Yesterday I had some beautiful tomatoes & garlic & onions… all ready to slow roast for a pasta dish …

mmm… yummy, eh?  I put them in the oven on 250 to roast for an hour… then they were going to have a party with some farfalle pasta & some Parmesan cheese ..

I was a roastin’ away and enjoying that wonderful smell when all of a sudden, it started to smell a little bit like a burnt smell.

What? the oven is only on 250?? So I went to open the oven & it’s locked. And hot. Very hot. Very VERY hot. What? So I turned the oven off & waited for it to cool. And called Scott. And the appliance repair dude.

After about an hour, the oven is still hot.. and I realized that the broiler was on. With the oven door locked , the power off AND the maters & onions & garlic still in there.

The appliance guy called back & walked me through shutting the power off from the breaker.

SO now.. no oven, no stove.

I was forced to grill the only thing that I had defrosted in the fridge for dinner.. a butterflied leg of lamb that was meant for an upcoming special occasion…  On a Wednesday night.

 I made a paste of chopped garlic, rosemary, thyme, olive oil, salt & pepper & massaged it in & let sit at room temp for about 45 minutes before grilling. I grilled it to an internal temp of 145 then let it rest.

I don’t eat lamb anymore, but Ryan said that it was out of this world fantastic.

I also grilled some bacon ( indirect heat) for some BLT sandwiches for me.

And of course, some squash. Lots & Lots of squash.

So the stove FINALLY cooled down, hours later,  we turned the breaker back on, now there is no power to the oven. ( the stove- top is working)

I should be thankful for that 😉

So CJ, our trusty appliance guy came over this morning and managed to get the door open to discover this

basically, dust…. formerly farm-fresh tomatoes…

to which Ryan said, ” mmm, mom. good eats.. now that’s some home cookin’!!”

CJ said that the control panel is gone 😦 to the tune of at LEAST couple hundred bucks ( if in fact that is the problem 😦

The oven had put itself into self- cleaning mode all on it’s very own

So I am now without a stove. This is hard for me.. I’m almost hyper-ventilating….

How am I to make Scott’s birthday cake??

How am I to…

How am I to…

How am I to… *calm down, Michelle*

I was planning to bake up a ton of zucchini bread

  do you think that I can bake a cake on the grill??

*snif*  what’s a girl to do??

Yup! you heard it here!! I am so excited about my little treats that I made last night that I simply couldn’t wait..

Bacon-wrapped grilled jalapeno poppers!!!

I started with the basics, jalapenos, a few slices of bacon, colby-jack cheese sticks & toothpicks.

Cut the tops off of the peppers & core them. For years I have struggled with getting the centers out and still leaving the pepper in tact. Then it occurred to me.. use the pumpkin tool form carving jac-o-lanterns!

works like a charm!
 
Cut each cheese stick in half & shove that baby right down into the center of your pepper. Cut each bacon slice in half & wrap around the pepper up near the top: secure with a toothpick.

I have this nifty popper holder that I got last year with a gift card, but you don’t need to be all fancy pants like this to make these.

to prove it, I made one without my exciting toy

just don’t place the pepper directly over the coals, because the bacon drippings will cause flare ups.  Don’t ask me how I know this….

Grill them until the bacon is crisp & the cheese is oh-so-yummlily melted.

And just in case that you missed the first picture..

they were kind of spicy, but I love spicy 😉

I need to go now, I think that I’m going to make these again.

right now.

oxoxo

I love the flavors of Asian-style food, but since I have a seafood allergy, I hesitate to order it out.  I often look for recipes with the flavor profiles that I like, and adapt them so that I can eat them without any adverse effects.

I made this marinade  using Tamari in place of fish sauce. If you like fish sauce, feel free to substitute the fish sauce back in, just don’t invite me for dinner that night 😉

I based it on This recipe…. making my own changes

1/2 can of coconut milk  ( I used Trader Joe’s light coconut milk)
2 heaping tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon Tamari
juice & zest of 1 lemon
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Salt & pepper

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

I placed all of the ingredients ( except the chicken) in the small bowl of my food processor & whirred until blended. Presto! you now have a flavorful marinade!

Pour the marinated over the chicken in either a tupperware-type container or a reseal-able zip lock baggie.

Marinate for at least 4 hours ( I did mine overnight)

prepare grill; discard any leftover marinade  ( or an indoor grill pan, as I did since that first night that I made these it was almost 100 degrees out )

Place chicken on the grill & let it set for a few minutes ( don’t play with it, let the grill marks do their job) If the chicken sticks to the grill, then it’s not ready to be moved ; then, using tongs, rotate each chicken breast a half turn to get those oh-so-pretty grill marks.

  flip each chicken breast over & do the same on the other side.

Grill until you reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  Remove from grill & let rest for 5 minutes.

The perfect accompaniment for this dish was a spicy Thai rice

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 cup jasmine rice
1 teaspoon butter
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric ( that’s what gives the rice it’s beautiful color!)
salt & pepper
juice & zest of half of a lime

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

bring all ingredients except for ,lime juice & cilantro to a boil in a 2-3 quart saucepan. Stir a few times to make sure that everything is combined then  reduce heat, cover & let cook until all of the liquid is absorbed into the rice.

Using a fork, fluff the rice & add the lime juice.

Garnish with cilantro and devour!

I grilled some zucchini rounds and voila! dinner!

This chicken was unbelievable. Ali could not stop talking about it.  I’ve made this again, and grilled it on my charcoal grill & it was just as wonderful. This is a must-try dish 😉

on another note….. here is a get well card that a good friend sent to me. I think that it is self-explanatory

the inside reads,

 ” It won’t be long until you’re back doing all the things you shouldn’t be doing.
get well soon”

and the little girl in the pink dress? classic!

thanks C~ smooch!

oxoxo ~ michelle

you know that  roasted vegetable pasta dish? yeah, that one right down there???  I realized that I forgot something.

I know.. a shocker right???

When mixing the cheese & veggies & pasta water… you also need to add 1 cup of frozen peas. I was lucky enough to have peas that I froze from Plato’s Harvest  earlier in the CSA

yum!!

and so you have it,  my admittance of a mistake. My first mistake ever. Imagine that! And yet I am brave enough to hide behind my computer screen and send this message out to you.

:insert applause here:

 oxox

Look at the beautiful rainbow of goodies that we received this week!  I am having so much fun coming home with our treasures & deciding what to do with all of them!

I saw Rachael  Ray make a corn dish on Food Network last week & with our freshly picked corn on the cob,  I knew that I had to try it.  Summer Corn Fettucini.

I didn’t actually make the fettucini part, just the creamed corn. It was OUT OF THIS WORLD!! not only did I make it once, I made it again the very next day. If you like sweet corn, this is a recipe to try…

it is so simple to make , yet the flavors are incredible together. Trust me, this one’s a keeper!

I also made a pan- fried squash & tomato salad.

I sliced the squash into 1/4 inch circles, then used a standard breading procedure ( seasoned flour, egg wash. bread crumbs) I used panko because I like the texture, and I shredded some parmesan with the bread crumbs.

I sauteed each round in a little bit of olive oil, just to get a light crust, then transfered them to a foiled-lined cookie sheet with a baking rack on top, and baked at 375 for about 20 minutes.

I sliced up a ripe tomato & layered with the squash a squeeze of lemon juice & a drizzle of olive oil.  Finally, a shaving of parmesan cheese.
.

I actually decided after  I took this picture to make 2 layers to this. So each serving had 2 squash & 2 tomatoes, but I forgot to take a picture ;(  But no worries.. I’ll be making these again very soon, so I’ll sneak a  complete picture.

This week we also picked beans at the farm. There were purple & green. I found  a recipe from Paula Deen Green bean bundles

I wrapped them into cute little packages & placed them along side of my charcoal (under the grate) for about 12 minutes. I can’t begin to describe the flavor of these. They were light, slightly smokey, tangy form the lemon and sweet from the butter.  And overall, just plain fun!!!

Even Ryan who isn’t overly crazy for green/ purple beans, ate every last one.

Now here is an interesting fact that we learned last night, the purple beans actually cook to green ! Go figure!

These were out side dish to go with our Ultimate Chicken Kebobs. I didn’t make the salad part, and changed a few things. I used both sweet & spicy Italian sausage & I par-boiled them for a few minutes, and let them cool before threading. I also grilled some of the bread on it’s own, which was good, because the bread on the skewers  was just a little bit too well done ( no worries, not so bad that we didn’t eat it)

Even thought the bread on the skewers was a cooked a little much, I would still do it again because the flavor & juices form everything together made this just wonderful!

my ONLY complaint was that there weren’t any leftovers ;(

I leave with with some flower pics from the farm this week…..

One one my family’s favorite ‘condiments’ is pesto.  It is so easy to make & the combination of flavors is just wonderful.
We put it on pizza, bread, chicken, pasta and more.
It also freezes well. I freeze pest in ice cube trays then pop them into a zip lock freezer bag when frozen. Anytime that i need a small amount of pesto, I just defrost a pesto cube!

( I think that you are supposed to be able to do this with leftover wine as well, but we usually don’t have ‘leftover’ wine…)

Here is a basic recipe for  Basil Pesto

1 garlic clove; chopped
2 cups fresh basil leaves; loosely packed
1/4 cup pine nuts; toasted  (be careful, they can burn quickly)
approximately 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Place garlic, basil, pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor. Whir until mixture is pureed.  Slowly add olive oil to desired consistency. Stir in parmesan cheese & season with slat & pepper.

I was not able to make this today because we forgot to pick up the pine nuts, but this is the recipe that I use. Classic!

One of the greens that we’ve received in the last few weeks from Plato’s Harvest is arugula.  I absolutely love arugula!! I has a peppery bite to it..  yum!

While it is great as a salad base ( with goat cheese 😉  I wanted to try to use it in another way as well. I found this recipe for arugula pesto.

I did not have pine nuts, so I used pistachios instead. After I shelled them I toasted them. And tasted them. 🙂

The flavor of this pesto is amazing. I think that the blanching of the arugula is to keep that bright green color. I have a tray of it in the freezer right now!!

I’m sure that I will have many more pestos to post  before the end of the summer……

Next up… zucchini!

oxox

It’s feeling like summer!!!   Here is the board stating what we receive at the CSA!!!

We’ve had quite the heat-wave here in the Northeast… This kind of unbearable heat calls for some chilled foods, in my opinion..

with all of the yummy veggies & herbs, I set out to create!!

The first recipe that I made was Quinoa Tabboouleh.
Quinoa is an ancient grain that is an excellent source of protein. Click here to learn more about quinoa. If you haven’t had quinoa before, I urge you to give it a try.

Here is the recipe 😉

1 cup quinoa
leaves from 1 or 2 bunches of parsley; minced
4-5 scallions; minced
1/4 cup mint leaves; minced
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
1 cucumber; seeded & minced
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Rinse quinoa well under cold water. Bring water to boil in a saucepan & add salt. Add quinoa. boil for about 15 minutes then drain & cool.
Combine all ingredients in a bowl & chill.

enjoy!

My mom came over for the 4th of July &  brought gazpacho that she had made. It was delicious! This is the recipe that she used.

I went to make it later in the week & was missing some ingredients. Since I still can’t drive, I had to improvise, so here is what I used.

1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes with their juices
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 red bell pepper; roughly chopped
1/2 cup celery; roughly chopped
2 small cucumbers, roughly chopped ( these were the first of the season form Plato’s Harvest… so)
delicious!!)
1/2 red onion; roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
2 garlic cloves ( fresh from the farm they were amazing!)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Fresh basil & parsley.

I put everything except the basil & parsley in the blender & blended until it was almost pureed ( I like mine a little bit chunky, if you prefer it smooth then completely puree.

I added the basil & parsley & pulsed just to chop it up a bit.
I chilled it for a few hours.
It came out great. Both recipes were very tasty.

I had it with a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon juice & some fresh cilantro. I ate this for lunch all week. It was a great way to stay cool… and of course, eat my veggies!!

I have many more recipes that I  will be posting soon… stayed tuned!

I’m still a week behind, but I’m about to catch up 😉

I started a new food / recipe blog…  This time hopefully a little bit healthier than the cookies

Our First CSA

No worries…. the holidays will be here before you know it & I have many new cookie recipes ready to go!

oxox

So my first recipe isn’t from our goodies from the CSA.. It is from my own veggie garden.

Here is my Rhubarb plant. This is a cutting form my husband’s grandmothers’ plant.. I forget how far it goes back, I need to find that out.

My mother-in-law gave me this recipe last year and it is simple, made with ingredients that I always have on hand and is perfect for a summer afternoon.

Rhubarb Crunch

1 cup flour
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup butter; melted
brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 in pan with cooking spray.
Mix first 5 ingredients ( flour-cinnamon)  together until crumbly. Pour half of mixture into prepared baking dish & gently press to make a crust.

Cover the crust with the rhubarb.

 In a cold saucepan, mix water, sugar & cornstarch; whisk until cornstarch is dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat until thickened.

Pour over rhubarb then crumble remaining topping on top.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

YUM!

This would be perfect with a little bit of vanilla ice cream 😉

Enjoy!

xoxo

Here they are!!!

 Plato & Einstein!!

Chickens!!

and Ali!!! ( making avery strange face, I might add)

That cabbage right there .. the third one in.. that’s next weeks’ cole slaw 😉

Plato & Einstein back to back..

oxox