Month: June 2012

Roasted Corn Salad
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Roasted Corn Salad

First let me say that you are not held to any but the corn in this recipe what I add is different almost every time this time fresh peas.

  

I love this time of year you can almost see the corn starting in Florida making its way up the coast. When I was younger one of my many summer jobs running the produce department (so I thought) at Paul’s Market a local grocery store in North Falmouth, Ma I learned a lot about corn among other things. I even got to meet an up and coming Barbra Waters, picked out her produce on more than one day. I used to give the overripe peaches to the old lady next door who came back with ice cream for all the workers. Did you know a room temperature watermelon and a straight piece of straw from a broom could tell you how ripe the melon was? Yep balance the middle of the straw in the middle of the watermelon and for some reason the more it twisted and turned the riper the melon. I used to swear by it and it appeared to be a true lesson my boss taught me. Being a local market we bought local when available and one of my fondest memories were the trips to buy corn. We would wander out in the field pick an ear and eat it when we both liked what we tasted we would indicate give us these two rows. Then load up the van and back to the store. I did not talk much in the car then, nothing has changed, and that used to drive Paul crazy on our trips to the farms or dump. Where did that come from?

 

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp. Fresh orange juice
  • 1 tsp. diced chipotle chili seeded or not, plus 1 Tbsp. adobe sauce
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • ½ tsp. honey
  • ¼ cup olive oil

Above make the vinaigrette

  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 4-6 ears of corn
  • 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro chopped (plus you can put some leaves aside for garnish)
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved or quarter depending on size
  • ½ cup peeled and fine chopped apple
  • ¼ cup diced red onion
  • Peas from about 20 pea pods
  • ½ medium red pepper fine chop
  • I have used about ¼ cup of radishes chopped or jicama

How

Husk the corn rub with a little olive oil and place on grill turn occasionally until charred about 10-15 minutes. When cool enough to handle remove the kernels in your favorite manner. I like to place on a small bowel or cup upside down in a bowl rest the stem side of corn on it and run a knife down the side so the kernels fall into bowl. Break apart and clumps of kernels with your fingers, they do not all have to be separate.

Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk together lime and orange juice, chipotle chili, adobe sauce, 1 tsp. salt, garlic, honey, and ¼ cup olive oil until smooth and set aside.

Add the rest of the ingredients to corn combine then re-whisk (is that a word?) the vinaigrette combine and garnish with cilantro leave you had put aside.

Serve at room temperature. I like the smoky flavor the charred corn give the dish.

This makes a great topper for salads or sloppy sandwiches.

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Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses
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Leftover Lamb Flatbread Pizza drizzled with Pomegranate Molasses

We had cooked a leg of lamb and frozen the leftovers. I took out of freezer for one of our weekday meals and when I opened the frig and saw it staring at me my gut started to say what do I have in here to make an interesting meal. Leftover spaghetti sauce (Lyn secret recipe), Tandoori NAAN All natural flat bread, feta cheese, pine nuts, scallions, fresh oregano, cherry tomatoes, pomegranate molasses . Note: The cherry tomatoes not in the frig of course but always on the counter, just started had the first two from the patio mmmmmmm nothing better. Ok inventory taken now what I asked myself looking at the clock Lyn would return soon from work she has the 50 mile commute and I have the 3.2 mile commute she does not get how difficult it can be stuck behind a school bus as opposed to 1-2 hours of stop and go traffic. Anyway… sauce on stove with minced lamb and some chopped fresh oregano added, brought to bubble and then turned off. Meanwhile I sliced scallion whites and greens, quartered the cherry tomatoes, slightly roasted a handful of pine nuts, crumbled the feta, and preheated oven to 400◦. I spread the sauce over the flat bread top with the other ingredients then drizzle with pomegranate molasses and into to oven for about 10 minutes or until I thought looked done.

The unique sweet taste of the molasses was a perfect complement.

Turned out great hot or cold.

Sorry I do not have any measurements I kind of went into auto mode isn’t that what leftover meals are all about?

Scallions are most commonly referred to as green onions in the United States. They are a variety of young onions with a long, thin white base that has not yet developed into a bulb and long straight green stalks that look like giant chives. Both the white base and the green stalks are commonly eaten. (about.com)

The pomegranate is a focal symbol in the legend and lore of many different cultures. Some hold that it was the pomegranate which was the fruit of temptation (remember the Punic apple?) leading to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden in the Bible.
With its abundance of seeds, the fruit has long been a symbol of fertility, bounty, and eternal life, particularly to those of the Jewish faith. Many paintings of the Madonna Virgin and Child prominently display a pomegranate. Ancient Egyptians were buried with pomegranates in hope of rebirth.
The Hittite god of agriculture is said to have blessed followers with grapes, wheat, and pomegranates. The seeds were sugared and served to guests at Chinese weddings. When it was time to consumate the marriage, pomegranates were thrown on the floor of the bedchamber to encourage a happy and fruitful union.
Berber women used pomegranates to predict the amount of their offspring by drawing a circle on the ground and dropping a ripe pomegranate in the center. The amount of seeds expelled outside the ring allegedly prophesied the number of her future children.
Mohammed believed pomegranates purged the spirits of envy and hatred from the body and urged all his followers to eat goodly amounts.
When Persephone was held captive in Hades, the Greek goddess of spring and fruit swore she would not partake of food until her release. However, she could not resist the tempting pomegranate, consuming nearly the entire fruit before halting herself and leaving only six seeds uneaten. It is from this story that believers think our yearly cycle of six months of growth and harvest followed by six months of winter is derived. (about.com)

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Ginger, Corn Chicken Soup
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Ginger, Corn Chicken Soup

Saturday was a rainy day and we had lots to do since we both work full time jobs our weekends are probably like yours weekends are for errands and you try to stick something fun in there. Today was movie day we were going to see Dark Shadows having grown up when it was on TV we were both looking forward to it. Well, we give it 2 stars but were basically disappointed. Anyway after the errands we were ready for something warming so I opened the frig and said what to do we have then I remembered that Lyn had torn out a chicken soup recipe so I took a glance and then did my own thing based on this ginger chicken noodle soup recipe from First for women 3/26/12. This was a quick prep and complete meal and good for leftover chicken based.  I thought about adding a pinch of red-hot peppers but the ginger added just the right amount of spice, my version got the two heads bobbing of approval.

Ingredient

  • 1 medium red bell pepper seeded and sliced
  • 1 medium peeled and chopped Vidalia onion
  • 2 cup sliced carrots (about 4 medium to larger)
  • 1 Cup sliced celery
  • 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
  • 1 (1/4” thick) piece of fresh ginger peeled
    • We keep slices in the freezer
  • 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 cups cook chicken (had some left over)
  • Kernels from two ears of corn maybe a 1 >1/2 cups
  • ½ cup scallions
  • ½ cup fresh cilantro
  • Star pasta – you can use any noodles you want we had these on hand.

How

In saucepan over medium heat cook peppers, carrots and onions in oil for about 3 minutes until tender but still crisp, stirring occasionally.

Add ginger and broth increase heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes then add the corn kernels and continue to simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Stir scallions and cilantro and let simmer for 2 more minutes. Discard ginger.

While this is simmering cook the star pasta as directed on box. We prefer to keep separate from soup so it does not absorb too much of the liquid.

Scoop some of the star pasts into bowl then some soup sit down and warm your soul.

Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken
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Brined, Baked and Grilled Root Beer Chicken

Ingredients

1 chicken breast bone in

Olive oil to drizzle

Fresh ground pepper

 

As mentioned in my About I  flow of thought writing here is a taste.

How: I had been seeing a lot of articles and recipes for brining chicken for the grill, supposedly it help the chicken retain more moisture. I have only brined a few things and in my head it was the salt it seemed like everything would end up salty. (not true but my head said so)  So I decided to just brine for a short period. I had a chicken breast bone in and placed it in a solution of maybe 1/3 cup maple sugar, a little less than that of kosher salt and then added water to cover. I shook it all about as the old song goes and placed in frig for about ½ hour. I rinsed the chicken well and paper towel dried then rubbed with a little olive oil and fresh ground pepper. The in a 4500 oven for 15-17 minutes down to 300 for 5 minutes turned the oven off and heated up the grill. When the grill was ready I grabbed the Chicken out of the oven and Root bear BBQ sauce I made for the pulled pork, brushed the chicken and place on grill skin side up. I basted every few minutes turned to crisp the skin (which I stole and ate before serving shhhh) when it was about 1650 about 10-15 minutes. I took off grill and loosely covered with foil for about 5 minutes Ok I cheated it was 4 minutes I was really hungry.  I have to say it got the head bobbing up and down approval from Lyn and me, moist and tasty and the sauce just topped it off. I had some grill asparagus left over which I drizzled with some balsamic vinegar and some left over sweet potatoes that Lyn had baked. This was a not so quick but easy work night meal.

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Root Beer BBQ Sauce
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Root Beer BBQ Sauce

Root Beer BBQ sauce another thing I been seeing in magazines so we had to try. This was a sweet sauce that was kind of nice even though we more prefer vinegar no ketchup sauce.

 Ingredients

  • 1 cup root beer
  • 1  cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 3  Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 3  Tbsp.light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder

How

In a medium saucepan, combine remaining ingredients; mix well and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes, until sauce is reduced by half.