipe, but I’d just met her and I was young and shy. I made her my floating fruit cake in the same pan she’d brought over and returned it to her to ask for the recipe. I remember how hard she laughed at me. She said it was a Jewish custom to always return a plate, bowl or dish full and of course I could have the recipe.   I’ve adapted it to suit my families tastes over the years and cut back on the amount of sugar but it is still a favorite!  My neighbor and I  became fast friends and shared LOTS of recipes before I moved from the neighborhood in 1999.


Fire Day Friday: Airline Chicken Breast

Fire Day Fridays are about cooking something with live fire that anyone else can make on any other type of grill. No Big Green Egg required. No special equipment. Fire Day Fridays are about inspiring and getting people to use their own grills.Does grilling chicken breasts scare you because you sometimes end up with a dry result? How would you like a succulent, tasty chicken breast from the grill that only has 5 ingredients?

This is one of my favorites from Chris Lilly’s book Big Bob Gibson’s Barbecue Book. He uses an “airline” or “hotel” cut of chicken breast that I have never found in a store, so I just use a skin on chicken breast.

Airline Chicken Breast with Basil Butter
3 ea chicken breast, skin on, boneless
salt
pepper
1 1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup basil, chopped

I know everyone uses boneless, skinless breasts for 99% of the time but the skin is important on this one. If you can’t find boneless, skin ON breasts or your butcher won’t do it for you, you can just get a split breast skin on and debone it with a sharp knife starting at the small end.

Season the breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.

Preheat your grill to 400-450f on one side and leave the other side off so you have a hot “direct heat” zone and an “indirect heat” zone.

Once your grill grates are hot, lightly oil them and place the breasts in SKIN SIDE DOWN over the DIRECT heat zone (over the coals/burnter). Cook them for 5 minutes or until they start to brown. The one in the middle was done at 3 minutes but the other two took the full 5 minutes. At the same time, put the butter and basil in a small sauce pan near the edge of the coals as pictured.

Transfer them to a shallow lipped pan SKIN SIDE UP in the INDIRECT heat zone as shown. See how the coals are to the left but there are none directly under the dish.
TIP: If you are using stoneware like me, put it in the grill as soon as you start it so it can slowly heat up. If you put cold ceramics on a hot grill, it can break the dish.

Top the chicken with the now melted basil butter. Close the grill lid and let cook for 35 minutes. Occasionally baste with the butter in the pan. I also turned my pan about 1/3 turn every ten minutes so that all sides are evenly exposed to the heat (since all the heat is coming from the left side of the grill in my set up).

While that is cooking on the indirect side, you can grill some veggies over the direct heat. Yes, that is okra I’m grilling. First time and I loved them.

Remove when the chicken hits an internal temp of 160f and let rest for 5 minutes. I don’t cook by times often, but this is almost always 35 minutes as noted. Then slice into medallions with a very sharp knife and serve.

I know this is a simple dish but something about that basil butter and the grill/roasting combination makes this chicken luscious and tender as can be. It’s more like a juicy roast turkey breast than plain old dry grilled chicken!

Get out there and fire up those grills…May is National BBQ Month!