MMMmmmm....

We had the yummiest dinner last night: fried chicken livers, mashed potatoes and gravy, & kale seasoned with carrots, purple onion, and bacon.

Jeff fried the livers because a.) I don't like to touch them or get egg and flour on my fingers, and b.) because frying is one of the things he does best. You've heard of KFC [Kentucky Fried Chicken], but have you been fortunate enough to have JFC [Jeff Fried Chicken]?

Scallops Fra Diavola

Publix has something in their seafood section called "scallops fra diavola" and it is pre-packaged, pre-prepared bay scallops with diced tomatoes, green peppers, onions, and seasoning. I picked up some the other day after a friend here in the harbor gave them a good review. They come with cooking instructions [bake, I believe.] that I quickly disregarded. I wanted to serve them them with a white sauce or a buerre blanc over pasta. It seems to me like a better idea than pouring jarred pork gravy on them as before mentioned friend said he was going to do.

Oh, and just so such a travesty could not occur, I made friend some white sauce for his scallops that he could take back to the boat and heat up.

And now, so friend can make his own sauce and put up the pork gravy...

[Step away from the gravy, Dave, and no one gets hurt...]

White Sauce:

First dice up some onions, celery, garlic, and carrots...how much depends on how many you are serving.

On medium-low heat saute diced veggies with a pat of butter & a splash of olive oil until soft.

<~~~Hey! I just found out that this has a name! Soffrito! I do this for a lot of recipes so it's nice to be able to call it something.

Next, add a bit of flour...1 tbl. for one serving, 2 tbls. for 2...

Stir.

Now stir in some milk...you could use cream, half & half, or whatever - I'm using skim because that's what I have. If using a heavier liquid I would cut the amount of flour or eliminate it all together. How much depends once again on how many you are serving. One serving 3/4 cup...2 servings a cup & 1/2...

Sauce will thicken as it starts to bubble, but keep it low - there's no need to bring to a hard boil.

If too thick, add more liquid.

Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese. Aprx. 1/4 cup for 1 serving...1/2 cup for 2...

Stir. Now season to taste.

When I removed the sauce from the heat, I actually dumped mine into a small bowl...just for the time being. Then I wiped the skillet, returned it to the burner, added a touch of olive oil, and then sauteed the scallops. Once the scallops were done, I returned the sauce back to the skillet and gave it just a minute or 2 to reheat. Just before serving, you should "mount" the sauce...sounds dirty, doesn't it? But, "mounting" the sauce or monter au buerre simply means that you add a bit of butter at the end...it adds flavor and improves the texture. Now pour over pasta and add a piece of garlic bread.

Next time, I think I'll pass on the pre-packaged "fra diavola" and just go for the bay scallops. The pre-packaged stuff has green peppers in it that I would prefer to leave out and because the scallops are wet with the "fra diavola" preparation, it's impossible to get a sear on the scallops. So, I'll be adding my own veggies and trying it again...but I might not have attempted my own if I hadn't tried the Publix version first.

Stuffed Cabbage

Since I brought home a head a cabbage, I felt compelled to try making stuffed cabbage rolls. I've never made stuffed cabbage before so I consulted the internet for some recipe ideas. Eek! I found all the recipes to be quite daunting with a 3 hour prep time and an intermediate skill level. Intermediate probably means I have to measure something...double eek! Also, all the recipes called for raw ingredients, raw meat, & 1/2 cooked rice, but I wanted to use the left-over rice from last night's dinner as well as the left-over black beans & squash. HMMMMmmmm...I guess I'll just have to wing it.

So, all the recipes said to boil the head of cabbage whole and then peel off the leaves as they are cooked. Sounds to me like a perfect opportunity to burn myself. Instead, I peeled off leaves and steamed them 2 at a time in a round shallow pot of simmering water. Looks like I did 7 leaves. I put them aside to cool.

Next, for the filling I preheated a skillet [actually, the same shallow pot that I steamed the leaves] then added a bit of olive oil, ground turkey, 2 cloves of garlic, and a 1/4 of an onion [diced]. Stir occasionally and cook until done. Easy enough. Next, I removed the pan from the heat and stirred in my left-over veggies and rice and a generous handful of shredded cheese and let the whole thing cool. Less than 1/2 an hour invested so far...ah, ha!

Now to stuff the leaves. Lay one leaf on a clean plate or surface. Put a nice big scoop of filling in the middle, but towards the stem end. Now roll, tuck in the sides, and roll some more...tada. Move the finished roll to an appropriate size baking dish. Eye up your filling and evenly distribute it to the rest of your leaves. Roll, tuck, roll, repeat. I'm still coming in at under an hour and that's with drink breaks and cooling time. Take that, internet recipes!

Now, I need some sauce. So using the same shallow pot and the one useful tip I got off the internet...mix together 1 can of Campbell's tomato soup [no water], a chicken bouillon pack [I replaced the bouillon cubes that the dog ate with Herb-ox sodium free chicken bouillon packs], a can of petite diced tomatoes w/ can liquid, and several dashes of balsamic vinegar. Stir and pour over the top of the cabbage rolls. Place in a preheated oven, 350 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes. Yummy.

Ingredients: Big outer leaves of 1 head of cabbage - I used 7 and it was more than the 2 of us could eat [TIP: Use the rest of the cabbage for coleslaw], 1lb ground turkey, onion, garlic, cooked rice & left-over veggies, shredded cheese, 1 can Campbell's tomato soup, chicken bouillon, vinegar.

Pork, Black Beans, and Rice

Today, I bought a boston butt pork roast and when it came time to start dinner, Jeff preformed his magic on it, popped it into the handy, dandy rotisserie and set the timer for 75 minutes...set it and forget it!

Now for the veggies...

In a medium sized covered dish, I combined 1 peeled, cleaned, and diced delicata squash [a.k.a. sweet potato squash], 1 cup chicken bouillon, 1 can black beans, 1/2 an onion - diced, 1 sprig celery - diced, 1 sm. apple - diced, 1 carrot - diced, 2 cloves garlic - minced, a crack of fresh ground black pepper, and a sprinkle of cumin. Cover and let the heat from the rotisserie cook everything. Stir occassionally.

Once that was all settled, I cooked us a small amount of rice [3/4 cup] and just let it sit - covered.

When the 75 minutes was up on the pork, we set it on "no heat rotation" for 15 - 20 minutes to let the meat rest before carving.

Just before serving, I added the juice of 1/2 a lime & a handful of minced cilantro to the rice.

The pork turned out juicy and flavorful and the vegetables made a great, savory side dish w/ the rice.

Ingredients: Pork roast, 1 can of black beans, chicken bouillon, celery, onion, garlic, delicata squash [a sweet potato would have worked also], carrots, rice, lime, cilantro

Breakfast for Dinner

I love having breakfast for dinner. We do it quite often. The fare is different from time to time. Sometimes there's pancakes. Sometimes there's gravy. This time, it was bacon, corned beef hash, biscuits, and eggs. I did something a little different with the hash and just wanted to make a note of it. Hash comes in a can and I am pretty sure it's not good for you at all...this particular one was Hormel brand.

To start with, I fried the bacon and set it aside. I poured most of the grease into a cup and set it aside as well. Then, I very finely chopped a sprig of celery, a 1/4 of an onion, and 6 baby carrots and added the mix to the frying pan in the remaining bacon drippings. Sautee on low heat until soft. Celery and onions should be slightly translucent. Push the veggies to the edges of the pan, turn up the heat [medium high], add a little of the reserved bacon grease, then add the hash...you'll have to smush the hash out around the pan because it will be can shaped. The secret to good hash is to cook it until it starts getting crispy. This requires a lot of flipping and smushing. So, keep flipping and smushing [both technical terms] until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the hash is browned on top and bottom. Flip out onto a paper plate to absorb some of the access grease. Cover to keep warm while you cook the eggs.

The addition of the extra veggies, gives us the illusion of eating healthier and by adding to the volume, it makes the hash a little less salty. Plus, it added some really good flavor. Yum.

Ingredients: I can corned beef hash, celery, onion, baby carrots, 1/2 lb. bacon, can o' biscuits, eggs

Beef in the Rotisserie

We did turkey. We did chicken. It was time for beef. I did a little research on the internet about what cut of beef would be best in the rotisserie and then was greatly disappointed in my choices at the grocery. I chose a London Broil, although that seems to have become a somewhat generic label. It is supposed to be a cooking method not a cut of meat. This particular one also said it was "Top Round" and with my limited knowledge I decided that was my best option. Something from the loin or the rib would have provided a more marbled piece of beef thus resulting in a more tender and juicy finished product. Next time, I'll shop around.

As soon as I got it back to the boat, I started prepping the meat. First I rinsed, then patted it dry. Laid it on a large piece of aluminum foil & drizzled it with a little olive oil. The piece was pretty lean, almost no marbling, and I thought the oil would help in my cooking process. Next I gave it a dash or 2 of worchestershire sauce. Then generous sprinkles of lemon pepper, sea salt, garlic & onion powder. Flipped it over and repeated on the other side. Then I sealed it up in the foil and placed it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Usually, Jeff is in charge of "skewering" the meat on to the rotisserie aparatus, but he was resting so I thought I'd try my hand at it...And promptly stabbed said hand with said rotisserie aparatus. It only bled a little, and more importantly - none on the meat, but now I know WHY he's in charge of that particular aspect.

The rotisserie says for "Rare Roast Beef" to cook for 19 minutes a pound. This is probably fine for a rounder, thicker cut of meat, but was a little too long for the london broil. It still turned out pink through out the center, but I would have prefered it to be a little more so. I thin sliced the meat and it was tender and delicious. We used it on sandwiches all weekend. The cold sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, advocado, and jarlsberg cheese made a great late-night supper, but the best was the hot sandwiches with sauteed onions, celery, and garlic & melted provolone cheese on crusty hoagie rolls with a side of steaming au jus to dip.

Oh, and remember those sweet potatoes that I wasn't sure how to make edible?

I got to thinking about other vegetables that I don't eat...I don't like okra, for example...but I love it fried!

So...

I sliced the potatoes real thin, and Jeff fried them up. We sprinkled them with season salt and pepper and they tasted great.

Wrapping It Up w/ Burritos

We're getting to the bottom of the barrel with our box of veggies so I wanted to make a dinner that could wrap up all the loose ends and the little bits of stuff we have left. Why not burritos?
First, I cooked 3/4 cup of basmati rice and set aside.
Next, I chopped broccoli, baby carrots, onion, celery, garlic, & cherry tomatoes.
The vegetables need to be precooked slightly which you could do several different ways...saute slightly in a skillet, steam briefly in the microwave, or in my case, I drizzled the veggies with a bit of olive oil and popped the tray in the toaster oven.
[The propane tank was outside on the grill otherwise I would have just sauteed everything on the propane stove. I was preheating the oven for some bread anyway and thought it was a good use of energy to "roast" the veggies.]
I added a bit of chopped chicken breast [saved from the rotisserie chicken] and the cooked rice to the mix and gave it a good stir.
I greased an 11 x10 pan [toaster oven size] and preheated the oven to 375 degrees.
I wanted my burritos to turn out crispy, so to roll them, first I put a few drops of olive oil on a plate and smeared it around. Then I placed one tortilla [10 inch] on the plate, coating the underside with the oil. I used 1/3 of my filling mixture and topped it with a bit of cheese. Then I rolled it, not bothering to tuck in the ends, and placed it flap side down in the pan. Repeat, repeat, for a total of 3 burritos. Then into the oven for about 30 minutes or until crispy. Top with a bit of grated cheese and cook for another 5 minutes.
We like ours with some sauce on top...Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce is what I had on hand. Heat separately [microwave or saucepan] and pour over burrito to serve. Add salsa and sour cream [optional] or any other toppings you like.

Ingredients: leftover veggies & meat, rice, tortillas [10 inch or "burrito" size], enchilada sauce [optional], salsa [optional], sour cream [optional]

Banana Fig Bread

After all the veggies had been made into burritos, I still had 2 bananas & 3 figs left...all of which were on the overripe side. So, I added them to a Betty Crocker Banana Nut mix. I chose this mix because it has a recipe on the box for adding a banana.

Since I was using a non-stick baking dish, I just mixed everything in the dish itself....save on clean-up.
First, I mashed the banana with a fork [right in the dish] then I chopped the figs and added them.
Next, I added 1/4 cup vegetable oil...I figured that could count as "greasing" the pan. Then 2 eggs. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of milk, but since I had 2 bananas I cut it to 1/4 cup. Add the mix and stir until just blended. Get any batter off the edges & above the "batter line" so that it doesn't burn and then into a preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

The bread turned out fabulous!
Moist and delicious....
....And I don't have any rotting fruit going to waste.

Rotisserie Chicken to Derby City Chicken Salad

It seems that as of late, most of my meals have a dual purpose...not only are they dinner, but also serve as lunch the next day. I find it difficult to cook just the right amount for 2 people & we don't do well with the same thing all over again as left-overs...so this new strategy seems to be working out pretty well.

I bought a 5 lb. chicken at the grocery. Jeff skewered it then sprinkled it up with a salt & pepper citrus blend and then popped it into the rotisserie for 13 minutes a pound plus 10 minutes for warming up. Once again, I utilized the heat from the rotisserie to cook my veggies by placing a pan on top[as seen in picture]. This has to be one of the easiest dinners ever and the chicken turned out beautifully crisp on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

Once the chicken had cooled, I stripped all the meat off of the bones. It's much easier to do it then than after it's been refrigerated. What we didn't eat for dinner goes into a tupperware and then into the fridge for tomorrow's chicken salad.

I call my chicken salad "Derby City Chicken Salad" because that's what the Kroger deli calls theirs, and theirs is what my recipe is based on. The salad contains: chicken [of course!], celery, pecans, grapes, and mayo and it is delicious. Sometimes I add a bit of onion to mine & always a few cracks of fresh ground black pepper. This time, instead of grapes, I cut up an apple [because I needed to use the apple] and I liked it better. All the ingredients are proportioned to taste and according to how much chicken you have...2 sprigs of celery, a handful of nuts, etc. Dice everything to about the same size pieces and mix together. Err on the side of caution when adding the mayo...you can always add more, but it's harder to take away if you get too much.

Chill for a couple of hours and it's good to go! Great for sandwiches or wraps & fabulous on crackers.

Ingredients: 1 Whole Chicken, various seasonings, celery, pecans, grapes or apples, onion [optional], & mayo.

BBQ Ribs

Country-style pork ribs are a great thing to fix on the grill. They do not require boiling or any other pre-cooking like a lot of other types of ribs and are quick and easy.

Early in the day, prep the ribs by rinsing and patting them dry.

Next, sprinkle both sides with your seasonings of choice. I used garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and zatarain's cajun seasoning [season salt].

I had a half bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Chipotle Honey BBQ sauce in the fridge. To it I added a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of white vinegar...I would have preferred apple cider vinegar, but I didn't have any. You don't want to thin your sauce too much, so just add enough vinegar to make it a nice marinade consistency. I also added 2-3 dashes of liquid smoke. I gave it a shake, put the ribs in a ziplock bag, and poured most of the sauce in as well. Save a small amount of sauce and set aside. Seal the bag, squishy all around until the sauce is distributed evenly, and return it to the fridge until you are ready to grill.

When you are ready, preheat the grill on high. Once hot, throw the ribs on and reduce heat to medium-low. Flip after 10 minutes and re-baste with the reserved sauce & cook another 10.

Let the ribs sit tented w/ foil for 5 minutes before serving.

We had ours with steamed broccoli topped with cheese & garlic texas toast.

Ingredients: 2lbs of country-style ribs, misc. spices, BBQ sauce, vinegar - preferably apple cider, broccoli, cheese, texas toast*

*Note: Publix sells Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast in the bread isle...butter and season it yourself! So much better than the frozen versions. Keeps better, too since I don't have a freezer.

Rotisserie Turkey

Last nights dinner was rotisserie turkey breast. Publix has a great selection of turkey products and one of the things they offer is a half turkey breast - bones in but not frozen. So, with the arrival of the rotisserie, I purchased a bit of turkey and Jeff seasoned it up. He used the last of our garlic lemon herb seasoning, black pepper, and season salt. Then popped it in the rotisserie. The directions say to cook turkey for 10-12 minutes per pound and our half breast weighed in at almost 3 lbs. Because the rotisserie does not have a preheat feature, we compensated by setting the timer for 45 minutes instead of 30 - 36. Once the cooking time was over, we set the machine to "no heat rotation" to let the meat rest.

Then slice and serve. The leftovers make great sandwich meat.

We had our turkey with poached brussel sprouts w/ cheese and mashed potatoes. The rotisserie puts out enough heat to cook the sprouts by placing a pan on top of it. They actually make a warming dish for this purpose, but any pan will do. I used a chicken bouillon cube with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. I cut 10-11 sprouts in half and placed them cut side down in the liquid. Cover and let them steam. In the last 10 minutes of cooking time for the turkey, I topped the brussels with velveeta cheese. Cover and let the cheese melt. Next, I brought 2 cups of water to a boil for the mashed potatoes...Idahoan Buttery Golden Selects [formerly Buttery Yukon Gold] to be exact. If you haven't tried these instant potatoes, you really should...they are GOOD...especially this variety. Just follow the directions on the pack.

Tada....dinner!

Ingredients: Turkey, various seasonings of choice, fresh brussel sprouts, chicken bouillon cube, velveeta cheese, 1 pack instant potatoes

Serves 2. Cook time 45 minutes.

Hard-Boiled Eggs

Sounds simple enough, but I always have a hard time peeling my eggs. Eggland's Best says:

Hard-cooked eggs may be difficult to peel if they are very fresh. This is because an egg shrinks inside during storage, which pulls the inner membrane away from the inside of the shell. For this reason, a hard-cooked egg will peel more easily if it has been stored for one or two weeks before it is cooked.

I doubt my eggs are too fresh coming from the grocery store and all so, it must be my cooking method.

This is how they say to cook the perfect hard-boiled egg:

Bring eggs to room temperature then place the eggs in room temperature water; bring to a boil then turn down to a low boil for 12 minutes. Quickly chill the eggs in ice cold water before peeling.

12 minutes seems like a long time to me, but Martha Stewart concurs and her directions are the same.

I guess I'll go boil some eggs now.

Balsamic Chicken & Kale

With the arrival of our first box of veggies from Annie's Organic Produce, it's time to utilize what's in the box...using the most perishable items first.

I stopped at the grocery and picked up some boneless, skinless chicken breasts then headed back to the boat to unpack the veggies.

I had some balsamic vinaigrette in the fridge, so the first thing I did was rinse the chicken and threw it in a bag with a generous amount of the salad dressing. Then back in the fridge for an hour or so...longer is better.

In the meantime, I chopped 4 cloves of garlic & slightly more than half the bundle of kale.

I also chopped 2 green onions and some parsley and set aside...gotta use them. They're in the box!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees...bake setting on the toaster oven.

Cook the chicken for 10 minutes, then flip it for another 10. Let rest for 5 minutes.

Once the chicken was in the oven, I started heating 2 tbls. of bacon grease in a skillet on medium heat...threw in the garlic and gave it a couple of minutes to soften and flavor the oil. Next I threw in the kale...gave it a stir...then threw in a cup of water with a chicken bouillon cube [crumbled]. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Now remove lid, increase heat slightly, stir occasionally, and cook for another 5 minutes to reduce liquid. At this point, I added half the green onions to the skillet.

I plated one chicken breast and a generous amount of kale for each of us...then sprinkled the kale with balsamic vinegar, and topped plate with parsley and green onions. Salt & pepper to taste, or in my case a dash of zatarain's. This would have been good with a portion of rice or mashed potatoes as well...even better would be to top the kale with some crumbles of bacon.

Ingredients: 2 boneless chicken breasts, marinade of choice [optional], kale, green onions, parsley, garlic, bacon drippings or olive oil, balsamic vinegar [et al]

Serves 2. Cook time 20 minutes.