Recipe #228: Bacon-Wrapped Grilled Chicken and Rosemary

What DOESN'T taste better wrapped in bacon?  ....I can't think of anything.  This recipe is ridiculously easy!  I'm always skeptical about chicken breasts, worried they'll turn out dry, so I tend to cook thighs... but no worries here- they were delicious.  I served this with some bbq sauce for dipping, and the grilled Brussels sprouts recipe located here on the side.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken breasts
Thick-cut bacon, 2 per breast
1 sprig fresh rosemary per breast
Garlic powder

DIRECTIONS:

Sprinkle garlic powder over chicken breasts.  Lay rosemary sprig on chicken.  Wrap with bacon strips.  Pin with toothpicks.  Grill on med-high heat about 8 minutes per side or until done.

Recipe #227: Grilled Romaine and Shrimp with Vinaigrette Dressing

This meal, although not photogenic, is fresh and delicious.  I adapted the shrimp and romaine part from a recipe I found via Google search, and the vinaigrette dressing recipe is from a fellow foodie and friend.  My hair smells like grill smoke and my stomach is happy!

Salad Ingredients:

Shrimp (I used 8 jumbo scampi for 2 of us)
Whole romaine hearts (1 per 2 people)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Small onion, sliced into rings

Vinaigrette Ingredients:

8 tbs olive oil per person (OR split half and half olive oil and lemon juice, which I did here)
4 tbs balsamic vinegar per person
1 tbs Dijon mustard (I used 2)
1/2 tbs hot chili sauce (I used 1)
Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese

Ingredients...

Directions:

Thread shrimp onto oiled skewers.  Brush or spray shrimp with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Cut romaine lengthwise in half.  Brush or spray lettuce with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Brush onion rings with oil.

Prepped....

Place onions and shrimp on preheated grill and cook about 4 minutes for one side.  Turn over, and grill the other side.  Put the romaine middle-side down on the grill while the second side of the shrimp cooks, and grill until it wilts slightly.

Put romaine on a plate and top with shrimp and onions.  Spoon or pour over the vinaigrette.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Recipe #226: Wedge Salad with Grilled Grape Tomatoes and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

Another grill recipe!  Only the tomatoes are grilled for this one, but it does make a huge difference.  I followed the recipe except for adding extra of some of the ingredients (noted).  Of COURSE bacon makes it even better!  Recipe credit to Foodnetwork.com.

Ingredients

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled (I used a little more more)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pint grape tomatoes (I used a whole pint)
2 strips bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled (I used four strips)
1/4 cup finely diced red onion


Directions

Heat a grill or grill pan and place the lettuce wedges on a platter.

Prepare the vinaigrette by briskly whisking together the Dijon, vinegar, and garlic. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking to create an emulsion. Add the sugar and blue cheese, and whisk gently to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Lightly oil the tomato slices, and season with salt and pepper. Grill until slightly charred on the outside and then transfer to the platter with the lettuce wedges. Pour the vinaigrette over the lettuce and tomato and top with bacon and red onion.

Recipe #225: BBQ Ribs

I love my grill.  I grill nearly every day that the weather will allow.  Beef, pork, chicken, fish, lamb, veggies, fruits.......somehow up to this point I hadn't tried ribs yet, and on a whim and without a chosen recipe, I bought some at the store.  I hunted down this awesome recipe on the always-awesome allrecipes.com, which I chose for its rave reviews.  I was delighted that I already had all of the other ingredients except an onion.  I knew that it being a 2-day process, these would turn out great since all of my recipes that take a long time are definitely worth the wait.  I wouldn't change anything about this recipe unless you want it to be more spicy- then I'd add some hot pepper spice to it.  The sauce already has a little bit of a kick but it's also sweet.  I had to wash my face after- there's no elegant way to eat ribs!

INGREDIENTS:

4 pounds baby back pork ribs (I used about 3lbs) 4 cloves garlic, sliced (my changes are in the directions) 1 tablespoon white sugar 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons ground black pepper 2 teaspoons chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/2 cup dark brown sugar (I had light brown)

1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup ketchup 1/4 cup chili sauce 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons onion, chopped (I used onion powder) 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard 1 clove crushed garlic (my changes in the directions)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Place ribs on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Scatter 4 cloves of sliced garlic over ribs. Cover, and bake for 2 1/2 hours. Cool slightly.  (Instead of garlic, I used black pepper and garlic powder)
2.	In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, paprika, salt, black pepper, chili powder, and ground cumin. Rub spices over cooled ribs. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
3.	In a small saucepan, mix together brown sugar, cider vinegar, ketchup, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, onion, dry mustard, and 1 clove garlic. Simmer over medium-low heat, uncovered, for 1 hour. Reserve a small amount for basting; the remainder is a dipping sauce. (I used minced garlic, seen in the below pic as yellow pieces, instead of the clove)
4.	Preheat grill for medium heat.
5.	Place ribs on grill. Grill, covered, for about 12 minutes, basting with the reserved sauce, until nicely browned and glazed. Serve with remaining sauce for dipping.

Recipe #224: Gazpacho Soup

I was scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed the other day and stopped dead in my scrolly-tracks when I saw this recipe posted by Bizarre Foods, the TV show hosted by Andrew Zimmern.  The picture was gorgeous and it reminded me of the day we tried gazpacho soup in Spanish class in highschool, and I had loved it then, long before I learned to cook.  This involves NO cooking though, just chopping and blending- you can't go wrong!  It makes a LOT (more than half of a very large pot) and is so fresh tasting.  The only changes I made were to leave the skins ON the cucumbers and tomatoes for more nutrition....and also because I was being lazy.  I added some hot sauce to mine too once I started eating it for a little kick.

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 medium tomatoes (about 3 pounds), peeled and seeded
• 2 cucumbers (about 1 pound)—peeled, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
• 1 small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus whole leaves for garnish
• 6 basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1  1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco
• One 46-ounce jar tomato juice
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Finely chopped yellow bell pepper and snipped chives, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes with the cucumbers, green bell pepper, onion, garlic, chopped parsley, fresh basil, dried basil, oregano, olive oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and Tabasco.

In a blender, puree the mixture in batches until nearly smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the tomato juice and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate the gazpacho for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Season the soup again if necessary and transfer to bowls. Garnish with yellow bell pepper, chives and parsley leaves and serve.

MAKE AHEAD The gazpacho can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.

Recipe #223: Lobster Mac and Cheese

The other day, Nick went to lunch with some of his coworkers to a restaurant he'd been to before.  He was looking forward to having their lobster mac and cheese but found out they'd since taken it off their menu.  That inspired me to look for a recipe and attempt to make it myself.  If you want to splurge on something expensive, unhealthy and definitely delicious, this is the recipe to try.  I found this on Food Network's website and it had great reviews, for good reason.  My minor changes are in red.  This makes about 6 servings.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter, plus 1 tablespoon for greasing dish (I used olive oil spray to grease the dish)
Kosher salt
1 pound penne pasta
2 small shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white wine (I used about double because the flour mixture soaked it up immediately)
4 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
2 cups shredded Gruyere
2 (8-ounce) raw lobster tails, defrosted if frozen, meat removed from shell, chopped
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley leaves (I used dried)


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and adjust racks to the middle. Grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with butter.

In a large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve.

Add 4 tablespoons butter to a large pot over medium heat. Once the butter shimmers, add the shallots and garlic and saute until translucent. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the tomato paste and flour and stir to toast, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the white wine and reduce, by half, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream, whisking well to remove any lumps. Add the paprika, cayenne, and bay leaf. Bring the cream up to a simmer and turn the heat to low. Let reduce until the cream is thick and can coat a spoon, about 5 to 10 minutes. When thickened, remove the bay leaves.

Stir in the grated cheeses, a handful at a time, combining well after each addition. Add the chopped lobster meat to the sauce and stir well. Add the pasta and stir. Add to the greased baking dish and sprinkle with the panko crumbs and parsley. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle individual servings with parsley.

Recipe #222: Spinach and Tortellini

I've been spending a lot of time grilling, eating at restaurants, and being out of town for work, so my blog has slowed down a little bit.  Today I made dinner from a recipe that I'd been saving to try.  This really fresh-tasting meal comes from Cooking Channel's website.  I changed the amounts a little bit and used a little less spinach.  I can't wait to have the leftovers!  I'm sure the flavors will be even better once the juices have time to sit and absorb int the tortellini more.

INGREDIENTS:

Salt (I only used it for cooking the tortellini)
Cooking spray
4 cups fresh cheese tortellini (10 to 12 ounces)
3 cups halved cherry tomatoes
2 cups thawed frozen peas (I didn't bother to thaw them)
8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 large portobello mushrooms, sliced
8 cups spinach (I used less because this seemed excessive)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup pine nuts
Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water well with salt. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions. 

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add the tomatoes, peas, garlic and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes. 

Add in the spinach and saute until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and toss in the pasta. Top with the Parmesan and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper. 

Recipe #221: Buffalo Chicken Burgers. Well, sort of....

The title of this blog is Practice Makes Meals.  I'm not kidding.  There are plenty of times I try a new recipe and I mess it up or it just disappoints me.  Today, I messed up for sure, but I was able to salvage it and I have to say, I'm really pleased with the results.  SO here's a blog about what went wrong, and how I managed to not panic (miraculously).

Here's the recipe I was trying to attempt:

http://littleleopardbook.com/2012/08/28/whats-for-dinner-buffalo-chicken-burgers/

Look how beautiful.  I was quite excited to make these.  This is a picture from that blog, in case you don't feel like linking to it:

Now, here's the directions, with my mistakes below:

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 celery stalk (finely chopped)
• 1 carrot stick (peeled and shredded)
• 1/2 red onion (finely chopped)
• 1 garlic clove (crushed) (I used minced garlic)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup franks red-hot buffalo sauce
• 1/2 cup Mary’s Gone Crackers Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs (I used regular breadcrumbs)
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
• 6 hamburger buns
Optional Toppings (I just chose baby spinach because I figured there were already plenty of flavors involved)
• tomatoes (sliced)
• baby spinach
• red bell peppers (diced)
• green onions (diced)

Instructions

1. Start by combining the ground chicken, celery, carrots, red onion and garlic in a large mixing bowl.
2. Next, add the egg, 1/4 cup buffalo sauce, bread crumbs, chili powder and paprika. (Here's my first major mistake.  I was half paying attention and dumped ALL of the buffalo sauce in- 1/2 cup.  This made the burgers really sticky and wet.  I pondered adding more breadcrumbs to dry it out, but I didn't.)
3. Form into 6 patties. (Second mistake- I thought that I should just make four, so I ended up with four large sticky mounds of slop)
4. Next, place on the grill over medium heat for 8-10 minutes per side.
5. While the burgers are on the grill combine the additional 1/4 cup buffalo sauce with 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing. (I read this direction and panicked, realizing I did step 2 wrong)
6. Toast the buns, then spread the mixture onto each side of the bun.
7. Remove the burgers from the grill and place onto the bun.
8. Top with the blue cheese crumbles and any desired additional ingredients.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's look at pictures of what happened since I wasn't following instructions correctly, and I'll tell you what I did to fix it.

Grilling did not go well.  They weren't cooking evenly since they were too big, and flipping them made them fall apart.  After some initial mild panic and wondering if I was going to have to find a Plan B for dinner, something crossed my mind.  I scooped them up and plopped them in an ugly messy pile on a plate.

I took foil and made a quick "pan" out of it, threw the messy burgers on, used a fork to break them apart, and threw them on the grill to cook more evenly for awhile.  The consistency became more like sloppy joes.  I knew this would mean for a kind of messy sandwich, but there was no way I was going to deprive myself of a buffalo-sauce-flavored dinner after all of that prep work.

I spread just bleu cheese dressing (without it mixed with even more buffalo sauce) on both sides of the bun.  Baby spinach for a topping.  Spooned some of the still-sticky (from the sauce) chicken mixture on the other side and topped it with bleu cheese bits.  I put the top bun on and smashed it together a little, and VOILA!  Dinner!  And it definitely was really good!  I have plenty of leftovers and am pleased with how this turned out, a sort of buffalo chicken sloppy joe.  

Recipe #220: Chicken Wild Rice Soup

I can't believe this is my 220th recipe!

I don't remember how I linked to this recipe, but the second I saw the picture, I knew I had to make this.  Maybe it was foodgawker.com, which has the most beautiful pictures (and then links to) recipes.  Check it out- it's really addicting.  This recipe is from http://www.rotinrice.com and makes a TON of soup.  I'm trying to find volunteers for leftovers AFTER I've already put some in the freezer and alotted more for lunches this week.  Very hearty and chunky and a little creamy.  My changes are in red.  This would be really good with leftover turkey, too.

Ingredients

1 cup (170g) wild rice (I used a box of Uncle Ben's wild rice without the seasoning packet)
¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil  (I used butter instead)
1 onions, chopped
2 medium sized carrots, peeled and chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
¾ cup (115g) all-purpose flour
8 cups (1.9 liters) chicken stock (I used unsalted stock)
Salt and pepper
2 cups (300g) cooked chicken, cubed (I shredded a whole rotisserie chicken)
8 oz (225g) mushrooms, stems removed and sliced (or.... 10oz of baby bellas!)
1 cup (240 ml) half-and-half
½ cup (25g) chopped parsley  (I won't use this much next time)


Directions

Cook wild rice in 4 cups (960ml) of water for 45 minutes or until it fluffs up. Drain any remaining liquid left
in the pot. Set aside.  (The rice I used only needed to cook about 25 minutes, but I still used 4 cups of water, which kept it from burning- a problem I normally have)

In a large pot, add vegetable oil. Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until soften, about 3 minutes. Add
dried thyme and all-purpose flour. Cook and stir for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour in chicken stock. Bring to a boil.

Add cooked chicken, mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and allow soup to simmer for 10
minutes.

Add cooked wild rice and pour in half-and-half. Bring soup back up to a boil and allow it to heat through,
about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat. Stir in chopped parsley.

Recipe #219: Reuben Soup

I'm mad I couldn't get a better picture of this, but I was tired, starving, and in a hurry... you'll just have to take my word for it that this soup tastes EXACTLY like its sandwich version.  Definitely delish, as my burnt mouth can vouch for.  Yet another allrecipes.com post.... My cookbooks are starting to feel neglected!

INGREDIENTS:

1 large onion, chopped 4 stalks celery, chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 cup butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 4 cups beef stock

1 quart half-and-half 1 pound cooked corned beef, chopped 1 cup sauerkraut 1 teaspoon seasoned salt (such as Spice Islands® Beau Monde Seasoning) freshly ground black pepper to taste 2 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided 1 (6 ounce) package rye croutons

DIRECTIONS: 

1.	Cook and stir onion, celery, red bell pepper, butter, garlic, tarragon, and caraway seeds in a stock pot over medium heat until vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
2.	Slowly stir flour into vegetable mixture. Cook on low until flour is lightly browned, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes.
3.	Stir beef stock, half-and-half, corned beef, sauerkraut, seasoned salt, and black pepper into vegetable mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer until soup is heated through and slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.
4.	Stir 2 cups Swiss cheese into soup until melted. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with rye croutons and remaining Swiss cheese.