Chicken wings on the grill

Chicken wings seasoned with Yardbird rub and basted with honey flavored BBQ sauce and grilled about 10 minutes on high heat.

Salmon, asparagus and chili rellenos

I wanted some fish for dinner but I knew Charlie would not be excited about it so I made a side ) a Chili Relleno.  They were a side for me, the whole meal for Charlie. They were the only thing he ate.. along with some tortillas and salasa.

Baked Salmon in Foil

Easy Baked Salmon in Foil with Garlic, Lemon, and Herbs. One of the best simple, healthy recipes. Turns out perfectly every time!

YIELD: Serves 6 PREP TIME: 15 minutes COOK TIME: 15 minutes TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 pound side of salmon, boneless (skin on or off, depending upon your preference), wild caught if possible
• 5 springs fresh rosemary (or fresh herbs of your choice; do not use dried herbs)
• 2 small lemons, divided, plus extra for serving as desired
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• Additional chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, thyme, parsley, dill, or green onion (optional)

Directions:

• Remove the salmon from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking dish or rimmed baking sheet with a large piece of aluminum foil.
• Lightly coat the foil with baking spay, then arrange 2 springs of the rosemary down the middle. Cut one of the lemons into thin slices and arrange half the slices down the middle with the rosemary. Place the salmon on top.
• Drizzle the salmon with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Rub to coat, then scatter the garlic cloves over the top. Lay the remaining rosemary and lemon slices on top of the salmon. Juice the second lemon, then pour the juice over the top.

Asparagus was steamed, then dressed with lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Authentic Mexican Chili Rellenos

"This is an authentic Mexican recipe that has been handed down for generations in my family."

Ingredients

6 fresh Anaheim chile peppers

1 (8 ounce) package queso asadero (white Mexican cheese), cut into 3/4-inch thick strips

2 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Directions

• Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack at about 6 inches from the heat source. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place peppers onto the prepared baking sheet, and cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, about 10 minutes. Turn the peppers often to blacken all sides. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl, and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 15 minutes. 
• Rinse cooled peppers under cold water to peel off the skins, and cut a slit along the long side of each pepper to remove the seeds and core. Rinse the peppers inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Stuff the peppers with strips of the cheese. 
• Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the baking powder. In a second metal bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until the whites form stiff peaks. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture. Place flour into a shallow bowl. 
• Heat the vegetable shortening in a skillet over medium heat. Roll each stuffed pepper in flour, tap off excess flour, and dip the peppers into the egg mixture to coat both sides. Gently lay the coated peppers into the hot shortening. Fry peppers until lightly golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes per side. 

Banh Mi sandwich

Banh Mi

"This version of the popular Vietnamese bahn mi sandwich has sweet and tangy pickled vegetables and broiled chicken breast, served on a toasted French baguette."

I made it with pork loin and I made a bigger batch of the vegetables because the bread loaf I used was bigger than the one mentioned here.  It was almost all gone before I got around to taking a picture of it.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup carrot, cut into 1/16-inch-thick matchsticks

1/4 cup white (daikon) radish, cut into 1

/16-inch-thick matchsticks

1/4 cup thinly sliced white onion

1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half

garlic salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 (12 inch) French baguette

4 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/4 cup thinly sliced cucumber

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves

1 small jalapeno pepper - seeded and cut  into 1/16-inch-thick matchsticks

1 wedge lime

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place rice vinegar, water, and sugar into a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil, and stir until the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute. Allow the mixture to cool.

2. Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the carrot, radish, and onion in a bowl, and allow to stand for at least 30 minutes. Drain off the excess vinegar mixture after the vegetables have marinated.

3. While the vegetables are marinating, preheat the oven's broiler, and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Lightly oil a slotted broiler pan.

4. Sprinkle the chicken breast with garlic salt and pepper, and broil on slotted broiler pan, turning once, until the center of the chicken breast is no longer pink and the surface has browned, about 6 minutes per side. Remove the broiled chicken, and slice into bite-size pieces.

5. Slice the baguette in half the long way, and pull the center of the bread out of the baguette halves, leaving a cavity for the filling. Place the baguette halves under the broiler to lightly toast, 2 to 3 minutes.

6. To assemble the bahn mi sandwich, spread each half of the toasted baguette with mayonnaise, and fill the cavity of the bottom half of the bread with broiled chicken, cucumber slices, pickled carrot, onion, and radish, cilantro leaves, and jalapeno pepper. Squeeze a wedge of lime over the filling, and top with the other half of the baguette.

Sausage and beans stewed with tomatoes and celery root salad

Sausage and beans stewed in tomato  From Fabio’s Italian Kitchen

Charlie gave me a cookbook with Italian recipes a year of so ago and I have used it several times but not lately. That is until today.  The sausage recipe is from the cook book, the salad is not. 

3T. olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

4 sweet Italian sausage cut in half

3 C. chicken stock

1 C. canned tomatoes, crushed

1 C. dried cannellini beans

1 sprig sage

1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated

2 T parsley, chopped

heat olive oil and add the garlic, red pepper flakes and sausage. Cook until the sausage is browned

Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the beans and sage and keep cooking over medium heat until beans are cooked, 45 min to 1 hour. Add a little water if mixture becomes a little dry. 

Serve with Parmesan and parsley on top.

TANGY CELERY ROOT SALAD From Melissia

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 T. lemon juice

1/4 C. yogurt

1 lar. celery root, chopped matchstick

2T.  chives, chopped

1 T. parsley, chopped

1 head radicchio

Mix dressing, marinate celery stick overnight. Toss with chives and parsley

 Serve on radicchio leaves.

Japanese Fried Chicken, Zucchini and Spinach

Kara-age Japanese fried chicken  from The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo

1 1/4 lb Chicken thighs, bones and skin attached

1/4. C Shoyu

2 Tbsp Sake

1 Tbsp finely grated Ginger

2 Garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 tsp. Cayenne chile pepper 

1/8 tsp Allspice

10 Coriander seeds, toasted and crushed

1 C. Potato starch or cornstarch

vegetable oil for frying

lemon wedges

Combine shoyu, sake, ginger, garlic, cayenne, allspice, and coriander seeds. With cleaver, cut thighs in half and marinate them in the mixture for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Coat chicken with starch and fry at 320 for 5 minutes, then raise the temp to 360 and fry for another minute. Drain and serve with lemon wedge.

Chard, Bacon and Apple

I used spinach instead of chard.

2 slices bacon

1/2 small yellow onion chopped

1 gala apple cored and diced

1 bunch spinach

salt and pepper

cook bacon, add onion and apple,  Add spinach, cover and cook until wilted

This recipe is from Williams Sonoma for eggplant but I used zucchini. I sliced the zucchini and cooked with a little oil and salt until browned, then added the remaining ingredients and cooked until most of the liquid was either absorbed or evaporated.

2 T. soy sauce

1 tsp Shaoxing wine

1 tsp relic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 T> sesame oil

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds

Steak and twice baked potatoes

Second time in two months for these twice baked potatoes.  

 Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients  

1 large baking potatoes
2slices bacon
1/4 cup sour cream
splash cup milk
1 tablespoons butter
salt
 pepper
4 Tbs. shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

• Directions

•  Cook potato in microwave on potato setting, cool enough to handle

•  Cook bacon in oven @ 350 20 min. ahead of time with as many other strips as will fit on the tray. Refrigerate, reheat in microwave, Drain, crumble and set aside. 
•  Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; leave hollow skins. To the potato flesh, add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, and bacon. 
• reheat in microwave.  NOTE may add green onions to the mixture if desired 

MAKE AHEAD:  Cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to reheat.

Grilled Salmon with Mango Tomatillo Salsa

On Father's Day, my sister invited us over for a cook-out. I took chips and a mango salsa.  The recipe made quite a lot so I saved a little for later. I used it today for lunch on some grilled salmon. I also had a salad that the store called a Cobb Salad. I am glad they labeled it. I never would have guessed.  I too the toppings off of the soggy iceberg lettuce and put them on some fresh cut romaine.

Mango Tomatillo Salsa   makes about 4 cups  KC Star Mar. 2018

flesh of 2 8-oz Ataulfo mangoes, chipped

8 oz fresh pineapple chunks, chopped  (about 1 1/4 C)

9 med. tomatillos (10 oz) husked, rinsed and finely chopped (1 1/2 C)

1/2 med red onion, ch. small  ( put the cut onion in ice water for about half an hour before adding it to the mix)

1 small or 1/2 lar. jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and cut small dice (seeds reserved)

15 cilantro, chopped, leaves and tender stems

3 Tbs. lime juice

3/4 tsp. koser salt, to taste

1/2 to 1 tsp agave nectar (optional) Tortilla or plantain chips, for serving.

Mix all ingr. except agave, taste, add seeds if heat needed. stir in agave a little at a time if sweet is wanted.

Mongolian Beef

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Prep time 10 mins  Cook time  4 hours  Total time  4 hours 10 mins

Beef that slow cooks to tender melt in your mouth perfection. This takes minutes to throw into the crockpot and has such amazing flavor! One of the best things that you will make in your slow cooker!

Serves: 4-6

I used about a pound of brisket that I had in the freezer instead of flank steak.  This recipe was OK good, not yummy good. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ½ pounds Flank Steak
• ¼ cups cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons mince Garlic, Cloves
• ¾ cups Soy Sauce
• ¾ cups Water
• ¾ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 cup grated Carrots
• green onions, for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

 Cut flank steak into thin strips. In a ziplock bag add flank steak pieces and cornstarch. Shake to coat.Add olive oil, minced garlic, soy sauce, water, brown sugar and carrots to slow cooker. Stir ingredients. Add coated flank steak and stir again until coated in the sauce.Cook for high 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours until cooked throughout and tender. Can serve over rice and garnish with green onions.

Korean Pork

I found a Food Saver pack in the freezer marked Korean Pork. I thawed it in the refrigerator overnight then put it in the Anova for an hour and finally heated it in a skillet.  We had it with laver, kimchi and rice.

PORK BULGOGE

Recipe By:Norm Matthews

1 Boston  butt pork roast, sliced wafer thin

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons sesame salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

6 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry

2 tablespoons red pepper paste instead.

8 green onion, sliced diagonally1"

toasted sesame seeds

 oil-for frying

Mix all ingredients except cooking oil.  Set aside for a few minutes.  Heat oil in wok or large frying pan.  Add pork and marinade mixture and stir fry until meat is no longer bink.  Serve with rice. 1-2 white onions may be sliced into wedges and cooked with the meat until both the meat is done and the onions are tender.

—————

Oven Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters posted this morning by Sandra.

Oven Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters

You’ll get a crisp skin and an extra tender meat powered by a spicy marinade. Serve up with rice or roasted new potatoes.  Posted by Sandra June 2018

The package of chicken leg/thigh sections came in a package of 4 and I cooked all of them.  I left the bones in. I figured that not only would it be easier to take them out after it was cooked but it would be even easier to let whoever ate it to take the bones out themselves. Oven

Serves 2:

• 2 skin-on, bone-less chicken legs
• 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 1 knob ginger, peeled, finely grated
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Sriracha
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 limes, cut into wedges for serving
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C), grill or broiler mode. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12″ cast-iron or heavy skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Arrange chicken legs in skillet, skin side down, and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue cooking skin side down, until skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the instant marinade: in a shallow dish, combine garlic, ginger, olive oil, Sriracha sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, fish sauce, sat and pepper.

3. Transfer chicken into the marinade and coat well on each side. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.

4.  Transfer chicken into a roasting pan, skin side up, and cook in the bottom of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until skin crisps and meat is cooked through. Rub the skin with a little of the remaining marinade after 15 minutes of cooking. Let rest covered for 5 minutes before serving garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

Steak on the grill

Anytime Charlie requests a dinner, it's rare.  He asked for a steak dinner tonight so I did ribeyes on the grill along with corn on the cob, twice baked potatoes and bok choy, something he also requested.

I made the potatoes ahead and reheated them at dinner time.

 Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients  

1 large baking potatoes
2slices bacon
1/4 cup sour cream
splash cup milk
1 tablespoons butter
salt
 pepper
4 Tbs. shredded Cheddar cheese, divided

• Directions

•  Cook potato in microwave on potato setting, cool enough to handle

•  Cook bacon in oven @ 350 20 min. ahead of time with as many other strips as will fit on the tray. Refrigerate, reheat in microwave, Drain, crumble and set aside. 
•  Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; leave hollow skins. To the potato flesh, add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, and bacon. 
• reheat in microwave.  NOTE may add green onions to the mixture if desired 

MAKE AHEAD:  Cover with plastic and refrigerate until ready to reheat.

Bok Choy simmered in water seasoned with

1tsp brown sugar

pinch ginger 

Pinch cloves 

1/2 pinch cinnamon 

Salt & pepper

Corn cooked on grill with the steaks, then cut in two pieces.

New Meatloaf recipe

This is a New York Times recipe that came in my mailbox today.  It involved browning it in a skillet, turning it over and browning the other side then removing it from the pan, deglazing the pan with wine, putting it back in the skillet and baking it for 25 minutes.  It was kind of tricky doing all that without it falling apart.  I successfully resisted giving it a blanket of woven bacon and Charlie said he liked it and not to do the tomato sauce, brown sugar and bacon weave on it like I do on our normal meat loaf.  He had three helpings.

Because veal is not available here, I substituted ground pork.  

Fancy Meatloaf

SAM SIFTON
YIELD  Serves 6 to 8  TIME  80 minutes

• “I was invited to cook dinner for Nora Ephron.” As was wont to happen at one point in New York. Back in 2009, Sam Sifton was invited to a potluck in which “guests were meant to bring food inspired by Ephron’s career or by the woman herself.” He drew meatloaf, a dish she was known for. Here, in this recipe adapted from Gourmet, he pairs beef, veal, pancetta and Parmesan. The end result, he described, as “luxurious.” And what did Ms. Ephron think? She called it “remarkable.”

Featured in: The Cheat: Potlucky. 

Beef, Veal

INGREDIENTS

½ loaf Italian bread, crust removed, torn into small pieces (about 2 cups)

1 cup whole milk

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground veal

2 large eggs, scrambled

4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped

¾ cup grated Parmesan

1 bunch parsley, cleaned and finely chopped (about 1 cup)

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup butter

1 cup dry white wine

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Soak bread in milk for 10 minutes.
2. Mix beef, veal, eggs, pancetta, Parmesan, parsley and lemon zest in a large bowl. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Squeeze the bread to remove excess milk, then chop and add it to the meat. Mix gently until well combined, but do not overmix. Transfer onto a board and shape into a fine meatloaf, shy of a foot in length and 4 inches across. Loosely cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
3. Heat oil and butter in a large, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatloaf and sear without moving it until it is browned, about 5 minutes. Carefully slide a spatula under the meatloaf, then gently use another spatula to help turn it and brown the second side, again without moving it for 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
4. Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of the fat, return skillet to the stove and raise heat to high. Add wine and deglaze pan, scraping up browned bits stuck to it with a wooden spoon. Return meatloaf to the skillet and then transfer to the oven, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf reads 150 degrees, about 25 minutes.
5. Transfer the meatloaf to a platter and let stand, tented with foil, 10 minutes. Slice, pour the pan juices over the top and serve.